kindred spirits || anne and gilbert

chapter nine .

anne dramatically throws herself onto gilbert's bed, sighing loudly as she does so. gilbert looks at the redhead, a smirk plastered on his face as he looks at the beloved girl. "are you alright?"

"josie pye is the worst girl alive," anne says, not answering his initial question. gilbert chuckles and shakes his head. she sits up from the small, skinny bed and looks at her secret lover, frowning in disappointment. "why must she feel the need to butt into everybody's business?"

"is this because she insinuated something about us?" he asks, raising an eyebrow. "because, in case you forgot, it's true." anne rolls her eyes, despite a smile on her face.

"i know," she says, slow and sarcastic. "but we have to keep it hidden from everyone until ruby isn't, well, in love with you."

she sighs in disappointment as guilt and sadness chews at her heart. 'that may never happen,' she thinks gloomily. 'she's been in love with gilbert blythe for years. what's to say his vocalized denial of love for her, will stop her from continuing to love him?'

gilbert notices the sad emotion on her face and drops his pencil. he stands from his desk and walks to his bed, sitting down on the edge of it beside her. he pushes a strand of red hair away from her face, exposing the rest of her freckles. he says softly,

"i promise you, it'll all work out, carrots."

gilbert's immediately relieved when a smile spreads across the girls face. anne rolls her eyes and softly shoves him back by his shoulder as he snickers.

"there's that smile i love so much!" he exclaims happily. he looks at the assignments sprawled out on his desk and sighs. "i guess we should continue working. care to join me on the floor?"

anne smiles as she scoots off the bed and on the floor. gilbert hands anne her book, and she takes it from him as her smile grows. "thank you," she says sincerely.

a burst of laughter permeates the house from downstairs, breaking the homes silence- 'sebastian and mary must be home now,' gilbert thinks. "i wonder what's for supper," he wonders aloud. "are you joining us to eat?"

anne thinks for a moment. "yes," she nods. "i doubt marilla and matthew will mind. they like you."

gilbert grins widely as he readjusts his position on the floor. suddenly, there's a knock on his bedroom door. "gilbert?" mary's kind voice says questioningly as she pokes her head in. a wave of realization seems to wash over her face when her eyes fall on redheaded girl. "oh, hello anne. i wasn't aware you were here."

anne smiles sweetly at the older woman. "we had homework we wanted to do together," gilbert explains. "anne's better at english than me, and i'm better at math." anne glares at him.

"that is not true."

mary chuckles in amusement. "bash and i will be starting supper soon. will anne be joining us."

"yes," anne says with a big smile. gilbert feels his heart swell- he's always loved how well mary, bash and anne get along. the newlyweds are the only family he has left, and he's been in love with anne shirley for years. seeing them laugh together and talk willingly has always been a happy sight for blythe.

"well, bash or i will come up to fetch you two lovebirds once it's done." the two teens, although already dating, feel their faces heat up. mary closes the door after herself, leaving the couple sat on the floor with bright red blushes across their faces.

gilbert snorts boyishly. "she's so..." he trails off.

"lovely," anne finishes for him, smiling as she looks down at her homework and begins to work again. gilbert smirks- that's not the word he was going to use. mocking, maybe.

with his right hand, he reaches over and grabs anne's right, intertwining their fingers. they continue to finish their homework, working in silence as they squeeze each other's hands lovingly.

~•~

ruby gillis plops down onto her close friends bed. "no, anne would never do such a thing to me," she says fragilely, her bottom lip already quivering with the thought of the possibility that anne would be so disloyal and secretive to her. "anne's so honest- she would tell me if she was even interested in gilbert."

josie rolls her eyes and turns around to face the small blonde girl. "ruby, listen to me. i have a gut feeling, a strong one. have i ever been wrong when i have a gut feeling?" tears fill the girls wide eyes as she shakes her head. it's true, josie always figures out the truth. "i'm sure that others know and haven't told us."

ruby's eyes shoot open even more. "who?"

"certainly diana, she's anne's best friend."

"diana would tell me," ruby argues. "we tell each other everything, anne, diana and i. we promised- pinkie promised!"

josie feels the anger building up inside of her as the small girl persists on her beliefs. she walks over to ruby and grabs her by her shoulders. she looks her in the eyes and says, "do you want to know the truth, ruby?" ruby nods slowly. "then let's go to gilbert blythe's home right now- they're together right now, i'm sure of it."

ruby looks down at her pale hands intertwined together in worry. she wants to go, she wants to see if what josie is saying is true, but can she handle it if anne and gilbert are lying and keeping secrets from her? is she ready to lose anne?

ruby frowns. 'i'm a good friend,' she thinks. 'i don't deserve being lied to.' if anne is lying to her, she won't be able to ever trust her again, nor stay her friend. how could she continue to be civil with the girl who stole the boy she loves?

she fixes her posture, sitting up straight, and exhales. with a determined expression printed on her face, she nods. "okay, let's go, josie."

josie smiles in satisfaction. finally, anne will get what she deserves.