Sisters by choice (Gilbert Blythe x Reader)

I Am No Bird, And No Net Ensnares Me (Part 3)

Y/N's POV

By the time morning came, I still felt like I didn't belong at Green Gables. I decided to do my best to prove to Miss Cuthbert that I could be useful. As I traipsed my way downstairs I saw her preparing breakfast.

"You'll be wanting the egg cups?" I asked walking over to where I knew they were kept.

"Yes please." Miss Cuthbert barely spared me a glance as she carried on making breakfast. "Did you bring your laundry down?"

"Yes Miss Cuthbert." I said continuing to help with the breakfast until Anne and Mr Cuthbert came into the kitchen. Anne started to help with the toast while Mr Cuthbert sat himself down at the table.

"I'll be out uh ... by the potato barns today. I might send Jerry to the smithy with the bay for shoes." Mr Cuthbert said, trying to restore a sense of normalcy to the morning that was coated with anxiety and awkwardness.

"I'll pack him a lunch and send Y/N down with it." Miss Cuthbert said, sending me the first smile since I'd arrived back. Maybe she did want me around after all? I still wasn't convinced though.

After a few minutes, Miss Cuthbert sent me out to find Mr Cuthbert and Jerry with a small basket of lunch for him. I made my way carefully to the barn, avoiding the spiky plants as I was back in my old shorts. Miss Cuthbert said she'd have my trousers cleaned by tomorrow which made me happy; I loved my new clothes, I felt like me in them. I made it to the barn and called out for Jerry. I had only met the boy once or twice, never able to have a proper conversation due to Anne's dislike of him. Eventually I found him in a pile of hay, fast asleep.

"Jerry, Jerry wake up!" I said, lightly tapping him on the shoulder until he shot upright. "Hi, only me."

"Y/N, you're back?" He asked, the confusion evident on his face.

"Mr Cuthbert came to fetch me the other day."

"I know, the lady was very upset when you didn't come back." He said.

"I don't think she was upset about me Jerry, I think she was upset about her brother being missing more than some kid she barely knows." I responded.

"No, she kept bringing baked goods out to me - she was distraite over you both."

I thought for a minute before handing Jerry his lunch.

"Miss Cuthbert made this for you so you can go get new horse shoes." I said, giving him a smile before turning to leave.

"I hope you stay Y/N. I like you much more than that noisy girl."

"Anne is quite noisy," I laughed at Jerry's comment, "but she's not all bad. I think you'll get to like her just as much as you like me."

Anne's POV

While Y/N stayed home I went to visit Dianna. I had to tell her everything that happened with Y/N.

"Miss Cuthbert's brooch went missing and she thought that I had taken it because I was the one who put her shawl on her chair. But I didn't touch it honestly. Miss Cuthbert got so angry and she told me that if I didn't confess to taking it she would send me back to the orphanage, and the Y/N started saying that she lost the brooch down the well, but she was lying so I wouldn't get in trouble. Then Miss Cuthbert got really mad and said that Y/N had to leave in the morning. She sent her away, back to the orphanage."

"I heard that she was sent away," Dianna interrupted me, "But how did you get her back?"

"Well, Miss Cuthbert found the brooch and then she went out to find Mr Cuthbert. He then left on Belle, the horse, to try and get to the train before Y/N got on, but he missed it so he had to go all the way to the orphanage. Y/N wasn't there though, she was at the train station earning money for a train away." I continued. "Mr Cuthbert found her and somehow convinced her to come back to Green Gables, but Y/N still thinks that they will send her away again. She still hasn't unpacked any of her things." I finished my story and Dianna just stood there in disbelief.

"But Mrs Lynde told my mother she feared that Miss Cuthbert would take sick from worry?"

"I know, Miss Cuthbert was nearly beside herself, but Y/N thinks she was just worried about her brother." I explained. "That's why Y/N didn't come today, she doesn't want to get attached to things if she gets sent away again, she said it would make it harder to leave."

"That's such a shame. I really like Y/N. Will you tell her I miss her and I'd love to see her again?" Dianna asked.

"Of course I will. But for now let's enjoy our adventures." As I finished speaking I started tuning again, Dianna chasing after me.

When I got back to Green Gables I could see Y/N sitting on the steps at the front of the house, drawing figures in the dust with a stick. I made my way over to her and sat down, thinking of something to say to her.

"If all the world hated you and believed you wicked, while your own conscience approved of you and absolved you from guilt, you would not be without friends." I said, taking her free hand.

Y/N looked up at me in confusion while I simply smiled and directed her gaze over to where Miss Cuthbert was hanging up the laundry to dry.

Y/N's POV

Miss Cuthbert was stood hanging up the sheets and clothes she had washed this morning. I watched as she paused while hanging up my waistcoat, taking extra time to smooth and creases and smiling at the garment. Maybe she did want me here after all, maybe this was my home.