Butterflies~~ Shirbert

Chapter twelve: I promise

Anne opened her textbook to turn to the chapter Ms Stacy had assigned. She had watched Gilbert look at something in her book when he retrieved it from the coat room but because his back was turned she couldn't exactly see what he was doing. She kept doing her work, trying to focus but of course failing due to the Hazel eyed boy staring at her from across the room. His gaze burned into her, as if like a fire it heated her cheeks darkening her already blushing face. She tucked her hair behind her ear trying her best to act natural even though she was sitting up straighter and had just removed her hand from twirling her hair. She hand'nt even noticed her hand was in her hair, until she forced herself to move it. But she had to release her nervous energy somehow so she shook her pencil on her fingers vigorously.
Across the room Gilbert shook his leg under the table until Charlie said,
"Nervous?"
He looked at Gilbert with a sly expression, filled with phantom innocence and a smirk that read it all.
Gilbert looked at him, with a face that Charlie didn't really what to mess with. But the display that happened in front of him was too, odd and romantic to not say anything. He finally stopped pestering him for the school day, they would talk about later.
Gilbert couldn't stop checking if Anne had read his note, it was quite literally driving him crazy. What was her reaction going to be, it will probably scare her off, then she won't talk to him for several months most likely. He couldn't take it, he bit his lip, trying to force himself not to shake his leg, since he didn't feel like being questioned by Charlie again, one more interrogation and he might snap, and say everything that on his mind.
For example, Anne's hair looked like the sunset, it's true he didn't have the way with words that Anne did but something about her beauty brought him to using metaphors that could be seen in the poems they read in class, mostly the romantic ones.
Oh no, he thought to himself rubbing his face trying to get her lips out of his mind. They looked so soft, so inviting. He had never felt this urge towards anyone and it was eating him alive. What he would give just to hug her, just a hug, to hold her like he did that day in the forest when she jumped on him. That day at the forest was very confusing, and surprising, but it was one of the best surprises he could have asked for. He knew it probably wasn't much to do with propriety, but he wasn't going to be the one to pry her off him, and say we aren't married. Now that would scare her off, that would cause unnecessary embarrassment, on both of their ends.
What made his heart glow is that even though he was pretty sure it was just the spur of the moment.
She trusted him enough to wrap her legs around him, she felt safe enough with him to know she could do that. He knew that she probably wasn't entirely thinking straight, but that embrace felt so meaningful, she seemed to not know how to express how she felt in words, quite rare for Anne he thought smiling.
But that one action felt as if she helped him sew up the hole in his heart that his father left. Even just a few stitches, it felt as if Anne was the only one who understood how he felt, she didn't pity him like everyone else. he didn't know if she had lost her parents or really he didn't know anything about her past at that, but there was the understanding between both of them, that felt as if neither had to say anything for the other to know what they were feeling.
During those long, sleepless nights, when he lay on his dads bed wetting the pillows with his tears. The only things that seemed to help him feel better was thinking about Anne, thinking about how they were getting closer. He wished that his father were there, in this time when he was so confused by his feelings, he knew his father would have good advice. He had talked about Anne quite a bit to his dad before he died, his father was probably a little tired of hearing how Anne's freckles looked like constellations in the night sky, Gilbert laughed softly to himself.
now more than ever Gilbert didn't know what to do with this feeling that was brewing inside him. This feeling that made it so all he wanted to do was kiss her and kiss her, and run his fingers through her magnificent tresses, and hold her forever.
He wanted her to feel comfortable enough to tell him everything about her past, all of the dark things, things she didn't what to say in her head let alone out loud. He had a couple of things like that, he didn't want to think about the fact that he killed his mother, if he wasn't born she surely would still be here, right?
He wanted to know everything about her and he wanted her to know everything about him, he knew there was nothing she could say that could make him walk away from her. He thought back to the first time he mentioned Anne to his father. It was the day he met Anne. he remembered practically skipping home feeling as if he would burst if he didn't say anything to anyone about the treasure he discovered, how it came in the form of a fierce redhead made of pure beauty.
~ flashback~
Gilbert sat on the wooden chair by the end of his fathers bed. He looked down at his work he pushed his pencil on the paper of his book but he answered the equations absentmindedly. His father noticed that he wore a almost frustrated look on his face, his eyebrows were furrowed, he looked like he was thinking very intently about something. The longer he looked at his son, the more and more his eyebrows furrowed and the harder he wrote on his paper. Until finally he snapped.
Gilbert put his pencil down, it rolled off his paper and onto the floor, he put his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands, leaning forward. He groaned In frustration.
His father was very intrigued by his son, it was very rare that Gilbert got frustrated like this, especially with schoolwork, he never seemed to struggle. He asked gently,
"Son, are you alright, do you need help with your work."
Gilbert was only half listening, all he could see was red fiery hair, swinging in his mind, his heart wouldn't stop pulsating, he felt like he had to talk to her, but there was little to no chance she would talk to him after today, she was already ignoring him to begin with. He slightly interrupted his father by saying in a frustrated voice.
"I can't get her out of my mind," his face were still buried in his hands.
His father was very perplexed at first but then after a couple of seconds he was forced to suppress his laughter.
"Hmm, care to elaborate, Gilbert."
Gilbert sat up straight looking straight at his dad.
"She whacked me with her slate dad," Gilbert said.
This time his father couldn't bite back his laughter.
Gilbert was about to say that it wasn't funny but then he realized that it honestly was a bit humorous.
"Well, whatever did you do, I'm sure you deserved it," said the dad with a teasing look on his face.
"I yanked her braid," he said but in a way that sounded as if he wasn't finished.
"And," he father pushed on.
"I called her carrots," he said hesitantly, in a higher pitched voice.
"Umm," his father was actually confused, "why in the world would you call her carrots."
"She has this long red hair, I can't believe out of all the things I could have said, carrots? Im not sure I'll ever live that down. I mean That's all I could come up with. I didn't do the color any justice, her hair is a golden sunset, dad, it lights up the classroom, she lights up the classroom, I can't seem to catch my breath when she walks into school, I get all flustered and sweaty and I don't even know what to do with myself," he fiddled with his hands in his lap, whilst he bounced his leg.
"I just can't get stop thinking about her, when it was her turn to read the poem, she read it with such passion, I mean her arms were literally swinging and everyone laughed, ahh I wanted to punch that billy Andrews so bad dad, I had to bite my lip so I wouldn't,"
This made Gilbert's dad laugh.
Gilbert continued, "she seemed like she was in her own world, like her mind was somewhere else, I want to see where she was, I want to see the world through her eyes, she spent half of class gazing out the window with this expression, it was like the trees branches flowing in the wind was the most extraordinary thing she had ever seen, oh and she beat me in the spelling bee, no one has ever beat me, she seemed to do it with ease, and every time we met eyes, my heart felt like it was going to fly out of my chest, all I wanted to do was walk over to her and ki-," he realized what he was about to say, and stopped himself, that was the moment he registered everything he just admitted to his dad.
His face reddened a deep shade of red once he saw the older mans expression. His fathers eyebrows were raised and he wore a smirk.
"Wait Uhh, I no I didn't, no of course not, umm, I don't know what I was about to say, I Uhh, I don't know what I was even thinking, I Uhh,"
"Gilbert son, calm down, do you want to know something."
"Yeah," said Gilbert breathless.
"When I was your age I met a girl,
she was different than all the other girls, she didn't have fancy dresses or anything like that, but she didn't need it, she was still the most beautiful thing I had ever layer my eyes on at the time, I went home and didn't sleep at all that night, I couldn't wait to see her the next day, she made me feel just as you described how this girl makes you feel."
"Do you what to know something son," he continued somewhat hesitantly.
Gilbert nodded.
"I proposed to her."
Gilbert's mouth opened in shock.
"Was it mom."
"No, it wasn't actually, I was leaving the country with the military, as I've told you about, and I asked her to come with me, but she couldn't, her mother was ill, that was one of the last times I talked to her."
"That's awful dad, I-I I'm so sorry," Gilbert was confused as to why his father was saying this.
"I'm telling you this so you don't loose your opportunity by denying how you feel, like I did, when I finally came to terms about how I felt, she was long gone."
Gilbert was still trying to comprehend what his father was trying to say.
"What is the girls name, Gilbert."
"Anne,"
Gilbert said her name as if it was sacred, as if it couldn't be said lightly, his mind seemed to go elsewhere and his eyes slowly drifted up, his voice had a dreamy tone.
Gilbert's dad smiled, he had a feeling just by how much Gilbert was rambling about the girl, that he really really liked her, but it was the way he said her name that gave away that he was in love.
"She is the cuthbert's new child right."
"Yes," Gilbert smiled, "wait dad, you never told me who the person was that you proposed to."
"Oh, don't worry about it, that's for another time," his father smiled and took a drink of his tea.
"Gilbert can you promise me something."
"Yes, of course dad, anything," Gilbert said very alert.
"Promise me you'll never let her go."
"Who," Gilbert said trying to sound like he didn't know what his father was referring to.
"The person you want to spend the rest of your life with, once you've realized you've found her, don't let her go,
don't let pride get in the way."
Gilbert looked at him with his eyebrows furrowed nodding his head.
"I promise."
~

This is where I'm going to leave the chapter, next chapter will be full of Gilbert being Anne's "crutches" also Anne has to get home somehow and she can't walk so ;);) Anyways, that's all for today new chapter tomorrow! I love you❤️❤️❤️

Published aug 22 19