One sunny Thursday, Anne was at the local market, doing her weekly shopping. While inspecting the selection of produce, she heard someone call her name. Turning around to search the crowd for a familiar face, she was surprised to see Molly Peters, Redmond sophomore, waving to her. Anne had met dark haired beauty once or twice at events but did not know the younger girl well at all.

"Hi Anne, do you remember me? We met at the dance this spring?" Molly asked brightly once she arrived at Anne's side.

"Of course! So nice to see you again," Anne gushed with as sincerity as she could muster. She truly had no idea why this girl wanted to speak with her. Molly was a history major so they had never had classes together. Anne had seen the lovely girl around campus and had pushed away jealous thoughts every time she saw her glossy dark curls. What Anne would give to have that head of hair.

"So I was wondering if you could clarify a rumor for me," Molly began, her tone serious.

"I can try my best," Anne replied warily, utterly unsure of where the conversation was heading.

"Are you courting Gilbert Blythe?" Molly asked bluntly. Anne resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the less than surprising question. The Redmond rumor mill had not slowed down even in the summer.

"No. We are old friends," Anne replied simply. She said the words out of habit but she wasn't so sure it was that simple anymore.

"Since you know him so well, do you know if he is courting anyone? Everyone else I've asked has just indicated you," Molly questioned. Anne knew where this conversation was going and again resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Despite her knowledge on the subject, she was not feeling very inclined to share it with Molly. She barely knew this girl and she didn't want to sic the girl on Gilbert by letting her know he was unattached. She didn't want to watch Gilbert court anyone. She settled on a mostly true answer.

"He has a girl in his sights." Anne saw Molly's face fall a bit and she almost felt bad. The only girl in Gilbert's sights were herself and his mother as far as she knew. And she was only there as a good friend. But that didn't mean she was wanted to see beautiful dark haired Molly parading around Kingsport on Gilbert's arm.

"Who?" Molly asked unsurprisingly. Anne respected her persistence.

"I don't know. I just know that he is not seeking a courtship currently and there must be a girl in his sights," Anne replied, trying desperately to believe herself in the story she was spinning. Molly looked a little skeptical at her response.

"That's such a shame. He is so eligible. Handsome, kind and so smart. He's quite a catch around here. I was hoping to use this summer to snag him," Molly replied, a touch of challenge in her tone. Anne bristled. Gilbert was not a prize to be snagged. He was a good, kind gentleman who deserved a partner who was not just interested in "snagging" his eligible self of the market.

"I've known Gilbert a long time and I can tell you that you will not persevere in "snagging" him. He is much to smart to fall for that. I have seen many women try and fail," Anne bit back, keeping her tone light but trying to convey firmness with her words.

"Well since you have obviously failed in capturing him, it can't hurt for me to try. I think I'll stop by the hospital on my way home and see if Mr. Blythe is free for dinner. Nice seeing you again," Molly said haughtily and with a sneer as she turned on her heel and walked away.

It took every once of self control Anne had not to go after the girl and give her a piece of her mind. How dare she insinuate that Gilbert was something she could just snag. Gilbert deserved so much better than someone so shallow. She wanted to stop her from going by the hospital but knew it was no good. Molly would do whatever she wanted to do. Anne just had to trust that Gilbert wouldn't fall for her fake smile and luscious curls.

Anne finished her shopping and stomped home, still very angry over her interaction with her dark haired colleague and all of the insinuations about Gilbert.

...…...…...…...…

Later that evening, a still annoyed Anne was banging pots around her kitchen as she cleaned up from her simple dinner. She looked up from the lower cabinet to find a concerned looking Gilbert standing in the kitchen doorway, messenger bag slung over his shoulder and a worn grey shirt clinging to his muscles. She screamed and jumped back in utter surprise.

"Gil! What are you doing here? You scared me half to death!" He held up his hands in mock surrender and looked very contrite and slightly horrified as he answered her.

"I'm so sorry I scared you. I knocked several times and could hear banging noises from inside and I got worried so I just walked in since the door was unlocked. I'm so sorry for intruding." She breathed in relief as her panic faded away. She must have forgotten to lock the door in her lingering anger after her market encounter.

"You are lucky I had already put away the cast iron pan or you may have been sporting a big bruise on your head," she replied, trying to lighten the mood and wipe that look of horror of his face. At that, he let out a great big belly laugh.

"I should have known better than to be worried about your safety. You have always had a skill for whacking people with things. Any intruder wouldn't stand a chance," came his joking reply, invoking memories of their distatrous first meeting.

"Right you are Gilbert Blythe," she replied, smirking back at him. Realizing she had no clue as to the reason for his visit she cocked her head slightly,

"Not that I am unhappy to see you but what brings you by tonight?" Gilbert blushed again slightly and averted his eyes.

"I had an interesting visit today at the hospital..." he started and she groaned. This couldn't be going where she thought it was going. Gilbert forged on.

"Some girl from Redmond stopped by and tried to convince me to accompany her to a dance. She told me that you told her I was looking for someone to court..." he trailed off and looked up at her with a very confused look on his face and something more unreadable in his brown eyes.

Anne saw red. How dare that little lier say such a thing! It was the opposite of everything she had said. Anne wanted nothing more than to go give Molly Peters a piece of her mind but she didn't even know where she lived. Once her blood went from boiling to a simmer, she found Gilbert still looking at her, still utterly confused.

"I said no such thing! She cornered me at the market today and first asked if we were courting. I said no and then she asked if there was someone else or if you were free for the taking. Knowing her reputation, I tried to indicate that you liked someone else so she would back off. Instead, she informed me that it was her goal to ensnare you this summer and nothing I said was going to stop her. She was really quite nasty. I am sorry that I failed to persuade her to leave you alone," Anne spilled the story as quickly as she could. Gilbert went from confused to surprised as she spoke.

"I am so sorry you had to deal with that today, Anne. She does not seem like a very nice person. Great minds must think alike though. I am in no way interested in her but I didn't want to hurt her feelings. I just said I was courting someone else to get her to leave the hospital. It was quite embarrassing and I did not want to lie but saw no other option to get her to leave. She's a very perisistant girl." Anne nodded at his explanation. He had done the right thing and hopefully Molly would leave them both alone now. It was a good thing they had thought to say the same thing so now they both seemed credible and she hopefully got the hint. Gilbert was clearly not interested in the pretty brunette and Anne couldn't help but be a little happy about that.

"What a day we both had," Anne said lightly with a smile.

"I'll say. Dodging crazy sophomores is not how I anticipated my day would go." Gilbert said with a chuckle. Anne retrieved a small tin from the counter and popped of the lid before holding it out to Gilbert,

"Care for a cookie to drown your sorrows?" He smiled eagerly and took a ginger snap out of the tin and popped the whole thing in his mouth before chewing very impolitely. Anne rolled her eyes at his lack of manners; so much for the eligible gentleman part. Once a farm boy, always a farm boy it seemed. Gilbert finally swallowed and smiled at her and praised her baking.

"Those are excellent. Thank you." She smiled back at him.

"How's the hand?" Gilbert asked, gesturing to her still bandaged palm.

"It really doesn't hurt anymore. It does itch terribly though," she replied, wrinkling her nose as she though about how hard it had been to resist itching the stitches all day. He gave her a pitying look.

"That means it is healing so that is a good thing. I'm sorry it doesn't make it less annoying though," he replied. She nodded at his response and looked around her clean kitchen.

"I'm done here. You are welcome to join me in the parlor for some reading if you want to." She spoke without thinking. All she knew is she wasn't ready to say goodbye quite yet. His presence drove some of the loneliness from the house. She enjoyed having him around more than she would admit to anyone out loud. His face brightened at her offer.

"I do happen to have some Cooper research with me and your parlor couch is much softer than my desk chair," he replied gesturing to his bulging messenger bag. They were soon settled into the parlor couch, her with a new mystery novel and him with anatomy textbook and the tin of ginger snaps on the table in front of them.

As the relaxed in easy silence, Anne couldn't help but sneak glances at Gilbert when she was sure he was engrossed in his textbook. His dark curls were starting to free themselves from the pomade and his tongue poked through his lips just a touch when he was concentrating. Was this how it felt to be married? To spend evenings with a man in quiet companionship? At this train of thought Anne blushed involuntarily and turned her attention back to her book.

A few times, Anne was sure she felt Gilbert's eyes on her but she didn't dare look up from her page to check. Every once in a while Gilbert would share something he had found interesting from his textbook with her. One of their greatest points of similarity had always been their intellect and love of learning. It had been their passion for education that had formed the foundation to their current strong friendship. She was glad that Gil still enjoyed sharing knowledge with her after all these years.

The time passed quickly as they both were engrossed in their respective books. Neither of them realized the darkness that had fallen outside nor the lateness of the hour and how utterly improper their evening was in the eyes of others. Anne noticed her eyes grow heavily but pushed for just a few more chapters to find out who was the killer in her novel. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gilbert stifle a few yawns while still diligently perusing his textbook.

...…...…...…...…

Anne came out of sleep slowly. As she blinked away her drowsiness, she came to realize that she was still in her cotton day dress and her corset was angrily poking into her hip bone. The next thing she noticed was the heavy, warm weight slung across her waist. Her head was cushioned on something much harder than her pillow and she caught a slight thump thump beneath her cheek. Suddenly it all snapped into place- Gilbert stopping over, her inviting him to stay, their reading late into the night. She registered that it was an arm across her waist and a chest under her head just moments later as she put it all together.

They must have fallen asleep reading on the couch together last night. She was simultaneously scandalized and warmed at the realization. In their sleep they had cuddled into a compromising position where Anne was tucked half between Gilbert and the back of the couch while the other half of her was draped across his body. Her head was nestled into the corner of his chest, her arm was wrapped tightly across his muscled torso and her leg was laying over his power body. Gilbert breathed slowly in his slumber, strong arm wrapped around her waist, holding her tight to him. She felt safe and warm despite the embarrassment creeping in.

Now fully awake and understanding how utterly compromising their position was and realizing they both had work today, Anne tried to figure out how to extract herself without waking him. While contemplating her next move, Anne felt Gilbert stirring beside her. She raised her head and caught him drowsily blinking his eyes open, a sleepy smile on his face. Suddenly his eyes landed on hers and she could see the reality of their situation set in for him and his face turned bright red.

Simultaneously, they disentangled themselves without a word until they were both sitting tense and upright on the couch with a full cushion between them. Gilbert broke the silence first.

"I am so dreadfully sorry. I did not mean to put you in such a position..." he trailed off when he noticed her shaking her head at him.

"This isn't your fault Gilbert. We both fell asleep. Neither of us did anything wrong other than read for too long when we were tired." He looked at her, slightly skeptical. He had likely anticipated an appearance from her famous temper.

"I still feel bad. I should have left before I got so tired. Now my carelessness has put your reputation at stake." She rolled her eyes at him. While she knew he was right and said it only from a place of concern, she was utterly fed up with proprietary and gender stereotypes. Why should it be her reputation at the center of concern. She brushed off his concern.

"It's still early. We could make pancakes for breakfast and still sneak you out in plenty of time. I do not live among many early risers." He smirked at her response, the tension finally easing.

"As much as I would love that, I would rather not take the risk. I'll sneak out now and hopefully no one else is awake." She looked at his rumpled clothing and wild curls.

"How are you going to sneak into your boarding house? Won't you need to change before work?" She asked.

"It's not the first time I've snuck in late," he replied off the cuff while stuffing his textbook into his messenger bag. Looking up to find her horrified face, he quickly clarified.

"I'm pretty prone to falling asleep on my books at the library during finals. I've had to sneak back into the house after that several times before is what I meant." His face had turned pink while he clarified, no doubt realizing how she must have taken his initial words. She hadn't thought Gilbert was one to sleep around with girls but for a second she had been a little concerned at the prospect. She didn't dare admit that the idea had immediately struck her temper as she thought of him with another girl. She wasn't entitled to any opinions on his relationships nor did she wield any control over that aspect of his life.

"Thanks for clarifying," she replied with a small smile while he stood and started toward the front door.

"No Gil. Use the back door," she stopped him and then led the way to the door off the mud room that lead right into the orchard and was much less noticeable. He followed closely behind. When she reached the door, she turned to face him.

"This will lead you into the orchard. But you can just cut through it to the alley and that will lead you back to the main road. Stellas boys do this regularly during the school year."

Gilbert raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"There's more to Stella than I realized," he said with a smirk. She lightly smacked his arm in half-hearted disapproval.

"Says they boy sneaking out in the wee hours of the morning," she shot baxk, her eyebrows raised in challenge. He laughed at the irony.

"Touché. You got me there."

"You are a pain sometimes but you make a pretty good pillow," she couldn't resist adding. He smirked but she caught the dark look that passed through his eyes at her words.

"You will be happy to know that you do not snore Anne Shirley," he teased back. She rolled her eyes.

"I know I don't snore! I'm not a heathen!" She gasped in mock offense. He smirked again and opened the door to start out before turning back one more time,

"Was I a good enough pillow to earn dinner tonight? You do make such an excellent Shepherds pie..."

She schooled her face quickly before it could give her away. Was this just dinner as friends or was he hinting at something more? Her heart began pounding a little heavier. She kept her voice as light as she could.

"I suppose. Come over around 6." He grinned widely at her words before slipping quietly into the inky darkness of the early morning.

She shut the door behind him and processed what all had happened. She had spent the night with Gilbert Blythe. Unintentionally, but she had still spent the night wrapped up in his arms. She knew should be embarrassed and ashamed but instead, she felt very warm inside. He had asked to come over for dinner. She was starting to wonder if there was some truth to what all the girls were saying. Maybe there was more than friendship.

Notes:

Oops... Did they just spend the night together?

Miss Anne is finally starting to come around to feelings she has probably had all along. They are both still pretending everything is normal but that will likely change soon.

Please let me know if you have any questions or just let me know how you feel about this story so far! Thanks for reading :)