My Sweet Escape💕

But now I realize it’s important context that people are missing out on when it comes to the “planned entrapment” moment later when he’s upset.

I keep seeing people mad at him for saying that, and yeah it seems harsh until you really think of Colin’s pov. Here’s a guy who has already been caught up in an entrapment scheme, who’s felt the embarrassment of that once already, who found love with someone who made him want to tear off his armor and be himself and be wholly open and vulnerable with her, and he gives himself to her. He checks in with her every step of the way, because his biggest desire- his literal dream fantasy- is to feel that Penelope is on the same level as him, that everything is reciprocal. He waits for her to say she wants him back and to nod in the carriage, he waits for her to say yes keep going in the mirror, he asks her if she’s ready for the next step even when he’s literally naked and on top of her.

He gave Penelope multiple opportunities to stop him and he always backed off and respected her wishes when he did feel like he was overstepping her boundaries. He senses something is wrong with Penelope at different points post-carriage scene, and even checks in with her about that, afraid that he’s moving too fast for her and that she doesn’t reciprocate his feelings and just got carried away and doesn’t want him back. Penelope had chances to tell him herself and did not.

And then he finds out that the openness he felt with her was not reciprocated. That she’d been holding back and keeping secrets. That she didn’t trust him with all of her the way he trusted her with all of him. And because Pen didn’t tell him herself he has no way of knowing if she ever planned on telling him. She could’ve told him before she published a Whistledown column saying they were engaged. She could’ve stopped him before they had sex. She could’ve pulled him aside the same time she pulled Eloise aside when they panicked about Cressida (right before he caught her), to finally bring Colin into a situation that was rapidly spiraling out of control. She could’ve written Colin a letter since writing connects them, and she might’ve been able to express herself fuller on paper. Penelope made a huge mistake - can we just admit that sometimes Penelope’s problems are caused by Penelope’s actions? - and Colin felt betrayed by it. He realized this was weighing over them the whole time, and it hurts. It triggers everything in Colin that makes him feel useless, naive, foolish- all of his insecurities since he got tricked and then called a childish boy who needs to wake up back in S1/S2- and this time at the hands of the one person who he loves more than anyone else in the world. And who he STILL loves, which is why it hurts him so bad to think that she thought she couldn’t be honest with him.