Ruby Gillis x Gilbert Bylthe | swimming lessons
Last week, Josie Pye proposed to all of her classmates a trip to the beach. Of course, everyone was thrilled. It was june and the weather was warm enough for them to go for a swim.
Ten people announced themselves coming, most of them friends of Josie or at least people she knew a little. There was this one girl that wasn't exactly happy about it.
Ruby Gillis wanted to go so badly, but there was only tiny problem. She was the only one that had no idea how to swim. The blonde girl was too ashamed to say that out loud, so Ruby decided to stay quiet. Until, an unexpected person noticed how unusually quiet Ruby was.
Gilbert Blythe was the one to notice how incredibly sad she looked and he knew for a fact that it wasn't in her nature. Ruby was always cheerful and laughing, so when she stood all by herself during lunch time, Gilbert went to ask her what's wrong.
" Gilbert? What are you doing here?" she asked, a bit surprised when he sat down near her.
" I've only come to see what's up with you. You weren't yourself since Josie Pye said that we should go swimming tomorrow. "
Ruby avoided his gaze, looking anywhere but at him. How could she tell him the reason she was upset? It's pathetic. Maybe he'll laugh and Ruby Gillis couldn't take that from him.
" You don't look fine, Ruby, " the curly haired boy sighed, " I know we're not exactly best friends, but I'm sure you can trust me with whatever that's going on with you. "
" But you'll laugh, " Ruby murmured, barely audible, but luckily Gilbert understood what she said.
" I won't. I promise, " he assured her, looking around to notice they were the only ones left in the classroom, everyone else being outside, " Plus it's just the two of us here, anyway. "
After another three minutes of contemplating, the girl decided to say what was bothering her, the words coming out easier than expected, " I don't know how to swim," Ruby confessed, " I never had the chance to learn, unlike the others, my parents never took us to the beach since they couldn't keep an eye on all of us, " she explained, referring about how they were too many sisters for their parents to handle.
Without hesitating too much, Gilbert found himself talking, " What if we'd meet tomorrow morning and I'll teach you how to swim before the others get to the beach? "
Blinking in surprise, Ruby was speechless. Did she hear that right? Gilbert Blythe, her dream boy, just offered to help her with swimming? It was too perfect to be real, but it was. And Ruby couldn't contain her happiness.
" You'd really do that? For me?"
Gilbert nodded, " Of course. So see you in the morning, around nine?"
The following morning Ruby Gillis woke up early to make lunch for her and Gilbert, she arranged everything carefully in a basket and then went to pick her outfit for the day.
She told her mother about the little trip with her friends to the beach, so Mrs Gillis had prepared for her a nice swimming suit : it was a one piece, a light pink color, without sleeves and with shorts. It had some floral decorations, making it more elegant in a way. Ruby silently thanked her mother, before putting it on. The next clothing item she chose was a pink dress with small dots that she put over the swimsuit. Next, she got her shoes and walked out of the house.
It was a nice warm morning, the sun was already shining on the blue sky and the birds were singing in the trees. It was a splendid beginning of the day as Ruby would say. The girl was walking through the woods, it was a fifteen minute walk until she finally heard the waves of the ocean crashing into the rocks.
Gilbert told her to wait by the end of the woods, so that's where Ruby was headed to. From afar she was able to see his slim silhouette sitting near a tree. The girl smirked lovingly looking at him. He was early. She walked faster as the distance was getting smaller, her heart beat beating loudly.
" Ruby," the taller boy smiled turning his head to face the lovely blonde. The girl returned the smile, " Gilbert! Did I make you wait?"
Gilbert shook his head, moving a little further from the tree and walking to Ruby, " No, not at all! I just didn't want to make you wait, since this whole scenario was my idea," he chuckled reaching for the basket she held, " Let me help you with this and let's be on our way. I found a nice spot on the shore!"
Ruby let him take the basket, even if it wasn't really hard for her to carry either, but as he talked, Ruby got lost into his beautiful eyes. The two of them started walking slowly to the shore, one thing Ruby was surprised to see was a blanket nicely arranged on the soil with one more blanket on top, " You came here to arrange this?" she asked surprised.
" Uh, yes. I've been here for some time, " Gilbert chuckled. The one thing Ruby didn't know it was that he actually spent a lot of time searching for that spot. Gilbert woke up around five in the morning, his thoughts keeping him awake. He was nervous about this whole 'teaching her how to swim', so Gilbert took everything seriously and decided to impress her. What harm would be in that? They were just two friends spending their morning together.
Gilbert placed the basket on top of the blanket and looked down at Ruby, " So, you're ready?" he asked smiling. She only nodded, looking carefully at him as he took of his white shirt, " Well, I'm pretty much ready, " Gilbert shrugged, putting his shirt on the blanket and walking a little bit further away to give Ruby some privacy.
The smaller girl held her breath as she took off her pink dress, revealing her swimsuit. She knocked off her shoes and placed everything nicely near Gilbert's shirt, " I'm done as well," Ruby muttered. Gilbert turned around, his eyes widened a little at the sight of her. It was for one of the times that he just looked at her and saw her for how beautiful she truly was, " Nice swimsuit, looks good on you, " Ruby blushed looking at him, " Thanks."
Gilbert reached out his hand for Ruby to take, the girl was hesitant at first but then without questioning it anymore she grabbed his hand, he guided her to the water, warning the girl that it may be a little cold in the beginning. Ruby didn't say anything, she just looked at him mimicking his movements.As their feet touched the water, Gilbert let go of her hand and started to splatter himself with the water to get his body used to the temperature. It wasn't really cold, but their bodies were warm, so he knew better than jump right into the water.
Ruby followed his example and put some water on her hands and neck, " Now what?" she asked nervously, " Now give me your hand again and trust me. "
Ruby stared at him for a few seconds as if saying ' easier said that done ', but after a while she decided to take a leap of faith. Of course she trusted Gilbert Blythe, he was one of the two boys she trusted, the other being Cole Mackenzie. Ruby took his hand and followed him deeper into the water. She was a little scared and Gilbert noticed that when she grabbed his hand with both of hers.
" It's okay, Ruby, nothing will happen. I promise. "
" Okay, " she said, breathing deeply, " I trust you. "
As they adventured into deeper waters, Ruby couldn't help herself but try to drag Gilbert back to the shore, " I don't reach the sand anymore, Gil," she said scared, trying to pull him back, but of course her strength wasn't compared to his.
" Ruby, try to stay calm. Don't panick, all you have to do is keep moving your feet and hands as soon as you let go of my arm," he explained but seeing as Ruby's expression hasn't changed, Gilbert slowly pulled his arm away from her and moved away into the water, " If you keep moving your feet and arms you'll be able to swim to me, move them like this," he said, moving his arms as a demonstration, " See? It's not that hard. Don't think that your feet can't reach the ground. Just look at me. "
Ruby nodded slowly, closing her eyes for a few moments to try and calm her breathing. When she opened her eyes again she did as Gilbert told her. Ruby focused all of her attention on him and with slow and calculated moves she started going forward to him.
" That's great! You're doing it. "
The girl smiled as she almost was only a few centimeters away from Gilbert, but in a moment of not paying attention a small wave came straight to Ruby, hitting her face, some of the water getting in her nose and mouth making her cough. Gilbert rushed to pull her closer, letting Ruby wrap her arms around his neck.
Ruby nodded, opening her eyes only to see Gilbert's face a few inches away from hers. A deep shade of pink came across her cheeks as she looked into his eyes, " T-Thanks," she said wanting to pull her hands away put Gilbert stopped her, " It's okay. You can keep them around my neck until we get into smaller water. "
Gilbert let the waves push them closer to the shore until Ruby could touch the sand with her feet, " I think you can let go now, " he spoke softly, fixing his eyes on her face. As Ruby didn't make any move to distance herself from him, Gilbert smiled, " Ruby?" but the girl didn't reply, she just looked into his eyes, letting the world around her disappear, " Yes?" she said somehow dreamy.
He wanted to say again that she could let go, but looking into her eyes and seeing how much happiness was there Gilbert couldn't repeat those words. There were days when he'd look at Ruby when she wasn't looking and Gilbert knew how marvelous she was.And there were days when the boys would tease him about Ruby's crush on him, but Gilbert never believed those rumors. He never believed Ruby liked him. But now as he had a glimpse of her eyes, he could see something he never saw in any other girl's eyes. Something pure that made him want to make her happy.
" Nothing. It's just - uh, you have pretty eyes. "
Ruby giggled, "Thank you, Gil,"
Neither of them moved, they stayed in that sweet embrace until they started to get cold. That's when they got out of the water and decided to go sit on the blanket, " Here, " Gilbert said, putting the other blanket around their shoulders as he moved closer to Ruby. The girl was sure she was blushing again, but at this time it became something normal when Gilbert was this close to her, " Thanks for today, " she said, making eye contact with him, " There's no problem. I barely taught you anything, " he laughed dryly.
Ruby shrugged, letting her head rest on his shoulder. It was a peaceful silence between them. Gilbert was actually surprised the smaller girl wasn't talking, she was usually so talkative - almost as talkative as Anne, but now she wasn't saying a word. Gilbert looked down at her, noticing the huge grin on her face. So he grinned as well.
They had indeed a nice morning and their little piece of heaven was disturbed only when they've heard Josie Pye's voice, " Gilbert? Ruby? "
The girl pulled away from Gilbert, her eyes searching for Josie. She was at a few meters away from them, besides her sitting the other girls and boys from school.
" Since when are you waiting here?" Josie asked staring at their wet clothes. Gilbert got up from the blanket, leaving the mattress only for Ruby, " For some time, " he replied moving forward to greet the guys, " And Josie? You have some terrible timing, " Gilbert murmured looking back at Ruby.
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