Prompt #7
Requested by @Karina_rox

Gilbert and Jerry's could literally be in the same story okay just read it you'll see what I mean

Summary: He tells you that the whole "just friends" thing isn't exactly working for him.

QOTP: Talk or sit silently and listen to our thoughts?

Word Count: 1727

Billy -
Billy Andrews was a jerk. Everyone knew that — even Josie Pye.

You, however, were decidedly not. You were nothing but nice to everybody, and you gently stuck up for Anne Shirley when others picked on her.

And Billy liked you. He thought you were pretty. He loved your eyes, especially when they sparkled. And your smile made him blush, even if it wasn't directed at him. Sometimes it was, though; you were kind to him, even if you weren't friends. One day, he decided to talk to you.

He flirted with you, right out the gate, and you caught on immediately. "I'm gonna stop you right there, Billy."

"What? Why?" he asked, genuinely confused.

"You don't treat people very well," you said, understating it a little, "and I'm perfectly happy to treat you with kindness, but I don't wish to be flirted with or courted by someone who disrespects others as much as you do."

He thought for a moment. "What if I changed?"

You raised a brow. "You'd do that just for a girl?"

He shrugged sheepishly. "Well, you're not just any girl."

You blushed, but said, "Well, if you're willing to change... I'm willing to be friends. Then, when I really know you've changed, we'll talk."

He smiled. "I'm good with that."

It's been a few months, and, while he's had some slip-ups, he's been much nicer to everyone — even Anne. And, if he's honest with himself, he'd rather be this way. Being nice is rewarding. It makes him feel good.

Almost as good as seeing the smile on your face when he does something particularly kind.

One day, after school, he's walking you home again. You're talking about school, laughing occasionally when one of you says something funny.

He looks over at you as you laugh, looking at your genuine smile and your eyes sparkling in the sunlight. Your laugh is like music — the most beautiful song he's ever heard. He stops, looking down at the ground and chewing his lip.

Your brows furrow with concern as you stop, too. "What's wrong?"

He sighs and looks up at you. "Y/N... This whole 'just friends' thing isn't exactly working for me."

You laugh. "Lately, it hasn't been working for me, either."

His eyes widen. "Really?"

"Really."

"So... then you wouldn't mind if I... held your hand for the rest of the walk?" he asks.

You grab his hand. "Only if we take the longest route."

Gilbert -
You've been friends with Gilbert for as long as you can remember. Your mothers were good friends, so you were together a lot as children.

Now, some years later, you're also friends with Anne Shirley. They have a little rivalry going on, which all started when he pulled her hair, called her carrots, and she hit him with her slate. You thought it was funny, especially after he took the blame and apologized.

Through Anne, you met Jerry Baynard, and it was practically love at first sight, much to Anne's dismay. After a few months, she's learned to live with it.

Gilbert, however, has not.

You've been spending so much time with Jerry, he was starting to think that you dropped off the face of the earth. It made him angry, but then he saw you for the first time in who knows how long, and he found it impossible to be angry at you. But then he looked at Jerry, who was walking next to you, and that's when he got angry.

It was then that he realized he liked you.

"I'm surprised you were free today," he says now, walking with you through the woods. You thought it'd be fun to explore.

"What do you mean?" you ask, crouching down to look at a nearby fox. It scampers off, and you stand to look at him.

He shrugs. "You've been... busy lately."

"With?"

"Jerry," he practically mumbles.

You nudge him, amused. "What do you have against Jerry? He's my boyfriend." You frown. "I suppose I have been spending a lot of time with him, though. I'm sorry if I've been ignoring you."

Gilbert immediately feels guilty, and he's mad that he can't be mad at you for being so nice and apologetic. "No, it's fine. I just..."

He pauses for so long that you say, "You just what?"

"I..." If he doesn't say anything, he's just going to continue being jealous and feeling guilty about it, and it might actually start driving a wedge between you. He sighs. "This whole 'just friends' thing isn't exactly working for me."

You stop. "What-?"

"I like you, Y/N. Like... the way Jerry likes you." He says it almost bitterly.

"Gil..." you trail off. "I... I don't like you like that."

"I know-"

"I'm sorry. I-I like Jerry." You shake your head a little, actually starting to tear up. "I'm so sorry."

"You don't have to apologize for that," Gilbert says. He might start crying, too. "I just wanted you to know."

"W-Well, we can still be friends, if you want. And I'll spend with more time with you, because I really have been spending too much time with him. And I won't mention him at all when we're together."

Gilbert laughs a little, shaking his head. "Even now, when I've just told you I have feelings for you when you have a boyfriend... you're still being kind. Gosh, you make it hard not to like you."

"I'm... sorry?"

"Don't be," he says. "Really. If you're happy with Jerry, that's all I can ask for."

"Well, I want you to be happy, too."

"I will be. I'll get over it."

Eventually, he did. And, years later, you're the reason he tells Anne Shirley he has feelings for her.

Jerry -
You became friends with Anne when she first came to Avonlea. It didn't take long for you to become inseparable. This means that you spend a lot of time at Green Gables.

There's no problem with that, seeing as Marilla and Matthew like you. Their farmhand, Jerry, however, likes you a little too much. This annoys Anne to no end, but it gets even worse for her when she finds out you like him a little too much, too.

"How can you like him?" Anne asks you one night. You're sitting in her room, having a sleepover.

You grin, laying back on her bed. "How could I not?"

"Gross," Anne replies. "He's so annoying."

"To you." You look up at her. "Besides, I don't make fun of you for liking Gilbert."

"I do not like Gilbert!" she shouts, causing her eyes to widen as she covers her mouth immediately after. You're holding in laughter, trying to be quiet so you can hear if she woke up Marilla and/or Matthew. When you hear nothing after a few moments, you burst out laughing.

"Quiet," Anne hushes you, also laughing. As you calm, wiping tears from your eyes, she says, "Anyway, as I was saying-"

"You supposedly 'don't' like Gilbert?"

"No," she says. "You like Jerry. And if you date him, I just might die."

You roll your eyes playfully. "Oh, come on, Anne."

"I'm serious," she says. "He's awful. My best friend cannot date my fourth worst enemy."

"Fourth?" you ask, sitting up a little.

She starts counting off on her fingers. "One is Gilbert, two is Josie, and three is Billy."

"Gilbert is higher than Josie?"

"She hasn't bothered me in a while."

You laugh a little. "Goodness gracious, Anne." You sigh. "Alright, fine. Jerry and I will be just friends. Not as if he likes me anyway."

After that, you go back to teasing her about Gilbert, then talking about school. The next morning, as Anne is walking with you out of Green Gables, she notices Jerry watching from inside the barn. She glares at him, but he speaks anyway. "Y/N!"

You stop and turn, heading back towards the barn. Anne groans, following anyway. When you reach him, she asks, "What do you want?"

"Nothing from you," he replies. He turns to you. "Leaving so soon?"

"Mother wants me home to help with lunch," you reply.

"What a shame."

"A crying one at that."

He smiles. "I'll see you some other time, then, belle?"

You grin, blushing. Your grin turns into a slight smirk. "Yes, you will, beau."

Anne rolls her eyes as you leave. She looks over at you. "What was that?"

"Only a bit of fun, Anne," you reply, but you're still blushing.

When she gets back, she marches straight into the barn. "What is wrong with you?"

Jerry's still smiling from your interaction. He looks up. "What?"

"What is wrong with you?" Anne repeats. "You were flirting with my best friend right in front of me!"

"Well, you could've left."

Her face is red in anger. "Or you could leave Y/N alone. I can't have you dating my best friend — I can't!"

"What if I want to date her?"

"I don't care! Just friends, that's it. Got it?"

Jerry rolls his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say."

Anne leaves the barn, satisfied.

A few days later, you enter it, looking for Jerry. In that past days between your sleepover and now, you've talked to him a few times, but always about nothing and always with Anne present.

Well, right now, she's inside, knowing you're coming over, but unaware that you're outside talking to Jerry, who smiles when he sees you. "Bonjour."

"Bonjour," you reply, smiling, too.

"Does Anne know you're here?" he asks.

"Of course not. She'd be furious."

He chuckles. "Well, she told me that we could be 'just friends'. Just friends can talk to each other, no?"

"Oh, so she had that conversation with you, too?" you reply. If anything, you're amused.

"Yes, she did," he says, amused as well.

You walk closer to him. "Well, about that..." You sigh. "This whole 'just friends' thing isn't exactly working for me."

He grins. "It's not working for me, either."

You grin back. "Glad to hear it, beau."