Chapter 3, here it iz! I am soooooo sorry it took so long. I was stuck in a mansion for three days with a theater, a game room (Which I slept in) and about a bazillion rooms, but I didn't have my laptop :'C. Anyways, Hope you have enjoyed the story so far, and hope you like dis chapter as well as the other two. Read on…
Fionna hopped off Cake as they arrived at the castle door. Loud music streamed outside, and the duo could see that every window was either filled with lights or talking candy people.
Fionna shivered, not from the cold, but from the nervous tremor she had just had run up her spin. This was her moment quite possibly to shine, to impress the guy she had had a crush on for the last three years.
She took a deep breath before reaching out and grabbing the door handle. Cake put a hand on her shoulder. Fionna looked over her shoulder at the cat. "Don't worry baby, I'll be with you every step of the way."
Fionna nodded her head, feeling slightly better, but all the same still fighting the feeling of butterflies in her stomach. She pushed on the door with all her strength, and it came open with a slight creak.
The first thing that Fionna realized was that it had become deathly silent when she and Cake had entered the Ball room. Thousands of pairs of eyes were now staring at her and Cake as they slowly walked to a stop.
Then, a small voice in the back yelled out, "Fionna and Cake are here. May the celebration commence!" Others yelled out in agreement and the music once again started. Everyone almost in unison started dancing again, and the candy guest continued their conversations.
The music changed to an orchestra playing a slow dance song. Fionna looked across the room to see three cinnamon toast guys playing instruments, and they were quite good she had to admit. Must be the Cinnamon Toast Brothers Gumball was going on about, she thought to herself.
Before Fionna could move from her awkward state of surprise, a young looking boy walked up and bowed. "Hello, I am Prince Periwinkle, would you like to dance?" He stood up straight and offered his hand.
He had golden locks of long hair, and had a long face with sharp feature. She couldn't say that he wasn't handsome, and he looked like he had a good strong build. He wore a suit top with a bow tie around the neck of it.
A belt was tied around his waist and his suit pants were straight and perfect. He wore black polished shoes that shone in the light. Everything else was white.
Fionna felt a small blush playing on her face. She had never really been asked to dance by anyone. She didn't even know how to dance a single ballroom dance. She uncertainly took his hand. "I would love to," she said glancing over at Cake with a 'help me' look.
Cake just smiled and shooed her away to the dance floor. Prince Periwinkle turned and led Fionna through the moving bodies of candy people to a small clear place. He reached out and put his free hand on her waist while still holding her hand.
He waited as Fionna finally figured out that her other hand was supposed to be on his shoulder. They waltzed around in a circle, while the other more experienced pairs danced around doing very hard looking maneuvers.
Fionna felt very awkward doing such a simple little walk around with Prince Periwinkle. She opened her mouth to apologize for her incompetence but the Prince Periwinkle beat her to it.
"It's ok, I don't really like those fancy dance moves anyways," he smiled warmly down on Fionna. He was about a foot taller than her. She laughed a little, "Yeah, I don't really know any of those moves…"
Now it was his turn to laugh. He chuckled a little and continued to swirl around with Fionna, swaying with the music. He looked intently down at Fionna and said, "You have beautiful eyes."
Fionna blushed once again and looked away. She had no idea who he was and where he came from, but she all of a sudden felt like she had met him before. He flashed her a dazzling smile and she raised an eyebrow, remembering it from somewhere.
"By any chance, have we met before?" she asked tilting her head. Prince Periwinkle laughed and nodded, "Yes, we have. Do you remember the Buggle Festival last year? The one Prince Gumball hosted?"
Fionna almost stopped dancing from thinking so hard, but eventually she shook her head and smiled. "Oh, yeah! The one with the little dancing bugs! They were hilarious." She chuckled at the remembered memory.
Prince Periwinkle nodded, and agreed with her. "And, do you remember the guy that sold the pickles you liked so much?" He wiggled his eyebrows. It all of a sudden hit her like a brick.
"Jonny?! Is that really you! It's been forever, how are you?" Fionna hugged him as he laughed again. "I'm doing good. Took you long enough to figure it out." She shook her head and looked around.
"Since when did you start being called Prince Periwinkle?" She asked raising her eyebrows in a questioning glare. The Prince scratched his head and smiled, "Actually, Jonny is just my code name. I've always been Prince Periwinkle."
Fionna gawked at him. The first time they had met, he had been a guy selling the most amazing pickles she had ever tasted at the Buggle Festival, where everything small and bug like was welcome.
They had spent the rest of the day together, pranking people and eating all different things. She had had the time of her life. They had become really close in just those few hours. But, as soon as the festival ended, Jonny had disappeared.
Fionna punched him in the arm. He barely even flinched, and he smiled down at her again. "I saw that coming." She blew her bangs out of her face a little. The slow music ended and he walked her back to where they had left Cake.
Fionna saw no sight of her, and decided not to look for the feline, but to instead question 'Jonny' about this new him. She crossed her arms and patted her foot on the floor waiting for an explanation.
Prince Periwinkle rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, "Guess I have a lot of explaining, huh?" Fionna nodded. He sighed, "Well, to start with, I am Prince Periwinkle, second heir to the Candy Kingdom…" He bowed low to Fionna, "… It's a pleasure to meet you Fionna the Human."
Fionna let lose a shocked gasp, "But, that would mean you would have to be Gumball's…"
"Cousin, I know," Prince Periwinkle said, finishing her sentence. She looked around the room, wondering if she was the only one who didn't know this. "Why in the world did you go the Buggle Festival? It wasn't meant for Prince's, unless you were hosting it."
Prince Periwinkle nodded and whispered, "That's why I went in disguise as Jonny. I wanted to mess around and get dirty like no other Prince would. I hated being locked up in that stupid castle all day. I had needed some fresh air. Soooo…"
He shrugged his shoulders, as if the rest of the story didn't matter. Fionna nodded, agreeing that it would be a total pain in the butt to be stuck in a castle for hours on end. But she couldn't believe that her Jonny was the clean cut handsome Prince before her that moment.
Prince Periwinkle laughed and shook his head at Fionna perplexed expression. "It really is me Filo, just the other side off me. But I'm still the same Jonny as from the Festival." Fionna recognized the nickname he had given her.
Fionna smiled and hugged him again, "Well, it's great seeing you again. Still can't believe your Gumball's cousin. Now that I think of it, you do look like him." Periwinkle let out a breath and rolled his eyes, "Please, don't start with me. Do you know how many people say that to me on a regular basis? If I had a nickel for every time…"
Fionna laughed and waved her hands, "Ok, ok I get it. You hear it often." The two chuckled together, carrying on a conversation about what they had been up to the past year. Fionna really enjoy catching up.
But after a while, Prince Periwinkle was summoned away, and the two said their goodbyes. 'Keep it up with the pickles!" was the last thing she said to him. He waved, and disappeared into the crowd.
Cake all of a sudden appeared beside the young adventuress with an arm load of goodies and pastries. "Oh, and who was that young fella?" she asked hinting and winking. Fionna shook her head, "Just an old friend, nothing more."
Cake looked slightly crestfallen, but took it all in stride. She stretched a strawberry jam tart into her mouth. Fionna watched, her own stomach growling. She grabbed a cupcake and ate it in one bite.
"So, have you talked to Lord M. yet?" Fionna questioned after wiping away the crumbs. Cake shook her head no, and frowned. "He's up at the front with PG. Says he'll talk to me as soon as all the guests are greeted."
Fionna patted her friend on the shoulder, "Hang in there Cake." Cake nodded, and walked off into the moving crowd saying something about getting more punch. Fionna let her go, knowing that the cat was just sad about not enough hang time with LM.
"Well then, she looked just as depressed as an air mattress with a hole." A familiar voice said behind Fionna. She turned around to find a sharply dressed Marshall Lee floating just inches above the ground.
"Marshall, you came!" Fionna said surprised. Marshall smiled and floated beside her, "Course I did Fifi, wouldn't be a party without the Party King." He whistled as his eyes traveled up and down Fionna.
"You look dressed. What's the occasion?" Fionna frowned slightly, "It's a Ball Marshall, and unlike you I wanted to look nice." She pointed a finger at his slightly underdressed self. At least he hadn't come in his usual attire.
He wore a grey vest over a white button up shirt. He had on dark grey pants and blood red boots. A dark red hat sat on his head and a red scarf hung around his neck. All in all it was very good looking, but not exactly Ballroom attire.
He just scoffed at her comment, "Oh yeah? And what would you know about Ballroom wear when you didn't even make your own dress?" He lazily laid back and started to float away above the crowd.
"And anyways, if you need me I'll be partying in the back." Fionna lost sight of him after a partying candy cane stepped in her way. She closed her eyes and shook her head. To tell the truth, she had actually thought that Marshall Lee had looked hot, wherever that had come from.
Her jealousy returned with a vengeance after remember the secret hearing of Marshall Lee in the garden that afternoon. She tried to push the sick feeling in her stomach away. It wasn't mixing well with her nervous feelings about the Ball and Gumball.
Fionna walked over to a bench and sat down, getting a slight headache. How in the world could she feelings for two guys at the same time? She had like Gumball the longest, and Marshall was just a guy friend, wasn't he? She didn't have feelings for him.
Besides, he loves someone else, she sourly thought. Before her thoughts could drift any further into the topic of who it could be, she smelled bubblegum. She looked up to the form of Prince Gumball.
He had a huge smile plastered on his face and he reached out and took Fionna's hand. Leaning down he gently kissed the top of it while Fionna sat looking on stunned. He looked back up at her and did a half grin.
"Glad you could make it Fionna. Now that you're here, we can get on with the party as planned." Fionna did a double take. "You mean you stopped the party for me?" Gumball stood up to full height and nodded his head.
"Of course, you and Cake were of the last party goers to come in. Now that you have been greeted, the party can start in full swing." Prince Gumball looked happier than Fionna had ever seen him.
She nodded and looked away blushing. Her heart had jumped up into her throat when he had leaned down and kissed her hand, and she was still getting over the rush of emotions that came with it.
Prince Gumball looked at her intently and seemed to smile with his eyes, "You look very beautiful tonight Fionna. Thank you for coming as my friend." Fionna could only nod slightly as her whole face turned a bright red.
He called me beautiful, he thinks I'm beautiful. Oh my Glob!
He looked like he was going to say something else, but all of a sudden a loud stomping noise could be heard from the front of the room. Everyone stopped dancing as the music came to a halt and all looked to the front, curiously mumbling.
Fionna and Prince Gumball looked up in unison, and like everyone else, they were curious. Fionna caught a glimpse of something black, with grey hair. She instantly knew it was Lord Monochromicorn before the translator said it over the microphone.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Lord Monochromicorn has an important announcement," a small green gumdrop said. Everyone quickly hushed and all eyes fell on the horse. He snorted and pawed at the ground, making different clicking noises with his hooves.
Almost everyone in the room shifted their eyes expectantly at the gumdrop. He quickly said, "Lord M. has requested the cat Cake to come up to the front." As soon as the last word was said, the lights in the room dimmed considerably and a beam of light fell onto the crowd, tracing a straight path to a wide eyed Cake at the snack table.
She smiled and stretched her way up to the front, the light following her, making her the center of attention. Fionna herself smiled, wondering what LM was going to do next. She glanced over at Gumball who had a knowing smile on his face.
She wanted to ask what was going on, but didn't want to disturb the peaceful silence. Cake walked the last few feet between her and Lord M. She laced her fingers together, hopeful glint in her eyes.
Lord M. bowed down slightly, and reaching into who knows where, he pulled out a small black box. Fionna was all the way in the back of the room and could hear her sisters gasp. LM shook his head and pawed the floor only twice, but Cake acted immediately.
The gumdrop had only seconds to get out the words, "Cake, will you marry me…," before the cat screeched and jumped into the black unicorns arms. "YES! OH, YES I WILL!" She shared a small kiss with her man before grabbing the box and opening it.
By now she was in tears, and as she opened the top a large glittering diamond became visible. Cake quickly took out the ring in all its glory and slipped it on her finger. She squealed with delight and excitement, again hugging Lord M.
Everyone erupted into applause and cheers. Fionna herself jumped up shouting, "You go Cake!" giving a loud whistle. As soon as it quieted down some, the Cinnamon Toast Brothers started playing another slow dance song.
Fionna caught a glimpse of Cake and Lord M. holding each other as they swayed with the music. They looked so happy, that Fionna was slightly caught off guard as Gumball reached out his hand to Fionna.
"Care to dance?" he asked. She looked at him stunned. "You don't wanna go and congratulate the two?" Fionna asked, wondering what would make Gumball forget his highly praised mannerism.
He shrugged his shoulders, smiling. "We have all night. Besides, it's just one dance." Fionna nodded, forgetting that it was Cake that had just been given the engagement ring. She was now going to go dance with Prince Gumball, the only thing she had wanted to do all night.
They took each other's hands, and he led Fionna to the middle of the dance floor. She reveled in the closeness between him and her, and every step he took she took two steps closer.
He stopped and turned to face her, pulling her hand up with his while putting his other on her waist. Even though Gumball had only just turned sixteen, he was a foot taller than she was. His pale pink eyes looked softly down at her.
Fionna felt the familiar butterflies start to go bug crazy in her stomach. She started to get a little light headed, and she barely had enough strength to put her hand on his shoulder. Luckily, the dance was one for slow, lazy circles, not complicated dance moves.
She and Gumball started to go around and around, somewhat like she had done with Prince Periwinkle. Gumball started to hum along with the tune. "You know this song?" Fionna asked. He shook his head vigorously.
"Yes, of course. I told you earlier that the Cinnamon Toast Brothers are my favorite classical musicians. They have had many successful years together, and come up with something original almost every time they play."
Fionna nodded, having heard almost nothing he had said. She was too lost in his eyes that she couldn't really look or hear anything. She could feel her legs slightly give way, but she held herself straight.
Prince Gumball looked down on the young girl, "Fionna, are you ok? You look very distracted." Fionna shook her head, trying to clear it, "Oh, uh, I'm just getting lost in the music. Aren't they just awesome musicians?"
Gumball nodded, "Awesome indeed." He shifted his hand lower on her waist to her hip. Although he didn't seem to notice it, Fionna did. She blushed slightly, and looked down. Wonder if he meant to do that…
She looked back up at Gumball, who was now looking at the Brothers playing. Slowly and cautiously, Fionna closed the gap between the two and laid her head on his shoulder. She felt him stiffen underneath her.
He stopped walking in circles and so did Fionna. She closed her eyes, knowing what was coming but not wanting to look up at him. "Fionna…," Gumball said uncertainly, "What are you doing?"
She just kept her head on his shoulder, hoping that he would just let her have this one thing slide. But all that she got from it was a small push from him. He slowly extended his arms, making Fionna back away from him.
She looked up blushing into the Prince's eyes. He was frowning and had his eyebrows set. "Fionna, don't make things awkward. What were you doing?" Fionna just shook her head, knowing that he would probably just call her a silly girl if she told him the truth.
"Fionna, I know… I know that you like me differently than I like you. But, we can't be that. You understand, right?" Gumball looked at her almost pleadingly. And Fionna then knew that she had been fooling herself.
He would never love her, and it had taken her this long to fully realize it. She had lied to herself about Gumball being naive, stupid in a way. He had known about her affections probably from the day they had met.
She felt tears well up in her eyes, and on any other occasion she would have held them back. But now she let them flow. "You knew?" she croaked out, "You knew that I liked you, and still you acted as if you didn't? Why? Did you even like me in the first place?"
Prince Gumball seemed unaffected by this new development, as if he had seen it coming. "Fionna, I do like you. Just not in the way you want me to. I like you as a close friend, that's all."
"I understand that you wanted us to be more, but we aren't. I didn't want to hurt you, but the time has come for you to grow up. I am truly sorry if there was ever a time I made you think that I was interested, because I'm not."
He let go of her hand and withdrew away from her. Fionna reached out, but let her arms drop to her sides, looking down at the floor in defeat. "You still haven't answered my question," she said, "Why?"
Gumball looked at her with pity in his eyes. "I promise you it isn't because of the age difference. It is not because you're not beautiful, or talented, or anything. It is just a simple fact that you cannot bring yourself to love someone that you don't love."
He tilted his head back a little, "You understand, don't you?" By the end of this Fionna was in tears, her eyes swimming. Gumball had just grabbed her heart and tore it into a million different pieces.
She nodded, wiping her eyes, "I understand." Her voice didn't crack like she had expected it to. She turned away from Gumball and walked away into the crowd in an act of rebellion. How could he be so cruel? She thought to herself, holding in the worst of her sobs.
She didn't stop at the bench like she had wanted to, but instead ran into the garden. After endless running, Fionna stopped under the apple tree she had seen Marshall Lee under. For some reason she had been hoping the young vampire was here. That somehow, she could have run into his arms, and he would have taken the pain away.
But all that was there were a few fallen apples. Fionna rushed off, and fell among the leaves and flowers, letting all her sorrows out. She slammed her fists onto the ground several times, trying not to scream.
Fionna was all alone, lost in a world of sorrow, where no one cared nor wanted to help. Fionna was lost in her broken heart.
She felt a hand all of a sudden on her shoulder. She whirled around to find a frowning Marshall Lee floating just a few inches away. "Hey Fifi, what's the matter?" he said in a soothing voice. He opened his arms, motioning Fionna into them.
At that moment Fionna didn't care that it was her best dude friend. She didn't care that she was jealous about his mystery love, and didn't care that she had mixed feelings for him. She didn't care that he was the Vampire King, and that he made fun of her crying.
He was someone there in the pit of darkness, with a shoulder to cry on. And cry on it she did. She sprang forward and into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. She buried her face into his neck and cried like she had never cried before.
Before anything else, I just wanna say that Prince Periwinkle was just some guy Fionna met somewhere. SO, there is nothing going on between the two, I just wanted to put him in the story for some conversational biz. Anywho, tell me what you thought of this chapter. Again, sorry it took so long, I will try and get chapter 4 up ASAP. Please tell me what you thought about this chapter. Also, I am so sorry if there are any mistakes or bad grammar or if the story rushes. I was trying to get it up as soon as I could. REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! Well, see u guys later.
Cheyenne iz out, peace!