𝐃𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 (𝐆.𝐁.) (𝐁.𝐀.)

Nine.

After explaining to Diana what had happened to Lavinia and Anne a day later after the fire, Diana ordered the girl to go apologize and make it up with her.

She remembers Diana vividly scolding her, "Anne is a lovely girl, what you've done was awful! You have to go and apologize!"

And that's what she was doing. She was heading to Anne's house, once again with a basket filled with sweets for Marilla.

She knocked on the door and was greeted by Mathew, who seemed like he was on his way out.

He informed her that Anne was cooking with Marilla, so she made her way to the kitchen.

"Good afternoon Marilla, Anne."

Marilla replied while Anne just stared at the girl, not saying anything.

"You girls should talk, I have to fetch some eggs."
And with that, marilla excused herself. Leaving Lavinia and Anne alone.

Lavinia got closer to Anne, she let go of the basket and held her hands, "I'm sorry."

"I shouldn't have said what I said, and my parents aren't an excuse for my behavior. Please forgive me Anne, I missed you." By now there were tears in her eyes, and when she looked up at Anne, she noticed tears falling down the redheads cheeks.

Anne enveloped her in a tight hug, which Lavinia found comfort in.

"It's alright Lavinia, I shouldn't have yelled at you like that."

Lavinia wiped her tears once she let go of Anne, chuckling slightly, "I've missed you so, so much."

"I've missed you too, Lavinia." Anne smiled brightly, no longer shedding tears.

After half an hour of the girl catching up on Anne's bed, Lavinia thought of a great idea, "Why don't we make some biscuits for the boys while they work?"

Anne seemed hesitant, seeing as her first encounter with both Gilbert and Billy wasn't that good.

But with the look Lavinia gave her, she sighed as she agreed, making the dark haired girl jump with excitement.

"You seem awfully excited to see someone," Anne nudged her.

Lavinia pretend she didn't know what she was talking about, making the redhead say the obvious, "You want to see Gilbert Blythe!"

Lavinia blushed as she tried to hide her face with her hair, making Anne gasp.

"And why on earth was I never informed about your beau?"

"Anne! He's not my beau." The girl blushed even more, feeling her cheeks heating up.

"Yet."

-

It was the next day, and Diana, Jane, Anne, Ruby, and Lavinia we're gathered in the Laurent's large kitchen, making some biscuits.

Oh and Minnie May, much to Diana's dismay.

They were all having fun, laughing about everything without a care.

Everything seemed so carefree without Josie and her mean comments. Everyone got along with Anne, they had apologized for not trying to get to know the girl.

Being the sweet girl she is, she forgave them all, telling them to focus on making biscuits instead of eating them.

Soon enough, they made enough biscuits and placed them on two baskets. Where Lavinia held one, while Ruby held the other, seeing as she was so keen on giving Gilbert one herself.

Lavinia hid her frown, but little did she know that Diana, Jane, and Anne saw it. Making the three girls look at each other with a knowing look.

-

The girls walked from Lavinia's house to the Gillis house, where most of the men from town were working on.

Lavinia put on a sweet smile once she saw the Minister, "Good afternoon, Minister. I'm learning to bake. Care for a scone?"

"Well, don't mind if I do. This is some heavy work." He complained although all the girls knew he didn't lift one thing.

"Hey, look, it's the freak!"

Lavinia rolled her eyes at Billy Andrews mean comments towards Anne.

Ruby suddenly fell with a loud thud, covering her face as she cried from embarrassment.

"Ruby, are you alright?"
Anne bent down to help the blonde get up, when billy decided to throw another mean comment.

"Girls are so useless. Guess you should've stayed home in the kitchen, eh?!"

Lavinia quickly headed towards him, taking ahold of some wood on her way, "What is wrong with you?"

She threw the wood at him, hitting him right in the nose. He held his nose in pain as he glared at her, while Gilbert was laughing as he made his way down.

Billy decided to make on final comment, not seeing how angered Lavinia was. "Go home and bake cookies!"

Gilbert laughed slightly as he looked up to the boy in pain, "Headline: They already did."

"Thanks for, uh, coming by to help feed the beasts."

And there was that jittery feeling Lavinia felt, the butterflies she gets whenever she spoke with him.

"It's nothing, really." She blushed, as she quickly looked back, only to see her three friends looking at her with huge smiles. While Anne purposely distracted Ruby so she wouldn't disturb the two.

"Um..."
before he could say anything else, Lavinia turned away, heading back to her friends.

"Come on guys, we should get going."

She helped Ruby get up, and held her hand. She looked back to see Gilbert smiling at her. She returned it, before looking ahead of her.

As the girls were walking, the atmosphere felt weird. None of them spoke, not even Anne.

Ruby wasn't dumb, she knew what was going on. But Lavinia was her friend, she was lost. She knew friends were more important than crushes, but she had a crush on him since third grade. Even though he never really paid attention to her. And Lavinia was a sweet girl, one of Ruby's closest friends. She knew something would happen between the two sooner or later. And as much as she despised Lavinia for it, she had to accept it. If Gilbert had actually liked her, he would've made a move on her a long time ago. But he never did. And he seemed to like Lavinia. So she had to learn on how to let go of Gilbert and this obsession, because Lavinia was truly one of her dearest friends.

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