Can such a strange friendship turn into love? He never realized she was so lovely. She never noticed how charming he was. Miles Bridgerton and Vanessa Everleigh have known each for over a decade and both of them had never really given the other much...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
When Miles disappeared from London so suddenly at the start of the season, the gossip began. And gossip was never kind to females. More specifically, London gossip was never kind to Vanessa Everleigh. She was used to the underhanded remarks about her attitude and manners, but she was not prepared for the constant stinging reminder of what happened between her and Miles.
It made the pain of his departure so much worse.
The rest of society already had a solidified image of her burned in their minds.
Pitiful orphan. She would be nothing if Baron Leigh didn't make her his ward. Uncouth spinster. Ugly hag. No manners, bad posture, and could not close her mouth. She was, of course, not an ugly hag. But Augusta Hawkins will say anything to spite her.
When Miles danced with her and they were seen spending more time together, the ton did not consider it some sort of sweet courtship. What the two of them saw as a blooming friendship was soon considered as Vanessa's attempt at snagging a husband. They called her desperate and the Hawkins spread the lie that she was throwing herself at Miles. But when he left, it was the worst.
Mr. Bridgerton finally decided to leave her. He realized she was not suitable for marriage, and not worth his time.
And they laughed.
Just as before, they laughed at her.
Never mind that she had proudly bested them all in archery and impressed everyone at that house party. Never mind that she was a close friend to the Bridgertons and deserved respect. Never mind that Miles loved her and she did not throw herself at him. But none of them knew that. None of them cared.
She should have been used to their slander, but this time, she did not have Violet, nor Charlotte, nor Henry to defend her. And most of all, she did not have Miles.
When she told him to leave her alone, she didn't expect him to leave England. But she wasn't surprised, he had always traveled even in the past. It was why they never grew close until now.
But just before Charlotte left for her honeymoon, she informed Vanessa that their father finally allowed him to study medicine in Edinburgh. And she felt happy for him, proud that he was finally able to achieve his dream. But she could not celebrate. While he was in Edinburgh, doing what he had always wanted to do, she would be stuck in London, forced to sit in ballrooms occasionally overhearing another insult directed toward her.
A part of her wished she could take back everything she told him about not wanting to marry. But in the end she stayed true to her beliefs. She did what she had always planned to do, protect herself from marriage.
But now, she questioned herself. What was the point of it? To avoid the pain and sorrow of losing a husband? Then what was she feeling now? Miles did not have to be her husband to leave her. This pain she felt was loss and regret. It was the very thing she tried so hard to prevent, except she walked right into it. She did this to herself. Miles only did as she wished, he left her alone. She caused this pain, and there was no one else to blame but herself.
She would have to live with it, learn to adjust back to life where she wouldn't talk to Miles, nor see him.
And eventually, she did.
----------------
After one month into the social season, Vanessa had grown numb to the gossip about her. People really weren't saying anything new, they weren't original either. The only difference was that they'd mention Miles in the same sentence sometimes.
At one point, she had asked her uncle if they could go back to the country and skip the season entirely, but unfortunately, he had too many matters to attend to in London to leave. Vanessa couldn't go back to Stoneleigh Abbey by herself, so she was stuck here. She was at ease, at least, at the fact that people knew better than to gossip about her at events in which Baron Leigh was in attendance.
Another month into the season, and people finally chose another poor soul to be the center of gossip. And Vanessa found ways to distract herself. She did what she always did when Henry wasn't around, practicing sports by herself. She never forgot the moment she shared with Miles during the archery tournament. She never forgot that feeling of pride when she won, so when the opportunity came to participate in competitions during social functions, she actually took it, despite the looks people would give her. Those looks quickly turned to shock when she would undoubtedly win.
She read more books than she ever did, appreciating that Everleigh House had a large array of subjects to read about. Whenever she did, she always read outside because she felt too confined actually sitting in the library.
She even got to spend more time with Mary. It felt a little odd because of their large age gap, but Vanessa learned that she and Mary have a lot more in common than she thought, despite Mary being so quiet. She found that Mary was comfortable enough around her to speak more, and not be shy. Vanessa even accompanied her to Clair House to visit her cousin Isabella, where she was delighted to see that they got along very well.
And, unexpectedly, she even developed a small friendship with Michael Smythe-Smith. They had got along well during Kate's house party, and he did not forget about her once the season began. She was worried he might start courting her, but it became evident that he did not intend to be romantically involved with her. Vanessa had a peculiar feeling that Michael had been rooting for Miles back then, but she never questioned him about it.
What they had was truly just a genuine friendship. He would dance with her when the opportunity came up, and she was glad that there was at least one other person who grew to know her for who she really was. Michael knew better than to believe the lies about her.
A part of Vanessa wished that her relationship with Miles stayed as platonic as it was with Michael, but things could never change.
And as time passed, the pain she felt when thinking of Miles hurt less. She wondered if it was the same for him. If the broken heart she had given him began to heal after so many months, and eventually an entire year. Probably not, but at least he would surely be enjoying his studies. She wondered if being occupied with university made it easier for him to cope. She wondered if he was happy in Scotland.
She hoped that at least he was happy pursuing his dream, while here she was avoiding a nightmare.
