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Victoria managed to sneak out of the house just in time for her meeting. Victoria had changed from her black dress and into a purple one though she scolded herself for not taking a coat.

It took her some time to arrive, as she had to walk by foot but when she finally arrived, she saw Gilbert waiting for her on the porch.

Gilbert's head quickly shot up when he heard her shuffling in the snow and instantly got worried when he noted her lack of coat.

"Why didn't you bring a coat?" Gilbert called out as he took off his jacket and met her half-way. "I forgot, it wasn't my brightest moment," Victoria mumbled and got warmer from the blood in her cheeks as soon as Gilbert draped his jacket over her shoulders.

"Follow me." Victoria followed Gilbert inside the house and quickly gave out a satisfied smile when she felt the warm fire.

"Do your parents know you're here?" Gilbert said after a pregnant pause. Although he knew Victoria had nothing to do with it, he couldn't deny that it was hard to mention her parents. It just didn't seem fair that Victoria had two parents with her, who loved her deeply while he no longer had one.

"No. I climbed out of the window. Though to be fair I think they would have allowed me to come here." Victoria thought out loud as she realized how ridiculous it was to sneak out of the window. "Leave it up to you to add the dramatics," Gilbert said fondly with a weak smile.

"Have you been alone for a long time?" Victoria asked, looking at the table filled with empty plates. "An hour or so. Do you want to sit down?" Gilbert asked and Victoria quickly took his offer.

Things were slightly awkward in the air, as Victoria had no idea how to proceed in situations like these. She turned towards Gilbert and reached out for his hand to link their fingers together. She figured out that maybe a distraction would be good in these times. "What did you want to talk about?" Victoria asked softly, causing Gilbert to look away from their linked hands.

Looking up at her, he saw how prettier she was like the light from the fire illuminated her face. "I-I don't know where to start-"

Gilbert took a deep breath. "Do you remember that time we talked about the future? How you'd like to travel?" Victoria nodded. "Yes, though I have no idea what this has to do with it."

"I want to do that, travel the world. I've got no strings to hold me back and frankly I need time to clear my head. And I want you to join me." Gilbert said at a rapid pace. His confession caused her eyes to open wide and she pointed at herself with her free hand.

"Me?" Victoria gasped out. "It's not like there's anyone here in this house," Gilbert said bitterly. The house was never so silent. "Gilbert, I do appreciate you wanting me to join-" Victoria started. All hope vanished from Gilbert's face. "But you can't. " He pulled his hand free and stood up, walking closer to the fire.

"I knew you would decline. I just thought that there might be a chance, even if it was small, that you might say yes." Gilbert said, refusing to look into her eyes as he pulled his hand away from her grasp.

"I'm so sorry," Victoria apologized. "Don't apologize, Vic. I get it." Gilbert said, his voice turning more bitter with each word. "I don't think you do otherwise you wouldn't be so offended. I can't just drop everything and leave, my parents wouldn't even allow me." Victoria replied trying to keep her voice steady.

"Well, not everyone has parents that hold them back," Gilbert stated in a monotonous tone.

Victoria sighed, she moved closer as she tried to regain the distance between them. "I get that you're hurting, and I'm not judging you, but don't take it out on me. And you're right I shouldn't apologize because I have nothing to be sorry for. You asked me something and although I wanted to say yes, I had to decline. So don't bite my head off because my answer wasn't to your liking."

Silence danced around them, the firewood crackling helped fill the void a bit. "You're right, " Gilbert finally said, hesitantly trying to meet her eyes. "I completely understand your reasons and I'm the one who should be sorry. It's just that I'm not in a good place right now."

"Of course you're not, excuse my bluntness but you just lost your father. And no one expects you to just snap out of it, you need some time to grieve, and we- I understand that." Victoria continued. She entrapped his hand through hers once again and much to her relief, he didn't pull back or anything as she caressed the back of his hand with her thumb.

"I just don't know what to do now. How I'm going to have to continue on." Gilbert added, his voice cracking slightly. "Take your time, nobody is going to rush you. And if you want to go travel, then who am I to stop you." Victoria said.

Gilbert cracked a smile. "That eager to get rid of me, huh?" Victoria laughed at that. "You've got no clue. But I want you to be happy, and if leaving the town is what it takes then go for it."

Gilbert cleared his throat at that statement. "And what if I say that you make me happy?" Victoria felt some heat rushing through her. "Then I would think that you're either too sweet or total nutter. Or both."

"I don't know when I'll leave and even though you won't join me, I hope that you'll take my offer a few years from now." Gilbert offered. A soft grin lit up Victoria's face. "I will, you can hold onto that."

Victoria then reached out and started pushing back the locks of hair to get stuck on his forehead. "You need to sleep, the bags under your eyes don't do your handsome face any favours."

"Don't leave me, " Gilbert whispered. "At least not until a bit later, please." Victoria nodded. "I can do that."

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Turns out, Victoria stayed at Gilbert's for far longer than she initially for. She woke up with a slight headache and panicked slightly when she noticed she wasn't in her bed.

She calmed down when she realised where she exactly was. With a yawn, she sat upright on the couch which she quickly cut off when she saw the time on the clock.

"Bullocks!" Victoria got off the couch only to step on Gilbert which she didn't notice was still there. "OUCH!" Gilbert shouted when Victoria stepped on his leg.

"Sorry! I have to go, it appears that I've accidentally slept. Why didn't you wake me??" Did she ask quickly putting on her shoes? "Because I was sleeping as well. Besides its barely six, I'm sure you can sneak back in." Gilbert reasoned as he watched her moving around in a state of panic.

"You don't get it, father wakes up super early, it's a habit he has had since back in England. I'm a dead woman." She got the door and almost opened it before turning back and wrapping her arms around Gilbert.

Gilbert didn't hesitate to wrap his arms as well as he buried his face on her disastrous curly hair. "If you are going to leave, don't do it without saying goodbye," Victoria muttered slightly inaudible.

"I wouldn't dream of it. Now go, you better hurry up and if you get in trouble, feel free to blame it on me." Gilbert added, handing her his coat for the cold. After Victoria put his large jacket, she leaned in to kiss his cheek.

"Goodbye, Gilbert Blythe." She said, walking towards the door. Gilbert felt his smile drop as he watched her walk away and then leave the house.

"Cheerio, Victoria Edwards."

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As soon as the door closed, Victoria started sprinting towards her house, knowing that despite her efforts she'll most likely fail.

"King Edward please have mercy on my soul..." Victoria mumbled as she removed the black undone ribbon from her hair.

Victoria's heart started to beat frantically when she saw her father in the snow with Neightan, most likely about to go on a search for her.

When he saw her, Benedict didn't know whether to hug her or yell at her. Unfortunately, he chose the latter.

"Where have you been?! I was worried sick! Do you know how I felt when I saw your bed empty in the morning? I thought someone took you or- or- or- that you ran away. Your mother is having a panic attack and Edward started weeping!" Benedict shrieked as he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to the house, both forgetting Neightan.

"I'm sorry, father-" Victoria started. Benedict stopped and glared at her. "All you have to say is sorry? You should be glad that I'm nothing like your grandfather because if I did what you did, you would be bruised for weeks."

Victoria's eyes started tearing while not being able to look at him. "I didn't mean to worry you. It's just things didn't go to plan."

"You went to the Blythe boy, right?" He asked, eyeing the coat. "Great fires of London, what did you do with him? You're too young, Victoria!" Victoria felt the heat rise up to her face and finally, she met his eyes. "What? I haven't done anything... Inappropriate! I swear you have to believe me."

Benedict sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I believe you. I was just terrified that he might have taken advantage of you. Look give me that coat." Victoria took it off though she wasn't sure why.

"I'm going to hide this from your mother. It's best that she doesn't know, you know she's a lot harder to persuade. This doesn't mean that you're leaving out of this unscathed." Benedict stated, folding the jacket and placing it underneath his arm.

He opened the door and shouted before leaving towards the shed. "Caroline, darling! She came back!"

Victoria was never more grateful towards her father although the thought left when she heard her mother sprinting down the stairs and then shout.

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Victoria was grounded until two weeks before Christmas. She was told to go straight home after school and not go meet up with Anne, Diana and Ruby in the weekend.

She also couldn't see Gilbert again as he was no longer attending school.

"Can you stop reading and come play in the snow?" Edward huffed as he jumped onto Victoria's bed. Victoria closed 'Great Expectations' and sighed. "You know that they're not allowing me."

"But they're not here right now! We can even ice skate if you want to, I'm willing to take that compromise." Edward said. "Only two more days Eddie, only two. How about you tell me what you're hoping to get for Christmas?" Victoria asked, trying to change the subject as she reopened her book.

"A name change."

Victoria snorted at that. Just then they heard a knock. "Maybe its mama and papa," Edward stated. Victoria shook her head. "Codswallop, they have a key after all. Better not keep them waiting."

The door got knocked on twice more while Victoria and Edward were going down the stairs. By the third time, she was getting annoyed. She opened the door, ready to face the annoying stranger. Instead, she faced her annoying older brother!"

"Hamilton!" Victoria gasped while Edward went to bear hug his leg. "Merry Christmas! Where can I set this down?" Hamilton asked referring to the large box in his hands. He didn't wait for an answer and instead placed it on the floor and kicked it aside with his free leg.

"Those are gifts, well some of them, I got some clothes with me. Eddie, please let go of my leg, I want to hug you and Tori properly, please." Hamilton stated as he tried to shake his brother off his leg.

Edward let go off his leg and then immediately jumped into his arms. "Woah there you, plonker, you've gotten heavy here," Hamilton stated with a laugh. When Edward let go he then opened his arms and Victoria didn't hesitate to hug her older brother.

"Don't get confused about this, I definitely didn't miss you," Victoria muttered, her face buried into the fabric of his coat. "I can see that clearly." He replied sarcastically.

Everything seemed right, as everything should when the Edwards' sibling are together.

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