CORTARO | Shirbert

Eight ~ Winter Ball

TRIGGER WARNING: mentions of sexual harassment and assault, and clear descriptions of violence. Please do not read if you are sensitive to these topics.

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"But that doesn't make any sense, Moody," Gilbert said. "A hiccup is not your heart beating stronger every few beats"

"Then explain this, why does it hurt when I'm hiccoughing?" Moody put both of his hands on his hips.

"A hiccup is an involuntary contraction of the diaphragm" Gilbert explained, "Do you know what that is?" He teased.

"Yes, Gilbert. I know" Moody rolled his eyes.

"Good" He laughed, "When the diaphg-"

"Gilbert! Gilbert!" Charlie called.

"Charlie? What's wrong?" Gilbert responded.

"It's Anne"

Gilbert's face fell, "Anne? What happened to Anne? Where is she? Charlie could you stop looking at me like that and tell me what happened?!" he shouted, drawing the attention of a few people around them.

"Not here. Come with me" Charlie took him to a corner where no one could hear their conversation.

"What happened, Charlie?" he groaned.

"Roy" Gilbert tensed when he heard the name, "I found him trying to force himself to Anne"

Gilbert starting walking away from them with the sole purpose of finding Anne, but before he could go far, Moody and Charlie grabbed him.

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Anne was locked in Diana's room, crying on her bosom friend's lap. She has not talked to Gilbert yet, when she was about to approach him his face was red with anger, his fists closed tight and then he was being dragged outside. He must hate her, how could he not, she kissed someone else. She had to tell him she loved him, not Royal.

"Anne, what happened?" Diana came running to her, "Charlie told me to come to you. What happened?"

Anne cried, "He- I was-and then he- stepped-Gilbert"

"Did Gilbert do something to you?" she shook her head, "Come with me, let's go to my room"

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No one could hear her scream from the ballroom and no one would have if Charlie had not gone to look for something to drink -he was tired of drinking punch and was looking for some water-. He was walking out of the ballroom when he heard it "Stop! Get off of me!". The memory sent shivers down his spine, what a horrible situation Anne had to go through; He's happy he got there in time before something else happened, but he wishes he had found her sooner.

Gilbert's blood was boiling, he would have killed Royal Gardner right then and there, but Moody and Charlie dragged him outside, hoping the cool winter air would calm him down. Truth is, nothing could calm him down at that moment, the love of his life had been disrespected and mistreated, and using those words is watering down the situation.

"I'm going to kill him" Gilbert groan-shouted.

"Calm down, Gilbert" Charlie said.

"Calm down? How do you want me to calm down?! Anne's been wronged" Gilbert shouted, "She's been touched without her consent. She's- and I wasn't there for her" He cried.

"We agree with you, but It's not a good idea; we wouldn't want to cause a scandal, for Anne's sake" Moody added, putting his hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him.

The front door opened and two figures came out of the house, Gilbert tensing up at the sight of him, Royal. He stood up, wanting to approach him, but he was being held by his friends again. They were not strong enough to hold him, rage going through his veins and he quickly got to him, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and stamping him against the wall.

"Gilbert, that's enough. He's leaving" Diana said.

"The hell he is" Gilbert barked, "Don't you dare to touch her again" he pushed him, "Ever. You hear me?" Gilbert threatened. Roy laughed, which made him even angrier.

"You really are going into too much trouble just to get a piece of meat" Gilbert punched him right in the nose.

"Don't you dare talk about her like that!" He drew him back a little to then push him harder against the wall. "If you ever talk like that about her again, you're dead. If you ever try to kiss her again, you're dead. If you ever lay a single finger on her again, you are dead" he dragged every word "Don't touch her, don't talk to her, don't go near her, don't talk about her, don't look at her, don't even think of her, or we'll have a problem" He pushed him again.

"I don't need her. I could have any woman" Royal laughed.

"If you don't want her, why even bother?" Gilbert growled.

"Because I remember how protective you were of her the first time we met, I thought maybe she had something enchanting down there that made you addicted to her and that's why you never wanted to let her go. Truth is, Gilly-boy, I just wanted to see her, all of her, lying bare in my bed and after she was finally mine, off she goes... onto the next one" he laughed again. Gilbert could not contain himself anymore and started connecting his fist with Royal's face over and over again. Moody and Charlie grabbed him, but Gilbert still was holding his shirt.

"Let him go, Gil" Diana said, her voice low, pleading. He obliged, pushing him down the few stairs at the porch.

"This is going to be a fun story to tell. Everyone is going to love the story about the night I rejected Anne Shirley, how she begged me to kiss her and make her mine, then how she ran crying because I rejected her" Roy said amused, holding his nose to stop the bleeding.

Gilbert's fists tightening, Diana put her hand over his to calm him, "Royal, be careful of what you say about Anne. If I hear you said a single thing about her, I'll personally make sure every single eligible woman in Canada knows your true colors, and then you'll have to move far far away from here because it'll be impossible for you to find a wife here" Diana threatened.

"We have to do that either way" Charlie whispered to his friends, "we can't risk any other girl going through something like that. Anne went through nothing compared to what he planned to do to her"

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Gilbert blames himself for what happened to Anne. Royal clearly was looking for a moment to get to her, she was completely alone upstairs, he was not with her, he should have not let her alone. "Where's Anne, Di?" Gilbert asked after a few minutes of silence. Royal was long gone by then, bloody nose and all.

"She's upstairs in my room" she responded.

"Alone?!"

"I'm going to look for her" Diana stood up and walked back into the house, leaving the three young gentlemen in the porch.