Chapter 3: Trepidation

Marshall's POV

After we were done adventuring, the sky was turning rosy with dawn. Fi and I were a little beat up (mainly her), but it wasn't anything we couldn't handle. After slaying a giant slime beast-although I'm not sure what it was doing way over here-, we went and ran with some wolves, howled at the moon for a bit, and after that, we just went and relaxed under the stars. Fi had fallen asleep for a bit at that time, and I don't really blame her. It had been a long day after all. I was going to let her sleep some more, but as soon as I made one move to get up and stretch, she was wide awake. I guess she'd have to be a light sleeper to be an adventurer. We sat there for a little while and when she actually woke all the way up, we headed to her awesome tree house. I had always liked the place. We were nearly there now, thankfully.

I don't know about anyone else, but I'd rather not walk around with burns all over me.

I was planning on borrowing one of her umbrellas to get home, so as soon as we got there and she opened the door, I grabbed the closest one, which just so happened to be red. She looked at me. "What are you doing?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Going home, Bunny. You look like you could pass out any second."

She shook her head. "You don't have to go home, Marshall. You can sleep here if you want."

I gave her a skeptical look. "I don't know if you'd noticed, but there are a lot of windows in here. I'd like to be burn free, if you don't mind."

She grabbed my wrist and pulled me upstairs. "That's why you can sleep in my bed. If you sleep under the pelts on my bed, you won't get burned."

My face like it was burning at the idea of sleeping in Fi's bed. "I can't take your bed from you, Fi."

She laughed. "Cake will be home soon anyways. I gotta go take care of some stuff with her. I got some sleep earlier, too."

"Yeah, but not enough for you to be running around all day again."

She shoved me towards her bed. "Go to sleep, Marshall Lee."

Just as I was falling, I grabbed her by the waist and took her down with me. "No way, Fi. You're going to sleep, too."

I could feel the heat from her blush where I was. I chuckled in her ear and she struggled to get away. "Not funny, Marshall."

"Oh, come on, Fi. You know you want to." I tightened my arms around her, and she stopped struggling.

"Marshall..." she mumbled. She got her arms out of my grasp and rubbed her eyes tiredly. Then she curled into herself, snuggling up against me. I blinked rapidly. I can't believe she was actually going to allow this. I hadn't planned this.

Oh, what the hell.

I curled around her protectively, sighing. She was already out. "Night, Bunny."

I woke up not much longer later to the sound of furious hissing. I slowly opened my eyes, blinking tiredly. Cake was standing in the doorway to her and Fi's room, her hair frizzed out, ears flat, snarls flowing non-stop from her throat, and her claws sticking waaay out. I smiled tauntingly at her and then look at Fi.

Still asleep.

I sighed and snuggled into her shoulder tiredly, wanting to sleep more no matter what. She giggled quietly, and flicked me in the nose. "Stop it," she whispered quietly in her sleep. I let go of her, and Cake was over in a split second, her eyes zeroing in on the tiny space between me and Fi. I looked up at her and chuckled, then slowly moved my arms away from Fi and got out of her bed on the opposite side so I wouldn't disturb her.

"Downstairs," I whispered quietly to Cake, then walked out of the room with my hands in my pockets.

As soon as I floated off of the bottom step, Cake was clawing me viciously. "HOW DARE YOU TOUCH MY BABY! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU TWO DO?! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!" she snarled, still clawing away.

I flicked her in the nose, only somewhat fazed by her claws. My clothes on the other hand...

I stood up calmly. "We didn't do anything Cake. We just fell asleep. I swear. I would never do anything to hurt her."

"BULL SHIT!" she hissed angrily.

I sighed. "Cake. Calm down. You're going to wake her."

She was still frizzing out, but she lowered her voice a little bit. "Why are you here, anyways?"

"I was actually planning on going home by borrowing one of your umbrellas, since the sun had risen by the time we had gotten home. We went on a late night adventure last night, you know, the usual, killing a beast or two, running with wolves, all that jazz. Anyways, she insisted that I stay here since the sun was up. I told her I would be fine just going home. But then she dragged me upstairs to her room since I told her that there were too many windows in here and I could get burned easily, and her bed is covered with pelts and junk. Then we just fell asleep. I swear."

She was still glaring at me, claws still extended, fur still frizzed, half-snarls still streaming. "We'll see what Fi says."

"Aww, but I wanna go home," I whined, plopping down on their couch tiredly. It was early afternoon, so luckily the sun wasn't inside at the moment.

She turned to glare at me, clearly still pissed. "You can just sit your happy ass on that damn couch and not move!"

I floated off of the couch then, going to the kitchen. I grabbed an apple out of a bowl and sucked the red out of it, then placed it back perfectly. At her hiss of anger and annoyance, I threw a taunting smile over my shoulder at her. "What, cat, am I annoying you?"

"Very much, are you pleased with yourself?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Yes, I am." I looked her over then. "How was your date?" I asked, trying to make her less angry.

She looked up then, suspicion and excitement in her eyes. "It was fun. Why?"

I floated lazily with my hands folded behind my head. "Oh, just wondering. Fi said you really like this Mochro."

The excitement became more prominent in her eyes, the suspicion fading a bit but not exactly disappearing. "Yeah, he's great. He's a Monochromicorn."

"Oh, what, not even your species?" I asked teasingly. She fluffed up a little bit, but it was obvious she loved talking about her boyfriend.

She shrugged then. "No one stays within their species these days."

"Oh really? I see Candy couples all the time."

"I mean aside from the Candy People..."

"I've seen plenty of Flame couples," I said, chuckling at her frustrated expression.

"Fine, so we aren't the same species, does it really freaking matter?!" she demanded, pouting just a little bit.

"Nah, it's fine. I don't have anything against people of different species getting together. It's nice to see some diversity sometimes," I told her honestly. I floated closer to the ceiling, deep in thought.

Cake must've been calling to me for a bit, and I must've really not been paying attention, because the next thing I remember is being stabbed in the back by one of her suddenly sharp claws. I yelped quietly, turning to her. "What the hell was that for?!"

She raised an eyebrow at me. "Clearly, you were way too deep into your thoughts." I looked away and floated towards the stairs. "What do you think you're doing?"

I looked at her. "Checking on Fi real quick. We've been down here for a while now, and usually she's awake by now." Before she could protest, I quickly floated away from her, nearly desperate to get away from her. I need to think clearly for a moment. I walk in Fi's room and head for the bathroom, planning on splashing myself in the face with some cold water or something.

Change of plans.

"MARSHALL LEE!" Fi screamed from inside the bathroom. She had been in the process of changing, but at least she had been facing the other way, considering the fact that her shirt was off. I quickly walked back out and shut the door tightly.

If my face hadn't been on fire before, it certainly was now. "Sorry!" I quickly apologized, close to the door so she could hear me. "I hadn't realized you were in there!" I float away quickly, sitting on her bed with my head in my hands.

She comes out a minute later, wearing something different for once; artfully faded grayish-black skinny jeans, a short red top with slits in the arms, a black tank top underneath, and some combat boots with the skinny jeans tucked in. She looks over at me. "It's okay, Marshall. I just wasn't expecting that to happen." She gave me a once over, and asked, "What the junk happened to your clothes, dude?"

I blinked twice, looked down at my now ripped clothes, and chuckled. "Cake."

Dang, that was my third favorite shirt, too.

Then she heads down the stairs, going to talk to Cake, I guessed.

It took all I had to not watch her as she descended the stairs. After gaining my composure, I floated down the stairs lazily, hands in my pockets. Cake and Fi were having a conversation with a snack. I grabbed some strawberries out of the fridge, floated over to the couch, and set to sucking all the red out of them. I had no clue what Fi and Cake's conversation was about, but I was a little preoccupied with my current thoughts. I was through the strawberries quicklier than I had thought, and the sun still hadn't set. "Fi, do you mind if I go home now?"

She looked at me from her place in the kitchen, then out the window at the sun, which was still pretty high in the sky. "No adventure tonight?"

"Nah, no way dude. Cake woke me up early; I'm beat." For emphasis, I put my head back on the couch and closed my eyes. Really, I was so tired the couch was really starting to look fantastic.

She sighed at me. "Dude, what if you fell asleep on your way home? You can stay here and sleep longer," she said with a somewhat whiny voice.

I rolled my head to look in her direction and smiled. "Dude, what if I just go home now? I can sleep there," I told her, mocking the tone she had used.

She stuck her tongue out at me, and I flew over quickly and grabbed it between my thumb and forefinger. "Marhall! Sop it!"

I chuckled and let her go. "I'm going home, dude. You couldn't stop me if you tried." I float over and grab the red umbrella, popping it open as I open the door.

Fi runs over and hugs me around the waist. "Be careful dude."

"What are you doing, Fi?" I ask, looking up so she can't see my slight blush. "Why the random hug?"

She looks up, surprised. "Uh..." Then she shoves me out the door, blushing furiously. "I don't know, I just had to."


Fionna's POV

I shove Marsh out the door. "I don't know, I just had to." Then I shut the door and sink behind it.

Cake gives me a look, gazing between the window, where I supposed Marsh was, and back to me. Him, back at me. Him, back at me. "Did something happen between you two?" she asks, grinning evilly.

"Wha- What?! No! No, dude!" I exclaimed, surprised.

"Suuuuuuuuuuure. You like him, don't you?!" she asked, stretching over and poking me in the chest with each word.

I pushed her away. "Eww! No way, dude! Never!" I walked back to the kitchen, grabbing my unfinished sandwich and taking a bite. "I have no freaking clue what you're talking about."

Cake rolls her eyes at me. "Sure, whatever dude."

"Anyways, don't we have to go to Gumball's later?" I asked her, trying to change the subject.

"Oooh, don't we! Speaking of which, why are you dressed like that? Sudden mood change?"

"No, nothing else is clean enough to wear. My clothes from yesterday stink."

Cake rolls her eyes. "Like that was the only thing you could've thrown together."

"Yes, the only thing that would've matched decently. Have you seen the rest of my clothes? Nothing matches!"

"That's because you don't know much about colors and junk. At least you managed to get that on without it looking like a train wreck." She grabs my arm and pulls me upstairs. "Let's see what I can find."

She ended up finding something I was much more comfortable with; a light purple t-shirt and a darker purple skort. Not sure when she made or bought these, but hey, it's better than skinny jeans. How do people move in them?

I put the stuff she threw at me on, and went to go get my Mary Janes so we could get going. "Those things are so worn out. We should get you some new ones," Cake says. "Those almost look sad."

"Yes, I know, but with being an adventurer and heroine, I don't have much time to spend buying shoes," I tell her. "We can go get me some new ones on our way to Gumball's if it makes you feel better." She looks at me excitedly, and before she can say anything, I say, "Just shoes, Cake! Just SHOES! I don't wanna go on a shopping spree, dude!" Her eyes dim a little bit, but this little statement seems to have made her day. I grab my green backpack, make sure I have a couple swords in it, and put it on my shoulder. "Let's go, dude."

When we get outside, it's actually a pretty nice day. Not too warm, a cool breeze in the air. Cake stretches out and lets me get on her back, and we head out for the Candy Kingdom at a leisurely pace. I lean back against Cake and sigh happily. "These days are the best."

She purrs happily. "They sure are, babycakes!"

We get to the Candy Kingdom a little while later, and the sun is still taking its sweet time going down. It wasn't even close to the horizon. I hop off Cake and she shrinks down to her normal size. She directs me towards the shops of the Candy Kingdom excitedly. An hour and 20 bags of clothes, shoes, and other things, we head off towards Gumball's castle. I shake my head at Cake. "Did we really have to buy so much junk?"

"OF COURSE!" she says. "I have to have plenty of things for you to wear!"

I sigh and enter the castle, not really bothering to knock anymore. I see Peppermint Maid walking somewhere with some papers in her arms and call to her, "Hey, Peppermint Maid! Where's PG?"

She looks over at me as if noticing me for the first time. "Oh, hi Fionna! He said he would be up from his lab in a few minutes, so why don't you hang out in the ballroom until he gets here?"

I nod. "Thanks!" I tell her, and then grab Cake's arm-the one not full of bags- and pull her towards the ballroom. She puts all the bags in a corner, and stretches over to me, flexing her arm slightly. "I've gotten a little stronger," she states proudly.

"Definitely. Hey, dude. Mochro is probably here somewhere. Why don't you go find him?"

Her eyes widen like she had just started playing with a bag of catnip. "What if you need me?"

"Don't go too far, and when you find him, stay in the gardens. I'll call if I need you."

She hugs me and runs off excitedly. "Thanks babycakes!"

I end up laughing and walk around the ballroom, noticing small things I hadn't seen before. The tiles on the floor had tiny patterns scratched into them. The ceiling had a ring around it with tiny people sketched in it. The light fixture had exactly 52 lights. I kept noticing stupid small things until a hand tapped me on the shoulder and I turned to see Gumball. "Oh, hey, PG! How's it goin'?"

"Oh, not too bad, Fionna. How about yourself?" he asks with a small bow.

"I'm great!" I enthused. "What did you need me for?"

"What, I can't just ask my friend to come over and just hang out for a bit?" he asks casually.

"Well it's just not what you do every day," I laugh. "But yes, it would be nice to not be your guinea pig for once."

"Is Cake here with you?" he asks.

"Oh, yeah, but I sent her off to find LM. I told her to keep close in case anything happens though, so you don't have to worry, PG." I smile to reassure him. "We just went on a freaking huge shopping trip," I tell him, rolling my eyes towards the pile of bags in the corner.

"What all did you buy?" he asks with a curious expression.

"Uh.. stuff. I don't really know, she did all the shopping. I know I got some new shoes."

He chuckles. "Of course. I noticed you're wearing something different today. That shade of purple looks lovely on you."

I look down, blushing. "Thanks PG."

He looks at me with a questioning and nervous expression. "Uhm.."

"What is it, Gumball?"

He pauses, and looks away, becoming more and more nervous. "I was wondering if... if... You'd like to go on a date with me sometime?" he asks, looking away as if bracing himself for a 'no'.

I stop to think about it for a moment. I hadn't quite gotten over my crush of him yet, even though it'd been 3 years since I was 13. He had continuously rejected me, and I still stood by him no matter what. Cake had gone off on him numerous times, but thankfully they were still on friendly terms. I had gotten frustrated over his rejection, but it was easier to deal with when I didn't ask him about it. Here we are, three years later, and he finally decides to show some interest? What's up with that?

"Uh.. Fionna?" he asks, still anxious.

I blink a few times and manage to find my voice. "Why now? After all the years we've known each other, and every time I asked you, you would reject me. Why is it now, is it because I'm just a little bit older? I mean..."

"I'm so sorry, Fionna. I just... I didn't know how to say yes. I hated telling you no all the time. I hated to see how you got so upset every time it happened, I hated knowing that I had done that to you. I wanted to tell you yes, I just... I didn't know how..."

I look up at him with watery eyes. "PG, do you mind if I think about it for a little bit?"

He nods solemnly. "It's not a no, and I'm overjoyed with just that."

"Can you tell Cake I'm gonna go home? Make sure she gets all that stuff." He nods again, and I blink away my tears and walk away quickly, quite confused with this whole event. I head out of the castle, wiping away my tears so that I looked normal again. I walk calmly towards my treehouse, knowing I'm not going there. I go to the Strawberry Fields instead, and I'm there sooner than expected. The sun has just set, and the moon is shining brightly. It's a peaceful setting.

"Why is he just now doing this? Is he just trying to lead me on? Does he really mean it, or is this just another joke to him?" I question myself aloud, looking at the moon and nibbling on some strawberries. "Does he actually like me, or is he just doing this because he knows how much it hurts?" I hear a rustle and spin around, my hand twitching instinctively towards the sword in my bag. "Who's there?" I call. I wait for a reply, and head slowly in the direction I heard it come from, my sword now in hand. I circle a bush and a tree, but nothing is found. I look up in the tree just to be sure, and see nothing. I still can't shake the feeling that I'm being watched again. I slowly retreat to where I was and pick a strawberry off a bush nearby and chew it quietly. I grab a few more and go back to the tree I had just inspected, and slowly slid down to where I was leaning against it.

Closing my eyes and tilting my head back, I sigh loudly. "Why now?" A tear escapes my eye, and I wipe it away angrily. "Don't you remember that promise you made yourself a long time ago, Fionna? You'd never cry for him again?"

I shut up for a minute to see if I get a response, and chuckle. "Breaking your own promises. Again."

I chew a few more strawberries, and set the others on top of my bag. Then I tilt my head back again, eyes closed, and just think over it for a while. Maybe I should say yes...

I heard another rustle. I shot straight up, sword in hand once again, and called, "Who's there?! I'm getting really annoyed with this!"

I wait a minute, and a shadow moves in the tree above me. I see a glint of red eyes, and I feel relieved for a second, thinking it's Marshall, but quickly realize it isn't. These eyes aren't the usual playfully dangerous of Marshall, they're the straight up evil and cruel of a different vampire.

I mean, no other being has red eyes, right?

I hold my sword defensively, and demand, "Who are you?" The shadow stays quiet, but jumps out of the tree to land right in front of me. It's a boy.

And he looks just like Marshall.

Surely it isn't him.

But it is Marshall. Or at least it looks like him, if nothing else. He stays quiet as he glares dangerously at me, clearly enjoying my reaction to this horrible realization. I feel my eyes widen infinitesimally, and his eyes zero in on the tiny difference in me. He smiles wickedly, and suddenly, I lose my will to fight. I couldn't hurt Marshall. I lose my grip on my sword and it falls to the ground with a deafeningly silent clang. I blink at the boy twice, terrified and yet strangely at peace at the same time. "What will you do?" I ask him.

His smile widens, and he says one sentence that makes no sense to me. "The end is coming, Vampire King."

That's all my mind has time to register before I feel him slash at my chest and his teeth sink into my neck.

I jerk straight up, gasping for breath, my heart beating a million miles an hour. It's still dark, so I shakily grab my sword from my bag, silent tears streaming down my cheeks. A rustle distracts me. I scream, completely terrified. A shadow drops down in front of me, and then I feel cold hands gripping my upper arms. "Fi, what's wrong?!" Marshall asks, alarmed. The tears continue streaming from my eyes, and I lose the small grip I did have on my sword and drop it, shaking as Marshall holds me close. "Fi, what happened? Did I scare you?" he asks again, fretting.

I shake my head and grip his shirt, sobbing. He picks me up and holds me in his lap, rocking me back and forth and rubbing my back in small circles to soothe me. Eventually I stop and just start blubbering uncontrollably. He continues to just sit there, rock me, rub my back, and let me cry myself out. When I just start whimpering and curling up against his chest tiredly, he holds me close, grabs my bag with his free hand, tosses it on his shoulder, and floats off. He cradles me close and strokes my hair calmly. I grip the back of his shirt again, pull myself even closer to him, inhaling his scent. "Thanks Marsh," I whisper, burying my face in his chest.

I refused to think of the boy in my dream as Marshall. Marshall would never hurt me.