Chapter 11

Gilbert glanced at the time on his phone screen again. Anne was usually down here by now. He was relatively certain he hadn't done anything to make her mad enough last night to avoid him at breakfast today, but her absence suggested differently. Abrubtly standing, deciding he needed to find her and apologize for whatever unknown offense he had committed, he headed to her room.

When he knocked on the door and no one answered at first he knocked again.

"Go away," Diana's voice called out. "Too early."

"Is Anne-" Gilbert started to ask through the door, when the door opened to reveal Anne herself. "Don't wake, Di," Anne said hoarsely. "She really isn't a morning person."

"Are you okay?" Gilbert asked.

"Sore throat," Anne muttered.

"You weren't at breakfast and I thought maybe you were mad at me," Gilbert said.

"You haven't caused me to miss breakfast yet, believe it or not you really don't have that much of an effect on what I do or don't do," she said rolling her eyes. "Given that it is you and this is a foreign concept, my world does not revolve around you, Gilbert Blythe. If I'm mad at you, I'll let you know. I just didn't feel well. I'm sorry I missed breakfast. And that you were worried."

"If I had your phone number, I could have called you and found out you were sick," Gilbert told her.

"And then you wouldn't have come banging on my doorway at 7:30 am and woken poor Di?" Anne said dryly.

"Well I would have bought soup and stuff," Gilbert said grinning.

"Fine. Give me your phone. I'll put my number in it," Anne said.

"Do you have everything you need?" He asked as she entered her number to his phone. "Medicine?"

"All prepared. Marilla sent me with practically a traveling medicine cabinet. She believes in being practical and the essentials for sickness were, in her words, a sensible thing for a body to pack."

"Well, if you need anything," Gilbert told her.

"I don't. Other than sleep. Sleep you are keeping me from."

"Then I guess I'll let you get to it. Sleep well, Anne."

….

"Special delivery," Gilbert said with a grin as Anne opened the door that afternoon.

"I'm sick. I could have been sleeping," Anne grumbled.

"I text Di, she told me you were awake, miserable and bored. So here I am," he said still smiling. "I brought chicken soup, chocolate carmels- your favorite- and Transformers- a film about this guy that really likes this girl, a real romance, with epic robot fighting."

"You can stay," Anne said taking the carmels. "But only because I have a weakness for epic robot fighting. And for the record, Transformers is not a romantic film."

"Not a romantic film," Gilbert gasped in mock outrage. "You take that back Miss Shirely. Sam and Mikala are clearly meant to be. Their love story was set to the backdrop of saving the world. The world, Anne."

"Not surprising coming from the guy who flexed his muscles over his applesauce," Anne commented wryly taking the movie from him.

"These muscles?" Gilbert said playfully flexing.

"I am not feeling your biceps," Anne said as she walked toward the dvd player.

"I'll do this. You go sit and rest. And eat," Gilbert said taking the movie from her and handing her the chicken soup. After putting the disc in he glanced toward Anne's bed where she was and he would have liked to sit snuggled next to her, but instead reluctantly sat himself down in her desk chair.

About halfway through the movie Gilbert heard Anne's breathing even out as she drifted into sleep. He glanced over at her and a tender smile crossed his face to see her resting peacefully. When Diana arrived back, the movie was almost over and Gilbert was still watching Anne sleep, though he claimed to have been finishing the movie with the volume on low, so Anne could rest.