24. But You

"And bring us back something!" "Yeah! Something Scottish!" "I'll come back with armfuls of presents," I gave Hyacinth, Francesca, and Gregory all a hug. They'd all come to see us off at the rail station, save Colin who stayed home; I think he was salty about not being able to come. We'd found the right platform and waited as a group for the train doors to finally open- they always waited until the last ten minutes or so before departure. We were by far the largest cluster of people on the platform, which was embarrassing but also nice. I kept hugging my younger siblings, promising them lots of treats and pictures from Edinburgh.

The train doors eventually slid open, and Simon and Benedict loaded all our bags onboard. I gave our three youngest siblings one last group hug and straightened up to face Anthony. The look on his face indicated he still had reservations about the whole thing. The whistle to board blew and we smiled at one another.

"Be sure to call first thing when you get to Edinburgh," my eldest brother said in a tender tone. "I always do. Don't worry, Anthony; everything's going to be fine." Anthony then turned to Benedict, who was a lot more casual about the affair. "Now I'm expecting you to be the responsible one and keep an eye on everything. Be there for your sisters when and if they need you." "I know, I know; I will. You've told me a billion times already," Benny rolled his eyes. "I'm serious, Benedict. It's your responsibility," Anthony's eyes sharpened. "Then why's Simon comin' along?" Benny's hand flung up in his direction. Simon looked their way and grinned, already amused with the crazy situation. The oldest Bridgerton also glanced to Simon with an expression of gratitude. "Thank you again for this, Simon. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it." "Not at all! I've been quite looking forward to it, actually. It'll be nice to visit Scotland again." "With company," Eloise added, earning an elbow to the ribcage from me.

The whistle blew again which meant it was time to go. Simon and Anthony shook hands, and the older siblings said goodbye to the younger. Anthony and I embraced each other, and he gave my shoulders a familial squeeze. "Be careful," he told me with a hint of concern. "I will." "I'll see you all on Saturday night, baby sis." "See you Saturday night, big bro." We then all clambered onto the train. Our seats weren't difficult to find. We set down our bags and waved at Anthony through the window. Eloise wanted to walk the rest of the train and simply demanded that Benny join her. Not that I had any reservations. Perfect timing, actually; with them gone it gave Simon and I a moment alone. We sat down at the four-person table on the right side of the cart. Simon sat beside me- allowing me to have the window seat- and gazed around ponderingly. "Hmmmm, it's a nice train. This is be a smooth ride," he noted out loud. While he was preoccupied with that, I took the opportunity to open my backpack and take out Simon's gift. He blinked in surprise when I held it out for him.

"What's this?" The duke inquired. "Just something to say "thank you"." "For what?" He blinked. My shoulder shrugged. "For everything. I just hope you like it; I'm not really good at picking out gifts for guys." "Oh, you shouldn't worry about that," he took the box from me. "Huh?" I didn't really understand what he meant by this. He grinned at me. "I'd love anything from you," Simon said with such ease, such naturalness. I'd be blushing if I wasn't eager for him to open his present.

Simon pulled back the wrapping, looked at me for a second, then opened the box. His eyes lit up, which I wasn't sure was a good or bad sign originally. But all doubt melted away at the sight of his jaw dropping. "You…. bought this… for me?" "Ah, i-it's ok if you don't like it. I-I wasn't sure if men like you wear jewellery, and I thought…." "It's prefect." "What?" My eyes gazed back to his face slightly puzzled. "I love it! It's even got little boxing gloves. Is it…?" "Uh, platinum. It's pretty popular from what I hear." "Well indeed. Let's try it on," he began to very gently take it out. "What? Now?" "Sure. It does no good sitting in the box."

I watched the duke take the bracelet and after setting the empty box down onto the table, tried to secure it to his wrist. He struggled to fasten the clasp. "Here, let me," I took the liberty to do it for him. It was an innocent enough thought at first but by the time it was on, we were both blush- or at least I was. Simon examined it every which way on his wrist, his grin growing with every twist and turn. "Fits like a glove." "Heh, it has boxing gloves. You can get more charms for it. It's like the male version of a charm bracelet," I explained. Our eyes met again; his lowering in the corner. "You know, this is the first piece of jewellery anyone's ever gotten for me." "Really?!" I don't know why that surprised me so much. No one ever bought me jewellery before, except for maybe Grandfather when I was a very little girl. Simon's head gave a light, single nod. Then that beautiful smile of his returned in full force. "Thank you, Daphne. It looks rather well!" "It does look good on you," I agreed.

Simon chuckled softly. "Now I feel bad I don't have something for you." "Oh no! No, Simon; you've done more than enough. I'm just so happy we're going to Edinburgh together. I know it shall be much more fun with you there." He chuckled a second time. "Well, I don't know about that." "Don't worry; I do." We looked at each other for a minute, smiling the whole time. Simon's hand ran along his bracelet before pressing his palm down onto it. His eyes moved between it and me, landing on me. "I'm going to keep this, Daphne." "I want you to. Think of it as a friendship bracelet." "It most certainly is. Now whenever I look at it, I'll think of you and how lucky I am…." "S-Simon!" My eyes widened. His smile blossomed in its corners. "It's true, Daphne. I've never felt this way… I guess I've always had my defences up with everyone else. But you…. But you.

You're the first person who's ever made me feel more "me" before."