₁.₀ SUPERCUT; gilbert blythe ✔

005.

"Is everything all right, Anne?"

Leaving her place next to Marilla to stay a few steps behind to wait for Anne is out of Marianne's usual way of being. But she knows her enough to suspect that something must indeed be bothering the redhead girl - the quiet attitude and lack of visible excitement feel very unlike her.

"Aren't you curious about the picnic?" inquires Marianne. "You seem worried somehow; perhaps you would like to talk about it?"

Anne stays silent for a moment and Marianne begins to feel that she had crossed a line. She shouldn't have spoken up, it would have been better to leave matters as they were. Regret is already building within her, as well as desire to return to her previous, safe spot beside Marilla, where no-one expected her to say anything.

"Do you know Miss Cuthbert well?"

Catched off guard, Marianne looks at Anne with a corner of her eye before answering, "I've been living at Green Gables for nearly a year now and, since my mother was the youngest Cuthbert sibling, we used to visit from time to time before... so I suppose you could say so, yes. Why?"

"Was she at least a little sorrowful when she discovered she'd sent me away for nothing? Diana said that Mrs. Lynde had told her mother that Miss Cuthbert was 'torn asunder', but I find it quite impossible to believe. She didn't seem happy to see me at all, she wasn't even pleased."

So that's the case.

"Oh, she was. She was, Anne. Mrs. Lynde is quite known for exaggerating, but believe me when I say that I've hardly seen Marilla so distressed before. She's been worried sick the entire time you and Matthew were gone."

"Can you give me your word on that?"

"And will it make you feel a little better if I do?" asks Marianne, receiving a silent nod in response. "Then yes, Anne, you have my word."

"Good. Still, I do fear it might all disappear one day. Though, despite my best attempts, I suppose I've already gotten used to Green Gables and all its beautiful surroundings." Anne sighs, fingers nervously playing with the hem of her sleeve. Marianne desperately tries not to look at her, but every time her eyes seem to move back into that direction, making the girl's heart feel heavier at the sight. "It was truly dreadful being far from it, thinking there was no way to come back. And travelling all by myself wasn't that nice either, considering the fact that some strange man approached me and said he has been sent by my family to fetch me back home."

Marianne can feel coldness entering her veins. "H-He did what?" God, and she was the one to assure Marilla that nothing could have happened!

Unaware of the effect her words have on Marianne, Anne continues to talk, "And I was terrified at first, you know. But then I thought better of it and classified it another adventure, however unpleasant. I suppose one must get used to such things when being in a bigger city..."

"Get used to that? Anne, I'm sorry to say so, but do you hear yourself?" Honestly, she feels like she could scream and shake the other girl. She's more upset than expected; the perspective of drawing unwanted attention being the only thing stopping her. "What that man did - what he tried and, thank God, failed to do - was utterly and undeniably wrong. He had no right. A-And you shouldn't think that your reaction was due to not being used to situations like that. Being approached by an unknown man who tries to lure you into... into something - you're not supposed to get used to it at all. Do you understand what I'm saying, Anne?"

Marianne doesn't consider herself satisfied until Anne nods her head and assures her that she does. In fact, she has to do it a couple of times for the Belware to feel a little better; though it's hard for her to calm down for the next few minutes as different scenarios of what could have happened rush through her head, each of them more terrifying than the other.