Let Me In ( Anne with an E fanfic)

Chapter 12

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5lEdWydzGEZQUQrJtwBzuB?si=0EHl7PaTStCoynZ7RX5SjA

And the fort was indeed ready when he got home. He entered the apartment and looked over at the living room while taking off his shoes. She had pushed the coffee table to a corner and had somehow made the most fantastical fort ever, complete with the Christmas lights he had stashed somewhere in his closet after puting down the decorations MAry had insisted on some years ago. They had gone to Hamilton to spend the holidays with him since he couldn't get any time away from the hospital. How did she find them?

"Anne? Hello?" he called.

"Hi! So, ready? Pizza is in the oven and we have popcorn! How was work?" she appeared from the room. She had just changed into her pajamas. Another pair of shorts and something that was not as transparent as her camisole but definitely as flimsy. Oh, she was so doing everything on purpose. He was not imagining things. She had not taken his hoodies off for months and now she was clad in only that? Yes, weather was nicer, but not that nice.

"Good. Normal. Let me just get a quick shower, do I have the time?" he asked. He wanted to change out of his scrubs, at the very least.

"Yes, you have about ten minutes. So quick shower," she said, pushing him towards the bathroom. He entered the room and grabbed a pair of sweatpants. He showered fast and put on the pants that rested a bit low on his hips. He didn't particularly care for that pair, but it was the first he had found. He should open more space for Anne in his closet. He went to the kitchen as his phone buzzed.

**Fred (18:20): So how's the fort?

**Gilbert Blythe (18:21): Very pro. Has little lights and everything.

**Fred (18:21): I have to meet that Anne of yours.

"Right, help me bring the drinks," she said, signaling something and ignoring him completely as she grabbed a big oven pan with the pizza. Homemade, because that's how she was. He followed her, climbing under the duvet she had hung, and found a bed made of blankets and soft cushions. There was just enough space to sit.

"When did you learn so much about forts?" he asked.

"I have a good memory," she answered, smiling brightly. "Your dad said the secret was to have a soft base and twinkling lights. So I found some. I have a lot of time during the day, you know?"

"That you do. And he did know everything about forts. You have to get all the pillows in the house, Gilly boy, he used to say when I was a kid. We had so much fun because he never cared for all the detachment the other parents had, and only wanted to have fun with me," he said, reminiscing of when he was small, grabbing a slice of pizza. "I only wish you had come sooner, so you could have shared more with him."

"We were kindred spirits. I liked him way before I liked you," she confessed, choosing a piece. The pizza was good and he made some appreciative gesture to her. She smiled.

"I knew that. Or do you think I thought you were going to visit me when it was evident you only wanted to be with my dad?" he asked. "I was overjoyed because you were at my place, but I knew I wasn't what brought you there."

"He just had the best stories ever! You could learn so much from your father just listening to him tell his adventures..." she said, as if it was evident. "And you were such a prat back then, I couldn't stand you."

"I know I was," Gilbert agreed. "I really deserved that blow with the slate at lunch," Anne laughed as an answer. "Jerry laughed at me for days."

"He was awfully proud of me at the time. Just he didn't know he escaped his own blow because I had Marilla on my back the whole time after I hit you," she laughed harder, Gilbert accompanying her, remembering her first weeks at Avonlea, when she was trying to figure out everything.