I do not own Adventure Time or any of the characters.

Inside My Head

Finn walked over to the table and sat down across from Marceline. She smiled at him, but as it had been all night, it wasn't real. Finn could see the guilt in her eyes. Their date hadn't been bad. They had had fun hunting random monsters, they had gone pixie strangling, and then they had gone to this restaurant to eat. marceline had ordered a plate of apples and strawberries and a bottle of red wine. Finn had gotten a plate of spaghetti. After about a half hour of watching Marceline force a smile, he had excused himself to the bathroom. Now, he was just waiting for her to finish sho he could pay and end the failed date. Finally the waiter brought it over and Finn paid then walked outside. Marceline followed, seeming to sense his unhappiness.

"Everything alright?" Marceline asked.

"Just anxious to get home," Finn sighed.

"Oh," Marceline said, voice quiet, unsure exactly what he was expecting.

She picked him up, flying him back to the treehouse and then followed him in. He walked to the kitchen, pulling out a pouch and setting it on the counter.

"You could have just told me the truth," Finn finally sighed.

"What do you mean?" Marceline asked.

"I mean that you should have told me you weren't interested instead of tearing yourself apart by pretending all night," Finn said, turning to face her. "You should have told me that you don't feel that way about me."

"I'm sorry," Marceline apologized. "It's just...you're not immortal like me. Your feelings...they change. Just like how you used to like Bonnie, then FP, and now me. Your feelings will change again. And, I don't know if I could handle that. I'm immortal Finn. I can't change as fast as you. And that includes recovering from a broken heart."

"You think it's just a crush," Finn said. "That it's just a passing phase and I'll move on within a few months? You are so wrong. If you knew how often I think about you, you'd probably be scared. I could show you, if you want. I know it won't change anything, but Choose Goose gave me some magic powder that will let me show you."

Marceline thought for a moment, then nodded. Finn picked up the pouch, pulling the top open then stopped in front of her. Then, he tossed the bag into the air and as it fell, the world around them turned white. The bag disappeared and Marceline looked around. They were standing in a large completely white, completely empty room. Not a single decoration anywhere. And it was big.

"Where...where are we?" Marceline asked.

"Inside my head," Finn stated. "The endless hallway thing got a little boring so I redecorated. Now, I can just pull up any memories or category of memories I want."

Marceline did a three sixty then realized, Finn was gone. Then, slots opened in the floors and mirrors rose out of them, each with a reflection of Finn in them.

"What is this?" she asked.

"My memories," Finn stated, voice coming from everywhere, though all of the Finns were as still as statues. "Just touch a mirror to make it play."

Marceline turned to a mirror in front of her and looked at the plaque on top.

It read, "After Asking Marceline Out."

She rested a hand on the mirror for a moment then let it fall as Finn began to move.

"I can't believe I just did that," the reflection of Finn was saying, eyes wide and phone clutched to his chest. "Oh my God I'm going to mess this up. Please God do not let me mess this up."

He suddenly began to grin like and idiot and dance around.

"I can't believe she said yes!" Finn cheered then suddenly stopped. "Oh crap! I have nothing to wear!"

Then, Finn returned to the stock still statue he had been before. Marceline felt a tear rolling down her cheek. She felt guilty knowing how happy he had been, especially since she knew she had hurt him. She moved to the next mirror and looked at the name.

"Before Date. (Emotions Included)"

She placed her hand on the mirror and Finn began to move. He was in the same suit Finn had been wearing on the date, a tuxedo specially tailored to allow him full range of motion and with a concealed sheath inside for his Finn Sword. He was pacing and the moment he began to move, butterflies began to flutter around in Marceline's stomach as a oddly warm feeling filled her body, making her skin tingle. Nervousness, she realized. Finn was nervous. Yet undeniably happy.

"Oh God, I'm going to mess up so bad tonight, I just know it," Finn was saying, running his hands through his hair repeatedly, messing it up then fixing it.

"Relax," Jake's voice said from somewhere out of the image. "It's going to be fine. It's Marceline. The worst she can do is go on one date then say she wants to be friends."

Marceline's chest suddenly constricted painfully. She wasn't sure if it was her own guilt or the memory of Finn's worry.

"Oh God oh God," Finn said, pacing faster. "What if she does want to just be friends?"

"Relax Bro," Jake said. "Everything's going to be fine. Take a deep breath. Remember. She said yes. That probably means that she's into you too."

Warmth once again spread through Marceline. Finn smiled then jumped as someone knocked on the door off screen.

"Oh God she's here!" Finn hissed, the nervousness Marceline was feeling spiking violently, making her feel almost queazy while also making her feel like she was floating, an odd thing to feel nice given she was usually floating.

"Let her in, give her a compliment, go on your date, be happy," Jake whispered.

Finn nodded, tugging at his tuxedo's collar as he walked stiffly over to the door, which came into view. Of course, Marceline already knew what would happen from here. Finn opened the door and stopped, sucking in a breath. All at once, Marceline's entire body felt flushed and warm while tingling almost annoyingly and her head felt light, as though she might pass out. In the mirror, her own reflection stood in the doorway wearing an elegant black dress and a pair of black shoes. Her hair was in a ponytail and she had decided to leave her axe-base at home.

"H-Hey...Marcie," Finn stammered. "Y-You l-look...beautiful."

Marceline saw her reflection blush, feeling her head go even lighter in response.

"Thanks," the reflection of Marceline smiled. "You look pretty handsome yourself."

Her head went completely numb, and she could remember the blush and smile on Finn's face.

Then, the image faded, leaving Finn standing before the mirror again. Marceline felt the foreign emotions leave and sighed in relief, moving to the next mirror. The image on this was blurred beyond recognition.

"Beginning of Date. (Emotions Included)"

She swallowed, resting her hand on the mirror face. The blur began to move, but she couldn't make anything out. A moment later when the emotions hit, she realized why. Her head went completely light and the same warmth as before spread through her, only much stronger. As the blur moved, she could hear wolves, monsters, pixies, and her own voice laughing. it sounded sincere, though she knew it hadn't been. The warmth she felt continually grew and shrank, seemingly at random. Then, the image stopped and the emotions faded.

Marceline felt a small wave of relief, but it was overpowered by a strange longing. She knew what she had felt. She hadn't felt that in a very long time. And she missed it. But the longing she had made her want to replay the memory again, just for the sake of feeling it. She moved to the next and guilt gripped her again.

"End of Date. (Emotions Included)"

She hesitated. She knew how it ended. She had known from the start where she was working her way toward. She placed her hand on the mirror and instead of Finn, she saw herself, sitting at a table, draining the red from glass after glass of wine and from fruit. She couldn't get drunk that way, but the speed with which she was doing it clearly showed that she wanted to. Finn said something, his voice garbled, and Marceline smiled, only, the smile didn't look half as real as she had thought at the time. Her guilt was written all over her face. Marceline's chest compressed, hard. her head was no longer light. There was no warmth spreading through her body. Instead, her body felt cold. Finn spoke again, this time receiving an equally garbled response, along with another fake smile. Marceline's chest compressed further. Then, she watched as her reflection turned her attention back to her food, the smile falling away and her attention drifting elsewhere, becoming unresponsive the next two times Finn tried to speak to her, staring sadly at her plate as she ate. Marceline's chest was constricted so much it hurt to breathe, and tears were flooding down her face. Finally Finn excused himself, going to the bathroom and staring in the mirror. Unlike Marceline, his face was dry. But the skin around them was starting to turn pink from holding his tears back. He splashed water on his face, dried it, talked to himself for a bit, then punched his reflection in the mirror, shattering it. He wiped the blood off of his hand, wrapping a bandage around his knuckles, one Marceline had never even noticed, and returned to the table.

As he sat down, he received yet another fake smile, and Marceline's chest compressed still further. After a few minutes of Marceline's reflection staring blankly at her empty plate, the waiter brought the check and the memory ended, though, the pain in her chest remained. She turned, looking for the next mirror, but instead, found Finn standing in front of a door.

"This is the last room of my mind," Finn said, opening the door and walking in. "Always has been. Though, it's seen a lot of redecoration over the years."

Inside the door was a completely round, completely empty white room roughly fifty feet across.

"It's empty," Marceline noted. "What's in here?"

"My future," Finn said. "Or rather, my dreams and plans for the future. It's empty because I have no plans. Allow me to show you my dream."

Suddenly, a toddler ran in, no older than four, shrieking in joy and excitement. He had Finn's face, looking a lot like Finn did when he was a baby, except with short brown hair and no bunny hood. Marceline blinked in surprise just as a second Finn appeared, this one older and on all fours.

"Where'd he go?" the second Finn said, pretending to sniff the ground like a dog. "AHA! Found him!"

Then, he took off, scrambling along on his hands and feet, barking and howling like a dog as he chased the child round and round the room. Marceline couldn't help but laugh at the display. Finally, he caught the child, scooping him up and flipping him upside down, blowing against his stomach to make a fart sound and making the boy squeal and laugh. The older Finn flipped his son back over and smiled.

"Let's go again Daddy!" the boy cried. "Let's go again!"

"Not right now Kiddo," Finn smiled. "Your mother's got dinner ready now."

"Yay!" The child cried. "Mommy! Mommy!"

The older Finn laughed, walking toward the edge of the room. Marceline swallowed hard, eyes widening slightly as she watched. Then, they froze.

"Don't worry," Finn sighed. "There is no mother."

"What?" Marceline blinked.

"There is no mother," Finn repeated. "I'm alone. So there's no mother. Of course, without a mother, there can be no son."

The child turned to dust, blowing away and disappearing.

"And with no child, there's no father," Finn stated as the older Finn did the same. "This room is empty because I have no plans, and my dream is impossible."

Marceline stared at the spot where the older Finn and his son had been. It had been her son too, she realized. His dream had been to have a family with her. She had been the mother. But when he had figured out she wasn't really interested, it had crushed his dream. It had crushed him. Guilt filled Marceline, before something else. The boy returned to her mind. Smiling happily. Suddenly, he was in the middle of the room. He was sitting in a high chair, picking up handfuls of spaghetti and shoving it into his mouth, laughing as spaghetti sauce splattered across the table. Marceline laughed, except, it sounded like there was an echo. No, that wasn't right. It sounded like someone else was laughing. Suddenly, the rest of the table appeared. Finn on one end, eating almost as messily as his son, albeit with a fork, and Marceline on the other end, draining the red from several apples and strawberries and red juice.

Marceline stared wide-eyed at the family before her. This Finn looked the same as the one standing beside her. The child was still four but was a little more pale now. Marceline thought she knew why. She turned to Finn, but he looked confused. He turned to her, but he didn't speak. he couldn't quite think of what to say. Marceline realized that the image wasn't from him. It was from her. This was from her own mind. Tears flooded down her face and she threw her arms around him, sobbing into his chest.

"M-Marcie?" Finn stammered. "I...I don't..."

She lifted her head and kissed him, making his eyes shoot wide open before his brain registered what was going on. He wrapped his arms around her back, returning the kiss for several moments before pulling away.

"I don't understand," Finn said. "I thought you didn't feel that way about me."

"I said I didn't want to be together because your feelings would change," Marceline smiled. "I never said I didn't love you."

Finn's eyes widened again before he kissed her again, the white room around them fading, leaving them once again in the tree fort, the pouch he had thrown sitting on the ground beside them, the magic dust inside having all disappeared. Finally, Marceline pulled back, resting her head on his chest.

"So, does that mean that was your dream for the future?" Finn asked.

"I don't know," Marceline said. "I've never really had a dream for the future. It's hard to have dreams for the future when your future never ends."

"True," Finn smiled. "Then again, that just means that your dreams never end too."

Marceline smiled and kissed him again then stepped back smiling.

"I have to get home," Marceline said apologetically. "Thank you for showing me. How about we go on a real date tomorrow?"

"Absolutely," Finn nodded smiling.

Marceline smiled as well, knowing exactly how giddy he was feeling. After all, there were butterflies in her stomach too.

"Weenie," Marceline snorted rolling her eyes as a stupid grin spread over his face.

She stepped forward, kissing him one last time before turning and flying out of the tree fort. Finn watched her go then grinned widely. Before he could make a sound, he heard marceline's voice squeal with excitement and joy, however, and his grin spread further before he burst into fits of laughter. Sure the date may have gone poorly, but it ended pretty well after all. He'd have to remember to thank Choose Goose for the magic dust.

THE END

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