Put your lips next to mine, dear

Won't you kiss me once, baby?

Just a kiss goodnight, maybe

You and I will fall in love

Gilbert woke up with a start, breathing out heavily as he sat up. His eyes darted around, realising he was only in his bedroom. He shook his head, rubbing his face tiredly before getting up, slipping a shirt on as he made his way towards the kitchen, yawning loudly. Bash looked up from feeding his daughter Delphine, chuckling at the sight of Gilbert's messy curls as he made his way to get some coffee. "You slept in late. I think you've got some drool on your chin."

Gilbert wiped his chin unconsciously, narrowing his eyes at Bash when he laughed at him for falling for it. "I just got up, give me a few minutes to wake up." Bash chuckled, shaking his head without realising. He left his daughter in the crib, remembering as he picked up an old wooden box from under the table. "I found this the other day when I was cleaning around." Gilbert turned around, his eyes flashing with recognition as his hands went to the box.

"It's been ages since I've opened this." Bash looked at him curiously, wondering what got this boy in such a trance. "Well then, open it." Gilbert escaped his trance, shaking his head as he wrapped his arms around the heavy box. "I'm going to, in my room, alone." he muttered, as Bash grinned, crossing his arms over his chest. "Aren't you gonna tell me what there is inside?"

Gilbert shook his head, leaving the kitchen. "Nope." he popped his lips at the sound of the 'p'. "Blythe, your coffee!" Bash called out, making Gilbert come back inside, grab his coffee and leave again. Bash shook his head in amusement, looking at Delphine's curious eyes. "What are we going to do about that boy, Deli?"

Gilbert entered his room, closing the door behind him. He set the box on the floor, grabbing the key from one of the drawers. The key was old and rusty, but it managed to open the lock. He stared at him, opening it slowly. He knew what it contained. In it he kept special objects he had found over the years, most of them containing memories of his friendship with Amelia.

At the top of the box laid a worn-out yellow kite, a ripped hole in the middle. He smiled, remembering this. It was in the early stages of their friendship, when she used to ignore him and he left her favourite green apples on her school desk every morning. He had been walking down to the train station through the fields and he saw her standing there, trying to get her kite down from a tree.

"Miss, do you need any help?" the younger Amelia turned around, frowning when she saw it was Gilbert. "No, I'm perfectly able to handle this." she huffed, pulling again at the kite with no success. She blushed softly, avoiding his gaze as she tried again. He got closer, taking oh his satchel as he leaned it against the tree. "I won't charge you for it." the corner of her lips tugger upwards as she rolled her eyes, nodding.

Gilbert was soon up the tree, nearly slipping on one of the branches. "Careful." she shouted below him as he grinned at the fact she was worried he'd fall. "Not my first rodeo miss." he could imagine her rolling her eyes at him again. He grabbed the kite and managed to disentangle it from the leaves. He climbed down, frowning slightly at the kite. "I'm afraid it's ripped."

The young blonde pouted, but shrugged. "Never mind then." she dismissed, but Gilbert saw in her eyes that she was disappointed. He turned the kite in his hands, looking at the hole. "I can try and fix it..." he suggested, but the hole was too ripped. She shook her head, smiling gratefully at him. "It's beyond repair anyway...you can keep it if you'd like."

The boy with the curly hair nodded, not wanting to throw it away. "I'd best be on my way, miss. I've got a train to catch." she nodded, stuffing her hands in the pockets of her dress. "You know, I've got a name." she said, lifting her chin lightly as she dared him to defy her.

"Well I've got one to, so when you decide to call me by it at school, I'll call you by your name." Amelia turned red, frowning slightly as Gilbert grinned at the idea of leaving her perplexed. He adjusted the satchel onto his bag, giving the blonde a toothless grin. "I'll see you around." he said, tilting his hat.

He shook his head, laughing lightly as he remember how stubborn Amelia had been before giving in and becoming his friend. He wondered where he'd be if he hadn't insisted so much for her friendship. But something had told him in that moment that it would turn into something precious. And it did.

He put the kite to a side, peering in the box to see its contents. There was a few stacks of old letters, from when Gilbert had gone travelling, and notes that they had both passed secretly in class. He widened his eyes, not remembering that he had kept that old music box for all this time. He opened it, the lid creaking but the slow ballet music came to life. It had been a week before the Christmas pantomine, and the school had given everyone a small music box. But his had broken at school, and Amelia had given him hers.

A younger blonde smiled shyly, stretching out her arms as she handed him her music box. Gilbert furrowed his eyebrows, hesitating to pick it up. "What are you doing?" he asked with a smile, his eyes never leaving her face. She blushed, scratching the back of her neck as she shrugged. "You looked very disappointed when you saw yours had broken, so...here's mine." he opened his mouth in surprise, before closing it again.

"But it's yours! Don't you want it?" she shook her head. "No. Besides, I know you'll look after it better than me." she said nonchalantly, but he could tell she was lying because she tucked a lock of her blonde hair behind her left ear, a habit he had picked up. He picked her music box, looking at it fascinated. "Thanks." he muttered, before grinning widely at her.

"Who knew you were such a kind soul?" she laughed, returning his side hug as she shrugged, making it seem his words hadn't filled her with pride. "Maybe it's just you who I'm kind to."

He closed the music box, making the song end abruptly as he set it away on his desk, making a mental note to gift it to Delphine for her first birthday. He looked through the box again, picking up paintbrushes he had stolen from Amelia, or a ribbon she once dropped and never found again, and he had never admitted he had found it and kept it all this time.

Then, inside a fragile glass jar stood a dandelion, with a hollow stem and the round seed head still intact. This was probably the most recent, from when he and the youngest Covey had spent a summer's day on the fields, and they had found a group of white dandelions.

Amelia tugged on the sleeve of his jacket, making his gaze slip over as he stared at the spot Amelia pointed at. "Look Gil, dandelions!" she locked her hand in his, pulling him alone as his chest vibrated in laughter, adoration in his eyes as he stared at the growing girl's excitement. He plopped next to her on the grass, their hands leaning close to each other as they brushed, his gaze not separating from her face.

The blonde tugged two dandelions from the ground, handing her best friend one of them before she linked their arms together, a big smile on her face. "On the count of three we blow on the dandelions." Gilbert furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What for?"

"For a wish silly!" she laughed, shaking her head, making her short blonde hair move with the soft summer's breeze. "One...two...go!" they both blowed at the same time, before the small thin white petals blow away, moving slowly towards a far, far away. "What did you wish for?" Gilbert asked the girl, making her shake her head, sushing him. "I can't tell you, or it won't come true."

And to this day, Gilbert remembered he had wished to spend the rest of his life next to Amelia's.

He set down the jar, the smile fading of his face as a look of realisation flashed on his face. He quickly tugged on a jacket, choosing a hat before dashing out of the door. "I'm going to Winnifred's!" he shouted to Bash, speeding down the stairs of his porch.

Only 5 chapters left, what the hellllllll

also i'm aware this is a boring chapter but it is NECESSARY

these flashbacks are one for every season, different stages

of their friendship

is anyone interested in joining an instagram

groupchat to meet new people?

decided to make some questions for fun!

-favourite flashback of this chapter?

-what do you think about gilbert's box?

-what will gilbert say to winnifred?

-can you see a reference to my favourite movie?