Chapter Text
The house was dark. Not just unoccupied, but still. The kind of quiet that settles when a space has been empty for hours. Gregory Bridgerton let the heavy front door click shut behind him, the sound absurdly loud in the silence,
“Hello?” he called out, his voice echoing slightly in the high-ceilinged foyer. “Anyone home?”
Nothing. No distant shout from the library, no clatter from the kitchen. He’d just returned from a long walk through the park, the autumn air crisp and clearing his head. He’d expected to walk in on the usual Friday evening chaos—Hyacinth debating someone into submission, Benedict uncorking a bottle of something, Colin already raiding the pantry.
But there was only silence.
A faint prickle of unease traced its way down his spine. It was unlike his family to all vanish. He pulled his phone from his pocket, half-expecting a flurry of missed calls or texts explaining some last-minute plan.
The screen was blank. No notifications.
The prickle grew. Maybe they’re all upstairs? But the house felt empty. He checked the kitchen—spotless. The drawing-room—deserted.
Then he saw it. Or rather, he didn’t see it. The giant chalkboard wall in the kitchen, the one perpetually scrawled with Bridgerton nonsense—doodle battles, grocery lists, sarcastic reminders—was wiped completely clean. No note. No “Gone to ____!”. Nothing.
A hollow feeling opened up in his chest. He thumbed open his phone and went straight to the group chat named The Chaos Family.
Gregory: Hey. Where is everyone? The house is a ghost town.
The response was almost immediate. Three dots appeared, followed by a message from Hyacinth.
Hyacinth: Dinner downtown! The steakhouse! We’re on desserts!
The hollow feeling widened. He stared at the screen.
Gregory: …We?
Benedict: The usual suspects. We looked for you, little brother! Couldn’t find you.
Colin: Yeah, figured you were off on one of your walks. You know, ‘me time.’ Didn’t want to interrupt.
Colin: Full attendance: Anthony & , Benedict me & Daphne, Eloise,francesca and hyacinth is holding court. You missed a good ribeye.
Gregory’s thumb hovered over the screen. The casual list was a punch to the gut. Full attendance The complete set. Minus one.
We looked for you. But they hadn’t called. Couldn’t find you. But they hadn’t texted. Figured you wanted me time. It was the assumption that landed the hardest. The easy, casual conclusion that he would, of course, prefer his own company to theirs.
He was an afterthought. So forgettable that his absence was simply noted as ‘full attendance’ and his spot at the table wasn’t even missed. He was just… Gregory. The one who wasn’t part of the ‘we’.
He typed out a reply, then deleted it. Nothing felt right. Nothing could mask the sudden, aching loneliness that yawned inside him, right there in the middle of the dark, silent house that was supposed to be full of noise and life.
The ache in his chest solidified into a cold, heavy weight.
He didn't bother turning on the lights. He navigated the familiar darkness of the house by memory, the cheerful texts from his siblings burning behind his eyes.
Full attendance. The words echoed in the silence.
He climbed the stairs, each step feeling heavier than the last. His room was exactly as he’d left it—a sanctuary that now felt less like a retreat and more like an isolation ward.
He dropped his phone on the bedside table, screen down, unable to look at it.
Downstairs, the grand old house began to creak and settle around him, every sound magnified. A car door slammed outside, and for a wild second, his heart leapt—they came back for me—but the engine noise faded down the street.
Of course not. They were on desserts.
He changed out of his walking clothes mechanically, the numbness spreading.
This was a different kind of lonely than just being by himself. This was the loneliness of being forgotten.
He could hear their voices in his head, not as a comforting memory, but as a reminder of the noise he wasn't a part of. Colin’s booming laugh. Hyacinth’s humor etc . The united front of them all, together.
He didn’t cry. He just felt… hollowed out.
The feeling that had always been his birthright—that he was a Bridgerton, and therefore inherently wanted—had a crack in it now, and the chill of doubt was seeping in.
He picked up a book, but the words blurred. He stared at his ceiling. The evening stretched before him, long and empty.
He could text a friend, maybe. But the thought exhausted him. How could he explain?
Yeah, my massive family of seven siblings all went to a fancy dinner, and no one noticed I wasn't there.
It sounded pathetic, even to him and he doesn’t have many friends.
So he just lay there. Listening to the silence. Waiting for the sound of their return, dreading the cheerful, oblivious noise of it, and yet aching for it to finally fill the house and prove, in some small way, that he wasn't completely alone in the world.
The front door would open eventually. There would be laughter, the clatter of coats and keys, the debrief of the evening.
And he would have to decide.
Would he go downstairs and pretend everything was fine, swallowing the hurt to avoid an awkward scene?
Or would he stay in his room, forcing them to notice his absence for a second time that night, and risk them just assuming, once again, that he simply wanted to be alone?
And he bets they won’t even bring him back anything and they most likely forgot about him anyway all ready did they even feel bad
Do they even like him…….
END OF CHAPTER ONE
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Please let me know how you are liking it so far or just feedback and this chapter isn't my best work i feel maybe my Standards are to high and there are not many gregory stories like this or just gregory angst or a family one with gregory centered more coming soon and one ending no comfort one ending with comfort