𝐅𝐎𝐎𝐋𝐒 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃 ᵍⁱˡᵇᵉʳᵗ ᵇˡʸᵗʰᵉ

06

-🌸-

CHAPTER SIX

John Blythe being announced as dead was the thing Avonlea least expected to hear on a Saturday morning, despite being dead on the Friday.

Nobody in the town knew about the death, except, Gilbert, Mrs. Kincannon, and the Swansons. Neither Penny, Gilbert or Christian attended school the day before. Christian was the one that had opened the door at seven in the morning to see Gilbert standing there red faced and breathing heavily. Before Christian could even get a word out, Gilbert had jumped onto his friend and began to cry into his shoulder.

Penny came down the stairs from getting ready twenty minutes later. Her hair was tied up in a half up-half down style, after begging her mother to let her wear it that day. She still had to put up with the boots that made her slightly taller than she was, and the dresses that were tight around her waist and sat above her knees in return.

As soon as she made her way down into the kitchen, her eyes landed on the sight of Gilbert asleep on the couch in the living room and Christian sitting on the ground reading. As soon as he spotted his sister he rose from the ground, moving to stand next to her in the kitchen.

"What happened?" Penny asked, glancing towards Christian and the boy asleep on the couch.

"John."

Penny's face dropped subtly. She knew Mr. Blythe wasn't going to get better, but she had never wanted to admit it or had never dreamed he would actually pass. John was like a second parent to her and to hear that he was gone in a single moment despite the fact he had been in her life for a decade, the thoughts and feelings tore a hole through her heart.

But she knew, whatever she felt, Gilbert would be feeling those exact things only ten times worse.

Gilbert rolled in his sleep on the couch, his face landing in her eyeliner. Penny frowned, seeing his eyes red and puffy. If he was asleep on the couch with his face showing clear signs of tear streaks, he must have been up all night crying.

Penny and Christian stayed with their friend all day. Christian comforted Gilbert in a way nobody else ever could. Penny made Gilbert breakfast and just stayed by the two until they asked her to leave.

One of the boys did, the other said they wanted her to stay.

-🌸-

Penny only owned one black dress.

She had owned it for two years, and had only worn it once. The one time was when her grandmother passed. She remembered the feeling of loss and sorrow brewing inside her gut and the feeling of being choked when standing over her grave.

Those feelings were nothing compared to the one of knowing no matter how much you prayed, dreamed, or cried. They were never coming back. You would never feel the feeling of their arms holding you or your hand in theirs again. They were gone, leaving only sprinkles of memories behind.

Penny remembered the day Gilbert had first seen her cry. She was ten and had just been yelled at by her father for talking back even though Christian did it all the time. Her mother got annoyed because Penny said she didn't feel comfortable in the dress Margot had sewn for her. It was ten fingers above her knees. She had run out of the house in tears. If she went to the Barry's, Eliza would send her back and ask Margot what had happened, same thing if she went to the Gillis'.

She ran to the Blythe's. On a day where snow was pummeling down on her, she ran to the house of her brother's best friend in nothing but her boots and a dress she hated. Gilbert was the one that had opened the door and as soon as she did, she just hugged him and cried into him. She cried that she hated her dress and that she hated her parents.

She eventually pulled away when John Blythe stepped into the room, sending Gilbert out so he could talk to Penny by herself. She bawled her eyes out in front of him and told him that the dress was too short, her parents were too mean and the snow was too cold.

"They're your parents, it's they're job to love you," he had told her. "And if they don't show it, then it doesn't mean you're not being a good enough girl. It means they're not being good enough parents."

John sent her home in his wife's old nightie that evening, just so she would feel comfortable walking home. The nightie she walked home in was folded in her drawers in her room.

A single tear rolled down Penny's pale cheeks as she alone stood over John Blythe's grave, thinking over all the times she had spent with him. Small clouds of smoke left her lips with every breath. Snow was spotted along her new coat, through her eyelashes, and woven into her braided bun. She turned her head, hearing voices a distance away from her.

Anne and Gilbert were walking out of the house, the redhead girl running behind him to catch up. Penny watched as they exchanged words, before Gilbert turned away, beginning to walk away from the graveyard.

Penny rubbed her eyes as he got closer, trying to get rid of the tears before he reached her. He stood next to her, close enough for his elbow to brush against hers. "Sorry. I can leave if you want me to."

"No. It's okay."

Penny nodded, glancing over the boy as he stared at his father's tombstone. His shoulders were gently shaking while his lips quivered. Penny could tell he was holding back tears. She placed a gloved hand onto his shoulder. "It'll all be okay. Don't worry."

Gilbert didn't reply, only gazing down at her with tear filled eyes.

"Christian and I, we're still here and you know you can come over any time when anything gets too much right?" She told him.

Penny widened her eyes slightly as Gilbert leaned down to her, tightly wrapping himself around her shoulders and caging her in. "You won't leave will you? You and Christian won't leave?"

Penny wrapped her arms around his back, rubbing gently. "We're not going anywhere."

This was just like the day Gilbert had first seen Penny cry, only now it was Penny seeing him cry for the first time. Hugging him in comfort instead of it being the other way around. Only this time, John Blythe wasn't there. John Blythe wouldn't send her home in a nightie this time, he wouldn't tell her she was good enough. 

Gilbert stayed holding onto Penny, she wouldn't pull away until he did. She let him cry into her shoulder, despite the fact tears seeped into her new coat and he was squeezing so tightly she couldn't breathe.

Despite that, she held on, trying her best to ignore what she imagined to be bright pink butterflies rushing through her veins. 

---

8/04/2024

Short chapter but hopefully the quality makes up for it. 

Blyson is absolutely adorable. (i'm so jealous of my own writing)