kindred spirits || anne and gilbert

chapter two .

anne heads home alone, which slightly disappoints her. she's grown used to, and shockingly fond of, walking home with gilbert blythe everyday. he usually informs her on all the good things that happened during the day, and she does the same. but instead, she was alone, wearing his sweater.

his sweater. the thought brought butterflies to her stomach, and a blush on her face. she smiles at the memory of him handing it to her, of how handsome he looked in the white button up shirt. but sadly, she thinks of ruby, and how hurt she would be if she knew anne was thinking of him this way. the smile slowly disappears.

then, she remembers josie pye and how she rudely destroyed her dress, and the disappointment in herself morphs in to anger towards her.

'how dare she ruin such a splendid, beautiful dress?' anne thought sadly.

"she's probably jealous that you're so beautiful, and had so much attention, so she lashed out," cole had whispered to her in math class. "but hey, now look who's sweater you're wearing!" he wiggled his eyebrows and jerked his head towards gilbert. anne snorted unpleasantly without a care and shoved his face away.

"pay attention, you're failing this class."

"seventy eight is not failing, it's disappointing. there's a difference."

as anne walked past gilbert's house, she couldn't help but look up at it. sebastian stood outside on the porch, brushing fallen leaves off with a broom.

"excuse me sebastian, do you perhaps know where gil-bert, gilbert, is?" she successfully hides the nickname.

bash smiles. "he is staying after today to make up a missed test. should i tell him you said hello?"

"no!" anne exclaims quickly. "i mean, uh, there's no need. i'll see him tomorrow."

bash nods, and then points at her. "is that his sweater?" he couldn't help but chuckle.

anne nods and says with embarrassment. "a girl poured strawberry milk on my dress, and he gave me this to hide it."

sebastian shakes his head in disappointment. "girls can be so ruthless and terrible sometimes- i'm happy gilbert found a good one like you. kind." he hums a tune and then says, "it's nice talking to you, anne. hopefully you and your family can come over for dinner sometime soon."

she smiles. "your family". even though it's been years, it's still so refreshing and heart warming to be called a family, or their daughter. it helps her realize that, no matter what billy andrews and josie pye or anyone else may say or think, she is wanted and she is not an orphan anymore.

"that sounds delightful," anne responds. "i miss your cooking." with a sigh she says, "well, i must get home to celebrate matthew's birthday. have a good day, sebastian."

"goodbye, anne."

she continues with her voyage home, and finds herself humming the same tune as sebastian.

the phone in her backpack begins to ring. she reaches in to her side pocket, bending her arm at an awkward angle to fish it out, and checks to see who's calling- diana. she smiles. they were just together. anne answers the call with, "miss me already?", followed by a giggle.

diana snorts. "anne shirley-cuthbert, go out and buy yourself a beautiful outfit because josephine is letting me throw the party!" both of the girls squeal in delight.

for weeks, the two girls have been begging josephine to let them host a dance at her home. along with planning it, going over it with their parents and josephine, they slowly gave up hope on the whole idea- until josephine called diana to let her know they have her permission.

"oh my gosh," anne exhales, "this is going to be amazing!"

diana laughs. "i know! don't spread the word yet, i haven't told anyone else. we should go shopping with ruby soon- i want to look cute."

"you always look cute diana," anne says with an eye roll.

"oh, you know what i mean! and, it's an excuse for new clothes. are you up for it?"

anne smiles and shakes her head. "yes, let's do it soon. i'll call you later tonight about how matthew's birthday goes."

"have a good day, anne."

"you too, diana."

by the time diana and anne end the call, anne is on her front porch. she pushes the front door open and wanders in, smiling at the sight of matthew and jerry sitting at the dining table with the cake in front of them. "hello, boys," she greets them.

"how was school?" jerry asks, keeping his eyes on the dessert in front of him, as if he was afraid it would disappear if he looked away.

"it was very... school," she settles for. jerry snickers.

matthew frowns. "who's sweater is that?" now, jerry looks up, and smiles evilly at the sight of anne fumbling with her fingers and blushing.

"oh, it's-it's gilbert blythe's," she explains. "i wore the dress you gave me, but josie pye spilt her milk all over the front of it!" matthew frowns, sadness stricken across his face. "so he gave me this to hide it. i'm going to ask marilla to help wash it, she's got a talent for removing stains." she pauses, looking at matthew, and her shoulders slump. "i'm sorry for letting the dress get ruined. this is why i never wore it to school before, because i knew something like this would happen."

marilla, who was listening in on the conversation, enters the room. "i believe we should call josie's mother and tell her what her daughter did," she speaks. "this is unacceptable. that dress cost matthew a great deal-"

"please don't call her mother, marilla!" anne begs. "she would make my life unbearable."

"when can we eat the cake?" jerry asks. anne looks at him with an annoyed and angry expression. "never mind," he says quickly. anne looks back at marilla with a pleasing expression.

marilla groans. "stop looking at me like that, child, let's enjoy matthew's birthday."

~•~

gilbert unlocks his the door to his house and forces it open. the door is old and heavy, bash and gil have thought of replacing it multiple times, but never get around to it.

"bash!" he shouts. "i'm home!"

bash pokes his head out of the living room. "hey, blythe. i talked to anne today, she asked where you were. i think she missed walking with you." gilbert feels his face heat up, which makes bash laugh with glee. "you gave her your sweater?"

gilbert awkwardly rubs the back of his neck. "yeah- but she hugged me today." he smiles confidentially. bash claps.

"there we go, blythe! one step closer to becoming a man!" gilbert rolls his eyes.

"yeah, yeah, whatever. i'm going to be in my room, doing homework. don't bother me unless you absolutely if you need me."

bash puts his arms up in defense. "of course, mr. blythe, i wouldn't dare distract you from schoolwork." he smiles cheekily. gilbert playfully whacks him on the back of his head.

the man thinks of gilbert as another family members. gilbert sees him as the only family he has left.