After the passage of several years, Bubba's learned to cope with losing his closest friend. In fact, after only 7 months he completely forgot his voice, and only after 7 years, he almost forgot how he looked. He vaguely remembered the shaggy black hair and his pale complexion, and how he wrote with his left instead of his right, but beyond that, he couldn't remember a thing.

He supposed it wasn't all that bad, he had other friends, like Fionna for example who was a year younger than him and about to enter her second year of high school, and he even tried being friends with Brendon again for awhile. But even 7 years later, he couldn't help but miss Marshall, and couldn't help but wonder where he went. He didn't know why Marshall had to leave so early that morning, or why he never heard from him or his mother again. He even tried visiting the apartment and knocked on the door to find an elderly couple confused as to why such a young boy was there. He remembered feeling betrayed and abandoned, and was even angry for awhile.

But as life goes on, so does he, and at this moment, he was scrambling to get out of the door on time. "Mom, where are my socks?" He shouted from his room, pulling his jeans on while simultaneously looking for his reading glasses. "I don't know, wherever you set them last!" She shouted back, the loud sound of a plate shattering followed by a string of curses. He sighed, this not being anything new, and after a minute or two, found both his reading glasses and his impeccably clean socks. He shoved them on, shortly followed by a pair of converse, and afterwards grabbed his backpack and ran to the living room.

His mother smiled at him and handed him his lunch, to which he blushed and muttered a 'thank you' before stuffing it into his backpack. She smiled and nodded, before following him out to the car, locking the door behind her. Once they got inside the car, she asked, "So, are you excited to start 11th grade?" The engine shuttered and they lurched forward as they entered the deserted street. "Sort of...I have to take many more AP classes this year though, so I'm kind of scared." He said, feeling nervous enough already that he had to take trigonometry and that he had to retake P.E. She smiled at him and patted his shoulder, "Sweetie, you'll do fine."

The rest of the drive was in silence, as the rusty car rumbled quietly along the streets to A.A.A. High School. But once they got there, Bubba heard subdued talking and saw a small parking lot for student drivers behind a open-gated section. He almost wanted to smile, realizing there'll be only two more years of seeing this left. After a moment, he turned back around to his mom, and gave her a kiss on the cheek and waved before grabbing his backpack and getting out.

Already he saw several people he recognized, but only a few of them he talked to, one of them being his beloved friend Fionna. "Hey! Fionna!" He shouted, waving his hand wildly. She spun around and practically ran into him, giving him an overbearing hug. When she pulled away, she asked, "Hey Bubba! It's been so long! How was your summer?" He smiled, reminding himself he's so lucky to have her as a friend, and said, "It was pretty good actually! I volunteered a little bit and went to some college thing to get you prepared for it. My mom was overprotective as usual. How was your summer?"

She went on and on about how she found this perfect guy and called him her 'Flame Prince' because of his vibrant orange hair and his vivid complexion and how she talked to him, and found out he actually goes to this school. She continued describing what they did and how she's 95% sure he likes her as they walked to their lockers together, saying hi to a couple of people along the way. By the time they actually reached their locker, Fionna was now talking about how they totally exchanged numbers and that he was way hotter than any of the guys Bubba ever liked. "Hey, don't mention that!" He huffed, hitting her shoulder.

As they began opening their lockers, Bubba noticed a few lockers away some guy in a hoodie with shades on that was looking his way. When they both looked at each other, the hooded guy quickly looked away, and Bubba wondered why he even had shades on. Then he probably figured he was a stoner or something. Stoners always wore shades. Not that he knew what every stoner wore, but he knew from enough experience to figure that it was okay to assume this guy was one.

"Hey Bubba, you okay? You seem kinda out of it." Fionna asked, slamming her locker behind her, as they began walking to their first class which happened to be the only class they shared together. "Oh! Yeah, sorry, I was zoning out," He laughed sheepishly. She smiled and then began resuming her topic of this 'Flame Prince' she was probably overhyping. Bubba couldn't help but laugh, normally Fionna was so level headed and so mellow, but he knew from years of experience, that whenever she falls for someone, she can't stop gushing about them. It didn't bother him really, he found it kind of sweet actually. He hoped that her claims about him liking her back were true because he'd honestly be really lucky to date such a kind-hearted girl.

Once they reached their first class, which happened to be U.S. History, they took seats next to each other, and sat near the front, where Bubba liked to sit the best. As the final bell rung and the teacher began introducing himself, a few students rushed in, the last one being that one with the sunglasses from a few minutes ago, who seemed to be staring straight at Bubba. Bubba blushed under his presumably direct stare, and noticed how he had unkempt black hair hidden beneath the hood. Bubba wanted to say he almost looked familiar, but he couldn't place who it was.

Noticing this, the teacher looked at them and said, "Now this isn't the time for staring contests, and please take off your sunglasses and hoodie." Bubba blushed again and looked elsewhere, kind of annoyed that the teacher would say they were having a 'staring contest'. He was already outed as gay, twice, and he didn't want anymore people making fun of him for it either. But he couldn't help but notice the guy took a seat next to him, setting his sunglasses aside and putting his hoody down, revealing a shaggy head of hair and piercing red eyes. Were they contacts? Also why did he look so familiar?

Fionna nudged him and whispered, "Already have a crush on the new kid huh?" Bubba's neck snapped towards her so fast he almost got whiplash, and hissed, "Shut up Fionna," not before giving her a good glare that sent her into a fit of giggles. But she quieted down when the teacher announced that he was doing roll call. Everyone went silent except for a few mutters here and there, and the first name the teacher shouted out was, "Marshall Lee Abadeer," which basically made Bubba freeze in his seat.

He turned his head around to look at the guy next to him, and saw him raise his hand and shout, "Here!" This guy, or should he say, Marshall Lee, who just so happened to have disappeared of the face of the planet for 7 years, was now sitting next to him in his History class, looking nonchalant and hot as shit. He knew he shouldn't be staring, since this guy used to be his best friend, but how he could he not? He was pretty much any emo girls wet dream, and he for some stupid reason that makes Bubba feel only slightly sexually frustrated, had the first two buttons of his shirt down. But deciding he did not want to be called a "fag" or a "twink" for probably the millionth time in his life, he turned back towards the teacher, and awaited his turn to shout, 'Here'.

After roll call was over, there was about five minutes of time to talk and Bubba turned to Fionna, and poked her. "Yeah?" She asked, eyebrows raised. "Fionna," He whispered, his eyes wide and his body tense, "That guy next me used to be my best friend in elementary school." She looked next to him carefully and noticed he was doodling on his notebook, and noticed how he was a little more attractive than the average student. She turned her head back to Bubba, and gave two thumbs up. "You should be friends with him again," She whispered, glancing back his way. He was about to say something when he felt a poke on his arm, coming from Marshall (still felt so foreign for Bubba to even think of that name).

He froze and turned around, and asked, "What?" He stared at Marshall's finger like it was a dagger, and Marshall said, "You know, I can hear everything you guys are saying." There was a moment of painfully awkward silence, before Marshalls mouth split into a grin and said, "You don't have to whisper behind your back about me Bubba, I'll be your friend again." Bubba nodded, unsure what to say, staring at Marshall, wondering if this was the real deal. "So," Bubba began. "So..." Marshall said after, trying to fill up the awkward space.

"Why have you been gone so long? I mean you sort of just...disappeared." Bubba nervously asked, picking at a string on his shirt. "No reason, we...just had to move. I had a medical condition for awhile, but it's under control now." Marshall said easily, beginning to draw on his hand. "Oh...what kind of medical condition?" Bubba began to wonder if that was the reason his skin looked so grey and he looked so tired. "Nothing really, just some stupid issue." Marshall said again, this time sighing, obviously cutting off the topic.

In that moment as the teacher called them to their attention again, Bubba began to wonder if he and Marshall could actually be friends again. Marshall seemed snappier than he used to be, but he himself could be stubborn so he supposed it was fine. He also kind of hoped whatever stupid little crush he's developing on Marshall will go away, because well...it was hopeless anyways right? Marshall was probably straight just like every guy Bubba has ever liked so it's not like Marshall would be any different. But, he figured until Marshall started buttoning his shirt all the way up, he was probably going to keep liking him. Bubba, with a sigh, slumped over his desk, and realized this was going to be a frustrating year.

A/N

Thank you all a ton for pointing out what I needed to fix and if you still notice more things that need correction please don't be afraid to comment and correct or ask :) I love you all and thank you a ton!