silent storms | AWAE

as a friend

diana

Diana does not have time to react to Gilbert's odd behavior, she has to find Anne. She has to apologize for how rude she was last night. All Anne was trying to do was help Diana feel better and try to talk about her feelings. Diana was not ready to talk about certain feelings though.

She bursts into the dining hall to find Anne sitting with Josie Pye, Billy Andrews, and Charlie Sloane. Her mind is racing as to why Anne would be sitting with them as she walks over to her.

"Anne, can I talk to you?" Diana asks, her dark eyes pleading. Anne looks up, her eyes narrowing towards her. She does not even respond, just turns her back towards Diana.

"Anne doesn't want to talk to trash," Josie laughs, running a hand through her long blonde curls. Diana feels her cheeks heat up and she rolls her eyes.

"So why is she talking to you guys?" Diana asks, a fake smile appearing on her face. "Anne, if you want to talk, you know where I live."

With that, she turns on her heels and leaves the dining hall. As she turns a corner she finds Gilbert Blythe sitting in the corner, finishing homework.

"Can I talk to you?" Diana asks softly, sliding into the seat next to him. "It's about Anne."

Gilbert looks up at her, taking the tip of pen out of his mouth. "You heard, didn't you?" he asks, his face dropping.

"Heard what?" Diana asks, tilting her head at the boy in front of her. What had she missed?

"You didn't hear? About my feelings towards Anne?" Gilbert asks, his eyebrows raising. Diana stares at him, her expression blank.

"What?" she asks, totally confused. What had she missed?

"I like Anne. Josie told her," Gilbert says, setting his homework down on the table in front of them. Diana looks down, her fingers in her lap. She nods her head, a sad smile on her face. "You know Anne the best. Does she like me at all?"

Diana looks up, staring at Gilbert's upset face. She knew Anne cared deeply about him, even though she would not admit it. Deep down, Diana knew, Anne did like him. "Gil, Anne does like you. She just might not be aware of it yet."

A bright smile appeared on Gilbert's face as he heard Diana tell him the news. Diana tries to smile back at him, but fails. She leans back in the chair and sighs, crossing her arms.

"Di, are you alright?" Gilbert asks, his attention drifting from Anne momentarily.

Diana nods her head, mustering a small smile. "Go talk to Anne. Talk some sense into her," she says, pushing Gilbert away from her.

-

Diana was left alone on this beautiful Saturday. She was up in her room all by herself. Ruby and her were not speaking and Anne was busy with Gilbert. She did not even know if Anne wanted to talk to her.

She was sitting on her bed when a knock came from the door. "Come in," she mumbles and Ruby Gillis appears in the doorway.

"Diana, I feel awful the way things were left," Ruby starts, walking towards the dark haired girl. Diana stares at Ruby, her eyes wide. "When we kissed-"

"Ruby, please," Diana begs, standing up from her bed. "I can't take this right now. I know, you're straight and it was a mistake. It doesn't even matter anymore."

Ruby gently takes one of Diana's hands and intertwines their fingers. "I just wanted to tell you that I still want to be friends."

Diana keeps her gaze down, tears forming in her eyes. She did not know why she crying, she was completely over Ruby. "Okay," she mumbles, not being able to look at the small blonde in front of her.

"Diana," Ruby whispers, her hand gently pressing against Diana's cheek. The two lock eyes and Diana sadly smiles.

"Yes?" Diana says back, just as softly. Ruby softly smiles at her, her eyes now welling up with tears.

"I love you," Ruby says, her hand falling from Diana's cheek.

"As a friend," Diana mumbles, turning around. Her hands cover her face as she starts to cry. Why was she being so emotional?

"But I still love you," Ruby says, her arms wrapping around Diana. Diana pushes Ruby away and turns to face her.

"Ruby, I don't love you like that," Diana starts, her eyes locked with Ruby's. "I'm in love with Anne, okay?"

Ruby stares at Diana and Diana stares at the ground, blood rushing to her face. She could not believe she just said that. Her palms were starting to sweat and her breath was uneven.

"What?" Anne asks and Diana's head immediately whips upwards, seeing Anne Shirley standing in the doorway.

"Oh my god," Diana mumbles, tears threatening to spill out. She pushes through Ruby and Anne and takes off running down the hallway, going someplace to get away from the two of them.

She was so stupid! She should not have admitted that out loud, that was such a stupid idea. Of course, with her luck, Anne just happened to come back when she was confessing her love for her.

Tears were running down her face as she runs down the stairs, almost knocking over Jane Andrews and Lottie Kingsley.

"Diana!" Jerry calls, blocking the dark haired girl from going any further. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm fine," she chokes out in between sobs. She tries to brush her tears away with the back of her hand, but fails.

"That's the biggest lie I've heard," Jerry says, extending his hand. "Tell me what's wrong, please?"

Diana slowly places her hand in his and he squeezes her hand tightly. "It's just girl stuff Jerry."

"Girl stuff doesn't usually involve this many tears or Anne chasing you," Jerry says, glancing up at the top of staircase.

Diana does not even glance up to make sure he is right before taking off running again. She just wanted to get away from Anne, she could not handle anymore rejection.

"Diana Barry! Please stop running!" Anne calls and Diana immediately stops. She does not know why she stopped, but she does and Anne catches up to her.

"Please, just leave me alone," Diana says weakly, tears trailing down her face again. Anne wraps her arms around Diana and hugs her tightly.

"Please don't cry, I hate when you cry," Anne says, wiping a single tear from her own face. "It makes me cry."

"Shut up," Diana says, shaking her head. "You have no right, you didn't just accidentally confess your love to your best friend."

"Yes, that's true," Anne says, pulling back from
the hug. "But did I reject you?"

Diana's eyes widen, her jaw basically on the ground, "What?"

Anne just smiles at Diana and the two of them walk back up to their room.

an; i love diana barry with all my heart, please protect her.