LITTLE HUMMINGBIRD ━━ ( GILBERT BLYTHE )

SIXTEEN ; deadly sins

THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS ARE WELL KNOWN AROUND THE WORLD, ESPECIALLY IN ROMAN CATHOLIC THEOLOGY. Pride, greed, lust, sloth, gluttony, wrath, and envy. Gilbert won't deny that he's fallen victims to the majority of these sins, although he doesn't believe he will be condemned to hell for not being a perfect human.

Pride, otherwise known as an inflated ego. Gilbert has been prideful a handful of times, that doesn't think that makes him a bad person.

Greed, selfishness, desire for materialistic possessions. Was it greed for Sydney to wish and desire for her mother to have stayed alive a little longer despite knowing she was in pain?

Lust is a less blunt way of saying sexual craving. Gilbert will never admit to it out loud.

Sloth, laziness. There have been multiple times over the past year when Sydney laid in the rock hard 'bed,' under the scratchy blanket, after a long day of 'feeding the lady' and just thought about never getting up again. Even before the S.S. Primrose, Sydney had gotten too lazy or tired to study or do homework.

Gluttony, both Gilbert and Sydney really weren't sure what that meant, nor did they understand why it was a sin, and not just a sin, a deadly sin.

Wrath, anger and hatred. Sydney couldn't count many times that she had lost control of her emotions but she did remember one instance when she was nine. She had seen Toby Berquist and his little goons kick around a stray dog and then cornered him in an alley, kicking him just as he did to the defenseless animal.

Lastly, envy.

Envy, jealousy, spite, bitterness, green-eyed monster. All those words were synonymous. They were also synonyms for Gilbert as he watched Billy shamelessly flirt with Sydney. His Sydney.

__

THE REST OF THE SCHOOL DAY WAS JUST AS DULL AND GREY AS IT HAD BEEN BEFORE THE WHOLE SMACK DOWN WITH JOSIE. Because of Mr. Phillips voice or because the boys on the otherside of the room were set on keeping Gilbert as far away from you and occupied as they could, Sydney couldn't tell.

The only thing they she enjoyed was doodling the teachers stupid mustache on her chalkboard and twisting and pulling her neck as far as she could to see what Cole was drawing.

Even when the school bell rung, before Sydney could even pack up her stuff, the other girls sped by her without even sparing a glance at her and Gilbert was whisked away by Moody and Charlie.

With a deep sigh, Sydney got up from the bench and made her way into the coatroom. She put on her heavy white coat and gloves, but as she turned around, Sydney jumped with a yelp at the unknown presence, and uncomfortably close proximity, of Billy.

"Jesus Christ, Billy, make a sound." She held her hand up to her chest to calm her heartbeat but it only seemed to amuse Billy further as the smirk on his face grew wider. The moment Sydney tried taking a step out of his way and towards the door, Billy seemed to follow and mirror her actions, taking a step to the side to block Syd's path.

"Do you need something?" Syd asked, taking a step back to create some distance between the two, but the boy only took a step forward, trapping her between the wall and his body, looking as if he was a predator and she was his prey.

"You certainly are something, Sydney." The way Billy was looking at Sydney up and and down made her feel like she might as well be wearing a bright red, hooded cape. A puzzled look appeared on her face, prompting the boy to continue. "A girl like you shouldn't be walking home alone."

"A girl like me?" She raised her eyebrows in question.

"Small, helpless, easy to lock in a tower." Billy shrugged, his uncomfortably cocky smirk still dancing on his lips.

"I'm not much of the 'damsel in distress' type. But thank you for the concern." Syd smiled, nodding her head, hoping that Billy would get the message and this peculiar interaction would be over. But once again, the blonde-haired boy mirroring her steps and acting as a tall, smirking barrier.

"You know," Billy held his nose up in the air, "I am happy to be your knight in shining armor." Pride.

It was a funny thought, Sydney needing protection from a man, especially the one in front of her, she had to laugh. Syd quickly caught herself because saying, "Well, I don't see any dragons in need of slaying or evil witches poisoning me so you're services aren't requi-."

"I'll walk you home." It was a statement. Not a question, or a suggestion, a statement, a demand.

The look in Billy's eyes was more than unsettling, if was distressing, nagging. Lust.

"No, thanks." Sydney mumbled, pushing past the huge boulder called Billy Andrews. She didn't get far as a sharp, burning pain shot through her upperarm. Syd let out a sort of squeak of pain and looked up in shock and saw Billy's blue eyes changing into something darker. Wrath.

"Hey." His tone was sharp and rough, almost frightening. "It wasn't a question." His grip tightened and Sydney stopped fighting back to lessen the pain of his hand around her arm.

"What's going on here?" A familiar voice sounded from beside Sydney, contrasting the voice of Billy.

"Gilbert." Billy immediately let go of Sydney's arm, he seemed almost startled at the sound of Gilbert approaching. A painfully sweet, though fake, smile replaced the scowl he had a second ago so quickly, Sydney questioned if it was ever really there.

"How you doing, bud." Billy's voice jumped in volume and in octaves almost comically but Sydney couldn't even think to laugh as she looked down at her upperarm. Although it was covered by her heavy white coat, she knew it was red and angry.

"Just fine," Gilbert's usually warm and lovely smile was stiff and unwelcoming, his jaw clenching in addition, "bud." He added it as a bitter afterthought.

"Now, if you don't mind, Billy, we'll be leaving now." He turned his head towards Sydney, his smile turning genuine.

"We?" Billy asked.

"We." Gilbert answered, taking Sydney's hand, gently but firm enough to pull them both out from under Billy and the cool air consumed them as they began walking home. No words were shared but everything was said.

We.

Sydney though love should be one of the deadly sins.

__

hi

i went more into it in my announcement but im really struggling right now and im sorry this chapter is so late, a new chapter will be out next week and the schedule will go back to normal :)