Author Notes - While this is probably the shortest chapter in the whole story, I think it might be my favourite. Today, we're focusing entirely on Molly after she brushed all of her former friends off.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN - REGRETS?

Molly let out a loud groan as she plopped down onto her couch. She couldn't believe it. A bunch of 'strangers' show up to her home, and start going on about that stupid band? Why did they care so much? She had grown up. Why didn't they?

She stared at her computer, resting on a nearby table. A morbid curiosity overtook her, and next thing she knew she was typing 'Bubble Guppies' into a search engine. Her memories of that damn band were fleeting and faded. She stared at the screen for a few times before she convinced herself to hit the 'enter' key. Unsurprisingly, the old band was the first thing to pop up.

The first thing Molly saw, however, was herself. More than a couple decades younger. Molly stared at this stupid little girl for a while. No doubt about it. They were the same person. She scrolled for a bit, and very quickly found an old 'Best of Molly' compilation from their own channel. For the kicks and giggles, she clicked on it.

The first song on the playlist was that one song about colours. The one with the really catchy tune but some of the worst lyrics Molly had ever heard. Heck, the music video wasn't even in widescreen. But still, her fantastic vocals shined through. She smiled listening to her own singing, delighted to know that she always had it.

But then, she stopped smiling. That little girl from almost thirty years ago was so happy, so gleeful to sing those awful lyrics. How could she be so cheerful while singing words like 'blue like the sky or just like Mr Grouper'? (Seeing that fish on screen made her cringe more than she had been expecting). Her first thought was that her younger self was just stupid. Who wasn't stupid at that age? But at the same time, she couldn't help wondering if she was missing something.

The other Guppies - the fools who had never moved on - were in the music video too, singing back-up and occasionally showing up and holding things that matched the crappy lyrics. And all of them, even that Nonny kid, looked so happy to be there. Molly could hardly believe it. They didn't matter. They didn't provide anything. Molly's killer vocals were all that mattered. Sure, Molly could recall that they would always write the songs together, but people certainly weren't listening for those lyrics.

Then again, the lyrics were improving vastly as the compilation went on. Still nothing worthy of being in a big grand musical, but there were far less forced rhymes and silly word choices. To her surprise, Molly found herself head-bopping to a few of them.

'The splish splash feeling of a puddle is awesome,' She said to herself as the song played. 'The tip-tap-tipping on umbrellas is awesome.'

She didn't even realise that she was singing along to it until the song was almost over. Then, she stopped herself dead.

'You're better than that…' She muttered. 'Don't lower yourself to this dumbass childish band.'

And yet, she couldn't stop watching. Her younger self looked so happy as she sang those stupid songs, putting every bit of effort into bringing those words to life. This wasn't a child doing it because her parents were forcing her to, or for money, or for fame. This kid was doing it because she thought it was fun. Now, Molly also found it fun to sing her songs even now. If she didn't, she wouldn't do it. But the fame and money was always a big part of it. To think that once upon time, fame and money didn't matter at all…

Even worse, these songs were actually kind of good. Yes, it was a band clearly made for three-year-olds. The lyrics were simple (except for that one song that used the word 'individuality' for some reason), and every song was obviously about a topic meant to be 'educational'. But those kids really did put every bit of effort into it.

One of those Guppies - Zooli, was it? - was absent throughout most of the compilation. It was only in the last third of it that she started showing up in the background. Singing and dancing along like she had always been there. What a novel concept. Molly couldn't fathom the idea of bringing in a new member out of the blue. She could vaguely recall that the decision got them a lot of backlash at the time, but Zooli stayed anyway. Now why was that?

Before she knew it, the compilation had ended, and Molly was met with the realisation that she had actually listened to the whole thing. She wasn't sure how long it was, but it contained a lot of songs. It must've been at least fifteen minutes of nothing but Molly goodness. Before she knew it, she had clicked on another compilation. This one was themed around animals and the places they could be found. Unsurprisingly, little Molly was singing most of them. But not all of them.

'A little lizard lying under a lamp may be the perfect pet to keep…'

Gilly… After all this time, she could still remember that nickname. She never stopped using it, until the day they broke up. From young childhood all the way to adulthood, it was her name for him. It had sent the shippers crazy. She laughed, just a little, thinking about the shippers. They had been so right and yet so wrong at the same time.

She leaned back in her chair upon realising that she was leaning way too close towards the screen. How did that happen? How she'd go from barely interested to invested like her life depended on it? She paused the video and swam away. Well, she tried to swim away. But the rest of that video demanded her attention. Somehow, she got back in that seat and watched the rest of it.

'Alright, that's it,' She said, once the video had ended. 'No more going down memory lane.'

Five minutes later, she was watching a promotional video. Promoting what? Not important. All that mattered was that it was a video with all seven of them. Plus a doggy. And a teacher. Mr Grouper. That name evoked joy and comfort. But yet, a sharp pain through her heart too. It hurt far more than she had been expecting.

'Hi!' The pink-haired girl in the video said. 'My name is Molly! And it's time for…'

Every single Guppy popped up onto the screen, surrounding her.

'BUBBLE GUPPIES!' They yelled.

Molly watched the video with full interest. That little girl was so happy. Anyone could see that. Little Molly wasn't pretending to like those guys, and she certainly wasn't just using them to prop up her own singing career. Heck, she probably didn't even care about her singing career. She was too young to care about something like that. All that little girl cared about was having a good time with her friends.

As much as she wanted to deny it, Molly knew she really was just that little girl grown up. Once upon a time, they were the same person. They were still the same person. Just separated by time. She could still recall those wonderful times in school, singing with her friends. The more promotional videos she watched, the more she remembered. The more it felt like she was back there, with her friends.

And her friends were still around. They had grown up just like she did. She knew this because, just earlier that day, all six of them were in her room.

Suddenly, Molly found her vision getting blurry. She blinked her eyes a few times, trying to figure out what the problem was. It was only when she felt a small chill going down her cheeks that she realised it was tears. She slammed the laptop lid down and turned away from it like she had been slapped.

'S-Stupid emotions…' She muttered to herself. 'Why am I crying? I shouldn't be crying! I-I don't need those guys anymore.'

More tears threatened to fall. Then, her phone rang. She let out a loud groan, wiped her eyes, and picked it up. Before she answered the call, she took a deep breath. It was her sister. The thought of her little sis calling her up for the first time in a week brought a smile to her face. She swam up to the window as she answered the call.

'Hey, Mia!' She said. 'It's your big sis here.'

'Hiya, Molly!' Mia said. 'Sorry if you hear, like, birds and frogs and stuff. I'm still babysitting this kid and the parents aren't coming back for another hour. It took me long enough to get him to go to sleep and I don't wanna wake him up, so I'm having the call outside. I just wanted to talk to you about… something.'

'You can talk to me about anything, Mia! I'll always be there for you.'

'Yeah, okay, um… You see… Oh, screw it. I'm just gonna come out and say it. I was talking to your old friends. The Bubble Guppies. You know, Gil, Deema…'

The rest of Mia's monologue turned into white noise. Molly stared at the window, but not at anything in particular.

*BANG*

The phone slipped out of her head and onto the floor. The loud sound of it clanking against the wooden tiles snapped her out of her spell, and she snatched it off the floor again. Luckily, it wasn't damaged at all.

'Woah, you okay there?' Mia asked. 'Did you drop your phone or something? What happened?'

'You… talked to the other Guppies?' Molly said, helpfully answering Mia's question with an unrelated question.

'Sure did. All six of 'em. Plus this little girl, Br-'

'Brianna, I know. They, uh, they dropped by my place.'

Mia chuckled. 'Yeah, I know that. That's why they were calling me up in the first place. So, uh, sounds like you had a rough conversation with them.'

As Mia spoke, Molly swam back over to her laptop and opened it up again. The video was still there, with each of the Guppies on screen. All of them, even Nonny, smiling as they sang together. Looking the happiest they ever had. Like they could've died right then and there and they'd be okay with it.

'Look,' Mia said. 'I know you don't really care about some random nobodies anymore, but I really wish you gave them a chance. Just a little chance, ya know?'

This is the point where Mia would expect her sister would retort her. Brush it off. Insist that she didn't need to talk with 'nobodies' like them. But there was no response. Just silence. If Mia listened carefully enough, she could even hear a video playing in the background.

'Uh, Molly? You okay?'

'Yeah, I'm fine,' Molly said. 'Just… fine.'

To think that those kids grew up, separated, and somehow came back together again after all this time. All thanks to a little girl, born long after the band had split up. A little girl who had dropped by her suite, with six grown-ups in tow.

'Okay, you're clearly not listening,' Mia said. 'I just wanted to tell you that they're thinking about heading back to Bubbletucky tomorrow morning so they can meet up with me. I think-'

'WHAT?!' Molly shouted.

She surprised herself - and Mia too - with how loudly and suddenly she had screamed. Mia was so surprised that she almost dropped her phone.

'Already?!' Molly cried.

'Well, yeah,' Mia said. 'There's not much left for them in the city, and most of them came from smaller towns so I think the busyness of the city would get to them pretty quickly. You sound kinda upset about this.'

Molly had no response to this. So, she simply rushed a goodbye and hung up. She threw her phone onto the couch and smacked her face directly into her table. What was wrong with her? Why did knowing that her fr- the other Guppies would be leaving hurt so much?

The tears were threatening to fall again. This time, she couldn't fight back. They trickled down her face, whether she wanted them to or not. She let out a loud cry of frustration and slammed her fists against the table.

'What is wrong with me?!' She yelled. 'I don't need those idiots around anymore. They're just a bunch of children who refuse to let go of the past. I don't need them!'

She looked up at the computer screen again. The picture hadn't changed. The seven Guppies were still there, together and smiling as a group. Like a real school of fish. The longer Molly stared at it, the more she realised just how desperately she wanted to have it again.

And she had let the opportunity slip away from her, like water trickling out between her fingers.

'What have I done?'

She buried her face in her arms.

'This isn't what Mr Grouper would've wanted…'

Author Notes - Like I said, this might be my favourite chapter in the whole story. I love what I did with Molly here. I wanted a chapter where she comes to regret her decision, and having her simply watch a bunch of old music videos seemed like a simple but brilliant way to go about it. And the way I have her totally break down as she realises what she's done? I'm proud of it. I just hope my readers like it too.

Also serves as another reference to 'Thirty Years Later', which I finally decided to re-read and instantly regretted doing so. Seriously, DO NOT READ IT. It's not even so-bad-it's-good. It's just BAD, and borderline offensive at certain points. In that story, we open with Grown-Up Molly cynically watching the show and making mean comments about it. This is that, but putting far more emphasis on Molly trying to re-capture the old good days.