Chapter 34: Together Again

(Cato's POV)

(Park)

The wind was breezing over my military uniform I was still wearing since I got back. It was near sunset. The sun lingering over the sky in the background. It was starting to get cold, winter puts a toll on the temperature around me.

It took me awhile to find Amber sitting on a bench next to the lake. Her hair flowing slowly along with the cold breeze. Her face still as beautiful as I remembered. She was looking down at the locket I gave her just the other day before this. I walked up behind her and almost doubled over myself when I noticed her looking up into the sunset.

I walked slowly and silently behind her and put my arms around her shoulders. I felt her tense for a little while. "The sunset looks just as beautiful as you. You know that?"

She probably heard my voice and recognized it, because immediately I can feel her tense shoulders relax and her head tilted over to my left arm.

I walked around the bench to look at her in front. Before I even get to do anything, she jumped up and slapped me across the face.

"Ow, what was tha-" I said.

Then, being the girl that loves to make surprises for me, she pulled me into a kiss. She caught me by surprise but then I returned the favor. Her breath feeling warm on me, our tongues practically wrestling each other at this point.

She started to part away from me. "I got worried about you, stupid." I notice her pouting at me. "You suddenly went quiet for like three or four days."

I held my hands in hers. "You know, for normal people, three or four days of silence from each other is nothing." Then, I pulled her into a hug. "But for me, it was a living nightmare."

"It sure was, knucklehead." she said, hugging me back. "Sorry I didn't get to text you back today."

"Yeah, what happened?" I asked, wanting an explanation or something. I tried to contact Amber earlier today to make sure she knows I was okay. But she didn't pick up my calls or return my texts.

"Carrie knew I wasn't being myself while you were gone. She knows I was thinking too much about you or your safety. So, she, along with some help from Kelsey, took me on a girls' day and night out. It lasted for a whole three days." She rolls her eyes at the idea. "I know she wants me to be happy and all, but three days is a lot to spend at the Springer's. Even Kelsey's family got worried about me thinking about you the first two days."

"Well, looks like I owe someone a thank you for taking care of you while I was away." I said jokingly.

"True, but.." She rested her head on my chest and wrapped her arms around me again. "I want you to take care of me."

I couldn't help but smile at her little act at being a child for me as I hugged her back and nuzzled the top of her head with mine.

Our moment was nice, but like every single romance cliches, someone just had to jump in.

"Whoops, looks like I came at the wrong moment."

I looked up and saw the blue and black cat who helped us at CR1M3 headquarters standing behind Amber. Amber turned around and looked at him all puzzled.

"Sorry, who are you?"

"It's alright, he's uhh... an ex-ally." I said.

"Harsh, being called a 'friend' would've been nicer." Thunder said jokingly. "Anyway, my name is Thunder. I assume you're ghost boy's girlfriend." He snickered a little as he looked at me.

"For the fifth time, don't call me ghost boy."

"You really don't wanna call him ghost boy." Amber said and laughed.

"Hahah, sorry Cato. Anyway, I came to say goodbye. After Kent's done at the Watterson's, he's gonna send me back to my home."

"What's Kent doing there?" I asked.

"Having a quick dinner." he replied. "And looks like this is goodbye."

"Eh, we'll meet each other again one day. It's a small world."

"Yeah, bet on it." Thunder held out his hand towards me. "Goodluck out there."

I shook his hand. "You too, wherever you end up."

Thunder nods and without another word, walks away. Amber looks at me all shifty. "He seems weird."

"This world is weird. I don't know if you haven't noticed it yet."

"Yeah, you're right. Looks like my hubby's made a new friend."

"Seriously, Amber. I swear you make up the weirdest cute names for me." I said with a small chuckle.

Amber looks at me disapprovingly. "Hey, at least I'm trying."

"Sure, babe."

"Oh my god, that's so cliche!"

We both laughed under the now night sky for awhile. It feels nice, having someone you love to joke around with. I wished I had more time like that and not just some random ass action going on every two weeks. Sometimes it really seems...weird.

"Okay, you're right about this world being weird." Amber suddenly spoke up.

"What do you mean?"

"Look up."

I did what she told and she was right. It started snowing. Snowflakes fell slowly from the sky, making such a beautiful scene of the park.

"You know what? I could get used to this." I said.

"As if you weren't already for the past four years we've been living here."

"True." I said as she giggled. "We should get back to the Watterson's. Carrie might be waiting for us back there."

"Nah, I can text her to not wait for us. Let's go home. It's not all the time we get some...alone time." She said with a sly looking grin as she whispered that last part.

"Sure." I replied with a smile, half knowing on what her intentions really were.

(Gumball's POV)

(Watterson's Residence)

We waved Kent and Thunder goodbye outside our house after dinner. They left in the truck that he took us here with while everyone else went back into the house. Snow started falling mildly as I sat at the stairs leading to the doorstep. Even after changing to my normal sweater, it's still pretty cold. Carrie came out of the house and sat next to me.

"Good to see that you're back." she said.

"Yeah..."

"Hey, something bothering you?"

"It's really hard to get off."

"What is it? Cmon you can tell me."

"Anais.." I said.

All it took was that one name for Carrie to figure out what was wrong. I looked down, knees holding up to my chest, still bearing that guilt of breaking her during those four years. What's been keeping her going was thinking that I never existed, and to be honest, I was heartbroken even though I deserved it.

"Maybe you should go talk to her." Carrie spoke up. "She might not listen to you, or forgive you, but it's better to let out your feelings and explanation rather than keeping it to yourself and knowing the fact that she doesn't know your side of the story."

I kept on thinking. Carrie's right. She might not forgive me and might still think I don't exist. I don't really know if I deserved this.

"You know what, you're right. Anais might not forgive me, she might not listen to my side of the story." I said.

"Gumball.."

I stood up and looked at her. "But at least I can get some part of that guilt out of my chest by letting her know why I did it and didn't mean to break her."

Carrie's face lit up in an instant and made me smile. "Thanks, Carrie."

I walked through the door and rushed up the stairs, despite Darwin and Dante trying to call me from the living room couch. I stopped in front of the door and wanted to knock on it. That's when I heard Lexy's voice through the door.

"Look, I know Gumball can be an idiot but he literally risked his life to save you. Besides, he didn't mean to hurt you or any of us. Just give him a chance at least."

I knocked on the door, slowly. I opened the door and made eye contact with Lexy who was sitting on the bed beside Anais. Anais was laying on her bed facing the wall. Lexy put her hand on her before getting up from the bed and walked towards me. "Do what you can."

Lexy walked past me and closed the door behind me. I walked to the side of the bed where Lexy sat before and rested a hand on Anais. "I wanna be alone, Mom." was what she said. I can just hear her choking on her words as she sounded like she was crying.

I finally spoke up. "I'm really, really sorry, Anais."

Her breath got caught on her throat hearing my voice. Or as I thought, because she stopped breathing for a solid second. I continued on. "I know you're going through a lot and have been since I ran away. I know I broke you to the point where I can't fix it. And then, all this happened. You must be horribly traumatized and I'm so sorry. If I could turn back time, I would stop myself from running awa-"

She suddenly got up from her bed and hugged me. I really didn't know how I would react. Most of me was feeling guilt while some parts of me was feeling kinda loved.

"You can shut up now. I don't care about those four years you left." She hugged me tighter. "All I care about is you're here, right in front of me. The person I'm hugging right now. When I saw you at the airport for just a second and heard your voice, I thought I was going crazy. And then I was feeling woozy at that lab and saw you with Lexy. I didn't know what to feel when I saw you. Just...I love you, Gumball."

Again, I didn't know how to react. I just subconsciously hugged her tightly as well and buried my face on her shoulder as she did the same. "I love you too, lil' sis." was all I could muster to say.

(3rd person POV)

(Outside Anais's room)

Carrie and Lexy were snooping through the crack open door looking at the two siblings.

"Well, not really something I was expecting, but at least it's resolved quicker." Lexy said.

"Yeah*sniffle*it sure did." Carrie replied with a somewhat runny nose.

Lexy pulled her head from the door and looked at Carrie. "Are you crying?"

Carrie too pulled her head from the door and snapped at Lexy with a tearful face. "No, you're crying!"

"Haha, yeah sure, girl."

The door creaked open and Gumball was standing there, also tears on his face. "How long were you guys standing there?"

"Whole time. And uhh..you got something on your face." Lexy replied.

Gumball hastily wiped off his tears with his sweater's sleeves.

"Well that's enough for a day. Imma go hit the hay. Have fun you two lovebirds." Lexy said as she walked back into the room, leaving Gumball and Carrie blushing.

Carrie started rubbing her arm shyly. "Well, looks like I'm gonna go home. It's getting pretty late and you should get some rest."

"Alright. You're gonna walk home?"

"Nah, I can teleport, remember?"

"Right, I forgot. Well, goodnight." Gumball wrapped his arms around Carrie gently. "I love you."

Carrie returned the hug. "I love you too."

They pulled away and Carrie teleported home, leaving Gumball alone in the hallway. "I love my weird ass life."

Suddenly, he heard a crash from downstairs and his dad screaming. "I left the sausages in the microwave for too long!"

"Quick, get the table cloth!" Darwin yelled.

"Ahhh!" Dante screamed after.

Gumball chuckled by the noises and shook his head. "Yup, lovin' it."

And that wraps up the chapter. To be really honest, I was looking forward to the end of the CR1M3 "saga" for quite a while cuz I'm letting my imagination get the better of me up to the point where I get pretty overwhelmed. Spent about 10 chapters on just this too. I'm just trying to keep it under the highschool after this (hopefully not falling under the imagination hole). But as for that, hope you let me know how it's going in the comments. I'll see you guys in the next chapter.

Peace out!