"My baby!" Cake screamed as Fionna finally got home, escorted personally by Cinnamon Bun. Fionna was covered in sand paper kisses. "I was so worried!" Moaned Cake. "I panicked, so I made cookies. I'm sorry! There's, like, way too many."

"It's nice to see you too, Cake." Fionna said, squeezing her friend and sibling. Cake pressed a cookie to Fionna's mouth.

"Open up, buttercup. They're anxiety flavored." Fionna scrumped them down, even if she was stiff full of sandwiches and hot choc.

"They taste like lemon to me." Fionna said, and was wrapped again in the endless arms of Cake.

"That's what worry tastes like…"

BMO came in holding her little controller and offered it to Fionna.

"Play with me! I've played with myself all day, and it's not the same…" BMO complained.

Fionna happily obliged, taking her usual seat in the living room, and cuddling up to Cake while starting an adventure in a video game. It was blissfully normal and relaxing to be home and safe. Fionna's tortuous ordeal made her more absorbed in the pretend world of the game, and Cake's eyes grew heavy after four hours of cuddling on the couch.

"Don't you think it's time for bed?" Cake yawned.

"No! One more dungeon…" Fionna begged. She was reluctant for sleep, despite her own eyes growing smaller with weariness. BMO was tireless and all too happy to indulge Fionna.

"One more dungeon!" BMO cheered.

So Fionna struggled to stay awake through one more dungeon in the game, but in the end only made it halfway through. Her eyes were tearing from the effort of staying open, when Cake let out a yowl.

"AhhhhhH! It's time for sleep, Fionna!" She complained stretching. Fionna caved and turned off the game with a sigh.

"Fine…" Fionna moaned, and the girls went off to bed. Cake fell like a log into her little drawer, while Fionna shuffled her way into her blankets. Her jammies were soft, and her bed was cozy, Fionna should be all set for some solid sleep, but something gnawed at her.

Just at the cusp of being asleep, she found herself suddenly thrust into the cave again, and it made her wake with a start. She tried again with the same result, and then resorted to staring that the ceiling in agony. Her eyes were so heavy, and the stupid cave was still haunting her.

Fionna yearned to tell somebody, anybody about it, but Cake was already asleep. Quietly, Fionna snuck back downstairs to play more video games. A thought crossed her mind, wouldn't Marshall be awake in the middle of the night? It was tempting to seek him out, but Fionna was not about to risk walking alone in the wilds of Aaa again.

After all, what would have happened if Marshall had not followed after her that day?

Fionna shivered at the thought, then jumped as she heard a soft tapping at the window. A shadow crossed the pane and she opened it to find Marshall on the other side.

"Marshall! What are you doing here?" She asked. He shrugged.

"I don't know, wanted to make sure you were alright, I guess."

"Yeah, I just… wanted to beat the next level in this dungeon on BMO." She lied.

"Mind if I stick around?" He asked. Fionna felt a rush of nervousness, and picked at her jammies.

"Yeah, sure." She said. Marshall Lee floated in and sat on the couch. His eyes glowed in the darkness of the living room, and she watched him watch her. Would he try to kiss her again? She wondered. She hoped. She dreaded. Fionna plopped down next to him and turned on BMO.

"Video games all night!" BMO cheered. "Sleep is for the dead…"

She began to play, and Marshall laughed when she forgot to jump and fell to her death, or ran head first into an enemy she didn't see. He cheered her on for tough mini bosses and helped her solve puzzles. She was having fun, but her eyes only grew heavier, and her hand clumsier. At one point, she actually nodded off into that awful half sleep.

Fionna felt an arm snake around her and she jumped a bit. Marshall pulled his arm back.

"I'm sorry, I only meant to hold you. You don't have to, if you don't want to." The words had been hard for him to say, and he turned his face away from hers, but was happy to feel her hand pull his back around her shoulders.

"No, it's okay." She said. The small gesture gave him license to take her completely in his arms. She shouldn't have been surprised. Give an inch, take a mile, that's how Marshall usually acted towards her. But lately he had been kinder, softer. So, she let him pull her into the cavity between his legs, with her back pushing against his chest. It felt weird. No one had eve held her like this, and it made her feel prickly all over.

His hands clasped over her waist and her heart began beating in her ears. His vampire ears twitched playfully, and he chuckled. In rising alarm and embarrassment, she began to untangle herself from him.

"No, Fionna. Don't go. I promise I won't laugh at your pittering heart rate. I'm sorry." He said, holding her firmly to him. She relaxed back against him, cheeks red.

"Fine, but don't touch me like that." She complained, even though secretly, it kind of thrilled her. It was strange to be doing something like this with Marshall Lee. Fionna tried to pinpoint at which point their friendship had fallen into… interest.

"Like this?" He whispered in her ear, his fingers sliding over her waist. It sent wicked chills up her spine, and catapulted her out of her inner thoughts.

"Yes! Like that!" She said, refocusing on her video game, and trying to ignore the body that pressed on her back.

He giggled anyways when he heard the way her pulse soared. Fionna lost all semblance of tiredness, for only five minutes. As she absorbed herself in the game, she relaxed against Marshall, and even was a little surprised when whispered 'Nice.' or 'Ooh, that's a fake door; told you.' His face was so close to hers that he was practically whispering right in her ear, and it had a strange soothing effect. She began to nod off again in the comfort of his arms. Not that he minded, in fact Marshall was kind of hoping for it, if only to be able to take the controller and play video games until she woke up.

But instead of falling deeply into sleep, Fionna awoke again in panic. Marshall dropped the controller in shock.

"My baby!" Moaned BMO as it climbed off the table to pick it up.

"What's wrong Fionna?" Marshall asked. She had once again drifted off into the cave.

"I just… every time I try to sleep my mind gets stuck in that cave…" She confessed.

"Well, you're not alone. I promise I won't leave you in that cave. If I see you start to have nightmares, I will wake you up, then we can play video games."

"Promise?" She said.

"Promise." He said, picking up the controller again, and starting his own save file. Fionna watched him for a while and tried to let herself go to sleep. Marshall began to hum some sort of song in her ear, and it sent her careening into a blissfully uninteresting sleep.

Marshall sighed as he felt her breathing slow into sleep. Why had he come snooping around the tree house tonight, anyways? Just to watch her or something weird, or maybe it had something to do with the guitar sitting outside waiting to be played. He shook his head. What had gotten into him? He was glad that his plans to serenade Fionna had gone wonky. Anyways, being… himself seemed to have gotten him much closer to what he wanted than all of his other crazy ideas.