I Never Said You Had To Be Perfect

Chapter 2

Marshall went straight home and up to his room, playing his bass in hopes to rid his mind of the million thoughts racing in his mind. Images of Gumball and him sharing a kiss forced his eyes to fly open and his fingers freeze mid-strum. He gripped the neck of his bass tighter as he began to shake and with a sigh he put it away and turn off the lights before into a deep sleep.

It was 7 am, way too late by his timetable, when the vampire was awoken by loud knocking. With a groan he got up and peered out the window from behind the curtains, completely surprised to see Gumball just outside. Nausea and fear filled his body as he backed away from the window, a million thoughts racing through his mind. 'Gumball...what is he doing here?? Is he here to yell at me for breaking into his room last night? Is he going to tell me to leave him alone?'

Gumball waited patiently for Marshall, his hopes of seeing the vampire once again dwindling with each passing minute. At last deciding that Marshall wasn't coming he turned and left, an expression of sadness painting his face as Marshall watched.

Feeling guilt wash over him, with a sigh Marshall stood up to go bring Gumball back. He opened the door widely and noticed Gumball's distant figure about to call Morrow and leave. Using his vampire speed he caught up to the pink prince catching him off guard and making him stumble back into the mud.

Slapping a hand over his mouth, Marshall choked back a laugh a Gumball rubbed his head and groaned "...Marshall? I didn't think you were home." When Gumball looked closer he noticed that the vampire teen was shaking, with a grin plastered on his face, "You DINGUS! Are you LAUGHING?"

Unable to control himself any longer Marshall burst into laughter "You're just so- so graceful." Gumball could feel the annoyance and anger grow inside of him "Are you kidding me?? It's your FLIPPIN' FAULT I FELL!" Holding up his hands in defence Marshall chuckled and shrugged "You're right. You're right! Sorry. I just wanted to stop you before you called your bird." The pink prince rolled his eyes and said flatly "Well you succeeded," before taking Marshall's outstretched hand and standing up.

"Thank you" he muttered shyly a blush on his face as Marshall pointed out "You have some mud on your face Bubs." "Please don't call me that" the other male huffed trying in vain to wipe it off. "Did you want to come in? To uh clean up," Marshall offered getting a nod as a response.

As both males made their way back to his house Gumball cried out "oh wait! You...forgot this.." He picked up a wrapped package and handed it to the vampire who straight away took off the ribbons "What's thi-" He was cut off when he noticed his black jacket that he had uh 'discarded' during last night's visit. "I thought I should return it to you. I, uh..hope you don't mind that I washed it. Some chemicals were spilled on it."

A dark blush could be soon on both vampire and prince's face as Marshall smiled 'It smells like strawberries,' he thought to himself before clearing his throat "Hmph..thanks Bubs.."  When both of them had entered the house Marshall tossed the box onto his desk before noticing a bundle of white underneath it "I want you to meet someone."

With one swift motion he grabbed the white cat and held her out in front of him "This is schwabelle!"  Gumball smiled and bent over to pet the sweet creature as it purred and leaned into his touch "I didn't know you had a cat. What kind of cat is she?" Marshall watched on affectionately and replied "Schwash is a zombie cat."

With that simple comment, Gumball jumped back as though he had been stung "D-did you say zombie!? Isn't that dangerous" he stuttered fearfully. Marshall huffed and placed a hand against his hip in annoyance "Oh yeah, Bubbs. She's SO dangerous! Just how look at how scary and evil she is!"

The annoyance he felt earlier had returned making his pink face heat up "Hey! Don't be like that! I don't know, the word ZOMBIE is associated with lot of scary and dangerous stuff, Marshall!" The vampire teen frowned and cradled the poor defenceless cat and tickled its tummy lightly "Well, maybe you shouldn't just assume that about someone. She's not dangerous..." With a sigh, the pink prince realised his mistake and apologised, breaking the thick tension that surrounded them.

A smirk played over Marshall's lips, his bangs sweeping over his forehead "I guess I shouldn't be surprised...You ARE the prince whose entire kingdom was held captive to a deer." A shudder consumed Gumball's body as he rubbed the back of his neck and fiddled with strands of his hair "You know about that? I still get nightmares.."

The vampire teen chuckled and brought schwabelle closer to Gumball "You still scared of ol' schwabby?" A smiled passed over the prince's lips as he gently petted the purring cat. He withdrew his hand sharply as he realised that he had stained her white fur with the mud from outside and began stuttering an apology.

"It's fine she doesn't mind a bit of dirt" was the vampire's response "but we should probably get you cleaned up though." Realising what he had just said he mentally face palmed himself and felt his face heat up "UH! I-I meant YOU! YOU should get cleaned up" he blushed from embarrassment as he tripped over his own words.

"Marshall." Gumball smiled sweetly and tugged gently at his scarf "That's very sweet of you. Thank you for your hospitality." Finally calming down from his spazz attack Marshall lowered his eyes a smile plastered on his face as he directed the prince to the bathroom.

Gumball fiddled with his trembling fingers as he turned his back to the other male and kept his eyes lowered "Can I...can I say something about the other night? I think you got the wrong idea when you left. I like you. I liked what we were doing, we were just moving too fast...I was scared...embarrassed." With that he placed his fingers to his lips as though in thought, a dark blush covering his face.

"Gumball..." Marshall started feeling the need to embrace his prince tightly in comfort "I am so sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel that. It's just some nights...I feel so alone. And...the way you kissed me..you changed that. I was just moving too fast." A half-hearted chuckled left as he floated closer to Gumball "I feel pretty dumb for leaving like I did...sorry."

Bubba smiled and placed a hand against his king's cheek and placing a kiss on the other "Don't be. It was all a misunderstanding, don't worry about it. But we should get to know each other better." Marshall smiled and nodded in agreement "I'd like that Bubbs."

"Great. Now can I please get cleaned up!"