Work Text:
We could just go home right now
Or maybe we could stick around
fFr just one more drink, oh yeah
Get another bottle out
Let's shoot the breeze, sit back down
For just one more drink, oh yeah
When William Darcy asked her to accompany him to the theatre, underlining the fact that they would be just the two of them, her instinct screamed that it wasn’t a good idea, to decline because something would have definitely gone wrong. But her body whispered maliciously to accept, in a soft and reassuring way that it was practically impossible to fight.
And so she said yes. To an evening at the theatre with the man that, not too long before, she hated with all her heart. And she also rejected him once in front of the entire internet, she couldn’t do it again.
The show was amazing, Sartre’s piece was masterfully played by the actors and the visual from their seats was perfect. The evening was exquisite and Lizzie was pleasantly surprised by how Darcy’s company could be stimulating: she judged him too harshly, she already knew it for a while now and those events confirmed her theory.
It was just 11 when they exited the theatre, they could have just gone home or they could stuck around, maybe have a drink of something, most of the bars were still open.
He suggested a wine bar and by the way he talked informally to the barista, she assumed he visited the place frequently; they sat at the counter and started talking in front of a glass of wine. At the beginning they stuck on neutral ground, like commenting the play they just saw, but at the 2nd bottle they shifted to more personal and dangerous topics, like Gigi’s history from his point of view – this time she heard it, not read it – Bing and Jane’s situation – and miraculously they managed not to fight, instead they found some common ground – and even some mentioning of last October’s events at Collins and Collins .
Here's to us
Here's to love
All the times that we messed up
Here's to you
Fill the glass
Cuz the last few days have gone too fast
So let's give ‘em hell
Wish everybody well
Here's to us
it was the two of them, trying to mend a relationship that actually never was, trying to fix the mess they both made. She prejudiced his attitude and his actions, he reacted way too impulsively and proudly against her.
They kept talking, the gasses were refilled, the days spent that came back to mind, how well they’d been that weekend touring the city and it all went way too fast. And how actually both of them just wanted to forget the world just to be alone.
We've stuck it out this far together
Put our dreams through the shredder
Let's toast cuz things got better
And everything could change like that
And all these years go by so fast
But nothing lasts forever.
Darcy was in front of her, he was talking and she thought of how much they went through, even if their experiences were a bit different: he lost his parents, inherited a company and became guardian to his little sister, all together at the same time. She was indebted to the core, asking for students loans and scholarships just to keep on studying, while she tried to get by between her family and her future carreer.
Okay, maybe he was winning the pity competition, but she also had her bad days. They both found the courage to go on by themselves, they were after all more similar than they thought.
They both had dreams, wishes, they wanted to do more but destiny had other things in mind and so they had to put everything aside, throw them into a shredder and leave them there, forgotten.
But they managed to get through, things got better and that was a good enough reason to celebrate and toast to their lives.
The Universe is unpredictable, the beautiful thing about life is that, when you least expect it, things change, suddenly all your world can turn upside down and the past years, the things done, the objectives reached can vanish in the blink of an eye. Nothing lasts forever and Lizzie and Darcy knew that.
Here’s to us
Here’s to love
All the times that we messed up
Here's to you
Fill the glass
Cuz the last few nights have gone too fast
If they give you hell
Tell em forget themselves
Here's to us
That night was for them, for the love that could have been and who knows, maybe will be. That night was to mend all the times they messed up, the things unsaid, the words unspoken.
It was for her, because his feelings repressed for so long and then thrown at her at the worst time possible, never went away, never faded, on the contrary they got stronger, if it is even possible to love someone more than this.
It was for him, because of what he did no matter the way she rejected and insulted him in front of the entire web, because he got his resentment aside and was kind even more than what social conventions dictated.
They kept on fill their glasses, the evening was going too fast, and so was their time together, suddenly it seemed like it wasn’t enough. And they didn’t care about the rest of the world, at that moment it was just the two of them, they didn’t care about what Gigi, Fitz or Lizzie’s sisters were doing, they could forget all of them and be just the two of them, just them that night.
Here's to all that we kissed
And to all that we missed
To the biggest mistakes
That we just wouldn't trade
Here's to us breaking up
Without us breaking down
To whatever's coming our way
The clock was turning too fast and it was really time to go home. While they walked – since they drank they decided to leave the car in the parking area and come back in the morning – Lizzie thought about how it would feel to kiss William Darcy, how her life could have been if the last months things would have gone differently: if they met elsewhere instead of that embarrassing wedding, if they actually talked and get to know each other before making up their minds too soon, maybe now they would have been together, walking toward THEIR home hand in hand, instead of just her apartment maintaining the security distance.
She thought about how it would feel to kiss him, if it would have been like with George or just anyone of her ex boyfriends, but then she remembered that it was William Darcy, probably nothing would have been just like the others.
And subconsciously she found herself to regret of couldn’t do it, of ccouldn’t stop, turn around, take his face between her hands and just indulge that sudden desire to feel her lips on his. Because she made many mistakes, and now it was too late to go back, what she did couldn’t be undone… also because it still was on Youtube, for everyone to see and see it again.
They had quietly reached their destination, the small flat that Lizzie was temporarily living in was just 4 floors ahead of them; it was time to say goodbye, to let the memories of that beautiful evening find a place in her mind. But there was something, the thought of seeing him leave that she couldn’t stomach. She couldn’t do it. She felt that if she let him leave she would have collapsed, he became like the air, if he went away she would have fainted for loss of oxygen.
And so she did it. What she dreamed of just moments before. The bottles of wine were her accomplices. The kiss she gave him was unexpected, sudden, frantic, urgent, clumsy and a bit alcoholic. But he was practically perfect. Just after a few seconds of surprise, Darcy also gave in, returning the contact that immediately became passionate and deep.
Here's to us
Here's to love
All the times that we messed up
Here's to you
Fill the glass
Cause the past few days have gone too fast
So let's give 'em hell
Wish everybody well
Here's to us
Here's to love
All the times the we messed up
Here's to you
Fill the glass
Cause the last few nights have gone too fast
If they give you hell
Tell 'em to forget themselves
Here's to us
That was for them, for the love they shared – now it was useless to deny it – for all of what they did with their lives. It was for hi, it was for her. Because they deserved it, because the days spent together have gone too fast, they wanted more and now they knew it.
So to hell with their past, if they couldn’t live until then now they could start, they could throw their mistakes behind them and start again, this time together.
«I know it’s late, but I was thinking…» she said when they separated, after a few minutes. Their hands still intertwined.
«Yes?» he intervened still breathless from the emotion.
«…if you want, well, maybe you can come up. We can have one more drink».
«Yes, I ‘d like to» William answered, his eyes lost in those of the woman in front of him, shining with desire.
«Here’s to us?»
«Here’s to us».