The Recovery

Base idea suggested by HarlyQuinn666

Anais closed her notebook as she clicked her pen closed. That was her homework for the week done and triple-checked. She'd check it again before she handed it in of course, but now, after all of that hard work, it was about time she had a well-deserved break.

She got up and put her notebook and pen away in her school bag before leaving her room to go downstairs. What better way to spend her Saturday afternoon than unwinding with some Daisy?

As she headed out toward the stairs she slowed down and turned her attention to Gumball and Darwin's room, her thoughts drifting to her eldest brother.

He'd been acting very...off lately. He'd been unusually quiet and had been lacking any of the usual enthusiasm they all loved him for. He'd also been spending a lot more time in his room than normal, very unlike his normal cheery, optimistic self.

Anais sniffled, her gaze slowly lowering. She'd already asked him about it before and he'd said that he was just tired, but she could tell it was something more than that. She know her brother, and she knew when something was wrong with him.

She stood there for a while, deep in thought and consideration. Should she go and check on him, perhaps try to get him to open up again? No, she would probably just make it worse, It'd be better for her to just leave him alone and hope someone else who was better at that kind of stuff like Mom or Penny might be able to get through to him instead.

She headed closer to the stairs and lifted her foot to take a step down but try as she might she just couldn't bring herself to do so. She slowly looked back toward his room. No, she couldn't just leave him when something was so obviously upsetting him. She had to go and check on him. It was her responsibility to do so as his sister. It was her duty to be there for him.

She turned and walked away from the stairs, heading towards her brother's room instead. She reached the door and stood on her tiptoes to knock on it, the concern audible in her voice as she spoke. "Gumball? It's me, Anais. Can I come in?"

"...yeah, sure." He replied after a little hesitation.

She slowly opened the door and headed inside. Gumball was lying on his bed with his knees against his chest, arms wrapped around them as he faced the wall, not even bothering to turn around when Anais entered.

"Uh...hey..." The leporid looked down awkwardly, not really sure what to say.

"Hey." He responded, a lot more bluntly than he had intended, still not bothering to turn around.

She began to rub her arm sheepishly. "I, err...just came to check on you. I...wanted to make sure you were alright... "

"I'm fine." He responded just as bluntly.

"Are...you sure? You've been acting really...off lately. I'm really worried about you. We all are."

"Yeah, I've just ...had a lot on my mind, that's all."

"Like what...?" She asked, her eyebrow-raising with intrigue.

He remained silent and unbeknownst to her his eyes slowly lowered.

"Gumball...?" She asked hesitantly.

"None of your business." He suddenly snapped, a little more harshly than he'd intended. He hesitated before sighing, "...sorry."

She hesitated. her ears and face lowering, hurt at being snapped at by him. She quickly shook this off, however. Something was obviously wrong with him. He wasn't in the right head space, and she had no doubt that he hadn't meant to snap at her like that. She couldn't be mad at him for it.