Darcy had it all planned out.

Knowing that Elizabeth liked sports, he had suggested that their usual weekend group watched a game live for a change. Maybe that would score him some bonus points with her longtime friendzoner. The thing is, she did not seem to have any inkling that he was secretly in love with her. He had welcomed this kind of safe relationship at first, thinking it would still be a step up from her previous aloofness towards him. Over time, he hoped that their casual friendship would blossom into a beautiful romance. Frustratingly however, she was not taking his hints of wishing for something more. If this afternoon went well, he might just dare to invite her to another match. Just the two of them.

He had arranged for the tickets, transportation, the timings, and even the seating arrangement. So there would be Charles, Jane, Georgiana, Elizabeth, then him.

But there was one thing he did not count on. Or rather, one person.

Caroline.

Why was she even here? She always complained whenever they watched sports on the TV. What was more-- how she managed to rudely squeeze past and get in after Georgiana irked him. Now he was left with the decision as to whether Elizabeth should sit next to the wicked witch of the north, south, east and west, or if he should volunteer as tribute to accept that punishment. Much as he disliked the latter choice, he opted to save his ladylove from the pain of listening to Caroline whine about every single thing, from start to finish. Furthermore, he was aware that Caroline despised Elizabeth and often made snidey remarks about her. No, he would not want to subject Elizabeth to a horrific experience, so with a deep sigh, he took his place next to Caroline.

"William darling, here, I got us some snacks. We can share," Caroline announced, shoving the box of popcorn towards him.

"No, thank you."

"Chocolates?"

"No, thanks."

"Haribos? Chewing gum? Mint?"

"No, no and no."

Darcy willed for the game to start soon, and that the noise from the audience would drown her annoying voice out.

"Lizzy! Lizzy dear!"

Darcy groaned. This could not be happening. He did not count on creepy Collins to be here as well. Having caustic Caro was bad enough. And of course, that Shrek lookalike, but ten times uglier, settled on the other side of Elizabeth.

"Your mother told me you would be here. So here I am. Isn't it wonderful that I finally caught you? You have been so busy to even text me or answer my calls. My dear Miss Lizzy, ever so busy!"

What is Mrs Bennet thinking, trying to pair that oaf with Elizabeth?

"Do you like my outfit, Lizzy? I wore neon green so you would notice me straight away in the crowd. I even have a neon green hat to match!"

Go away. Please go back to Kingdom of Far, Far Away. Where is Donkey when you need him?

Fortunately, when the game started, it was easier to ignore the fluorescent orange, er, fake tanned woman, and Mike Wazowski. Darcy chuckled at Elizabeth's unreserved reactions during play. In truth, he enjoyed watching her enjoying the game more than watching the game itself.

However… unfortunately, Darcy later discovered that there was a third thing that he did not count on.

Kiss cam!

Whoever invented such an intrusive scheme? Not only is it awkward, it is also tasteless and utterly embarrassing.

Well, at least the camera zoned in on the perfect couple, Ken and Barbie, er, Charles and Jane. Being the sweet couple that they were, they shared a wholesome kiss, to the cheers of the thousands of onlookers.

Before he knew it, the camera panned to another couple. Caroline inched closer to him, practically sitting on his lap, and pouted her lips. His eyes grew wide when he realised it was the two of them projected on the jumbotron.

"Go on, Darcy! You are supposed to kiss when you're on the kiss cam!" Elizabeth teased him.

He frowned and glared, then frowned and glared some more until the camera eventually deserted him.

He was just about to relax when he caught sight of the next couple on the screen.

Don't you dare touch her, Collins!

Elizabeth hastily shifted to avoid the bloated green goblin's puckered lips. With no more space left to move to, she turned her head the other way, now facing Darcy. The camera continued to hover around their section, waiting to capture more entertaining actions.

What was he to do now?

What else but kiss Elizabeth! You're supposed to kiss when you're on the kiss cam, she said so herself, right?

He did not care about so many eyes watching them anymore. All that mattered to him at that moment was that he was finally kissing Elizabeth. He could feel a hand tugging at him but paid it no mind. Elizabeth's lips were warm, soft and delectable, much better than he imagined them to be. That she was kissing him back made him deliriously happy.

"Whoa! That might just be one of the longest kisses we have on record," he heard the host declare after their kiss.

Suddenly anxious, Darcy peeked at Elizabeth's flushed face to gauge her feelings. Hopefully, he was not going to be at the receiving end of a hard slap. She cast him a shy glance, then turned her face away but not before he saw her smile and bite her lower lip.

The rest of the game was lost on Darcy. When it ended, he had popcorn on his expensive clothes and on his dark hair, courtesy of Caroline, yet he was unbothered by the mess, especially when a giggly Elizabeth picked up all the little bits with her dainty fingers. The same fingers which he kissed and held onto afterwards. Oblivious to an escalating blaming contest between the orange and green monstrosities, they walked ahead together, to the delight of Georgiana, Jane and Charles who watched them from behind.

No, things did not quite go as Darcy had planned, but… he was more than happy with the outcome. Everything was alright in his world the day he got to kiss Elizabeth.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

This scenario had been on my mind for months and I finally succumbed to writing it.

I envision PnP characters to be British. Darcy with a British accent… mmm.

And I know kiss cam is not really a thing here in the UK…

So please forgive me for the mismatch.

I just thought it would be a bit of fun.

Thank you for reading.

(Subject to editing)