Green Eyed Beauty

Chapter 15

(A few days later)

Anne was torn. The dance was in a week and she had no dress, no date, and was currently on rocky terms with Ruby and Josie. She tugged on the ends of her braids as she continued to pace the room, Diana curiously looking up from her book to see what her friend was stressing about now.

"Are you going to tell me what's causing you to pace a circle into my floor or should I kick you out?" Diana teased, closing her book and sitting upright on her bed. The redhead sighed, finally stopping in one spot.

"I've messed everything up! Ruby hates me, Josie hates me even more, and I've rejected the only sensible boy in Avonlea to take me to the dance!" She cried, throwing herself onto the brunette's bed in the most dramatic manner she could muster.

Diana sighed. "Ruby and Josie will come around, Anne. You know how sensitive they are to these topics." She rationalized.

Anne stared up at the ceiling in silence. She felt Diana shift on the bed to get a better look at the redhead's face.

"You like him, don't you?"

Her heart sunk as she turned to look at her best friend.

"What?"

"Please don't act daft, Anne. I can see the way this has been affecting you." Diana stated, a knowing look on her face. "No one would be this upset over a boy unless they harbored feelings for them."

She wanted to retaliate. She wanted nothing more than to deftly deny how her heart sped up whenever he looked her way or how she imagined him as the prince charming in every story she imagined. But she couldn't. Because she knew that whether she liked it or not, Gilbert Blythe was the man of her heart.

The silence was enough of an answer for Diana. "You must tell him, Anne. He deserves to know."

"I can't." Anne said softly, tugging on one of her braids. "You heard him. I was too late, just like you warned me. He doesn't like me anymore."

"Maybe he said that to stop the girls from getting any angrier." Diana smiled, nudging her. "Come on, Anne. Go to his house and tell him alone. Who knows? Maybe he hasn't moved on!"

The hope in her friend's voice gave her the motivation to sit up and nod. "You're right. The worst that could happen already happened, so I have nothing to lose."

"There we go!" Diana laughed. "Now go get your beau!"

Anne's face flushed at the thought of Gilbert being her beau as she pulled on her coat and hat and made her to the front door. "I'm off, dearest Diana!"

"Good luck!" She shouted, waving her friend off into the chilly October weather. Anne pulled her coat tighter around herself and slowly found herself running in the direction of the Blythe residence. There's no time to lose.

Her breath came out in shallow pants and the air was harshly cold against her face but she refused to let up, knowing if she allowed herself to overthink what she was about to do, she would never say how she felt. The leaves crunched beneath the fast paced sprint of her boots and the beautiful orange and red scenery blurred together as she increased her speed until she saw the fine outline of Gilbert's house in light of the setting sun.

Finally allowing herself to catch her breath, Anne hurriedly fixed up her hair and adjusted her hat as she neared the house. It's just Gilbert. Plain old Gilbert Blythe that I may or may not be in love with.

Raising her fist to knock on the door, she heard laughter echoing from the outskirts of the forest behind Gilbert's house. Perhaps he's outside with Bash and Mary.

Anne quickly jumped off the porch and made her way closer to the sound of the laughter until she heard a squeal.

She froze in place. There was no way a squeal that loud could be Delphine's.

Her heart's pounding got louder the closer she got to the source of sound, until she couldn't come any closer for fear of getting caught.

"Blythe!" The voice shrieked.

No, it can't be.

Very carefully, Anne crept behind a tree and willed herself to look at the scene in front of her.

In the middle of a clearing in the forest, Gilbert and Jade stood laughing, faces flushed and hair noticeably mussed up. Anne's eyes wandered to where the curly-haired boy's hand were gently placed on either side of Jade's waist, comfortably un-moving. The setting sun almost acted as a spotlight for what could be arguably be called the most attractive pair of 18 year olds Avonlea had ever homed.

Her breath hitched and Anne couldn't bring herself to move. Couldn't tear her eyes away from the sight of Gilbert and Jade in such close proximity, looking at each other in a way she had only witnessed in books.

Jade's hand reached up to pull a leaf out of Gilbert's hair, allowing the boy to angle his head lower and causing Anne's heart rate increase as she watched their faces stop mere inches from each other. Jade bit her lip, tilting her head up to make eye contact with Gilbert as the hand that originally reached up to get a leaf was now loosely wrapped around his shoulder.

Gilbert's hands pulled Jade slightly closer, but still leaving the tiniest amount of space between his sweater and her dress. Anne didn't know how long she stood there, watching them stare at each other and occasionally say something so quiet that she couldn't make out until Jade stepped back out of his grasp.

"I should be heading home." She said shyly, brushing her dress off as they both tried to rid their faces of the significant redness that was there.

"I'll walk you. I would hate for you to get in trouble." He smiled. The green eyed girl raised an eyebrow.

"Not with your hair looking like that, Mr. Blythe."

He leaned in ever so slightly, making Anne's mouth go dry as she watched a smirk grow on his face. "Well then, why don't you help make me presentable, Ms. Peyton?"

Anne didn't allow herself to hear what Jade responded to Gilbert's flirtation because she feared she would faint. Carefully stepping away from the tree she used to eavesdrop on the pair, Anne turned and ran.

She ran, not caring if she made enough ruckus to wake up the entire town. She ran as fast as she could, not daring to stop for even a second as she felt tears threaten to spill over. How could she not have seen this coming?

A beautiful, smart girl and the golden boy of Avonlea.

A match made in heaven.

A match that Anne knew she had to accept she was no longer in the running for.