▷ Afterglow - Taylor Swift

«Chemistry 'til it blows up, 'til there's no us»

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[DON'T PLAY THE SONG YET!]

Chapter dedicated to the beautiful RubyGillis03 since she's a fellow Taylor Swift stan and we love her for that <3

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GILBERT BLYTHE occupies 99% of Anne's thoughts. She misses him desperately. She misses their daily talks and their usual texting from morning to midnight. She misses every inch, every part of him — every curl, every spot of green in his hazel eyes, every teasing smile, every late-night drive and every shared song.

It's been over a week since... what happened. The only interaction they had was last Thursday's English class of reciting poems (if you can call that an interaction at all). Now, Anne is pouring herself a glass on of water on a late Saturday night when she hears a knock on her front door.

Who could it possibly be? She was just texting both Diana and Ruby via their group chat and Jerry's upstairs playing video games.

Truth is she had kinda fantasized of Gilbert Blythe showing at her door. She's wearing her The Breakfast Club pajamas right now and maybe, if Gilbert Blythe came up to her door, he'd laugh at her and tease her until everything was normal between them again.

Until they were friends again and there was no tension and no awkwardness between them.

Anne's eyes go wide at the realization of the person in front of her once she opens the door. "What are you doing here?" She surely wasn't expecting that person to show up at her door on a Saturday night.

It was just Jane Andrews. A very troubled-looking Jane Andrews.

"Can we talk?" Jane's eyes are glued to the floor. Anne and Jane are not the best of friends — Anne, Diana and Ruby are the golden trio of school and Jane usually hangs out with Tillie and Josie. So, even though Anne lets her in, she can't help but wonder what Jane's doing there at almost midnight.

"Sure" the redhead replies. "Marilla's already asleep, come to the kitchen" she says, letting her friend inside her house.

They walk into the kitchen. Jane sits in the nearest chair and Anne leans her body against the kitchen counter, near the sink. She decides to take a sip from her glass of water and that's when Jane speaks.

"I'm a lesbian"

"Holy shit" Anne blinks twice after almost choking on water. "What...? How?"

"I don't like Gilbert. Well, I don't like boys, in general, because I like girls" Jane is so nervous — Anne's never seen her like this. "I'm a lesbian"

What. A. Fucking. Plot. Twist.

"Okay... um... does Gilbert know about this?" Anne asks, choosing her words carefully.

"Yes. I told him about two weeks ago"

Jane remembers how Gilbert knocked at her door a couple of weeks ago wanting to break things up with her (whatever they had) but she couldn't even look at him. So as soon as she opened the door, she threw herself at his arms

and started crying like a baby.

Anne blinks twice again — she's at a loss of words. She is thinking of what to say next when Jane speaks again. Her voice is trembling and Anne can tell she's about to cry.

"There's this girl I like" Jane says quietly, wiping a tear away. "It's Nicole McKenzie. From Maths, you know? That girl who's super shy and always drawing"

"She's super pretty" Anne whispers.

"Yeah, she is" Jane whispers back. "I think I've known for a while. But I was so confused, Anne, and so scared that you guys would... no longer want to be friends with me"

"Are you out of your mind?" Anne walks over to her friend and leans towards her to hug her. "That would never, never happen, okay?"

"I don't think I'm ready to tell the others" Jane lets out a sob. "Only you and Gilbert know... he's been so much help, Anne. What I did with him was wrong, because I used him to prove something... to know if I really liked boys or not"

"Why did you tell me?" Anne asks. It's unusual that Jane's told her and not Tillie or Josie.

"I knew you would understand" Jane whispers, hugging Anne back from her sitting position in the kitchen table. "You always do"

___

[PLAY THE SONG!]

Wearing a long, sparkly golden dress, Anne dances on her own in the middle of the dance floor. There's a song playing — she likes it. The beat is slow, yet powerful.

Making his way to the dance floor is Gilbert Blythe. He's wearing the same grey shirt he wore at her birthday. She loves that shirt.

Chemistry 'til it blows up
''til there's no us

He positions himself right behind her. Her eyes are closed as she gets lost in the music, slowly swinging to the rhythm. He doesn't need to talk because she can feel his presence behind her, but he does anyway.

"Hi"

His voice is a bare whisper.

"Hey..."

I'm the one who burnt us down

"Who would've thought that dark and mysterious Anne Cordelia Shirley-Cuthbert had a soft spot for Taylor Swift?" he whispers in her ear.

She giggles under her breath, still not turning around. He's very close and his lips are still close to her ear, his breath running down to her neck.

"Shirley..." His hands travel around her body with feathery hints, eventually placing both of them around Anne's waist, joining her as he swings to the slow beat of the song as well.

That's when she wakes up.

Reality hits her — it was all a dream.

Fuck. That was intense.

It's Wednesday. The sun is setting and the clouds have adopted a pinkish color that makes the sky look like cotton candy sugar messily scattered over a plain blue sheet.

Anne Shirley-Cuthbert has been revising for finals. Her brain was so stuck on some insane mathematical formula which she couldn't seem to memorize that she ended up falling asleep on her desk.

It's a knock on her door what eventually wakes her up and drags her out of her unconscious fantasies with Gilbert Blythe.

"I'm trying to study, Jerry, not now!" she says as she straightens her position in her chair, yawning.

Another knock.

"We'll play Crash Bandicoot later, okay?"

Another one — her brother can be very persistent.

Ugh.

She stands up and walks to open the door.

But it's not Jerry the one who's waiting on the other side.

Messy curly hair, black t-shirt and flannel wrapped around his waist, there he is. She'd just been dreaming about him.

"Gilbert?"

Meet me in the afterglow

He's holding two cups of coffee, one in each hand, making her wonder how did he even manage to knock on her door in the first place. "Since Marilla's not here and Jerry doesn't even know how to boil water, I took the freedom to make some coffee" he says. "This one's for you". It's her favourite — oat milk and cinammon sprinkles.

"Thanks?" she mumbles, forcing a smile. Gilbert, however, doesn't leave. He stands under the door frame, static, holding his mug with both of his hands now.

"Can I come in?" he asks calmly. Her answer is to move aside so that he can walk in. He closes the door behind him. There's an awkward silence that lasts for at least two minutes.

"I heard Charlie won't be able to make it to prom"

"Yeah"

And it's true. Charlie's busy with finals and he can't go to prom with Anne and the rest of his friends. Anne understands, though. She'll have to go on her own and hold on to the hope that her friends don't spend all the time with their respective dates.

Before saying anything else, Gilbert places his cup on top of Anne's desk. Right after that, he takes hers out of her hands with a swift, careful move and fingers brushing together, and places it right next to his.

"Look, about that night..."

Why do I have to break what I love so much?

"What night?" she says, fixing her eyes on the floor, although she knows exactly what he means.

He chuckles. "You know what night" he says. "We were... horny! And confused and it won't happen again, okay?" he says. "We're just two hormonal teenagers and you missed your boyfriend and got confused and I'm just a stupid flirt that loves flirting, teasing and- and sometimes doesn't know how to respect boundaries. I'm sorry for that" he pauses for a few seconds after that. "I've been thinking a lot these days and I came to the conclusion that you're too important to me"

She looks at him — by the way the words leave his lips or how his eyebrows are furrowed, Anne can suspect he has perfectly prepared and rehearse this sort of speech for hours.

"You're one of the best people I know, you're the only one that gets me and I know for a fact that you make my life better. I know I've been a dick and what I did that night was wrong – so wrong. I just want your friendship, Shirley. Plain and simple".

My... friendship? She thinks as she just keeps looking at him, listening attentively to each and every word that comes out of his mouth.

I don't wanna lose this with you

"I fucking adore you, Shirley and I regret treating you as just another girl. It won't happen again. I don't want anything else — I never did. I just want my best friend back. You mean so much to me, so would you please forgive this stupid, hormonal, and flirt of your friend?"

The boy analyses her face — she's in deep thinking. Biting his bottom lip, he eagerly awaits her answer but it takes her a few seconds to react. When she does, she starts laughing quietly under her breath, her eyes crinkle.

"What's so funny?" he says, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Nothing — it's just pretty clear now"

"What's clear?"

"That's you're a stupid, hormonal flirt"

"Oh" he blinks twice, not knowing what she exactly means. But still, he feels relieved somehow. She looks more relaxed and loosen-up around him. She looks as if nothing had changed between them.

Tell me that you're still mine
Tell me that we'll be just fine
Even when I lose my mind
I need to say
Tell me that it's not my fault
Tell me that I'm all you want
Even when I break your heart

"You don't remember, do you?" she says with a face that's turned into a teasing grin, eyebrows raised and all.

"What exactly?"

"The night you were drunk?"

Crap.

"Oh" he pauses for a second. "Did I... say... something stupid?"

A beat.

"A few things, yeah"

"Like...?"

"You told me to get your keys from your jeans and that you ass was nice"

"The second part is not a lie, though" he winks at her, making her roll her eyes.

"Nice or not, you're still an ass"

He watches her expression shift into a shy smile. Gilbert Blythe doesn't know it yet, and he won't know for a long time, but this kind of smile is the one that she had reserved for him

and only him.

"Does this mean everything's alright between us?" Gilbert asks.

"Yes, of course" she says. "You're too important to me too, you're one of my best friends. It's all forgotten"

He smiles down to her. It's so difficult for him not to smile when she's looking like that — all smiley and radiant like a little kid. She's wearing her Smiths' t-shirt she wore on the first day of school that reminds him why he even laid eyes on her in the first place.

"Good, um" he clears is throat. "Because there's one more thing I need to talk to you about"

"What is it?"

"I talked to Charlie the other day — we texted...

Anne's grin turns into an expression of surprise. Charlie and him talked? About what exactly?

"and I asked him if I could take you to prom"

Prom?

"Don't you think you should've asked me instead?" she says. "I'm no one else's property. Besides, I don't think that's appropr-"

Oh, there we go, he thinks. This is it. This is the Anne I know. She's mad.

"I told him you would say exactly those words" he chuckles. "Just come with me to prom, please, you're my best friend, I promise I'll behave"

She considers if she should go to prom with him. She was just dreaming about him when he came at her door, and it wasn't just an innocent dream, so she probably shouldn't. But at the same time, it's Gilbert. Just Gilbert, she thinks as she studies the expression on his face — he's waiting for her answer. What could go wrong? I can't lose him. He's one of my best friends, after all.

"Okay, I will"

His smile goes back to his face.

"Thank god, cause if you'd said no, I don't know what I would've done with this"

He reaches for something in his pockets, letting out a green little box. Both terrified and wide eyed, Anne looks at him.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Fucking hell, Shirley, don't look at me like that" he says, laughing. "I won't propose! I know you don't believe in marriage"

He hands her the tiny, squared box. She shakes it in her hands, but it makes no noise.

"Would you just open it, you weirdo?"

She does as he says. Her jaw falls open when she realizes what it is. She wouldn't have expected it for the world.

It's a corsage — a minimalist one. It's a very delicate gold flower with a thin, silky, black lace band.

"I know you hate these kind of things but I wanted to and Diana told me to get you this one, she said it would match your dress and I-"

He doesn't have time to finish his sentence because she interrupts him with the biggest of hugs.

She looked at him in awe before closing the distance between — her arms are suddenly wrapped around his tall figure. It takes the boy a few seconds to react, but when he does, he places his hands on her back and his head on top of hers. It feels intimate — it's the first time they hug like this. They stay like that for a few minutes, it's the longest they've ever embraced.

"Thank you, Gil" she whispers as she notices how his hand creeps up from her back to her hair. He strokes it with soft and slow movements. "I love it"

"No, Shirley" he whispers back. "Thank you. I would've never expected to meet someone like you when I moved in here — you truly are... the best thing I could've found in Avonlea"

You truly are my undeniable miracle.

"I liked your poem by the way" she says out of the sudden, once they've separated from each other. "The one you read in class"

"Oh. Thanks" he says, taken aback by her words. He wasn't expecting her bringing up their respective poem choices.

"Why did you choose it?"

Because I'm in love with you.

"You know — Walt Whitman. I like him"

"Yeah I like him too"

"Why did you choose yours?"

She looks up to the ceiling as if it held the answer to his question. But the ceiling is plain white, wordless.

"I picked it randomly" she says.

"Oh, good"

"Good"

He talks again before the situation takes an awkward turn. "Well, we better drink our coffees before it gets cold, right?"

"Right"

They sit by the edge of her bed, toasting their cups together. Anne notices then that the one mug he's chosen for her is the one that used to be Matthew's 'no.1 dad' mug. The detail makes her smile a little. "To our friendship" he says.

"To us"

They drink their coffee, enjoying a comfortable silence between them until Anne speaks.

"Gilbert?"

"Yes?"

"Could you..." she locks eyes with him "help me with Maths?"

He keeps the eye contact with her, holding her gaze for a few seconds before bursting into laughter, dropping his body in her bed, lying on his back.

"Ah, so this is why you want to be friends with me again, Shirley?" he says, raising his eyebrows and pretending to feel offended. "Because I'm the superior intellectual of the two of us and you desperately need me?"

"You know what? I'm already regretting this"

He looks at her before he notices a wide, foolish smile on his own face. Gilbert wonders how it was possible for the to of them to be acting so normal when things were tense just this morning. He wonders how two people can feel so comfortable around each other — at least he feels very, very comfortable —, how two people can fit so perfectly in terms of personality, how two people can simply... click like they did.

He stands up from her bed, offering his hand to take her to her desk.

"Okay, little one, let me teach you some fucking good Maths following the Gilbert Blythe method"

___

"God, you're so tense. Would you relax?"

Gilbert Blythe guides Anne Shirley-Cuthbert by grabbing her by the shoulders as they walk through Avonlea High's hallways.

The reason why Gilbert Blythe has the devoted habit of guiding her body as she walks is still something neither he or the redhead have figured out yet. But he loves to do it and she hasn't complained yet.

The two of them had woken up earlier than usual today, to check their final grades at the school board. They were done with finals and school was over — there were only two remaining things in the high school checklist: final grades and prom.

There's no one in the hallway, just the two of them. Something that's not unusual at all considering that Anne and Gilbert are the only ones who could wake up at barely sunrise just to be the first ones to check their results.

But the thing is that a certain redhead is nervous. Gilbert Blythe can feel it, not only because of how quiet she is today, but also by how right the muscles of her shoulders are or how rigid her posture is.

"I don't know, Gil, I- What if I fail? Or worse! What if I come in second?"

Gilbert laughs at her despair. "If you come in second, that means I'll come in first, right?" he says, leaning in forward to look at her and giving her the wink of an eye.

"That's very likely, you know — you're so good with numbers, it's not fair!" she pouts, crossing her arms over her chest and turning around. She's too nervous to face the reality before her.

"Yeah, but I'm not a poetic soul like you are" Gilbert says, walking closer to the school board. He looks for the list and their names on it, and when he finds it — a smile creeps up his face.

"Shirley? Come here, you're gonna like it"

Anne walks over to him, leaning towards the school board as Gilbert stands behind her, waiting for her to react.

1. Gilbert Blythe and Anne Shirley-Cuthbert - 100%

"We... we... tied?!" she says in a complete mixture of amazement and stupefaction.

"I'm sorry you have to share it with me" he mumbles as she turns around to face him.

She doesn't react at first — her face is emotionless — and that makes Gilbert Blythe be terrified of every possible reaction. The boy waves his hand right in front of her face. "Shirley? Hello?"

"I'm paralyzed with happiness!"

Out of the blue, she jumps into his arms. It takes the boy by absolute surprise, and he can't help but think how lucky he is for being able to have her in his arms again, considering they hugged a few days ago, in her room.

He tries not to think about how soft and gentle her hair feels as it brushes against his cheek. When he hugs her back, tying his hands around her back, feeling very bold, he decides to lift her body off her feet, spinning her around in the air.

It makes her giggle and again, he mentally tells himself that he's really, really lucky to have her. As friends, at least.

"We made it!" she says, dizzy and ecstatic — he's only spinning her around but she truly feels like flying. It's been a while since she's felt this genuinely happy. "We really came in first, the two of us!"

"We did, didn't we?"

After a few more seconds, he places her back on the ground. He doesn't tear his eyes away from hers, all blissful and full of life. He's never seen her like this.

"God, I feel..." he says.

"Ecstatic? Enraptured? Euphoric?" Anne suggest with a glimmer of merriness in her eye. "I have lots of adjectives to describe how I feel, Gilbert, and those are only the ones beginning with an E!"

"I was going to say hungry, but yeah, I'm feeling euphoric as well"

She starts laughing. "Okay, asshole, if you're so hungry then let's go for breakfast" she says, linking their arms together as they leave the building. "My treat"

___

Gilbert is staring at Anne.

But that's nothing new, considering their history.

He really wants to focus on something else and stop staring, but he's decided to take the chance now that the girl just sits there, in the booth right in front of his. She is immersed in a book she's reading as she finishes drinking her coffee.

She's wearing a white silky blouse that's a bit... see-though; a black denim skirt and her pair of black converse. Her hair is down today, and it's a bit curly towards the ends. Gilbert Blythe settles his own mind then that this is one of his favorite looks from her.

They've already finished a way too large breakfast when Gilbert spots a head of golden locks walking into the café.

"Look who's there" he says, pointing to the door behind Anne with a swift movement of his head.

The redhead tear her eyes from the book she was reading and turns around to see the rest of the gang — Diana, Fred, Ruby and Jerry. "Guys, here!"

Anne waves her hand to them so that they can see her and join them.

"Did you check your grades already?" Diana asks as she slides in the booth, right next to Anne. Fred sits to her side.

"Of course they did! They're Anne and Gilbert" Ruby rolls her eyes, taking her seat between Gilbert and Jerry.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Anne says, furrowing her eyebrows and trying to sound annoyed — although she isn't at all.

"I mean that I'm sure you two woke up at 6 a.m. just so you could be the first ones!"

"Exposed" Gilbert says, sipping the last of his orange juice and winking to Anne, who just sticks her tongue out in response.

Idiot.

"Yeah, we're two nerds, what about it?" Anne says.

"Nothing, tiger" Fred says. "We love having our favorite nerds back"

Fred's remark makes everyone at the table laugh. As the conversation between the six teenagers flows, Anne looks at her friends, one by one.

Fred is resting his head on Diana's shoulder as he laughs historically about something Ruby's said. Diana has her left hand on Fred's knee, rubbing circles against the fabric of his jeans — her right hand is on Anne's shoulder. At the other side of the table, Ruby and Jerry are smiling foolishly. Anne can't tell from where she's sitting, but they've been holding hands from under the table this whole time.

And Gilbert.

He's looking at her. He has been for a while now, mesmerized by how he could recognize her laughter anywhere. Literally anywhere.

Her laughter has a complete different sound from other people's. Hers is genuine and sincere — she doesn't laugh very often, but when she does, he knows it's true. Her eyes are crinkled and she covers her face every once in a while, whenever Fred or Ruby say something hilarious as the goofballs they are.

It's right then, the moment when Anne locks eyes with the boy who's been watching her and thinking about the way she laughs, when she him a barely visible, crooked smile from across the table.

They don't share a word as the rest of their friends are immersed in some conversation — but they don't have to. Sometimes eyes and smiles can speak twice as louder as words.

"Thank you", she silently says.

___

A/N

OKAY THAT'S IT

ONE MORE CHAPTER AND IT'S OVER

PLEASE tell me your theories I LOVE READING YOUR THEORIES

Thoughts?