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when the heart would cease (ours never knew peace) by weepingwillow713
Fandoms: Bridgerton (TV)
16 Jun 2026
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Summary
It begins, as most things do, rather innocuously. With a phone call.
A phone call that shocks Francesca from her deep sleep, blinking confused and discombobulated in the dark.
She registers her phone ringing on her nightstand with a jolt, and crawls out of the warm nest of blankets, flinging an arm over and answering without even glancing at the caller ID. Her voice is hoarse, brimming over with sleep as she clears her throat and mutters, “Hello?”
“Frannie,” Michaela breathes on the other end.
All of a sudden Francesca’s wide awake.
Or: Michaela’s apartment floods. She moves in with Francesca until it gets fixed. And that should’ve been fine, right? But Francesca’s used to her simple, quiet routine -– bookstore job, piano on the weekends -– and, well, there’s nothing less routine, less controllable, than Michaela. Except maybe the feelings Michaela stirs up within her.
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Summary
Michaela and Francesca's love story :,)
Featuring a mix of canon/author-created moments, a ton of angst, and all the Brigdy siblings.
Excerpt from Chapter 9: The Past SeeksMichaela reads of Francesca’s disappearance in the latest edition of Lady Whistledown.
...While Dowager Lady Kilmartin made quite the scene racing up the grand staircase at Lady Danbury's ball, the entire truth is even more sensational. Lady Kilmartin did not just flee the Ball of Shadows, but London itself. She left that very night for her primary estate in the Scottish highlands, leaving behind not only a stunned family but also an imminent proposal. Perhaps, this season proved too much too soon for the young widow...
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Summary
The balcony is empty. The air is thick with summer heat.
Michaela steps closer than she should. Francesca's legs part, almost reflexively, for her husband’s cousin. Michaela slips between them and rests her hands on Francesca's thighs.
She leans in. Francesca can smell the limoncello on her breath. Her nose brushes Francesca's cheek.
"Tell me it's killing you like it's killing me," Michaela whispers against her skin.
Francesca trembles. Her need pulses in her chest, her stomach, lower still.
"Please, Fran."
"We can't."
"I know. I know."
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Francesca Stirling is a high-powered Manhattan attorney on her eighth round of IVF. Her husband's cousin, Michaela, arrives for the summer and immediately upends Francesca's routines. When her husband leaves for a work trip to London, Francesca is forced to reckon with the woman she has spent years refusing to look at — and with the question of whether she can finally become herself without breaking the man who loves her.
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Summary
University AU where Francesa is supposed to be in a perfectly loving relationship with her boyfriend, John, with a sensible future of marriage and children on the horizon, right up until John's cousin, Michaela Stirling, returns from a sabbatical abroad and Francesa finds herself, suddenly, hopelessly curious about another woman in ways that are utterly nonsensical.
Now Francesa finds herself unable to stay away and trying very hard not to think about why telling Michaela she and John are dating feels like it would ruin everything. Surely keeping that little detail about her relationship status cannot be seen as lying if Michaela never asked. Right?
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Or, finding the courage to be yourself before it's too late.
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Summary
Francesca's and Michaela's broken hearts through the years and how they finally mend them