Devoted To You || Gilbert Blythe

XXII

~𝒜𝒹𝒶~
Kiss. A verb. Meaning a touch with the lips as a sign of love, sexual desire, reverence, or greeting.
_________________________

It's been about a month since the night Nate assaulted me. It's been a hard month but school has started back so that's been a good distraction.

I received another letter from Gilbert.

✺︎✺︎✺︎
𝑀𝓎 𝒹𝑒𝒶𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝒜𝒹𝒶 𝐹𝒶𝓎𝑒,
𝐼𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝑒𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 (𝓅𝓇𝑜𝒷𝒶𝒷𝓁𝓎 𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑒 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓇𝑒𝒸𝑒𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈) 𝓂𝑜𝓃𝓉𝒽𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝒶𝒹𝓋𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓊𝓇𝑒, 𝑒𝓍𝒸𝒾𝓉𝑒𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓅𝒶𝒾𝓃. 𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓈𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝓈𝑜 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝓃𝑒𝓌 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈. 𝐼'𝓋𝑒 𝓂𝒶𝒹𝑒 𝒶 𝓁𝑜𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝒻𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒹𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓎. 𝒴𝑒𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓉.

𝐼 𝓂𝒾𝓈𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓈𝓂𝒾𝓁𝑒, 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓋𝑜𝒾𝒸𝑒, 𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓉𝒶𝓁𝓀𝓈. 𝐼 𝓂𝒾𝓈𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓂𝓎 𝒹𝑒𝒶𝓇 𝒻𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒹. 𝐼 𝒹𝑜𝓃'𝓉 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝐼 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝑔𝑒𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓇𝑒𝓉𝓊𝓇𝓃. 𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝐼 𝒹𝑜 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔, 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃'𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝒾𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝑒𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊.

𝒮𝒾𝓃𝒸𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓁𝓎,
𝒢𝒾𝓁𝒷𝑒𝓇𝓉 𝐵𝓁𝓎𝓉𝒽𝑒.
✺︎✺︎✺︎

I wish I could get a for sure answer out of him. This is me being selfish but how long does it take to travel the world and find yourself along the way? I am very selfish. I'm going crazy in this house.

Luckily today I will have a distraction from everything. Anne has invited me and a few of the girls over for parlor games. I would normally avoid contact with the younger ones cause of all the drama. But now I'm closer to them than I am the younger girls.

I greet Marilla as I enter the house. I refuse to tell her about what Nate did to me. She already feels so guilty and this would just make things ten times worse for her. It's my own fault anyway. No one else should have to bear this burden. I go up the steps to Anne's room and I can already hear their conversation.

"Ruby, this is serious. We're supposed to be studying each other's lips." I slowly open the door with a confused face. "Oh hi Ada!" Anne and the other girls wave before inviting me to sit. "I think yours are delicate and inviting."

"Really?" Ruby asks with a smile on her face.

Anne nods. "And Tillie's are soft, even to the eye. Jane's are shaped like a rosebud that's beginning to bloom. Ada's are nice and round. Mine are awful. Like the fat caterpillars that live in our old willow tree." She remarks making us all laugh.

"They do look a bit swollen." Jane remarks.

Jane and I aren't as close as we used to be. We grew apart after all the drama with Prissy and Mr. Phillips. But we're slowly getting closer as the weeks go by.

"It's my own fault. I have a terrible habit of chewing on my bottom lip when I'm thinking. The trouble is that I'm always thinking." Anne sighs. "Are they unpleasant to look at?"

"They are perfectly pink and luscious." Diana assures her.

"Fear not, Anne," I interject with a reassuring tone. "If you're concerned about a certain suitor not appreciating your lips, let me assure you, it's mere theatrics. Any man deserving of your affection will cherish and long for every facet of who you are."