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one (how adorable are they?)
It really didn’t come as a surprise that Colin was the first one to say it, regardless of the circumstances. And, as it happened, they weren’t anything out of the ordinary.
Michaela had recently begun studying in the same school and grade as he did, which only solidified a friendship molded through the years in Aubrey Hall, since their families were really close. The Stirlings hadn’t lived in the city before, a problem quickly solved as they moved down the street from his own house, and, from that moment forward, it was hard to see the duo apart.
That particular day, right before her eleventh birthday, Michaela had asked if they could stay outside playing in the garden of her own home, where they’d spent an entire afternoon to the point of exhaustion. Once properly lying on the grass, eyes facing the sunset, Colin began a conversation:
“Something funny happened earlier today”, he said and, at the curious expression on his friend’s face, added. “Well, not exactly funny, although seeing Anthony mad is always amusing”.
“Tell me”, Michaela prompted, all ears.
“So, you know Penelope Featherington, right? Eloise’s friend who lives across the street from our house” the boy asked, and she nodded. “She often has lunch with us, and only goes home at night, mom insists on it”, he continued, choosing to leave unsaid the reason for that: her own terrible family. “We could invite her to Aubrey for the summer”, he thought suddenly, planning on asking his parents about it later that day.
Momentarily lost in thought, Colin was brought to reality by Michaela’s hand waving in front of him.
“And?” the girl sighed impatiently.
“Sorry, sorry! So, today she decided to bring sweets, leaving them on the table after we’d all eaten. Eloise was ecstatic cause they're her favorites, so much so she jumped at Pen, screaming ‘I love you!’”
“Oh, that’s really nice of her”, his friend commented, not quite understanding where Colin was going with his story.
“I was also very happy with the treat. You know me”, he kept going, growing an usual shade of red due to his reputation for always being hungry. “And for that, I did the same: walked to her, gave her a hug and said ‘I love you’ too. Anthony was livid. According to him, it’s not proper for a boy to tell a girl outside his family that he loves her”, he finished, watching for his friend’s reaction. She didn’t disappoint.
“That makes zero sense!”, Michaela exclaimed indignantly, sitting up.
“I know, right?” Colin also raised his upper body, feeling validated by the girl’s agreement. “What’s the harm in telling a friend you love them? Wouldn’t the problem be not to?”
“Absolutely. If you love someone, you should tell them”, she stated resolutely, and they both stood in comfortable silence, thinking about the subject for a while.
“I love you, Mika”, the Bridgerton boy said eventually, turning completely to face the girl.
“I love you too, Col”, she replied, grinning at him.
Done with the conversation, they both went back to looking at the sky.
✈️ 🤾🪴
two (phillip has entered the chat)
A couple of years later, Michaela was the one to say it.
At that point, their usual duo had opened a spot for a third party, filled by Phillip Crane, an exchange student from Scotland. He’d been living with an aunt for the last few months, and showed no interest in going back home anytime soon, even more so since he’d started dating Colin's sister, Eloise.
It was a Thursday morning, right before the inter-school sports’ finals, and everyone was buzzing from excitement, which also meant no one was truly paying attention to the classes. And that's how, by the time the bell rang, Colin and Michaela found themselves in detention. So much for a last-minute practice.
All their respective teammates and even other people in detention had tried to dissuade Mrs. Cowper from punishing the duo that specific day, telling her they needed the handball team's captain (Michaela) and their best swimmer (Colin) to adjust some final details for the competition. The professor had been resolute, however. They could only leave in an hour. By then, the bus to the rival school's gym would have already left, and they'd need to find another way to get there.
“I can't believe she sent us to detention”, Colin grumbled, tapping repeatedly at his notebook with a pen. “Doesn't she know how important those finals are?”
“Oh, I can", Michaela, who was sitting behind him, answered, crumpling a sheet of paper. “She's never accepted that her daughter didn't make it into the handball team”.
“How could she? Cressida can barely throw a ball, for God's sake”, the boy whispered, and they both laughed.
“Do you think your brother will be able to take us there in his car?” she asked, worried.
“Probably. I've asked Daph to call him and explain the situation. Benedict was planning on going later with everyone else, but he'll help”, Colin stated, trying to stay optimistic.
Just then, a voice they recognized came from the classroom's door, and the duo turned to see Phillip standing there.
“Excuse me, Mrs. Wilson. I was hoping I could have a minute of your time”, he spoke softly, with a shy smile, and the woman stood up immediately, almost running to him. The professor had always had a soft spot for the boy, who was ever interested in all her classes, and made no effort to hide it from the other students.
“What can I help you with, Phillip?” she asked happily.
Suddenly, Colin felt his phone - hidden under the notebook - vibrate, and slid the latter to realize there was a new single message on their group chat, sent by his friend a few feet away:
“you have about five minutes. use them. the windows on the left seem like a good idea".
“I really hope I don't get stuck" was the last thing the Bridgerton brother thought, gathering his things, before reaching for Michaela's hand and motioning for her to follow.
…
“I think I left a part of my body trying to fit into that tiny window", Colin whined once they were safely outside the school.
“You do realize we’ll likely get a suspension out of this", Michaela said, leaning against a wall breathless.
“Not if we win", the boy smirked, handing her his bottle of water. “Headmistress Charlotte won't suspend anyone if she's too happy to even remember what we did".
“Good point”, she conceded, just as a breathless Phillip turned the street.
“Our hero!” Colin yelled with a grin on his face.
“I fucking love you, Phill!”, Michaela exclaimed, throwing her arms at him for a hug. They stayed like that for a few seconds before parting. “I hope you know it. Thank you so so much".
“I still can't believe I did that", the boy, who used to always follow the rules, laughed anxiously, adding. “At least I left before she noticed you were gone".
“I could kiss you right now, Crane!” Colin declared, giving the boy a hug of his own.
“Come on, we have a bus to catch", Michaela said, glancing at the clock. “You're coming, right?” she continued, looking at Phillip.
“After all of this? Of course I'm coming!”
✈️ 🤾🪴
three (i never said they were smart people)
“What if I'm making the wrong choice?” Phillip whispered, finally voicing the question that had been haunting him for the last days. Weeks, if he was being honest.
The 26-year-old man had woken up that particular day mourning easier times. Remembering afternoons spent playing knights with his brother George, at school worrying about grades, or in the Bridgerton house laughing until late hours with Colin and Michaela.
But mostly, he missed the version of himself that felt hopeful about the future. The boy who believed in actions led by friendship, passion and love, or no actions at all. Eloise’s Phillip.
“Was there any other choice, Phillip?” Michaela asked while fixing his suit, a look of concern in her eyes.
No, there wasn't.
Since George's death, Marina had been hinting that life in London was no longer something she could deal with. His sister-in-law wanted peace, and quiet, and nature, as opposed to the ongoing loudness of the city, imposed on her until then by her boyfriend's - his brother’s - work. Therefore, she was planning to go back to the United States where her family lived, and take his twin nephews with her. Away from him.
Phillip just couldn't accept that. He wasn't about to lose someone else he loved to the other side of the Atlantic. But at the same time, he knew both Marina and the children needed a support system, previously provided by his own brother. She wouldn't stay just because he asked, without the stability her parents could provide. And so, the man did what he thought was the best option: proposed marriage.
All in all, he liked Marina. They got along well, and understood each other's limits. Besides, he lived and worked in the country, which was what the woman craved all along, and got along really well with children. Their relationship was one based on trust, care – and, at some rate, love, even though it wasn’t the type of love that usually led people to get married.
It wasn't like Phillip was looking for love either. Ever since he and Eloise had broken up a couple of years before, due to her studies in the States and his one in a lifetime work proposal in Scotland, the man had made a point of leaving that part of his life behind, and he didn't regret it. If it had led to that moment, in which he could care for his nephews like he knew George would want him to, he couldn't regret it.
“Crane, look at me", Michaela said with conviction, and he turned to face her.
“Sometimes… sometimes love is not a priority. I know it may seem like it, especially when you know people like the Bridgertons, but there are things one should weigh before being led by the heart. And family is at the top of the list", the woman continued, reaching for his trembling hand to hold. “So, if that's the way you found to respect your brother's memory, and to take care of the people who were dear to him, it's not the wrong choice”, she finished, wiping away tears that had gathered in her eyes. Phillip's weren't much better, and he looked up in an attempt to stop his own tears from falling.
“Besides, what you're doing is merely a formality. It's not like you're in love with her or anything”, Michaela added after a beat, laughing self-deprecatingly. “That, my friend, would be a problem".
Caught off guard by the remark, the groom wasn't able to contain the chuckle that left his lips.
“How can our situations be so similar, and yet so different, Mika?” he questioned. John's death was still as fresh as George's, even if it’d happened two years before, and it had been hard to move on, both for his cousin and for his girlfriend at the time, Francesca Bridgerton - whom Michaela had always been in love with.
“Don't even mention it”, she waved him off. “Just know, I'll be there for you regardless of what you decide. Although you really should have decided it earlier, considering the only thing missing from this wedding is the bride, who is probably on her way here”.
“She just arrived, actually”, a male voice came from the door, and they watched as Colin made his way inside. “The officiant sent me to get you”, he added, pulling both his friends in for a collective hug. It was the first time in months they'd seen each other, since they were never in the same city at the same moment.
“I thought you wouldn't show up”, Phillip confessed once they stepped away. He couldn't exactly blame Bridgerton for not wanting to see him marrying anyone that wasn't Eloise.
“We're best friends, Phillip. I may not always agree with your decisions, but I'll always support them”, Colin stated, raising his brows to make sure Crane understood that the wedding was in the "not always agree with” decisions. “Mom is also here, by the way. You really thought I wouldn't tell her?" he informed, smiling sheepishly at the groom's surprise.
“Not really", Phillip answered, warming up inside. What would he do without his friends? “I love you, guys. From the bottom of my heart. I don't know what life would look like if you weren't in it”.
“Boring”, Michaela and Colin said at the same time, which led to a round of laughter and unfiltered happiness. Past Phillip hadn't completely vanished, after all.
“Time to get married”.
✈️ 🤾🪴
four (my two dorks)
“What do you think about this one?” Colin prompted, pointing at what felt like the hundredth bookshelf Phillip had laid eyes on that day.
“Are you really sure you don't want to call someone who will truly be able to help, Bridgerton? Daphne, who is good with interior design? Your girlfriend’s best friend, maybe?” the Scot said, exasperated.
“Penelope is not my girlfriend yet. Daphne is on vacation with Simon and the kids. And are you sure I’m the one who needs Eloise here, Crane?” his friend replied, amused. “You’ve been quite close those last few weeks, from what I’ve heard and seen”.
“She’s been helping with the kids”, Phillip justified weakly, turning a hilarious shade of red. “Things have been difficult since… you know”.
“How is that going, by the way?” Colin’s tone softened, aware of the struggles his friend had been experiencing after Marina’s passing, from the decision to move back to London to the hard time the twins were having with it.
“Better, given the circumstances. Oliver and Amanda are adjusting to the new school, which is great. The nights are rough, though. I guess that’s when they miss their mom the most. That was Eloise's experience, at least, so she knows just the right way to calm them down. Calm me down as well. She brings this… joy to the house, and right now it's making all the difference in the world to have her near again”, Phillip confessed, moving to yet another hall full of bookshelves.
“I’m glad she’s here for you, Phill. The timing of this job offer in London El took was spot on”, his friend said, and a comfortable silence stretched between the men, who kept looking around the furniture store they were currently in.
“God, I wish Michaela was here”, Colin finally gave up, sitting on a chair that was on display. “Did she really need to go on a belated honeymoon with my sister exactly when I decided to come back home? Rude”, the man joked, pouting.
“So do I. I'm bored”, Phillip complained, settling down next to his friend. “Come on, Col. Why is a bookshelf so important again?”
“It’s not just the shelf, Phill”, the Bridgerton brother exclaimed, slumping his shoulders. “For years now, I've been travelling all around, first for fun and then for work, and people, my family, my friends, started getting used to me leaving. Penelope got used to me leaving. Only now that I realized the life I want is here, in London, with her, I fear she’s still scared I’ll change my mind at any moment. About this, and about us. And so she keeps pushing me away” he added, looking at the floor as if embarrassed by the reasoning behind their current search. After a beat, he looked up, watching as Phillip waited for him to continue.
“I want to make sure everything in the new flat is perfect before inviting her over, that my place looks like somewhere she can see herself being in for the long run. I want to make my house hers, just like everything else of mine is. I want her to know this is real, we’re real, and that I'm not going anywhere, regardless of her choice of being with me or not”, Colin finished, standing up abruptly. “So yes, the bookshelf is important. It is Pen we're talking about, after all. I don't really think anything is as important”.
“The bed, maybe”, Phillip quipped, trying to ease the mood.
“Get your mind out of the gutter, will you?” Colin choked, motioning for them to leave. “Should I be scared on behalf of my sister?”
“We're not… it's not like that”, Crane retorted shyly. “At least not the way it used to be".
“You're different people now, Phill. More experienced. With bigger responsibilities. And yet, capable of finally sharing a life, unlike a couple of years ago, with El in Washington going full ‘Olivia Pope’ and you in Scotland living your rodeo fantasy”, the Brit spoke, laughing at the predictable eye roll Phillip gave as he said the last part. “Just ask her to move in with you already, will you? I mean, my sister pretty much lives in your house anyway, for God's sake”.
“You think so?”, his friend asked.
“I know so”, Colin stated firmly, smiling at him.
“Thanks, Col”, Phillip patted him on the back.
“There’s no need to thank me, mate. Nothing would make me happier than seeing two people I love together”, Bridgerton said, turning in the other man's direction with a fond look on his face. “My sister by blood and my brother by choice, for that matter. What's another one of my best friends marrying a sister of mine, after all?”, he continued as they stopped outside the store.
“Now, kindly call Eloise to come help”, Colin said eventually, looking around in an attempt to decide which way to go.
“Thank God”.
✈️ 🤾🪴
five (i love them, your honor)
“Do you want to hold him, Bridgerton?” Michaela whispered, watching the expectant look on her friend's face.
“I thought you'd never ask”, Colin joked, quickly standing up from the chair a few feet away to reach the couch where both his sister-in-law and godson were. Carefully, so as not to disturb the baby, the man took little John in his arms, rocking him at a small pace while walking around the room. He was used to holding children by then, his and his siblings’, but it was always special to do it for the first time, especially when the man knew the role both Francesca and Michaela trusted him with.
“Hello, baby John. I'm uncle Colin, your godfather. I'm here with your mother Mika, your aunts Pen and El and your uncle Phillip”, he blabbed, turning slightly to greet his brother-in-law, who'd just arrived at the hospital. “Your mom Frannie is really tired after giving birth to you, so you'll have to settle for us for now. But don't worry, Grandma Violet is already on her way as well”.
“How is this the same person who almost broke Daphne's arm playing pall-mall a couple of weeks ago?” Phillip questioned out loud while heading to the chair previously occupied by Colin, amazed by his friend's tenderness.
“I'm a man of many facets”, he answered, grinning boyishly.
“Should we call for a psychiatrist, then?” Eloise retorted, and the group laughed at his scowl. They stayed in silence for some time, the only sound in the room being Colin's whispers towards the baby, until someone spoke again.
“I still can't believe you chose those two as Agatha's godparents”, Michaela complained - not for the first, and definitely not for the last time -, glaring at Crane and Eloise with indignation before crossing her arms over her chest.
“You're never letting this one go, are you?” Phillip crackled, bending over his own stomach in an attempt to keep his chuckle down for the baby's sake.
“They literally named their daughter after me, Mika”, Penelope countered, glancing at the girl in amusement. “Not to mention Phill was already Col's choice. The godmother was mine”.
“Besides, do you genuinely believe Pen and I are going to stop at Aggie, Stirling?” Colin spoke, grinning mischievously and chancing a glance at his wife, whose face was now matching the redness of her hair.
“Jesus, you're right”, the woman exclaimed, while their other friends agreed.
“To be fair, it’s not really their fault you and Fran decided to wait that long before having a child”, Phillip stated, looking between Colin and Penelope before continuing. “How could they know for sure you wouldn't lose the baby in the supermarket or mistakenly use her as a ball in your team practice?”
“You snooze, you lose, Stirling”, the Bridgerton brother complemented, taking a seat by little John's mother on the couch.
“God, I hate you both", Michaela muttered after checking her son was fast asleep in his godfather's arms.
“And that kind of attitude is another reason why I'm little Agatha's godfather, and you're not her godmother", Crane added fuel to the fire, dodging a pillow thrown in his direction.
“Have you met your wife?” Michaela retorted, emphasizing the last word, which made the entire room burst into laughter. The sound made baby John move slightly, waking the boy up momentarily before he went back to sleep.
“Guys, you're disrupting my godson's peace. In any case, Agatha loves you both equally, just like I do. There's no shortage of love in this family. Is that what you wanted to hear, Mika?”
“Kind of", she replied, grinning from the statement. After a beat, the woman added. “Do you remember when we were children and Anthony said you couldn't tell a girl who wasn't your family you loved her?”
“Oh, lord, you just unlocked a memory right now”, the Bridgerton brother exclaimed, recalling that moment. “It still makes absolutely no sense for him to have told me that”.
“I remember that day! Pen had brought something for us, if I'm not mistaken”, Eloise spoke, racking her mind to remember what.
“Candy. I bought it in secret with my father on a day when only the two of us went grocery shopping, given that Portia didn't allow sweets at home”, the redhead complemented, looking at her best friend. “It was our favorites, mine and yours, I mean”. She then turned to Colin. “El hugged me tight, and then you did the same, telling me you loved me. Anthony was livid".
“Always ahead of his time, your husband. Telling he loved you at such a young age", Michaela quipped, giving Colin a pat in the back.
“Too bad it took a whole lot of time for him to say it again, isn't it, Col?” Eloise added, and watched as his brother turned to her with feigned hurt.
“Hey, rude!” he whispered, sticking out his tongue like a child, which earned another round of giggles from everyone.
When the laughter eventually subsided, Michaela looked around the room, at the smiles of every single one of what was thankfully part of her family, before confessing:
“I'm very happy we never followed that rule, guys. In fact, I love both of you very very much. And you as well, ladies. And I don't plan on ever stopping saying that”.
✈️ 🤾🪴