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It was a Sunday afternoon. Gumball and Penny laid in the grass in the latter's backyard, simply enjoying both the beautiful weather and each other's company. Two nights prior, Penny had broken out of her shell, and Gumball had been spending the whole weekend with her as she adjusted to her new life.
"Hey... Gumball?" Penny asked when the two fell into silence.
"What's up?" the cat answered.
"Could I ask you for some help?"
"Of course! With what?"
"My dad."
"Oooooh..."
"I know, I know... but hear me out."
"Will do. Wait, it's not about his obsession with socks and sandals, is it?"
Penny laughed, but her smile quickly faded. "No... it's just..." She sighs. "Even though I don't care, he doesn't want me to go back to school tomorrow. Or... for a while."
"What the what?! Why not?!"
"Well... He told me that since this form is still so new, I won't be able to control my emotions, and 'things will spiral out of control like they did on Friday.' Which, like, I get where his concerns are coming from, but this seems a bit intense, don't you think? Keeping me out of school 'for a while' is insane!"
"I agree! Plus, we've been spending all weekend working on your form. I doubt anything bad's going to happen. And if it does I will be there to keep things under control."
"Since when do you ever keep things at school under control?" Penny joked.
"Hey!" Gumball smiled. "And anyway, what is keeping you out of school even going to accomplish? If your dad really cares about your well being he'd listen to you. You love going to school! Which I find odd, by the way. Do you love going because I'm there?"
Penny laughed. "Sure. And see, this is why I need your help. You're good at settling arguments."
"Well, of course I am. I'm good at a lot of things." Gumball stood up, reaching his hand down to Penny. She took it, and he pulled her to her feet. "Let's go now, then."
"Alright..."
Gumball began to walk inside, but Penny pulled him back and kissed him. "Thank you."
He smiled at her. "Yeah. No problem."
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It took a while, but Gumball and Penny did manage to convince Patrick to let her go back to school. There was lots of back and forth between him and Gumball, but he did hear him out in the end, making him promise to keep an eye on Penny and keep her safe. He also threatened him if he were to do otherwise.
That night, Penny went to bed content, not even wanting to think of what she would have done if her and Gumball's efforts had been for nothing.
But as she boarded the bus the next morning, her contentment- and confidence- flew right out the window. As soon as she came into view of the other students, every single one of them fell silent.
Penny froze at it, feeling very uncomfortable from all the eyes on her. And the longer they stared, the more she wondered if this was a good idea after all...
But then she locked eyes with Gumball, who immediately smiled wide and waved at her. Penny exhaled, relaxing her shoulders, and then walked down the bus aisle to sit next to him. She tried her hardest to ignore the students whispering about her, the Is that Penny?s, the What happened?s, and the Why does she look like that?s.
"How you feelin'?" Gumball asked once Penny took her seat.
"Ugh, I don't know... Just very uncomfortable right now..."
"Hey, it's okay. Just ignore them. And, y'know, I can always yell at them to mind their own business if you want."
She sighed. "Gumball?"
"Yeah..?"
"What if my father was right?"
"What do you mean?"
"What if something horrible happens today? W-What if I shapeshift in front of everybody and freak them out o-or accidentally destroy something? Or hurt someone? Or all three?"
"Pen..." Gumball took her hands in his paws. She looked him in the eyes, some of her anxiety instantly melting away. "Things will be okay, I promise. And if anything bad does happen... y'know... we can deal with it together."
"Together?"
Gumball nodded, smiling. "Together."
Penny smiled back. "Thanks. That means a lot."
"Of course. I'm always here for you. And always will be."
Penny relaxed into the bus seat. "So..." she said, exhaling. "Pen, huh?"
Gumball's smile dropped, a deep red blush immediately taking its place. "Uh-"
"No one's ever called me a nickname before... Especially not you..."
"Haha, uhm- It kinda just slipped out, I-"
Penny giggled, kissing him on the cheek. "I like it. It's cute."
As the red on his face deepened, Gumball began to laugh too, and the rest of Penny's anxiety melted away as they began to laugh together. She was just glad she had him, glad they were here together right now.
So maybe her fears were irrational. Maybe nothing would go wrong today after all.
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Most of the day went by fine. Penny's friends and classmates did continue to stare at her and whisper about her, although nothing negative, from what she could hear; Though her glow did make her especially self-conscious when Miss Simian turned the lights off to show a video in class. But she stayed calm all day with Gumball by her side, and not once had she shapeshifted, or even felt like she was coming close to doing so.
Though little did she know, come lunchtime, her fears would come true.
"Duuuuude, are you seriously telling me you'd rather see the past than the future?" Gumball asked.
"Well, yeah!" Darwin said.
"But why? The past is just full of rags and people who didn't shower. They had no internet, so they had to resort to kicking tin cans down the street to pass the time. Where's the fun in that?"
"But old people always have such interesting stories to tell! Why wouldn't you want to see what it was like during their time?"
"Are you telling me you've never fallen asleep during one of Granny Jojo's stories?"
Penny giggled. "I'm gonna have to agree with Darwin, if I'm honest."
"Man... Anyway... You wanna join us for lunch, Penny?"
"Sure! I was just about to ask!"
The three continued their walk down the hallway, heading towards their lockers to put their books away and grab their money before going to the cafeteria. But they were suddenly stopped in their tracks by Tobias, who whistled as he walked in front of Penny.
"Hey girl."
Penny sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. "Tobias, I'm in a good mood right now. Can you just... not?"
"But I wanted to ask you if you wanted to join me for lunch! Cuz, y'know, I brought a pretty good lunch to school today, but it's missing one thing. You."
Penny visibly cringed.
"I gotta say, though... you're even hotter now that you're out of your shell."
Darwin heard the sound of claws unsheathing, and he quickly placed his fin on Gumball's paw to stop him from doing anything.
"Tobias. I'm taken, okay? Just leave me alone." Penny said sternly.
"Nonsense!" Tobias responded, taking a step closer to the fairy. "Last time I saw you, you were single. And that was only two days ago."
"That doesn't mean that nothing happened over those two days."
"Aw, come on, girl. Just have lunch with me! I mean, look at me, I'm the whole package! Who would decline this offer?"
"Literally every girl in the school. I've watched you get rejected by all of them."
Tobias simply laughed that off. "Come on..." he said, winking at her. He then proceeded blow her a kiss before trying to take her hand.
"Ugh, Tobias, you are insufferable!"
Penny wasn't entirely sure of what happened next.
But the next thing she was aware of were the faces of every single one of her friends and classmates in the hallway staring at her with wide eyes, the area dead silent. She didn't know why, but then, as she continued to look around, she saw that the ground between her and Tobias had been charred black.
Her heart beating fast, she looked down at herself, beginning to put the pieces together, and saw that she had shapeshifted into her dragon form.
Horrified and humiliated, she briefly switched back to her regular form. But then, now eye-level with everybody else, she got a good look at all of their faces, how scared they seemed... scared of her.
Immediately, guilt rose up in her, and she became scared of herself.
How could she have done that? She could've killed Tobias- as much as she hated him, she'd never try to kill him!
Oh god, her father was right... She never should have come here...
Penny suddenly switched into her mouse form and took off running from the hallway. And with Darwin giving him an encouraging smile, Gumball ran right after her.
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"Dagnabbit, Penny... I can't run anymore!" Gumball briefly stopped running and placed his paws on his knees, trying to catch his breath.
"Good! I just want to be alone!" a high-pitched voice responded.
Gumball's ears perked up. "What? Where are you?"
He scanned the floor until he spotted a tail peeking out from a small hole in the wall.
"Please, don't be a rat..." he said to himself, gently grabbing the creature by its tail to pick it up and hold it in his arms. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw its little purple antlers.
Penny struggled to free herself from Gumball's paws, but quickly gave up, realizing it was no use. He brought her outside to the playground and sat down on one of the benches, knowing they'd have some time to talk alone before everybody came out for recess.
Penny only returned to her regular form once Gumball kissed her. For a moment, neither of them said anything, but then she suddenly hugged him, tears streaming down her face.
Gumball immediately hugged her back. "Hey, hey, it's okay..."
"No it's not!" Penny answered. "Did you see their faces, Gumball? They were terrified! Of me! My friends!"
"Pen-"
"My dad was right! I shouldn't have come! I-I can't face them again, Gumball... What if they're so scared they won't want to hang out with me anymore? What if I just lose them all? What if they all think I'm a monster? What if-"
"Penny." Gumball said gently, pulling the hug apart to look her in the eyes. He wiped her tears and then took her hands in his paws, her shoulders relaxing. "Everything will be okay. I know it will. You wanna know how I know?"
Penny sniffed. "How?"
"Because you are amazing. You are the friendliest, sweetest, most forgiving, understanding, selfless, caring girl I have ever met. You make people happy simply by being in their presence. Especially me! You are friends with half the school, and I know that nobody here is dumb enough to let you go. And if they are, then that's their freaking loss and they didn't deserve you in the first place. If they really are scared, their fear will pass. It just caught them off guard, y'know? They weren't expecting it. None of them knew you were really a shapeshifting fairy under your shell... how could they? They'll understand things better if we explain, too. They know that you would never hurt anybody on purpose. And if they don't find you cool with all your different forms, then, like, what the what is wrong with them, y'know?"
Penny's mouth slowly cracked into a smile, in turn causing Gumball to grin wide. "There you go!" he said. "Aw. Did I ever tell you how much I love your smile?"
Penny smiled wider, and Gumball brought her into another hug. "Thank you, Gumball. For everything you said. I honestly don't know what I'd do without you." She sighed softly. "I feel... a lot better. Maybe I was being irrational... What happened on Friday is just still so fresh in my mind."
"No, it's okay. I totally understand where your fear was coming from. And I'm not sure your dad exactly helped things. But you're okay now, and that's all that matters. And hey... I did say we'd deal with it together, didn't I?"
Penny pulled the hug apart and kissed him, not wanting to let go. "Yeah. Together. I'm glad we're together."
Gumball's face turned a bright red, and Penny tried not to giggle. She rested her head on his shoulder and shut her eyes as Gumball wrapped his arm around her. "Me too." he said.
For the next few minutes, they sat there in silence, simply enjoying each other's company. Though eventually, the bell rang, and students began to pour into the schoolyard from the cafeteria. Gumball felt Penny tense up, and he grabbed her hand to give it a comforting squeeze. "Hey, don't worry. Let's go talk to them, alright?"
Penny nodded, and Gumball stood, not letting go of her hand. She smiled and got up herself, and the couple made their way over to their friends. Penny's gaze immediately fell on Tobias.
"Hey, I'm sorry-" she began.
"There's no need to be sorry, girl!" Tobias said.
"I couldn't control it, I just got really- Wait, what?"
"You turned into a dragon and blew fire at me, so, clearly that means you think I'm smoking hot!"
"What?!" Penny exclaimed, her body turning shades of red and orange, threatening to turn into her Gorgon form.
"Hey, hey, chill! I was joking! Mostly."
Penny returned to her normal yellow, but narrowed her eyes at him. "Okay..."
"I'm not scared or mad or anything if that's what you're thinking, though."
"Wait, you're not? I-I could've killed you!"
"No, I'm not! You're a dragon, Penny! That's really hot!"
Penny narrowed her eyes again, her skin becoming orange.
"I mean cool! That's really cool!" Tobias immediately corrected.
"You think so?" Penny asked.
"Yeah! We all do!" Leslie said. Penny's other friends all began to speak up in agreement.
"You guys weren't... scared? At all?" she asked.
"Oh, maybe a little taken aback at first, for sure," Masami said, "Who wouldn't be when your friend suddenly turns into a dragon?"
"But it's pretty rad," Carrie said. "How many animals can you turn into?"
Penny began to smile. "I'm not sure, actually! I don't think it's just animals, though. So far I've turned into monsters, a gremlin, a gargoyle, a jackalope, a minotaur, a warthog, dragon, wolf, mouse... I can't really tell when I'm going to shapeshift or what I'm going to shapeshift into, though. It changes based on my mood."
"That's so cool!" Carmen said.
"You must've been pretty mad at Tobias then." Carrie joked. The two laughed, causing Tobias' face to fall.
"I'm definitely still getting used to it, but, I do like this form much better than that stupid shell..." Penny said.
"Me too. Definitely suits you better, and I can tell how much more confident you seem in yourself!" Sarah said.
"Yeah... I suppose I do feel more... myself." Penny smiled. "All thanks to Gumball, honestly."
The cat smiled up at her.
"And we're dating, Tobias, so you can stop trying to hit on me, alright?"
Tobias put his hands up in defense.
"Or I might actually set you on fire."
"Okay, okay!" Tobias said, albeit with a smile on his face.
Penny spent the rest of recess talking with her friends about her new form- while also being congratulated for finally getting with Gumball. And she quickly forgot why she had been so anxious in the first place. She couldn't believe she had misinterpreted their stunned, awed expressions for scared ones.
Gumball had been right. Everything was okay. Everything was always okay. Penny had tons of friends who would always love her, always stick by her side. And most importantly, she had a boyfriend who would always love her and always stick by her side. And she couldn't be more grateful for him.
Whatever they had to deal with, no matter how big or small, they would deal with it together... and this was just the beginning.