Chapter 16: fix me

It took a while for Fionna to calm down. Her body shook in Marshall's arms as he held her and pressed warm kisses to her face and neck. He whispered sweet nothings in her ear to settle her until she was finally able to speak again. With her face buried in Marshall's chest, she took steady deep breaths and fiddled with his collar between her fingers. She pulled away and rubbed at her tired eyes, her face expressing nothing but utter exhaustion. Marshall watched her yawn and stretch before slinking back down in to his lap before he heard her speak.

"Fuck, I'm so tired now. I dunno if I'll be able to do these challenges properly," she mumbled and started gathering her hair up in to a ponytail.

"You should definitely take a nap or something, that was…a lot for you to go through," he suggested.

"There's no where I could nap here, we're in a park for Christ's sake," she snarked. Marshall rolled his eyes and ran his hand down her shins.

"What am I? Chopped liver? No way, you can nap on me," he said. Fionna blushed.

"W-what? No way, you have faces to paint," she resisted.

"Fi, you're already wrapped up. I don't have to be painting the entire time, and I can wake you up after a couple of hours," he assured her.

"I-I dunno, Marshall, doesn't it seem a bit too soon to be that…intimate?" She questioned, keeping her voice low despite the fact that literally no one was listening to them. Marshall raised a questioning eyebrow. Did she really just ask that?

"Fionna, we literally just had se-"

"Shut up! Don't say that out loud!" She squeaked as turned red, pulling up the blanket to hide her face. Marshall had to fight how fucking adorable he found her to continue.

"Okay. We were very very intimate with each other not too long ago, and you think taking a nap on me is too soon?" He asked. Fionna peeked up at Marshall from under her blanket, her eyes barely able to stay hooked to his for five seconds at a time.

"Um…yeah, I am," she replied sheepishly.

Marshall chuckled and pulled the blanket from her face. She was nervously chewing on her lower lip as she waited for him to say or do something. Her simple and mundane habit had intrigued him, and he was stuck staring at her lips as she bit them and abused them. It made him want her again right then and there, but all he could do was stare at her. She noticed his gaze was stuck on her mouth, and could see the exact moment he started to doze off. His eyes became heavy and misty as he stared, and his own mouth curved in to a smirk.

Fionna had seen this look on him before, but only once. That morning she woke up in his apartment he wore the same lustful expression, and she secretly loved it. A few moments went by when he suddenly leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. She gasped as he stayed perched above her mouth and smiled like an idiot at her reaction. Her hands had found their way over his chest feeling his lungs and heart underneath his warm flannel. Before he moved any closer, Marshall hesitated and frowned.

"You know I'd never do anything like that, right?" He asked in a more serious tone. Fionna blinked up at him.

"I never thought he'd do it either," she told him. Marshall rested his forehead against hers.

"Fi, what he did to you…was terrible. It was completely and absolutely atrocious. No one in their right mind would be so unforgivably brutal to someone as wonderful as you," he whispered. Fionna did her best to take calm breaths as she cupped his face. Her fingers dug in to his thick, coarse, dark hair and pressed a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth.

"You're too sweet," she said and ran her fingers through his fringe. Marshall smirked, and held her closer to him.

"Nah, you just can't see how beautiful you are…" he replied and bit his lip. Fionna shook her head, continuing to be stubborn and softly tapping her head against his.

"Or maybe you have a really strong pair of affection glasses," she smiled as she found comfort in his hands. Marshall shook his head too and looked out to see that the clouds had parted.

"Listen, Fi, we could argue about this all day. As entertaining as that sounds, it's not on the top of my list of things I want to talk about," he murmured looking back down to her.

"What do you want to talk about?" She wondered. He paused.

"I know it's difficult for you, but I have to ask you to trust me. Trust that I never want to hurt you," he begged. Fionna nervously chewed on her lip again, and furrowed her brows. Marshall could tell his request was concerning and that she was distraught revisiting those memories, but he needed her to trust him.

"I…I-I dunno. I don't really know you that well," she mumbled.

"Then I'll get you to trust me, because right now I don't have a choice. I'm…in too deep with you," he stammered.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I don't usually have normal relationships. Mostly because I fall way too easily, but also because the past few years it's been hook ups and on-again-off-agains. I don't have a choice…because I'm dangerously close to possibly really really really really really really liking you," he explained. Fionna giggled.

"Do you only really like me right now?" She asked.

"Oh no, right now I really really like you. The more time I spend with you, the more I really like you. I only have four more really's before I'm all yours," he grinned. Again, Fionna giggled. Her smile made Marshall's heart melt as he reached to hold one of her hands. "Make that three."

"So what happens when you get to six really's?" She inquired. Marshall shrugged.

"Probably something crazy like ask you to be my girlfriend," he said. Fionna blushed and played with his fingers intertwining with her own.

"That is a bit crazy," she agreed. His fingers made hers look tiny in comparison, and easily wrapped around her smooth hand. He rubbed his thumb against the back of her hand, and noticed the blue polish chipping off her nails.

"I dunno, I think it's crazier how long you resisted me despite how much you obvious like me back," he teased. Fionna tried to glare at him, but couldn't resisted a smile.

"I didn't like you back ever, and I still don't," she claimed. Marshall laughed a hearty laugh, his voice strong yet light as he chortled at what she had said.

"Yeah right, I totally believe that."

"It's true. Did you think I've been hung up on you ever since that one night stand?" She challenged. His laugh calmed to a chuckle.

"Well it wasn't really a one night stand, was it? You couldn't even make it out the door with out one more go," he pointed out. Fionna rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Plus, you did just say you kinda like me not too long ago," he reminded her.

"Yeah, only a little bit," she said stubbornly. Marshall sighed and shook his head at her.

"Damn, you're so fucking difficult," he stated. Fionna frowned.

"Well, if you have a problem with that you can just stop trying right now," she told him sternly. Marshall smiled and leaned down to kiss her. He lingered against her lips as Fionna gripped his hand in hers. Instead of fighting, she instantly kissed him back.

"No. I have the opposite of a problem with that," he muttered.

"Shut the fuck up," Fionna sighed and pulled his face down to kiss him again, her lips working with his instead of against his as she had done before. Her tongue sneaked it's way against his as she controlled how he moved against her. Marshall did as she instructed with her body and held her legs and back as she messed him up with her tongue and stubby fingers.

"What the fuck is going on over here?" Shouted a familiar voice. Fionna instantly pushed Marshall's face from hers and looked over to see Cake coming up from the track and under their tent. She instantly sighed in relief and dropped her hands from the sides of Marshall's face.

"Oh thank god, I thought you were Peggy or someone important," she said. Cakes jaw dropped, and she looked insulted and made Fionna laugh.

"Girl, I am your best friend. Of course I'm someone important," she shouted again.

"I know that, don't worry," Fionna giggled and patted her friends hand.

"And you still haven't told me what the fuck is going on over here," Cake sassed and crossed her arms.

"Oh, nothing really…just chatting," Fionna lied with a grin.

"Mm-hmm? I didn't know you could chat with your fucking tongues down each others throats," she retorted. That made Marshall crack up and Fionna blush a shade deeper.

"Girl, get off him and explain your damn self," she ordered. Fionna sighed and tugged her blanket off of her before crawling out of Marshall's lap and stretching.

"I'll see you later," she said to him before following Cake to the track.

"See ya," he nodded and stood up to walk back to his face paints. Fionna hurried to catch up with her friend and felt completely out of place. Her head felt light and her eyes were heavy. She could barely pay attention when she realized Cake was talking.

"What happened? Last thing I heard you say was you didn't wanna try with him, and now I see you sucking his face? Weren't you shouting at him an hour and a half ago?" She demanded to know.

"Yeah, I know. I'm a little confused too," she responded. Cake stopped and looked back at her friend. Sunset was getting closer, and a bright orange made everything glow. Unfortunately, the glow didn't erase Fionna's tired, puffy eyes or her lazy posture she only had when she was exhausted.

"You okay? You look five minutes away from death," Cake asked. Fionna nodded and wiped the mascara smudges under her eye and looked at the black staining her fingertips.

"I'm fine, just tired," she answered.

"Oh shoot, Fi, were you crying?" Cake held her face to see her clearly.

"Yeah, but I'm fine now," she reassured her.

"Honey, what happened? Was it when you and Marshall were fighting?"

"No…he never fought with me. I snapped at him because…because he kissed me and I couldn't handle it," she informed her.

"He kissed you before that?" Cake was shocked. Fionna nodded.

"Yeah, and I was screaming and I was scared. Peggy said we couldn't participate in the challenges until I calmed down, and it was raining and I tripped…" she looked down at the small scrap on her shin and took a deep breath.

"Was is Conner again? Were you thinking about him again?" She questioned calmly.

"Yeah, and I-I got…I got really out of control," she continued. Cake pulled them out of the way of the other people walking the track.

"What did Conner make you do?" She asked quietly. Fionna shook her head.

"God, I'm tired of him. Conner didn't make me do anything, it's my fault. I haven't talked to him in years, can we just stop saying he made me act out whenever I think of him when I'm fucking up?" She begged. Cake rubbed her back and whispered of course.

"What did you do?" She rephrased.

"It was so stupid…he took me in to the bathrooms so we could get cleaned up from the rain. H-he was so kind, and I felt so bad for yelling at him. I wasn't even thinking when it was happening, but we…I…I had sex with him," she confessed.

"You had sex with him in the bathroom?" Cake nearly shouted. Fionna shushed her and begged her to keep her voice down.

"I'm sorry, but I never thought you would find a way to do that here!"

"I'm sorry, I-I just couldn't handle myself. I needed a distraction a-and he was right there," she tried to explain.

"Fi, I'm not mad. Even if I was, I'm your friend, not your mother. I'm just…wow, I'm surprised," she assured her.

"Me too…"

"Is that all? You guys just fucked and made up?"

"No…I told him about Conner," she told her.

"Oh my god…" Cake was speechless after that and gaping at her friend. She never told anyone about Conner, and when she did it was extremely hard for her. Whenever she even thinks about it she starts to tear up, and when she talks she cries.

"So he knows everything, and he wants me to trust that he would never do that and trust him and…he's too sweet," she said.

"Too sweet? Honey, he's not too sweet, you just can't admit that he's what you deserve."

"No, I don't deserve him at all…"