Chapter 1 of my Awful Story:

"Ugh, hang on you stupid ancient thing!" I yelled, annoyed at the phone waking me up at three in the afternoon, right in the middle of my sleeping period, "This better be important or I'll drain all the red from your house.."

"Marcelline! You have to get to the Candy Kingdom right now!" PB's voice rang through the phone with a little too much enthusiasm.

I grumbled, wiping away the crust in the corner of my eyes, "What? Why? You know I can't be out in the sun you dweeb."

She sighed, "Marcelline, for once, get out of your shell and come to the Candy Kingdom. I'm not going to argue with you about this."

"Oh, ho, ho, so now you're my mother, are you?" I chuckled at her, "I'm going back to sleep. Goodbye PB."

"Finn is back, Marcelline."

I froze, clutching the phone tightly in my hand as I heard the words just as I was about to hang up, "What...?"

I could tell she was smiling on the other end of the phone, "Finn is back, Marcey. So come on and get down here already."

I smiled, dropping the phone on its hook, not saying a single word in return. Without even thinking, I slipped my, ever trusty, red cowgirl boots on, grabbed my black umbrella, and headed out the door with my purple pj's still on. I didn't have time to stop and change.

It had literally been years since Finn had been in the land of Ooo. After Jake died in their last battle against the Lich, finally sending him back to the depths for good, Finn set out to have an adventure of his own. We could all tell it was really hard on him being alone after living with Jake for so long..I mean, it was hard on all of us, but Finn and Jake were literally brothers. We all knew that he was adopted, even they knew, but nothing could ever break the bond they shared.

I'd have to say Finn was about fifteen when he left. It worried PB the most because he was so young, but that's typical of her. She's always tried to be a motherly figure for him in the slightest ways. So, after about ten minutes of hugs and adieu's, he set off in the direction of the sun as it set, a flashlight in hand, ready to tackle the world with his little green backpack and his father's sword. I think it was the first time I ever saw PB cry.

No one ever knew where he went, but wherever it was, he stayed there for ten years. At first, we thought we might be a little lost without our tiny hero, knowing he did most of the deed-doing in Ooo, but his memory soon started to fade after a year or so passed. No one mentioned his name or thought of how much he might be missing Jake. We all just accepted the fact that he was gone, and might not be coming back.

I took a deep breath, hovering above the bright green grass just outside of the kingdom walls, my black umbrella reflecting the light away from my pale, gray skin, which would easily burn if touched by the sun's rays. I couldn't understand why I was so nervous. Maybe it was because I was afraid he might not be the same person? Maybe I had just grown accustomed to a life without that little booger, that is, if he was still that small.

I spotted PB walking cooly down the road to the gates of the kingdom as I finally ended the banter with my thoughts, "Hey, what's with you? Usually you'd have jumped the gate by now."

I shrugged, "I don't know, maybe I'm just tired from someone waking me up in the middle of my sleep." I shot her a look of boredom.

My look soon changed into confusion as she started to chuckle, "Oh, come on, I know you're just nervous. I know you and Finn were tight."

I rolled my eyes, "He was like, fifteen the last time I saw him. It was just, literally, child's play with him."

She put her hands on her hips, "Whatever you wanna call it to make yourself seem cool, but you need to get in here. It's jammin' in the candy castle right now." She gave me a wide smile and did a stupid little dance.

I sighed, floating over the gate with ease, swooshing right by her and down the path to the castle. The closer I got, the more I could feel myself beginning to tremble with excitement. I really didn't want to admit it, and really had no idea I would be to this extent, but I was really excited to see Finn. Aside from what I told PB, Finn was one of my best buds, and I missed him.

Just as I was about to morph through the door, there was a loud bang, and I was thrown backwards, having to hang on to my umbrella for dear life, "What the..?!" I coughed as dirt flew everywhere, getting in my wind pipe as I breathed heavily, "Who the junk thinks they can just-!"

I stopped, spotting a figure on the ground in front of me, laughing and scratching their head. I blinked my eyes a few times as the dust started to clear, a feeling of shock passing through my body, "F-Finn..?"

The laughing stopped as he turned to look me in the face, just feet away from me. In front of me was, not the little boy I remembered, but a man I'd never seen before. Instead of wearing a cap on his head to hide his messy hair, he proudly showed off his golden locks, cut short in a messy style. He was slender, but now had muscle built up from the years of training and fighting, making him the perfect build for his age, which was probably about 25 now.

His bright blue eyes filled with surprise as he saw me sitting across from him, a stupid look of bewilderment still on my face, "Marcelline!? Is that you!?"

In the blink of an eye, I threw myself on him in a hug, flinging my umbrella to the ground, not caring at all if I got burned. It was worth it just to hug him, knowing my old buddy was finally back, "I missed you bro!"

His movements seemed frantic as he pulled me off of him, eager to get my umbrella back, "Hey, hey, hey, you don't need to be out in the sun. Here." He smiled, taking me by the hand and pulling me up next to him as he held the umbrella over my head. For some reason, looking at him as he held my hand made my heart beat fast.

Thank you crossed my mind, but it just came out as, "Stupid, you don't have to worry about me like that."

He laughed at me, "Well, you're still the same, nice pajamas by the way."

I stuck my tongue out at him and hissed. Looking at him now, he was so grown up, and tall too. When he left, he couldn't have been more than 5'5", but, now, he had to at least be six feet tall. He walked with such confidence in his stride, just like the day he decided to leave us here in Ooo. It just made me realize how much he really had grown over the years.

"Sorry about that knock down, by the way, Mr. Cupcake wanted to test his muscles against mine, and, you know me, I never turn down a good fight." He grinned, showing a set of pearly whites, which used to include a set of slight buck teeth with a small space in between, but were now perfectly straight.

I punched him in the arm, "It's whatever, bro, not like I haven't done stuff to you like that in the past." I laughed a little, remembering the night I got him in to trouble with the wolves.

As we approached the place where the door used to be, Peppermint Butler was there to greet us, a little tray of drinks on top of his open hand, "Let's try not to break anymore of the castle doors down, hmm?"

Finn bent down to pat Peppermint Butler on the head, "Alright man, I promise."

As I watched him re-enter the party, I just couldn't stop thinking about how weirdly normal it was to have him here again. It was almost like nothing changed, but there he was, a fully grown man, standing in the middle of the room like everyone's hero...

I flinched as I felt a hand on my shoulder, turning to see PB smiling at me, "Amazing, right? He's gone for ten years, but when he gets back, the whole town sees it as if he was never gone."

I nodded, "Yeah. It's just so weird. I almost feel the same way, but I mean, look at him. He's fully grown now, he's broken out of his awkward little stage and he's a man now." I laughed for a moment, "I still remember him as that awkward little pre-teen with a desperate crush on the princess. Oh, and you can't forget the time he thought he was in love with Flame Princess."

PB was silent for a moment, "Actually, he really was in love with her, Marcelline."

I gave her a weird look, "I thought you always said it was just a petty crush? I mean, they barely ever smooched, let alone hugged. Her flame was always too hot for him to handle in the first place."

She shrugged, "Well, all I know is that she was the reason he left."

I froze for a moment, "What? I thought he left because Jake died?"

She shook her head, "Before Finn left, he talked to me for a very long time. Of course, one of the reasons was because of Jake, but he knew he had to grow up and move on from that. Jake was getting old, anyway, and his time was almost up before the Lich killed him," she sighed, "You know how the Flame Kingdom mysteriously disappeared after Flame Princess broke it off with Finn?"

I nodded, questioning her with my eyes.

"Well, that's because it moved. Finn came to me to get help figuring out where it could have moved to. He thought that maybe if he could find the Flame Kingdom on a long, painful journey, that maybe she would take him back. He thought she would see how dedicated he was to her and would fall head over heels in love with him."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, like that really ever happens like people want it to."

She folded her arms, "Well..the last thing Finn told me was that if he was not back within a year's time..then it meant that Flame Princess took him back, and he was going to stay there with her."

My heart suddenly sank to my stomach as I heard her words. I gulped, weirded out my my own feelings. I'd never felt like this before, and it was freaking the bacon sizzle out of me.

I shook my head, trying to focus, "So, wait, does that mean...?"

PB nodded, "Yup. Pretty sure. I mean, he hasn't talked about his trip since he got here..but that's what I'm guessing."

I cocked my head to the side, "Why do you think he won't talk about it?"

"I never said he refused to, I just said he hasn't." She looked over to him as he danced around with the candy people, just like old times, "Maybe he just needs to talk to the right person about it."

With that, she walked away from me and over to Finn, giving him a hug and whispering something in his ear. She was always annoyingly sneaky like that. I knew she was trying to tell me something, I just didn't know what. Who knew, that girl was crazy anyway.