Gumball slid the ring back in the drawer next to him and stood to watch the lightning outside. It's majestic glow combined with the mighty boom following it was something he found mildly entertaining at the moment. He closed his eyes and listened to the rain pitter-patter down onto the roof. It felt almost mesmerizing to him. It's rhythmic sound brought a sense of peace to his heart. It reminded him of the night he danced with Nicole. The way she twirled with him without a care in the world. The sparkle in her eyes. Her soft lips...

Gumball let out a gentle sigh before crossing his arms and focusing back on the wonderful display in front of him.

'Am I really wanting to go through with this? I mean...she's still bound to...dad...right? If anything, I'm responsible for her cheating on him...despite what he did to her."

Gumball lowered his head.

'I love her so much. I love her with all my heart. But am I really wanting to marry her? What if I mess up? What if we argue and she gets flashbacks of...him and sees that in me? What if she wants to leave me? What if-...'

"No." He told himself.

He didn't want to think about that. She meant too much to him for himself to be thinking such terrible things. As he let out another heavy sigh, his face lit up with a flash of lightning, followed by a rather large boom only seconds after.

'What would she say if I even asked her? I mean...would she even CONSIDER something like this? With me? What if she says no? Would we need to stay away from each other for a while? What if she says...'

'What if she says yes?'

His toes curled just thinking that phrase.

'If she says yes, then what happens after that?'

Gumball was still lacking knowledge in some parts of traditions, but felt clueless when it came to stuff like weddings and engagements.

'Geez, I honestly don't even know what hand to put the ring on properly. *sigh* I will need to catch up on some stuff it seems...'

Gumball raised the side of his pointer finger to his lips, pondering.

'But how?...'

After thinking for several minutes, Gumball came up with a plan.

'Okay, so, I'll go inside the houses on our block and see if any of them have any books on relationships, engagements and weddings; hopefully. I gotta come up with an excuse to keep Nicole unaware of my true motives though...'

"Aha!" He said out loud, before quickly covering his mouth.

'I mean, aha! I can simply say I'm looking for scrap or looking for anything useful in them since we haven't really explored them yet. This could work...'

With a now a full-on grin, Gumball had successfully concocted a full fledged plan. A plan that just might work...

'Now all I need to do is wait until morning before executing my plan. Then, I'll need to work fast.'

Gumball walked away from the window and made his way out of his room and into Nicole's. He then climbed in onto his side of the bed, and cuddled up close to her.

'I love her, and that isn't going to change. I just hope what I'm about to do is right...'

With a final glance at her, he saw her still breathing normally, only having a small smile on her lips; seemingly lost in a dream.

"I love you...Goodnight, Gummybear." He whispered softly to her, kissing her on the lips very quickly and faintly; as to not disturb her slumber.

With that, he pulled the covers up close to his neck and laid on his side. Closing his eyes, he started to imagine all the possible outcomes of her decisions with him asking her "the question" before he finally drifted off.

—————

The first golden rays of sunshine peaked over the horizon and shined its glow through their window, giving the whole room a warm lighting. Nicole wiped her eyes as she woke up. With a yawn and a few stretches, she got out of bed. This caused Gumball to stir awake himself. As she made her way to the bathroom and shut the door, she heard Gumball make his way downstairs rather quickly.

'Hm. Maybe he was just hungry...' she thought.

Gumball made it down the flight of stairs before making his way to the kitchen. He wanted to eat early so he would have more time to scavenge for what he needed. As he opened the fridge and pulled out some food, he decided to make a plate for Nicole too.

As she made her way downstairs, Nicole heard Gumball eating. As she entered into the kitchen, she saw him stuffing his face with rapid speed.

"Hungry are we?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

Gumball looked up to her and smiled before realizing his situation and wiped his face sheepishly.

gulp* "yeah, sorry."

He then put down his spoon before clearing his throat.

"Nicole, I was hoping to do something today..."

This caused her to come over and sit across from him at the table.

"And what might that be?" She questioned.

"Well, I realized we haven't really checked the homes around our block, and I thought maybe I could check them out to see if I can find anything interesting in them."

"Hm, I see..." she said, taking a bite of her food.

"So I was thinking of going after I eat."

Nicole swallowed before speaking again.

"Mind if I join you?"

Gumball felt his toes curl slightly. This wasn't part of his plan. He had to separate from her if was to look for what he needed...

"S-sure I guess. But let's split up to cover more houses. It would be more efficient."

Nicole nodded in agreement.

"That can work."

With that, she started eating. Gumball on the other hand, was almost done already. He quickly shoved the last bit of his breakfast into his mouth before excusing himself to get prepared.

Nicole watched curiously as he ran off and upstairs in a rapid pace.

'I wonder why he is so eager to do this...'

After a few minutes, she finished her food and put her plate away before heading upstairs herself. As she approached his room, she saw him laying out a few picnic blankets.

"What do we have here?" She asked, drawing his attention to her.

"Well, I thought we could carry stuff in these. Sure, they aren't backpacks, but I really think that we can put quite a few things in them."

Nicole observed the 4 blankets sprawled across the floor and decided that it would suffice for now.

"That works Gummypuss, nice creativity."

"Aw~ thanks. I'm glad you approve..." he said shyly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Taking two blankets each, the two then made their way outside and onto the lawn before stopping.

"Alright Gumball, I want you to listen to me carefully okay?" She spoke with a serious tone.

Gumball nodded.

"I want both of us to be back here by sunset. You can eat some lunch from the fridge in the house you are scavenging from. If anything goes wrong, call out to me. I'll come. Alright?"

"Okay." Gumball replied.

"Also, don't do anything stupid. I want this to go smoothly. If you need help moving something big, just let me know."

"I'll go my best, and I will."

"Good..." she said with a sigh of relief.

Nicole knew she was being a little over cautious, not to mention still feeling a bit hesitate having Gumball leave her sight for such a long period of time; but nevertheless, she knew she could trust him. After what happened recently, she knew she could truly count on him.

"Oh, and one last thing..." she said, coming closer to him.

With that, she pulled him into a deep kiss, caressing his cheek ever so slightly. When she pulled back, she rested her forehead against his.

"Stay safe Gummypuss. I love you."

"I will. I love you too."

They then drew back from each other and picked up their supplies.

"I'll be in this house over here." She said, pointing to the neighboring house next to theirs.

"I'll be in that house over there." Gumball said, gesturing towards the burgundy colored home across the road and down a few houses.

"Alright. Hopefully you can find something good. We can show each other what we got when we get back."

"Oh...sure." He muttered, tightening his grip on one of the blankets in his right hand.

Nicole noticed something off about his tone saying that, but decided to brush it off for now.

The two then went their separate ways, both eager to find something they might be interested in finding. It would be a long day for the both of them.

———

Gumball made his way over towards his targeted house. It's darkened color seemed to draw his attention to it easier than the other houses on the block. He had decided to choose this one first since it appeared to be the biggest house around here.

'Hopefully I find something that could help in here...'

Gumball carefully smashed a side window before climbing cautiously inside. He then unlocked all the doors. He then checked the living room. He was quite amazed at the interior. The lovely decorated couch and leather seats really added a nice and cozy touch to the room. It even had a brick fireplace.

"Man, we should have picked here to live instead." He said to himself, deciding to move on to the other rooms.

He checked the kitchen which, to his surprise, seemed to sport a minimalist design. The clean and sterile granite countertops mixed with the stainless steel fridge and dangling futuristic looking lights really caught his eye. He ran his fingers across the surface of the countertop and was loving it. It was so smooth.

After he checked and found nothing in the drawers, he opened the fridge. Inside was loaded with fresh food, as he expected. Taking an apple for the road, he closed it and headed upstairs to see what the upper rooms had to offer.

As he entered what he guessed was the master bedroom, he was happy to see a small collection of books on a shelf by the very luxurious bed that had a very intricate wooden foot and headrest.

As he approached the shelf, he skimmed the titles.

"Let's see...Classic Tales of Medieval folklore, Wrath of the Seagod, Everything to know about woodworking, Finance 101..."

"AHA!" He exclaimed, finding a small book near the end of the bottom row.

Picking it up and looking at it closer, it read, "Knowing your Partner: The Path to Marriage and Beyond".

'YES! This can help me greatly...' He thought excitedly as he put it next to his blankets.

About an hour had past and Gumball had throughly inspected the remainder of the house. He had found a few things along the way, but nothing really of interest. Carrying the partially full blanket over his shoulder, he made his way back to the master bedroom. Setting his stuff on the floor, he picked up the book and plopped down onto the bed. He hadn't found any other books like this one in the house; so it would have to do.

Gumball was never much of a reader in general. He only had to read if he had to back in Elmore; but now, for the first time in a VERY long time, he felt a bit of excitement to read a book. Especially if it might help him with his and Nicole's relationship.

Opening the book, he started reading.

'Chapter One: Proper Flirting. Oho! Now THIS is gonna be good...'

———

Nicole was inside the neighboring house, still closely admiring each of several tiny glass sculptures. Although they were only several inches long, they had a lovely deep blue color that had caught her attention in the first place.

'Well, these could add a bit of color to our place...' she thought as she picked each one of them up and set them gently next to each other in the center of her carrying blanket.

The house she had picked next door to theirs was proving quite worthy in her eyes. She had found several items so far; this included a few kitchen pans along with a lovely toaster that held four slices of bread instead of two. This would be a major upgrade in the kitchen for her and Gumball.

Nicole made her way back upstairs to check out some rooms she missed. As she opened the door to the room at the end of the hallway, she was somewhat surprised. Near the far corner of the room was a small, but very well crafted ship in a bottle. As she approached it, she picked it up and admired it closer. It's pure white sails and aged wooden haul were quite impressive.

'Gumball would LOVE this in his room.' She thought, setting it by the door before moving on.

She then spotted a small book shelf. She made her way over to it and glanced at the titles.

'Let's see... Construction of Ships Through History, Navigating the Seas, A Tale of the Captain and Stewardess: Love on the sea...*clears throat* taking THAT...'

Nicole set the book quickly off to the side before continuing.

'Nope,nope...boring, nope...'

As she reached the last level of the shelf, she paused. She saw a particularly different book near the middle.

'A joke book? What's this doing here?'

Taking it out and moving onto the ocean themed bed, she laid down and opened it. Skimming through a few pages made her form a rather prominent grin on her face.

'Gumball is DEFINITELY going to like this. Buuuut...it wouldn't hurt to tell him a few from this before I give it to him...'

She then decided to start reading it more throughly, making note of the best ones she finds.

'These are so corny...haha, he's either going to love me for them, or totally hate my guts for an hour. But it will be OH SO WORTH IT!'

———

Gumball set the book down and marked it. He was half way through it, but he needed a break. It had been several hours now and he felt a bit tired.

yawn* 'I don't think I'm gonna finish this book in time before I need to head back. That means I gotta smuggle it back home without her finding out I have it. *sigh* But how on Earth am I gonna hide this from her if we got to show what we collected today?...'

Gumball stretched and then rubbed his temples in frustration.

'Come on brain, THINK! You got yourself into this mess, now you need to think of a way out of it...'

Another minute went by.

'I could sneak it past her in my clothes? No. She could tell if she hugged me. I could...bury it and wait until nighttime to dig it up? What?! Come on brain...is that the best you could think of? That's pathetic. Some gift you are to me...' *sighs*

"Wait..." he said out loud, coming to realize something.

'A gift...'

Gumball then quickly looked around frantically, hoping to find what he was looking for. He then got up and made his way downstairs and glanced at the dining table in the kitchen.

"Aha! Perfect!"

Gumball reached for it and grabbed the linen tablecloth off of it and held it in his arms.

'I'm going to make a gift for Nicole. I'll have to tell her it "isn't ready yet" and still needs some final touches, but it would give me privacy, along with time to smuggle in the book and hide it in a good spot for later in my room.'

He made his way back upstairs.

'But what should the gift to her be?...'

He decided to check his stuff that he collected and see if there was anything that she might like.

'Fancy cups? Nope. Colorful duck ornaments? Not a chance. Maybe this empty wooden box?'

Gumball picked it up and held it in his hands.

'Maybe. She could put something she finds in there for safekeeping I guess. I wonder what the interior of this looks like. I hope it's open eno-'

"Whoa!..." he said to himself as he opened it.

Inside revealed a three sectioned interior, with the center including a small rectangular box that fit nice and snugly within it. As he slowly opened it, he felt his eyes widen with amazement.

' I-It's a golden necklace...'

He carefully took it out and looked at it closer. Its small golden chains sported a lovely shine, and the small locket in the center was the shape of a tiny heart.

It was perfect. No gift would beat this. As Gumball snapped out of his small trance brought by it, he put it back gingerly and then shut the box. He was enticed by its beauty, so he KNEW that Nicole would be too.

He hastily picked up the wooden box, along with his book and wrapped the table cloth around them. He then collected all his other stuff and tied up the picnic blankets. He hoisted it all over his back and stuffed the extra blanket inside the tablecloth wrap as he made his way towards the door. He was done for the day. He had got everything that he needed.

As he made his way downstairs and opened the door, he realized it was just about sunset.

'Well well well, looks like I DO make good time' he thought, forming a smile as he shut the door behind him.

He then proceeded down the street, making his way towards their home. Just as he reached the grass lawn however, a familiar voice called out to him from his right.

"You made it just in time, I see..."

Gumball turned to face her.

"Come on, you know me...I'm NEVER late." He said sarcastically.

"Ha! Don't make me laugh..." Nicole said, approaching him.

Gumball carefully set his stuff down.

"Looks like I already did~" he said back, sporting a now very smug grin.

"Come here you~" she said, outstretching her arms.

Gumball quickly wrapped his arms around her and she did the same to him.

"I really was starting to miss you, ya know..." Nicole softly spoke, rubbing his back.

"I missed you too..." he spoke, nuzzling his face into her.

He then pulled back to look into her eyes.

"I got you something~"

"Oh? And what might that be?" She questioned, running her tail up and down his side.

"W-well, it's a surprise. Sadly, I didn't get to finish wrapping it fully, so I need more time."

"Oh...okay. That's fine. Take as long as you need to."

Gumball then pulled his arms behind his back and pulled off his most innocent look he could muster.

"Did you find anything for me?~" he asked.

"Y-Yes! Of course I did!" She quickly added.

"And what did you find?"

"Well..." she paused, quickly coming up with something to say.

"Well, It's a surprise too..."

"Hm. I guess we both got surprises for each other, huh?" He said, giving her a small smile once he saw her nervous glance.

'She totally made that up, didn't she?'

"Well, I'll get wrapping." He mentioned, making his way over towards the door. "We can show each other our goods once I'm ready and done."

"Oh, okay. I'll do the sa-, I mean...I'll wait for you in my room. Just...no peeking okay?"

"Fair enough, but I expect you to do the same."

"Sure, no problem...heh." She said, rubbing the back of her neck.

With that, they both made their ways upstairs and into their own rooms.

———

Gumball shut the door door behind him and set his stuff down on the floor. He then untied the tablecloth and took out the book.

'Now where to hide this bad boy...' he thought, glancing around.

Eventually his eyes locked on the space between the bed and the bedside drawer.

'Perfect.'

He placed it snugly inside the space, and pushed it back far enough to not be seen easily.

'I can't believe my plan worked. Well done me. Well done...'

Gumball then looked towards the small wooden box on the floor.

'One step down, another to go. I really hope she is going like that necklace...'

Gumball then smiled.

'Heh. I almost forgot. She's probably finding a way to wrap her "surprise gift" as we speak..'

———

Nicole, was in fact, doing just that.

'Come on, just PICK ONE!' She said to herself, as she looked down at three evenly spaced items.

'Surely he would like THIS glass item...right? Nonono, he would like...THIS one...*sigh* what if he doesn't like glass items at all?...'

Nicole sat back and covered her face. She wanted this to stop. She needed to choose a gift. And FAST. Gumball would be done wrapping his soon enough and she wouldn't have her 'surprise gift' wrapped at ALL at this rate.

another sigh* 'why did I lie to him like that? Wouldn't it have been easier to just say mine wasn't a surprise gift? No, wait, then I couldn't return the favor...'

Nicole moaned into her hands. This felt useless.

'He could really hate these glass decorations...'

Nicole stopped.

'Wait...glass decorations...'

Quickly, she looked up, and over towards her other items. She moved over to them, and cleared a space around what she was looking for. Carefully picking it up, she smiled widely.

"Now THIS is something he would adore..."

With haste, she wrapped the new item in the blanket and tied a fancy knot at the top.

Just as she finished it, she heard Gumball's door open and heard him go downstairs.

'Alright. Now it's time. Let's hope he truly likes this...'

With that, she picked up the blanket wrapped gift and made her way downstairs.