Baker - G. BLYTHE

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-ˋˏ *.·:·. [THE FOLLOWING MORNING] .·:·.* ˎˊ-

GILBERT STOOD IN HIS KITCHEN WITH A LOT ON HIS MIND. He didn't get much sleep the night previous and you could tell it by the way his shoulders were more slumped than usual and the deep bags underneath his eyes. All he could think about was Charlotte's reaction to what he said, how now thought he was going to propose to Anne. Even though he hardly slept, he woke early and began going over different things that he could say, how to ask Anne to marry him. Charlotte didn't love him so now he had nothing holding him back, no second thoughts swarmed in his head. Gilbert thought he could finally be happy with Anne, happy without complications. 

He placed his hands on top of one of the chairs and rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet which caught Sebastian's attention. He looked at his friend confused and waited for him to get what was clearly bothering him off his chest. 

Gilbert sighed, breaking the silence abruptly, "I'm proposing."

"Yes, my answer is yes," Bash joked with a laugh, the slight tension that had been brought into the room with Gilbert dissipated. He chuckled quietly and shook his head at his friend's joke, this sort of thing was exactly what he needed right now. 

He cleared his throat to gather Bash's focus once more. "Last night I asked Lottie if she thought there was a chance for us." As he spoke Gilbert thought about whether it was right to call her Lottie anymore, should he switch back to calling her Charlotte after all these years? No, their friendship had been the rock for both of them for years and he would cling to the hope that it wouldn't be too affected by this. 

"Wait I have to get up, I have to get up for this cause basically what you're saying is that I win!" Bash exclaimed as he turned out of his chair and began a weird little dance in the middle of the kitchen. It involved a spin and hand movements and made him look utterly ridiculous, Gilbert would have found it funny if it was in any other circumstance. He continued with much more enthusiasm, "I knew it, I knew it! It was always Charlotte from the moment you got her letter on the ship. I called it. You love her. I win!" 

"She said no," Gilbert interrupted abruptly, trying to get the awful dance to stop. He stopped almost immediately and looked at Gilbert over his shoulder, the look of sorrow on his face told Bash that this wasn't a joke. "Basically"

"Oh, I'm sorry. That's rough," Bash apologized, taking his seat once again, the dancing now seemed like a very bad thing to have happened. 

"But I have clarity," Gilbert pulled a fake smile as if to convince Bash that what he was saying was true, maybe it was to convince himself a little also. "I needed to know where I stood with Lottie and now that I do I think I could be happy with Anne." 

"You sure you're sure?" Bash asked in a very monotone voice. He was trying desperately to not reveal that he did not believe what Gilbert was saying for a split second. He had seen the way he acted around both the women, each brought up completely different things in him that neither person could figure out. The only person who ever could was Mary, she first pointed it out to Bash a few days after meeting Charlotte and it had become increasingly more obvious from then on. "Don't go feeling you have to do something because people expect it."

"This is what I want," Gilbert confirmed, feeling an indescribable feeling at the thought of marrying Anne, he couldn't decipher the feelings behind it but knew they had to be good ones. Right? 

"You're sure?" 

"I'm sure." 

"Sure-"

"Bash!" Gilbert almost yelled but half laughed in an attempt to get him to stop.