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Marina is scrolling mindlessly through her Instagram feed when she stumbles across a photo she’s not sure how to react to. It’s the first time she’s seen the two of them together since she and Colin broke up over five months ago, and it’s not like Marina didn’t know they were going to end up together since he told her that he had feelings for Penelope, hence why she and Colin split in the first place. But it’s a little jarring having the evidence of said feelings…she doesn’t wanna say shoved in her face, since she’s the one who chose not to unfollow Colin after their relationship ended, and he has every right to post about his current one on his own social media. But it feels a little odd seeing him so happy and carefree with Penelope when she can’t remember him ever looking that way with her in the almost-year they spent together.
She decides to click over to his profile, not because she wants to torture herself, but because she’s curious. She wants to see what he’s been posting about since they broke up, and honestly, she’s a little interested in seeing more of Penelope since she never really got to know her all that well while she was dating Colin. Marina knew the two were close (evidently closer than she had realized), but she still never really spent much time with the other woman, so she’s hoping to get a better picture (no pun intended) of who Penelope is from Colin’s posts.
She starts with the first photo, the one that she saw amongst a bunch of others from all of the people she follows on the app. Objectively, it’s rather adorable: the two of them with their heads pressed together, smiling into the camera. They’re holding hands with their arms outstretched towards whoever is taking the photo. It’s clear they have an innate intimacy with one another, one that Marina never felt like she had with Colin the entire time she was with him. She isn’t sure if that’s because of how long they’ve been friends, Marina remembering that Penelope and Colin have known each other practically their entire lives; if it has to do with how deep their feelings are for one another; or if it’s a third thing, something Marina doesn’t really want to admit to herself but can’t really deny when she looks at the two of them together like this.
She knows, now, that what she and Colin had was… nice, if a little lackluster. And it wasn’t just because he had feelings for someone else. She knows it was on her, too. She can recognize that she was never as in love with him as she once thought she had been; that what he has now, with Penelope, is obviously so much deeper and stronger than anything either of them ever felt for one another during their time together. It practically emanates through the phone, the feelings these two have for each other. They may not have been together that long, but it’s clear to anyone who takes a single look at them that they belong together. Nobody would have said the same for Marina and Colin.
Marina feels a pang of regret at that moment; not for the end of her relationship, but for the time she feels like she wasted with him when he could’ve been with Penelope. When Colin came to her and told her that he needed to end things because he knew that he had feelings for someone else, Marina didn’t put up much of a fight. It was pretty transparent that he wasn’t in love with her and hadn’t been for some time, and Marina wasn’t going to try to make him miserable just to try to appease some small part of her that felt like he belonged to her. Looking at how happy he is with Penelope, the love and adoration on his face, she knows that it wouldn’t have been worth it to try and make him stay when he plainly feels more for this other person than he probably ever did for Marina. She wants to be bitter about that, but she can’t find it in herself, and instead decides that it’s not worth trying to figure out why she doesn’t hold much of a grudge about it.
Marina moves on to the next photo, this one of just Penelope at a beach. She’s wearing a pretty red two-piece swimsuit, which is covered in white polka dots. The bra has a bow right in the middle, drawing attention to Penelope’s rather well-endowed chest, with a matching bow on either side of the bottoms. Her eyes are covered by a pair of vintage-style cat-eye sunglasses, through which Marina can just make out the reflection of Colin, grinning just as toothily, in the photo. Penelope’s cheeks, dusted with freckles and warmly sun-kissed, are nearly impossible to see as they are swallowed by her smile, which is taking up her whole face. It’s the caption, though, that truly seals things:
@colincb91: the best day with my best girl ❤️
If Marina had seen this a day, a week, hell, even a month after Colin had ended things, she probably would have hated seeing how happy Penelope looked in this photo, the bright glow to her face clearly a result of the person she’s with and not from the sun. And the caption would have sent her into a spiral that she probably would have tried to drown out with a concoction of ice cream, trashy TV, and booze. But now, five months out and with a much clearer head about things, all she can think about is how gorgeous this other woman looks and that, somewhere deep down inside (although maybe not that deep, if she’s fully honest with herself), she’s happy for her.
She can see, looking back on her relationship with Colin, that she never looked this joyful in any of the photos the two of them took together. And even just contemplating it, she’s not sure she ever felt that happy with him, the kind of effervescent delight that is simply pouring out of Penelope. She was content, sure; things with her and Colin were good, for the most part. But she can’t say that she was ever as stunningly exuberant as the person that Marina is looking at now. Penelope looks like sunshine personified, her face almost too bright to keep looking at, she’s so euphoric. She looks truly radiant with that smile on her face.
Marina decides to keep going, acknowledging that this is sort of cathartic, in its own way. The next photo, though, is a little harder for her to stomach, she has to admit; it’s a photo of Penelope and Colin kissing, and while it’s not anything especially lewd, the passion in the photo is almost palpable, even from her phone screen. Both of their eyes are closed, Colin’s hand holding onto Penelope’s cheek in what is clearly a tender embrace. His lips are upturned in a slight smile, the dimple Marina is all too familiar with peaking out on his right cheek. The caption in this one is sickeningly sweet.
@colincb91: The taste of your lips is my idea of luxury 😘
Colin had never been much into Taylor Swift when they were dating, so this must have been something Penelope got him interested in. She doesn’t really care that much about that part; she never really tried to get him into her either, as she was more of a Beyonce fan, truthfully. It’s the fact that he put in the effort to listen to the music his current girlfriend liked when he never did that for Marina. She can’t tell if she’s bitter about this. Maybe she’s just realizing they really weren’t very well-suited for each other after all if he wasn’t even willing to put in that little bit of effort to make her happy like he’s very much willing to do to make Penelope happy.
She goes on to the next photo rather quickly, deciding she doesn’t really want to see or think about that one for much longer. This one is much tamer, just a photo of the two of them sitting in a movie theater next to each other. The caption must be some kind of inside joke, though, since Marina doesn’t understand it.
@colincb91: POPPACORNO! 🍿🍿🍿
Penelope has even commented on this one, replying with what must be the other part of the joke.
@featherpen: I look forward to a lifetime of joy, growth, and common mispronunciation of common words 🩷😂
Marina wonders if this particular joke developed before or after the two started dating, not that it really matters in the end. What matters is that they have an easy camaraderie and way of inhabiting one another’s orbit that anybody can see. It’s inside jokes, it’s listening to the music the other likes, it’s making each other and smile like nobody else can. Marina wishes she had that with someone; not with Colin, necessarily, because she doesn’t want to take away what he has with Penelope. She just wishes she had the kind of connection that is blatantly obvious between these two, even through a social media post. She’s a little jealous, in all honesty. Not of Penelope, because she’s with Colin now. No, she’s jealous of both of them, of how easily these two have fallen into each other’s arms, of how simply they’ve come together and made it work, of how much they so clearly care for one another in a way that Marina isn’t sure she’ll ever find with someone. It makes her sad, too, thinking about that.
She passes on to the next photo in his feed, and this one makes her think a lot about other things with regards to their relationship and how different it seems to be from his current one. The photo is of him and Penelope, yes, but it also includes his entire family, spouses and kids included. They all have their arms wrapped around one another and everyone is smiling, looking like one gorgeous, happy family. Colin and Penelope are off to one corner of the frame, she tucked into his side, looking for all the world like she was always meant to be there. She’s got one arm wrapped around his back, the other placed on his stomach. He’s got one arm wrapped around her, the other wrapped around his mum.
She’s thoughtful with this photo, though, because it makes her think about how she never quite felt like she fit in with his family. They were polite to her, never outright rude or anything, but she never felt like they really took to her like she often wished they did. She always sort of felt like an outsider with the Bridgertons, never fully gelling with them and their dynamics.
Penelope, however, is clearly part of the family, even if it’s not official yet. Even from an outsider’s perspective, it’s evident that they’ve accepted her as one of their own; Eloise, Colin’s sister, has nearly an identical iron grip on Penelope as Colin does in the photo. Moreover, Edmund—Anthony and Kate’s eldest son, barely five— is gripping onto her leg for dear life, clearly enamored with her as well. She’s made quite a position for herself in the family, and Marina is sure that place will only continue to grow as her relationship with Colin does.
Marina scrolls back to the first photo, the one that brought her down this rabbit hole in the first place. She contemplates a moment before she decides that no, this isn’t that weird, and yes, she does want to do this, quickly typing out a comment.
@mar1nath0mps0n: you guys make a really cute couple 😊
And she means it.