Hello everyone!

We're so glad you're keeping up with the story! And still overwhelmed with the general response we're having, it's truly unbelievable. So, midway and new chapter? Since today, we're updating Wednesdays and Saturdays... so some midweek good news! For some reason I don't understand I hadn't been able to upload the chapter here, but the good news is you get one today and another one tomorrow :)

Here's the playlist for today:

Elizabeth's Groove - Amarià
Glass - Yutaka Hirasaka
Gold - Cheg Faker
The chocolate cake song - Wes Fowler
It will be fine in the end - Dayon
This feelings too good - J'san
Relation - Yutaka Hirasaka
Why (Instrumental) - Nathan Kawanishi
Reconnect- Goldusk
Bird - Billie Marten
Mom Chéri - Lizzy LeBleu

We hope you enjoy the chapter as much as we did when we wrote it :) Let us know what you think! We love every review and getting to know your theories and points of view.

Until Saturday!

Chapter Text

Anne had been trying to occupy her days. It wasn't that hard, really, but even she needed a break from reading… So, she had been cooking a lot and Gilbert had benefited from some real, healthy food for once. And then she tried to write when she agreed on some details of the project with Kak'wet (zero inspiration). And then she thought about doing exercise, but other than jeans she only had her pajamas… And she couldn't very well wash them daily. She did her best to ignore her nightmares, how they evolved and some nights woke her up again, as they had done in her early twenties.

Then she decided to clean. Like, deep clean. She didn't go to the closets or the drawer chest, because she didn't know what she would find and didn't want to invade Gilbert's privacy, but she did everything else. Took everything out of the kitchen cabinets, threw many expired cans and other things, cleaned inside and then organized again. His apartment was more on the small side, even if it had a pretty decent living area, but still, it gave her something to do for a couple of days. And Gilbert would be bringing groceries shortly, so it was good to have space for stuff that wasn't actually expired.

"Hellooooo," she said as soon as Diana picked up. She could always talk while cleaning. And she hadn't talked with her bosom friend for weeks, it seemed.

"Hi, Anne! How are you?" Diana seemed happy to hear her. They hadn't spoken much since she had set up this whole thing.

"Good. I mean, as good as I can be. I'm trying to occupy myself, I had never been so much time inside and it's positively suffocating," she commented, as she absent mindedly threw expired cans. She knew Gilbert wouldn't miss them if the best before date was in 2018.

"I can't imagine you being in a room… But Gilbert's apartment has a trail very close, no?"

"Oh, it does, and it's the most lovely thing. I've already become acquainted with many of the trees and I think I saw a fox one day. It's lovely. But I can't go anymore, so…"

"Why?"

"Gilbert's city decided a strict lockdown is the way to go. So, I either stay here or I get some very good excuse not to pay a fine," she answered. "Why on earth would you buy canned ravioli? Yuck."

"What are you doing, Anne?"

"Cleaning Gilbert's kitchen so I don't go mad. But honestly, the stuff he eats…"

"Well, he has had to fend for himself and we both know he's never been able to do toast," Diana commented, and Anne laughed. That much was true. Well, at least he could eat decently for a couple of weeks. "How are things going with him?"

"We mostly avoid each other. I cook real food and leave it around so he can find it when he comes. I mostly keep to his room when he's in the apartment- he wouldn't let me get the sofa, and now I think it's for the best, this way I can at least not see him so much," she sighed, putting on a pile the things she really didn't approve of but weren't expired.

"You can't keep avoiding each other, Anne. Is it…"

"It's too hard, Di. Honest. I see him and.. I just can't be around him and not think of everything. It would be so much easier, but…" she felt a knot forming on her throat and tried to dismiss it.

"Anne, dearest… I honestly wouldn't have suggested this if I didn't think it was a big idea. Maybe you both can talk about this at some point and be cordial around each other? Not friends, but just be able to coexist in the same space. Would do both of you some good."

"Oh well, for now this seems to be working. So how are you? Tell me something about real life!"

They spoke for a while, until Diana had to hang up. Anne wrapped up cleaning the kitchen and moved onto floors, her earplugs still on, now with some music Diana had just recommended a while ago. Gold by Chet Faker blasted on her earplugs as she danced as she dusted and swept, completely absorbed in the task she was doing and the music and losing track of time.

Gilbert came in around that time. He left the groceries he picked up in the kitchen counter, leaving out the box of tampons (organic, applicator) on top of the slice of chocolate cake for Anne to see and put away the rest of the things. He noticed that there seemed to be less clutter around, and put on water for some tea, going about his afternoon and thinking again how he could do so Anne left his room when he was around.

Only when he sat on the island, his cup in hand, he saw her. His eyebrows shot up in surprise. Carefree. He had no idea what she was listening to, but he really wanted to find out. It's not that Anne knew how to dance, but how she expressed herself. He watched her for a minute as he drank his tea, reacting only when he realized she was not aimlessly dancing but cleaning.

"Anne?" He tried calling her. One thing was for her to cook, because he knew she actually enjoyed it, but she was not about to clean by herself. She didn't notice. He tried again, louder. She turned, surprised and so very flushed. "Hi," he said, smiling. "Please don't clean? I already feel bad about you cooking. I can do the cleaning. Think of it as a division of labour," he spoke because she seemed paralyzed like a deer on a highway.

"I…" she started, completely embarrassed. She didn't think it was fair, with all the hours he worked, and not charging her anything, and not letting her even pay for the groceries.

"Please? Here, allow me," he walked towards her to relieve her from the broom. She held onto it. He furrowed. "Anne?"

"Sorry. It's just... You work way too much. Please let me do this. I'll just do it when you're not around," she said.

"You know you can be outside of my room when I'm here, right?" He asked. He didn't want to have given another impression. She nodded. Oh. Then it was just because she didn't want to see him. Damn. "What about we do it together? It will be faster. We can watch a movie later or something," he proposed, looking for a compromise.

"I'm fine, thanks," she said quickly. She still felt like she was so flushed. It wasn't even that he wanted to help, it was that he had seen her dancing. He wasn't commenting on it, thank god, but she really wanted to disappear. She picked up the dust, threw it and motioned to go to his room again.

"Anne?" Gilbert called her when he realized she was going to hide again. She turned, questioning. "Never mind. Thank you, for everything. Left your things on the counter" he finally said, feeling defeated. Again.

"You got me chocolate cake?!" he heard her say from the kitchen a couple of seconds later, her embarrassment apparently forgotten. He smiled sadly.

"I did! Please enjoy!" he said, walking back to the kitchen where she was standing, tampons apparently forgotten, the box of cake on her hands. She looked like a happy kid there and it was beyond endearing.

"Thank you," she said, smiling brightly at him, not remembering her dance moves any more. "Want to share?"

"It's for you, Anne," he said. "I'm just having some tea, though. Do you want one?"

"Sure!" her mood had apparently done a 180º change and he was not going to complain. She sat down on the island opening the box as she bit her lips with anticipation. Gilbert chuckled. He should bring her cake more often. "My god! Is this thing vegan on top of all? Gilbert, are you serious?!"

**Anne S-C (17:28): Diiiiii Gilbert got me cakeeeee 😋 🍫

**Bosom Friend (17:28): What? Nice! 😃 So you're speaking with him now? Sudden change!

**Anne S-C (17:28): Not really. He can't buy me with cake. But still! Cake! Vegan! Chocolate! Yummmmm

He shrugged, smiling, as he served one more cup of water and put the teabag in it. He was not about to say anything and went to sit next to her. Maybe she would stay like this from now one, the chocolate cake, the one icebreaker they needed? Maybe she wouldn't lock herself anymore? He saw Diana's text and smiled. Maybe he was going in the right direction?

**Diana (17:28): Well done, Gilbert. Anne's texting me about your cake feats. Keep it up. 😉

The cake hadn't done it. She kept locking herself up until one day, when he arrived from the hospital to find a big bowl with something he didn't recognize. It seemed like a dough of some kind, but looked far softer than what he remembered Marilla's bread dough to be like. She was, of course, locked in his room and he went about his business, careful not to move the bubbly thing. He sat down with his tea on the kitchen island and supported the phone on the teapot.

"Hey hey hey my Delly-beans!" he greeted her niece, a silly grin on his face. Just by looking at four year old Delphine he seemed to forget half his worries. She grinned as she walked with Bash's phone "How's my favorite girl doing today?".

"Good! I learned to count to ten today" she said, proud of her accomplishment. Gilbert asked her to show him, and soon they were in the middle of some toddler talk, Delly moving the phone with her hands as she talked and explained everything that had been happening. Gilbert kept trying not to get dizzy with all her movements and laughed fondly at her. When Bash appeared on camera, she tried to keep it to herself. "I'm talking with uncle Gilby, pappa! My turn!" Delly insisted, a pout on her lips.

"How's the good doctor doing? Taking care of yourself?" he asked, trying to study him from what Delly allowed to see on the screen. "Delly, let's put this on the table and you sit with me on the sofa, ok?"

"I'm good, you don't worry. I've… been making an effort to eat healthier and everything, you know? Keep the defenses up?" he said, not wanting to hint at the source of the real food he was eating. Just then Anne appeared in the kitchen, putting a finger over her mouth to signal she was going to be quiet. He made a signal with his hand out of the camera, keeping his eyes focused on the screen. She went directly to the bowl with the weird thing and seemed to make a happy dance. Well, at least it made sense for her.

Gilbert decided not to pay any attention to whatever she was doing and engrossed himself in his weekly talk with Bash, Mary and Delly, enjoying their antics and telling them slivers about his hospital life. Only the good parts. Trying to explain to them how important it was to take care of themselves. To wear a mask. They were telling him about their last debate on what kind of mixer would be best for home use (something Gilbert only nodded to, not understanding anything) when he, and them as well, of course, because there was a microphone, heard a loud thud, and then… Anne swearing. Way to keep quiet, Carrots.

"Gilbert, who is there?" asked Mary. Bash laughed.

"Fu…" Bash started, his eyes opening madly Mary pushed him. "Fiddlesticks!" he corrected himself. "Blythe, what is going on there? Are you…? You should have told! You've always been a cheeky boy, but…"

"Pappa? What's happening? How's there?" Delly asked, clearly unhappy to be left out of the loop. "Pappaaaaa! Uncle Gilby, who's there? Mommmaaaa"

"Gilbert, that's who I think it is?" insisted Mary. Bash laughed again. Gilbert was just mute, trying to convey some sort of excuse. The tv might be on? But Anne's voice was so particular they would not believe him, he knew. Delly seemed madder. Anne was looking desperately at him, trying to pick up the mess.

"Mommyyyy who's thereeee Uncleeee," she insisted. "Why don't you answer? Who's there who's there who's there…"

"You don't have to ask, love. It's obvious it's Anne. Who else would swear like a sailor with that lovely voice? Anne, darling! Come here! Haven't seen you in ages and we miss you terribly!" Bash answered Mary, as Gilbert was still mute. Anne was pale, the dough slowly spreading all over the floor and her feet, and she was shaking her head frantically at Gilbert.

"Anne who? Gilbert's fairy Anne? Uncle Gilby! I want to see your Anne! I want to see if it's true that..." Bash covered her mouth and Gilbert was just shaking his head. Delly asked and now he just wanted to hang up. How do you tell a four year old to keep quiet? He saw Bash nod in a fit of laughter and then Delly's grin get even bigger. "I'll finally meet fairy Anne!" The redhead looked at him, her expression almost panicked. Whatever did this girl mean by that? Why did she know about her?

"Gilbert, get up. We want to greet her and you are our legs right now, seeing as she won't come. And we want all the story, as well" Mary insisted. Gilbert got up, taking his phone, because if he was going down he was taking her with him. Anne was still shaking her head to him as she was trying to put back whatever she could of the dough in the bowl. He crouched next to her.

"Say hi, Anne" he said, speaking for the first time in minutes, trying to sound moderately happy. Just then a notification appeared on his screen and he quickly slid it up.

**Ruby Best of Avo (19:32): Gilbert! We haven't heard from you in ages! 😢 Everything ok?

"Hi Bash, Mary! And who are you, smart girl?" she smiled sweetly, her teaching spirit coming to her. She seemed another person altogether and Gilbert couldn't stop looking at her, mesmerized. Anne should be surrounded by kids, not holled up in his place.

"I am Delphine but uncle Gilby calls me Delly. I am his favorite niece from the whole whole world. I am four and a half! You really are pretty! Uncle Gilby always said you were a forest fairy but I didn't know any forest fairies but now I know you and you are one and forest fairies really are the most beautiful and..." she explained, showing her four fingers and then talking non-stop until she saw the mess Anne was in. Anne laughed. How else could she react to being called that? What was Gilbert doing anyway talking to his niece about her? "What's that?" the little girl asked curiously at the sticky thing on the tile.

"It was going to be some bread, but I dropped the bowl and now it's just a mess," she explained. "A mess I should actually be cleaning," she added, giving Gilbert a look. Another notification appeared. They were intense tonight, god.

**Charlie Best of Avo (19:36): It isn't like you to disappear this long… Are you fighting this virus or is it something else?

"I'll help you later, come, let's sit at the island" she looked at her feet and sighed. Taking off her socks, that were full of dough by that point, and walking carefully to avoid any more of the spilled dough, she followed him to a conversation she didn't want to have, but ended up enjoying. Up to a point.

**Diana Best of Avo (19:43): Guys, leave him alone. Have you seen the news? I'm sure he is just working hard.

**Charlie Best of Avo (19:44): Something you know and we don't, Diana? 😏 😏 😏

"Delly, go to your room and bring me something blue, a doll, something starry, something stripped and something super special," said Bash suddenly. Delly looked at him. "So you can show uncle Gilby all you know now!"

"He knows I am smart, pappa," Delly answered. "Do you know that, uncle Gilby?"

"Of course I do, Delly-beans. You don't have to bring anything," answered Gilbert, very conscious of what Bash was trying to do. Mary shook her head, amused. Anne didn't say anything, thinking how Gilbert it was to give her niece a composite nickname.

"Come here, darling girl. It's time for your bath and bedtime anyway. Say bye bye," Mary stood up and offered her hand to the little girl, who pouted.

"But I don't want to go! I finally got meet uncle Gilby's Anne!" Delly said, her eyes watery.

"Tell you what, Delly," said Anne, who didn't want to think anything about what the kid might mean by that. "I'm going to Charlottetown when this virus thing is over, and then, if your parents approve, I can go and visit you!"

"Of course we would, Queen Anne. We have been Anne-less for far too long. But it would depend solely on going to bed on time, and it would have to be in Montreal where we are living now" answered Bash, looking at Delly. Anne felt herself flush. When had they moved?

"Goodnight, uncle Gilby… Goodnight, Anne… I loved meeting you. Bye, dad," she gave him a kiss and then went, still sad, and Bash watched until she crossed the door of the living room. Then he turned to look at them. Anne made to stand up and Gilbert held her. This he was not doing alone.

"So, tell me the story. How come Anne is living there? Have you both finally come to your senses? The end of the world served to put your priorities straight or what?" he asked, feigning seriousness but failing miserably. Gilbert felt so uncomfortable, because he didn't need a pandemic to remind him of anything and Bash knew that better than anyone. His brother was the one hearing him rant for hours and try to drown his sorrows for embarrassing long years. Anne felt herself blush, because it really wasn't like that. They hadn't come to any senses, there was nothing to come to.

"He's just letting me stay until PEI lets me in, Bash. Nothing more," she explained.

"So you are telling me nothing is happening between you?!" he asked, laughing. "That's a good joke. And what else? Tell me more, I'm all for comedy tonight."

"She's actually being honest, Bash. She's staying here because her flight got cancelled and there wasn't any point in paying a long term hotel when she could stay here," Gilbert insisted. Bash looked at them, thoughtful.

"How long has this been going on?" Anne had actually lost count.

"Early March, Bash. Since PEI closed the island. She was supposed to get there that day," Gilbert answered. "Look, there's no need to read anything into this. Anne needed a place to stay in Ontario. I'm the only person she knows who lives around here. Diana called me to ask if I would be willing, and considering I spend most of the day at the hospital there really is no problem, you know my sofa is good. So that's that. No need for any inquisition," he explained, a bit fed up, trying to convey through the camera not to push the subject anymore. One thing was what he wanted and another one altogether what had really happened. And there was no need for jokes now. Too close to everything.

Anne looked at him, wondering the meaning of all this. It was no secret that she had been desperately in love with Gilbert at the end of school. It was actually the reason they stopped talking. He just wanted Winifred Rose and her posh world, and everything became a whole, horrible mess. From which she hadn't completely recovered, much to her embarrassment. Ten years was a horribly long time. But why would Bash joke with this? It wasn't like him to make any sort of joke to make her feel bad- they had always been aimed only at Gilbert, never at her. At least that was how it was, when they were teens. And why was Gilbert so defensive?

Bash dropped the subject, still making a slight comment here and there and asked Anne about her projects and her job. She explained vaguely, giving Bash more insight than what Gilbert had been able to gather from her in the last weeks. So she had indeed been fired, but more as a result of voicing her opinion in an unfortunate matter and being way too forward in her thinking than because she had made some kind of horrible mistake. She dreamed of going back to study to attain a certification that would allow her to teach in other kinds of school, but it was expensive and even if she had been trying to save for it, it was hard. She was trying to write a book, but she dismissed it as something that was never going to be any good- what had happened to confident, ambitious Anne? The conversation came to a close as Mary came back, announcing Delly was sound asleep. Anne stood up as soon as Gilbert pushed the red button.

"I'm so sorry. It just slipped," she explained, opening drawers to look for something that would help scrape the dough. "I didn't mean to intrude on the chat with your family and even less to let them know I was here."

"Don't worry about it. It didn't go that bad, all things considered. So, that was bread?"

"Was going to be… My starter finally doubled in size a couple of days ago and this was the first real trial," she said, sitting cross legged on the floor as she scrapped dough from the tiles. Gilbert went to get the sponge and a bowl with soapy water. "I can manage, don't worry… My mess, after all."

"Allow me, please. I was going to eat some of the bread without actually putting any effort in it." He sat in front of her and worked in the area that she had just scrapped. It was hard indeed. They kept working in silence for some time. Anne was absorbed in her thoughts, trying to make sense of the conversation that had happened. How could she be "Gilbert's Anne"? What did that even mean? What was Bash's teasing about? It was weird that after not talking to them for years that was the first thing that came to his mind, and it was… Suddenly she felt drained, tired and down. She just wanted to go to bed as soon as this was done.

"Tomorrow morning I'll mop the whole thing again and it should be good," Anne commented as she stood up, the floor reasonably clean, arching her back to get some of the stiffness out. Gilbert tried very hard to ignore the way this accentuated her breasts and her figure in general and decided to distract himself by organizing what they had been using. "Anyway… do you think you can manage for dinner? I just want to go to bed now."

Gilbert looked at her, frowning and a bit worried. She looked down and sad.

"Of course I can. I've told you I can get by. But are you feeling ok? Are you sick?"

"I just want to go to bed. I'm not sick, I'm just not hungry," she answered, trying her best not to show in her face how bad she felt. Gilbert actually noticed the pain and sadness in her eyes and wanted nothing more than to hug her, but refrained. He was pretty sure Bash's comments had something to do with it and he would only make everything worse.

"Ok, good night, then," he said, defeated. He had thought the conversation with the Lacroix hadn't gone that bad, all things considered. She nodded and went, and he heard the door close softly. He sighed. There seemed to be no way forward with this. He prepared himself a bowl of cereal, ate it quickly and then made some chamomile tea. He approached his door with a cup, a bit of milk and honey in it as she used to take it years ago. There was still light underneath. He knocked lightly. "Anne? I brought you some chamomile, may I come in?"

She really didn't want to let him in. Her nose was red from blowing it, her eyes swollen from crying and she felt like she was too much of a mess for him to see her. She was trying to avoid showing any kind of vulnerability to him. But he had actually made the effort to bring her something… She put on her hoodie. At least she could hide some, right?

"Yeah, sure," she finally answered, and he opened the door. He had a steaming mug on one hand. He approached the bed and left it on the nightstand, trying to ignore the tissues scattered all over because they made his heart clench.

"It's hot, be careful. Look… I'm sorry about Bash. His comments were out of place and there was no need for any of that. Don't take anything personally, I'm sure they were all directed at me," he explained, still feeling bad. Worse, even, as he had seen her puffy eyes when he had opened the door. "I'll leave you now. Sleep well," he turned to leave, as he hadn't expected any sort of conversation. He was already at the door when Anne called him, to thank him for the tea. "My pleasure, Anne," he said softly, sighing as he closed the door.

**Gilbert Best of Avo (20:58): I'm just working. There's this pandemic thing going on. Contagious. No cure. Bad. Only you literally live on an island. So yep, Diana's right, as always :) Just working hard, but still alive, still healthy.

**Ruby Best of Avo (21:04): We're all worried! 😢

**Josie Best of Avo (21:04): You are worried, Ruby, because that's the thing you excel at. Most of us just miss you in this group.

**Tillie Best of Avo (21:05): And that's Josie and her cold heart speaking. When can we make a group call, seriously?

**Gilbert Best of Avo (21:06): You guys tell me. I don't work nights this week, so just tell me and I'll be there.

**Gilbert Best of Avo (21:06): Well, connect.