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Language:
English
Series:
Part 1 of Game On
Collections:
But You're My Mess Discord, BYMM: It's all fun and games
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Published:
2025-05-29
Completed:
2025-10-26
Words:
34,286
Chapters:
10/10
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1,406
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2,182
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54,867

Two Truths and A Lie

Summary:

Colin's flight is delayed.
He texts Pen to keep him entertained.
Lies reveal truths.

 

Legal disclaimer: To the maniacs who lovingly bullied me into making this one-shot a ten chapter chaos fest: this is not applicable to every future one-shot. You know who you are.

Notes:

My silly little submission for the "It's All Fun and Games" challenge.

Enjoy ❤️

(See the end of the work for other works inspired by this one.)

Chapter 1: Departure

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Photo-Collage-Birthday-Instagram-Story-20250528-224958-0000

 

 

iMessage chat between Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington: 5:30 pm

Pen: Message when you’re done boarding 🤗

Colin: Flight has been delayed FOUR hours 🔪🔪🔪

Pen: BOOOOOOO

Colin: Fucking snowstorm from hell

Pen: Didn’t a wise woman once tell you not to plan flights in mid January? Who was she? Oh yes, c’est MOI

Colin: Mocking me in English AND French 😒 As I sit here and SUFFER

Pen: In a first class lounge you big baby

Colin: Alone. Forsaken!

Pen: You teething again, that’s why the tantrum?

Colin: Rude

Pen: True

Colin: You admit you were being rude?

Pen: No, true that you’re an infant

Pen: Enjoy the first class champagne and think of the peasants stuck in economy lounge

Pen: Packed like sardines, breathing in armpit sweat

Colin: That’s disgusting 🙂

Pen: Trying to humble you a bit

Colin: I’d rather you entertain me

Pen: I left my clown nose back at mum’s

Colin: Striptease video it is 😏

Pen: Not even if you put a condom over the phone screen

Colin: I’m not Ben! I am responsible and distinguished in my activities

Colin: I can show you the results of my last…screening

Pen: No thanks

Colin: PLEASE I AM BORED

Pen: I’m about to go to sleep!

Colin: at 5:30? 🤨

Pen: I’m having a baby

Colin: Mine?

Pen: Yes, it’s triplets congrats

Colin: With your curls and my eyes? 😍

Pen: What?

Colin: Please entertain me my darling Penelope

Pen: Don’t call me that

Colin: What? Penelope? That is your literal name that you were named at birth Penelope

Pen: Nevermind

Colin: Nevermind what darling? 😏

Pen: I hate you, go annoy Spain

Colin: I will stop being annoying if you play two truths and a lie with me

Pen: No

Colin: RUDE

Pen: You can’t handle power like that

Colin: Untrue

Colin: I can TOO handle power like that. It will immediately corrupt me but that’s because of my impeccable work ethic

Pen: You have seven people who are genetically obligated to tolerate you, please annoy them

Colin: Mean

Colin: I may be pretty but I have feelings, Pen

Pen: My fault for messaging you

Colin: It’s because a week with me isn’t enough for you. You know that

Pen: Do they charge you extra to bring that big head on board? 😊

Colin: Which head? 😏

Pen: Have a nice flight goodbye

Colin: Nooo come back I’ll behave!!!

Pen: Have never believed you less

Pen: Let’s just play the game so you stfu

Colin: I always wear you down, I don’t know why you resist

Pen: Already regretting my choices

Colin: I’ll start

Pen: Mhmm

Colin: Okay. My first kiss was absolutely dreadful, I plan to try skydiving in Madrid and Eloise is my favorite sister

Pen: Daphne’s your favorite

Colin: Mhmm

Pen: But that means your first kiss…

Colin: ……

Pen: What…your first kiss was dreadful?

Pen: You were mister popularity in secondary. Girls were poisoning each other to kiss you first

Colin: Yeah well…high expectations and all that. Your turn

Pen: What’re you hiding?

Colin: Your turn, Pen

Pen: Okay…

Pen: I’m 24 years old, I have slept with someone on a first date at least once, and denim blue is my favorite color

Colin: Denim blue is not your favourite color

Pen: …for two people who’ve known each other our whole lives, we suck at knowing each other

Colin: You’ve never slept with someone on the first date?

Pen: Is that surprising?

Colin: No, I guess…I don’t know

Colin: You seem fairly sexually liberated…

Pen: Sexual liberty doesn’t mean sleeping with people on the first date

Colin: I haven’t either so what would I know

Pen: No way in fuck

Colin: What is with your judgement of my personal life? First the condom and now being shocked I don’t sleep around?

Colin: Being a traveller doesn’t mean I’m screwing everything that walks

Pen: Woah. Why’re you snapping at me? It was a joke

Colin: Sorry

Colin: I just…just forget it, sorry. I’ll go

Colin: I’ve never seen the original Star Wars trilogy, I close my eyes at take-offs because they scare me, and I am thinking of moving back to England permanently

Pen: No way is your wanderlust satiated. You aren’t moving back to England

Colin: And if I were?

Pen: I was gonna judge you for not seeing Star Wars

Colin: Pen…the IMPORTANT takeaway please

Pen: Shit sorry. So are you really?

Colin: I am

Pen: Wow

Colin: Would that be a bad thing…?

Pen: No but you haven’t mentioned it to anyone yet…

Pen: That’s huge!!

Colin: I’m mentioning it to you

Pen: Does Violet know?

Colin: You’re the first

Pen: I am?

Colin: Hardly the first time you’d be first

Pen: Meaning what

Colin: Do your turn

Pen: But what does that mean?

Colin: Do your turn first Pen

Pen: Okay…

Pen: I’ve never had champagne, my longest crush has been ongoing for ten years now, and Ryan Gosling is my celebrity dream

Colin: stupid Canadian bastard

Pen: Loll your irrational hatred of him is a little ridiculous, you know that right?

Colin: Okay, I’m guessing you’ve had champagne

Pen: Finally got one right congrats. Your turn

Colin: Wait…a crush that lasted ten years?

Pen: No qualifiers

Colin: That’s a long time Pen

Pen: I am aware a decade is very long, yes

Colin: Who is it?

Pen: No

Colin: Why not

Pen: You got pissy about the sex life question and about me ‘being first’ whatever that means

Pen: Not giving you qualifiers

Colin: I see

Colin: Okay. I haven’t slept with anyone since Marina cheated on me, I’m 100 years old and my last name is Bridgerton

Pen: You haven’t…

Pen: But that was two years ago…

Colin: Yeah it was

Pen: I don’t understand

Colin: No sex for two years, not that complex

Pen: Colin…

Colin: What, shocked Mr. Worldwide isn’t a giant fuckboy?

Pen: I didn’t say that! I’m just trying to understand

Colin: I can’t…I can’t do sex without feelings

Colin: And most men my age can and you already know Ben and Ant fucked their way thorugh secondary and uni

Colin: I just…it doesn't work for me. I tried one night stands and it very literally didn’t work for me. I realized if I don’t love the person…

Colin: They made it feel like a manufacturing defect or something so I fucked off and started travelling so no one would keep an eye on my personal life

Pen: Colin…that’s so much

Pen: I’m sorry I judged…

Colin: It’s okay. I just don’t want YOU of all people to think less of me

Pen: Why me of all people?

Colin: Penelope

Pen: Col…come on…

Colin: Take your turn

Pen: Okay. Okay

Pen: My last name is Featherington, my ten year long crush is you and I’m going to Paris next month with Eloise for the weekend

Colin: You can visit me in Spain if you’re coming to Paris

Pen: Col…

Colin: Oh…

Colin: That’s…the lie?

Pen: Yes

Colin: So…

Pen: Yeah

Colin: Oh

Pen: Listen, if you’re okay by yourself now I should go

Colin: No

Colin: My turn

Pen: We don’t have to continue

Colin: My turn, Penelope

Pen: Okay

Colin: My favourite football club is Tottenham, my favourite meal is shrimp fried rice and when I said you were first before as well, I meant the first girl I ever loved

Pen: You’re allergic to shrimp…

Colin: I am

Pen: You love Tottenham

Colin: I do

Pen: Oh

Colin: Yeah

Pen: You’re coming back to England

Colin: I am

Pen: When?

Colin: Two months to wrap up my final contract

Pen: Okay

Colin: You said your crush was ongoing

Pen: I did

Colin: Yeah

Pen: You haven’t been with anyone since Marina…

Colin: No

Pen: Because you can’t…if you don’t love them?

Colin: No

Pen: You used ‘loved’ in the past tense

Colin: Poor grammatical oversight. It’s very much not past tense

Pen: If you came back

Pen: And we were to date

Colin: Yes

Pen: Would you be able to…

Pen: With me?

Colin: Yes

Pen: You didn’t even think about it

Colin: I’ve been thinking about it

Pen: It?

Colin: It

Pen: With me?

Colin: With you

Pen: Colin

Colin: Penelope

Pen: You’re back in two months?

Colin: I am

Pen: You’ll come to mine straight from the airport

Colin: Oh yes?

Pen: Yes

Colin: And why might that be Miss Featherington?

Pen: That two year streak?

Colin: Yes…

Pen: We’re ending it

Notes:

With love and gratitude to my beta Polinfickipedia 🫂

-Mary and Lou, I adore you both beyond belief. This is just a small token of my love 💙🐦‍⬛