Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“So you have a crush on him?” Darwin asked, as though it were really that simple. 

Darwin always had that funny way of talking (of existing, really) that just exuded the kind of optimism Gumball wished he had. Sure, being cynical and sarcastic could be fun sometimes, and it was a whole lot easier than being sincere, but Darwin always seemed so damn content. It could get really irritating sometimes. Like now, for instance, when Gumball was in the middle of a crisis and his brother was acting like it wasn’t any big deal. 

“What?!” Gumball cried. “You think I-? On Rob?” 

He forced a laugh, hoping that if he made Darwin’s suggestion seem stupid enough then he wouldn’t have to face the truth. Darwin looked neither impressed or convinced. 

“You’re hoping that if you speak condescendingly enough I’ll feel stupid and stop pressing the issue, aren’t you?” 

Gumball sighed. Of course, he’d neglected to remember that this was Darwin he was talking to, and Darwin knew him better than anyone else on the planet. 

“Oh curse you, Darwin Watterson!” He said. “You recognized my deflection tactics and called me out on my self destructive behavior!” 

He paused to take a deep breath. 

“Aaaand now that I think about it, you’ve actually been very helpful. Thank you.” 

Darwin rolled his eyes. 

“Oh good, you reached that conclusion on your own. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to bring Anais in on this one.” 

Gumball sighed, taking a moment to consider the deeper implications behind this conversation. He liked boys? And not just boys, but Rob? He hadn’t dated anyone since he and Penny’s amicable break up during freshman year, and he’d never really considered his sexuality before.

This conversation with Darwin had all started because of last week, when the Watterson siblings had run into Rob at their local ice cream parlor. Gumball had (predictably) nearly fallen over himself trying to impress his so called arch nemesis. 

“Rob!” He’d called excitedly, waving wildly from across the room when the entrance to the establishment had opened to reveal him. 

Rob had sort of smiled shyly and maybe blushed, which Darwin had taken note of. He didn’t know the guy nearly as well as Gumball did, but it had felt out of character for him. 

“Oh.” Rob said softly, still smiling that same smile. “Hey, Watterson.” 

It was a weirdly friendly interaction for two supposed enemies to have, and it was one they’d been having more and more recently. A week before that they’d run into Rob at the mall, and Darwin had witnessed the same greeting between the two. If they wanted to convince people they hated each other, neither of them were doing a very good job. 

In fact, Rob and Gumball really didn’t act much like nemeses anymore at all. Rob would sometimes set traps in Gumball’s bedroom or whatever, but they always came across more as silly pranks than anything. Generally, the two had started acting like friends (or, in Darwin’s opinion, two people too stupid to confess their feelings for each other). 

This had only become more obvious once Gumball was single again. He and Penny had split after a mutual agreement to see other people, and Rob had found out through the grapevine a week later and given his nemesis a call. Gumball has expected evil laughter or a mocking quip, but all he’d gotten was a question: How are you feeling? 

He was genuinely concerned about Gumball’s well being, which had left the latter both shocked and flattered. They’d stayed on the phone that night for at least an hour, and when they’d finished Gumball felt incredible. His face was flushed and his stomach filled with butterflies as he threw himself backwards onto his mattress. 

The same butterflies had returned at the ice cream parlor, and the mall, and every place that he’d run into Rob since. 

“I get butterflies every time I see him!” Gumball blurted out suddenly, causing Darwin to startle and the cot he was sleeping in to squeak. 

“Dude, what?!” Darwin asked, annoyed. 

“Rob!” Gumball said. “I always thought the weird feeling in my stomach was incidental, but maybe he was the common denominator!” 

“Gumball, that conversation ended three hours ago!” Darwin said. “You just started staring off into space without speaking, so I assumed something was broken in your brain.” 

“Who gives you butterflies?” Anais asked, sticking her head over the side of the top bunk. 

“His arch frenemy, Rob!” Darwin answered for him. 

“Oh. You mean the one Gumball gets heart eyes for every time he sees him?” 

“Yep!” 

“And the one whose name makes Gumball blush whenever it comes up?” 

“The very same!” 

“And the one who Gumball-?”

“Alright, enough!” Gumball said. “Why did everyone know about my crush on Rob before I did?” 

Darwin and Anais exchanged knowing looks, silently communicating their mutual amusement at their brother’s expense. 

“Because, Gumball!” Anais said. “You couldn’t make it more obvious if you tried!” 

Gumball gasped then sputtered, clearly both embarrassed and perplexed by the conversation. 

“What the what?! What is that supposed to mean?!” 

“Every time he looks at you, you turn bright red!” Anais pointed out. 

“And every time he texts you, you practically squeal!” Darwin added. 

Gumball frowned slightly, his eyebrows furrowing. Was it really that obvious? That was...really embarrassing, actually. Knowing that everyone could see him acting a lovesick fool kind of made him want to crawl into a hole and never come out again. 

“But don’t worry, Gumball!” His little sister said cheerfully. “Darwin and I will help you! Right, Darwin?” 

Darwin leapt out of his bed excitedly. 

“Of course! Gumball will have a boyfriend before the end of the week!” 

The word filled Gumball with that familiar sensation. That giddy, warm feeling he got in his stomach whenever Rob spoke to him lately. His cheeks were pink as he blushed for what seemed like the millionth time that day. 

“Boyfriend?” He asked, and his voice came out in a much higher pitch than normal. 

“Sure!” Darwin said. “That’s what you want, right?” 

Gumball had already taken in a deep breath to make some other outraged comment, but Darwin’s words stopped him in his tracks. Did he want Rob to be his boyfriend? What would a relationship with him entail? Holding hands? That sounded nice. Kissing? That sounded really nice. Okay, so maybe being Rob’s boyfriend wouldn’t be so bad. But then again-

“Who says Rob even likes me back?” He asked, the question popping into his brain unexpectedly.

His brother and sister smirked at each other, apparently using Watterson telepathy to have some silent conversation and excluding him. 

“He obviously likes you back, Gumball.” Anais said. 

“Obviously?” Gumball asked incredulously. “What about that is obvious?” 

“Would you like a list?” Darwin deadpanned. 

“Yes please.” Gumball said meekly. 

“Well first of all: beads of sweat show up on his forehead whenever you talk to him! You make him nervous.” 

Gumball thought about it, and found that he did remember Rob looking especially sweaty on certain occasions. Could that really be because of him? 

“He also goes out of his way to see you, even when it’s inconvenient. He just loves being around you!” 

Was that true? Well...Rob did show up to the Watterson household in the middle of a rainstorm once just because he thought up a new super villain joke and he thought Gumball might want to hear it. 

“That’s...really?” Gumball asked. “He likes being around me?” 

“Absolutely! And another thing is-“

Anais yawned loudly, interrupting the conversation and causing her brothers to look upward at her. 

“Guys, can we finish working this out in the morning?” She asked, her voice thick with exhaustion. “I’m so sleepy.” 

The boys smiled fondly, reminded suddenly of how tired they themselves were. 

“Sure thing, sis.” Gumball said. “Goodnight, guys. I love you.” 

“Love you!” 

“Love you guys, too. And don’t worry, Gumball, we’ll pretend not to hear you when you start mumbling Rob’s name in your sleep again.” 

Chapter Text

Gumball was woken up bright and early the next morning by his always eager siblings, and if Darwin and Anais weren’t his best friends then he probably would have been a lot more annoyed.

“Gumball!” Anais called, her pink hair cascading downward as she stuck her head over the side of the top bunk.

Gumball jerked awake, vaguely disappointed to be startled away from his dream world and into the real one. He could tell by the amount of sunlight shining in through the window that it was before noon on a Saturday, which meant that there was no good reason for him to be up yet.

“Is there a reason for my eyes to be open right now?”

“Of course, Gumball!” Darwin said, seemingly appearing out of nowhere to stand over him. “We’re gonna set up you and the boy of your dreams!”

The memory of last night’s conversation sprung back in to Gumball’s mind. It was embarrassing to think that his siblings knew about the nature of his feelings for Rob, but he could admit to himself that he was probably better off with them helping. Without Darwin and Anais to reel him in, it was likely he’d mess everything up.

“Right. I’d almost forgotten about that.” He said, picking sleep from the corner of his eyes. “Any ideas?”

The question was rhetorical, really, because of course they had ideas. His brother and sister were both brilliant and creative in different ways, and Darwin was always bursting with imagination while Anais always came up with more well thought out plans.

“Take him to an art museum!” She suggested first. “Then kiss him in front of the prettiest painting.”

Darwin shook his head.

“No, take him on...a romantic hot air balloon ride!”

“No! Take him to-!”

“Guys, I think I can figure this out on my own!” Gumball exclaimed suddenly. “This is my love life after all!l

Darwin and Anais side eyed each other (man, they’d been doing that a lot lately), and Gumball shot them both a glare.

“You don’t exactly have the best track record when it comes to romantic gestures, Gumball.” Anais said flatly.

Gumball gasped in horror, sitting up in bed, but even he couldn’t argue with her. Penny had complained often enough about the over the top nature of his attempts at being romantic for him to recognize it as a problem.

“It’s not like Rob can complain about being dramatic!” Gumball insisted. “He loves dramatic gestures!”

Darwin seemed to think that over, cocking his head to one side.

“I guess that is true, now that you mention it. Rob does seem to appreciate big gestures. Or, at least he does when it comes to being your enemy. He’s always making big gestures!”

“Exactly!” Gumball agreed. “So maybe I should do something big! Fireworks?”

“No.” Anais said, shaking her head. “You did that for Penny. That makes it less special.”

Gumball nodded, supposing that made sense. In his mind, he went over his other first date options. Picnic? Too hot outside. Mall? Too lame. A beautiful dinner prepared by Gumball himself? Perfect.

“I’ll make him dinner!”

“Dinner?” Darwin asked, skeptical but not yet completely against the idea.

“Not bad.” Anais said, impressed. “It shows effort, consideration, and creativity!

“Not to mention I’m the best chef in Elmore!” Gumball said, puffing out his chest.

“You’re not even the best chef in this house.” Darwin commented, causing him to deflate.

“Be nice.” Anais scolded. “Gumball: you text Rob and make sure he isn’t busy tonight.”

“On it!” Gumball said, filled with ambition once again.

He whipped out his phone and found Rob’s contact, where he was listed somewhat facetiously under the name Dr. Wrecker. It was something Gumball had put in years ago and never bothered to change.

hey. are you busy today?

The response was almost instantaneous.

Of course not. I’m an orphan without any friends, remember?

Gumball cringed, and his phone lit up with a second text.

Sorry. No, I’m not busy today. You feel like getting your ass kicked again?

Gumball laughed and resisted the urge to argue that no, Rob hadn’t won their last fight, Gumball had just been tired.

no haha. just wanted to hang. meet me at my house at 6?

There was a pause before the next text came through, and for a second Gumball worried that he’d scared him off.

Really?

really. you’ll come?

Yeah. You know I don’t have anything better to do.

“He’ll come!” Gumball announced, looking excitedly at his brother and sister.

“Congratulations.” Anais said with a smirk.  “Now we have all day to spend preparing so that you don’t mess this up.”

“Right!” Gumball agreed. “Thanks for the help you guys! Now let’s run down to the store: I need to buy a few things.”

                            •••••

Gumball’s bedroom was almost completely dark, lit only by a row of candles on his window sill. Really corny, Gumball knew, but it was the sort of thing he liked. He hoped Rob would like it too.

The table he and Darwin had moved in stood in the center of the carpet, and on it was two plates of spaghetti. Between them was a vase of flowers-Anais’s suggestion-that added to the ambience. Rob would be here any minute, he thought, wondering if he should-

The door to his bedroom opened as Gumball admired his surroundings, startling him out of his slightly self congratulatory reverie.

“Hey?” Rob said like a question as he entered, looking confused. Gumball smiled.

“Hey!” He greeted cheerfully, ushering the other boy in with enthusiasm.

Rob really was handsome, Gumball thought. His brown hair hung halfway down his cheeks and when he was nervous, Gumball noticed, he had a habit of tucking it behind his ears. The black eye patch that was perpetually wrapped around his head seemed to accentuate his good eye, strengthening its ice cold blue. He’d started wearing sweaters a lot more lately, and Gumball knew that they covered the scars left on his skin by the void.

“What’s all this about, Gumball?” Rob asked quietly, glancing around at the dimly lit room and the ever conspicuous candlelit dinner for two.

His demeanor was so different when he felt vulnerable. His voice was so much quieter than the deep tremor he developed when he was angry. Right now his cheeks were dusted with pink.

“What do you mean?” Gumball asked nervously, chuckling.

“Your entire family was waiting for me in the living room when I got here, and then your brother followed me up the stairs dropping rose petals. Something has to be going on, dude.”

Gumball sighed and gave him a sheepishly apologetic smile, but couldn’t find it in himself to be upset with his family. If his biggest complaint was that they were too supportive, then they must be pretty great.

“They just know how important this is to me.” He explained, earning him a raised eyebrow from Rob.

“Important to you?”

“Yeah. Important. I just...wanted to impress you.” Gumball admitted, hearing the words get caught in his throat.

Slowly, a smile spread across Rob’s face. In a similarly slow fashion, relief began to flood Gumball’s lungs.

“Why would you want to impress me?” Rob asked, and the vulnerability in his voice was so endearing.

“Because I...like you.”

Gumball held his breath, waiting for the answer that could be the beginning of a big change in his life. Rob’s smile grew wider.

“You like me? As in...more than nemeses normally like each other?” He asked.

Laughter bubbled out of Gumball’s lips, and he nodded.

“Yes. A lot more than nemeses normally like each other. Although actually, you’re the only nemesis I’ve ever had! So maybe this is just how it always works.”

Rob snickered.

“Maybe so. I like you as more than a nemesis too, Watterson. I meant it when I said you were hard to hate.”

Gumball grinned and stepped closer. He looked up at Rob, and the height difference between them suddenly seemed so much more inconvenient than it ever had before.

“Are you gonna kiss me or what?” Gumball asked with a smirk.

Rob took a deep breath, trying to prepare himself, and Gumball put a gentle hand on his wrist.

“I didn’t mean to pressure you. You don’t have to do anything you don’t w-“

Rob leaned down swiftly, bringing their lips  together with a shock of electricity. Gumball shut his eyes and focused on the new sensation, letting himself melt into the kiss. When Rob pulled it away it was too soon, but the happily embarrassed glow of his face almost made up for it.

“That was my first kiss.” He confessed, voice hushed and a little shell shocked.

“Couldn’t tell.” Gumball replied, hoping he sounded smoothly flirtatious. “I think you might be a natural.”

“So just to be clear...” Rob started, but trailed off.

“Yeah?”

“We’re officially not nemeses anymore, right?”

Gumball smiled, taking one of Rob’s hands in his.

“Nah. I think we’re more like boyfriends.”

Rob’s face lit up, and suddenly the room didn’t seem so dark.