"Hey, you alright?" Marshall ran a hand through his hair, standing awkwardly on the threshold to Gumball's room.

"Oh, hey, no… I mean, yeah." Gumball was sitting on the foot of his bed, looking off into the distance and holding something in his hand.

"OK. Only, you haven't answered your phone in, like, three days. And you missed our date this afternoon. I was getting worried." Gumball looked over at Marshall, and smiled a little. Marshall took that as an invitation to enter the room, and he floated over to join Gumball on the bed. "What's that?" He gestured at whatever Gumball was holding in his hand.

"It's… nothing, just… yeah, nothing." He adopted his zoned-out look again, seemingly lost in thought. "Would… do you believe in fate?" He looked over to Marshall, who now saw that his eyes were bloodshot, as if he had not been sleeping much lately.

"Fate? I mean… not really. Why? Gummy, what's up?"

"Nothing, I'm just… I've been thinking a lot…"

Marshall felt his chest tighten up. This could be heading in a bad direction. "Gummy, you know you can always talk to me. About anything. Even about us." He took Gumball's pink hand in his own and gave it a little squeeze.

Gumball sighed dramatically, then buried his head in Marshall's shoulder. "Mmf fet migh nuppin fob!"

"What?"

"Mmg net fif wumpin mob."

Marshall giggled a little, something that he very rarely did. "Gummy, I can't understand a word you're saying."

Gumball sat up. "I said 'Mif het dis fumpin wob." He spoke with a deliberate mumble before falling onto his back, staring up at the covering over his four-poster bed. "Blarg." He covered his eyes with his arm.

Marshall leaned back so he was laying next to Gumball on his side, facing the pink prince. "OK. Something's definitely up, and you don't seem to want to tell me. So either I try to guess it, or I tickle you until you tell me." Gumball quickly moved his hands to cover his sides, the one part of his body where he was extremely ticklish. "Guessing it is." Marshall rolled over so he was laying on top of Gumball, his chin resting on his partner's sternum. "Are you mad at me?"

"Nugh…" It sounded like a negative, so Marshall continued guessing.

"Are you… mad at someone else?"

"Nughhh."

"Are you… uh… scared of something?"

"Mmerff." Marshall took that as a yes.

"Is it, like, something physical? Like a monster, or Cake's cooking?"

"I like Cake's food!"

"OK, I'll take that as a no." Marshall slowly snaked his arms up along Gumball's chest, working toward his shoulders. He felt an encouraging shiver pulse through Gumball's body. "Does it have to do with… with me?"

"Mmmffff… yughh" That sounded like an affirmative. Marshall stopped sneaking his arms up Gumball's chest and rolled off, sitting up.

"Are you… you know I love you, right?" Gumball nodded. "And… and you love me, yes?" There was an agonizing pause before Gumball nodded. "OK. So you're not, like, breaking up with me, are you?" Gumball groaned in a decidedly non-committal way. "OK, I give up. I'm just gonna start tickling you."

"Nonono! I'll tell you, I'll tell you, just don't tickle me." The threat seemed to have electrified Gumball, and he quickly crawled toward the headboard to hide behind one of his plush blue pillows.

"Are you going to break up with me?" Marshall felt a sharp pain in his chest, where his heart sat dormant.

"No." The pain receded somewhat.

"Then tell me what's wrong!"

Gumball sighed and put the pillow down, then crawled over to Marshall, resting his head in the vampire's lap. "Do you know what this is?" He held up a small purple stone, which he had been fingering earlier.

"It's… a rock?"

"It's a decisassist."

"A what?" Marshall took the rock from Gumball's hand and inspected it. A dim, flickering light seemed to emanate from it.

"A decisassist. It helps make decisions. You say a potential course of action, and it glows if that's the better path."

"…OK…"

"But lately all of my decisions have been no-win, according to this."

"So it's broken. Seems pretty obvious to me. Gummy, are you upset because a rock told you you're being dumb?"

"It's a decisassist!"

"It's a flippin' rock, dude." Marshall handed the stone back to Gumball, and the dim flickering light immediately disappeared.

"Of course, I already had it examined. Look: I should eat a high protein, low carb diet as opposed to a high carb, high fat diet." The stone suddenly glowed a brilliant pink. "I should fire all my staff." The glow immediately went out. "See? It's working just fine. But now, look at this." Marshall worked his fingers into his boyfriend's soft hair, massaging his scalp. He felt Gumball's body relax a little. "I should spend tomorrow on a date with my lover, Marshall Lee." The stone stayed dark. "I should spend tomorrow functioning as ruler of the candy kingdom." The stone continued staying dark. "See? It's like there's no pareto-superior option."

"I don't know what that even means!" Marshall pouted at Gumball.

"Wait, there's more. Look: I should be a strong leader for my people, devoting my life toward my duties as prince." The stone stayed dark. "I should spend my time with my boyfriend, abandoning my people." Still no glow.

Marshall leaned down and gave Gumball a soft, upside-down kiss. "Gummy, it's just a rock. You're a wonderful leader, and the best boyfriend I could ever dream of. And often do."

"You dream about me?" Gumball sat up to face Marshall.

"Every night." Marshall leaned forward and kissed Gumball's nose.

"Well… That doesn't really help, though! I've got so much work to do, and I can't keep second-guessing every decision I make!" He slumped down, and for a moment Marshall thought he might start crying. It wouldn't be the first time. About two or three times a month, sometimes weekly, Marshall would find Gumball knocking at his door, teetering on the edge of tears. As soon as he had invited him in, Gumball would break down in his arms, emotionally spent after a rough day of diplomacy or treaty-drafting or some other stressful royal duty.

"Gummy, my Gummy. All of your decisions are good decisions. You're a great prince, the best around."

Suddenly Gumball lashed out, slapping Marshall hard in the shoulder. "I'm NOT the best prince. I DON'T make good decisions. I CAN'T keep… keep…" He made eye contact with Marshall, and realized what he had done. "M-Marshall… I'm s-sorry." He curled up into a small ball, pulling the covers around him. "I d-didn't mean to h-hit you." He jumped a little when he felt Marshall's hand on his back.

"It's OK. I understand… well, no, I don't understand. But I know you're under a lot of stress, and you know I will always love you, no matter what."

Gumball uncurled a little. "Even if I were a bad prince?"

"Even if you were the worst around."

"Even if I were really ugly? Or, like, a snake or something?"

Marshall nodded, his red eyes wide with concern. He'd only seen Gumball this vulnerable once before, when he thought Fionna had been mortally injured by Ice Queen. Fortunately, Fionna pulled through, and Ice Queen had been sent to a two-month timeout to think about what she'd done. "Gummy, you're mine, whether you like it or not, and there's nothing in the world that could change that."

Gumball slowly uncurled himself and crawled into Marshall's arms, hugging him tight. "I'm sorry, Marshall. I'm… I'm sorry. I guess I just need some time away." The stone in his hand glowed suddenly, although not as bright as before. Gumball pulled back from Marshall inspecting the stone carefully. "I need a vacation from everything." The stone dimmed a little, but didn't go completely dark. "I need to get away from the Candy Kingdom." It glowed a little brighter. "I need some time alone." It got darker. "I need…" He seemed lost, not able to put the pieces together.

Marshall sighed, smiling tenderly at Gumball. He wrapped his hand around Gumball's, so they were both holding the stone. "WE need to take a vacation together, away from the Candy Kingdom, away from responsibility, and spend time alone, together." The stone glowed so bright it was almost painful to look at.

"Marshall, that's it!" Marshall nodded, happy to see Gumball's wide smile. Gumball hopped down from the bed and ran to the door, calling for Peppermint Maid down the hallway. "Peppermint Maid! Pep- oh, there you are. Listen, I'm going through some… things… right now, and I think I should break up with the Candy Kingdom, just so I can figure stuff out. It's not you all, it's me. I'll be back in two months." He shut the door in Peppermint Maid's confused face, turning toward Marshall. "I know this is a terrible idea, to abandon my people. But Peppermint Maid can take care of everything while I'm gone."

Marshall cocked an eyebrow at the prince. "A terrible idea?" He held the stone up, only for it to be snatched out of his hands by Gumball, who promptly threw it out his window.

"I don't care. I don't care! I'm not thinking about it, we're just going." He hopped into Marshall's arms, nearly pulling the unprepared vampire over, and motioned him toward the window. "Hurry, before I realize what I'm actually doing."

"Don't you need to, like, pack? And prepare? And all that other planning junk?"

Gumball shook his head, the blood pounding in his ears. A little voice in the back of his head shouted at him to stop and think about what he was doing, but he was used to ignoring that voice. After all, it was the same voice that told him he was being indecent when he slept with Marshall, the same voice that told him to marry a princess, the same voice that told him to stay in his room when he felt like crying.

"There's a small house near the beach on the western coast, by the Lost Cliffs. No one has lived there in years. We're going there."

Chuckling, Marshall adjusted his hold on Gumball and took off through the window, looking forward to having Gumball all to himself. "And what about your decision stone thing?"

"It's just a rock," said Gumball, grinning and holding tight to Marshall's neck.