˚* ੈ✩‧₊ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒕 ⋆ 𝒇𝒊𝒏

twenty-seven

cole was rushed out of the building, leaving everyone else to deal with the drama of what had happened along with extra work. autumn was the most effected out of everyone, except cole of course, as she knew how much art meant to him. she planned to stay later tonight to catch up on cole's art, just to make sure most of it is finished. "mrs. lynde!" she calls the woman over, "would it be okay if i stayed late to finish more of the mural? it would save cole and i tons of time, seeing as he'll have some difficulties." mrs. lynde agrees, handing the girl the keys to the showhouse. autumn thanks her before continuing her work. billy watched as the two talked, overhearing small bits of the conversation. she once again begins to paint, her progress beginning to show. autumn was now just about half way up the wall, coloring in the dark green leaves and colorful flowers.

billy's heart is sad. there's a deep emptiness in his stomach, leaving him feeling queasy. his head aches, his temples feeling bruised. the worst part is, autumn looked perfectly fine. she looked unphased by his absence. perhaps this is for the better, billy thought to himself, as long as she's happy. except, something about it felt wrong. it didn't feel right to just stay away and never speak to the girl again, how could it? billy sighs as he turns back to his project, his gaze catching the attention of both his friends and gilbert john blythe. gilbert was preparing the sandbags when he noticed billy's sad eyes. he had followed his gaze to the artistic girl, suddenly feeling a burn of anger inside his chest.

he knew it was wrong to feel it, however, after all he had put autumn through. he still cared for the girl, and would always love her. his feelings were still persistent, even after he met anne. something just drew him to the redhead, she had something that autumn didn't. he still doesn't know what that something is. perhaps it's her inquisitive nature, or the way she presents herself. anne had something about her that caught gilberts eye. the boy knew that he should have told her, but couldn't find the heart to. no matter what feelings towards anne he had, nothing could ever change the way he felt towards autumn. this is what was the hardest part of letting her go. gilbert glances in autumn's direction, to check if she was still working hard. seeing that she was, he carefully set the bags of sand down and made his way towards billy andrews. each step towards the blonde boy caused his heart to race. he had not talked to the boy since their argument. "billy," he whispers as he steps next to the boy, "i need to talk to you." billy ignores him, continuing his work on the piece of wood. he was known to hold grudges. "please, billy," he begs, glancing at the artistic girl once again. billy stops working, waiting for the boy to talk.

"i don't know what's going on between you and autumn, but you need to fix it."

billy shook at her name, remembering her smile.

"i'm not sure what you mean, blythe."

"don't say that. i see the way you look at her. something happened."

"nothing happened! i'd never even look at that ugly brat! now i don't know what you don't understand, gilbert, but i'd rather die than even talk to autumn maree winters."

"alright, but my statement stands. fix it. i don't care what you say, but you have something in your eyes when you look at that girl, and i don't want her hurting anymore than she is or ever has. if i come to find out you did something, i'm going to put you through that fucking wall."

billy swallowed his fear. of course he was scared of gilbert blythe. the tall, lanky boy walks away before quietly continuing his work. he had a point, but billy wouldn't dare tell him that. he thinks back to their tutoring sessions, searching for something useful to use. there was math, but that couldn't do much. reading. no, writing.

///

so if you don't already know, i do have another billy fanfic! it's a modern version and it's called, "try hard". if you like this, i'm sure you'll like that as well! as always, i hope you all had a wonderful day! much love to you all.
-sof