Falling for a Bridgerton : a Bridgerton fanfic

chapter 10 : foxed

"Happy birthday Pen!!" Eloise shouted as she hugged her dear friend tightly.

"Thank you, Eloise," Penelope replied as she admired the white lilies in her hands. "This is such a sweet present."

Today was a special day. Today Penelope had become 18 years of age and as a gift, her mother had allowed Eloise to spend the night.

"I'm surprised your mama agreed to a sleepover," Eloise muttered quietly as they made their way up to the bedroom.

"Me too. I think she didn't want me to be alone tonight," Penelope shrugged with a slight frown on her face.

It was her first birthday without her father, and though he wasn't big on birthdays, it felt slightly odd not having him here for such a significant day.

"Well, I'm glad she did," Eloise huffed as she struggled to throw her overnight bag on the bed.

"What could you possibly have in there that is so remarkably heavy?" Penelope inquired, chuckling. "You know, you're only staying over for a night and not moving in right?"

"I know that. I could never wear that much yellow anyway," Eloise mused.

"Hilarious," Pen rolled her eyes.

"My dear friend Penelope, in this bag, are your gifts."

Penelope looked at her with furrowed brows, "more gifts Eloise? The lilies were beautiful, I truly do not need anything more,"

"Nuh-uh," Eloise shook her head. "You're 18 now Pen, you're essentially an adult and you deserve a present that reflects just that."

Penelope continued to stare with confusion. Where was Eloise going with this?

Eloise opened her bag slowly and began to take out its contents. She pulled her clothes out first, and then, with both hands, took out a very, very large blanket.

"You know we have blankets here right?"

Eloise only rolled her eyes in response. She continued to unravel the blanket until it was fully laid out on the bed.

"This is my first gift to you Pen," Eloise reached over and handed her a carton of eggs.

Penelope opened the carton, perhaps there was something else in there, but to her surprise, it was just...eggs.

"Eloise, I don't understand. Is there a special meaning behind this?"

"You'll understand the meaning soon enough. Now close your eyes."

Penelope did as she was told, and put her hands out, where Eloise placed the second gift.

Penelope opened her eyes and in the palm of her hands, was an onion.

Penelope stared confoundingly, puzzlement filling her mind, but after a second, it clicked.

"Eloise, tell me you did not," Penelope said, eyes widened.

"I did," she replied with a sly smirk.

Eloise reached over and pulled out a bottle of vodka.

"I knew it!" Pen exclaimed as she reached over to the bottle to examine it.

"I snuck it over from the kitchen," Eloise said proudly.

"I can't believe you actually went through with it. Is this real?"

For as long as they could remember, Eloise and Penelope always joked about having their first drink when they turned 18. Everywhere they went, all the parties and all the dinners, the adults always drank and the girls wanted to try it when they became of age as well.

"Well the eggs and onions are for tomorrow morning, but yes the bottle is real and it's for tonight. Happy birthday, Pen."

Penelope opened the bottle and sniffed, gagging slightly in response. "What's going to happen to us?"

"Well, I don't know exactly. But every time mama or Mrs. Wilson drink it, they get awfully cheery and weirdly giddy. And I know you've been feeling down so I thought it would cheer you up too. Shall we?" Eloise asked as she took out 2 wine glasses from her now empty bag.

~~~~~~~

"I love you," Eloise said to the vodka in her hand, as she lounged on Penelope's bed. "I love you so much," she professed as she brought the bottle close to her chest.

It had been exactly two hours and Eloise and Penelope had somehow managed to finish two-thirds of the bottle.

It would be a complete underestimation to say they were drunk.

They were foxed.

Throughout the entire night, they had made their way through the different stages of drinking.

First, there was the initial excitement, then total euphoria, and now they were somewhere between feeling confused and a sense of certain sadness.

Eloise propped herself to the edge of the bed. "Penelope, what on earth are you doing?"

Penelope was sprawled on the floor, her glass of vodka in one hand, a quill in the other.

She was frantically writing, having already written on two sheets of paper already.
She was so fixating on the work in front of her, that she didn't even hear Eloise's question.

Eloise jumped off the bed and made her way over. "What could you possibly have to write about right n-now?" she asked, stumbling over her words as well as her feet.

"It's a secret," Penelope murmured.

"Secrets? We don't keep secrets from each other! Penelope, as your best friend, I demand you show me what you're writing!" she exclaimed as she tried to grab the letters out of Penelope's hand.

"NO!" Penelope shouted, quickly placing the papers behind her back, far from Eloise's reach. "It's a secret."

"You can't possibly have a secret I don't know about," Eloise sneered. "What could you have to hide that you couldn't even tell me?"

"I have secrets," Penelope whispered faintly.

"Really? Like what?"

Penelope took a deep breath, trying to come up with a response. Of course, she had her secrets, humongous ones actually.

Don't say whistledown. Do not say whistledown.

Penelope tried to remind her brain not to reveal her biggest secret to her best friend while they were both intoxicated.

It truly would be the worst timing in the world.

However, the issue was, that because Penelope was so foxed, her mind was not as perceptive and sharp as it usually was.

"Eloise, I am ..... Lady Whistledown."

~~~~~~~

A/N

oh my, they're just revealing secrets left & right

but that's nothing compared to tmrw's chapter so get excited !!

please vote if u enjoyed 🤩🤩🤩

and comment and follow :))

also watch that interview where they guess regency slang, it's hilarious 😂😂

yours truly

violet

26/01/21