Work Text:
Gilbert removed his headphones to try to identify what sound was emanating from under his bedroom door. Junior year, third quarter, midterms, an academic stress point on his whole high school career, papers to write and outlines to prepare and key terms to drill, and he couldn’t study because there was…music? Coming from…downstairs somewhere.
He padded down the stairs in his socked feet and hoodie, as it became quickly clear to him that the music was coming from the kitchen. And if he actually recognized the voice and the beat the way he thought he did, he was fairly sure who was the culprit. Despite all odds, the only person he knew who had more papers to write, outlines to prepare, key terms to drill than he did, not to mention the newspaper articles to edit and photographs to sort through.
He turned the corner and saw exactly who he expected -- Anne Shirley.
It appeared that as much as she loved outlines and papers and articles, she loved the Chocolate Puma Remix of Janelle Monae’s “Dance Apocalyptic” even more. And the only person who loved that song more than her was Delly, who called it “bouncy song! Play bouncy song!” and insisted Anne played it whenever she came over. She bounced up and down with Delly’s chubby three year old legs finding the beat, standing on a kitchen chair holding Anne’s hands in each of her own.
Gilbert hung back in the corner and surveyed the chaos in front of him: the sights of smeared chocolate and spilled flour, the smells of cookies in the oven, the feel of the warm kitchen, and the sugar crunch of the buttery dough that he dutifully and silently opened his mouth for as Mary walked by on her way to the fridge.
As the song reached its conclusion, he asserted his presence by theatrically booming “Good grief, how long have I been upstairs in my cave?”
Delly squealed as Anne lifted her off the chair to the floor and she ran to him. “Gilberrrrrt! M’Anne played the bounce song!”
“I heard!” He picked her up and swung her over to one hip, leaving one arm free to give Anne’s shoulders a squeeze, “In fact, I could hear from all the way upstairs.”
Anne looked up at him, talking too low for Delly to hear “Did we interrupt your studying?”
“That’s like asking if you interrupted my breathing, like, technically yes, but I’m probably better for it,” he said low, then directed his question back to Delly, gesturing at Anne “But seriously, how long has she been here?”
“Long time,” Delly said solemnly with wide eyes.
“And why, do you think, did she not come up and say hi to me?”
Affronted, Anne sputtered a reply that he cut off with a ‘say no more’ hand.
Delly replied, with a characteristic giggle, “Waiting for cookies!”
Gil spun to Anne, ‘whoosh’ing Delly around in a half-circle, “You were going to stay down here and hide from me until the cookies were done?!”
“It seemed like a great plan!” Anne defended.
“Just tell me the truth. I can take it.” Gilbert wailed, back of his hand dramatically against his forehead, “You like Delly more than me. You want to be her best friend.”
Delly laughed and wriggled down to the floor to go over and hug Anne’s legs.
“You got me! It’s true!” Anne said, affectionately patting Delly’s braids. “I came over to see Delly and Mary. I actually forgot you lived here.”
“No, you didn’t!” Delly yelled.
“Okay,” Anne reached down and tickled her, “I was kidding.”
“You’re silly!” Delly screeched and writhed.
And boom, Gilbert was hit by it again, the urge to kiss Anne on her smiling, freckled cheek. The impulse was becoming alarmingly frequent but was quickly dispatched by planting one on Delly’s head instead as he grabbed her away from the tickling. “Anne, will you please play ‘Under The Sea,’” he said, mock formal. “I believe we have three more minutes until the cookies come out of the oven. I would like to dance with my niece.”
Anne complied immediately and then, just as he knew she would, joined them in the middle of the kitchen, dragging Mary into the dance party until the timer dinged, all of them fish dancing and spinning and muddling the lyrics in a loud, chaotic muss. The party didn’t stop until all the cookies were baked, a fair amount of them consumed, and Anne gracefully carried a plate of cookies (and cheese and ham and crackers) upstairs while Gilbert trudged under the weight of her backpack so they could study in his room until midnight.
Key terms learned: new deal, franklin d roosevelt, herbert hoover, hooverville, glass steagall act, civilian conservation corps, public works administration, tennessee valley authority…..golden brown, crisp, remix, dance party, bouncey song, semi sweet chocolate, warm, love, home.