■ Helpless ■ Gilbert Blythe ■

After the Harvest

■■■

Victoria spent ten minutes fighting with her hair. She tried to put it in her usual braid but her curly hair was frizzier than normal and was an outright mess.

She let out a sound of frustration before removing the poorly done braid and throwing the green ribbon onto the ground. Today was her and Edward's first day back at school and after weeks not doing anything to her unruly hair, she seemed to have lost her touch.

Victoria tried to calm down and went to grab the ribbon, a brush and her school items before going into the kitchen. "Hamilton, can you help me?" Victoria asked as she entered. Hamilton looked up from his copy of the newspaper before motioning to the empty seat next to him.

Edward and Gideon were already at the table, eating breakfast that was meticulously prepared for them. "You two excited to go back to school?" Gideon asked as he placed the teacup filled with earl grey tea back on the table.

"NO!" Edward said, causing everyone else to jolt in surprise. Hamilton was using his hands to gently try and remove the giant knot in his sister's hair. "Well, I think it's obvious that Edward is not excited. What about you Vicky?" Hamilton asked. "I would be more excited if my hair would cooperate. Ow!" Victoria yelled as she clutched the back of her head.

Hamilton apologised and grabbed the brush from Victoria's lap and gently brushed his way through his hair. "I have no choice, Vicky. You know that you need to take care of your hair considering its state."

Hamilton was a hair fanatic, he didn't know how to do his hair and others because it interested him, but rather because he hated messy hair and wanted everything to be precise. When he was younger, other girls from his class had no choice but for Hamilton to fix their hair. Most of them let him, as they thought that he liked them and used their hair as an excuse to be closer to them. The truth was that their hair was so unkept and horrible that it used to irk him and he couldn't concentrate.

"How do you want me to do it?" Hamilton asked when he got rid of all the knots. "The usual," Victoria replied. "That's so boring. I'll just surprise you." Hamilton said as he ignored Victoria's answers.

"How are you so good at that?" Gideon inquired as he watched in amazement as Hamilton's fingers worked as he started to do a headband braid. "Mum used to do her hair when she didn't know how to do hers but it used to take her a lot of time so I told her to teach me so I would do it instead. And you know me, I tend to things more elaborately than necessary."

Hamilton bit his lip in concentration. "Eddie, can you bring some petroleum jelly from my room? I need to calm the nest." Hamilton said. Edward reluctantly listened to him and left while Hamilton was putting his finishing touches on it. He made sure that the green ribbon that he weaved in the braid was in place as he tied the ends of it in a neat knot. Looking around the kitchen, Hamilton set eyes on the vase in the centre of the table and grabbed some of Baby's Breath that was cut the day before.

Needless to say with the petroleum jelly and the plant added as well, Victoria's hair looked the best it ever did. "You eat something while I go grab a mirror, this is the best I ever did," Hamilton said excitedly with a smile as he sprinted from his chair. He didn't give Victoria a chance to thank him and sat properly on the table to eat something.

"Your brother is way too lively and upbeat this early in the morning," Gideon stated as he reached over and grabbed the newspaper that Hamilton abandoned. "It's something that you have to learn to accept and deal with in time," Edward replied as he munched on his toast. "I guess you did get used to him. You had to wake up with him for the past couple of months." Victoria added as she put in two teaspoons of sugar in her tea and mixed it.