OCEANS | shirbert

I. The Apology

CHAPTER I

The Apology

in which an apology goes a long way (again)

It was a not-so-beautiful Saturday morning during the final days of a warm summer in Avonlea. The weather had changed overnight, the sky turning into cloudy grey treacle that announced the seasonal change. An almost sixteen year-old Anne Shirley-Cuthbert had woken up earlier than usual and had been reading one of the books that she had borrowed from Diana before her bosom friend left for her vacation, Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. The main character was a young woman who always seemed to have her nose stuck in a book who was hoping for the classic brooding adventure she was used to find in her favourite novels. Anne daydreamed about finding those rather romantic adventures one day.

After finishing her book in the early hours of the morning followed by an also early breakfast in Green Gables, she decided to go for a walk despite the relatively unpleasant weather and, without even thinking, ended up making her way towards the Blythe's farm.

It was not the first time that something like this had happened. Even since their talk after the wedding, the Blythe boy crossed her mind more often that she would like to admit. It was as if some strange connection or magnetism had led her there. Again. Seven months had passed since Bash and Mary's wedding yet things had remained more or less the same in Avonlea. Gilbert had eventually decided to stay in town and work the his farm with Bash whilst attending school as a normal boy his age. College could wait, that's what he said, at least.

"Tragical romance and all?"

"Remains to be seen"

Those two sentences wandered her mind a number of times a day. Sometimes it came to her right before her poached eggs in the morning; sometimes while reading her favourite book; and some other times just before falling asleep. This last one occassion happened to be Anne's favourite, for it usually led to Gilbert Blythe starring in her dreams − yet she would never admit that to herself.

Things had been quiet over the summer and they had had the chance to become more familiar with each other. It was common for Anne and Gilbert to spend time together since they were in friendly terms after the wedding. That moment had marked a before an after in their relationship, if they had ever had any kind of relationship before, Anne thought. They shared the afternoons reading, practising spelling or revising a variety of subjects so that they could still both be top of the class. There was, however, still a rivalry between the pair, although it was evidently stronger coming from Anne's side. After all, it was friendly anyway.

Friends. She wondered how they had arrived to this point, from him calling her carrots and her not being able to talk to him, to this situation in which they met repeatedly, almost every day. She smiled to herself. She was content.

Leaving her thoughts aside for a moment, she knocked at the boy's door.

"Anne" he said in his usual softly spoken voice while he embraced and scanned the sight of her with a spark of admiration that never left his hazel eyes. It was the kind of look that was reserved only for Anne Shirley-Cuthbert, although he did not know that by then.

"Gilbert"

"Anne" Gilbert said again, then shaked his head lightly while furrowing his eyebrows. "Hi, I-I wasn't expecting you today. What brings you here?" he added, leaning against the door with a polite smile.

"Nothing, really. I was just bored, and you know, Diana's out of town until tomorrow, so..." she quickly replied.

He looked at the ground with a bit of disappointment in his eyes. Of course, it was that. She would have never come to him in the first place. She would have never see him at his first option.