Chapter Text
I hate today , an eight-year-old Colin thought as he, unenthusiastically, helped his little sister, Eloise, into the sandbox at their local park.
Colin had originally wanted to kick the football around with his older brothers, but Anthony and Benedict just laughed and told him that he was still “too small.” It was the same answer he’d gotten for the past year and half whenever he tried to hang out with them. Usually when this would happen, Daphne would step in and offer to play a game with Colin which he was grateful for. Today, however, Daphne was having a play date at her friend’s house, which meant that Violet, his mother, had stepped in and suggested he help Eloise build sand castles.
It’s not that Colin and Eloise didn’t get along, they were actually pretty close and both shared a love for books, it’s just that Colin was sick of his brothers purposely leaving him out. All his life he had looked up to them and wanted nothing more than to be accepted by them. It stung a little every time they turned him away.
So now he was here, grumpily trying to put a sand castle together with Eloise, who kept flinging sand all over him. His castle was honestly coming along pretty nicely, but he could hardly focus on that as his irritation kept growing from the amount of sand that was sticking to him.
Could this day get any worse? he thought, trying to swipe grains of sand off of his face. He had finally finished his castle and sat back, actually feeling quite proud of himself for how it looked.
Before he could relish in his pride, it was as if the universe heard his last thought and decided to test his patience more. No sooner had he sat back did he hear a small bang and an ‘oof’ from behind him, and next thing he knew he was face first in the sand, landing right on top of his castle.
“Oh no, I’m so sorry!” came a shriek from a high pitched voice Colin didn’t recognize. The person who had landed on him quickly jumped up and away from him.
Colin sat back up, ignoring Eloise’s chuckles that were most likely caused by the sand covering his face, and brushed himself off with a huff. He turned towards the culprit, ready to unleash all of his frustration from the day on whoever it was, but the minute his gaze locked onto the prettiest shade of blue eyes he’d ever seen, he shut his mouth in an instant.
Standing there before him was a tiny, redheaded little girl with the cutest cheeks ever. They were flushed a pretty pink color that complemented her fiery locks and the bright yellow dress she had on. He had never really been a fan of yellow until that very moment. As Colin looked her up and down once more, his eight-year-old self already entranced by this stranger, he noticed she had tears in her eyes.
Oh no, was she hurt? Was she upset about having sand all over her pretty dress?
Not wanting her to cry, Colin thought quickly on how to make her feel better. He’d always been quite the jokester of his family so he figured lightening up the mood might help.
“Well that wasn’t very well done of me, was it?” he teased, offering her a small smile.
The girl stared at him for a few seconds, her eyes looking back and forth between his, almost like she was trying to gauge whether or not he was making fun of her. She must’ve seen that he was simply being kind because the corner or her lip was quirking up after only a small second had passed.
“Actually, I tripped over the ledge when I was getting in. It was my fault,” she whispered, breaking their eye contact to gaze down at the sand as her face flushed in embarrassment.
Colin had no idea who this girl was, but in the two minutes of meeting her he had discovered that he always wanted to see her smile. So, with that in mind, he walked over to her, carefully so he wouldn’t humiliate himself by falling in the sand, and took her tiny little hand in his. Her head snapped up to his and he smiled at her once more, hoping that it would help her to see that he was trustworthy.
“Hey, my papa raised me to be a gentleman so I should’ve been paying attention to help you get in the sandbox. I promise I won’t let you fall like that ever again. I’m Colin, by the way,” he said, squeezing her hand.
The little redheaded girl gave him a toothy grin, one that made his heart skip a beat and almost knocked him back into the sand.
“I’m Penelope. And I’d say your papa raised you correctly. You got up and instantly took the blame and tried to make me smile, whereas my older sisters would have shoved me off and thrown sand at my face. Thank you,” she replied, squeezing his hand back.
Colin had never met nor had he ever even seen this girl’s, Penelope’s, older sisters and yet he already decided that he did not like them. Anyone who could treat their sibling that way, especially one as small and as sweet as Penelope seemed to be, was no friend to him.
“Well, your sisters sound like buttheads,” he muttered. As soon as the words slipped past his lips, he tensed up, hoping he hadn’t offended Penelope.
To his surprise, she giggled, and Colin found that he could listen to that sound forever and never tire of it.
“They are,” she said, and this time it was Colin’s turn to giggle.
“Sounds like they might get along with my older brothers then,” he added playfully as his chest filled with pride and his heart sang with joy when she laughed even harder.
“You’re funny, Colin.”
“And you’re pretty, Penelope.”
Her cheeks flushed again, only this time in flattery.
“I’m sorry for destroying your sand castle,” she muttered after a few seconds, looking over to the now demolished pile of sand where Colin’s castle had previously occupied.
Colin glanced over in that direction as well, an idea striking him.
“Hey, don’t be sorry. How about you help me rebuild it? I could use a partner that won’t constantly throw sand in my face,” he offered, glaring in Eloise’s direction as he finished the sentence.
Penelope giggled again, he didn't think he'd ever get used to the delightful sound, and tugged his hand that she was still holding back towards where the pales and shovels were. Colin immediately followed, unable to stop himself from reaching out and tugging on one of her ringlet curls.
“So pretty,” he mumbled to himself, immediately snapping his hand back to his side when Penelope looked back at him questioningly.
The two sat down next to each other and instantly got to work on building the “biggest and bestest castle ever,” as Penelope so graciously put it. Eloise joined the two and discovered that she and Penelope were both six years old. Colin pretended to be calm and collected when Eloise suggested that Penelope come over for a play date soon, when really he wanted nothing more than to run around the park shouting with glee. That was the best idea his younger sister had ever had.
“All done,” Colin finally announced as all three of them stepped back to admire their work.
Penelope gave Colin a side hug, which he instantly returned, tugging her close to his chest. He quite liked hugging her, and when he looked down to see her smile he thought that she might like hugging him as well.
“It’s perfect,” she whispered.
Colin looked back at the sand castle, having to physically force his eyes away from Penelope’s pinchable cheeks, and admired how amazing their castle truly was. It was almost as big as the sandbox and Penelope had decorated it with the cute little bows she had in her hair. She was right. It’s perfect.
“WATCH OUT!” Anthony suddenly yelled from behind them.
Before Colin had the chance to stop it, a football landed smack dab in the center of the castle, sending sand flying everywhere.
“Are you kidding me?!” Penelope shrieked, turning towards his two older brothers. “WE JUST FINISHED THAT!”
And as Colin stood there and watched as his new best friend, a cute little redheaded six-year-old, scolded his older brothers who hung their heads in shame, he smiled and thought, I love today.