(Author's note: Hey, guys! Thanks for hanging in there! I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter posted, I'm trying really really hard to make this a nice slow paced story filled with fluff and mush. I feel like I have a knack for rushing stories, so I'm trying to find a good pace. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy! Thank you so much for the reviews and faves by the way. If I haven't been by to say thanks yet, it's probably because I'm still trying to figure the new app out. You guys are awesome!)

Almost three weeks have passed since Fionna's rather...interesting visit with Marshall Lee. The last thing she said to him was "I gotta go..." before running out the door in panic. The vampire couldn't get a word in edgewise. She just left him there, alone and dumbfounded, no explanation.

Upon discovering her very new and confusing feelings for her friend, Fionna's taken to squirreling herself away in her room. Sleep appeared to be the only thing that filled her schedule these days. Like a blanket of safety, it surrounded her with its dark bliss. All responsibility and worry just seemed to melt away.

Bye bye insecurities.

Unbeknownst to her, the adventuress' recent absence has caused quite a stir with the inhabitants of Aaa. Rumors and concerned whispers were exchanged among its citizens, their wild theories ranging from kidnapping to alien abduction. (There was also a rumor floating around that Fionna was living in the woods as a hobo- happily engaged to Lumpy Space Prince...You can make your own assumptions on who started that one.)

Despite the rumors and concerns though, Fionna refused to budge. She ignored her phone as it buzzed angrily on the kitchen table, the screen blinking on and off as the message "voicemail full" flashed across the screen. Annoyed by its constant ringing, Fionna took the phone and chucked it out the window. It flew some ways before landing unceremoniously in the chicken house. She didn't want to see anybody. She didn't want to talk to anybody. And most of all, she didn't feel like adventuring. She just wanted to be left alone so she could figure things out.

Cake was suspicious if anything else, but she knew her sister dealt with things in her own way. Fionna also wondered if the cat secretly thought that her newfound depression was due to Cake's overprotectiveness and the fight they had a couple weeks ago. She considered this because Cake had been doing all sorts of small subtle things around the house to try and cheer her up. Like this morning, the cat made her famous tuna pancakes. They were Cake's favorite dish, and she thought they were Fionna's too- which wasn't true at all. The adventuress just couldn't find the heart to tell the cat she actually despised them. Cake also bought her a crazy cool sword from Choose-Goose. Like, literally cool. It was a sword fashioned from ice and Fionna loved it. Much to her and Cake's disappointment though, the blade melted away only an hour after its purchase.

Despite all of Cake's kind gestures though, Fionna still felt awful about, well, the whole Marshall Lee thing. The feelings she experienced at his house confused her, and no matter how hard she tried, the teen just couldn't wrap her head around it.

She's known the vampire for nearly four years now. She had just turned thirteen when she and Cake had their first encounter with Marshall Lee the Vampire King. Fionna recalled him being a lot meaner back then, and she still never fully forgave him for kicking them out of their house. Then again, her and Cake were technically squatters. (Imagine coming back to your house after two hundred years and find that it's being occupied by two goof-balls.)

Still, you would think after all that time she's spent with him, she would've had some kind of warning that she liked him in that sort of way. Yeah, he would flirt and tease her, but she knew that was just him trying to get under her skin.

After all, why would he ever be interested in a goody-little-two-shoes like her?

Another thing that worried Fionna was that Marshall Lee was immortal. He was a thousand years old and was hundreds of years older than her. Despite appearing as a teenager, Fionna knew it wasn't that simple.

Sure, there were times where he acted like any other teenager: the tricking, the flirting, the pranking. But on the rare occurrence of him letting his guard down, Fionna could catch a glimpse of a very world weary boy.

That's when a sad thought struck her.

He must be very lonely.

Fionna could relate to that.

Afterall, she was the only human. Despite having an awesome sister and being surrounded by those who care for her, she still occasionally gets sad about it.

Fionna was in her kitchen washing dishes as she thought this. It was a warm summer's night, and the humidity in the air was making her uncomfortably hot and sticky. The blonde tried to take a cold shower earlier, hoping it would help remedy the situation, but if anything, it just made it worse.

Fionna had her hair pulled into a ponytail and she was wearing a long loose shirt with pajama shorts. The girl flipped her hair over her shoulder grumpily as she reached for another dish. Although her hair wasn't as long as it use to be (thanks to Flame Prince), it still got in the way. Thr inconvenience it created made her miss her hat, but it along with her normal attire was in the wash. She guessed she'd just have to deal with it until then.

Cake was on the couch sleeping peacefully. Hearing the cat's light snores, Fionna smiled in sympathy for her sister. The cat had recently taken to sleeping downstairs on the couch instead of the bedroom. Due to pop any day now, the poor thing was too pregnant to comfortly sleep in her dresser drawer. Although it took some convincing on Fionna's part, Cake eventually decided it was easier to just camp out in the living room.

Suddenly, there was a swift knock on the front door.

Caught off guard by the abrupt noise, the adventuress jumped.

The plate she was holding in her hand slipped from her grip and it dropped into the soapy water below. This caused dish water to slosh everywhere. Fionna sighed angrily as some of it got on her too.

Drying her hands in annoyance, Fionna glared over her shoulder at the door.

Now, who could that be?

Feeling slightly uneasy about unexpected company, the blonde instinctively grabbed her sword.

The thought of waking Cake up crossed her mind, but she quickly dismissed the thought. What if it was someone dangerous, like Ice Queen? Her sister was in no condition to fight.

There was another quick rap. This time, it sounded a bit more insistent.

Scowling, Fionna let out an audible "hmph" and walked to the door, battle stance ready.

The girl could feel her hands shake as adrenaline pulsed through her.

It had been a while since she'd had a good fight, was it bad that she kinda hoped this was all gonna lead to one?

Not wanting to be taken by surprise, the human cautiously opened the door and poked her head out, all the while doing her best to hide her sword.

Her narrowed brows lifted as she recognized the unexpected visitor.

Fionna stared, dumbfounded. She felt all the blood in her body rush to her face.

"M-Marshall Lee?" The girl nearly squeaked.

Sure enough, it was the Vampire King himself. He was floating on her doorstep, hands shoved in his pockets, eyes glowering- a site that would have definitely sparked terror in any would be mortal. But not Fionna. If anything, she was just surprised.

The undead boy lookes uncomfortable as he floated there, his red eyes somewhat avoiding her's. There was a strange kind of awkwardness about him, and his expression was hard to read. If the blonde heroine had to guess, she would think that he looked kind of...embarrassed?

Fionna inhaled sharply.

Seeing him float there made her realize something. Cake still didn't know that she had snuck out a few weeks ago. If Marshall Lee brings up that night, and her sister hears...

Oh Glob. She is so dead.

Fionna had to think fast. Before the vampire had a chance to say a word, she quickly slapped a hand over his mouth and hurriedly shoved him out the door. Because he was floating, Fionna found it easy to push him back, and there was little resistance. That didn't last long though.

She must've caught Marshall Lee by surprise before, because it wasn't long before he straightened his legs out and dug his heels into the ground. As he became a pillar of un-movable force, Cake's previous commentary about a vampire's strength flashed briefly in Fionna's mind.

The human wasn't expecting any of this and she smashed painfully into his chest. The impact was so hard that she accidentally scraped the side of her face across the fabric of his shirt.

The sudden collision must have caught Marshall Lee off guard too, because all air audibly left his lungs once Fionna's head made contact with his gut. He let out a pained wheeze and they both fell to the ground with a thud.

Not really understanding what happened after that, Fionna slowly looked up with a shuttered gaze. She winced in pain. There was a friction burn on her cheek and it was stinging. Trying her best to ignore it, her eyes drifted down and she dully realized that she was lying on top of Marshall Lee. Her eyes found his and he was glaring at her angrily.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" He nearly snarled.

Feeling the panic from before return, Fionna slapped a hand over his mouth again.

"SHHHH!" She hissed, eyes pleading.

Glancing fearfully over her shoulder at the treehouse, she listened carefully. She could feel her heart race as she listened for Cake's voice.

After a minute or so passed, she heard a light snore.

Feeling a wave of relief wash over, Fionna let out a heavy sigh (she didn't realize she had been holding her breath).

Turning back to look down, she cast a questioning glance at her hand. It was no longer covering Marshall's mouth. At some point it had fallen next to his head to grip the grass blades beneath them. Despite this, the vampire remained quiet.

Startled by his newfound silence, Fionna's eyes slid from her hand and locked with his. His expression was no longer angry. Instead, it showed perplexity.

His dark eyes were wide as he looked at the girl, his mouth partially open as he stared at her. His parted lips revealed sharp white fangs, and the sight of them caused a chill to run up Fionna's spine. Without thought, or moreover, seemingly on instinct, she clenched her thighs.

Wait a minute.

She wasn't exactly sure what brought her back to reality. Perhaps it was the little nagging voice in the back of her head, or the thought that they were only a few feet away from the treehouse (where there was a sleeping Cake), but to the girl's horror, the position they were in finally registered. She realized she was on top of him, and he was under her. Her thighs were still gripping his hips forcefully as she had previously tried to gain control of the situation. Her face was close, if not, inches apart from his. She was so close that she could feel his cool breath chill her heated face.

Oh my Glob. Oh my Glob.

A squeak of embarrassment escaped Fionna. The small noise was enough to snap Marshall Lee from his paralyzed state.

"I...um." Fionna began, her face crimson.

The adventuress could feel the vampire stiffen beneath her, his muscles tensing from her voice. Fionna couldn't help but notice the panicked look on Marshall Lee's face. He looked...scared?

The vampire shot up. His quick movement caused Fionna to lose balance and she waffled her arms helplessly as she fell backward.

Wincing as her back made contact with the ground, she looked up at her friend who was now sitting opposite of her.

There was a look of trepidation on his face. His expression was eerily similar to a child who just got caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar.

"I-I didn't-" he began quickly.

"I wasn't-"

Unable to find his words, his brows furrowed, expression serious. It was like he was not only trying to convince her, but he was trying to convince himself of something.

Fionna, didn't know what to do. She just watched him with wide eyes, a light pink dusting her cheeks as she tried to overcome her embarrassment from before. She had never seen him look so serious.

"Look," Marshall Lee pressed on, voice determined," I came here to talk to you."

Fionna blinked stupidly. She opened her mouth to say something, but he cut her off.

"-Also, do you mind telling me what all that was about?" His hand gestured wildly at the tree house.

Fionna swallowed hard. Forgetting all about what just happened, a new issue arose.

She never told him...

Failing to space her words, the sentence fumbled from her mouth.

"I've-been-sneaking-out-"

Marshall Lee blinked.

"...And Cake doesn't know..." She finished while wincing and biting her lip.

The vampire continued to stare at her. A smirk pulled at the corners of his mouth before he threw his head back and let out a heartfelt laugh.

"You, sneaking out?" He added while he continued to chuckle.

"When did you become such a bad little girl?"

Fionna at first shot him an irritated look, but as he continued to smile and laugh, the adventuress felt herself blush and the corners of her own mouth twitched up. Dhe was starting to understand why she felt the way she felt.

Okay guys, again, I'm sorry it took so long to type this up. I know it's taking me forever to post chapters, but I'm hoping to at least post a chapter a week. There might be some errors, I'll fix them when I can. I'm still undecided on whether there will be smut- I honestly don't know how long this fanfic will be- but I do want to take it slow, just because I feel like it just makes it all the more romantic. THE TIERS PEOPLE. THE TIERS. lolAnyways thanks for reading, and reviews are appreciated.