kindred spirits || anne and gilbert

chapter five .

it's been a week since gilbert and anne shared a steamy kiss in the hallway. the dance is one week away. diana and ruby are bursting with excitement and joy, whilst anne is silently hating herself and dreading it.

gilbert is trying his best to talk to anne. she's been leaving the house early each morning so she doesn't have to speak to gilbert, and completely ignores him during school. each time, her heart hurts from the pained expression on his face, but she's telling herself that this is for the best. so that he can get over his fantasy with her, and fall in love with ruby, and so anne can lose feelings for him as well.

anne sits down between diana and ruby during lunch, smiling at moody and cole on the other side of the table. "good day," moody greets her.

"hey, mind if we sit here?" they turn around to see charlie and gilbert with their lunches. diana and ruby smile.

"take a seat," diana grins.

charlie happily plops down beside her and takes her hand in his. ruby scoots over so gilbert can sit down, right in between anne and ruby. anne sighs, feeling her heart beat faster as his leg and arm brushes against hers. he looks down at her with a smile, but she quickly looks forward at cole and smiles.

"so, cole, are you excited for the dance?"

cole smiles. "you know it, baby," he replies with a laugh. moody rolls his eyes at the two of them, while diana and charlie flirted. ruby fights for gilbert's attention, and gilbert fights for anne's.

ruby begins scolding moody for something he brought up, angry at him for whatever it's about. gilbert looks down at anne's hand and brushes his hand against hers. she blushes and retracts her hand, holding them across her stomach. gilbert swallows a lump in his throat, dissatisfied.

he punches her thigh.

"ow, gilbert!" anne jumps, turning to him and glaring. everyone looks at them.

"what?" ruby asks.

anne shakes her head. "nothing," she says in a gloomy tone. "my jeans actually got stuck in the chair and it scratched me. sorry, gilbert." she looks at him with fiercely angry eyes. he can't help but grin.

ruby wraps her arms around gilbert's and hugs it. "i'm so lucky you're taking me to the dance!" she gushes. gilbert laughs nervously. anne can't help but want to kiss him and take all of gilbert's attention away from her.

'oh my god, i'm jealous!' she thinks. 'what the fuck?'

~•~

anne tries to leave school as soon as possible, rushing away from gilbert as he calls her name. but of course, the determined boy catches up with her and stands in front of her. she moves to the left, and he steps in her way again. anne huffs in annoyance. "move, gil- bert." he smirks.

"why are you ignoring me?"

"i can't do this to ruby," anne begins. "i-"

"stop using her as an excuse," gilbert cuts her off. " this isn't just about her. it's about about your fear of love. your fear of being loved." gilbert looks at her with pleading eyes. he takes her hands and intertwines his fingers with hers. "please, anne. i love you."

tears fill her eyes. "nobody wants us together, gilbert."

"bash does!" he exclaims. "and diana, charlie, moody-"

"i can't risk lose ruby," anne cries. "and then you as well, in the long run."

he shakes his head. "you'd never lose me. i want to be with you."

"you deserve someone like ruby, who's splendid and beautiful and not a smart-ass. you deserve better than me."

"but i don't want better or worse," he says, barely above a whisper. tears fill his eyes. "anne, i just want you."

"i'm no good for you, gilbert blythe. go, fall in love with ruby. she's a great person." she shakes her hands out of gilbert's soft grip and runs the rest of the way home, leaving gilbert with his heart crushed.

~•~

a/n
this is basically just a little filler chapter, hence why it is so short. next chapter is the dance- get ready for drama.