Chapter 2

The little fire crackled and spat in the grate of the parlour of Green Gables. Gilbert lifted his head from the closely written notebook to stretch, moving the book he had been taking notes from to the table. The crisp winter evening was growing long, and not a word had been spoken in an hour between the only two inhabitants of the cozy room. He yawned and moved restlessly. The interest in his chemistry notes had long since palled, and he found himself wanting to fling them as far as he could from him. He rubbed his eyes in a dreamlike state and looked around to see what Anne was doing.

Her textbook had fallen to the floor and she was staring dreamily into the fire, her sheaf of notes hanging carelessly from one slim white hand. He smiled, enjoying the sweet unconsciousness of her demeanor. Her red hair was in one long braid over her shoulder, and he found himself watching her in wonder.

Was it possible he had fallen asleep and found himself in the days of their youth again? Anne could easily be her younger self in the way she sat on the chair, her feet on the chair tucked under her blue skirts. They were days where they had studied and dreamed together, carefully hiding anything of a more personal nature between them. Nights of anxiety, where his biggest fear was that one of the other boys would beat him to Anne's side, that she would prefer somone else to him.

Gilbert smiled then, seeing his pearl ring on the hand her chin rested on, knowing that those days would not return again. It was then that she looked across to him, her face breaking into a bright smile at Gilbert's contented face. She held out her hand to him. He shook his head with a grin, patting the sofa beside him.

"We won't fit on your chair, sweetheart. Not unless we want another scolding."

She laughed then, and crossed on stockinged feet to the sofa, tumbling upon it with a little sigh. He drew her into his arms, bending his head to catch the scent of rose on her skin.

"Did you finish your notes?" she asked.

"Almost. I will tomorrow. Mother's taking Dad into town to get his cast taken off, and to get the final check on his back done before he starts back on the farm." He chuckled then. "Dad's fine, I think. He's been chasing me around the farm anyway, making sure I'm doing everything right. He made me redo the equipment shed twice yesterday." He lay back against the arm of the sofa, settling Anne comfortably in his arms again. "And in a few days Samuel Buote starts work with Dad, so he'll have help when I go."

"And no more Farmer Gil." she teased lightly.

He sighed. "I was really afraid Dad wouldn't be able to go back to work, this time." He ran his fingers along the thick copper braid that lay on his chest, his throat closing at the intimacy of the moment. "Could you have settled for me being a farmer if I had to, Anne?" he asked her, his voice hesitant.

She looked up at him with a surprised look. "Of course, Gil. I mean, I am exceptionally glad for your father, I'm gladder still for you that you have this chance to pursue your dreams, but what you do isn't important to me. No matter what you chose." she said, with a little sigh and a convincing snuggle into his arms.

"Good."

They lay there for some minutes in silence, the warmth of the fire soothing worries away.

"So what were you just thinking about?" Gilbert asked, recalling her faraway stare. To his surprise, Anne began to laugh.

"Oh, just a memory."

"Ah. It must be the slate."

"I have other memories, you goose. I was just building castles for you and I to occupy." Her hand stroked his cheek, and Gilbert sat up slightly to look at her, his brow raised at her impish smile.

"And the reason those castles make you laugh, Miss Shirley?"

She settled herself against his chest with a huge smile. "It's a long story. When Di and I were younger, we talked a lot about our home of dreams. And in my imagination, I built a giant castle, and then considered the man who would walk the marble halls with me."

"And he wasn't me," Gilbert said dryly. This made Anne break into another peal of laughter, and he looked at her puzzled.

"Oh Gil, it actually was. That was the funniest thing. There was a tall, melancholy suitor roaming the halls, however I couldn't seem to imagine him any closer than that, no matter how hard I tried. And while I was busy furnishing the home in my imagination, to my utter bewilderment it was you walking with me every time, choosing furniture and arguing with me over where the pictures should go. You roamed the gardens with me, and were helping me in the kitchen- and most unsettlingly, you were assisting me in laying sheets on a bed. You can imagine that completely upset my eighteen-year-old decorum. And any time I thought about my house of dreams, you were always there." she said, looking up at him with a smile. "I suppose my subconscious knew my heart better that I did."

Gilbert's smile was huge, and he kissed the top of her head. "I always saw you in my home as well," he said, with a little twinkle in his eye. "And we definitely weren't arranging furniture. Although I sometimes pictured you making me tea."

Anne jumped and then blushed inexplicably, and Gilbert looked at her in concern.

"Something about tea unsettles you, Anne?" he asked, quizzically. "I could always help you make it-"

Anne turned to face him with a little chuckle, stopping his words with her fingers. She put her arms around his neck tenderly. "I would be delighted to make you tea in our house of dreams, sir. I look forward to it." Anne sighed then, one hand playing with his loosened tie, smoothing it on his broad chest. "Gil, are you thinking about next year at all?"

He gave a dry chuckle. "Anne, it's all I'm thinking about."

Anne sat up then, surprised. "Oh?"

He shrugged, looking at her candidly. "Well, either I'm beginning medical school, and we start a three-year countdown to being able to marry, or I have to decide whether I can make being a doctor possible or not." He saw the look of shock on her face and quickly shook his head. "Look, it's just a possibility. And I am planning on winning that scholarship."

Anne sat back a little, speechless. She tried to find her voice then. "I never thought there was another option for you, Gil. Being a doctor is your dream."

He pulled her close again, ignoring the little look of worry on her face. "It is. But if you think I would ask for you to wait for the five and a half years it would take to earn my way through and attend medical school as well- and yes, I worked that out, assuming I got a top level BA qualified teaching position." He shook his head. "I don't think I could ask that of you. And I don't want to wait that long, either."

Anne had a little frown on her face. "But I would wait, Gilbert."

"But I won't ask you to. And this is irrelevant, I'm working to win that thing," he said firmly, giving her the cheeky grin that she loved. Anne studied his face with a little frown, her head on one side. She opened her mouth to continue to argue, however, he only kissed her quickly, before asking a question of his own.

"Have you given any thought to next year?"

Anne's look was wistful, as she looked out on the little room, pulling his arms around her. "I suppose I will start applying for schools." She turned to look into his eyes. "I could try to stay near Kingsport-" she faltered.

Gilbert sighed. "I think you need to apply everywhere, Anne-girl. It's only sensible."

Her profile was visible to him, and so he saw the first tear fall down her cheek. "Hey, hey- we don't need to do this," he whispered, holding her tightly. "We don't know what this term will bring. We will take it one day at a time, we will enjoy the next few months together. We're going to study, and make plans, and graduate together. We're going to be fine."

Anne burrowed her face in his shoulder, momentarily feeling like a little child. After Redmond, could she go back to a world where she did not get to see his beloved face every day? To feel his arms around her, to feel that everything was alright because Gilbert was there? The thought of being apart from him now was terrifying- and somewhere deep inside, Anne knew that such dependence had always made her afraid. She closed her eyes and sighed. It was a problem for another day.

All too soon Gilbert said reluctantly that he should be going. Anne walked him to the kitchen to retrieve his coat, and they stood in the doorway, a little smile on each face.

"Are you still coming for luncheon at my house tomorrow?"

Anne beamed. "I am. Your mother was most adamant on that point. Something about looking through old letters?" she said, laughing at Gilbert as he groaned.

"Look, you don't really want to read all of those letters from Alberta-" he said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, but I do," she said innocently, tilting her red head. "I want to know exactly what a pre-Anne Gilbert was thinking about. And your mother said something about showing me your christening gown and dear little booties, too."

Gilbert's eyes narrowed, and he caught Anne around the waist firmly. "You can tease all you like, Miss Shirley. Just know this- anytime my mother is looking at them, she's trying to picture those on dear little red-headed babies that we have yet to make." He grinned wickedly before kissing her surprised mouth, and waltzed out the door with a mischievous- "Night, sweetheart."

Anne watched him walk down the lane until he disappeared from sight, and then closed the door behind her with an odd little smile. As she headed up the stairs, Anne was surprised to see Rachel poke her head out of her rooms as she walked past the door.

"Why, child, it's almost eleven. Surely Gilbert hasn't just left?" she asked, her eyes disapproving.

"We were only studying, Mrs Lynde. And talking."

Rachel sniffed. "I should think you could get most of your talking done during daylight hours, Anne. The evening is no time for an engaged couple to be talking."

Anne attempted to keep the smile from her face. "In the future, we shall certainly aim to keep our conversations to a minimum at night time, Mrs Lynde," she said gravely.

"You also cannot be too careful about the issues you discuss, Anne, as I warned you the other day. Did you converse on any of the subjects I suggested?" she asked imperiously.

Anne gave her a strange little smile. "Oh, we found some things to talk about."

"Such as?"

"Nothing big." she said, her eyes dreamy as she turned to go. "Just tea- and babies."

On the Thursday before Anne and Gilbert were scheduled to leave, the Green Gables folk and the Wrights descended on the normally quiet Blythe farm for tea. Cora was in her element with the noise and bustle of the room, allowing Dora and Anne to assist her in carrying tea and sandwiches to all of the guests. Davy had begged to follow the men out to the barn, where Mr Blythe was showing Fred the seed he had been stockpiling for the spring planting. A faintly bored Gilbert took Davy to the loft, demonstrating the swing he had rigged from the rafters when he was just fourteen. Davy laughed at the twenty-four-year-old, who had to admit with a grin that he wasn't as proficient at the sport as he used to be.

Inside, Mrs Lynde gave her opinions freely to all, as the women chatted amiably amongst themselves. Diana was given a good deal of conflicting advice on what a new mother could expect and was only deflected by Cora asking for her assistance. She drew Marilla into a conversation about a possible date for the engagement party in the summertime before the men were summoned for their own tea.

After a little while, Anne found herself sitting on the settee with Gilbert, watching the group talk merrily.

"Do you think they will do this when we are gone?" he asked her, looking into her grey eyes in contentment.

Anne smiled. "Oh, I think so. Marilla asked your parents to come for lunch on Sunday, saying that if they were all going to be missing us, everyone may as well do it together."

Diana came to sit in the chair next to Anne with a little sigh. "Must the two of you really leave in the morning?" she asked wistfully.

"I'm afraid so, Di. We need the extra days to allow for possible delays on the journey." Anne said practically. "This time last year the ferry was delayed by a day, and Priss, Stella and I were stranded in Charlottetown- luckily Stella's family took us all home for the night."

Gilbert's eyebrows were at the top of his forehead at that. "Anne, I didn't know that happened to you. What of Charlie and Moody? They never mentioned anything when they returned."

Anne put a hand on his arm, seeing the self-reproach that occasionally still surfaced. "We were fine. Stella's family hadn't left for home yet, and wouldn't think about leaving us there. It was an adventure, Gil; one that we have often laughed about. That was why we were a day late for classes last January."

He sighed. "I just wish I'd known."

Anne gave him a little push, her smile cheeky. "Don't be silly, Gil. I'm sure there are things that happened to you that I have no idea about as well."

He gave her a patronising look that made her laugh. "Well, I never got lost getting to college, anyway."

Diana begged him to tell them some stories, and Fred came over to sit with them, hearing tales of the Lambs, of chemistry experiments gone wrong, and a story of Gilbert getting knocked out by an oar while on practices with the rowing team.

Anne was silent, watching his animated face describing his exploits. The last made her shiver, as it had the first time she had heard it from Phil over the breakfast table one morning. A classmate had been eager to tell the story to the belle of the junior year, and Phil had freely told it as a joke the following day. Gilbert had been knocked from the boat, and it had taken his classmates to pull him from the water, barely conscious. A day in bed with a bad headache had resulted, hovered over by a very grim Mrs Saunders. Anne knew that much. Unable to endure not knowing, she had found Charlie on campus and asked him how Gilbert was recovering. Through his inevitable Sloanishness, she had heard enough to be assured of Gilbert's recovery. She had been very quiet that evening though, and Anne had gone to sleep that night with her lamp resolutely burning.

Anne sighed. From time to time regret would wash over her, at the needless estrangement that had cost them so much time. She knew Gilbert felt it as well, and it was with an effort that she pulled herself back into the present. She looked up to see Marilla on the other side of the room looking at some photographs hanging on the walls. She gave Gilbert's hand a little squeeze and moved to join her.

Marilla felt her at her elbow and gave her a brief smile. Anne looked at the picture Marilla was in front of, a class standing in front of a smaller Avonlea schoolhouse.

"Does any of this bother you, Marilla? Being here?" Anne asked hesitantly.

"What, child?" Anne only looked back at Marilla, and then the older woman chuckled. "This? No. Old history is just that- old history." Marilla looked contentedly at the other pictures on the wall, of relatives long gone, and a few of Gilbert himself as a child. "When the two of you began teaching and began to spend so much time together, Cora came around to visit one day while you were at school. She said she felt it was high time for her to get to know us better."

Anne's surprise was visible. "I never knew that."

Marilla laughed. "I dare say you were busy enough, back then. The two families have had plenty of time to get to know each other; I dare say we will be amicable in-laws once the two of you are married."

Anne put her arms around the older woman, and for a brief moment, Marilla held her close, before giving her a quick kiss on her forehead. "I'm very happy for the two of you," she said, with a little smile. "We will miss you, though."

Gilbert and his father approached the two of them carefully, not wanting to interrupt the moment between them. John's arm was still bandaged but was able to move freely without the sling. He gave Marilla a twinkling look.

"So I understand we will be picking you up at six in the morning, Anne?"

"Yes. That should mean we will be ready for the train at seven, and we meet up with the girls in Charlottetown by ten." Anne said, with a smile for Gilbert.

Marilla looked at the young couple appraisingly. "You seem quite eager to go back this time."

Gilbert grinned. "We are, I suppose. There's a lot to do before we graduate, and we're down to months now, not years."

"And what then?" she asked.

Gilbert took Anne's hand and held it tightly in his own, his gaze gentle and confident. "And then we see what is around that bend in the road."

The trip from Bright River to Charlottetown was a delight to Anne and Gilbert. Moody had thoughtfully left the couple to a separate carriage, dragging an indignant Charlie along with him. He chuckled slightly. The way the two of them were looking at each other, he very much doubted that anyone would want to remain in close proximity to the lovers.

Two hours of talking, in which hands spoke as eloquently as words filled the little carriage, and it was with some reluctance that they saw the countryside change the closer they came to the town.

Gilbert sighed, Anne's hand securely in his. "Almost back to work," he commented.

Anne laughed. "I think we have been very busy at work through the holidays, Gil. Your father's recovery, our engagement, two Christmas dinners and various social outings; we've studied and walked through every clear pathway we could find in the woods. Diana and I planned my dress for Convocation and also began to furnish the baby's room. And then if we weren't at Green Gables, we were at your house." She mock-swooned onto his shoulder. "I think I need to go back to Redmond for a rest, dearest," she said with a saucy grin. Gilbert laughed, putting his arm around her then.

"Summer may not be much better. Mother has started planning the engagement party for early June, despite me asking for a few weeks to get settled back at home after the term ends." He looked at Anne, seeing the pensive look cross her face.

"Sweetheart, we're ready for this. I promise that we will get through the next five months well and that everything will happen exactly as it is supposed to. And then I promise I will say 'I told you so." he said, quickly kissing the cheek that nuzzled into his shoulder.

"You really know with such confidence?" Anne said with a smile, her fingers caressing his determined chin.

Gilbert's grin was huge, as he looked at the girl beside him. "How did Mr Carroll put it? His Red Queen believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast. You, my darling girl- the dream of being with you is the most impossible thing I have ever believed in. With you sitting beside me, I can believe in anything."