Lizzie Bennet Diaries one-shots

Family Reunion

The Bennets, Darcys, and Bing Lee are going to see the 2030 Off-Broadway revival of Waitress together.

~~~

"Milo!" Lydia called out from our bedroom.
"Yes, hun?"
"I don't know what to wear!"
I walked into the room. "What are your options?"
Lydia had pulled multiple dresses out of her closet, that were now on the bed and all over the floor. She held up one dress, a soft pink one with a flowy skirt just above the knee. "I really like this one, but I'm afraid it's too revealing." She gestured to another more structured dress in beige: "That one is also nice, and it's more decent."
"Lydia," I said, "Your sisters won't care what you're wearing. You're going out with your family. There is no need to look 'decent' or 'professional'. Wear whatever makes you feel good."
"But, we're going to the theatre, people will-"
"-not even see what you're wearing because you're sitting in the dark," I interrupted her, "Seriously, darling. No one will care."
She sighed. "You're right. I'm just- I'm afraid I will spend the entire afternoon worried that I'm flashing someone."
"Try on both dresses and see which one feels right," I suggested.

Jane and Bing had picked up Lizzie, Darcy and Gigi from the airport earlier that morning. So when we arrived at the restaurant, everyone but us was there already.
"Lizzie!" Lydia flung around the neck of her sister.
"Lydia!" Lizzie tried to break loose from her sister's grip. "Please, you're choking me."
Lydia quickly let go. "Sorry, sis."
Lizzie chuckled. "It's okay. I'm happy to see you too."
"Hello everybody," I was finally able to bring in a word.
"Hi Gigi, hi Darcy," Lydia said, before turning back to Lizzie, "How is life at Pemberly Digital? Do you guys still have those napping pods?"
"Are you going to ask me this every time we see each other?" Lizzie asked laughing, "But yes, we do."
"Of course I will!" Lydia answered, "Napping pods at work. Man, I want to work for you guys."
"If we ever need a psychologist, we'll ask you," Lizzie promised. Darcy started to say something, but Lizzie glared at him so he kept whatever he was going to say to himself.
"I like your dress, Lyds," Gigi said.
"Thanks!" said Lydia, slipping her hand into her sister's. "I was afraid it wasn't decent enough, but it felt right so I wore it anyway." She smiled at me, and my heart did that weird fluttery thing. However long we were married, it had never quite stopped doing that whenever I saw that smile that she reserved only for me. I didn't think it would ever stop either, my wife (can you believe it? my wife!) was way too pretty for me to ever get used to it.
"It is gorgeous," Jane added, "and definitely not indecent." She gestured to the lunchroom. "But shall we go inside?"

During the lunch, Gigi was telling me and Lydia about the show we were going to see. "I'm so excited! It has this very immersive space, so you're completely wrapped up in the story."
"What the hell is an immersive space?" Lydia asked.
"Well," Gigi answered, "The story takes place in a diner, and they've staged it so that the audience are all customers there."
I met eyes with a man across the cafeteria. A small shock went through me as I recognised him. Lydia and Gigi were still deeply invested in their conversation, so neither of them had seen him. He looked over our way, and I put my arm around Lydia as my gaze met his. A flicker of emotion went over his face - what was it? I wasn't quite sure. regret? - before he turned around and left immediately.
"It is amazing how they used lighting and subtle set changes to turn this diner into the other places in the story, such as the doctor's office and Jenna's home," Gigi said.
"If you go on like this, you'll have spoiled every single bit of the show before we're even in the theatre," I said teasingly.
Gigi blushed. "I just love this show a lot."
"Darcy!" I called out to the other side of the table, "Tell your sister not to spoil the entire show beforehand."
Darcy reached back so he could see us. "Georgiana! We've talked about this, don't embarrass me to my family-in-law by talking about musicals the entire time."
I could not quite tell whether he was joking or not, but Gigi just stuck out her tongue and continued where she had left off.

As we were walking to the theatre, I slid my hand into Lydia's. "Peanut?"
"Hm?"
"I love you."
She smiled. "I love you too, idiot."

When we'd arrived in the theatre and found our tables, Gigi was now talking about how the lights in the theatre were originally made for their production of Kiss of the Spider Woman. I was slowly starting to regret our decision to sit with her instead of Jane and Bing when the lights came down and the show started. Gigi, thankfully, shut up and let us enjoy the show. I thoroughly enjoyed the show - even if I didn't need to know every excruciating detail about it - and I occasionally glanced at Lydia to see if she was enjoying it too. Even more so than myself, she was completely wrapped up in the story and there were times where I enjoyed watching her more than I enjoyed watching the show. After the emotional climax, a song called She Used To Be Mine, I noticed that Gigi and Lydia were holding hands, each watching the stage with a look signalling they were far away in their own worlds. I didn't disturb them from their moment, but I couldn't help but think of the man I saw in the diner, and wonder if he was on their minds.

After the show, we split with the rest of the party. Lydia gave Lizzie an extra hug, telling her how excited she was that she was here. I hadn't noticed how much Lydia had missed her sister, and I made a mental note that we should ask Lizzie to come over more often. Jane and Bing went back to their apartment, and Darcy and Lizzie had rented an apartment in the city. Gigi had said something about feeling awkward third-wheeling her brother, so Lydia had offered her to stay with us, which she had gratefully accepted. Thus came that the three of us, Lydia, Gigi and I, went back to our apartment. None of us was hungry for supper, after our exquisite lunch and pie during the show, so we ended up playing games for the rest of the night. We learned that the Darcys are very good at Scrabble - Gigi claims she hasn't beaten William ever in her life, but I'm not sure if I believe her - but no one will ever beat my Monopoly skills.

I finally got to speak to Lydia alone when Gigi had retreated to her room. She was doing something on her phone, her head resting on my shoulder, when I said: "Squirrel?"
"Hm?"
"I saw George Wickham today."
Lydia looked up. "You what now?"
"I saw George Wickham."
It stayed silent for a while, then Lydia said "Ok" and went back to her phone.
I chuckled. "Ok? That's it?"
"Yeah, ok." After a short pause, she added: "We should probably tell Gigi though."
"Gigi?"
"Yeah, she has the right to know."
"Why Gigi?" I asked, still not understanding what Lydia was getting at.
She looked at me questioningly and I could tell the exact moment it dawned on her, her unspoken "Oh." hanging in between us. "Yeah, her and George- It was like a whole thing, and I'm not the right person to tell you this, but it was like a long time ago and it doesn't really matter I just don't wanna hide this from her y'know secrets never work out well so we best just tell her-"
"Lydia. It's ok, you don't need to tell me."
"I know. It's just- It doesn't really matter. It was a long time ago, and we're both good. George is there, and he always will be, but he just... doesn't matter. He is irrelevant now. If we run into him, so be it. No point worrying about it. Do you understand?"
I nodded. "I understand. I love you."
She smiled. "I love me too."
I laughed and pushed her off the couch. "You better."