Darcy kneeled down ever so lightly as if he might wake her up if he wasn't careful enough, caressing her cheek with his left hand, hoping she wasn't a dream and putting a strand of her hair behind her hair, swallowed before saying, "Hello."
He whispered, his voice quivered, bending and leaning into her ever so slightly. Her lips quivered slightly. His eyes, non blinking and his gaze relentless. Something changed in his eyes when he looked at her. He seemed not quite like Darcy. It was hard to describe but when she was in front of his eyes, he seemed like a changed man. He seemed gentler. He seemed weaker and he seemed lost in a dream.
He lifted her, sniffing her scent, and placed her on a couch, rushing to get the cup. He saw that it was a tea cup, surprisingly.
Darcy looked at the cup closely and placed it on the table next to the couch. Charles spotted Darcy and ran towards him. Elizabeth's right hand moved slightly, her eyes opening half way and closing back again.
"What's going on?" Charles breathed heavily.
"Nothing." Darcy spoke as he came back with a glass of water and went straight to Elizabeth.
He tilted her head towards him, even gently than a kiss, her eyes opening half way again, bringing the rim of the glass to her lips and she gulped down the water.
He placed the empty glass on the table and went for something again and Charles looked at him and at Elizabeth, not knowing if he should tease him later on or help him right now.
Elizabeth opening her eyes slowly, shielding her eyes with her hand. Charles and Darcy stood there, right in front of the couch waiting for her to come to her senses.
"George?" The first thing Elizabeth said after opening her eyes. She looked around, steadying herself with a hand on the couch and tried to stand but slumped back in the couch with a thump.
Darcy rushed towards her but stopped in his tracks when she looked at him, looking confused, "Who are you?"
A cord struck within him, causing him to stop in his tracks and didn't say anything for a while and when he was about to, Charles stepped in.
"I'm Charles." Charles said
"Hi…um, Charles. Do I know you?" Elizabeth asked, blinking at Charles, dumbfoundedly.
"No, you don't. But that's not important. What's important is that you fell unconscious and this guy." He pointed at Darcy, "Helped you out."
She gasped, "Oh my god...I did?"
"Yeah, why would I joke about that?" Charles spoke flatly.
"How did I...I'm sorry if it was. I don't know what to say really." She was speaking but she stopped midway putting her face in her lap, helplessly.
"Elizabeth! Elizabeth!" The voice just seemed to get louder. George had barged in and he went to Elizabeth, holding her by the shoulders.
"I heard you fainted. What happened?" George asked, looking around at Darcy and Charles.
"I found her...lying on the floor." Darcy spoke, unable making eye contact with Elizabeth
"But why? Does anyone know here?" George's voice raised slightly.
"This tea cup was lying next to her." Darcy gestured towards the empty tea cup that he placed on the table.
"A tea cup? Honey, why would you drink tea at such an event?" George frowned, picking up the cup and swiveling round in his palm.
"Found it next to it." Darcy placed a soaked tea bag on the table.
George picked up the drenched tea bag, "What have you been doing?"
"It's just tea. I wanted something to drink." Elizabeth replied
"Yeah, but I've never seen you drink tea. And besides, did someone put something in her tea?" George put the cup down as if it disgusted him.
"Did you guys ...?" He looked at Charles and then at Darcy, and suddenly stopped.
"They saved me! Especially when you weren't here." Elizabeth spoke, looking away from George, staring at the cup.
No one said anything. Not Darcy or Charles. Not even Elizabeth. She was done speaking. And George...
When Elizabeth looked to the side at George, she saw his face, pale and eyes full of shock as if he'd seen a ghost. His body got stiff and uneasy.
He shifted uncomfortably as if a part of his body was itching and in a moment, he got up, stepping away from Elizabeth, his steps rushed.
"Did you drink Calendula tea?" George asked, dropping the tea bag which was in his hands onto the very side of the table.
She noticed George drop the tea bag, "Yes. That's the one I found. I tried to search for peppermint but I guess they don't..."
At this point, George was taking a step backwards and then another, seemingly shocked or disappointed, as if Elizabeth had committed a blunder, at least that's how he made her feel with all those unreadable expressions on his face.
"George?" A frown had settled on her face.
"I need to go get some fresh air." He was gone, in a heartbeat, not looking back even once to see if she was following him or not, which she was but he was quite ahead of her. For a bit, she kept calling out to him, to talk to her but then she didn't. She chose to follow him silently.
Darcy stood in the cold air, just as where he was, as if he had turned to stone. The people, the cheering and pretty much everything around still looked the same. But he was different. He felt different. At first, he needed something to eat because he felt famished. And at a distance, he saw someone advancing towards him. He felt helpless and knew that nothing could be done now. It was Lydia.
He did look at her but turned his gaze elsewhere, moving away from her presuming that she might get the signal that he isn't really in need of company, or specifically, her company.
But she didn't. And she advanced towards him nevertheless, grinning widely. He went towards the dinner table and sat on one of the chairs and she sat next to him.
"Oh, Darcy, I was waiting for you. At the foyer to get me. But you never did." She spoke, twisting a lock of her hair round her finger. Darcy found her voice screechy, not that she sounded irritable, but maybe it was just Darcy feeling this way and maybe her speaking gently also won't make much of a difference.
Darcy cut into his pie and took a mouthful size. Lydia kept watching him chew.
"I didn't see you." Darcy spoke after he was finished chewing and swallowing.
"Oh you're so funny!" Lydia punched Darcy on the shoulder.
Colonel joined both of them and ate dinner he had been starving all night. They all chatted and Lydia laughed at just about everything Darcy spoke as if she was having the best night of her life. Darcy didn't understand what was she upto but he shrugged the thought of it everytime she would laugh like a penguin.
That's when someone tapped on his shoulder and when he turned around to see who it was, it was Charles.
"I'm literally stinking. If I stay in this for even ten minutes, I'll puke all the cocktail I've had tonight on someone."
"Okay, get the car and I'll join you in a bit." Darcy glanced at his watch once whilst Lydia stared at him, "in ten minutes."
"And, also another thing." Charles said
Before Darcy could say anything, Elizabeth appeared into view, she was walking quickly towards Charles as if following him.
Darcy let go of the knife and fork in his hand which landed with a clink onto the ceramic plate. He swallowed, stood up from his chair, his brain truly incapable of commanding any action past this.
"Oh… hi Lydia, how's your date going?" Elizabeth extended a hand towards Lydia. Darcy noticed her voice was a tad bit less cheerful than usual.
"It's good. It's um...you know." Lydia looked down at her plate and then at Darcy, "Darcy's incredible. He and I...I never thought that I'd be able to make it work and I guess, we're in the same boat and he did too."
Colonel looked at Charles, not understanding a word of what she said. She probably herself didn't know what she blurted out. What a load of crap?
"Yeah... I'm really happy for you Lydia. And I don't know if you guys know but." Elizabeth extended a hand towards Darcy and he stepped closer to her, holding her hand and she continued, "He'd been awfully nice to me." She looked into his eyes, "Darcy, thank you so much. I...can't be more appreciative of your sweet gesture. Really, people like you are rare to find." She would sometimes look up into his eyes and sometimes, past him or at his chest, because she couldn't take it. His intense gaze.
"I'm honoured." Darcy said, holding her hand firmly than before.
She let go of his hand and strolled away.
What he said or did for the rest of the night didn't matter anymore. Not to him. He was even a tad bit kinder to Lydia now and the music felt a bit sweeter. The time passed by just like a dream.
At night, laying in bed, he looked at his hand where her hand touched his for a while, put it on his chest and then, bought it to his nose, sniffing it, eyes closed and a soft smile played on his lips like it wasn't his anymore.