Hello, friends! Sorry for the absence! It's crazy how life never really slows down. I should pay more heed to the iconic words of Ferris Bueller ;)

I hope you all enjoy this new story of mine. It's in a different vein than my other stories, and I'm very excited to see where this goes!

Until extremely recently, Gilbert Blythe never had so much trouble choosing between chicken or beef. Mostly, Gilbert was reassuringly calm and confident, a valuable attribute for a prospective surgeon. Making practical decisions under pressure had always been his strong suit; yet, here he was, staring at a slip of card stock and completely unable to decide.

Chicken or beef?

Gil's heart tightened painfully as his eyes skimmed the card's delicate script. She had to know this was killing him; she had to know how cruel she was. Was she that naive? How could she possibly expect him to come?

Apparently, she did, and he found himself in a similar line of thought. Gil couldn't think of a reason to decline; at least, a reason that would withstand the barrage of question he would receive. He was already going to be in town for the wedding. His mother wouldn't hear of him sulking in his room during the weekend of the wedding. And he dare not disappoint the gossips of Avonlea by not attending. He was cornered; he could already feel the stares of whole town.

"This is ridiculous," Gil muttered. "I'm being ridiculous."

Gil sighed. His life had been on a downhill spiral since his sophomore year of college. Since graduation, rock bottom was rapidly approaching, and Gil was bracing himself for the messy impact that was surely Anne's wedding.

He pushed back from the kitchen table in his tiny apartment and paced the mottled linoleum.

So much of his life had balanced on Anne's presence, and all of his future seemed desolate without her. But he couldn't seem to blame her. Gilbert knew he was responsible for his own choices, his own future, and his own happiness, but without Anne, his life seemed bleak. And he couldn't help but admire her. He envied the way her happiness could exist without him. Anne had moved on, and his life seemed on pause.

And he couldn't even decide between proteins.

And Anne was marrying Roy Gardiner.

Life was finding new and exciting ways to make him feel completely, awfully out of control.

"Get it together," Gil said, striding towards the table and picking up his pen.

Gil felt his confidence clicking into place again as he checked the box next to chicken. Relief washed over him, and for a few seconds, rock bottom seemed distant.

But then he knew the worst was hardly over, and he had only a few months to build up his strength.

"Kill me now," Gil muttered, as he brought his forehead to rest on the table. "This is even making me hate chicken."