At long last, Lizzie's birthday celebration came to an end. She was buzzing from seeing all her friends again, the champagne she had consumed, and from just how amazing her birthday had turned out to be.

Lizzie thanked everyone again as they left, still in mild disbelief that all of these people had turned up just for her! She honestly though she was going to slip under the radar while she was her, but her co-workers from Pemberley Digital had gushed over how lovely, and entertaining Lizzie was – all of them saying that would miss her once she returned home. Lizzie didn't really want to think about that. She knew she'd have to go home eventually, but for now she just wanted to pretend that this was her life – free of her mother nagging her, or Lydia stealing her clothes, and without a thesis looming over her head. But all good things have endings, and tonight was no exception.

She hugged Charlotte again fiercely and said goodbye, as Charlotte would be returning to Collins & Collins first thing in the morning. Lizzie still couldn't believe she was here – Charlotte had accidentally let it slip that Darcy had paid for her to come. Even though Charlotte had enough money to afford flights, Darcy had insisted on paying, since it was his idea to invite her.

"Why would he do that?" Lizzie asked in disbelief.

"Can you really not think of a reason Lizzie?" she asked, with an amused expression on her face. "For an intelligent girl, sometimes you can be so clueless."

She had chuckled, and hugged her best friend tightly, before wishing her best friend happy birthday again, and stepping into a cab.

Bing and Caroline were the last to leave, making their way to their car just after Charlotte's departure. While Bing shook Darcy's hand, and thanked him for a wonderful evening, Caroline stormed past without saying farewell to anyone, and sat in the car sulking. Bing rolled his eyes at his sister's behavior, before grinning, hugging Gigi and getting into the driver's seat. Gigi waved at Bing and Caroline as their car drove slowly down the pebbled driveway, watching them drive away until their taillights disappeared off in the distance.

Gigi, Darcy and Lizzie made their way back inside, shivering slightly from the cold, and sat on the couches in the living room. Gigi took the recliner, leaving Lizzie and Darcy to share the small two-seater.

"Ergh, I'm so full! It's a wonder I didn't explode from all that food!" Gigi exclaimed.

"The food was amazing," Lizzie agreed.

"Not that Caroline would know. She was far too busy sulking to even eat dessert," Gigi said laughing, "That girl's priorities are all wrong. Oh well. At least I got some extra profiteroles out of her tantrum."

Lizzie laughed and Darcy blushed slightly. He knew very well that he was the reason for Caroline's behavior this evening, and hoped that her actions hadn't ruined Lizzie's birthday.

"So," Gigi asked, "Aside from Caroline's little performance, did you have a good time?"

"Do you really need to ask that question?" Lizzie replied, "Seriously though, thank you. I had such an amazing time, and it was really nice to be able to celebrate with all my friends. Especially Charlotte."

As she said this, she gently touched Darcy's arm. His eyes softened as he smiled back at her.

"I'm glad she could make it," he replied softly.

"Well," Gigi said with a scheming glint in her eyes, "I should get to bed. I wouldn't want the boss to get angry at me for being late to work in the morning."

Darcy fixed his eyes on Gigi and gave her a pained, yet amused look. Gigi grinned at him, before coming over and enveloping her brother in a hug. He chuckled and patted her on the back, while Gigi whispered something in his ear. He nodded in response.

Gigi then turned and gave Lizzie a hug and wished her happy birthday again, before disappearing and leaving Lizzie and Darcy alone.

"Your sister has got these little moments all planned out, hasn't she?" Lizzie asked, her cheeks flushing.

"Evidently," he replied, "I feel like I should be used to it by now. Or at least, no longer surprised when they occur."

Lizzie laughed, and nodded her head in agreement.

"You look quite lovely tonight, by the way," he said quietly.

If Lizzie hadn't have been paying attention, she would have missed what he had said completely. He glanced at her quickly before looking away and fidgeting with his hands.

"Thank you," she replied; completely caught off guard.

He smiled at her, before standing up, and retrieving two, neatly wrapped parcels from the table in the corner. He handed them over to Lizzie before sitting back down next to her – this time, slightly more relaxed.

"These are from Gigi and I," he said.

"On top of everything else today?" she said in disbelief, "I assure you this party was more than enough. You didn't have to get me anything."

Darcy shrugged.

"I wanted to. You should open them."

Lizzie looked at him briefly, before reluctantly agreeing.

"If you insist," she replied. She decided against trying to get out of opening them in front of him, lest it offend him. Lizzie didn't want to ruin this evening by being difficult, even though she hated opening presents in front of other people.

She carefully pulled at the paper of the larger parcel, which was from Gigi, which contained three classic novels she had told Gigi about when they were having lunch the other day. Lizzie was thrilled that Gigi had remembered the names of all of the books, and she had even gotten Lizzie the earliest edition of each that she could find.

While Lizzie was opening Gigi's gift, Darcy had poured the last of the champagne into two glasses, placing one of them on the table before Lizzie. She gratefully took a sip, again to calm her nerves, before turning her attention to the smaller parcel, which was from Darcy. Lizzie blushed furiously as she pulled the tape delicately away from the paper. Darcy sat next to her, sipping champagne and watching her closely.

Inside was a small, rectangular box. She opened it nervously, and inside found the most exquisite necklace she had ever seen in her life. Made of white gold, it featured an intricate filigree patterned pendant, which was delicately shaped into that of a teardrop. Lizzie admired the necklace, running her fingers over it gently. She didn't know what to say – it was too much, yet so perfect coming from him.

She looked at Darcy, still in surprise before stammering her thanks.

"This is really beautiful," she said, searching desperately for words. "Thank you, William."

Upon hearing Lizzie address him by his proper name, Darcy's eyes met hers, and he smiled at her genuinely. He reached over and extracted the pendant from the box, undid the clasp and held it out towards her. Lizzie turned around so her back faced Darcy, and he gently looped the pendant around her neck, fastening the clasp at the back. His fingers didn't linger, and Lizzie couldn't help but wish that they had.

Lizzie gently touched the pendant against her chest before taking a deep breath and turning around to face him again.

"I hoped that you would like it," he said huskily, blushing slightly.

Lizzie was completely overwhelmed by everything that he and Gigi had planned for her this evening, and couldn't find the words to express her gratitude and the thoughts running through her head.

So instead, she leaned in and quickly kissed Darcy on the cheek. He flinched slightly and Lizzie pulled back, with a worried look on her face.

"I'm sorry, I –" she began quickly.

"Lizzie," Darcy replied, chuckling softly, "It's Ok. You don't have to apologise. I just … Well, you definitely know how to surprise someone."

He took her face gently in his hands, leaned in slowly and kissed her passionately on the lips. Lizzie's head was spinning, trying to comprehend everything that had happened this evening, and also trying to register the fact that she was kissing someone who she used to consider a mortal enemy.

But if this was the way that Darcy kissed, then why on earth would she keep pretending she didn't feel something for him? It had been niggling at the back of her mind for weeks now, and with sudden clarity she could see that she didn't just like him - She had fallen hopelessly and completely in love with William Darcy.

Darcy pulled away slowly from her; his eyes searching her face, trying to identify the expression written upon it. Lizzie smiled up at him, as he brushed away a strand of hair that had escaped from of the bobby pins.

"I'm so sorry for all the misery I caused you when we first met." She said quietly. He gently picked up her hand and laced his fingers through hers.

"I really don't care about that, Lizzie," he replied, while shaking his head gently, "Everything that has ever happened between you and I had led up to this moment. Believe it or not, I wouldn't change a single thing."

Lizzie looked at him in disbelief.

"But what about –" she began, but Darcy smiled and shook his head.

"Not even that. I could never hate you, Lizzie Bennet. All I could do was hate myself. If anything, I loved you more, which I didn't think was possible. But I've been wrong before, haven't I?"

Again, Lizzie found herself at a loss for words. She was amazed at this confession from Darcy, and couldn't believe how wrongly she had judged him.

"The only thing that matters," he continued, "is whether or not your feelings have changed towards me. Which, I feel they might have, but like I said – I've been wrong before. You should just know that my feelings for you remain unchanged. I am still very much in love with you, Lizzie Bennet."

She beamed a smile at Darcy, before pulling him towards her and kissing him again. Lizzie felt his arms wrap around her, as he responded to her kiss. Somehow, they seemed to understand each other more on this level than any other type. She tangled her fingers in his hair and felt him smile against her lips.

"I'm going to take that as a yes," he murmured.

"Of course they have, you idiot," she laughed, "Why else would I keep kissing you?"

She smiled at him before resting her head on his shoulder, and closing her eyes. Darcy wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer to him. They sat like that for a while, and Lizzie kept touching the pendant on her chest, thinking of everything that had happened tonight.

Lizzie smiled at Darcy, who bent down and kissed her gently on her forehead. There was no doubt about it - Lizzie was going to have a lot to tell Jane in the morning!