Chapter 7

MARSHALL

I woke up to see the patterns of the sunlight shining on the floor opposite the bed. My arms were wrapped around Gumball's waist, and his head was level with my nose. I inhaled the sweet sugary scent of Gumball, letting it fill my lungs until I had to exhale. Gumball stirred and turned around in the bed, so that we were face to face. He slowly opened his eyes, and I saw those lavender irises that always make me lose my breath, and he smiled sheepishly. When he realized the position we were in, he lifted up the sheets, and was surprised to see that our clothes were still on. I don't know what he think happened, but we didn't get as far as removing shirts before he just fell asleep. It was annoying and cute at the same time.

"Did we..?" he asked cautiously, meeting my eyes. I smiled and shook my head.

"No, we didn't. You fell asleep before we could do anything. We got as far as shirtless." I said, caressing his cheek, which made him shiver.

"Oh.." He blushed furiously and mumbled to himself, "Was it all just me..?"

I grinned wickedly, and looked down at him. "What do you mean?"

"I… well…" He said, blushing again, and I chuckled softly.

"Don't worry, I know what you meant. It was your perverted subconscious!" I teased him, poking his surprisingly well-sculpted abdomen.

"It was not!" He said, cheeks flushed, "It was just…. Ok, maybe it was.." He admitted.

"So, how was I?" I asked him, and he looked up at me.

"What?" He breathed out, like he had lost all the air in his lungs.

"You don't expect to have done it with me in your dreams and not tell me how it was do you?"

"Erm.. well…" He said, squirming under my intense gaze, "I was hoping you wouldn't ask that."

"Well I'm asking. Tell me," I said, "I wanna know what you're expecting when it actually happens." I said soflty.

"Well, it was…" He trailed off, his thoughts going to other places, his eyes spacing out.

"Hey, Bubba," I said softly, snapping my fingers in front of his face "Stick with me, don't get all space-eyed on me."

"Sorry. It was.. amazing. I can't find anything else to describe it." He said, snapping back to reality.

I caressed his cheek once more, putting my forehead up against his, I captured his lips in a tender kiss, before I pulled away from him, disentangling my limbs from his. He whined softly, and hauled himself up out my bed. He bent down, and picked his shirt up off the floor. An odd sense of déjà vu washed over me as he pulled it back on, and started to head for my bedroom door. I picked up the scent of acrid smoke and burning flames. and lunged in front of the door, barring it with my body.

"Marshall!" He exclaimed, still buttoning up his too many buttons shirt, "Come on, move already."

"Keep your voice low." I hissed, "Someone's outside my door."

"What? Who?" He asked me, his voice soft, leaning to look through the keyhole of the too pink door. I pulled him away gently by the shoulder.

"I think it's the Flame Princess." I said, and he turned around to look at me, shock written all over his delicious features.

"How would you know?" He asked me, moving closer.

"I can smell smoke and burning flames." I said, pulling him to me. "Don't worry. I'll get you out of here safely."

"I trust you," He said, wrapping arms around my neck, and I gathered him closer to me. I opened the balcony door softly, tiptoeing silently through the door I walked out onto the balcony. I gripped him tightly and started to float higher up to his balcony. "Please don't drop me.." He begged softly.

"I wouldn't even think of it." I whispered. Once we reached his balcony, I set him down.

"That was awesome!" He exclaimed, eyes lit up with glee. It was an emotion I wanted to see in his eyes all the time, I realized. I silently make a vow to myself, I will never cause him harm, and I'll do my best to shield him from it.

"Well," I said, "When are we gonna leave for the beach?"

"I was hoping that we'd pack and then head out."

"Perfect. I'll tell Marce and Bonnibel now." I said, kissing him lightly before I floated in the air, "I'll see you soon." I floated away, making sure that I stuck in the shadows of the castle's towers and balconies so that I wouldn't burn. Finally, I reached my own balcony, and floated as fast as I could into my rooms, closing the door behind me once I was in.

"And here we were, thinking you'd never come back." I heard someone say behind me. I turned around to see Marceline sprawled on my bed, her head resting in Bonnibel's lap, who smiled warmly at me.

"Why am I not surprised?" I sighed, walking over to the closet in my room. Grabbing the empty black duffel bag that I had been forced to pack; I stuffed the sunscreen and my bone umbrella into it.

"So, did you guys..?" Marceline asked me, and I turned around, shocked by her question.

"No," I said, smiling at the memory of this morning, the deep red blush all across his face, "We didn't. He fell asleep after I got his shirt off." Marceline grinned and Bonnibel giggled quietly.

"Well then you should hurry up and pack. We're all ready." Bonnibel said, gesturing to the two bags on the floor that were packed to the brim.

"Wow. That was fast, I was just about to tell you that you should pack." I said, staring dumbly at the bags on the floor.

"Nope." Marceline said, "We're all ready. You aren't. So hurry up and pack up Marshie."

I rolled my eyes at the ridiculous nickname that was actually starting to grow on me a bit. Opening the dresser that was filled with my duplicate plaid shirts and jeans, I sifted through the clothing to find the pair of swim trunks that I had brought just in case. I shoved them into my bag and zipped it up.

"Done." I said, a smug smile on my face. Marceline sat up and grabbed her bag and Bonnibel's. She handed one to Bonnibel and slung hers over her shoulder.

"Ok then, let's head down to the main hall." She said, throwing her arm around Bonnibel's shoulders. We opened the door to my room, and found Gumball and The Flame Princess standing there, arms intertwined.

"Oh," Gumball said, flustered, "We were just coming to get you."

"Yeah, well we're all ready here." I said, slinging my bag higher up on my shoulder, "Um.. you know we can't move without you guys moving out of the way right?"

"Oh… right!" Gumball realized, and moved out of the way to give us right of passage. We all walked together down the hallways of the castles, making small talk as we did. Gumball said that he changed his mind, and that we were all going to spend the night at the beach. Everyone would get their own tents, but Bonnibel and Marceline decided to push the mouth of each of their tents together, so that they could spend time together. I laughed at how much they needed each other, and wondered if Gumball and I could ever be like that. Throwing our bags and towels up on the top of the carriage, we all climbed in, Marceline and I went first, so we didn't burn too much. After everyone packed into the plush pink carriage and after the door was closed, and the carriage lurched into motion. The ride was anything but silent, Marceline was humming softly under her breath, Gumball was bent over a cook book, and Bonnibel was making small talk with the Flame Princess. I looked out of the window, resting my chin on my hand, thinking to myself.

I don't want him to marry her. He can't, he knows what he means to me, and I know what I mean to him…. Or do I? The seed of doubt planted itself in my head. I shook my head, expelling those thoughts from my head. You do, I told myself, He already told you. What more do you need? We passed through the countryside, green grass stretching over the landscape, rolling hills as far as my extensive eyesight could see.

I guess at one point I'd fallen asleep leaning against the window, because a few minutes later, Gumball was shaking me lightly. And I realized that we were alone in the carriage.

"Come on Marshall," Gumball whispered, still shaking me. I groaned and opened my eyes slowly.

"But I already did my homework, Mom." I heard myself slur sleepily.

"Come on." The smile was evident in Gumball's tone, and I could feel him supporting me on his shoulders. He dragged me out of the carriage and into a shaded area, laying me down on the cold sand, I felt him start to rub all the sunscreen I brought all over my body. When he was finished, I felt something get shoved into my mouth, a delicious flavor of red leaked onto my tongue, and I licked it up. When I finally had the energy to open my eyes, I found that a piece of really red watermelon had been shoved onto my fangs. Prying the cold piece of fruit off my fangs, I looked around at the beach. The beach was really shaded, the water was a crystal clear turquoise color, and the sand was soft and a nice calming shade of yellow.

"Wow, you really know how to pick beaches." I said, rubbing my eyes. I felt a slight draft, and looked down. I was… naked… what? I looked over at Gumball, who was stripping off his pants along with his boxers. I could feel the heat rushing to my cheeks, "G-Gumball, what are you doing?" I said, and he looked at me over his shoulder and smiled.

"I'm putting on my swim trunks." He said, and pulled on a pair of pink and white striped trunks. As he rummaged around in my bag, he tossed mine over his shoulder at me. I caught them and scrambled to put them on. Chuckling softly, and seductively might I add, Gumball walked over to me and stood on his knees. He parted my legs and leaned his hands on mine, which were resting next to my hips. Lowering his face next to mine, he kissed me softly. "Don't worry, they won't see us here. I scoped the beach out before I came. No one could ever figure this out." He planted kisses all the way down my neck, taking whatever protection that the sunscreen had provided and eradicating it. I felt as he nipped his way from my jaw all the way down to the nape of my neck, stopping there to suck gently on the sensitive skin. My throat started to itch, and somewhere in my subconscious I recognized what was about to happen. I was going to drink his delicious blood. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I panicked, but my mind told me not to worry about it. I locked my knees around his hips, and before he knew it, I was the one who had dominance of the situation.

"Now let me show you what a real bite is." I whispered. Supporting myself with my arms, I bent my head down, aiming for the jugular. I looked at Gumball cautiously before continuing, at the small nod of his head, I lowered my eyes to his throat. I flicked my tongue out and moved it across the expanse of his throat, tasting around for the sweetest spot I could find on my lover. When my tongue happened across a particular spot, I felt the sweetness of the blood practically oozing out of his pores. That coupled with the small gasps and shudder of pleasure I received, I knew I was in the right spot. Raising my eyes to Gumball's once more, I could tell that this is what he wanted. My mouth hovered over that spot, my fangs were out and I was ready for this.

"This might sting a little at first." I said to him, and he nodded mutely. Flinging his head back, he allowed me better access to my soon-to-be afternoon snack. I sunk my fangs gently into his neck, feeling the blood rush to the wound, I waited until it started flowing like an eager river. Lapping up the blood with my tongue, I felt Gumball arch against me, tangling his fingers in my hair, I could hear his heavy jagged breathes in my ear. Just when I was about to withdraw my fangs, he started raking his hands on my bare back. I growled and continue to lap up his blood until I could tell that I was at the maximum limit I would ever need in a while.

"Marshall?" He asked as I retracted my fangs, "Am I gonna become a vampire because of what you just did?" He asked, and I shook my head.

"If I were to make you a vampire Gumball," I said to him, "Then I would have to have drank all of your blood."

"Marshall?" He asked again, and I looked at him as I tried to clean my mouth and his throat.

"Yeah?" I said, and he looked at me.

"When we get back…can we.. you.. do that again?"