Chapter 6 - Commencement

Will could still feel the panic in his chest when he thought back to his last encounter with Lizzie in the conference room. Cursing his amazing ability to put his foot in his mouth, his mind scrambled as he spent the hours after he got off work thinking of how he was going to fix this gigantic fuck up.

He winced as his sister's scream tore through his phone's speakers when he called her for advice and regaled her in the tales of Witless Will. He winced again when his sister laid out his stupidity in clear and concise way that only Georgiana seemed to have the ability to do. (A much more useful talent than Will's previously mentioned foot in mouth ability)

"So let me get this straight… you managed to get the WOMAN OF YOUR DREAMS to agree on a date with you barely two weeks ago, and within that short period of time you somehow managed to not only INSULT her behind her back, but also did so in front of HER BOSS."

Georgiana's eyes softened slightly at the Will's desolate face staring back at her through FaceTime. "I love you, brother, but you better talk to her as soon as you can to clear it up. Maybe do something big for her to show how serious you are."

Will groaned. What was he going to do?

"And don't even think about doing the chocolate and flowers route. From what you've told me about Lizzie the past year working with her, she will not be impressed."

"Lizzie is allergic to pollen."

"See? Will, you're such a sweetheart and you clearly care a lot about her. You've haven't stopped talking about her since she started at the hospital."

Will started to protest, only to be stopped by his sister's virtual hand in front of the phone's camera. "I'm not making fun of you, Will. I'm saying that if you don't make this right, I will be so mad at you for sabotaging my future badass boss lady sister-in-law's relationship with me. Do something that you know Lizzie will appreciate. Show her that you listen to her and pay attention to her. Once you explain what happened, I'm sure she'll forgive you."

Will nodded, the beginnings of an idea forming in his mind. He didn't have a lot of time to put his plan in motion, but Will knew that it was his best shot. He needed to fix this, and he needed to do it soon.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

The party was in full swing with zero Darcy sightings. Lizzie walked around interacting with patients and family, munching distractedly on various pieces of candy she had picked up around the café.

"Lizzieee." The familiar voice of her friend came from her right. "Stop eating candy corn. You hate candy corn." Charlotte muttered through her smiling teeth as she went to grab the handful that Lizzie was currently determinedly making her way through. Lizzie glared as she pulled her hand away from her meddling friend. "Lizzie I can see you wince from across the room every time you put one in your mouth. You're scaring the children."

Lizzie couldn't argue with that. Ever since she was young she had the habit of munching nervously on things. She must have been really out of it to not even realize she was eating candy corn.

"Uh oh. Smile. SMILE. Caroline Bingley is coming over here."

Lizzie did not smile. Instead, the frown on her face grew exponentially at the mention of her brother-in-law's crazy sister.

"Lizzie, darling!" The familiar shrill voice beckoned from behind Lizzie. "Oh, hello Charlotte." Charlotte nodded politely, pretended that someone was calling her from across the room, and made her exit swiftly, leaving Lizzie on her own. Some friend she is.

Caroline Bingley and her had always been on fairly friendly terms – she was also a nurse at the hospital, and Lizzie had always respected how good she was at her job. Her personality outside of the hospital, however, leaved something to be desired. Lizzie didn't mind though; her clear obsession with Darcy meant that Caroline always dominated the conversation with Darcy that Lizzie didn't have to put in effort when they were thrown into a social setting together with Jane and Charlie. (Lizzie ignored the pang in her gut at the thought of Darcy.) It wasn't until Jane and Charlie had a child and named Lizzie as the godmother did her and Caroline's relationship take a nosedive.

She turned around to face the Caroline, who was dressed up as… Miss America?

"Bond girl." Caroline sniffed at the confused look at Lizzie's face.

"Ah. You look great, Caroline." Lizzie replied, not entirely sure why Carolyn had sought her out.

"Thank you, Lizzie." She replied, her eyes looking critically at Lizzie's Belle costume. "Are you going out with William?"

Lizzie choked on the candy corn she was chewing on. Luckily, Caroline was naturally chatty, she launched into describing the gossip that was spreading around the hospital, no doubt aided largely in part by Caroline.

"I heard that Richard talked to William about you. Asking him if he liked you. I told my friends that they were being ridiculous when they were convinced that you two were going out. I mean, William barely even talks to you when we're all hanging out together."

Lizzie grimaced, thinking about a very similar conversation she had a week ago with a rambunctious child. What a difference a week makes. "Your gossip group will be delighted to hear that Darcy is nothing more than indifferent towards me." Lizzie replied without an ounce of enthusiasm in her tone.

Satisfied with her answer, Caroline nodded at her with a smile on her face. "Of course, I knew better, Lizzie. I defended you with my friends. I will say, though, interesting choice in costume." Lizzie groaned internally. Everyone seemed to have some sort of opinion on her costume. "Almost as interesting as the guy in the hot dog costume." Caroline rolled her eyes dramatically.

Lizzie froze. A hot dog costume? What were the chanc-

"I think she looks great in her costume." A familiar voice cut through her panicked thoughts. Lizzie whirled around to come face to face with the previously mentioned hot dog man.

"William? I didn't even recognize you earlier! You look absolutely adorable!"

"Can I speak with you please?" Completely thrown off my the fact that William Darcy was standing in front of her dressed as a hot dog, all she could do was nod before he grabbed her hand to take her away from the gaping Caroline Bingley.

It was silent for a while as they reached the more secluded corner. "So a hot dog suit, huh?" Lizzie winced at her attempt at breaking the ice.

Darcy chuckled. "Just taking a page out of your book. You did say you didn't need a man to rescue you, but you did need a hot dog… so here I am. I had to bribe Jane and Charlie to help me find this so last minute."

"Oh is that why my sister has been ignoring all of my texts? She still has her read receipts on for some reason so I knew she was reading them and not responding."

"I'm afraid that was my fault. Can you please forgive me?" He replied, his blue eyes staring down at her.

Lizzie stared at him, clearly getting the double meaning behind his plea for forgiveness.

"I was a complete idiot. I'm terrible at lying and so when Fitz asked me about you I just word vomited whatever came into my brain." Will continued, his fingers picking at a stray piece of string on his costume. "I know it was a horrible thing to say – even worse that I said it to my cousin and your boss. I know you probably hate me, but my sister would kill me if I didn't try to fix this. I'm so sorry for what I said. I didn't mean a single word of it. "

"You told your sister about me?" Lizzie smiled shyly.

Will blinked. This was what she got from what he just said to her?

"I thought we were keeping things quiet." Lizzie snickered at the confused look on his face. Unable to control her giggles at how ridiculous he looked in his hot dog costume, Lizzie burst out in full blown laughter. At the more serious look on his face, Lizzie's laughter stopped abruptly.

"If given the chance, Lizzie, I intend on making this last. I don't see the need to keep this quiet any longer." With that, Will leaned in, seeking permission with his eyes. She nodded slightly before he claimed her lips in a deep kiss.

Lizzie barely registered a loud, feminine screech and a triumphant and masculine "I KNEW IT" coming from somewhere else in the café.

She broke away from him abruptly as she realized they were almost making out in front of the entire hospital. "We can't do this here!" Will's eyes widened in shock and a bit of hurt. Lizzie quickly explained. "We can't let Annie and Katie see us!"

Will laughed. "I already went by and asked the two of them for permission earlier today. Turns out Annie has a bit of a crush on a boy in her class. He's an older man in the 5th grade. Very mature. Annie apologized to me for having to break our engagement."

Lizzie laughed, her eyes twinkling and her heart soaring at the image of Will speaking with Annie and Katie while she was busy hiding in closets and corners to avoid him.

"You want to get out of here?" Will's eyes widening again at Lizzie willingingly playing hooky. After speaking with her obnoxiously smiling boss, who was quick to shoo the couple away with a cheeky "don't do anything I wouldn't do," the couple held hands as they walked out of the party, looking quite the pair as Princess Belle and a hot dog.

"What do you want to do? I can rescue you like you're a damsel in distress."

Lizzie rolled her eyes and smiled. "I don't need a man to rescue me. What I do need is a hot dog."

"Good thing I'm a hot dog, then."

Good thing, indeed.

The end.