The next two years passed faster than Darcy would have thought they could. She studied and taught her classes, figured out what she wanted to write her dissertation on (international human rights law compliance), picked up and dropped a few hobbies, did some traveling for school and pleasure, and found a solid group of friends in her department. She made a few trips up to NYC to do the touristy thing, often reluctantly accompanied by James who mumbled under his breath about the tourist traps while Steve (when he was around) talked about the New York they'd grown up in.
Things with Ray were still going strong though it had been a bit tense after his internship with the State Department's US Mission to The Hague the previous summer. He'd originally applied for the summer internship to build his resume and do some travelling with the added benefit of building some in roads for Darcy when it came to doing fieldwork for her dissertation. What he hadn't planned on was finding something he was passionate about. Though the actual internship with the Mission wasn't the most riveting, he'd been able to attend hearings at the International Criminal Court and tour the Peace Palace and The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
While still in The Netherlands, he started to research Masters of Law (LLM) programs that focused on human rights and international law. When Ray got back to the States, he told Darcy about his plan to apply to NYU's LLM program. It was only an additional year of school and would put him in a better position to get a job in the international legal field afterwards, he explained. And there was the added benefit of them both being interested in doing the same thing so he could help with her dissertation research.
It was hard to argue and be upset about him taking an extra year to study, Darcy reasoned, when she still had at least 2 years left in her doctorate program. But it threw a wrench in their plans – he was supposed to stay in DC and take a job at some politician's office while she finished up school, and then they'd move to wherever she could find a job. They were good plans that she liked. But now he was talking about moving to another state for a year.
"It's only two semesters," he'd assured her as they curled up in bed together, pressing a kiss to the back of her shoulder. "It's only a train ride or a short flight away."
He'd sent off his application as she drilled down to study for her comprehensive exams, the make or break test to see if she could continue in her program. She took the test over two days during Spring Break, covering the major International Relations theories and her two subfields of International Laws, Norms, and Institutions and International Security. She wrote nearly 50 pages of text and prayed that it was enough.
Darcy got her results back in April.
She printed out a copy of the email her advisor had sent to her and took a picture with it, texting it to her parents and James with the message "I'm ABD bitches!" before changing her Facebook profile picture to the same image. As likes and comments rolled in, James texted her back – 'Congrats! What's ABD?' After typing in a quick explanation ('All but dissertation – halfway to freedom!'), Darcy switched her skirt for a pair of jeans and got ready to a group of classmates at a dive bar to celebrate.
The next day, when she came back from the office, she found a bouquet of flowers sitting by her front door. "Congratulations, soon-to-be Dr. Lewis!" the card read, signed by James and Steve.
Ray graduated from law school that May, and his parents took them out for a fancy dinner. It wasn't until a few weeks later that he found out that he was going to attend NYU. When he'd gotten the letter, he took her out for a fancy dinner that they really couldn't afford before meeting his friends in Adams Morgan. They'd stumbled back to their apartment into in the early morning hours, laughing as they fumbled with buttons, clasps, and zippers. It wasn't until she woke up with smeared eyeliner and the beginnings of a hang over that it sunk in that her boyfriend was moving.
The next few months were difficult. Darce hadn't gotten a summer teaching assignment and had struggled to find a job to pay the bills during her few off months. She cobbled together enough money each month through a variety of revenue streams: teaching English as a Second Language about fifteen hours a week, the odd babysitting job, being the on-call bartender for a nightclub downtown that made decent tips, and working as a copy editor for an online company that catered towards academics. Ray continued to work for legal aid and got a job as a cashier at the pharmacy down the street, squirreling away as much money into a savings account as he could.
As much as she loved Ray and was excited for his opportunity, Darcy wanted to scream at him. He was walking around on a high, thrilled to be moving onto the next stage in his career. Over the summer the devoured her growing library on international law and human rights, pestering her to go to the university library for him to get more books after his privileges were revoked. They also faced the difficulty of the apartment getting smaller and smaller as the number of packed boxes increased. There had been a few tense discussions over who owned what in their joint living space, but eventually things worked out.
Darce put on a good face and played the excited girlfriend when they spent the weekend in New York apartment hunting for him. James and Steve insisted that they stay with them in Avengers Tower, which she could have kissed them for because the expense thought of staying at a hotel or an Air B&B had made her bank account shake with dread.
They trekked through Manhattan and Brooklyn and Queens looking at apartments and rooms for rent. Ray chatted with the agents and leaseholders while Darcy took detailed notes outlining the pros and cons of the apartments, shoving applications into her ever-bulging purse as they left the properties.
Steve asked polite questions about their hunt over dinner on Saturday night as he grilled up some steaks in the amazing kitchen on their floor. That was the opening that Ray needed to launch into his detailed review of the day. Darcy, tired and just wanting to crawl into bed, suppressed a sigh and took a long drag of the craft beer that had been pressed into her hand.
When James caught her eye, he subtly motioned to the balcony. "I'm gonna…" she said, vaguely motioning towards the bank of windows.
"Me too," James added.
"Don't be too long," Steve said. "The steaks are almost done."
The two assured him that they would be back soon before making their way outside. As he shut the door behind them, Darcy moved towards the banister, folded her arms, and rested her chin on them.
"Tired?" James asked, coming up to stand beside her, his beer dangling from his fingers.
"You could say that," she shrugged, rolling her head to look up at him. He raised an eyebrow and turned to rest his back against the banister before nodding towards the apartment.
"He's sure excited about coming up here."
"Yup."
"It sucks, huh?"
Giving him a wry smile, she turned her attention back to the amazing view of New York City. "Is it bad if I say yes?"
"Nope." He took another sip of his beer and shrugged. "My shrink would say that it's normal…if I went to a shrink."
"I thought you were going to go," Darcy said, standing and snagging his beer to down the last swallow.
"Was. Did. Hated it. But we're not talkin' 'bout my problems now, Doll."
"I'd rather talk about yours than mine," she sighed.
"There aren't enough hours in the day to talk about my fucked up problems," he smirked and then chuckled when Darcy bumped her hip against his. "'S the truth." They were quiet for a long time before she spoke up.
"Does it make me a bad girlfriend that I don't want him to go?"
"Nope."
"Like, we have this life and it's good, and yeah money's tight but we figure it out which is the whole thing about growing up, right? But we have plans and goals and then he just goes and changes them without really talking them out with me…and I feel like such a bitch because he should be able to keep going to school, and I should be happy that he's found something that he's passionate about, but I keep thinking 'what about me?' And this isn't about me – this is about him. And I'm trying to be excited for him but it's really hard and I think he can tell, and – "
"And you're worried about how much things will change in a year."
Darcy narrowed her eyes at him and huffed, "I really hate you sometimes."
James barked a laugh and took the beer bottle from her, frowning at how light it was before lifting it to see if it was empty. "You're a dame that likes lists and plans, and schedules and order. Nothin' wrong with being upset that things are changing. Change ain't always good."
"So this doesn't make me a terrible person?"
James took a deep breath and bumped his shoulder against hers. "Darcy, I've met terrible people and you're nowhere close."
Darcy swallowed around the lump in her throat and pushed off the railing to pull him into a hug. He hesitated a heartbeat before wrapping his arms around her and squeezing her tightly. "You know the same goes for you, right?"
"Don't go and ruin the moment, Sweetheart." Huffing, Darcy buried her face in his chest and pinched his side. They stood that way for a long moment before he cleared his throat, "You know…if, uh, money's tight, I'd be happy to – "
"If you finish that sentence," she cut him off, "I'll punch you."
"Just offering," he said, and she could hear the smile in her voice. "Steve and I've been there and we know how rotten it is."
She looked up at him and rolled her eyes, "Well you guys figured it out, and I'm not gonna be you and your boyfriend's charity case."
"You're not charity, Darce – you're family."
"Oh god," she said, a blush creeping up her neck. "When did you become such a sap?" James rolled his eyes and was about to retort when the door slid open and Steve cleared his throat.
"Dinner's ready if you two are."
"Yeah," Darcy nodded, taking a step away from James. Steve smiled and walked back into the apartment, where she could see Ray giving her an odd look.
"I'm being serious, Darcy," James said, catching her hand as she moved to go inside, "If you ever need anything…"
"I know," she smiled, squeezing his gloved fingers. "That goes both ways."
Author's Note: I apologize for the delay in updating - real life has gotten kind of hectic and busy in the not best ways. Fortunately (and rather exhaustingly) I've started addressing the problems that are sapping all of my energy/will to write, so fingers crossed that the next few updates will be quicker! I've got the next chapter pretty much plotted out, and I think there's going to be maybe 2 or 3 chapters left. But then again, this started out as a one-shot so...yeah...
Thank you for reading and being patient with my slow updates!