Never be the same.

Ten - Acceptance

Penelope had been gone for five minutes. He hoped she hadn't locked herself in the stall, but when he saw he reappear she was typing on her phone. She was no doubt answering her emails, and texting Eloise. The next thing he felt was his phone buzz. Penelope took her seat across from him, and picked up her wine.

- I read it. I want to talk to you.

She didn't look at him right away, but when she did. God, it made his whole world shift instantly. Her eyes looked desperately into his. The rest of the dinner went exactly like that. They felt like they were the only two in the room. The conversations seemed to fly over their heads, the meaningless conversation seemed futile to the one that they needed to have.

He watched her laugh at something that Anthony had said, and it clicked that how much his family loved her. She was already a certified Bridgerton, he just shook his head at his own stupidity, he couldn't believe it took him all this time for his heart to finally realise Penelope was it. She was the reason for all of him, she was his sun, his moon and everything in between. And he couldn't wait to get her back to that hotel room and show her how much she meant to him.

As they bundled into cars, the boy and girl divide split them. Simon drove one car, and Fran drove the other. He wasn't ecstatic about the whole idea, similar to his feelings to the idea of Daphnes mixed dinner table. He said a quick goodbye to Penelope, he couldn't really get anywhere near her as Hyacinth and Fran claimed her from the dinner table as soon as she stood. So a wave would have to suffice.

So Colin reluctantly climbed into Simon's car and saw Penelope drive away in the other car. These 20 minutes were going to be the longest of his life. He sat in the front while the others all squeezed into the back.

"So brother, I'm guessing the Penelope plan is coming together, you two weren't paying attention to anything else bar each other the full night."

Anthony said while tapping Colin's shoulders from the back. Anthony had a few glasses of red wine, and well... he was always a little merrier on the red stuff.

"We'll see, she wants to talk tonight."

Colin replied while fidgeting with his sleeves again.

"Talk, yep that's exactly what she looked like she wanted to do tonight."

Benedict said as he laughed in the back. Gregory was also belly laughing at Colin's torment. He swore that he even saw Simon's face crack a smile.

"Right that's plenty boys."

Said Colin as he pulled down the mirror to make sure his hair and his face looked ok. For some reason, he felt insecure seeing her.

"Trust me mate, she's not gonna care what you look like. I remember you at 18... if she liked you then, she'll like you now. But I'm gonna be brutally honest, you are the one punching well above your weight."

Simon said as he placed a hand on his shoulder.
Colin agreed, he was punching. In every way possible. She was remarkable, and everyone knew it too.

As the car stopped, he saw the girls had arrived back earlier. He knew Fran was boy racer behind the wheel, so he shouldn't have been surprised. He jumped out the car and desperately searched for Penelope. Where on earth had she gone?

Then he saw her, standing at the front of the elevators, she pressed the button and he ran up the stairs to catch up. Just as the doors were closing he put his hand out to stop it.