MMH: edited 10/14/14. Favorite if you love it. Review no matter what. I'm serious... yo.

'Daddy? Where are you Daddy?' My little feet pattered across the wooden floor towards a light I saw in the living room. The floorboards creaked slightly at my weight and I stopped at the door. My footie pajamas had managed to keep a little of the cold away, but I soon found myself shivering. I never liked being out of bed when it was past my bedtime. Night was dark and dark was scary.

'Fionna is that you? Stay outside, sweetie. Don't come in.' I ignored my mother's request and poked my head into the living room. My father was lying on the couch with my mother and Cake looking over him. It wasn't till they turned around that I saw the pained look on my father's face. Bite marks were all across his fur and there was a long, deep wound down his stomach. His intestines were spilling out and the room was thick with the smell of blood.

'Why is Daddy bleeding?'

He wasn't just bleeding. He was literally gushing.

I was starting to get dizzy and began to cry.

'Cake! Keep Fionna away while I try to help your father.' A pair of soft paws scooped me up and swept me back to my room. She sat down in the rocking chair near my bed and gently swayed back and forth with me in her lap.

'Cake why was Daddy bleeding?' She didn't say anything for a little while and I thought she might not have heard me. She seemed far too distracted. I was about to ask again when Cake said something.

'Vampires attacked him.'

'Vam-pie-uhs?' That was a word I had never heard before. I didn't like the word; it sounded mean.

'Yes, Fionna. They're monsters who will kill anyone and anything without a second thought.' Cake's jaw quivered slightly and wiped a tear from her eye. She was starting to scare me.

'Cake, you're scaring me.'

'Fi, I'm just protecting you. I don't want you hurt by one of those monsters like Dad is.' Cake had never spoken like this before. Normally we'd talk about sweets or adventuring, but it had never occurred to me that Cake was scared of stuff just like I was.

We heard my mother scream from the living room followed by a loud thumping noise. Cake placed me down and ran towards the commotion in the living room. I toddled as quickly as I could after her. I went to the doorway and saw the corpses of my mother and father lying on the floor with a horrid man staring over them. Blood was splattered all across the room and it dripped down the walls. The contorted faces of my parents were frozen in heart-breaking terror.

Cake was limp in the monster's arms and little droplets of blood fell from the gash in her neck. She wasn't moving. I tried to run but it felt like my feet were glued to the floor. A little whimper escaped my lips and the monster turned to me suddenly with terrifying red eyes and a chilling grin. He looked familiar, but I just couldn't put my finger on it.

'Well, well, well. What big eyes you have…' he cooed. The figure bent down to get a better look at my face as he twirled Cake's tail around his fingers playfully.

'Keep away from me.' Though I was only three, I was quite brave. I was also quite stupid.

'Why Fionna? You're just a little human. You can't do anything to me.' That threw me off.

'H-how do you know my name?' The monster grew a smirk that I definitely recognized. Where did I know him from? He dropped Cake's lifeless body and slithered inches from me. I watched in horror as he stood towering over me.

'Because I'm Marshall Lee the Vampire King.'

I jolted awake with sweat pouring from my body. I hadn't had a nightmare in years. I took a deep breath and tried to compose myself. My parents were still alive. In fact, they lived in a little cottage on the far side of the Shiny Isles. I wasn't a little child anymore. I was sixteen.

There was no reason for me to be afraid. I looked over and nearly leapt out of bed when I saw Marshall's sleeping form. My body was on the edge of my bed and I was tempted to scream for help.

Marshall... Marshall was the one who attacked my dad.

He's the monster in my dreams.

After a brief moment, I calmed down a little and leaned in closer to him. Marshall looked so peaceful. He was still wearing what he was wearing yesterday; a black and red striped shirt with grey sweatpants. His lips were barely parted and he was mumbling something incoherently. I saw his nose twitch a little bit as he reached out absent-mindedly in my direction. I cautiously crawled a little closer to him and felt his arms wrap around me, pulling me towards him. He sniffed my hair and felt him grin against my forehead.

Marshall is not a monster. He's different now. He loves me.

I paused at that thought. He loves me. He said so last night. He loves me. I would have been content with that thought, if another hadn't popped into my head. Why are you thinking about Marshall Lee? You're best friend GUMBALL is minutes away from death and you're all cuddled up ready to ride off into the sunset with this guy.

Memories from last night bubbled up from my mind and practically punched me in the face. I thought about that bitch nurse, I thought about Marshall coming to comfort me, I thought about Gumball.

I hadn't realized I was even crying until Marshall wiped a tear from my cheek.

"Fi, it's not your fault." He murmured. I looked up to see his eyes were still closed. He continued to rub my cheek lovingly even though the tear was long gone.

"Yes it is."

"Why would you say that?"

"I… I wasn't there to protect him." I blushed at my pathetic excuse and Marshall opened his eyes.

"Fi, you couldn't have known."

"But I should have." I turned over and flung my legs out of bed before walked to my mirror. I looked gross. I wasn't wearing my hat, so my long, blonde hair was going in every direction. My nose was pink from crying and my shirt was covered in dirt and tears. Though I couldn't see his reflection in my mirror, I heard Marshall walk towards me and felt him put a hand on my shoulder.

"You're expecting too much from yourself, babe. You're only human." My mind flashed back to what was said at the Grand Meeting of Ooo Royalty and what the nurse had said the night before as well as the nightmare I had just had. I'm just a human.

"So you're saying if I weren't human I could've protected him?"

"What?" He sounded shocked that I could even think such a thing. When I didn't say anything Marshall turned me around. "Fi, look at me." I looked down trying to avoid his gaze so repeated himself a little more forcefully. "I said look at me."

As if I were under a spell, I felt my head being lifted and I looked directly into Marshall's eyes.

"There is nothing wrong with you being human. Hell, if I had the chance I would become human in a heartbeat. You should be happy that Gumball is alive. You can't beat yourself up about something you can't control. It isn't fair or healthy. Am I clear?" he said. I nodded my head and Marshall smiled. "Good."

It was sort of funny how Marshall could make me feel better without really even trying. Was that a vampire power or was that just him? I let out a small smile and hugged him. I nuzzled my face into his chest and took a deep breath. For being dead and all, he sure did smell good.

Like cinnamon…

We stayed like that for a moment just content to be with each other. Before I knew what was happening, I was lying on my bed with Marshall on top of me tickling my ribs.

"Marshall! M-Marshall stop!" I couldn't stop giggling and Marshall was laughing along with me.

"Nope! You need cheering up and this is the easiest way."

"Mar-Marshall pleas-se stop it!"
"Alright, on one condition."

"A-anything!" I cried. His fingers stopped tickling my rib and he looked at me with all seriousness.

"Go take a shower. You're covered in dirt and tears and it's gross."

I shoved him and he rolled off onto the bed beside me with a large grin on his face. Jerk, it's rude to tell a girl she looks gross even if it's true.

"Fine just don't peek at me." I said and stood up.

"No promises."

"Just play you're bass or whatever. You left it here last time." I grabbed some clean clothes and walked to the bathroom to shower.

"Fine, I'm going to serenade you with a long song," Marshall said from my room as he began to play his bass.

"Weirdo." I closed the bathroom door and began to undress. There was something about Marshall being in the other room while I was naked that made me feel… weird.

A boy is in my room.

Alone.

I quickly finished my shower and changed into my clothes. Instead of my normal clothes I simply wore some jean shorts and a blue button-down shirt. I started brushing my hair while listening to Marshall play from my room. I hadn't really noticed until now; Marshall was pretty good.

Well, I suppose he's had a while to practice.

I finished up and walked back to Marshall. I stood in the doorway and just listened to him for a while. I hadn't heard it from the bathroom, but it turns out he was singing while playing his bass.

"..The way you look tonight, silhouetted, I'll never forget it. Oh, oh Fionna…" My cheeks started to burn and my eyes got wide. He's singing about me? That's so… romantic.

He did say he was going to sing me a love song, but I didn't think he'd actually do it. I watched until he stopped singing and put down his bass. Just as he put it into the corner next to my bed, he stood up and sniffed the air.

"Mmmm strawberries…" Marshall turned towards me and I smiled.

"Uh, yeah. It's my favorite shampoo."

"Good. I like it too." We stood there smiling at each other until I noticed something was off, quite literally.

"Have you seen my hat?" I asked.

Marshall's smile quickly fell into a playful pout. "You aren't going to put it on, are you?"

I rolled my eyes and began to search for it all around my room. It must be here somewhere. I was wearing it when I went to bed, but I didn't wake up with it on.

"Well yeah. I feel naked without it." I looked behind my dresser and behind my bed, but I still couldn't find it.

"If only you really were," He whispered. I spun around to face Marshall and started blushing again.

Damn blood! Stop rushing to my face!

I looked away from his smirking face just as quickly as I had turned to it and saw my hat on the floor next to him. "Oh, there it is."

In the blink of an eye, I was flat on the floor with Marshall straddling me wearing my rabbit hat. His black bangs peeked out through my hat and he wore a giant grin on his face.

Oh my glob, so hot.

"You should really stop using your super-speed. It's not fair. Now give me my hat back," I said and reached for my hat, but he jerked his head away.

"I don't want you to wear it. If you do, I can't smell your hair."

"But my hair gets in the way of adventuring."

"Too bad. It's my hat now and you can't have it. Where is that cat-thing anyways?" he said changing the subject. I hadn't even thought about my feline friend until Marshall mentioned her.

"Cake? I dunno, I thought she was supposed to be back by now."

As if by magic, Cake burst through my bedroom door with a banana in hand after I finished that sentence. I was mortified. My sister just walked in to see a boy on top of me. A vampire boy.

"Get. Out." She hissed.

"I don't have my umbrella." Marshall said grinning still on top of me. I tried to push him off, but he wouldn't budge.

"And you think I care?"

"Cake, we can't just toss him outside. He'll be toasted." I tried reasoning with her, but she just continued to glare at him.

"Good. How can you trust him so willingly? He was the monster who almost destroyed our family."

"For the last time, Marshall isn't a monster." I glared at my sister and she glared right back. Marshall watched amusedly from the sidelines as my sister and I had a battle of glaring.

"Fine you can trust him if you want," she started, "but I do not want him here all alone when we go see Gumball."

"He won't be alone. He's got BMO."

"You know what I mean, Fi."

"He's not leaving, Cake." We started glaring at each other again until she let out an aggravated sigh.

"Fine but he better not touch my catnip!" Cake slipped out of the room keeping an eye on the two of us. I laughed. She always gave in during glaring contests first.

"You're going to see Gumball today?" Marshall said.

Did I detect a hint of jealousy?

"Yeah, I would hate myself if he woke up and I wasn't there for him."

"Maybe when Gumball wakes up, he'll be able to remember what happened to him. I want to know exactly how he got hurt."

"What I want to know is what's going on with the Ice Queen. She was never this villainous before," Cake said re-entering the room after she found another place to hide her catnip.

It was true. Though the Ice Queen was considered my enemy, she hadn't really done anything truly evil until recently.

"She's got a point. We should go check it out after you guys get back from visiting Prince Pinky." Marshall thought aloud finally getting off of me. He handed me back my hat and I quickly put it on.

"No way, vampire boy. Fionna and I are goin'. You just stay here." Cake left, this time for real, and I turned towards Marshall to ask him something.

"Hey Marshall?"

"What's up?"

"While Cake and I go see Gumball, could you go to the Ice Kingdom and see if there's a penguin still there?" I felt bad for poor Gunter. I always had a soft spot for animals, even if they were on the "dark side". For all I knew, that penguin could still be there starving to death.

If he weren't already crushed under falling ice.

"Uh, sure. Why?"

"I just want to know that he's okay." Though that was true, I also had other intentions. Maybe if we could help Gunter, he could provide us information about why the Ice Queen had become evil so recently. I wouldn't hold my breath, though. Gunter certainly didn't seem willing to help last time.

"Sounds good but I don't have my umbrella, remember?" he asked. That did pose a problem, but I quickly resolved it.

"I have a parasol in my closet."

"Then what was with the whole fight with Cake about?"

"I just like bickering with her. She gets worked up so easily." Marshall smiled at my childish behavior.

"You're amazing, you know that?"

"Thanks, I try." I smiled and looked up at him just as he casually leaned down to kiss me. My first kiss. It was sweet. Not sloppy or lustful, just sweet. We separated from each other and I felt like I was on Cloud Nine of the Cloud Kingdom.

"Don't tell Cake I kissed you. She'll rip my face off," Marshall said in a hushed tone. I grinned and left the vampire in my room to head out for the Candy Kingdom.

A boy is in my room. Alone. Again.

Cake and I closed the front door and heard Marshall yell out in what sounded like disgust.

"FIONNA! I'M NOT CARRYING AROUND A PINK UMBRELLA!"