Anne always dreamed about her wedding day, what dress she would wear, who would be there, and most importantly, who she was marrying. He would be tall, dark, handsome, mysterious, and romantic. She guessed all she wanted was her own Mr. Rochester, sans the hidden wife. While her fiancée might be tall, dark, and admittedly could be described as a little handsome, he was in no way what she expected or even wanted in a spouse. And her dress, oh her dress! Even the thought of it would make Anne burst into tears. Not only was it not the newest style or a pearly white, it wasn't even further.
But alas, she could do nothing as she walked down the church aisle. She did her best not to look at the altar where he waited, but seeing all the empty pews hurt her heart more. This was nothing like she had imagined in the slightest.
Gilbert should have been the happiest man on the planet. Not only was he about to marry the prettiest, most brilliant, and most amazing girl he knew, but she was also the love of his life. Instead, he felt utterly awful. This was different from how he planned it to go. He would graduate from Redmond, propose to Anne, graduate from medical school, and then marry her, specifically in that order. Now, here he was about to marry Anne without even attending Redmond, with no degree and no money; Gilbert had no clue what he was ever going to do with a wife of all things. Even worse than that, Anne did not love him; they had only become friends less than two years ago.
As he watched her walk down the aisle, avoiding eye contact, his heart broke a little even though he knew that this was not about him but the situation they had been in. This should have been the best moment of his life.
Anne reached the altar somehow, exactly how she was not quite sure, and it took every fiber of her being not to run as fast as she could out of the church and back to Green Gables. But she knew better than to do this because she would never be welcome there again. The minister must have been performing the ceremony, but she heard nothing as she stared at the ground and tried not to cry. Suddenly, Anne opened a throat clear and looked up to find the minister. Gilbert looked at her expectantly, and she realized it must be time to say the dreaded words. She managed to croak out a weak, "I do." With that, the minister told Gilbert he may kiss his bride. Anne froze. She had never considered that she was going to have to kiss Gilbert. For a split second, as she saw him lean in nervously, she wished it would be magical that they would instantly fall in love and live happily ever after. That hope was gone a moment later when the kiss happened, and she felt, well, she felt…absolutely nothing.