"Good afternoon sunshine!" Charlie exclaimed to Gilbert as Gilbert left his bedroom walking into the lounge area.
Gilbert practically jumped out of his skin. It was the day after Anne returned to Avonlea, so it was the first morning he had woke with Charlie there and without her support.
"Gesh Charles!" he exclaimed. "what the hell, you trying to give me a heart attack?" he asked him.
"Sorry friend, I was just teasing." Charlie said with a smile. "But you ought to be getting up earlier then this Gilbert." He said looking at the clock which read half past seven.
"My first class is eight Charles." Gilbert said grouchily. "I don't need to be up any earlier."
"You should train now for your doctor days."
"I should get all my sleep in now so I won't be shattered come my doctor days." Gilbert said opening his fridge. He looked confused for a moment. "Where are the eggs?" he asked not meaning to ask Charlie directly "and why is the bread in the fridge?"
"I've been up since five I decided to reorganise." Charlie said with an spring in his step. "You see you shouldn't keep your eggs in the fridge, it doesn't actually keep them fresher because we're opening and closing the door all the time and the bread keeps fresher in the fridge."
Gilbert looked at him blankly trying his best to be patient with him. He bit his tongue with a stern and tired face got his hot drinks travel mug on with 'worlds best boyfriend' on it he turned on the kettle in hope that a cup of tea would lighten his mood. He opened the cupboard to find five types of coffee on the shelf and he couldn't find any of his favourite teas.
"Where is my full breakfast tea?" he asked Charlie.
"Oh erm, well I figured all teas are the same." Charlie admitted. "So well, I kept the normal one and the rest..." he looked over to the bins where Gilbert's face dropped.
Gilbert took a deep breath and with a muttered "Never mind." He took his travel mug picked up his leather jacket and went to the stairs "try not to change the locks while I'm gone." He said pluckily, before he closed the door behind him.
Gilbert was walking down the stairs when his phone started to ring. He looked to see Anne-Girl he took a sigh of relief answering it with a video call. "I must really really love you." He said to her.
"Oh dear, he's done something already?" Anne asked him.
"He moved the bread into the fridge and the eggs out of the fridge." He said looking at her seriously. "Everyone knows not to put bread in the fridge it dries it out faster because the bread crystallises in the cold faster making it dryer." He huffed "and eggs are meant to be kept in the fridge." He continued without waiting for an answer "I don't keep them in the door I keep them on the shelves meaning the argument that opening and closing the door making the temperature of the fluctuate is invalid because they are in the shelf at the back at the most constant temperature in the fridge!" He could see Anne's lips playing a smile "don't laugh at me Anne Shirley!" he told her.
"I'm not laughing," she said with a giggle "You're adorable when you're angry." She said with a grin.
"And don't get me started on my tea!" he exclaimed.
"Pardon me?" Anne asked "Your tea?"
"Yes, my tea." He said waving his cup in front of the screen. "He threw out all my tea Anne, all of it but one plain brand, all my earl grey all my peppermint all my all day breakfast and my green tea, all of it gone!" He exclaimed "and replaced with like ten different varieties of coffee!" he said "and he replaced them saying all 'teas' were the same!" Gilbert exclaimed "well I ask you!? At least mine tastes of something other then coffee!" He said finally at the bottom of the stairs he was seen by Anne walking through the lobby.
"Morning Mr Blythe." The security officer said.
"Morning." He managed to grunt. "Now, I have to go and get tea from the coffee place on campus, adding five minutes to my day because he can't stop himself!"
Anne looked at him sympathetically. "Its only for a little while Gilbert, Student services are usually quick to rehouse students and that's only if he and Josie don't make up first."
He took a deep sigh and looked at her "Anne." He whispered rather desperately, "I don't like this, he's in my stuff and my head."
"I know." Anne said gently. "remember deep breaths." She asked him. "So, how many times did you call him Charles?" Anne asked him. Gilbert looked at her confused before she continued, "In high school, I noticed you tended to call him 'Charlie' like the rest of us, but when you got frustrated or angry with him you'd call him Charles." Anne said with a grin "I liked it actually, I definitely knew when Charlie overstepped some invisible mark with you, you could count on it every time."
Gilbert looked at her and said "do you know all my secrets?" he asked her with a teasing smile.
"I hope to one day." She said with a smile.
He took a deep breath and said to her "I'm sorry sweetheart," he said affectionately. "I should be wishing you a good day and all you're hearing about is Charlie." He acknowledged.
"Well I'm back in work this morning after spending a glorious weekend with you, curled up and cuddling."
"Even if the mood was ruined by Charles." Gilbert grunted.
Anne smiled sweetly and gently said "You know you really suit that jacket." She said with a admirable look on her face.
"Well the buyer has excellent taste." He said with a grin.
"It fits in all the right places." She flirted.
"Oh?" he asked with a smile.
"Have a nice day love." She said to him as she blew a kiss at the screen.
"I love you too." He said with a smile looking at her imagine. "Bye."
A couple of weeks later Gilbert was sitting on his bed cross legged with his books surrounding him. Charlie was in the living room playing on his PlayStation he had brought with him, Gilbert didn't care, he had Anne on the screen of his bedroom TV casted from his laptop they were working again in silence but together when Gilbert heard int he background a knock on the door, with a paused screen and sound heard from the living room he heard the door being opened and Charlie called.
"Gil, a package for you!"
Gilbert looked confused for a moment looking up "I'm not expecting anything?" he questioned.
Anne smiled and said to him gently " well go and see what it is then!" she exclaimed to him. He went from view for a few seconds only to reappear with a box in his hands.
"Okay?" he questioned looking at it he reached in his pocket and pulled out his penknife before he opened it, a note lay on top he recognised as Anne's handwriting. "Love?" he said looking at her confused.
Anne smiled "Oh Good, I was hoping to see this!" she exclaimed as she saw him looking confused as he opened the letter.
"'Dearest Gilbert, I was hoping this would look good on that huge bedside table of yours on the left hand side of the bed and its a satisfactory replacement of your privacy'?" he gave her a confused look as he pulled out another box he gasped "Its a coffee and tea maker!" he exclaimed.
"I just thought you might like the ability to make some fresh tea every morning." She said with a smile. "You could keep your milk in your mini fridge from our salad days bring the sweeteners into the bedroom so and keep these little pods of tea away from him." She said with a smile as he pulled out several boxes of different flavours of tea. "and I hope I have your permission to use it when I'm there." She said with a grin.
"Anne!" he exclaimed. "Its beautiful!" he said a smile at his lips as he opened the box. "I'm going to use it right now!"
Anne grinned as she heard the conversation in the background between Charlie and Gilbert.
"What was in the package?" Charlie asked him.
"Just something from Anne." Gilbert admitted getting a jug and putting water in it.
"Oh?" Charlie was heard.
Anne bit her bottom lip wondering what Charlie would think she would send through the post to Gilbert. Instead of words Gilbert's footsteps could be heard coming back into the room. Gilbert appeared with his cup, water and milk. Anne watched as he opened the box with the equipment in.
"shouldn't you be studying?" Anne asked him.
"No, this is more important" he told her, as he pulled out the tea and coffee maker looking happy with it. "No tea is driving me crazy!" he admitted as he reached tot he top of the bookshelf pulling down his thermos. "If I have one of these I need this for hot tea, all day long!" he said with a smile. "You know you don't have to buy me expensive stuff to keep me happy?" he told her.
"No." She admitted with a smile "but it really helps." She said to him.
With that there was another knock at the door, the sound of the PlayStation had started up again in the other room so it was no great surprise when Charlie called through "I'm in the middle of this can you get that Gil?" he asked of Gilbert. Anne could see Gilbert go off screen and heard the click of the door
"Hello Gil." A female voice said.
"Um Charlie." Gilbert said looking at the girl then said "I think this one is for you."
Anne could hear the stopping of the PlayStation and Gilbert appeared on the screen. "You might want to stick around." He whispered to Anne.
"Who was it Gil?" Anne asked him.
"Josie."
Charlie looked to the girl standing in front of him, unusually silent.
"You came to Gilbert." Josie stated.
"He's a good friend, a good man to let me intrude." Charlie said to her.
"I know he is." Josie admitted.
"Well then, where else was I to go?" Charlie asked her. "You threw me out."
"I thought you had cheated on my Charlie, what else was I suppose to do?" she asked him.
"Thought?" he questioned. "So you admit you were wrong?" he asked her.
Josie took a sigh and said quietly "I saw Marcus off campus yesterday and although he wasn't suppose to he took a film of him with the, girls, well of everyone with the girls actually, he showed me the footage pointing out you weren't there, that you had in fact stepped outside and were there the entire time they were in the strip club." She admitted sitting down on the edge of the sofa. He sat tentively at the other side of the sofa far away from her.
"I told you I had been." He reiterated.
"What was I meant to think Charlie? I mean really? What if that had been me?" she asked him.
He looked at her a little taken aback for a moment before he said quietly "I maybe should have thought before going there, I mean on the stag do." He took a breath and said "I'm a great many things Josie, I annoy people in little ways which can really grate on them, I can offend without meaning, heaven knows what I've done to Gilbert."
"You've annoyed him no end." Josie said plainly to him.
"But I don't annoy you, or at least you put up with it." He said to her. He sat quietly for a moment before he continued "why do you not trust me?" he asked her.
"I get jealous." She admitted, clearly annoyed with herself.
Charlie took a deep breath and said quietly "its why you said yes to me back in high school wasn't it?" he asked her "you were jealous of Anne so thought you'd show him by..."
"Yes." She admitted quietly "but it turns out you were kind of terrific,well until I got jealous."
"It wasn't just the strip club though was it Josie?" Charlie asked her."I mean you must have thought I might cheat on you so what put the thought into your head?"
Josie was heard to sigh before she said to him "you tell me when other girls are hot, but you don't tell me I am and then you get these texts from girls..." she continued.
"On my course, we're in study groups together."
"but they aren't ugly are they Charlie?!" she exclaimed.
He looked at her seriously for a moment before he gasped "Oh my god! Josie!" he exclaimed "don't you get it." He said moving closer to her on the sofa. "You're hotter then them all!" he told her. "I can't help it of girls are attractive just like you can't help it when men are, its just how it is! But you're hotter!" he said with a smile as he took her hands. "You're hotter then them all!"
They heard her chuckle for a moment before she took a sigh "where do we go from here?" she asked him.
He took a breath and said "Actually there is something you should know." He told her.
"Oh?" she asked him.
He took several deep breaths before he said "I don't want to do a PhD." He admitted to her apparent shock. "I only wanted to stay on so that we could live together." He said to her. She looked at him shocked as he continued "when you said you had the credits to come to university to get your degree and you were looking to stay for your masters to become a physical therapist. I was looking for a reason to stay so we could take these steps together." He said to her.
There was a silence for a moment before Josie spoke "Why didn't you say anything?" she asked him.
"You have all these grand plans!" he exclaimed "You're BScPT and MPT, you had all these plans and all I had was a maths degree! No plans no future so I hoped I could build one..."
Josie looked at him for a moment before she said "What will you do instead?" she asked him.
"Go home and run business with my dad." He said. "Just as they always wanted." He said to her. "I'm not asking you to come back, I know you want the physical therapy degree and so you should." He said "and one day you'll be working with Gilbert in a fantastic hospital somewhere and I wanted to forge that life together now!" he said.
There was silence between the pair before Josie said "we moved too fast." She said to him. "we moved in we were putting pressure on each other to be exclusively ours and we messed it up." Josie said. "I can't leave my course." She said to him
"I know." Charlie said.
"So?" She asked "where does it leave us?" she asked him.
"we could do long distance again?" Charlie suggested. "Like Anne and Gilbert."
Josie took a heavy sigh. "You'll be in Avonlea with Anne and I'll be here with Gilbert." Josie said with an ironic laugh.
"Are we together again then?" Charlie asked her.
"I don't know." Josie admitted. "Lets just, take it slow and see where this will lead." she told him. She looked around and said to Charlie "its a nice place Gilbert has here." she said to him.
"It is." Charlie agreed.
"You need to move out." Josie told him.
"No I don't." he demanded.
"Yeah, you do." she insisted.
"Yeah I do." Charlie said nodding his head. "Not least because it would be one hell of a commute every morning." which made Josie laugh. "I'll get myself prepared over the next couple of weeks, make sure I still have a job back home, and gradually move out."