A Guardian Angel
Chapter 32
The Depth And Fear Of Love
"How in the world did that happen!?" Fionna said in shock.
"Well you know Fi when two people are in love-" Marshall said getting cut off as Ellen smacked his arm.
"Shush you."
"I already made us shirts." Finn said handing Fionna a blue long sleeved shirt matching his, and only then did she notice what it had said. UNKLE FINN. Only the N was purposely backwards. Opening hers Fionna laughed, hers said ANTIE Fionna, and like his all of the N's were backwards. Laughing the blonde put it on. Together they congregated into the living room where Marshall was and after talking about how they had met and how they found out about their new edition Finn decided that they needed to celebrate in some way. Ellen suggested a baby shower and immediately began planning it.
After more than an hour later (Much catching up between the three siblings occurring in said hour) Jake and Lady decided to leave, they still had to tell her family and decided that the call taking place in the privacy of their home would be best. Fionna hugged her brother hard and her soon to be sister in law as well, Lady seemed really cool. Her voice was croaky sounding due to her cold, but other than that Fionna didn't think Jake could find anybody more suited for him.
O0o0o0
Later that night Fionna lay in the bed next to a sleeping Marshall, she'd woken up and just couldn't go back to sleep, that had been happening a lot lately, it was always the same dream and it woke her up leaving her a shaking sweaty mess. The weird thing was that it technically wouldn't count as a nightmare, it wasn't even scary. The blonde wasn't sure how long she'd been awake for, but it felt like hours. Finn and Ellen were downstairs, Ember was asleep already and FP had come home as well. The entire house was silent. Eventually the bed shifted as Marshall's arm wrapped around her pulling her close.
"What's wrong?" he asked softly, he'd just woken himself and seeing the blonde awake especially so late was unusual.
"Nothing, I just can't sleep…bad dreams and too many thoughts in my head." She said softly.
"Well what are you thinking about?" Marshall asked turning on his side to face the blonde, she was quiet for a long time.
"It's nothing important." She said softly. "Don't worry about it." Marshall gave the blonde a look he was sure she couldn't really see in the dark.
"Fionna if it's bothering you enough that you wake up in the middle of the night thinking about it then it's obviously something important." He felt Fionna shrug. Suddenly an idea came to him and with a smirk he rolled on top of her and started kissing her.
Reaching over he flicked on the small night lamp as he continued. The lamp was bright enough for him to see the blonde below him but not bright enough to light the room and wake the others downstairs.
Fionna's face was flushed pink and she made a little gasping sound as he kissed his way down her throat. Marshall could feel her skin heating up as she got flustered.
"M-marsh, I- uhhh I-" she stammered nervously not quite sure how to deal with the very sudden dose of intimate affection he was pouring on her at the moment. "M-my mother's downstairs." She said in a hushed voice pushing herself upright though much to her surprise Marshall too sat up pulling her with him so she straddled his leg as he held her tightly against him. Marshall smirked as her cheeks darkened to a deep red, now he spoke.
"You know, I'm really into this, but if you wanna do something else, like oh I don't know maybe talk about what's bugging you I guess we could-
"I keep dreaming about before." She said quickly as Marshall lay her back on the bed and flopping down beside her.
"Before what?" he asked softly. "Like about your old-
"No, not about him, before even that... well some times that but mostly it's before." Fionna whispered easing Marshall's thoughts about potential nightmares in the form of one Mike Satoris, occupation: current jailbird and pedophilic former foster father.
"Back before I met you, I was different. I was off the wall, always in trouble, causing mayhem. I got into tons of fights too…"
O0o0o0 8 years ago o0o0o0
"You're nine years old Fionna, you know how to act like a young lady!" Mother Superior said scolding the girl who was struggling to pull herself free from the nun's grip.
"There's no point in acting like a lady if I'm not treated like one!" The blonde snapped yanking her arm hard while she dug her heels into the dirt.
"That's not the point you brat!" Now Fionna was yanked hard making her stumble as she was brought into the house. Currently she was in what they liked to call a 'Group home', it was a fancy name for orphanage and the girl knew that. "The point is we feed you, clothe you, and all you do is cause problems and fight-
"He started it!" Fionna protested as the woman stuck the blonde in the corner of the kitchen. Looking down she spotted the grains of rice in the can and knew what was coming.
"It doesn't matter who started it you gave him a bloody nose!" Taking the can of raw rice she poured it on the ground in the corner. "You earned this punishment, now kneel and stare at the ceiling, pray to Glob to absolve you of your sins." She said turning to start her dishes. Fionna glowered at the ground and storming over she kicked the older woman hard before returning back to the corner kneeling on the grains and looking at the ceiling feeling the glare of her caretaker's eyes on her. Turning her head and making eye contact Fionna smirked.
"Now I earned it."
"You're going to be there twice as long!"
"Don't care I earned it." Fionna said turning back to the ceiling taking the punishment. It had been 12:47 when she'd started it and still she continued to kneel staring up at the ceiling. Her neck was cramped and sore, but more than that did her knees HURT! Each grain of rice that dug into her skin felt like glass stabbing into it, and regardless of how often one shifted position it only continued to hurt. Finally after a good portion of forever the older woman returned.
"Stand up." Fionna stood brushing the grains off her knees and turned giving the woman a deadpanned look. "Have you anything to say for yourself?" she asked as Fionna glanced at the clock, it was 3:20, she'd broken her previous record by 33 minutes.
"Yeah I-
"Address me properly Fionna!" Resisting a scowl Fionna curtseyed, oozing sarcasm as she spoke.
"Oh Mother Superior, I apologize for my behavior, it's not fitting for a young lady to fight." She bit out with a smile.
"Go to your room, no playing, no dinner, no bath, and you are not allowed to attend the hand in hand adoption event."
"Yes Ma'am." Turning Fionna walked from the kitchen making her way back to the room she shared with at least 12 other girls. The punishment she could take, she'd gone without dinner more than once, and to be honest she hated bath time anyways, but taking away hands and hands? That was just cruel, it was the three day weekend event where you paraded around being as good as possible hoping that maybe someone would adopt you, it only happened once a month.
Fionna had made it up the stairs and climbed into her bunk. Bunk beds it seemed like Nuns were big on saving space, it was surprising they hadn't tried stacking them on top of each other yet. There were six bunk beds in each room and around 27 kids or so.
She lay on the bunk listening as the kids played in the halls and the rooms, screaming, running, and laughing. Closing her eyes she ignored them and had eventually fallen asleep waking to the sound of one of the younger nuns (that they were to call sisters) rousing them for breakfast. This time it was Sister Lucy.
"Good morning girls, today is a bright new day! Make your beds then line up for the restrooms, breakfast will be served in 15 minutes." She chirped opening the curtains. They never thought how difficult making the top of a bunk bed was when they bought them. Fionna fluffed her pillow and started from the bottom pulling her blanket up to the top as she descended the ladder of her bunk. She released the sheet checking and pleased with her results. Once she lined up for the bathroom her stomach growled loudly reminding her that she'd been barred from dinner the previous evening.
"Fionna, once you've brushed your teeth and are properly groomed you're to report to Mother Superior in her office." Fionna nodded finally entering the bathroom and brushing her teeth, six were missing and three were coming in. Returning back to her room Fionna placed her toothbrush back in the bag and pulled out her brush for her long blonde hair raking through the knots and staring intrigued at a dead ant that had apparently been in her hair since yesterday.
"Cool." She said with a laugh, and once she was in the "Group uniform" which consisted of a black skirt and tights with a gray shirt Fionna made her way down the hall knocking on the door.
"Come in."
"Lucy said-
"You will speak properly Fionna!" Now she did sigh out loud.
"SISTER Lucy said you wanted to see me Mother Superior?"
"Correct Fionna sit." Looking around the office Fionna sat in the chair in front of the desk staring at the woman before her.
"Your punishment still stands about hands to hands, you're not allowed to attend. I expect you to be in my office directly before lunch when the visitors arrive."
"Yes Mother Superior."
"I also expect you to be on your best behavior Fionna, if I have one more incident with you I will be calling your caseworker and have you sent away."
"Yes Mother Superior." Fionna said boredly.
"I'm serious Fionna, one more fight, one more mess up and you're gone! Now repeat to me what I told you and I swear if you get this wrong there will be no breakfast either!"
"Ummm…Be in your office…after lunch?" the look on her face was enough for Fionna to know that she wouldn't be getting breakfast today either.
"Go outside, return before lunch, behave."
"Yes ma'am."
"You may leave." Standing Fionna walked out of the room her belly growling loudly as she passed the kitchen, the smell of scrambled eggs and bacon beckoning her. Reluctantly she walked past the room knowing that Mother Superior was behind her. Fionna headed outside and ran up the hill in the back of the house. The yard was huge and fenced in, it was practically a farm for children. At the top of the hill she could look out over the land, there were swing sets, club houses, trees to climb, this place wasn't half bad if people would just leave her be.
Running down the hill Fionna headed towards the boys club houses knowing that Bryce, one of the older boys always had a snack hidden away somewhere inside one of them, she dug around through the toy trucks, and cars, and found a small brown bag filled with goodies. Crumpling it shut she ran towards her tree climbing up the branches and feasting on the sugary treats. It seemed that she'd found his special stash of nutty bars, fudge rounds, and gummy bears.
Fionna didn't care she ate it all stuffing the bag into a hollow of the tree. She wiped her mouth clean and brushed herself free of crumbs before descending.
Already she could see the group of kids running towards the play area and almost instantly she spotted Thomas, the boy she'd punched yesterday and aimed to avoid him, if Mother S was serious about not letting her have breakfast, maybe she was serious about sending her away too.
Sitting on the swings Fionna kicked her feet out easily making it move as she began to swing back and forth. Closing her eyes she enjoyed the ride until one side of her swing jerked to a stop flinging her from the swing. She landed hard on the ground seething and turned spotting Thomas who was laughing with several boys next to him. She gritted her teeth and clenched her tiny fists glaring at him and struggling with every fiber of her being to not wail him into the ground. Turning around she stomped away listening as the group began following her.
"Awww is crybaby Fionna gonna go cry?"
"Yeah is Freaky Fionna gonna go cry?" Another of them teased as she continued to death glare the ground clenching her fists. Suddenly her head pulled back as she felt a sharp pain making the blonde yelp. Seeing her hair in the boy's hand Fionna saw nothing but red and turning she tackled him to the ground punching his face, neck, and chest and any other part she could reach. Angrily Thomas pushed her off yanking at her hair once again before he began throwing punches of his own.
He was heavier than her by far and Fionna didn't care, grabbing a handful of his own short hair she yanked hard ripping it from his head, and with the other hand she threw dirt in his face before scrambling to her feet and kicking him hard again and again until he curled up into himself huddling like a ball. She knew that Mother Superior wouldn't keep her after this, it didn't matter that she hadn't started the fight, she'd still fought. Storming back to the house Fionna ducked behind a tree watching as one of the children lead the mother and several sisters to where the fight was.
Once they had passed Fionna hurried back to the house and went on a rampage, toys were thrown everywhere, chairs kicked, vases smashed, dishes shattered…the destruction continued upstairs. Picking up one of the baseballs she flung it at the window in the boy's room shattering it. Like the girls did, each boy had a bag with their own personal hygiene products in them, those went out the window too.
Next was the sisters' room where they bunked down at night. She tore books to shreds flung clothes everywhere making sure to get most of them in the fire place, it had been lit recently and had yet to be cleaned of all the sooty ash. Grabbing one of the sister's shoes she walked to the bathroom flinging it at the mirror and shattering it, and ripping the shower curtain to shreds Fionna walked from the room to her room leaving nothing but destruction in her wake.
Grabbing her bag she brushed her hair and walked from the room flinging the brush at another window shattering that one as well before walking into Mother superior's office and sitting on the chair in front of the desk just waiting to be found.
O0o0o0
The boy was in terrible shape and no doubt the little wretch had gone into hiding to avoid punishment. Mother Superior and the Sisters marched back to the house leading Thomas and the children in tow, it was just about lunch time as well. Opening the door the mother froze in complete horror, it was as if a tornado or some kind of wild animal had demolished the house. Spotting the china with in her reach untouched Mother Superior glowered, a wild animal, or a wild child had done this, and she had a feeling she knew just who had done this.
Walking through the house she assessed the damage growing more and more furious. She ascended the stairs noticing the broken windows on the second floor. Every single room was trashed, and opening the door to her office she expected to see the same, but instead she found Fionna sitting in the chair in front of her desk.
"Did you do this?" she asked simply.
"You were gonna send me away because of Thomas, now you have a real reason to get rid of me." The blonde said with silent anger never taking her eyes off Mother Superior. She watched as she left the room returning with a dustpan dumping it into the corner.
"Kneel."
"No." They stared at each other for the longest time before for the first time Mother gave in. Walking behind her desk she opened a drawer pulled out a file and dialed a number.
"Hello, I'm looking to speak with Lance Burke. Oh good I'm calling in regards to one of your children Fionna Mertins. I want her off this property and in state custody within the hour, she's caused thousands of dollars in physical damage to the group home and has been physically assaulting the other children, the girl's disturbed. Yes, we'll see you soon." With that she hung up just in time to watch Fionna carelessly knock a vase off its stand. Mother S didn't even respond.
"Any belongings you have, go collect them. Now." Fionna only continued to stare before she turned and walked from the room. There was nothing she owned, and mother knew that. Walking down the stairs past the horrified stares of children and newly arriving guests Fionna waltzed past them and sat down on the front steps in only her uniform waiting for her worker to arrive.
O0o0o0
Lance was a nice guy, he always had been. He didn't say a thing, he just collected Fionna and drove off under Mother Superior's gaze.
"Why did you do that Fionna, you'd been there for four years, what in the world compelled you to do that?" he asked looking back at the girl in the seat behind him.
"She was gonna send me away anyways, so I gave her a reason to do so." She said softly.
"For such an angry young girl I'm surprised you don't cry more."
"I'll cry when I'm dead." The rest of the car ride had been driven in silence. She had been introduced to an old fat woman and dropped off at her house; it was the only foster home with an availability that had been close to where Fionna had originally been.
"Okay girl, here's the rules: you do what I say when I say it. I ask you to jump you ask how high, you get it?" she asked with her hands on her hips. Fionna stood in silence just staring at her. "I said do you get it? You understand me girl?" Fionna just blinked at her before walking upstairs to the room shown to her and Lance less than ten minutes ago and slamming the door shut. Less than an hour later Lance was back.
"She's rude and disrespectful, she slams doors and is ignorant to authority!" The old woman shouted. Lance now looked annoyed to be back especially so soon.
"Fionna! What do you have to say for yourself!?" he asked looking at the girl incredulously.
"Her rules stated that I had to do what I was told, she never told me to answer her questions so I didn't." She said simply turning and walking from the house and climbing into the car leaving the two adults behind her flabbergasted.
The next house was in the neighboring county, Fionna had been there a week before getting into a fight at school and suspended for ten days. In that time she'd gotten into fights with the neighborhood children for various reasons. Fionna had been there for three months before the family had had enough.
The house after had seven children already, all boys, Lance refused to drop her off there and secretly Fionna was grateful. The sixth home in her foster kid career had only one other child, a small boy no more than four months old. He'd gotten pneumonia and the family lost him two weeks after Fionna arrived, they said she could stay if she wanted to, Fionna chose to leave to give them time to grieve.
The seventh she stayed for a year, by now she was thirteen. She'd grown close to a little girl in the neighborhood, her name was Brittany Marie Olson. Brittany was always wearing a hat and after the wind blew it off one day Fionna learned why. The girl had no hair, apparently she was sick. Her mother said it was leukemia. The next day Fionna went to a hairdresser who worked with Locks for princesses and had them cut her hair.
"Are you sure you want to cut it?" the stylist asked looking at the two feet of blonde locks.
"Yup, I want them to use my hair for a little girl in my neighborhood, she deserves it more than I want it." They stylist looked impressed.
"Okay, how much off do you want?"
"Shave it."
"What!?"
"Make me bald, I'm not kidding I want her to have as much as possible."
"You're sure?" She asked tying Fionna's hair back.
"Absolutely, do it." She watched as the girl waivered with the clippers in her hand. "Would you feel better if I did it?"
"Actually yeah." She said handing the blonde the buzz cutters watching as Fionna turned them on and carefully began shearing her hair away until she could no longer reach. "Care to do the rest?" she asked offering the shears back to the stylist who continued on with the shaving of her head. From root to tip there had been almost three feet of hair.
"So when will that wig be done?"
"With this They can make more than one you know, what if we cut it and we can have a short one and a long one?" hearing this Fionna grinned.
"Yes do it!"
"It'll be ready in about 2 weeks, maybe three."
"Awesome." Fionna said brightly accepting the tickets for the wigs she was going to receive. Just as she was about to leave the stylist chased after her.
"Hold on!" she said finally catching up to her. "Here take this, it's silly but it'll keep your head warm." Handing Fionna a bundle of white the girl folded it open and laughing at the sight of the bunny hat.
"It's awesome thanks!" she said immediately putting it on and tugging at the ears with a smile. With a wave she walked off.
A month later the wigs were ready, Brittany Marie Olsen was ecstatic and loved both of them, two weeks later she passed away with a head full of blonde hair, a week after that Fionna was expelled for physically assaulting a student using her locker to do so. The girl needed fourteen stitches and lost a tooth. Again Fionna was sent away.
The eighth and ninth homes were in the same small town in the middle of nowhere. There she could get into no trouble with other people because they were 'friendly small town folk' according to Lance. Of course she'd gotten into trouble, the friends of her foster sibling had been messing with her and after having had enough of dealing with him on her 14th birthday of all days she slammed his hand shut in the door breaking his finger. Naturally her foster parents didn't want to deal with such a violent child and the next day Lance arrived and brought her to the 9th house. Fionna didn't say or do anything there, she just existed through the last month of the school year and all of the summer not even speaking to the residents of the house, and barely leaving her room.
Lance had even come to visit her to see what could be done to motivate the girl into interacting with the family, she didn't even speak to him. In an attempt to get the girl to open up they got her a kitten, told her to get good grades and do chores around the house, and that would earn food and litter for the cat. Fionna agreed.
That resulted in a recluse teenager with a pet cat who only occasionally got into fights. It went down from once a week, to twice a month. After several months they couldn't deal with it any longer and neither could Fionna and with her best interests in mind they asked Lance to come get her.
"Fionna what did you do this time?" he asked in exasperation watching as she stroked the cat's fur as it rested in her lap.
"Nothing, I did not do a single thing." She said simply.
"I think we need to start fresh with you Fionna. How would you feel about moving to another state?" he asked seriously. The silence in the car was thick, and finally the blonde sighed.
"It's not like I have anyone any ways, why not Lancelot."
"Don't call me that."
"Oh come on, you're a dark night of olden times." The man simply sighed shaking his head trying not to show his amusement.
"Well, I'm being relocated to the other side of the country. Would you liked to be placed out there or would you like another worker?" Again there was silence in the car.
"Lance how long did we spend together? We didn't just get this awesome social worker screwed up child bond out of the blue, you're stuck with me dude." Now he did laugh.
"You are something else Fionna, why is it that you haven't been adopted?"
"Physically violent, short temper, unladylike, destructive, probably crazy…the list goes on, besides you already know this." she said as Cake continued to purr in her lap.
"Fionna, you're a good kid when you want to be, you're a sweet girl when you want to be. It's your temper that's gonna get you in trouble, you barely think before acting and that's your downfall. Making friends for you is hard because you either refuse to open up or because you scare everybody away.
What are you gonna do when you find somebody you actually like? How will they handle you going off the deep end trashing the place and watching you physically beat somebody into a bloody pulp? I'm a tough guy Fionna but sometimes you even scare the hell out of me. It's okay to get frustrated and it's okay to get angry but the physical violence needs to stop, you can't punch every person for a snide remark, you can't bash everyone's face in because you don't like them.
I hope it doesn't happen but someday their might be somebody bigger and stronger than you, what will you do then?" he asked worriedly.
"The only people bigger and stronger than me are adults, and I'm not stupid enough to get into a fist fight with one of my foster parents Lance." She watched his reaction in the mirror nodding his head as if he'd agreed with her.
"That's not the point, the point is you have to control your anger and frustration before you scare everyone away from you. What if you end up liking somebody? Then you scare them away and you're left as an old woman with her cat? You have to start controlling yourself, you're 14 years old-
"I'll be 15 in a few months."
"Fine, but that's even more of a reason as to why you have to get a hold of your emotions and reactions to things. You're becoming a young woman Fionna, and I'm not going to go all Mother Superior on you and say you have to act like a young lady, but you do have to assess your level of maturity." He said firmly leaving Fionna to think in the back seat as they continued to drive.
The 10th place was a group home for teenagers, and after one of the Girls had intentionally kicked Cake Fionna went ballistic and Lance was called, she'd been there less than a month.
Place number 11 was a small house, it was quiet and the foster parents were kind, she stayed for just over a year until the foster father lost his job and after struggling for those final months their house went into foreclosure and they had to move. The place was a two bedroom apartment, and knowing they weren't in proper condition to provide for and care for a child and her pet Lance was called again.
Finally Foster home number 12 came up right after her 16th birthday.
"Okay Fionna, I know you have the worst luck ever, and you aren't a people person, and you're a little aggressive but please try to behave. This is the only place near enough that could take you on such short notice, and the school isn't the best one, but it's the only one in the area that had room for enrollment.
There's talk from local foster parents about their being some kid there with a bad history of fighting. Please, just don't try to fight with this boy on purpose Fionna. Try to keep your head, close your eyes count to three do something please." Seeing the worried look on his face Fionna sighed.
"Fine, I'll try to be good, I'll try not to get into a fight and I'll try not to piss off my foster parents."
"Good." He said as they drove up a street and turning the corner, finally he stopped in front of a white house. "I've talked to them earlier so they both should be expecting you." He said parking the vehicle and stepping out with Fionna in tow as she carried her cat. She watched as he rang the doorbell and a small mousy woman with brown hair answered.
"Hello, you must be Mr. Burke, and this must be Fionna. I'm Karen, it's nice to meet you sweetie." She said closing the door behind them watching as Fionna looked around, her green backpack on her shoulders and her cat in her arms.
"Shall we visit her room Ma'am?" Lance asked watching as she nodded with a smile and led the way down the hallway. The bedroom was small in size with baby blue walls and showing Fionna the closet the woman left her in the room. Placing Cake on the mattress Fionna shuffled her bag off her shoulders, turning she went to hang it on the knob of her closet door and jumped at the sight of her foster father in the door way. He stared at her for the longest time, and Fionna watched him as he watched her.
"I was hoping they'd send us a girl." He said the words sending a shiver down her back. "Now Karen has someone other than me to spend time with." Fionna blinked hearing this, maybe that shiver was unwarranted? "My name is Mike, if you need me for any reason, let me know, it would be my pleasure." He said walking away from the room. Fionna listened still not having moved as footsteps came closer to her room. It was Lance.
"Come on, house tour." He said motioning for her to follow. It was the usual ritual they did, he brought her through the house showing her where everything was, introduced her formally to her foster parents, answered any questions they had for him and after telling her to behave he left.
The first week she was there Fionna didn't go to school, she'd arrived on spring break and half way through the year. The second week she'd stayed quiet and to herself, and that Friday she'd gotten into a fight with this girl with dyed green hair named Hattie Huntress, and ended up with detention, it was there she began hearing the rumors about 'The Vampire King'.
Leaning back Fionna scoffed as the kids talked about him, how he fought like a beast from hell, how he never lost a fight, and how looking into his angry eyes was a death sentence in itself because if you rubbed him the wrong way he ended you. It was bullshit, it had to be…but then again one just doesn't pick up a bad ass reputation out of the blue.
It had been another week until she first laid eyes on him, he was a retreating figure leaving the school grounds along with several other boys. The only way Fionna knew who he was, was, because of how wide a birth the crowd gave them.
She still hadn't made any friends, deciding she would take Lance's advice Fionna started anew at the beginning of the week, it didn't go as planned. The next week brought more than just a glimpse of The Vampire King though, having missed breakfast that morning Fionna grabbed a plate from a shelf turning to glare as she felt a tug of resistance.
She actually had to crane her neck back to glare at him, he was tall, much taller than she thought he'd be. Narrowing her eyes she continued to glare.
"Dude, gimmie the donut." Fionna watched as surprise visible splayed across his face, was he always used to getting his way? Ha well not with her.
"Like hell I will it's mine." He said now trying to snatch the donut's plate from her grip. She was not giving this up and like a champ Fionna held her side.
"I was here first." 'Okay keep calm, count to three, oh Lance I'll be seeing you soon.'
"Like I'm supposed to care? Don't you know who I am? I'm Marshall Lee."
'Okay he'll approve of violence with words and not fists.'
"Well Marsh Am I supposed to care?" 'Stupid stupid stupid boy, I swear to glob!' Fionna watched as he snatched the donut and licked it dropping it on the plate. Was that supposed to gross her out? Ha, step up your game.
"You want to eat it now?" he asked with a smirk, confidence in his voice as if he'd won. As if. Grabbing the donut Fionna took a bite and chucked it across the cafeteria.
"Just did, now neither of us can have it." She snapped giving the cashier her only dollar before storming off and leaving the boy behind her in shock.
"Dude, you threw my donut." He called after her.
"I paid for it so technically it's my donut." She said making her way to an empty section of tables and chairs claiming a table for herself. She hadn't known he'd been following her until he sat across from her. Now Fionna scowled and gritted her teeth, this kid was really testing her.
'I wonder if I really will get suspended over a donut…what the hell could he possibly want now?'
"What are you gonna lick the table too?" she growled, and instead of the argument she'd expected Fionna was met with an amused grin.
"You are awesome." This came as a surprise, nobody had ever said that, especially after almost getting into a fight with her.
"What?" she asked in utter confusion, this just hadn't happened before…ever.
"All these dopes are scared to death of me, it's nice to find someone who stands up to me, it's refreshing." He said kicking his feet up on the chair near hers smiling wolfishly.
"Yeah all your happy refreshingness aside I still wasted the last of my money on a donut I couldn't even enjoy." Fionna said glaring at the table now intending to ignore the boy before her. She listened as the chair scraped and as he walked away.
'Good, I don't need- Suddenly the sound of a tray clattering startled her as she shifted her focus to the tray, then back to Marshall. She watched as he leaned across the table grabbing the apple and bit into it with a loud crunch. Even with a mouth full of apple he grinned at her.
"There, food, you happy now?" Fionna glared at him trying hard not to smile at the stupid grin on his stupid face. Now he began pushing it towards her, nudging it closer and closer trying to entice her with the food.
"Come on…take it….take it, you know you want it." He said in a sing song voice wiggling it. Unable to hold back Fionna smiled laughing a bit as she looked away from him reaching over and dragging the plate to her.
"Thank you."
"No problem Blondie. What's your name anyways?" he asked leaning back and taking another bite of his apple.
"Fionna." She said simply taking a bite of the pancakes and reveling in the taste of food as her stomach growled appreciatively.
"Cool name, so where you from?"
"I don't really know. I move around a lot." 'That's right keep it simple Fionna.'
"What busy parents or something?" Hearing these words Fionna paused looking down in disappointment
"I don't have parents. I don't even know what happened to them. Technically I'm a "ward of the state."" The blonde said air quoting.
"I'm sorry, that sucks." He actually sounded like he felt bad, not one of those awkward oh sorry let me pity you voices.
"It does. All I really have is my cat Cake."
"Well if you want you could emancipate yourself and settle somewhere." He suggested as Fionna shrugged.
"I always hoped when I was a kid, that someone out there somewhere would want me, you know? I've always wanted to be part of a family." She said softly wondering why spilling her guts to a stranger felt so nice. They had been quiet for the longest time before Marshall spoke up.
"Well if you want you can be part of my family." He said much to Fionna's surprise.
'What?'
"We can be friends." He said simply.
"I never usually stay in one place for long, the longest was a year, they just keep bouncing me around."
"You don't have to see each other every day to be friends, you just have to remember each other and the promise to be friends. I'll be your friend for as long as you're here, and I'll be your friend if you ever leave, ok?" Fionna blinked in shock, it was only her first real day in school with her 'let's attempt to not physically beat someone' mindset here and already she was hearing something like this, and more than that she was hearing this from the guy who only ten minutes or so ago she was fighting with over a donut. What. The. Hell.
"Ok…" her voice was tentative. "I'd like to be friends."
"Cool, I'll see you around Fi, the bells gonna ring soon." He said, and watching Marshall stand and walk from the room Fionna just sat there…Maybe Lance had a point about self-control and not trying to kill people, because the first day she put it into practice, she'd made a friend. Fionna wasn't sure what kind of friend, but she'd made one. Picking up the tray she was about to dump the trash when she noticed something written on a napkin.
'That slick bastard thinks I'll call him.' She thought grabbing the napkin from the tray and jamming it into her pocket. It was strange, because after the bell rang she kept seeing Marshall constantly in the hall ways, and when it seemed that she'd finally escaped him, the blonde sat down in the back of her music class only to stare in shock as he came waltzing in silencing the room sitting in the seat behind hers. He nudged her chair poked her with a pencil, and just when she wanted to kill him the blonde took a breath and turned to face him.
"What?" she whispered.
"Did you get my number?"
"No, I just like sticking napkins in my pocket, it's a fetish of mine." She said turning back around after watching him grin. Shaking her head she focused on the teacher.
The rest of the school day passed with Gym being her final class and much to her surprise Marshall had gym too. It was basketball day and he was having an easy time because he was tall. Gym ended and Fionna took her time in the locker room waiting for everyone to clear out before leaving. She'd seen a lot of Marshall today, and he was a bit suffocating in his ability to be ever present without intending to be…or was he? Shaking her head she walked back to her foster house.
After a long time of boredom she decided to text him.
O0o0o0
"I've changed so much Marshall, and I honestly still do fight with my temper but I…I don't want to scare you away if I end up blowing up. Lance was right, I don't know how I'd deal with losing you because I'm- I am a freak." She said closing her eyes and turning away from him as Marshall stared in shock.
"Fionna, you are not a freak, babe look at me." He asked softly as she continued staring at the wall. Having had enough Marshall pulled the blonde over and lay on her pinning her beneath him. "You gonna ignore me now?"
"I can try." She said with a small smile, one he'd grown to love.
"You're an amazing person Fionna, and you could never, ever scare me away. I promise I could watch you blow up and destroy the entire planet but I swear to you I could still find a reason to love you as much as I do." He said softly brushing her bangs from her eyes.
"And you said as a kid that you would cry when you were dead? Fionna I've seen you cry a lot, but you're still here, you're still alive, and I remember the first time I saw you cry, it was the first time I held you in my arms and my Glob Fionna was I afraid. You were crying your eyes out and I could barely understand a thing you said to me, you just cried your heart out until you fell asleep.
"And the second time I saw you cry, it was just as bad." He said still keeping her underneath him. Marshall wanted her entire attention and if he had to sit on her to do so he would. "You looked so lost Fi, just standing in my room with these huge watery eyes, and of all things on earth you wanted it was just to be held, that was the first time I kissed you." He whispered.
"And the third?" she asked still looking at him, watching as Marshall smiled a sad smile.
"That was when they were taking you away, you didn't want to leave. I knew how you felt because I felt the same way. Always feeling so alone even if you were surrounded by people, and they were separating you from your only source of happiness." He said closing his eyes and remembering the heartache from that day.
"The fourth barely counts, but you still cried, barely but you did. It was when I scared you at dinner on your birthday. I still feel terrible about that. And the fifth time, glob Fionna I'm surprised you didn't just stay crying especially with what that bastard did to you, but in front of me after that hell, you didn't shed a single tear. Instead your dreams did the crying so would that even count? The last time I saw you cry, despite everything happening now was back at my prom when you were throwing up and sick, and I cry when I puke so you and I both know that doesn't count. So in the time we've been together, almost a year now, I've seen you cry, like actually cry five real times.
"Were you dead those five times Fionna? Not physically because that's a stupidly obvious question to ask but I mean emotionally, were you actually at a point where you felt dead inside?" Marshall asked staring at Fionna waiting for her answer. Opening her mouth she spoke.
"The first three…yes I did it's hard to describe it but there was nothing else I could do, I didn't know how to feel, or what was okay to feel, I was just so, so, numb. I was numb and afraid it was just so much…too much I just imploded in on myself. And the last two I was just scared, you scared me at the diner and I forgave you and I still forgive you because I know that wasn't your intention, and that day when he came back, Glob all I wanted to do was hide. I didn't even think to call you and I don't even know why, all of that could have been avoided if I'd called you or said something."
"Fionna he threatened to hurt you if you said anything, you were afraid you can't blame yourself for that, don't for a second even to dare blame yourself. It's in the past." He said softly watching as now she turned her head away from him. Fionna studied the wall listening to the silence as he continued to lay on her. She didn't know what to say or even how to accept what he was telling her so instead she just pretended that the wall was far more intriguing. His eyes met hers as he tilted his head into her line of sight, almost immediately she looked away from him.
"Fionna do you love me?" Now her eyes met his willingly.
"Of course I do."
"Then just listen to this one bit okay? You can ignore the rest or slip off into La La land if you want after but I need you to hear this and I need you to understand, okay?" he asked seriously watching as she turned her head to face him waiting for him to speak.
"I know you hate to cry, and I know that sometimes you don't know how to handle things, I can see your fighter's instincts and responses and I know when you're angry half the time you want to pummel what upset you into the ground. It's not something you have to tell me Fionna because I see it, you're terrible at hiding. You could never frighten me away, not from you. I would rather hold you back from bashing somebody's head in than ever watch you cry because you held too much in and grew numb and felt dead inside.
I want to see tears of joy from you not tears of heartache and fear. I love you Fionna, and I want you to never have to question yourself around me because you are my everything okay? I want you to let out what you're feeling, I don't want you to hold it in. Knowing that you hold things in until you feel numb, Fionna that hurts me more than you could ever possibly know because that means I'm doing something wrong in our relationship, it means I'm not supporting you and taking care of you like I should be, and I swear to Glob Fionna I want to. I want to do these things for you, I want to take care of you, to show you that you deserve more love than you can possibly stand, and I want you to know that everything I want to do for you is not just out of love, but from the sole fact that I never ever want you to experience a single ounce of pain while I have power to prevent it okay?" he said desperately now holding her face in his hands watching as her lip trembled.
Reaching up Fionna pulled him down burying her face in his neck as she hugged him tightly.
"Thank you. I love you thank you."
"Glob Fionna, if you need to talk about something tell me, I'm amazingly awesome but I'm no psychic."
"I just didn't want to add more to your plate, you have more than enough to worry about already, I didn't want to add more."
"Fionna, don't you ever think like that again, if you're hurting and I don't notice tell me okay?"
"Okay."
"And never ever say that something about you is unimportant, because to me everything about you is important Fionna. Don't you ever question that ever again."
"I won't."
"Do you need to talk more? Or about anything else? Because I'm here for you, I don't care what time, Fi, I'm right here." Shaking her head Fionna continued holding onto him tightly, and turning over Marshall flopped on his back, Fionna still clinging to him securely. She listened as his heard thrummed in his chest, just lying there. They both lay there and eventually Marshall ran a hand through his hair sighing in annoyance.
He could tell that she was still thinking, because usually by now she would have melted against him, each arm wrapped around his torso, her legs intermingled with this, and she would sigh that little sigh she did each time and nuzzle her face into his chest, but not this time. This time she held him stiffly, no nuzzling, no little sigh, she just lay there like a robot.
"Globdamn it! Fionna tell me what's wrong." Again like before she simply shrugged. Fionna abruptly landed on the mattress after Marshall pushed himself up climbing from the bed. Walking over he peeked out the door before shutting it. Now he paced the dimply lit room. "Tell me what's wrong." He said stopping in his tracks to stare at her.
"I don't know." She said softly and it only served to fuel Marshall's annoyance.
"Yes you do, something else is on your mind Fionna you're never like this. What. Is. Wrong?"
"I don't-
Now he ran both his hands through his hair. "Stop lying to me! For the love of GLOB just stop it! I know you enough to know when something's wrong so why don't you just spit it out!? Do you not want to do this anymore Fionna? Do you not want to be with me anymore? Because if you don't it'll kill me but I'll let you go! I think I could do it if I thought that's what you wanted, is it!?" he asked sounding heart broken and holding back tears. "Is that what you want Fionna!?"
"NO!" she shouted in a panic now quickly sitting up as she watched Marshall become even farther unglued as he clenched his eyes tightly holding back the torrent of tears he knew was there as his heart beat rapidly in his chest.
"Then what is it?!" Fionna opened her mouth to speak, but words wouldn't come. "Fionna what is it!?" Marshall could feel his heart pounding now as he started to get light headed and dizzy, he didn't care even as the room started spinning. Leaning against the wall Marshall slid down until he was sitting on the ground with his head between his knees feeling sick to his stomach as a sharp pain laced through his chest.
He blinked and it seemed that instantaneously Fionna was beside talking to him talking to him but he couldn't hear a single word she'd said, she was patting his face and talking to him and even so close he just couldn't hear anything but the pounding of his heart in his ears, immediately the blonde ran from the room though he had no idea why, it was strange, even the color was fading as slowly he blacked out.
O0o0o0
He was upset and frustrated and she didn't blame him, but she would rather see him annoyed than hurt by the question that plagued her, how, after knowing everything now could he even love her? But when he'd leaned against the wall, his pale skin dramatically paler that had startled Fionna; she scrambled from the bed hurrying over to him as he slid to the ground.
"Marshall, Marshall can you hear me? Marshall!?" Fionna was patting his cheeks and holding his head up and barely getting a response. Scrambling to her feet Fionna raced to the door ripping it open, her heart beating frantically.
"MOM!" the group downstairs all woke at the sound of her frantic scream, immediately Ellen was hurrying over.
"What's wrong Fionna?" the same question Marshall had just been asking, how ironic.
"Something's wrong with Marshall!" Fionna said in a panicked voice as she ran back into the room her mother arriving only moments later.
"What happened?"
"We were having an argument." The blonde said hysterically "I don't know what happened but he got pale and just passed out!"
"Help me lay him down." Ellen said quickly checking for a pulse and alarmed to find out how rapidly it was still beating. Quickly she checked his breathing, he was still breathing, but quick shallow breaths. "Stay with him Fionna I need to call an ambulance."
Fionna watched as her mother gave the address and began telling the operator what had happened as she held Marshall's hand tightly in her own.
"Marsh I'm sorry, I'm so sorry this is all my fault!" she said checking his pulse and breathing on command. The flashing lights of the emergency responders could be seen from the window, Fionna didn't know who let them in, but her mother quickly led them up the stairs. He was strapped to a gurney and quickly Ellen and Fionna followed.
"Only parents or relatives can go in the ambulance with him." The paramedic said but Ellen was quick to answer.
"She's his care taker and I'm his emergency guardian." He nodded and both women were allowed access to the back of the ambulance taking seats as the medics did their work.
"What happened?" the older of the two said. This time Fionna answered.
"We were having an argument he was pacing, then he got really pale, leaned against the wall, slid down it and passed out."
"Is there any medications he's taking or allergic to? Anything he's being treated for?"
"He went to chemotherapy almost three days ago, and he's not allergic to anything." Fionna said quickly as they drove along arriving at the hospital in record time. The medical teams switched off and Marshall was brought behind a pair of double doors. Ellen was on the phone with his mother giving the nurses all the information needed as Fionna paced around not caring that she was in short shorts and an overly large t shirt, not caring that she was bare footed, Marshall was in there with something terribly wrong with him and it happened because they had fought, because of her.
She wanted to hold it in, to bottle such painful emotions away, and having just had the conversation with Marshall about this Fionna knew she couldn't. She wanted to scream and cry and could feel it building up in her chest. Fionna walked out of the hospital feeling on the very edge of hysteria, and sitting on the nearest bench she pulled her knees to her chest letting out a heart broken sob. It was her fault, all of it was her fault, Marshall was in the hospital and it was all her fault.
HAPPY NEW YEARS! HERE'S A CLIFF HANGER! XD Welcome to 2014 ;)