Sprinkles of rain fell on Gumball's head, tapping lightly on his hoodie before sliding down its seams. He was seated laying back against a wall, the concrete below him lingeringly wet and drenched a dark gray. The clouds above were deep and encompassing. Around them, the afternoon's golden sunlight barely reached through scattered pockets to glisten the pavement. His muscles loosened.

Gumball took a deep breath in, holding the coolness and moisture in his lungs. He exhaled into his hands, now sharply warmed with his breath.

The autumn was refreshingly cool, in the way it can only be right after a deluge. The past days had brought sporadic rain; it replenished the valley's nearly desiccated populations of shrub and pines. Gumball checked his phone, smiling when he read the time. 4:50. His heart seemed to vibrate, caught rising in his chest. He turned his mind, angled to grip other thoughts drifting idly in the back of his head.

It had been an otherwise uneventful handful of days. Following Friday's test, he spent his weekend hanging with Penny. They spent hours talking in his car, laying together under the slow thud of rain. The memory of her touch curved his lips into a small, earnest smile.

Even so, the incessant nagging in his gut persisted. While her closeness brought with it a reprieve from that unpleasant feeling, it did not cease it entirely. Now thinking of it, Gumball's stomach sank, and he heard Tobias's words echo again in his mind. He folded his arms inward at the thought, leaning forward onto his knees under the rain. The air now seemed much colder.

Gumball checked his phone again; 4:57, it read. His thoughts tumbled like laundry in his head, washed out and overworn. He shifted the way he sat, leaning back again onto the wall and looking up at the clouds. His eyes drawn to the gray skies, he felt the pull of his emotions wear and strain the seams of his chest. It wasn't only the subdued sinking in his gut or the doubts in his head that strained him. It was just as much, possibly even more, the dissonance between those feelings and the warm, comfortable blanket of Penny's presence.

Her leggings were cool and stretched, soaked in the rain that had showered them all afternoon. She walked briskly, her arms folded into her sides, long tired of the rain and the cold. Penny's face was set in a small frown. Having survived the trek to the parking lot, she now scanned its constituent cars for one particular Honda. Her eyebrows knitted in hurried determination.

The frown on her face disappeared, replaced with a soft smile. An evening with her boyfriend was exactly the kind of medicine she needed. As she made her way towards its door, however, she was abruptly stopped by the voice of Tobias.

"Hey," Tobias said flippantly, standing a few feet to her side. He was similarly tired, his body exhausted from practice, now waiting in the parking lot to be taken home. Noticing her alone, he didn't hesitate to take his chance to speak with her.

Penny's smile dropped, her demeanor unbothered and neutral. She turned her head, glancing at him. "Hey," she replied. She didn't bother facing her body towards him, instead standing still where she was.

"Damn, they made you practice too?" Tobias snickered. "Shit's crazy." He felt his chest rise, his look moving up and down her contour. He took the sight of her body in his thoughts, his eyes like claws rubbing the fabric of her leggings. It took considerable effort on his part to suppress the lascivious glaze that began to cover his eyes. Tobias felt within him a kindling blaze.

"Yep," Penny said, her arms still folded into her chest. Her voice was curt and dry, her eyes now looking pointedly away from him.

Tobias continued. "You going to Joe's party this Saturday?" He took a step forward, towering above her, the rain snaking down his muscled arms.

"Don't know." She frowned, turning her head to the side. "Look, I really have to go." She took a few steps forward, passing him as she walked towards Gumball's car. "Bye."

Tobias watched her walk away, his arousal boiling into a prickly, scalded anger. He felt it lower into his stomach, hiding a scowl as he went off to find a bench to sit on.

Gumball's eyebrow raised, a note turning in his gut as he saw Tobias stop Penny. The sound of light rain filled his ears; he barely made out the tones of their voices. He felt a wave through his body, his mind sputtering out distracted explanations. His eyes slightly narrowed. Why was she talking to him?

After a few seconds, she walked off, Tobias's face containing his disappointment. Gumball pushed his thoughts down, hiding them in his gut, now walking to his car to meet her.

"Gumball! Hey!" Penny lit up with a renewed energy as she greeted him, falling into his chest. He, in turn, felt the gentle push of her breath nudge his hoodie's fabric against his skin. Her closeness was like the glowing heat of wrapped hands held near the flickering bud of a candle, contrasted with the sharp chill of the humid cool around them.

"Hey," Gumball replied in return, his voice soothed with affection. His arms wrapped around her in a full, quieting embrace. "How was practice?"

"Oh," Penny tilted her head to look up at him, pulling away from his chest. "Just the usual. You know." Her arms tightened around his back as her eyes glowed into his. "I can't believe we had to practice in THIS weather."

Gumball nodded. "Yea," he said, "I'd be pissed too." Standing together with her, he now felt his thoughts drift and linger. He felt inside him an increasingly messy tumble of worries play in his head, with the principal subject being Tobias. What exactly was he doing talking to her? And why did she respond at all? He searched his memories over and over in flashes, desperately recalling if he'd seen them together at any point….

Penny's warm, playful voice brought him out of his pensive daze. "So, where were you thinking?"

Gumball stood, still shaking it off. "Wait what?"

"Did you not hear anything I said?" Penny laughed, breaking their embrace as she moved to open his car. She shuffled her gear into the back of the car before taking a seat in the front. "Where did you wanna go tonight?"

"Ohhhh," Gumball replied. "Sorry, got lost in my head," he said, now sitting in the driver's seat.

"What's up?" Penny looked across the center console at him, her smile soft and curious.

"Oh, nothing, just stuff with school." He brushed it aside, starting the ignition for his car. "Let's get outta here."

The sky was clouded and darky colored; it looked beautiful backdropping the warm lights of the Elmore Mall. The complex was familiar to the couple, almost to being a default location for their outings. Gumball and Penny walked through, the interior mildly crowded and filled with the hum of disparate conversations. He adjusted his trucker cap, the thick waves of his hair flowing out of the sides.

Her hand in his felt like the dim, blanketing warmth of a low-set fireplace. It was a feeling of closeness that captured him in its cover.

Penny weaved with him through one of the massive corridors, lined with storefronts, now turning her head to look at him with a playful grin on her face. "...well, yea, I did like going there as a kid. One of my old friends, uh, elementary school I think, she had a birthday party there once." She closened her arm to his as she talked.

Gumball glanced back at her. "Oh, I don't remember that. But how do you still not know where you wanna eat?"

"I said I'm good wherever-" she started before Gumball quickly interjected.

"Buuut," he said, exaggerating his speech as they turned a corner, "then I bring up three places I'm down for and you say no!"

Penny laughed, her brown eyes looking up to his. "Okay, yea, that is true, BUT," she gave a small, impish smirk, "you know you're just as bad."

"Whaaat?" He looked away from her. "No way."

"Oh really?" She pressed on, tightening her hold on his arm as she turned her chest to face him. "Like two days ago, we were gonna go get hot choc, YOU said 'I don't like how they make it at Starbucks'." She narrowed her eyes at him, leaning into him as he looked away.

"They don't make it good though! You know that, you woulda hated it." He defended himself as they passed another storefront. The mall sounded crowded; footsteps and voices of varying volumes carried themselves in a pleasant mix of sound. "Plus, it's my money we're spending."

Penny began to speak before Gumball cut her off, releasing his hand from hers and putting it between their faces. "Y'know what, you can speak to the hand." He looked away, feigning outrage.

She giggled, moving closer to his body. "Tell your hand if it stays there I'm done letting it-"

He dropped it, quickly clasping her hand again. He wasn't that much of an idiot.

After another minute, they finally compromised on getting Joyful Burger to go. Being cheap, tasty, and easy, it was the best choice in the mall. They made their way there, ordering food before taking a seat at a booth.

Gumball sipped his Coke, smiling across the table at her. "You wanna eat in the car?"

Penny took pause to think, her fingers tracing her own cup as she did. After a few seconds, she shook her head. "I don't wanna ruin your seats! And it's literally freezing outside, I can't stand it," she wrapped her arms around her chest, almost shivering, "especially not after that awful fucking practice."

"Yea," Gumball agreed. "I know you don't like this kinda weather."

"I'm tired of the rain. I want summer back!" Penny groaned, taking a sip from her own drink. "Ever since Thursday it's been clouds and rain and gloom." She leaned forward on the table.

Gumball shifted back, resting his head on the booth cushion. "Ah, me personally, I've been loving this weather."

"Yea, I wish." She sighed, keeping her arms folded on the table. "I gotta wait till next year. Then I'll be in UCLA down south."

Gumball was barely able to breathe before she continued. "I've actually almost finished my app for it! The due date's a few weeks from now, but I wanted to finish early."

Penny blushed, her eyes tilted down and away as she moved her hands to her lap, wrung. "Sorry. I just needed to yap about it. No one else really cares."

His mind was gone, stuck on that singular word; UCLA. And again, he felt himself drift into a pool of thought that dripped into his stomach. She would be going down to UCLA, a few hours drive south from the valley Elmore resided in. So eager to get away while he, probably, went to Elmore Community College. She'd be there… with Tobias.

But this time, he felt the pressure inside him expand on his chest so tightly, he couldn't drown it out. Not anymore. He maintained his outward front, calm and collected, as he asked, "UCLA, isn't Tobias going there?"

Penny paused, looking up at him as the corner of her brow raised. "I dunno. I heard he was tryna get a scholarship there, for Football." She rolled her eyes at the thought of it. "He's a good QB, so I don't think it's impossible, but still."

Gumball's skin went cold. She thought he was good? Keeping his demeanor from changing entirely was a gargantuan effort. Everything in him told him he needed to talk about this with her, with someone, to let anyone know what happened. But she couldn't see him as insecure, as weak, as pathetic… it would push her away.

He felt the words force themselves from his throat. "What was that about earlier today, anyway?"

Confused, Penny eyed him. "What was what about?"

"Just saw him talkin' to you earlier is all," he said. Every ounce in his body crushed his stomach as he awaited her response. The seconds felt like hours.

"Huh?" She glanced away before looking back at him, taking in the weight of his gaze. "Oh, at the parking lot? He was just saying hi to me." Her tone was slightly lowered, almost uncertain. It set massive, ringing bells off in Gumball's head.

It took everything he had to suppress his feelings. Just for now.

"Anyways, you thinking of applying to UCLA yourself?" Penny beamed at him, the corners of her mouth lifted into an eager smile. "I've been hoping you'd think about it! You'd do great there, you have the grades."

Gumball scoffed. "Nah, you know that's not true." His voice came out more bitter than he expected. He saw Penny's smile very softly fall. "Besides, I'm still not sure what I wanna do. Don't think goin' to an expensive school like that's gonna solve that."

Penny gave a half smile. "Well, I think you'll do good at whatever you wanna do." She reached her hand out to touch his arm. "Hey, don't get down on yourself too much. Isn't like you don't have time to figure stuff out."

He looked back at her now, smiling back. It was so dissonant; this calm, caring way she made him feel combined with the storm of his uncertainty about her. This feeling cast itself in the glance he made at her, watching for anything to feed it. His constant guardedness, feeling as though he spent every moment with her on the edge, may very well drive him mad. He replayed the image of her talking to Tobias over and over again…

His thoughts were interrupted by a notice on the Joyful Burger's loudspeaker. "Order 860, Watterson."

Gumball held her hand in his, maintaining their conversation. "Yea, you're right. Really, where should we eat though?"

She got up with him, wrapping her arms around one of his as he took their food in his other hand. "Hmmm, food court." She pecked his jaw as she walked beside him.

The lights of the clothing store they now shopped in glowed a warm yellow against the dark blue clouds of Elmore's twilight sky. There was a hushed murmur of activity, and on the edge of it all sat Gumball, listening to the faint sound of rain pattering the concrete paths outside. The sharp sound of a dressing room door opening pulled his attention back inside, his head snapping up as Penny strutted out of the closet.

"Whatcha think?" She smirked and made a small spin, wearing a cream white coat. "Too posh?"

Gumball tilted his head. "I like it. Dunno if I'm the best judge though."

Penny put her hands on her hips, seeming to ponder. She turned in front of a wall-length mirror to their side. "I just need a new coat. I have way too few for the winter season."

He stood up, moving to join her in front of the mirror. "Well I love it." He snaked his arm around her waist, posing with her. His heart beat like a drum in his chest, enraptured by her movements.

She turned her eyes to him, radiant as she pressed her cheek to his upper chest. Giggling, she took a pic of them in the mirror. "Look at you!"

Gumball couldn't contain his blush, smiling like an idiot as he rested his head on hers. She quickly nudged him back, checking out the coat as she scanned its texture for deficiencies. At that second, a thought entered her head, her eyes narrowing at its arrival.

"Don't know if cream white is the best color to wear to a party though," Penny said. She traced its contour with her fingers as she eyed its shade.

Gumball sat back down, his eyebrow raised. "Party? You mean the one Joe's throwing?"

Penny turned to face him, the coat falling down her shoulders. "Yea, the girls told me during practice."

He leaned forward, his eyes inquisitive as he rested his chin on his hand. "Ohh, that one. You going?"

"They want me to go, can't say no." She folded the coat in her arm, now leaning on her side. "And Joe throws good. Everyone goes to his. How 'bout you?"

Gumball stood up, stretching his arms, lilting his voice in nonchalance. "I dunno, maybe. I'll see what Darwin does." Inside, he felt his thoughts blaze again, burning in his mind. Tobias was gonna be there. That was a certainty. There was no way he was staying home.

His brows slightly furrowed as he walked with her to the front of the store. The coat now purchased and packed in a bag, he carried it for her as they made their way back to his car. It was the touch of her fingers on his arm that returned him to her side.

That touch was radiant in the sharp cool of the light rain. It let him relax, his palm now taking hers in, his thumb rubbing the back of her hand. He pulled her close to his side, a small smirk formed on his lips.

"You have to go home yet?" His voice was low and thick.

"Not for another few hours." She responded in kind, now rubbing his arm. "Whaddya wanna do?" She tilted her gaze up to his, looking almost expectant.

"I have a few ideas," he said, the look on his face teasing and captured. Now entering the car, he rested his hand on her as he started the car. He felt her skin, soft like silk, under the roughness of his palm as they drove away from the mall, off to a destination that wouldn't let a sound escape it.