Sorry this chapter's a little short. And if anyone's interested, I signed up for , so if you would like to read any of my original stories, I would greatly welcome the constructive criticism! My username is the same as it is here :) Don't forget to review!

Chapter 10

Fiona sat on Marshall's porch, fiddling with her tape recorder. It had been a while since she'd been over at his place. After Prince Gumball's Gumball Ball, he had seemed a little sulky. He also acted a little different…after seeing her in that dress and all. Marshall hovered above the porch strumming his base.

"Working on some new songs?" Fiona asked.

He shrugged. "Yeah, I got some ideas. Mostly stuff from my journals and junk like that."

"Hey!" Cake hollered from inside the house. "You got anything in this fridge that's not red?"

Marshall chuckled. "I'm a vampire, remember? I only eat red things."

"So you write songs from your journals? I didn't know you did stuff like that! What's in it?" Fiona leaned forward, excited.

"It's nothing special. Just a bunch of stuff about my past." He played a chord. "Boring."

"Oh." She rewound the tape. "There! We can record now if you want."

"Cool. Follow me." Marshall floated inside. Cake sat on the floor, munching on what looked like a red fish. Marshall plugged his bass into the huge amp in the corner. "Lay down a slow beat for me. But keep it steady and smooth."

"You got it." Fiona started beatboxing and she pressed the record button.

Marshall strummed away, taking a moment to get the melody just right. He sang a soft, yet heavily emotional song. It felt kind of dark yet light. Fiona didn't really understand it except that it sounded…conflicted. He was singing about someone close to him that he was confused about, but she couldn't make much more sense about it. When he finished playing, she pushed the record button again. Cake clapped.

"That was amazing! Your songs are really something else, Marshall," Cake said.

"I just mostly sing about what I feel, ya know?"

"It sounded kinda different than your usual stuff," Fiona said. "What were you thinkin' about when you wrote it?"

He shrugged. "It's about a girl."

"Woooo! Baby!" Cake leaned closer. "Who is it?"

"A girl?!" Fiona was shocked. "Is it about your girlfriend?"

He laughed. "I haven't had a girlfriend in a looooong time. Last one I had was Ashley, but she's past business now."

"Then who was it about?" Cake persisted.

"It's about this girl who's kinda adventurous but also kinda dense."

"That's pretty vague," Fiona muttered.

Cake folded her arms in a huff. "Hmph! No kidding."

"Enough about the girl, I wanna hear what happened with you and the prince the other night." Marshall floated toward Fiona. "You hit it off with the brainiac or what?"

Fiona blushed. "O-oh…um. Well it turns out it was actually the Ice Queen disguised as Prince Gumball. The date thing was kinda fun until I found it was her."

"So you gonna still romance it up with Gumbutt?" Laying on his stomach as he floated in midair, he propped up his chin in his hands.

"What's it matter to you, huh?!" she shouted, embarrassed.

Marshall chuckled. "Nothin'. Just curious. You seemed pretty into him and I thought it was interesting." Truth was, he was kinda jealous. He didn't know when it began, but he was starting to like her. Sure he had thought she was just an interesting girl before, but now it was a little different.

Fiona shrugged. "Well, I've had a crush on him for a long time, but he doesn't like me like that. I'm like his guy friend after all."

Cake sighed. "I told you it could still change."

"Yeah right." She rolled her eyes, pouting. "He'll never like me like that. Guess I just gotta give up on it."

"So you're givin' up on Mr. Pink Pants?" He rolled over so he was looking at her upside-down. "That's pretty boring."

"Like you have any right to talk!" Fiona shot to her feet and swung at him.

Marshall chuckled as he easily evaded her punch. "Whoa! No need to get feisty, doll face."

Folding her arms, she turned away in a huff. "Whatever. Sometimes I don't get you."

"What d'ya mean?" He hovered closer.

"I get that you flirt with me and it's funny and junk, but it just messes with my head!" She glared at him, growling in frustration. "I mean, come on! Why do you call me 'doll face' and stuff like that?"

Marshall snatched her chin and tilted her head up so she was staring at him. He grinned. "Isn't it obvious? Glob, Fiona, you're like the densest girl I ever met."

Fiona blushed. She smacked his hand away. "Yeah?! What's that supposed to mean?"

He shrugged. "It means what it means." Marshall glanced out the window. It was a little past midnight. Fiona and Cake had been over for a while. No doubt they'd want to get home and sleep soon. "Anyway, thanks for helping me record." He unplugged his bass.

"No problem. Call me whenever you wanna record anything."

Cake hopped to her feet. "We like hearing you play. And boy, you can be sure I won't pass up opportunities like that!"

He laughed. "Cool. I'll keep that in mind."

Fiona packed her stuff in her backpack and slung it over her shoulder. She and Cake started for the door.

"Hey, wait," Marshall said suddenly.

Fiona turned around. He tossed something pink at her. She caught it clumsily. It was sticky.

"You almost forgot that," he said.

She glanced down. It was a lock of Prince Gumball's hair. She had kept it when he gave it to her ages ago. Fiona's face turned a deep shade of red. Chuckling, Marshall floated closer. He tilted her chin up.

"Your face just turned a delicious shade of red." He grinned mischievously. "Makes me wanna lick it clean."

Her heart pounded faster. She smacked his hand away and shoved him back. "S-sorry, I gotta go!" she stammered. She slammed the door behind her. Her heart was pounding faster than she had ever thought possible. That had been quite a shock! She and Marshall were good friends, but he had never acted like that before. What was with him?

"Oooooh! Girl, I think Marshall likes you!" Cake whispered.

"W-what?! No way! I mean…yeah, he likes me. We're friends! But he doesn't like like me."

"Shut up! He's totally into you!" Cake smirked. "When have I ever been wrong about this?"

"You were wrong about Gumball…" she muttered bitterly.

"Well you can't win them all," Cake huffed. "But trust me! He totally likes you."

"Whatever…." Fiona trudged toward the entrance of the cave. Stuff like crushes and liking people was something she didn't want to think about. Especially after the fiasco with Prince Gumball. But for some reason, she couldn't shake the feeling that maybe Cake was right.

V* V* V* V* V* V* V* V* V* V* V* V* V* V*

Late that same evening, in the Ice Kingdom, Ice Queen poured over her ancient books. She was determined to find a way to get rid of Fiona. That stupid tomboy had gotten in her way with the princes one time too many. And she was determined to fix the problem. She was researching the "other dimensions" theories again.

"Just you wait, tomboy," she muttered to herself. I'll find away to get rid of you once and for all! Just you wait."

Chapter 11 should be up on Monday!