red hair with a curl

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/39987873.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Category: F/M
Fandom: Bridgerton (TV), Bridgerton Series - Julia Quinn
Relationship: Colin Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington, Colin Bridgerton & Penelope
Featherington
Character: Colin Bridgerton, Penelope Featherington
Additional Tags: Fluff, Dramatic Colin Bridgerton, grizzly28
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2022-06-30 Words: 2696

red hair with a curl

by grizzlyfromthevault

Summary

No doubt Penelope looked amazing, but she always did in Colin’s mind. To him, she
glowed, she was a siren, a goddess that he couldn’t stop thinking about for the past few
months.

But where were her characteristic red locks?

“What did you do?” he asked in a high pitched whisper that made both his sisters and her
look at him with weird faces.

Penelope goes blonde and Colin has a mini fit.

(yep, it is me, formerly known as grizzly28, uploading all my finished stuff again)

Notes

Ok, so a few weeks ago tumblr user @alengmae posted this prompt:

Penelope went bottle blonde because one of her sisters asked her to be a project for
cosmetic school, and Colin wants her red head back. Also him not loving all the attention
blonde Penelope is getting.

I thought it was interesting and I ended up stress writing this.

I added one tiny part of Romancing Mr. Bridgerton in italics somewhere in the story.
 It’s a rollercoaster honestly, so yeah…

Let me know what you think :)

“Oh my goddess, is that Penelope?” Colin heard his sister Francesca asking in awe. He looked at
the entry of the pub they were with Eloise and frowned, he couldn’t see Penelope.

“Yeah, she looks amazing, right?” Eloise told them, making Colin frown deeper.

Where was Penelope? The only woman he could see was a blonde one, who indeed looked pretty
hot in a tight bright pink dress. And she was walking in their direction.

His brain froze for a second and he did a double take:

Short

Ok, yeah, she was short, as short as Penelope.

Curvy

Yep, that was the plump body he couldn’t stop thinking about. How could he when she had that
deadly cleavage and curves and rolls that he was dying to touch?

BLONDE?

But… red hair. Not blonde. Why is she blonde?

Colin couldn't believe his eyes.

He heard his sisters cheering Penelope when she arrived at their table, her bright blue eyes and
unmistakable smile pointed at them. She twirled around to show them her new hair and Colin’s
eyes roamed through her body automatically, definitely Penelope and definitely sexy.

But he felt his mouth open, his eyes widen, and a pang in his heart so strong that he felt a little bit
like crying.

No doubt Penelope looked amazing, but she always did in Colin’s mind. To him, she glowed, she
was a siren, a goddess he couldn’t stop thinking about for the past few months.

But where were her characteristic red locks?

“What did you do?” he asked in a high pitched whisper that made both his sisters and her look at
him with weird faces.

He was asking himself if that was a dream. No, this wasn't a dream, it felt more like a nightmare…
What the hell did Penelope Featherington do to herself and why no one else was bothered?

“Me?” he heard Penelope asking him, pure confusion in her voice, and a frown on her face. How
dare she look so puzzled when it was very clear that he was talking to her?

“You,” Colin said and closed his eyes. He was actually trying to find any sense for the unexpected
feeling that took over his body. He knew that what he was feeling was insane, especially
considering it was only hair. “Why are you blonde?”

“Oh,” she started, a small smile appearing on her lips “Felicity needed to experiment with coloring
and styling for one of her assignments for cosmetology school, and begged me to help her… This
is what came out of it,” she told him and his sisters rather awkwardly.

“I loved Pen! You know you are beautiful no matter what, but the blonde looks good on you,”
Francesca told her with a reassuring smile while squeezing her arm.

“Well, as I told you when you sent me the picture earlier, I think you look hot,” Eloise also chimed
in “and I counted a few heads turning to double check you since you set foot in the pub,” she added
with a smirk.

Colin saw Penelope blush, glance at him and flush in a darker shade before looking around the
pub. He could see some guys staring at Penelope and he didn’t like that. But he couldn’t blame
them either.

“Why did you let her do that?” he finally asked, making her look back at him with a frown. She
looked beautiful, of course. Colin thought that Penelope could never be ugly, even if she tried. The
new bangs were like a moldure for her face and the blonde color did make her eyes pop out… But
it wasn’t the red curls he loved so much.

“Um, because Fee needed someone? And I thought it would be fun to change once in my life,”
Penelope was getting frustrated and he could sense that “you’re acting weird Colin.”

“Yes Colin, you’re acting very weird,” Francesca said with a mocking tone. Colin looked briefly at
her and noticed that both of his sisters had quirked eyebrows and he rolled his eyes at them. His
entire family knew damn well that he was head over heels for Penelope, and he was just trying to
gather some courage to talk to her.

But that wasn’t the point right now, he was furious at Felicity for changing Penelope. “She
couldn't find another person to experiment with?”

“She could, but I wanted to do this,” Penelope was no longer smiling.

“Why?” Colin asked again with a hint of distress in his voice.

“And why not? It’s just hair anyway” Penelope answered looking pointedly at him.

“But why, Penelope?” this time he touched a lock of her hair, frowning. “It's not just hair, it's your
- no, it was your red hair and now it's just... gone” Colin could feel something turning inside of
him. He knew he was being dramatic, but he couldn't stop.

Penelope took a step back getting out of his reach, and crossed her arms. “God, Colin, I’m sorry if
I’m bothering you so much with blonde hair,” she snapped, her voice was hard, but her eyes were
filled with hurt and sadness. “I’ll go grab a drink so you don’t have to look at me anymore.”

Colin knew he had fucked up and flinched. “No, that’s not what I meant Pen. I was trying to say
that you looked so much better with your red…” he stopped again, her eyes were telling him that
he was saying the wrong things once again. “Shit, Pen, I -”.

“Colin,” she said, closing her eyes and raising her hands to make him stop talking. “You don’t have
to say anything else, okay? I am going to get a drink.” She walked towards the bar without looking
back.
“Wait Pen, I was... I mean... hold on,” he was trying to bring her back, but she didn’t even spare a
second glance at him.

“Colin what the hell?” Eloise shoved past him to follow Penelope, leaving him with Francesca.

“Nice Colin, great job at being a jerk. What has gotten into you?” his younger sister looked like
she might punch him, and honestly, he felt like he deserved.

He gripped his hair and groaned unhappily. “I wasn’t expecting her to show up like that,” he said
glancing at the blonde girl by the bar.

“Neither did I, but I didn't insult her just because I was surprised,” Francesca said in a harsh tone.
“That was so rude of you, Colin. It sounded like you were offended by the sight of her or
something like that.”

“Fuck, that’s not what I meant at all Fran. Of course she looks beautiful, but it’s just… not her red
hair.”

“Well you did not look like someone who thought she looked beautiful. And what’s the deal with
her red hair anyway?”

“I love her red hair,” he simply said.

Francesca sighed out loud and put a hand on his shoulders. “Colin, she’s allowed to do whatever
she wants to do with her hair and body. She could show up with rainbow hair and you still wouldn't
have a right to act like you did.”

He winced at her words, knowing it was true “I can’t believe I am being lectured by my little sister,
but I guess I deserve”.

“You know I’m being nice with you, right? You just wait until Eloise is not comforting Penelope,
she will obliterate you. And then she’ll tell the rest of the family and they’ll never let you live this
down,” she replied with a smirk, seemingly enjoying Colin’s expected misery.

He shuddered at the thought of his entire family chastising him for being an idiot with Penelope.
He looked at his newly blonde friend again and caught her laughing at something Eloise was
saying, her head thrown back and the light at the bar giving her an ethereal look. “I don’t think she
has to change at all because she is gorgeous, you know?”

“Yes, and I agree… but it’s still her choice, Colin. You may even tell her that you miss her red hair,
but it’s still not up to you”, Francesca told him in a slightly more soft tone. “You can’t be brooding
over her hair and act like a spoiled kid”.

“I know, I should go and apologize to her.”

“Yes, you should”.

With a heavy sigh, Colin got up and walked to where Eloise and Penelope were sitting at the bar.

Eloise saw him approaching first and gave him a death glare, which he returned promptly. He
really didn't needed Eloise making things worse

Penelope noticed her best friend making a face and turned around to see him approaching, instantly
losing her smile. He hated himself for that.
“Pen, may I talk to you for a second?”

“Are you going to insult her some more or are you going to act like a normal person?” Eloise
barked at him, and he wanted to kill his sister. He knew she was just protecting Pen, like she
always did, but it annoyed him that she was doing so against him. At his own fault, but even so.

“I am not talking to you, Eloise, don’t get in the middle of this”

“Penelope is my best friend and you were an asshole, I very much will get in the middle of this”.

“She’s my best friend too.”

“Are you sure?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Friends are supposed to encourage and hype each other and you were just acting like you don’t
actually like her.”

“You know damn well I really like Penelope, I was just caught off guard”.

Eloise was about to reply but Penelope got up from her seat abruptly, startling both of them. “Stop
both of you,” she sighed and turned to Eloise, “I’ll talk to him, El… it’s okay.”

Colin felt his chest rise with happiness and he really wanted to act like a child and yell some
victory words at his sister, but he felt like that wasn’t the moment.

“We can talk, but do you mind walking me home?” Penelope asked, her big blue eyes looking
slightly sad directed at Colin.

“Not at all,” he answered in a small voice. He knew he had really fucked things up.

Penelope hugged Eloise - who glared at Colin - and started to walk towards the exit of the pub.
Colin gave one last hostile look at his sister and waved to Francesca before following the girl out
of the pub.

Once outside they started to walk back to her flat in awkward silence. Penelope had her gaze
pointed down and wouldn't look at him at all.

“I am sorry,” he started to say “I said the wrong things in the pub. It was just a shock seeing you so
different.”

Penelope glanced at him but didn’t say anything. She walked quiet for an entire block, and she
stopped abruptly and looked at him. “You know, I was shocked a few weeks ago when you
showed up with a buzzcut but I didn’t say anything, did I?”

Colin gave her a tiny lopsided smile, he was happy to know she paid attention to him as well. “No
you didn’t, but you’re smarter than me and much more sensible. You know I get nervous and say
the wrong things.”

He touched a lock of her hair again, just like he had done inside the pub. “I’m sorry,” he said again
“you look beautiful no matter what, Pen.”

“I know I look beautiful no matter what, Colin.”

“But do you know that I think you look beautiful no matter what? Again, I was just shocked and
I’m a sucker for your red hair, so I said all the wrong things and reacted poorly. I am sorry for
being an idiot, Pen. I didn't want to hurt you” Colin retreated his hand from her hair and looked
into her eyes.

Penelope let out a deep sigh and averted her gaze from his. They were standing under a light pole
and she could see her reflection in the window of the closed coffee shop they were in front of.

She turned her entire body to look at herself in the window. “I just don't understand why it matters
so much to you,” she spoke to him through their reflections.

Colin moved to stand behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders with a gentle squeeze. “I have
always loved your hair, Pen. Even before we became friends I always thought that you had such a
nice hair color”.

He felt Penelope’s body tense at his touch. “And then we became friends after you went to college
and we went to so many parties and music festivals together and my way of finding you was
always searching for the tiny girl with bright red hair”.

He moved his hands and hugged her shoulders, burying his face on her hair. “You look beautiful
blonde, you would look beautiful with any hair color. Actually, you would look beautiful even
without hair at all, because you just are gorgeous.”

Her breath hitched and he smiled. She still had a strong scent of the chemicals Felicity probably
used to bleach her locks, but there was still a hint of her usual lavender smell. “But your red hair
has been filling my dreams for a long time, now.”

He could feel the girl going stiff for a second. He moved his head so he could rest one of his
cheeks on the top of her head and look at her through their reflections. “I really like you Pen.”

Penelope moved her hands to hold Colin’s arms around her. “I like you too, Colin.”

Colin let go of her embrace and turned her around so she could look at his eyes. “What I meant to
say is that I like you more than friends,” he moved one hand to her cheek, eyes locked on hers “I
want to be more than friends.”

“You want?” Penelope asked with wide eyes and a smile starting to spread on her lips.

“I really want,” Colin said, his gaze switching between her eyes and her lips. He moved his thumb
to touch her lower lip “I really want to kiss you,” he licked his lips.

She moved closer to him, “okay,” she said, mimicking him unconsciously and licking her lips, the
tip of her tongue touching his thumb.

“Okay,” he said, smiling and pressing their lips together.

Finally, Colin thought to himself. He was finally kissing Penelope Featherington and in that
moment he was the happiest man on earth.

It was a soft kiss, a little tentative at first, as Colin was nervous and he could feel that she was as
well. But then they both relaxed and they moved their lips in synchrony. Colin circling his arms
around Penelope’s waist and Penelope holding herself at the nape of his neck.

At last, when the need to breathe was too strong, they pulled their heads back, smiling at each
other.
Colin kissed her forehead and tilted her head up so he could look into her eyes. “Will you go on a
date with me?” He asked, filled with hope, “how about brunch tomorrow?”

He felt like her smile became even bigger. “Sounds great,” she said, standing on her tiptoes again
to kiss him one more time.

They didn’t want to let go of each other, but they knew they shouldn't keep kissing in the middle of
the street at night. “Come on, I’ll take you home now,” Colin said, entwining their fingers and
starting the walk back to her flat again.

It felt like a new beginning.

Colin looked down at Penelope, who was looking at him with her red lips and eyes filled with
love. He let go of her hands, and hugged her sideways, pulling her closer, her blonde hair tickling
his arms.

He would be forever grateful for blonde haired Penelope who ignited his feelings and made him
finally take some action. He should probably send some flowers to Felicity to thank her for starting
all of this.

But Colin was only Colin, and he couldn’t wait for her red curls to make a comeback soon enough.

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