The Relationship

Chapter 7

Back in the present day Penny and Gumball were still lying on the floor, watching the stars.

Penny sighed. "Again, we were so close."

"Yeah...I suppose the universe was deciding when the time was right for us." Gumball suggested.

"Well, it sure took its time!"

They both laughed.

Suddenly a shooting star shot by.

"Woah, look! A shooting star!" Penny noticed it and gasped, pointing it out.

"Huh, would you look at that? I guess that was the universe apologising for making us wait so long."

Penny smiled and turned to him. "It was worth the wait."

"Oh, absolutely. Though, couldn't it have chosen a nicer way for us to finally get together?"

"I dunno, I think it ended up being pretty poetic..."

"I suppose so. I'd rather not have had to go all across town late at night, risking my life to chase you as various creatures though..."

She sighed. "That was my fault for not waiting for you to finish your sentence and just assuming the worst."

"Nah, I don't blame you. You'd just come out of your shell. The initial reaction was important for you and you just jumped the gun slightly, that's all."

"Yeah, I was really nervous at first. I don't regret doing it at all though. It was one of the best decisions I ever made, and to think, all I needed was a little push from a friend." She playfully nudged him

He smiled. "Just like my mom once told me..."

"Told what you what?" She raised her eyebrow.

"There's a certain special girl who adores you even more than the rest. Who loves you for who you are. She just needs to be given the courage to be herself as well.'"

She smiled. "Wow, she knew us better than we did."

He chuckled. "That's mothers for you..."

"Well to be fair, you made it pretty easy for her. You weren't exactly...subtle with your feelings."

He chuckled. "I was always terrible at hiding it. I'm pretty sure literally everyone knew. Must have been pretty annoying thinking about it."

"Well, to everyone else maybe. I thought it was adorable. The excuses you came up with were all so hilarious!"

He laughed. "I've always been a terrible liar. Always scrambling to come up with some excuse which ends up being either not making sense, being weird or just completely unbelievable."

"That just makes you even more loveable." She smiled.

"Maybe, but it's definitely not practical!"

They both laughed together for a while.

She sighed. "Y'know, I'm not the only one who came out of their shell that day. You finally opened up and admitted your true feelings to me. You stepped up and showed courage and determination and were there for me when no one else was."

She thought for a moment.

"What...what gave you the courage to come out of your shell?"

He turned to face her and smiled. "You did."

"Me!? How? All I did was panic, run away and cry. That doesn't seem very inspiring!"

"Seeing you have the courage to open up and show your real self to me, despite being terrified of what I might think. It made me realise, that I couldn't just keep hiding and shying away from how I felt about you. You'd trusted me enough to get to know the real you, now it was my turn to do the same, even if I was terrified out of my mind to do so..."

She smiled. "Wow Gumball that was...beautiful."

He smiled back and placed his paw on her cheek. "Not as beautiful as you..."

She giggled. "Aww, Gummy..."

She moved closer to him, resting her head just above his chest, whilst he put his arm around her.

They sat there in silence for a while, cuddled up and staring at the stars until Gumball heard Penny sniffle.

He looked down at her. "Penny? What's wrong...?"

She looked up, her eyes welling up. "The night I came out of my shell..I...I was so scared. As soon I came out of my shell, when I thought you'd reacted negatively, I was filled with regret and despair..."

"I...I thought I'd made a terrible mistake. One I could never take back. I...I thought you'd never want anything to do with me, ever again. I felt like my life was over..."

"I didn't just run because of your opinion. I ran because I was scared of myself. I thought I was a monster, a freak, and that I would be all alone."

She began crying softly. "That night and the next day were some of the hardest of my life."

"Coming out of my shell...showing you the real me...that was hard enough by itself..but showing everyone the real me? I...I was terrified!"

Gumball hugged her tightly as tears began to stream down her face.

"I was dreading the next day at school. I couldn't help but think the worst. I was so, so lucky to have you there with me. You stayed with me and reassured me the entire time. You never let me out of your sight. You have no idea how grateful I was for you to be there with me..."