Two Halves of the Same Heart (FIOLEE)

In Which That trust is immediately broken for plot purposes

*Fionna's POV* 

The next morning, the bed was cold when I woke up. He wasn't downstairs. He wasn't around the house. He was just... gone. It was like he'd never existed. 

Brushing it off as just weird demon behavior and he was probably visiting Gumball and it was fine because I didn't want him to come along anyway, I collected my armor and continued on my way. 

Before I even got out of the dark part of the woods, I heard music. 
Naturally I followed it. 

And of course, Marshall was sitting in a tree, strumming lightly. He glanced at me, before pretending that he had kept his focus on being cool the entire time. 

"I thought you'd be awake sooner." He admitted. "But honestly, I'm glad we didn't have a fight about me not coming with you." 
"We're not even out of the woods yet." 

"Well, I don't think we're at the point yet where you can tie me up." He flashed me a bright grin. "So how are you going to stop me?" 
I shrugged. "I could let you be eaten by something." 
He laughed, and re-positioned himself so that he was able to hang upside down, knees hooked around the branch he had been perched on. 

"You like me too much." 
I crossed my arms, but didn't answer. 
"C'mere." 
"Nope. Bye, Marshall Lee." I turned on my heel and walked away from him. 

"Hey hey hey--" There was a loud thump and I heard him groan. 
Of course I went to go help him. And of course he started smirking at me. "What was that about not liking me?" 
"I..." He grinned as I fought a blush. 

I handed him the housekey. "Bye, Marshall." 
He followed. Of course he followed. "Did... did you honestly think that it was that easy? 'Ooh, a key, guess I don't need to meet your family and you can just wander off and possibly die or whatever'." 
"I'm not going to die." 
"...look, with my luck, it's amazing you haven't died yet. I am not risking this. Besides, it's not like I'm going to be creepy. Now you get to listen to my music as we wander around." 

"We'll be sleeping on the ground." 
He raised both of his eyebrows. "Fionna, being an outlaw doesn't mean I have lived in the lap of luxury. You really think that's going to scare me off?" 
"If you get lost, I'm not coming back for you." 

"Oh, now that is scary. Maybe we should hold hands?" He grinned. 
I turned on my heel and walked away, knowing that he would follow. He quickly caught up. "You know, it's not like I'm a scary stalker." 
"You'd be a terrible stalker." I agreed. 
"Because you want me to follow you?" 
"Because you're the most obvious person I've ever met." I snorted. 

"Is that a fact?" He grinned. "Maybe I just want you to find me." 
"That sounds right. It also sounds like you'd be terrible at following me otherwise." 
He pouted. "You're rude to me." 
"You're welcome to leave." 
"As if I would." He linked his fingers with mine. "So, where on the mountain does your sister live?" 

"Few miles outside of Breighton." 
"Breighton...? I've been there. Heh, it seems kind of like our paths should have crossed sooner." 
"Oh, I don't go through Breighton. They don't have any trouble." I shrugged. "They seem nice enough from what I've heard, though." 
"Yeah... nice..." He muttered. "If we somehow end up running into them, some of them... well, they're nice people, but they're not... look, I'm sure you've realized by now that most people aren't cut and dry with their morality. Someone might give an outlaw a room for the night, but they also might be more predatory than a lion and--" 

"I'm not getting hurt. I'm not going to let you get hurt either, if that's what you're worried about." 
"Oh, my little bodyguard, trust me. I'm more likely to get thrown out by humans, you're more likely to be thrown around by creatures like me that don't like humans. So you have the double-edged sword of having to fight both awful humans and antisocial monsters." 
"I'm fine. Yesterday I killed a minotaur." I grinned at him.

He slowly turned to look at me. "You... okay. Wow. A minotaur?" 
I nodded proudly. "A fully grown one too." 
He chuckled. "Right, you're officially my bodyguard." 

I beamed at him, and he smiled back. 

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_

We quickly fell into a routine. We'd wake up with arms wrapped around each other, tangled in each other's hair, and smile. He'd nuzzle my nose or kiss me and I'd kiss back. 
We'd eat whatever was left of dinner and pack away our makeshift camp. 
He'd start flirting with me, and I'd usually flirt back. 

We'd trek all day, talking about pointless things, before scrounging up dinner. 
I'd start a fire, and we'd fall asleep. And it would all repeat. 

Of course, he'd also play his guitar from time to time. 
"That's lovely." I said one night when he was finished. 
He flashed me a satisfied grin, before it turned into a flirty smirk I was beginning to know all too well. "I can show you if you want." He purred. 

I raised an eyebrow. "Like you wanted to show me tier 15?" 

"We can do both." 
I shook my head, but came to sit next to him anyway. "Don't try anything." 
"Oh, still don't trust me?" He asked mockingly. I still heard the tinge of pain in his voice. 
"Marshall--" 
He pulled me into his lap, briefly wrapping his arms around me and squeezing. He placed his guitar in front of me, before guiding my hands over the strings, pressing gently on my fingers. 

"Now, that's A... that's G... that's D... and the six strings are E, A, D, G, B, and another E. On their own at least." He murmured in my ear. 
"Marshall... I didn't mean..." 
He leaned forward, clearly waiting. "So you do trust me?" 

"As much as I can." 
"So not completely." He murmured. 
"I just met you a few days ago!" I replied. 
He tensed around me. "And? We're soulmates." 
"And every minute I trust you more--" 
"But?" 

"But what?" 
"There's always a but." 
"...if the stories are just--" 
"Fionna." 

"Why are there so many if nothing happened?!" I demanded, swiveling to face him. "I understand that you were probably provoked, but they were scared! You can turn into a giant bat at will, you can..." 

I trailed off as he got up and started walking into the woods. 
I set his guitar down gently, and ran after him. "Marshall, wait! I'm sorry!" 
He turned on his heel. "No, that's not a resolution to the problem. I need some time to think about what I can do... what I need to do. What you need to do. I want you to trust me, is that so much to ask?! I know you love people, but people don't like me at all! And you're going to have to accept that not every person is good and deserves your protection or you siding with them!" 

"It's not siding against you! They need my help!" 
"No, they don't!" He roared. "I need you!" 
"I'm not siding against you!" 
He clenched his fists, before turning on his heel. "I need time alone. Don't wait up."