They woke up early the next morning to get an early start on their drive to Hollywood. Lizzie was hyper, especially after the events of the previous night and the morning went by in a pleasant blur. So pleasant, in fact, that she'd forgotten her cell phone. It didn't seem to matter, though, as the sights and sounds of Hollywood were so fantastic. Lizzie walked along the Walk of Fame, camera hung around her neck. She'd taken pictures of the stars of Julie Andrews, Lucille Ball, Ingrid Bergman, Charlie Chapman, Judy Garland, and many more. Grauman's Chinese Theatre was more beautiful in real life than it was on the pictures and as was the softly swaying palm trees. Lizzie found herself being swept into the magic of the city, and the more time she spent there, the more she wanted to stay.

'No wonder everyone wants to get into show business,' she thought, impressed.

Far sooner than she'd have liked, they were back on the road to her aunt's and uncle's house.

"Why don't you check your phone to see if anyone called you today, you haven't heard from your mother in a while," her aunt suggested calmly. "I think your uncle and I will take a walk. Is that okay?"

Lizzie smiled reassuringly. "Enjoy yourselves. I'll make sure the house doesn't burn down while you're away! Take your time, there's really no rush."

"Thank you dear," Mrs. Gardiner replied in a sing song voice as she left out the door with her husband.

Lizzie turned on her phone and discovered that she had been left two new messages. Curious, she punched in her voicemail password and was startled to hear the tearful voice of Jane.

"Lydia... she's gone and run away with George! Apparently, they snuck off one day and... just dissapeared! Mother's happy, as you can imagine, she thinks George is God's gift to man, but we know the truth! What are we going to do? She hasn't even graduated yet! She's ruining her future! Of course, the only thing anyone can think of is how she's ruining our reputation, but as long as she's safe and George doesn't harm her it doesn't matter! Father is flying down to DC as we-" the call ended there and Lizzie stood there for a moment in shock, the facts sinking in. Lydia had gone and run away with George, perhaps even married him. 'But she's not even old enou-' she thought incredulously, but then stopped herself. 'She turned eighteen two weeks ago!' she thought tragically. 'She's a legal adult. Though adult is hardly the word I would use to describe her!'

She pressed the save message button and listened to the other. "Sorry, I ran out of time. Father is flying down to DC to find her. Apparently George had a furlough that day and they just... took off! It's not even legal to- anyway, he's going down to look for some clues. Please call me back as soon as you get this message and book the next flight back home. Mother's ill and the house is in a frenzy. I love you."

Lizzie paled. It was far worse than she would have thought. The worse she thought George could do was date and dump her, but marry her? That was ridiculous and completely out of character! Besides, the Bennets had nothing to offer George Wickham, so what use would Lydia be to him? They couldn't have fallen in love, Lydia was far too distracting!

'I've got to find my aunt and uncle before I call Jane back,' she thought in a rush. She dialed the number to her aunt's cell, but it went straight to voice message. She tried her uncle's phone too, but heard it ring downstairs. In frustration, she flung the phone onto the bed across the room and went down the stairs, hopping two at a time. In a rush she threw on some boat shoes and ran down the driveway, looking to see if she could see them down the way that they went.

Angry and stressed, she turned around to see a black sports car trying to make a right into the driveway. She moved out of the way and the car stopped and Will jumped out.

"You look upset, what's wrong?" He rushed over to her and grabbed her hands.

"Lydia's run away with George!" Lizzie's lower lip trembled and her hands were shaking within his grasp. "I need to find my aunt and uncle, did you see them?"

"No," he looked just as distressed and worried as she did. "But they'll be back soon, let's go inside and think about this before we run around and do something rash."

He put an arm around her shoulder and steered her inside. By the time they reached the kitchen, Lizzie felt numb.

"Where do they keep the tea? I always drink tea when something stresses me out," he asked, taking charge of the situation.

"The second cabinet on the right."

He pulled out two packets and found two mugs. Filling them with water, he put a packet in each and put one in the microwave for two minutes.

"When did you find this out?"

Lizzie rubbed her forehead. "Jane left me a message this morning, but I didn't get it until just now."

He nodded and took the tea out of the microwave. Before he gave her the cup, threw the second mug in for two minutes. He slid the cup of tea in front of her and found himself a seat on the other side of the island. The options ran through his head, until he sighed. He got up to get his tea from the microwave and sat back down, now angry. "This is all my fault."

"No, it's mine. I should have told my family what you told me about him before it was too late," Lizzie corrected sadly, taking a small sip of the hot tea.

The door opened to a laughing Mr and Mrs Gardiner, but when they saw the scene splayed out in front of them, their merriment ended. "What's wrong?" Mr Gardiner asked urgently, his eyes wandering from Darcy to Lizzie.

"I need to book a flight home for tomorrow. Lydia's run away with a soldier."

Mrs Gardiner gasped. "Yes, dear, right away! I'll see what I can do."

"No, let me." Darcy stood up, his tall figure intimidating. "It'll be impossible for you to book a flight so last minute, and it'll cost a fortune. I'll have my private jet fly you home."

Lizzie was so grateful she felt tears beginning to form in her eyes. Quickly blinking them away she smiled gratefully. "Thank you Will!"

"It's the least I can do," he replied, not quite looking at her face. He turned to leave, but her uncle stopped him.

"What were you doing here, if you don't mind me asking?"

Darcy paused. "I came over to ask you all to dinner again. I see now that it will be an issue. It was nice seeing you all. I'll have my chauffeur pick you up at seven o'clock. Goodbye, Lizzie. I wish I could have done more."

With that he left the house and strutted to his car.

But before he did that, Mrs. Gardiner didn't fail to notice the look that they shared, and despite their unfortunate circumstances, she smiled inwardly.

***

"I'm sure he'll have her back soon, I'm sure George doesn't want a scandal as much as we do," Jane said worriedly, her fingers tapping nervously on the wheel.

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," Lizzie muttered. She looked as if she had just rolled out of bed, which was technically true. The private jet was nice, but she could hardly enjoy herself and the ice cream machine since she was so scared.

"Mom swore all day yesterday, calling the Forsters nearsighted and clumsy. There was no way anyone could have known what was going to happen! But last night was crazy. Lydia actually called us, and she wouldn't allow mom to put a word in, not allowing her to ask even where she is! She ended the call with, 'I can't wait to come home as Lydia Wickham.' Honestly, that girl is so foolish."

When they got home, they discovered matters got worse. Apparently their father had called, saying that none of his connections or any of the Forsters' had worked, and Lydia remained as lost as before.

"What are we going to do?" Mrs. Bennet wailed in her bed, a fan blowing on her.

Lizzie frowned. "The only thing we can do is wait."

***

"Lizzie is that you? It's your father." Mr. Bennet's voice sounded worried coming out of the phone.

"Yes, it's me, dad. Is there any more news?"

"Yes," he sighed. "They've eloped. My eighteen year old daughter eloped with a complete stranger. Forster found her, and I can't even begin to imagine how much he paid Wickham to convince him to come back with her. I saw her this morning. She talked my head off about how happy she is, how handsome George is, as if I gave a damn. She can't comprehend the trouble we went through, and how much money we spent! Hotels are a lot nowadays." He sighed again, sounding much older than he was.

"She's a child, a stupid, naive child."

"I'm not sure how naive," he muttered darkly. "I seemed to have gotten the play by play of their wedding night, but I tried my best to think of the scores of the Red Soxs this year, or anything but. I could have punched him in the face. In fact, I should have."

"Yes, you should've," Lizzie replied, disgusted at her youngest sister.

"I'd imagine your mother wants to see her, but hell knows I'm not paying for her plane ticket. I told her she would be finishing school, there's nothing I can do about the marriage right now. She yelled at me for a half hour of what that meant for her. 'I'd be away from my Wickham! What monster separates a wife from her man?' and so on..."

"She needs to learn how to be responsible." Lizzie agreed with her father immensely. If Lydia wanted to see her mother, she'd have to pay her own way. "She obviously thinks she's an adult anyhow," Lizzie told her father sarcastically.

He sighed again. "Please give me to your mother, I have a feeling that when I'm through with her she'll have me paying for their children's college fund in another twenty years."

Lizzie shook her head. "Stay strong, dad. I'm going to find Mother... here she is."

Sure enough, about five minutes into the conversation, they heard a loud, "WHAT?!" and that proceeded with a lot of yelling and swearing.

"It sounds like Lydia will be coming home on dad's charity," Lizzie commented to Jane sadly.

"Oh so they did find her!" Jane smiled broadly.

Lizzie scoffed darkly. "Yes, but they're married."

Jane's face fell.