sunflower

thirty-three

darling, i'm in love.

spring time came along, and things had changed in the friend group. emily and gilbert had been 'dating' since january, it was now april. their relationship was strange, it somehow felt forced. gilbert did like emily, but he wasn't sure it was in the way she liked him. he kept their relationship going, though, as he thought maybe he could fall in love with her in time. isn't that how it works anyways?

billy andrews had also managed to keep his knowledge of anne's crush on gilbert to himself for the past few months. he wanted to use it against her, but he didn't know when. he had watched anne have to see gilbert and emily together since january, and even though he pretended to find it funny, he did actually feel sorry for her. it was a strange concept for him. billy feeling sorry for anne? that wasn't normal.

"do we have to sit with them today?" anne asked diana as they walked to the lunch hall. everyone seemed to love emily, but anne still wasn't convinced.

"yes anne, they're our friends." said diana with a small laugh. she knew how hard it had been for anne, watching gilbert and emily be all happy and cute for four months. anne had tried her hardest to get over gilbert, but it was hard when she had to see him everyday. they were still close like they used to be, but they very rarely hung out just the two of them. anne thought that was for the best though, she couldn't allow herself to continue having feelings for him.

anne and diana sat at the lunch table, anne making sure she sat the furthest away from gilbert. it hurt anne to see emily plant small kisses onto gilbert's cheek, or giggle at what he whispers to her, or when they think they're being discreet when they hold hands under the table. anne wanted nothing more than gilbert to be happy, but she just wished he could be happy with her.

"hey guys, wanna go sit on the field instead?" asked emily. everyone nodded, following emily and gilbert onto the field. emily had somehow turned into the favourite in the group, everyone adored her.

at the end of the field there was a small shed surrounded by a picket fence, it had been there since anne began at avonlea high but it never seemed to be used. the group decided to go sit by the shed, since nobody ever actually sat down there.

emily grinned as she climbed up onto the fence, walking along the flat wood on the back. she continued until she met gilbert at the end, jumping into his arms. she clearly thinks she's being cool. i'll show her what cool is. thought anne.

"you think that's cool? well i know of a girl who walked the ridge pole of a roof without falling or holding onto anything." said anne with a scoff, folding her arms across her chest. she didn't actually know of anybody who did that, but she pretended she did so that she could one up emily. emily looked at her, her eyebrows raised.

"i don't believe you." she said, looking back at the redhead after gilbert put her back on the ground. the group of friends watched emily and anne's exchange, wondering what on earth was going on. "prove it." said emily, pointing to the ridge pole that was on top of the roof of the shed. anne looked at it, trying not to show how scared she actually was.

"fine." was all anne said, walking towards the ladders that were conveniently placed against the wall of the shed.

"anne, you don't have to do this." said diana, desperate to make her stop. she knew this wouldn't end well. anne looked to diana, a sympathetic smile on her face.

"don't worry, dear diana. i'll be okay." said anne. gilbert held a worried expression, he didn't think this was safe at all.

anne began climbing up the ladders, all of her friends watching with fear, apart from emily who was smirking to herself.

"come on, anne. get down. this is silly!" gilbert shouted to her. she was now half way up the ladder, but she stopped so she could turn to him.

"i am quite capable of doing this, gilbert. i don't need you, or anybody, to hold my hand and keep me safe." anne shouted back before continuing the climb up the ladders. gilbert knew just how stubborn anne could be, but this wasn't the time for her to be stubborn.

she reached the top of the ladder, steadily getting herself onto the ridge pole. she stood for a moment, glancing down to her friends. gilbert looked scared, terrified in fact. it almost made her climb back down. diana looked like she was crying which, if anne was closer, she would know she actually was. the rest of her friends watched with panic, wondering why anne was even bothering with this. eat this, emily. anne thought before taking her first step along the ridge pole.

she continued the steps slowly, her arms out to keep her steady. she was actually doing it. she wobbled slightly in places, but she continued, until she got to the other end. now she had to turn back around to get back to the ladder. she hadn't really thought about that part.

she took small steps to turn around, refusing to look down at her friends at all. as she stepped, she lost her balance. her legs gave way and all of a sudden she was sliding down off of the roof and onto the ground. luckily, the shed wasn't that high up.

anne lay on the grass beside the shed, blacking out for a moment. she heard diana's frantic shouting, and the loud footsteps of all of her friends running over.

"oh god, please tell me you're not dead!" shouted diana, kneeling down beside anne and laying anne's head on her lap. "anne? please don't be dead!"

anne's eyes slowly fluttered open, the first thing she saw was diana's teary face, along with gilbert's worried expression.

"don't worry diana, i'm not dead. i'm completely fine." said anne, sitting herself up.

anne began to stand up, but fell straight back down when her ankle gave way. gilbert rushed straight over, putting one arm over her shoulder and under her arm and taking her hand with his free hand to pull her up.

"are you okay?" he asked her as he held her up, he tried to walk with her but she began limping.

"yes. i'm fine. i don't need your help." she said coldly, trying to walk without his assistance but couldn't.

"anne, you might have broken your ankle. let me take you to the emergency room." he said, still holding onto her.

"no, it's okay. i can walk home." she said, letting go of gilbert and grabbing onto diana.

"anne really, it's no trouble. i don't want you to hurt your ankle even more." he said from beside her as diana was now the one keeping her up.

"no. that's quite alright, gilbert." said anne, determined to get away from him. he stopped walking beside her, allowing her to walk ahead with diana.

"oh, anne. you should've let him help you. you can barely walk!" said diana once gilbert was out of ear shot.

"can you take me to the emergency room please?" asked anne, wincing from the pain that was shooting up her leg every time she put pressure on her ankle.

her friends watched her limp away, gilbert looking defeated. emily didn't think this would happen, she didn't actually think anne would walk the ridge pole. but she didn't know anne that well, and she was stubborn. she just had to make her point.

anne climbed into the passenger seat of diana's car, wondering why she had to be so stubborn.

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A/N: ok so i just had to include this scene, i know it was josie who made anne walk the ridge pole but !!!! mixin it up :)
i also love the bit in the anne of green gables movies when diana is like shouting 'please say you're not killed!!' like she's so dramatic i love her omg
i hope you all liked this chapter !!!