My Fairy Queen Anne

when you're close i feel like coming undone

AN: hey queens, so you guys know that this was an abt 50 chap wip getting re-uploaded. proud to announce that i have finished editing all the pre-existing chapters (the rest 17 of them are in drafts rn!!) and have started writing new ones to continue the story!! very exciting for progress, but it also means updates will be getting a bit slower as my pace of writing is a bit slower than even the most serious of my edits.

"Anne," he croaked, hand outstretched to her. He dangled precariously over a deep black chasm, only a single thread attached to a tree holding him from plummeting. A figure cloaked in deep black held a pair of enormous shears, the blades inches away from stripping him from his only lifeline.

She was frozen to her spot, quite literally. She tried to dash towards the hooded figure, but her feet seemed to be sinking into the iron red dusty cliff.

She was utterly helpless.

"Gilbert," she wailed, tears flowing like waterfalls down her freckled cheeks. "Gilbert, no!"

"Please don't!" she yelled to the dark figure, her voice breaking. "Please, I'll do anything! Take my life for his! Just don't..."

With a single snap, the string broke and he went tumbling over the edge, her name falling from his lips as he dropped. Her blue eyes widened, and she gasped brokenly. A heart wrenching wail escaped her mouth as she collapsed to her knees, body heaving with grief.

Anne shot up in bed as daylight filtered through the bedroom window. Her eyes were bright red and swollen, and her downy pillow was soaked with salty tears.

"Happy fourth Christmas Eve, Princess Cordelia," she mumbled half-heartedly. With a jolt, it struck her suddenly, her nightmare finally registering in her mind.

"Gilbert," she said to herself, his name tumbling out of her mouth with the realization. She stood up suddenly, throwing the covers off without a second thought. She threw on the first things she could find, a white blouse with a blue checkered skirt. She never even bothered with a corset. She ran a brush through her red hair, braiding it haphazardly down her shoulder. Tying her boots up, she raced downstairs.

Josie and Alex were already there, munching on toast silently. Alex's eyes were bloodshot with an all too familiar puffiness, and even Josie's exhibited signs of weariness.

"Oh good, you're awake," Josie said, standing up suddenly. Alex dropped his toast on his plate with a clatter and stood up, pulling his chair back in. It was clear they all were waiting for the same thing.

They all felt the tension of the moment resound between them. This was it. In a few short minutes, they would find out whether he had broken the fever and Anne would have the wedding of her dreams in a few years, whether Alex would have the friend he hoped to keep for the rest of his life, or if all their aspirations for their future would be crushed.

With an exchange of a look between the three, they all threw on a coat and headed into the December air, stopping only to scrawl a note to Aunt Jo and Cole to thank them profusely, to say that hopefully, they'd be back with happy news.

After the couple blocks' walk, they all but froze outside the hospital doors. Not from the chill or the snow, but from heart racing fright. It seemed so ominous now, as if the building could swallow them whole. Anne would take that a thousand times before having to hear the ghastly news she had a chance of receiving.

"Are you ready?" she breathed, her blue eyes widening in anticipation.

"Not even a bloody bit," Alex said without missing a beat. "Shall we go in then?"

Without a word to counter it, Anne all but ran into the place, dashing up the stairs and into the hallway she knew to house Gilbert's room. The doctor was on the other side of the hallway tending to another patient, so he had no inclination that they had arrived. They didn't even bother to ask permission, ignoring the dirty look from the receptionist and the weird stares from grieving strangers.