#NOW Colin will never ever call Penelope stupid

[venusleontios55555]

Penelope: Crushes are the worst whenever I’m near mine I start acting silly

Colin: You always act a bit silly, Pen

Colin: …

Penelope: Don’t think about it too hard

[frost-queen]

Tempting fate (Reader!Featherington x Colin Bridgerton)

Requested by: anon, Forever tag:@missmelodramatic, @merlin-dahlia, @alex--awesome--22, @elllie-does-the-posts, @floatlosers, @merlieve, @queen-of-books, @glimmering-darling-dolly@denkisclown, @wildieflower, @meyocoko, @bubblybrianna, @justanothercoco@subjecta13-thefangirl, @m-rae23, @harleyquinnswifeyfrfr, @swampthing07, @melsunshine, @panhoeofmanyfandoms, @venomsvl, @the-uncoordinated-house-cat, @rosecentury,  @imagines-by-her,  @evilcr0ne, @vviolynn

The night was out. Chilled but rather comforting on the skin. You were outside, waiting as your sister had already taken the carriage in a haste. Not a few moments ago she had a little encounter with Colin Bridgerton. One that you witnessed from afar. You could tell by your sister’s expression that she was displeased. Distressed to say the least. Once again had Colin Bridgerton said something to upset your sister. It was getting out of hand and you hated him for it. Hating how he toggled with your sister’s feelings.

They had been friends for a while now, but your sister desired more. He was the only good gentleman that gave her attention during the balls. Even if it was just a little. It wasn’t his first slip, but this time you clearly had enough of him. Now that your sister had run off with the carriage, you were left to return home on your own. Waiting for the carriage to return to the estate of this night’s ball would take awfully long.

Rubbing your arms gently, you hesitantly decided what to do. Go or stay? Slightly turning your head you noticed in the corner of your eye a figure approach. Once you fully got a glimpse of him, you rolled your eyes with annoyance. – “Y/n.” – Colin said approaching you. – “Good night Mr. Bridgerton.” – you answered coldly turning your posture away from him. – “Do you not need a chaperone?” – he asked making you stop in your way. With a deep sigh, trying to temper your annoyance down, you turned back to him.

“Certainly not from you.” – you answered with a forced smile. He stared confused at you. Trying to process the meaning of your words. He slightly came closer to you. – “Did…did I say something to offend you?” – he questioned. You scoffed making him furrow his brows dumbfound. Colin and you hadn’t been the closest, yet he considered himself acquainted with you through your sister. – “To my sister you did!” – you bit back finding his act of stupidity tiring.

“Pen?” – Colin. – “I…I don’t understand.” – he answered. – “Why do you minimize my sister?” – you asked him boldly. Colin was taken back by your reply, looking surprised at you. – “Minimize… no, Y/n… I…I wrote to your sister everyday this summer with little reply.” – he said with a charming smile. You smiled in return as Colin flourished from seeing you smile. Yet your smile had other intensions. – “Oh, yes I know all about the letters you wrote her. Letting her know about all your adventures. I am well aware of that Colin!” – you pressured on.

Colin chuckled nervously. – “Are… are you going to make me say it out loud?” – he responded feeling a bit foolish. You quirked your eyebrow up unintrigued.  – “I missed her.” – he told you. You busted out in a laugh. – “You miss her?” – you positioned yourself stronger, fiercer to go up against your sister’s good friend. – “You miss her, but you would never court her is that correct?”

“Y/n I…” – Colin started finally losing a bit of his  boyish foolishness towards you. – “I overheard you!” – you called out. – “At my mama’s ball last season… telling everyone you would never ever court Penelope Featherington.” – You felt yourself get a bit emotional, defending your sister against her best friend. Against the one she loved. Some voices approached as it drew Colin’s attention briefly away from you. – “Bridgerton.” – one of them greeted as they passed. Colin bowed his head to them before leaning a bit closer to you. Lowering his voice he spoke – “Perhaps we should go where there’s somewhere private?” – he suggested.

“Because I embarrass you?” – you said loud enough for anyone walking around to hear. – “My sister can change her entire wardrobe and gain confidence but that would never take away that she is the laughingstock of the ton.” – you outed in anger. – “My sister doesn’t deserve a cruel man like yourself in her life.” – you picked up the hem of your dress. – “Good night Sir!” -  you saluted coldly at him before taking off in the night. Colin watched you leave with a certain guilt eating at him.

Two days later you were with your sisters and mama at a garden event. Your sisters sitting down in a chair underneath a tent, waving themselves some cool. Your mother was chatting with some of the other mother’s. You had no idea where Penelope was. You on the other hand were playing battledores and shuttlecock’s with some of the other season’s participants.

You stood on one side with a girl you were quite familiar with. On the other side were two gentleman. The shuttlecock went high up in the air as the boys knocked it to each other. You were waiting for the shuttlecock to come your way to hit it to her and then back to the boys without it touching the ground.

Somehow your attention got drawn away from the heavens. Seeing Colin Bridgerton clearly look for someone not far from you. – “Miss Y/n!” – one of the men called out as the shuttlecock went your way. Your attention was back as you calculated the moment your battledore hit the shuttlecock. The shuttlecock went up in the air as you thought back of annoying Colin.

The shuttlecock came down once more as you needed to pass it to your companion. Yet you let the shuttlecock come lower, batting it away with your battledore towards Colin. You watched as it hit him in the head. The shuttlecock fell in his hand as he looked down at it confusingly. Rubbing his sore head with the other one. The girl at your side pointed firmly at Colin to go and fetch it. You sighed loud going over to him. The moment Colin noticed you approach, he dropped to a bow. – “My shuttlecock.” – you said offering your hand for him to lay it in.

 “You hit me.” – Colin responded. – “Must have slipped.” – you responded sarcastic. Colin was all but amused. – “Now my shuttlecock.” – you insisted upon. Colin was about to give it to you till he changed his mind last moment. He had taken a deep breath, moving the shuttlecock behind his back. – “I’ll give it back if you allow me to apologise first.” – he started throwing a charming smile at you. – “You should apologise to my sister.” – you made clear not wanting an apology from him.

Colin tensed his jaw, as he had hoped for another outcome. – “I…Y/n.” – he sighed out. – “I don’t require your useless apology. My sister needs to be apologized to.” – you told him clearly. Colin sighed loud getting worked up by your attitude towards him. – “Fine! If you don’t accept my apology, you might not even deserve it.” – he snapped back. – “I don’t even want it!” – you fired back. – “Fine!” – he finished. – “Fine!” – you repeated loud.

“Good luck getting this back than!” – he showed you the shuttlecock again. You slapped your hand at it as Colin had pulled it away in time. – “Give it back!” – you called out to him, getting some attention from bystanders. – “You don’t deserve this.” – he mocked, taunting you by showing you the shuttlecock just out of reach. You groaned annoyed as he moved it behind his back. You knocked into him full force to reach for it behind his back. A bit too forceful perhaps?

Colin stumbled backwards as you fell with him. With a loud oof fell you on him. Now having the full attention of those around you. You were very much aware of the staring eyes. You pushed yourself hard off him. He felt the air get sucked out of his lungs. – “Eat it!” – you cursed at him storming off. Colin sat up, swallowing nervously at the sudden attention. Getting up, he saw Penelope look his way. He shamefully turned his head away, getting up and taking his leave.

**

Lights were flickering in the warmth of the room. Music filled the room. Dancers were taking in the centre of the room. You stood by the side with your two other sisters and mama. Your gaze went across the room. When your eyes fell upon Colin, you glared at him. He glared back at you, turning his head proudly away. You stubbornly looked away as well. Looking down, you fidgeted on your dress. Somehow it pained you to see him act so coldly towards you.

You didn’t intend on doing so but the more time you spend with Colin, arguing and bickering, the more you felt drawn to him. You shouldn’t be falling for him, but yet you were. Some novels say that you grow more attracted to those things you hate the most with frequency. This might be the case for Mr. Bridgerton and you. Mama nudged you hard making you lift your chin back up. She gestured to you, to smile so you could attract more eligible men.

Not being in the mood for her interfering, you took off. Blending through the crowd to escape her. Pushing yourself through the crowd. Coming to a brief stop, you came face to face with your sister Penelope. Your eyes widened briefly before you rushed off to the hallway to avoid her. Penelope blended with the crowd, lowering her head when she saw Colin near. He was clearly in pursuit of someone.

Almost panting he disappeared through the same door you had left moments ago. It made Penelope think doubtfully. You exhaled loud setting your hands on the desk from the room you had run off to. Clutching your heart, you felt it beat faster. Faster then it normally did. Was this Colin’s doing? Shaking your head you didn’t want to think about him. It was wrong to think of his that way. Your sister was madly in love with him. You couldn’t… not for the sake of her. – “Y/n.” – you jumped back startled at the hearing of your voice.

Colin had entered the room, shutting the door quietly behind him. You rounded the desk, creating more distance between you and him. – “Shouldn’t you dance with my sister.” – you sarcastically suggested to him. He exhaled soft, practically done with your flight modus. Done with how you kept pushing yourself away and shoving your sister to the front. – “Y/n.” – Colin started as you didn’t want to hear it. – “You keep doing it Colin. You keep minimizing my sister.” – you told him.

“Ignoring every hint she throws at you, and you too blind to see it. I hate how you ridicule my sister’s feelings towards you. She is not some object.” – you ranted out as Colin came nearer, going round the desk to reach you. – “You tell her you miss her, but you won’t court her. Why?” – you asked desperate. – “I can’t court her.” – he answered standing face to face with you.

“Why?” – you repeated wanting to have a clear answer. Colin felt himself be swept up by the heated moment. – “I just can’t.” – he responded loudly feeling his hands tremble to get a hold on you. – “Answer me. Clearly!” – you called out getting up in his face. – “Because I want you!” – Colin shouted back, practically panting from the tension released inside of him. Your eyes widened.

Colin grabbed for your face. The hell with being a gentleman. The hell with your reputation and his. In this moment he just wanted you. He forced himself forwards, pressing his lips on yours. Your gaze widened more at his touch. His lips gently brushing against yours as you fell under his spell. Giving in to the sensation as it was beyond this world.

Butterflies flattering around inside till they suddenly dropped with realisation. Guilt. You pushed Colin off, breaking off the kiss. Colin blinked confused at you breaking it off. Stunned you held your hand before your mouth. As if something was stolen from your lips. A kiss perhaps? – “My sister…” – you whispered out knowing just how much she loved him. – “Y/n…” – Colin said wanting to approach you.

“No!” – you called out clear, taking a step back. – “I…I can’t do this…” – you told him running around the desk. Throwing the door open and taking your leave. Colin went around the desk as well, standing in the door opening. One last attempt to call out to you, but you were out of reach.

Exhaling deep, he lowered his head, heart broken at the loss of touch. He never courted Penelope but he found himself falling for you. Her sister. The sister that yelled at him. That wasn’t afraid to speak back even when some might find it out of turn. He liked how sincere you were, but also caring and free. A bright personality when one got to know you, truly know you.

Penelope bit the sour apple down. A single tear fell down her cheek, yet her face stood bitter. Bitter with hatred for what she had just seen. Her own sister fleeing a room with Colin Bridgerton showing himself in the door opening. It was clear to anyone that you had been in there privately with him.

Penelope made her way to the carriage. Rushing to get home. In the carriage she pulled out a piece of parchment from her reticule. The carriage hobbled yet she maintained balance. Taking out a pencil, she set it down on the parchment.

Dearest gentile reader…

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Read more of my fics on my Masterlists!  [read part 2 & part 3 & part 4 & part 5 & part 6 & part 7 & part 8 & part 9 & part 10]

[lovelymagnoliarose]

New prompt!! This one's a little more personal, hope you guys like it!

16. "I know, baby, I know. I'm here. Just breathe."

Sneak Peek

“Penelope!” Colin’s voice rang out. She jumped up from the sofa, her favourite blanket falling away, forgotten on the floor. “Pen! Open the door!”    She rushed to her door, wishing she was in anything other than her stupid joggers. Why did she put her hair in a messy bun today? Penelope must have looked an absolute mess. She took a breath before she opened the door, and she was met with his concerned but angry gaze. “Colin…”    “Okay, so here’s how this works,” he began, eyes blazing as he entered her flat, “you’re allowed to want space from me. I’m never going to get mad at you if you don’t answer a couple of my texts, but three days Penelope?! Three days of radio silence?! Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been?!”    “Colin, I-”    “And I’ve been trying, you know? Trying to take cues from you, respecting your boundaries. But if you think I’ll ever go another three days without coming here to check on you when I know something is wrong, you are sorely mistaken, Pen.”    “Colin i-it’s nothing.” She attempted to reassure him, but her voice was far too weak for it to be true.    “It is clearly not nothing, Penelope.” He frowned, speaking sharply. “You haven’t answered my texts or call in-”    “Three days, yeah, I know, Colin. You already said that.” Penelope snapped, guilt instantly filling her system. She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “I’m sorry that was- I didn’t mean- I shouldn’t have been short with you.”    God, even now, she was messing up. Twenty eight years on earth and she was still terrible at the simple act of talking. It was ridiculous. It was pathetic. 

[myfairstarlight]

I keep seeing people say it's stupid that Penelope is considered a spinster already, and that's why they should have delayed Polin's season so it would make more sense, but:

It speaks of how little confidence she has when she calls herself that. Eloise also wistfully talked about how they'd become spinsters together, and I feel like a part of her internalised this would be her only outcome in life.

The mamas also call her that it's not just her being "self-pitying". The ton and her own mother very much already see her as hopeless in the marriage mart.

She never had a single suitor in 3 years, she only ever danced with Colin (who then publicly said he's not courting her, lowering her prospects further). For comparison, Cressida is also in her 3rd year, and yet not seen as a spinster, because she's had suitors even if no proposal was secured, she is popular with the other debutantes and her family, although harsh on her, is respected by the ton. Penelope doesn't have other friends and her family is the joke of the ton.

Bridgerton isn't exactly historically accurate but like women at the time could be considered too old at barely 20, so, isn't too far-fetched either really.

I think another season of Penelope pining and Colin and being oblivious would have just made things annoying and more difficult to root for them (when some people are already very hard on Colin right now).

I also think it's no coincidence that her secret identity, Lady Whistledown, if she were a real, separate person, would be the ideal figure for a spinster: a woman with her own business laughing in the face of the ton. She started that column in her first year out, mind you. Almost like she was already projecting.

Anyway so conclusion, my girl's self-esteem is just in the gutter. She's a hopeless romantic and although she fancies herself a pragmatic this season (deciding to accept Debling's proposal although he flat out tells her he'll never love her), she very much isn't, and a part of her accepts that if she cannot find love, well, she'll just end up a spinster, and she's already accepted that her love is an unrequited fantasy (until she's proven loudly wrong).

[zippverschluss]

still currently stuck on bridgerton season 1 (ep.4). i really do wanna watch all seasons before season 3 (and i really wanna go into part 2 unspoiled, so should catch up by june 13th), but honestly it's a drudge. some random thoughts:

i love the jabs and barbs the women of bridgerton throw, quite casually at that most of the time. they are the highlight in every conversation.

love the music.

i love portia featherington and it's got a lot to do with how polly walker imbues her with humanity. if you take the in-show reality and rules of bridgerton serious (and there wouldn't be a show-naming family for whom everything goes), she's the only one who's got her head on straight. also, there are layers to her. especially in regards to marina. also, comic relief.

i don't care for the men very much.

i don't connect with JRP as an actor. it's all there and yet i just feel he looks constipated most of the time.

simon and daphne are both immature and childish and their characterization / story plays out like fanfiction i read at 14.

as unknowing about sex(uality) as daphne (et. female al) is, what does she think "being a rake" means? she uses that word in every second sentence.

also, she never ever (inadvertently) brushed up against herself and thought "oh, now wait a minute..."? i mean, if you don't know about sex, don't know about masturbation, how could those things be taboo or forbidden then? you'd have no intellectual concept for it, just your physical reality. i don't buy what the show is selling.

my biggest gripe right now is that what the women of bridgerton rightly call out as double standards, sexism, toxic masculitiniy, lack of opportunities, marriage mart as meat market etc. is then in the next breath used (unironically) in the writing and characterization of the show.

ugly, plain, not as beautiful = bad, evil, stupid, comic relief (see lord berbrook, lady berbrook, the featheringtons.... nicola coughlan said the note for the costume department in season 1 for penelope was dowdy.)

only naked women as decorations in the background. like, i like looking at naked women, but put a naked man there as well and the effect is wholly different. (also, more educational benefit for the artsy people.)

the really powerful female characters / voices (LW, lady danbury, lady bridgerton, the queen) only concerning themselves with sheperding young women into marriage or making matches. i totally get that that's the raison d'être of the show, which is why i'm still so on the fence about it.

also - just a parallel i noted from what i've seen / read on s3: colin totally pulled a lord berbrook on penelope and marriage trapped her. i've seen takes that she is trapping him with announcing the engagement as LW before he knows the full truth, but in reality he trapped her the moment he interrupted her dance with lord debling (and then entered her carriage). even if she didn't reciprocate his feelings, i'm not sure that after his public display there was much room for her to deny him. and again, his attractiveness = good, therefore in his case compromising the lady is no problemo. at least he's prepared to marry her after dishonouring her in this fashion (looking at you, simon).

i'll finish it simply because the snippets of polin alone make me a bit giddy and gooey and i want the totality of their relationship. but sometimes i roll my eyes so hard i'm afraid they'll get stuck. i definitely feel like i'm taking the show more seriously than it takes itself, but i truly don't know how stop. please help.

[weepingfromacedartree]

Ten Milestones: First Pet

Hi friends! The first chapter of my new fic is now ready for anybody interested.

Hope you enjoy! I'll be posting chapters every Friday (and sometimes Tuesday).

Chapter 1: First Pet

Today: April 29th, 2023

Relationship Status: Dating

꙳

“Gregory just texted me to ask if we’re dating. I didn’t think he had my number.” 

“That little arsehole probably sent it to himself when he stole my phone.”

It’s Saturday, 7:02 PM. Penelope and Colin are sitting on the floor of his flat, a few containers of Chinese food littered between them. It’s not a particularly unusual setting to find either one of them in on a Saturday evening. However, some things are different now. 

Two weeks ago, they would not have been playing footsie. Not this shamelessly, at least. 

“I assumed that Eloise’s ‘vow of secrecy’ would involve her immediately telling Benedict… And that Benedict would tell Anthony… And that Anthony would tell Kate… But I don’t know how the rumour managed to spread to Cambridge in…” She glances down to her phone again. “Six hours flat.” 

“‘Rumour?’” Colin echoes, a smirk on his face. “Surely, you’re not trying to keep this sordid love affair hidden from me as well.”

“‘Sordid?’ God, Colin. You make us sound so dirty.” She kicks his foot away, then picks up her container of shrimp fried rice. “And I’m not trying to keep it from anyone. We both knew what was going to happen when I told El.” 

“Frankly, I’m surprised Greg didn’t text you sooner.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Penelope watches as Colin uses his chopsticks to play around with his chicken dish, never actually putting a piece in his mouth. She can tell there’s something brewing in his mind.

“So… What are you gonna tell him?” he eventually asks.

“Well… I was going to leave him in suspense a little while longer. Maybe take the ‘no comment’ approach at first. Then, I don’t know… the truth?”

“Which is?”

Before answering, Penelope takes a moment to study the look on her supposed boyfriend’s face. She wonders if he’s playing dumb as a joke, or if there has been a miscommunication of monumental proportions between them. Judging from the expression on his face alone… 

Neither option seems to be the correct one. 

“Yes?”

She hadn’t intended for her answer to sound like a question, but her voice squeaked upward at the end, nonetheless. Colin doesn’t appear at all phased by her uncertainty, though. He looks quite calm and collected, placing his takeaway container on the coffee table and leaning further into the big blue couch behind him. 

“‘Dating’ is a bit too casual a word for us, I think.” 

“Okay…” Penelope draws those two syllables out as long as her breath allows her. She’s stalling for time, trying to sort out what it is that Colin is getting at. Still, she comes up empty. 

“It’s only been a week. What do you suggest we call —”

“We should get married.” 

“What!?”

He’s joking. He’s teasing. He’s —

“I said we should get married.” 

Before she can yelp out another barely intelligible sound, Penelope bites her tongue. Literally. She watches his face, remaining quiet, waiting for him to expand on this insane, out-of-nowhere proposal. In the end, all she gets is a smug little smirk.

“What do you mean, ‘We should get married?’”

“I thought it was a rather self-explanatory proposition.”

“Col—”

“Why does anyone get married? I love you. I wish to continue loving you forever and ever. Ergo, marriage.” 

“This isn’t funny.” 

“It wasn’t a joke.”

“It —”

“It was a proposal.”

“Colin,” she scolds, using the sternest tone she can manage to muster up — which, at the moment, happens to be about an octave higher than her typical speaking voice. 

If nothing else, at least he has the decency to drop that stupid smirk from his face in response to her apparent anxious state. 

“Pen,” he murmurs, leaning forward to place his left hand on her right knee. “Just think about it. We didn’t meet a week ago, we just finally admitted what we should have told each other years ago. I’ve known you my entire life, and I spent most of that time either too oblivious to realise how in love with you I was, or too scared to do anything about it. Dating just seems… unnecessary. We know what comes next — why delay it any longer?” 

Sitting stunned, eyes wide-open and fixed on the thumb currently tracing circles across her bare knee, Penelope attempts to make sense of what Colin just said. But the longer she sits there silent, the more divided her mind becomes. 

On one hand, at her core, Penelope is sensible. Reasonable. Logical. That part of her is sounding alarm bells, insisting his proposition is irrational and goes against everything she knows about marriages and engagements and proposals altogether. After all, plenty of people go from friends to lovers and don’t jump directly to marriage. 

On the other hand, also at her core, Penelope is a romantic. A willing fool. An idealist against her better judgement. That part of her is susceptible to Colin’s sweet, silly, and perhaps not so irrational words. She has been in love with him her entire life. Would it really be so crazy to —

Shaking her head ever so slightly, Penelope tentatively, regretfully brushes his hand off her knee. At the loss of her touch, Colin’s bottom lip juts out in a pout. 

“Dating isn’t casual, necessarily… It’s important. It’s like a — like a test run for marriage and —”

“Well —”

“And it’s different from friendship. It puts you through different tests and trials than you go through with someone when you’re just friends.”

Colin appears to think over her words for a moment, squinting at her in that way that makes his blue eyes look grey. 

“Friendship is not so different from dating,” he argues, eyes wide and blue again. “At least, not the way we did it.” 

“Col —”

“You’re right about one thing, though.”

“Oh. Is that so?” she asks, unable to contain her sarcasm, even now. 

“Dating is like a trial period. It’s when you figure out if your relationship is strong enough to last through all of the bullshit life can throw your way.” 

“That’s not exactly what I said.”

“Do you disagree with my summarisation?” His lips form a smirk that tells her that he already knows her answer. Still, she shakes her head. 

“Okay,” he chuckles, leaning in an inch closer to her. “And after the mountains of bullshit we went through during the course of our friendship, do you have any doubt about our ability to stick with each other through everything? Is there anything holding you back, Pen?”

No. Nothing. 

That’s the truth. There isn’t a single thing about Colin that she feels unsure of. Not anymore.

But still… 

Even if there has been love between them for decades, they couldn’t admit that to each other until a week ago. That assuredness — that knowing — is still so new. She’s spent more time deciding whether or not to cut bangs, and the answer always ends up being not.

Still…

“Let’s consult the experts.” 

Those four words break Penelope out of a daze she hadn’t realised she had fallen into. 

At some point in the last few seconds, Colin had pulled out his phone. Now, he’s typing away at the keyboard with alarming urgency. 

“What are you doing?” 

With his phone screen mostly out of her view, Colin taps it one final time before looking up to meet her curious eye. Then, he clears his throat. 

“Ten Milestones Every Couple Should Celebrate Before Walking Down the Aisle,” he reads aloud. “Number One: Sharing Your First —”

“What are you doing?” Penelope asks again. This time, a laugh escapes her lips as she does so. Something about the seriousness on Colin’s face reminds her of the absurdity of this situation. That it is a joke, whether or not he had intended it as such. 

“I know you think this is all very funny, but I’m serious,” Colin contends. “Everything a couple needs to go through in order to be prepared for marriage, we have surely gone through at some point over the last twenty years. We’ve wasted enough time as it is — why was even more of it by delaying the inevitable? It just seems silly.”

Penelope has a bad habit of getting lost in Colin. In his words, in his voice, in his eyes… All of which seem to be pulling her in with a force that could rival anything she’s felt in the last twenty years. So when he stops talking, presumably offering her the space to get in her latest rebuttal, she remains silent. 

With the smirk back on his face, he continues, “And while I know part of you is very tempted to agree with me and run down to the courthouse right now, I know the inherent skeptic in you needs some convincing.”

He briefly pauses again, this time to hold up his phone and display the article he had just been urgently searching for. 

“So we will go through this list, which details every milestone a couple must accomplish before they get married. At the end, if we find that we checked off every single to-do item while we were just friends, we will make the reasonable decision and get married.”

If there’s one thing Colin Bridgerton is unnervingly good at, it’s making a convincing argument. The realist and the romantic on Penelope’s shoulders suddenly go quiet.

“And where exactly did you find this scholarly article — the one you are basing such a life-altering decision on?” 

He looks down. 

“TheMarriageExpert.com” 

“Colin!” 

“They’re an expert, Pen!” 

Penelope giggles, for as often as Colin provokes her, his charm always gets her in the end. Once her laughter lets up, she thinks over his slightly altered proposal.

He’s convinced me to play more tedious games before…

“Fine. I agree to your terms. What’s first on that list of yours?” 

Any seriousness left on Colin’s face quickly melts away. He grins at her in that way that always makes her stomach flutter.

“Number One: Sharing Your First Pet,” he reads aloud. “During the course of your marriage, you and your partner will share many things together. Finances, homes, memories, and a million other things you cannot even begin to fathom now. A pet will help you prepare for those shared responsibilities. It will teach you both about the importance of…”

As Colin continues reading, Penelope feels a frown pulling down on her lips. When he finishes, she attempts to cover her disappointment with a shallow laugh. 

“Game over, I guess.” 

His eyebrow arches. “Pardon?” 

“We’ve never shared a pet, so…”

Colin’s mouth falls wide open. He pulls his free hand to his chest, as if the aghast look on his face wasn’t enough. 

“Pen… Did Mr. Whiskers mean nothing to you?”

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Twenty Years Earlier: July 21st, 2003

Relationship Status: Sister’s Best Friend // Best Friend’s Brother

꙳

How did I end up here?

Today is Monday. Today also happens to be the first real day of summer holiday for children all across London. For most kids, that means the start of freedom — six weeks of fun, followed by real life crashing down on them when the fall term begins. But for Penelope Featherington, it marks the start of something different. 

The loss of structure. 

For the next six weeks, it is up to Penelope to determine how — and more importantly, where — she spends the majority of her time. She didn’t want to spend it at home. Not this morning, at least. 

That was how she ended up in Grosvenor Square. 

At just eight years old, there aren’t many places she can run off to unaccompanied. Even the park, just two blocks away from her home, is hard to get away with. Her mum only allowed it because she was under the impression that Eloise would be joining her — that between Penelope’s sense and Eloise’s toughness, the two girls would be safe in the nearby park. But when Penelope ran across the street to request her best friend’s company, Anthony informed her that Eloise was not available for a morning stroll in the square. 

She could have gone back home, but she really didn’t want to. That was how she ended up in Grosvenor Square alone. 

While walking around the park’s perimeter, she kept her eyes down, careful not to step on any cracks in the pavement. She kept her shoulders hunched, trying her best to blend in with the other park-goers. She kept her ears pointed outward, picking up every little sound that surrounded her. 

She listened. To the birds chirping. To the wind rustling. To the rumbling engines of nearby traffic. Mostly, she listened to the people. 

Two teenagers were fighting. She was mad. He was sorry. She said something about him cheating, then their shouts turned to whispers and Penelope couldn’t make out the rest. As she walked out of earshot, she couldn’t help but wonder what sort of exam he could have cheated on that would warrant such a reaction. 

A man with a big yellow dog was flirting with a woman. Though Penelope couldn’t make out much of what he was saying, she could tell just from the look on her face that she wasn’t particularly liking what she was hearing. When Penelope got a little closer, the yellow dog started barking. By the time the man got his pet to settle down, the woman had disappeared. 

A neighbour from down the street walked past, holding a cup of coffee in one hand and pushing a stroller with the other. As Mrs. Abernathy walked closer, Penelope briefly considered hiding behind the nearest tree, certain that the woman would recognise her and ask where her mum was. But before Penelope could turn and run in the opposite direction, the little blonde baby started crying and distracted the woman. 

Just as she was about to turn the corner and listen into the teenage couple’s fight again, Penelope heard something new. 

“Meow.”

At first, she thought her mind was playing tricks on her. But no. When she walked to the bush that the noise had originated from, two round green eyes stared back at her. 

Oh, right. 

Penelope looks down at the little grey ball of fur currently nestled in her arms. 

After approaching him in the park, the second thing she noticed was the kitten’s whiskers. They were so long — so disproportionate to how small everything else about him looked. He was so scrawny that Penelope couldn’t tell if he was actually a kitten, or just an older cat who had spent too much time with too little food in his stomach. 

She spent an hour searching Grosvenor Square and the surrounding area for his family. But with no collar and evidently no family in sight, Penelope decided to take her new friend home. 

Penelope and the cat spent approximately 20 minutes walking the 10-minute route home; she slowed her steps, took unnecessary turns, and waited longer than needed at crosswalks. During all of that time, she held the cat tightly to her chest, shielding him from the rest of the world with the nest she made out of her yellow cardigan. Also during that time, she practised what she would say to her mum once she and her hopeful pet arrived back at home.

“Penelope. Anne. Featherington. Get that rodent out of my house!” 

It had not gone well. But in truth, Penelope knew long before she landed back on her doorstep that this was all a lost cause. That there was nothing in the world she could have said to convince her mother to let her keep the cat.

Penelope had followed her mother’s instructions, fleeing from their home as quickly as her feet would allow. She didn’t have much of a plan once she hit the pavement outside, but like they so often do, her feet automatically started walking in the direction of the home across the street; they stopped short before she could reach it. 

Mr. Bridgerton died last summer. Ever since that morning in August when they learned of the awful news, Penelope’s mum has incessantly warned her against showing up at their door unannounced. After all, there are eight fatherless children in that house now — the youngest of which never even got to meet her father. They have enough going on as it is. 

They have enough going on as it is, Penelope repeats again and again and again. 

That’s how she got here. Sitting on the curb outside the Bridgerton household, a cat sleeping soundly in her lap. 

“It’s all gonna be okay,” she whispers to herself more than she does to him. 

Silently, Penelope wonders what the right thing to do is. Where the right place to go is. 

The first place she thinks of is an animal shelter. Surely, that is the most logical place to bring a lost kitten to. The people there would know how to take care of him — how to find him a home with people who will love him and keep him safe. The only problem: Penelope does not know of any actual animal shelters in Mayfair.

The second place she thinks of is the fire station down the street. Firefighters save cats, don’t they? Or was that —

“Pen?” 

Colin, her mind registers before she even has the chance to turn and look at him. Before she does so, she shifts in her spot and attempts to hide the contraband currently sleeping in her arms. And when she finally does set her eyes on him, her stomach starts to flutter; it always does when he smiles at her. 

“Hi,” she squeaks out. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to —” 

“What’s that?” he asks, nodding to the kitten she clearly failed at concealing away from him. Before she has the chance to answer, he sits down beside her on the curb.

“Oh, I, uh — I found him in Grosvenor Square. He was all alone and I didn’t know where else to go…” 

Her voice trails off, once again contemplating what a responsible person would do next in this situation. 

“Are you gonna keep him?”

“No,” she answers, disappointment leaking through to her voice. “Mum won’t let me. She hates cats.” 

Penelope takes her eyes off the kitten to look up at Colin. While he may only be two years older, he stands nearly a head above her (he’s tall for his age — she’s short for hers). Even sitting right beside him, she has to tilt her head up just to look him in the eye. As usual, his mop of hair hangs so low that it nearly covers both his eyes, but still, Penelope can see little glimpses of blue shining through strands of brown.

She’s always quite liked that shade of blue. 

“I’d take him,” Colin says, raising his hand to pet the cat behind his ears. “But mum and Daph are both allergic.” 

Any butterflies left in Penelope’s stomach are quickly replaced by a new sensation. This one, not so pleasant. 

Mr. Bridgerton was allergic to hornets…

“Not that kind of allergic,” he reassures her, seemingly reading her mind. “They won’t, like, die or anything. Their skin will just get all red and scratchy if he gets anywhere near them.” 

“Oh, uh — sorry,” she stutters out, barely comprehending his last few sentences. “I should just go.” 

Pulling the kitten away from Colin, Penelope stands. She starts to turn in another direction, but is once again reminded that she has no idea where she is supposed to go. 

“Stop,” Colin orders, gently. He stands too. “Where are you gonna take him?”

“I don’t know,” she admits. “Where are you supposed to take stray cats?” 

He shrugs. 

“Dunno.” 

“Okay. Well —”

“But I have an idea.” 

꙳ ꙳ ꙳

The Bridgertons live on a gold mine. Metaphorically. Literally, they live on nearly an acre of land in the middle of Mayfair. 

The Bridgertons’ home has been in their family for several generations. This is the primary reason why they’re able to hold on to so much land in London’s bloodthirsty real estate market. If they ever were to sell, a row of flats would be built up in the back garden within a fortnight. 

(Inheritance is the same reason why Penelope is able to remain in her own home on Grosvenor Street, despite her father’s tendency to dwindle away all of their other assets. The Featheringtons’ garden is not nearly this sprawling, though.)

“Where are we going?” 

She and Colin hadn’t gone through his house. Rather, they went around it. They’re currently walking along the wall towards the back of the estate. Colin is a few steps ahead of her, tracing the cracks in the stones with his index finger. 

“Have some patience, Pen.” 

“I — I do.” And she does. Usually. 

Usually, Penelope is a remarkably patient girl. Well-mannered. Quiet. She usually wears those attributes on her shoulders like a uniform. But for some reason, they tend to slip away from her whenever Colin is near. 

She looks over her shoulder, towards the massive house behind them. It’s purposeful, she suddenly realises, that they’re walking along the shadows of this wall. 

“Is Eloise home yet?” she asks, for no other reason than to fill the silence between them. 

Usually, Penelope doesn’t feel the need to fill silences like these. She usually feels quite comfortable in them. 

“Uh, no. Ben took her into the city for her, uh… Her doctor’s appointment. They’ll probably get back around supper time.” 

Out of Colin’s view, Penelope nods. 

For the past year — ever since her father died — Eloise has been seeing a doctor in the city pretty regularly. Penelope’s mum told her to never ask any follow up questions about these visits, but in her own head, she’s always wondered what type of doctor is able to fix an ailment such as heartbreak. 

“Are you leaving London for the summer holiday?” she asks, another attempt to fill the void. She already knows the answer. The Bridgertons always travel up to Aubrey Hall this time of year. Always. 

“No. Just staying here, I guess.” 

Dread appears suddenly and sits heavily in Penelope’s stomach. 

Mr. Bridgerton died at Aubrey Hall last summer. Of course they’re not eager to return.  

“Oh, uh,” she eventually mumbles, her mind desperately searching for any route this conversation could take that would land them back in safe territory. “Us too,” is all she manages to say. 

“Cool. I’ll see you around then.”

She feels her cheeks instantly flush. “Yeah. Cool,” she says, hoping her voice does not expose the growing warmth on her skin. 

Without another word, Colin breaks away from the stone wall and walks towards a particularly dense cluster of trees at the edge of the property. He leads them to a spot that, despite spending so much of her childhood playing in this very garden, she has never seen before. It’s a little wooden shed, wide and about as tall as Penelope. 

“What is that?” 

“A shed,” he answers, shrugging his shoulders. “I think they used to store firewood in here — you know, back in the olden times.” Walking up next to it, he undoes the little metal latch with a flick of his index finger. “Empty now, though. I don’t think anyone remembers it’s here.” 

“So…” 

“So, your cat could live here.” 

Penelope looks down. At some point in the last few minutes, she had somehow forgotten about the creature held tightly against her chest. She had forgotten her whole point in being here. 

“Oh! Right. That’s, um…” 

She steals another glance at the shed. It certainly looks like it hasn’t been used since the “olden times.”

“That’s nice of you to offer. But how would he — how would that work?” 

“I know it seems bare now, but we get him a bed, milk, food — everything a cat needs to survive — and he’ll be happy here.”

Bed. Milk. Food.

“Those things cost money. I —” 

Colin shrugs. “I’ll steal a tenner out of Anthony’s wallet,” he says casually. 

When Penelope’s face is overtaken by shock, a cheeky smile erupts on his. 

“Kidding! I’ll just tell him I’m sad. He’ll hand me some cash and tell me to go fix my feelings with ice cream.” 

“Oh, okay. But…” Her mind stalls, searching for another flaw in his logic to voice aloud. The problem is, there are just so many to choose from. 

“My mum always says we can’t get a pet because they’re too much responsibility. You have to take care of them. You have to feed them, make sure they —” 

“Hey,” he interrupts, smile still hanging on his lips. “We’re both very responsible people. I help keep Greg alive, and that kid thinks licking an electrical socket is a fun hobby. If I can do that, keeping a cat alive will be nothing.” 

“So we would, um…” She steals yet another glance at the shed in front of them; she can’t help but look at it and see a cage. “We would just keep him locked up in there all day?” 

“No,” he reassures her. “We’ll keep the door open — or I could even cut a cat-sized hole in the side. You know, so he can come and go as he pleases.” 

“But if he’s able to leave that easily… Won’t he get lost again?” 

Colin shakes his head.

“If I know anything about cats it’s that if you feed them, they’ll always find their way back to you. And since you found him hanging out in Grosvenor Square, clearly he’s an outside cat, not an inside cat.”

Penelope looks down at the little grey cat in her arms. His attention is no longer on her,  his round eyes darting wildly as he takes in the space around them.

“I thought only strays went outside.” 

“No. A cat can have a home and not want to be cooped up in it all day long.” Colin takes a few steps towards her, raising his hand and scratching behind the kitten’s little ears. The cat seems to like it, as he starts purring immediately. “Clearly, this little guy wants to roam free.” 

Yet again, Penelope feels her cheeks burn pink. She isn’t used to this — being so close to him. In fact, she can’t think of a single time when the two of them have ever been so close and so alone together. After all, Colin is her best friend’s brother — a friend of sorts, but tangentially so. Until today, he has only ever been in Penelope’s company through her friendship with Eloise. 

She isn’t used to having this much of his attention on her. 

“Here.” After what feels like hours, she pulls the kitten away from her chest and nearly shoves him into Colin’s. “He seems to really like you.” 

Annoyingly quickly, the creature settles soundly into his arms. Clearly, Colin’s natural charm works just as well on animals as it does on human beings. 

When Colin turns his back and his gaze falls on something other than her, Penelope’s mind flushes with panic. She rethinks words she had mostly brushed off just moments before. 

Colin offering to spend his own money. To cut a hole in the shed. To take care of this little creature she found in a bush.  

He has enough going on as it is. 

When she looks to where he now stands, Penelope spots Colin setting the cat down in his prospective home. The cat takes two tiny steps across the wooden beams before Penelope walks over and hastily takes him into her arms again. 

“I’m sorry, Colin. I didn’t mean to get you wrapped up in this.” She turns away, pulling the kitten even closer into her chest.  “I’ll drop him off at the fire —”

“Pen, stop.” 

Before she can step away, Colin’s hand falls on her shoulder. He squeezes it once before letting it drop back to his side. Although Penelope is not very experienced in receiving small physical gestures such as this, she can tell he had meant for it to be reassuring. 

“He’ll be fine here. I promise.”

She turns slowly. 

“Are you sure it’s not too much?” 

“No,” he laughs. “Of course not. How could this little guy ever be ‘too much?’” 

Pushing away all the alarm bells blaring in her head, informing her that this is a bad idea, Penelope pushes her shoulders back. She stands tall — metaphorically, of course. 

“I’ll do half the work,” she tells him. “At least. I can check on his bowl every morning — make sure he has water and food and whatever else he needs. Maybe you can do the same at night. And if you ever can’t, just tell me and I’ll help. And if it ever does become too much, I can find him somewhere else to live.” 

When she finally stops rambling and closes her mouth, Colin smiles again. Then, he extends his right hand towards her. 

“You got yourself a deal, Featherington.”

Tentatively, Penelope raises her arm to seal said deal. But before she can make contact, Colin’s hand moves again. He turns his palm towards her, as if to signal “stop.”

“One ground rule before we make it official: let’s keep this whole thing between the two of us. Cause if Anthony finds out… he’ll send me and the cat to the nearest shelter.”

“Colin! I —” 

“Kidding!” He laughs again, which has a shockingly effective influence on Penelope’s nerves. 

“But really… It’s simpler if we don’t tell anyone else. Not even Eloise — she can’t keep a secret for her life.” 

While thinking over his words, Penelope tilts her head upwards. She steals a not-so-quick glance at his eyes — at the little bits of blue shining through the brown. 

For as long as she can remember, Penelope has always wanted more of Colin. Though she won’t be able to fully understand or define this feeling for several more years, it burns in her heart, even now. She wants to be closer to him. To make him laugh. To be his friend. To share a secret with him — even if she knows that it could very well end badly for everyone involved. 

“Deal.” 

With that, Penelope shakes Colin’s hand and seals their fate forever. 

꙳ ꙳ ꙳

August 5th, 2003

Their secret turned out to be a rather easy one to keep. 

Penelope was good at going unseen. Every morning at approximately 7:00, she snuck into the Bridgerton back garden, walking along the shadows of the east-facing wall. At approximately 7:10 every morning, she snuck out without being noticed by anyone except Colin, who always kept an eye out for her from his bedroom window. If his mum or siblings ever were to catch her back there, he highly doubts they would care or even bat an eye; before this past year, Penelope seemed to spend more time in their home than she did her own.

Colin was also good at escaping notice on his daily task. Every night around dusk, he would sneak into a bathroom, fill a plastic bottle with tap water, hide it in the pocket of whatever hoodie he happened to be wearing that day, and slip out the back door — always unseen by his family members. They keep the cat food in a little locked container in the shed — both of which Colin had bought using money he had stolen from Anthony’s wallet (not that he would admit to following through on the theft “joke” to Penelope).

As the summer droned on, and as dusk came quicker with each passing day, Colin put less and less effort into sneaking out every night. The more time passed, the more obvious it became to him, how easy it is to disappear from a home with so many people — especially when everyone seems to be looking for a person who is no longer around. 

The only conspirator that ever put them at risk of being found out was Mr. Whiskers (a name Colin picked after Penelope insisted that they couldn’t just keep calling him “little guy”). 

Three times in two weeks, Whiskers had loitered around the Bridgerton’s back steps following his dinner, meowing for someone’s attention. Colin had caught him the first time and shooed him off. Daphne caught him the second time and screamed bloody murder. Anthony caught him the third and nearly called animal control. The only reason he didn’t was because Gregory just so happened to push a vase off a table one room over; the mess had been too distracting. 

Thankfully, Whiskers seemed wary of coming close to the Bridgerton household after that last encounter. 

A routine formed. Penelope would sneak into the garden in the morning. Colin would sneak out of his home at night. Mr. Whiskers would come and go as he pleased between meals. Their paths rarely ever cross. That is, until tonight. 

Tonight — like most nights — Colin can’t sleep. He ran up to his bedroom at 9:16, only after being ordered to do so by Anthony. He’s spent much of the last 145 minutes in bed staring at the ceiling. Now, bored out of his skull and needing any sort of distraction, he jumps up to grab the MP3 player and headphones sitting on the windowsill. 

He turns up the volume all the way and, for the next few minutes, does his best to tune out the rest of the world. It’s probably for the best that he fails in doing so, otherwise he wouldn’t have noticed the shadow cutting across the moonlight in his back garden. 

Less than five minutes later, Colin cuts along that same path; he’s far less cautious than he ever is at dusk. He knows there’s a chance that someone in the house could still be awake and spot him out here, but that risk feels less worrisome, the closer he gets to his intended destination.

Just as it comes into view, he hears sniffling. The sound is quiet, but persistent. 

He sees her before she sees him. She’s sitting with her legs crossed in the shed’s open doorway, Mr. Whiskers curled up in her lap. 

Colin had felt uneasy from the very moment he spotted her from his bedroom window, but a distinct wave of dread hits him cold the moment that his eyes meet Penelope’s. Hers go so wide that he swears he can see the moonlight reflecting off of them. 

She doesn’t immediately speak; even her crying halts after realising that she is not alone. 

“Pen?” he asks, when he can think of nothing else to say. He waits several seconds for her to give some sort of reaction. A word, a nod — anything. But still, she remains frozen in her spot in the doorway, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. 

“Are you o—” 

“Yes,” she shoots out. “Yes, I, uh — I — I’m fine.” 

Finally, Penelope moves. She places her hands around the cat’s belly and uncrosses her feet like she’s about to run off into the night. And though her claims of being “fine” offered his mind zero reassurance, Colin nods at her words anyway. 

“Yeah,” he breathes out, sitting down beside her before she has the chance to flee. He raises his hand and scratches behind Mr. Whiskers’ ears while the cat remains perched on Penelope’s legs. 

“I couldn’t sleep,” he offers, unprompted. “I thought I would see what Whiskers was up to.”

“Oh,” Penelope says. Then, in an even fainter voice, “Same.” 

As he continues scratching, the kitten purrs; his soft murmur is the only sound in the air for several long seconds. Just when the silence begins to feel a bit too heavy on his skin, Colin drops his hand and looks up at the scene above them. 

“Do you know any constellations?” 

After a few more beats of silence, Penelope raises her finger to the sky. “That’s the North Star. And that’s the Little Dipper, connected to it.” She repositions her finger slightly. “And that’s the Big Dipper, right next to it.” She repositions her finger once more before dropping it. “And that’s Aries.”

Though the stars don’t shine as brightly here as they do in the country, Colin’s eyes glaze over the soft specks of light in the sky, searching for something familiar. Specifically, he’s searching for the constellation that Benedict had pointed out to him last summer at Aubrey Hall, just a few nights before their father died. 

“That’s Capricorn.” He points his finger towards the sky, to his own star sign. THe snorts. “Do you know what type of creature a Capricorn is?”

Penelope shakes her head.

“Half-goat, half-fish. Like a mermaid with horns and a pair of hooves.”

Then, a miracle happens. 

Penelope giggles. The sound is soft, but it cuts right through the darkness.

“Really?”

“Yeah. Not as cool as a ram, but…”

“Are there any cats in the constellations?” Penelope asks once Colin’s voice trails off. 

He considers her question for a moment, recalling other star stories Benedict has told him over the years. He looks up to the sky, hoping he can discern an outline of a kitten somewhere between the lights. 

“Dunno,” he finally admits. “But there are lots of stars — most of them, we can’t even see. There’s gotta be at least one cat out there. Somewhere.” 

Penelope hums in agreement, looking down at her lap. “Mr. Whiskers is a good cat,” she quietly muses.

“Yeah.” Colin reaches over to pet behind his little grey ears. “The best.”

“He keeps trying to follow me home after breakfast.” She giggles softly. “He must not remember meeting my mum, or else he would stay away forever. She thought I was carrying a rat into our house. She shrieked.” 

“Oh god,” Colin chuckles, and it’s only a little forced. “He tried sneaking into my house a few times. He met Anthony last time, though, and I don’t think he’s ever gonna forget that.”

She giggles again, her smile lighting up in the moonlight. 

“Was he mad?” 

“His face went red! Ant is always at least a little bit angry, but this was ridiculous. No normal human could get that mad about a cute little kitten hanging around their back door.” 

With her eyes still pointed intently on the cat in her lap, Penelope’s voice lowers to almost a whisper. “I don’t know how people can see something so sweet and get so mad.”

Colin’s eyes don’t leave Penelope when he responds, “Me neither.” 

For what feels like an unending moment, the three of them sit there in silence, looking up at the moon and the stars and the darkness all around. The longer the moment holds, the harder it becomes for Colin to push away the worries that had been building inside himself since the moment he spotted Penelope running across his back garden at midnight. 

Trying his hardest to keep his tone casual… 

“Was there a reason you couldn’t sleep tonight?” 

She doesn’t respond right away. She doesn’t attempt to flee, either. 

“No. It was…” She pauses for a very long, very quiet moment. “It was nothing.”

“Pen, you —” 

“Nothing that isn’t — like — normal, I mean.”

Colin does not know what she means. He can’t imagine a single normal thing that would cause someone to run away crying from their home in the middle of the night. Especially someone as small and defenceless as Penelope. 

“My mum and dad were just fighting,” she confesses, only after realising that Colin’s look of concern will not fade until she tells him the truth. “A bit louder than usual, I guess. But it’s not like I haven’t heard them fight a million times before.” 

“That’s —” not normal, he almost says, but holds his tongue at the last moment. 

He’s suddenly, alarmingly struck by the fact that what he deems “normal” might not be the same for Penelope. That there are “normal” things in his own life that others would say are unimaginable for a kid his age. 

That’s not right, would be more accurate. But he doesn’t say that either. Instead, he simply asks, “Do you want to come inside? El is probably asleep, but I could wake her —” 

“No,” she answers, looking him in the eye for the first time in what feels like hours. “Thank you, but… It’s really late. I should go back home before someone notices I left.” She lets out one awkward, forced laugh before saying, “Mum will kill me if she realises I slipped out.” 

With one quick motion, Penelope scoops up Whiskers, plops him into Colin’s lap, then pushes herself out of the shed and back on solid ground. Just as she looks like she’s about to turn and run, Colin gathers the cat in his arms and stands beside her. 

“Are you sure? It’s no bother.”

For the briefest moment, it almost looks like doubt crosses Penelope’s face. But then, just as quickly, she shakes her head. 

“I should go home.” 

Regretfully, Colin tears his eyes away from hers, turning his head to glance at his own home in the distance. The only light still on comes from his bedroom window. 

“Yeah,” he grumbles, turning back to her. “I guess I should too.” 

Penelope nods. Just when it looks like she’s about to turn and disappear into the darkness, Colin blurts something out. 

“Do you wanna meet here again in the morning? When you feed Mr. Whiskers?” 

She seems taken aback by his question. She doesn’t immediately respond to it with words, but with a confused, almost worried expression on her face. 

“I —”

“Our system’s efficient and all,” he cuts in, “but we haven’t exactly seen much of each other since we started taking care of him. I dunno, I guess I just thought that we would be hanging out more this summer.” 

“Oh!” Her voice suddenly comes out so high that it borders a squeak. “I know what you mean. I…”

Her voice trails off. It remains silent for so long that Colin wonders if it's his turn to speak. But before he can blurt anything else out, she opens her mouth. 

“I’d like that.” 

“Cool,” he says, lips pulling into a smile. “See you tomorrow.” 

꙳ ꙳ ꙳

August 14th, 2003

“I’m not sure I understand the rules of this game.”

“It’s our game. The rules can be whatever we want them to be.” 

Penelope stands with the tips of her toes and the palms of her hands pressed neatly against Colin’s matching sets. There’s a piece of cat biscuit placed between her right palm and his left. There’s a tiny grey cat peering up at them from where their shoes connect; he looks just as confused on the parameters of this game as Penelope feels. 

The rules, they eventually settle on, are these: 

Before getting into position, one person briefly presents a piece of biscuit to Mr. Whiskers. Players must take turns to avoid leading the cat towards favouritism. 

On the count of three, one person takes the biscuit into their hands, then both turn around and run in opposite directions. 

Mr. Whiskers follows whoever he believes holds his treat. 

She ends up with the biscuit three times. He ends up with it five times. It falls to the ground between them eleven times. Each time, without fail, Mr. Whiskers immediately takes off after Penelope. 

“This isn’t fair!” Colin calls out from behind a tree on their twentieth attempt at this so-called ‘game.’ “It’s not my fault you bonded with him first.” He points a finger at the cat currently pawing at her ankles. “I feed you just as much as she does — traitor!”

“Shhh, Colin!” Penelope whisper-yells. “Someone might hear you.” 

“Oh, who cares?” 

I care, Penelope thinks. She doesn’t want Colin’s mum or any one of his many siblings to stumble upon them back here. She’s not ready to give up this secret. She’s not willing to end this game. 

Not yet, anyway. 

“Mr. Whiskers cares. I doubt he wants to be kicked out of his home just because you’re a sore loser.” 

Penelope picks up Whiskers from the patch of dirt he had just been rolling around in. She walks over to the shed where Colin now sits, then gently plops the brown-tinged grey cat in his lap. 

“Well, he should have thought about that before picking sides.”

Like she has become accustomed to doing over the past two weeks, Penelope sits down on the other end of the shed’s open doorway. Colin’s body is turned towards her, but she keeps hers positioned outwards, as if to keep watch. 

After a moment of quiet, he clears his throat. 

“You can come over for dinner tonight. You know, if you want.” 

“Oh, no. That’s okay,” Penelope says quickly. Dismissively. “Mum will expect me home soon. I think we’re having stew.” 

“Yeah, but what about tomor—” 

Colin’s voice stops short before he can get that last word out. Then, he pivots his head so he is no longer facing her. 

“Well, maybe not tomorrow,” he eventually mutters, quieter than before. “But another day.”

Tomorrow is the anniversary, Penelope remembers. Along with that sudden, heart-aching reminder comes a little voice in her head that sounds distinctly like her mother. 

They have enough going on as it is. 

“I — I don’t want to impose.”

“You wouldn’t.” He finally looks her in the eye again. “Trust me, you wouldn’t. When you have eight kids, one more mouth hardly makes a difference.” He nods his head towards the house in the distance, partially obstructed by the scattering of trees they’ve found themselves in. 

“Eloise would be happy if you stopped in. Mum too.” 

Trying her absolute hardest to ignore that little voice in her head…

“Yeah. Another day. Soon.” 

“Good.” 

After another moment of quiet, Penelope pushes herself forward and lands with two feet in the grass. 

“I really should head back, though.” 

“Okay, I’ll —”

“But, Colin?” she interrupts (a truly rare occurrence for Penelope Featherington). 

“Yeah?”

“I was thinking and… Maybe I could feed Mr. Whiskers breakfast and dinner tomorrow. I know we have our system, but… I just — you shouldn’t have to deal with taking care of him on top of any… family stuff.”

Colin doesn't respond right away. He spends several seconds looking at her with his brows furrowed; Mr. Whiskers uses that time to settle even deeper into his arms. Finally, his lips part. Penelope expects the first word out of his mouth to be “No,” but it isn’t. 

“Sure.” He nods, brows lifting up a bit. “Thanks, Pen. That’s kind of you to offer.” 

Penelope is surprised by his words. Not just because she was expecting him to dismiss her offer, but because she had never been thanked for something like this before. Her entire life, kindness was something that had been expected of her, but never really appreciated. She had been rewarded for her kindness in the past, but never thanked for it. 

She’s hesitant to accept such thanks — gratitude for something as small as offering up a few minutes of her time for someone who had experienced more grief than she could even begin to imagine. But she can’t bring herself to deny it either. So instead, she simply nods and says, “Goodnight, Colin.” 

 ꙳ ꙳ ꙳

August 25th, 2003

It’s Monday morning, 6:55 AM. Like most mornings around this time, Penelope is walking along the Bridgerton’s east-facing wall, feet stepping in the shadows, one finger tracing the stones beside her. Unlike most mornings, when she steps away from the wall and towards the shed hidden by a cluster of trees, she notices that the door that is always open is suddenly shut tight. 

At the beginning of the summer, Penelope had convinced Colin not to cut a cat-sized opening in the side of the shed (he wanted to use a saw from his garage). Instead, they decided to always keep the door open so Mr. Whiskers could come and go as he pleases. Always. 

Her feet pace faster with each and every step, intrigue and anxiety building up and piling over the closer she gets to that closed door. 

It could not have closed on its own. It wasn’t the wind or gravity or Whiskers himself.  The latch is locked. Someone locked it. 

Just as she raises her arm to swing the wooden door back open, Penelope hears footsteps. Quick and increasingly loud footsteps. She (literally) jumps around, heat pounding, eyes wide, and sees…

“Colin! Where’s Mr. Whiskers?!”

“In there.” 

He points to the shed behind her, still shut tight. Once he gets close enough, he reaches over her shoulder and finally undoes the latch. Just as promised, the cat is there, curiously staring up at them with those round green eyes.

“He keeps trying to follow me back into the house after I feed him at night. Last night, he was scratching at the back door. Thank god I got to him before Anthony did.” 

“So he was just locked in there all night?” 

She spares another sideways glance at the shed’s interior. It’s not nearly as bare as it had been that first day she looked inside. Now, there are two containers, two bowls, two electric lanterns, a blanket, a few cat toys, and a few human toys she assumes once belonged to Colin. 

To an animal as tiny as Mr. Whiskers, this place might seem huge — but to Penelope, it all feels very claustrophobic. 

“Yeah,” Colin finally answers, sounding guilty. “But sometimes it’s just safer for him to stay put for a little while. Even outdoor cats need to be reigned in some nights.” 

Penelope doesn’t know whether to agree or disagree with his words, so she tries her best to ignore them — for a little while, at least. After climbing into the shed and filling his empty bowl with food, she gives Whiskers an affection bop on the head. 

“You’re not wrong,” she belatedly answers. When Mr. Whiskers finishes his meal, Penelope turns and hops back onto the grass. Tilting her head to look Colin in the eye, she says, “But maybe Mr. Whiskers isn’t an outside cat after all. Maybe that’s why he keeps trying to follow us back to our own homes.” 

“I thought that was just because he loves us.” 

Penelope can’t help but roll her eyes just a little. Leave it to Colin Bridgerton to transform guilt into charm in under 30 seconds. 

“Well…” She turns back to Mr. Whiskers again. As usual, he’s peering up at them with a transfixed — maybe even loving — stare. “Maybe you have a point.” 

“I usually do —” 

“But still… Do you really think this is what’s best for him?” 

“What do you mean?” 

“I mean…”

She bites her tongue. Literally. 

All of this started because of her own selfish desires. To keep the cat. To occupy Colin’s attention. To possess a reason to get out of her house every morning. 

Her selfishness and its inevitable consequences were easy to overlook at the start of the summer. But now…

“The summer is almost over. When we go back to school, we won’t be able to look out for him all day. Then the winter will come and this little shed isn’t going to be very warm.” She stops ranting briefly to glance down at the little grey cat in the doorway. “What if he gets sick? Or needs a vet? I just don’t know if this is really his best option.”

She points both hands towards the shed. Towards the small wooden structure that completely transformed her summer. Towards the only home Mr. Whiskers has ever known — dim and claustrophobic as it may be. She expects Colin’s eyes to follow her lead, but they don’t. 

For a moment, it feels as though her presence completely slips from his view. His eyes are fixated on something in the distance. Something in the opposite direction. Something —

“Shite!” 

Colin’s arms hastily wrap around Penelope’s waist. It takes everything in her not to shriek in surprise as he practically throws her into the shed. Thankfully, Mr. Whiskers jumps backwards instantly, or else she surely would have crushed him on impact. 

“Colin! What —”

“Shh!” 

He climbs in and quickly shuts the door behind him. If it were not for the electric lamps in the corner, illuminating the space with what little battery power they have left, Penelope wouldn’t discern him mouthing: “Anthony.” 

They sit on opposite sides of the shed, the tips of their toes touching in the limited space. Penelope wonders if Colin can feel her shaking through the rubber edges of her yellow converse. The concerned look he throws her tells her that he must.

“You okay?” he mouths. 

She thinks about nodding. She briefly wonders if a nod counts as a lie, or if lies can only be spoken aloud. In the end, she doesn’t do anything — except remain frozen in her spot. 

Everything is quiet. For a fleeting moment, Penelope actually believes they may have gone unnoticed. Then, just as Mr. Whiskers decides to move out of the corner and crosses the wooden floor, she remembers that the latch — the flimsy piece of metal that is the only means of securing this thing — is on the other side. And when the cat uses his tiny paw to press against the door’s interior, she barely has time to gasp before it swings open. 

The morning light nearly blinds her, but not enough to miss Anthony Bridgerton’s very mad, very red face staring back at her. 

“Colin — what the hell?!” 

Just as Colin had thrown her into the shed less than a minute ago, Anthony now pulls Penelope out of it by her shoulders. Just like Whiskers, she miraculously manages to land on her feet. 

“I knew it! I knew you were irresponsible, but this —” He bends down and grabs Whiskers by the scruff of his neck. “This is insane. Even for you.” 

Anthony turns to Penelope, looking as though he only just now discovered her presence here. In mere seconds, she watches his face turn from anger to shock to annoyance. Then, he turns to face his little brother again. 

“I will be the responsible adult and make sure this — thing — finds an actual home and doesn’t continue living on the streets.” With a near-growl caught in his throat, he tells Colin, “We will discuss this later.” 

Anthony turns to leave, but stops just as quickly.

“And Colin, do not mention this to mum. Or anyone else.” 

He starts then stops again. 

“And Penelope, please do not let my brother’s bad influence rub off on you. A nice girl like you has enough trouble as it is being friends with Eloise.” 

It isn’t until Anthony has stomped out of sight with Mr. Whiskers in tow that Penelope starts to regain control of her body and mind. Slowly, she turns towards Colin. She uses every one of those seconds to begin preparing an apology. For getting him in trouble with his brother. For putting him in this mess to begin with. For being a bad friend. But when their eyes meet… Colin does not look as though he is expecting an apology of any sort. 

He laughs. 

“Did you see the look on his face?!” 

“Uh — I don’t —” 

 “He looked like a tomato! I swear one day he’s gonna burst and —”

“Colin,” she tries to cut in, to little avail.  

“— pasta sauce is gonna go flying ev—”

“Colin!” she says again, a bit louder this time. Thankfully, it seems to get his attention. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have —”

“Oh god, Pen. Don’t be sorry.” 

“But your — your brother —”

“I should be apologising on Ant’s behalf. Even if you and him were both right about Whiskers needing somewhere else to live.”

Penelope’s mouth parts, but all she can do is nod in response to those last few words. As much as she will miss her tiny, furry friend, this is for the best. For Whiskers, at least. 

“But Anthony was so mad at you. And I —”

“He’ll get over it. That’s the great thing about having seven siblings — wait five minutes and someone will do something ten times stupider. Daphne and Eloise are probably inside getting into a fist fight as we speak.” 

The mention of her best friend’s name temporarily draws Penelope’s thoughts away from her internal pity party. While she did hang out with Eloise over the last few weeks, their time together felt far less frequent and more fleeting than it ever had during previous summer holidays. During any time before last August. 

“You wanna come over for dinner tonight?” Colin asks, breaking Penelope from her thoughts.

“Hmm?”

“I said,” he smirks, “do you want to come over for dinner tonight?” 

“I don’t know… Anthony seemed —”

“Don’t worry about him — he’ll get over it. And you heard him, he’s not even going to rat us out to my mum.” He takes a step forward, then places his hand on Penelope’s shoulder. He squeezes it once. “It’ll be fun. Everyone will be excited to see you.” 

Not for the first time — and certainly not the last — Penelope feels at a loss for words. All she can manage is a tiny nod. A nearly imperceptible movement. 

Colin smiles. 

“Good. Just so you know, the door is always open. Always.” 

Finally, little Penelope Featherington finds her voice again. 

“I know.” 

------------------------------------------------------------------- 

There’s a smile pulling apart Penelope’s lips, but she does her best to cover it with another fork full of fried rice. Colin — of course — sees right through her attempt at concealment.

“So…” 

“Anthony was right. We were awfully irresponsible that summer. That cat was better off after Danbury took him in and re-named him Lord Whiskers.”

“Hey — give us a little credit! How many 8 or 10-year-olds do you know who could keep a cat alive for an entire summer all by themselves?” 

“The only impressive thing we did that summer was keeping our little secret hidden from the rest of your family.” 

“What are you talking about?!” Colin practically cries out, unable to keep his ever-charming laugh from escaping his throat as he speaks. “Do not downplay our role in raising Whiskers. You rescued him from the mean streets of London. I —”

“I found him hiding out in a bush in Grosvenor Square!”

“Exactly! And I —” 

“Colin!”

“I built him a home,” he barely manages to get out through another round of laughter.

“That’s a bit over-dra—”

“We fed and took care of him for over a month. We were just kids — that’s pretty impressive. That means something.”

In her heart, Penelope knows that — obviously — it means something. But does it mean what Colin wants it to mean? That they should get married? 

Even with the rules he set forth, it seems like an insane connection to even consider.

“I don’t know…” 

“For five weeks, he was ours. That means a lot.”

For a moment, Penelope does consider it. 

She thinks about who Colin was to her before she found that cat. A friend — of sorts. Her best friend’s brother. A neighbour. A crush. Someone she looked at and longed for. 

Next, she thinks about who Colin was to her on that morning, when Anthony found them hiding out in a tiny wooden shed. A friend. A fellow kid. A conspirator. Someone who saw her cowering in the dark and asked if she was okay. 

So what, if their hypothetical marriage hinges on a technicality? People have married on flimsier grounds before. 

“Fine,” she relents. “It counts.” 

A moment ago, she wouldn’t have thought it possible, but Colin’s grin grows even wider. 

“Of course it does.” 

Penelope scoffs, yet another lazy attempt to cover the grin on her own face. Colin makes no attempt to call her out on it, though. He’s too busy scrolling on his phone. 

“Let’s see what we have next to cross off…”

[swallowedbyfandom]

This is inspired but Don't be stupid by ShameOnMeeGuiltyPleasure

Dearest Gentle Reader,

In the most surprising turn of events this author has ever witnessed Mr. Colin Bridgerton is now engaged to Miss Penelope Featherington. While family and friends have claimed it to be a love match this author has her doubts. Let us review the relationship between the two during the last three seasons shall we begin?

During Miss Penelope's first season out we all remember the third brother was seen paying many a call on Featherington house not for the lady in question but for her cousin. That is correct Miss Penelope spent her first season watching her soon to be husband call, court, and propose to her cousin. We all recall how that ended.

While during last season the pair were often seen in company together so too was Miss Eloise Bridgerton childhood companion of Miss Penelope Featherington. At last season's Featherington ball the normally charming third in the Alphabetical lineup was overheard loudly proclaiming that he would never in anyone's wildest fantasies dare to court Miss Penelope Featherington. Now was this a simple case of the young Mr. Bridgerton being embarrassed by his attraction to the appallingly dressed and unpopular wallflower? Or was this just a poorly worded truth? Or was he simply still gun shy about how his last engagement turned out? We may never know for sure, what we do know is that none of us questioned his lack of attraction and attachment to Penelope Featherington.

Now for this season's review Miss Featherington was seen courting with several attractive gentlemen. Mr. Colin Bridgerton however, was not among her pool of suitors. While shocked at how well Miss Featherington did on the marriage mart after her previous lack of success the most prominent gentlemen seen calling on her were Mr. Marcus Anderson, Captain Henry Dankworth, and lastly Earl James Debling. After months of persistent courting sources close to the Featherington family say Miss Penelope was eagerly anticipating a proposal from Lord Debling. A proposal she was very much looking forward to saying yes to.

So how did we end up with last night surprise twist? Let us look at the gentlemen Mr. Anderson nephew of infamous Lady Danbury, third son of an esteemed Earl, a noted scholar and successful businessman was said to have been a favorite of Miss Featherington the only negative the marriage minded lady could find was how often his business trips would take him away from their home and family. Captain Harry Dankworth attractive, titled, and well off was also a very persistent gentlemen caller, he was found to have the sweetest deposition his interests were said to be the least compatible. Earl James Debling the final gentleman is already the head of his estate, a noted scholar, and a successful head of house. Miss Featherington was overheard saying Lord Debling was everything she could possibly want in a husband. She was seen blushingly speaking of his attractiveness, intelligence, competence, and scandalously his possible virility. Miss Penelope it seems wants a large family. Mr. Colin Bridgerton under normal circumstances is quite a catch but pales to the brilliance of the above mentioned gentlemen. Marriage to Mr. Colin would be a marriage into the Bridgerton family with which Miss Penelope is said to be close with. Perhaps theirs is a happy case of childhood love that bloomed in the shadows? After all it would be understandable that Mr. Bridgerton would feel some insecurity when completing with such already established and accomplished men. He is rather lackluster in comparison but at least he is pretty. Could that be the reason he did not openly court Miss Featherington? Or was there no courtship? Mr. Bridgerton was last seen acting a jealous fool following the lady into the gardens. The pair emerged from the gardens with their families and an engagement. Miss Featherington was said to be wearing a scowl instead of the expected smile. Who can blame her a third son is a massive step down from an Earl. Later in the evening Miss Penelope Featherington removed her glove due to a spilled drink it was noted she had finger shaped bruises on her wrist while Mr. Bridgerton appeared to have scratches and nail marks at his throat. So dear reader what say you? Passion or entrapment? Love or childish temper tantrum? Congratulations or pity? I leave it for you to decide. After all, what type of sad cowardly gentleman would have to trick his sister's childhood friend to catch himself a wife?

Yours truly,

Lady Whistledown

[tricksters-captain]

Benedict Bridgerton / Anthony Bridgerton Imagines - Best Man Wins Part 3

AN: Here’s part 3! A little bit of a filler chapter but I promise things will start to pick up quickly!

(🎶🎶🎶) = Link to song

Overall Summary:  Entering a society you thought you had left behind, you find yourself in a tricky triangle with two gentleman you never thought you’d fall for.

This Chapter: A sibling rivalry like no other. 

(PART 1) // (PART 2)

Pairing(s): Anthony Bridgerton x fem!Reader, Benedict Bridgerton x fem!Reader

Word Count: 3,169

Warnings: None

Anthony reentered the Bridgerton house to see Benedict sat on the settee with Eloise and Francesca munching on some chocolates that Francesca had received as a gift that morning. 

“Benedict, may I have a word?” Anthony asked, pulling off his gloves as he entered the drawing room. 

“Go ahead, Brother.” Benedict said through a mouthful of chocolate. 

“Privately.” Anthony shot a look at his sisters to which neither moved. 

Benedict sighed as everyone in the family knew of the girls stubbornness and so he left the room with Anthony.

They entered Anthony’s study where Benedict sat down in the corner on a comfy chair and Anthony leant against his desk.

“What is it, Brother?” Benedict asked, popping a chocolate he had brought with him in his mouth. 

“What are your intentions with (Y/n) (Y/l/n)?” Anthony asked with complete seriousness. 

Benedict chuckled lightly as he leant forward. 

“What ever do you mean, Brother?” Benedict pondered. 

“I know you paid her a call today. And you danced with her last night.” Anthony informed his younger brother. 

“So?” Benedict couldn’t understand why his brother was being so serious. 

“Do you wish to marry this girl?” Anthony asked the same question as his mother had to him. 

“Anthony. She’s a beautiful woman. The most beautiful I’ve seen in a very long time. If I wish to spend time with her, it doesn’t mean I wish to marry her. Why are you so curious about this one? I’ve danced with many other girls before.” Benedict had an idea. He wasn’t stupid, he knew that Anthony had paid (Y/n) a visit too that day. 

“You haven’t sent flowers to a girl before.” Anthony stated. Which was the truth, none of them had. 

“Neither have you, Brother.” Benedict retorted. 

“Seems we have a situation here.” Anthony folded his arms across his chest. 

“Seems we do.” Benedict rose to his feet and mimicked his older brother. 

“I say...” Anthony sighs. “...We both can spend time with Miss (Y/l/n) if we wish and if anything comes of it then we shall see just which brother she prefers.” 

Benedict could see the mischievous glint in his brother’s eye. 

“But we do not let this get in the way of the family. If this spirals out of our control and comes between us then we both agree to leave the girl alone?” Anthony added. 

“Agreed.” Benedict held out his hand and the brothers shook on it. 

Surely this was just harmless courting... there wasn’t any wedding bells ringing just yet...

After a long day of suitors, you decided to flop on the settee with your book and curl up comfortably, munching on some of the treats that were brought to you today. 

“Oh sit up, (Y/n).” Your mother chided you as she went to leave the room. “It’s  unladylike.”

“There are currently no men in this house. I may sit how I please.” You argued as you popped another macaroon into your mouth just to irritate her. 

“Stop eating all those sweets too! We have another event to attend tomorrow night and you don’t want me instructing the tightening of your corset if you are bloated because of it.” Your mother called back before disappearing into the house. 

You groaned and pushed the pack away, taking only one extra. 

You felt the sun through the window find it’s way to your face, warming you. It truly was a lovely day outside and you had been stuck indoors the entire time. 

“Lottie!” You called out as you pushed yourself to your feet. 

“Yes Miss.” She appeared quickly as she flattened her skirt. 

“I shall like to take a stroll.” You announced, putting down the book that you had failed to read all day 

“I shall fetch your coat and cap, miss.” Lottie rushed out into the hall to which you followed. 

You tied your cap to your head and Lottie helped you with your coat before you left the house. 

You walked in silence, raising your head slightly to feel the sun as Lottie followed a short distance behind you. 

“Miss (Y/l/n)!” A girls voice cried out. 

You looked across the street towards the park where you spotted two young girls heading towards you. 

You recognised the both of them from the night before. One had the familiar chestnut hair of the Bridgerton family and the other a rather bright red head of hair. 

“I don’t know if you remember me, Miss (Y/l/n) but I’m Penelope Featherington.” Penelope lowered her head as she greeted you with a bright smile. 

“Of course I remember you, Miss Featherington.” You had some recollection of an orange haired tot. 

“Please call me Penelope.” Penelope insisted. 

“And you must call me Eloise. I remember how kind you used to be offering for me to play with you and Daphne when all I wanted to do was play with Colin and the boys.” Eloise greeted you with the same enthusiasm. 

“It’s pleasure to see you again, Eloise. And I must extend the same invitation, you both must call me (Y/n).” You were thankful for their warm welcome. Before this social season you were terrified no one would wish to speak to you after your fathers scandal. 

“You simply must promenade with us!” Eloise took hold of your arm as she guided you towards the park.

“How is your brother Colin? I remember how he used to pull Daphne’s hair and make her scream for your mother.” You couldn’t help but giggle at your childhood memories. 

“He is off seeing the world. He left after the last season and only seems to come back for a handful of weeks at a time.” Eloise explained. He had always been the naughtiest of the Bridgeton siblings yet the one who seemingly could always get away with murder. 

“And your sisters, Penelope?” You queried. 

“Still unmarried despite Mother’s attempts to sell them to then men of the ton.” Penelope mumbled to your enjoyment. 

The three of you laughed together as you walked through the park. 

“Mother has not stopped talking about you since she saw you last night. I believe she’s already written Daphne three letters insisting they come down to London earlier than they had planned.” Eloise told you as she squeezed your arm. 

“Oh goodness. I hope Daphne doesn’t trouble herself and rush down just to see me. We haven’t seen each other in lord knows how long.” You shook your head at Violet’s attempt to rekindle old relationships.

“11 years to be exact.” Eloise spoke up. You furrowed your eyebrows at her in curiosity and amusement. 

“Lady Whistledown.” Penelope explained for her. 

“That woman really does know everything, doesn’t she?” You chuckled. 

“Incredible woman, I think. I’ve searched for her but my efforts have resulted in nothing so far.” Eloise pouted at the idea she hasn’t been the genius to unmask the anonymous writer. 

You felt yourself shiver slightly as the wind blew past the three of you. The clouds had made the sky overcast and the wind had picked up sending through a chill. 

“You must come back with me and Penelope and have some tea to warm up. You can’t walk all the way back to your house in this cold. You can borrow one of our carriages.” Eloise took notice of your shudder and you couldn’t refuse in a polite way as she was right and so you found yourself at the Bridgerton house front door. 

“Mama! I have a guest!” Eloise announced loudly in the house which made you laugh again. Eloise hadn’t become any more ladylike than she had been as a toddler. 

“Eloise, you mustn't shout.” Violet had begun to scold Eloise as she exited the drawing room but her face lit up at the sight of you. 

“Miss (Y/l/n)!” Violet’s face shone as she announced your name. 

“Please, Lady Bridgeton, call me (Y/n).” You squeezed her hands as she took hold of your own. 

“(Y/n), I believe I told you to call me Violet.” She gave you a jesting warning stare and you nodded with a smile. 

“Violet.” You started. “I’m sorry to arrive unannounced, I bumped into Eloise and Penelope in the park and Eloise insisted I come back to warm up.” 

“No worries, my dear! No worries at all! I’ll have a fresh pot of tea brought up with some cakes and biscuits.” Violet guided you all into the drawing room to which you spotted Francesca playing the pianoforte. 

“(Y/n)!” Francesca paused her playing to greet you. 

“Oh my goodness. I thought Eloise had grown so much. Now look at you!” You gushed over the beautiful girl. “Both of you have blossomed into such beautiful women.”

“Thank you.” Francesca smiled warmly at you. “But I am not the seasons incomparable, that is you.” 

“As Whistledown writes.” You mutter. 

“As the reaction from the ton’s men last night proclaimed.” Eloise laughed along with her sister. 

“Still, I gather you’ve been busy today with callers.” You gestured to the flower displays around the room.

“Not as busy as your residence. I hear every man in the ton went to call on you today.” Francesca brushed off her own accomplishments. 

“I bet it’s exhausting. Constantly, ‘hello, oh yes thank you for the flowers that will die in a couple of weeks if not days, goodbye, hello, oh yes thank you, goodbye, oh hello, another man coming with the intention to enslave me as his wife’...” Eloise mocked the gentleman which made you burst out in laughter that you could not contain. 

“I’m glad to know you find my sister as amusing as she finds herself.” Anthony’s voice seemed to come from nowhere. 

You spun around to see him stood in the doorway. Just as handsome as he was earlier that day. 

“Lord Bridgerton.” You bowed your head in greeting to which he replied with the same.

“I was just coming to find my mother.” Anthony told you. “But I am glad to have found you instead.”

“Are you saying you’d rather see someone more than your dear mother?” Violet came up behind Anthony with a maid holding a tray of tea beside her. 

“There are very few people I’d rather see than you, Mother.” Anthony tried to charm his mother but she only responded with a ‘hmmmm’. 

You couldn’t help but smile at the exchange. 

The maid placed the tray down and Violet began to pour cups of tea.

“Tea, Anthony?” She asked her eldest who had been watching you as you sat down on the settee beside Eloise and Penelope.

“Just a small cup, please, Mother. I had intended to go to the club shortly.” Anthony sat himself down on the opposite settee, his attentions never leaving you.

You glanced towards the man and felt your cheeks flush slightly at his bold stare. 

 “Where has Benedict got too?” Eloise questioned her older brother. 

“I believe he is in the back garden getting some air.” Anthony responded, finally letting his attention move from you over to his sister. 

“It was lovely all day until just now, the clouds covering the sun suddenly made the temperature drop.” You spoke up as you took your tea from Violet. 

“It has been one of our colder starts to the season.” Violet sighed. 

“I don’t mind it being colder than usual. Saves me from sweating through my ridiculous dresses.” Eloise stated which earned a disapproving look from her mother.

“Eloise!” Violet scolded her quietly. 

“It’s quite alright. I must agree that conditions can become quite unpleasant in the summer when we are expected to look our best.” You were on Eloise’s side. It had been terrible working hot summer days in the thick second hand dresses you often wore as a lady’s companion. 

“I bet summer by the sea was enjoyable these past few years however?” Anthony asked as if he had read your mind. 

“Indeed. We were very fortunate.” You didn’t want to expand on the matter as your mother had warned you about speaking of your previous life before society. 

“What did you do all these years out in the country?” Eloise pressed but fortunately Violet cut in. 

“Eloise enough! (Y/n) has not been here five minutes, she does not need your interrogation.” Violet quietened Eloise to which you were grateful. 

You sent her a subtle smile which Anthony didn’t miss. 

He had too wondered what your life had been like after your father’s scandal but he knew it wasn’t his place to ask... yet. 

“I hear from Eloise that you sent Daphne news of my arrival?” You were the one to initiate change of topic. 

“Oh yes! Daphne has written back and has expressed just how terribly excited she is to see you again, Dear.” Violet smiled widely as she thought on the letter. 

“I can’t imagine just how beautiful she must be now after seeing Eloise and Francesca so grown.” You were excited to see your old playmate but you also felt nervous. Daphne had always been the pretty one, the clever one out of the two of you. After seeing the other Bridgerton daughters, you couldn’t even begin to picture what Daphne looked like now. 

“She was named her season’s incomparable, however, I fear that may not have been true if you had returned earlier.” Anthony placed his cup down and smirked mischievously at you. 

“It is a good thing that (Y/n) returned this year instead then.” Violet sent Anthony a sideways glance.

“Mother, may I steal our guest away for a tour of the house since she has not visited in such a long while?” Anthony had a playful look in his eyes which his mother never failed to notice. 

“If (Y/n) agrees to it.” Violet looked towards you. 

“That would be lovely. I was only just gushing over the wisteria from the house in Benedict’s bouquet earlier today.” You suddenly regretted your choice of words as you said them. It was awkward enough for you to have received flowers from both brothers only for you to mention it in front of everyone. 

“I assured Benedict you’d like them.” Violet only smiled warmly as Fran and Eloise shared a look. 

Anthony rose to his feet and offered you his arm. 

He lead you from the drawing you and began his tour.

“I must admit I didn’t expect to be seeing you again so soon.” Anthony smirked as you walked alongside him. 

“I simply ran into Eloise and Penelope in the park and Eloise insisted I visit and use one of your carriages to travel home.” You explained again even though you had mentioned it earlier. “If that’s still alright, of course.”

“I insist. The walk to your residence may not be very long but in the wind it can be disagreeable.” Anthony looked straight ahead as he spoke which allowed you a closer view at his side profile. He had a strong jaw and the curve of his lips was enhanced by the light from the window ahead which made you nibble down on your own. It was almost enough to make you forget it was rude to stare.

“I feel I must apologise for my intrusion. You had told your mother you were meant to be heading for the gentleman’s club. I fear I am keeping you.” You tried to keep from a silence falling between you two. 

“Believe me, Miss (Y/l/n), there is nothing I would rather be doing than this right at this moment.” Anthony glanced down at you with honest eyes. It caused your chest to tighten. 

“I must admit I find that hard to believe.” You tried to hide your smile as you tested the man. 

“Is that so?” Anthony cocked his eyebrow at you. “And what do you suppose I would find more interesting than spending this time with you?” 

“Oh boyish things I suppose. Watching boxing, gambling, visiting the theatre after hours.” You smiled as you listed off the events on your fingers. 

“Are you insinuating I visit the theatre’s after hours? I thought we had already discussed these matters earlier, Miss (Y/l/n)?” Anthony feigned hurt as he spoke. 

“Discussed? No. I’d say we approached the topic of your rakish reputation before my mother interrupted and you fled the house.” You were having too much fun with this. 

“Fled? Now that is where I have to disagree. I would never flee anywhere.” Anthony continued walking you through the house as you conversed. 

You spotted from a distance, the backdoor of the house was ajar and through the window you could see Benedict sat in the garden with a book and a pencil. 

Was Benedict an artist?

As you grew closer to the backdoor you suddenly felt a nervosa rise in your stomach. You didn’t think you were quite ready to speak to both Anthony and Benedict alone. 

“Do you suppose we should return to the drawing room before Eloise starts conspiring where we have gotten too?” You stopped in your step to try and turn both you and Anthony around. 

“You’re right. I don’t doubt she has already been gossiping with miss Featherington about our whereabouts.” Anthony turned on his heels and you both started back to the drawing room. 

“Will I be expecting to see you at the Helliwell’s ball the day after the next?” Anthony asked as you drew closer to company once again. 

“Yes. My Mama has already accepted the invitation so we will be attending.” You informed him. 

“Well, until then, Miss (Y/l/n).” Anthony stopped just before you reached the door to the drawing room and faced you. He pressed a light kiss to your knuckles and hovered your hand before his lips. “I must be off to the club now but I will send a carriage for you before I go.”  

“Thank you, Lord Bridgerton.” You nodded your head politely. 

“Please, it’s Anthony.” Anthony smirked at you, refraining from sending you a wink as he backed away. 

“Is that Anthony off, dearest?” Violet asked as you reentered the drawing room. 

“Yes.” You nodded. “Which does remind me that I must be off home before my mother worries I've been gone too long.” 

“Well, it’s been lovely seeing you, Dear.” Violet rose from her seat and embraced you warmly. 

“Thank you for having me.” You hugged her back with a grateful smile. “I will be back soon no doubt.” 

“I’ll be holding you to that.” Violet held her finger to you with a gay squint. 

You heard the horses out front and you knew this was your cue to leave. 

You bid farewell to Penelope, Francesca and Eloise before entering the carriage.

As you looked back at the house, you felt something arise in you. It was a worrying feeling. A worry that the attention from both the Bridgerton men was going to get you into trouble or worse...

(Next part soon!)

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[invisibleinorange]

Swelter Weather  3/?

Chapters: 3/? Fandom: Bridgerton Rating: M Warnings: None at this point. Relationships: Colin Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington,  Eloise Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington(besties),  Bridgerton Family Dynamics, Eloise Bridgerton/Phillip Crane Characters: Colin Bridgerton,  Penelope Featherington, Eloise Bridgerton, Phillip Crane, Benedict Bridgerton Additional Tags:  Bridgerton, Polin

Summary: Colin Bridgerton is weary from travel and decides to spend the summer at the Aubrey Hall. While his initial plans were to avoid his perfect family, he ends up sharing the house with Eloise and Penelope. This is a Modern AU!

“You have to help,”  Eloise said into her cell.  She called Benedict early in the morning. As the sibling she considered herself closest to, she was desperate for his advice on how to stop Colin from ruining her life.  That was the only outcome she could see happening if she allowed Colin to get his hands on her best friend.

She could hear her elder brother yawn into the phone. “You’re seriously calling me to complain because you think that Colin might have been about to kiss Penelope,”  she heard him laugh.

“There is no think. If I’d not interrupted, they would have tainted the sanctity of the game room,” Eloise bellowed into the phone.

“Are you sitting?”  Benedict asked in the phone.

“Well… yes,”  Eloise said from where she was sitting on her bed.

“I’m going to tell you something and it might come as a shock to you,” Benedict started.  “I’m only going to tell you this because I love you.”

“What?”

“You need to mind your own business,” Benedict told her simply.

“Pen is my business,” Eloise argued into the phone.

“If that was true, you’d know that this was always going to happen.  You  can’t possibly just now be noticing the way they act with each other,” Benedict told her.  “I mean,  Daph, Anthony and I sort of have a gambling pool going about it.”

“You’re making bets over it?”  Eloise asked incredulously.

“This is why we didn’t let you in on it.  For the record, if it happens between now and Christmas Kate wins,” Benedict told her.

“Kate is in on this too?”

“And Simon,” Benedict noted.

“Did anyone at least take a stance that it won’t happen?”

“Nope. We’re all in agreement that it’s going to happen.”

Eloise glared at her phone.  They were all traitors. That was what this came down too.  Not a single relative was loyal.  They were all making bets, assuming that something was going to happen; something that she wasn’t sure that she wanted to allow to happen.

“I hate every single one of you,” she muttered.

“You love us.  Don’t do anything stupid.  You can’t stop the inevitable.”

“You wait and see.”

“Well if you delay it until after Christmas, I win.”

That was enough for to end the call.  Clearly she wasn’t going to get the commiseration or help she was looking for.

“Bye.”

“Oh don’t be a –“

Eloise clicked to end the call, throwing her phone on her dresser.  That hadn’t gone the way she’d planned.

--

Colin was remarkably quiet through most of breakfast and lunch, keeping mostly to himself. He wouldn’t have said he was avoiding anyone but he wasn’t quite sure how he was going to approach the conversation or if he should.  He and Penelope had always had a bit of banter between them and maybe things had escalated but it hadn’t crossed the line into action.

It had come as close as it ever had though.

If Eloise hadn’t interrupted, he knew he would have done something. He would have acted on impulse and he wasn’t completely sure what he wanted.  It was one thing to make moves on a stranger and another to do that to someone who he’d known since they were a child.  Penelope was his sister’s best friend. If he misread the signals, he wouldn’t be the only one who suffered because of it. As much as he loved tormenting his siblings, he didn’t actually want to do anything to damage them.  

“I’m going for another ride,” he announced to them in passing, leaving them to their lounging and reading.

He needed the fresh air, needed to gather his thoughts more than anything in the world.  If he was out of the house he might have a fighting shot at it.

He was half way out the door when he felt a hand reaching out grabbing his wrist as if to give him pause. He didn’t have to look back to know whose hand was on him.

He turned back, eyes gazing on her face which in that moment was a mixture of apprehension and something unreadable.

“Can I join you?” Penelope asked him.

The smart answer was no.  He ought to tell her to stick around and hang out with his sister.  It wasn’t what he wanted though and he found himself nodding before he could formulate words.

“Of course,” he told her, forcing his usual grin on his features.

She released her grip on him and he led the way to the stables.  It normally wasn’t this quiet between them but he wasn’t going to push it and neither was she.

“I usually ride this one,” he said pointing to his horse as he went to place a saddle on it.  It was a large, healthy stallion.  He was fully prepared to set her up on one of the others.  They did have a few to pick from.  He knew that Daphne’s horse would probably be the best fit. “I’m thinking maybe Daph’s for you.”

“I was thinking I could ride with you,” Penelope said after a long moment.

Colin gave her a long look, thinking over her suggestion.  He’d raised his horse since it was a foal. It was sturdy, dependable and could certainly handle the load.  The saddle wouldn’t work for it though. They’d have to ride bareback.

“Are you sure that’s what you want?” he asked, removing the saddle he’d already put into place. “It won’t as comfortable without that.”

“I’m not so delicate that I can’t handle it. Besides, I want to experience your equestrian skills first hand instead of observing them,”  she told him.

He didn’t have to be told a second time.

“Let me give you a leg up,” he said before he helped her climb astride before he managed to pull himself up behind her.  He handed her the reins once he was secure before wrapping his own arms around her middle.

In an instant they were in motion. It was much easier to let her lead the show him give her instructions on what to do.  He had full confidence in their combined ability to do this.

“Which way?”  Penelope asked, her body shifting backwards against his slightly with each stride of the horse.

“I’ll show you my usual route,” Colin told her, trying to not to think too much about the jut of his body against hers with every movement. “Or rather he will. He knows the way.”

The stallion didn’t really require much guidance. It was normally fairly easy to zone out and enjoy the scenery. It was innocent enough at first. That certainly didn’t last for long though.   It was an impossibility when he was already struggling to maintain some distance and the very nature of this required a complete lack of it.

It was difficult to be a gentleman with her pressed against him. He had to lean against her, if he wanted to keep them both astride.  There was something pleasant about the closeness. The friction of her hips moving backward against his own was distracting, especially when she let out audible moans when he got bumped especially hard toward into her.

“You’ve got to stop,” he murmured close to her ear. There was a hint of warning to it not that he was really sure what he was going to do.

Penelope apparently wasn’t ignorant to what she was doing to him. He was pretty sure he felt her intentionally shift back against him, which earned a groan.  She was going to be the death of him. He was certain of it.

“Stop what?” she asked.  He could hear the mischief in her voice and it confirmed the suspicion. There was no hiding what she was doing to him anymore. She undoubtedly felt how hard he was.  If she was trying to tease him, she was doing a hell of a job.

“You’re playing with fire,” he growled, turning his head enough to bury her face in her neck, mouth ghosting the skin there. Her hands moved lower on her hips to at least try and control the way his hips moved forward into hers. “I thought you wanted to ride a horse not a Bridgerton.”

“The horse was an excuse to spend time with the Bridgerton,” she confessed, eyes closing and a breathy-sigh escaping her as her knuckles tightened around the reins.  Thank God the horse knew what it was doing and could complete the loop of the property to get the back to the barn.

“You don’t have to have an excuse to spend time with me,” Colin told her simply, honestly. Her words were enough to shame him into behaving. She thought she needed an excuse to spend time with him when the truth of the matter was that he loved spending time with her. He pressed a light, affectionate kiss to her jaw. He felt her shiver and he knew that needed to put some distance between them before more could happen. “You never have and you never will.”

Colin’s hand moved to take the reins from her long enough to get them stopped. He slipped down before offering her a hand to assist her down.   They were close enough to the barn and he could easily get the creature secured again.

“Do you mean that?” Penelope asked quietly, her legs still a bit wobbly and her mind still racing. She followed him diligently though, sticking close by.

“Yeah,” Colin said lamely trying to get his brain and body to behave.   “I like being around you… even when you’re tormenting me.”

“That wasn’t my initial goal,” she confessed. There was something rather alluring about her red curls so messy and windblown combined with the innocent yet mischievous smile on her face. “I can’t say that I didn’t like it though.”

“I had a sneaking suspicion that you did,” he told her with a light smile.  He wanted to kiss her then and there, see what other forms of torment she could appreciate but he kept himself in check.  There was only so long they could hang out before Eloise would come looking. He wasn’t willing to tempt the fates on this.

“Maybe next time we hang out you’ll get to torment me,” she offered.

Those words alone were enough fodder to keep him happy for the rest of the day. He offered his arm, planning to guide her back to the house.

“Let’s go find El,” he suggested.

[theviscountbridgerton]

Why do you dislike Benedict so much? I think all the guys except Colin act like a$$holes during their books including Anthony so why is Benedict the only one you have a problem with?

I don’t want to be negative and I’m certainly not trying to make anybody else hate Benedict. If Benedict’s your favourite character, that’s great. To each their own.

And because I am harsh on Benedict, here’s three things I like about him.

1. He steps in to rescue Sophie from a terrifying and horrible situation when he doesn’t know her at all, and he brings her to a safe place and gives her shelter. She’s a nobody to him at that point and he is kind and generous to her and protects her in a way nobody else ever has. (Which is why I find the way he acts afterwards so infuriating.)

2. We’re told that he most often dances with the wallflowers and the overlooked girls, the Penelopes of the Ton because he prefers them to the more popular girls. We don’t actually see it happen in the books, the only time is when he abandons Penelope to chase the mystery lady. I think if it had been mentioned in Penelope’s book that Benedict often danced with her that I’d probably like him a lot more. I hope the series highlights that part of his character.

3. When Anthony is hungover and depressed and Benedict starts cracking walnuts by smashing them with a book. That’s the kind of asshole behavior I can get behind.

So he does have good points, and I did like him initially, but I thought he behaved like such an asshole to Sophie that it outweighs the good and I couldn’t get over it.

So three reasons I don’t like Benedict. (Under the cut because it’s long, spoilery and I’m pretty critical of Benedict so don’t keep reading if you don’t want to see that. I have no interest in turning people against him.)

1. Benedict is the epitome of privilege. Every privilege that exists, he has it. He’s a straight, white, wealthy, landowning, able-bodied, cisgendered aristocrat. He’s a member of a powerful and well-connected family. Now, that pretty much applies to all the men in the series. But Simon, Philip and Gareth all have abusive parents and traumatic childhoods and Michael is an orphan. It doesn’t excuse their dickishness but it does make them more sympathetic. Anthony carries the trauma of his father’s death and the massive responsibility of being made head of a large family at 18. Benedict doesn’t have any kind of struggle to offset his privilege. He has no responsibility, never had to work for anything. Colin’s in the same position, but he does something with his privilege - he travels and writes and doesn’t act like an asshole. Benedict just mopes around for years. He’s apparently a really talented artists but he never works at it or trains for it. But then when decides he wants to be an artist, he takes up watercolours and becomes a celebrated painter within a few years.  

He’s literally had everything handed to him on a silver platter. Then, the one time he doesn’t get his way, when Sophie says no to him, he is furious, he calls her stupid, blackmails her into doing what he wants, puts her in a position where she can’t get away from him and harasses her until she gives in. He doesn’t listen to her when she gives her reasons for saying no.  

There’s a power imbalance with all the couples because of the way society treated women in the 19th century. But the imbalance is the worst between Benedict and Sophie. Sophie is the least privileged person we meet in the series. Not only is she not a member of the aristocracy, but she is completely alone. She has no money, no power, no family, no friends, so support. She is abused by her stepmother until she escapes. She gets a job working for a nice elderly couple in the country, it’s the best job she can hope for in her circumstances, Then their awful son arrives and tries to rape her. Benedict tells her she’s stupid for putting herself in that position. He doesn’t listen to her. He doesn’t respect her wishes or her decisions. He uses his power over her to force her to come to London with him and work for his mother. Sophie is completely vulnerable and Benedict uses that to get his own way. At least when Anthony is being a dick, he’s aware he’s being a dick. During the scene in the study with Kate, when he’s at his most dickiest, he knows and feels shame for it. Benedict thinks he’s entirely in the right the whole time. He does eventually see the error of his ways and apologises but I felt it was too little, too late.

2. It’s not just that Benedict keeps pressuring Sophie after she’s said no, it’s what he’s asking her to do. I don’t even judge him that much for asking him to be his mistress, Sophie is a servant and he can’t marry her, but having a mistress was somewhat acceptable for a man in his position. (Although just because it’s acceptable at the time, doesn’t mean I have to like it.) Yes, Anthony pretty much intends to do the same thing, and he’s an asshole for it. But once he falls in love with Kate there’s no question of him having a mistress, he’s a one woman man. When Benedict asks Sophie to be his mistress, he still intends to get married and he’s hoping it will be the mystery lady. He intends to have his cake and eat it too. He loves Sophie and wants to marry this other lady he has feelings for. He wants to marry this lady he claims to have feelings for, while keeping a mistress on the side. He really only gives up on the idea of finding his mystery lady when he realises that she’s Sophie. I think that’s another reason I can forgive Anthony more easily than Benedict. That scene in the study is Anthony’s worst moment and he improves from there, while Benedict doubles down on his worst moment for several chapters afterwards and his redemption comes very late in the novel.

3. The third reason is not really anything Benedict does, but it’s how he’s written. Because he doesn’t really feature in any of the other books, we don’t get to know him as well as the other characters. Anthony and Colin feature heavily in The Duke and I, and I liked both of them by the end of that book, but didn’t have any thoughts on Benedict. The scene with Anthony and Eloise in Philip’s study during To Sir Philip With Love is one of my favourite moments in the whole series. Colin pops up in other books being charming, funny and sweet. We don’t get that with Benedict. So when I say he has no personality, I’m not really being fair to Benedict as he doesn’t get the same chance as other characters do to show different sides of his personality, and that’s a fault with the writing not the character. But it means the only impression we have of him is from An Offer From a Gentleman and sadly, I think he was too much of an asshole for a large part of that book and wasn’t properly redeemed.

The sad thing is that it could have been very easy to write him not being an asshole. Instead of being angry and throwing a tantrum when Sophie says no, imagine that while Benedict is upset, he accepts her decision and then brings her to London and gets her a job working for his mother to help her without ulterior motive as he did when he rescued her the first time. They encounter each other at number 5 and fall more in love but they can’t be together (the pining!) until he decides he doesn’t care about bowing to social expectations anymore and asks her to marry him before finding out who she is, and before his mother finds a way to make it acceptable. Add in a few scenes in the other books that show him paying attention to Penelope and the wallflowers and that’s a Benedict I would have loved.

 PS. Anybody looking for a band name, Penelope and the Wallflowers is free for the taking.

[gemsofthegalaxy]

TBH............. Bridgerton is one of those curious shows where I find very few of the characters are remotely likeable lmaoooo. So, negativity below, because I’m just ranting about what i disliked about each character!!! 

(despite all this i actually very much enjoyed the show, jsyk) 

Eloise is one of the most likable characters for me, but even she is shown to be very self-centered. she hardly ever listened to others because she was too busy ranting about her own woes (of course, the lack of agency given to women does in fact suck and she’s right to speak up about that. still. she is extremely one-track minded and never pays attention to other’s problems). Also. LET HER BE A LESBIAN, I’M BEGGING YOU (along with her gay/bi brother Benedict, more on that below) 

I actually do like Daphne a lot for the most part. I liked her sense of duty and responsibility, her kind and nurturing nature, and that she is not that snobbish. and honestly i don’t blame her for wanting children and I DO blame Simon for his original transgression of kissing her while she was alone in the garden when he knows damn well he’s risking her entire fucking reputation because he just ~burns~ for her, like please. keep it in your pants.  

it’s still incredibly fucked up that she violated his consent. it sort of, idk, taints their whole relationship after that point? they really should have written that conflict differently so as to not involve rape. that goes without saying in all honesty... at the same time, important to call attention to. 

but that aside, at the end of the day... i found it odd that their characters are fundamentally incompatible without Simon changing his tune about children, which is, eehh? And, yeah, it’s sort of a stupid he doesn’t want kids just to spite his father but he WAS traumatized and, idk- i feel like people who don’t want kids generally shouldnt be made to have them or “change their minds”. But, one of them had to change and it wasn’t gonna be Daphne sooo..... whatever. 

moving along. boy howdy, Anthony was quite selfish and unlikeable. i don’t even know how to elaborate. i liked Siena enough but it was annoying watching him jerk her around and flip flop between taking care of his family, and taking care of her, which rendered him nearly useless to both (to be fair, i feel like that’s the Point- it’s just like. his Developmental Arc. but it makes him into a shit person for the first while LOL) 

I liked Penelope at first because she seemed gentle and compassionate, but turned out she’s super fucked up like. like. girl. also all that over a boy who doesnt even like you? uuugghhh. but at the same time, i fucking love Nicola and she gets points for being not stick thin, which is just refreshing to see?? (next challenge: cast plus size women in roles that arent like, the wallflower who nobody notices or somethiing, thaaaaaaaaaks.......)  

Now Marina, I actually liked a lot, she’s one of my favourites. Still, she was stubborn and often completely uninterested in truly considering what she might need to do to secure a good life for herself (like, she was great with the plot with Colin and the tea, but after that she just gave up and refused other solutions while offering NO NEW DIRECTION herself. like what were her plans? she seemed smart but only when things would be convenient for her which. sigh. I hope Philip treats her right, she seriously deserves good things). I was worried they were going to villianize her more (and I guess some people think that she was villianized w the Colin plot but idk i was rooting for her to get him and elope XDDD) which wasn’t/isn’t the cutest look given she’s the only black girl of the Young Cast..... like, I’m really glad they made her complex and I personally thought she was compelling and one of the better characters but she could have had a bit more agency and a better outlook within the narrative soo.. hmmmmmmm.

Benedict has potential, but he needed to be gayer ngl. his plotline with the seamstress was uncompelling AF because he’s just following in the steps of Anthony, yawn. if he was having a gay struggle or something that would at least make it fucking interesting???  He trule had way more tension with the Gay Artist anyway (i am glad Artist has a beau tho, that was so sweet!). idk honestly, he was just so boring once he got with the seamstress. disappointing. 

oh... I do have 1 character with zero complaints!!The Prince of Prussia was delightful. He was kind, gentle, and understanding. I miss him tbh 

anyway, moving on to more general stuff about the show, despite the fact i wasn’t rooting for most characters one way or the others, i had a grand old time!!!! I don’t LIKE non-con, esp when it’s not treated with delicacy, and the way it was handled really does cheapen and taint both the relationship AND daphne’s character, BUT.... i’m personally not gonna throw away the whole show, or the relationship because of it. ugh, i’m just gonna sort of compartmentalize that so i can save my own headaches. 

and, honestly, for the moment I’m enjoying seeking out other’s takes! it’s fun seeing everyone’s reactions, positive and critical! i’m glad we mostly agree Benedict should have been/is gay lmao and otherwise its fun to see what other people took from it. 

that being said, I don’t see myself remaining in this “fandom” long, though,  because it just doesn’t have the makings of a fixation for me... simply not enough gay relationships to get attached to,, because i am admittedly one of those queer fangirls that needs a compelling relationship to sink my teeth into and rn none of them are quite cutting it oops ^^; 

[gcldenrush]

side note :    i wonder if a small part of his reaction at penelope being lady whistledown has to do with that superficial view of him...   and how, over the years, whistledown really perpetuated it.   i really do think colin resented the way he was described in whistledown’s columns   ---   it almost seems to come out in some of the things he says.

Anthony sighed. "I just want to see you happy." "I am happy," Colin insisted. "Are you?" "Hell, I'm the happiest man in London. Just read Lady Whistledown. She'll tell you so."     ---   Romancing Mr Bridgerton

"I'm sick of being thought an empty-headed charmer," he finally blurted out. "Don't be silly," she said, faster than immediately, if that were possible. "Penelope—" "No one thinks you're stupid," she said.  "How would—"  "Because I've been stuck here in London for more years than anyone should have to," she said sharply. "I may not be the most popular woman in town, but after ten years, I've heard more than my fair share of gossip and lies and foolish opinions, and I have never—not once—heard someone refer to you as stupid." He stared at her for a moment, a bit startled by her passionate defense. "I didn't mean stupid, precisely," he said in a soft, and he hoped humble, voice. "More ... without substance. Even Lady Whistledown refers to me as a charmer." "What's wrong with that?" "Nothing," he replied testily, "if she didn't do it every other day."  "She only publishes every other day." "My point exactly," he shot back. "If she thought there was anything to me other than my so-called legendary charm, don't you think she would have said so by now?"    ---   Romancing Mr Bridgerton

colin feels, like  ---  legit bitterness towards this woman for reducing him to such a one - dimensional caricature, one he has to live up to in public.   penelope is the one he chooses to confide this in!  she’s the one who reassures him, who seems to see past all that!   ( i also wonder if part of the reason she reacts so negatively to his confession here is because she realizes he resents whistledown, and is upset by it. )

finding out the woman he trusts, the woman who sees him, is the same woman who’s gossiped about him for years...   ohh, he doesn’t like it.   it’s upsetting.  it almost breaks his heart a little, because he wanted to be more than that to penelope.   is this truly how she sees him  ---  and all he’ll ever be to her?