Heart Attack • Shirbert

• 1 • goodbyes, greetings, and gilbert

'Putting my defenses up, 'cause I don't want to fall in love.

If I ever did that, I think I'd have a heart attack.'

--

When Anne left her house on what she thought was the most glorious, splendidly beautiful day, she had no idea what was in store. In two hours, her whole world would change.

Walking out of Green Gables, Anne waved towards her family's hire-turned-essentially-into-a-brother, Jerry.

"Au revoir!" He called, turning back to his hay.

Anne made sure she would pass her beloved adopted father, Matthew. A highlight of her morning was always giving him a quick kiss on the cheek; to which he replied something along the lines of:

"Bye Anne, love ya." In his quiet but passionate tone.

Anne smiled to herself and ran into the woods, taking in the beauty of every leaf and stick and cloud until she bumped into her one and only bosom friend.

"Anne! Whatever has you so distracted? You almost knocked me to the ground!" Diana wasn't mad at all, in fact she was unsurprised. This wasn't a first for Anne.

"I'm so sorry my gorgeous Diana," Anne exclaimed excitedly, "Today just seems like such a perfect day, nothing could ruin it."

Diana shook her head at Anne's whimsy. Though they had been friends for so long, Diana could never grasp how Anne could be so imaginative.

They arrived at the school yard where chaos was already booming. Everyone was running and shouting in delight, but Anne didn't hear a thing.

Something in her heart was fighting the glee she claimed to have, but she chose to ignore it. Why waste her time on something so dreary?

Even the slight smell of chalk and pencil shavings was especially satisfying on this day.

After hanging up her coat, Anne grabbed Diana's hand excitedly and skipped to their desks.

"Diana, I'm convinced." She stated, completely sure of herself, "Something great will happen today."

The two laughed as someone across the room overheard their conversation.

Pretending to listen to Moody's story about falling into the lake while skating, Gilbert couldn't help but hear Anne's laughter from across the room.

He smiled to himself and got lost in his thoughts.

Something about Anne intrigued him since the day they met. Maybe it was something about her not falling for his charms or her stubborn intelligence. It could be the passion only she grasped when doing what she loved. Whatever it was, he knew there was no one quite like Anne Shirley-Cuthbert.

The moment he received her letter on the ship, his hope shifted. Aside from Bash's teasing, Gilbert had a new skip in his step. The prospect of coming back to Avonlea was no longer bleak. He had another reason.

Her look when she first saw him the day he finally returned was priceless. One day, Gilbert would tease her relentlessly about it. For now, he knew he was walking on thin ice to keep their friendship alive.

Go say hi, it'll be fine.

He'll never know how, but Gilbert found the courage to approach the girls and cleared his throat.

"Good morning," he greeted them with confidence. Even though he was facing both of them, he only looked at Anne.

Anne's anxiety was obvious. Ever since Gilbert returned from his steamship adventure, their dynamic changed.