"Oh, come on! Why is this so hard?"

Darwin awoke from his afternoon nap when he heard whimpering not far away from him. Slowly opening his eyes and allowing them to adjust to the dim light of the room, he looked around and saw his brother Gumball leaned over his desk. He seemed to be writing.

Squeezing out of his fishbowl, the young fish walked up to his feline companion, visibly curious about what he was doing. He saw him in a nervous state, biting his lip and tapping his pen on a blank page of lined paper. He also saw several balls of crumbled paper around him. Whatever he was doing, he was having a hard time at it.

"Whatcha doin'?" he asked, making Gumball jump in his chair.

"Darwin, don't sneak up on me like that!" Gumball exclaimed, grasping his chest. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry, I just wanted to see what you were doing."

"Well, if you must know…" he grabbed some written papers on his desk and arranged them, turning his chair around to face his brother. "…I'm writing poetry."

The thought of his brother writing poetry struck Darwin as extremely humorous, having to muffle a laugh by covering his mouth with his fins. Gumball just glared at him, an outraged expression on his face.

"What's so funny?" he asked, visibly upset.

"I'm sorry, it's just…" he managed to say between his muffled chuckles. "…I never pictured YOU writing poetry."

"Well, I am. I want to give Penny a card for her birthday, and I figured if I write a poem inside she'll like it even more."

"OK, OK…" he calmed down, taking a deep breath. "So what've you got so far?"

Gumball crossed his legs and stood up straight, making himself look important, cleared his throat and brought his papers to his eye level.

"'Penny, oh Penny. You are one like not many.'" He recited with a smile across his face, gesticulating with every verse. "'You are the sun after the moon is gone. You are a karate chop made after the gong. You are the high score on a videogame, a picture in a brand new frame. It's your beauty that betrays you, your smile gives you away. 'Cause you're made of strength and mercy, and my soul is yours to save.'"

He finished with a sigh and looked down at his little brother expectantly, who was looking at him with a quizzical look on his face.

"So, what do you think?" he asked with a wide grin. Darwin patted his chin, trying to find words to describe what he had just heard.

"Well…"

At first he thought about just pretending that he had liked his brother's poem, but his conscience wouldn't allow it, and he knew he deserved to know the truth. Sighing in defeat, he looked at Gumball with a serious look on his face.

"I gotta be honest with you: that was terrible. All you did was compare her to random everyday things, and I'm pretty sure the last verses are song lyrics. Sorry." He folded his fins behind his back, looking down to avoid eye contact with Gumball.

The blue cat's grin had dropped into a frown with the disappointment caused by Darwin's words. He looked angrily at him, wanting to yell at him and call him the worst names he could think of, but instead just turned around in his chair and continued writing.

"Well, what do you know?" he commented, holding back his fury. "It's not like you have a girlfriend to write poetry to."

That comment hit Darwin hard in his feelings. He was right, he didn't have a girlfriend. He hadn't had one in a long time. Heck, he had almost forgotten what it was like to have someone to care about in a deep emotional level.

Feeling now sad and hurt, he sighed and turned to leave the room.

"You're right, I don't…" he whispered right before exiting his and Gumball's bedroom, leaving the feline with his poetry.

"Hmmm… What rhymes with 'orange'?" Gumball thought out loud, long after his brother was gone.

Darwin sat motionless on the living room couch, absent-mindedly watching a rerun of 'La Casa de las Lágrimas' as he battled with his bottled-up feelings, staring at the screen as he watched the lead female character cry in front of who he assumed was her husband.

"Pedro, ¿cómo pudiste hacerme esto a mí?!" ("Pedro, how could you do this to me?!") she shouted between her sobs.

"Consuela, por favor, perdóname! No significaba nada, lo juro!" ("Consuela, please forgive me! It meant nothing, I swear!") he said, grabbing her by her arms and trying to calm her down.

"Después de todo lo que hice por ti ... No quiero volver a verte de nuevo!" ("After everything I did for you... I never want to see you again!") she spat on his face, releasing herself from his grasp.

"Don't waste your tears, Consuela." Darwin said to the TV, sadness apparent in his voice. "He's not worth it."

"Something bothering you, Darwin?"

He turned to his left to see his little sister Anais just standing there beside him, holding a sandwich on a plate with a sympathetic look on her face. He turned away from her and sighed.

"Yeah, but you wouldn't understand." He said, turning the TV off. Anais took a seat next to him on the couch.

"Try me." She told him, taking a bite out of her sandwich as Darwin turned his attention to her once again.

"It's kind of complicated…" he started, trying to sum up what he was going through in just a few words. "You see… I'm happy that Gumball is getting along with Penny so well, but… I don't know, I guess I just wished I had someone to love who loves me back as well, you know?"

"So, you're lovesick."

"I guess you could say that…" he sighed again, sinking in his seat. "None of the girls I've liked like me anymore. Rachel's in High School and she completely lost interest in me. Carrie didn't like it when I kissed her on Halloween, Masami hates me for some reason… and I'm not even gonna mention what happened with GumballOopsEggWobbleUnderpants."

"Yeah, don't remind me." Anais muttered under her breath. She placed a hand on her depressed brother's shoulder. "Look Darwin, you're a really sweet guy. Any girl would be lucky to have you! And I know you'll find the right one sooner or later."

"You really think so?" Darwin asked with a faint smile, to which Anais nodded. He wrapped his fins around her and held her in a hug. "Thanks, Anais."

"My pleasure." She replied as she hugged him back.

"Oh, there you are!"

The two hugging siblings looked up behind them to the top of the stair case to see Gumball looking down at them with a frown. They quickly separated themselves from each other as he came down the stairs, his fists balled up as if he was about to throw a punch to the nearest living being.

"I've got something to say to you!" Gumball threatened, pointing a finger at Darwin.

"I'll leave you two alone." Declared Anais, hopping off of the couch and heading towards the kitchen. Gumball took her seat and crossed his arms against his chest.

"Look, I didn't like what you said about my poem, but I'm an artist now, and artists need to learn how to take criticism. So I forgive you." He finished with a smile.

Darwin's eyes widened. He forgives him? He FORGIVES HIM?! He had done nothing other than to point out the obvious! How self-centered could he get? But then again, this was no surprise. His brother could come out as nice and somewhat compassionate towards the ones around him, but on the inside he could be one of the most arrogant person he had ever met.

He was about to tell him off for that, but restrained himself and just scowled as he crossed his fins.

"Sure, whatever." He grumbled, looking away from him.

"What's up with you?" Gumball asked, raising a brow at his brother as he noticed his rotten mood.

"Nothing."

"Awww… is Mister Grumpy Gills upset?" he teased him, poking his puffy cheek. "Don't worry, buddy. I know just what will cheer you up!"

Moments later they were at the park. Gumball was getting ready to throw a Frisbee at Darwin, who was standing a few feet away from him, still with a frown and his fins crossed.

"OK buddy, you ready?" he asked his brother, getting no reply from him. "Catch!"

He threw the disc with all his might, which hit Darwin right on the forehead. He didn't move; he didn't even flinch. He just remained motionless and grouchy, only blinking at the moment of impact.

"Aw come on, man! What's wrong with you?" Gumball asked as he approached his aquatic buddy. "You love throwing Frisbees!"

"No, YOU love throwing Frisbees!" he finally spoke up, pointing at him. "This is what happens every time! You say you're going to cheer me up, but instead of doing something I like, we always end up doing something YOU like!"

"Well excuse me, but it's not my fault all the things you like are BORING!" Gumball shouted back at his brother.

Darwin felt his blood boil inside him as his anger grew. He wanted to slap some sense into Gumball, but turned his back to him and started walking in the opposite direction before he did something he would regret later.

"You can just go home without me. I'm walking alone!" he stomped off, feeling his forehead muscles tighten.

"Fine! Be that way!" Gumball shouted again, turning away and crossing his arms.

Suddenly he noticed that everybody was heading towards the park's exit. Pulling up his sleeve and looking down at his wristwatch, he saw that the park was going to close in ten minutes.

"Hey, Dar – " Gumball turned to warn Darwin that the park was closing, but he was gone.

Darwin was walking on a side of the park he didn't know existed. He figured he must've taken a wrong turn, because he didn't see anything familiar. The sun was setting, and the almost absent light made it look like one of the creepiest places on the planet, intimidating shadows dancing around him and the occasional owl making itself be heard. Anger turned into fear as the young fish looked around, trying to find his way out.

"Gee, I-I've never been to this side of the park before…" he trembled, shivers running up his spine. "M-maybe I shou – "

His monologue was interrupted when his foot accidentally got caught in something big and hard, making him fall onto the grass face-first. Rolling over and sitting, the fish rubbed his now sore face as he looked at what had made him trip, and due to the dim light of sun, all he could make out was a silhouette of what seemed to be an overgrown tail fin. At first he thought he was just witnessing an optical illusion, but was immediately convinced otherwise when it suddenly started moving.

Darwin let out a frightened shriek and quickly got on his knees to make a run for it in the opposite direction.

"Help…me…"

He froze as he heard that plead, and turned around to see it had come from whatever that thing was. The voice was raspy and the creature seemed to be breathless, but he easily recognized it as being female. Taking a look at the barely visible tail fin, he realized that the aquatic creature was dying due to being out of water. He also realized that they were close to a pond, so it must have somehow gotten out and couldn't get back in.

Springing into action, he placed himself in on the side of the creature and started pushing it towards the pond, making it roll in front of him. He had to struggle and make a big effort to lead the creature where he wanted; it was heavier than he had thought.

Finally reaching the edge of the pond, he gave it one final push and it fell into the water with a loud splash. Sighing and wiping sweat from his forehead, he looked down at the water and wondered what he had just saved, and had just turned around to leave when he heard another splash. Turning back towards the water, his eyes widened in amazement of what was before him.

Due to the fact that the sunlight was now completely gone, all he could see was another silhouette. He couldn't tell what it was, but this one was looking right at him, and he knew this because he could see its eyes. It's big, hypnotizing emerald eyes. Those were the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen.

Darwin didn't want to leave. He just wanted to stay there and watch those mesmerizing eyes as they stared right back at him, almost feeling like they were luring him towards them. But his trance was interrupted by the sound of panting approaching him.

"There… there you are!" Gumball exclaimed, grabbing his brother's fin and stopping for a minute to catch his breath. "Come on, the park is closing."

He pulled him by his fin, dragging him towards the park's exit. Darwin looked back at the pond, but the creature was gone. He couldn't get those eyes out of his mind. They seemed… out of the ordinary, as if they were special in some way. And the moment the two had their gazes locked with each other he had felt something different. Something mind-numbingly intense in a deep emotional level. Something he hadn't felt in a long time.

He had felt love.

AUTHOR'S NOTE (PLEASE READ)

Aaaaaand... here's another cliffhanger. Ain't I a stinker? xD

Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. It took me a while to get it right.

I'll try to update every week, but I must warn you: I am a very busy person.

And pardon my Spanish. I had to use the Google Translator. xD

PS: whoever guesses which song Gumball used on his poem gets to have a private chat with me about whatever you want (as long as it's kosher). ;)