[1] YOU FOUND ME ( gilbert blythe! )

16 | BYE, BYE, BILLY

⎾16 | BYE, BYE, BILLY⏌

EVER SINCE THE FUNERAL, GILBERT has never left my side. I tried to comfort him as best as I could, and that made him feel better than okay. We spent days doing things that made us get our mind off the pain and just focus on what makes us happy. So, every day, we would either have a picnic, ride horses, or go into town and pick out gifts to give to one another.

It was going well for the two of us, and we both were happier. But, one day, as we were walking back from town, we heard something rustle behind us. We both turned around and I felt my stomach drop. I saw three boys walking up behind us, one of them being Billy Andrews.

"Gilbert," I said, holding onto his arm tighter.

Gilbert noticed the fear in my voice and gave me a sympathetic glance. I could tell in his eyes that he was trying to think up some sort of plan to get me to safety.

"Hide behind that tree," Gilbert said, pointing to the fairly large oak tree just to the side of us. "He won't be able to see you there. I need to handle something with him and I don't want you near me when I do it."

I wanted to ask Gilbert what he was going to do, but I didn't have enough time. Billy and his friends were just coming up behind the corner, where Gilbert was now visible.

"Hey, Gilbert!" Billy called, jogging up to Gilbert with his satchel slung over his shoulder.

When Gilbert didn't respond, he decided to call again, "Gilbert!"

Gilbert continued to ignore him, until Billy ran up beside him with his two friends just close behind. One of Billy's friends glanced my way, causing me to crouch behind the tree even more.

"How's it going, Blythe?" said Billy, giving Gilbert a slight pat on his back.

"Fine." Gilbert said plainly.

"You've gotta come back to school, bud. It's nice there now," Billy started, laughing to himself. "That slutty Darling girl isn't around anymore. Rumor has it that she ran away."

"Why do you care?" Gilbert questioned, his cheeks slightly growing red with angst.

"Well, we need a guy to show her that she's not as beautiful nor smart as everyone says she is." said Billy, smirking to himself.

"She is beautiful and smart. Deal with it." Gilbert said sternly.

"Why you gotta be like that, bud?" Billy joked, causing Gilbert to clench his jaw.

"Stop calling me that," Gilbert spat back.

"Yeah, right," Billy joked, laughing again. "Good one, bud."