Chapter Text
One - 2 May 2014, 1.41am
Penelope blinked groggily at her phone, the unseemly noise of her ringtone playing at full volume having woken her up. An unknown number, and so she did the only thing conceivable at 1.41am on a Friday morning, and rejected the call.
Hoping that that would be it, she sighed, the pull of her pillows far too great to refuse. And then she saw the three missed calls and the nine texts, the latest pinging through just seconds after the rejected call.
Unknown: PWNELOPW ANND FEATEHRIGNTON
The first texts ever exchanged, and yet they seemed to know her name. Or, something that resembled her name.
And that woke her up quicker than anything else could.
She sat bolt upright, eye mask still covering one eye, as she unlocked her phone, tapping quickly into the messages.
Unknown: Tou knwo you lovwe me
Unknown: Pleaxce can I nave a lidt
Unknown: WE’re at sole fancy pleace
Unknown: I’kl shake mt location one seconf
Missed call from: Unknown
Unknown: Penelppe pkease it’s raingink
Unknown: It’s cild
Missed call from: Unknown
Unknown: I’m cold
Unknown: I will let you have contrpl of the televisipm tomortow
Missed call from: Unknown
Unknown: PWNELOPW ANND FEATEHRIGNTON
The typing bubble appeared again, and so she quickly typed a response, if nothing else so that she could go back to sleep sooner.
Penelope: Who is this?
Unknown: The ligth of ypur life?????
Unknown: My phine dies
Unknown: Colin was NIDE ENOGUUHT to let me boerow his
Well, at least that solved the mystery number.
Penelope: I can only assume this is Eloise. Where are you and why can’t you get a taxi?
Colin: Idk, I can’r work Find My Friends
Colin: Theg’te kicjing me out of Anthony’s STIPIF stag do
Colin: And no one else wilk leave even though they’re BOIRBNG
With a sigh, because there really was no getting out of this, Penelope pulled a long and rather oversized cardigan onto her arms, tugging the front tight across her to keep some semblance of warmth near to her body.
She had been told she was mad for keeping her dad’s trusty little car when her family lived in London, especially when she’d only just passed her test, but it was a little part of the world that was hers. Even if insurance was going to be an issue on its own when university rolled around. And even if she was throwing money into a void.
And yet, without it, she wouldn’t now be sneaking out of her family home off an adventure that, no doubt, would have her sleeping over the road at her best friend’s house, hoping that when she woke she wouldn’t have to leave.
It wasn’t too difficult to find Eloise. Even if it wasn’t for the GPS navigating her across London, the excessiveness of the sequinned outfit Eloise had decided to wear practically made her a mirrorball on the streets. Ever since her eighteenth birthday a handful of weeks before, the brunette had seemingly invested whatever wealth she had into clothes that made her stand out from her siblings. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it was far less clean cut and proper than poor Mrs Bridgerton would have liked.
Tonight was no exception, Penelope snickered to herself as she pulled over on some double yellow lines next to Eloise and Colin on the pavement and wound the passenger side window down.
“Eloise, if you didn’t want them to notice you’d gatecrashed, you could’ve aimed for subtlety.”
Colin gave a smug grin, gesturing to the car. “See, Penelope agrees!”
“Yes,” Penelope nodded, cutting Eloise off before she could argue, “and Penelope would also very much like to be in bed right now, so she would appreciate it very much if you’d get in.”
Eloise wobbled slightly on her heels as she stepped forward, before making a decision - the thought process entirely visible across her face - to flop down onto the floor. Colin made no effort to help, instead choosing to share a look with Penelope, but to his credit did hold his hand out to ‘assist’.
“I don’t need that,” Eloise pouted, batting it away as she went to reach for her feet. “I can manage perfectly well.”
“Of course you can, can’t she, Penelope?” Colin rolled his eyes so hard they might as well have fallen out of their sockets. A giggle escaped her lips as she tried desperately to stay out of it; his dramatic flair just too enticing.
Managing seemed like a goal as far out of her reach as the stars as she tugged at the boots (equally glittery, of course).
Penelope sighed, turning the car engine off, rather than just having the handbrake on.
“Come on, El, you’re making me miss the party and it’s all on Anthony’s tab, get a move on,” Colin grumbled, lightly nudging her with his foot.
“Don’t you think I know that?” She huffed back, eyebrows set in a firm grimace. Nights out on her brother’s money seemed like a dream, just a shame he had to be such an older brother about it.
Eloise seemed to make progress on the shoes, finally working out that there were zips involved, as she kicked one foot free. Penelope was beginning to feel the pull of her bed again when the silver sequins on her friend’s jumpsuit turned blue in front of her eyes.
She wasn’t drunk, so what on Earth was that about?
And that’s when she noticed the police car now parked behind her.
With a groan, head hitting the steering wheel, Penelope began to wind down the window on her side as the policewoman walked up.
“You can’t be parking here, don’t you see the double yellows?” The woman tsked, reaching into a pocket to pull out a ticket form.
Within seconds, the passenger door was open, and a rather sobered-up Colin was practically throwing his sister in, tossing the boot into the back seats. “Just drive,” he hissed through the window, slamming the door shut.
Everything in her body was screaming at her not to listen, but something within her lit like a flame, a sense of excitement urging her to drive. The key twisted in the ignition, the gearstick was in gear and the handbrake released before she could realise she was evading the police.
As she pulled away, Penelope’s eyes were wide, grinning to herself as she heard a “Hey, hey, no harm done, see?” from where they’d left Colin on the pavement. Her eyes flicked up to the rearview mirror, hand angling it slightly to watch him as he put his hands up in mock surrender.
Her eyes stayed fixed until they went around a corner, and she was brought back to reality by a queasy looking Eloise.
“Penelope, please get us home, I really don’t want to have to pay to get your car cleaned.”