Hi everyone!

This story is being co-authored by HikariTakari and me :)

So, Anne, Gilbert and the gang live in 2020 and guess what? Covid happens.

This story is aaaaaaalmost finished and it is already 243,000 long. So just know, it is a slow burn. It will get there. It will evolve. There are some relatable things (banana bread, anyone?), a very old issue between Anne and Gil that will need some addressing at some point and very funny situations as well as many, many tears.

There's also many very very detailed things drawn from real life (such as the Atlantic bubble and yes, google that), but some are just what we need for the story (like how hospitals work). We will add a note when we deviate a lot from reality if it's necessary. Neither of us is Canadian or has English as a first language. So any comment to correct some writing or inaccuracy is, of course, very welcomed.

If you feel like listening to a soundtrack to go with this, just remove the spaces, replace the dots... And you're set. open .dot. spotify .dot playlist/274pqCrgHZTz63YQ1Mo0oG?si=skPbMzsBTvamfewUIlfBPg

We really hope you enjoy reading as much as we've enjoyed writing!

Chapter 1

Anne left a breath out as she exited the AGO, forgetting for a moment all her worries and trying hard to concentrate on the exhibition she had come for. She wasn't ready to confront reality. Not yet. She took out her phone, looked where she was again on the map and decided to go to the park next to the gallery.

**Anne S-C (14:08): You should have come with me. You would have so enjoyed the exhibition. It was fantastical and so expressive and… Oh, Cole!

**Cole (14:10): I know, but I can't get away that easily now. We'll plan our Toronto getaway soon, Nan. How's the big city treating you?

**Anne S-C (14:10): It's way colder than Vancouver. I had somehow forgotten how it is to have the chill in my cheeks and it's the most refreshing feeling. But I've been living in a big city for a while now, so it's not as bad. I want to go home now, though.

**Cole (14:11): Tomorrow! I'll pick you up at the airport and give you the biggest hug. Send me your flight details :*

As she sat down, she could no longer ignore her worries. At some point she was going to have to face them. At 27, she had just been fired for the first time and she wasn't quite sure about what to do over that. Going to another school in Vancouver with "fired" on her resume was not going to look well (neither in PEI, probably) and she truly had no idea what to do. Cole had tried being optimistic: you could write your book! Diana had been, as always, more realistic: you have to earn money to eat so you can write your book! And they both reminded her of how much she hated her teaching job in Vancouver, anyway.

It wasn't that she hated teaching. She actually loved being with kids and teaching. She just hated… the school system and the rigidity and how it seemed to limit children and form them as if it was a factory. Well, it was the prussian style, after all, she thought as she groaned, thinking back on how she had shouted just that to the principal. With some more flowery words and way more details and examples of other faculty members than necessary. In front of the whole school assembly. She would have kicked herself out, honestly.

If she didn't have so little in savings, if she had a home and anything close to stability, she would actually consider the book writing thing and maybe go to school again to get a certification and be able to teach in the sort of schools she believed in. Mainly writing. She had just been surviving for so long that neither seemed like a real alternative. Taking the time to write? A dream. Getting a certification to be able to teach in more humane schools, that actually gave any importance to the kids and not only the money? Even bigger dreams.

How she longed for Matthew's quiet reassurance and Marilla's sensibility. They would know what to say and how to guide her. They always had. She missed them more than she could ever admit and felt so lost without the only family she had ever known. She was going back to PEI only for the familiarity of it. Because she wanted to believe that, once there, she would feel at home again. Even if she hadn't felt it was much of a home after highschool and her fight with Gilbert Blythe.

Frustrated, Anne leaned back and looked at the people crossing the park. Lunch hour long gone, there weren't many. She stayed there for a while, just looking, without minding when a couple of elderly men sat down on the bench next to her.

"...closing the borders in the provinces…" she heard one of them say, catching just the end of the sentence. Why on earth would the provinces close the borders? She didn't think much about it and looked at the time. She still had two hours more before she could do web check in for her flight next morning. She got up and decided to walk to the lake in the chilly early March air. At least it wasn't raining.

She tried again. It had to be an error. Her flight could not simply be cancelled. She entered her information once more and received the same message. She called the customer support number, but there was an automatic message: estimated wait time, two hours. Flight going to the Atlantic Provinces, cancelled. For more information, check your email. And so she did (because she was not going to hold for two hours) and found that what she had heard on the park was correct: some provinces were closing borders. Creating their own tight pandemic bubble.

There was no use. PEI had indeed closed the borders and she was outside her home. If she could even call it that. And this shithole she had booked clearly was not going to work for any period of time, she was dreading going back for this night, as it was. She decided to call Diana. She was always the sensible one. She even seemed to be a complete adult, with family, responsibilities and whatnot. She would know what to do, because she always knew. So she looked in her favorites and called her.

"Shit shit shit shit Diana, what do I do?" Anne asked frantically her bosom friend, while changing the phone from one ear to the other, after quickly explaining the situation.

"You stay calm, for starters, Anne. You're not in freaking Italy, Toronto isn't as bad."

"It isn't great either. Plus, I don't have anywhere to stay after tomorrow when I'm checking out of this dingy airbnb. Why did I book it, again?"

"You wanted to go to the AGO on your way home, so the stopover in Toronto made sense."

"Oh, why didn't it occur to me that this could happen?"

"Everything is changing more quickly than we care to admit. Take deep breaths, Anne, and let's brainstorm… Moody and Ruby? They weren't living there?"

"You know as well as I do that they moved back to PEI on Christmas last year. You have drinks with them every Friday. They couldn't stand the city. You meet with them almost weekly, Di" there was a non-committal sound on the other sound of the line. Anne looked up to the CN tower, still cursing in her head. Why didn't it occur to her that PEI could close borders to all but essential travel? And of course, a just-fired BC teacher trying to go back to the place she once called home was not essential travel. She didn't have a place to live on her name she could use to show to the border officer, Green Gables gone since they lost it to a badly managed mortgage. And she didn't have any family. How she missed gentle, loving Cuthberts.

"Ok. Do we know anyone with family in Toronto? Tillie didn't have an uncle who was a banker…?"

"Dead three years ago."

"Some friend from Uni? One of your acquaintances from school? Some teacher? You're still in touch with your teacher… what's her name, Miss Stacy?"

"I've never worked with anyone close to Ontario… I have loads of contacts in PEI, which is why I'm going there, and then some in BC, but those hate me now. I guess I could write to the ones in PEI to see if they know of someone? I mean, it's only for a couple of days…I'll write to Muriel, see if she has anyone..."

"What about your friend from Nova Scotia? Kak'wet?"

"She's never been out of the Atlantic provinces. But I'll write to her, maybe her father knows someone?"

"Ok. Let's to this. You call them and I write in the groups I'm in. Someone is bound to know someone."

"I'll do the same, then. Call you in five?" Diana accepted and she hung up. She went to whatsapp and scanned the groups she was in. She sent a generic message to most of them, not hoping for anything, and then went into the highschool one. If any had any possibilities, it was this one.

**Anne S-C Avongang (16:32): Hey hey hey! Guess who's not going to be in for Friday drinks! :'( In all seriousness, PEI hates me and closed borders. Please, do any of you have a friendly acquaintance in Toronto willing to have me for a couple of days? Yesterday I counted ten roaches in the airbnb I'm in.

**Kak'wet KS (16:33): Melkita'ulamun! I'll ask dad. But I honestly can't think of anyone. Take care. I'll write to you if I find anyone.

**Muriel (16:34): Anne! I'm so sorry to hear about you in these circumstances. Please take care of yourself, the news are dreadful. I'll write to some contacts in the U of T and see if anyone can have you.

She looked anxiously at the screen, crossing her fingers, hoping that please, at least one of them had a second retired aunt that was loving and had a spare bedroom. Or had better news than her kindred spirit. But, as the messages started coming in, she groaned in frustration. Diana's picture appeared on her screen.

"Ok. So… please tell me you had any luck," was the first thing she said.

"Not yet. Still waiting for answers on a pedagogy research group but the chances are very slim. Same with Ka'kwet and Muriel." Diana sighed on the other side of the line, as if she was bracing herself to do something she really didn't want. "You? Please tell me you have something, Di."

"I… might have an idea. But I need you to promise you will keep an open mind and don't hang up on me when I say it," she said, with her mother voice, which caused Ane to worry instantly. This couldn't be good. And if it wasn't good… "Anne!"

"Yes, I promise. Out with it."

"Gilbert. He's in Hamilton. That's close to Toronto," she said. Anne was starting to protest, and Diana cut her with a strong voice. "Before you say anything, it's been ten years, Anne. I'm pretty sure he would be willing to help. And you said it yourself, it's only for a few days, maybe you don't even have to see him that much… It is a last resort thing, but… I have nothing else. That or your airbnb."

Anne was so in shock she couldn't bring herself to answer, feeling a knot form in her throat. Flashes of the last times she had seen Gilbert, just after graduation, crossed her mind. The messages where he tried to explain how it was all a mistake. The calls she never took. Marilla's worried face. Gilbert going to her house with a letter, and she tearing it down in confetti-sized bits while looking him in the eyes. She seemed to recall she was silently crying as she did that, but when wasn't she crying those months before uni? Matthew going out one day, a stern look on his face. Gilbert hadn't come back.

Above all, Gilbert with Winifred Rose.

It still hurt like hell. The void in her was still as raw and as big as it was back when she was seventeen.

"Anne?"

"You are kidding me, Diana Barry! Baynard! Are you even hearing what you're saying? I'm not calling Gilbert Blythe. I prefer to sleep in my dingy place and then befriend all the homeless people in Toronto and then walk to PEI and stand there until they open the damn border before calling him! It is just not going to happen! Today, tomorrow or ever, it is out of the question! I'm done with him and I will never ask him for any favours!" She had been glad not to see him in the past ten years. Well, not glad. But relieved. Because it was just too hard.

"With the roaches and your little savings going quickly? Anne, be reasonable. I'm sure he will help you and we both know this covid thing won't be long and you'll be in PEI at my place by the end of next week"

"I can't call him, Diana. I'm serious. I'm not asking him anything. I'm not even talking to him. I'm honestly telling you I will hitchhike to Nova Scotia and wait there for PEI to open."

"Nova Scotia is closed as well. You would get only to Quebec, all the Atlantic's closed. And we both know he will do it," Diana, as always, tried to be the voice of reason. Her phone buzzed and she looked at the notification, hopping it bore some good news.

**Kak'wet (16:50): So sorry, Anne. The last contact father had moved back to NS last year and we don't trust anyone there now.

"You think you know, because you kept in touch. But it's me we're talking about. I haven't talked to him since that bonfire from hell after graduation. And I'm not changing that. He won't be interested in helping me of all people, we both know how he says one thing about caring and then goes and hurts me where it… I can't Diana. Honestly, just to think about it, I can't," she answered, trying not to think that drunken night when they finished school. Or any other night. And trying to keep her tears at bay. She had cried enough for him. "Plus, he must be a doctor now, aren't those supposed to be super occupied with this virus thing? Let him work and save lives, he's had enough of me for this lifetime as he clearly stated years ago, and I'm not going to impose. Because I would rather sleep on a bench than go to his house."

"It's not like you will be spending time with him, you'll be crashing his couch. Here, let me send you his number." Anne felt her phone buzz and looked at it. A notification on her screen.

**Bosom friend (16:52): Gilbert Blythe, Phone: 289 697 6548**

"Seriously, Diana, can't we look for a way for you to be my direct family so they will admit me in PEI? I won't call him. It's not an option."

"No. We went through that. Now call him or I'll call him and you know that will be worse. I'm honestly sorry it's him, but it's the one person everyone kept pointing to me. We know no one else in Ontario, Toronto or not. Call me back as soon as you hang up with him, I want to know you'll have a place to sleep tomorrow. Else, I'm calling him in twenty"

"I'll think about it," Anne groaned and hung up, knowing full well she was not going to call. She looked at the phone again, thinking if it was worth it. Giving it a second thought. She really had nowhere to go. Her savings were honestly scarce, the liquidation they had given her upon firing her had been minimal. That's what you gained when you yelled at the principal, she supposed. But it hurt so much. Deciding for a coffee (weather was miserable those days) she looked around for a Timmies, walking around some blocks, and decided to mull on the subject while getting warm. She was sure there had to be more cheap Airbnbs.

**Muriel (17:01): Sorry, Anne. No luck. I hope you find somewhere, let's catch up one of these days?

"Hi, Di, what's up?" Gilbert answered his phone while he waited for the elevator, on his way to get a coffee. Somehow she always had perfect timing. Well, almost, because he had Fred next to him making annoyed faces.

"Good, everything's good. Are you working?"

"I am, but was just heading to get some coffee with Fred. So I have a bit of time if it's urgent, I don't want to be rude with him. Is something wrong? Marie, Jerry?" Fred shook his head, rolling his eyes but a smile on his face.

"All good and healthy, thank you. She's been asking about uncle Gilbert and wants to know when you're coming, actually. Say hi to Fred on my behalf, please."

"I…. I don't know, Di. I would love to go on Easter, but it's looking a bit grim, to be honest."

"This virus thing?"

"Yes. Please take care of you and the family? I know PEI has been good so far, but keep washing your hands and disinfecting and don't go to crowded places…"

"Yes, doc. You don't worry for us, ok? You've been drilling us enough in that group."

"So tell me, what's going on?" he asked as they entered the coffee shop.

"I actually called to ask you a favour. Huge one," Diana answered. He could tell she was nervous.

"Ok, just give me a second. Just what you're having, Fred, I'll be just a minute," he offered his card and his friend dismissed it. They received the coffees and were quickly going to the door, not wanting to stay inside. "Sorry about that. So what is this huge favor Diana Baynard has to ask from me? It must be a first."

"I need you to call Anne and let her stay at your place until PEI opens the borders," Diana said quickly, as if to take the effect off the words. There was a short silence. Then he laughed. Because the notion was so absurd, he could not think of any other reaction. If she had asked him to get a cow that gave chocolate milk, it would have seemed more serious. Fred looked at him like he had two heads. Dr. Blythe was not the merry kind and his face was not merry, anyway. More of a this is a cruel joke kind of expression. "Gilbert, I'm honestly not kidding."

"You are. You have to be joking. You, Diana Baynard, are asking me, Gilbert Blythe, to have Anne Shirley-Cuthbert at my place? The favour I can do to you is write a prescription so you can go to a psychiatrist. Hey, Fred here is a good option. Would do you some good," he tried to keep joking because he didn't know what to do with the alternative. Fred opened his eyes, and tried to get Gilbert's attention, who just gave him his back.

"Gilbert, I'm dead serious. She managed to get stranded midway between BC and PEI. She had a flight for tomorrow and they cancelled it. I already checked with everyone I know and she did the same. We only know you in Ontario." He drank some coffee, ignoring Fred's antics.

"Di, as much as I love both of you, I don't think this is a good idea. And you have to convince her first. She has not spoken to me in a decade, she's not about to go willingly to stay in my place."

"It's honestly that or sleeping with roaches until her savings wear out or PEI opens the borders. Even Anne is not that stubborn," she answered, her voice stressed and practical. Only he knew she was. But what was Diana saying, anyway?

"Please give me more details. I'm not agreeing yet, mind you. I still think it's a bad idea. But why would she be spending her savings and sleeping in a dirty place? Fred, wait a minute, you're behaving like a toddler."

"Because that's the cheapest airbnb she could find for two nights and she has no job. Please, Gilbert. I would owe you everything."

"I thought she was a teacher back at BC," he mentioned, because even if he didn't speak with her, he always asked how she was doing. He could never help himself. He had to know how Anne was. Not in a stalker way, just… know-she-was-doing-fine way.

"Got fired last Thursday. She was coming home and stopped in Toronto to go to a gallery. Arrived last night, was supposed to catch the flight to Charlottetown tomorrow morning."

"You have to be kidding me, Diana. Anne got fired?" what was going on with her life that it would come to that? He felt his resolve waning, just because he could not imagine her homeless in Toronto or spending all she owned paying for a horrible place. He just wanted to take care of her. Like he always had. And he knew for a fact the pandemic was just starting. It would only get worse for weeks. They were doing all they could in the hospital to make a separate ICU for Covid patients just so the rest would be safe. He couldn't have his patients getting that. They would die. But there again, this was Anne. He wasn't sure about this. It…

"Just take her in, Gilbert? Maybe she will tell you the details? But please, call her? We both know she's not going to do it and she really needs a place to stay. Do you still have her number? It's the same old one."

"I…. Diana, honestly, this is not a good idea. She has been able to effectively avoid me for years. And yes, I still have her number," He still knew it by heart, if he was fully honest.

"I know, Gilbert… I just… Honest? I think that, even if these are the worst conditions, I think it might be the best chance both of you will get to get over this thing. Something will come out of this, good or not, but at least you both won't keep hanging in there," he mumbled something. "She might be hostile, because she's Anne. And she won't ever admit she's missed you, but she has. Just… please, Gilbert? For your old friend? Marie! Stop that now! I have to go now. Marie just spilled a gallon of milk on the floor. But please, please call Anne. For old time's sake." She hung up and he stared at his phone. Calling Anne was opening Pandora's box. And for all he wanted her in his life (even if he had all but given up many years ago) he didn't know if he was brave enough to do so. And it was a bad idea.

**Diana (17:04): Please Gilbert! Here's her address, just in case. Let me know, I'll keep looking for options.

"Blythe, if you don't call Anne I'm calling her and bringing her to your doorstep," Fred declared, drinking more of his coffee. Gilbert looked at him.

"I was serious when I said I don't think this is a good idea," Gilbert insisted. For the third time. He sighed. It was clear that the ball was on his side: Diana was right, Anne would never call.

"When are you not serious? In all truth, you've been moping since before I met you at Uni so if this has the slightest chance of making this right between mythical Anne and you, please call her. Or I will. Believe me, I'm not above calling Diana and asking for her number."

"I… God, this is not going to end well, Fred. I just know it. I'm pretty sure she blocked my number and everything at some point," he commented, frustrated, remembering how he tried to call her non-stop for months after graduation. Until Matthew showed up.

"I'm sure it's not that way, Blythe. Stop the drama. I'll tell you what: if you are so sure about her blocking your number, call her now. If she picks ups, which I absolutely think she will, then you offer your place and give this… whatever this is, a chance. If she has indeed blocked you, then I invite you to dinner at my place tomorrow. I can convince my mother in law to make your favorite."

"You're mental. And you won't be able. She has said many times she only cooks that for thanksgiving."

"I have my methods to convince Ella, which I won't describe to you, poor celibate man. And then I'm set. And you love me. Go on. Call legendary Anne. I have to see if she is indeed a human being," Fred said. "Here, give me this. How is she saved?"

"Carrots," Gilbert mumbled after hesitating a moment, his ears red, his hand going to the back of his neck. Fred slapped it and Gilbert gave him a hurt look.

"Stop fidgeting and think of what you're gonna say!" he laughed, but looked anyway and dialed before Gilbert could say anything more.