Chapter Text
As Anne sat beside Gilbert at the Creative Writing Society meeting the next Tuesday, she couldn’t help letting her body gravitate towards him. As she wrote, she let her elbow press gently into his arm, When the group turned towards Jake for his reading, she let her knee press into Gilbert’s thigh and couldn’t help but let a smile blossom over her features as Gilbert’s hand came to rest on top of it. It felt like the most natural thing to do and from the way Gilbert’s body responded, she guessed it was the same for him.
After she had admitted to him those few days ago that she was ‘putting her eggs in his basket’, as Tillie had paraphrased, Gilbert’s housemates had interrupted their conversation, forcing the boy home with them in a chaos of loud conversations and drunken stumbling. Anne had felt her heart pound at the lack of response she was able to get from Gilbert, but within the hour her phone buzzed with a text from him. Shielding the screen from Jerry who was brushing his teeth alongside her, she read the message.
I’m glad I’m not the only one pursuing something between us xxx
Before she could reply, another message popped onto the screen.
Assuming you were talking about me …
After reassuring Gilbert that he was the one she had been talking about, it had been hard to separate Anne from her phone. The pings had even started to irk Ruby, despite her phone going off with texts from Moody almost as often. The constant flow of texts between them had continued until this very meeting, in which Anne couldn’t help but replace the pings of her phone with thumps of her heart as she let their bodies touch.
As everyone started to pack up their things, Gilbert asked “May I walk you home, Miss Shirley-Cuthbert?”
Anne finished putting on her jacket before replying. “Of course you can, Mr Blythe.” As she put on her rucksack, she let out a small giggle. “Though historical fiction is a writing task for next week, not a speaking task for now.”
Heading out of The Nook, Gilbert quickly side-stepped around Anne so he could grab the door and hold it open for her. “I require the right mindset for such tasks, Miss Shirley-Cuthbert.” Anne could only roll her eyes as they strode out of the coffee shop. As she started to turn towards the route back to her flat, Gilbert reached out and took her hand, forcing her to come to a stop. “Let’s walk through the nature reserve.”
Anne looked down at their hands as he wound his fingers between hers, trying to halt the blush that spread over her cheeks as heat shot up from the points where their skin touched and spread throughout her body. “But it’s at least ten minutes longer,” she teasingly protested.
“I just want to spend a bit more time with you.” Gilbert’s confession threatened to leave another blush spreading across Anne’s cheeks, but before it had the chance, she was being pulled in the direction of the nature reserve.
While they walked, Anne couldn’t help but marvel at the feel of his hand within hers. The gentle rub of his thumb against the back of her hand spread warmth throughout her fingers despite the chill of the air around them and she couldn’t help but laugh every time he raised their entwined hands to make a wild gesture as if telling some fantastical tale.
As they reached the edge of the reserve and Anne’s bedroom window was in sight, cast in shadow by the setting sun, Gilbert pulled them to a final stop. Anne felt a gentle drop of water against her cheek but let herself ignore it as Gilbert reached for her other hand, bringing the pair face to face.
Anne’s breath hitched, realising what was about to happen, what could have so easily happened on Friday had they not been interrupted. She took a step closer, bringing their bodies in line. Her gaze flickered between his eyes and his lips and she noticed his doing the same. Then, they both moved forward and Anne let her eyes drift closed as she felt the soft touch of his lips against hers.
They both quickly abandoned their entwined hands, Anne finding her fingers entangled in the hair at the base of Gilbert’s neck whilst she felt herself being pulled closer by firm hands at her waist. Letting her mouth open and exploring the curve of his lips with her tongue, she heard a low hum emanate from Gilbert and the hands at her waist scrunched the fabric there tighter.
At that moment, Anne felt a large splat of water hit the top of her scalp. With a yelp she jumped backwards and opened her eyes in time to see the deluge start to fall from the skies, the dry paths around them going from yellow to brown as the water quickly penetrated their surface.
Through the sound of the water hitting the ground around them, she heard Gilbert shout. “Run for it?”
Anne forced herself to nod despite the extra weight of her quickly drenched hair. Then, Gilbert’s hand was intertwined with hers once more and they started to run towards Anne’s building, the sound of their shoes being drowned out by the cacophony of water around them.
Coming to a halt under the canopy in front of Anne’s door, the pair found themselves laughing through laboured breaths. Fishing in the pocket of her soaked jeans, Anne pulled out her key and with a small buzz, they were let into the much drier lobby.
Once inside, Anne cast a look back at Gilbert. His dark hair was plastered to his forehead and dark marks had formed over the shoulders of his jacket from where the rain had caught them, but he was smiling through it all, smiling directly at her.
“Hot chocolate?” She found herself asking, to which Gilbert responded with a nod. “And some dry clothes, I think,” she pondered as she looked down over her water darkened clothes.
*
Gilbert had let Anne rinse herself off in the shower first. When she reappeared in her soft joggers and comfy t-shirt with her hair wrapped in a towel, she’d half-expected a comment from Gilbert on her look, but he merely planted a light kiss on her cheek as he passed, one of Matthew’s old t-shirts that Anne used to sleep in in hand.
When Anne returned with two mugs of hot chocolate, she found Gilbert perched on the edge of her bed, scrolling through his phone.
“Hot chocolate,” Anne declared with a smile. Gilbert shut off his phone and accepted the mug with a smile.
As Anne sat down beside him on the bed, she had to force herself to look away from the edge of Gilbert’s boxer briefs poking their way out from underneath the t-shirt. It had thankfully remained oversized on Gilbert, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t slightly risky.
They both took a sip at the same time, but as Anne withdrew the mug from her lips, she earned a small laugh from Gilbert. “What?” She questioned.
“You’ve just got a little bit of hot chocolate on your lips,” he soothed. Interrupting the progress of Anne’s hand towards her lips with a gentle “Wait,” he leaned forwards and clasped Anne’s lips with his own, gently parting them and bringing them together over hers once more before pulling back.
“Did that help?” Anne asked as her eyes opened, casting her gaze down to Gilbert’s chocolate coated lips.
“Not one bit,” Gilbert admitted as he leaned forward once again and brought his lips to meet Anne’s.