CORTARO | Shirbert

Four ~ Rule Number Two

"Rule number two, a woman can never be alone with a gentleman, a chaperone must be present at all times, supervising meetings and time spent together"

It had been a week since Anne and Gilbert announced their courtship to their families. Anne woke up and went directly to her mirror. Red hair, freckles. It hasn't changed, her physical appearance, but she felt different on the inside, she felt like a new person. She got ready for the day and went downstairs to have breakfast.

After she did her chores, Anne went for a walk as usual; she loved walking around and admiring nature. After all these years, she was still a little girl with a big imagination and love for nature. Gilbert Blythe was well aware of these usual walks his now-intended enjoyed taking; after he had finished his own chores at his house, he decided to go for a walk too, hoping to find a certain red-haired goddess wandering around as well.

Anne had decided to walk all the way to the Vale's garden. She loved it there; it was the best place to connect with nature. She still constantly thought about what Rachel Lynde had told her.

Orphan Girl and Poor Blythe Boy

Every bad thought she had, quickly dissipate when she starts thinking of him, his voice, his eyes, his smell, his curls, his freckles, his chin.

"These daisies are so pretty," someone said, Anne quickly recognized the voice, raspy and soothing, she turned to see the pretty man owner of the voice "But this one looks even prettier than ever" he looked at her with a smirk on his face.

"Gil!" Anne ran to his arms; she held him so tight, making it almost difficult for him to breathe.

"Anne, love. You're not letting me breathe" Gilbert chuckled.

"Oh," Anne loosened her grip, "I'm sorry, I- just missed you"

"You saw me yesterday" he smiled, still holding her. Gilbert went to Green Gables to give Marilla some apples, her hopefully-future-mother-in-law had expressed her gusto towards the fruit grown in his orchard and he is more than willing to bring some freshly-picked apples for the family of his lover every day if he has to.

"So? What's your point?" she teased.

"My point is..." he sighed, "I missed you too" she smiled and getting on her tiptoes, she kissed him. "I think I'm never going to get used to this" he breathed, inches away from her mouth.

Kiss.

"I've brought you something," he said after pulling away from her. Looking for something on his bag, he pulled a book out, "I thought maybe you could read to me. I love it when you read; you do it with so much emotion"

Anne grabbed the book, Odyssey, she smiled, she had not read this book before, "What's it about?" she looked up at him.

"A man, Odysseus, he fought in the Trojan War, he spent twenty years away for the war. The book tells the story of his return home after the war ended, he has to go through a lot of challenges to finally get home" she opened the book, looking at the writing on the first page.

Ex Libris John Blythe

"This is your father's" she caressed the writing, "We should just keep this safe, this is something that belonged to him, you shouldn't have brought it out here, Gil. Something could happen and the book could be ruined"

"My father has a lot of books, daisy. He loved to read, he will want his books to have a new life, he has a lot of them, really; maybe you could come to my house someday and look through them and see if there are any others you like" Gilbert offered.

She smiled and went to sit with her back against the nearest tree, Gilbert sat next to her. Anne patted her legs, letting him know what she wanted, he obliged, resting his head on her lap, opening the book for her to read while she ran her hand through his hair, playing with his curls.

"Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns driven time and again off course, once he had plundered the hallowed heights of Troy," she started reading. The book was supposed to be Odysseus' return to his home, but as she continued reading Anne started to think of the book more like a romance story than an adventure or comeback-home story. Penelope, Odysseus wife, had stayed at their home waiting for him to return, it had been twenty years since her husband left and she always remained faithful to him, despite having a hundred suitors, she only wanted her husband, and it goes the other way around as well; Odysseus was offered several other women with a lot more wealth than Penelope to marry, but all the money in the world did not matter to him, he only wanted his wife, he traveled ten years to get back with her. Odysseus and Penelope, they only wanted each other, no matter the years and distance apart, they always wanted to be with each other. "Then by day she would weave at the great web, but by night she would unravel it..." Anne read, "That's so smart!" Gilbert chuckled, "Why are you laughing?! It is, she told the suitors that when she finishes weaving, she'll decide whom to marry, but if she keeps unraveling every night what she'd weaved during the day, she's not making any progress, so she has them there thinking they have a chance when they have none, and she's just making time for her husband to come back. That's so romantic!" Anne exclaimed, making Gilbert chuckle again, "Don't you agree?"

"Oh, I do" he started, "is amazing what someone can do for love isn't it?" she hummed in response, "if we ever where in a situation like that, would you be like Penelope?" Gilbert asked, moving so he could see her.

"We're not married," Anne started.

"Uh, yes. I'm, sorry I shouldn't-"

"Yet" she interrupted, "We're not married yet, and also, yes, I'd do that" a grin started growing at the corner of his mouth.

"Yet" he repeated.

"Gil?"

"Daisy?"

"I should go back to Green Gables, we've been here for a while now. Our families might be worried" Anne said, still running her hand through his hair.

"I'll walk you" he stood up. On the way to Green Gables, they continued talking about Penelope and Odysseus, and their romance story. They stopped at the gate to say goodbye, not wanting Marilla and Matthew to know they were just walking –and more than walking- alone without a chaperone. Just as Gilbert was about to go, an elder lady got out of the house.

"Anne! Gilbert!" Rachel Lynde yelled, "Would you come here, please?"

They looked at each other, fear and shame taking over their whole bodies. Swallowing the lump on their throats, they started to walk towards the house.

AN: In case you didn't know: Ex libris is a Latinism, it translates as "from the books of". It is basically a very cultured way of saying a book belongs to someone.