So. This is going to be confusing. Please just stick with me. The night at the ball Roy didn't end up proposing. I never ended up saying it outright because I didn't know if i wanted to continue doing flashback ( have a chapter of flashback proposal) but after the last chapter it didn't make sense anymore. Instead, flash forward to the next day and...

A piece of me wants to delete this story and restart just because it's kind of a mess and at the beginning especially had no idea where I was planning on going with this. Now, I have a better sense of direction and I hope the story will improve tremendously over the next few weeks. Again, I sincerely apologize- this chapter is really weird and I feel extremely uninspired but hopefully that extra push is around the corner and it will get better immediately.

The next day was graduation.

It was hard to determine who was dreading it more; Anne or Gilbert. For Anne, she was certain Roy would propose. He hadn't at the ball which at the time had been a great relief to Anne, however she knew it was still yet to come. It would be today. She knew it the moment she woke under the filtering early light through the open curtains. She knew it when the box of roses arrived under his name in the middle of her morning tea, and she knew when each one of her girl friends embraced her tightly with glowing cheeks and worried eyes as they passed by her open bedroom.

Roy was a man who enjoyed surprises, and it was clear to her now that he wouldn't have proposed at a time that everyone was expecting him to. He would wait if it meant a better proposal. It was a his personality- bigger and better and while Anne had been enraptured by this trait originally- she now saw it as a warning sign. To be truthful, whether or not it was actually a problematic flaw didn't really matter, for at this moment in time, Anne was desperately searching for someone to blame for her uncertainty and Roy's eagerness to be as best as possible was the perfect scapegoat.

As for Gilbert, well it was pretty obvious what he struggled with. He knew what was coming and even if the date wasn't set or certain, it was around the corner and there was no ignoring its dreaded arrival.

OOO

It happened a few hours after graduation. The entire class sat chatting amiably in the hall, singing, laughing and reminiscing on their shared times at Redmond when Roy stood up suddenly. The room grew silent with anticipation, a hush murmured through the close knitted circles as they watched those familiar, handsome dark eyes find Anne's. When they finally met, the pair stood together and carefully exited the building.

Roy led Anne to the stony pavilion. Vines twisted through the rocky cracks, spring flowers gently swayed around the two of them, settling beside their toes like feathers. A breeze tickled her exposed skin, and she shivered lightly. The sun was setting in the east- the sky glistened from the it's gentle kisses, pinks and blues bled under the white clouds, fading into the nothingness. It was such a shame, Anne would have loved a place like this. She could see herself writing on the misshapen stones or daydreaming on the flower beds. But now, it would be haunted with the bitter memories she knew were about to be made.

Roy turned to Anne, his cheeks were stained with a nervous blush, his eyes twinkled with excitement. Anne averted her gaze painfully. She wished she could be anywhere but here, anywhere but in this perfect garden with this perfect man who was about to offer her a perfect life. She didn't want perfect, she wanted love. And Roy couldn't give her that. Maybe nobody could, maybe she had fooled herself into a search for a nonexistent love with a nonexistent man. But she knew, the one thing she did know was that Roy wasn't right for her. No logic; no amount of reason or explanations could convince her otherwise and it was the time to let him go.

OOO

Gilbert's world was spinning around him.

The moment had come and he wasn't ready. He never would be, but now especially. His legs trembled uncontrollably, the color drained from his face and he could feel his heart crawling up his throat. He pushed past the eager crowd and their searching eyes. He could see Phil watching him- pity written on her creased forehead, and on her worried frown. He didn't stop for her, despite her outstretched hand. He kept on running. He didn't stop for Charlie Sloathe when he called out his name, begging him to wait. He kept on running. He didn't stop for anyone, not for the stream of girls following him or the pointing onlookers. He was running- running, sweat trickling down his neck burning like acid as it soaked into his collar.

He could hear her voice in his mind "I can never care for your Gilbert. I can never love you the way you want me to." What did she see in Roy? What could she possibly see in him? He knew Anne better than almost anyone, and she wasn't in love with him. She didn't actually care for him, not in the way she cared for Gilbert. Maybe she liked his company, maybe she enjoyed spending time with him, but he wasn't the love Anne had spent her childhood dreaming about, and Gilbert knew that better than anyone.

So why was she lying to herself?

Why was she doing this to herself?

Why was she doing this to Gilbert?

It was selfish, but when it comes to love, everyone's selfish. No one wants to watch the woman they love- the woman they spent their life loving- fall for someone else. There was no greater pain than heartache to Gil, and he prayed with the last sliver of faith that remained in his lifeless body, that this would be the last time he felt the way he did.

Gil arrived at his boarding house. The adrenaline that had momentarily given him the energy to run, was gone now. He walked up the stairs sluggishly, his curls plastered to his forehead and his eyes bleak and dull like a man excepting his death. His shirt was soaked through, and the strong outline of his body was visible.

When he reached his room, he moved quickly. Every last second he spent on campus was a weight on his chest. He needed to leave, he needed to take a break from the life he had lived- or perhaps start a new life. It was time to build a world without Anne, and while his heart burned at the thought, a meager hope began to stir in his empty core.

OOO

It was clear to Anne now. It was clear to Roy too and his face was ghastly pale at her confession. "You love someone else?" He asked her, his voice cracking slightly. Anne looked at her feet, her eyes stung. "I'm so sorry Roy. I-I didn't even know-" She reached out for his arm "Don't." He muttered bitterly. "Just..don't" He turned away, like he couldn't bare the sight of her. "You should go Anne." He called out, his dark suit a study in contrast against the twisting colors in front of him. "You should go."

That was it. A chapter was closing. And while Anne knew it was the right thing to do; for Roy and for herself, it broke her heart. She had many wonderful memories with Roy, she really did. He filled the last two years of her life with joy and excitement. He was the first boy to make her blush, to write her poems, to bring her flowers. They didn't love each other, they never did, but she felt safe with Roy. He was someone Anne could trust and to a girl who spent her life a victim of betrayal, that meant the world to her.

As she walked back into the party to retrieve her coat, she was blind to the eyes that followed her. She was deaf to the whispers circling around her like moths to a flame. She was searching the crowd for the man who had her heart. She was weaving through the clusters and conversations, opening hidden rooms and compartments desperately. "He must have left" She thought disappointed as she walked home alone.

She was right. He had left. He had left the party but he had left the city. He was gone, gone gone; on a boat heading to Europe with a broken heart in his chest and a healing one in his pocket. If he had known about the second heart he would have returned in an instant. He would have jumped off the boat and swam his way back to shore. But unfortunately for the two of them, Gilbert Blythe was completely unaware of the door that has just opened back in Redmond and maybe that was his fatal mistake.