A/N: Hi! Thanks to everyone that took a minute to read this story and to the lovely people that left the kind reviews. This is my first time uploading a fanfic and english isn't my first language, so please excuse any mistakes along the line. This chapter is a little shorter, but I really love the scene that inspired it. Hope you enjoy!
A cold wind howled and blew their scarves to the left as they went up the stairs to the somewhat unplanned gathering at Miss Stacy's home. They had much to celebrate, after all.
In the midst of a tumultuous week, Gilbert was happy that everything turned out well at the end. He didn't knew what the future holded, but at that afternoon, when all of his peers came together to fight for something they all loved - the right to express themselves on their school's newspaper - he felt courage to face whatever might come next.
Doing an effort to make a change, and doing so in such a defiant, almost rebellious way, was having an amazing effect on his mood. "Perhaps the victory of the day may also have an effect on Anne's fiery temper", Gilbert thought with humour as he watched her cross Miss Stacy's living room to serve herself another glass of cranberry juice. Unawarely, his eyes had been following her moves every now and then, but the subject of his attention was too lost in her own mind to notice it.
In the recent developments, their so called truce, which had been through some rocky roads before, was looking stronger by the minute.
So it was probably that, or perhaps the cold air of the night, or the almost cloudless sky, that gave him courage to follow her when she quietly crossed the door from the living room to the balcony on her own.
He planned something to say, some safe small talk that wouldn't risk the progress on their friendship, but it all got scrambled on his mind as he went through the little porch to stand beside her.
- You sure pulled that off.
- We did. - She corrected, and he noticed the same affability in her voice that had been there in the last couple of days. Perhaps, there might really be some change in the wind. Testing the waters, he took a sit by her side, and after some playful exchanges, he started to feel more relaxed.
- After all these years, who knew we'd make such a good T-E-A-M? - He said, remembering with fondness their foolish rivalry in school. He knew she remembered it too, before her small laugh changed into something else.
And her eyes were resting so sincerely on his own that a thought came to his mind before he could try to dismiss it. At that moment, he couldn't ignore anymore what his heart already knew.
"What would she do if I kissed her right now?"
His body felt alive with his thoughts, as if every cell started to shiver in the rhythm of his own speeding pulse. A feeling he didn't remembered ever feeling before.
As if reading his mind, Anne glanced at his lips, and he could've sworn she felt the same thing. Taking a quick nervous breath, she proceeded:
- Winnifred is a lucky girl. Thank you for today, and everything... I should get back.
He felt almost hurt watching her leave, and trying to control the mess of his thoughts, he silently realised that he had been doing it all wrong.