It was impossible for her to meet Darcy's eyes. He was too close and she felt herself losing her footing in the moment. It was terrifying how quickly her courage left her. This feeling of cowardice was new and unusual.

Facing the real Darcy meant throwing away all the default opinions and reactions she had developed. Now she was left with…she had no idea what. It was as if she had lost complete control of the situation.

It was terrifying.

Lizzie turned back to the table where Fitz was watching Gigi's phone while Gigi loooked over his shoulder.

She could feel Darcy's lingering stare before he sat back at his full height.

"I swear, every time I'm in a room with that man, he stares at me, constantly . It's like I'm a traffic accident and he just can't look away."

She can't help but laugh as she remembers the naivety of that early video. Oh past Lizzie, if only it were that simple.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Fitz who laughed so loudly at the video of the Bushman that the family next to them had stopped to stare.

"Oh Lizzie B, you just about took out Will with that arm flailing. Remind me to never take you to a haunted house."

Fitz handed the phone back to Gigi wiping an actual tear from his eye. Lizzie was positive the video was not that funny.

"Well at least I would expect someone to jump out at me at a haunted house," she said. "This was more like an ambush."

Gigi was busy texting.

"Yes, and you were a very good sport," said Gigi. "We would never have done it if we didn't think you could take a joke."

Lizzie's phone buzzed in her purse and she saw a small still of the Bushman video flash on her home screen next to Gigi's cellphone number. Oh good, a souvenir for the day. Ten bucks the video was already on Twitter and Tumblr and YouTube.

Well, that is what she signed up for. And what she had signed everyone else in her life up for, apparently.

Karma was a bitch.

Lizzie heard a buzz from inside Darcy's leather jacket. Great. It was going viral already.

Before she had a chance to fish her phone out of her bag, their food arrived. There were huge, steaming plates of sesame chicken and mushu pork followed by a platter of stuffed mushrooms, pot stickers and large tureen of hot & sour soup.

Lizzie was practically salivating as they placed the sesame chicken in front of her. All of the walking and the cold had left her much hungrier than she had realized. They piled their plates high with eyes much larger than their stomachs.

The mushu pork was so good that she let out a small moan after her first bite.

Darcy paused at the sound. His fork floated halfway between his mouth and his plate before he realized how odd it probably looked. He shoved the forkful into his mouth. There was no need to draw attention to the fact that he was so affected by Lizzie moaning over food.

He stared at his plate, too self-conscious to look up and see that Fitz or Gigi had noticed.

Lizzie however was far too engrossed in her meal to notice. She couldn't tell if it was because the food was so good or if she was just incredibly hungry. Either way she smiled and gestured at the food with her fork.

"Okay. I will allow this place to order for me and only this place. This is delicious."

Darcy was glad that his choice was met with approval. Gigi had planned most of the day with the intention of hitting main tourist locations with minimal opportunities for Darcy to do something dumb. Gigi's words, not his.

This meant he still hadn't shown Lizzie his version of the city. The day had gone perfectly okay, but this dinner made him slightly more confident that he might be able to take Lizzie out on his own. One day. Eventually. Maybe.

The cramped table set-up was the only thing slowing Lizzie down. Correction, the tightness between the chairs was the only thing slowing Lizzie down. As she satiated her initial hunger pains, Lizzie was once again hyper-aware of Darcy sitting right next to her. It was far more distracting than she liked to admit.

It was like they were sitting down on her bench to tape one of her videos, but without the camera or whatever weird set of circumstances had led them there in the first place.

Lizzie took the chance to assess him without the pressure of performing on camera. For once she wasn't concerned with her body language and how thousands of anonymous viewers would interpret it. There wasn't that fear that everything they said and did was fodder for the internet.

More importantly she was able to see how she felt sitting there next to him. She was trying to honest with herself for once. She felt surprisingly calm. And comfortable. She was overall content with the events of the past 24 hours. It was amazing how long she had refused to even acknowledge that as an option.

Everyone was so concerned with their food that the table was unusually quiet aside from the scrape of serving spoon.

Darcy's left arm would brush alongside her right arm every once in a while. Apparently he was left-handed, but he had mastered how to eat next to a right handed person. There was none of that awkward elbowing that normally ensued.

It was such a small detail, but Lizzie found herself diligently collecting these kinds of facts. They were facts she planned to take back with her as she tried to reconstruct her version of Darcy.

She had no idea if it was possible, but she was determined to try.

Twenty minutes later the group was groaning from too much food eaten too quickly. Their bill arrived and Lizzie opened her wallet to get her debit card.

Darcy was already handing his card over to their waitress.

"No," she said emphatically. "Seriously I can't let you pay for me. I already monopolized your entire day."

To be honest Lizzie was never comfortable with anyone paying for her, especially so with guys. She was all for chivalry, but she had developed a strong distaste for that feeling of owing someone because they offered to pay for something. Yes it was another example of her sometimes cynical and distrusting nature. But she had experiences to back her up.

Even with her family's situation she had always been determined to pay her share of everything. Strangely enough the one time it hadn't been an issue was with Wickham. She wasn't sure if that counted as a red flag or not…

"Hey Lizzie, don't even worry about it. We have an agreement," said Fitz, nodding toward Darcy.

"Yes and that agreement is that you cheat at poker," said Darcy. Fitz ignored him and continued.

"Don't worry Lizzie, I'll just take your share out of what Darcy owes me. It's my treat," he said, winking at Lizzie.

Darcy rolled his eyes as he took the receipt from the waitress and began calculating the tip. Fitz. Taking credit for the first, and possibly only, meal that Darcy was going to take Lizzie out for. World's. Worst. Wingman.

Lizzie knew she was fighting a losing battle and the fact that Darcy was treating the entire table made her feel a little better. To be honest she felt so warm and full that didn't have the will to fight it anymore. She was entering a lovely little food coma.

She smiled lightly as she watched Darcy sign his name in a large, loopy scrawl. He was so methodical the way he formed the wide loping W in William and the large round D in Darcy. He was probably holding his pen with just the right amount of strength and lightness. It was nothing like the chicken scratch Lizzie produced during 8 a.m. lectures.

He caught her staring.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Nothing. You just have very nice penmanship."

It was such an odd compliment that Darcy wasn't sure how to react. Lizzie didn't seem to mind. She smiled and turned away from him as she fished her phone out of her purse.

Darcy looked down at his signature. Was he ever going to be able to figure out Lizzie Bennet?