Marshall-Lee has come on the scene, and has just surprised our favorite bunny-eared heroine to the point of screaming and nearly punching him in the face. Let's see what happens next, shall we? (No, it's not a lemon. Stop asking. This story needs to process a little more slowly than my previous stories.)

CHAPTER TWO

Fionna's POV

The vampire laughed as he held my fist captive in one of his icy hands.

"I could ask you the same question… What're you doing wandering around the woods at this time of night?" I looked at the sky and took note of the hazy purples, blues, and grays that were quickly fading into the darkness.

"Is it a bad thing for me to take a walk and watch the sunset?" I retorted, not really seeing how it was any of his business.

"It's not sunset anymore, princess. It's twilight… Dusk… Time for bad guys like me," He floated upside-down over my head and smirked down at me, "To paint the town red, and for good little girls like you," he unceremoniously booped my nose, "To go to bed." I blushed furiously and rubbed my nose as I backed away from him.

"First of all… Don't call me princess. Second of all, back off! How many times do I have to tell you, I'm not just some good little girl! I don't have a bedtime anymore, Marshall. I'm sixteen, for Glob's sake!" Marshall snickered and flipped right-side-up again.

"We've already talked about this, baby, you're the hero. Society's little angel. You're the cherry on top of the sundae that is Aaa, and you're almost as much of a goody two shoes as the Gumwad… Especially lately."

"WHAT!? I am NOTHING like Gumball!" I argued. He crossed his arms and shook his head. "I'M NOT LIKE HIM. And I'm definitely not a goody two shoes!" He laughed mockingly.

"AH! Hahahahahahaha! Ha… Look, Fionna, I'm not trying to be a jerk. But lately you haven't been yourself. You've been in a crappy funk for weeks now! You're super moody and you never hang out anymore…" He trailed off, and looked kind of sad for a second before shaking it off. "You're always working. Going off on some quest with the Cupcake, doing some noble deed, or saving some idiotic royal pain in the-"

"Somebody has to do it…" I muttered. "I don't see you trying to help anybody out." He blinked, and put his pale hands on his narrow hips, emphasizing his trim waistline that showed just a tiny bit when his shirt rode up slightly.

"Um, Fi? I'm a vampire? I don't try to help anybody out. It's not exactly a thing that vampires do."

"Well, isn't that stereotypical," I snorted. "You don't usually do stereotypes. What's the matter with you tonight?" Marshall's jaw dropped.

"What!? What's the matter with ME!?" He moved in really close really fast and grabbed onto my shoulders and shook me a little bit. "No, no, no, no, no, Fionna, I came over here and hunted down your sorry butt so I could find out what's the matter with YOU." I looked him square in the eyes.

"Why?" Marshall-Lee's face got the slightest shade paler, and he gulped. I'm not sure why he gulped. He's a flippin' vampire. He doesn't need to breathe. "Why do you care if something's the matter with me? Why do you suddenly care if I'm okay or not? Why does it matter to you if I never hang out anymore? You've always acted like a jerk, like it doesn't matter if I'm there or not, and you do just fine without me around, so I just don't see why any of that even matters, and-"

"It's because I actually give a crap, okay!?" He was trembling now. "I actually CARE a little bit. Is that so bad? So, maybe, MAYBE I actually WANTED to help you out a little. Help you get out of this stupid funk that's getting you down." For once, I was at a loss for words.

"I… I'm not in a… A funk, Marsh, I just-"

"It's Flame," he said. I blushed bright red again, and took a sharp breath.

"Excuse me?" I stuttered. "What are you-?" He interrupted me again, hitting me with a barrage of emotion that I really wasn't ready for.

"It's because of Flame. He's always tearing you down and building you back up again for his own amusement. He cares, but not in the way you need him to care. He's selfish, Fi. He's a royal bastard who only cares about himself, and you make him feel good. So he keeps you around until you threaten one of his plans, then he breaks up with you to get you out of the way, and when he gets bored again he turns on the charm and does whatever he can to get HIS way. And don't tell me I'm the only one who sees that, because I'm not." I was looking down at the ground, tears pooling in my eyes. I was trying so hard not to cry.

"Fionna," Marshall sighed, and placed a finger under my chin and made me look at him. "I'm not trying to be a jerk. I just hate seeing you get hurt over and over and over again. How many times has he broken up with you now? Nineteen?"

"Eighteen…" My voice broke and I began to cry, which was definitely not part of the plan… If I even had a plan… Which I didn't. So I just cried. "And it's always for some dumb reason that doesn't make any sense…" Marshall pulled me into a hug. I hugged him back, only because I didn't feel the usual push to fight him.

"I dunno, that first time I'm pretty sure his reason was because fire and water don't exactly play well together and he didn't want to destroy the world… I think that's a pretty good reason. And the second time was because he didn't think that having a girlfriend and ruling a kingdom full of unstable fire demons was going to be very easy, and you being such a huge part of his life has got to be really distracting." I blinked away a few more tears as I looked up at him.

"D-distracting? How?" Marshall dropped his hands and backed away from me a little bit, quickly, as if I'd burned him.

"Are you kidding me right now, Fionna? Has he not once tried to explain himself even a little bit?" I chuckled halfheartedly.

"Oh, he's tried, it's just that every time he tries he ends up not making any sense, then he just explodes and breaks up with me again." Marshall stared at me in silence for a few seconds then closed his eyes.

"This sucks," he said. Then he opened his eyes and took a deep breath. Again, not that he had to breathe or anything like that. "Fionna, there are a million and one reasons why he, and probably a lot of other guys, find you distracting. For one, you're different from any other girl in Aaa, you're one of a kind. You're really awesome…"

I felt a funny feeling rising up in my stomach, and crossed my arms tightly under my chest and pressed against my flat tummy hard to make the odd sensation stop. And he stopped talking, and odd expression on his face as he stared at me.

"Marshall?" I hiccuped. He snapped back into reality.

"What?" He shook his head. "Oh, right. What did I just say?" I blushed.

"I'm different," I brushed my long blonde hair out of my face, mentally kicking myself for forgetting to grab my hat. "And awesome, I guess…" He looked away from me then, gulping again. Something must be wrong, I thought, because this whole gulping for air like a fish out of water thing isn't normal. "Is something wrong?" I asked.

"No," he quickly replied. "Everything is fine. I mean, it's not fine that you're upset because that walking torch keeps hurting you. Which is why I'm here. To help you get over it."

Marshall, Marshall, Marshall... What do you think you're doing, buddy? How is he going to help Fionna get over Flame Prince? (No, I'm not going to go straight into a lemon. Gosh. It'll happen eventually, just not quite yet...) Gimme some ideas, folks! Read and review! I hope you like this!

Also, I need a bit of help here. I need a name for a rock band that will show up later on in the story. Help me out, guys! Whoever's name idea I pick gets an OC in the story, if they so desire. Thanks guys! Please read and review, and gimme some name ideas for that band!