Chapter Text
Gilbert knew Anne had gotten close to Cole Mackenzie while he had been gone. He just hadn't realized how close. That is, until Diana stopped in the mud room of the school house to talk. Her usual companion, Anne, had been stolen away by the boy himself, who had showed up a full day earlier than he was expected, if Anne’s shouts of pleasure were anything to go by. Diana had excused herself from the conversation to take shelter from the cold, but Anne and Cole barely seemed to notice as they both chatted animatedly outside the schoolhouse.
“Oh it's so nice that Cole's been able to visit, don't you think?” Diana Barry said gaily, smiling out the window at the boy in question, who was talking animatedly with Anne. “Anne’s been beside herself with worry since he decided to stay with Aunt Josephine, even though he writes her all the time.”
“He does?” Gilbert asked, sounding more interested in the whole affair than he strictly meant to.
Diana looked sideways at him. “Of course. They're very close. Anne says he's a kindred spirit.”
“Anne does love her kindred spirits.” Gilbert agreed, staring out the window at the pair.
“Exactly,” Diana exclaimed, happy that Gilbert seemed to understand. “He's so very kind to Anne and myself, but he and Anne just seem to have this understanding. I wasn’t quite sure of him myself, when Anne started spending so much time with him. He’s so quiet you know. But then he offered to kiss Anne after all of the boys were so horrible to her during that game, and, well, he’s been more than welcome in our circle ever since.”
Had Gilbert been walking, he might have tripped. Anne and Cole had kissed? And he hadn’t heard a word about it. That certainly put their closeness in a new light. Why was it, that as soon as he left, Anne had begun kissing so many of their peers? And why was it, that whenever he found out about these incidents, a strange, sick feeling settled in his stomach?
“Game?” Gilbert heard himself ask hoarsely.
“Spin the bottle.” Diana supplied. “It was Josie Pye’s idea. It was actually good fun for a little while.” Diana flushed, realizing that she had perhaps, revealed too much, but Gilbert took little notice. He barely registered when Diana saw her friends waving her over and said her goodbyes.
It was strange how one simple conversation could so thoroughly throw him off his axis. Gilbert found himself quite unable to concentrate, despite his best efforts, he found himself constantly looking back and forth between Anne, and Cole, who had opted to stay for the school day at Anne’s and Ms. Stacy’s urging. It might not have been so bad, had Anne not constantly found her own gaze drawn to Cole, her grin widening each time their eyes met.
The strange, sick feeling was back.
Gilbert had been gone for a year, and when he had returned, Anne had barely looked at him. Cole had been gone for three months at most, and Anne kept smiling at him, as though she had never been happier to see someone in her life.
When he had been away, he hadn’t worried much over Anne forgetting him. Avalonea rarely changed, he had assumed this fact would remain true no matter how long he had been gone.
He hadn’t thought much at all about if Anne would wait for him, especially seeing as he hadn’t asked her to, and he wasn’t precisely sure what he would have asked her to wait for. He certainly hadn’t thought any of the boys would pay her much attention. But that was ridiculous now that he really considered it. Of course boys would notice Anne. She was pretty, and lively, and smart. He couldn’t have been the only one who noticed.
And now, it seemed that someone else might have noticed after all.
He could just hear Bash’s smug voice now, telling him that’s what he got for waiting.
Gilbert wasn’t sure how he felt about that, but when it came to Anne Shirley Cuthbert, being unsure of his feelings appeared to be a reoccurring theme, if he took the time to think about it. He did not.
He hoped that lunch time might give him a much needed break from his staring habit, and he breathed a sigh of relief when Ms. Stacy announced that everyone could put their books away. Gilbert reached for the anatomy book Doctor Ward had loaned him, determined to do something productive with his day.
“I’ll catch up.” He heard Anne promising. Likely to Diana and Cole, who had been waiting for her by the door. “I just need to finish this sentence.”
He wasn’t sure if she was talking about notes, or something else, but he tried his level best to tune her pencil scratching against paper as he continued reading.
In a few moments, he heard the scraping of a chair against the floor as Anne stood, then he heard a huge rustling of papers and a muted “Oh drat!” as Anne apparently dropped all of her notes, and watched in horror as they flew all around the room.
Anne groaned as she took a moment to look down at the scattered papers in nearly comical dismay. “Well at least this time they haven't caught fire.”
Gilbert’s brow furrowed, unable to stop himself from asking. “Caught fire?”
Anne grimaced. “Never mind.” She quickly went down on her knees, chasing after papers that had slid under desks and chairs.
Smiling slightly, he put his book to the side and knelt down to help her, carefully stacking everything on a nearby desk without paying their contents much mind. Most of them were covered in words, notes, stories, but one was decidedly not like the others. He found himself staring at a peculiar piece of parchment that looked like, perhaps, Anne indeed had some regular trouble with lighting her papers on fire.
“Oh!” Anne’s slightly panicked voice snatched him back from his thoughts. His eyes met hers, and he couldn't help but notice the sudden rosy color staining her cheeks. “Uh, Cole drew that.”
Gilbert cleared his throat, and, quite deliberately, looked down at the sketch as he handed it back to her, studying it carefully. “Well,” he said, and for some reason he couldn't explain, his voice wavered slightly. Desperately trying to make his voice come out normally, he tried again. “Cole is very talented.”
This, it seemed, was the right thing to say to Anne. Her whole face lit up with pride and happiness. Something in Gilbert's stomach tightened at her expression. “He is, very much.” She agreed, enthusiastically, continuing in her task as though nothing had happened. “Cole has a simply marvellous way of looking at the world, don't you think? And his art reflects all of the beauty in things that others might not see. Just look at what he did with my portrait! I mean, I would hardly consider myself an ideal subject, but he's really so talented that he even made me beautiful. Me!”
“It was as true to life as I could make it.” A voice above them said, sounding wryly amused.
“Cole!” Anne cried, rising with a smile on her face so radiant, Gilbert thought it could rival the sun itself. “I was just telling Gilbert about your art and how perfectly glorious it is.”
Cole raised an eyebrow, eyes flicking in between the two, and Gilbert suddenly felt very uncomfortable with the scrutinizing look Cole was giving him. Just when Gilbert thought that, perhaps, Cole was waiting for him to say something, the taller boy smiled, sheepish, and mischievous all at once. “Thank you, Anne. But I'm really only as good as my subjects.” Anne flushed slightly, confusion crinkling the corners of her eyes as she stared at Cole. He ignored her. “What do you think, Gilbert?”
“Uh,” Gilbert floundered.
“Cole!” Anne hissed, looking both mortified and furious.
“What?” Cole intoned innocently. “It's a simple question.”
“Well it's hardly a polite one-” She began.
“I'm inclined to agree.” Gilbert interrupted. Anne’s head whipped back in his direction, eyes wide, a flush staining her whole face. He met her eyes again, and smiled crookedly. “I think you make a fine artistic subject.”
Anne's lips parted, usually a sign that she was about to start talking, but no sound came out. She only continued staring, and Gilbert, as always, was content to let the moment stretch between them for as long as she would allow it. He felt his face relax slightly, his expression softening as he held her gaze.
Their breathing nearly synchronized.
“Anne,” Cole stage-whispered, sounding amused. “This is the part where you say thank you.”
Anne jumped, eyes darting away. “R-right. Ah, t-thank you, Gilbert.” She didn't look his way again as she turned on her heel and practically ran from the room, leaving half her papers still scattered on the floor.
Cole chuckled, casting a glance at the mess. “Well, I suppose I better get these back to her.”
Gilbert blinked. “Right, um…”
Cole's face split into a grin. “Unless of course you wanted to give them back?” The strangest expression had come across the boy's face, amusement mixed with challenge. It made Gilbert uncomfortable. Especially since he wasn't sure what Cole was challenging him about.
“No, no. I’m uh,” Gilbert cleared his throat. “I'm sure Anne would rather get them from you.”
Cole snorted. “You're sure about that?” He scanned the other boy, looking him over like he wasn't quite sure what to make of him. Then he blew out a breath. “The two of you are ridiculous.” And with that, Cole sunk down to the floor with more grace than Josie Pye or even Diana Barry could have managed, to retrieve the rest of Anne’s papers.
Gilbert frowned. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Cole didn’t bother looking up from his task, “Just that you clearly like Anne, and you won’t admit it.”
Gilbert froze for exactly three seconds, and Cole looked over at him, as though the younger boy was expecting him to admit his undying love for Anne Shirley-Cuthbert right then and there. Which would have been ridiculous. Because Gilbert was fairly sure he didn’t know how he felt about Anne. Fairly sure.
“You're the one who kissed her.” Gilbert muttered, refusing to meet his eye, and feeling suddenly childish.
Cole grinned, oddly triumphant. “And is that bothering you?”
“No,” Gilbert denied, too quickly. “Or, maybe? I don't know. Diana told me you were being nice because no one else wanted to, but…”
“But what?” Cole prompted, evening out the stack in his hands with a few sharp movements.
But what, indeed. Why was Gilbert so bothered by the idea of a silly kiss done during some silly school yard game? Was it because everyone had taken the opportunity to be unkind to Anne? That no one wanted to kiss her? That wasn't it, exactly. Was it Cole he had a problem with? Gilbert didn't think that was the case either. He liked Cole. He was kind and thoughtful and, as he had begun to observe since he had returned from overseas, an excellent friend.
Maybe he was bothered by the idea that this had happened at all. Because if he hadn't left, if he had been there…
Gilbert paused in his train of thought. If he had been there… would he have volunteered in Cole's place?
“But nothing.” Gilbert said, quietly. “It's none of my business. I shouldn't have brought it up.”
“We didn’t really kiss.” Cole said, slyly. Gilbert, resolutely, still did not meet his eyes, but his mind had gone quite still as he listened. “It was just a peck on the cheek. Anne grabbed me, and dipped me over her arm and kissed me right on the cheek.” Warmth and fondness and crept into Cole’s retelling, as though this was a memory he held dear. Gilbert found himself cracking a smile at the image. “It was very dramatic.”
“That sounds like Anne.” Gilbert chuckled, and his shoulders relaxed a tension that he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.
“Anne’s a good friend.” Cole agreed. “One of my best. She-” He flushed, looking out the window. “She was the first person I truly felt I could be myself around. She knew I was different and she didn’t care. She liked me anyway. She helped me realize that being different isn’t a bad thing. If it weren’t for Anne, I- well, I’m not really sure where I would be. She kind of makes everyone’s lives better just by being in them, doesn’t she?”
“Yeah,” Gilbert said, voice softer than he meant it to come out. He coughed. “You sound like you like her a lot.”
Cole raised a brow, standing up and gathering all of Anne’s things together. “Very much. Though not nearly as much as you like her, I think. Definitely not in the same way.”
For the second time that day, Gilbert Blythe found himself at a complete loss for words. “I-I mean-”
Cole’s face softened. “A word of advice? Being in denial of your feelings doesn’t help anyone. Least of all you. Take it from somebody who knows.”
He was halfway out the door before Gilbert found his voice again. “Uh, Cole?” Cole paused in the doorway, looking over his shoulder expectantly. “Thanks. And, uh, it’s good to see you.”
Cole grinned, genuine and happy. “You’re welcome. And it’s good to see you too.”
And with that, he left the school house, leaving Gilbert with quite a lot to think about.