Author Notes - That chapter title should tell you all you need to know. Oh boy...

Oh, and holy halibut I was not actually expecting 'Mr Noname' to show up again. (I mean, if you want me to get cynical there is unfortunately no way that I know of to prove it's the same guy, but I don't know why someone would be impersonating a reviewer like that). Good to know that I'm not the only one who stayed with this category for years now. To address a few things I suppose...

Maybe I should have had one of the other Guppies mention that Zooli had a frog and not a cat, to which she responded by saying that she's got a lot of pets at home. After all, I figured she might have more than one pet that we just haven't seen yet. Also:

'... I mean, it's good to know Gil is finally catching on to this double standard against him, but when did it begin? The text implies that he's had these thoughts for sometime now, but what was his major moment of clarity? When did Gil - the one white boy of the group with no physical limitations - have time to think and realize the show (dare I say, life itself) was giving him a raw deal while going out of its way to treat the other kids like a bunch of special snowflakes?' Taken directly from the review.

I... I didn't even... that was a mistake. A glorious mistake, but a mistake nonetheless. I didn't mean to do that. The 'one white boy of the group with no physical limitations' part especially. And now that I'm aware of it, I shall be running with it. I definitely should've done more with the 'He couldn't remember them laughing when Oona made the same mistake just a few minutes ago' line, and I DEFINITELY will be now.

Along with this really nice (and very surprising) review, thanks to ReaderandWriter9000, JayTheDon, and edd5689 for the favourites/follows!

CHAPTER THREE - DISAPPOINTMENT

'Wait, you do?' Mr Grouper asked. 'If you do, please tell us. We have to know what's happening to Gil so we can stop it before it gets worse.'

Molly stared at the floor. She cursed her conscious as she felt her teacher staring her down and waiting for an answer. Now that she had spoken up, there was no backing out of it. Yet, the possible consequences scared her.

'Uh... I-I won't get in trouble if I tell you, will I?' She asked.

Mr Grouper's stare morphed slightly into a glare. 'I'd like to say you won't, but I can't be sure until you tell me.'

Molly gulped. She glanced back at Gil, laying in his bed. He looked up to her for just a moment, shuddered, and then returned to simply cuddling his dog. She turned back to Mr Grouper, breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth, and realised she had to say something.

It was for Gilly.

'S-See,' She said. 'One time he was listening to music through his headphones loudly, and singing really loudly too.'

'Ah, that makes sense.' Dr Apple said. 'Listening to loud music through headphones is a quick way to get hearing damage.'

Molly gulped. 'I-I wasn't finished.'

Both Dr Apple and Mr Grouper looked right at her, with expressions that Molly couldn't quite identity. If she had to guess, it was mostly curiosity but with a hidden yet massive heap of 'I do not like where this is going'.

'Go on.' Mr Grouper said, with a tone she had never heard him use before. It was almost threatening.

'Um, s-so... while Gil was listening to the music, I picked up a microphone and sang really loudly into it. Like, really loudly into his ears. I think it was loud enough to peak the audio.'

She shuddered. Mr Grouper's expression changed ever so slightly, mostly the same but now with a hint of anger.

'Then, he, um... ended up crashing into the wall.'

'He what?!' Mr Grouper cried. 'You did what to him?!'

All the Guppies in the room, including Gil, turned to their teacher as he suddenly yelled. Molly recoiled, like he was going to smack her.

'So let me get this straight, Molly.' He said, his fin meeting his forehead. 'Gil was singing a little too loudly for you, so you chose to deafen him by intentionally singing loudly into his headphones?'

Molly couldn't verbally respond, and so just nodded.

'I... I can't believe it.' He murmured. 'How could you do something like that? I don't understand. You're normally so nice to him.'

The young girl felt physically sick. Guilt nipped at her mind, and she could feel a heavy weight on her shoulders. Swallowing back the bile, she spoke again.

'Well, actually... that wasn't the only thing that might have caused the hearing damage. Once, a trio of elephants trumpeted right into his ears. I think Bubble Puppy played a tuba while Gil was looking inside it one time. And...' She gulped again. 'I did once slam cymbals into his face hard enough to send him flying.'

'WHAT?!'

She cringed. That was a tone she had never heard Mr Grouper slip into even once. Any hint of taking it easy on his face had vanished. Now he just looked plain angry, and his glare looked deep into her very being.

'Twice? You did something like that twice?! Molly, I...' He lost his words for a moment. 'I can't believe this! How could you? He's your best friend, isn't he? Why would you do something like that twice?' His eyes narrowed. 'Molly, is there anything else I should know?'

Molly wanted the very ground beneath her to swallow her up forever. Her friends all showed uneasy expressions, except for Gil. Though he mostly looked at Bubble Puppy, the few times he did look at Molly, he was glaring.

'Uh, I-I remember one time, a bunch of hens had fallen in love with him because of his rooster impression. So, a-as a joke, I tricked him into making the sound again so the hens would chase after him.'

Mr Grouper's jaw dropped. 'Why on earth did you do that?!'

'Because... because...' She held back a sob. 'I thought it was funny.'

She braced for him to yell again, but the yell never came. He didn't seem to have the capability of yelling at her. It was as if he had become so angry, it wrapped back around to mere confusion. He just stared her down, like a tyrannical king about to give an order. Before Molly could say anything else, Goby swam away from the bed and stood next to her.

'She isn't the only one.' He said. 'One time, I dressed up as a nile crocodile to scare him.'

'You've been scaring him on purpose, Goby?! If you've been spooking him like that, no wonder Deema's little joke scared him so much.'

Oona took in a deep breath, and joined her friends. 'It wasn't just him. I once blew a whistle in Gil's face. And there was that time we teamed up with Deema to pretend to be a suit of armour coming to life.'

Mr Grouper buried his face in his fins for a few good long seconds, sighing all the way. His students stood in front of him, awaiting any kind of retribution.

'Don't be that angry with them, Mr Grouper.' Nonny pleaded. 'Most of the time when Gil hurts himself, it was his own fault.' He noticed the glare Gil was giving him, and had no response to it.

Mr Grouper sighed. 'Well, of course, that's something else. Still, doing any of this on purpose is still-'

Gil growled through his teeth. 'It doesn't matter if it was you guys's fault or not. Do you know how often you came to help me? Barely ever! Do you know what you guys did instead? You laughed at me.'

Their teacher's jaw fell further than it ever had. His shocked eyes jumped from Gil to Molly almost instantly, and the pink-haired girl hung her head in shame.

'M-Molly? Is this true?' He asked. 'Do you guys really laugh at Gil whenever he gets hurt or scared without actually helping him?'

Molly couldn't give him an answer. All she could do was cry in her hands.

'I-I'm so sorry, Mr Grouper.'

'Why are you apologising to me?'

She winced. 'I-I don't blame you for being angry.'

He shook his head. 'I'm not angry, Molly. I'm not angry with any of you. I'm disappointed. You're all supposed to be his friend, and instead you scare him and watch him get hurt... and you just laugh at him. Heck, sometimes you're the ones who instigate it! Bubble Puppy is a dog who doesn't quite understand why what he does is a bad thing. What is your excuse?'

The room fell into silence. Dr Apple backed away from the scene slowly, going to talk to another doctor about Gil's condition, as far away from this drama as she could manage. Molly collapsed into crying once more, while the others had no idea what to say.

'Wait,' Gil said, cringing upon moving his arm. 'Don't blame Nonny. He never did anything like that. He once dressed as a dragon and scared me, but it didn't seem like he wanted to it.'

'We told him to do it.' Goby admitted. 'W-We thought it'd be funny...'

'And don't get mad at Zooli either!' Gil added. 'Ow... she wasn't around for any of that. That wouldn't be fair. The others, though...'

Molly could barely hear his voice over her own crying, but she could hear his tone easily. Anger. Bitterness. Betrayal.

Mr Grouper sighed again. 'Well, at least two of you never did anything on your own will. But still...' He turned to Gil. 'If you didn't like this treatment, why didn't you say anything about it?'

'Because everyone just laughed about it.' Gil replied. 'It made me think it was no big deal. I thought that if they were laughing about it, than it couldn't really be that bad. Now I realise, it really is a big deal.'

Mr Grouper muttered something under his breath, something inappropriate to say in front of children. 'Guppies, I'm going to teach you something new today. Purposefully trying to scare someone and laughing at them whenever they get hurt? Repeatedly? We call that bullying.'

Suddenly, it all made sense to Molly. It explained why Deema's joke scared him far more than she thought it would, and it certainly explained why he wasn't even bothering to look at them most of the time now. It erased all the joy that seeing her friend brought her, and she collapsed on the floor crying like nothing had changed.

'Nonny, Zooli.' Mr Grouper said, still with that serious tone. 'You can stay here with Gil. I'm sure he'll be fine with you two. As for you guys,' He turned to Molly, Oona, and Goby. 'We're going to go looking for Deema right this moment. Once we find her, we are going straight back to class. I want you to remember all the things you've done to Gil, and I want you to think about where it's ended up. Most importantly, as you are thinking about this, I want you to swear - not to me, or even Gil, but yourselves - that you will never treat Gil like this again.'

Deema would not have been able to tell you if you asked her, but she had swam all the way down the hallway and sat down between a potted plant by the wall and a bench. All of the nurses, doctors, and patients walking by could not help but to stare at her. Some even stopped dead in their path.

'IT'S ALL MY FAULT!'

She had been told over and over again to be quiet for the sake of the patients and visitors, but she wouldn't stop screaming.

'IT'S ALL MY FAULT!'

No one dared approach her, not after she smacked away a visitor who was only trying to help. No one, except for one person.

'What did you say?'

Deema peered up from her hands and looked up at the figure before her. It was another Guppy, a boy a few years older than her. Normally, she would recognise him, but her vision was too blurred to make anything out. The most she could see was green hair and a green tail. Had she been able to make out those big blue eyes, she would've known who this kid actually was.

'IT'S ALL MY FAULT!'

The kid in front of her clenched his fists. 'So it was you. You... You... MY LITTLE BRO IS IN THE HOSPITAL BECAUSE OF YOU!'

Only then did Deema know who this was - Dorson, Gil's older brother.

'YOU'LL PAY FOR HURTING HIM!' He screamed.

Deema was in no position to react to anything at that moment, and Dorson took full advantage of it. He slammed his palm into her chest and pinned her against the wall. At that moment, she was no longer only terrified about Gil. Now, she feared for her own life too.

'I-I'M SORRY!' She cried. 'I-I'M SO SORRY!'

Her apologetic pleads did nothing for Dorson, who just pressed her against the wall harder. She could've sworn she heard the sound of her ribs beginning to crack. He did not settle with just this, and readied his fist.

'No one messes with MY little bro and gets away with it!'

While most people in the vicinity backed away and ran for the authorities, some of them rushed forward to pry Dorson away from her.

'AHH!'

They were too late. Dorson delivered a punch right into Deema's eye and she screamed out in pain.

'I'M SORRY!' She cried out again.

'SORRY DOESN'T CUT IT!' He screamed back, winding up another punch. 'I won't stop until you know EXACTLY how my little bro feels!'

Someone managed to pull him away before he could throw another punch. But it wasn't any of the doctors, or even any of the hospital staff.

'DORSON!' His mother screamed at him.

With his hand no longer keeping her pressed against the wall, Deema fell to the floor and slapped a hand over her injured eye. Fiona, the woman pulling her son away, gave Dorson a nasty glare. She single-handedly held him back, no matter how hard he fought against her grip.

'Let me at her, Mom!' He yelled. 'She needs to know just what she's done to my little brother!'

'Absolutely NOT!' Fiona shouted. 'Can't you see that she feels awful enough ready?! Whatever she did was obviously an accident. Beating her to a bloody pulp won't help Gil out at all! What do you think that's going to accomplish? You think that if you hospitalise Deema, Gil will magically feel better? Do you really think Gil would be okay with you beating up one of his friends?!'

Dorson accepted his fate and stopped struggling against his mother, but he still delivered a glare at Deema.

'I'll get you for this...' He muttered, just loud enough for her to hear.

'You should be very glad that your dad's busy with talking to the doctors right now.' Fiona said. 'I can't imagine how he'd react to such awful behaviour. We are going home at once, Dorson. She doesn't deserve something so horrible...'

Fiona dragged her angry son away, making a beeline for her husband so they could get home as soon as possible. It left Deema in the hallway, crying over her sore eye. She could still see out of it, but it pained her to keep it open. It only made her feel even more guilty. Here she was, crying over a simple sore eye, when Gil was in hospital with who knew how many horrible injuries.

She had no right to be so upset over it, she thought. As far as she was concerned, she deserved it.

'DEEMA!'

A familiar voice - Oona. It made her feel only a little bit better. The pigtailed girl rushed over to her friend, but Deema didn't react to her presence at all. It was as if Oona was invisible.

'Mr Grouper!' Molly cried. 'Deema is hurt!'

'I can see that, Molly. I saw what Dorson did. That kid loves his brother, but the things he's willing to do to defend him...'

As Mr Grouper and the Guppies crowded around her, Deema stopped screaming. She stopped shouting. She stopped yelling. No need for her to scream it out to world that it was her fault. Now, she just muttered something new to herself over and over again.

'I deserve it...' She said, just barely loud enough for Oona to hear. 'I deserve it...'

Oona felt her heart break even more than it had already. There was only so much she could handle, and this one day had pushed her to her absolute limit.

'No, Deema!' She yelled, tears falling once again. 'You didn't deserve it! None of us did!

Molly and Goby turned to their teacher with pleading eyes, and for once Mr Grouper had no answer. He had no idea how he could possibly handle a situation such as this. One Guppy in the hospital with terrible injuries... another under the belief that she deserved to get punched... and that wasn't even taking into account whatever the others were going through.

'I'm sorry, guys. I don't know what to do.' He admitted. 'All we can do is return to the school. Remember, this has not saved the rest of you from the little discussion we're going to have when we get back. However...' He glanced at the blonde Guppy once more. 'I'm not sure if I want to have that talk with Deema. It seems like she's suffered enough.'

Author Notes - Woah that got darker than I was anticipating. Well, I suppose I can promise a happy ending. I mean, a happy ending may be obvious. However, sometimes you have to go through hell and back to earn your happy earning. It seems the same thing is happening here.

I'm pretty sure this is obvious, but just in case I wanna make one thing perfectly clear: Under no circumstances am I trying to say that Deema really did deserve her injury. She didn't. That's the point. Dorson is NOT supposed to be in the right for trying to hurt her. Just because Deema thinks she deserves it doesn't mean she actually does. Hell no. Considering that everything that Deema has gone through in this chapter alone, would you believe me if I told you that she's my favourite? My 'favouritism' is in the form of giving my favourite plenty of screentime, no matter what they have to do or go through to get it.