Forever Red - an Anne and Gilbert Story

1. Love and war

   Chapter song: Home by Caribou

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It had been two years since Anne had arrived at Green Gables, and she couldn't imagine calling anywhere else home. She loved the familiar sights and sounds of the farm and its animals who had become her friends, the freedom of the woods and the fields, but most of all she loved the people, especially Marilla and Matthew.

She'd never been loved before, at least not in her memory. She assumed her parents could have loved her before they died, maybe when she was really tiny, but she'd never known love before, never been sure of it. With Matthew there was no doubt, and she even thought Marilla might love her, even if she chose to show it in less colourful ways than Anne would hope.

One of Anne's greatest joys since arriving in Avonlea was discovering a kindred spirit in her best friend Diana. She adored Diana, and despite some hiccups along the way in the friendship (the less said about red currant wine the better!) she was Anne's most beloved friend and companion. Despite this, there were some matters that Anne still couldn't quite share with Diana. It wasn't that she didn't trust her, or even that she didn't think she'd understand, it was more that Anne hadn't quite figured out what it meant yet, and so there was no way of discussing it with Diana.

You see, there was a certain dark haired boy that had gotten under Anne's skin. He was a scholar, like Anne, and they were firm rivals in school in school, with some unfavourable history that meant she had remained as cold and unattached as possible; but Anne had felt some of that melt a little over time, and the heat of anger at Gilbert Blythe had somehow morphed into something she couldn't quite put her finger on. It bothered her greatly, and she'd found herself spending far too many moments this summer thinking about it.

"Carrots, Carrots!" she remembered that moment he'd first tried to get her attention in school and he'd been rewarded with an almighty Smash! of the slate over his head. Oh dear lord! How ashamed she was now to have behaved like that- to let her temper get the better of her, but still she struggled to forgive him for the longest time. There was that moment he had rescued her from the water, rowed her to safety and had asked her forgiveness, "I think your hair is awfully pretty now- honest I do. Let's be friends" but stubbornly she'd denied his friendship again, and regretted it ever since. The rivalry between them for academic achievement had become more of a bizarre camaraderie, although neither of them acknowledged this. His achievements spurred her on to study harder and do better, and vice versa. It was like a war they couldn't end, but yet neither really wanted to win anymore.

No, when it came to Gilbert Blythe, Anne Shirley decided that it had been far easier when she hated him, and now she felt she wanted to be friends she hadn't a clue where to start.