Anne hopped excitedly yet nervously up and down as she stood at the edge of the platform of the Bright River train station, anxiously awaiting the train that was bringing Gilbert back from Toronto. Bash stood not far behind, amusedly watching the redhead in front of him, who had her hands clasped tightly together, and her long waves of hair swishing back and forth behind her as she bounced, eagerly watching the distance.
She felt her stomach flutter excitedly. Although she had seen Gilbert only a few months ago for Christmas, and they had written dozens of letters since then, she couldn't help the happy bubbly feeling that had overcome her. She strained her eyes to try to look farther into the distance, but already knew it was of no use. All she could see were the seemingly endless train tracks.
Spring break had finally arrived, after much anticipation. Anne had only gotten back from Queens the day before, and after a nearly sleepless night, full of tossing and turning; unable to sleep due to the fact that she was so exhilarated about the next day to come, she had practically leaped out of bed once the sun rose that morning, and the roosters began to crow.
She then bounded out of the house, straight after breakfast and chores, happy that Gilbert's train was due fairly early in the morning: 9:00.
Bash had met her at the station, and after greeting her, began his infamous yet expected teasing. "If you think this is bad," He said, when Anne covered her face in order to hide the blush that was rapidly spreading across her cheeks, "Just you wait 'till my brother gets home! I can assure you, I will never be satisfied with my gloating. Remember last Christmas? I bet I can top that."
When she heard the whistle of the train in the distance, her heart soared, like an eagle flying with its powerful, majestic wings, and she couldn't help the delighted squeal that escaped her. The train soon came into view, and began to slow as it approached the station. Smiling, Anne tucked a few stray locks of hair behind her ear, and took her bottom lip between her teeth as the train came to a full stop.
When passengers began to surge from the doors, held open by the conductors, Anne raised herself to the tips of her toes, in attempt to look over the heads of passing people, for the face of her love. She scanned the crowd eagerly, her heart pounding in her chest, until finally, she saw him. When she locked eyes with the dark curly haired young man, who had been just as eagerly searching for her bright head of red hair as she had been for him, and hazel met blue, a jubilant grin came across both of their faces, and Gilbert quickly began threading through the people surrounding him, his eyes never once leaving hers.
Anne promptly leapt into his arms the second he came to a stop in front of her, only waiting a mere second for him to set down the suitcase he had in hand. With a delighted grin spread across his face, and his eyes sparkling, he wrapped his arms around her middle, and spun her around, then stopped to kiss her sweetly, earning a few coughs from onlookers.
Anne reluctantly stepped back, a warm blush growing across her cheeks. "Hi, Gil." She said softly, wrapping her arms around him again, the desire of feeling his warmth too much for her to ignore.
He hugged her back and murmured, "Hi, love," and lifted his eyes to look over her shoulder at Bash, who stood behind, having been watching the entire thing, with a grin plastered to his face. Anne stepped back and took his free hand in hers, and let Gilbert pick up the suitcase he had set on the ground, before leading him to Bash.
"Hello, my brother. How are things faring in Toronto?"
"Hi, Bash," Gilbert handed his case to Anne for a moment, and pulled Bash into a tight hug. He stepped back and smiled at him. "Things are going well. I've been busy with school, but other than that, not much to report. And I'm pretty used to the bustle of the city now."
"Glad to hear it," Bash replied. He glanced at Anne who stood not far behind, a dazed smile on her face, and eyes looking lost as she sighed dreamily. A wicked smile spread across his face. "Blythe, your Anne is looking rather dazed over there, and I reckon it has to do with the fact that you just kissed the livin' day light out of 'er. And if you think I'm about to let you give me a kiss, something is wrong in that moke brain of yours."
Gilbert made a disgusted face. "In your dreams." He scoffed. "I can assure you, any kisses I will be distributing during this visit, will be solely for Dellie, and for Dellie only."
"Is that so?" Anne asked in a teasing tone, suddenly paying attention and raising an eyebrow, a frown across her pink lips, but eyes sparkling with laughter.
Gilbert turned to her, and sighed dramatically, equally teasing. "Well... I suppose I could spare, a few for you Anne, as long as you--" He suddenly stopped talking, and bit his lip. A blush crept across his face, and the tips of his ears went red.
"Yes, Blythe? Go on." Bash urged, delighting in his brothers sudden embarrassment.
"N-Never mind," Gilbert stammered, and made a start for Bash's wagon a few feet away.
"Oh no, Gil, I can assure you that there is no possible way that we are going to be letting you escape while evading this answer." Anne grinned wickedly, and stepped in front of him to prevent him from moving any farther.
"Ohhh, Anne..." Gilbert whined. "Please."
Anne laughed out loud. "You're acting like a child, Gilbert! And frankly, you're making me want to hear what it is more and more."
Gilbert pleaded with her with his deep soulful eyes, but when he saw that Anne was determined to see him teased mercilessly by Bash, and that any excuse he would attempt to make up would be in vain, he groaned, and ran his hand through his already tousled curls.
"If you want kisses, then... In return, I... I want..." He took a sharp breath and rushed the rest of the words out.
"IwanttogotoaflowermeadowortoyourfavoriteoaktreeandIwantyoutoletmerestmyheadinyourlapandrunyourfingersthroughmyhairasyoureadtome." He gasped out.
"What?" Bash laughed.
"I know, I know, tease all you like." Gilbert mumbled, hanging his head in attempt to hide his blush that was growing redder and redder by the second, and beginning to resemble Matthew's giant radish for the county fair from the year before.
"No, I seriously didn't understand one bit of what you just said." Bash said pointedly.
"I want Anne and I to go to a flower meadow, or the old friendly oak tree she always talks about, and I want her to let me lay my head in her lap, as she reads aloud and runs his fingers through my hair like she did that one blissful time. We were in the Cuthbert's barn last Christmas Eve, because Matthew had accidentally burnt the turkey, and in addition to the fact that we could hardly breathe, Marilla's shouting wasn't particularly pleasant to be around. We were huddled in the loft, and Anne had began to read 'Jane Eyre' to me, but I soon fell asleep, because the night before, Dellie had kept us awake all night with her cries because we hadn't realized she was teething, so we tried relentlessly and in vain to get her to quiet down. So, the next thing I knew, I found myself in her lap, and I was looking straight up into her lovely eyes..."
Gilbert's lovesickness began to take over, much to Bash's delight.
"...She smiled, and looked down at me with her sapphire blue eyes, and reached a hand down to caress me. She kissed my nose, and told me that when it was warmer outside, she would take me somewhere special, and we would do it again. That every time, she would bring a new book to share with me, only it needed to be somewhere other than the barn, because the barn very much lacked 'scope for the imagination...'" Completely ignoring that Bash was still present, he began speaking directly to Anne.
"That was the first time that you told me you loved me. I mean, we both wrote it many, many times in our letters, but I had never before heard it from your very lips. Gosh, I've replayed that memory so many times in my mind. Some days are harder than others, when I remember how many miles apart we really are from each other. It's a bittersweet memory really. It's sweet, because it's with you, and it's one of the most precious things to my heart that I've experienced. It's bitter because I think of all the time we could have spent together before collage." He stopped for a breath and shook his head, suddenly looking sorrowful. "If we weren't so busy being clueless fools, we could have had so much more time together, instead of being ripped apart the moment things had never felt more clear. I know we've spoken, and written about the matter several times, but I can't help but feel regret, about all of the time we've wasted. When I thought you didn't return my feelings, that... that broke me. I... I always knew that I cared for you, but when I realized that it was deeper than that, and I sought you out to reveal it, and we had the... the misunderstanding, my heart broke, and I knew it would never feel the same again. I could never love anyone like I love you."
Anne's heart melted, and she felt hot tears begin to well in her eyes. She too had felt regret over their past misunderstandings, but she never realized how deep and raw Gilbert's regrets were.
"Now that we've worked everything out," Gilbert continued, "I sometimes can still hardly believe it. That I can call you mine, and I get to be yours. Your Gil. Every memory we've had since we begun courting, and even the ones before that, they are so, so precious to me, I don't think you could possibly fathom it." He cleared his throat, and shifted uncomfortably. "Sorry, that got quite depressing, didn't it?"
"Gil, I... I never knew how deeply that troubled you." Anne shook her head, and her lips parted, as she gently set the suitcase on the pavement. She took a step closer to him, barely needing to move at all because she was still blocking him from reaching the wagon, and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close. He buried his face into the crook of her neck, and his arms wrapped around her waist. "I know that we were fools then, and I wish we could change that, but honestly... I'm so grateful for what we have now. I'd do it all again, just because it would mean that I would get to be with you now."
Gilbert hummed softly in agreement, and Anne felt tension leave his shoulders that she hadn't even realized was there. Anne slowly stepped back, and nudged his nose with hers and grinned. "And yes, Gil. I'll take you to a favorite spot of mine, and I'll read to you, and I'll play with those wonderful curls of yours."
"Yeah?"
She smiled fondly at him. "Yeah."
Bash cleared his throat loudly from behind. "Well, as fun as this was, there is only so much of this sappiness a man can take. And I believe there is a little someone very excited back home waiting to see her Uncle Gilby, and I'd hate to keep my baby waiting."
Gilbert rolled his eyes playfully, and took Anne's hand in his, then picked up his suitcase with the other. "We certainly don't want to keep Dellie waiting."
"Certainly not." Anne laughed.
When they arrived at the Blythe-Lacroix farm, Gilbert was greeted with a friendly handshake from Elijah, a warm welcoming sentiment from Hazel, and wet kisses all over his face from a very smiley Delphine. Bash had picked her up out of her high chair the minute they walked in through the door, and raised her up to Gilbert's face, her arms already eagerly outstretched to greet her Uncle Gilby. She explored his dark curls with her tiny grabby hands, and let out a shriek of joy at the feel of the soft curls. Anne couldn't help but discretely approve of Dellie's obsession with Gilbert's curls, as she had quite the obsession with them too. Smart baby.
Hazel soon announced despite Gilbert's protests, that he needed a rest after his long overnight trip, and urged Anne to return back to Green Gables, telling her to return later that afternoon.
Anne kissed Gilbert's cheek, telling him that she agreed that he needed a rest, and that she would see him later, stepped in the direction of the door. Gilbert nodded sadly, submitting to the orders of the two women, deciding that he really did not feel like being on the receiving end of either of their scoldings, because both women could be quite frightening when they wanted to be. But, because he was unsatisfied with the mere peck on the cheek he had just received, grabbed Anne's wrist gently, before she could get too far, and swiftly pulled her back for a real, thorough kiss.
"I love you." He murmured as he pulled away.
"I love you too, Gilbert." She smiled. "Now please, get some rest. You'll need your energy if you want me to take you to my special spot to read later this afternoon."
The grin he gave her was nearly as bright as the sun.
Anne returned to the Blythe-Lacroix home later that afternoon, with a book tucked under her arm, to collect Gilbert for the adventure that awaited them. She bounded up the front porch, hoisting her skirts up in a very unladylike manner she knew Marilla would scold her severely for had she been present. She knocked three times on the door, and brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear. At Queens, she had changed from her two signature braids to a fancy more sophisticated updo, but now back home for spring break, she had most of her red hair tumbling down her back in loose waves, with a small section of it braided down the back of her head, and a green satin ribbon tied at the end to compliment her long emerald green dress.
Hazel opened the door, and ushered her inside the entryway, smiling. "Mr. Gilbert has just woken from his rest. I'll tell him that you are here." She said.
"Thank you, Mrs. Lacroix." Anne smiled.
She nodded, and walked down the small hallway, before heading upstairs to Gilbert's bedroom, as Anne waited at the foot of the stairs. It was nice to see that Hazel had begun to call Gilbert 'Mr. Gilbert' rather than 'Mr. Blythe.' Gilbert had expressed his discomfort at that in many of the letters that they had exchanged.
Anne heard a knock from where she stood, and the sound of Hazel's voice saying, "Mr. Gilbert, Miss Anne is here to see you now."
"Thank you, Hazel." Gilbert replied from his room brightly, and from what Anne could hear, practically tore the bedroom door open, and she could hear his enthusiastic footsteps thundering down the hall, until they stopped at the head of the stairs, and Gilbert's eager face peeked from around the corner of the wall, his eyes sparkling as he gazed down at her. He stepped out from behind the corner, which revealed that he was clinging to his boots by their laces, as they hung limply beside him, and Anne smiled when she saw that Gilbert's socked feet were mismatched. He had a grey sock on his right foot, and a white one on his left. She noticed that he had changed from the dark suit that he had arrived in, and was instead wearing the clothes that she was used to seeing him in as a boy. His vest was thrown on messily over his buttoned shirt, practically hanging from one shoulder, and he hadn't even bothered to button it. She raised a brow at him.
"You sure seem to be in an awful hurry for something," She noted. "If you are much too busy, perhaps I should come back later, or better yet; go by myself in the meantime, and postpone our adventure to a later date..?"
"No!" Gilbert flinched at the volume of his voice as it echoed through the hall behind him. He cleared his throat, and shifted awkwardly from one socked foot to the other. "Sorry. No, please don't go."
"I'm teasing you, Gil." Anne laughed. Gilbert was absolutely adorable as she watched him battle to get one shoe on, standing at the top of the stairs and balancing on one foot, all the while watching Anne like a hawk as if fearful that she would disappear from sight at any moment.
"I knew that..." He mumbled once he had successfully gotten both boots onto his feet, yet leaving them unlaced as he stepped off of the last step. Anne grinned when she noticed his ruffled hair, and the curls that were sticking up in random directions. It was obvious that he had fallen asleep.
"I'm glad you're well rested now. You'll need your strength if you want me to take you to my special place." She smiled, reaching over to smooth down his unruly curls, only to laugh when they instantly bounced right back up the second she moved her hand away, as if on cue.
He furrowed his brows as he crouched down to lace up his boots. "Is it very far?"
She simply smiled.
Author's note: Hopefully more chapters to come soon. Thank you so much for reading, and kind constructive criticism/ advice is appreciated! Please forgive any mistakes, I'm a beginner in writing.