■ Helpless ■ Gilbert Blythe ■

"You're sweet"

When half of the day was finished and it was time for recess, Victoria was the first to leave the schoolhouse. Not even bothering to put away her books or take any lunch with her. She simply just went out and went to a secluded part was she knew that no one would bother her. Hopefully.

Victoria sat with her back against the school wall and picked on the grass with her hands. She then started crying, something that she wanted to do all day but couldn't, knowing that she would get teased. The girl spent a full five minutes crying and only stopped when she heard footsteps coming in her direction.

Victoria quickly wiped her eyes as she tried desperately to hide the fact that she was crying. "Umm, hello." Victoria looked up but quickly looked away to continue staring back at nothing. "Hey."

Gilbert Blythe cleared his throat awkwardly as he watched Victoria. The girl was not paying attention to him as she was busy playing with the hem of her dress. "Can I sit next to you?" He asked. Victoria shrugged. "Do whatever you want, I'm sure that you would still sit even if I say no."

Gilbert nodded his head and sat on the ground next to Victoria who barely took any notice that he was there. "I'm sorry about your book," Gilbert stated. "You seem to apologize for that wanker a lot." Gilbert chuckled at the name Victoria had given Billy. Hearing the boy laugh finally made Victoria look up for her to look at him.

Gilbert finally took a good look at her for the first time since she arrived the day before. He noticed that she had freckles covering her nose and cheeks and had eyes of forest green. He also noticed that her cheeks were slightly wet. "Is everything alright?" He asked as he turned slightly so that he could face her properly.

Victoria nodded her head. "Why wouldn't I be?" She asked. "Well, because of everything that happened today. Plus your cheeks are a little wet." That made Victoria start wiping her cheeks with her sleeves again. "It's nothing," Victoria stated, clearly not wanting to continue to conversation.

"Want an apple?" Gilbert asked when he saw that they were going nowhere. Victoria stared at Gilbert and then at the apple that he was holding out for her.

"It's from my family's orchard. It's very sweet... like you." Victoria raised her eyebrows at the boy sitting next to her and to his surprise she smiled at the compliment.

"Thanks, you're... sweet." She said and took the apple from his hand. Gilbert smiled widely and quickly turned to hide his reddening face from her.

"I know that you most likely know who I am but I want to properly introduce myself to you. Gilbert Blythe." Gilbert held his hand out for Victoria to shake and this time the girl didn't take long to respond. "Victoria Edwards." She replied, using her free hand to shake it and then quickly retreated it.

"Believe it or not, I'm truly sorry for what Billy did to you. If you want I could tell him to stop." Gilbert offered and Victoria shook her head. "Trust me it's better if you don't, he would probably do the opposite of what you say. I'm in no way a maiden who requires defending, I can take care of myself."

Gilbert laughed at that. "Trust me, I'm well aware of that. Not many girls can say that they almost punched Billy Andrews on the nose." Victoria snorted at that. "The only regret that I have is that I wasn't able to punch him."

"I'm sure that nothing would have stopped you," Gilbert added. "Thank you, by the way." Gilbert looked confused. "For what?" Victoria sighed. "For being nice and talking to me. Compared to the others you have been magnificently kind. And for the apple." Victoria stated as she threw the apple and caught it quickly in one swift movement which made Gilbert smile.

Just then the bell rang indicating that it was time for school to continue. Gilbert was the first one of the two to stand up as Victoria wasn't in such a big hurry to go back in.

"Let me help you," Gilbert stated as he looked down at the girl and offered his hand. Victoria took it, not wasting much of her time on thought and Gilbert helped her stand up. "Thanks," Victoria said as she tried to brush the dirt off her dress.

"Let's hurry, we don't want to be late and give Mr Phillips another reason to be upset."

"It doesn't seem to take a lot to upset him, that bloody wanker."

"What exactly is a wanker anyway?"

"It means a jerk."

"Ohh.. then yeah, that bloody wanker."

"That was the worst British accent I have ever heard."

"But it made you laugh, didn't it?"