Author's Note: Well, so... here goes! I hope someone reads this and enjoys this. I worked pretty hard on it... if I get even ONE subscription or something, I'll keep writing. I'm a very consistent writer, like, one chapter per day. Don't subscribe if you don't like it, though. I want to know the truth! I hope you enjoy... and please review! Even bad reviews make me feel nice. Don't hold back if you hate the story. Thanks, and... hope you enjoy!

Chapter One

Finn lay on his bed in his tree house, arms behind his head.

"Huh." he said. "I wonder when Jake'll be back?"

Jake had told him that he was going off to a date with Lumpy Space Princess

"Why do you want to date... her?" Finn had said, disbelieving.

"Calm down, man!" Jake had said, holding his paws up. "Maybe behind the gross purple exterior, she's really nice inside!"

"And plus," he went on, whispering now into Finn's ear. "I still think that the lumpy stuff outside is a costume. Princesses are always beautiful, right? So... I think she's hiding it!"

Jake had then stretched out the window.

"That's the stupidest idea EVER!" Finn had shouted.

"You're just jealous because you've never gone on a date!" Jake had called back. Then, he was gone.

Jake's words echoed in his head.

You've never gone on a date...! You've never gone on a date...! You've never gone on a date...!

"No!" said Finn to himself. "I fight against evil! People like me have no need to go on a date!"

An image if Princess Bubblegum floated across his mind.

"Yep. People like me definitely don't need... dates...!" he said, with an unsure voice. He then turned over in his bed and closed his eyes.

Finn was standing outside of Bubblegum's castle in the kingdom of Ooo.

"Hey Finn!" she called down from a tower

"Hey, Princess Bubblegum!" Finn called from the ground. "Why did you call me? Is someone in trouble?" He whipped out his sword.

Princess Bubblegum laughed. "No, Finn!" she said. "There's just... something I've wanted to ask you."

"What?" said Finn, lowering his sword.

"Well... will you go out with me?" said Princess Bubblegum, blushing.

"What? Uh... um... uh...!" Then, Finn closed his eyes. "Sure!"

"Really? Oh, thank you!" said...

The ice king?

The Ice King fluttered his eyelids. "Let's kiss!" he said.

Finn shot out of his bed, breathing hard.

"Omigosh, omigosh!" he said. His forehead was drenched in sweat. His breathing slowed down to normal. And then... he remembered his dream again.

"GAAAAAH! OH, GROSS, OH GROSS!" he said, curling up in a fetal position.

"Okay, that's it!" said Finn. He slid out of bed. "I have GOT to get a..."

Finn squeezed his eyes shut as the last word reluctantly came out.

"Girlfriend!"

Sunshine streamed through the tree house's window the next morning. Finn blinked twice, then opened his eyes. It was morning!

He looked towards Jake's bed. It was empty.

"Huh." he said to himself. "You'd think he'd be back by-"

Suddenly, the door opened. It was Jake!

Jake stumbled towards his bed and toppled in. "Whew!" he said, tired. "I'm pooped. 'Night, Finn!" His hand stretched out across the room and turned off the light.

"But... but wait!" said Finn, confused. "It's morning!"

The only response that Jake gave was a loud snore.

"Oh, well." said Finn. "I guess I'll have to go outside. I don't want to wake up my buddy, after all." He climbed out of the tree house and landed on the grassy ground. It was wet with the morning's dew.

"Where to go, where to go?" he said. Then, he remembered the pledge that he'd made himself the previous night.

"Oh yeah! Princess Bubblegum!" he said, smacking his forehead. "Duh!" But then, his eyes drifted down to his shoes.

"But where to start, where to start?" he said to himself. "Who knows about girls?"

And then, a lightbulb came on above his head. "I got it!" he said. "Marceline!"

But then, memories from the last time Marceline had tried to help him get Princess Bubblegum to go to the movies with him flashed in front of his eyes.

"Well... maybe, after seeing what happened...!" He shuddered. "Last... time, she'll be able to give me better advice!"

He nodded confidently. "Anyway. I haven't seen Marceline in like, ages!" Finn smiled. "And she is my friend after all!"

He started walking looked both ways, and then stopped. "JUST my friend! Nothing else!"

I've got to get over this paranoia. thought Finn, sheepishly, and then kept walking.

Finn eventually arrived at Marceline's cottage.

"Well, here goes!" he said to himself. He was about to knock on the door, when he heard a noise.

"Huh, I wonder what that noise is!" he muttered to himself, and peeked into the window.

Marceline was standing in jeans and striped tank top, with her raven-black hair in a ponytail that cascaded in short waves down her back. In her hand, she held her axe-bass, connected to an amp beside her. She appeared to be strumming the instrument and singing.

Huh. thought Finn. I wonder what she's singing? Making sure that she wasn't looking his way, he raised the window a little bit, so the sound could come through.

It did, and Marceline's low voice reached his ears, softly crooning a song.

"When I see your shining face,

My small, red heart quickens it's pace.

Because even though I'm already dead,

You make the blood rise to my head."

"Your happy, sweet little smile

Makes me feel alive just a little while,

You make me rise up above,

And I think it just might be love."

Finn listened intently. "Wow!" he whispered to himself. "Marceline loves someone! Good for her!"

He smiled. "I bet she's going out with him!"

"But no matter how much I want you,

There's someone else who wants you too.

A gal, prettier than I still stands

Between our reaching hands..."

"And no matter how much I want you to know,

I don't know how to show,

Show you that we are destined to be

Forever and ever, just you..."

Marceline looked down at her bass, strumming once more. A single tear leaked from the corner of one glistening eye, and then her eyelids gently closed

"And me..."

Then, Marceline lifted off her bass and set it on the bed beside her. She went over to a recording machine and clicked play before flopping onto her bed, her hands behind her head. She gazed at the ceiling as the recorder played her song.

Marceline closed her eyes and hummed along.

Finn closed the window.

"Huh." he said, scratching his head. "So... Marceline is in love, but can't be with the person she does?"

Finn stood. "I need to help her! I came here with my stupid request, but instead of asking her for something, I'll help her! Yeah, an adventure!"

Jake wasn't there, so he fist bumped the air. "Yeah!"

He then opened the door. "Marceline!" he said.

Marceline shot up and immediately turned off the recorder.

"Finn!" she said angrily. "Ever heard of knocking?"

"It's okay!" said Finn, ignoring her question. "I hear everything from outside!"

Marceline turned red. "Everything? But wait, my window's are soundproof! How-?"

"Shhh..." said Finn, holding a finger up to his lips while Marceline stood, steaming before him. "I heard everything."

Marceline turned redder. "Everything...?"

"Well, not everything!" said Jake, cheerfully. "Just from the part that was, like, when you see his shining face... and then the rest of it!"

"Oh." said Marceline, letting out a breath of air. "So... you didn't hear everything. Good."

"But I heard enough!" said Finn. "And I want to help you with your problem!"

"Oh, I don't think you can help with this particular problem, Finn." said Marceline, sadly fingering her bass's strings.

"Ah, but I can!" said Finn. "Just tell me anything you want! I can help!"

"Hey..." said Marceline, suspicous. "Why where you here in the first place?"

"Er..." said Finn. "I wanted your help for something. But that is of no importance!"

"Yes it is, Finn." said Marceline. "Anything to take my mind off this. That's how you could help me."

"Well... okay." said Finn. "But after that, I'll help you! You can't run away from your fears!"

"What about your loves?" murmured Marceline.

Finn was silent. He didn't know what to respond to that.

"Anyway." said Marceline, pulling one leg up to her chest. "So, what's up?"

Finn twisted his foot inwards. "So... you know Princess Bubblegum?"

"Yeah. Why?" said Marceline.

"Well. I want to go out with her. How do I tell her?" said Finn.

It was like a shadow had passed over Marceline's face. Finn, however, caught up in his embarrassment, didn't notice this.

"So you want to go out with her, huh." said Marceline. "So, here's what you gotta do. Just tell her. Girls like it when guys are confident and brave."

"But... I can't just... tell her, just like that!" squeaked Finn in terror. "What if she says no?"

"Learn to accept rejection." said Marceline. "C'mon, you can do it. After all, what's the worst that could happen?"

"You're right, Marceline!" said Finn. "I've gotta be brave! Thanks!" he rushed out the door, but then peeked back in.

"And after this, I'm solving your problem!" he said, and winked before running off.

The minute the door closed, Marceline sank her face into her pillow. When she got up, there were two, dark spots of water on it.

She turned on her recorder, lay down, and closed her eyes.