Disclaimer: I don't own Aventure Time or the characters.

A/N: This takes place after "The Suitor" (Season 5, episode 21).

"Peppermint Maid told me what happened," Marshall Lee practically teased as he floated into Gumball's lab through one of the windows. Gumball was in the middle of some research, but he knew the vampire wouldn't leave him alone until he played along. Sometimes Marshall Lee can be such a kid.

So Gumball looked over at the thousand-year-old vampire's childish grin that showed off his razor-sharp fangs and asked disinterestedly, "What are you referring to?"

"Your suitor, what's her face," Marshall Lee answered as he toyed with some lab equipment he found interesting.

"Her name is Braca and stop messing with my lab utensils. They're vital to my experiments and research," the pinkette said irritated with both Marshall Lee and their conversation already. Gumball turned around to look at his computer screen to finish his research before he was rudely interrupted.

"Oops," Gumball heard and he whipped his head back around to see what the raven haired man had done to see him just standing there with a mischievous smile planted on his face. The prince of candy kingdom glared at Marshall Lee and he tried to look innocent knowing he was far from an angel. Childish.

"So did you bang her?"

"Why is everything about your lower region with you?"

"What else is there to do with a woman? Talk?"

"Unlike you, I'm a gentleman,"Gumball hissed.

Marshall Lee snorted and asked, "A gentleman disregards a woman's feelings for him as infatuation and nothing else?" The pinkette glared at him, but he ignored and continued, "That don't sound very gentlemen-like to me." Gumball felt a major headache he always get whenever he talked to the Vampire King for too long start to form.

"I didn't think you and Peppermint Maid talked," the prince said as he rubbed his temples and squeezed his eyes shut. Maybe if he wished hard enough the vampire will be gone when he opened his eyes.

"We do other things too," Gumball heard him say. Gumball didn't want to open his eyes to Marshall Lee's perverted grin Gumball was certain was present on his face. "Wanna know what kind of things?" he purred.

The pinkette opened his eyes to glare at the green-skinned vampire only to find him so close to Gumball's face. Gumball, startled, tried to roll his chair back, but the desk behind him prevented him from moving anymore backward. Marshall Lee took this opportunity to hold the prince's chair in place. He leaned in a little more, so all Gumball could see was him.

"Or I could show you."

Gumball's pink skin flushed a darker shade at the cheeks and the bridge of his nose. He could feel the heat blazing in his skin, the clenching and unclenching of his heart and the butterflies set loose in his stomach. He needed desperately to move, but Marshall Lee's eyes...There was something about the eyes that charmed him like a snake to stay. The slightly smaller of the two couldn't even open his mouth let alone speak. He wondered if this was a power all vampires had and if the heir to the Nightosphere used it on everyone.

Marshall Lee leaned in slowly and maintaining their eye contact as if he wasn't trying to scare Gumball (which by the way wasn't working). Gumball's butterflies were swarming in his stomach now, his heart beat violently against his ribcage threatening to leap out his mouth and he felt like he was hot enough to burn the vampire. But Marshall Lee looked unfazed making the now red-skinned prince feel like a fool for being the only one making a fuss about their situation.

There was a series of three knocks on the door.

"Prince Gumball, I have tea and cake," he heard Peppermint Maid say behind the door. "Please take a break." She sounded worried. When he looked back to the front of him, he realized Marshall Lee was no longer there in the lab. To be expected.

Gumball lifted his feet off the ground and put them on the chair, so his knees were on his chest. He put his head on his knee caps and sighed. Gumball didn't know what was wrong with him. Why did he feel like that when Marshall Lee leaned in on him? Why did Marshall Lee do that in the first place? Did the vampire intend on kissing him? But they were both guys. Gumball did hear of people liking other people of the same gender, but was the Vampire King that way?

The pinkette heard the door creak open and Peppermint Maid asked, "Prince?" He didn't feel like associating with anyone at that moment. There were too many questions floating through his mind to do anything. Gumball heard the tray being set on the table. "Is the research going okay?"

"It's going just fine."

"Are you sure?" Peppermint Maid pushed. "You seem a little stress."

The prince looked up at the maid to make sure she understood him. "I'm perfectly fine." They had a stare off. Gumball knew this was his only chance to prove he was okay and he could stay up a couple more hours to finish the research. He did his best to seem perfectfunctionalble.

Peppermint Maid closed her eyes in disapprovement. "You should call it a night, Your Highness."

"I told you that I'm fine," Gumball argued.

"And I'm telling you you're not," Peppermint Maid retorted. She opened her eyes to look at Gumball with stern eyes. "I don't know what happened, but you need some sleep." Peppermint Maid grew concerned as she reached for Gumball's hand and squeezed it like a loving mother. "Please. You can work on it tomorrow, okay?"

Gumball couldn;t resist those eyes. All candy people seem to possess that trait. Candy Kingdom could conquer all of Ooo if they wanted to with just their eyes.

"Okay." The pinkette shut down his computer and proceed to leave the lab. Peppermint Maid followed after him carrying the tray of tea and cake to ensure the Prince made it to his room and didn't make any dentures.

After settling in bed, Peppermint Maid placed the tray on the night stand beside his bed.

"Good night," she said before she left out the door. Gumball had been in the lab for 3 days straight, since Braca left with the Gumball-bot. He hadn't much sleep. The only sleep he had was when he accidentally fell asleep for 2 hours. Gumball forgot how to fall asleep on purpose, so he stared at the ceiling.

The scientist wondered how Braca was doing. Did Gumball-bot make her happy? Was she able to forget about Gumball and live happily? Did she realize that Gumball could never make her happy and searched for someone new?

Gumball rolled over and was then facing the tea and cake. The cup the tea was in was red. The color Marshall Lee loved to eat. What did it mean when he leaned into Gumball? Was he just joking with Gumball or did he really like the pinkette? If he did like Gumball, didn't he know the prince was a heartbreaker?

Too many questions and thoughts were going through the pink-skinned boy. This was exactly why Gumball busied himself with his research. He didn't want anytime to think or feel. He want to escape himself. The only thing he needed to do is care for his candy people and the candy kingdom. That's all. He obviously had no time for a romantic life.

Looking at the red cup questioning everything and arguing with himself in his mind suddenly made him sleepy. Gumball closed his eyes and let sleep naturally take over. He actually hoped it would. The faster he fell asleep, the faster morning would come and the faster he would get back to his research.

There were papers; Stacks and stacks of papers. Too much to do and not enough time to do anything else. Gumball reviewed and signed each paper. Paper after paper. The window he didn't realize was open blew in an unwelcomed wind. All the papers flew in every direction. Gumball tried to grab as many as he could, but they all spilled out of his grasp. The papers started to form a tornado with him in the center. He tried to escape, but every time he walked toward the papers they cut him. For some reason, the prince felt sad.

When Gumball opened his eyes, he still saw the tray and tea cup on the night stand. The red cup was now grey and the cake was missing. He then heard a burp and sat up to find out that was going. Through the darkness he found that diagonally above him was a floating Marshall Lee.

"Did you eat my cake?" Gumball asked while rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Man, the cake attacked me," Marshall Lee dramatically pleaded.

"Is that so?" Gumball asked clearly not believing him.

The vampire lowered himself, so he could sit on the bed. "Yeah, it was crazy," he continued. "The cake just attacked my face and the only way to protect myself was to eat it. You have to understand."

"You know what? Nevermind. I don't even care about the cake anymore."

"You don't believe me, do you?"

"How am I supposed to believe a story like that?" Gumball snapped. "Cake don't just attack people."

"You have a kingdom full of candy people," Marshall Lee argued. "People regardless of ethnicity can be violent. What about Mr. and Mrs. Cake on Lollipop Lane? They look like they could attack someone any minute now."

"That's only because all the lollipops make fun of how big they are which is why I suggested they should relocate," Gumball explained. "If you have self-esteem issues, you shouldn't put yourself in situations where you will be made fun of."

"Right."

"But that's besides the point. The cake wasn't a person making it unable to move let alone attack people." The Vampire King went under the covers and crawled from the bottom of the bed to the top. He popped his head out from under the covers and looked up at the prince of the Candy Kingdom from the pillow.

"Bubba," he called softly making Gumball brush.

"What?" he asked equally softly while looking down at the vampire.

Marshall Lee patted the pillow Gumball was laying his head on not too long ago. Gumball couldn't stop staring at Marshall Lee's eyes. Most of the time his eyes were like a vortex. They sucked the life out of whoever looks in them and replaced it with agony and despair. But sometimes, if Gumball cut him off guard, Marshall Lee's eyes were the one's in agony and despair.

It was times like that made the prince want to put the world on hold just to comfort Marshall Lee and see him back to normal no matter how annoying he is on a regular bases. Just to see him smile is enough.

Gumball finally laid down facing Marshall Lee.

"What happened with your suitor?"

"Braca?" The vampire nodded his head. "Didn't you already talk to Peppermint Maid? You should know all about it."

Marshall Lee shook his head as much as he could laying down. "I want to hear it from you."

The prince finally broke their eye contact and looked down. "Braca was just infatuated with me."

"Why did you ignore all her attempts to court you?"

Still not looking at Marshall Lee, Gumball answered, "I told you. She was nothing but infatuated with me."

There was a long silence and the pink-skinned boy felt the stare from a thousand suns blazing upon his head. He didn't dare look up out of fear that the vampire's eyes alone would be enough to draw the inner most thoughts from the depths of Gumball's heart.

Gumball's hand which was laying on his pillow was grasped with a light squeeze. Gumball looked at his hand and the green-skinned hand covering his. He then looked up at Marshall Lee again. The vampire looked back at Gumball's eyes with full intensity. He had no intention of letting the topic go.

The prince focused his eyes on the two connected hands. He knew he could trust Marshall Lee and tell him anything, but it still didn't change that he didn't want to talk about Braca or anything surrounding that situation. It should have been over and done with. Gumball had no time to worry about such trivial matters. He's the prince of the Candy Kingdom for Glob's sake. He's too busy with royal work and scientific research to worry about suitor.

But despite his better judgement, the pink-skinned boy said, "She wouldn't have been happy with me."

"Why?"

"Because-," Gumball started but didn't feel like finishing. 'Because I wouldn't have the time to make her happy. Even if I did, there isn't anything to me outside the Candy Kingdom and my lab. I'm quite bland and not sweet like my name.'

"Say what you're thinking right now out loud," the King demanded.

"I'm not thinking anything." Marshall Lee moved his hand from Gumball's and placed both on the Prince's face to direct his face in the direction of the vampire's.

With a firm eye contact, Marshall Lee pleaded, "Tell me. You allow what you think to be true because no know is in your head to tell you otherwise."

Gumball watched Marshall Lee stare into his eyes. Why did he care so much? Did Peppermint Maid put him up to this? Did the Bubblegum Guardian put Peppermint Maid up to this?

"Braca went through all the trouble of getting the Soul Stone for you," the Nightosphere heir reminded the pinkette. "Obviously she really wanted to be with you. I mean she even turned into a three-legged to attract you. Not the best method- but hey!- at least she tried."

"I did get a lot of research material from that experience," Gumball agreed.

"I wouldn't go through so much trouble for someone I was just infatuated with."

"She was conditioned since the day she was born to love me and eventually court me. Of course she would go through all that trouble and more if it meant winning my heart." Marshall Lee didn't retaliate. He simply gave Gumball the look of pity as he finally let his hands retreat from the prince's face. Gumball felt a sense of loss in warmth and comfort; however, he did not ask for the hands to hold him once again.

"All the book smarts in the world have failed you," Marshall Lee finally whispered back. "Are you nothing but an empty shell?"

"No," Gumball said with a hint of irritation. "I have organs and-"

"But does your heart ever beat for another?"

"It beats so that I can live. I don't understand your question. Why would it beat for-" The prince took a large intake of air through his nose and tried to stay still as Marshall Lee came close to his face. Just like before Peppermint Maid interrupted them, Gumball was entranced by the vampire's eyes and close proximity. Why did he become a trapped mouse to the other's hunting cat at these times?

"Tell me...how do you feel now?" The prince's words failed him at this very moment and so did his brain. All he could focus on was how close both his face and body was to touching Marshall Lee's. One slight moment from either party would mean a least a graze. Gumball's face was flushed and his body felt slightly warmer at the places where the other man was particularly close to. His heart...

"My heart...it's beating too fast," Gumball answered. Marshall Lee's eyes widen slightly. To Gumball, it looked mostly out of shock which for some reason he took slight offense to.

"Why?"

"I don't know," the pinkette more or less whined. "Maybe anticipation. Confusion. I could be scared or..."

"Or what?" Gumball honestly didn't know the answer. He couldn't think too well. "Have you ever been in love or at the very least had a crush?" Gumball couldn't answer that either. This for different reasons. "You have very little knowledge on emotions."

"I've read on them," the prince retaliated.

"That's different than actually experiencing." Marshall Lee's hand moved toward Gumball's face again. The slowness of this action made Gumball aware that this was happening unlike the last time where it happened so fast that he couldn't stop. Now that he could he didn't know if he wanted to. Instead he trembled, but otherwise stayed still watching the hand come towards him.

Just as it reached the point that it touched the hardly noticeable hair on his face he shut his eyes. The hand never landed. Gumball opened his eyes and the Vampire King was gone. The warmth left the Candy Prince's body yet again and he could breath normally. His heart started settling down to its normal pace as he stared at the tray next to his bed. The tea cup was still grey and the cake still gone.

A/N: Thank you for reading the first chapter. There is more to come. I hope to update at least once every other week (I'm working on another fanfic). I appreciate reviews even if they just tell me that you like the fanfic and constructive criticism.