Lizzie Bennet Diaries one-shots

Peaches

Gigi warns Lydia about the dangers of George Wickham.

~~~

Gigi rang the doorbell and immediately regretted it. She didn't know if Lydia would be home, let alone if she would want to speak to her. What if George-
She didn't finish her thought because the door opened, and it was definitely not George who had opened it. But it wasn't quite Lydia either. This girl was small, fragile. Nothing like the dazzling star Gigi had come to know through the videos. Her face was so pale it almost looked translucent. Gigi had known this was happening, she had seen Lydia's videos. But still, she was not prepared for the shock of seeing Lydia like this in real life.
Lydia raised an eyebrow when Gigi didn't say anything. "Who are you?"
Gigi quickly pulled herself together. "Sorry, I'm-" She almost said 'Gigi Darcy', but she knew that Lydia would not react positively to that name. Not after what her brother had said about her. She silently cursed her brother's complete lack of sensitivity and said instead: "I need to talk to you. It's about George."
"What about him?"
"I-" Gigi didn't know what to say. She had jumped in her car after binge-watching all of Lydia's videos, determined to get her away from him, but in the drive up here she hadn't actually prepared what she was going to say. "I know him. And I wanted to warn you. Can I come in?"
Lydia scoffed. "Look, I don't know who you are, why should I listen to you?"
"Because I loved him!" Gigi exclaimed. On a softer tone, she continued: "Because I've been where you are now. Because I, too, was hopelessly, desperately in love with him and I, too, let him consume my entire world. I was like you, Lydia Bennet, but I know what happened next. And now I'm away from him I can see things much clearer. It's like the fog in my brain has lifted and I see everything I didn't see before. He was using me to get back at my brother, and now he's using you but I'm not gonna let that happen."
"You're Gigi Darcy," Lydia concluded.
"The one and only," Gigi admitted.
"Do you think George hasn't told me about you? How your brother broke you up? You may think you're seeing things clearer now, but all I see is that Darcy had to ruin George's happiness once again! And you're not much better, are you?! You are still blaming George and defending your brother, so how can you say you loved him? And now you're bothering me, can't you just leave us alone and let us be happy together?! Do you have to ruin everything?!"
"Excuse me?!" Gigi's voice cracked. "I am trying to help you, Lydia! Do you genuinely think that you're happy?! Because you don't look happy to me! You look like a ghost, and I don't want that. I want old Lydia back, who was confident and radiant!"
"And what if old Lydia wasn't happy?!"
"Then we'll create a new Lydia who is! My point is that George is not the solution. He doesn't love you, he just wants money and revenge on my brother and your sister! He goes after the people they love most. That's what he does, he is good at that!"
"You know nothing about my relationship with my sister!"
Gigi's heart might as well have dropped right out her chest when Lydia said that. Lydia stared at her with an anger that seemed to come from the deepest, darkest parts of her soul. But Gigi wasn't afraid. She knew that anger wasn't directed at her. Her voice was strangely soft when she started again. "I watched the videos, remember? And I know Lizzie. She loves you, Lydia, she really does. She's being an idiot about it, but she does love you."
Lydia stared at Gigi with expression that cut right into Gigi's soul. "You must have interpreted what you saw wrong."
"Lydia-"
"Goodbye, Gigi."

Gigi stared at the shut door for what felt like at least an hour, but what probably was only 10 minutes. What would Lydia be doing in there? Would she be with him? Would she have told him what had happened? She wanted to run in there, drag her away from him, against her own will if needed. She wanted to help Lydia see the truth, however long it would take.
But still, there was a voice in the back of her head. What if Lydia already saw the truth? What if Lydia was right, and she had just been blinded by her brother's perception? Maybe George had been right after all. Maybe her brother had been wrong, and she-
She cut off that train of thought. That was something to discuss with her therapist, not when she was alone and definitely not right now. Right now, she needed to go back home safely. And considering how much her hands were shaking, that might not be the easiest task.