Hey guys! Welcome to chapter three, if you're still reading this. I apologize if this story seems kinda slow so far, but I gotta get all the background stuff in, set the tone and everything. Yatta yatta yatta. Most of this chapter will be flashbacks in Marshy's point of view, just a heads up. Bye guys! And sorry for the long wait😭❤️
                                         «««««»»»»»

"You're not helping Marsh!" My muffled voice yelled through the pillow. I felt Marshall plop down on the bed next to me, still giggling a little. He poked my shoulder.

Bubba~ come on, we need to talk, remember?"

     I lifted my face from the pillow and looked at Marshall, "Oh yeah," I tossed the pillow somewhere behind me, and sat up to face Marshall completely, "I want you to tell me about this whole thing. And about your "physical and emotional struggles". You should've called me, you know I would've helped you."

Marshall shrugged his shoulders, playing with his shoelaces, "I don't know, I guess I was just afraid to bother you again. I was depressed and isolated myself from everyone and everything. Hell, I barley even went out to get groceries!" Marshall sighed and his eyes met mine, "I'm sorry Bubbs, you know I am, I should've told you about it instead of avoiding you."

"Damn right you should've told me!" I was upset. Marshall knew better than this. We tell each other everything! Why didn't he tell me about his depression sooner? If he would've just talked to someone, maybe he wouldn't have be in this teaching job. Marshall could sense my frustration and he lowered his head, ashamed and guilty.

"Marshall," I whispered his name, lifting his chin up to look at me, "please.. If this happens again, you need to tell me alright?" He avoided eye contact but nodded his head slightly. I sighed and glared softly at him, "Tell me everything that happened, start with you're graduation."

Marshall took in a deep breath and closed his eyes.
««««««»»»»»»

Graduation night.
~Marshall's point of view~

I hugged Bubba once more, his comforting words circled within my head. The feeling of his lips against my cheek lingered. I would see him again, I would. I made a mental promise to him. He would never be too far out of my reach. He was always there for me, and I've told him everything. He's the only person I've ever opened up to. He probably knows me better than I know myself.

I knew for a fact that I'd always stay in touch with Bubba and the others, but deep down all my sad mind could think about was him moving on in life without me. He could become some famous scientist that cured cancer, and I'd still be here, living in a lonely house near the forest, writing dumb songs.

Bubba's voice interrupted my thoughts, "Hey... We should get going. You have a party to get ready for, remember?" Bubba smiled at me sympathetically.  I couldn't help but smile back, his smile was so charming, "You're right.." Is all I responded. We walked out of the door together.

                            «««««»»»»»

     It was the next morning, and my place was a mess. I sat up from the couch that I was laying on, my back cracking in the process. I winced and looked around my living room. There were red solo cups and beer bottles scattered across the floor, along with random strings of shining tinsel, confetti, and little paper graduation hat decorations. Sprawled across the coffee table was a good friend of mine, Flame. He was passed out drunk, as where many of my friends that stayed the night, layed out in many different areas of my house. I sat up, my head throbbing. Memories of last night flooded my mind.

Simone had thrown me a graduation party for me last night. She invited all of my closest friends (the ones she approved of, of course) and tried to get ahold of some of my family, who none of which responded. My older cousin Marceline and her girlfriend Bonnibel showed up and partied for a few hours, though. Simone had secretly bought beers for us, knowing well enough someone would bring alcohol, run out, and danger themselves by driving to go get more.

Simone was the best, she was like a mother to me. I first ran into her when I was little. When my actual mother abandoned me in a toy store at the age of five, Simone found me and tried to help me look for my mom. Being unsuccessful, I lived with Simone for almost five years, and right when she was about to officially adopt me on my tenth birthday, my mother decided to pop up in my life again. She had found Simone's house, and demanded that Simone hand me over to her. After the two women argued over my custody and the authorities were called, I was forced to live with my mother again. And it was then, on my 14th birthday, I decided to run away. I looked for Simone, hoping she'd take me in again. But I never found her, so I had to endure more years of abuse, neglect, and depression at my mother's.

But enough of that, back to the party. As the hours went by, I remembered how the party got more and more reckless and many of the guests left including Simone, Marcy, and Bonnie. Bubba stayed, which surprised me.

As I staggered into the kitchen to grab a drink, the first thing I noticed was Fiona and Bubba talking to each other in hushed tones. Fiona noticed me and shut her mouth, nudging Gumball to look in my direction. He turned around and instantly smiled, walking up to me with open arms.

"Marshall!" He exclaimed, throwing his arms around my shoulders, hugging me, "I see you're finally awake! Good morning- well, actually it's the afternoon, technically... Anyways, that party last night was pretty fun, right?" He smiled at me brightly. I could tell he still had some alcohol left in his system.

"Yeah...I guess..." I groaned back at him and leaned into his hug, "What were you guys talking about?"

"Oh nothing..." Bubba kissed my cheek gently and ran off to the kitchen cabinet, grabbing some Advil. I felt my face heat up as I held my cheek with my palm. Fiona giggled, which made me blush even harder. I scowled at her. Bubba returned with two pills and a glass of water, handing them to me. I recognized the second pill as my antidepressant, how sweet, he remembered. I swallowed the pills dry and he grimaced. I smirked back at him and took the glass from his hand, taking a sip anyways.

      "Thanks, Bubs. You're the best," I smiled at him genuinely. He smiled back, "You're welcome, Marsh."

     "Well losers, I should head out. The party was crazy fun man," Fiona stretched and started towards the living room, "call me!" She waved and exited.

"Bye, Fi!" Gumball and I shouted back.

«««««»»»»»

It was the next day and everyone had finally left the house, leaving me in my lonesome again. I looked around my empty, quiet house, suddenly feeling quite down in the dumps. My mind started filling with negative thoughts. I tried to push them away but the voice in my head wouldn't shut up.

'Everyone you love left you.' The voice would say.

'No one is ever going to love you. You'll be alone forever, just like you've always been. Who would want to stick around a freak like you anyways?'

The voice wouldn't stop. These words and many others way worse continued to shout at me for days upon days. My depression medicine I'd been taking everyday since freshman year wasn't working anymore, and I was too afraid to call in a different prescription. I should call my mom to do it instead.

     I picked up the phone on the side table by the couch and dialed my mothers work number. She'd probably be there doing something boring as always. The phone rang a few times before my mother's tired voice interrupted. 

      "Hello, this is Hannah Abadeer, how may I assist you?"
      "Mom it's me, Marshall. I need help with something."
       "Oh. It's you," she stated unsatisfied, "What do you want?"
       "Uh, my meds aren't working. And I need a refill. Can you call it in for me, please?"
       "Marshall you're 18, I think you can call it in yourself."
      "But mom, please just this once. I'm too... scared to," I muttered quietly, "I don't know what to say to them."
       "Well that's not my problem. Look Marshall, I'm busy. Can you call me some other time when you grow up a little? Speaking of grownup, you need to get a job. I'm not paying for you're bills anymore, you need to learn responsibility and pay for stuff yourself. I'll give you one last check for two-thousand and I expect it to be spent on necessities. Don't waste it, do you hear me?" My mother sounded impatient.
    
        "Wait what? No, I need more time to get a job! I just graduated the other day!" There was no way she could just stop paying my bills, how am I supposed to live now?
       "You heard me. You better go start applying to different businesses if you want to stay in that house. I mean, I could always get you a job here but you wouldn't want that. Ugh, I have another call coming in, I need to go. I'll send the check tomorrow morning."
      "Okay-" I was cut off by beeping. She hung up on me. Typical.

  «««««»»»»»

      Weeks had passed by, slow and painful. I never called the pharmacy to replace my prescription, which in return made my sadness turn into a dark depression. The voice in my head was telling me to do things that would harm me, I tried to refuse them as hard as I could but every once in a while I gave in and did them.

      Everything nowadays made me depressed; even happy things. Just the other day I watching the news (nothing else was on, alright?) and there was a woman who was interviewing little kids at their schools craft show. There was a little boy who stood out to me, he had platinum blonde hair with the bluest eyes I've ever seen. Bubba had stunning azure orbs as well, but these ones held something in them. Something that any other person wouldn't have recognized in a child's eyes. But I knew it all too well.

      Deep in his eyes I could see pain; years of being looked down upon, never being good enough for anyone, never feeling truly loved. He stood still, with the slightest smile carved into his porcelain face; the smile was fake, I could tell. There was a buff man standing stiffly behind him. The two shared the same platinum hair and face structure; they were definitely related. Probably a father/son relationship. The way the elder looked at him from behind gave away everything. The father's strong arms were crossed, hard eyes baring into the young boy's soul disapprovingly.

      Everything about these two reminded me of my childhood. I was the little boy; always faking smiles and pretending that everything was okay. His father was my mother; she disapproves of every little thing I do, and can never just accept me for who I am. She would yell at me, hit me, and neglect me. I could tell this father was the same with his son. Our parents would probably get along great.

      Hot tears trickled down my cheek as I remembered my sucky childhood. Everything I saw reminded me of how bad it was. If I wasn't crying over that, I was crying over something that reminded me of Simone many years ago. And of course there were many other traumatic incidents that occurred in my life that were brought back up by memory that I cried over. Sometimes I just cried because I had nothing else better to do.

««««««»»»»»»

My cat Schwable was curled up sleeping on my stomach when my phone rang. I already knew who it was; I didn't have to look. It was Bubba. He calls me at least once a day, trying to get ahold of me. Probably to yell at me for ignoring him; something was always my fault. I feared what would happen if I answered, so I ignored his calls. I wanted to talk to him, of course I did. He was my best friend; I told him everything. Well... Almost everything. I felt guilty for not calling him, but every time I even thought about it the voice would discourage me.
'He's only calling to tell you how much of a disgrace you are. He wants to yell at you for not calling him. He hates you. Everyone hates you. Maybe you should just kill yourself already; make everyone's lives easier.' The voice taunted me.

Sadly, I had to agree with the voice. I would make everyone's lives easier if I just left. I mean look how stressed my mother is; probably because she has to deal with me. Simone probably could've lived such an easy life without me coming in and bothering her. And Bubba... He's always so busy, I just make his life more complicated.

Maybe I should just kill myself.

  «««««»»»»»

It was the next day. I fed Schwable a large amount of food one last time. That way she wouldn't starve before someone found me. And who knew how long that would take. But... am I sure I really want to do this? To end it all right here; right now? I mean, what would my friends do without me? Who am I kidding, they'll probably be glad I'm gone.

      'That's right,' the voice called, 'no one is going to miss you. Everyone hates you. You deserve a slow painful death. Do it by pill, overdose. Get drunk while you're at it; alcohol poisoning. Maybe slit you're wrists, bleed out slowly. A piece of shit like you doesn't deserve to be released so easily. End it all, right now, and don't say goodbye.'

      The voice had a point... No one would miss me. That's it, I'm going to do it; slow and painful.

      I sat up from the kitchen chair I was on and searched my fridge for left over beers. There was a whole unopened case left, this would do. Now for the main attraction: pills. I gathered multiple bottles of different meds that I had stored behind the mirror in my bathroom downstairs.

In front of me sat different bottles: antidepressants, pain meds, Sleep-aids, anti-anxieties, and any other generic pill bottles I could find. I sat on my old couch, the pills and beers were laid out on the coffee table across from me. This is it, it's now or never. Time to end it all.

I reached for a can of beer; liquid motivation if you will. I chugged down the golden liquid, its taste bitter. I threw the empty bottle somewhere on the ground, not caring where it landed.

Schwable approached me after my third bottle had been downed and effectively altered my view on reality. My cat seemed concerned somehow, rubbing against my legs in a gentle, comforting manner.

"What do you want, can't you see I'm busy dying?" I slurred, annoyed. With that being said, I snatched a bottle of Benadryl from the table, dumping who knows how many into my palm and swallowing them down with a swig of beer. I felt them go down my throat uncomfortably. I grimaced and took another drink.

Schwable scurried away into another room somewhere in my house. In my drunken state, I couldn't care less what she did. I just wanted to die.

"There's no way this'll be enough," I said to myself, talking about the Benadryl. I grabbed a random bottle, not caring what its contents were and opened it up. I emptied out the bottle onto my palm, they're weren't many left, less than fifteen. These were probably my antidepressants, how ironic. I swallowed down the meds just like the last ones and took a second chug of alcohol.

After a few minutes I became impatient, nothing was happening. I decided to open another bottle. I snatched another random bottle, unable to read it's label with my blurred vision, and attempted to open the top. My shaky hands ripped of the lid, pills spilling everywhere. "Damnit," I cursed. I managed to get on my hands and knees, trying to pick up individual pills with unsteady fingers.

All of a sudden a surge of pain pierced my stomach, making me fall over with agony. I screamed out in torment. The pain was atrocious, I felt like I was being stabbed. I suddenly regretted everything I did, "why am I doing this?" I thought to myself. The voice answered back instantaneously.

'Because no one loves you. And no one ever will. You deserve this pain, all of it.'

The pain got worse and worse as time went by. Minutes felt like hours; this pain was unbearable. I let out choked sobs as I held my stomach. Now I definitely wanted to die, just so this pain would stop.

Suddenly a loud, obnoxious noise entered my ears. My house phone was ringing. It was probably Bubba again. I didn't want to answer the call but a part of my brain was telling me I should. Plus this pain was horrendous, I needed a distraction.

I crawled my way to the phone and grabbed it with a stretched out arm, accidentally knocking it over. I grabbed the phone and put it against my ear. I curled into a ball on the floor, and answered the phone before it would stop ringing.

"H-hello?" I answered the best I could, but my voice was shaky and slurred.

"Marshall? This is Simone, I haven't heard from you in a while and I was just checking in to see how you were doing. Are you doing okay?"

Uh oh, Simone, what was I going to say to her? I can't let her know what I'm doing.

"Oh-uh.... I'm doing f-fine, everything is uh.. It's cool." My voice slurred. It's cool?? Nice one Marshall.

"I see... Are you sure you're okay? You don't sound-"

"Ahh!" I interrupted Simone with a shriek. Another surge of pain went through my stomach, this one even worse. "Ow..." I cried out, tears fell from my eyes and spilled onto the carpet under me. Sobs escaped my lips as I tried to hold them back, but I failed.

"Marshall! What's wrong? Is everything alright?" Simone seemed concerned. I couldn't even respond, I just kept letting out groans of discomfort and choked sobs.

"That's it, I'm coming over right now! Don't move!"

"N-no... Please..." My voice was faint, I doubt she even heard me. She hung up, leaving me alone with my excruciating pain.

A few minutes went by, the pain was coming in waves now. One second I felt like was being stabbed, and the next just felt like a sting. I forgot all about Simone and her call, all I could think about was this pain. I felt myself getting more and more tired. My vision would darken and then try to focus again, I was blacking out. My hearing was muffled, the ringing in my ears louder than the world around me. Was this the end? Would this finally be it?

     I heard a loud bang and saw light spill into my dark living room. A shadow casted over my limp body, blocking the light from the outside. A shriek of terror erupted from the shadows figure, it was giving me a headache. I groaned, attempting to plead for it to be quiet. It continued to scream and cry in a womanly voice, it was familiar. Was this Simone? Thinking was worsening the pain in my head, which triggered my stomach to act up again.
   
       My body couldn't move anymore, I couldn't speak or do anything. I was shutting down. Through what I could make out, Simone was on the phone, she was crying and shaking me, hugging me even. I wanted to comfort her and tell her that this was all okay, but I couldn't. My body refused to do anything. I was getting weaker and weaker the more Simone tried helping me. My eyes closed and everything began to get quiet. I blacked out.

  «««««»»»»»

It was dark. Pitch black. Where was I? Did I die? I heard something. Faint voices, whispering. What were they saying? I couldn't hear. I couldn't see anything, it was scaring me. My body wouldn't budge. What is happening? The voices got louder, there were two women. They didn't sound happy. I could make out their words now, though they were fuzzy. One said something about money, while the other was talking about health. Were they talking about me? Who were these people?

I felt my body twitch. All my sense of touch came back to me, I was laying down on something quite comfortable. A bed? There was something warm wrapped around my hand, occasionally giving my fingers a slight squeeze, rubbing over my knuckles gently. Their voices were clearer now, though they overlapped each other, making it hard to understand them. Brightness was starting to leak through the darkness. I opened my eyes.

     I was instantly blinded by the lights, but once my eyes focused I saw Simone and my Mother yelling at each other. Simone was sitting in a chair on the left of me, clutching onto my hand with her right, pointing the other at my mom with the other accusingly. My mother took a defensive stance at the end of the bed, hands digging into her hips, eyes cold. Their voices were furious, and too loud. My head began pounding.

     I lifted my right hand to my forehead, trying to block the light and somehow cure my headache. My mother noticed me and quickly shut her mouth, looking over at me surprised. Simone followed in suit and did the same. She instantly wrapped her arms around me, cradling me in her arms like a baby.

"You're awake! Thank God! I was so scared, I thought you weren't going to make it!" Simone cried out. My heavy arm wrapped around her gently.

"I'm... Sorry," I apologized in a scratchy voice. My mother didn't seem to like this affection. Simone was ripped off of me as she pushed her away, her heels stomped towards me angrily.

"Marshall, what the hell! Why would you do that to yourself!?" She shouted with a scared look in her eyes. My mom actually seemed concerned about me. "God... W-who would take over the company if you died!? Huh!?" She looked away shaking her head disapprovingly. Of course that's why she's mad. For once in my life I thought she actually cared.

     She continued in a softer voice, "You know, you actually had me worried... My only son tried to kill himself..." Her voice got quieter as she trailed off. I noticed a lone tear glide down her cheek, but she wiped it away angrily. "You interrupted my work for this!?" My moms' pained voice cracked as she stomped out of the room, hand covering her mouth to stop her sobs, and slamming the door behind her as she exited.

All I could do was stare at the door in shock. My mother just cried in front of me. She was actually sad that I tried to end my life... She's never shown that type of emotion towards me before. Even through the small emotion she displayed, I could tell that what I did had hurt her deep down. She was never good at showing her emotions, obviously.

Simone planted herself the chair again, she seemed shocked as well. Her tired eyes looked into mine sympathetically. A timid smile across her thin lips. She held onto my hand again.

"I'm really sorry about that," She stated, her voice was soft. It was comforting. "The hospital called her here after you were rushed in." Simone's eyes dropped down to our hands. "I- uh, I was really worried about you Marshall. When I found you on the floor surrounded by pills and booze I didn't even know what to think. I called the ambulance as soon as I could, and I-" she was cut off my a sob. Tears slowly escaped her eyes, sliding down her pale cheeks.

I grabbed onto her hand and squeezed it gently. She looked up at me again, sighing and wiping her eyes. She continued in a sad voice, "I just sat there with you, and hugged you. You looked so lifeless laying there... I thought you were dead... I prayed until the paramedics came and took you away."

I felt terrible for doing this to her. She was so nice and happy all the time, and I made her cry. And all for what? A selfish excuse for not dealing with my problems? Unacceptable.

      Simone and I sat in a comfortable silence for a while, cherishing each others presence. Beeping machines buzzed around me, but I blocked out their noise. The peacefulness was interrupted by three calm knocks. A doctor walked in, a clipboard in hand.

      "Hello there, I see you're finally awake." His voice was deep and slightly raspy. Simone sat back in her chair, waiting to hear from the doctor. "Let's see here," he skimmed over different papers and X-rays on his clear clipboard and hummed, "Well, good news. No damage has been done to you're internal organs. Thankfully. Everything seems to be recovering well. How do you feel?" He looked at me for a response.

       My voice was raw and scratchy, but I managed to choke out a "tired".

       "I would presume. The medication we gave you will make you a bit drowsy." He checked over the machines hooked up to me and nodded, "Everything appears to be good. We're going to have to keep you over night, and possibly for the next few days just to keep an eye on you. Once you do get out, I would highly suggest a family member to stay with you for a few weeks; make sure you don't end up doing this again, you know?"

      I nodded in response. The doctor pulled over a stool and sat to my right.

     "Look... I know what you're going through. I see cases like yours all the time, and a lot of them don't end up as lucky as you. Everything will get better, just give it time. Trust me, I'm a doctor." He smiled and patted my shoulder playfully, "Oh! I forgot to inform you on what you missed while you were unconscious." I looked at him confused. "You arrived delirious, in and out of consciousness. The paramedics informed us about what happened, thanks to this kind lady to you're left, and we quickly pumped you're stomach and hooked you up to this IV here. Just in time, too, good thing she found you when she did, or else you probably wouldn't be here right now."

       I looked down, ashamed. Why did I do this? I could've really hurt myself. And everyone else.

      "Well that's all for now, I'll check in again later," the doctor stood up from the stool and walked to the door placing his hand on the handle, "get some rest." He stated with a sincere smile and exited the plain room.

       "Look Marsh, I gotta get going soon. I'm really glad you're okay," Simone hugged me once more before standing, "I hate leaving you like this but I have to get back to work, I left during my lunch. Get some sleep alright? I'll see you tomorrow." She kissed my forehead and smiled, roughing up my hair.

      "Will do," I croaked.

       "Hey, just remember that I love you alright? I'm always here for you, you're not alone. You're mother loves you too, even though you don't think she does. She just has a hard time expressing her feelings like that. But I think you already knew that," she laughed.

      "Yeah I know. I love you too. Simone, thank you for everything. And I'm really sorry, I don't know what I was thinking."

       "Don't apologize honey, that's in the past. Everything is going to get better," she held my hand for a moment before walking to the door, "do you want me to call someone over to keep you company? Like Barnaby maybe?" She smirked at me.

        "No! He can't know about this. And hey, it's not like that!" I blushed.

       "Whatever helps you sleep at night, darling," she joked, "Alright I'm out of here, do you want me to bring over Hambo tomorrow? I'm afraid I don't have time tonight."

    "Yes," I flashed her a smile.

     She laughed, "thought so," Simone opened the door, "bye, Marshall." And she was gone.

                              «««««»»»»»

      After getting out of the hospital a few days later, Simone had been staying with me to get me back on my feet again. It was good to have someone to talk to about my feelings and everything that's been happening lately. She took time off work just to be with me, and I couldn't thank her enough for it.

     Yesterday we finally took my Mom's check and bought a bunch of food. At first I was worried about bills but Simone said she would take care of them for now. She was the best.

Simone and I sat on the couch watching tv, feet resting on the coffee table. I stroked Schwable's white fur as she purred in my lap. Simone cleared her throat and sat up on the couch professionally. I raised my eyebrow at her.

"You know Marshall, we really need to get you a job soon," she said.

"Yeah I know. I've tried applying to a few places, but I haven't heard anything yet," I continued petting Schwable.

"Hm..." Simone scratched her chin in thought. Suddenly her face lit up, "Hey! What if I could get you a job at the school?"

"At the school? Doing what, volunteering? Janitor work? Thanks, but no thanks," I turned my attention back to the television. Simone rolled her icy blue eyes.

"No, I was thinking more of a personal assistant or a paid intern or something, actually. Who knows, maybe you could even teach a class," she sat back on the couch again, moving her platinum blonde hair to one side.

I scoffed, "You really expect me to teach? Do I look like a teacher to you? I don't even have a teaching license! Or a college degree for that matter!"

"I know."

I blinked at Simone with a blank expression. Who is she mistaking me for?

"No, there's no way! How the hell do you plan on getting me a teaching job without going to college? Shit, I barely passed any of my classes last year!"

"Boy, have I ever let you down? Besides, I have connections."

"Mhm, I bet you do," I replied sarcastically.

"Fine, think what you want."

"Whatever," I mumbled, "I'm not doing it. I don't wanna teach annoying teenagers about lame stuff, that's almost worse than teaching kids about their A-B-Cs."

"Fair enough... But, If you choose to teach a class at my school then I'll make sure all of you're friends are in the class...even Barnaby," she cooed. I blushed and rolled my eyes as she continued on, "Let's not forget that we're in search of a new music teacher to replace Mr. Knotez," I turned my full attention to Simone, she smirked, "But, I don't know anyone that's talented enough to fill that position," she teased, "it's a shame, really, I thought you'd be perfect for the job since you're a musical genius and all, but I guess you don't want to," sighed Simone.

     "Wait wait wait, are you saying I could teach music? Why didn't you just say that from the beginning! Of course I'll do it, that's my favorite class!" I tossed my arms in the air, wide eyed.

     "I know," she stated with a sly smile.

     "You seem too sure of yourself. I don't think I trust you on this anymore," I glared at Simone.

"Oh, come on! The board won't get mad, I promise! I'll make them let you teach if I have to," she pleaded, "besides, I'll let you and Barnaby hook up in you're classroom after school if you want," Simone winked.

"SIMONE!!! ITS NOT LIKE THAT!" I covered my face in my hands, blushing profoundly. She's been teasing me about my crush on Bubba since sophomore year when I first met him. At that time I was with my girlfriend Ashley, but our relationship had already fallen apart by then.

"Yeah right, why don't you just ask him out? Everyone knows you two have liked each other for years now, and don't even try to deny it, I see the way you two look at each other."

"I highly doubt he likes me, Simone... Whatever let's not get off topic."

"Hmph. Alright then. Well, I guess if you're really serious about this job than I'll make it happen. We'll have to go through some training and practice with you of course, but that'll be a piece of cake," Simone looked at me with a smile. Was I sure I want to do this? I mean how long would I even be teaching anyways? What if I screw up!? No, it's just music, how hard could it be?

"So, are you in?" Simone spoke, reaching her hand out. I paused for a moment, unsure if I really wanted to do this.

"Yeah, I'm in," I shook her hand with a firm grip, a determined smile on my face. I could do this.

>>>>><<<<<

"So basically after that Simone and I went to a bunch of meetings and boring stuff, now here we are," I looked over at Gumball, who was laying beside me on his bed.

"Wow. I didn't know you went through all that. I'm so sorry marsh, I wish I would've been there for you. Glob, if only I just would've visited you then maybe you wouldn't have been hospitalized," Gumball said frowning.

"Come on, don't blame yourself for what I did. It was stupid anyways, I was just being selfish."

"Marshall it's not stupid, it's a serious issue. And you weren't being selfish, you just have a mental disorder."

"Ugh, don't say it like that..." I looked away from Bubba's sympathetic expression and sat up on his bed. He sighed and sat up too. Just then there was a knock on the bedroom door, and Pepper walked in.

"Hey boys, how's it going in here? I brought snacks," she sang.

"Hello Pepper, Marshall was just telling me about his summer," Gumball smiled politely.

"Nice! Hey Marsh, I've been meaning to ask you," Pepper turned to me, setting the tray of cookies on Gumball's desk, "why are you so dressed up today? I didn't even know you had clothes like that," Pepper joked.

     "Oh, uh," I looked down at my outfit from earlier today, fiddling with my tie, "I-uh, started my first day of work today," I smiled nervously.

     "Is that so? Well that's fantastic, where do you work?"

     "The high school, actually."

     "Really? What are you doing there?" Pepper folded her arms over her chest, interested in my new job.

     Bubba interrupted our very adult conversation, "Who cares! It's getting late, you know, maybe we should call it a night. We all have busy schedules tomorrow."

     "Barnaby don't be such a buzzkill," Pepper scolded him. She turned to me with a smile, "Marshall would you like to stay for dinner?"

     "Oh, no that's okay, Pepper. Thank you though," I stood, "I guess I do need to head out though, Schwable is probably hungry."

     "That's alright, it was good to see you again, Hun," Pepper smiled and hugged me, "Bubba why don't you show him the way out." Gumball leaped from his bed and took my hand, pulling me out of the room.

     "It was good to see you too, Pep!" I called out as Bubba dragged me down the stairs and onto the porch.

     "Sorry," Gumball laughed quietly and let go of my hand, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?"

     "Yeah," I laughed, "we're not gonna make this whole situation weird though, alright? I'm still the same old Marshall."

     "We couldn't make this situation weirder if we tried," he smiled and ran a hand through his pink hair.

     I smirked, "I don't know about that Bubbs, I know a lot of things that could make it weirder."

     "You know what I mean," he punched my shoulder playfully, "Now go feed you're cat, you dork," Bubba giggled.

     "Nuh uh, not without a hug," I opened my arms wide and smirked.

     "Ugh, do I have to?" Gumball fake complained.

     "Oh come on, I haven't seen you all summer! Plus I almost died, I think I'm in need of a hug from you."

     Bubba rolled his eyes and smiled, "Yeah, I guess you do, huh?"

     "Just come here you idiot," I wrapped my arms around his lower back as his went around my shoulders. Our bodies were now pressed against each other, his was warm and comforting. I really needed this. Bubba closed his eyes and rested his cheek on my shoulder, nuzzling my neck, his soft breaths tickling. I rubbed his back gently, drawing swirls and circles with my fingers.

     After a few minutes of embracing each other, Bubba lifted his head and leaned back a little bit. He opened his eyes and stared into mine and smiled ever-so-slightly. Seeing Barnaby so up lose like this made me realize how attractive he really is. His blue eyes were clearer than the ocean, as bright as an open sky; they sparkled more than any star in the galaxy. His pink, perfectly dyed hair was soft, and not one root showed. His bone structure was gentle, almost feminine, yet still managed to look manly. He had smooth skin, not one imperfection. And his lips, plump and full, were a soft shade of pink that taunted me to just kiss them. I noticed Gumball glance at my lips every so often. Did he want to kiss me too?

     I leaned in slowly as he did the same. Our lips were so close to each other, hot breaths mixing together. My eyes started to close as I could barley feel the smoothness of his lips brush against mine. Just then ringing screeched from my back pocket, startling us both. We stepped back from one another and averted eye contact, both of us clearing our throats.

     I quickly pulled out my cell and answered it, "Uh, hello?"

     "Marsh! Hurry up and get home, I made a celebration dinner for you!" It was Simone, "Why didn't you answer any of you're texts?"

     I blushed, "I was busy," I scratched the back of my head awkwardly. "I didn't know you tried getting ahold of me, sorry."

     "Doing what? Where are you?"

     Bubba must've heard her through the phone because he giggled softly, which made me blush even more.

     "I'm at Gumball's, I'll be right over, alright? Calm down." I hung up before she could say any more and spoke to Bubba, "uh, I gotta go. Simone is waiting for me," I laughed nervously.

     "Yeah, I can tell," he smiled, "better not keep her waiting."

     "Guess not," I grinned, "uh, I'll see you tomorrow..." I paused and looked at Bubba before quickly pecking his cheek and blushing, "...bye," I turned and walked fast to my bike, not wanting to see his reaction. I heard a barley audible "bye" come from him before hopping on my bike and speeding away. Through the rear view mirror I saw Gumball standing on his porch holding his cheek with a red face.

He was adorable.

>>>>><<<<<

Holy crap this is a late update. My apologizes. But I rewarded you with 42 pages! Are we even now? Do you forgive me?
At least things are starting to fall into place: we know what caused Marshall to avoid Gumball and his friends all summer, both the boys are starting to show their emotions for each other, and lots of characterization! Well that's all from me, toodaloo! See ya in the next chapter 😚❤️ bye guys! I really hope you're liking by story so far!