Author Notes - There's a lot we've gotta go through, between Molly dealing with the consequences of her actions, Gil and Deema being by themselves in the hospital room (which, in case I need to make this clear, WON'T result in any Dil shipping), Oona and Goby fearing for what their friendships will be, and Nonny and Zooli dealing with the fact that they're the only ones that Gil has no anger towards.

Oh boy, I may have done a bit much today.

CHAPTER EIGHT - STAGES OF GRIEF

Gil stared out the window. The only sound he could hear was Bubble Puppy chewing on a squeaky bone on the floor. Which was weird, since Deema was in the same room. It seemed so wrong that the two loudest Guppies could be in the same room, yet make no noise at all. How long had it been since his fallout with Molly? He couldn't tell. It could've been five minutes or five hours for all he knew.

'Sorry...' Came the weak murmur from across the room.

It almost made Gil jump. Deema had been so quiet for so long, he was beginning to forget she was even there. She hadn't moved from her spot since arriving, and had her face buried in her arms. Even her hair, usually able to hold up through thick and thin, was slowly beginning to fall apart and unravel. It helped Gil realise that he had never seen her with her hair in any other style.

'Deema?'

She glanced up at him, but only for a moment as if she was too ashamed to look at him any longer. For that brief moment that Gil saw her face, it wasn't a pretty sight. Her face was soaked with tears and mucus, and her non-black eye was bloodshot. Without saying a word, he picked up his box of tissues from the bedside table and tossed it her way. She lifted her face out of her hands, and looked at him for just a moment. As if she had been waiting for permission, she suddenly swiped a couple of tissues from the box, using one to blow her nose and the other to clean up her face. Luckily, the bin was close enough that she could just dunk them from her spot.

'It's the least I can do.' Gil said. 'You look like you've been through a lot.'

Unbeknownst to Gil, his words reactivated the unstable feelings swirling round in Deema's very consciousness. After all that time of quietly weeping until she had no tears left, something came back.

'Why are you being so nice to me?!' She yelled.

Gil flinched. Somehow, her usual loud attitude seemed so jarring now. Perhaps it was the distress in her voice, or even the way her hair was slowly but surely losing its iconic shape.

'Uh... why wouldn't I be?' He asked. 'We're always kind to people, even if we barely know them.'

'But I don't deserve it!' Deema cried, before her voice quieted down. 'I don't deserve any of it...'

Gil sighed. 'It's about what Molly said. I'm not even asking, cos I know that's what this is. I can't believe she would say something like that. I know Molly can get grumpy when she doesn't know what to do, but...'

'She's right, though.'

Gil found himself not nearly as shocked as he wanted to be, which made him nearly as uncomfortable as everything else did.

'No, she wasn't.' He said. 'We both know that Molly gets angry when things don't go her way, probably cos everything usually goes her way. And I know her really well. Next time you guys meet, she'll be apologising for days.'

'But she is!' Deema insisted. 'I was the one who caused the accident. I was the one who told a stupid joke. I-If I didn't do something s-so stupid, you wouldn't be here. A-And you and Molly wouldn't have that fight. Y-You wouldn't be wondering if we're your friends. A-A-And...'

'I-I know that, but that isn't the problem here. I'm talking about something that's been going on forever, and you're...'

Gil's heart sank as he witnessed her breaking down. Compared to her usual overdramatic breakdowns, this time it seemed too real. Worse, he didn't know what he could do to help her.

She sighed, wiping her eyes with her arm. 'B-But that's okay. I won't be hurting you guys anymore.'

'Wait, what?' Gil questioned. 'I-I mean, it's good to know you don't need your friends to tell you that, but-'

'I'm not their friend anymore.'

His eyes widened. 'Wait, what?!'

Deema just nodded, giving him a little frown. Gil stammered out incomplete words as he struggled to piece a sentence together.

'You- I- WHAT?!' He yelled. 'T-They didn't disown you, did they? I-I know you accidentally put me here, but everyone can see how awful you feel about it!'

She shook her head. 'I just can't call myself a friend of theirs anymore. I don't wanna be their friend anymore. If I can hurt you this much without even trying... who else will I hurt? A-And I've already ruined your friendship with everyone else, especially Molly. It's for the best.'

'Uh, I repeat, WHAT?! Don't do that! We've known each other since the first day of school, and this has only happened once. And you're not the one I blame.'

She groaned. 'And why not? Molly was right. It's all my fault.'

Gil took in a deep breath. Now, more than ever, he had to make sure his words were right. Even if he was certain that nothing could change Deema's views, he still wanted to give his attempts his all.

'I haven't been clear enough to you, have I?' He asked. 'A little joke like yours should not have scared me so much, especially since I have a dog who yips at squirrels or any cat who isn't Bubble Kitty. It's the big picture I have a problem with, not the little thing, you understand?'

'Y-Yeah, that kinda makes sense...' She said. 'B-But I still made it worse. R-Remember when we pretended to be a dragon, and I was in its mouth? All I said was... something in Chinese, and that was enough to scare you. I-It was funny at the time, b-but we should've known t-that something wasn't right.'

'Well, hindsight is... something something, I don't remember how it goes.'

He glanced over to Bubble Puppy for a moment. Lucky little guy seemed to have no idea what was going on, but Gil knew all too well that the doggy knew exactly what had gone down.

'I just want to make one thing clear.' He added. 'You didn't 'ruin' my friendship with Molly. It was Molly who ruined my friendship with Molly.'

Mr Grouper never thought he would see the day when the 'detention corner' was necessary. In fact, he hadn't even told his students about it before this day. But, after witnessing Molly's outburst, he decided it was about time that he used it.

Molly stared out the small window, grumbling to herself. 'Face away from the students', Mr Grouper had told her, 'And think about what you did'. She couldn't believe it. She knew exactly what she had done, and Deema's look of guilt was still strong in her mind. What she had done was destroy her friendship with not just Gil and Deema, but potentially all of the other Guppies too. Of course, Gil never said his friendship with her had been ruined 'forever', but she would not have been surprised.

'Now I've got two people who won't forgive me...' She said. 'Maybe that's for the best...'

She still couldn't understand what Deema was going through. It wasn't because she didn't know what it was like - goodness, did she know - but she couldn't understand why Deema was going through it too.

'Because you screamed out that it was all her fault, you idiot...' She muttered. 'She had gone through enough without you making it worse. She takes your word as fact. They all do. I don't know why...'

She sighed, thinking about all her 'friends'. Would they even still call her their friend anymore? Last time she had gotten a glance at any of them, Goby looked a little angry with her. Oona, meanwhile, just looked betrayed. Even Nonny had a noticeable sadness in his eyes. And she didn't dare think about Deema.

'I don't deserve to be the leader of our band anymore...' She said, staring out the window. 'Nonny should do it instead. He never tried to hurt Gil, and he was really good at conducting those ducks. And... and he wouldn't ruin everything like I did.'

Mr Grouper watched her intently. She didn't need to turn around to know that. He was keeping watch of everyone in case something went wrong, but she felt like he only watched her.

Even though she didn't dare turn around to look at them, she could hear what remained of her band. Without Gil and Deema - without a doubt the loudest of their group - everything seemed so much more quiet. Even Oona, who was usually third on that list, had been reduced to near silence. When Goby, normally the second-most quiet only to Nonny, was the voice she could hear the most, there was a problem.

'Now what?' The indigo-haired boy asked, his voice trembling.

What remained of their band - Goby, Oona, Nonny, and Zooli - sat in the same room that the classes always began in. Except, today, they were sitting far closer to each other. Oona held onto Nonny tight, mostly for his needs but partially for her own too. Goby had his dump truck in his lap, while Zooli stared at her hands as she wondered what to say.

'I-I have no idea.' She answered. 'I know the four of us will still be friends. But if Deema's scared of hurting us, and if Gil won't forgive Molly... I think it's just the four of us now.'

'But that isn't right!' Oona cried. 'Molly, Gil, and Deema were always the stars of the show. Without them, it won't be the same.'

'I don't think there's anything we can do, Oona.' Goby said. 'Right now, it's between Molly and Gil, and we can't just convince Deema that she won't hurt us. If they're gonna work it out, it won't be because of us. We just... have to stay out of it.'

'But we can't just do nothing!'

The dark-skinned boy sighed. 'We have to, Oona. We have to...'

Zooli sighed. She had a lot of things that she wanted to say, but she didn't know if any of it was insensitive or not. So, she remained silent. She could feel the urge to say something nipping at the back of her neck, but she didn't dare speak. There was only one thing she felt comfortable with asking.

'Mr Grouper?' She asked.

'What is it, Zooli?'

'C-Can I go outside? F-For just a few minutes.'

He gave her the best smile he could muster. 'That would be quite alright. In fact, all four of you are allowed to swim just outside if you need to, as long as you don't wander off. Normally, I wouldn't feel the need to say that, but as of late...'

He didn't finish his sentence, but he didn't need to. Every single Guppy in the room cringed, but none more so than Molly. With permission granted, Zooli stood up from the floor and swam out the front door. Nonny watched her swim away, and gave a pleading look to Oona.

She managed a smile. 'Yeah, you can join Zooli outside. Y-You and her are the only ones that Gil doesn't have any problems with. And... I think you can both help other each get through this.'

Nonny didn't feel like it was all that okay to leave Oona behind, but of course she wouldn't have a problem with it. Without saying a word, he got up and followed Zooli outside. The warm sunlight and chirping birds made for a much nicer atmosphere than the silent classroom or dreary hospital. He saw Zooli sitting down on the highest step, resting her head in her hands.

'Hello.' He said, speaking for the first time since Molly's outburst.

She flinched a little. 'Oh. H-Hi Nonny. What are you doing out here?'

'To accompany you.'

'Oh. Okay.' She paused, and tapped her fingers together. 'Y-You can sit down next to me, if you want.'

Nonny took the opportunity to sit next to her, a little closer than he would normally. His expression may have been as blank as a new canvas compared to hers, but he was no less upset.

'You're upset because you haven't known Gil for as long we have.' He said. 'Is that right?'

She nodded, with a slight whimper. 'I'm sad over everything that's happened to Gil, and with all the stuff that's going on between everyone else, but...' She sighed. 'I can't imagine what it's like for you guys. I just feel so separated from everything that's going on. I-Is that selfish to say?'

He shrugged. 'I don't know. I don't think it is. I think it's okay to feel distanced. Some people might say it is selfish. But it's what you're feeling. You can't really control your emotions, so you can't be faulted for feeling what you do.'

She glanced at him. 'Wow. I know you were the smartest in the group, but dang.'

'I'm not so smart when it comes to emotions, though. Oona's the one good with emotion. And Deema is the one who goes through them a lot.'

Something about saying Deema's name made him wince. That image of her breaking down crying after Molly's outburst still haunted his mind, and judging by Zooli's shuddering, it haunted her too.

'Oh, Deema...' Zooli murmured. 'I can't imagine what she's going through right now. Whether we want to admit it or not, she was the one who caused this accident. But she doesn't deserve anything that's happened to her.'

'No one does.' Nonny said. 'No one deserves to go through what's going on.'

She cocked an eyebrow. 'Even Dorson? He hit Deema.'

'I know he did, and that was an awful thing to do. But Dorson isn't usually a violent kid. It doesn't justify it, but I'm sure he only did what he did because he was upset over what happened to his little brother. Grief can easily make someone angry.'

'Oh, like the second stage of grief?'

Nonny shrugged. 'The scientific backing of the five stages of grief is questionable at best. However, I can see why many people believe in it. It does have some grounding in reality, after all. Molly tried bargaining, and when that didn't work, she resorted to anger. Most of us, especially Deema, are in the depression stage. I kinda believe in it.'

Zooli blinked at him, understanding only half of that. She glanced back to Goby and Oona, who were chatting to themselves about something that she couldn't quite hear. The odds of it being about Gil, however, were all but guaranteed.

'I've noticed something, Nonny.' She said, looking back at him.

'Hm? What's that?' He asked.

'Okay, so, there's only two Guppies who Gil doesn't have a problem with, and they're us. Since Gil obviously wouldn't have an issue with himself, that means the Guppies who he does have problems with are Molly, Deema, Goby, and Oona. Notice anything?'

'... No?'

'Most of them are girls.'

Nonny's eyes widened. Glancing back at his three friends inside, and with Deema in mind, he thought about it. He hadn't thought about anyone's gender up until this point, but he found Zooli's observation to be correct.

'Yes.' He said. 'In fact, Goby is the only boy. But I'm sure it's just a coincidence. Since you arrived, our class has been mostly female, albeit only by one. Gil and I are two of the three boys, thus leaving just Goby.'

'But... what if it isn't? If I wasn't here, then the only Guppy not involved in this mess would be you, and you're a boy. Otherwise, all of the girls would be part of the problem. I know Gil isn't just, um... what's the word?'

'Sexist.'

'Sexist, right. I know he isn't because of me and Goby, but I don't think that it's just a coincidence that most of the Guppies who Gil has issues with are girls.'

Nonny's stoic face did not convey how uncomfortable he was with this thought. He couldn't help thinking about how shocked everyone was when Dorson punched Deema in the face, as they rightfully should've been. He began to wonder... would they react the same way if she had punched him? To him, it seemed like a 'lose-lose' situation. It was either 'HA! You got beaten up by a girl!' or 'Dude?! You're beating up a girl!'. People did seem to find a girl beating up a boy to be okay, or even funny, for reasons he didn't understand.

Zooli sighed. 'I say that like I'm any better.'

Nonny was taken aback. 'What do you mean?'

She furrowed her brow. 'I laughed alongside the others when those boxes fell on Gil. He's being nice to me just because I haven't been around that long compared to the rest of you. How can he be so sure that I'm any better than the others? I think I would've just laughed at him with the others too.'

Nonny thought for a moment before saying anything. 'I don't think that's what he means. For you, he knows that there's still time for you to turn it around. There is still time for you to right your wrong. With the others... perhaps he thinks it may be too late.'

Zooli glanced at him, and sighed. 'I hope so.'

'What's going to be left?'

It seemed that out of all of them, Goby was the closest to accepting the situation. It wasn't like that made things any better for him, though. Now, he had to deal with Oona's difficult questions.

He scratched the back of his neck. 'I-I don't know! We'll just have to move on without them.'

'But we can't!' Oona cried. 'The Bubble Guppies are a team, all seven of us. It won't be the same with just four. I-I know I've still got Nonny, but... Deema is my best friend.'

Goby sighed. 'Well... Gil was my best friend too. It's why I'm trying to get past this, just for him. He's still got friends because of Nonny and Zooli, so I just want to do whatever makes him happy. If he doesn't feel safe with being my friend anymore, then... then I have to be a friend to him and accept that.'

Oona looked up to him, her teary eyes reflecting the lights above. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight, desperate for any sort of support. Goby didn't even try to push her off; no wonder Nonny loved her cuddles so much.

'W-Will Nonny still be friends with me?' She asked.

'What? Of course he will!' Goby answered, returning the hug. 'Nonny would never leave you for anything. Don't worry about that. You're not the one to blame here.'

He glanced over to Molly, sitting by herself in the detention corner. No longer could he see a friendly leader. Now, all he saw was the one who caused all this in the first place. The one who tried to blame a guilt-ridden friend. The one who encouraged the bullying.

Oona could feel him shuddering. 'You okay, Goby?'

'Y-Yeah... I'm okay.'

'L-Listen... there's something I want to ask Mr Grouper. A-And if he says 'yes', I'll have to leave school early. You okay with that?'

'Yeah, that's okay. I'm sure Nonny and Zooli won't mind if I join them. Are you going to ask if you can go back to the hospital?'

Oona simply nodded 'yes', and swam over to her teacher. It left Goby alone, giving him a moment to sort out the horrible thoughts going on in his head. He didn't dare tell Oona - or anyone - what was going through his mind. He wasn't entirely sure how everyone else thought about Molly, but he exactly what he was going through. Whether he wanted to or not, whether he wanted to admit it or not...

He now hated Molly.

Author Notes - This might sound kinda silly, but I am so thankful for Zooli's inclusion. Otherwise, the only Guppies that Gil would be close to forgiving would be Deema and Nonny. Ya know, the only other two white Guppies, leaving the non-white Guppies behind. Obviously I did not take race into account when deciding who did what in this story, but without Zooli it would certainly seem that way. Granted, I made a white Guppy guilty of the accident in the first place, but I'm always still a little scared ever since I was called racist for being a Neema shipper a few years back.

Speaking of Deema, I have watched every episode of this show intently enough to notice something. She's definitely the second-most common victim of slapstick, after Gil. If Gil's not gonna be the butt of a joke, it's almost certain to be Deema. Who's also white but female, so I guess that partially evens it out? I'm talking about getting her sandcastle destroyed twice in 'The Beach Ball' or getting blown away by the wind offscreen in the music video for 'Whether the Weather'. It's a little funnier with her cos it seems less targeted than it is with Gil.

Also it proves that the show is fine with making a female the victim of slapstick so... why don't they do it more often? YOU'VE GOT THREE OTHER CHARACTERS TO USE! Or is it because Deema is the only female Guppy who's white, so it's okay to do it to her? I don't really wanna discuss race in this story, but the show is forcing my hand.