Bones Exposed - Six
Prince Gumball and Marshall Lee used to own a wooden cabin. It was small, cozy, and located by a lake. When they weren't out exploring, they were cuddled up under blankets, sipping hot cocoa and talking about anything and everything. During the daytime, Gumball would go out and gather fruits and vegetables, and during the nights, Marshall Lee would hunt.
The cabin was a perfect cube, as calculated by the pink man, and each room was around the same size. There was the living area, which contained a velvet love seat, a video game system, a small drawer that held unopened boxes of tissue paper and bottles of sunblock, Marshall Lee's guitar, and a bit of experiment equipment for Bubba. The dining area had a birch table with a lavender-scented candle in the smack middle and coasters and place mats that Marshall Lee almost never used, and two matching chairs. Then there was the kitchen, which was, of course, home to the food and the utensils that were made of either silver or gold. The bathroom had a toilet, sink, and bath-shower combo, as bathrooms do. Lastly, there was the bedroom, which had merely a queen-sized bed with white cashmere blankets and really soft pillows of a matching shade.
Bubba was the only one who knew how to cook. He'd tried teaching Marshall Lee once how to make a typical breakfast, but that ended in disaster.
It was scrambled eggs, the simplest dish in the entire world, and Marshall Lee still messed up somehow. His attention wasn't on the food like it should have been, and he kept pressing gentle kisses on every exposed area of Gumball's skin. Needless to say, the eggs ended up burnt, and they were stuck eating only strawberry jam on toast for breakfast that day.
Even though he absolutely loathed doing it, Marshall Lee was in charge of cleaning. Not that Bubba would let the place get dirty anyway, but when it did, it was Marshall's duty to change that. He'd tie his hair back with a rubber band and scrub the floors on his hands and knees, all to please his darling boyfriend.
The cabin was their safe space. They didn't have to worry about anything but themselves. The vampire would sing as loud as he wanted to without anyone telling him to quiet down. The gum man could concoct anything he so desired without having to hear any nagging about how peculiar it is (well, minus the occasional "Dude, that reeks! What the hell is that?" from Marshall Lee). They could kiss the other as often as they wanted to without being told to get a room, and they most definitely took complete advantage of that.
There are many stories held within those walls that may or may not even be there anymore. The walls may be figurative at this point, but the stories are still there.
Like the time an intoxicated Marshall Lee made Gumball sing a duet with him. The day's domestic tasks had been completed early and they were sat on the love seat, Bubba sipping a virgin strawberry daiquiri, and Marshall halfway done with a bottle of dark lager. The vampire told his boyfriend that he wanted to hear his singing voice. Bubba blushed out of embarrassment because he hated his voice, which was drastically inferior to Marshall Lee's, but he complied. He began singing a song Marshall wrote about their relationship, and Marshall Lee joined in when it hit the chorus. How well they harmonized shocked the gummy man.
After the song ended, they kissed. It was sweet, yet not very gentle. Marshall Lee then went on to praise Gumball's voice, but the latter didn't believe him.
Many beautiful moments happened in the cabin, many pictures created in the minds of the two. But along with the good, there was the bad. There's always the bad.
They had their first fight in that cabin. It wasn't exactly pretty.
Marshall Lee had wanted to go to some concert in support of a local band, which would have been perfectly fine any other day, but the night of the performance just so happened to fall on their one year anniversary. Gumball had a very romantic meal planned, and he most definitely did not want anything spoiling it.
So of course when the vampire asked if Gumball was interested in joining him, he got a "No. I'm not going, and neither are you." in response.
"Excuse me?"
"I said we're not going."
Marshall Lee's eyebrows made their way into his hair. "Who the hell said you can dictate what I can and can't do? Maybe you don't want to go, but I do, so I'm going to go. You can stay here and read or blow some shit up or whatever."
"No, you're not go-"
"What did I literally just say, Bubba? You're not in charge of me just because we're dating now. I'm not going to force you to go to the concert with me, so you shouldn't try and force me to stay home with you just because you don't feel like going."
"It's not that I don't feel like going, Marshall Lee, and you'd figure that if you'd just shut the hell up and listen to me!"
Something shifted in the vampire's eyes, and they glowed a deep shade of maroon. Slowly, he approached the pink man who was tardily backing into the wall. Once Marshall Lee stopped in front of his boyfriend, he briefly stared into his fearful eyes before raising his fist and punching the wall next to Bubba's face. The gummy man slid down the wall a bit, bravely holding Marshall Lee's gaze.
"I'm listening."
"I-I don't want to go, or for you to go, because I want you to myself that night. Yes, it sounds selfish, but.. I already have plans that night. Plans for us. Think about it, Marshy.."
After a few silent moments of staring at his lover's distressed expression, the raven head's eyes widened and faded back to their original onyx. A small amount of tears began to form. His fist lowered, and a soft "Bubba..." escaped his lips. "I... I can't believe I forgot our anniversary.. I'm so sorry.."
Gumball gently pulled the pale man into a hug. "It's perfectly okay, Marshall Lee. I'm not mad."
"Are.. Are you sure..?"
He nodded. "Positive. You forgetting is understandable; it's only been a year. It isn't like you forgot our twenty year anniversary or something. Plus I don't think I could ever get mad at you."
