So I've only recently discovered the Lizzie Bennet Diaries, and I am SO hooked. I'm gonna call this a oneshot for now, as I've tried and failed before to make mulit-chapter fics. If I muster up the ability to get out a second chapter, we'll just call it a bonus.

Spoiler warning: if anyone out there has not read the book, or seen any of the movies (Go Team 1995 BBC! It's the best! Lizzie would agree with me!) you may want to pass on this. Something similar to this may happen soon. Mine is probably a lot more dramatic though. Probably over dramatic. It's just where my brain went.

Seriously though – if you haven't seen P&P – watch the BBC version. Colin Firth. That's all you need to know about that.

Leave to Hope

The entire household was in uproar. Bing had heard that phrase once, maybe in a book, or more possibly in a movie, but he had never experienced it until now. He had gone over to Jane's to go over the details of their cross country drive, and to help her finish packing, and had walked into absolute chaos.

Mrs. Bennet was shrieking hysterically in the kitchen, while Mr. Bennet, who had grown weary of trying to calm her down, had snapped and was shouting at her to shut up. Lydia was curled up, sitting on the ground in a corner of the hallway crying in wrenching sobs. Jane was in front of him, trying desperately to explain what was happening over the noise, and looked pretty close to having a breakdown of her own. And Catherine de Bourgh, of all people in the world, was in the den berating Lizzie in shrieking, high pitched tones, while her little dog yapped incessantly.

He had never seen Jane so upset. There were tears on her cheeks and panic in her eyes as she alternated between trying to fill him in on the events leading up to this over all the other noise, but without actually yelling, and listening to the horrible, horrible things Catherine de Bourgh was shouting at Lizzie, which would only make Jane cry harder.

As "Nasty, gold digging whore" thundered out of the den and "We all are ruined!" drifted out from the kitchen Bing realized he had to do something. He had to protect Jane, make her stop crying… and her family of course; he should help them as well.

For one utterly surreal second, he considered marching into the den, throwing Catherine de Bourgh over his shoulder and hauling her out of the house, little dog and all. It seemed like a very manly and take charge sort of thing to do…. but was probably a really bad idea. It occurred to him he knew someone who had better ideas, and who had much more experience with dealing with Catherine de Bourgh.

Bing hesitated briefly. Hadn't he told himself he was going to run his own life, and make plans for himself now? However, he reasoned, this was less of Darcy telling Bing to go against Bing's own desires as Bing having a major problem on his hands and no idea what to do about it. This, he realized, is a situation in life where advice from a friend can be welcomed, as long as you don't follow it blindly. Without a second thought he pulled out his phone and directed it to call Darcy.

"Hello" Darcy's emotionless, yet super polite 'phone voice' answered immediately, and Bing sighed in relief.

"Dude. I'm so glad you answered, you are not gonna believe what's going on."

"You've quite medical school and are moving to New York with Jane?" Darcy replied in crisp tones before "What is all that noise? Where are you?"

Bling blinked, then realized that Darcy must watch Lizzie's videos too. Did everyone know about them but him?

"Uhhh, yea, I am, but that's not what's going on. I'm at Jane's… and your Aunt Catherine is here"

Darcy stopped dead in the middle of the hallway. Gigi, who was hurrying behind him to keep up with his faster pace, collided with his back, then fell on her butt behind him. He didn't move to help her up, or even glance back at her.

"William?" she asked, slowly, worriedly as she picked herself up. "What's wrong?"

"What" Darcy spoke into the phone, not to her "Is she doing there?"

Gigi's eye's widened. He was using his deadly calm voice. It meant he was angry. It also meant that someone out there was going to really regret making him angry. Had something else happed with George? Was there another copy of the tape out there? She began to tug at his arm, like she was little again, to get his attention. She needed to know what was happening.

"Dude, she's screaming at Lizzie, saying some really awful stuff". At that moment, "Disgraced harlot!" came over the phone loud and clear in Aunt Catherine's very distinct tones. "and I think she told Mrs. Bennet about the sex tape. I guess she didn't know and now she's really upset". "How could he do such a thing to my poor Lydia?" rung out in the background in a high pitched, southern twang. "and I don't know what she said to Lydia, but she's really upset…. I think this tore open some wounds".

Bing paused to look at Lydia. She was softly chanting something that sounded suspiciously like "my fault, my fault".

Darcy stood stock still in the middle of the hallway, only distantly aware Gigi was trying to get his attention. He felt physically ill. Aunt Catherine was at Lizzie's house, probably doing everything in her power to destroy any tiny remaining chance he would ever have with Lizzie. His head spun and his stomach twisted like when he was on that horrible carnival ride Gigi had taken him on once. He was going to throw up.

Slowly he managed to grind out, in a voice that made a passing assistant hurry away in fear "put… her… on… the… phone. NOW."

Darcy could hear Aunt Catherine's voice getting louder on Bing's end of the phone, as the other noises crowding the house faded away. "Obstinate girl, I'm ashamed of you! You will give me a straight answer right now! Are you currently dating my nephew?"

He only barely heard Lizzie's answer, a very quiet, hesitant but still firm "No, I'm not".

There was a great sigh, and a pause, and Darcy realized that Bing was probably standing in the middle of the room waiting for someone to acknowledge him. Darcy shifted in impatience, vaguely aware that Gigi was waving her arms in front of him, trying to get some attention. "Give her the phone Bing!"

"Will you promise me that you will NEVER date my nephew?"

Darcy's throat closed up. God no. This couldn't be happening to him. He had been making progress! He'd gotten her to laugh! Hearing her say that he would NEVER had a chance, promising someone to have nothing to do with him, it would destroy him. He would never forgive Aunt Catherine for his, not as long as he lived.

"No I won't!"

'No I won't! No I won't! No I won't!' the words echoed in his head. He caught a breath. Was that what it feels like when your heart misses a beat?

Very slowly, he put his arm out, pressing his hand against the nearby wall, then shifted his weight onto it, leaning closer until his shoulder was leaning fully against the wall, bearing most of his weight. He literally could not hold himself up at the moment.

"If you don't swear to me that you will have no further contact with my nephew, then I will ruin you! I will call every contact I have in the whole of the business and tell them what a scheming, slutty brat you are, and about the disgrace that has shamed your family! You won't be able to get a job carting coffee at the local t.v. station! The degree you've been working so hard over will be useless!"

Darcy bent over double, as though he'd been punched in the stomach, which is exactly what he felt like. He felt his body began to shake as his anger arose to unparalleled heights. How dare she?How dare she threaten his Lizzie?

He felt his body slide until he was sitting on the floor with his back against the wall. Gigi was kneeling next to him, frantic. But he was to focuses on the phone, and on the kaleidoscope of feelings spinning through him. He was furious. He was euphoric. He was anxious. He was full of dread. He was hopeful. He also wasn't breathing. He forced himself to take another breath.

"I will do no such thing. Now get out of my house or I'm calling the cops!"

Euphoria won the raging battle and flooded his body. She wouldn't do it. Threatened with the loss of her career, her reputation and the entire future she'd planned for herself and worked SO hard for, she wouldn't swear off of him. It was such an incredible sacrifice, it was such a massive gesture. There was no way that she… it meant that she had to… surely this could be interpreted as… she had to feel something. There was no way she would have done that if she didn't at least like him. If he didn't have SOME chance. He had a chance. And a sign that she might… that she felt at least something for him. He had to get to her right now. He had to make himself worthy of her. He wouldn't let Catherine whisper a word against her to anyone.

A mass of noise had started up again on the other end of the phone. Catherine was shrieking nearly intelligible words, Annie Kins was yapping up a storm, and Bing had joined Lizzie in insisting that Catherine vacate the premises immediately. But the main event was over, and it was time to act. He focused on Gigi.

"We're going to have to make new plans for Christmas. We will not be visiting Aunt Catherine"

The look of bafflement on Gigi's face was priceless. "What? Aunt Catherine? What are you talking about? What's happening? What's wrong?"

But he was already getting up. Bing appeared to have forgotten he was on the phone in the first place, as the sounds coming through were now muffled, as though he had shoved his phone in his pocket. So he hung up and called Mrs. Renolds, as he finally continued his track down the hall. Absently he wondered how many people had passed by while their CEO had an emotional breakdown in the hallway. Once Mrs. Renolds picked up he snapped out orders quickly, trying to restrain himself from sounding too rude in his impatience to get everything done.

"Mrs. Renolds? I need you to re-schedule ALL of my upcoming meetings, for the next few weeks or so. Get everything you can moved to phone or video conference, and put off anything that can't be accommodated as such. I'll be flying to Merryton immediately, so I expect a car to be waiting downstairs in five minutes and the jet to be ready when I get to the airport. Let Jacobs know he'll be in charge of basic operations while I'm gone. "

His mind raced as he mentally listed everything that needed to get done. He needed to grab his suitcase from his office – he always kept one fully packed for any emergency business trips. He needed to call Bing and let him know he'd be staying at Neitherfield for a while – he'd offer to close it up or get it ready to sell or prepare it for whatever plan Bing had for the place, although he doubted that Bing had any plan at all. He needed to call Aunt Catherine and tell her she was a horse-faced bitch that he'd be happy never to see again. He also needed to use whatever threats, real or imagined, that he possibly could to keep her from hurting Lizzie. He needed, he needed….

He needed to detach Gigi from his waist so that he could get everything else done. His baby sister had thrown her arms around his waist and was digging her heels into the carpeting.

"Alright, I'll tell you what's going on. But I need you to walk quickly"

As Darcy walked along the hallway, trying to relate this new development to Gigi, he felt the most incredible sense of hope blooming inside him. Maybe he really did have a chance. Maybe he could win Lizzie after all.