A/N: Hi readers! This might be a bit confusing, so Anne is going to go on the train in a day, and Gilbert is thinking back to his time with Anne. They both realize something huge. Please enjoy! (Sorry it's so short!)
Anne and Gilbert had both come to secretly enjoy their daily interactions at the schoolhouse. Gilbert would often arrive carrying a small bouquet of flowers in his hands tied together loosely by a long strip of grass, and so Anne made a point to have a small vase filled with water ready on the corner of her desk. The students had not yet realized how Anne came to have a new bunch of flowers each morning on her desk before she even arrived, but did not question it, as they found the flowers quite pleasant to look at.
Anne often brought pastries in her bag with her that she would give to Gilbert when he finally arrived. While the actual teaching was and always would be Anne's favorite part of being a teacher, her meetings with Gilbert were becoming a close second.
They spoke formally about William's progress in school and his upcoming assignments he needed to complete until the children and parents had all left the vicinity and then would move to other topics ranging from politics to the newest ice cream flavor in the small parlor that had opened up last week. While Anne seemingly failed to notice the significance of their little conversations, it was not lost on Gilbert. Whenever Wilma or William brought it up, however, he would act none the wiser.
On this particularly warm day, Anne had baked raspberry scones that she wrapped delicately in a blue plaid towel and placed gingerly in a basket, and Gilbert had picked a myriad of wildflowers from a place he'd found littered with them that wrapped around a lake. This time, he wrapped them with a shimmery purple ribbon to compliment the lavender he'd found and then hurried to the schoolhouse to arrive on time.
Then exchange did not happen until the rest of the children and parents had already left, and they were both excited for the other to see their gift. Anne placed the flowers in the vase, thanking Gilbert, and handed him the scones which he praised heavily once he'd tasted one.
They both began to walk back home now, going in the same direction for a bit but then splitting up later on.
Gilbert smiled fondly at this memory, but sighed, knowing that since school would be out for three weeks, he would not have an excuse to visit Anne for three weeks. He knew he was in love with Anne - he knew this since the day she'd smacked her slate over his head during their school ages. However, determined not to push the relationship the two seemed to be slowly rebuilding, he smiled, content in knowing that if friends was all they would be, he was happy with that.
Meanwhile, as Anne lay in bed, staring up at her ceiling at the offwhite paint covering it, she had already come to the same conclusion.
She loved Gilbert Blythe.