Gumball whistled a happy tune as he strolled over to his underwear drawer. He went to open the drawer but paused as he noticed Anais' dolls sitting next to them. He glared at them, as if there were something he was supposed to be remembering. Something clicked as a memory of Grady played back in his mind, of when he had told him about dolls being able to see everything that happened.

He hesitated, looking at them with a contemplative expression. He'd said he would apologize to them, but now that he was about to it just felt stupid.

"...Am I seriously about to do this?"

After a few more seconds he sighed and looked down, sheepishly rubbing his arm. "Uh, hey I'm...sorry...i guess? Didn't know you could see what was going on, and uh..." He began to apologize, before pausing. Suddenly, he began to chuckle. "What am I doing? They're just inanimate dolls, they aren't alive. Frank, Grady and Howdy probably were cause Dad got them for us, and knowing him he probably went to the Awesome Store for them."

The feline shook his head in disbelief and opened the drawer, He was about to drop his towel but hesitated once more. "Wait, didn't Dad get Anais' doll too?" He slowly glanced back toward the dolls.

He thought for a moment before quickly turning them all to face the wall. "...Just to be sure..."

Now that he'd gotten peace of mind, Gumball dropped his towel and took out a pair of underwear, slipping them on. He closed the drawer and absent-mindedly opened another as he fell back into his thoughts again.

He was surprised by how happy he was. Despite it being a Monday he was in a surprisingly good mood. Though to be fair, why wouldn't he be? Everything was going great for him at the moment. He and his siblings were closer than ever, he was getting better grades at school now which in turn was pleasing his mother, his relationship with Penny couldn't be better, he and Carrie also seemed to be getting a lot closer as well now and their entire group was frequently hanging out and having a laugh together. Right now, life really couldn't get any better.

...which is probably why, knowing his luck, something was bound to go wrong sometime soon. Whenever he was happy, whenever everything seemed to be going great, there was always something that went wrong, something that got in the way. The universe just couldn't leave him alone. It was as if it needed there to be drama in his life. Like the whole world depended on crazy, unbelievable things happening to him every other day.

Was it seriously too much to ask for a week or so off to give him a chance to catch his breath?

He sighed. Still, at least he was in a good mood at the moment. That's all that really mattered.

As he finally snapped out of his thoughts he was embarrassed to find himself squeezed halfway into one of his sister's dresses. "Oops, wrong drawer..." He blushed, quickly ripping it off and stuffing it back in the drawer.

"Gumball, quick, the bus is here!" Darwin suddenly yelled from downstairs.

Gumball gasped and hurriedly grabbed a sweater and pants before hurriedly hopping out of his room as he tried to get them on.

"I'm coming!" The kitten ran toward the stairs but missed the first step entirely and tumbled down the rest of the way, painfully landing at the door.

"Owwww..." He moaned before he got up and cracked his bones back into place. His eyes widened as he looked up and saw the bus doors close through the open front door. "No, wait! I'm coming!"

The feline ran out as fast as he could, pulling his pants up and sweater on. "WAIT!"

But he wasn't fast enough. The bus began to drive away. Still, he continued to chase after it.

"STOOOOPPP!" He yelled out despite knowing it was useless. "PLEEEEEAAASSSEE!"

He slowly stopped running as he realized it was pointless trying to continue. As his ears lowered in defeat the feline saw Darwin and Anais appear at the back window. They gave him an apologetic look as they shrugged, before the bus turned the corner.

He sighed frustratedly. "Great...now I'm gonna have to get a ride from Mom..."

As he trekked back toward the house he gulped. "If she's not too mad..."

The feline made his way inside to the living room where his Mom was getting ready to leave for work.

"Uh...mom?" The young kitten called out nervously.

"Hmm?" Nicole turned and looked down at him, eyes widening slightly in surprise. "Gumball? Why are you still here? The bus just left!"

"I...uh...kinda missed it. Can i get a ride?" He asked sheepishly.

"Wha-again!? Gumball this is the fifth time in the last two weeks!" She crossed her arms annoyed.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry, I-"

"Sorry isn't good enough young man! This is getting ridiculous!"

The feline's ears lowered slightly. " know! I've just been so tired in the mornings lately cause I-"

"Because you've been staying up and watching videos rather than going to bed when I tell you to. I know." The older feline narrowed her eyes in annoyance.

"What? No, that's not-"

"I don't wanna hear it Gumball! This is unacceptable! If I tell you to go to bed, I mean go to bed!"

"I know Mom, but you don't understand, I was-"

"I said I don't want to hear it Gumball! From now on you will go to bed at half six. No exceptions. Oh, and don't think about going on the computer or your phone as I'll be taking all of your electronics away before you go to bed."

Gumball's eyes widened in horror. "Half six!? We can't go to bed at half six! That's so early!"

"We?" Nicole raised her eyebrow. "I said you will go to bed at half six. I said nothing about Darwin or Anais."

"What!? But I can't go to bed hours before them! That's not fair!" He began to complain.

"You only have yourself to blame Gumball. You dug your grave and now you have to lie in it. Maybe this'll teach you to actually listen to me when I tell you to do something."

The young kitten clenched his fist, starting to get annoyed at his mother's constant interruptions. "But you don't understand! I wasn't watching videos I-"

"I don't want to hear your excuses, little man! We both know what you were doing, there's no point trying to deny it now."

"I'm not making excuses! I'm trying to tell you-" He raised his voice, gritting his teeth in annoyance.

"Excuse me!? Don't you dare raise your voice at me young man! Who do you think you are!?-"She too raised her voice.

"I'm not raising my voice! I'm just trying to explain why I-"

"I don't care about your excuses Gumball! I don't have time to argue with-"

"Grrr...SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP AND LET ME TALK!" The young feline finally snapped and yelled at his mother.

Everything became quiet as Gumball realized what he'd just done. He began to tremble, eyes widening with fear as the older feline silently glared at him. "Oh my god, Mom, I-"

"Get out." She replied surprisingly calmly.

"W-What?"

"I said get out. You're walking." She pointed toward the door.

"B-But I'll be la-"

"I don't care! You're walking! Now leave!"

"Grrr, FINE! I DIDN'T WANT A LIFT ANYWAY!" He shouted before storming off toward the front door.

He opened it and stepped out before turning back to her. "I HATE YOU! YOU'RE THE WORST MOM EVER! I WISH YOU WOULD JUST LEAVE ME ALONE AND LET DAD LOOK AFTER ME INSTEAD! AT LEAST HE LISTENS TO ME! AT LEAST HE CARES!"

The older feline's expression weakened at his remark. She hesitated, her ears lowering. As she spoke again her voice was calm and quiet, the pain evident in her tone. "Okay then. i-i-If that's what you really want, fine. I'll leave you alone. You can go ahead and do whatever you want. I don't care anymore."

"FINE, I WILL!" He yelled before slamming the door shut and running away.

As she listened to the patter of Gumball's paws on the road grow distant Nicole turned away from the door, her eyes welling up. She paused for a moment, Gumball's words replaying in her mind.

She sighed, and quietly wiped away the warm tears that had begun to trickle down her face, before slowly grabbing her bag and leaving for work.

Meanwhile, Gumball continued his journey to school, panting and sweating as he ran and ran, as far away from his house as possible. Right now he wanted to get as far away from her as possible...plus he wanted to at least try to make it to school on time.

"Stupid Mom making me go to bed early! She can't tell me what to do! I'll go to bed whenever I want!" He mumbled as he kicked a nearby pebble.

"In fact, I'm not gonna go to bed at all! I'm gonna stay up all night long! Let's see how she likes that!" The young feline raised his voice as he kicked an empty can of soda.

Suddenly he heard the rumble of a thunderstorm as the sky darkened.

"Oh come on!"

Rain began to pour down heavily, completely drenching him.

"As if things weren't already bad enough, now I'm gonna have to sit in wet clothes for most of the day! Great, just great!" He mumbled to himself annoyed.

As the feline continued his journey he began to slow down to a walk, letting the rain wash over him. "...So much for my good mood..." He let out a sigh before taking a deep breath. "Still, it'll be okay once I get to school. Darwin, Anais and all my friends will be there. They'll cheer me up. They always do."

He powered on ahead to school, a single thought going through his mind as the rain thoroughly soaked him.

...today was gonna be a long day...