Disclaimer: I do not own the tv series Anne With An E, nor do I own the book Anne of Green Gables. "(-)" Is a page break.

Anne took a swift stroll out along the path through the woods that Saturday morning, breathing in the fresh air and making note of the trees that she thought were candidates for sketching. Cole had dedicated an hour yesterday to teaching her techniques, and she felt thoroughly excited to try to apply them in practice today.

Two days remained until Anne would take the train from Avonlea across the new train tracks and visit Diana's home. She knew Diana would not be giving birth anytime soon, so did not expect this trip to be anything other than getting reaccustomed to the train, however she and Diana both felt it would be helpful to her to have someone she trusted on the train with her for the first time, just so she wouldn't be alone.

After writing up a small list of instructions for how to use each appliance and what would need to be done each day for the week Anne would be gone, she was confident Cole had a handle on running Green Gables. She gave him a small stack of letters to be delivered to the post office and told him at which times he was to do so, then went upstairs to finalize the items in her suitcase, leaving her one day to be certain she had everything she needed.

It wasn't as if she was moving, but Anne had developed a characteristic of being extremely organized during times she would be traveling. She would begin packing at least a week in advance and finalize her suitcase with items she needed daily the day she left. The little bag she carried was old and somewhat worn, but it was the case that she'd gone out with Matthew to get years ago, and so she'd never replaced it.

But now, at last, it was Sunday, and she was free to simply stroll through the woods and clear her head as she'd always done when she was younger.

The woods were secluded, and while she was in them, she was alone. However, something she'd written about once in a bout of inspiration, she was not lonely while she was alone in the woods. Although there was not a person beside her to cherish, she had the entirety of the woods to cherish around her.

The walk was cut short around midday, however, due to a sudden chill blowing suddenly through the woods and breaking her concentration. In April this was always a possibility, and so she began to walk back towards Green Gables for lunch.

(-)

Gilbert wasn't sure what he was expecting, but it was not this.

William was young, young enough that he didn't understand a lot of things. So when he came home to Gilbert, holding hands with another boy, and proudly proclaimed that they wanted to get married, Gilbert was stunned.

"His name is Gabriel." William said, voice filled with something like admiration. "We're getting married." He said.

Now, Gilbert had nothing against the idea in principle, of men marrying men that is, however, he knew that this was not a view that was shared by most. He couldn't imagine having a conversation with his son of this age and telling him about how he may not tell anyone else about this for fear of him being injured or arrested. He couldn't bring himself to tell his son that marriage happened between men and women, because he knew in his heart that this was a rule that was unjust and frankly - stupid. When other children came to their parents and proclaimed that they wanted to marry someone, it was usually played off as something cute. A boy likes a girl. But this, this was dangerous. And Gilbert did not know what to do.

Finally, Gilbert did something he found he was somewhat ashamed of. He didn't know why he was - maybe it was because he couldn't explain to his son why he shouldn't say that himself. But he got William ready, and set off to Green Gables to speak to Cole.

(-)

Cole, sitting downstairs and enveloped in his latest sketch, heard the knock at the door and went to open it immediately. When he saw Gilbert, he immediately said, "Oh, one moment. I'll go get Anne for you." But before he could turn, Gilbert interrupted.

"Actually, we came to speak to you."

At this, Cole raised his eyebrows, but stepped out of the doorway to allow them entry. Gilbert walked inside, bringing William with him, and instructed William to sit on the couch for a moment. After he did so, he explained the situation to Cole.

Cole sighed, a sigh clearly of pity. Not to Gilbert, but to William, who, unfortunately, was going to have to learn how harsh his world really was far too soon.

A/N: Hey everyone! To be clear, Gilbert doesn't assume that William is LGBTQ+, since he is this young. He would accept him if he was, and yet even speaking like that was not a good idea back then, at least to others, and he wants to make sure William is safe. He isn't homophobic, don't worry!

Also, I'm really sorry I haven't been updating too frequently. I have about two weeks left of school as of today (yay, almost free!) so things tend to get a bit hectic this time of year. I plan to update much more frequently from this point!

Lastly, I considered putting a disclaimer at the beginning of the chapter in case people were uncomfortable reading about LGBTQ+ related subjects. If this is something you'd like me to do in the future, message me or put something in the reviews alerting me of this and I will.

Stay safe and healthy!