Anne receives a gift from Mary upon her engagement to Gilbert...
Anne Shirley-Cuthbert-soon-to-be Blythe was daydreaming over fashion plates for her wedding when a knock came at the kitchen door. Breaking out of her reverie, she turned her head and saw Bash on the other side of the screen. Smiling widely, she got up and opened it.
“Bash, what a delightful surprise! Come in,” she told him, stepping back to let him through.
“Hello, Anne,” Bash smiled warmly as he stepped inside.
“Where’s Dellie?” she asked him, noting that the little girl wasn’t tagging along as she usually did.
“Running her Uncle Gilbert ragged, no doubt,” Bash answered, his grin widening. Anne laughed.
“Take a seat, would you like some of Marilla’s plum puffs?” she offered him.
“No, thank you, my dear. I only have a few minutes before I have to return.”
“I’ll pack you some to take back with you then,” Anne answered, bustling over to where Marilla kept her prize treats.
“So what brings you here, Bash?” she asked him as she placed the carefully wrapped puffs on the table.
“I’ve brought you a gift,” he told her, reaching into his vest. “From Mary.”
Anne fought the sudden lump in her throat at the name of the woman who’d taught her so much in the short time they’d had together. “Mary?” she whispered.
Bash nodded, his eyes briefly losing their light before he looked down at the envelope in his hand. A small smile appeared and he looked up at Anne, offering her the letter. “Seems my Mary could tell the future. She told me only to give you this letter if you were to marry our Gilbert. She had another one ready in case you married someone else.”
Anne gave a quick laugh before carefully accepting the letter. Holding it reverently, she found herself in awe at the thought that Mary had decided to write her a letter in addition to the ones she’d written her children. How had she found the time and energy to do all that? She raised her eyes to Bash. “Would you like to read it with me?” she asked him.
“That was the second part of the instructions,” he explained to her, “She wanted you to read it alone. So I’ll leave you to it, before Matthew and Marilla come home.”
Anne nodded, picked up the package of puffs, and gave them to him, holding the letter close to her heart. She held back the door and he gave her a tip of his hat before leaving.
When he was gone from sight, she closed the door and went to sit in her chair again. Moving the fashion plates aside, she put the letter on the table, crossed her arms, and rested her chin on top. She stayed like that for several minutes, just looking at the letter and absorbing its importance. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to open it, briefly considering that she would prefer to leave it in the state Mary had left it. Eventually, though, she accepted that she would have to open it–it had been one of Mary’s last wishes, after all…
Taking a deep breath, Anne slowly broke the wax seal, carefully pulled out the folded pages, and smoothed them out onto the table. Exhaling, she briefly closed her eyes before pulling the pages to her and beginning to read them.
“Dearest Anne,
If Bash has given you this letter, it means Gilbert has finally realized what is right in front of him and has wisely asked for your hand in marriage. I only hope he didn’t wait until he was 50 years old to do so.” Anne giggled a the quip, clearly imagining Mary’s voice as she would have said it.
“Bash and I have known for a long time that the two of you were meant for each other. Bash tells me that he knew Gilbert was in love with you the first time he mentioned you. Who knows, perhaps he was even a little in love with you before then!
Gilbert will make you a fine husband. He is your perfect match. Not only is he as intelligent as you are, but he is just as compassionate and loyal as you. The two of you will undoubtedly have a happy marriage.
But I still feel as if I should offer you some advice about married life…
First, make sure you tell each other you love each other each day. We never know how much time we have left.” Anne fought back tears and failed at the devastating reminder of how little time Bash and Mary had had together. It had been so unfair. She completely understood where that advice had come from. She wiped the tears from her eyes and took a breath before continuing.
“Second, there will always be fights. However, make sure to choose them carefully. Some battles might require a stalemate.” Anne smiled slightly. She and Gilbert had become experts at arguing in their school days. She felt they had a fairly good understanding of what their future fights would be like, but she’d store away Mary’s wisdom, just in case.
Third, never give up your sense of play and mischief. You’ll especially need it when the babies arrive.” Anne blinked at those words. Babies? As in more than one? Though she loved children, she’d done her fair share of child-rearing in her youth and wasn’t planning on more than perhaps one child. Two at most, so she supposed ‘babies’ was accurate…
Fourth, don’t try to change each other, it will only lead to heartbreak when those efforts fail. The only ones who can truly change us are ourselves.
And last, but not least, NEVER forget or surrender who you are. Should one of you lose sight of that, your relationship will only suffer.”
Anne reread the last two pieces of advice, committing them to memory. She couldn’t think of anything she’d want to change about Gilbert, but who knew what the future would hold in regard to that? As for losing sight of herself within the marriage, she’d long ago learned her feelings of worth resided within herself, but she would admit to having moments of weakness. But when those moments materialized, it was Gilbert who would more often than not remind her of what she was forgetting. She smiled softly and returned her attention to the next part of the letter.
“Now, I have a feeling Miss Marilla won’t be able to discuss the wedding night with you, so unless Diana has already taken the opportunity to discuss it with you, I feel it’s my responsibility to tell you what to expect…”
Anne slapped the letter face-down on the table, her face burning. She took several deep breath and fanned herself before cautiously picking it up again to read Mary’s matter-of-fact description of what the wedding night would entail–including a sketch in the margin of the male instrument so that, in Mary’s words, she “wouldn’t be too frightened by the sight”. Anne’s face burned even hotter at the visual. She was extraordinarily glad that no one was home with her at the moment. No wonder Mary had told Bash that she should read it alone! She could only imagine what Marilla would think if she saw the letter. Why, she’d likely have a conniption!
After calming down, Anne returned to the last part of the letter.
“Anne, marriage can be the most wonderful part of your life, but it requires hard work. If there’s anything I’ve forgotten, don’t hesitate to ask Bash or Mrs. Lynde, whose marriage is one of the happiest I’ve seen. I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to help you. I only wish I could be there as well.
Keep dreaming, dear girl, and live your life to its fullest. There will be hard times, but holding hands with Gilbert, you will persevere and flourish. Congratulations.
All my love,
Mary”
Anne wept at the beautiful gift she’d received. “Thank you, Mary,” she whispered.
Hello, I couldn’t help myself and I wrote another one-shot based on my complete obsession with the idea of a Shirbert love confession going down in the orchard.
Read it here on AO3! Sneak a peek below:
“I should probably go,” she said, stepping back from him. His gaze followed her, and she felt trapped in it, suffocated by the desire to reach for him, all the while knowing she must push him away, for his own sake. He was intoxicating, overwhelming, and she was torturing herself every moment she remained in front of him while his mother’s ring likely sat on another woman’s finger.
“Anne, if you’re not feeling well-” He reached for her, but she pushed his hand away. Tears stung at her eyes. She blinked furiously, fighting them back.
“Gil, please,” she begged him, her lip trembling. “Please stop.”
Because all I want is an AWAE take on The Ridgepole Scene(TM) but I don't have faith that we're going to get it so I'm writing it myself.
From Gilbert's pov
(ao3 link)
-
Gilbert sighed to himself. He was bored. In hindsight, he could’ve prevented this by simply staying at home to help Bash on the farm but once he heard Anne talking with Diana about going, he knew he had to attend too. They had become closer friends over the past few months. He knew it was silly of him to keep pining after her, even though she had never given him any hints that she wanted to be anything more than just friends, but he couldn’t help it. He wanted to be wherever she was. Which is how he found himself in Josie Pye’s backyard, bored out of his mind.
The entire class was there. A last day of school celebration. They were all sitting in a circle playing a class favourite-Truth or Dare. His classmates giggled in amusement after each turn, watching as Moody licked Charlie’s big toe, or gasping when Tillie revealed her crush on Paul L. Gilbert, on the other hand, could not find it in him to be entertained. Being at least 2 years older than most of his classmates, he often found that he had grown out of the activities they found amusing. At lunch, he generally took to reading a book inside the schoolhouse instead of heading outside with the rest of the boys to throw rocks at birds, or find girls to torment. He did, however, enjoy watching Anne whenever she was picked. He liked the way she would sit up straighter, with a determined look in her eyes whenever someone called her name, ready for whatever physical or mental challenge she was about to face.
It wasn’t until Jane dared Josie to walk the ridge of the fence that things started to escalate. Josie flounced her way to the fence and easily lifted herself onto the boards of the fence. She walked to the other edge of the fence with confidence, as if she had done it many times before. Hopping off at the other side and dusting off her hands, she strutted back to the circle with a prideful sway. Gilbert spared a glance at Anne and was not surprised to see the challenging look in her eyes.
“You know, Diana,” She started pointedly, speaking loud enough so everyone could hear.
“I don’t think it’s such a very impressive thing to walk a little, low, fence. I once knew a girl who could walk the ridgepole of a roof.”
“I don’t believe it,” Josie said, putting her hand on her hip, “I don’t think anyone could do such a thing. You most certainly couldn’t.”
It was then that Gilbert knew that things were about to get bad.
“Couldn’t I?” Anne countered.
“Fine then. I dare you to.” Josie smirked.
Anne blanched for the slightest moment. It was clear to Gilbert that she had not thought this through. He prayed that she wouldn’t go through with it. Prayed that she was sensible enough to realize that this was a death wish.
He was not shocked, though, when she stood up and confidently started walking to the ladder leaning up against the Pye house.
Both he and Diana scrambled to their feet and chased after her.
“Anne, no.” Whispered Diana. “You do not have to do this just because Josie Pye dared you to. Everyone knows it’s not a fair dare.”
“Thank you, Diana, for your concern but I can assure you that I know what I’m doing.” Anne replied.
“Anne, you can not climb up onto that roof. It is not safe.” Gilbert cut in.
“Gilbert Blythe, I do not need you to tell me what I can and cannot do.” Anne said, sharply.
“Anne-” He tried again.
“No!” She interrupted, “I am doing this and that is final. Now if you’ll please excuse me.”
Gilbert and Diana let her go. They both knew better than to argue with Anne once she made up her mind about something. It was useless and was more likely to only make things worse.
Gilbert watched as Anne reached the ladder. She paused for a moment before she grabbed to the first rung and began her climb. To anyone else, Anne seemed confident in herself as she ascended the ladder. But Gilbert knew what to look for. He noticed the slight tremor in her hands and the way her eyes widened slightly as she reached the top. He knew that she was not as nonchalant and collected as she pretended to be.
He held his breath as she took the first step of her on the ridgepole, arms spread out like an eagle for balance. Any other time, he would have admired the way her hair blew in the wind or how gracefully she placed her feet, one after the other. But now, all he could do was watch and pray that she would make it back to the ladder before he passed out from lack of oxygen. When she reached the other side and turned around to go back to the ladder, Gilbert relaxed a little. She seemed to be doing alright and it seemed possible that she would make it out unscathed. That was when she stumbled for the first time. The whole class audibly gasped and then let out a sigh of relief when she caught her balance. But the first slip up had made Anne lose her concentration and her rhythm. On the next step, her back foot slipped too far for recovery.
Gilbert’s whole world went fuzzy as he watched her tumble down onto the other side of the house. All he could focus on was how he shouldn’t have let her go up there. He should’ve tried harder to stop her, put up a better fight. He’d been an apprentice for Dr. Ward for a while now, he knew what could happen from a fall like that. And yet, he still let her do it.
He felt himself running around the house beside Diana, their classmates close behind them. She was there when he rounded the corner, laying still in a pile of bushes by the house. Diana reached her first.
“Anne, are you killed? Oh, Anne, dear Anne, speak just one word to me and tell me if you’re killed” Diana cried.
“No, Diana, I am not killed, but I think I am rendered unconscious.” Anne groans.
Relief flooded his body. He had never been so thankful before.
He lifted her out of the bushes with the help of Diana. That is when he noticed her limp on her right ankle. His jaw clenched and suddenly he was overcome with frustration. She had known exactly what she was getting herself into. She had known just as well as he had that it probably would’ve ended in disaster and yet, she still did it. She still put herself directly in harm's way and for what? To prove a point? He couldn’t believe her. He knew she was stubborn- heck, that was probably one of the qualities he admired most about her- but this was taking it too far.
As frustrated as he was, he knew he had to make sure that she got home alright, which is why he shot a reassuring look at Diana and then whispered to Anne, “I’ll take you home.”
He felt his classmates gawking at them- still in shock of what just happened- as they hobbled slowly down the driveway, Anne’s arm around his neck for support.
They walked down the lane, uncharacteristically silent. Normally he would’ve been attempting to cheer her up by telling her stories about Bash or his childhood but he couldn’t bring himself to speak, scared that he might say something out of anger that he would regret later.
This tense silence prompted Anne to speak up.
“I know you’re mad at me.” She began cautiously.
“Of course, I’m mad at you!” He finally burst. “Do you know how seriously injured you could’ve been? All for some silly bet?”
“But I wasn’t! I’m completely fine except for a rolled ankle that will heal in no time.”
“Your don’t have to prove yourself to everyone, you know. Was it really worth it to put yourself in such danger?”
“You heard her Gil, she was so smug, I couldn’t back down from something like that.”
They were stopped in the middle of the lane now, face to face.
“Do you never think about the consequences of your actions? What do you think would’ve happened if the fall had been worse? What would Marilla and Matthew have done? What would Diana have done? What would- what would I have done?” He whispered the last part.
She looked at him for a long moment before saying, “You’re right, Gil. It was stupid and I shouldn’t have done it. I’m sorry that I worried you.”
Gilbert smiled gently.
“Thank you.” He whispered.
Impulsively, he leaned down and kissed her forehead lightly. He heard her sharp intake of breath and pulled back to look into her eyes. They stared at each other for a moment before the corners of her lips tilted upwards.
With that, he picked her up bridal style, and continued towards Green Gables. He figured that it would be much faster if he was the only one doing the walking.
“Just promise that you won’t do something like that ever again.” He requested.
Summary: Years after the events of Season 3, a chance encounter in a bookstore brings Gilbert face-to-face with an old flame causing him to reflect on his new marriage. Features Anne and Gilbert being adorable newlyweds.
Words: 2,300+ read on: AO3
Rated: G
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“Oh, I’m ever so nervous,” an elegantly dressed woman moaned, her astonishing auburn hair coiffured into a fetching knot at the back of her hair.
A handsome man with unruly dark curls was watching her amusedly, his hands in his pockets. “Really, darling? I couldn’t tell.”
Anne Shirley-Cuthbert, recently Blythe, shot her husband a dark look before resuming her pacing. “What if no one comes?” She continued her fretting as though he hadn’t interrupted. “What if I go to speak and I open my mouth and nothing comes out? Has anyone ever been booed off the stage at a book reading?”
Gilbert Blythe had seen his wife in many a heightened state before—happiness, anger, righteousness, and sadness—but he was sure he’d never seen her this nervous before. “Anne, no one is going to boo you off the stage,” he assured her, stopping her pacing by placing his hands on her shoulders. “If anything, you should be preparing for your encore.”
Anne sighed softly, “That’s perfectly optimistic of you, but who’s going to encore little ol’ me?”
“Well,” said Gilbert playfully, taking up her hands in his. “I happen to know there’ll be a certain gentleman in the audience who’s scandalously in love with you.”
Anne laughed, catching on. “If that’s the case,” she said, “You best be sure to tell that gentleman that I am a happily married woman, but I thank him heartily for his enthusiasm.”
They exchanged enamored smiles, and Gilbert found his thumb unconsciously rubbing over the pearl ring that sat on her dainty finger.
Anne’s smile wilted a little as she took in their surroundings. It was a charming bookshop right in the heart of Boston, with a little podium at the front and rows and rows of chairs lined up facing it. Any other time she would have been thrilled to be there, but there was just one thing spoiling the otherwise perfect day.
“Oh Gil, I hope you’re not too disappointed we had to cancel our wedding trip for my book reading.”
“Disappointed?” Gilbert repeated, his brow furrowed. “Far from it! Anne, I love you more than anything. You know that we could be taking a trip all the way to the moon, and it wouldn’t matter so long as I was with you. This book is an amazing achievement, and I couldn’t possibly be prouder of you.”
Anne blushed prettily, complimenting her pale skin. “Dr. Blythe, please don’t say such things in public when I’m forbidden from showing you exactly how much I appreciate them.”
“Apologies, Mrs. Blythe,” Gilbert said, his smirk belying his contrite words. “It won’t happen again, I swear.”
The distance between them had become scant, and Anne’s lips were tantalizingly close enough that if he just dipped his head a bit, he would be able to press his mouth to hers. Ever since their wedding, it had become almost impossible for Gilbert to keep his hands, and lips, off of his bride. It was especially difficult when one had an equally willing and eager bride such as he did. Said bride was looking at him with coy green eyes that conveyed she didn’t truly mind a break in propriety.
He would have been happy to oblige her but there was a sudden clatter and ringing of a bell as the shopkeeper, a pleasantly plump woman in her late 50’s, hustled inside, shutting the door behind her. She gave a squeak of excitement as she spotted Anne and Gilbert, who parted reluctantly and with some embarrassment.
Mrs. Winthrop seemed too distracted to notice. “Oh, Miss Cuthbert—Oh, my apologies! Mrs. Blythe! There is quite the crowd gathering outside for your reading. Shall I start letting them inside?”
Anne swallowed, her hold on Gilbert’s hand tightening, but she managed a polite smile. “Yes, Mrs. Winthrop,” she said, “I suppose it’s almost time to begin.”
Anne turned away and looked up at Gilbert with renewed apprehension. He smiled and placed a kiss on her forehead.
“You’ll be sensational, darling,” he told her confidently. “If you need any encouragement, just look for me. I’ll be right in the back, the whole time.”
She took a deep, calming breath and nodded. Gilbert watched as she made her way to the front of the room, smoothing down non-existent wrinkles on her dress. He wanted to be up there with her, but this wasn’t his moment to be in the spotlight, it was hers: her very first book reading of her very first published book. He was just about bursting with pride.
He stepped off to the side as Mrs. Winthrop opened the front doors. Almost immediately, people started trickling in: children pulling parents along, young men and women of college age, and even a few older folks with a gleam of adventure in their eyes. The children clamored to the front of the room to get good seats, each clutching a copy of the new book in their hands, talking excitedly amongst themselves.
Soon, all of the seats were filled, leaving many to stand along the sides. It was an incredible turn out, and a smile came over Gilbert's face as he spied Anne kneeling to talk to some children up near the podium, all signs of nervousness gone. She has a wonderful way with children, Gilbert thought to himself. Someday...
“Gilbert Blythe?”
Gilbert turned at the sound of his name to see a fair-haired woman, a little older than him, making her way through the crowd towards him. When she was finally in front of him, he was shocked to meet the brilliant blue eyes of Miss Winifred Rose of Charlottetown.
“Winnie?” He asked, incredulously.
She was the last person he ever expected to see in Boston, let alone that particular bookshop. It had been more than a few years since they’d last seen each other, and they hadn’t exactly parted on amicable terms. What did you say to the woman you’d once courted and almost proposed to?
“Ah ha, so it is you!” Winifred said triumphantly. She was just as statuesque and stylishly dressed as she was when they'd first met. Her eyes appraised him admiringly from top to bottom. “Gilbert Blythe, as I live and breathe! My, my, you’ve grown into quite the handsome man, haven’t you?”
Gilbert laughed, put at ease by her friendly demeanor. “And you’re even more lovelier than I remember,” he replied. “If I might ask, what are you doing in Boston?”
“Oh, I live here now,” said Winifred. She flashed her wedding ring flippantly. “My husband is heir to a shipping enterprise that calls Boston its home port. I’ve been here, why, it must be at least two years now, though we like to travel back and forth between Paris, depending on the season. But enough about me, dear Gilbert, I am very surprised to happen upon you in this bookshop. What brings you to Boston from far away P.E.I.? Are you here for the book reading?”
“You could say that,” Gilbert hedged with a smile. “The author is my wife.”
“Your wife?” Winifred echoed, in a tone that was somehow both surprised and pleased. “How extraordinary! I had not the slightest idea A.S. Cuthbert was a woman! But, who—?” She wondered, casting her eyes towards the front of the room. A small gasp escaped her as she beheld Anne, standing near the podium, speaking to Mrs. Winthrop now. “Is that—oh, but it is! Your Anne from Avonlea?”
“A.S. Cuthbert—Anne Shirley Cuthbert. Anne Blythe, now,” Gilbert added, sure he would always get a certain thrill out of saying the words. He watched Anne smile at Mrs. Winthrop, her face lighting up, and felt his own smile grow. “Her publisher insisted that she use a nom de plume for a least her first couple of books, and Anne was so enchanted by the idea of having a nom de plume that she actually agreed to it. She started writing the book shortly after we got engaged, while I was away at medical school and she was teaching, so it’s been almost a three year process.”
“Her book has become quite popular here in the States,” Winifred informed him. “You must be very proud.”
“Proud is almost too insignificant a word,” he said absentmindedly, his gaze still focused across the room.
After a moment’s silence, he realized how rude he was being and looked away from his wife to find Winifred studying him with an indulgent smile on her face.
“Love looks good on you, Dr. Blythe,” Winifred observed. She chuckled to herself. “You know, back when you broke things off with me, I thought, well, he’ll be back in a couple weeks, but you never did come back.”
“Winifred, I’m so sorry,” Gilbert started to say, but Winifred cut him off.
“Oh dear, don’t apologize!” She laughed, patting his hand. “You didn’t wound me, only my ego perhaps. It was good of you to call the whole thing off before there were any commitments made. We wouldn’t have suited each other in the end. And besides, Anne was always your destiny. I see that now.”
Gilbert smiled, glad that there were no hard feelings between them. “I’m really happy I ran into you again, Winifred.”
“As am I, Gilbert,” she replied. Her blue eyes were wistful, yet sincere as she regarded him. “I wish you and your Anne all the happiness in the world. Now, the reading looks to be beginning, and I left my niece and nephew with their nanny, so let me rejoin them. I trust I can count on you to reintroduce me to your wife later in order to procure a few signed copies?”
“Of course,” Gilbert readily agreed.
Winifred nodded in farewell and wound her way through the crowd to find her seat. Gilbert shook his head, thinking back to those turbulent years of his youth when he was sure Anne would never care for him the way he did for her. Winnie had been beautiful, witty, and easy to be with, but there’d been one crucial flaw: she wasn’t Anne.
The thing about Anne was that she had challenged him like no one else in his entire like, and not just in regards to schoolwork; she had pushed and shaped him into becoming not only a better man, but a better human being. She was pure light and warmth, and Gilbert had always been turned to her like a plant to the sun. Their love had been hard fought and full of obstacles, mostly of their own making, but he wouldn’t change their story for anything.
“Attention everyone, attention!” Mrs. Winthrop called at the front of the bookshop, jolting Gilbert back to the present. Everyone in the audience ceased their chatter, an air of anticipation among them. “It is my great pleasure to introduce you to the author of The Many Adventures of Cordelia Fitzgerald, Miss A.S. Cuthbert!”
Mrs. Winthrop started clapping and the rest of the crowd joined in, Gilbert included, as she motioned to Anne to come forward. Anne stepped up to the podium, and Gilbert could tell even from the back of the room that her nerves had returned in full force. Her wide eyes searched the audience until they found his at last. He mustered every ounce of love and assurance he could into his expression, giving her an encouraging nod that hopefully read, You can do this .
She nodded back, taking a deep, steadying breath. Before his eyes, she transformed into the poised, confident woman he knew her to be.
“Thank you so much, Mrs. Winthrop,” she said, a bright smile on her face as she surveyed the audience. “And thank you all for joining me here today. It makes my heart swell a hundred times over to see that Cordelia has struck a chord with so many people. She helped me get through a very rough time in my childhood, and for that, I’ll always be indebted to her. So, without further ado, The Many Adventures of Cordelia Fitzgerald.”
Anne dove into the first chapter with the same charisma and gusto she always had when doing a recitation. The fact that it was her own writing she was reading was awe-inspiring to him. He, who had read and helped edit the book too many times to count, followed along mentally, focused entirely on Anne’s animated face as she spoke. The audience was equally enthralled, with Anne’s voice being the only sound in the room besides the turning of pages as they read along with her.
As she finished the chapter with a flourish, the assembly burst into applause, and Gilbert whistled exuberantly through his fingers. True to his word, he called for an encore, and his cheer was soon taken up by the rest of the crowd. Up at the podium, Anne smiled, practically laughing with joy and relief, her sparkling eyes finding his again across the room. He winked at her, grinning widely as she returned the saucy gesture with a wink of her own.
“Very well, very well, I’ll read the next chapter, if that will satisfy you all?” Anne asked playfully to raucous cries of approval.
He couldn’t tear his eyes away from her as she began the next chapter. They’d been married for two weeks, and sometimes he felt like he’d wake up and it’ll all have been a wonderful dream. Every morning he woke up with her in his arms he thanked his lucky stars that he had followed his heart all those years ago and not given up on Anne, even when he’d stupidly thought he had every reason to. He’d made a choice then, one that had felt hard at the time as a young man with so many expectations weighing on him. But watching his beautiful, passionate wife up there at the podium, fulfilling her dreams, he knew he would make the same choice over and over again, in any lifetime, in any universe.
Fanfics i would Love to read but not talented enough to write them myself...
.... fanfics... or even better if that was actual scenes in season 4!
1. Gilbert seating on the train writing a draft of his letter to Anne, getting emotional, passionate not noticing old lad seating next to him with his wife looking at eachother smiling at young love. Telling him a short story of their love and how they have been separated and how they would suprise eachother by visiting every now and then.
2. Anne talking to Diana and deciding not to tell anyone about her and Gilbert before she actually speak with him... which later on will pay of in girls faces when they see them kissing lol
3. Anne receiving her first letter from Gilbert and being over the moon, sending her own letter straight away and meeting young intelligent boy at the post office which turnes out is at queens aswel.
4. Gilbert and Anne meeting new people, having their lessons and studies and writing little notes to add their letters, collecting little flowers, making it very personal.
5. Gilbert being jealous over this new boy which Anne mentioned in 3 letters already. Doing extra work to finish his studies few days earlier to travel to Charlottetown and see Anne.
6. All girls seating outside, learning, talking romance, Anne and Diana giving eachother side looks because nobody knows about Gilbert yet... Anne getting very emotional she havent seen Gilbert in 2months while Ruby talking about daily walks with Moody.. her eyes tear up, girls are like ohh r you ok Anne when one of them look up from their blanket and bw like: oh, Gilbert whatever you doing here...
Anne jumped up straight into his arms, he swings her around in a massive hug, then they about to kiss, tios of their lips about to touch when Diananotice Girls faces and goes like: uhmm
Gilbert and Anne look at all the suprised girls, get a bit shy, Gilbert let's Anne out of his tight hug and they stand there looking at eachother for short while, Gilbert is like: ladies... if you dont mind I would like to steal Anne for a... looks at Anne not knowing what to say, but she finish his sentence for him: tea! There's certain matters we need to discuss with Gil... with Mr. Blythe... she says while looking at Gilbert's dreamy eyes... Girls being so confused and shocked by whole situation just nods while they walk out through back gate.
7. The moment they are away enough from girls and the boarding house Gilbert swing Anne in the air again with the cutest smile, she laughs, then they step to the side of little quiet road and he kiss like theres no tomorrow...
Talk about their studies... then walk past tea house and Gilbert is like, oh we are here and Anne look at him with a cheeky smile... shes like oh we are not really going to have a tea are we.. its dull and full of boring people.. Gilbert laughs at memory of being awkward with Winfred at one of them tea houses.
Anne takes Gilbert to one of her favourite parks, they walk by the water.. theres a small patch of grass surrounded by trees, Sun sneaking through the branches, they are finally alone and kissing and cuddling... they sat on the grass talking, laughing, simply staring into eachothers eyes... they lie down cloud gazing playing with each hands, hair...
8. Gilbert walking Anne back to her house, talking about leaving to Avonlea and telling everyone, both but stressed about their families reaction... they stop by the gate to avoid Anne getting kn trouble, hold eachothers hands. Gilbert's is like: so... we are... courting? Its official! Anne gives him a shy smile: I still cant belive it... Gilbert gives her a soft kiss and tells her he will come and see her at queens next day so the can travel together back to Avonlea.
9. Anne back to her room where she is immediately flooded by questions from all the girls... You kissed him, he kissed you in public, oh that's nothing like Gilbert we knows.. Anne stands there waiting for them to calm down and simply just say: I'm in love with Gilbert Blythe for a while now, and what I recently been informed about, hes been (she srops realising he never actually said he loves her...) ... having feeling for me aswel, for a while... we will be seeing our families tomorrow as we are offering courting.. girls get all hyped, asking questions if hes a good kisser Ruby throws a little comment that she actually always was confused when she thought hes looking at her but it was more like he was staring at Anne and that shes happy for her...
(Sorry... long list... I didint realised km so needy and desperate for fanfics 🙈)
10. All Anne can think if at school is fact that she is going to see Gilbert very soon and they will travel together back home...
She bumped into her friend, Roy which btw also have feeling for her and jokingly often admits he thinks Anne's is the most beautiful girl at queens etc... which Anne is ignoring as all she thinks of Gilbert and studies.
They walk out of school together, Roy lean and whisper somwthkng into Anne's ear, she laughs and notice Gilbert, wave at him, theyvwalk towards eachother. Gilbert's jaw is pulsing, hes jealous. Anne introduces them to each other and Gilbert have a little flashback to when he was introducing Winnie to Anne and disint know how to refer to Winfred, Anne did almost the same thing as it's actually first time she have to introduce Gilbert as her bou. Boys shake their hands bit stronger than they should, Anne says goodbye to Roy and her friends, Gilbert then offers her his arm to hold on to while looking at Roy standing and watching them walk away.
11. Gilbert is bit confused and worried, he isnt talking much on the way back, Anne is so excited shes doing most of the talking.. she noticed Gilbert acting wierd and asks, he then have tiny emotional tantrum and tells her he doesnt like the way this Roy guy is into her... she laughs and tells him theres nothing there, beside the only person she cares about... she ... loves its Gilbert.. he smiles, hold her hand... she then get a bit worried because its been 3 times when she said it out loud she loves him and Gilbert didint say it back.
12. They decided to invite Gilbert's family for dinner to Green Gables and then tell them together so when they get out of the train and see Matthew they being careful not to look to excited. Matthew offer Gilbert a ride back home and noticed little looks between Anne and Gilbert.
13. The dinner ready, Gilbert, Bash and Deli arrives at Green Gables, all the way Bash was giving Gilbert side looks with a cheeky smile and asking what so important they have to go to dinner tonight and not some other day... Gilbert just smiles and says its was Anne's idea on their way back from train station.. Marila opens the door calling for Matthew and Anne..
Anne come downstairs, Gilbert gets up with the most hearty eyes, theyblook at eachother for a while, and everyone e in the room glance at Anne then Gilbert, Marila and Bash look at eachother with a smile, Matthew looks a little bit concerned...
14. Anne stand in the middle of the room, Gilbert walks to her with a smile, turn around and stand by her side, they look at each other with a shy smile, he then pick up Anne's hand and while holding it dearly in his both hands he say something like: Marila, Matthew, Sebastian... Delphine (with a little smile as she giggle at he uncle)
We have some news, I mean... I would like to ask your permission first, ofcourse... uhmm
I would like to ask your permission to court with Anne... uhm... we recently discovered we both... have feelings for eachother... (Anne give him a concerned side look as again he wont say he loves her)
I needs to know if you Marila and Mathew gives us your... blessing..
They look at each other, Marila stands up, walked to them, hold their hands with tears in her eyes saying that shes so happy for them and their happiness and love is what matters... Bash alsongwts up and hug Gilbert with biggest smile saying he knew it and that he is so happy for them.. Anne then looks at Matthew which looks a bit sad.. gilbert then says: Matthew?
And hes like: if Anne's happy I am aswel, gets up and shakes Gilbert's hand, Anne hugs him.
15. They all seating alntalking, laughingnover the dinner table, Anne playing with Deli and Gilbert joining her, Matthew and Marila getting emotional as this is another big step towards losing their precious Anne.
16. Bash joking around, quietly saying to Marila about them behaving like perfect parents. Matthew then walking out but emotional.. Both Anne and Gilbert looking at eachother, Anne wanted Ringo but Gilbert telling her to stay and walking out behind Matthew. Then having a heartwarming conversation, telling Matthew how much he cares for Anne.
17. Anne kissing Gilbert goodbye and Bash seeing it, making comments about it on their way back home.
18. Anne and Gilbert going for walk... Gilbert being cheeky and keep touching Anne's hands, hair, face... talking about feeling when Anne suddenly tear up and tells him she wants to go back home, take a turn thru the woods, Gilbert all confused ran after her asking what's wrong, She then have a little go at him that shes scared he dowsnt really love her because it's been months and he never actually said he loves her... he then loom into her eyes, hold her face in his hands and tells her: I am in love with you Anne, my Anne with an e, I'm in love with you since i remember, it's always been you Anne...
He kiss her then and after the kiss shes all like: but why dont you say it..
He looked at her with sad eyes: I'm afraid of losing you Anne, most of people I ever loved are gone... I cant lose you Anne, I... love you to much, it hurts just thinking about losing you...
He seats on fallen tree, tell her a story of his mothers death while giving him birth, of his brothers dieing one after another to illness... then his father.. and dear Mary... he opens up and cry while she listens and hold his hand.
She then tells him how much sorry she is for being selfish and forcing him to say it, but he wont mind as it's been a while since he could open up like this and it feels so right to talk to his Anne.
They hug and talk about how Mary would be happy for them, Anne recalls his father and fact he said he herd alot about her and Gilbert getting all shy saying he told him alot abt Anne because even then he would not stop caring about her, back then he wasnt sure what it was, it was pulling him towards Anne, only recently he realised it's always been love...
Then they say it together and laugh...
19. As they are walking out of the forest Anne tripped and fall into a ditch, Gilbert laughs recalling the day Marila was talking about Anne in the ditch, asking her if that's how her adventures looks like and as shes a bit upset with him at first she also laughs saying he is her biggest adventure now...
20. Then as he helps her out, they stand and laughs, he gives her a soft kiss, Rachel Lynde watches it from nearby as she was just walking back from ms. Stacy's...
All shocked she rushed to Green Gables to talk to Marila... Markla gives he a little talk about being young and in love and maybe if she would listen to her heart she would be married now... as they talk Anne and Gilbert walks into the kitchen laughing... they both look ar Rachel bit scared of her comments.. but she gaze at Marile for short while thinking, then she gets up, walkes to them and congratulate them with a little cheeky comment about kissing...
21. They are back to their schools, emotional and full of love goodbyes, girls sneakily watching them and giggling...
22. Series of letters, Roy finding one of Anne's letters she left in one of her books he borrowed... then making a declaration.. Anne feeling overwhelmed as she does like Roy alot and woildnt want to ruin their friendship... bit of an argument between Anne and Gilbert, Roy trying to kiss her and she slapping his face...
23. Christmas back in Avonlea, together one big happy family... Anne and Gilbert sneaking out at night to spend time together... kissing and rolling in the barn...
24. Anne having a flashback from orphanage and Gilbert asking what's wrong, atvfitstvshe doesn't want to tell him but one night they talk and she opens up and tells him everything, about being bullied and treated like trash... about her imagination helping her get trough... about how broken she always felt and never couldn't even imagine being loved, and having so many loving people in her life... she would tell him about how worried she was her parents have her away because they disint love her as she was an ugly redheaded baby... Gilbert then kisses her single messy braid and tells her how much he loves her red hair and how much he Hope's their children will have same hair as her.. she then freaks out a little because she never actually thought about children and the way Gilbert talks it sounds so natural for him... she then look at him with a smile: out babies?
And gilbert is like: oh gosh, I I didint meant to scare you... but.. dont you think about... our future Anne? Coz I do.. alot he admits with a bit shy face..
She then say she only imagine their future together but she never actually thought about children... he get a bit stressed but then she adds that now he mentioned it, she also is looking forward to having a child, maybe two... they laugh and joke about it a little ... Bash and Ms. Stacy get married which course outbreak but after several years of secretly meeting and falling more in love they decided to go against the system. She ends up losing her job as a teacher but she writes books and articles to newspapers instead while pregnant with their first child. She also moves in with Bash his mother and Deli as Gilbert told Bash that after school he wont be living with them anymore. Elijah moves out as he met lovely girl himself, got married and lives outside Charlottetown, visiting them often and always helping with the harvest.
25. New years eve, theres a ball, dancing, beautiful scenes of them having fun together... Gilbert taking Anne back to green Gables.. he turn towards the cliffs... they walk together to the cliffs end, stand there looking into stars, he then drop on his knee, holding a ring, a beautiful ring and ask her to marry him, which she obviously say yes to.
26. Time skip with a bit of letters between them and their lives at school etc... suprised visits and going back home..
Matthew having another heart attack, being bed stuck, Jerry rushing to get a doctor but it's to far and they wouldn't make it, Matthew dieing with Anne and Marila by his bed... Gilbert coming to Avonlea back from his practice next day, Bash tells him what happened,bhe rush to Green Gables and Fojnd Anne in awful state.. Jerry explain to him he went to fetch the doctor from other town but it was to late... he apologise to Anne for not being here, she tells him it's not his fault... but he feels responsible for not being close to his family... he decides to come back and be a town doctor after all his school and practice is finished...
28. Anne after getting approval from mrs lacroix (stacy) applied and got the job as a teacher in Avonlea school, helping Marila as shes still very unstable after losing Matthew.
29. Then beautiful wedding in Avonlea... Marila crying.. Anne missing Matthew dearly.. lots of memories, laughs and dancing...
30. When Anne got the job as a teacher she also got the house ms Stacy useto lived in, she decided to stay at green Gables until theh get married but she got the house already for them week before the wedding.
They get back home, to their very own home, Anne is so happy it's in the woods as she always felt special connection to nature...
They have wonderful night and sweet love making, both happy in eachothers arms, enjoying the rest of their life together...
Gilbert suggest to Anne that she could write a book same as ms Stacy which she starts very next day...
31. Another skip in time... Anne giving birth, Gilbert doing his best, baby is breached, hes scared of losing Anne, of losing them both. Marila is there aswel... Baby is finally born but it isnt crying... Gilbert pass the baby to Marila and take care of Anne... she walks out quickly to check on the baby as therws still not a single cry in the house, Anne is bleeding alot, but asking for her baby... he walked in to the kitchen Marila standing there crying, he take baby if her hands and wrap aswel, their very first baby, product of their undying love didint survive the labour... he hugged his child pressing him to his chest, kissed his head... he then walked back to Anne's room... Marilenherd loud moan and deep desperate cry, shes crying herself... Gilbert asked if Anne wants to say her goodbyes. She said yes and hold her baby in her arms crying... they gold a little funeral two days after... Anne is devastated... her and Gilbert having a breakdown together crying...
32. Two years later Gilbert find himself worrying for his wife's life once agin... it was hard for them to decide tontryvfor another baby... Anne wanted it and now Gilbert is scared to death about his Anne and baby to come. Luckily this time everything went smoothly with mo single complication, baby cries and they both hold it together crying of happiness.
Then years later Anne writing another book, while their children are playing together outside of green Gables... Marilas dying wish was for Anne ro have Green Gables, it was her home and she wanted Anne and her family to live happy life in there...
Gilbert is backnfeom work, they seat on the porch, drinking tea, looking at eachother with hearty eyes, talking about their achievements kids keep running up to them, hugging and kissing them. They smile, stand up watching their 6 children being cheeky.
I love you Carrots...
I love you to Gil...
Then they kiss with even more passion than ever...
The end...
Gosh that possibly the longest post I ever wrote... when I started I had only abt 15 ideas... but as I wrote more and more... even more ideas came to my head... sorry for a long bit messy read... just wanted to share some of things that kept me awake since we found out about s4 being cancelled...
Anyway.... hope you enjoyed it... sorry for any mistakes... will proofread tomorrows as today its been a while since I started writing this...
The World Was to Me A Secret Which I Desired to Divine
Anne with an E | Shirbert
Rated G | Oneshot (3k+ words) | Complete | Read on AO3
Writing prompt: Anne asking Gilbert to accompany her to Charlottetown @lilyterrace
Or Anne rides to the Blythe farm to look after Delphine and ask Gilbert to chaperone. Only, most of the time her feelings get the better of her, leaving both of them with unresolved feelings in their wake.
“Oh, Belle I must admit to you that I didn’t even dare to envision Marilla would let me go on my adventure -,” Anne bend forward to stroke the chestnuts mane and sighed deeply, “Although of course, I’m ever so jubilant that she did!”
She let her eyes wander over the landscape before looking to the horizon up ahead. If she squinted hard enough she could pretend to spot the Blythe-Lacroix farm. Solely the thought of asking Gilbert to accompany her to Charlottetown gave her goosebumps and made her fingertips tingle in anxiety. Yet there was no point in overthinking it, as he was one of the only reasons Marilla had even allowed to let her go. Anne could worry about a way to convince him to chaperone her on the train the entire day while helping Mary out.
Reminding herself of the true purpose of her visit, she shortened the reins and let Belle leap into a gallop.
Images of fairies with gowns as colourful as a flower field and creatures as fast as the wind arose in front of her eyes and fled past her, their faces frightful and their fine fabrics blowing in the wind like veils. In her mind, a black knight emerged from the woods. His sword was glinting in the morning sun and unearthly shadows were crawling at his feet.
Their eyes met across the barren field.
A cold shiver ran down her spine as she clung to the reins and felt her heart pounding in her chest. She couldn’t help but stare at his strange form and the black liquid oozing out of his mouth. Two black holes were where his eyes were meant to be, seeking to consume her wholly.
From time to time even her fantasies, her sacred heaven terrified her to the bone.
It took her longer than usual to snap out of the daydream and the remnants of her imagination kept sticking to her skin like honey. Lately, it felt like her mind was turning into her prison. Dreams turned into nightmares or worse, reality. Ever since the day she was asked to present her lineage in class, she couldn’t stop doubting herself and which ones of her memories were real and which ones were fabricated.
Anne questioned her existence, her heritage but most importantly her mind. She questioned the one thing she had always been able to rely on, the one thing she had always trusted more than life itself. Thus demolished the walls of her safe haven, made her stumble and had her reaching out towards the darkness outside these walls. For the first time, she was stripped off her imagination and without Katie alongside her. She was alone.
Only when she could make out the rotten fence to the farm’s border in the mere distance, did she feel composed enough to let Belle slow down and look back. Anne breathed deeply, a single tear running down her cheek as she laughed with relief. The nightmare had vanished and taken the knight with it.
Wiping her face clean of tears she made the horse fall into a trot, lastly being able to shake the remaining drops of honey off of her.
Mary and Bash greeted her with bright smiles mere seconds after Anne had knocked on the door. She glanced over her shoulder at Belle, noticing her head sticking out of the stable window and stepped inside.
Immediately, she was drawn into a loving embrace by the Lacroix family. Their warmth spread through her body and laughter erupted out of her as they began to sing a birthday serenade.
As tiring as it might be to look after Delphine, spending time with her as well as her parents was one thing Anne would never want to trade for anything in the world.
Her eyes roamed around the kitchen and fleetingly up the stairs. There was no use in fooling Bash as she asked about Gilbert’s whereabouts nonchalantly and intentionally ignored the knowing side glance he gave her in response. Apparently, Gilbert had been working on repairing his father’s old tractor for the last few days and wouldn’t be likely to join them for supper. Trying and failing to suppress the disappointment bubbling up inside her, she started to focus on Mary’s instructions for the daily schedule instead.
Absorbed inside her world, she didn’t notice her friend approaching her until she stood right by her side at the sink. "Anne, are you alright?“, Mary’s voice was laced with genuine concern as she placed a hand on the redhead’s shoulder, causing Anne to look up from cleaning Delphine’s bottles. Though her hands were submerged in water, the bottles were untouched to her right.
"Oh, Mary! I’m very sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into me,” she blurted and returned to her task right away. She started scrubbing the bottles furiously, oblivious to the silent tears streaming down her cheeks.
Mary took her by the shoulders and gently turned her around. “Nonsense, Anne,” she cupped the girl’s cheeks and gave her a warm smile.
“Please sit down and I’ll put the kettle on. Then you can tell me what exactly has been bothering you.”
Leading Anne across the room, Mary made her sit down in the rocker in front of the chimney.
Anne was wearied, her emotions all over the place but that certainly didn’t mean she’d allow Mary to pick up the chores she was meant to do herself. “No, Mary. I -. It’s fine. I really shouldn’t -,” she started to protest but one look from the other woman silenced her.
She looked at Delphine, peacefully sleeping in a basket to her left and relaxed.
It didn’t take long till Mary came back. Settling herself in the chair beside Anne, she gave her one of the steaming cups she was holding in her hands.
Silence fell over the room like a heavy layer of snow. All that could be heard was the sizzle of the fire and Dellie’s faint snoring.
“I went to the Indians village last week after the hockey play. A girl and her father came to sell sticks to some of the boys and I asked the girl, Ka'kwet if I could write an article about them for the Gazette,” Anne began, her voice barely loud enough to be heard over the crackling of the fireplace.
Mary’s brows knitted in concern as she reached out to place a hand on her arm. She had never seen the ginger as troubled and quiet as today.
It worried her.
“Oh Mary, It was wonderful. The village is so charmingly different from everything else I’ve ever seen. Astonishingly fascinating and they’re all so welcoming, particularly Ka'kwet. We’re gonna be great friends I just know it!”
Both women beamed for entirely different reasons.
“We traded our possessions and oh, she was so delighted when I gave her my scarf that she proposed to weave her hair ties in my hair. I stayed for quite a while and she told me about her family and-,” her voice caught in her throat and she exhaled sharply, clasping Mary’s hand with her own.
“- and about their similarities and I just couldn’t help but think about mine,” she smiled faintly, the usual glint in her eyes dimming by the second.
“When I got home that evening I noticed Marilla and Matthew acting so alike, they appeared to be marionettes guided by an invisible puppeteer. I found it somewhat amusing at first-,” she confessed teary-eyed and stared into the blaze, watching the dancing flames. Mary’s heart dropped into her stomach as she let Anne hold on to her. Finding her husband in the doorway, she shook her head insignificantly. Understanding her wordlessly, Bash left. Her heart flooded with love and pure devotion for her husband even more.
“- but then Ms Stacy asked us to talk about our lineage in class soon after and I didn’t have anything to say. How could I? I’m an orphan!”
Outrage spread through Mary like a wildfire. Why would the teacher ask a student to present her lineage in front of the class, well aware that said student was an orphan? Mary knew Muriel as a kind and respectful woman but at this moment she was greatly angered by her.
“Poor Ms Stacy, she pulled me aside afterwards because she felt so awful about forgetting it. She gave me the idea to search for records at the orphanage.”
Anne’s spirit lifted distinctly and after minutes of averting Mary’s gaze, she finally returned it.
“I’m sorry for being so emotional, it’s hardly decent. I guess it was just a bit much because I rarely dared to dream about the possibility of finding some kind of information about my parents,” she murmured and then didn’t say anything for a while. This time Mary didn’t let her get too lost in her thoughts,
“It’s okay and understandable to worry, Anne. Having the desire to know about your heritage, to know who you are and where you came from makes you human. Your emotions are nothing to be ashamed of,” she squeezed her hand.
“They make you special. They make you who you are.”
A sob left Anne’s pink lips the moment she launched herself at Mary. Embracing her tightly, the feeling burned itself into Anne’s memory and she promised herself to never let it go. They held each other unwaveringly, entirely unbothered by the time that passed as well as the fading flame. Eventually, Anne felt calm enough to let go. Her natural glow returned with a grin as Mary suggested to teach her a secret family recipe as a kind of birthday gift.
Both of them were humming a Canadian tune, spinning around the kitchen and passing cooking utensils between them by the time Bash appeared in the doorway. Recognizing the ongoing act promptly for what it was, he smirked and skipped into the room. Hastily flinging his hat aside, he took his wife by the waist and twirled her until she began to sway dizzily in his arms. Their joyous laughter echoed throughout the house whilst Anne continued to hum and to clap.
She was so entranced in the scene that she didn’t sense Gilbert hovering in the doorway, let alone him watching her. Her eyes glistened with excitement when Bash feigned to bow in front of her and took her by the hand to spin her too. Time seemed to freeze as she closed her eyes and savoured the moment of pure bliss. In that instant, nothing else mattered. She had no worries, no doubts and no fears.
Negligently tripping over a bump on the floor she would’ve barreled right into the window if Gilbert hadn’t acted on instinct and put himself between his classmate and her original target. This, however, resulted in Anne colliding with his chest at full speed. The impact made her head throb and caused her heart to flutter in her chest like a swarm of millions and millions of butterflies.
Her cheeks crimsoned as she felt him lay his hands on her back to steady her.
Glancing up into his eyes, she found him already looking down at her. Anne wondered if his eyes had always been the colour of golden tree resin and if, at some point, she’d be entitled to count the freckles dotted on his nose.
It was for Bash clearing his throat and therefore snapping her out of her fantasies, that she realized she was still holding on to Gilbert’s shoulders. Feeling his body tremble below her fingertips she looked up again and froze. His eyes were closed as he tossed his head back and roared with laughter. Anne couldn’t help but stare, marvelling at the length of his eyelashes and only letting go of him as she felt his grip on her loosen.
Wrath and uncertainty made her blood boil and she pursed her lips. How utterly offensive of him to laugh at her! Who on earth did he think he was? Having the audacity to make her feel so embarrassed was shameful!
Almost tripping anew in her haste to get away from him, she tried to calm her racing heart but to no avail.
His hazel eyes found her blue ones. All her rage towards him dissipated as soon as she stared into his eyes and was reminded of an autumnal forest.
“Gilbert,” she breathed.
He smiled softly, tilting his head.
“Anne.”
For once he was the first to turn away whilst she simmered with emotions.
Her mind was overflowing with thoughts, her skin prickling in awareness of his presence and her heart doing somersaults. Subconsciously, she could hear him offering to set the table, but even concentrating on the simplest things was impossible. She had never felt anything as intense as this before.
An unmistakable cry ringing out, had her straightening up in a heartbeat. Looking over her shoulder at Gilbert and Mary busily preparing dinner and noting Bash’s sudden absence, she scurried to the infant and lifted her out of the crib.
“Hush Dellie, hush,” she whispered, tenderly caressing her cheek.
Rocking her benevolently in her arms, Anne began to sing a lullaby she’d first used in a household to very different circumstances.
“Lavender’s blue, dellie-dellie Lavender’s green When I am queen, dellie-dellie, You shall be too Whoa-oh, who told me so? Dellie-Dellie Who told me so? T'was my own heart, Dellie-Dellie That told me so.”
She giggled proudly about having turned the lullaby into something special. Gilbert studied her from afar as he leant against the table and dazedly followed her movements with his eyes.
“If you love me, Dellie-Dellie, I will love you. Let the birds sing, Dellie-Dellie, Let the lambs play. We shall be safe, Dellie-Dellie Out of harms way.”
Anne swayed the baby in her arms and nudged her nose gingerly. Her feet moved on their own accord and she felt herself slipping away into an imaginary kingdom the longer she gazed into Delphine’s rich brown eyes.
Three additional voices tuned in as she continued with the last verse, their glowing smiles could’ve lit up all of Avonlea.
“Lavender’s blue, dellie-dellie Lavender’s green When I am queen, dellie-dellie You shall be too Whoa-oh who told me so? Dellie-Dellie Who told me so? T'was my own heart, Dellie-Dellie That told me so.”
Dinner went by without further ado and both Bash and Gilbert repeatedly complimenting Anne’s cooking skills. Bashfully accepting them, she made sure to thank Mary for the lesson. After all, it wouldn’t have tasted as delicious as it did, if it hadn’t been for the freshly roasted peppers Anne had used to season the appetizer.
She’d stayed noticeably silent during dinner, only offering her opinion on a couple of topics but not inserting herself as much in the conversations as usual. For her attention was entirely on Gilbert’s presence next to her.
Eventually, one look outside the window was enough to set Anne in motion.
“Oh no, no, no." She stood abruptly, looking across the laid table at Bash and then at his wife standing behind him. "I’m greatly sorry for my outrageous behaviour but it seems I forgot the time! Marilla had wanted me home at sunset,” she announced rather worried. Mary assured her that it was alright to leave and pulled the girl into a swift hug before she was able to rush out of the house. Only just managing to grab her coat from the wardrobe, Anne called a quick goodbye over her shoulder and bolted out of the door.
Gilbert gaped after her, still seated at the table. Opposite him, Bash cleared his throat while Mary chuckled lowly. “What are you waitin’ for Blythe?” he teased. He didn’t need to be told twice. Reaching for Anne’s hat, placed and then forgotten on the chair beside him, he stood up to follow her outside.
Anne was already harnessing her horse when he joined her. Her eyes darted from the hat he was wearing, her hat, to the saddle he tried to give to her. “Thank you but I’m perfectly capable of doing that myself,” she said briskly and took it from his arms. Her face remained stoic even as she took a second to adjust her grip before placing the saddle on Belle’s back. “I know you are, Anne,” he replied kindly.
Gilbert could nearly see the gears turning in her mind and observed the way her posture unwound. Stepping forward, he didn’t wait for her approval and took ahold of the rains. “I- Thank you,” she smiled and swung herself on it’s back. Fully aware of the implication behind her words, he gave her one in return.
Belle grew restless whilst they stared at each other, her hooves scraping over the soil and her tail whirling back and forth. Remembering the true reason for Anne’s extended visit, she raised her voice and gripped the horse’s mane tighter. The moment in which she would lay her heart at his feet and bear herself open like a book had come.
Now it was on him to decide whether to pick it up or stomp on it.
“May I ask you a favour, Gilbert?”
Not giving him the time to respond, she added, “You don’t have to do it obviously,-”
“Anne.”
“But it would mean a great deal to me. I’d be ever so grateful!”
“Anne.”
“And I promise it’s hardly even a favour, really just a convenience that’s all-.”
“Anne!”
She paused, her eyes widening coyly and then dropping to the ground. He listened to her heavy breathing as worry burdened his heart.
“Please, will you just ask me?” he breathed, an encouraging smile tugging at his lips.
Anne chuckled nervously.
“Well, I was wondering if you - no I - if I could accompany you to Charlottetown next Saturday?”
“You are asking me to chaperone?” he questioned and tried to swallow the dash of hope welling up inside him.
A wisp of hair fell into her eyes as she nodded. Taking notice of the defiance brewing in her eyes, he moved closer to the horse and put the hand that wasn’t holding the reins, on its smooth neck. Close enough to feel the warmth radiating off of Anne but far enough to be considered proper. It would be so easy to reach for her hand, yet he didn’t.
“Of course I will, Anne,” he stated.
Had it been in a different situation, he’d have snickered about her need to outdo him in something as simple as a conversation. Mischievously grinning he continued, “On one condition." Anne rolled her eyes, a glint of amusement flickering in them. "I’ll meet you at Green Gables and bring you back afterwards.”
Gilbert’s heart rate quickened as she raised her brows, “That’s a peculiar condition to request.” Truthfully he was well aware of that but if he had the chance to be alone with Anne, he might as well make the best out of it. “Are you sure, you wouldn’t prefer an orange or- or a chocolate bar?” she sought.
The puzzlement on her face was as clear as day.
He shook his head.
“I’m sure. I like spending time with you,” he admitted hoarsely.
Saying it aloud for the first time made his voice as well as his legs shaky. “Oh, okay,” she squeaked, her cheeks flushing red.
Surprised by the foreign sound passing her lips, his hold on the bridles slackened and his stance faltered.
Anne took this as a chance to mutter her thanks before reversing Belle and urging her into a gallop. As the wind grasped at her clothes and pulled on her hair, she wondered about the reason why she hadn’t told him the truth about her visit to Charlottetown.
Gilbert watched her leave until the darkness took her captive.
“Happy Birthday, Anne,” he whispered.
I hope you enjoyed it! Please leave a comment/feedback if you did and let me know what you think! I’d really appreciate it.
Summary: Maybe love didn’t always mean the adventure was in far off places, but was found within the four walls of her classroom; where a rival, in actuality, was not the villain but a prince in disguise?
Maybe love wasn’t always the stuff of legends. What if it was the quiet things? The constance? Love was steady, she realized. It was study sessions and long walks, an ashen gaze and an encouraging smile in a sea of faces that expected her to fail.
It was standing up for what and who you believed in, going after them when they walked away and promising to want them for all time.
Words: 6.8k
Ratings: General Audiences
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Anne Shirley-Cuthbert was in a rage.
How dare he, she seethed, that vile, repulsive, odious, witless pissant!
Oh, how Marilla would despair at her thoughts!
(Rather, Marilla would equally rage at her debasing introspection, as she would later realize once she had calmed herself)
However, in that moment, Anne thought no one in Canada—in all the world even—could neither rival nor temper her resentment. Fury rolled off her and stained her skin an angry red to match her hair. She imagined steam leaking from her pores as her blood curdled… boiled, and not even the pleasant coolness of the summer night air could ease her pique.
She stomped through the lane that would take her home to Green Gables, unmindful of the mud that tracked her boots and splattered across her pristine, white stockings. And they were new too!
I never should have come to this party, she continued her merciless tirade. I should have known better than to accept an invitation, from the Pyes no less! Nothing good ever came out of a gathering hosted by the Pyes. Never mind that it should be the last time we might all be gathered in such a fashion for a long while.
Indeed, for school had come to a close the previous day—at least for Miss Stacy’s pioneer class. A smattering of them would be staying in Avonlea but for the most part, a majority were resolved to pursue their higher education, including (though it hurt her to leave Diana behind) Anne.
Billy Andrews, however, had other… unsavory opinions about that.
“You got into Queen’s?” he scoffed, referring to the Academy in Charlottetown where those with a vocation in mind chose to pursue them. Anne had not only gotten accepted, but gained the highest marks out of all the applicants in Prince Edward Island.
(She was tied with Gilbert though she often, and with much convenience, forgot that fact)
Billy, the thick-headed oaf, elected to ignore this certitude. He had nothing of import or quality to say for Queen’s Academy, having not applied (and in his innermost musings, known that he was not smart enough to be accepted anyway), and therefore inwardly envied and outwardly ridiculed those who had passed.
Anne, through no provocation of hers, nevertheless received his special brand of scorn.
“You may have fooled the Cuthberts, and our classmates. You may have even fooled this entire island. But you’ll never fool me. I know who you are,” he said this in low tones, and lower still as he crept closer and whispered in her ear like she were his lover murmuring sweet nothings to warm her heart, “the Cuthberts didn’t want you in the first place. They were stuck with you, there was no one else. You may have gotten lucky with them, but you ought not to forget who you are and where your place is.” He grinned then, blinding and malicious. “I feel sorry for the Cuthberts. If I were them, I’d have treated my dog better than you. You’re lower than dirt. You’re an orphan, and who could ever truly want you?”
How she burned and burned, the nerve of this insolent and ill-mannered fool! And yet—she meant to say this out loud, make the most of her extensive vocabulary but, her body betrayed her. Her throat felt parched and her feet leaden. Where had her voice gone? The words that were otherwise ready for her to wield as weapons or shape as clay? Where was her indignation?
Her spirit?
Just as quickly, heat melted to cold, noise gave way to a ringing silence and she felt herself rooted to her spot, Billy’s awful, smug smirk frozen before her eyes until—
“ANDREWS!”
Gilbert’s voice pierced through the static that clouded her mind and Billy’s ugly visage was, at last, removed from her line of vision as he turned towards their schoolmate. Anne did not wait to see what would commence between the two boys, however. As soon as the feeling returned to her legs, she imagined she walked out of there with the poise and dignity befitting a nobility such as the Princess Cordelia.
(Bolted, would have been closer to reality)
With nothing but moonshine for light and the faint rustling of the poplar trees for conversation, Anne was her own company. She thought for sure Diana would have come to her side by now, but she supposed that no one had really seen her leave. Billy, for once, hadn’t made a spectacle of himself though somehow this was worse, for she shuddered at the intimate way he had pressed himself onto her as he purred his contempt.
She did not even deign to consider that one witness to that deplorable interaction and what it meant that he had not followed her so for the moment...
She was utterly alone.
Evenings were a curious thing. There was, after all, something quite romantical about the night—lovers meeting in secret to proclaim their forbidden romance, friends exchanging hushed yet excitable stories beneath blankets by candlelight, oh the adventures to be had under the dusky twilight!
But, it was not called the witching hour for nothing. Terrible things happened once the moon had come to siege the sky for every sin, if only for a moment, could be hidden beneath the cover of darkness—ghosts and wolves and brigands and villains abound, and demons too.
Anne’s demons were not of the horned and pointy-tailed kind. Though they too were born of baneful things, they were mostly made of shadows, wispy and seductive intimations that brushed softly against her mind, lulling and comforting and infinite, till it was a pervasive tumor that lay siege to her sense of reason before she ever realized it was a threat.
She looked at the mud tainting her legs, at the stark contrast between muck and cloth, and thought about how she was much like her stockings.
I am a stain. All I’ve ever given Marilla and Matthew and even Jerry since I got here was grief. And Diana... I dread to think how many times I’ve gotten my bosom friend in trouble! As for Cole, the only reason he is still my friend is because he’s miles away in Charlottetown and therefore spared from my importunate nature. Not to mention, I almost drove Miss Stacy to quit her first year here. I’m nothing but trouble! Though I have no love for it, it must love me, for why else would it follow me wherever I tread?
Anne sniffed, shame filling her gut as she fought back tears. I’m just a stupid, orphan girl. There’s no imagining my way around that. No one could ever want me. No one.
So immersed was she in her melancholy that she hadn’t noticed someone was calling her name till a hand descended on her shoulder.
She shrieked (a shrill, embarrassing, banshee of a sound), closing her eyes even as she whirled around to face her assailant.
“Whoa!” exclaimed a deep and resonant voice.
“Whatever riches you may think I possess I assure you sir I am as poor as the dirt beneath your feet, poorer even, than a cow that grazes a pasture for I am utterly incapable of producing anything of value and I—”
“Anne!”
She hadn’t realized she was without breath till she let out a long and heavy exhale. It occurred to her, then, that the tenor by which her name was said was uncannily familiar, the scent of her would-be attacker was that of sun and grass and clean sweat and deeper still, an aura redolent of quiet, fortitude and refuge.
She opened her eyes and breathed.
“Gilbert.”
“Anne,” he chimed in equally, susurrous tones. When she let out another astonished gasp, the air before her crystallized in an algid cloud.
“Where’s your coat?”
She groaned. Of course! Of course, she forgot her coat and bonnet when she left in a huff. Why, walking out may be as dramatic an act as they came, but the books failed to mention just how inconvenient it was! How had the heroines in her favorite literatures managed their adversities with so much courage and grace? And such humor too! While she must have her exposé out in the cold, with (at this, she is gratified) no audience in sight (and at this, she is mortified) save for one, as she cowers and quakes in her boots?
The ardor that fueled the ire in her blood had by now dissipated, leaving an icy and hollow blitz in her veins. Humiliated to her core, she demanded of him, in squeaky volumes, “What are you doing here?”
So she cleared her throat and asked, more stately, again.
Gilbert shook his head. He did not answer. Instead, he looked at her with wide eyes—silver pupils darting back and forth, as if he couldn’t take in the image of her enough. She felt the fleshy, apple of her cheeks flush, a bit of heat returning to her body though a shiver continued to wrack her bones.
“You’re freezing,” he blurted, before an urgent concern (that made Anne rather uncomfortable, as she was wont to be whenever she found herself in Gilbert’s presence—alone or elseways) driving his motions had him divesting his own coat and, without evocation, wrapping it around her frame.
Encased as she was in his jacket and engulfed in the warmth from his body that had suffused itself onto the cloth, the sweet and opulent smell of him further intensified.
(As did the beat of her heart)
(Though this, if asked about, she would vehemently deny to her grave)
“I don’t need your pity,” she averred in what she hoped was a cold and unforgiving demeanor, even as her hold on the coat about her shoulders only tightened.
“It’s not—”
“Isn’t it?”
He sighed, his face scrunched up in exasperation and though a part of her felt abashed at her behavior, a larger part was content to drown in thorough defeat.
“We’re friends, aren’t we Anne?”
She licked her lips, something of a nervous habit. His eyes darted to track the movement and his throat bobbed. She felt her blush deepen.
“Are we?” She whispered.
He laughed though it was more tight than it was humorous.
“Must you always answer my questions with questions?”
She glared at him in the universal expression of, you’re asking for it.
He chuckled in genuine good-nature this time and she felt her irritation abate as she joined him. But their mirth abated all too soon and Gilbert was once more looking at her through hooded eyes that did nothing to lessen their intensity.
“I don’t know what Billy told you that made you react this way, but nothing good ever came out of his foul mouth anyway so, whatever it is he said—don’t believe it,” he shook his head. “It’s not true.”
At once, where she was bereft, the animosity welled within her at the reminder. The wrath that had been absent when she stood before Billy Andrews was now within her grasp and expelled itself onto the nearest presence—Gilbert.
She shoved him. It was a commiserable attempt since he hardly moved, but he let her anyway and she felt a little of her dauntless energy return.
“You can’t say that. You don’t know!”
“Then help me know,” he pleaded.
“I can’t,” she exclaimed, an unwanted sob building in her throat. “It’s too gruesome.”
“Then at least tell me that you don’t believe it,” he took her hand in his with utmost care, his palm coarse with calluses born from a life tending to a farm, his fingertips of ice. And yet, she had never felt so delicate, her hand cradled within his. “Tell me you know he’s wrong.”
“That’s the worse part,” she whispered as she pulled her hand away. “He’s absolutely right.”
A frightful silence had descended upon them. Even the wind had died and the poplar trees halted their rustling, as if Mother Nature herself wanted to be privy to their conversation.
“You can’t mean that, you don’t know what you’re saying—”
“And you do?” she sighed, running a hand—that same, still-tingling hand that Gilbert held what seemed like only a heartbeat ago—over her face.
He groaned. “Not this again.”
She scowled at him. “What do you care anyway? Why are you here? What I do or what I talk about with other people, worthless they may be, is none of your business.”
“And if I want to make it my business?” he countered, the muscle in his jaw ticking from restrained frustration.
She frowned. “What do you mean, Gilbert?”
“Tell me what Andrews said and I can prove to you, I can guarantee, that it’s not true.”
“But it is!”
“No, it’s not.”
“Yes. It is! ”
They bickered in this fashion as if they were six instead of approaching sixteen. She insisted on her truth (or rather, Billy’s truth), though she hadn’t the faintest idea why. Is this not what she craved? Is this not the assurance and acceptance she sought her whole life? But still, she found herself scoffing.
“You don’t even know what I’m talking about!”
He rolled his eyes and in snide intonations, rebutted, “Because you won’t tell me!”
“FINE!” she relented and snarled, nay, practically spat the words at him.
“I’m an orphan! Is that what you wanted to hear? Maybe my parents loved me, once upon a time, but apparently not enough to live for me.” Her voice was guttural, her words laced with so much acrimony, it was unrecognizable to her. “I’m a burden to Matthew and Marilla, who wanted a boy in the first place and instead was saddled with me. I bring misfortune on anyone I touch. I’m nothing but a curse. No one could ever want me.”
There. She said it. And again, that insidious reticence, how she was beginning to abhor it. She closed her eyes, unsure of which she was dreading more: his resignation or condescension.
As it stood, she had neither to fear, for what she received was far worse.
He laughed. Laughed!
“How dare you, Gilbert Blythe!” She fumed. She punched him on the shoulder, though his chortles only grew in volume. She made to cuff him again, but he caught her fist in his and pulled her closer—closer than either of them had ever emboldened to be.
No one was laughing now.
“You are an idiot, Anne Shirley-Cuthbert,” he murmured, his whisper a hot hiss of breath against her cold and beggared lips. She had never been more aware of the weight of her hand in his, she had never been more aware of him. “A downright fool.”
She was mindful that she should have been peeved by this imputation, her common sense screaming at her to react and do so with equal and voracious impudence.
If only the rest of her faculties got the message.
For though his words were intended to wound, the effect was rather lost in translation. Not when there was an undercurrent of awe in his inflection, not when he said ‘idiot’ and ‘fool’ as if that was not what he meant at all; like they were terms of endearment rather than grave offenses.
As if Gilbert had his own personal meaning just for her, and it was the very opposite of its conventional connotations.
“Am I?” She returned in watery tones for she trembled under the weight of all that implied.
He smiled and it was slight in breadth but tremendous in affection. He stepped closer till she had to crane her neck just to be able to take all of him in, her face tilted towards the moonlight. He stopped his beaming then, for a silvery stream had caught his eye.
She hadn’t realized she was crying till he brushed away a droplet.
“I guarantee you,” he repeated, his eyes fervent and bright, “no one could have ever provided you a better home than the Cuthberts. And Diana—she’s positively radiant around you and she was never that way until you came along. Cole found the courage to be who he truly is and you helped him achieve that. And it was you who orchestrated the plan to keep Miss Stacy in school and believe me, she has never regretted the experience for a single moment. This whole island is alive because of you, you emit a gravity of your own and anyone who meets you can’t help but fall into your orbit. If that’s not enough to convince you…”
That same rough hand, from which he never relinquished her violent fist, now urged her to bloom her fingers so that he might place it on his chest. There she rested them and there he cupped her fingers, with a lambency that made her ache for she didn’t expect such a touch from one who lived most of his life as a laborer.
There she felt his heartbeat, strong and certain and—and racing.
How could it thud so hard and so fast when they hadn’t been running or walking since they began? Astonishment etched itself across her features.
“How—?”
“Do you really need me to spell it out for you?”
“For old time’s sake,” she strived to banter, afraid to reveal herself.
(Afraid to acknowledge the truth)
“How did you figure that no one could ever want you? I’m right here,” he avowed. “I’m here, and I want you. So much.” He shook his head and released a laugh that was riddled with disbelief. “I can’t even begin to explain just how so. I want you, plain as that. I wanted you from the moment I laid eyes on you and I want you now and I’m—” he gulped. “I’m quite certain I’ll want you for as long as I live.”
She gaped, the flow of her tears halted from her stupor at such an exaltation. All this unbeknownst to Gilbert, her countenance spurred him to quip with a, “Well, Miss Shirley-Cuthbert, what say you about that?”
His lips stretched into a timid smile that betrayed his timorousness all the same.
“I’m at a loss for words,” she admitted freely. At that, his smile dimmed but did not diminish altogether.
He did, however, let her go.
(She hadn’t realized how much of him had seeped into her skin when at once, he stepped back, taking all the heat with him and leaving a resounding void in her chest)
“May I walk you home?”
And just like that, the conversation was dropped.
Anne, who was more confused leaving this exchange than she was when she entered it, acquiesced to this simple request for lack of a better reaction.
The true gentleman that he is, Gilbert indeed accompanied her the entire trek to Green Gables. Bubbles of conversation drifted between them before fizzling out due to the vapidity of their topics. It was only when they reached her porch did he speak to her with a solemnity that matched their earlier situation.
They stood facing each other, the space between them so corpulent it was its own presence. The camaraderie they had built (and sincerely enjoyed) in those final years at school seemed to have evaporated till their very atmosphere felt too hostile to breathe—they were that edgy. Still, he must have wanted to reclaim a bit of ease with a manoeuvre reminiscent of their first meeting.
He tugged on one of her braids.
But the stark difference between then and now was the intent for there was nothing teasing about his touch. There was no mistaking the feeling in his caress when it was so careful.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
It was devotion.
She licked her lips and again, the muscle in his jaw strained as he clenched it.
“Um,” she stuttered. Answer? Answer? She wasn’t ready to answer. Nor did she think she ever would be ready to answer!
“Relax,” He laughed, no doubt reading the panic that pulled her face taut. He smirked.
“We are friends,” he said, a bit of anxiety leaking into his tone. “Right?”
She blew a relieved breath though she shouldn’t have been, the uncertainty in his voice consoled her all the same. In this, she could unfailingly put her faith. She nodded with the eagerness of a pupil first in her class.
“Always.”
At her affirmation, he gave her hair one last, fond tug and replied quietly, “Good,” before arranging it away from her face and tucking it behind her ear.
“Anyway…”
She felt her breath catch in her throat.
“Anyway,” she returned in an equally hushed voice.
His parting smile was a shot of radiance in the gloom. She returned it with a crooked one of her own, praying it concealed the jumble of her emotions. His smile… it—did things, to her insides. Strange things. Things that made her sick at the image of him walking away from her.
Things that made her want to stop him leaving.
“Gilbert!”
He whirled at the sound of her voice, hope a living flame on his countenance. She floundered.
“I… you…” her hand clenched around the jacket engulfing her frame, and she remembered. “Your coat!”
She moved to take it off but Gilbert stopped her.
“Keep it.”
“But won’t you be cold?”
He shook his head. “I’ll be fine.” he said. “Take care of yourself, Carrots.”
She pursed her lips. Where once the nickname would have incensed her, now it filled her with a breathless sort of glee, like a language only the two of them shared because they were the only ones in the world who understood it.
“I guess… I’ll be seeing you around?”
Why was she stalling?
“So much, it’ll be impossible to miss me,” he teased with a roguish smile.
She chuckled.
He was approaching the gate when she called to him once more, “Goodnight!”
He turned, walking backwards as he tipped his newsboy hat towards her and bowed. “And to you, Miss Shirley-Cuthbert!”
And though he couldn’t see, she bit her lip, trying with all her might to hide her grin.
Watching him leave, she found her ebullience ebbing. Something felt different within her... had her soul shifted somehow? She did not feel like she had been halved nor did she feel any less of herself. If anything, she felt bigger. She felt more. Like her essence had expanded, only to carve a mold shaped suspiciously to Gilbert’s silhouette. She felt forever changed, it was incomprehensible to her that he didn’t feel the same way. And yet—
How could it be so easy for him to walk away?
His frame was swallowed by the darkness before he disappeared altogether, the echoes of their confabulation fading with him until she was all alone.
And it was as if it never happened at all.
Sun chased moon and dusk gave way to dawn. Recounting the occurrence to Diana and Cole (who was visiting from Charlottetown for the weekend to celebrate the start of summer with his childhood chums) betwixt the orange orchard that bordered the Barrys’ property, the sun warm and effulgent on their skin, she deemed her revelation from the night before as ridiculous.
“Right?” she questioned the two, expecting their full agreement. “I was being ridiculous!”
“I suppose that’s one word for it,” Diana muttered.
“I’m sorry,” exclaimed Cole, not sounding apologetic at all, “But I’m still hung up on the part where Gilbert proposed to you.”
Anne was certain she blushed to the roots of her flaming hair.
“He did not!”
“You’re right,” he acceded and she felt it safe for her mind to enter a state of palliation when he followed with a biting, “you are an idiot.”
“Technically, Gilbert said that.” Diana smirked as she spoke. Anne turned to her with a glare.
“And what is your opinion on this, oh bosom friend o’mine?”
She demurred but Anne persisted with a whinge in her voice.
Diana was perfectly aware what Anne wanted her to say, which is why it hurt her to divulge her true opinion. It seemed her friend was in dire need of a wake up call—not that she would be the one to give it.
So she skirted for an answer.
“Well, ‘as long as I live’ seems an awful long commitment…”
Apparently she hadn’t skirted well enough for Anne bellowed with a disparaging, “Diana!”
She cringed. “But—”
Anne groaned. “No! I think I’ve had enough of this conversation.”
Diana bit her lip, looking rather miserable. “I’m sorry, Anne.”
“Don’t be!” Cole reproached her. “Tell her.”
“Whatever it is, I won’t hear it!”
Anne, in a fit of childish tantrum, put her hands over her ears. It prompted Cole to roll his eyes and march over to where she was seated, buried amongst the roots of a tree so that he could unhand her. He locked eyes with Diana and raised his eyebrows. He tipped his chin towards Anne, who was glaring viciously at him.
“She needs to hear it.”
Anne turned her head away, but it didn’t stop her from hearing what Diana made known.
“I saw you leave last night,” she started. “I was going to follow you, but then Gilbert punched Billy! And apparently, it wasn’t the first time for no one stopped him. Personally, I think Billy has the kind of face that’s just asking to be punched so truly, who could blame Gilbert?”
“Diana,” Cole chided, though his mouth twitched in barely suppressed laughter.
“Well, Gilbert didn’t wait for Billy to get up, he just dashed for the door and that’s where he bumped into me. He asked me if I saw you come out that way and I said yes. I told him I was just about to run after you but, he stopped me.
“‘I’ll go after her,’ he said. ‘There are… words I must say and I can no longer conceal myself.’”
Diana and Cole expected Anne to react in an explosive manner, or, at the very least, say something. When she did nothing but give them both a blank stare, Cole gave Diana an encouraging nod.
“There’s something else, Anne.”
“Oh, what is it now?” she wailed.
Diana shook her head. “It’s not about you. It’s… I’m—”
Her troubles forgotten, Anne jumped to her feet and was at Diana’s side in a blink.
“Are you all right?”
Tears sprung into her eyes and Anne’s alarm grew. “Diana?”
She shook her head.
“I couldn’t be better. I’m, well,” she took a deep breath.
“I’m engaged!”
Anne stared.
Diana deflated. “Oh, don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what,” she said, crossing her arms in defense.
“Like I’m a different person. Like everything's about to change.”
“Everything is about to change!”
Diana looked away.
“When was this?”
She paused, as if unsure whether she should answer.
“Last week.”
“Last week,” Anne repeated, rolling the words around her brain till it clicked. “Last week!”
Diana nodded haplessly. Anne turned to Cole and pointed at him an accusing finger. “You knew!”
“To be fair, she only told me today, as we both made our way here.”
Anne furrowed her brows and rubbed at her forehead. An ache was forming at her right temple.
“But… but we’re only sixteen.”
“Prissy was sixteen when she first walked down the aisle.”
“Look how well that turned out,” she rebutted in a tone heavy with sarcasm. “And what have your parents to say about this? I don’t need a wide ‘scope of imagination’ to figure that Jerry is hardly their first choice for you!”
Diana flinched.
“They… don’t know. I haven’t exactly told them.”
“Oh Lord,” Anne muttered. She was beginning to sound a lot like Marilla, and was just now understanding the spectrum of emotions she herself put the female Cuthbert through on a daily basis.
“When will you tell them?” Cole asked in a more gentle manner.
“If you tell them!” she called out. "Diana, this is Jerry. He’s a dear friend but—"
“Stop it, Anne!” Cole bursted before he shot her a glare. “For someone who prides herself on her tolerance, you sure have a narrow perspective on this. If you would listen to her, you would see that she’s in love.”
“What do you know about love? What do any of us know of love?” she shot back.
Cole sighed in frustration. “You and I may be limited in experience but you would have to be blind not to see it in Diana. And perhaps you are, if you go on in this fashion! Are you so lost in your flight of fancies that you’ve turned your head around on what it means to love? Just look at her, Anne.”
She frowned but for once, Anne forced the words that piled itself into her mouth, down her throat. She turned still wary eyes to her oldest friend and observed her with the kind of open mind she beseeched upon the world, and saw her, truly saw her, anew.
Despite her pallor, she stood straight, her shoulders back in a way that would make her mother proud save for her chin, jutted out in defiance. She had never looked taller. Her eyes held a certain shine—as though nothing, not even the threat of her parents or the prospect of leaving Jerry behind to go to finishing school in Paris, could ever banish their light.
“I know he’s not the Ideal Man we promised ourselves we would find in our youth, nor is his proposal the grand advent that we dreamed of nor is our love the epic we longed to command, but Anne, I don’t know how to explain it without sounding like a silly, lovestruck fool. He’s so much better, he’s so much more…”
(She felt more. Was this not a thought she conjured to herself last night?)
Diana trailed off, evidently lost in her thoughts. In that moment, Anne had never felt so far away from her friend. But this wasn’t about her feelings. Diana had a smile on her face and it was awash in excitement but more than anything, it was serene. As though she had found her rightful place in the world, and it was by Jerry’s side, her arm slightly outstretched and her body angled in a way like she was merely waiting to fit herself to him.
Chagrined, the pit of her gut flooded with the shame of her actions. That she drove Diana to have to explain herself! How could she have done this and ever called herself a bosom friend?
In the end, she only had one other question to ask.
“Are you happy?”
Both Cole and Diana turned surprise eyes, at her and her tone, soft and apologetic. Diana though, her lovely jet-black hair a blazing amber in the noon sunshine, looked perfectly brilliant and Anne had her answer.
“If you’re happy, then so am I.”
She went to her, a mist transforming her gaze into pools as she hugged the girl who had grown into a woman, seemingly before her very eyes.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, “you can’t know how much,”
“It’s all ready forgotten.”
Cole shortly joined their embrace and the three friends were laughing even as they wiped rivulets of tears from each other’s cheeks.
“Well,” Cole prompted. They were spread on the grass, their heads together in a triangle while they mooned onto the blue sky and painted pictures out of clouds. “How did he propose?”
Anne’s mouth twisted as she deduced that it must have been unromantical—though this sentiment, she kept to herself lest she again upset the comradeship that was so newly established amongst them.
But Diana’s tenor was sweet and dreamy as she recalled, “He wrote me a letter—a full-fledged letter! He gave it to me personally, of course, for fear of my parents finding it first but oh, it was in an envelope and stamped and everything, as if he had sent it to me through courier.”
She was all too relieved that she kept her opinions to herself, for though he hadn’t gone down on one knee, Anne supposed that an epistolary proposal sounded absolutely beauteous—especially once she considered just how far Jerry had come from, being illiterate as a child. He prided himself on his abilities now.
“If anything, I have you to thank Anne, for you began his tutelage.” Diana sighed. “I’d show you the letter, but I’d like to keep it to myself if you don’t mind.” She blushed as she said this and they all giggled, for they did not mind at all. “But truly, it was divine, it was himself in words. All his emotions on a page, and yet all he wrote of was me...”
Nestled within the grass, Diana was a rose in bloom with the way she blushed as she spoke of her betrothed. It was then Anne had an epiphany.
Perhaps love did not always come in the form of impassioned speeches or grandiose adventures. Perhaps it wasn’t always a princess who was locked up in a tower guarded by a fire-breathing dragon, her prince ready to brave the flames.
Maybe it was a low-burning ember, less hot than the blaze of a fire sure, but just as passionate. She thought of Diana and Jerry and wondered if it might be letters written in longhand, if the prince’s sword was actually a pen, the ink his weapon that illustrated his ardor—if the dragon wasn’t a dragon but the politics of society that told young lovers they must not marry below their station or, and she looked at Cole, their same sex.
Maybe love didn’t always mean the adventure was in far off places, but was found within the four walls of her classroom; where a rival, in actuality, was not the villain but a prince in disguise?
Maybe love wasn’t always the stuff of legends. What if it was the quiet things? The constance? Love was steady, she realized. It was study sessions and long walks, an ashen gaze and an encouraging smile in a sea of faces that expected her to fail.
It was standing up for what and who you believed in, going after them when they walked away and promising to want them for all time.
“Anne?”
Diana touched her shoulder but all she could say was, “I am a fool.”
Cole smiled knowingly.
But, fool that she was, it took her till twilight to empower herself to take any sort of action. With word to Marilla on where she would be, and Marilla raising an astute eyebrow at the very young male coat she left behind when she departed (honestly, was she the only one oblivious to her own feelings?), she went where her heart led.
And her heart led her at the boundary of the Blythe farm, where she paced back and forth, back and forth and back and forth until—
“Anne?”
She startled. “Gilbert!”
“Hello…?”
He looked bewildered at her being there, and rightfully so. Dusk was falling, and here they were again. She chuckled, though it was riddled with tension.
“You’re always catching me unawares,” she jested. “I wonder when I’ll ever return the favor.”
“Impossible,” he muttered.
Disconcerted, she inquired, “why?”
He gave her a modest smile, though he didn’t look away.
“I’m always aware of you.”
She was tempted to look away—so heated was his gaze. But her determination was even more ignited and so she compelled herself to hold his stare.
“Not that I’m displeased,” he continued, before the silence could prolong. “But what are you doing here? It’s nightfall. Is something wrong in Green Gables?”
“No, no,” she assured in quick tones. “The very opposite. I just—I need to tell you something.”
His brows furrowed as he tilted his head for her to go on. “Yeah?”
“It is rather important,” she began. “Could we… could we talk somewhere more privately? Preferably, not out in the cold.”
“Oh!” Gilbert laughed in abashment. “Of course, let’s go inside.”
“Where are Bash and Mary?” She asked when they entered the dark and empty house. Gilbert led her to the parlor where he offered her a seat and he lit candles as he spoke.
“They’re in Charlottetown, I just came from the train station where I dropped them off actually. They’re going to attend to Mary’s son. He’s fallen ill.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“I offered to go with them, but it doesn’t sound so serious. Overfatigue, probably stress from work, and a fever. Mary wants to be with him, just to be sure and Bash, well,” he rolled his eyes though when he spoke, it was full of fondness. “He never wants to be far from Mary.”
Again, they shared a weighted look. Anne cleared her throat, but nothing came out. Should she make more small talk? Ease into it? Or should she just dive right in?
“So,” Gilbert smoothly urged. “You had something important to tell me?”
Right, she thought, diving into it, then.
“I needed to see you,” she started.
“In the middle of the night?”
He sounded amused. Was he mocking her? Here she was, laying her heart bare and he was ribbing her?
“Hardly!” she burst out, her temper rising. “The sun hasn’t even fully set!”
“Hasn’t it?”
He gestured towards the window where, surely enough, darkness had conquered the sky with a swiftness Anne had forgotten it was capable of. She frowned and when she looked back at him, that insufferable smirk was affixed to his lips.
Oh he means to rile me, she conjectured. He thinks he’s so clever!
His goading gave her an inexplicable boost of confidence so, abruptly, she declared, “I have objections.”
“Objections?” befuddled, he scratched at the side of his head—a habit of his, she knew. “To what?”
“To ‘as long as I live’.”
“As long as I—”
He broke himself off as all humor was swept from him and the light of realization settled upon his eyes.
“‘Forever’ sounds ever more romantical, don’t you agree?”
“Anne,” he whispered, hope lighting his face and forging her heart and soul anew. She hid a smile. How unfair it was that he should look so glorious under the candlelight, the shadows sharpening his all ready chiseled jaw and the strong slant of his nose.
How he glowed.
“I think I ought to school you on the proper techniques to proposing. I am, after all, to be a teacher.”
“Oh,” he queried, his voice wobbly and a suspiciously wet gleam in his cinereal look. “What exactly would you have me do differently, teacher?”
“Well, for one, I would have you down on your knee like… so.”
Gilbert’s eyes widened in genuine shock. In truth, Anne too was surprised at herself. She never thought she would be so happy, lowering herself to the ground. But she was, as she bent on one knee.
“And then?” he said, low and susurrous.
“Then, I would have you take my hand,” Anne’s fingers touched his, resting open on his lap like he was just waiting, waiting.
They entwined.
“We would look deeply into… each other’s… eyes…”
Her breathing began to quicken. From the rapid rise and fall of his chest, so had his. She was drowning, captured by the depth of his wonder—nothing could have made her look away from him.
“Then?”
“The most important part, of course.” she breathed. “A vow.”
She gulped.
“I love you.”
Gilbert exhaled shakily, his grip tightening on her hand.
“Would you have me, Gilbert? Would you do me the honor of being my partner… forever?”
Her breath hitched. For one horrid second, she was of the mind he would deny her.
He let go of her hand. He shoved the chair away and was leveled in front of her in a heartbeat. He cupped her face in his hands, his touch light and cool as a doctor’s should be. Anne closed her eyes.
Was there ever any doubt?
Gilbert kissed her.
In this, she could trust. This, she thought, is true.
She was happy to stay that way, ecstatic to be linked in the most universal language of devotion. But air was a necessity, and when they pulled but a hairsbreadth away she asked, “Is that a yes?”
Gilbert laughed, jubilant and boisterous, and oh how it outshined even the shadows.
“What now?” she breathed, her hands cupping his own around her face.
“I love you, Anne Shirley-Cuthbert, more than anything. I’ll love you in this life and the next, you can be sure. Forever isn’t nearly long enough.”
“Now that’s a vow.”
He laughed again. She joined him. "Shut up and kiss me, Carrots."
"You shut up and kiss m—"
He did, and she didn't even mind that he cut her off.
For Diana was right. They were no Elaine and Lancelot, but how could she ever give this up? Give him up? A lifetime of his kisses, a lifetime of his touch, forever in his arms?
Who would be down for a Shirbert text/chat role play? Who would want to be Gilbert and who would want to be Anne? Would anyone be into this? Hit me up. Let’s work through some headcanons together for our writing
