Work Text:
one
The first time he saw Kate Sharma, Anthony Bridgerton thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
It was a sunny April day, unusually warm for the season. Anthony himself had already shed his jacket and shoes where he sat with his mate Simon in a green space on the Oxford campus. It had been a long night and even longer morning; his sister Hyacinth had called him crying about some bully at school, and after two hours on the phone trying to calm her down, Anthony was forced to cram for his law test that morning. The test was long and grueling, and Anthony was content to sit on the green in the warm sun until he had to go back to his apartment and pack to meet his family in Kent that weekend.
The green was peaceful. Simon was content to just sit beside him, typing away on his phone to Anthony’s sister, Daphne. Simon would never admit that he was texting his mate’s sister as they sat there, but Anthony could tell from the dumb smile on his face.
Across the green, Anthony heard a loud laugh. It was bright and tinkling, and almost against his will his eyes shot open to find the source. Quite a few students had found their way onto the green because of the warm weather, but Anthony spotted the source of the laugh within seconds.
The noise had come from a girl, cheerfully laughing as she raced around the green holding some object tight in her arms. Unsurprisingly, someone was chasing her as she laughed. Most surprisingly, though, was the person chasing her: it was his brother Benedict.
Most of the time, Anthony was grateful that his brother had chosen to pursue his art at Oxford, following the family tradition and putting himself somewhere where Anthony could keep an eye on him. At this moment, though, Anthony was not quite so pleased. In a moment of what must have been interest, he wished that he was the one who the girl was laughing with.
She was a beauty in her yellow dress. From where Anthony was sitting, he could tell that it was a rather flowy and short sundress, showing off her long legs that seemed to glow a dark caramel in the sunlight. Her dark hair was loose as it flew behind her, and her face was lit with joy.
“Benedict!” Anthony yelled before he could stop himself. He stood from his spot on the blanket, despite Simon’s odd look, and waved at his brother. He hoped that maybe the girl would stop too, and Anthony could get an introduction.
“Ant!” Benedict called back with a wave of his hand. He jogged over to where his brother and Simon were stationed, and Anthony tried not to stare as the girl stopped her run, looked puzzled for a moment, and began to wander over toward them as well.
Score .
“I thought you would have already left, Ben,” Anthony told him as he approached. “I thought you don’t have any classes on Fridays.”
“I don’t,” Benedict agreed. He gave a small nod in greeting to Simon before turning his eyes back to his brother. “We were just enjoying the weather. Kate and I decided we would do a little sketching outside before I leave.”
“Kate?” Anthony asked, trying to keep as much curiousity as possible out of his voice.
“The girl you were chasing?”
“The very one,” the girl, Kate, replied as she approached. “We were just mucking around a bit.”
“Ant, this is Kate Sharma.” Benedict gave his brother a strong look, as if to tell him to keep his mouth shut. “She’s an art student, too, so we share a few classes.”
“Nice to meet you, Kate Sharma,” Anthony greeted, looking toward Kate. He put his most charming smile on as he gazed on her, trying to take all of her in. She was even more beautiful up close, he decided. Kate’s hair fluttered as the wind passed through it, and she had a thin sheen of sweat on her chest from the wind and her run. Distantly, Anthony thought he wouldn’t mind licking it off of her.
Kate took Anthony in the same way he had her, but instead of replying, she turned back to Benedict. “Your brother?” she asked with a bit of disdain in her voice. Benedict just nodded. Kate hmmphed and looked at Anthony suspiciously.
“Am I missing something?” he asked, looking between the group assembled in front of him. Simon had risen as well from his spot on the ground and was watching the event in front of him with a gleeful expression on his face.
“No,” Kate said decidedly, searching for something in Anthony’s face. He couldn’t tell whether she found it, but she turned back to Benedict not a minute later. “I think I’m going to go back to our blanket, Benedict. Here’s your sketchbook back. I’ll see you later.”
With one last look at Anthony, she turned on her heel and left. As she spun, the wind must have blown at the precise right time, because Anthony was hit with a wave of her perfume. Lilies, he knew immediately. It was almost intoxicating.
As soon as Kate was gone, Benedict let out a loud laugh. “Well, that was good,” he said with a chuckle. “I wasn’t sure if she’d react like that.”
“What did I do?” Anthony asked seriously. “I’ve never even met her before.”
“She reads the gossip mags,” his brother informed him. “Lady Whistledown likes to rag on you a lot. I assume she wasn’t impressed by what she saw.”
“I didn’t even do anything!” Anthony huffed.
“Mate, you were almost leering,” Simon informed him with another laugh.
Anthony didn’t exactly think that was fair. She judged him at first glance. Wasn’t there some sort of saying about not judging a book by its cover? The gossip mags were rarely correct about his reputation; he spent more nights on the phone with his siblings than he did out at clubs, but of course no one reported on that.
He decided in that moment to put Kate Sharma out of his mind. If she wasn’t even willing to give him the time of day, he wouldn’t think of her, either.
That didn’t seem to stop him from dreaming about pulling her out of that yellow dress, though.
two
The next time Anthony had the pleasure of seeing Kate Sharma, it really wasn’t a pleasure at all. They were once again on the greens of Oxford, though the weather was a bit more unpleasant this time. There was a chill in the air and a chill in her face. Kate was yelling at him, her hands curled into fists at her side.
Anthony thought he might be a little bit in love.
“What were you doing with my sister?” Kate yelled at his face, moving her foot periously close to his own.
Oh, right. Enough mooning. She thought he was dating her sister.
“Edwina?” he asked, as if she had another sister. Anthony set his law book down at his side and sighed. He wouldn’t be getting much studying done at this point, he feared.
“Do I have another sister?” she demanded. “Yes, Edwina! Why were you with her?” Kate towered over him from where he sat. Her hair was pulled back by a yellow headband, looking like a band of gold in her dark hair. Anthony wanted to pull it free and twist her locks around his fingers. He wondered if it was her hair that smelled like lilies or her perfume. Their last interaction was nearly a month ago, but the smell was stuck in his brain. He dreamed of it.
Not too late, though, Anthony realized this was not an appropriate moment for a distraction, not when it seemed like Kate was only a moment from throwing a punch. “We had coffee,” he said, shrugging. “It wasn’t really anything.”
At that, Kate seemed to look even more offended. “And what’s wrong with my sister?” she asked in a defensive voice. “Edwina is lovely. You would be lucky to date her.”
“Are you serious right now?” Anthony asked her, throwing all pretenses out the window. “I just told you that I’m not interested in your sister, which you started yelling at me for, and now you’re asking why I’m not interested in her?” This girl was a bit insane, he thought. That didn’t mean that Anthony didn’t desperately want her phone number, and also her legs wrapped around his head.
One thing at a time, Ant.
“Well, Edwina is lovely,” Kate told him, a bit huffy. “But it looked like a date. What were you doing if it wasn’t a date?”
Anthony barely disguised his annoyance. “My sister Eloise asked me to meet your Edwina about some project, if you must know,” he told her with a huff. “I was helping her out with something and have absolutely no interest in your sister .” He emphasized that he wasn’t interested in the sister. He was interested in her .
Anthony had always had a thing for women who could put him in his place, and Kate did nothing but that. She was beautiful, even when she was screaming at him about some nonsense.
“Oh,” Kate said, her mouth falling into a distinct ‘o.’ “Well, er…”
“Are you done defending your sister’s honor yet?” he asked with a smirk.
“You would be lucky to date my sister,” Kate muttered for the third time. Anthony was ready to act like a five year old and yank her hair until she realized that he liked her .
“By God, she’s my sister’s age!” Anthony finally burst out. “I would really rather not be a cradle robber, thanks. I could never date anyone Eloise’s age.”
“Well,” Kate said shortly. “Good, I suppose.”
“Now, are you done yelling at me? Would you like to sit down?” Anthony gestured to the spot beside him, moving his law book. Kate had a bag with her, so he figured she must have something to do. Perhaps they could waste away the afternoon as companions, and Anthony could have the opportunity to know more about her than just her looks.
Kate quietly sat down beside him and pulled out her sketchbook. Anthony fell a little more in love.
three
A week later, Anthony spotted Kate in a pub. She sat alone at a booth in the corner, fiddling with the rings on her fingers and looking a little sad. He watched her for a moment before turning away. Anthony had come with Simon and Colin, who had come to Oxford for the weekend. Selfishly, he wanted to abandon them to go put a different expression on Kate’s face, but he turned away. Although they had formed some sort of truce in the last week, even going so far as to text back and forth several times, Anthony wasn’t exactly sure if she would be welcome to see him.
A yellow purse sat on the table next to her. Yellow, he realized, had begun to be associated with Kate. In yellows, he saw her brightness and laughter. Anthony hated seeing such a sad look on Kate’s face. Kate was yellow, optimistic and cheerful. She shouldn’t be sad.
Despite himself, he turned back to Simon and Colin. He wanted more than anything to go over, but he knew she wouldn’t want it. Anthony stayed in his place by the bar, letting the conversation wash over him and keeping one eye on Kate. They were talking about some football game, he realized, and it allowed him to hum in agreement with the conversation. Normally, he would be quick to tell Simon and Colin all the ways they were wrong, but he allowed himself a little distraction.
Ten minutes after he entered the pub, Anthony saw something go really wrong. Another familiar face had entered, but it was not a friendly one. It was Cressida Cowper, resident popular girl and well-known snake, and she, after a moment, made her way over to Kate with a gleeful look on her face, as if she knew exactly why Kate was there.
Maybe she did.
Kate was less than impressed to see Cressida, but she had none of her usual fire. She just looked tired as Cressida spoke to her with a sneer. Finally, Anthony had had enough. He had no idea why Kate sat in a booth looking so sad, but he wasn’t going to allow Cressida to be her usual snide self while Kate was vulnerable. He couldn’t stand for that.
“I’ll be right back,” Anthony told his friend and brother before he pushed himself off the chair. He heard the two of them let out protests, but he didn’t stop his charge over toward Kate’s booth. Quickly, he made his way over to Cressida’s side. “Kate!” he exclaimed, putting far more joy into his voice than he truly felt. “How nice to see you here. How are you?”
“Anthony,” Kate answered in a shocked tone. “What are you doing here?”
“Oh, I was just grabbing a drink with Simon and Colin,” he told her, gesturing over to where the two were sitting, surely still looking over at him with twin confused expressions on their faces. “Would you like to join us? I see you’re all alone.”
“Oh.” She had a shocked look on her face, like she was surprised that Anthony would ever invite her over. “Um, I was actually just about to leave.”
“She was waiting for someone,” Cressida said with an ugly sneer on her face. Anthony paid her no mind.
“Just one drink,” he told her with his most charming smile. “It’s on me. I can even drive you home after, if you like. I should probably turn in early tonight, too.”
“You can’t!” Cressida protested, looking shocked that Anthony would even suggest it.
“Was I talking to you?” Anthony responded, barely glancing over at her. He kept his eyes trained on Kate, whose cheeks were turning pink under his gaze. The pink flush of her cheeks made her look even more enchanting in the dim light of the pub. “Come on, Kate. Just one drink.”
“Okay,” she agreed quietly, grabbing her bag and sliding out of the booth. Her hand clutched her yellow purse tightly, and Anthony could see a small smile making its way onto her lips as they passed Cressida.
Anthony had never felt more like a winner.
four
In a moment of weakness, Anthony texted Kate and asked if she needed a ride home.
He knew that she was on campus at the same time he was. After much bullying, Benedict had finally admitted to which classes he shared with Kate, and Anthony had weaseled the rest out of her after several weeks of pestering. He had her complete schedule but had been holding out for some reason to use this information. Now, he had his perfect opportunity.
It was raining.
The rain was only a small drizzle, but the dark clouds hanging low over Oxford were an indicator that it was planning to grow worse. So, armed with the knowledge that Kate biked to campus on the days she bogged down with miscellaneous art supplies, Anthony texted her and asked if she wanted a ride home in his car.
After only a moment, Kate replied a small yes .
So now Anthony drove circles around the art building, one he was only slightly familiar with. In Benedict’s first semester, Anthony spent many days driving his brother to and from this building. Now, Benedict often preferred to pretend he didn’t know his brother any time he came close to the art building.
Finally, as the rain began to pick up from its small drizzle, Kate stepped out of the building. She clutched several books close to her chest and looked a bit sheepish as she looked around for Anthony’s car. Risking it, he rolled down his window and waved a hand in her direction. Kate’s face broke out into a thankful grin as she jogged toward the car.
“Hey,” Anthony greeted, feeling very soft at the look of Kate. “I’m glad you agreed to a ride home. I would hate for you to bike home in this.”
“It isn’t too bad right now. I would have been fine,” Kate protested. Then she seemed to think better of her fight. “Thank you for offering, though. I hate storms, and I’m not sure I would have made it home before this turns into one.” She looked a bit sheepish at her admission, but Anthony felt warm that she was sharing herself with him.
“I love storms,” Anthony admitted, “but I don’t particularly like driving in them. Are you alright by yourself in them?”
“I’ll be okay,” Kate promised. “Edwina will be at the flat, and I have Newton. My fears used to be a lot worse.” Her voice was quiet, and she gazed out the window, lost in her thoughts. “My mother died in a storm. Mary says that I was there when it happened. I suppose that’s where my fear comes from. It’s a bit silly, I know, but I’ve never been able to completely shake it. I just feel unsettled, but it’s gotten so much better over the years.”
“Good,” Anthony told her softly, refusing the urge to look over at her. If Kate really feared storms that much, he was going to get her home as quickly and safely as possible so that she could be in her safe space. “I’m afraid of bees,” he told her before he really thought about it. “My father died from a bee sting. I’ve been afraid of them ever since.”
“Oh, Anthony,” Kate said with a sigh. “I’m sorry. How long ago did it happen?”
“A few years,” he responded quietly. “I was eighteen.”
“I can’t imagine.” Kate’s voice was barely more than a whisper. “That must have been such a hard time to lose your dad, when you’re just starting to learn what being a man really means.”
“Anytime is a hard time to lose a parent,” Anthony argued.
“Of course,” she answered him calmly. “My mother died when I was three. My dad died when I was fifteen. It always hurts, but I imagine that losing a parent at such a pivotal time in your life is so much harder.”
“I’m sorry, Kate,” Anthony told her so quietly it was barely heard over the rain.
Kate hummed in response, and the car went quiet for a few moments. “Let me tell you what Benedict did in class the other day,” she said suddenly, urgent to change the subject.
They continued their quiet conversation the rest of the way to Kate’s flat. She didn’t live far from campus, maybe a ten minute drive, and for that Anthony was thankful. It was becoming difficult to keep his heart out of his eyes as he drove.
Finally, Anthony parked on the street outside Kate’s building. He looked over at her as she finished her story, watching how her smile stretched across her whole face. It was a beautiful smile; her lips were full, her teeth were white, and Anthony found that he wanted to be responsible for keeping it on her face forever.
The dim yellow of the streetlight behind them fell across her face, making her glow. Kate looked ethereal in this light, and Anthony had a hard time not reaching across the console and pulling her into his lap so he could feel the warmth of her. He felt drunk on her smell, and desperately he thought that maybe this was the moment he fell in love with Kate, despite not even going on one date with her.
Maybe he should do something about that.
“Anthony?” Kate asked, pulling him out of his thoughts. “Are you alright? Is there something on my face?”
“No,” he said suddenly, shaking his head. “You should go inside. See Newton. Be in your safe space before the storm really kicks up.”
“Right,” Kate responded, looking a little confused and, dammit, sad. Anthony hadn’t meant to make her sad.
“Hey,” he caught her hand as she started to turn to grab her sketchbooks, “do you want to go on a date with me sometime?”
“What?” she looked sufficiently shocked and frozen in her seat.
“A date,” he prompted, a small smile on his face. “We could do dinner, walk around the park, something like that. If you wanted.” Suddenly, Anthony was nervous. Maybe he read this whole thing wrong. He needed to go home. Maybe he just needed a nap.
“I would like that,” she answered finally with a shy smile. “We can decide something later, yeah? Thank you for the ride home.”
“Anytime, Kate.” Anthony took one last look at her in the golden light. The way she shone was surely too much for him. Anthony would only dim her light, and that was the last thing Kate deserved. “Anytime.”
five
The date was everything Anthony hoped it would be. They dined and laughed and joked, and Anthony thought that they fit together even better than he originally thought they would. They were both older children, forced to take on too much in the grief of their families. Kate understood how he would always put his siblings first, but she made him want to finally do something for himself, too.
It was a nice night, so Kate suggested they take a quick walk through the park before they returned to their respective flats. It was a cool May night, and Anthony was content to walk with Kate’s hand in his for as long as she would have him.
“I think you would like Newton,” Kate insisted, gesturing with the hand that wasn’t in Anthony’s own. “He’s a wonderful dog.”
“I’m more of a cat person,” he told her, just to vex her. Anthony preferred dogs, but seeing Kate riled up was one of his favorite past times.
“There is no way!” She gasped, pulling him to a stop. “You cannot be a cat person. This isn’t going to work if you’re a cat person.”
“There’s a this?” Anthony asked with a smirk. He pulled Kate a step closer to him and watched how her eyes widened.
“Don’t be an ass,” she answered him, hitting his chest lightly. “Of course there’s a this. I wouldn’t be here if there wasn’t.”
“Good.” Anthony was extremely pleased. He resisted the urge to run his hand through her loose hair, but he did allow himself to place a small peck on her cheek, just to see if he could spot the blush on her cheeks in the dim light. (He wasn’t able to.)
“But back to the Newton thing,” she insisted, pulling him back into a walk. “Are you seriously not a dog person? Because I bring Newton pretty much everywhere. This might be a big thing to get over.”
“I love dogs,” Anthony admitted because he couldn’t stand upsetting her, even if it meant having to get along with the dog who, if Kate’s stories were anything to go by, was an absolute terror . “I said it just to vex you.”
“Anthony Bridgerton!” Kate protested, hitting him once more on the chest. “We don’t joke about Newton!”
“Of course not, love,” he murmured. Out of the corner of his eye, Anthony spotted a plot of bright yellow tulips and knew what he must do. Kate wore absolutely no yellow in her outfit tonight, and he thought she needed a pop of the color. After all, Kate had become a kind of light in his life. He wanted to give her something that would represent his own happiness.
Without warning, he yanked her over to the plot of tulips several feet away. Perhaps it was in bad taste to pick flowers meant for the public, but Anthony didn’t care much. Once they were standing in front of them, he plucked up a singular tulip and placed it behind her ear.
“You really shouldn’t pick flowers from the park,” Kate told him in a weak attempt of admonishment. In reality, her cheeks were a bright red, and her smile was radient.
“No one will know,” he insisted. “Besides, I thought you deserved a flower. Yellow is your color.”
“Really? No one has ever given me flowers before.”
“No one?” Anthony asked, shocked. “Well, I’ll have to fix that. I’ll send you flowers every day for the rest of our lives.”
“Don’t be daft,” Kate told him, but when she met his lips in a soft kiss, her protest seemed empty.
This, Anthony thought surely, was love.
plus one
Anthony thought his heart was going to burst out of his chest. He was fairly certain he had broken at least ten traffic laws as he sped through Oxford, trying to reach the hospital. Edwina had called him frantically earlier, saying that Kate was injured.
Kate was hit by a car as she was biking home.
Anthony was the last one to hear from her, kissing her goodbye as they parted from their coffee date that morning. Normally, Anthony would have packed her bike in the back of his car and forcefully driven her home, but Kate was stubborn and he was running late to pick up Francesca from the train station, so he made her promise to text him as soon as she reached home.
An hour later, Anthony had heard nothing.
He called Edwina trying to remain calm, wondering if she had seen her sister. Kate was rather forgetful, and Anthony knew that. She probably walked into the flat and was bombarded by Newton, and he couldn’t blame her for that. She probably just forgot.
She had to have forgotten.
But Edwina hadn’t seen her either, and that set both of them into a panic. Neither knew what to do until Edwina received a call from Mary, saying they had brought Kate in by ambulance. She was unconscious, hit by a car on her bike. A stranger called the emergency line after the driver rode off in a panic.
Underneath his fear, Anthony was seething.
He didn’t have time for anger at this moment, though. He left word with Francesca where he was going and asked that she communicate what happened to the rest of his family, and then Anthony took off toward the hospital.
He was so afraid for Kate.
The last few months had been magical. Kate was a wonder, full of love and fire and laughter. Anthony had laughed more in the last few months than he thought he had in his entire life. He hadn’t mentioned it yet, but he knew he was in love.
Kate was the sun, and Anthony didn’t know how to not love her. He was born to love her, he was sure. It felt a little ridiculous, having such feelings when he had barely known Kate six months, but Anthony was sure that she was it for him.
Kate had brought light back to his life in a way that he hadn’t known after his father died, and now she was hurt, and Anthony was once again left powerless to help the one he loved.
Life has a funny way of doing that.
Instead, he sat in the waiting room with Edwina, clutching each other’s hands. This was Mary’s hospital, Edwina had explained, so her mother likely knew more about Kate’s condition than they did. She would drop by when she was able, but until someone decided to share anything with them, they just had to wait.
Waiting, Anthony thought, was the worst part.
It could have been minutes, hours, or days before Mary finally met them in the waiting room. She looked exhausted, her scrubs rumpled and her hair thrown up in the messiest way Anthony had ever seen her.
“How is she?” Edwina burst before Anthony had the opportunity.
“Broken leg,” Mary responded grimly. “They’ve already set it, and she’ll have to stay overnight for observation. She was waking as I was in there, so I don’t think she has a concussion. She’s in room 5044 if you want to see her. Just tell the nurses who you are.”
“Thank you,” Anthony said, reaching out to give Mary a tight hug. “I’m so glad she’s alright,” he whispered.
“She’ll be happy to see you,” Mary whispered back. “Please, take care of my girl. I’ll see you both at the end of my shift.”
Edwina stopped to give her mother a tight hug as Anthony made his way to the elevator, anxious to see Kate. She joined him a moment later, and they rode up to Kate’s floor in silence. Thankfully, Edwina knew her way around the hospital and they quickly stood in front of Kate’s door, pushing it open quietly.
Kate sat up in her bed, looking at her cracked phone. Her hospital gown was yellow and her hair was a bit mussed, but Anthony truly thought that he had never seen a more beautiful sight.
“Oh, Kate,” he sighed, looking at her with an expression that was both sad and relieved. Edwina had already charged across the room and thrown herself at her sister, careful to miss her injured leg.
“We were so worried, Didi!” she exclaimed, choking out a sob. “You are never riding a stupid bike again. We’ll share the car. I don’t care, I’m not listening if you argue!”
Kate let out a small chuckle that sounded suspiciously wet. “I didn’t think I’d be biking anytime soon anyway, Bon,” she responded. Kate stroked her sister’s hair and looked over her head at Anthony, who realized in that moment his tears had finally spilled over onto his face.
“I was so worried,” he whispered. Anthony wanted to say more, but the words were stuck in his throat.
“I’m okay,” she promised. He thought that maybe her eyes reflected exactly his own feelings.
Now was not the time to tell her how he felt. The room was too charged, too fraught with emotion. Knowing Kate, she would think it was a product of Anthony’s grief, at his fear of losing her, and not believe that she could truly be loved.
No, now was not right. But soon.
And as Anthony and Kate held eye contact over Edwina’s head, he thought that perhaps she already knew, and that was enough.