Chapter 11: Home for the Holidays

"Are you sure you don't want to come home with me for Christmas?" Roy asked Anne for one last time.

"I'm sure, Roy," Anne said. "It's nothing against you or anything, but I have to be home at Green Gables for Christmas. Marilla's been stuck with Rachel since I left, and I'd feel really guilty if I leave them again. Coming home is the least I could do. Besides, don't you have family that you have to go see?"

"I do, but I'd rather see them with you. I know my mother and sisters would love to meet you."

"I know that, but I'm homesick. I need to go home."

"Okay then."

This was practically the same conversation Roy and Anne had for Thanksgiving break. He wanted to take her home to meet his family, and hopefully judging from their reactions to her, he would get the green light to pop the question. She had opted to go back home to Avonlea instead of coming with him, and when he would propose the option of coming with her, she refused, saying that she had so many things to do back home that she would feel guilty just leaving him there and looking after her. Roy said that he wouldn't mind, but Anne insisted. He wanted to make her happy and decided not to object; he figured that he'd have his chance sometime soon down the line.

"Since you're not coming with me, Anne, I want to give this to you now." Roy handed Anne a small box wrapped in red and green wrapping paper. "Open it."

Anne carefully opened her gift and was stunned with what she saw inside the little box. Roy had given her a pearl bracelet from Mikimoto, the most distinguished name in the pearl industry in the world. It was exquisite.

"Thank you, Roy!" She put her arms around him and kissed him. "I love it."

"I'm glad you do," he said with a grin.

"You didn't have to spend that much on me; I would have been happy with whatever you would have picked."

"Anne, the bracelet is nothing. You deserve so much more than this."

She blushed. "I have something for you, too. It's nothing much, well at least compared to what you gave me."

"I'm happy with whatever you choose to give me."

Anne handed him a box wrapped in blue wrapping paper. "Open it."

Roy opened his gift and smiled. "Coldplay tickets? Anne, you shouldn't have!"

"I know how much you love them, so with the help of a few of my connections, I was able to get them before they even went on sale to the general public."

Roy kissed her. "I love you, Anne. I really hate to leave, but I have to get going if I want to beat the upcoming snow storm. Call me as soon as you get to Avonlea, so I know you're all right, okay?"

"I promise."

"Bye."

"Bye."

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Anne made her journey from Kingsport to Avonlea. On the way, she reflected on what happened over the last semester at KLC. After nearly escaping disaster with Jen Pringle's firecrackers in the trash can, she had survived and won over the hearts of the town with her successful play and with her gutsiness and determination. Since then, there was smooth sailing, and even Jen turned out to be a decent human being to the shock of many who knew her. The relationship between Emmeline Harris and her father grew a bit stronger, which made Emmeline a very happy camper, and she would no longer show up to class looking depressed as she was in the past. Morgan Harris would come by Anne's classroom every now and then to say hello and to check on things. He was friendly – far too friendly. He even invited Anne to accompany his family in their annual trip to Boston, but she declined, saying that she had too many things to do back home. In reality, she didn't want to join him. First and foremost, she was his daughter's teacher, and she did not want to put that in jeopardy. Second, she felt uncomfortable whenever she was around him. He was twenty years or so her senior, and the fact that Morgan was around her so often scared her a bit. Anne sighed. At least she had Marilla back at home waiting for her, so she wouldn't have to deal with the mess for two weeks.

As for Roy's recent proclamation of love to her, Anne didn't know how to feel. Did she really love him? She knew that she liked him for who he was, but was that love? She didn't know. All she did know was that he was no Jack Garrison, and that fact alone gave her a comforting feeling. Roy was the epitome of her ideals that she had set ever since she was a little girl, yet Anne didn't know if it was as satisfying as she originally dreamed of. It was all new to her, so she was learning everything in the process.

When Anne arrived at Green Gables, she was immediately greeted by Marilla and Rachel, who were ever so happy to see her. Marilla knew Anne was tired from her trip, so she didn't bombard her with questions unlike Rachel who wanted to spill all the details about the current events in Avonlea. Anne didn't mind though. She was glad to be home.

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Gilbert made his way home from Redmond for Christmas break. He too was glad to be back home. He studied hard throughout the semester and aced every one of his final exams. It was a tough task, but he managed to pull through somehow. With two weeks off, Gilbert could finally get the rest he deserved. He wouldn't have to hear his roommate rambling on about his relationship or the constant rumors of him being engaged to Christine Stuart or Roy being engaged to Anne. Every time that he heard murmurs of Roy being on the verge of asking Anne to marry him, he would bite his tongue. It was so often that his tongue bled on several occasions. Gilbert just wanted to be left alone. Was it too much for him to ask for? He didn't think so; at least now he could have some piece of mind while being back home. All he had to do was to avoid Josie Pye and her entourage, and he would be fine.

Gilbert shook his head. Tomorrow would be Christmas Day. That meant that his family would go to church for the Christmas service in the afternoon after opening gifts in the morning. The only thing that was bugging Gilbert was that he wasn't sure if Anne was even in town. Knowing that she was with Roy almost killed him, and for all he knew she could be spending Christmas with Roy and his family. Gilbert had picked out a present for Anne before he left Redmond and hoped to give it to her after the service, but if she wasn't there, then he would mail it to her afterwards. He wished that she was still in town, so he could see her one more time. Their last meeting was on that dreadful night where he along with three other guys had nearly scared Anne half to death, and he hoped he could make it up to her this time.

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Christmas Day arrived. Both Anne and Gilbert woke up early to open presents with their families and anxiously awaited the time when they would go to service. Neither one knew if the other would be in town or not, but they both prayed that they would be. The Blythes arrived to church with Marilla, Anne, and Rachel arriving shortly there after. Gilbert was looking away when Anne took her seat across the aisle from him, but when he looked sideways, he saw Anne looking straight at him.

"Gil!" Anne cried.

"Anne!" he cried back. Thank goodness she's here! And Roy isn't with her!

Christine's not with him! Anne noticed happily. I shouldn't be this happy about it, should I?

The service began so Anne quickly mouthed "Merry Christmas" to him while Gilbert mouthed "You, too" back. It was a wonderful service, and the snow began to fall in the background. It was a beautiful scene, but Anne and Gilbert couldn't have been happier when it was over. After the saying hello to the Wrights and congratulating them on the news of expecting their first child, Anne waited for Gilbert outside the church. He went up to her and hugged her.

"I didn't expect you to be here," Gilbert said. "I was honestly expecting you to be with Roy."

"Well, we both have to see our families," Anne explained. "Besides, just because you're with somebody doesn't mean you have to be with them 24/7. By the way, where's Christine?"

"She's visiting her family in Halifax."

"Ah."

Gilbert quickly changed the subject. "I have something for you, Anne."

"Oh, Gilbert. You didn't have to -"

"I know I didn't, but I wanted to."

He pulled a small box out from his pocket and handed it to Anne. She opened it and gasped. It was a gold heart shaped pin.

"Aww..." Anne said while staring at the pin.

"Remember when I gave you that candy heart in school to make up for calling you 'Carrots', and you crushed it? Well, this way you can keep the heart with you and not feel guilty about smashing it years ago. I know it's not much -"

"But I love it, Gil! The fact that you gave me this just to make up for that incident so long ago makes it even more special than it already is." Anne gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I have something for you, too." She pulled out a small package from her purse and handed it to Gilbert. "Here."

He took the gift and opened it. It was an autographed hockey puck by Joe Sakic, the captain of the Colorado Avalanche of the NHL. "Wow." He didn't know what to say.

"I remember you telling me awhile back about the hockey game you went to when you were little, and you caught a puck flying into the stands only to have some selfish fan steal it out of your hands. I figured this way you could at least feel a little better about that and have something signed by an NHL superstar."

Gilbert hugged Anne and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, Anne. This means a lot to me." He looked back and saw his parents waiting. "I gotta go. My parents are waiting for me. I'll talk to you later, Anne. Merry Christmas, Carrots!"

"Merry Christmas, Gil!"

Anne watched as Gilbert got into his parents' car and drove away. She was sad to see him go yet relieved that she had such an opportunity to meet with him.

"Are you ready to go now, Anne?" asked Marilla.

"I'm ready."

With that, Anne got into the car with Marilla and Rachel and went back to Green Gables. She spent the rest of her vacation relaxing at home, reading, and helping Marilla out with chores. She didn't mind it really. The only down side was that she rarely got to see Gilbert. His parents decided to take a family vacation to Toronto, and he went with them. She couldn't complain, of course; it wasn't like she owned him or anything. Besides, he was Christine now or so she thought. Things were different now, but at least he still remembered her.

With the arrival of the new year, that meant that a new semester at KLC was about to begin, meaning that Anne had to make her way back to Kingsport. She said goodbye to Marilla and Rachel and began her journey again. Hopefully with the beginning of a new year, she would have better luck with things.