Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters created by L.M. Montgomery and Moira Walley-Beckett. I do not claim any ownership over them and offer my writing to the world as a homage of appreciation to their creations as well as an outlet of imagination to imagine an infinity of alternate storylines. This is just one of them!
Author's Note: Hope you enjoy this short final interlude before the final two chapters of "Distances Between Hearts" are posted!
Interlude 4 (between Parts 18 and 19)
Gilbert was tying his shoelaces when he heard a knock on the door. When he opened the door, he was astonished to find Anne there, a bunch of flowers in her hand.
"Hello, Gilbert," said Anne as she smiled and her cheeks flushed deep red.
"Good morning, Anne!" Gilbert stepped aside to let her in.
"Uh, these are for you, and for Bash, Delly, and Hazel of course!" She stuck out her hand with the flowers.
"Thank you!" Gilbert went to get an empty bottle and filled it with water before taking the flowers and putting them inside.
Anne looked all around. "Are you alone?"
"Almost. Bash has gone out to the orchards but Hazel and Delly are in the next room if you wanted to see—"
"I actually wanted to talk to you. In private. Maybe outside?" She looked a little nervous which unnerved Gilbert a little. He had never seen Anne like this before.
"That's fine." Gilbert then followed Anne out onto the porch. The sun was shining so brightly, some of Anne's hair seemed to glow. Despite the unfortunate error he made in first christening her "Carrots," Gilbert admired her russet locks and always wished he could have redone that moment, or even taken back what he'd said. Then perhaps they wouldn't have taken so long to become friends…
Anne turned around suddenly and looked into Gilbert's eyes, her face just inches from his. It reminded him of a similar moment at the schoolhouse. Their faces had been close together and he thought he saw her blush, but then she spoke quickly and ran away.
"At the bonfire, you asked me something, and I-I wasn't in the proper state of mind to answer you, much less even know my mind." Anne had said these words looking down, and then she looked directly into his eyes. "But now I do, and I hope I'm not too late." She blinked, and a solitary tear rolled down one of her cheeks. "Gilbert, I love you."
Gilbert felt his heart beat faster. He could hardly believe what he was hearing. Anne Shirley Cuthbert loved him! He smiled as he brought his hand up to her cheek, and wiped the tear gently with his thumb. He looked into her eyes as he moved his face closer to hers...
With a jolt, Gilbert sat up in his bed. It was still dark outside, not day. But his dream had felt so real, he thought could still feel the sunlight's heat on his skin, the teardrop under his thumb...
"No!" Gilbert muttered as he struggled to remember the details of his dream. He wished it were a memory, but it was his indefatigable imagination, fueled by the recent discovery of Anne's letter to him. Perhaps if he had been at home when she came to call, everything would have been so different. Maybe he would have been able to help Anne and Matthew. Maybe Anne wouldn't have been hurt. Maybe Anne would remember she loved him.
Gilbert then lay back in his bed, trying in vain to recapture that moment of ecstasy in his dream and failing. He fell asleep as he dreamed again of how Anne had looked in the bonfire glow, illuminating her hair and face as she enthralled her schoolmates and him.