The Reluctant Fall

One.

It was cold.

The ground had the beginning of winter with the frosted pavements. Penelope could hear the slight crunch underneath her chunky boots with every step. Penelope Featherington had a strange relationship with winter, for one she loved the cosy cold nights with a book in front of a fire, but also she hated the loneliness it now currently presented. Her best friend Eloise Bridgerton had moved to the states around 3 years ago, but who could turn down a full scholarship to Harvard Law? Eloise couldn't that's who. Especially when she done it all without any financial help from her family. The Bridgerton's were alike the Featherington family who were apart of London's elite society. It was a pretty much outdated, overrated, and a very much stuck in the past system of rich idiots, but as Penelope's mother said, "Your reputation and name mean everything in London society. You'd do well to remember that, Penelope." Eloise and Penelope quickly made a pact they'd do this adult thing on their own, they didn't want their family's money, they didn't want help, they wanted independence.

They wanted to make a life for themselves, without their family's name.

Eloise and Penelope had been pretty much inseparable their whole lives after meeting at Primary School. (Around age five) Penelope quickly found out that being small, ginger, and quiet wasn't going to do her any good within her 'school experience'. So, little Penelope got picked on, bullied, and pushed around, a lot, from day one. That's where Eloise Bridgerton came in. Penelope had found herself being picked on by some horrible girls one morning, they were pulling her hair when Eloise spotted it, she instantly pushed the bully to the floor and kicked her. (It nearly got Eloise kicked out of school, but she didn't care).They were pretty much best friend's forever after that.

Eloise wasn't the only Bridgerton Penelope fell in love with, it was the whole family. They quickly took small Penelope Featherington under their wing, it was a shock at first when Eloise explained that she in fact had five other siblings, but then again, that had quickly turned to seven by the time both girls were eleven years old. Penelope always found it adorable that they were named alphabetically (an aged old Bridgerton tradition supposedly). It was a perfect family of four boys, and four girls, each of them either devastatingly handsome, or soul-stirringly beautiful. The whole family was covered and protected in love, and that was down to Violet and Edmund Bridgerton. They were a match made from heaven and loved their family immensely. Penelope always knew that the family were special, after all the kids were made and formed from a true love match.

Her parents certainly weren't like that.

However, shortly after the eighth sibling, Hyacinth, was born into the world... tragedy struck. Edmund Bridgerton, the father, died in a horrific car accident. It hit them all extremely hard. Penelope remembered holding Eloise for hours, calming her, being there for her, making sure she had everything needed at any given moment. She became a support system for all the siblings, and Penelope did it without a second thought. Whether it was playing with a younger Francesca to keep her amused, watching movies with Daph, Colin and Ben (Penelope was an amazing popcorn maker, everyone else burned it) or even taking Anthony a hot chocolate every so often throughout the day, she didn't mind. Not one bit. And that's when everything really changed, Penelope didn't just share a friendship with them anymore, she became more than that, she became their family.

Eloise had called Penelope earlier that morning explaining she couldn't come home from Christmas, you see, she had met this guy, Theo, he was her 'soulmate' supposedly. Penelope had met him a few times over videocall, but... yet to meet him in person. She felt a twinge of jealously towards this man, enough though she had never met him, she felt uneasy. Eloise had only been back to London a few times over the past few years from the states, she was busy with Law School... and her new life. Penelope truly wanted Eloise to succeed in life and love, and deep down, really deep down, Penelope was happy for her, after all, if anyone deserved an earth-shattering love, it was Eloise.