Bones Exposed - Four

Marshall Lee loves the taste of bubblegum. There was almost nothing that gave him more pleasure than the sugary taste of it on his lips after kissing Bubba on any area of his skin. It's probably the sweetest-tasting thing he's ever had. The greatest sensation he's ever felt is grazing his lips across Prince Gumball's pink, candied flesh.

Well, that may be a lie.

As phenomenal as the taste of Bubba is, Marshall has felt many other sensations that are just as awesome.
Okay, so that was definitely the lie. Nothing is better than Bubba.

Nothing.

He knows he screwed up; he screwed up bad. But he only did it to protect him. Sometimes the most terrifying monsters are the ones inside you, and sometimes those monsters can come out and scare other people. If Marshall would have stayed, he could have completely destroyed Bubba. Not that leaving him didn't destroy him, of course. Marshall, though, would much rather hurt the prince's emotionally than physically, as much as he doesn't like to say that.

He remembers his very first night by himself. Marshall usually likes the cold, but he hated how freezing it felt to sleep alone. He could barely sleep, really. He thought he was going to go crazy, even though he'd only been away from Bubba for a few hours. He would talk to himself, and occasionally a plant or two, all because he didn't have anyone else. It was torture, but all worth Bubba's protection.

Exposure to Marshall's demons would have destroyed the gum-man. His heart is too fragile, and his skin is too delicate.

Watching the prince walk away from him centuries ago was the hardest thing he'd ever done. It was entirely Marshall's fault, yes, and he doesn't blame Gumball for getting upset. Although he wasn't the one who physically left, he is indeed responsible for leaving Prince Gumball all by his lonesome, something neither of them were used to.

See, Marshall Lee and the prince were almost always at each other's sides back then. When they weren't, they were still with each other as boyfriends. They had an emotional connection. They could always feel when the other was in pain, sad, happy, or just in need of someone to talk to. Every time Marshall Lee felt a pang of sadness for no reason whatsoever, he'd immediately run to go find Gumball, and the prince did the same for him. That connection, Marshall likes to think, is still there. Sometimes he randomly feels stressed and nervous, even when he's simply relaxing by the lake. It definitely isn't as strong as before, but it's still there. Why?, he doesn't know. Maybe Marshall and the prince are meant to be. He wonders if Bubba can feel it too...

The day Marshall broke up with Bubba was the day he was going to ask him for his hand in marriage. He had a very cheesy speech prepared and a gorgeous golden ring encrusted with pink diamonds. He had an area set up, too, with rose petals of all colours and fairy lights strung around a gazebo. A picnic blanket was lay out and Marshall had used his minimal culinary skills to prepare a fruit salad and cucumber sandwiches. Everything was going to be absolutely perfect.

But then his mind decided to lose itself.


Prince Gumball lie awake in his bed, one leg sticking out from under his covers in a thinking pose to maintain balance between both his mind and body temperature. He wasn't a jerk to Marshall Lee earlier, was he..?

He did leave him... again..

He sighs and takes the covers off.
Maybe Marshall Lee was flirting with Fionna earlier, so what?

So everything. Marshall Lee was the prince's first and only love. Seeing him with someone else, especially someone he considers a friend, is the equivalent to having his heart torn out of his chest. Maybe he is overreacting, and maybe he does need to stop blaming everything on the vampire, but it kind of is Marshall Lee's fault. Maybe he likes to think that Marshall was the one who walked away even though it was him who walked away because it gives him a better reason to not care, and maybe he's starting to feel a bit bad about doing so.

He still cares about Marshall Lee, he cares a lot. Marshall Lee just doesn't care back, and that's why he's so desperate to feel just as neutral as he does.

Oh, forget it. As of now, every thought that comes to his mind has Marshall Lee involved in it somehow and ends up turning his brain into a rambling pot of fat and nerve soup.
Maybe that's just the influence the vampire has on people; he gets into their minds and messes everything up, like a parasite of some sort. Love is a parasite. Yes, that sounds reasonable.
These emotions just better not get in the way of his research. Nothing should distract him from these discoveries. Maybe he's already broken so many laws of nature and physics, but he has such a craving to learn more, to do more, to be more. He just can't do all of these things with thoughts of the vampire's smooth pale skin, luscious black hair, and extremely cute butt infiltrating his mind like soldiers on an important mission.

He gets out of bed and approaches his window, then leans on the windowsill and sighs.

"Oh Marshall Lee.. Why must you cause me so much pain? Your return has driven me absolutely insane.. All of this lovey-dovey junk is making me go mad. I've lost even more sleep, and I'm slowly losing even more sanity. M-maybe I'm inflicting this pain upon myself.. Could that be so..? Oh, what does it matter anyway? It's note like you long for me anymore.. So then why do I long so much for you?"


Author's Note: Hello my lovely readers! It's very nice to finally have something to say, since I don't think we've gotten to know each other yet. Before I begin, I would like to apologize for my lack of editing (I noticed a mistake in the last chapter whilst re-reading and got very upset with myself; I forgot a word! How could I forget a word!?) and the even greater lack of continuity. I tried patching that up a bit this chapter, but I don't think it worked out as well as I wanted to. I guess for some reason I wanted to make Marshall Lee seem like even more of a bad guy? I dunno.

Okay, ramble time. I really want to address the major Gumlee hint[s] in "Five Short Tables". Maybe I'm overthinking this a bit because I tend to be a bit psychotic when it comes to my fandoms, but this seemed really obvious to me: Gummy's biggest regret has something to do with Marshall Lee, correct? Then his gravestone under his fears said something about him dying alone. I don't know about you, but in my opinion, those are definitely linked somehow. This totally has to indicate some sort of strong relationship between Prince Gumball and Marshall Lee, does it not? My gosh, this is absolutely killing me!

Phew. Glad to get that out. Anyway, I love each and every single one of you to pieces. I'm so glad you all have been enjoying this so far and I hope I won't disappoint! Until next time, my loves.