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Penelope couldn’t believe she let Marina talk her into this. She wasn’t exactly a rule breaker let alone a wedding crasher, yet here she was. Marina had abandoned her minutes after arriving, claiming she had to check out the drink situation, while Penelope prayed no one asked her how she knew the bride and groom.
“Oh, I love your dress honey, where did you get it from?” Penelope was startled out of her thoughts, glancing up quickly at the woman now standing in front of her little corner. After taking a moment to breath she allowed herself to smile, “I actually got it from the shop down the street.”
“I saw that coming in, I’ll have to drop in and check it out tomorrow. Are you enjoying yourself?”
“Yes, it’s a lovely reception. I’ve always loved this building.” The woman smiled kindly at her, “Is that why you’ve been standing here taking in the room.” Great this woman was watching her, freaking Marina.
“Well yes, I’m waiting for someone and I’m not great in crowds.”
“Oh, who are you here with? Are you with the groom’s family? I’m here for my niece but I live up in Manchester and I’m still trying to meet everyone.” Thank God was all Penelope could think, of course she couldn’t just point out Marina. Looking around a little frantically she noticed the groomsmen she’d seen earlier. Fuck it. “Right over there, that’s my boyfriend.” Penelope wanted to hit herself, boyfriend? Where did that even come from. What if his actual girlfriend was around here somewhere. The woman’s smile grew, “Oh Colin? I didn’t know he had a girlfriend. He’s so lovely. I won’t keep you, but it was nice to meet you, I hope you have a lovely night.” She smiled at the woman before bolting through the doorway, nothing could get her to stay now.
“Oomph. Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry.”
Fuck, this was not Penelope’s day. There in front her looking even better up close was her “boyfriend.”
“You’re good, honestly It’s my fault.” he smiled down at her and while she was panicking in her head, she couldn’t help but give a small grin back at the man. She felt a little dazed before she heard someone calling out his name.
“Colin good, I’m glad you found your girl, poor thing has been taking in the infrastructure waiting for you.” Colin’s eyebrows shot up as he looked over Penelope’s shoulder at the woman than his eyes jumped back down to hers. His smile turned into a wide smirk before answering, “You know Benedict needed me to make sure everything was perfect before their entrance, but I think my duties are done for the night.” The woman wished them a nice night before leaving them alone.
“So, do I get to know your name? Since you are my girl and all?” Penelope squeezed her eyes shut hoping to wake up at home in her bed and this all be one embarrassing dream, but she looked again, and he was still staring down at her with the most stunning green eyes. Fuck.
“I’m sorry, I’ll go. It was my cousin’s idea. I mean we just thought it wouldn’t hurt anything to just see what was going on. But we shouldn’t have come.” The man was full on giggling at her now. She wasn’t sure she’d ever heard a man giggle, and damn why was it so cute.
“Stop, it’s fine really. I’ve always wanted to crash a wedding. I’m impressed more than anything.”
“Trust me, there is no reason to be impressed, I’m just not great at saying no to people.” Penelope finally felt like she could take a breath. This guy seemed nice, very nice and unfortunately extremely hot. Not that it was important, but she clearly noticed. She imagined he was the type of guy that was always getting noticed. He towered over her, not that it was much of a feat with her height, but she still quite liked how tiny he made her feel. A loan curl of his chestnut hair had fallen across his forehead, and she had a distinct desire to reach up and push it back for him. She knew she needed to get away at this point before she did something reckless like that.
“Stay, I didn’t bring a date and my family won’t be surprised that I hid a girlfriend from them. They might be a little surprised that I didn’t tell them you were coming.”
Penelope felt her cheeks warm, he couldn’t be seriously okay pretending to be her boyfriend, could he. “Wait you’re really fine with me lying about being your girlfriend after I crashed your brother’s wedding?”
“Yes, I told you I think it’s cool. Come on, you owe me and now I have someone to hang out with.” Colin hadn’t stopped smiling at her and Penelope honestly couldn’t stop smiling back. Her mind started working overtime not comprehending fully what was happening, but a plan quickly formed in her head.
“Okay, we haven’t been dating that long and I wasn’t sure if I was comfortable coming to such a big family event, but I decided I wanted to surprise you.” Colin laughed again, “You’re better at this than you give yourself credit for.” Colin reached down and offered his hand, Penelope realized she might have found a new favorite part of him, and she didn’t even hesitate to take it.
----
“I must say, I feel as if I’m failing as your boyfriend at this moment.”
“Oh, and why do you say that?” He was grinning at her again and she felt her breath catch, damn this man and his stupidly attractive face.
“Well, I don’t know what you prefer to drink?”
“Oh, I usually just have white wine at weddings.” He placed the order with the bartender and looked at her quizzically. “Do you prefer another drink when not attending weddings.”
Her cheeks pinked immediately as one of her worst memories flashed behind her eyes. The way his eyes seemed to light up, he took notice. “I just, have had a bad experience at a wedding before so I try not to have too much.”
“Hmm, makes sense I suppose, although I do feel like weddings are usually a good place to let loose. At least a little. How bad was this experience?” Her cheeks started to warm, and she knew her blush was clear as day.
“I have sisters, do you have sisters? Maybe you would understand, of course I imagine it’s different when you are their brother.” He was laughing at her now. “I just mean that I have sisters and we don’t have the closest relationship. Well not my older sisters at least and so once the very long 8 months of wedding planning and parties and dress fittings were finally over, I thought that I truly deserved to let loose. Unfortunately, I might have taken it a bit too far, and knocked over the table with my sister’s wedding cake on it.” Pen shut her eyes and tried to forget the horrible moment that was seared into her brain. Prudence still brought it up at every family dinner. A small part of Penelope didn’t even feel that bad about the ordeal, almost like she was getting Pru back for all the horrible things she’d put her through their entire adolescents but of course everyone had made her out to be some spiteful villain. Well, everyone except Felicity, Penelope wasn’t sure what she would have done without her baby sister.
She felt something shaking her slightly and she glanced at Colin who was looking a bit concerned but also a bit mirthful. “I imagine that didn’t go over well with your family. I can’t imagine how my sister Daphne would have reacted if I’d done something like that.” She let out a humorless laugh, “It didn’t go well at all. My family, me and my sisters, we just don’t get on much. Well, me and my youngest do but it wasn’t her wedding. I’d like to think Felicity would have found some humor in the situation, but Prudence did not. Anyway, that’s why I don’t drink too much at weddings, or at all really. Especially not ones where I’ve already snuck in and created a whole fake relationship with a groomsman. I should probably keep some decorum, don’t you think?”
He was smiling at her again and it caused a twinge of sadness at the reminder that it was all fake.
“How about you just enjoy yourself and I’ll keep you away from any tables that have dessert on them.”
She smiled shyly at him and nodded once while he handed her a glass of wine.
“So, I know you have at least one brother and sister, is it just the three of you?”
“Not even close, I’m one of eight. I have two older brothers, four younger sisters and one younger brother.” Penelope tried to picture dealing with another four versions of Pru or Philippa and she felt herself shudder slightly. She had barely survived growing up with the siblings she had, between Prudence’s harsh opinions on Penelope’s entire being or Phillipa’s simple remarks to make her the center of some idiotic joke. Penelope was thankful for a few things in her life if she was being honest but not having 7 siblings was now on that list.
“I can’t even imagine, was it a lot growing up? I mean it must have been. Never a moment alone either I suppose. How did you handle it all?” When he hadn’t responded she looked up to see him with a pensive look on his face. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to insult or assume anything…”
“No, no it’s fine. It seems we just had very different experiences with our siblings. In truth I loved my childhood. Things weren’t always easy especially after my father died and my oldest brother Anthony believed it was his job to take care of the rest of us, but we love each other and even though we all drive each other mad in our own unique ways, I don’t really know what I would do without them all. I’m assuming those feelings are not quite the same when it comes to you and your sisters?”
“In truth, I wouldn’t wish my sisters upon my worst enemy, but maybe I’m just a tad dramatic about it all. It’s just, have you ever had a bully? Because I did, many in fact, but the thing is I was never able to escape them when they were right there every time I came home. It wasn’t until my little sister came around that I understood real love between siblings.” He reached out to squeeze her hand in comfort and she was grateful, but slightly embarrassed. She didn’t mean to be quite open with this stranger. She’d never spoken so freely to anyone other than Felicity and she wasn’t sure if it was due to his comforting nature or the fact that she wanted to run her hands through his thick curls while he messed up her lipstick, but both were making her feel a little unsettled. She tossed back the glass of wine and tried to calm herself, “Tell me about them, please?”
He gave her hand one last squeeze before ordering her another glass and leading her to a table near the back of the room.
“Well, Anthony is the oldest. He’s like a second father to most of us, which made our relationship specifically complicated. It was hard on all of us when dad died, but instead of mourning he went straight into protective mode. He quickly became the person I wanted to impress, the person I didn’t want to disappoint. It felt like he had taken such a huge burden for us, and I didn’t want to be another problem. Which was hard because I’m what they might consider the flighty one in the family. I love to travel, and I never really connected with school, so after a year at University I dropped out and went to every city I could think of. At first, I think Anthony thought it was just my way of coping with life and that one day I’d settle, maybe finish my degree and work for the family business. The thing is, I just never felt a need to stay in one place before and luckily, I found a way to sustain the trips without upsetting him too much. I published a journal on my travels and I’m working on my second one now. It’s the most adult thing I’ve ever really done, but a part of me is still just hoping it’s enough.”
“That was very honest of you.”
“Well, you were very honest with me, it only seemed fair.”
This time she’s the one that grabbed his hand, marveling at how her much shorter fingers barely closed around his. “That’s quite impressive.”
“What exactly is impressive? I like my praise to be specific.” The two smirked at one another while Colin slowly moved their fingers so that their hands were now intertwined.
“Publishing your work. I’m in the process of that now and I know how difficult and draining and scary the whole process can be. To leave yourself so open to scrutiny and disappointment. It’s harder than many people think. But also, the grace you give it all. You lost your father and, in many ways, lost an older brother as well. That couldn’t have been easy on any of you. You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself for choosing to live a life that feels you with joy.”
“You’re quite a woman Penelope Featherington.” She blushed and turned her head towards the dance floor hoping he wouldn’t notice. She realized she had no luck when she turned back around to see him grinning at her. “You also have a beautiful blush; I quite enjoy evoking it out of you.”
“Tell me about the rest of your siblings.” She could tell he knew she was looking to turn the conversation back to himself quickly, but he appeased her with a simple smile and went on to talk about the rest of his family.
Colin spoke of Benedict the second oldest and the groom, an artist and free spirit who to Colin’s chagrin treated him like he was his own baby boy. Then there was Daphne, the oldest girl and closest in age to Colin with just a year separating the two. She was his constant, and even though she was the younger of the pair, it was clear she was who helped guide Colin through the complications of his life. Eloise sounded funny, independent and smart. Penelope thought she’d quite like to meet them all but if she was being honest, she’d pick Eloise if she had to choose.
Then there were the last three siblings, Francesca, who he simply described as kind and graceful, she could tell there was a protectiveness there. Then Gregory, the youngest boy, who was still coming into his own while trying to fit in with his older brothers, and finally Hyacinth who sounded like a spitfire and maybe definitely a little bit of a troublemaker. She wondered if she and Felicity would get on. In dream world, she’d love to introduce them one day. She loved to introduce Colin to her truly, but she knew she was getting way ahead of herself. She barely knew this man and he had already admitted he wasn’t one to stick around. For all she knew, he was getting ready to head to a new city after the wedding festivities had officially wrapped. The thought left her cold, but she tried not to think too much about it, she wanted to enjoy this time with Colin, even if she never saw him again.
“They all sound amazing Colin, it must have been wonderful to have them all in your life. I can appreciate that. Felicity was my whole world for a while. My parents were struggling a lot when I was in high school. My dad had a huge gambling problem and he got sick and left us in all this debt. My mother didn’t know how to handle it, so I got a couple of jobs, tried to help anyway I could. Felicity was so young and my mom has never been nurturing. I just felt this responsibility to Felicity, she’s just so bright and warm. She has all this potential, and I just couldn’t let her go through what I did. All I wanted was a better life for at least one person in the Featherington household and I’d choose her every time.”
“I’m sorry Pen, truly I can’t even imagine. It was devastating losing dad, but my mom, well she struggled so much at first. Her and my dad were literal soul mates but eventually she got her light back. I don’t know what we would have done without her. And now I kind of feel like an ass that I keep comparing my experience to yours.”
“Don’t be silly Colin, I don’t begrudge your happy life or loving family. I would never want anyone I know to experience what I did. You seem like a good man and I’m very happy to learn that you were surrounded by love. Even if all of this is a little crazy because we just met an hour ago and we’ve practically shared all our secrets.”
She wasn’t sure when it had happened by Colin’s arm was now snug around her chair and back, his long fingers were gliding softly down the top of her arm and goosebumps danced along her skin. She looked at him and his green eyes were practically twinkling while he held a content smile on his face.
“I know this all is a bit weird, but I felt comfortable with you from the moment I discovered you had deemed me your fake boyfriend. I can’t explain it but I’m very happy with how this night has turned out.”
She let her arm slide over to his knee before squeezing it softly and grinning widely at the man before her, “Me too.”
---
“Colin!”
Penelope heard a low groan before looking over at the woman now making her way over to the table they had been occupying. She was one of the bridesmaids and if Penelope had to guess one of his many siblings. She tried taking a deep breath to prepare to lie to this stranger’s face when she felt Colin tug her closer to him. It was strange how much he could already comfort her, but she guessed the whole day had been strange. He leaned over and his breath tickled her ear, “I’m sorry about this.”
“Colin! I’ve been looking everywhere for you, you promised that you would help me with the kids and then you up and disappear. I must say…”
Penelope could see the moment his sister clocked Colin’s arm around her shoulder and the way the two were slighting leaning into one another. She couldn’t decipher what exactly the look was, but she’d guess a mix of surprise and intrigue.
“I’m sorry, it seems I’ve missed something entirely, care to share oh brother of mine.” She gave Penelope one more glance before smirking at Colin who didn’t back down from her challenge.
“Eloise, this is Pen, my girlfriend. We’ve only been dating a little while and we weren’t sure about her coming to the wedding, but she ended up surprising me.” Well, Penelope guessed she got her wish, she got to meet Eloise after all.
Eloise herself looked thoughtful as she turned her attention to the red head. Penelope was being studied and she didn’t enjoy being the focus of anyone’s attention. Well, that wasn’t true, she found she had very much enjoyed having all of Colin’s attention tonight, but that was a different story.
“May I ask, what on earth you see in my big brother?” Penelope heard Colin’s loud rebuttal before bursting into laughter. She wasn’t sure what she thought was so funny, maybe the whole situation, but it took her a moment to calm herself before looking up at matching looks of amusement.
She found herself moving slightly closer to Colin before addressing Eloise, “I could list a number of reasons why anyone would want to be with someone kind, and generous and as attractive as your brother, but do you really wish for me to gush about him on our first meeting?” Penelope for the life of her could not figure out where that had come from, maybe it was the warmth radiating through her from Colin’s arm tightly surrounding her. Maybe she was a little tipsier that she had originally thought, or maybe she just really liked this man and to her joy he seemed to like her back. Whatever it was she could tell Eloise was impressed while Colin looked smug. Great.
“I like you Penelope, are you sure you want to stay here with my brother? I’m available and much more entertaining than he is.” It was Penelope’s turn to smirk as she felt Colin’s hand grip her tighter to is taught body. Damn she really wanted to feel it without all these clothes between them. She wasn’t ashamed to admit how badly she wanted to run her hands down his stomach or grip his muscular thighs.
“Tempting, truly. You Bridgerton’s are quite an alluring group. But I think I’ll stay, a rain check maybe?”
“Eloise can you please leave us alone and stop trying to steal my girl.”
“Uh fine, you’re no fun Colin, and besides shouldn’t you be more concerned that I’d even get the chance.” Colin started to get up from his chair before Eloise sent her a quick wink and a flirty bye before walking off.
Colin got cozy against her again while the two sat in a moment of silence.
“So, that’s my little sister. And she’s always like that. I’m sorry.” She dropped her hand to squeeze his knee before simply grinning at him. It only took him a moment to grin back, “I like her. Maybe she can be my next pretend partner.” She tried to hold in her laugh while Colin looked shocked for a moment before slowly grinning back at her and whispering dangerously close, “Not a chance.”
--
Penelope was in trouble, deep trouble if she had to guess by the way butterflies had been swirling about in her gut ever since Colin had dragged her to the dance floor. The first few songs weren’t that bad, mostly upbeat which allowed her to keep some space from the man until his strong arms found their way wrapped around her waist.
Penelope wasn’t sure she was breathing properly but she figured he would just assume it came from all the dancing. It wasn’t until a slow one started up that she was tugged tightly against the chest she’d been admiring all night.
Her arms wound their way up his neck, and she allowed herself to run her fingers through the bottom of his curls. When he grinned down at her, she’d known she’d made the right move.
For a while she let herself be guided by him with her head laying gently against his chest, but a question was at the front of her mind and she wanted to know, need to know really if this was going to end in a couple of hours.
“Colin, earlier you talked about your travels, how you never really have a place you like to settle. I mean is that still the case? Are you, well are you planning on leaving again soon?” She glanced up at him to see he was already staring down at her. They simply held each other’s eyes for a moment, bright green staring into brown.
“I hadn’t made any definite plans. I have a townhome and it’s easier to work on my book when I’m here. The plan was to be here for the wedding, try and get my book wrapped up and then see what I wanted to do next.”
“That makes sense.”
“Ask me Penelope.”
“Is there any part of you that wants to just stay?”
“I’m not sure there was, I’ve honestly felt more unsettled than ever recently, and I thought it might be nice to be home more. And now it feels like maybe the universe was trying to tell me something.”
“And what would that be.”
“That maybe now I have a really good reason to stay in one place.”
--
“This is going to be such a great story to tell our kids one day.” Penelope knew Colin was joking but the swell in her chest she got hearing that from the older man was a little concerning. Penelope played along, “Well you see kids your cousin Marina forced me to crash a wedding and turns out it was your uncle Benedicts and I pretended to be your dad’s girlfriend and the rest is history.”
She felt Colin squeeze her waist slightly tighter before he leaned down to whisper in her ear, “Your mother was so beautiful I knew I couldn’t kick her out, I didn’t even know her, and I was already sad thinking about saying goodbye to her.” Penelope pulled back looking up at a nervous looking Colin.
Fuck, Penelope figured she’d already gotten this far, “Luckily for Colin, I was already thinking of ways to make sure I didn’t have to say goodbye to him.”
Colin’s bright grin was back, and he was pulling Penelope tightly against him, so close she swore she could feel the man’s heart racing. “I’m really glad you crashed this wedding, Pen.”
--
“Penny come on I want to go home! Penelope felt an arm slam down around her shoulders, “Are you drunk because I cannot drive home right now.” Penelope moved Marina’s arm and slowly sat her down on the couch where her and Colin had been hanging out for the last hour. “Why don’t I call Sue to come get you? She should be home by now?”
The thought of leaving, ending the night, made Penelope’s head and heart hurt a little. She was nowhere near ready to leave what was becoming the best night of her life.
“Sue, omg I wanna see Sue, is she coming for me? Penelope did you call her, please call her!” Colin was trying not to laugh at her intoxicated cousin. “I’ll call her right now okay. I can’t believe you crashed this wedding and got wasted. I still can’t believe you got us to do this.”
Marina seemed to gain some focus and smirked at the two of them sitting by her, “Oh please penny, if it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t be spending the night with a hottie that you are obviously in to, not that I blame you. And guessing by the puppy dog eyes he got when he thought I was about to make you leave, he’s just as interested.” Blushes covered both of their cheeks, “Marina stop it right now or I’m telling Prudence that you want to join her to help you redecorate your apartment.” Marina’s smirk fell immediately.
“Now sit here quietly while I call Sue.”
Marina did stay quiet all the way up until Sue was pulling up to the sidewalk where the three of them were waiting and then she noticed Colin’s and Penelope’s hands intertwined. Before Sue could guide her to the passenger seat the smirk returned, “Before I leave, I need to know, what are your intentions with my cousin? Because she is not here for a one-night stand.”
“Marina!” Penelope and Sue shouted at the same time. Colin looked down and smiled shyly over at Penelope, “Well we did just meet a few hours ago, but I promise only an idiot would think Pen is only worth one night. I really hope I get to see you again, sober next time maybe though.”
Marina laughed and winked at Penelope before finally getting in the car. They headed out soon after Sue gave them both an apology for her girlfriend.
---
Penelope wasn’t sure how she’d ended up here, but once the bride and groom had made their exit and the reception was officially wrapping up, Colin had simply asked if she wanted to the night to end. It was a simple answer for the woman, of course not.
And that’s how the two of them had ended up back at Colin’s townhome, cuddled up together on his couch.
What started as a continuation of their hours long discussion that began at the wedding had turned into Colin’s lip on her neck and Penelope’s hand firmly gripping the head of hair she’d been admiring earlier.
She wasn’t sure how long they’d been making out like a couple of teenagers but eventually Colin pulled away placing soft kisses up her neck, then her cheeks, nose, forehead and finally one last kiss upon her swollen lips.
She wasn’t sure what had made him stop, but she was too lost in his green orbs to fully put together a question to ask.
“Pen, I need to tell you something that I probably should have told you after you told me about crashing the wedding.” Penelope felt herself come out of her stupor to focus on his words.
“What is it?’
Colin started to fidget with his hands before looking back up, “I haven’t been back in the city long you know, so yesterday my sisters wanted me to go get some coffee and look around the square. And well I saw you at the coffee shop, you were at a table outside reading and I had a strange urge to introduce myself to you, but then my sister was pulling me away. When I saw you at the reception, I knew you weren’t supposed to be there, but I was excited to see you again and I was always planning to let you stay.”
Penelope hits the man’s shoulder and starts to laugh, “Colin, do you know how nervous I was someone was going to freak out if they figured me out. And you knew the whole time I was hiding in the room.”
Colin lets out his own breath and laughs with her, “I’m sorry I was trying to come to you sooner, but people kept asking me to help with things, I’m glad I waited though, I was so ready to just introduce myself and you had already decided I was your boyfriend by the time I got there.”
Penelope can’t stop herself and leans over to leave a soft but lingering kiss on Colin’s lips.
“The weddings over now, I think for me to still be your girlfriend you’ll have to ask me this time.”
Colin grinned broadly before pulling Penelope back down for a longer kiss. Finally stopping to catch their breaths with their heads still leaned into one another, “Hey Pen, will you please be my girlfriend, for real this time?”
Penelope almost wants to mess with him a little but can’t help but give a slight nod and soon they’re much too lost in each other to ask any more questions.