Chapter Text
“PENELOPE ANNE FEATHERINGTON!! WHERE ARE YOU?”
The five-year-old snapped out of her daydream immediately, knowing that there couldn’t really be any good to come from her mama yelling her full name. It takes so long to say a whole name that grownups really only bother with it when you’re in big, big trouble and somehow Penelope was always in big, big trouble for one thing or another.
She wasn’t really sure why. She always tried her best to behave, to be quiet and stay out of everyone's way. She wasn’t noisy and demanding like Prudence or flighty and messy like Philippa, who at thirteen and twelve wanted nothing to do with little Penelope anyway.
Penelope raced down the hallway in her socks toward her mama’s voice so she wouldn’t make her wait, slipping and sliding along the way.
“Penelope, what have I told you about running in your socks?”
“Sorry, Mama. I didn’t want to make you wait. You called me.” The little girl stood still in the doorway to the kitchen where her mama was making a coffee for herself with a mug she had dug out of a nearby box.
“I need you out of the house for the day. Your sisters have already gone to the mall and I’d like the house to be quiet for once so that I can unpack. You’ll need to find something to do.” She barely glanced at her young daughter as she sipped her coffee and rubbed her temple.
“But Mama, where should I go?” Penelope sucked her bottom lip between her teeth and glanced at her mama with wide eyes, trying not to show her that she didn’t want to go. It would only make her mama disappointed if she complained. Her family had only just moved into their house, so Penelope didn’t know anyone yet and hadn’t started school. Her sisters were already out, and of course hadn’t invited her to go along. Who knows where her daddy was today. She felt a bit nervous to leave the house and explore the neighborhood on her own.
“I don’t care, Penelope. Go in the yard, or go for a walk, or find someone to talk to. Just get out of the house so that I can have some peace and get this house in order.”
“Okay, Mama.” The little girl went to her room and pulled her book from inside her pillowcase, grabbed her faded yellow cardigan, slipped on her shoes, and headed out the door.
“Dad!! Why can’t I go, too? It’s not FAIR.” The precocious little boy with chestnut curls and denim blue eyes stuck out his lower lip in the biggest pout he could. His father had to fight back a smile at his youngest son’s antics. He was his hardest child to say no to.
“This movie is too scary for you, Colin. I need you to stay here and look after your mom and your sisters for me while I’m out with your brothers.”
At seven years old, the third of the six Bridgerton kids often felt stuck in the middle with no place of his own. He was constantly reminded that he was too little to tag along with Anthony and Benedict, who fancied themselves fully grown men now that they were fifteen and thirteen. Colin was the oldest of “the littles,” as his brothers called them. After the big gap between their second and third boys, his parents quickly had Colin, then Daphne (who was six), Eloise (five), and Francesca (almost four). Colin loved his little sisters very much, but sometimes he just wanted an adventure of his own.
As he watched out the window while his dad and older brothers drove off, his mom came up beside him and ran her fingers through his curls. It wasn’t her fault he didn’t get to go, so he tried to give her his best smile.
“My sweet Colin, what would you say to going out to play for a while? It’s a beautiful day and I’m sure your sisters would love to play with sidewalk chalk if you’d like to ride your bike.”
Mom always knew what to do. Colin gave her a kiss on the cheek and ran to get his helmet. This was going to be a great day after all.
It was a bit windy outside, and windy days certainly weren’t the best for keeping the pages of one’s book from skipping the best parts of the story. Luckily, if there was one thing Penelope was wonderful at, it was finding a spot to hide, so she started looking for a perfect place to shield herself from the wind to read alone while her mama unpacked inside.
As she wandered down her driveway to the sidewalk, she noticed a bush next to the mailbox that looked hollow, like a fairy could live inside it. She loved fairies. She decided right away that this would be her fairy tree. Not too big, but big enough for a little girl with a good book; she climbed between the branches to settle into her perfect reading spot for the day. It was really quite snuggly and perfect. Just as she was opening her book, she heard voices across the street and saw three little girls come running outside laughing together. They must be sisters, she thought with a smile. How nice it must be to have sisters who like to play with you. She was glad that her fairy tree not only kept her book safe from the blustery day, but provided cover for her to sneak peeks at her new neighbors without having to say hello. Penelope loved watching people, even though she was a bit too shy to talk to them herself.
She turned back down to her book, not realizing that she had let go of her yellow cardigan until it had already slipped out of her fingers and flew towards the road.
Colin was excited to find that the wind was howling wildly as he rushed up the hill on his bike. He huffed and puffed as he worked the pedals hard to get to the top, but he knew it would all pay off when he turned around to sail back down the hill with the wind at his back.
He grinned to himself, knowing he was about to go faster than he had ever gone before. He wanted to surprise mom and the girls with how fast he was now that he was seven years old and no longer a little kid. He knew that Daph would tell Ant, Ben, and Dad about how brave and fast Colin was while they were gone. He could picture their shocked, proud faces already.
It was going to be a great day.
He took off down the hill and realized he didn’t even need to pedal. He was going so quickly and it was so much fun. It wasn’t scary at all. Okay, maybe it actually was a little bit scary. Maybe it was a lot scary. He was trying not to think about it when something yellow hit his face, making everything go dark as he felt himself go flying, unable to stop.
Penelope tried her hardest to get out of her fairy tree, but her shirt was snagged. She pulled and pulled and just as she finally broke free from the branches to run after her cardigan, she saw a boy covered in yellow fabric go flying head over the handlebars of a bike and land on the road.
She gasped and felt tears start falling down her cheeks as the little boy let out a blood curdling scream, and a beautiful woman - his mama? - came running toward him from across the street.
Penelope jumped toward the curb in tears. “I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”
Don’t cry, be brave and big, Colin told himself, but it was no use. His arm hurt so much that he couldn’t stop the tears from streaming down his face.
“Daphne, baby, take your sisters and go next door to Miss Agatha - let her know Colin is hurt!” He heard his mom yell to his most responsible sister, who grabbed Eloise and Franny by the hands and took off to get help from the neighbor. Daphne was always a good listener. He would try to remember to thank her later for taking care of everyone when Colin had promised his dad he would do that himself.
His mom was beside him now, pulling him into her lap to check his injuries. She touched his arm and he yelped - it hurt more than anything he had felt before. She kissed his head and was saying something about quickly going to get her purse and taking him to the hospital, but her voice faded away as he noticed a little girl with pretty red ringlet curls and big crystal blue eyes sobbing on the curb in front of him. He saw his sisters cry all the time, but this felt different. The fall might have broken his arm, but seeing her cry shattered his heart on impact.
“I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry,” she kept repeating. Colin’s tears slowed down to a stop - he was still in pain, but he didn’t want her to be sad. Maybe if she knew he was okay, she would feel better. He desperately wanted her to feel better.
He thought the bravest thoughts he could and locked eyes with the little girl. “That wasn’t very well done of me, was it?” He wiggled his eyebrows like he had seen Benedict do often… Everyone always smiled when Ben did that. Colin tried his hardest to give her the biggest grin he could, thinking she might at least roll her eyes at him like his sisters would have, but she just kept crying.
“I’m so sorry. It was my cardigan. The wind, I thought I had it but I didn’t, and then… I’m so sorry that I hurt you.”
As he listened to the girl, a woman came running out of the house behind her. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, YOU FOOLISH CHILD???” She grabbed the little girl’s wrist and screamed so loudly at her that Colin’s bravery wavered, but only for a moment. He realized that it must be her mom… but her mom did not seem kind like his. Why was her mom not wiping her tears or putting her arm around her when she was clearly so sad and afraid? He did not like this at all. Something needed to be done, and quickly.
“Hey! Come here!” he yelled to the little girl. Her eyes got wide as though he was going to harm her, so he made sure to smile again so she knew she was safe. He was sure right then that he would always make sure she felt safe.
Slowly, she walked closer to him, then lowered herself down until she was sitting on her knees on the pavement in front of him. She was so little, and looked so afraid and hurt, as though she was the one injured by the fall. As though it physically hurt her to see him injured.
“It’s okay, you don’t need to be worried about me. I’m seven. I was due for a big adventure today. Plus, it’s not like you can control the wind. It was an accident.” Colin kept his soft eyes on hers.
The little girl just stared at him curiously, her tears finally starting to slow down. He realized that he wanted to hug her as tight as he could. A good squeeze would help. It always helped him when he was feeling worried, and he knew he was a really good hugger. His mom said he was the best hugger of all, and Colin was pretty sure it was the truth.
But when he went to lift his arms to pull her in for his best hug, he remembered why they were there in the first place. Oh…right. His arm. He winced in pain and the little girl’s eyes started watering again.
“Scoot closer! I promise I don’t bite.” He reached out with his other hand and grasped her little fingers with his, then pulled her quickly to him, surprising her tears away.
“I’m sorry but I can’t hug you right now, so this will have to do,” he said as he pulled her face in close to his and rubbed his nose back and forth against hers. He wasn’t really sure why he did it, but it seemed like the right thing to do in the moment, so he did. Anthony did always say he was too impulsive. Chaos Colin, Ben called him. He immediately hoped it wasn’t scary or strange for her. He had to admit he had never rubbed his nose on somebody before - was that weird or a bit silly? Thank goodness his brothers hadn’t seen it… Anthony probably would have yelled at him to stop, and Ben would have made fun of him for nuzzling his nose against someone like a puppy. But it felt nice to him and he hoped she liked it, too.
She was startled and looked up into his eyes for a moment, and then started giggling. It was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. It sounded like his mom’s wind chimes on the back porch, or the bells on the ice cream truck when it rounded the corner… but even more magical. He giggled back at her.
“I’m Colin,” he said with a smile that he didn’t even have to try to make so big.
“Penelope,” said the girl with the giggle that was now his favorite song.
Later that day, Penelope was standing on Colin’s front porch beside her very angry mama, willing herself not to cry again.
“Penelope, you will grandly apologize to that boy again for harming him, you will grovel and you better hope that his parents forgive you for your foolishness. We cannot afford for you to ruin our social standing before we have even started making a name for ourselves here.” Her mama glared at her, then put on her fakest smile to ring the doorbell as Penelope shifted back and forth staring at her feet.
An older, much taller boy than Colin opened the door. He looked to be about the same age as Prudence but with a much kinder face. “How can I help you?”
“Penelope here would like to formally apologize again for the harm she caused to your brother earlier. We saw that your mother had returned home and were hoping to speak with her.” Penelope looked back toward the ground embarrassed.
The boy laughed and Penelope looked up to see him smiling in a way that reached his eyes. “You must be the one who took down Colin! You’re a legend!” Penelope crinkled her nose but before she could respond, she saw Colin’s mom and a man who looked just like a grown up version of the seven-year-old with the dark blue eyes - his dad? - approach behind the boy.
“I don’t think we had a chance to officially meet earlier, I was a bit occupied with my daredevil son,” Colin’s mom said with a laugh. “I’m Violet Bridgerton, and this is my husband, Edmund.” Both smiled at Penelope, and shook hands with her mama.
“Portia Featherington. My husband, Archie, and I just moved in across the road with our three daughters. Penelope has come by to make her apologies once again for her poor behavior and clumsiness…” her mama began, before being cut off by Edmund.
“Penelope, Colin has been talking my ear off all afternoon about how he hoped he would get to see you this evening to show you his cast. Would you like to go visit with him and the other children? Ben can take you.” Penelope nodded eagerly. She very much wanted to see Colin and hoped he was not still hurting.
“Very well, Miss Featherington… Come with me,” Benedict said with a smile and a wiggle of his eyebrows as he led Penelope into the kitchen while their parents continued speaking in the hall. Ben was silly, and Penelope decided she liked him much better than her sisters.
As they entered the kitchen, she saw all of the girls from earlier and an even older boy surrounding Colin, who was sitting on a stool at the counter, showing off a bright yellow cast on his arm and talking animatedly about his trip to the hospital.
“Colin, you have a guest,” Ben shouted over the noise, which completely stopped as Colin whipped his head toward the entrance.
His dark blue eyes sparkled and his smile got so big, and it made Penelope feel special that he was happy to see her, even though she was sure it was her fault that he broke his arm. “Penelope!! I was going to come to your house when I got home, but my mom said I had to stay here and rest. I’m so glad you came so that I don’t have to sneak out later to see you and get myself in trouble!”
Penelope’s smile dropped as she remembered why she was supposed to come here. “I am here to tell you that I am so sorry that you fell. I know that it is my fault because I am clumsy and behaved badly, and…”
“We already decided that’s not true, remember? Penelope, do you know how to write?” Colin asked.
She nodded slowly. “Yes. I love to read and write. I start school soon, but I already taught myself how.” Colin’s eyes shined proudly, and it made her feel proud of herself, too.
“Would you like to write your name on my cast?” Colin asked.
“Sure. If you’re sure that you want me to?” Penelope had never written her name on a cast before. She looked at Colin’s cast and saw that there were already several names.
Colin started pointing to the names on his cast, using it to help introduce the kids surrounding him. Penelope was grateful, because it was a lot of names to remember all at once. “See that’s Ben who walked you in here, and Anthony,” the older boy gave a short, tight wave as Colin said his name. “Then Daphne, and Eloise, and Daph helped Franny sign, too.” Penelope looked at the three little girls and felt shy, but they all smiled at her kindly.
“I’m five just like you! I hope we can be in the same class. We should be friends,” said little Eloise confidently.
“She was my friend first, El.” Colin pouted.
“That’s enough, Colin. Daph, El, Franny, let’s go wash up for dinner,” Anthony said, as he and Ben took the little girls out of the room, leaving Colin and Penelope alone.
“Why is your cast yellow?” Penelope asked. Colin’s smile grew huge again as he answered, “The nurse said I could choose any color I wanted, so I picked yellow. It reminded me of our great adventure today!”
Penelope giggled. She thought he was quite silly for thinking that falling off his bike and breaking his arm was a great adventure. She didn’t think she had ever met someone as kind and funny as Colin. She didn’t think there was anyone else as kind and funny as Colin.
“Could you write your name on the top? That way I’ll see it every time I look at my arm!” Colin was so happy that Penelope could sign her name and wanted it in the perfect spot. He tapped her nose with his marker, which made her scrunch her nose at him and giggle. It made his arm feel better somehow.
Penelope uncapped the marker and he watched as she gently touched his cast. “I promise you won’t hurt me! You can even press harder if you want,” Colin chuckled as he watched his sweet new friend be so soft with him. He didn’t need her to be so careful with him, but he liked it about her all the same.
He watched as she chewed on her lip, focusing on making her letters nice in the small space he had left on the very top of his yellow cast. P-E-N- she wrote and then, “Oh no… I don’t have room. My name has far too many letters,” she said with disappointment in her eyes.
“That’s okay!” Colin said, wanting to bring her smile back as quickly as he could. “Do you mind if I call you Pen? It fits right in the best spot where I can keep it close and see it all the time, and I really quite like it. It’s special to have a nickname.”
Pen scrunched up her nose and then giggled again. “Okay! I quite like it, too. I’ve never had a nickname… it can be just for us.”
Colin beamed at his new friend… his Pen, with the sweetest giggle and the scrunchiest nose.
It was a great day.