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Chapter Text

Tonight was Frannie’s 21st birthday and Pen, Eloise, and Daphne were taking her out to Lux, a new nightclub that just opened in New York City. Colin, who had recently been to the one in Los Angeles with his new girlfriend (her cousin), Marina, had suggested they try it out. Apparently, the owner was spreading his wings and expanding and Pen was always up for checking out a new club.

What the Bridgerton women knew that the Bridgerton men didn’t was that Pen loved a good night out in a place where she could shed her girl-next-door persona and let loose. When the music was loud, the drinks were flowing, and Pen was in the company of her friends, she was able to step out of her shell and be more confident, more outgoing, and more free than she managed to be in her daily life.

Pen eyed herself in the mirror as she finished putting the simple, but large gold hoops in her ears. She’d dressed casually chic for the occasion. While she could have worn one of her favorite mini dresses, she opted instead for a pair of straight-leg dark navy jeans that, thanks to their stretch, hugged her lower curves in all the right places. Their mid-rise waist fit nicely over her black sequin tank (under which she wore her favorite Spanx camisole to minimize her muffin top). Pen chose the tank, which she had accessorized with a black and white silk v-neck wrap blouse, because she loved the way it shimmered under the strobe lights on the dance floor. After placing a long chain around her neck with her favorite pendant, an antique cameo she’d found at a swap meet, Pen smiled at how it rested just right in the dip of her cleavage.

Pen was giddy with anticipation over the knowledge that it would bring attention to what was arguably her best asset, which came in handy for helping her get dance partners when she wanted them. She’d never be as thin or attractive as the women she was going to be partying with, which meant she had to work with what she had to attract men. While she wasn’t looking for a relationship due to her busy job with the Bridgerton family and her unrequited love for Colin, she wouldn’t be opposed to a good time with a nice man for a night.

She knew Colin would never see her as anything more than his honorary little sister, so adoring him from afar while they lived their lives with others was all Pen could do. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done when he wasn’t dating her cousin, who had come to town to visit her for the holidays and ended up spending most of her visit with him instead.

As a text came in from Eloise telling her to get her ass up to the main house so they could catch the limo Anthony had gifted them for the night and get Frannie’s party started. Pen chewed on her lower lip in indecision over her shoes. Heels or flats? She hated dancing in uncomfortable shoes, but knew her outfit would look better with the stilettos. “Screw it,” she muttered as slipped into the heels. She could always take them off, right?

~*~

“I miss her,” Colin sighed dejectedly into his beer.

“It’s only been a few hours, Colin,” Benedict replied with a chuckle.

Anthony patted Colin on the back. “I’m sure you’ll survive one night away from her.”

“But I don’t want to,” he whined.

“Was I like this when I first started dating Sophie?” Ben, who was home for a Bridgerton Foundation event this weekend, asked Anthony

“You were worse,” he replied.

Silence ruled the table for a few heartbeats until Colin pushed his beer to the center of their table, slid his chair back, and stood. “I’m going to Lux to see her,” he pronounced just before turning on his heel and heading out the door.

Benedict shrugged, chugged the last of his bottle, and then followed Colin.

Anthony rolled his eyes and did the same.

Chapter Text

“Colin, would you wait up?!” Benedict shouted from the doorway behind his brother, who’d charged headfirst into the club.

Benedict knew the music was too loud and that Colin probably couldn’t hear him, so he reached out and grabbed his shoulder to halt him until Anthony, who’d been waylaid by a business call on the way inside, could catch up.  “Do you see them?” Colin asked.

Ben, who managed to end up being the tallest of the three of them, craned his neck and looked around the tables, but didn’t see his sisters or Marina, who they’d agreed to allow to tag along with them at the house earlier.  “No,” he replied.

A moment after doing that, however, Benedict heard loud screams on the dance floor that immediately got his attention.  Since he’d spent the better part of his life listening to his sisters scream, he’d know those wild, but happy shrieks anywhere.  As Girls Run the World blared from the sound system, Ben pivoted Colin toward the group of women gyrating on the dance floor.

They were standing in a circle - Frannie, El, Daph, Pen, and Marina - in the middle of the floor and were shouting the lyrics to the song as they danced with big smiles on their faces.  Clearly, they were having a good time, which made Ben happy.  Frannie had been waiting forever to turn 21 and was looking forward to tonight for a long time.  

Just as Anthony walked up next to Ben, Colin spotted the women and made a beeline for them.  When he reached Marina, he wrapped his hands around her waist and began kissing her neck.  Marina stilled, likely shocked from the unexpected contact, but then eagerly pushed herself back into his embrace and rested her head on his shoulder as they moved together to the music once she realized it was Colin.  

Upon seeing this, Benedict noticed the bright smile that Penelope had been wearing fade.  She stopped dancing, tapped Eloise on the shoulder and whispered something to her before walking briskly to what Ben assumed to be their VIP table.  As he bumped Anthony’s shoulder with his own and inclined his head toward Pen, Ben watched her pour herself a glass of Champagne from the bottle they had on ice and down it in one gulp.  Pen stood there a moment contemplatively, eyes flitting between the empty glass and the bottle that was still in her hand, before she shrugged in a what the hell manner, sat the glass down, and brought the bottle to her lips to chug.  There must not have been much left in the bottle because she quickly dropped it onto the table and then signaled to a waitress for another.  

As he and Anthony approached her table, Ben saw Penelope unwrap her black and white wrap blouse and shimmy it off.  She must have been sweaty from dancing because she had to struggle a little bit to peel it down her arms, which brought Ben’s attention to the tight black tank top that was sparkling in the light as she moved as well as her breasts that bounced inside it.  He was momentarily transfixed by the sight.  He had, of course, seen Penelope’s breasts before in her swimsuit by their swimming pool during her years of friendship with Eloise, but he’d never looked at them.  They were larger than he remembered and were the type that any man would be happy to bury his face in.  

Benedict swallowed convulsively upon realizing he counted himself along that population.  He loved his girlfriend and he would never cheat on her, but he was still a man.  One who appreciated a nice set of breasts.  

Benedict appreciated them even more when she managed to shrug free of her blouse and toss it onto what he assumed was her settee.  Free of the apparently offending garment, Pen bent down again to pluck something out of her purse.  She stayed in that position as she let go of the purse and then used her hands to open the tube of lipstick she had pulled out and began reapplying it.

His throat went dry as they dangled there in front of her, spilling partially out of her shirt, while she attended to her make/up.  Too quickly, Pen finished, shoved the lipstick back in her purse, and stood upright.  

A waiter brought over the new bottle right as Pen pulled an elastic band off her wrist, gathered her long auburn tresses, and yankee them into a high ponytail.  It took her a few loops to get it all up and each time she pulled her hair through the band, her breasts jiggled.  The waiter seemed to be as appreciative of the view as Benedict was because he waited rather patiently for her to finish before shooting her a smile and placing the new bottle into the ice bucket, which conveniently put him eye level with them.  He lingered there a little longer than he needed to under the guise of shoving the bottle more fully into the ice.  

They came up to the table just as Pen reached into her front jean pocket and pulled a bill out to give to him as a tip.  The waiter took it, but not before lingering in her touch.  Instead of pulling away as Benedict expected her to do, she batted her eyes, whispered a sultry “Thank you,” and closed her hand around his.  

The waiter, who couldn’t have been much more than 21 himself, replied, “Anytime,” in a voice that Ben knew wasn’t reserved only for bottle service.  Pen seemed like she was going to say something, but whatever it was ended up being cut off by her noticing their approach.  So, she dropped her hand and nodded another thanks at the waiter before turning her attention to him and Anthony.

“Ben. Anthony. How are you?”  Pen greeted amicably, but a little bit distantly, too.  

“Good.  You? Having fun?”  He replied.

“I was until about three minutes ago when a boy invaded our girls' night out.”  

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Anthony broke in.  “You know Colin…”

“Yes, I do.”  While her tone was still light, there was a frustrated edge to it that Ben had never heard before.  

“Everything okay, Pen?” he found himself asking.

“Yeah, sure, why wouldn’t it be now that all of our drinks are on you all?” she replied sunnily.  Too sunnily.

Anthony snorted.  “They were all on me, anyway, Pen.”  

“True,” she mused.  “But now I get the pleasure of watching you realize just how much of your money we are spending tonight and appropriately freak out over it in the process.”

“I will not freak out,” his brother retorted.  “You know this is just a drop in the bucket for me, right?”

Pen bent down then and clasped the neck of the Champagne bottle. Lifting it out of the ice, she took a swig straight from it, and replied saucily, “Then you won’t mind ordering one for each of us, right?”  

Before his brother could reply, she dropped the Champagne (the $500 bottle) back into the ice bucket, winked, and turned on her extremely high heel to rejoin her group.

Ben laughed. He elbowed his brother playfully.  “She got you there, brother.”

When Anthony didn’t reply, he looked over at him and saw that his jaw was tense and his eyes were following Pen to the dance floor.  

Now that she was no longer wearing the long wrap blouse, all of Pen’s, ahem, assets were on display as she sashayed her way through the crowd of people.  

For as much as that sparkly tank top showcased her full breasts, the tight jeans highlighted the curvature of her ass in a way that Benedict had never seen before. Pen always seemed to gravitate toward baggy or tailored, but not form-fitting clothing, so this was a complete departure from the norm and it suited her extraordinarily well.

Pen, who was normally quiet and reserved, oozed confidence.  When she reached Eloise, she immediately shimmied up to her and began moving in time with her.  They were close, so close that if Ben didn’t know any better, it would seem like they were together.  But they’d been best friends since graduate school and he knew their closeness was due to total and complete trust in their friendship, not physical attraction.  After all, Pen was in love with Colin (which he learned when Sophie told him) and Eloise was dating some investment banker.  

When the two, who were obviously several sheets to the wind already, started gyrating to Toxic by Britney Spears, it drew the attention of the men who were standing nearby and they watched, lustfully as the two danced.  When one of them reached out and tapped Pen on the shoulder, she turned around and smiled at him.  He made a come here motion with his head, which must have been his way of asking Pen to dance because Pen nodded and abandoned Eloise for him.  Eloise didn’t seem to care as she moved toward Daphne and Frannie and continued dancing.  

The man, who seemed to be about Pen’s age, was dressed in a plaid button-down shirt over a white t-shirt and khakis.  He was handsome with blonde hair and blue eyes. And, judging by the way his clothes fit, Benedict assumed there was a six pack below that tee.  When Pen took his hand and allowed him to pull her into his body to continue the dance she’d started with El, two things happened that shocked Benedict to his core

First, Colin, who was still dancing with Marina, stopped moving and glowered.  It was only for a second, but Benedict saw it.  Quickly his brother recovered and continued dancing with his girlfriend, but his eyes remained glued to Penelope grinding happily against the hips of Blondie. 

And, second, the brother who was next to him let out a low, almost imperceptible feral growl.  If Benedict hadn’t been sitting so close to him on the curved bench lining the back of their VIP booth, he wouldn’t have heard it.  When he turned his head from Colin watching Pen to Anthony, he saw a predatory gleam in his brother’s eye that he hadn’t seen since before Kate died.  

Interesting.

For as much he and his brothers professed to think of Penelope Featherington as a sister, it seemed like tonight managed to wake them all up to the fact that she wasn’t. 

Chapter Text

When the group, all except Penelope, returned to their VIP lounge, Benedict decided to have a little fun at his brothers’ expenses. “Hey, El,” he asked, “Who’s Pen dancing with?”

She looked at him curiously given that he never before took notice of Pen’s whereabouts, and then looked back at Pen dancing with Blondie as she replied absently, “I dunno.  Some guy.  Why?”

“Just curious.”  

When he didn’t say anything else, El continued.  “She’s wearing her fuck me outfit tonight, so I assume that his name doesn’t matter all that much.”

This brought on a cacophony of titters from his sisters.

“Ahh, now it makes total sense,” Daphne said.  “You two never dance like that normally on our nights out.”

El blushed but kept her composure as she replied, “We do when we double date.  It’s ridiculous how much guys get turned on by it.”

Frannie downed a glass of Champagne from the new bottle Anthony had ordered,  “I bet Billy the banker just loves it.”

“He does. And so did Gavin and…” El put her index finger to her chin and tapped in thought.  “Oh, yeah… Mossimo.” 

Ben vaguely remembered those to be names of two of Pen’s previous boyfriends.  

“What ever happened to Mossimo?” Marina asked casually.  “He was hot. I really hoped they’d work out.”

“He moved back to Italy, but they’re still friends ,” El said with a twinkle in her eye.

Marina, who was sitting on a scowling Colin’s lap, replied, “Really?”

El nodded.  “Yeah.  He was in town a few weeks ago.”

Ben tried not to snicker when he remembered how peeved Anthony had been by Pen’s ridiculously good mood around that time.  He’d been surly about some deal that was going off the rails and she was so happy that she hadn’t even been affected by his brooding.  Pen just gave him a bear hug and said, “Cheer up, buttercup!” before slipping out of his office as if little forest animals were on her heels.  

When he chanced a glance at his brother, Ben saw that he was downing his beer with one hand and clenching a fist with the other, as he apparently remembered the incident, too, and was bothered by knowing the cause of it.

Conversation was cut off when Pen came bounding up to them holding Blondie’s hand.  She was breathing hard from the exertion of dancing and glistened with a sheen of sweat that had droplets running down her neck into her ample cleavage.  She held a hand out and opened and closed her fingers, which apparently Eloise knew meant she was thirsty and wanted her bottle of champagne because she picked it up out of the bucket and handed it to her.  Pen lifted it to her lips and titled her head back as she greedily drank from the bottle, eliciting a low groan out of Anthony, who shifted positions to lean back and cross one ankle over the other knee and adjust his khaki sport coat. 

Benedict coughed into his hand at the movement.  The Lean Back had been Anthony’s tell ever since he hit puberty.  Whenever he was turned on by a pretty girl and didn’t want anyone to know if, he’d do that to cover it up.  But he wasn’t as slick as he thought he was because the sudden movement caught Daphne’s eye, too.  She exchanged a questioning glance with Ben and he winked.  She mouthed a surprised oh as she brought her glass to her lips to drink.

When Pen released the bottle from her lips and held it up to Blondie, the guy smiled, took it from her, and drank, too.  This drew him a glare from Colin, who was lounging rather stiffly in an armchair with Marina was still on his lap facing away from him.  Pen made the gimme motion again with her hand to Blondie and he acquiesced quickly.  Their hands touched when they passed the bottle and Benedict noticed her breath hitch before she broke the contact and took another drink.

Colin, who had been drinking a bottle of water, cleared his throat loudly. “Pen, do you want some water?”  He asked her that in the same Big Brother voice that Anthony always used on them as he held it out toward her.

Her flippant, “Nah, I’m okay.  Thanks,” must have rubbed him the wrong way because he gulped and furrowed his brows before saying, “Champagne isn’t going to rehydrate you, you know.”

Pen laughed.  “Ok, dad,” she said sarcastically as she lifted an index finger off the bottle and pointed at him. She looked up at Blondie and rolled her eyes in a get a load of this guy way.  

Colin took an exasperated breath, but pressed on, “Pen.  You’re drunk. You need water, not more alcohol,” he scolded.  “Drink some,” he ordered as he pushed the bottle in her direction again. 

When Pen side-eyed him and took another long, defiant gulp from the bottle, Ben could see Colin’s temper beginning to rise.  

The one thing Colin was not known for in the Bridgerton family was his temper. He’d lost it so infrequently that Benedict couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his brother angry.  Francesca noticed, too, because she eyed Colin, whose breath was flaring through his nostrils and jaw was clenched, and then picked up a fresh bottle of water.  She opened it, walked it over to their friend, and gently took the bottle from Pen’s hand.  Replacing it with the water, she said, “Pace yourself, hun, or you’ll be the one puking over the toilet instead of me.”

The defiance immediately left Pen’s body and she slowly sipped the clear liquid until Blondie tugged on her arm and inclined his head toward the dance floor.  Penelope quickly sat the bottle on the end table closest to her and waved goodbye before following him.  

As she resumed dancing, Pen pulled Blondie so close to her that none of the spotlights were shining through.  The man was shorter than all of the eldest Bridgerton brothers, so she seemed to fit quite nicely in his arms. 

By the time the song was done, they were unabashedly making out in the middle of the floor.  Blondie began backing toward a darkened corner of the room and Pen went willingly, not once breaking their kiss.

“El,” Benedict inquired, “Do you think that’s wise?”  Pen was definitely not his sister, but she kind of still was and he worried about her safety.

Eloise, who seemed unaffected for reasons unbeknownst to him, replied. “Nah.  Pen can take care of herself.”

“But what if he tries something?” Colin asked concernedly.  His voice was low and Ben could detect frustration well as a hint of anger that hadn’t been tapped down.

“I’ll kill him,” was Anthony’s deadly calm response.

Chapter Text

About fifteen minutes later, Pen came back to the booth, alone, which was vacant except for Ben and Anthony.  

“Hey, Benny,” she asked tipsily.  “Can you hand me my blouse and purse?”  

Ben stood up and stepped toward her stuff with the intent of handing it to her when Anthony asked, “Are you sure this is wise?”

Pen furrowed her brows in confusion. “Is what wise?”

“Leaving.  With that guy,” his brother ground out.

“With who? Mark?”  She paused and blew a raspberry.  “Naw.  He may be hot, but he’s a terrible kisser.  I just need my stuff for the ladies room.”

“Oh,” Anthony replied.  He couldn’t hide the relief in his voice, at least not from Benedict. 

“Besides,” Pen added as Ben handed her things to her, “I’m not a one night stand kinda girl.”  

She winked, laughed, and then turned away to head to the restroom, waving at their group, who’d gone back to the dance floor a few minutes ago

Alone again with Anthony, Benedict hedged, “You like her, don’t you?”

Anthony’s head snapped at him in surprise. “What?”

“Pen.  You’re attracted to her.”

Anthony deflected.  “No.  That’s ridiculous.”

“Rrriiiiight,” Ben replied and he mimicked Anthony’s Lean Back from earlier.

Anthony grew serious then.  He avoided eye contact and took a sip of the same beer he’d been nursing since they arrived.

“Because it’s okay if you do… you know… like her.”

“She’s my friend,” he replied.  “We are just friends.”

“But you’d like to be friends, wouldn’t you?”

“No,” he scoffed, putting his beer down.  Then a more resolute. “No,” as he began twirling his ring 

“Kate has been gone nearly a year, Ant.  She’d want you to be happy.”

He let go of his ring and ran his right hand through his hair.  Back then forth then back again.  “I…” he started to say before he was cut off by Colin coming back to the booth.  

But Benedict never got to hear what he was going to say because the second he saw Colin, Anthony completely shut down.

“Marina and I are gonna head out,” Colin said jovially, back to his old self.  “I’ll see you all tomorrow?”

Benedict replied, “Yup,” and took Colin’s offered hand for a shake as Anthony nodded curtly.

Colin was unaffected by Anthony’s silence given that their brother was even more broody and short-tempered since losing his wife and went to collect Marina from the dance floor.  He was waylaid by Pen returning from the restroom before he got to her, though.  Pen, who had covered her tank top back up with her blouse, smiled sheepishly and then began rambling what Benedict assumed was an apology for her earlier behavior until Colin shushed her with an index finger to her lips.  He shook his head and then pulled her in for a bear hug.

Pen melted into his embrace and sighed before whispering something in his ear.  Colin laughed and pulled her close, just as close as Blondie had earlier, and kissed her sweetly on the top of her head.  

They stayed in their embrace until Marina noticed them and walked over (rather briskly) to collect her boyfriend.  Benedict saw a flash of annoyance cross Colin’s face as he released his best friend from his grasp, but it was gone by the time he faced Marina.  

He handed her the wristlet and coat he’d collected when he came up to them to say goodbye and then allowed her to lead him through the crowd toward the door.

Marina didn’t see him look back forlornly at Pen, who’d turned her attention to their sisters, but Benedict did.

In response, he laid his head in his hands and rubbed his eyes, which were bleary from jet lag, and prayed his family could survive the fallout when his brothers finally realized they both wanted the same woman.