Starting New: A World Apart

Chapter 25: Something Special

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.