Welp this is a bit random. I decided to write this idea, just kinda for fun! This is mostly based off a headcanon I made basically being that Gumball secretly gets emotionally attached to cats that actually like him. So yeah!
Enjoy this short story! ^^
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It had been a rough day for our blue feline protagonist Gumball, as he ran down the street screaming, a hoard of angry cats chasing after him. He already had lots of horrible scratch marks all over him, and one black eye from falling onto the pavement earlier.
"Gosh darn it can't you guys just leave me alone for once?!"
The cats hissed in response, continuing to chase him. A few tried to jump onto him again, Gumball able to dodge them rather quickly.
He turned the corner, managing to get out of sight of them. The cats paused, and then left, not bothering to go look for him.
Gumball sighed in relief, however slightly winced in pain feeling the scratch marks. "Ouch. I guess I better get home before they come-" He cut off, freezing as he heard a quiet meow from behind him. "Back.." He finished miserably, slowly turning around in slight fear.
There in front of him was a small grey kitten, with a few white stripes on its back. It turned its head, watching him as it let out another mew.
"Lemme guess, the minute I turn my back or something you're gonna turn psycho on me and attack." Gumball didn't let his guard down, rather wary of the other feline. He narrowed his eyes, as the cat innocently waddled closer, continuing to meow softly. "Nice try but I'm not that dumb." The kitten sat near him, rubbing its head against his leg.
Gumball was slightly confused, not expecting this really. Hesitant, he bent down, and put out one hand. The cat didn't try to bite or scratch it. Still concerned, he lightly stroked it's head, hearing sudden purring coming from it now. "Well that's weird."
The kitten only purred in response, seeming quite content with the attention. It continued to rub up against his legs.
"Okay.. Um.. This was a.. Experience." Gumball stood up from his place, watching the kitten. Why out of all the cats in that hoard was this one, actually decent? He wasn't sure. "I'll uh.. Catch you later I guess? I dunno."
He began to walk away, stuffing his paws into his jean pockets. His ears flickered however, and he paused, hearing sounds of meowing. Turning around, he noticed the kitten waddling towards him, eyes wide and rather curious.
Gumball groaned slightly, not sure what to make of such occurence. "Look little guy, it was nice you didn't claw me to bits, but it's not like we're best friends or anything. I already have a best friend waiting for me at home anyways. So uh.. Go back home. Okay?"
The kitten didn't obey, only continuing to follow him.
He sighed, and continued on his way. Surely the cat would stop eventually when the walk was too long and tiring. What was this cat's deal? Did it like him? He didn't bother turning around, not really wanting to see it following him. He knew it was there, his ears were practically screaming at him about it, with the way it waddled down the street innocently.
Gumball managed to arrive home, and entered accordingly. As he closed the door, he could hear the sounds of the TV on, being some sort of western movie playing. "Hi, I'm home."
"Hey dude," Darwin greeted from the couch, cheerful, though slightly bored at the same time. "Dad fell asleep with the remote underneath him, you have no idea how boring it is having nothing but this weird old movie on."
"Oof. At least the movie's in color." The feline replied, as he came over. "Sorry I was late by the way, uh.. I was kinda trying to run away from angry cats."
He slightly scowled, seeing Darwin laughing. "Yeah yeah, I know it's ironic, no need to rub it in."
"Sorry sorry, it was just kinda-" The goldfish paused, standing up from his seat, as he peered behind the couch. His eyes widened. "Gumball? I think one of them has a personal vendetta against you if it followed you home."
"Wait huh? Oh darn it!" Gumball looked over to find the same kitten on the carpet, meowing once seen. It once again waddled over to the other cat and rubbed against his legs. "This weird kitten had been following me everywhere and wasn't being mean or anything. I thought it left."
"I guess it really likes you." Darwin said, now standing beside his brother, bent down and observing the little cat. "Really cute cat honestly."
"What am I supposed to do? You know mom will get mad if she sees it in here." Gumball picked it up, holding it out by the chest. It mewed, looking at him happily. "Eh.. I guess it is a little cute.."
He carefully cradled the little animal, unaware of his little sister approaching.
"What did you guys bring in?" Anais questioned, raising one eyebrow. She gave a rather confused look, but that of curiosity. "Should I be asking why there's a cat in here besides Gumball?"
"It followed me home." Gumball replied, annoyed. "Technically it invited itself in. I don't know what to do with it. Should I just let it back out?"
"Hold on I wouldn't do that." The young bunny looked at the kitten, searching for any identification. "It seems to be a stray. If we just let it back out in our neighborhood, it might just come to our house again."
"And we can't leave a kitten all alone." Darwin added with concern and sadness. "It could get eaten!"
"Darwin buddy, I feel I should note. I'm a cat, mom's a cat. It's going to be really awkward having this cat here." Gumball said, looking down at the mentioned animal. "You know how I am seeing them in pet stores, it won't be any better having to take care of it like an animal."
The fish shrugged. "Anything's better than a turtle, that's for sure."
Gumball and Anais both shuddered, quickly nodding in agreement. "Definitely."
"Alright I'll try to reason with mom about keeping it for now until we can find a better home for it." Their sister exited the living room, having gone to the kitchen.
"Don't worry dude," Darwin said, putting one fin over Gumball's shoulder, as he grinned lightly. "I'm sure we won't have this little guy for too long."
"I guess yeah.." The other uttered, glancing down at the kitten. For some reason he just couldn't be angry at it. It was like his brain was slowly tricking him into liking the animal.
The kitten had been at the Watterson house for about a couple weeks now. It grew slightly, but still had remained rather small, surprisingly unbought even with the cheap price the family offered.
But that wasn't really the only thing either. They had noticed Gumball had slowly become fond with the cat, interacting with it a lot more than his siblings had. He could even sometimes be found sleeping with the kitten cuddled with him. The family did find it rather cute and slightly funny.
"Gumball? Hey-" Darwin paused, as he entered the bedroom. He heard faint purring coming from the bottom bunk. Smiling, he snuck over, and glanced down at the adorable sight. "Aww.."
Gumball was lightly snoring under his blanket covers, as the kitten laid beside him. Both seemed to be faintly purring, content just sleeping there.
The goldfish watched for a few more seconds, though knew he had to wake them up unfortunately. He nudged his older brother awake carefully. "Gumball, come on."
"Hnng?.." The eldest awoke sleepily, sitting up from his place, letting out a big yawn. "Oh hey Darwin."
"It's time for dinner." Darwin said, pulling him out of the bed. "You slept heavy for a few hours honestly."
"Yeah, I guess time flew by heh." Gumball replied, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. He turned to look at the kitten, gently picking it up. "Hey little buddy, time to get up now."
The kitten yawned, stretching out its paws as it mewed softly. Darwin could feel his heart melting by the sight.
"I came up with a name," Gumball said, walking downstairs with his brother, as the kitten followed promptly. "I was thinking.. Shadow!"
"That's a nice name." Darwin replied, smiling. "Kinda matches considering he follows you everywhere."
The other slightly chuckled, watching the mentioned cat to make sure he didn't fall down anywhere. "Yeah, that's true."
The two entered the dining room, and were quick to sit down with the rest of the family. Once done, they all began to eat and talk with one another, each discussing their day. Shadow sat underneath the table by Gumball.
"So," Nicole stood up suddenly, putting her hands together. "I have some news. Gumball, this one kinda regards you."
That certainly got his attention, the feline lifting his head up from his food with fright. "If you're going to talk about the locker flooding incident that wasn't me I swear!"
Nicole raised an eyebrow. "I didn't hear of that but we can discuss that later. It isn't about.. That."
Now confused himself, Gumball looked at her, waiting for her to continue. Shadow managed to climb into his lap in the process as well, whom he gently petted as he listened.
"I'm sure it's no secret we all know you like the kitten considering how often you've been with it the past few weeks," Nicole continued. "So having that, I came to a decision. It wasn't easy, that's for sure."
Gumball was rather uncomfortable by her vague words, as he slightly held the kitten tighter. He didn't want the cat taken away. He couldn't explain how but he just.. He loved the cat. He didn't want to let him go at all. To him the kitten was like a second best friend.
Nicole pulled out mysterious papers, pushing them over to her eldest son's seat. "Well? What do you say?"
He carefully read the contents of the papers, his eyes slowly growing wide. Grinning, he placed them back down. "Wait you wanna adopt Shadow?!"
"Well, we didn't want to separate you if he really makes you happy." Nicole replied, smiling as well. "I have to sign those papers to get him checked at the veterinarian's office downtown, but well I figured you might want to see them first."
She was suddenly hugged from the side. With a smile, she hugged back.
"Thanks mom! Seriously, this.. This is amazing.." Gumball said, feeling himself almost about to tear up. "I know it's really dumb to be this happy over vet papers but.. The day he accidently followed me home, Shadow became my little buddy, and I couldn't ever change a single thing about it.."
"You're welcome sweetie, I knew you'd love it." She said.
The family were equally as happy as well, and a group hug ensued. Suddenly, a tiny meow was heard beneath them.
Gumball smiled, as he picked up Shadow, holding him in his embrace carefully as he let him hug the family too. "Aw c'mere you, you're the reason for the group hug."
Meowing in agreement, the kitten snuggled into the family, as the happy moment lingered.
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Welcome to the end! This was honestly a fun little one-shot to make, and I'm glad I ended up doing so heh. With that said, I hope you enjoyed this little story! Reviews are appreciated, I love getting feedback, and if you like the story feel free to favorite it. :)
Thank you for reading! -Is8