Disclaimer: Ngozi Ukazu owns Eric Bittle and the rest of the Samwell crew, and Hank Green and Bernie Su own this iteration of Lizzie Bennet and company.

The sex tape website comes down, Bing and Jane reunite, and Lizzie finds out from Lydia that Darcy was the one who got the website taken down. She texts Eric through all of it, and they talk on the phone somewhat more than usual while things are bad, but once things start improving Eric begins to let on just how much of his time hockey is eating up, and then the phone calls stop. The texts continue, though, and that's nice.

After Darcy shows up, Lizzie is a bit too busy and overwhelmed by her feelings to do anything but make out with Darcy and post her video featuring Darcy's entrance. She feels a bit evil for leaving her viewers on such a cliffhanger (and this isn't even the first time she's done that to them where Darcy is concerned), but she has a practical reason for the choice, as well as just a mischievous reason: she probably won't feel like filming again for quite a while, if she has Darcy here to distract her, and this way she has footage for another update as well.

She forgets to factor in the fact that both she and Darcy have people in their lives who will be finding out about certain events from the video update and will not be pleased with having to wait for the next video. Gigi starts texting, calling, and tweeting at Darcy incessantly, and Lizzie's fielding calls and texts from Jane and Eric. She calls Jane first, of course, and they have a long, happy, gushy conversation, but when that's finally over she calls Eric as well.

"Elizabeth Bennet!" Eric scolds over the phone. "I thought we were friends!"

"We . . . are?" says Lizzie, wondering if she miscalculated or if Eric's overreacting.

"Oh, sorry, honey. I forget that just because we're close to the same age doesn't mean I can chirp you like I do with the guys. I was just being dramatic," says Eric.

"Okay, good," says Lizzie.

"But really," Eric continues, "you call me any time something goes wrong, so I do not understand why I have to find out about something going right from your vlog of all places."

"I've been a little . . . busy?" Lizzie tries. "With Darcy?"

"Well, I do not want deets on anything y'all may or may not have been doing; I'm not Holster," says Eric. "But things are good?"

"Things are very good," Lizzie confirms. "Darcy's taken a couple weeks off so that he can be here with me. Bing is letting him stay at Netherfield, and I spent last night there too, and we're really happy, and I think this is going to last."

"That's great," says Eric, but suddenly he sounds a little sad.

"What's wrong?" Lizzie asks.

"Oh, nothing. It's silly," says Eric.

"Eric, no it's not," says Lizzie. "Come on, tell me. As long as you can tell me without, like, breaking someone's trust."

"We're good on that front," Eric says. "I'm just sad that Jack and Shitty are graduating, is all. It's getting to be so soon, you know? Shitty just got into Harvard Law, and Jack is leaning toward the Providence Falconers, so it's likely they'll both be close by, but it still won't be the same as playing hockey with them every day or living with them in the Haus. I trust Shitty to visit, and I want to say the same about Jack, but he's going to be rich and famous all of a sudden, and I know he's kind of already been rich and famous his whole life, but I think it'll feel different to him when it's because of things he's done and not because of things his parents have done, and I'm worried he's going to forget all about us once he's in the NHL."

"That really doesn't sound like it's in line with everything you've told me about Jack," says Lizzie. "He got up at four a.m. twice a week last semester to help you get over your block with checking. He sounds like a really good guy. And like you just said, he's been rich and famous his whole life. I don't think being in the NHL will make him forget you."

"I don't know if I believe you," Eric says, "but thanks."

"You're welcome," says Lizzie.

Darcy pokes his head in the door of the room she's in and whispers, "I'm done talking to Gigi."

Lizzie nods at Darcy and then says to Eric, "Darcy wants to, um, talk to me. Can we leave this here?"

Eric laughs. "Sure. Have a nice 'talk.'"

OoOoO

Hockey consumes Eric's life right up until that devastating loss, and then it's a matter of passing his classes and helping Jack pick a team and trying not to fall apart from the knowledge that Jack and Shitty will be leaving soon. He doesn't call Lizzie at all during this time, but they do text a lot, and he appreciates having her as a constant in his life. Plus, the ability to keep in touch with her for nearly a year after meeting her in person gives him hope that he'll be able to maintain his friendships with Jack and Shitty once they graduate, though sometimes it's hard to really believe that when it comes to Jack.

And then graduation happens, and Jack kisses him, and Eric feels like he's floating. Jack promises to text him, but there's only one text in the half-hour it takes for Eric to finish packing up and get to the student union, where the shuttle will come to take him to the airport. The text says, I miss you already, so it's not completely disappointing, but Eric hopes more communication is forthcoming, because he wants a relationship with communication, and right now he's actually not even sure if he has a relationship at all.

A Skype call that night clears up that yes, Jack wants a relationship, so Eric asks who he can tell. Jack says he's only planning on telling his parents for now, but they'll tell the guys at some point; Eric says he's still not ready to come out to his parents, but could he tell his closest non-hockey friend? Knowing that Eric met Lizzie through vlogging makes Jack a little nervous, but Eric explains that Lizzie doesn't vlog anymore and absolutely understands how to keep a secret, and Jack agrees that Eric can tell her.

So, late that night, Eric calls Lizzie, taking some solace in the fact that she's three hours behind him so it's not particularly late for her.

"Eric!" Lizzie says when she picks up. "How are you?"

"I'm really great, actually," says Eric. "But if I tell you why, you can't tell anyone."

"I can keep a secret, I promise," says Lizzie.

"I know," says Eric. "That's why I'm allowed to tell you." He takes a deep breath and then says, "Jack kissed me right after the graduation ceremony, and we just Skyped and decided to be boyfriends. Jack's not out, so we're not even telling the team yet, but since you don't really run in those circles we decided it would be safe for you to know."

"Well, I'm honored that you trust me," says Lizzie earnestly. "And I'm really happy for you! It's so great that the guy you've liked for ages likes you back!"

"Yeah," says Eric, smiling broadly. "It is great."

"I can't believe we both wound up dating our tall annoyances," Lizzie observes. "And I especially can't believe that it took you longer to get together with yours than it took me to get together with mine. You and Jack were already starting to be friends by the time I met you at Vidcon, and I hated Darcy until November!"

Eric sighs. "Well, I think being queer had something to do with it. I'm guessing Jack would've made a move a lot sooner if he hadn't been concerned about what coming out would do to his career, and I would've flirted harder with him if I hadn't worried about what it would do to our friendship for me to flirt with him while he was straight."

"Oh," says Lizzie. "I hadn't thought of that. That makes total sense, now that you mention it. Sorry."

"It's okay," says Eric. "I mean, like, societally, it's not, and heteronormativity sucks, but I'm not going to hold it against you in particular."

"Thanks," says Lizzie. "Do you want to gush about Jack?"

"Oh my goodness, I always want to gush about Jack," says Eric. "And you're the only person I can gush to, so I hope you're prepared for a lot of gushing. After graduation, when I ran out of excuses to linger around with the Zimmermanns, I went back to the Haus to finish packing up all my stuff. And I may have been crying, just a little bit, and I had my headphones in, and I was singing Beyonce like usual, so I didn't hear Jack come in. And then all of a sudden he's there, tapping me on the shoulder, and I ask if he's all right because he's all out of breath, and he just says my name a couple times and then kisses me, and we kiss for a bit and his phone keeps going off, so he says he has to go and he'll text me, and then he's gone!" Eric takes what feels like his first breath in a while. "But then we did text, and then we Skyped, and now we're boyfriends, and everything is good."

"Everything is good," Lizzie agrees, and she starts filling Eric in on what she's doing now that she has her degree and is starting her own company.

Eric and Lizzie say good night when Eric can't stop yawning, but Eric knows it's only goodbye-for-now, same as it was with Jack and Shitty earlier today. Friendships may have lifespans, but what he has with Jack, and with Shitty, and with Lizzie—those things have life in them yet and will for a long time to come.