Chapter Text
“Aaaannnnnne” called Marilla, “I’m just heading over to the Blythe’s, I’ll be back by 6, can you get dinner started?”
Anne thumped off her bed and padded quickly over to the staircase rifling through her mind why Marilla would be going to Gilbert’s house. Not that she needed her permission to go of course but… she might have taken her argument with Gilbert a bit far last week. He had seemed to ACTUALLY consider Oliver Kimball’s suggestion of using some of the precious and, as she reminded them, already depleting treasury to pay for a fan bus to the first away game for the football team. They weren’t even that GOOD… people could pay the 10$ needed themselves if they really wanted to attend because there was definitely a better use for that chunk of money.
But now she was worried that somehow Marilla had caught wind of the show down. She couldn’t quite recall exactly what she said but remembered Jane’s wide eyes while watching her slowly get more and more intense while Gilbert just watched at her, by the end she didn’t think Gilbert was even debating her and just letting her vent as her voice rose higher. It was one of the reasons why he annoyed her so much, always calm and collected like a clear pool of water versus her passionate, verging on fiery, protests. But the Blythe’s were their neighbours to the north of Green Gables and Marilla and Matthew had kept good relations with them before and after Anne’s arrival. They had also been leasing their fields since Matthew passed away the previous year.
Anne made it to the staircase and leaned out, looking down at Marilla who was wearing nice Sunday clothes and picking up a covered take-away tray and Anne frowned, thinking of a way to sus out why exactly Marilla was heading over dressed as if visiting the village Reeve… “Anything you want in particular? What are you bringing over there?” Marilla looked up at Anne with a small crease between her eyebrows tipping Anne off to feelings of preoccupied worry and reached for her bag. “This is just a pot pie those boys can keep in the freezer until they need it. John isn’t doing well again and heaven knows Gilbert never got to learn anything from his poor mother. I don’t suspect Sebastian knows too much about cooking either. I used the leftover chicken carcass so that’s gone but I think there is some ground beef thawed in the fridge.” Anne didn’t know how to respond to that. She has heard Gilbert’s dad had cancer around school and from the girls who were seemingly obsessed with him but none of their conversations happened outside of arguments over Student Council movements. She made a point of it. She was taking the Grade 12 Literature course this semester. Maybe they would argue over that as well this year. He sometimes also crashed Coffee House nights but there she ignored him in the safe space that she imagined fueled her artistic soul. Marilla was talking again.
“Poor John hoped that this was over with when Gilbert was kid but they really can’t seem to shake that bad luck. We’re going to be spending the next little while helping them Anne.”
“Huh?” Anne missed the part where she was required to give up some of her own free time to the person who irritated her the most out of anyone. It was already tiresome enough to see him drive up the laneway through to Green Gables fields, flashing her that exasperating smirk that seemed to mock her and a small wave. At least she got to practice turning up her nose in supreme indifference every time he passed by. Marilla was already walking out the door “Please make sure to change over the washing to the drier as well” she called “we have guests coming this weekend!”
***
Anne was OK with this if she could mind her own business, do some extra chores and then go back to her books. What she wasn’t OK with was Gilbert coming in and standing there, watching her wash dishes, while he calmly but loudly drank a glass of water. And then just came back for another one when he was done.
“Sorry” he mumbled as he reached over for the tap “its hot out there”
“You should get a water bottle” she replied not looking at him and he just grinned at her
True to her word Marilla had them over at the Blythe’s most weekends. While Gilbert and Bash worked to bring in the harvest, Anne looked after the kitchen and Marilla looked after Mr. Blythe. It worked nicely when they were all in their own spheres, but whenever Gilbert edged his way into her own bubble she found herself tense no matter what he was doing.
Anne couldn’t believe what a mess three grown men made, most of her duties revolved around washing dishes that never seemed to get done. She looked anywhere but him as he filled up his glass a third time and, to her horror, her face started to burn as she felt his eyes continue to focus on the side of her face. That’s enough of this she thought, and pulled the plug, shaking the suds off her hands and left the sink to go over to the closet to get the broom.
“Don’t bother with that now Anne, Bash and I will just be tracking in a bunch more dirt when we finish tonight; I’ll do it later” he called to her.
Anne hung there for a minute, not sure whether to listen or choose to ignore him. Instead she replied “If I do some now, there will be less later” and started to sweep.
“Up to you” he conceded and she chanced a glance up finding Gilbert dropping into a seat at the table, he gave her a small smile of acknowledgement, which she did decide to ignore too, and she started to sweep around him. As she worked she took a few more glances while he was preoccupied with picking the dirt from underneath his nails. She thought he looked more tired these days, eyes that were smudged with exhaustion and she’d caught him once or twice passed out on the couch in the Student Council office when she went there to study. But his mood never changed. He never snipped at some of the duller people in office with them and always ready with a parry to her lunge during class. She was almost starting to admire his perseverance considering how much she knew he was going through at home. A loud groan echoed from the upstairs and Gilbert’s head shot up, a small crease appearing between his eyebrows. Anne looked over at him and upstairs as well caught between continuing to ignore him and instinctively trying to offer some sympathy “I’m sure Marilla is being as gentle as she can” she said hesitantly and Gilbert let out a long huff of breath.
“I know... God I know how hard it is to do some of his treatments. We’d be screwed if it weren’t for you and Marilla… but its just as hard to hear from far away as it is up close.” She wasn’t quite sure what to say but this sort of confession wasn’t one to ignore so she sat down on the other side of the table from him. Though golden afternoon light was streaming into the kitchen it was as though a dark shroud had be dropped over the sunny room. Gilbert was still looking at his hands.
“You know when we got back from the States all those years ago I really thought Dad was invincible. You really think you’ve left it all behind and you conquered cancer or whatever. It’s like a punch to the gut when something like that crashes down on you again. Because you remember” He leaned on his elbows and pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes “You remember what the fight took from you before” and she still remained silent. When he removed his hands, his eyes were suspiciously red and he grimaced.
“I’m sorry Anne, I shouldn’t dump this all on you” and instead of answering immediately she did what her instincts told her and just reached across the table and covered one of his hands with hers. He looked down at them and then back at her face and he broke out in a rather watery smile and she finally spoke
“I know I talk a lot but I am also a pretty good listener” and he let out a choked gurgle of laughter and she released his hand as Marilla came down the stairs. She took one quick and sweeping assessment of the room and commented “Better go back out to help Bash Gilbert, we’ll get dinner ready for when you boys are done.” He scrubbed his hands over his face, nodded and got up walking back over to the side door. Just before he left and spun around quickly “Thanks, Anne” he said. She gave him the first smile she could remember actually letting him see and said, “Anytime Gilbert” and he nodded in acknowledgement and she could hear him starting to whistle as the screen door snapped shut.
Marilla replaced Gilbert on the other side of Anne and opened up her agenda frowning slightly and started to talk to herself “…the fridge has almost no fresh vegetables, I could pick up a few and get a med refill the same trip… next guests arrive at 5…hmm”
“Marilla..”
“Yes my girl”
“How old was Gilbert last time his dad was sick?”
“He must have been 10 I suppose. They ran through treatment options very quickly, maybe in about a year or so and then they went down to the States for some experimental care and I suppose that was about another year. So say from 10 to 13. That’s why Gilbert is only a year ahead of you in school instead of two. It was only him and his dad back then and so he missed a year. They arrived back just after you got here, you don’t remember this at all?”
Anne shook her head “I remember the first day I met him but nothing about why he was suddenly there” Anne prayed that Marilla wouldn’t recount that day currently. She felt ashamed now considering what he had just gone through.
She was with Diana and a couple other kids she met from school playing in the schoolyard, Anne was still rather self conscious of her place within the group, let alone the community only having been there for a few months. When Gilbert Blythe, whom everyone was excited for to be back and that he was part of one of the oldest families in town, pulled her hair and called her Carrots she reacted instinctively from all the years of being poked and prodded in various homes and punched him in the face then ran home crying thinking she’d be cast out and sent away again.
“I suppose you had just arrived yourself and could barely keep track of everything. My goodness how thankful I am that you ended up with us now. I really don’t know how I could manage everything these days, especially after Matthew passed” and Marilla gave her a rare and affectionate smile brushing one of the baby curls that sat on her forehead back.
“Gilbert has some very hard days ahead of him Anne. I’m not sure who he’s friends with at school but he doesn’t have someone to lean onto like how you and I did, even if it was something we had to learn after he left us. John and I have been neighbours since we were children and were very close years ago so it’s important to me that we offer support. He doesn’t need to lease the land from us either, but he does because they can handle it. It’s a blessing that John hired Sebastian after they got back. Hopefully between those two this farm can survive.”
Anne nodded and Marilla looked back at her agenda, managing a meager farm budget and schedule in only those who grew up on it its particular brand of frugality knew how.