Work Text:
Amnesia - AU
“Eloise, you promise he won’t be there?” Penelope wined.
Penelope was driving to Aubrey Hall, the Bridgerton’s summer home, for the weekend and the last person she wanted to see was Colin Bridgerton.
Colin was everything Penelope dreamed a perfect man would be: kind, honest, devilishly handsome, and ambitious.
He was her best friend. Until a month ago he had heard him tell his brothers he would “never dream” about dating her. Forever throwing him off the pedestal she had put him on. She had been devastated and still did not have the courage to confront him or tell Eloise.
Instead she choose to ignore all his calls and text messages like any healthy person would do.
“Yes , Pen last I heard from my dear brother he was off gallivanting across Greece, unlike me” she mumbled. She could hear Eloise growing impatient on the other side of the phone. She knew Colin and her were fighting and clearly did not want to be in the middle of it.
“Pen, when are you going to tell me what my stupid brother did so I can just kick his ass and make him beg forgiveness for whatever wrong he has caused you.”
Penelope looked out the window, the green rolling hills flying by as if they were part of another world. Sometimes Penelope wished she was too.
A world where Colin Bridgerton loved her, where she was desirable and had a loving family.
She sighed. She knew the only place where that would be true would be her novels. Her true safe haven.
“Pen? Pen? Earth to Penelope!” Eloise yelled on the other line.
“El…” Penelope turned her head back to the road just in time to see a car heading directly towards her.
Terror struck her heart as she turned the wheel frantically, screaming as her car plowed right off the road and slamming her head against her car window.
The last thing she could hear is Eloise screams through her phone
“Penelope! Penelope! Please speak to me! What happened? Penelope!”
She could feel the sharp pain pulsing through her head. Then total darkness.
She could hear someone murmuring right next to her, or maybe it was singing? She wasn’t too sure but the voice sounded lovely. And she just wanted to be consumed by that melody.
When she opened her eyes she was met with a blinding bright light let in from the window and the feel of a soft hand running their thumbs against hers.
She blinked a few times, adjusting her eyes, and turned towards the person holding her hand and singing.
He was gorgeous. With unruly chestnut hair, blue eyes, and a light tan skin he looked like a greek god.
“Whaa…” was all she could mumble when the greek god shot up his eyes to hers and smiled.
“Pen! You’re awake! Oh thank goodness you’re awake!” He gripped her hand tighter and Penelope saw light tears forming in his eyes.
He quickly got up and called the nurse to come as quickly as possible. Another girl with shoulder length chestnut hair came in the room, she must be the greek god’s brother Penelope deduced, and ran towards the bed crying.
“Oh God Pen you’re awake!” She screeched! She hurled towards Penelope pulling her into a huge bear hug.
“Don’t you ever dare do that to me again Pen or I’ll kill you!” The girl continued crying. The man seemed irritated and grabbed his sister.
“Eloise! She just woke up you can’t just jump on her!” He shouted.
“Oh buzz off! Aren’t you supposed to be in Greece” she shouted back
“Greece sounds a lot nicer than being here with you” he countered.
Seeing their faces turn red and them huffing away for some reason brought joy to her and she couldn’t help but laugh.
The siblings both looked at her like she was crazy.
“I’m sorry!” She snorted. “I don’t know what’s come over me” she continued giggling. She could see the tension from the two sliding off their shoulders as grins spread across their faces.
“What’s so funny?” the girl asked.
Penelope grinned widely.
“It’s just so peculiar! I wake up in a hospital with two strangers bickering over me” she snorts.
“Well that wasn’t very well done of me” she covers her face.
“I’m sorry” the greek god asks, “but did you say strangers?” She could hear the confusion in his voice and her grin faltered.
“Yes, I mean. Do I know you?” She looks at the girl “Or you?”
Both stare at her with horror.
“Pen thats not funny” the girl says.
“Pen, that’s a nice name. I guess that’s me?” Penelope asks. She trys to think about what her life has been like for the past year but can’t think of anything or anyone. No significant events. She frowns and feels frustration bubble in her chest. How could she not think of a single event? Was she really that insignificant.
The siblings continue to stare at her, making Penelope shift uncomfortably in her be when the nurse and doctor come in.
“Hello, Miss Featherington. We are so glad you are finally awake!” The doctor beams.
“What do you mean finally? How long have I been here?” Penelope squeaks.
Before they can answer her the man rushes to the doctor, his face pale
“Doctor I don’t know what’s going on but Penelope doesn’t remember anything!”
The doctor, she can see his name is Mr. Dorset, comes over to her.
“This might be uncomfortable” he says as he flashes a light into both her eyes.
He does a few more reflexive tests.
“Penelope what is the last thing you remember?” He asks.
“I remember.. I remember” Penelope tries to dig inside her head but all she meets with is darkness and a slight pain in the back of her head.
“I don’t know” she says.
Mr. Dorest nods his heads and looks back at the siblings.
“It seems she has amnesia, which is pretty common after an accident like hers. I say the best thing to do is to put her in a familiar setting, don’t giver her too much information for her, let her slowly gather information and hopefully she will start making connections” he says.
“Excuse me,” she peeps, “but what happened to me?”
Mr. Dorset turns to look at her,
“You were in a car accident. A bad one. You are lucky to not have sustained any life threatening injuries. Your friend here,” he gestures towards the man “found you and stayed with you until the ambulance came. You are very fortunate to have such caring people in your life” he smiles and then motions for the siblings to follow him.
“I’m just going to go over your discharge instructions with them and I think you are clear to go home”
The man shakes his head,
“Go ahead Eloise I’m going to stay with Pen”.
Eloise nods her head and walks out with Mr. Dorset.
The man hesitates before slowly taking her hand, rubbing circles with his thumb on hers.
“Pen” he chokes out. “Is this okay/“ he asks.
Even though she has no recollection of this man, he’s practically a total stranger Pen does not feel any discomfort. She feels safe. She feels at home. So she smiles and nods her head.
The man lets out a sigh of relief and flashes her a grin.
“I’m Colin by the way. The one and only Colin Bridgerton. Slayer of the kitchen and Master of letters”
“Hi, I’m Penelope? She pauses as he shakes his head encouragingly.
“I like warm weather and books” she quips and feels sure in her heart what she said was her.
“Well very nice to meet you Pen. Now let’s take you home”
—COLIN—
Bring Pen back to Aubrey Hall was a no brainer. With Penelope’s mother out on a cruise with her sisters the best place for her to be was at his country home, with him.
The moment that Violet Bridgerton had heard about her accident she was frantic. She prepared the guest bedroom right next to his, without him even asking, and gushed over her the moment she arrived.
Colin had never loved his mother so much.
Violet had wanted to introduce her to the whole Bridgerton gang but Colin insisted she needed to go straight to her room.
It was enough meeting three Bridgertons, meeting eight of them he feared poor Pen’s brain might short circuit. No, the best move was to protect her from the chaos that was his siblings. So after Violet ensured she was not harmed and healthy he guided her to bed.
He knew he should feel guilty. She was in an accident and didn’t remember a thing! She needed them to help her find herself. He should feel guilty about putting his palm on her lower back. He should feel guilty for being the one sleeping right next door to her. Her should feel guilty that when he touched her he could fill it electrify his heart. His soul.
But he does not. And when they reach her door and she turns to look at him with her bright big blue eyes he can feel his breathe be taken away.
Of course the moment he realized he was in love with her she would lose her memory.
“I think this is me?” She murmurs. It takes everything out of him to pull his eyes away from hers and nods.
“Yes, I’m right there if you need me” he points to the door across the hall. He looks back at her and runs his hands through his hair.
“Don’t hesitate to call me if you need anything” he says and watches her and she turns to go inside. Before he can help himself he shouts,
“Pen!” She turns around a bit startled.
“I’m so happy you’re okay” he whispers.
She gives him a small smile, “Me too” and goes into her room.
He feels his heart trying to beat it’s way out of his chest and goes into his room.
She is safe. She is here. She is alive. She does not remember who you are.
She feels the pang of sadness at that last thought but shakes his head.
He can’t let it eat away at him. For the last month he has been in agony over her ignoring all his calls and texts. Now that he has her back he has no intention of losing her again.
The next morning is brilliant and Colin wakes up with a bit of anticipation in his chest. Today he was going to do his best to have her remember him. To remember them. And if she remembers why she ignored him then all the better to get that argument out of the way so he could kiss away any anger he had caused her.
He was still so puzzled on what he did to deserve her silence. But he would find his friend again. And then woo the shit out of her. He quickly got dressed and ran down to the breakfast parlor when he saw her.
She had dressed in a simple blue romper and had her curls falling in waves down her shoulder. She was gorgeous.
She felt the intensity of his gaze and looked up to meet his. He wished time could stay still so he could write about this moment for eternity. Instead, Benedict slapped him on his back and made him almost lose his footing.
“Earth to Colin! You in there?” His brother shouted.
Colin turned to glare at Benedict.
“What?” He said turning towards him. He saw his brother smirk and raise his eyebrows knowingly.
“What’s got your cravat in a twist?”
“What’s got me what?”
“Nevermind” Benedict said as he bounced over to sit right next to Penelope.
Colin growled at that and grumpily went to sit next to Eloise.
He had wanted to sit next to her, to get to see if for any miracle if she dreamed anything about her life. If she remembered anything at all. If she remembered him.
But based off the looks she was giving him it looks like there was no progress.
The whole breakfast Benedict kept Penelopes attention towards him, making her laugh, and, how dare he, blush!
Colin was very close to considering siblicide when his mother announced that it was a lovely day and felt that a fresh breathe of air and sun would do Penelope good.
Colin jumped at that and offered to escort her around the grounds. He rushed to her side offering his arm for her
“Miss Featherington” he grinned.
He was able to elicit blush from his offer and he felt like he was soaring.
She got up and gave him a mock curtsy.
“Mr. Bridgerton” she giggled.
“That would be Colin. Mr. Bridgerton was my father” he joked.
“And Miss Featherington is my government name, you can call me Lady Whistledown”
They both burst out laughing, managing to get a few glares from his siblings. She took hold of his arm, enlighten a fire throughout his body.
As he guided her towards the willow trees that traced around the pond he dared to take a quick glance at her. Her eyes were big with awe, looking everywhere and anywhere they could. He noticed the way the blue romper was hugging her curves, letting her breasts thrive out in the open. He had to bit his lip to stifle his groan. God, what she was doing to him was positively sinful. He started reciting the alphabet to keep his thoughts friendly.
A is for Anthony. B is for Benedict. C is for Me! Colin
But before he could continue Penelope let out a squeal and ran towards the pond in excitement.
“Wait! Pen! You shouldn’t be running!” But she was gone. Not even bothering to grace him with an apologetic look.
He ran after her to see her sitting next to the water, he hands skimming the surface.
“Colin! Let your fingers feel the water. It’s so calming” she says.
Colin sits next to her grumbling about her safety but follows her instructions. Soon they are making circles and dancing their fingers across the water.
“Colin” Penelope peeps. He turns to her, admiring the way the sun is creating shadows across her body. She’s temptation divine. He thought.
“Yes” he murmurs.
“The doctor said you found me - at the scene of my accident…” she trails off
“Go on Pen”
“Well, why were you there?” She asks. “From what I gather you weren’t even supposed to be home and you weren’t with me while I was driving.” She looks up at him. Cutting at his soul.
He gulps and looks down towards his fingers still dancing.
“Well, I was supposed to be in Greece. But a certain someone would not reply to any of my texts or calls for almost over a month. And slowly it was driving me close to insanity” he breathes, “So I thought no better way to get someone to talk to you than to surprise them at their weekend getaway” he laughs, mostly at himself and how pathetic he must have seemed.
“I was driving down that highway you crashed on, I must have been minutes behind you because as soon as you crashed. Eloise called me, screaming, crying frantic about you and then that’s when I saw your car. Your old beat up blue bug you’ve had since you were 16. I wanted to die right then and there Pen”
He looks up to meet her gaze and she feels drunk. He was coming after her? But why? Why was she so mad at him that she would ignore him?
“I ran towards your car, I don’t even remember pulling you out. All I remember is having you in my arms and praying you were okay” he whispers.
She has to look away from the intensity of his gaze.
All of a sudden she feels an immense pressure and pain shoots through her head.
Images, feelings, memories rush through her head. And she screams, clutching her head.
It takes moments, years, for her to hear Colin’s voice.
It’s laced with panic.
He’s harassing her head, trembling.
“Pen, Pen, are you okay? Please be okay!”
She looks up at him and see’s his eyes wide with fear. This Colin that said he would never date her. This was the Colin she needed to get away from.
Tears pour out of her eyes and she pushes him away.
He falls back and she manages to get up and tries to run away.
But she feels him grab her arm and growl,
“No, not again Pen!” And pulls her towards him so he can embrace her.
“Pen, are you back? Is my Penelope back?”
Did he say his Penelope?
“Colin, let me go!” She cries.
And he does he slowly pulls away from her but does not let go of her hands.
“Penelope, please speak to me! I haven’t spoken to you in a month and when I do you barely know who I am. Pen, what did I do to lose you?” He cries.
She feels so overwhelmed, with his tears, he looks completely heartbroken. Like she did.
But she also feels a rage in her. Maybe it’s towards her fantasy of him. Maybe it was because of him. Before she could figure out what it was she shouted,
“I would never dream of dating Penelope” she shouted. “Really Colin? You could have said anything else? But instead you choose to humiliate me?”
He’s stunned. Thinking about that night he said those stupid words.
Benedict and Anthony were poking fun at him, for how much time he was spending with her. And to be honest those intrusive thoughts of her was plaguing his mind at that point.
He should have surrendered himself to her. But instead he put up a wall, said those words, and left for Greece.
“Pen, I am so sorry for what I said. But you need to know those were a lie. I want nothing more than to have the privilege to date you, to woo you, to love you the way you deserve. God I was such a boy, such a fool to say that. But that is far from how I feel!”
She felt her heart falter at his words.
“What? Colin I don’t understand”
“Penelope Anne Featherington. I love you. God you make me crazy. That’s the reason I came back. You shut me out, deservedly so, and I realized I might be too late. To have you. To have us. To have a home”
She stands there stunned. Colin loved her? Her Colin? Her fantasy wanted her?
She shook her head, praying this wasn’t some sick fantasy of hers.
“But Colin, you were engaged to my cousin! You said I wasn’t even a women” she stuttered. He stepped closer to her, still holding her hand.
“I. WAS.A.FOOL” he says
She’s crying now she knows she should be running, maybe calling the psych ward. She must have gone crazy.
With one last tug he pulled her towards him. Her hands landing on his chest.
“I love you, Penelope. I want you. I crave you. Please tell me I’m not the only one feeling this?”
She looks down and shakes her head.
“I’ve loved nothing but you”
And that’s the end of Colin Bridgerton as he knows it. As he pulls her towards him. Smashing his lips against hers. It was glorious. He continued to kiss her, not caring that they both probably needed air. Her fingers wounded up in his hair.
With much reluctance Penelope broke away, but not without Colin placing kisses along her face and down her neck. She knew she was turning into a puddle due to this man.
She finally lets out a soft groan.
“God Pen you should not make that kind of noise around me” he huffs, pulling her closer. She can feel his desire bulging for her.
She lets out a soft giggle.
“This may sound cruel, but what if we don’t tell anyone I remember anything just for tonight?”
“Why Miss Featherington, so naughty” he breathes kissing her collarbone.
“I just mean, I just want to spend some time, just the two of us just for tonight”
He smiles at that and pulls her into him, kissing her head.
“Your servant, always.”