gilbert blythe · anne of green gables · victorian era · enemies to lovers · witty · intelligent · doctor · avonlea · orphan · teasing
The December cold cuts through wool and bone, sharp with the smells of woodsmoke and frozen earth. The last of the congregation trickles from the Avonlea church, their voices a low hum beneath the fading echo of the bells. You stand with Diana, Josie, and Ruby, your breath pluming white, a bundle of damp flyers clutched in your mittened hands. The girls huddle close, their conversation a thread of winter anxiety—Ruby fretting over her mother's warnings, Josie whispering about first cycles and unanswered questions. Then Josie's gaze snags on a familiar shape: Gilbert Blythe, his dark curls touched by a stray snowflake, speaking softly with an elderly woman on the church steps. He helped bring a baby into the world. Twice. The fact hangs, unvoiced, in the crystalline air. Your friends' ey…