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londonsxfinest:

Several other men had joined them outside now, coming to their aid, Anthonys aid, one of them calling for a maid to bring out cloth for starters to stop the blooding. Keeping pressure on the wound with just his hand would do only so much, and Simon would be damned if he let his best friend and brother-in-law die right then and there from bleeding out. And yet, he was concerned from Anthonys words.

For a few short moments, the duke of Hastings glanced back inside to Daphne, who was still consoling Augie. While the plea made little sense to him at that point, though he knew Anthony wouldn’t ask of him to do so without valid reason. He had no reason to doubt him.

Excusing himself, he quickly moved to Daphne, strategically placing himself between her and what was going on outside on the terrace to shield her view as he led her outside the ball room and to their bedroom, instructing her to lock the door and open only when he’d be back, resorting to that rather than anything else considering he didn’t have guards. It was something should perhaps invest in, given how things played out.

Swiftly, he returned downstairs, where he found they moved Anthony inside and were already tending to his wound. The staff was scared, the guests as well, though it was under control for now, so he instructed the staff to direct the guests to the adjoined room while Anthony was taken care of, and to call for a doctor immediately.

“Who did this to you?” He asked as he joined him once again. “How are Daphne and Augie in danger from this?”

The entire ordeal was quite painful. The worst was that whenever he pushed onto the wound, he could feel it, the round ball that Berbrooke had shot into his body and that had evidently not come out on the other side, sparing him from more pain. He knew, if he hung in there, someone would have to take that bullet out and that would be gruelling. Maybe someone had mercy on him and would give him some good stiff drink or even some numbing potion.

The staff was still a little bit of a crowd of headless chicken, but Simon managed to control them with specific orders. He would have to make sure he left the staff in less disarray than that. They needed to be prepared for emergencies, especially with the yougn Earl of Cliveden.

He gave Simon a grim look as he asked about his assailant, knowing that the name would be answer enough to tell him why Anthony thought Daphne and Augie were endangered. “Berbrooke.”

#londonsxfinest

londonsxfinest:

Things had been quite busy at Cliveden ever since the arrival of young Augie. While Daphne had managed her duties as duchess and mother alike, Simon was the one struggling. Fatherhood was new to him, not to mention that managing the estates ledger and papers was still very much consuming him on a daily basis. Whatever matter he had taken care of, it appeared as though several more appeared, just consuming him and his time he had and would have rather spend with his wife and son.

Luckily his best friend had joined them and took a huge burden off both their shoulders, so they could fully turn their attention to Augie. In all fairness, Anthony was truly a life saver at that point - The much needed help with the ledgers, even advice on how to be a father to Augie, considering Anthony practically raised his younger siblings. It was all coming together nicely. Anthony even arranged a party in Augie’s honour to introduce him to society as the still very much little earl of Hastings.

As the party was in full swing, Simon for once never left Daphne’s side, but proudly stood by her, occasionally taking Augie from her to proudly show him off to everybody around. The baby was very much entertained by everything and everybody going on in the room, all until a gunshot rang through the night. The guests gasped, the string quartet stopped playing and Augie started crying.

Simon set his eyes outside, seeing a figure fall to the ground in the candlelight coming from the grand hall, and another one fleeing the scene. He wasted no second before rushing out, finding the figure in question laying on the ground to be no other than Anthony.

“Bridgerton!” He exclaimed and knelt down next to him.

Trembling hand went to his site, pressing down onto the spot where warm liquid spilled from. The pain was blinding hot. He looked after the man retreating quickly, running off, probably to save himself from what surely would follow: being caught and charged withwhat he had just done: Commited a crime. The question as just how bad it was. He couldn’t judge.

His knees finally gave in. He fell to his knees and forward. He managed to catch himself on his elbow, but even his arms trambled way too much. He gave in, letting himself slide to the ground, hand once more slipping onto the wound. He heard a familiar voice. Simon. Good.

“Daphne and Augie...you must have them guarded,” he pressed out between gritted teeth. “He might come for them.” Having him them guarded was one thing, but there was something else. “She can’t see me like this... she...she’d be reminded of father. She...shield her.”

#londonsxfinest

Closed starter

Anthony stood outside, overlooking the gardens of the large estate his sister now managed as well as her newborn son. It was actually why he was here. With the duke and duchess here, the young earl - a title little Augie inherited from his father - took up most of the Duke’s and Duchesses attention, rightfully so. While their mother had to return to London to care for their siblings, Anthony had no immediate duties he had to tend to beyond the ledgers and those could wait or taken care of by Benedict or sent along.

He had joined his sister and his best friend in their new home for one reason alone: Help in the one way he knew how to help: take the running of the estate and dukedom out of their hands so they were free to focus on their son entirely.

He had also been the one to organize the party this evening where the people of the immediate cities and ton would be hosted at the estate to celebrate the arrival of the new little earl, now that he was old enough to endure as many visitors.

He was the only one who excused himself outside at that very moment, with a glass of wine in his hands, he just wanted a bit of fresh air, until he saw a figure approaching.

“Berbrooke?” he asked incredulously. He certainly had not received an invitation and he had no intention of letthing him into the party to upset the young mother and his nephew.

“We have a score to settle, Bridgerton. You’re as good as any.” A score? That was impossible. He had a scandal to thank for being sent out of London and losing any hope of finding a wife in the ton. It was his own fault. He came closer.

“I will be happy to...” Anthony froze as Berbrooke got up close and he suddenly felt a pistol pressed to his side. “Have you no ho-” this time he was cut off by the loud bang of a gun being shot and the blinding pain errupting in his side.

#londonsxfinest #tonsxfinest #whatever your url will be

whitexknight:

Thomas dwelled on that suggestion for a little bit before nodding. It would be hard to not think about the past and live in it for a while, because while the past held a lot of pain, it also held a lot of happy memories, sadly currently clouded with that very same pain. Still, it was the truth, and maybe if they really focused on the present, on them, it would help them heal faster and figure it all out faster as well.

So as one step towards it, Thomas opted to move closer to both women, giving them both a smile as he reached for one of the sandwiches that were laid out on the table. He might as well try it, give it all a shot, even if it would hurt, or they could even make it work. Regardless of the outcome, it was worth a shot.

“I really, and I really mean it, really care about both of you. I was crushing on you for years, Juliet, and Lia… I never got over you. I don’t think I ever would be able to. Both of you accept me as the… dumbass I am, and don’t mind that I am one. And I realize that I in return didn’t show that, especially not towards you, Lia, but looking back at it, I really was dumb. Dumb and impulsive. I want to change that.”

He realyl took the hint. That was good. As Lia watched the whole display, Juliet opted to get closer to the two of them, too, reaching for deviled eggs to snack on, while Lia seemed to still be very, very insecure.

“Here’s the thing, Magnum. If you were to be less dumb, how can we contine to appreciate the dumbass that you are?” she asked him. “Don’t... change. Just...be more open. What’s the worst that can happen if you reveal your feelings honestly? We argue about it? That’s what grown-ups do. So it might be new for you.”

Lia couldn’t help the smile at their easy banter. She was honestly a little jealous of that. But they had been friends for so long, of course they had things she and Thomas did not have. But maybe it would develop.

“Yeah, I kind of like it when you’re being a harmless dumbass...”

#whitexknight

whitexknight:

Thomas nodded softly. It really was pain, just raw pain and many more hurtful emotions were dealt in their fallout. It was horrible, to say the least, especially what Thomas did to Lia. “I don’t know how it can be done, but I know it’ll take time. Such things don’t happen over night, nor do I expect them to. We do it… one step a time. Clearly we all are still not fully comfortable to be around each other due to what happened. That might be a good start.”

With that, he at least hoped, things would go towards the better. They could easily utilized Juliet’s food for that as well. “I heard that bonding over food does wonders, and thankfully Juliet managed to make a whole feast. We could eat, talk, maybe even drink?”

“My goodness,” Juliet complained. Why did they make it so damn hard here. There was a lot of things that they could not undo. That was the thing here: None of it could be undone, but they could go ahead somehow. What was the point in dwelling in the past? Juliet sighed. She reached for a beer.

“This is all bullshit,” she said. “Sorry, not what you’re feeling, obviously, that is all... I am not discounting it. But here is the thing: You’re dwelling in the past. So am I. But what is there? Just pain.” She said. It was the truth. Remembering the night, their break up, it just caused them pain over and over again. What was the point of it all?

“How about we just... let the past stay in the past. I know it will take some time to heal, but... maybe trying will make it easier, will make it heal faster.” Or it will make the cut very clean, eventually. But shouldn’t they try?

“Let’s just...try...”

#whitexknight

whitexknight:

“Your opinion on all this. Your feelings. Maybe you have a plan on how we can continue this…” Anything, really. He hated the silence between them. It was all find with they talked, like they did before, but clearly there was still a lot of struggle when it came to expressing their feelings and talking about what had happened between them and what could potentially happen between them.

“Wha— nobody’s getting it together. It’s…” He sighed. “It’s easier, because there’s not so many bad emotions between Juliet and I as it’s maybe between us. ANd just… just because we share feelings for one another doesn’t mean that we don’t want to include you.” He told her. “I still care about you, and… if we really go for it eventually…. for that three way relationship… well, it wouldn’t be that without you.”

“Bad emotions is not the word I would have chosen,” Lia said. “It’s pain, Thomas. It’s just plain pain we have dealt each other.” And she had no idea how they would overcome it. How they could move on. How wounds like that can be healed. Her entire being dealt him wounds and he took his pain out on her. How would they come back to this? To a relationship even?

“I don’t know how it would work,” Lia said. “How this can be undone or...healed.” She really didn’t. “I love you” Of course she did. She was nowhere near over him. “But how could this three way relationship work now?”

#whitexknight

whitexknight:

Well, if that wasn’t the question of the day. Thomas truthfully didn’t know. He didn’t know where they would go from there, or what they would do, or anything else. He reached for one of the many drinks on the table and took a sip from the glass, trying to ease himself more, but without a clear outcome, there came anxiety, and the feeling of having the need to run, as far as he could from all of this.

Instead of answering, he turned to Lia again. “Lia, you’ve been silent all this time… this isn’t just about Juliet and I… it’s about you, too. Say something.” It was almost in a begging tone. He really wanted her to voice her opinion. She was out of all of them the most damaged side of the weird triangle they found themselves in, and he wanted her to be comfortable.

Of course now he wanted her to say something, after they had been pretty happy talking among each other. Lia pondered her best plan of action for a moment. She could get up and leave, but she would still be stuck on this island, which would literally beat the point of this whole exercise to begin with. It was to ease the tension between them. Maybe the best way to do so was to admit to herself, that she had no room in this constellation, like she had expected.

“I don’t know what you want me to say, Thomas,” she said. “You guys clearly are getting it together. I am...happy for you. Or I will be, eventually.” Maybe a bit more alcohol woud do the trick here.

#whitexknight

whitexknight:

In the back of his head, memories slowly came back about there being talk about them being in a three way relationship, but how could he take that seriously when it sounded too good to be true. Apparently it was true, and they really were serious about it, before he went and destroyed that idea. For good, he didn’t know, but for the time, being, for sure.

The greatest shock was Juliet’s confession about loving him. Thomas stared at her, initially not knowing what to say. He never expected her to fall in love with him. It looked like there was a lot more to talk about than they originally thought, so he might as well come clean with his feelings, too.

“When I saw you two together… I wasn’t over the break up. I wasn’t over you, Lia, and I’m still not.” He said and looked at her, then at Juliet. “But at the same time… I’ve been in love with you, too, Juliet. Have been for a really long time.”

Yeah, they were figuring it out. Honestly, she guessed she could just leave the room and they wouldn’t notice it at all. She couldn’t blame them. At least they would get a happy ending out of it. Lia reached for the fries and started to eat them slowly.

Hearing him say that was something...interesting. She had wanted that for so long. It kind of felt good. No, it really felt good. He loved her, too. It was more than she could have hoped for. At the same time, it was painful. Because they had tried to go for something good and here they were, all in pain, nobody knowing where to go. She could be the bitch and move in now, But she couldn’t do that to Lia.

“Where do we go from here?”

#whitexknight

whitexknight:

Thomas settled down on one of the armchairs and tried to make himself small. He was the source of all issues, so he assumed that all harsh words would be aimed at him. He held nothing against Lia or Juliet for that matter, especially not because of their attempt in a relationship as he did before. Therapy did that to him, allowed him to see the bigger picture, and now he was left with many regrets and even more things to make up for.

So when Juliet started apologizing, Thomas looked at her with a mix of shock and disbelief. “What? Juliet… no, just… no. You didn’t do anything. Lia and I have broken up before that, and it’s all on me that I took ‘taking a break’ in a way that I thought meant that neither of us would see anybody because we might want to give it another go, eventually.” Juliet was at no fault at all there. “If anybody should apologize to both of you, it’s me. You two wanted to give it a shot, and I should have stayed out of it, accepted it. I should have been happy for you.”

“I’m afraid you’re still misunderstanding what was happening there,” Juliet said. “We didn’t want to give us a shot as in her and me. For both of us it included you. It had been with you or not at all.” And not at all was the case here. She was the one that had butted in, added into something that was already good, already working. She shouldn’t have. But this was about talking.

“I’m in love with you. And I was falling in love with her.”

Lia watched the whole exchange quietly. She couldn’t say anything else, because, what was there to say? She got front row tickets to them figuring their shit out.

#whitexknight

whitexknight:

“Food’s the one thing we won’t lack. That there’s a whole… banquet.” Maybe that’s why she sent him outside to do some surfing, to distract him and in turn so he wouldn’t see just how bad she was coping with all of it. All of them were coping badly, but Juliet… that was really bad. Maybe they could sort things out if they really sat down and talked about it, and as Lia pointed out, the food would most likely help with it as well.

“Let’s go back to her. Let’s… sit down and rip the bandaid off.” It would be painful and full of raw emotions, he knew that much. None of them was probably ready to sit down and talk about it either, but it had to be done. If they somewhat wanted to live in a functional household while on the island, they had to talk and face what happened between them.

Lia went in with him again and sat down, as Juliet fixed up the rest of the meals. There was so much food, so much to look at and discover and eat. They would not be able to eat everything, even if they tried. Lia sat on the couch and looked at the two people in the room with her.

Juliet sat down on the floor. She pulled her legs up to her chest and got ready. She knew things weren’t about to get well just like that. Someone had to start. She might as well do it.

“I’m sorry I interfered in you guys’s relationship. I know I shouldn’t have. This whole mess is on me. I should have just...stayed out of it, so...I’m going to ask TC to take me back to Oahu.”

#whitexknight

whitexknight:

Thomas was surprised that Lia so willingly approached him, and the reason why was pretty justified. She worried about Juliet. He glanced to the living room again for a few seconds, taking in the abundance of food she made. He sighed softly. “She has. I think we all are stressing pretty bad because of this. She thinks she’s the reason why things got this bad between us… it’s… pretty bad with her. She’ll deny it, but I can see it. And I can see it in you…”

“Maybe… she probably told you about us sitting down and, well… talking about it. About us. All of us. It might help. It ight take away the stress and heavy feelings.” Or it could make things worse. There was no in between.

Wasn’t that the understatement. It was pretty much sprung on them that they would be on a deserted island. She didn’t feel comfortable. How could she with the situation at hand? Both relationships broke apart so badly, that she had a hard time imagining how they could rekindle even the friendship or any form of trust between them.

“Yeah, she might have mentioned it somewhere between the fries and devilled eggs,” Lia said. Juliet really had gone for stress cooking there and she had backed away, a little overwhelmed and also a little afraid, honestly. She didn’t know what to do. For either of them. Or for herself.

“At least we have enough food to eat away our feelings.”

#whitexknight

whitexknight:

She really did know him, and knew how to read the cues of him being more anxious than he let on, and knew when he needed distraction and which one would work. Thomas smiled softly and nodded. “Thanks. I’ll get changed and see if I can catch a wave or two.”

It didn’t take him too long to do just that. Dressed in swim shorts, Thomas got a hold of the surf board and headed down to the beach. The weather was just perfect to catch some waves, which were just about right, too.

Out on the ocean, by himself, Thomas lost track of time. It wasn’t until the late afternoon that he returned to the vacation home, finding both Lia and Juliet there, as well as some food. He gave them both a nervous smile and moved to put the board away. “Hey…”

Lia came over to him as soon as he arrived. Things were awkward between her and Juliet. Granted, her and Magnum, too, but there was something she just had to get out to him before they sat down to talk and eat this...flurry of dishes Juliet had cooked out.

“Let me help you,” she said and reached for the board so she could put it away with him and be out of sight from Juliet for a moment. “She has been cooking the entire tiem. She has made some french dishes I never even heard about. It’s...pretty sure she had been stressing, really hard.”

#whitexknight

whitexknight:

Once the girls were upstairs, Thomas moved to the living room and flopped down on the couch, and dropped the bag by his feet. It was a nice place all in all, surrounded by greenery as far as the eye could reach, with lots of nice beaches on the outskirts and the ocean. Knowing Robin, there was a pool somewhere too. Before he did anything, however, Thomas reached for his bag, got anxiety meds out and took one of them before just letting himself fall against the pillows and staying there for a while.

Hearing Juliet, he sat up a bit more straight and smiled softly, though shook his head. “That’s nice of you, but I’ll be fine here. I think it’s best if all three of us have their personal space, since we’re on a small island. And things between Lia and I… We’re talking, and that’s about it. There’s… a lot of things that need to be fixed first.” If they could be fixed. “I’m just anxious. I thought it would be fine, but ever since we got here, anxiety’s been going over the roof. I think it’ll take a day or two for me to settle completely and relax.”

“Maybe we should all...sit together and talk tonight.” It would cause them all anxiety, she knew, but maybe it would lead to the overall atmosphere to be a little less awkward. Maybe things between Magnum and Lia could be fixed and she could convince Robin to get her off this island and leave them alone.

“Come on, I think I saw a surf board, go and get a few waves and destress a little.” She would find somethign to do as well, as well as Lia. Later she would probably cook for them all. She would make them enough snacks for this talk.

#whitexknight

whitexknight:

Thomas nodded. In case Lia needed some alone time, maybe even a break from watching him go from healthy to just rotting away thanks to the sickness and the treatment at the same time, and then there was still the matter of him possibly dying. Keeping Lia’s place was a good thing, and Thomas was glad that that was an option too. Maybe Juliet would use it, or maybe him, in the end.

“Lia… you already work at HPD. I don’t want you to overwork yourself doing two jobs.” But he also didn’t want Juliet to overwork herself doing everything on her own. “I want to still work on cases as much as I’ll be able to. It’s still not bad. I’m just… a bit weaker right now. So I’ll do as much as I can because I don’t want you two to overwork yourself because of me.”

“Nobody is going to overwork themselves,” Lia said softly. “We got each others back.” She and Juliet worked nicely. The beginning of this crisis had shown that quite clearly. The two women could get along wonderfully, if one let them get along. She loved that little fact immensely. At least the two women could lean on each other, without having to lean onto Magnum. He could just focus on getting better.

“You can, fo course, work a little,” Juliet said. “But much, mcuh reduced. You need rest and not stress. We can handle it.”

#whitexknight

whitexknight:

Lia’s tone really hit hard, it left no room for arguments and was essentially very accusing. Maybe she didn’t mean it that way, but it definitely felt like it, with right, too, since he was the reason why they were here in the first place. Still, it didn’t help with his doubt that this could be saved. His friendship with Juliet, sure, but everything else was yet to be seen and worked on, and it truthfully made him quite anxious.

Luckily, Juliet had a great suggestion and he happily accepted it. “Sounds like a plan. Do we meet in the living room or somewhere else?” The living room would essentially become his bedroom, and there was also the fact that he would probably have to steal a cupboard or two for his clothes, or just keep them in his bag. “You two can go in, I’ll get your bags in.”

Juliet let him do it, but she didn’t think he had to. She went up to one of the bedrooms and settled in it. For a moment she looked around and then came down again, before Lia came down, to talk to Thomas. “My bedroom has a nicer couch, pull out, too, so you could sleep in that one. Or...if you want I can switch rooms with Lia, if you guys would rather...” She figured they might want to fix things.

“How are you feeling?” It was stressful for all of them after all. Juliet felt like she was wrong. She felt like she was the problem in this all. Her meddling had caused all of this. At least it felt like it.

#whitexknight

whitexknight:

That was so typical Robin. On Oahu, they could easily avoid each other when they wanted to, but on such a small island, and like Lia pointed out, essentially a shrunk down version of the Nest, that would be very hard to achieve. Maybe this really was a good opportunity for them to sort things out, if things could actually be sorted out.

“I shouldn’t be surprised that this is Robin’s doing. Cover all of this up to look like he’s visiting and then send us here instead.” Now the room situation was something else. “You girls can take the rooms, I don’t mind sleeping on the couch.”

“Of course you’re taking the couch,” Lia said. His reaction was part of why their friend felt the need to essentially lock the three of them up. It was one way to get people to talk and heal. It added to the healing that this place was beautiful and wonderfully remote. They could relax here.

“We should get settled and maybe... regroup and...well discuss this entire thing.” There was a lot to talk about with where they were alone. They would all have things they wanted to do, moments they needed alone and all of them needed to be informed, so they had to discuss this. And there were chores to do they should split up.

#whitexknight

whitexknight:

A few weeks after the conversation, Robin called him, telling him that he had a surprise for him, though it wasn’t just a surprise for him, but for Juliet and Lia as well. All of them had bags packed and TC bring them to Robin’s private island, which was essentially a safe haven with nobody else around, except the three of them. So Robin’s way of them trying to figure it out was placing them on a small remote island until they worked it out.

“So…” Thomas began, shifting a little bit in his spot again. He did so now usually when he was nervous. “It’s a nice place Robin’s got here!”

Lia almost fainted at work once, so when she heard of Robin Masters invitation Gordon almost yelled into the phone that she would accept and come with them and then threatened he would pack her bag for her. That was how she found herself on Robin Masters private little island. With Thomas and Juliet.

“It’s like a cozy version of the nest in a jungle.”

“No wonder Robin had me stock this place. I assumed he would be coming here, but it had been for us. Also...we are entirely dependant on the generator, so if that goes out, we have no electricity whatsoever.” But the house would generally run without it, too, just in case. “Also...fair warning this house has only 2 bedrooms...”

#whitexknight

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