𝐃𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 (𝐆.𝐁.) (𝐁.𝐀.)

Eighteen.

The Laurent's, Andrews', Cuthbert's, and Barry's decides to head to the beach that day.

The mothers got over the incident that happened over a year ago, allowing the girls to hang out with Anne.

The mothers were seated beside each other, and so were the fathers. Each conversing in their own conversation.

The children which consisted of; Lavinia, Jane, Diana, Billy, Prissy, and Minnie May headed to the water with their swimwear.

Lavinia whined as she touched the water with her foot, "I don't want to ruin my hair."

Billy splashed water at her, making the girl soaking wet. "Too bad, I already did."

"Oh no you did not."

She acted as if she wouldn't splash water on him. She pretended to walk over to the girls, before sprinting to him. She scooped some water and splashed him, making him splash her back.

"That's for ruining my hair!"

"And that's for showing me that bloody dead duck!"

Billy stopped splashing her, giving her a confused look, "You still remember that?"

"Of course I do. I am permanently traumatized."

"You're overreacting," he scoffed, "That's nothing compared to the other animals I killed."

"Like what? A mouse?" She teased him.

"Oh yeah?" He stepped forward, "You wanna play that game?"

"What are you going to do about it, Billy Andrews?"

"This," He splashed her once again, before making a run for it.

"You will regret that Billy!"

"You can't catch up with me. It's pretty safe to say I've won." Billy took deep breaths as he stopped, making Lavinia catch up with him.

"You're right," she nodded making him turn around, "Which is why I have to do this," she laughed as she tripped him, once again running but this time out of the water.

They all dried off, this time Lavinia was with the girls. Seeing as Billy was speaking to his father.

"So," Prissy spoke up as she smirked, "You and Billy, huh?"

"What?"

"You know what we're talking about!" Diana giggled at the memory of the two chasing each other.

Jane smiled at the memory of Lavinia making her brother happy, "I don't think I've ever seen anyone make Billy smile that much."

"That's because Billy is a meanie who never smiles."

All of the girls looked down at Minnie May, Diana glaring at her.

"Mind your business Minnie May!"

"But Diana-"

"No buts."

The younger sister slumped her shoulders as she sat quietly, listening to the girls talk.

"So, are you going to tell us?" Prissy nudged the girl.

"Yeah, so I can make it pretty clear. Billy and I don't have something going on. Let's not forget he's the schools bully. Why would I have feelings for the schools bully?"

"No one mentioned you having feelings for billy." Diana smirked as Jane said something else at the same time, "Yeah, why would you when you have Gilbert all to yourself."

Lavinia huffed at the mention of Gilbert, walking away from the girls to have some space.

But to her luck, Minnie May had followed her.

"Gilbert and Lavinia sitting on a tree, K-I-S-S-I-" Lavinia quickly covered the younger girls mouth.

"There's no Gilbert and Lavinia sitting on a tree, and no kissing whatsoever. If I hear you say this again I'll tell your mother to send you to a London school. We good?"

She let go of the girl once she nodded frantically, running away from her to her mother. She smiled at the girl, satisfied with her reaction.

"Wow, you're so good with children."

She turned around to see Billy with his hands in her pockets. Smiling at her as he raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"What can I say? I've learned from the best." She sighed as she looked at her parents, who were both too interested in their own conversations to check up on their daughter.

"They never really cared for me." She sighed, looking up at Billy.

He frowned at her. He doesn't understand how she was so open about her feelings. He was taught to keep a mean demeanor in front of others. He was told to only show how he truly cared for his sisters. He did live a privileged life, but consequences came with it.

Little did he know, Lavinia felt the same way.

She wanted to accept the falling, to embrace it, and grow from it. Because it was okay to feel down, to have bad days, to stumble. But she had to eventually get back up. Which is why she was scared. She knew that if she fell, she wouldn't be able to get back up again. She knew she couldn't learn from her mistakes and grow. She was never taught to do that.

They both have been holding in all of these emotions and they were pretending to be okay for way too long.

Gilbert leaving had affected her so much.

She sometimes wondered if things would have turned out differently if she had done just one thing, or said those few words.

She wondered if she drove him away. Would he have stayed if she was a little less annoying, or more pretty?

She tried to hate him so many times, but every time she tried she would just be reminded of all the good memories they shared.

She actually felt something for Gilbert. And in her head, he felt the same way.

She thought she knew who he was. She thought she knew everything there was to know about him. But she was wrong.

There is so much she doesn't know about Gilbert Blythe. And she'll have to learn the hard way.

She shook her head, closing her eyes to prevent the tears from falling. She refused to cry in front of Billy.

"Are you alright Lavinia?"

"Yes, yes I'm fine. I should get back to my mother and father. They might be needing me."

She excused herself, leaving before he could answer her.

He stared as she headed to her parents, her small smile disappearing as she sat down beside them. Not saying a word.

He didn't know why, but he wanted to fix all of her problems. He wanted to make her happy and that weirded him out. He never felt anything like this towards a girl. He was new to all of this.

But he was determined to learn about it all, just for her.

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