Broken (Gilbert Blythe)

chapter 11

Nova gets inside and quickly takes off her shoes, making her way up the stairs. She enters her bedroom, making sure Jane isn't in there, which she wasn't. Nova caught of herself in the mirror. She was soaked from head to toe but honestly, it was absolutely worth it. She smiles, thinking of her and Gilbert. She walks over to her dresser, grabs some clothes then heads off to take a bath.

-Later that Night-

Everyone in the Andrews' household came to the table for dinner.

Their mother looks at them, "How was school today?" Nobody said anything, there might as well have been crickets chirping to fill the silence. Mrs. Andrews looks to Jane. "Jane?" She looks up and shrugs her shoulders. "Nothing too special." She nods her head to Nova, "Nova won the spelling bee at school." Nova looks up from her food and over at her sister then to her mother. "Um...Yeah I did, I won against Gilbert Blythe. It was kind of nerve wracking." She chuckles and looking back down at her food, taking a bite. 

Nova grabs her glass of water and takes a sip. Billy rolls his eyes, "Yeah. While you guys are flirting non-stop." Nova choked on her water. "What? We do not." Her heart rate fastens. "Bullshit." Mr. Andrews turns his head to his son. "Billy! No curse words at the table!" He says with disappointment. "What? Nova is too much a of nitwit to notice." Nova looks down. "We're just friends." She finishes her food quickly. "May I be excused?" Her mother nodded, Nova walked upstairs to her room and laid down on her bed, thinking about Gilbert and their afternoon together. She couldn't get Billy's words out of her mind. Nova knows that Gilbert would never go for someone like her. 

-Saturday-

Nova was helping her mother with some house chores when there was a knock at the front door. Mrs. Andrews answered, "Hi, Mrs. Andrews." A boys voice, Nova hears this and walks around the corner to see who it is.

"I was wondering if I could invite Nova over for tea. My father will be there and I'm sure he would love the company." The boy asks. Nova sees who it is, her heart flutters. Gilbert sees Nova behind her mother and smiles at her. Nova comes up beside her mother, "Gilbert, how nice to see you." She smiles at him. Gilbert looks at her mother with a small grin, "I was just asking your mother if you could join my father and I for tea." Nova looks to her mother with pleading eyes, "Can I?"

Mrs. Andrews looks at her and raises her eyebrows, hesitantly responds. "You have to be home by dark." She walks away into the dining room. Nova looks to Gilbert and blushes, grabbing her coat.

They start their walk, snow crunching underneath their feet. "How's your father doing?" Nova looks over to Gilbert. He takes a deep breath and sighs, responding hesitantly.

 "If I'm being honest, I don't think he's getting any better. I try to stay as optimistic as possible but..." He pauses and stops in his tracks, looks to Nova. She stops, "I don't know what I'm going to do without him, Nova." He says with tears welling up in his eyes.

 "Oh, Gil." Nova hugs him, putting her arms around his neck and that's when he breaks. Gilbert couldn't hold it in anymore. He had to be strong for his father, he didn't want to cry in front of him. Nova whispers in his ear, "It's okay, I'm here."

He had his arms wrapped around her, holding onto her for dear life. A minute or so goes by, Nova lets go and looks at him. Their faces were close, a few inches apart. "I'm always going to be here. Even if you don't want me to be." She says, staring into his beautiful hazel eyes. He nods. Nova grabs his hand and interlaces her fingers with his. "Let's go get some tea." She gives him a small smile.

They made it to Gilbert's house, like he always does, he opened the door for her. She was welcomed with the warmth of his home. They both walked in, having to separate their intertwined hands. Nova felt slightly sad at the removal of his hand from hers. Gilbert gestures to a kitchen chair, "Please, take a seat. I'll start the tea." He smiles at the beautiful girl. 

Nova took a seat, taking off her coat. "Thank you." She smiles, placing her coat on the back of the chair. Gilbert places the kettle on the stove and sits in the seat in front of Nova. "Question." Gilbert looks up at Nova with his eyebrows raised and nods, urging her to go on. "What do you want to be in the future? Like where do you see yourself?" She asks gently, staring at the boy. Gilbert looks down at his hands and takes a deep breath. "I think I know what I want." He looks back up to Nova. "But I don't want to say it and it not be true." He says, looking at her intently. 

Nova nods, "I understand that. I want to be one thing but my parents want something different for me." She looks away toward the fire, trying to not make eye contact with the handsome boy. Gilbert scrunches up his eyebrows, "Why do they have a say in what you want to be?" Nova looks back at him, somewhat stunned by his words. She has never had someone say something like that, other than herself. 

She opens her mouth to speak but no words come out. Gilbert leans in a little and stares into Nova's eyes, "It's your life, Nova. Your parents or anyone for that matter should never dampen your passions and dreams. You should do what your heart tells you to do." He said with encouragement, getting up to get the kettle off the stove, grabbing the tea cups. Nova nods her head, "Gil?" She says, looking at the boy that has his back to her. He turns around and looks at Nova. "You never answered my question."

He gives Nova a faint smile and looks back to the tea. "I want to be a doctor." He says, nervously. Nova smiles at his response. She can see Gilbert being an amazing doctor, he's sweet and so caring for others. Gilbert turns back around and lays their tea cups and small plates underneath them, on the table. "I think that's amazing, Gil."

He sits down and looks at her with a smirk. "I think I already know this answer but what do you want to be in the future?" He pauses. "Not what your parents want you to be." He chuckles a little. Nova smiles at him, "I would love to be a writer, of course. But I would love to travel too. Write about what I see and what I experience."

Gilbert nods his head and smiles, "That's great, Nova. You'll be extraordinary." They both looked into each others eyes, not being able to break the glance, until there was coughing from the other room. Gilbert breaks eye contact and looks toward the hallway, "Will you excuse me?" He gets up and goes down the hall. Nova sat there thinking to herself, 'Nova, you gotta get over this boy. No one will ever approve. You really think Gilbert, of all people, would want to be with you?'

Nova shakes her head, getting annoyed with herself. Footsteps trail back into the kitchen, "Nova?" The girl looks over to boy glancing at her from the archway to the hall. "My father is awake, would you like to say hi?" Gilbert says with a slight smile. Nova smiles back and nods. She makes her way down the hallway with Gilbert. 

 authors note 

thank you guys for reading! it really means so much to me! I hope you guys had a merry christmas and have a happy new year! I'll see you guys next year. :)

~ mack :b