Chapter 22: you hurt me I'll hurt you

Marshall woke up on his couch confused and achy. His muscles were sore, and he could feel exhaustion still clinging to his body. It took him a moment to process why he was on his couch and not in his bed. He never slept on his couch, it was too rickety and stiff. The room was dim, and it seemed lonelier than usual. He groaned and checked his phone for the time. It was barely eight o'clock, but he knew he wouldn't be able to fall asleep again. So instead he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. His mind was still trying to rake up the memories from the previous night but all he could remember was dozing off on the couch and having the craziest sexiest dream imaginable…unless.

"Fuck," he cursed and looked in to the trash can next to his couch. As he suspected, a used and tied off condom sat on top of a pile of crumpled up papers. He groaned again and smacked his forehead. How was he so easily seduced? It's no secret he likes the way she looks, but there had to be more. He only remembered having one beer last night, and she was completely hammered. Marshall sat back and sunk in to his cushions as he wrapped his arms around himself. It was times like these he wished he invested in some throw pillows to hug. He just wanted to sink deeper in to his couch and disappear forever.

The young artist sat there for a good fifteen minutes when he realized his face was wet. He reached up to touch his face and felt tears falling down his cheeks. It was a mystery to him why he was crying, but once he knew it he hated it. He glared at the wetness on his fingers and furiously wiped the rest off his face. There's no reason for him to cry. He has every right to be angry, but he doesn't cry. Marshall never cries. He can't remember the last time he cried. It was probably after his aunts funeral by himself, but that was when he was ten years old.

"What the hell," he growled and got up to take a shower. He hated himself.

Cake was worried. Fionna stopped texting her after she got off of work, and she hasn't answered her calls all morning. Last night she checked her apartment, but she wasn't there. She did her best to get some sleep and then rushed to Fionna's shoppe once she knew it would be open, yet the blond was no where in sight. Cake cursed and pounded on the door once, making the bell scream inside and startle her. She crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out at the contraption before turning around and leaning her back on the door. The black beauty sighed and rested her head against the door as well, looking at the sky with a frown glued to her lips. She felt so helpless.

She knew Fionna was particular about her emotions, but she had no idea how hard it would be once they got out of controls. She spent every day the past week visiting her and chatting with her on the phone. Most of the times it felt like everything was back to normal, but then she would accidentally mention Marshall. Fionna never talked about him, and Cake knew she was trying to avoid him. The thing was she never got mad at her. Instead she would laugh it off and change the topic. She was yet to witness her friend breakdown…something told her it was very-

"Cake?"

-soon…

"Hmm?" She looked over and spotted Marshall with his keys out in front of his store. He was waiting for her to reply.

"Oh! Hey Marshall." She peeled herself from Fionna's shoppe door and bounced her way over to the familiar tattooist. She took a moment to notice his disheveled appearance. He looked tired as shit, and his tee shirt and shorts looked as if he had given up for the day. He was unlocking his store as he looked up at her.

"Hey, Cake. What's up?" He asked with a smile. It was obviously forced.

"Um, I was just looking for Fionna," she told him. He tensed up at the sound of her name and opened the door for her.

"I doubt she would be working today," he muttered and opened the door wider for Cake. "Come on in, let's chat," he invited. Cake nodded and hopped in to his spacious parlor. He shut the door behind him and flicked the lights on despite the sun shining through the windows.

"Don't like the sunlight?" She asked.

"Nah, it's too easy to make shadows and it disrupts my work," he said. She nodded. It made sense to her.

"Plus, the colors are different in daylight and artificial light. If it looks good in a studio, it'll most likely look good any-"

"Why isn't Fionna coming in to work today?" Cake interrupted. Marshall paused, trying to take in her question without going crazy. He wasn't normally a sensitive guy, but for some reason this was hard. He did his best to maintain eye contact as he took a deep breath.

"She…she doesn't work today," he lied.

"She takes Saturday's off and it's Thursday," she told him. He laughed nervously.

"Is it? Fuck, I'm losing track of time. I thought it was Saturday."

It was obvious he was hiding something, but it wasn't until now that Cake noticed his eyes. They were tired, red, and puffy. She could tell by the way they looked so lifeless and exhausted that he had been crying. Instantly her heart hurt.

"Marshall, were you…crying earlier?" She asked. Her question made his fake smile fade, but he did his best to bring it back.

"What? No way, I just had something in my eye earlier," he tried his best to laugh it off as he made his way to the cash register and started organizing it. "I haven't cried in like 16 years, so no I wasn't crying."

Cake followed him and folded her arms as she gave him a serious look.

"Marshall, don't lie to me. What happened?" She demanded to know. He shook his head, biting his lip as he counted through the register.

"Nothing happened, I dunno why you think something happened," he continued. He was only fooling himself.

"I know you're lying," she told him. He looked up at her.

"I'm not-"

"Marshall," she interrupted. "You're crying right now," she informed him. He reached up and touched his face and felt the same wetness he felt this morning. He instantly tugged on his teeshirt and wiped the slow tears from his face as he sniffled.

"I'm fine," he said quietly.

"What happened," Cake insisted. She starred at him and waited for him to look up at her. The look on his face was a mixture of anguish and desperation. Desperation for her to drop it, and for his tear ducts to be removed immediately. When he finally did look up at her he hesitated, but spoke quickly afterwards.

"Fionna…she came over last night," he finally told her. Cake blinked.

"What happened?"

"S-she was…drunk. She was vey drunk…a-and I remember I had one drink before she came. But…sh…she was so drunk…" he paused to take a few deep breaths and clear his throat. "She didn't tell me why she was there, all she said was she took a cab. A-and…she was smiling…and she looked at me like I was the only thing that could make her happy." Marshall paused once more and noticed more tear drops on the cash register. He cleaned them off and wiped them away, sniffling once more. Cake place a hand on his shoulder.

"What did she do?" She questioned softly, using a lot more sympathy in her voice than before.

"She started to kiss me, a-and I didn't even realize how long we were at it…I knew I…we. I knew we shouldn't have done it, but it was like things were back to normal in a weird way," he spoke softly and bit his lip. "She slept with me…but she didn't stay the night. She, um…she left right after," he muttered and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Like…right afterwards?" Cake asked. He nodded.

"I asked her to stay…all she said was sorry," he said, his voice a lot stronger than before after he took a moment to collect himself.

"What else did she say that stood out to you?"

"She said that she missed me, and that she hadn't thought of me all week but she did tonight and she couldn't stop…other than that just a bunch of nonsense."

"God, she's a mess," Cake grumbled and wiped away some wetness from his face.

"You should probably check on her at her apartment…I have a feeling she's not taking this well," he suggested. Cake nodded and wrapped her arms around his waist to hug him. He chuckled and left his arms at his sides.

"I appreciate it, but I don't really need a hug right now-"

"Who said it was for you?" She muffled in to his chest as she hugged him. He smiled and returned her embrace, feeling a trace of wetness soak in to his teeshirt.

"I'm sorry she did that…I had no idea," she whispered.

"Don't worry, it's not your job to control her. She's responsible for her own actions, and she's probably regretting it," he assured her as she pulled back. Cake nodded.

"I'll talk to you later, but for now I'm gonna head to her apartment," she said.

"Okay," he replied.

"Do you want me to tell her anything for you?" Cake asked. Marshall sighed and ran his hand through his hair again. It took him a moment before shaking his head and turning back to his cash register.

"No…"