Author Notes - Here we go... I shouldn't have to tell you this because of title, but this is no doubt the climax of the story. I must admit, I never thought I would take seventeen chapters to reach this point, but it doesn't surprise me that much. Most of my recent fanfictions have been relatively long.

There will only be one more chapter after this one, that'll more-or-less just be an epilogue of sorts to show where our favourite Guppies are after nearly a month since this chapter. It's strange to think that I'm nearly done with this one after taking a little longer than I usually care to, but since when are fanfictions ever updated with speed? (This is a roast to the entire fanfiction community, not just to anyone reading this story.)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - MOLLY AND GIL MEET AGAIN

Molly needed some time - no, a lot of time - before she felt comfortable with talking to Gil once again. With how badly their last meeting went, she couldn't bear to do it wrong the second time around. So, after she spent a whole day talking with Mr Grumpfish, she waited another day. And another. And another. While she waited to work up the nerves to go see him again, Nonny was already on his way to taking her role.

Four days after Molly released her video announcing her stepping down, Nonny had posted one of his own.

'Hello, Bubble Guppies fans.' He said, his voice shaking only a little. 'I'm Nonny, but you know me already. You may remember that Molly has announced that she will no longer be the leader of our band, and is stepping down to let someone else take the role. You may also remember that at the time, we didn't have anyone chosen to take her place. However, that changes today. Once our personal matter is resolved, I shall be taking over as the leader of this band. This change should not have any major effects on our albums, but expect for Molly to get less solos in the future.'

It took a lot of Zooli's willpower to click 'submit', for all the memories of her introduction still flooded her mind, but she eventually worked up the courage to do it. Once she did, she had to lean back in her chair with a long sigh, praying to the cods that the fans would accept this change far more than they initially accepted her.

Just a few days after that, the 'two week anniversary' of the accident arrived. Gil had improved to be sure, but not nearly enough to be let out of hospital yet. Deema's black eye had already nearly disappeared, though a little bruising and swelling could still be seen. And, most importantly, Molly decided that she was finally ready to talk to Gil.

About the argument.

About the bullying.

About their friendship.

If, of course, their friendship remained.

Molly swam to school, a little later than usual, and saw the other Guppies - including Oona - crowded around the computer with big smiles on their faces, while Mr Grouper watched them from a seat not too far away. Nonny stared at the screen in shock, while the others cheered for him as heartily as they could. Seeing no reason not to join in, Molly squeezed into what little available space there was and looked at the computer screen.

To say that Nonny's step-up was received better than Zooli's introduction would be an understatement. Already, in just the span of a few days, fanart flooded the pages of Nonny being front-and-centre - often but not always with Oona right by his side. Forums on top of forums sung high praises to him.

Yes, of course, there was plenty of work that showed a clear hatred of the change. One that stood out to Molly was a surprisingly well done drawing of Nonny curled up crying under a bright spotlight. But the negativity was easily surpassed by those who loved or even just tolerated the change. Comments and comments mentioning how 'he would finally get the limelight he deserves' in particular touched Nonny's heart. He never knew just how much the fandom loved him until now.

'Wow…' He murmured. 'They're taking it so well.'

'We told you, Nonny!' Oona said. 'The fans adore you, and they always will!'

'Three cheer for Nonners!' Deema yelled. 'Hip hip-!'

'Please don't.' Nonny said, blushing a little.

'Whatever you say!'

Molly couldn't have been happier to see such glowing praise. In fact, it seemed as if they loved Nonny way more than they loved her, and after what she had done to Gil, she wouldn't have it any other way. She placed her hand on Nonny's shoulder, and gave him the softest smile she could manage.

'You will do it, Nonny.' She said. 'You're so much more capable that you realise. There's no situation that you won't be able to get past, especially with us by your side.'

He smiled. Everyone - not just the Guppies, but their fans as well - seemed to all agree that a smiling Nonny was one of the cutest things imaginable. Some fans often demanded that he smile more, but most believed that the rarer he smiled, the cuter it was. In a situation such as this, it was even cuter than ever before. Molly didn't want to interrupt such a momentous occasion, but Gil wouldn't leave her mind. So, she turned to her new leader.

'And now I need leadership more than ever.' She said. 'I… I want to talk to Gil today.' She paused to let Deema gasp overdramatically. 'And I need you to come along.'

Nonny looked at her for a few seconds. Only a few days after posting the video, he already had to leap into 'action' and be a leader, and he certainly wasn't going to let down Molly so soon! After thinking about it for just a few seconds, he took a deep breath.

'We all know how big of a deal this is.' He said. 'This is serious, and the outcome could easily change our friend group forever.'

Molly chuckled. 'Since when were you so dramatic?'

He blushed a little harder. 'I-I've been hanging around Deema a lot. T-The point is, I think we should all come along for this visit. Not to say anything, of course, unless we have to. Just to be there and support you and Gil through it. I-If you think that's a good idea, of course.'

'A good idea? Nonny, that's a great idea! A little bit of support might just get me through this. Assuming that everyone else wants to come along.'

The response from the others was universal cheering and agreeing from most of her friends, so loudly and happily that it all blended together. The only one not cheering, perhaps unsurprisingly, was Goby, but he still managed to give Molly a genuine smile.

'That sounds like a great idea!' Mr Grouper said, rejoining the group. 'I'll come too, since we might've been able to avoid this whole mess if I stepped in earlier.'

Molly smiled. 'Thank you so much, guys. But I don't want anyone stepping in unless I start getting angry again. This is between me and Gil, and I need to try to handle this on my own. And I wanna get going now, so I can get it out of the way.'

'In that case,' Nonny said. 'Let's go!'

'FIELD TRRRIIIP!' Deema yelled.

It got her strange looks from everyone, especially Zooli. All she could do was shrug and chuckle awkwardly as she began to blush.

'T-Too soon?'

Only one word could describe what Molly was going through - nerves. She had never felt so sick to her stomach before. Not a word had left her mouth as they entered the hospital.

The elevator ride? It felt like it was slowly going up to the top of the Big Bubble Building. Creaking up slowly… slowly… slow as could be. The cheesy music playing on the speakers hit her ears but wasn't processed by her brain, which hardly processed anything at all. Her eyes wouldn't move away from the red digital number, watching it count up at a rate at what seemed to be one number per hour.

Hurry up, She thought. Pleeease hurry up…

And then, suddenly… DING! The elevator arrived at the correct floor, and the doors opened up. In just a moment, all that time had vanished.

Oh no… keep going. Don't stop now, please!

Mr Grouper grabbed her hand and guided her outside of the elevator, since she didn't move when everyone else did. Now, the process repeated. The road to Gil's room seemed even longer than the plane trip to Australia, with each step from the doctors and nurses echoing in the quiet space. Molly glanced at one of the bins, and was so tempted to empty out her stomach into it. It felt as though, no matter how far she swam, the road got no shorter.

Then, in the blink of an eye, she was at Gil's room, wishing that the trip was longer.

'Are you sure you want to do this now?' Nonny asked. 'The high amount of sweat pouring down your face indicates high levels of nervousness and stress.'

'Y-Yes.' She replied, wiping her sweaty brow. 'I-I need to do this sooner or later, and I'd rather it be now. Mr Grumpfish told me that I need to know instead of worrying about it. I'll only make it worse if I stall.'

'Okay. I just wanted to make sure. As the leader of the group now, I need to check.'

'Good. Keep doing stuff like that, and you'll be a lot better than I ever was.'

Molly stepped out from the crowd before anyone else could, since she wanted to stick to her own words and 'try to handle this on her own', and opened the door on her own too. Just like before, the door seemingly took forever to open, and yet once it was open it felt like it had gone by in a flash. She peeked in through the small gap she made, and saw Gil still in his bed - where else would he be? - and talking to Dr Apple. Bubble Puppy sat right next to Gil's pillow, half-asleep.

'I must say, Gil,' Dr Apple said, looking at a new x-ray. 'Considering how bad the accident was, your recovery rate is astounding! You might be released from this hospital earlier than we thought. Still, you'll be here for at least another week or two.'

Gil smirked. 'What can I say? Nothing keeps me - ow…' His attempt at pointing to himself just made his arm hurt. '... down for very long.'

She giggled. 'I can see that. I wouldn't be surprised if it was your determination alone that kept you alive underneath those boxes.'

His face went just a little pale. 'Heh heh… I don't like thinking about that.'

'Well, that's just a what if. Don't worry about that.'

In spite of how horrible the situation may have been, Molly managed to smile. After everything he had gone through, Gil could still smile and even joke about it. It wasn't like she expected anything less from the turbo-charged boy, but her heart soared with the knowledge that he didn't seem to care that he would be bed-ridden for at least a month total.

'That's my Gilly…' She murmured.

She winced; it still felt wrong using that nickname.

'You ready, Molly?' Deema asked in a whisper.

Molly nodded. 'Yep. Just going to open the door, and leap right in…'

Taking in a deep breath, she gave the door a big push before she could tell herself not to. It swung all the way open by itself, and bashed against the wall just a little. Even though it was just a small impact, it was more than enough to catch the attention of Gil and the doctor.

His eyes widened. 'M-Molly?'

The pink-haired Guppy waved. 'H-Hi, Gil.'

That was all either could manage before they went silent again. They stared at each other, as if waiting for the other to speak up, leaving the room in silence aside from Bubble Puppy's low growling. The awkwardness levels shot through the roof.

'Awk-waaaard…' Deema muttered in falsetto, if only to liven the mood, until Goby elbowed her. 'Ow…!'

'Deema, you're not helping.' He whispered.

'No, no.' Molly said. 'I-I need something. I would appreciate silence, though.'

And so the silence returned. She breathed in, and swam into the room without saying another word. Gil tapped his fingers together, while Dr Apple slowly backed away and headed for the open door. She only managed to slip past once the others entered the room, so she could leave the personal matter personal.

'So…' Molly said, holding her hands behind her back. 'Uh… nice weather we're having, huh?'

'You're not gonna make this not awkward.' Gil replied. 'You're just not.'

'Well, at least we can admit it.'

Molly rested her arms on the edge of the bed to get as close to him as possible. She saw the lack of 'get out' as a good sign.

'Alright,' She said. 'Let's not beat around the bush. Last time I was here, I got so angry that I ended up blaming Deema for everything.'

'WHICH I HAVE FORGIVEN HER FOR!' Deema yelled, only to get elbowed again, by Zooli this time.

Molly sighed. 'Deema, please don't step in until you need to.' She turned back to Gil. 'The point is, I screwed up. Big time. I got angry cos I wasn't handling my grief at all. But it isn't you I should be apologising to for that, and I've already worked through it with Deema. In case you couldn't tell.'

Gil chuckled. 'Yeah, I could tell. It's great that Deema came around, but…' He groaned. 'I still can't believe you really did that. Do you really struggle that much with things not going your way?'

Molly cringed, and alas she wasn't surprised that he said such a thing. She just couldn't believe that he said it so soon. However, she wasn't going to complain; it was the perfect opportunity, as far as she was aware. So, she took a deep breath and began talking.

'Yes.' She said, blunt enough to make Gil flinch. 'I'm not even going to pretend it's anything else. And you're correct. It's because I get everything my way all the time. Whenever something grand happens to us, it's usually me. I got to show off at the Super Ballet Ball. I got to sing with Stylee on stage. I'm even a princess! Though, I'm not sure to what extent, seeing as Bubbletucky is run by a mayor and not the royal family…' She shook her head about. 'I'm getting off topic! That's what made me so angry. Because you're right. I still have difficulty when things don't go my way, and since the situation wasn't going how I wanted it to, I…' She sighed again. 'I got angry.'

'That's fine.' Gil said. 'But so angry that you blamed Deema? I never thought you could get that angry.'

'Neither did I! But I had a talk with Mr Grumpfish a few days ago, and he explained it pretty well. I think the anger happened because I wasn't dealing with my grief at all. I didn't think about what I'd do if you didn't forgive me, so I tried so desperately to make you forgive me so I wouldn't have to deal with the consequences. Of course, that didn't work. At all.'

'It kinda sounds like you're just parroting stuff that Mr Grumpfish said.'

Molly giggled, just for a moment. 'That's because he said it so well. And I understand it now, and… I like knowing that. Gives me something to work on, you know? Honestly, I could ramble about that one outburst for hours. It's still one of the worst things I've ever done, and I understand why I did it, but it still doesn't make it right. And I don't wanna make it sound like I'm trying to justify my actions or anything. So, maybe it would be best to leave it at simply… I'm sorry for the outburst.'

She sighed in relief, but didn't move from her spot. Talking about it lifted her spirits a little, but only a little. After all, that discussion was the least of her worries today.

'I knew you would be sorry.' Gil said. 'Looking back, maybe I overreacted a bit. Maybe. But watching you pin the blame on Deema did really anger me.'

'No, you did not overreact.' Molly retorted. 'How you reacted was probably the best I could've hoped for. Though, if you want me to be honest, I just don't want our last words to each other to be angry arguing. I would hate it if the last thing you ever said to me was 'out'. I-I'm sure you understand.'

He nodded. 'Yep. I'll admit, I-I kinda regretted that being our last interaction for a while. Part of me hoped that you would come visit me again just so we could've ended on a nicer note. Y-You know, if we never see each other again after this.' He paused. 'Sooo… is that all you're gonna say?'

In that moment, Molly almost clawed at her own face like how a rake plows through dirt. The easy part of the discussion had come to an end; it was already planned out in her head, and she had no outcome to hope for. Now, things got harder. So, she took a deep breath, and began talking without really thinking about where she wanted the conversation to go.

'Let's talk more about that day, Gil.' She said. 'As nice as it would be, we can't just say 'oh, looks like we sorted that out' and move on. There's much more behind my outburst than things simply not going my way. It didn't come out of nowhere. There was something leading up to that before the conversation got really heated. And I don't mean the talk about how everything goes my way and all of that. I'm talking… everything. And, I think it's about time that I finally talk about that.'

Gil let down an exasperated breath. 'Molly, don't bother. We all know how that's going to turn out. Maybe you should just-'

'No!' Molly yelled, making him flinch. 'We're going to talk about this, and we're not gonna stop talking about it until we talk about everything. This time, there's not going to be any justifying or any attempt to save face. We're going into the deep end, Gilly.'

'Don't call me Gilly.'

She shuddered, but wasn't too surprised. If anything, she was surprised that he didn't say it last time they met. Perhaps he had been too busy with telling Molly to 'get out' to mention that.

'Alright then,' She said. 'We're going into the deep end, Gil. First things first, I'm not sure if you've got the news, but Nonny has officially taken over as the leader of this band now.'

Gil's eyes widened. 'Wait, for real?'

Nonny nodded. 'Yes. Everyone believes that I'll do a good job, so I had to take it. In other words, I'll be stepping in if Molly goes off the rails again.'

'Didn't need you to be so blunt with it,' Molly murmured. 'But you're not wrong. Hopefully, though, I'll keep myself in check and won't go off the rails again. And if I do, you have full right to punch me. All of you.'

'Uh… understood.' Gil said, just a little weirded out.

To prove that she meant it, Molly swam over the sides of the bed and sat down on the end of it. Fortunately, Gil's still-broken tail couldn't reach anywhere near the end, so it was easy for her to find a good spot to sit without hurting him.

She took another deep breath, and began. 'About a couple of weeks ago, you ended up in an accident involving heavy moving boxes. On the outside, it may seem like it was Deema's fault, but she was just a small part of it. The real culprit behind the accident was me. None of this would've ever happened if I had been a better friend.'

'Well, you did-' Gil began, before Molly cut him off.

'You don't need to do the explaining. I can name a few examples off the top of my head. There was that time I goated you into sounding like a rooster so all those love-struck hens would chase after you. Looking back on that moment, it makes me more…' She shuddered. 'Uncomfortable than anything. We never like it when a man is chasing after a woman for her love, so why is it any okay when it's the opposite? Also with hens, but still. And of course there was that time I deafened you with loud speakers instead of just telling you to be quiet. I think I did that twice, actually.'

Gil did not look pleased in the slightest. He didn't look angry, more so 'where are you going with this?', and Molly couldn't help thinking that she had already screwed up. Part of her wanted to give up and leave, perhaps to never see him again, but she refused to listen to it. She couldn't leave now, not before she told Gil how she really felt.

'But that wasn't the real problem.' She said. 'I don't think I instigated it very often. But whenever something happened to you, no matter if it was me, or the Little Fish, or our friends, or even a shark… I would laugh. And that's what was really the problem. I-I didn't care about you, or your safety. At least, it didn't seem like I did. Whenever you got hurt or scared or anything, I hardly ever checked to see if you were okay. All I did was laugh. And… and…' She clenched her eyes shut for a moment. 'That's such an awful thing to do! A little bit of teasing is one thing, but what I did was bullying!' She sighed. 'And people say that I'm the nice one…'

Gil tapped his fingers against the bed. 'I… Well, I guess, to be fair… I never really saw the problem either. Recently I kinda realised that everyone laughed at me more than the others, but I never really thought about it until the accident. So, it wasn't entirely your fault.'

Molly slammed her hands on the bed as hard as she could. 'That's no excuse, Gil! There is no excuse for being a terrible friend. I'm supposed to be your closest friend, but I treated you like a clown! It doesn't matter if we really didn't think through the consequences. No one should treat any of their friends the way I treated you. And it's terrible because… it was just you. All of my other friends, including people I had just met that day, were treated much better than you ever were. S-So it was targeted at you too! And now, you're an easily-scared nervous wreck who's sustained who knows how many bruises over the months? And even if you haven't… you still have hearing damage because of me!'

She took a deep breath. The other Guppies in the room could only stare, unwilling to say anything just like their ex-leader told them to. Oona stepped forward from the crowd, perhaps to stop any possible fights or cheer everyone up, but Nonny held out his arm and stopped her. She was never one to ignore him, and so stood in her spot silently.

'The point is,' Molly said. 'I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry for everything I've done to you. I could rant and rave about all the terrible things I did, but there's no point. It all ends the same way - I laughed when something bad happened to you. And then I got angry just because you weren't willing to forgive me quite yet. I don't want to treat you like that ever again!'

Without really thinking, she got a little closer to him. She crawled across the bed, making sure to avoid his tail, until she got right next to him. Now that she was this close, she wanted to hug him tight and tell him - right in his ear - exactly what she wanted to say. She just barely fought this urge, knowing that with his injuries, it would only put him in pain, and she was done with causing him pain.

'When you get out of the hospital - and I know you will,' She continued. 'I promise you right here and now that I will never treat you like that ever again. You will be treated like a best friend should be, and our new leader Nonny will make sure of that. Heck, maybe I should treat you better! You deserve it after everything you've gone through.' She took another breath, mostly just to slow herself down. 'Look, I'm not going to go on much longer. If I try to say anything else, I'll just end up repeating myself. Just know that I cannot say that I am sorry enough. So, I'll just leave it at this… I am sorry, Gil, and from now on I will treat you the way I should.'

And there it was - a whole fortnight's worth of words finally unleashed, and in such a small amount of time too. Molly leaned backwards until she collapsed onto the bed, and took a massive sigh of relief. She lay down for only a few moments before she sat back up again, feeling just a little light-headed after moving so quickly.

'Sorry for that.' She said. 'But that was the short version.'

Gil, for his part, needed a couple of moments to process all of that before he understood everything that had been said. Even Bubble Puppy, who hadn't left his side, seemed a little confused.

'Wow, uh, okay…' Gil said, scratching the back of his neck. 'That's a, uh, lot to get through.'

'It couldn't go any other way.' Molly replied. 'There was so much I needed to say.'

'Well, I guess I gotta say some stuff too now, sooo…'

He turned his head to look at the other Guppies and his teacher. They looked like they were watching a suspenseful movie and on the edges of their proverbial seats, while Oona gave him an encouraging smile.

'Say whatever you want to, Gil.' Nonny said. 'Don't think you have to make us feel better, but don't make the situation worse when you don't need to either.'

The blue-haired Guppy, determined to give his next few words the impact they deserved, slowly sat up from his pillow. Most of his external scratches and bruises had healed almost completely, but he still had some sore muscles and broken bones that made the task difficult. Pain, however, was no stranger to him, so it wasn't like he wasn't able to deal with it.

'Thanks, Molly.' He said. 'Thank you so much. I don't expect we'll have to deal with this again for a long time. I still think I may have overreacted a bit in the past, and it's great that you wanna make everything right. For real, this time!'

Molly smiled, but that was it. She refused to let her hopes get too high, like they did last time they met. So, she simply sat there. It wasn't like she had any expectations anyway. All she wanted was to apologise, and make up for her terrible performance.

'But…'

Which is why she was hardly disappointed at all when Gil's inevitable 'but…' rolled around.

'It's gone on for so long.' He said. 'For months, Molly, almost since the first day of school. And I know you mean it when you say you're sorry. But… an apology isn't going to undo everything. I wish it did, but I don't think it works that way. So, I…'

Molly placed her hand upon his, as softly as she could manage. 'Don't be afraid, Gil. Say whatever you want to. If I get angry cos of what you say, then it doesn't matter how you say it.'

There was another moment of silence.

Gil looked at her hand, and then back up at her face.

The other Guppies leaned forward in anticipation.

Bubble Puppy whimpered, cuddling closer to his master.

After a while, Gil sighed.

'I don't think I can forgive you.'

The other Guppies went on edge immediately, not only because they weren't quite expecting him to say that, but because they feared whatever Molly's reaction could be. The pink-haired Guppy stared at her friend for a bit, frowning as if wanting to be angry, before she breathed in heavily through her nose and slowly out through her mouth.

With that, she smiled. 'That's your decision, and I will accept that. And… I don't think I can blame you.'

She stood up from the bed, and backed away just a little. It would be too awkward, after all, for her to leave right at that moment. Especially if Gil had something else to say.

And that he did.

'That being said,' He began. 'I don't want it all to end here. I-I…' He blushed. 'I like you too much, Molly. So, how about we start our friendship all over again?'

He held up his good arm for a handshake, and Molly took it without a second's delay.

'That would be fin-tastic,' Molly said. 'Gil.'

Gil wiped his eyes with his other, still hurting arm. 'I-Is this getting you emotional, or is it just me?'

Molly could feel her own tears threatening to fall. 'N-No. I'm tearing up a little too.'

They weren't the only ones tearing up. While Deema was already wailing profusely on the floor, the other Guppies couldn't help the quiet weeping either. Even Nonny's eyes got a little watery, and the only reason why Mr Grouper didn't start crying too was because he wanted to be the 'strong' one in his class.

'Over the weeks I've been gone,' Molly said, wiping her eyes. 'I've missed you so, so much.'

'I've missed you too.'

Author Notes - I said before that I wished for this story to end on a happy note. When I said this, I meant 'as happy as it could be'. The point of this story was to show that you don't simply 'get over' something like this, regardless of who you are in this situation. So, it ends not with forgiveness, but the desire to repair what is broken. I really hope this 'climax' has proven satisfactory enough to you lovely readers, for it would be quite saddening if I failed to give this story the ending it deserved.

Either way, there's only one more chapter to go. It's a simple epilogue, yes, but the story doesn't quite end here.