Fionna sat in a chair in Prince Gumball's science lab, leaning forward on the counter in front of her, her chin resting on her crossed arms and sighed. Cake was back at the treehouse, probably asleep by now, it was getting fairly late. Gumball had invited her over, as he frequently did, simply to have someone to ramble to about his science-y crap. It was so boring and she rarely understood much of what he would talk about. The only reason she put up with it was that she had liked him for a long time. She'd secretly had a crush on the candy prince for as long as she'd known him. But she'd never had the guts to tell him.

"...Fionna...Fionna, are you listening?"

She shook off her thoughts and looked at Gumball. "Oh, sorry, man, I'm just tired. What were you talkin' about?"

Gumball gave a slightly annoyed sigh and shrugged "Don't worry about it I guess. If you're tired, you can go ahead and head home." He offered.

Fionna nodded, getting up from her chair, pushing it in, and slinging her green backpack over her shoulder. She thought to herself a moment, she was tired of this, so much time sitting here stupidly wondering if he liked her when she could have been doing more important things. She decided to just woman up and ask him. "Hey Gumball..."

"Yeah, Fionna?" He replied, looking at her with a slight tilt of his head at her nervous tone.

"What...What do you think of me?" She stammered out finally, her eyes downcast.

Gumball looked at her confused. "What do you mean?"

Fionna gave a frustrated groan and balled up her fists "I mean do you like me, as more than a friend?" She rose her voice slightly in aggiataion.

"Oh...um...I'm sorry, Fi, you're a very dear friend to me, but no. That's what's been on your mind? You've seemed so lost in thought around me lately." Gumball explained calmly, giving a chuckle, an apologetic look on his face.

Fionna stood a moment in silence, his words sinking into her, she felt a combination of anger, despair and defeat. She screwed her eyes shut and turned from him, her nails digging into her palms as she started to walk our of the room. It was everything she could do not to start bawling right then and there.

"Fionna...?" Gumball called out.

"Forget it, I'm going home!" She yelled back, not waiting to hear a reply before she raced out of his castle. She waited until she was out of the castle garden and on the path home to let the tears she'd been holding in finally escape. They trickled down her cheeks as she let out a few heaving sobs, crossing her arms over her chest, as she attempted to hold herself together. All that time she wasted on trying to get him to notice her when he never would. She was so angry at herself for being so foolish.

She began walking the path through the dense woods that lay between her home and the candy castle. There was no moonlight to light her way, as there was dense clouds blocking out the moon and she heard thunder rumble, not far off. "Glob. It's gonna rain. Just what I need right now." She thought sarcastically, wet tears still streaming down her face, and picked up the pace a bit.

She was so lost in thought she hadn't noticed the rustling behind her, she started and fell back as a large jet black wolf leapt out of the bushes and stalked towards her. It gave a low growl, saliva dripping from it's canines as it eyed her hungrily. Fionna reached for her sword, but to her dismay, her hand gripped air.

The wolf tensed and lunged at her, it's claws scraping her skin and it's sharp teeth locking on her arm. Fionna howled in pain and balled up the fist that wasn't being gripped by the wolf's jaws and with all her strength, punched it in the face. It let go of her arm with a yipe, backing up, a furious growl ripping from it's throat. Fionna frantically dug through her bag, hoping to find anytihng she could use to get rid of the wolf. Her hand stopped at a box of matches. Perfect.

She pulled them out, grabbing a nearby dry stick and with a flick, brought a match to life and lighting the end of the large peice of wood. It blazed and she waved it at the wolf. To her relief, it wimpered at the flame and turned to flee.

Fionna got up and heaved a sigh, blood dripped from the bite wound the wolf had inflicted but it wasn't as serious as she'd anticipated. This day was the worst. Just then it started to finally sprinkle rain, great. "What the GLOB!" She growled frustratedly, heaving another sob. She kept the flame stick with her for protection as she went until the rain put it out with a fizzle.

She made her way out of the forest, but by now it was pouring rain. Fionna was soaked to the bone and freezing. She saw that the cave Marshall Lee lived in was nearby and headed for it. She was going to catch a cold or worse if she kept trying to trek the rest of the way home in this storm. Once inside she shivvered, the cave was colder than outside but at least it wasn't raining on her anymore. She walked up to his neat little house and knocked on the wooden door, hoping he was home. It was really late at night after all, and being a vampire, he was nocturnal for the most part.

The door began to creak open and she thanked glob he was indeed home. He stood before her in a band t-shirt and boxer shorts. Apparently he hadn't left home that night. He smirked, his fangs showing as he saw who it was at his door. The girl he'd liked for quite some time, though she always seemed to put of his advances. "To what do I owe this pleasant surprise, Fi. Finally ready to confess your love to me." He then really looked at her.

"You've looked better." Marshall quipped smartly. Though a look of concern softened his features as he took in her worse for wear state. Had she been crying? He thought to himself.

"Shut up, Marshall. Can I come in, please? It's pouring out there." She said quietly, still shivvering against the cold, another sob almost escaping her.

He opened the door wide in an inviting gesture, "What the glob happened to you, are you okay? How badly are you hurt?" He said gesturing to the scratches and bite marks. "And why does it look like you've been crying?" He asked all at once, once she was inside.

Fionna was hoping the rain would have washed away the look of crying from her face but apparently Marshall could tell. She sighed having forgotten about the bites and scratches besides the slight sting they still gave off when she touched them, maybe talking about it would make her feel better. But with Marshall Lee, she wasn't sure. He might just make fun of her in his usal smart alec way. "Um...You'll probably just laugh at me...But I told Gumball I had feelings for him and he just laughed it off and told me no. Then I stormed out. On my way this way a wolf attacked me and I didn't have my sword, but scared it away with fire. Thank glob I had matches. Then it started pouring, and here I am...And I'm fine. The bite's not serious..." She finished, looking down at the floor in embarassment, waiting for him to laugh at her.

But no laughter came. Fionna looked up to surprisingly see Marshall with his hands balled up into fists, an enraged look on his face. "That gumwad! I'm going to-" He stopped mid sentence. He wasn't sure what he was going to do to Gumball for rejecting Fionna and making her cry, not to mention her trying to walk home in a storm and getting attacked by an animal because of the stupid pink prince. But he was going to do something about it. Later. When she wasn't around to do anything to stop him.

Fionna was surprised at his reaction. She found herself holding her hands up and trying to calm him down now. "Don't worry about it Marshall, it's my fault I guess. I shouldn't have assumed he felt the same for so long, and I shouldn't have stormed out of there upset like I did. It was stupid of me." She said, a defeated tone in her voice.

Marshall shook himself from his thoughts as he looked at the adventuress again, she was still soaked and shivvering, water dripped from her into the wooden floor of his living room. "Why don't you go take a hot shower and warm up, you look like you're freezing. I can dry your clothes for you." He offered. He was determined to cheer her up a bit before she left.

Fionna nodded slowly, but then eyed him suspiciously. "You're not gonna try to be a perv are you?"

(Chapter 1 end)