Chapter Text
Gilbert Blythe was in a band. It was kind of an accident, but these things happen when a group of drunk people with moderate musical talent discover a karaoke bar three blocks away from campus.
Freshman year shortly after orientation, Gilbert and his randomly assigned roommate Moody Spurgeon decided to go with their neighbors Jerry and Charlie to this little dive that had karaoke and cheap drinks. They proceeded to get properly drunk and eventually it came out that though none of them were pursuing music in college, they all enjoyed singing and played instruments in high school. Gilbert loved to sing, had experience in theater and admitted to being a decent piano player; Moody played banjo for a bluegrass band at his church, but learned guitar as well because he thought it would be more appealing to girls; Charlie was a drummer and spent four years on his school’s nationally ranked drumline; and Jerry had been forced to play cello in his school’s orchestra until convincing his parents to let him play bass in the jazz band instead. Knowing this, after a couple pitchers, they decided it was a good idea to get up and sing Buddy Holly by Weezer and it went really, really well. More importantly, they had a blast. From that point forward they had a tradition; every Tuesday night they would head down to Bruno’s and sing and drink the evening away.
A few months later, they were at a house party when the people in the crappy band that had offered to play got in a fight and ended up in the hospital. So the guys got up there, looked up some songs on their phones and muddled through a couple to entertain the small crowd. A few weeks after that, a fraternity asked them for a repeat performance so they actually took a bit of time to practice and put on a decent show. After Christmas break, they brought their own instruments back to school and thus the band was born. They never had a name; it was just Gilbert, Moody, Charlie and Jerry. And it was always very informal; they didn’t practice unless they were asked to play somewhere and they only did covers. It was all just for fun and they were happy to provide the music and have the opportunity to let loose a little bit.
Sophomore year, Anne and Gilbert decided to introduce Jerry to Diana and it didn't take long for them to fall hard for each other, despite coming from vastly different backgrounds. Jerry was the son of immigrant entrepreneurs and the first of his family to have the opportunity to attend college. Diana was the daughter of two finance tycoons who, while they didn’t quite understand Diana’s passion for music, supported her nonetheless. Diana and Jerry were married after their junior year and shortly after that, Jerry and Gilbert convinced her to join the ‘band.’ Gilbert was getting tired of singing lead and playing piano at the same time and Jerry was getting tired of hearing him complain about it. Since Diana was a concert pianist and essentially Gilbert's sister, she didn't mind stepping in to help, most of the time.
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Overall, Anne was a happy young woman. She was in her senior year of college, on track to finish Summa cum Laude, had a few job options and grad school options lined up and had an amazing group of friends who loved and supported her. Gilbert, Moody, Charlie, Jerry and Cole all treated her like family, and though she had always gotten along better with boys than girls (having no patience for pointless drama) she had finally found some girlfriends in college who loved her and accepted her for who she was. Diana turned out to understand her better than nearly everyone. Ruby was incredibly kind, Tillie and Jane were always good for a laugh and didn’t take anything too seriously and Josie was relentlessly loyal and supportive.
She tried not to dwell on the fact that she had never had a boyfriend. She hadn’t even had a date. It's not that she hadn't been asked out, it's just that the right person hadn't asked her out and she wasn't really interested in dating anyone else. She finally accepted an invitation to go out with someone before Christmas, since he was clear it was just to get to know her better and she figured she could use it as practice, but in the end, he wasn't able to make it and Anne was left fighting off the advances of the most annoying person she knew.
Having a boyfriend wasn’t everything, but it was something she wanted, because she knew who she wanted. She saw how happy her friend Diana was; married to someone she could also call her best friend. They complimented each other so well it was like they were two halves of the same sandwich. Anne wanted so badly to start fully enjoying the other half of her sandwich, and not just because she was hungry. She wanted a companion, someone who loved and accepted all of her; someone who would always be there for her and technically, she knew she already had this in her best friend. Despite their ups and downs, Gilbert had been this for her since the day they met, and she didn't understand why it never developed into anything more. She had known for years that he was the other half of her sandwich and he either wasn’t catching on, which confused her, or couldn’t envision a relationship with her beyond friendship, which devastated her.