Carrie stared after him, the smile refusing to leave her face. She turned back to her car's trunk and put a hand on the bumper, until it fell off the little car. "Crap…" Carrie muttered and dragged the food into the house. She threw the bags on the kitchen table and flew back into the living room where her Grandmother sat.

"That cat guy is cute, where'd you find him?" She asked in her tired voice.

"He's an old friend… One I should've been better too…" Carrie answered flipping her hair to readjust it.

"You should probably tie that back, you know Charon is home." Her Grandmother warned. "You know he doesn't like—"

"My hair to cover my eye, yeah I know…" Carrie recited the words like she'd heard them one hundred times, probably because she had and tired her hair into a tail behind her head. The sound of foots teps came from upstairs and soon they were quickly moving down the stairs. The feet belonged to Charon, the vampirical ghoul that was the only reason the Booregards could keep their house and Carrie's boyfriend. She sighed in disgust as she felt him approach her and place his hand on her shoulder.

"Hello Carrie," He said in his sly voice, and she did not resist his touch, no matter how much she wanted to.

"Hi," Carrie shivered.

"You were gone for some time, where were you?" His voice promised goodness and trust, but that couldn't be further from the truth.

"Just getting the food you wanted,"

"For three hours? That seems a little suspicious, perhaps I'll require a gesture of your faithfulness to me tonight."

"I will not sleep with you," She tried to remain strong.

"So you always say, but the only reason you haven't is because I haven't asked hard enough, if I truly desired your virginity, sweet Carrie, I'd simply threaten to take away funding for you and your dear old Grandma."

"You're a sick bastard," Carrie's grandmother said from her chair.

"How can you say that, I've given you a home, money, and all I ask in return is your grand daughter's love, and she still refuses to accept my love," He snaked his fingers around Carrie's chin and made her face him. "Now say thank you for my love," Scornfully, Carrie swallowed her pride.

"Thank you…"

"Good, now after you make my dinner you shall meet me in our bedroom, to ease my stress." And with that he was gone again. Carrie wrapped herself in her arms and slid down the wall.

"Well, don't just sit around child, he needs that food." Her Grandma called.

"I miss Mom and Dad…" Carrie murmured.

"Well they're not here anymore, and that ghoul up there is the only thing standing between us and the street so off to the kitchen with you."Carrie nodded at her words and picked herself up from the floor.

Gumball had made it to his shed and was happily working on Lucy, humming to himself. He hadn't been so happy for awhile, something about seeing Carrie smile was so thrilling, to know that he made a girl who only knows pain laugh, nothing felt better. He took a step back to admire his newly complete bike and stood proud. Though it retained its rusty color, painting it would prove to be the easiest part of the job. Then his buzzing cell phone cut through the silence, and he leaped to grab it before the message came up. "This is Gumball," He answered quickly.

"Hey Gumball…" Carrie's voice came from the other line.

"My pale friend, what can I do for you?"

"Don't call me that… Look, today… Today shouldn't have happened, and I want you to be safe so—"

"Stop, stop, I know where this is going, that thing you can't tell me about doesn't like us hanging out and it's easier to just make me think you don't like me than tell me the truth… That about right?" He said confidently and Carrie was silent for a few moments.

"Yeah… I'm sorry, I like hanging out with you, but it's better this way, okay?" She said, clearly not enjoying the conversation topic.

" It's not okay by any means," Gumball said firmly. "I don't care what the hazards are to my personal health, I will be your friend Carrie,"

"It's not that easy—"

"Nothing worth fighting for is easy, but I don't think anyone has fought for you, it's time someone did."

"Stop it!" Carrie screamed. "Stop it, stop… Doing that, you don't mean any of it, I'm nothing special and you have better things to do, so just... just go back to trying to get into Penny's shell!" She snapped and hung up. Gumball set the phone down and contemplated the last minutes of his life. He began to doubt himself, what if he was just messing up Carrie's life? He went back to his phone and asked Darwin to meet him at his shed and he went back to Lucy. He had no vision at the moment for her, he just saw rusty old bike, trying to be new.

Darwin arrived to find a very thoughtful Gumball, sitting on his sofa and staring at a blank T.V. "Gumball?" Darwin asked from the doorway and his brother perked up.

"Darwin, come here, we need to talk,"

"I know where baby fish come from Gumball…" Darwin said a little insulted.

"Not today, I wanted to talk about Carrie,"

"What about her?"

"What do you think could scare her?" And Darwin put on a puzzled expression so Gumball elaborated. "I think she's scared of something in her house and she's been pushing people away to protect them from it, so—"

"Dude… Why are you trying so hard for her?" Darwin interrupted.

"What? Wouldn't you want me to try to be there for you?"

"Well… Yeah, but we're brothers, what's Carrie? Barely a friend, you never put this much thought into understand Penny, just impressing her."

"I don't want to date Carrie, I just want to be there for her,"

"So you want to date her?"

"I like, literally just said I didn't." Gumball said a little annoyed.

"I know what you said, but that's different than what you meant." Darwin explained but Gumball didn't seem to get it. "Alright, here's a test, describe Carrie,"

"She's… She's thoughtful, and kind, but she'd never show it, her dry humor is fantastic, but she also can be forceful when she needs to be, she's gorgeous and when she grew those legs… Dear god that girl has some ass, so I'm going to add hot to that list and—"He stopped when he noticed Darwin's smirk. "What?

"You didn't catch onto any of that? Dude, you're head over heels for her."

"I am not; you're just misreading my admiration for her as attraction." Gumball reaffirmed.

"And I thought I was dense…" Darwin said to himself. "Before you help Carrie, try to figure out why you want to help her, okay?"

"Don't be ridiculous, now are you going to help me, help Carrie or not?"

"Huh… Fine, we'll go help Carrie, but not today, Mom and Dad are already pretty mad that you left while we were asleep."

"How long did Masami stay?"Gumball asked with a little chuckle.

"I fell asleep around one in the morning and Anais said she fell asleep an hour after me… So… Your guess is as good as mine." Darwin turned to leave but didn't hear Gumball behind him, he turned back to see his brother admiring his bike with big eyes. Gumball looked to Darwin and mouthed 'please?' "Fine… We can take the bike…"

"Yes!" Gumball cheered and eagerly climbed on. "Come Darwin! This shall be our greatest moment, yet!"

"Don't you have a helmet?" Darwin asked sitting himself behind his brother.

"I'm working on it, now, let's ride!" And in seconds the bike was off, speeding through the streets. Darwin clutched his brother's waist out of sheer terror, as Gumball continued to manically laugh. Doughnut Sharif sat in his car with his radar gun ready when the sound of laughter came from his left side. He turned to look and in a split second a bike zoomed past, he read his radar gun only to see an 'error' displayed.

"They were probably within the speed limit…" He said withdrawing a little more into his seat. The bike came to a screeching halt outside the Watterson house and Gumball popped off, with pride radiating from him.

"Wasn't that awesome?" He turned to Darwin, clutching the seat and his face slightly blown back and his eyes close to out of their sockets.

"Gumball…" He said recomposing himself. "That was the coolest thing ever!" They shared a high five and headed inside. "I've never gone so fast in my life… It was like, ZOOM!" Darwin continued his praise. They entered to find their tired mother on the couch, half asleep, and their father next to her, providing her with a pillow in the form of his fluffy body.

"Hey Dad," Gumball whispered.

"Hi son, there's some dinner in the fridge," He whispered back and slowly picked their mother up in both arms. "I'm gonna put her in our room."

"Kay," Darwin said following Gumball to the kitchen. "Where's Anais?"

"She's spending the night at a friend's house,"

"Alright," Gumball took a seat and Darwin sat next to him. "We have to come up with something to show Carrie we can be trusted."

"You mean, she can trust you," Darwin corrected his statement.

"What? You don't want her to trust you too? I thought you had a thing for her?"

"I did, but I could never forget my true love…" Darwin held a picture of a twelve year old Gumball in his mother's wedding dress. "I'll never forget you…" He whispered to the picture and stroked his fin across it. "Besides, I think Carrie just wants to be left alone."

"Well nobody asked you, except me… But that's not important right now, do you think Carrie likes movies…?"

"She did like the pony movie we were supposed to get for Anais,"

"Right… But a movie is probably too romantic,"

"What's wrong with romantic?"

"She's in a delicate mental state; the last thing she needs is some blue idiot professing feelings of love… That I totally don't have, what does she enjoy doing…?"

"Insulting people?" Darwin tried.

"No, no… Well, yes, but she likes feeling, feeling something other than pain or misery, so I need to do something that will make her feel,"

"Shoot a puppy!" Darwin chimed and Gumball slowly recoiled away from his brother. "You know… To make her feel sad?"

"Not the feeling I'm looking for."

"If you want her to love you just say that,"

"I don't want her to love me! I just want her to be happy!"

"You love her…"

"Why did I bring you into this…. You're not helping you know."

"I'll help if you confront your feelings for Carrie,"

"I don't have feelings for Carrie!" This pattern continued until the early hours of the next day, until ultimately they both fell asleep on the kitchen table, bits of food on their mouths. Gumball was the first to wake up and clumsily made his way to his own bed. Sunday, the best day to sleep in. The second time Gumball woke up, he made his way back downstairs and found the house relatively quiet. All except the kitchen, he guessed it was his mom. "Mom?" He asked walking in and found his dad reading a cooking book. "Dad…"

"Gumball, do you know anything about cooking?"

"..Yes…" Gumball muttered trying not to mention his Home Ec. Grade.

"Wanna help your dear old pop bake a cake?" His father asked with excitement.

"What for?"

"Well, you're mother got a promotion at Rainbow Corp. and I wanted to do something nice for her."

"Oh, yeah of course, you mean something more than being her personal pillow?" He joked.

"I may be lazy, but I will always be there for Nicole!" His father declared raising his arms in the air. "Now, where do we start?"

"Well… First we need a bowl,"

"Of course! A bowl… Why didn't I think of that?" Gumball retrieved a bowl and several other ingredients.

"Dad?" Gumball asked as he cracked eggs. "What were you and Mom like in high school?"

"Oh… Very different," He reminisced. "I was the socially awkward fat kid, I didn't have many friends, even my parents made fun of me, I didn't get very good grades and the only class I did well in was sleeping, then there was your mother, the studious girl that every guy wanted because of her looks and her brain, I think the only person who didn't like Nicole was Ms. Simian, but she doesn't like anybody… "

"Wait, what? So you weren't alike… At all?" Gumball asked again mixing the batter for the cake.

"Not in the slightest." He dad said with a content smile.

"Then… How'd you become a couple?"

"Well, it was just after the cool kids had finished beating me up and making me cry again, I believe it was a Wednesday and out of nowhere, someone offers their hand to me and pulls me to my feet. People stopped talking to her since she was my friend, but I don't think she minded, She was my first real friend and I knew I'd marry her." Gumball was silent for a time and absent mindedly nodded his head. "But I'm sure your mother remembers it much better than I do,"

"So… When did you actually start dating?"

"Gumball, I feel as if you are troubled by something." His father said miming movements of Jedi mind tricks.

"I just, there's this girl, and I just want to make her happy, that doesn't mean I love her, does it?"

"I, uh… I think you should ask your mother that one."

"Why?"

"Focus on the cake!"

"Does it strike you as odd you're giving Mom cake for breakfast?" Gumball asked as he placed it in the oven.

"Who wouldn't want cake for breakfast?"

"Fair enough…" They continued their task I silence, mainly Gumball would work while his father observed how to make a cake, but it was still more effort than he put into most things. They were near complete when the door bell went off and Richard trotted off to answer it.

"Hello," He answered and looked down to see a little ghost.

"Hi Mr. Watterson," She greeted, "I'm here to…" She pulled out the project sheet. "Discuss your student's future with the opposite sex." She read from the half sheet.

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know, I just need you and your wife to sign this, and if you could not tell Gumball I'm here that'd be great."

"Why?"

"Because he…" Carrie began. "Please just don't tell him I'm here."

"Okay!" Richard saluted and bounced off to find his sleeping wife.

"Dad!" Gumball's voice came. "Dad, this freaking cake is possessed!" Carrie tried to get a better view of the kitchen without leaving the doorway, but couldn't see anything. "Dad! Help, please!" She sighed and flew into the back of the house to find Gumball being eaten by a beautifully crafted cake. "Carrie!" He called. "Thank god… I mixed up the icing for evil spice, can you just reach the sprinkles and place them on this thing?"

"A. Why? B. Sprinkles on a cake?"

"I'm being eaten by a cake! This isn't the time to argue the logic of the current situation!" Gumball yelled as his arm was fully engulfed. Carrie flew to the sprinkles and poured a few on top of the cake and with a shriek the cake ceased its consumption of Gumball. He pulled his arm out, covered in batted and icing and quickly shook it out. "Thanks."

"I just have so many questions about what just happened… Why do you even have evil spice?"

"To make devil eggs,"

"You mean deviled eggs?"

"Those don't taste as good, anyway, the cake is for my mom, I got to bake it."

"It looks really good," Carrie said licking her lips.

"Well, I made so the whole family could have some, have a bite—"Gumball's eyes widened when he realized what he said. "Sorry…"

"Don't worry about it, I'm sorry I'm here, I'll leave when your dad comes back with that sheet of paper."

"Oh, you don't have to go, we could… Play… Something or, just hang out?" He said awkwardly.

"I can't Gumball, I need to get home, I told you to forget about yesterday."

"You know I won't, what's wrong Carrie? Because whatever it is, I can help you."

"I don't need your help," Just then Gumball's father came back with the signed paper.

"Here you go," He said and handed it to Carrie.

"Thank you," She said and quickly flew out the door without another word. Gumball ran to the door to see if he could catch up to her, but she was gone.

"Damnit!" Gumball cursed and felt a hand placed on his shoulder; it was his mom.

"What's wrong dear?" She asked with a yawn.

"Nothing… I'll tell you later, Dad has a cake for you," He said, anger still dripping from his words.

"For what?" She asked tiredly looking around.

"Your promotion!" Richard said bringing Gumball's cake into the living room.

"Oh…" Nicole said and looked down. "Well… That was a very sweet thought, but I didn't get that, I thought I told you that,"

"Oh… Can we still eat the cake?"

"Yes Richard, we can still eat the cake." She said with a weak smile.

"Yes!" He cheered and quickly cut himself a piece.

"Mom, can I go check on Carrie?" Gumball asked.

"We just saw, she looked fine to me," His mom was still clearly very tired.

"…Please?" He tried.

"Gumball, why do you want to check on her? She's sixteen years old, she can take care of herself."

"…Pretty please?"

"Fine, just be back before dinner…"

"Thank you!" He chimed and sped out the door. Just then Darwin came down the stairs with a yawn to the sight of cake.

"Cake!" Darwin said and leaped towards it,

"Hold it!" Nicole yelled and Darwin froze in mid air. "Weird… Darwin, why is Gumball so insistent on seeing Carrie?" She said looking out the door with no sign of Gumball.

"I don't know, he wants to make her happy or something, I think Carrie kinda likes being miserable, better that than feel nothing right?"

"So… He wants to make her happy? Do you know why?"

"Well, they're partners for that project for school, and I think he has a thing for her now." Darwin reported. "Can I eat the cake now?"

"Sure…" Nicole sighed.

Gumball was speeding down on his bike until Carrie's house came into view and he halted so fast it launched him off. He skidded a few times before recomposing himself and running up to Carrie's door with a quick knock. There was no response at first, but that was to be expected, he waited for a few more minutes and went to knock again when Carrie's Grandmother stuck her head through the door. "What?" She asked not really looking at Gumball.

"Uh… Can I speak to Carrie?" He asked with a nervous grin.

"She's not here,"

"Where is she…?"

"None of you damn… Wait… You're that blue cat guy right?"

"Uh… Yes ma'am, I'm Gumball."

"Good, listen, whatever you're telling my Carrie, keep doing it, she fought him the other day and my god it was a sight to see." The old ghost said and popped her head back inside.

"Wait… Fight who! What's going on?" Gumball called from the other side but was met with silence. "Son of a… Why does this family like secrets so much?" He cursed and headed home. The rest of the day carried on without incident, Gumball tried to take his mind off Carrie by playing with Darwin which was mildly affective but she was always in the back of his mind. All up until he climbed into his bed and fell asleep.