"-and I asked her to marry me," Marshall explained, hovering above Gumball's line of sight.

Gumball frowned. "Let me guess. She turned you down?"

Marshall hissed from above, his tongue flicking between his teeth. "Exactly. I just don't understand. We've been dating for a little over two years and I love her and I thought she loved me"

Gumball stood up, snatching the vampire king's hand and pulling him down to him. He was nearly taken aback by the emotion in Marshall's eyes. In the lifetime he had known his best friend there had never been such sadness in him. "Marshall, these things take time. Did you ever think that maybe she just doesn't want to be tied down? Or maybe she just doesn't like marriage"

He shrugged his hand away, looking down at his worn sneakers. "How much time can it take? Gumball, she's a human; she won't-" he stopped, drawing in a shaky breath, "live as long as you and I. I want to spend as much time as possible with her." The flannel-clad boy raked his fingers through his unkempt hair. "To have to live another lifetime knowing that I couldn't give her everything she wanted would be the death of me"

Gumball reached for Marshall and pulled him to him once more, this time hugging him. "I know this is hard for you. I think the best thing to do is tell her how you feel; your hopes and fears. The more you leave her in the dark the greater the distance there will be for you two".

Marshall hugged back, thankful for the support of his longtime friend. In another life, he thought, maybe he would have loved Gumball as more than a friend, he thought. But right now he had already given his being to Fionna the Human. And he would tell her everything he felt for her and give her the best damn proposal that had ever been given.

"I know you...might not like this idea. But couldn't you turn her into a vampire?" Gumball suggested.

He grimaced. "As if I could do that to her. Living forever means being surrounded by death. I've seen too much wrong to think that making her live forever is a good idea"

The pink prince sighed, patting his friend on the back. "But don't you think that burden would be lessened if you had someone to face all that with?"

Marshall shook his head. "Not enough to matter"

Gumball pulled back, holding Marshall at arm's length. "Then maybe you're underestimating her feelings for you"

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"-And he asked me to marry him," Fionna said whilst nervously cleaning her collection of swords.

Cake nearly dropped the bowl of batter she had been mixing. "And what did you say?" she asked, raising a brow.

"I told him that the proposal wasn't good enough, but honestly I don't know if any proposal would be good enough" the warrior said, flipping the blade of a crystal sword over to polish the other side.

Cake the Cat set the bowl down on the counter, heading over to her sister at the table. She took a seat across from her and clasped her hands together. "Now, normally I would tell you that you're too young to get married or that you haven't been dating long enough. But, honey, you're an adult now and you've been dating Marshall for a long time. Do you not love him?"

Fionna sheathed the sword and reached for another, thankful for the idle movement to calm her down. "I... think I love him. He means the world to me, Cake. But I don't know if I want to be married" she sighed.

Cake nodded, "It's normal to be afraid of marriage, baby. Just because you don't want to get married doesn't mean that your feelings are any less valid" she soothed.

Fionna smiled. "Marriage just feels like a prison. It's not like I'd want to be with anyone else besides Marshall, but I don't like the feeling of being trapped." Fionna stopped polishing her sword and set it on her lap. "Cake, what if he wants to have kids? I can't do that. I want to go out an adventure instead of babysitting"

Cake shook her head, "Slow down honey. Just because he wants to get married doesn't mean he wants to have kids. Have you told him how you feel?" she asked.

Fionna nodded. "Yes. I've told him I love him"

Cake shook her head once more. "No, more than that. You have to understand that he's probably questioning your feelings since you refused the proposal. Even if you said it's because it wasn't good enough. Just saying you love him ins't enough. Tell him how you feel about marrying him and how you want to spend your life with him"

The blonde-haired warrior bit her lip. "You're right. I'm going to go meet up with him," she relented. "I'll just tell him that I don't want to get married but I do want to spend the rest of my life with him. I'll tell him that I think kids are gross and I never want them, too"

The cat chuckled. "That sounds perfect Fionna."

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A couple hours later Fionna headed out of the treehouse and towards Marshall's cave. Although nerves threatened to make her retreat back into the safety of her home, she knew that she needed to clear everything up with Marshall. The journey only took half an hour. A blessing and a curse, she mused. She stepped up onto his porch and paused, taking in a huge breath before knocking loudly on his door. He didn't answer. She furrowed her brow and turned the knob, not surprised that it was unlocked. Fionna stepped inside, "I'm coming in!" she said.

Fionna the Human nosed around the house, finding that he really wasn't there. "I'll just wait here then" she said, heading upstairs to his bedroom and sitting on his bed. She sat in the dark and fiddled with the ears on her hat. Would he not like her anymore if she told him she didn't want to marry him? Would she ever be good enough for him? Who knows?

A few minutes later she heard the soft click of the front door below her. "I'm so stupid" Marshall hissed, throwing some object that was loud enough to be heard from upstairs. Fionna flinched, suddenly letting her nerves get the better of her. She looked around frantically and dove into his closet.

Within moments Marshall made his way upstairs into his room and headed into the bathroom. Fionna heard him turn the shower on and breathed a sigh of relief. Could she leave now? No, he would hear the closet being opened. She sat stagnant, bringing her knees to her chest. She would sit here all damn night if she had to.

Awhile later Marshall came out of the bathroom. Fionna mustered up the courage to peek through the slits in the closet and nearly gasped aloud. He was naked, of course. She turned beet red and flew against the back wall while frantically repeating "I'm not a pervert" in her head. Her worst nightmares came true when she heard the beginnings of what would be Marshall opening the closet door to get clothes.

Fionna turned around to shut them but it was too late. They both stared at each other in shock. "I'm not a pervert" she accidentally said aloud.

Marshall's grey skin was tinged red with embarrassment. He lowered his hands to cover his crotch and flew back into the bathroom. "Could you bring me my c-clothes?" he said, his voice cracking.

"Yeah" Fionna squeaked, grabbing his clothes and handing them to him through the crack in the door. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to see anything. I just came to talk"

The vampire came out a few moments later, this time clothed, and tried to chuckle off his embarrassment. "Don't be sorry, I figured you'd see me like this at one point. Preferably in better circumstances" he laughed.

Fionna groaned. "Quit making this more awkward" she cried, "I just came to say that I'm sorry that I rejected-"

Marshall put his hand over her mouth. "Don't be sorry. I get that you're not ready for it" he said.

She moved his hand away, shaking her head. "Marshall, I'll never be ready. I don't want to get married. But that doesn't mean I don't want to be with you" she said quietly. "I just don't want to be one of those people who get married and have kids. I want to go on adventures and fight monsters and junk"

"Fionna I don't want to take any of that away from you. I just, thought it would be cool if I could call you my wife. I don't expect you to have kids or anything I just want you to be with me. I don't want to look back thousands of years from now and regret not making you mine" he said, tears in his eyes.

The human warrior hugged him. "I'll always be yours, even if I'm not your wife" she said, crying herself after being hit with the reality that he would live longer than she would and that he might find someone else. "I won't ever forget you"

A sob escaped his throat and he held her close. They both cried into each other, unsure of the future but sure of the now. They both loved each other and would always love each other, long past one another's lifetimes. Fionna pulled away finally, half-smiling. "I don't like being so sappy" she sniffed.

Marshall laughed, rubbing his nose. "I hate it too, doll face" he said.

"I don't have to be your wife for you to make me yours" she said, looking down at her feet.

His eyes snapped up, curious and hungry. "Oh yeah?" he mused.

Fionna smiled, grabbing his hand. "Yeah" she said.

He scooped her up in his arms in one fluid motion and carried her to bed. He laid her carefully on the soft linen and bent his head to hers, moving his mouth to her ear. "I won't go easy on you" he growled softly

"Neither will I" she answered.