Boo! Did I scare you? Hello once again all you funky bipeds. It has been a minute. Any excuse I have would just sound like an excuse! Just know that I have been one busy busy guy these passed few years, had lots going on in terms of like, making stuff happen. Maybe I'll give out my social media and you can follow me and stay updated in my real passions? Maybe...
It is 3 AM as I'm writing this, I tend to only come back to fanfiction for nostalgia, haha. Maybe that isn't fair to you, but hey! We're chilling. Enjoy this chapter, I think this story is still heading in a direction I'm happy with, I caught up on it to make sure I wasn't wasting my time by updating.
TL;DR: It has been long time, excuses excuses excuses, enjoy!
The morning light made it's way into Gumball's eyes. Upon opening them, he saw that there was a hole in the curtain covering the window that was allowing the most perfect beam of light in to wake him up. He closed his eyes once more, taking in the silence. He felt like he slept forever, as if one night had given him back all of the rest he had been missing out on lately. He lightly squeezed something plushy. He looked down to see the stuffed animal Carrie had inhabited so they could embrace each other through the night, a thought that once again set his cheeks ablaze. Was she still in there by any chance?
"Carrie?" He asked, breaking the silence. A moment passed and he decided that she must have gotten up. He stretched one last time and looked at an alarm clock that had been set on a nearby bedside table. The sound of glass shattering suddenly injected itself in Gumball's thoughts as his eyes opened as wide as the world's biggest saucers; He was late for school!
Great... absolutely fantastic... not only had he snuck out in the middle of the night AND spent the night a girl's house, but now he was late for school, which would absolutely warrant a call home for truancy, and that's assuming his parent's didn't notice his absence during breakfast. He shot out of bed, he had on his t-shirt and shorts he'd usually be going to sleep in and it would have to do. He could go one day without sporting his iconic outfit, the classmates would forgive him. He rushed out of the room, shouting for Carrie, maybe he could slip into class if she just popped them over? Was that too easy? Logic wasn't currently present, he'd left it in his other pants it seemed.
"Hey, Gumball!" Carrie greeted him from the kitchen, she had made one bowl of cereal with the thought of giving it to Gumball for breakfast. As kind as the gesture was, Gumball was currently drenched in a nervous sweat.
"Carrie! We must have missed an alarm or something! We're late for school! If my parents find out I was here all night... well... I can guess what my mom would do..." A shiver ran down Gumball's spine as the thought crossed his mind of what awaited him at home. Carrie giggled, it was almost mischievous but it somehow set Gumball at ease.
"Don't worry about that, man! It's a snow day!" Carrie said casually, as if it wasn't the middle of spring.
"A snow day?" Gumball asked in disbelief. He hadn't noticed the T.V was on, but as if on cue, it answered his rhetorical question.
"Yes! A snow day! Who could have guessed that in the middle of the night, a 6 foot blanket of snow would fall over the streets of Elmore, making it IMPOSSIBLE to drive anywhere, let alone attend school!" The reporter had said, almost as if it were aimed at Gumball. He looked from the T.V to Carrie, waiting for some sort of explanation.
"You looked really comfy, so I busted out the old spell book and one thing led to another, and before you know it," she took a pause to do some jazz hands. "Snow day!" She giggled shyly, not really knowing what Gumball's mood was at this moment. The cat was still in fight or flight, but ultimately sighed a huge sigh of relief. It didn't solve ALL of his problems, but it definitely took care of a few. He shared in the small laugh with Carrie and afterwards, sat in a small silence. As if she had been yanked back to the present, Carrie suddenly grabbed the bowl of cereal she had made and offered it to the boy.
"Sorry," she said. "I made this for you, I hope you like it!" Gumball smirked and took the bowl from her hands, a few jokes passed through his head.
"A little overcooked for my taste, but it'll do!" He said, sinking a spoon into the now soggy cereal. This made the girl laugh a little bit.
"Oh I'm so sorry, your highness, I'll have the chef put to death!" They both started cracking up, going back and forth and letting the bit run itself dry before settling on the couch to watch some T.V.
It's not like Gumball was the most chill guy on Earth right now, but for some reason, he felt like he was able to put his trust in Carrie's no problem attitude. Even if he went home and his mother had a million venomous questions about where he'd been all day, he felt like it was a problem to deal with later. Why spoil the present moment by thinking too far ahead?
Gumball happily ate his mushy, sugary cereal and felt completely content about his place in the world right now. A feeling that would only last for about 5 seconds before he felt his phone vibrate. He looked and saw a stream of frantic texts from Darwin.
"Everything okay?" Carrie asked him. He was skimming through trying to piece together a summary. Something about 'Code Red', and 'Mrs. Mom wants to know where you are' and such. Admittedly, his interior was not as cool as his exterior. Though he came off very calm, inside it was an unraveling ball of yarn.
"Uh, it looks like my mom noticed I wasn't at breakfast…" he thought quickly, trying to come up with some sort of plan, and one actually struck him! "I've got it!"
He pressed something on his screen and held his phone up to his ear.
"Hey mom!" Gumball said when his mom picked up.
"Gumball! Where are you? It isn't safe to be outside in all this snow. I have your father digging a tunnel out the front door, we were going to come look for you!" His mom sounded stern, but not frantic. He had noticed a few missed messages from her on his phone, that was surely his bad. That's okay though. This plan was going to work.
"Sorry mom, I forgot to tell you that I'm at Carrie's!" There was a silence on the other end, waiting for further information. "Uh, when I found out school was canceled, I asked her if she wanted to hang out! She can teleport, so we didn't have to go out in any snow!" It felt like lying, because it was lying! However he couldn't very well tell her that he had stayed the night at a girl's house and caused it to snow so they could have a day together without stressing about school.
The silence was broken by the clicking of his mom's tongue.
"Oh okay, well next time could you try and remember to let us know in advance? Your father broke about 5 spoons and he's hardly made a dent." She said, once again very sternly but overall understanding. In the background he heard his father speak.
"It's okay, honey! I found the snowcone syrup! We'll be out of here in no time!"
"Richard no! You don't know where that snow has been! Be back by dinner, Gumball. I have to go!" And with that, she hung up. Gumball felt a little guilty about lying, but that feeling was overshadowed by how relieved he was that it worked! Phew!
"She bought it, huh?" Carrie asked with a smirk.
"Hey, you're welcome to tell her the truth if you'd like!" Gumball said, returning a smile.
"And what would that be?" She asked innocently.
"That you kidnapped poor little ol' innocent me, and held me hostage here in a prison of your own design!" He replied dramatically! Carrie laughed.
"You're mistaken, yes I kidnapped you but YOU held ME captive!" She fired back. Gumball grinned.
"What, like this?" He said, attempting to tackle her, but ultimately passing right through her and falling onto the floor. He rubbed a sore spot on his head while she cackled with laughter.
"Yeah, something like that, cool guy." She said. She mindlessly rubbed the spot on his head for him. Suddenly, it didn't hurt so much anymore. The two smiled softly at each other, direct eye contact had never been so good.
The day was filled with good times, and Wark feelings. As promised, Gumball was home in time for dinner. Carrie had politely turned down an invitation to dinner by Nicole, stating that since she doesn't eat she'd make people feel awkward by just sitting there.
"Why would she think we'd feel awkward? Your father does enough eating for the whole house, I think she'd be okay!" Nicole said while setting the table.
"And that's a promise!" Richard said, warming up for dinner by eating a bag of chips.
"I'll see if she'd be down to stay next time! Eating is a bit of a touchy subject but I'm sure she'd find watching dad consume whole sticks of butter pretty funny!" Gumball said, earning a laugh from his mom and his siblings. Meanwhile, Richard looked into space longingly, whispering 'whole sticks of butter' as drool ran down his chin, earning another laugh from the family.
—-
The next day, Gumball woke up on time for his alarm. With no excuses, he got ready and made his way to school with his siblings. A break like yesterday was much needed for him, but as history has shown, the second he finds some peace, it usually gets interrupted by something.
"Gumball!" He heard Penny call to him. Ah, the familiar sound of his stomach slamming onto the floor. He turned and saw her walking in slow motion to him. Was she in slow motion? His perception of time had been very warped lately. He waved to her.
"Oh, hey Penny! What's up?" He said, staying as cool as possible.
"I just wanted to let you know! This weekend, I think it would be best if we met at my house! I already let my parents know we were going to be working on the fundraiser, and they're okay with it so long as we babysit my sister. They're going to be away!" Penny said casually, as if she didn't just let Gumball know that they'd be alone at her house this weekend. Electricity shot through his body at the thought! Uninterrupted one-on-one time! His brain came to a screeching, violent hault however. He had to keep in mind that they specifically said this would be a hangout. NOT a date. Why would it be a date? Things are going awesome with Carrie.
But he thought back to the paper ball fight in the library. Penny was exciting in her own way, sure she didn't have mystical ghost powers like Carrie, but she did know how to have fun! The childish antics she seemed to like were nothing short of endearing to the cat who had previously assumed she hardly indulged in that side of herself! The side that liked to play!
He knew he must have looked stupid busy standing there with a stupid little grin not saying anything. He shook his head a little bit to snap back into reality.
"Yeah totally! That's fine! I've been trying to think of some stuff, I'll make sure to bring plenty of ideas!" He said. Penny smiled at him.
"Of course! But if we get bored, we can always use our notes as ammo!" They shared a little laugh, before she suddenly touched his arm. It was very quick, flirtatious maybe? Whatever it was, it turned Gumball into a liquid. Penny said a quick goodbye and walked away down the hall, allowing him the time to compose himself. His chest was fluttering, and he could feel invisible hearts circling his head. He could never get tired of this feeling, but deep deep down, he knew he'd eventually be faced with a very difficult choice, and that kind of put a cap on his good time.
Throughout the day, Gumball felt stuck in his head. He definitely had plenty to think about; the sleepover he had with Carrie, the hangout he'd be having with Penny! Since he and Carrie weren't officially, he felt no guilt about still humping the thought of him and Penny, but for some reason he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something wrong about what he was doing. Either way, he wouldn't really have to worry about it until things got serious one way or the other.
The days turned to seconds as the weekend approached, leaving no time to prepare for a day at Penny's! It was Saturday, and he was casually texting with Carrie. She had sent a gif of a cat doing a funny dance in a hula skirt, he responded with a picture of a ghost saying 'boo, you stink!'. He chuckled a little to himself, tucking his phone into his pocket. He told his mom he was heading out, she told him to be safe and to have fun and he began walking to Penny's.
He and Carrie had been texting back and forth the whole time, each trying to one up each other in a game of "try to make the other laugh so hard they pee", which was part of why he liked her so much. She was clever! Gumball might not understand that, but he knew she was funny at least! And for some reason that felt like a big thing for him. On top of that, their moments were always so wholesome, and it didn't take much for their time together to feel like fun.
He once again tucked his phone back into his pocket when he found himself on the doorstep to the Fitzgerald residence. He knocked on the door and waited for an answer. It didn't take long for someone to open the door, that someone being Penny! She greeted the boy warmly and stepped aside to let him in.
He walked in and looked around, he had been here a couple times before when he was pining over Penny, trying to win the respect of her father and in turn, her, but he hadn't been here since the whole Carrie thing started happening. It felt weird, but cool!
"I hope you're okay with planning in my room, my sister is just gonna be watching T.V down here! She won't be much trouble."
She had him at 'my room'. He was being casually invited to Penny's room?! He looked around for anyone to pinch him, no such luck. The dream continues on! He dumbly nodded his head, feeling like a baby who hadn't developed functioning neck muscles quite yet. She grabbed his hand and started leading him up the stairs!
Ultimately, the two ended up laying on the floor with a planner in between them, writing whatever came to mind. Of course they had the basic ideas; bake sale, car wash, stuff like that. Gumball was trying to think bigger; Arcade? Fair? Just outright robbing people blind? Just like in the library, he kept circling back to bank robbery. While it wasn't realistic, it did remind him of the paper ball fight they had, that was a lot of fun. He sighed and crumpled up the paper with his latest idea on it; fundraiser barbecue. Penny got a suspicious look on her face.
"You'd better not be thinking about throwing that, if you know what's good for you!" She said through a cheeky little grin.
"Well now that you mention it…" he said, before getting hit in the head by a paper ball that Penny had prepared for just the occasion. That was enough to start a war.
Gumball took cover, hiding behind a turned over desk, throwing paper back after paper ball. Penny had a similar idea, hiding in a pillow fort on her bed.
"Give up now, you enemy scum!" Gumball yelled.
"Make me!" Penny said, tossing something over his wall. He looked down, a paper grenade! He grabbed a nearby pillow and threw himself on it to stop the explosion.
"Fall back, men!" He cried, taking the blow full force! One could say he was too in the moment, but the laughter from Penny was all he could think about. Having run out of ammo, the two took to the middle of the room to Duke it out on hand to hand combat. They had each other by the shoulders, circling, looking for some sort of opening.
Penny had found one, tripping Gumball and pinning him to the floor, he struggled, but ultimately, she had him. She sat on his waist and had his arms pinned on either side of his head. The two burst out into laughter, and laughter turned into heavy breathing as fatigue set in. Moments later, the two became aware of the situation they were in and couldn't help but lock eyes.
He didn't understand it, but this situation was making the breath catch in his throat, and he felt very shaky. It was hard for Penny to notice because she was feeling a similar way. The heavy breaths turned to slow, rugged breaths as they tried to figure out why they were suddenly feeling so… jittery. Like their stomachs were heavy, yet light. Like their hearts were beating nothing through their veins.
As if on instinct, Penny started to lean in, and Gumball did as well. The closer they got, the more the room started to fall away from them, leaving behind what resembled a universe to themselves.
Just as they were about to kiss, Gumball felt his phone vibrate, he had gotten a text! Penny shot up off of him.
"Uh, I'm going to go… check on my sister!" Penny said, darting for the door.
"Right! Yeah! Of course! I'll be here!" Gumball said. He waited until she was down the stairs to check his phone. He'd gotten a text from Carrie! Three words that simultaneously made his stomach drop, but his heart flutter!
"I miss you…" was all it said. He laid backwards onto the floor. What had just happened was insane! His body was still shaking, he was filled with an indescribable energy like his limbs were going to burst off of his body. Thoughts were swarming his head, sending him into a spin. The three words echoing in his mind, ringing out like a bell. He closed his eyes, processing everything, and when he opened them, everything was silent.
"I miss you too…" he wrote back. He tossed his phone a little ways away. Thinking about it, what he was doing was not cool. He could tell himself all day that he's not official with anyone, but all he was doing was indulging in feelings with two girls at the same time, both with interest in him. The thought that Gumball Watterson would become a player set a stone in his stomach that made him nauseous. He looked at the clock on his phone, deciding that he had been there long enough. He walked downstairs and saw Penny sitting with her sister, changing the channel on the T.V for her.
"Hey Penny, my mom said she wants me home, I gotta get going!" He said, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. She nodded profusely, red as a tomato.
"Of course of course, I think we got plenty done today, thanks for your help again, Gumball!" She said. He left and made his way home. He had questions and he was going to ask them.
When he got home he found his mom in the kitchen doing some dishes. He stood shyly in the doorway to the kitchen before knocking and making his presence known.
"Oh! Gumball, you scared me! How was it at Penny's?" She said, not stopping her dishwashing.
"Oh you know, it was cool. Got lots done…" he started, looking for a way to transition the conversation. "Can I… um… ask you something?" He asked. Nicole could tell by the tone in his voice that something was troubling him, so she turned off the sink and led him to the dining room table to sit.
"Of course, sweetie. Is something bothering you?" She asked sincerely.
"Kind of… what do you do if, like… hypothetically… um… let's say for instance, a guy likes two girls, and the two girls like the guy, but he doesn't know how to pick between two people…" Gumball started. Nicole was letting him finish his thought, this was obviously very important to him. As a kid coming of age, relationships could get confusing, especially because of the inexperience! What are you supposed to value in a person? In a life partner? How do you know if the person you meet when you're twelve will be the person you're together with when you're 87? As much as she wanted to treat this seriously, she was in awe at how her little man was starting to blossom.
"Well, these things tend to be kind of confusing. Even some adults haven't figured out how to navigate relationships!" Nicole started, she could see Gumball's expression fall a little bit. "From my own experience, you just have to make the choice that'll make you happy. And if that's still hard, then you just have to let your heart decide! There's no real right answer." She added. "But I feel like I have to remind you, you're still so young! You'll probably end up dating lots of people before you find the one you'll settle down with. I wouldn't put so much pressure on yourself, honey."
Gumball sat and let it all sink in. What would make him the happiest? That's been the puzzle he's been trying to decode, though he did appreciate his mom's wisdom. He thanked her and headed up to his room. It wasn't very late, but he felt like lying down.
He got into bed and got under the covers, checking his phone. There was a message from Carrie; a blushing ghost emoji. He smiled at his screen, sending a very witty response to resume their back and forth game of laughter.
Checked again and saw he also had a message from Penny; "Thanks again for your help, sorry I made it weird!".
He set his phone down. Life was confusing. One minute you're hanging with your best bud, playing games and calling girls gross; and the next, girls are the center of your attention. He could tell that being a teen would be one confusing ride. He rolled over and oddly enough, was able to drift off into a very nice sleep.
There you go, guys! Here's to another 3 years before the next update, eh? Wrong! I'm gonna try to bust this out. I have ideas, and I have some time! Like I said, I may give out my socials for the first time ever and let you guys follow me in my ventures! Get to know me a little better and such. Did you know? I'm a comic book artist? AND I'm directing a cartoon? Whoa! The more you know! I'll catch you cats on the flip flop, till next time all!