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hey i got the bridgerton books for my birthday a few days ago and i finished the first one. I would like to ask if I can get an OS with Anthony? Maybe that she's a family friend and has been in love with Anthony forever. but who never pays attention to her and only notices what he actually has in her when she is ready to let go to find another man?

A/N: Yessss I love the books so much! I devoured them after S1 came out! Once you’ve read them you’re gonna have to come back and tell me which one was your fave!

Pairing: Anthony Bridgerton x f!reader

Word Count: 2.5k

Cruelest Way

You’d been in love with Anthony Bridgerton since you were fourteen.

You and your family had been visiting the Bridgertons at their estate in Kent. Lady Bridgerton had been your mother’s childhood best friend and your parents had made the Bridgertons your godparents. You’d spent most of your childhood with the Bridgerton brood.

Anthony Bridgerton had been one-and-twenty that summer, freshly graduated from Oxford, and in your eyes, the paragon of a gentleman. He was tall, handsome, polite, and maybe a touch too serious, but that didn’t both you. He, of course, had little interest in spending time with a child seven years his junior.

Colin Bridgerton, on the other hand, had been ecstatic to have a friend of his age to spend the summer with and had been incredibly eager to show you all around the grounds.

The pair of you had been as thick as thieves. You loved having a friend your own age, and Colin delighted in having someone around who wouldn’t shirk away from his more adventurous exploits.

It was Colin who had dared you to climb the tallest tree in the woods on the west side of the estate, a dare you happily accepted, though not before daring him to climb it with you. You climbed the trees on your own estate without problem, and the heights did not bother you.

Until you had reached about halfway up the tree and as you pushed your foot off the branch you had just been standing on, moving quickly to catch up to Colin, who was already two branches ahead of you thanks to his lack of skirts and petticoats, that it suddenly cracked and came crashing down, falling to the ground beneath you.

You and Colin had both shrieked at the branch’s sudden breaking, and you only began to slightly panic as you realized your return to the ground suddenly became much more challenging, as neither one of you were tall enough to bridge the now insurmountable gap between your current branch and what was now the next branch down.

As the pair of you stared at each other with wide eyes you began to bicker about how exactly the pair of you would manage to return to the ground.

And that was when Anthony Bridgerton, your own personal white knight, appeared. He had been riding back from the village when Colin spotted him in the distance and shouted for him to come help.

And so he had swooped in, dismounted his horse, and climbed up the tree to help you back to the ground with minimal admonishment or lecturing.

He had even agreed not to tell either of your mothers about the incident so long as you both promised to never climb alone again.

You’d nodded solemnly as he had held out his hand to shake on the agreement, first to Colin, and then to you, enveloping your own hand in his larger hand, his palm warm as he squeezed slightly before winking at you and remounting his horse and riding back to the house.

Anthony Bridgerton had been your hero that day. And every day since it seemed that you seemed to fall deeper and deeper in love with him.

Which was unfortunate because he never gave you so much as a second look, no matter what you did.

Which is how you found yourself standing against the wall at yet another ball, watching Anthony Bridgerton charm, flirt, and dance with yet another young lady, a woman who was never you. Who would never be you, no matter how much you hoped and prayed and waited.

You’d been so lost in your daydream that you didn’t even realize that Colin Bridgerton had come up to you, or that he had grabbed your hand, and dragged you away from the wall and onto the dance floor.

“Colin,” You protested as you tried to pull your hand back slightly. Though Colin’s grip only tightened as he refused to relinquish his grasp.

“If I have to watch you moon over my brother from the sidelines of yet another party I might actually stab myself in the eye,” Colin groaned as he continued to pull you towards the dance floor. “Your despair is palpable, I’m surprised he can’t sense it from all the way over there.”

“Don’t be so dramatic, Colin, it’s not becoming,” You huff as you roll your eyes. You’re probably more familiar with Colin’s antics than anyone other than his family, and far more likely to put up with them, but sometimes you wish your friend was just a touch more comforting, or at least a touch less discerning.

“Just dance with me, and try to enjoy yourself,” He replies with a knowing look before he winks at you cheekily.

You glare at Colin for a moment but it’s half-hearted at best as his gesture eventually wins out and you can’t help but smile back at him. Especially once the music begins and he is quick to swoop you into his arms and twirls you around the dance floor.

As the pair of you twirl and laugh you nearly forget your troubles. For the duration of the song, you’re able to just live, and be, and not have to worry about anything other than remembering the dance steps as Colin leads you across the floor.

It’s in moments like this, moments where you feel carefree and happy that you wish you’d fallen for a different brother, or perhaps just a different person so that you could fully enjoy moments like this. But you didn’t, and so the moment the dance is over and Colin has safely returned you to your spot alongside the other wallflowers you are reminded with a painful stab to your heart that you’ll never have a moment like that with Anthony.

He’d never given you more than a passing acknowledgment at events like this, and he’d certainly never danced with you. You were simply a family friend, the closest confidant of his younger brother. He’d pay you attention at family events. He’d join you for a walk through your estate’s gardens, and join you and Colin for a ride or two. He’d chat with you at shared dinners, ask you questions about your life, your opinions, and make you feel like he really did care for you.

But the moment your family’s returned to London, that you saw him at a society event like tonight, it was like you became invisible to him. As if you simply ceased to exist.

“I hear congratulations are in order, my dear,” Lady Bridgerton greeted you as you stepped into the drawing-room beside your mother.

Bridgerton House was one of your favorite places to be when you were in town for the season, if not for the company of Colin or his other siblings, for the way that Lady Bridgerton always made you feel welcome, like another one of her daughters. Which, as her goddaughter, you supposed in some ways, you were.

She wrapped her arms tightly around you and squeezed you into a comforting hug.

Once the ladies had finished fawning over you, you retreated to the tea service and breathed a sigh of relief. Though the moment was short-lived when a low voice spoke in your ear.

“What has our mothers in such a state?” Anthony asked quietly as he snatched up a handful of grapes from the table, popping one into his mouth as he turned to look at you. “I haven’t seen my mother so ecstatic since Daphne announced her engagement to Hastings.”

“My father has decided it’s time for me to marry, he plans to accept Lord Fife’s proposal on my behalf,” You admit to him. Your eyes trained on the teapot in your hands as you pour yourself a cup. Unable to meet his gaze as you inform him of the news.

“You’re marrying?” Anthony asks.

“Well, yes,” You reply with a small shrug. “I’ve put it off long enough.”

“Lord Fife?” Anthony clarifies in disbelief as if he’d misheard.

You merely nod as you lift the cup of tea you had been fixing up to your mouth.

“You could do so much better,” He scoffs.

Your teacup and saucer clatter back to the table as your head whips up to stare at him in disbelief. The entire room quiets at the sudden noise as you stare up at Anthony in a mixture of confusion, disbelief, and anger.

“Could I? Because I’ve been in love with the same man for the last eight years and he has never given me so much as a second glance,” You reply coldly. “Everyone told me just to wait, that eventually, he would see what was right in front of him. So I waited, I thought if I was patient he would finally see me. I come from a good family, my dowry is sizable, there was nothing to detract from my standing except for his obvious lack of affection. I waited and waited and you never saw me.”

Anthony stared at you with wide eyes.

“I-” He starts as he gapes at you.

You shake your head in disbelief as you glance around the room, to see both of your mothers and several of Anthony’s younger siblings staring back at you with surprise and sympathy.

“And now I’ve made a fool of myself,” You say in a whisper, the embarrassment of everyone’s pity bringing heat to your face. “I must go,” You manage to get out before you flee the drawing-room.

“Wait!” Anthony shouts after you, following you out onto the street.

You need to get away from him. You should get off the street. A scene in the middle of Mayfair? You’ll be feeding London’s gossips for weeks.

But you refuse to back down. Not when Anthony is making this about him. Not when you’ve been in love with him for years. If anyone deserves to make a scene, it’s you.

“I’ve already waited so long, Anthony, what could you possibly have to say to me now?” You hiss at him as you spin on your heels to face him, furious.

Anthony scrambles to a halt at your sudden about-face. Placing his hands on your shoulders to balance him as he jerks to a stop right in front of your nose.

He then stares at you for a moment, his face still all-too close to your own as he studies you.

“That I care for you,” He says quietly.

“This is not funny,” You tell him with a shake of your head as you can feel the tears beginning to well in your eyes.

You’d gotten used to Anthony hurting your feelings, but you’d always been able to take refuge in the fact that he was doing so unknowingly. But to have him say this to your face? You’d never known him to be cruel, but perhaps you do not know him at all.

“I am being entirely sincere,” Anthony protests. “I have always cared for you. I have cared for you since that day I helped you down from that tree.”

You can’t speak, can’t manage to get the words out of your throat, you can only continue to shake your head as the tears begin to stream down your face.

“Don’t marry him,” Anthony states plainly as his eyes continue to bore into your own.

“And who should I marry instead, you?” You spit back at him in anger.

“Yes,” Anthony replies.

“You can’t mean that. You don’t love me,” You mutter.

“But I do-” Anthony begins before you cut him off.

“You haven’t spared me a second glance in the years that we’ve known each other, how am I to truly believe that you have any sort of feelings for me?” You tell him. “How can I know that this isn’t some sort of bizarre male jealousy merely based on the fact that you cannot have me anymore?”

Anthony opens his mouth but you hold up your hand to stop him.

“You have given me nothing, I have put up with the bare minimum for years, I will not continue to do so because of your ego,” You continue. “I will not marry you only for you to tire of me once our vows are said.”

“But I do,” Anthony replies reverently. “I do love you.”

“I’m sorry that it took so long for me to admit it, I’m sorry that it took someone else to push me to admit it to you,” He tells you, his hands grasping your own, squeezing them tightly. “I will humble myself before you, I will do whatever it takes, for however long it takes to make you believe me.”

You stare at him in disbelief.

“Tell me what you want from me and I will do it,” He says. “Tell me that you want me and you’ll have me, for the rest of our lives. I’ll swear it to you now, and I’ll swear it to you in front of the priest and our families and everyone, I’ll do whatever you want, just don’t let me lose you.”

“I can’t lose you,” He repeats. “I’ll fight for you. I’ll always fight for you.”

You once again four yourself speechless. You stared at him, taking his expression, the pinching of his brow, the way his eyes were searching yours desperately, the fact that he was still holding your hands in his so tightly, like he thought you might slip away.

You take a deep breath, closing your eyes as you inhale deeply through your nose before you exhale and open your eyes again.

You nod your head slightly as you squeeze Anthony’s hands in your own gently.

“I will consider your proposal,” You tell him. “I will not accept Lord Fife, but you must court me- properly court me before I will agree to marry you. I will not see either one of us trapped in a marriage unless we are both certain that it will make us happy, do you understand?”

“Of course, of course,” Anthony replies quickly, his face breaking into a boyish grin. “I will prove myself to you. I promise to show you all the love you deserve, and to make myself worthy of you.”

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