Debutante || BRIDGERTON

[10]: The Storm

1814 ― Kent, England

Later that night, both Artemis and Anthony could not sleep. Although Anthony was thoroughly distracted on the hunt, he was still surprised at himself for kissing Artemis the way that he did. He knew he was caught in the heat of the moment, she had been stung by a bee, and the last person he saw get stung by a bee, his father, died. But Artemis didn't die, she was still there, and Anthony felt as if he needed to express how he felt that she didn't die.

Artemis on the other hand kept going back to how the kiss felt. It was her first one, of course, but she didn't know what to make of it. She knew she was slightly compromised, but not enough to the point where they would have to marry, especially since they were not caught. She noticed it was only lightly raining outside. Artemis hates storms, she's terrified of them, but she thought that she could get down to the library and back before the storm picked up.

She looked over at Delilah's bed to make sure her sister was sleeping, and then she grabbed the candle from her nightstand and her robe to put over her nightgown and she made her way down to the library. Once she found a book, she set the candle down on the table so she could skim through it. But when she saw an unexpected flash of lightning, a short scream came from her lips.

"No, no... I was supposed to make it back before this happened." She whispered to herself. Artemis didn't know why she was scared of storms, she just knew she was. But it went back to an event that happened when she was a child that her mother knows about, but she figured since Artemis didn't remember it, there was no reason to bring it up.

A loud clap of thunder shook the room and Artemis gripped onto the desk as her body froze with fear. She tried to breathe herself through it, but then another loud clap of thunder sent her to the ground. Thunder is always followed by lightning. When the room lit up, Artemis found herself under the library desk.

She was stuck.

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When Anthony Bridgerton decided that he would try and get some sleep, he stood up from his desk inside of his study and took a deep breath. He left the room and locked the door behind him. As he made his way towards the stairs, he noticed that the library door was cracked. He didn't understand why someone would be in the library this late. When he noticed the glow of the candlelight, he quickly made his way inside the room.

Anthony immediately blew out the candle and that's when he heard it. He heard the sound of whimpering. He looked around the room and did not see Alexander or Newton, Kate, and Artemis' dogs, and he also saw no one else in the room.

"Is someone here?" Anthony called out. He heard the whimper again, but this time he paid attention to where it came from. Below the desk in the room. Anthony held his own candle in his hand as he knelt to see who was under there, and when he shone the light on the situation, he felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him.

"Artemis?" He whispered. He noticed she was curled up in a ball, her arms wrapped tightly around her bent legs. Her head was resting on top of her legs, and her entire body was shaking. It struck Anthony and made his body run cold. He's never seen anyone so terrified, besides himself when his father died.

"Artemis?" He called out again. Anthony set the candle on the ground, close enough that he could still see Artemis, but far enough away that he wouldn't risk tipping it over and setting the room on fire. He didn't know whether he should reach out to her. Her body was shaking so rapidly, it was as if she would break if he touched her.

Another loud clap of thunder shook the room and it broke Anthony's heart when Artemis' body flinched. He hated to see her crumble like this. Anthony moved fully underneath the desk and laid his hand down on her arm. "I'm here, Artemis. Everything will be alright." He whispered to her. Another flash of lightning lit up the room and he saw Artemis flinch again and his heart broke even more.