▷ My kind of woman - Mac Demarco

«Begging you please, baby,
show me your world»
___

[DONT PLAY THE SONG YET, YOU'LL KNOW WHEN YOU'LL HAVE TO]

February 2nd

PRISSY ANDREWS receives magnificent news that cold Wednesday morning of February. She's got the job as Queen's café's new waitress. As for Fred Wright, he got a job as well — just not as a waiter, as he was expecting.

Fout minutes past three in the afternoon, Fred, hands shoved in his pockets and guitar glued to his back, is waiting for a certain raven-haired princess to come out of school. Diana agreed on giving him a second chance, and he was beyond grateful!

"I got a job at Queen's café" he tells Diana that afternoon, just a few hours after he picked her up from school. They're sitting on a grass field now — Diana told her mom that she was studying with Ruby that afternoon so that she could spend the day with Fred. She's prepared a picnic for their date and Fred is enjoying a cheese sandwich when he breaks the news to her.

"That's great, Fred!" she wraps her arms around him, making him fall on his back. She's on top of him, still hugging him and covering his with little kisses — the boy doesn't seem to complain at all, instead, there's a smile that doesn't leave his face.

"Not as a waiter, though" he says, mesmerized by the fact of how the sun rays hit Diana's eyes, making them a bit lighter.

"Are you the cook?" she asks, obviously teasing him. Although she doesn't know what could be the job he's been offered.

"No" he smiles, pecking her lips. "My band's been hired to play there as a try out. If they like us, we could keep going every Saturday"

Diana did know he had a band, but she didn't know it was that serious. Apparently, as Fred tells her, when the manager saw him walk in with a guitar over his shoulder, he knew he had found Queen's café's new entertainment show: live music!

"That's incredible! I've never heard you play, though" she pouts, moving away from him and handing him his guitar case. "You have to play something, c'mon!"

"Not now" he says as he drums his fingers against the black guitar case. "This Saturday, 8:00 p.m."

"I'm sure you'll do great" she says, lying on her side next to him. She rests her head on her right arm and plays with Fred's curls with the other one. The boy closes his eyes at the contact of her soft hands in his hair.

"You will be there, right?" he asks in a whisper, opening one of his eyes to find out that her eyes are closed too. She looks ridiculously beautiful now that she's so peaceful. The fact that part of that peaceful state might have been caused by him makes his heart flutter a bit.

Fred wonders how he's become so lucky out of the sudden. She just met a fiery-tempered girl one night and then, two months after that encounter, he'd become friends with Gilbert Blythe, who had offered him his home on an emergency situation. And now, he was lying in a grass field with a raven haired princess that apparently, has been enchanted by his non-existent charms since the day she saw him walking into the karaoke club with Anne.

They haven't really talked about their relationship. They kissed on their first date and that left a question mark floating over each of their heads. Are we dating? he thinks as he admires how the dark locks fall over the grass. I'd love it if we were dating.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world" she whispers back, making him smile — he's content. Then the question mark over his head suddenly fades away, leaving an answer on its place: if he wants her to be his girlfriend, he needs to ask her in the best of ways.

___

February 6th

Anne has loved attending gigs for as long as she can remember. So when Diana asks her to go with her to Fred's band's debut at Queen's, she agrees without giving it a second thought.

The two girls enter the café just in time to see that there's a good amount of people there. There are actually people that have been lured by the advertisement signs that Diana and Fred have hung around town: "Live Music @ Queen's, Saturday 8pm!". "Fred's band seems pretty cool" Anne says, admiring her friend preparing his guitar on stage as he jokes around with his bandmates.

"Yeah, I guess" Diana replies, biting her lip. Anne knows her more than anyone else, and she knows for a fact that her biting her lip is a habit of nervousness — well, everything Diana does is a sign of nervousness because lately she's always in a state of nervousness despite her being the most rational and calm among her friends.

"Alright" Anne sighs. "What's wrong"

"Duh, nothing" she says, looking at the little stage and tearing her eyes from Anne's. Fred's giving an introduction for the band and she tries to concentrate on that, although there's clearly something that's been bugging her.

"Diana" Anne says, placing a freckled hand on her shoulder. Diana still doesn't look at her, but she does reply.

"Do you think they'll like me?" she whispers. "The band? His friends? Fred himself?"

"Diana Barry, are you insane?" Anne's blue eyes go wide in shock. "Who wouldn't like you?"

Before Diana can even think of an answer, Fred starts playing the chords to a familiar song, making Anne smile immediately. The question answers itself, because Fred Wright clears his throat before muttering into the microphone: "This one's for you"

Oh baby
Oh, man
You're making me crazy,
really driving me mad

"Fuck, I love this song" Anne says, closing her eyes and listening to Fred's voice and the sound of guitars, bass and drums intertwining with the dense air of the club.

Diana's worries and despair disappear completely when she smiles uncontrollably at the lyrics of the song. "Which song is this?" she asks, not tearing her eyes away from Fred.

"My kind of woman" Anne says as somebody else's voice joins and overlaps with hers, making her and Diana turn around.

"Gilbert" Anne says.

As long as you're next to me,
just the two of us

"By Mac DeMarco" he finishes, shotting a blinding smile to Diana and then looking back at Anne. "Diana, Shirley, hi"

"Hi, Gil!" Diana says, pulling him into a warm hug. She feels ecstatic.

"What are you doing here?" Anne asks as Gilbert breaks his contact with Diana and leans towards her to give her one of his usual bear hugs.

"Fred told me about the gig and I had to come, obviously" he says as he wraps his strong arms around her. She takes in the scent of him; a mixture of aftershave and old books. She misses his touch as soon as he separates from her.

"Well, ladies, I'm gonna get some drinks, want anything?" he says, always so polite. Always so charming.

Diana shakes her head politely before turning her face back to Fred, who has just started to play a different song. Their eyes connect from the stage to the dancefloor, and she playfully waves her hand to him.

"You?" his eyes go to Anne.

"I, um, a beer is fine" Why the hell do I get so nervous around him? Anne thinks. Some how her words don't come out the way she wants them to when Gilbert's near. It's annoying. She mentally tells herself to stop behaving like a non-functional human being.

"A beer it is" he nods before disappearing into the tiny crowd. Anne watches his curly head moving among the crowd to reach the bar. Now that Gilbert's gone for a few minutes, it's time for some girl talk.

"Prince Charming really can sing, huh?" Anne says, hitting Diana's arm with her shoulder and giving her a raised-eyebrow teasing stare.

"I've realized now that I don't want a prince charming, Fred's way better than that" Diana sounds as if she's gone into a dreamy state. Anne smiles. She likes this Diana; this relaxed, not-always-under-pressure Diana. "He's real"

"You're heads over heels for him" Anne rolls her eyes. "It's so disgustingly cheesy, I love it!"

"Yeah, let's talk about cheesy" Diana looks back at her now.

What is she talking about?

"So? Me and Charlie are the least cheesy couple"

"Are you really going to keep ignoring the fact that Mr. Blythe here has a big fat crush on you?" Diana asks.

Anne hesitates; trying to decide to be honest or not. "I've noticed something"

"You have to be an blind not to notice" Diana says. "You can't ignore chemistry"

Chemistry. Anne's never considered it before. Chemistry. Chemistry. Chem- Charlie.

"Chemistry means nothing when timing's a bitch"

A beat.

Diana doesn't fully understand her friend's words, so she has to ask something that she's been wanting to ask Anne for a few months now. "You like him?"

"No, but I could" Anne lets out a sigh. "I mean, look at him, Di"

Anne and Diana turn to look at Gilbert, who is powerfully swinging his head to the rhythym of a rock song as the makes his way through the crowd to the girls, carefuly holding two pints of beer in his hands. "He's like... the male version of me"

"I told you"

"I don't know, Di, what do you think?" Anne asks. Funny, now she's the one that's filled with despair and question marks. There's something about Gilbert Blythe that seems enigmatic. Why does he feel so magnetic? "Because I don't like him but whenever we're together there's this... connection? Tension?"

Chemistry.

"There's nothing wrong with having chemistry Anne. You don't have to feel guilty. Chemistry can be friendly too. You and I have chemistry"

"I suppose you're right"

"Uh, girls?" Gilbert suddenly arrives, handing Anne her beer. "Ruby called, she says they're all at Josie's, wanna go?"

"I think I'll stay here with Fred" Diana says, pointing at the stage.

"I'm coming, let's leave these lovebirds alone" Anne says, making the boy grin widely — he loves time alone with the red-headed girl.

"Alright then"

After having their drinks, they leave the club. Gilbert's car is parked about 10 minutes away from the club. The pair enjoy their walk quietly under a dark sheet of sky covered with stars.

"Are you feeling alright?" he asks as they walk, a cold breeze making Anne's hair dance swiftly. "You're quiet"

"Yeah" she says, eyes on the front, unlike his. He's looking at her. He's always looking at her. "Just enjoying the beauty of the night"

His eyes still don't leave her when he whispers. "Me too"

___

Anne and Gilbert walk into Josie's house earning raised-eyebrows looks and whispers as they get to their group of friends. Everybody knows there's something up with these two — although nobody knows what it is exactly. "This is great!" Josie says just when she spots the pair. "Just in time for truth or dare!"

After two long, and, according to Anne "a very pathetic" rounds of truth or dare, Josie bits her bottom lip in amusement when he looks at Gilbert. Although the girl was not a bad person at all, everyone who knows her would know that she's up to something evil, or at least, mischievous.

"Gilbert, describe your type of girl" she demands.

"I don't really have a type" he tries to sound unbothered as he discretely looks at Anne. Liar, of course you do have a type, Josie thinks as her eyes travel from Gilbert to Anne before fixing them back on Gilbert.

"Everyone has a type, Gil, stop lying" the girl says. "And spill the tea"

"Well, I guess that if I did have a type... it would be the type of incredibly smart girl, witty, sharp tongue, sarcastic... but with a sweet soft side as well, hopefully" he smiles to himself as he pictures his hypothetical type of girl on his mind. Although, in this case, the girl's not hypothetical at all — she's sitting cross-legged in the same circle as he is.

"We meant physical type, but... okay" Josie seems almost content with his answer.

Gilbert doesn't have time to answer because not-hypothetical-girl, also known as Anne Shirley-Cuthbert stands up abruptly — her body is shaking a bit and Gilbert noticed then that she's sweating heavily, something rather weird considering the fact that it's a Canadian February and it's freezing. "I... I'm starting to..."

"Anne, are you alright?" A voice asks. Anne assumes it's Ruby, but the only thin she sees is a blurry figure before her.

"I... I..."

Everything goes black as her body crumbled to the floor. All she can hear is muffled gasps and worried voices around her.

"Anne! Anne!" A voice says. It's sounds like Gilbert. "Move aside!"

It is, indeed, Gilbert Blythe. He pushes a few bodies away before kneeling down next to her. First of all, he tells everyone except Ruby and Jerry to leave the room. A fainted person needs space, or so he's been taught. He makes sure that Anne is lying properly on the floor before raising her legs above heart level — he gulps at the fact that she's wearing a skirt, but there are more important things now than his hormones. "Ruby, hold her legs this way, okay?"

Ruby does as he says. The boy moves to her side and cups Anne's face with his hands, making soft moves with his thumbs to make her come back. "Anne, can you hear me?" he whispers "Anne? Shirley, come on".

"Wha... what?" The girl's eyes open slowly, almost in slow motion.

"Oh, thank God" Ruby says, still holding her legs in the air.

"Gilbert?"

God, her voice. He lets out a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, it's me" he's still whispering. "Wanna try and sit down?"

She nods, a bit disoriented. The boy cautiously places his hands around her torso to make her sit.

"Is she okay?" Jerry asks. He hasn't talked or done anything since her sister fainted. He's truly concerned.

"Yeah, yeah, I guess" Gilbert says, his left hand on Anne's back. "Maybe you should go home and go some rest"

"What happened?" Anne asks.

"You fainted"

"I'll take her home" Ruby says, getting her car keys out of her purse.

"Guys, I'm fine" Anne seems to be fully back because she's started to complain about everything related to her. She doesn't like having that much attention on her.

"Nope" Jerry says. "You and I are going home"

"I'm going too" Gilbert adds with determination.

It's going to be a interesting ride back home.

___

Gilbert spends the whole ride in silence. Ruby keeps her eyes on the road and chats with Jerry, also checking on Anne every once in a while. The redhead shares the backseat with Gilbert, trying to figure out what got him so mad. His jaw is clenched as he looks out the window — she's never seen him like this.

"Oh, guys" Ruby's voice talks over the silence that's reigns in the car. "We'll need to stop and fill the tank. Sorry about that"

"It's okay" Anne whispers. Gilbert doesn't reply.

"I'll go with you" Jerry says before hopping out the car. The boy doesn't know where this air of confidence is coming from, but being alone with Ruby, even if it's just to fill her car's tank, seems appealing.

Gilbert watches them fill the tank after they've left the car, and decides to talk then, taking a deep breath before doing so. He turn his face to his left, looking at Anne. It's time to talk.

___

Ruby Gillis fills the tank. Jerry just watches as she does this task. "Don't worry about Anne. She's though, she'll be okay" Ruby says with a smile. Jerry wonders how she manages to stay always positive, always with a smile for literally everyone. It's admirable. He's realized lately, after months of them being a bit closer, that there's more to Ruby Gillis than her obvious beauty. She's a really, really kind-hearted person, and that only makes him like her more.

"I know"

"I think it's cute" she says under the moonlight. "How you care so much about her"

"Thank you?" he wants to say, although it sounds more like a question.

"Drop the question mark" she laughs. "It was a compliment"

"Oh, okay" he chuckles awkwardly.

"When we were playing truth or dare... you said you had a crush on someone" Ruby says as they start making their way back to the car. It's all teasing, of course. She knows it's her. "Maybe you can tell me all about it one day"

"Yeah, maybe"

___

"Mind explaining what happened there?" Gilbert's voice is calm yet aggressive. There's definitely something bothering him and Anne can't understand what it is. She wishes Ruby and Jerry stopped their talk and came back already.

"I don't know, you're the doctor, you tell me"

He sighs. "I know that you don't faint for nothing. Have you been eating properly?"

"Yes. It's not the eating"

"Then what is it?" he demands. Anne doesn't reply, but looks out of the window. She doesn't like the tone he's using to talk to her. Why is he being so cold out of the sudden?

The situation reminds him of the first time he drove her home. But now they're stuck in this car, Jerry and Ruby are talking about God knows what and the girl he likes doesn't seem to understand how much he cares about her.

"Shirley" his voice softens with a whisper, reaching for her hand. She looks back at him. "You can trust me"

She sighs. "I find it really hard to sleep at night, okay? Like, really, really hard"

He notices then the dark circles under her eyes. He frowns. How did he not notice before? How come no one's noticed before? It all makes sense now. The bad temper, the smoking, the anxiety. The bags under her eyes are the biggest piece of evidence, still. They're puffy and dark. It doesn't make her less beautiful, though.

"Why are you frowning?" she asks. "Are you mad at me?"

"You?" he asks incredulously. "I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at myself"

"But... why?"

Because I didn't notice that you're not okay.

"Because I'm worried about you — I care about you"

She doesn't have time to reply because Ruby and Jerry are back. "Alright, let's go"

Gilbert unfastens his seatbelt. "Wait a second, Ruby" he says. "I'll be right back"

"What? Gil! Where are you going?" Ruby yells from the driver's seat, but the boy has already left the car, leaving the door open. "Oh god, this boy" the blonde girl says, resting her head on the steering wheel.

Jerry and Anne watch the boy as he jogs towards the gas station's little store that's open twenty four hours a day. He comes back quicker than expected with a bag of gummies and other types of candy. He places it on Anne's lap.

"Here, eat some. Your body needs sugar"

She smiles as she rolls her eyes. "Thank you, Gilbert" she says as she chews on a red gummy bear.

Right after that exchange of smiles, Ruby starts the engine and they head back home.

___

3:48 a.m.

Anne is tossing and turning in bed, scrolling down Instagram, when she gets a text from Gilbert.

Gilbert Blythe
Still up?

AnnE
Yeah, you alright?

Gilbert Blythe
I am, are you?

AnnE
Can't sleep

Gilbert Blythe
I told you to get some rest

AnnE
Sorry

Gilbert Blythe
What are you doing?

AnnE
Reading

Gilbert Blythe
Let's do something

She freezes for a minute before replying. Does he mean to hang out right now? She hopes he doesn't, because if he did, she would be already out of bed and lacing up her boots.

AnnE
Like?

Gilbert Blythe
Let's get to know each other

AnnE
I already know you, you're Gilbert

Gilbert Blythe
Funny, I mean asking questions or something like that

AnnE
What do you want to know? Just ask

Gilbert Blythe
Fav food?

AnnE
Hamburgers duh, yours?

Gilbert Blythe
Pizza obv

AnnE
How original

Gilbert Blythe
Haha, your turn

AnnE
Fav book

Gilbert Blythe
The Great Gatsby

AnnE
Mine too!

Gilbert Blythe
Really? Wow
You're a box full of surprises, Shirley

Gilbert Blythe
Shirley?

Gilbert Blythe
You're asleep :)

___

A/N - Hi! This is one of my favorite chapters 💘 Hope you enjoy it!

Do tell me what you think about this story so far!