Chapter Text
“Technically it's not illegal”
“ That was El's justification?”
“Apparently.” Penelope couldn't stop herself from laughing at Colin's dropped jaw. Her boyfriend was so cute.
“I have to be honest… I'm a little impressed.”
“Same.” Penelope admitted, her best friend truly was a force to be reckoned with. “Not surprised though.”
“Oh me neither. She's my sister, I grew up with her, I know exactly what she's capable of.” Colin shuddered, making Penelope grin again, vivid memories of all the times El had enlisted her to enact revenge on her siblings flashing through her memory. She always drew the line at Colin, and frankly, she was a little too intimidated by Anthony. But any of the other Bridgerton siblings… Well, they were fair game. “So, what did you do?”
“Well, Theo came home-”
“I imagine he was furious?”
“Oh absolutely. Anyone in their right mind would be.” Penelope said. “I managed to lock them in his bedroom so they could hash everything out once and for all.”
“And they didn't burn the entire flat down?”
“Nearly.” She quipped. “But, I don't know, once all the anger was finally out there they were actually able to talk . Which is what they should have done when they broke up weeks ago.”
Colin’s face softened suddenly. “How is El now?”
“She's- Well she's not okay just yet. But she will be.” Penelope replied quietly, glancing at her best friend's bedroom door. “I think she's reached the depression stage of the grieving process.”
He winced. “Yeah, that part is rough.”
Marina. She remembered seeing him through that stage. Penelope felt a frown forming on her face at the mere memories. Seeing him so despondent and disheveled… so un-Colin like. It was honestly a bit unsettling. And it was hard knowing her own cousin had been the cause of it, even if it wasn't her intention.
Penelope had been through her own depression stage years ago. After Colin had rather loudly declared that he would never date her. It made sense, but that didn't make it hurt any less. To Colin's credit, he'd apologized profusely, but the damage had been done. Penelope had nursed her heart back to health alone, and she was all the stronger for it. And Colin had thoroughly made up for that mistake since, and ensured that her heart remained intact. Penelope almost wanted to laugh, as it turned out, those words weren't true in the slightest, and she had a plethora of proof to back her up.
“Mhm.” Penelope nodded. “But I'm prepared. I've found out where to watch all her favorite horror movies, and I've got the DVDs of the ones that aren't on streaming services. I've got ice cream, popcorn, liquorice-”
“Heathen.” Colin interrupted playfully.
“Hush.” Penelope shoved his shoulder with no real ire. “Anyways, I've got all her favorite snacks, her favorite films, and I've already got an email scheduled to send in the morning saying I'm sick. I've drafted one for El too. We're all set to have a movie day.”
His eyes shined with admiration, Penelope felt a blush spread to her cheeks. “You really do think of everything, don't you?”
“She would do the same for me.” She said instantly.
“It's all very sweet, Pen.” He smiled. “But I thought you hated horror movies?”
“I do.” She shuddered slightly. “But El has never had her heart broken before, and as her best friend, I want to be there for her. Even if it means I have nightmares for a few… weeks.”
Colin smiled at her, love written all over his features. He kissed her softly, catching her off guard. You'd think she'd be used to it by now. “You're amazing, you know that?”
Heat rose to her cheeks once more, she waved a dismissive hand. “I'm just being a good friend.”
“Eloise is lucky to have you.” He said, grabbing her hand. Penelope cursed the butterflies in her stomach. “We all are.”
“I'm lucky to have her- and you- too.” Pen replied, voice barely audible to her own ears.
Colin moved a little closer to her. “Why don't I come over tomorrow? I can binge the horror movies with El.”
“You don't have to do that. I really don't mind-”
“I want to.” He cut her off resolutely. “Eloise is a pain in my arse- but she's still my little sister, you know? If she's hurting, I want to be there for her. Besides, Ant and Ben will be too busy trying to find Theo so they can beat him up. Greg will probably try to join in, knowing him.” He shrugged. “And I like a good horror movie. It'll be fun.”
“You're- you're a good brother, Colin. Eloise doesn't always say it-”
“Never says it, you mean.” He interjected, eyes sparkling with amusement.
“But she knows it too.” Penelope finished regardless.
“Yeah, I know she does.” Colin shifted so that his head was resting on her shoulder. She nearly jumped at the contact. “That's the thing about us Bridgertons, we may want to kill each other half the time, but we'd also kill for each other in a heartbeat.”
“I think that's kind of nice, actually. I grew up in a house where we all just wanted to kill each other.” She joked, hesitantly resting her head atop of his. Her heart felt as though it was beating out of its chest. Penelope thought about it for a moment. “Well, maybe Phillipa and Prudence would kill for each other. They'd only want to kill me though. But I can't blame them, I felt the way about them so…”
“The Bridgertons would kill for you in a heartbeat, Pen.” He said. “You're basically one of us. An honorary Bridgerton.”
Penelope couldn't help but smile a little teasingly. “Does that mean I'm your sister then?”
“Absolutely not!” He replied, horrified, lifting his head to look at her. “But you are going to be my wife one day, ergo, you're basically a Bridgerton.”
“Colin!” She blushed.
“What? We both know it's true.” He said it with such confidence, her heart swelled.
“Yeah, yeah.” She grinned, kissing his cheek. “For the record, you're welcome to watch movies tomorrow, but I'm still joining in. I'm going to be here for Eloise, I don't care how many horror movies I have to watch.”
“Penelope-”
“I've never seen Eloise like this before.” Penelope confessed. “I'm going to help her. No matter what.”
“Alright, fair enough.” He smirked. “I can be here to help Eloise and to protect you.”
“That does sound quite nice.” Penelope conceded. The idea of snuggling up with Colin under a blanket and hiding her face in his shoulder while he comforted her certainly appealed to her. “We're gonna have to be subtle though. So Eloise doesn't suspect anything.”
Colin frowned. “When are we going to tell her about us?”
Her heart fluttered at the use of the word ‘us.’ She and Colin were an us. God, that didn't feel real. “Eventually. But now is hardly the right time, not when she's dealing with her first heartbreak.”
“Yeah, no you're right.” He admitted, pulling her onto his lap. “I just hate the fact that nobody knows you're mine. I want to shout it from the rooftops.”
“Cheesy.”
“True.”
Penelope smiled, resting against him. She snuggled into him. A tad absentmindedly, she admitted. “I think I'm a little scared of us.”
He froze beneath her. “What? Why?”
Her words caught up with her a second too late. She sighed, no point in denying it now. Penelope traced little shapes over his chest as she spoke. “Just… I really love you, you know? And I see Eloise and I know you could do that to me. You… You could really break my heart, Colin. That's kind of scary.”
“Penelope.” He caught her face in his hands. “Pen, look at me.” She reluctantly met his gaze and he kissed her forehead. “I love you. And I'm never going to break your heart. Not again. Not if I can help it. I already broke your heart once and it was the biggest mistake of my life. And I swear Pen, I will spend the rest of our lives healing your heart and making it up to you.”
“Oh, Colin.” She rested her forehead against his. “You don't have to make anything up to me, my love. My heart healed a long time ago.”
“I love you, Penelope. More than you'll ever know.”
She leaned in and softly connected their lips. “I love you too.”
“And just so you know, it's the same for me.” He said. “You could really break my heart, Bridgerton.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Featherington.”
“For now.” He countered with a mischievous grin. “Look, it doesn't matter that we could break each other's hearts. We're not going to, right?”
“Never.”
Colin held out his pinky and smiled. “Promise?”
Penelope couldn't help but smile as she wrapped her pinky around his. “Promise.”