Little Things {Gumlee}

Chapter 3

Marshall Lee had ended up crying himself to sleep that night, though his much needed rest didn't last very long. Surprisingly he wasn't awoken by his daughter's crying like he usually was, but instead by persistent knocking on his door. The teen jumped up at the noise, confused. Who could that be? And why so goddamn early? Before the knocking would wake Valerie, he made his way out of their room and towards the apartment door, his head pounding.

He had literally no idea who would be knocking at this hour. Fionna was a possibility but usually she called before coming over. Maybe she wanted to stop by on her way to school? No wait, it was Saturday. Ashley was out of the question, obviously, there's no way in hell she'd just come back like this. Maybe her parents found out she ditched and decided to stop paying the rent, and now people were here to evict him. He hoped that wasn't the case. It was too early to think; he just opened the door.

As Marshall rubbed his eyes, he was met with someone he hadn't expected to see. In fact, he had no idea who this was. There was a young man standing in front of him; thin, clad in sharp clothes, and had a large, bright smile on his clean face. Most notably, he carried a baby's carrier with him. The teen blinked, shocked. Was this-?

"Hello!" The happy figure greeted. His voice was deep but happy. "You're Marshall Lee, correct?"

Marshall was frozen behind the door. "Uh- yeah, that's me." He glanced down at the baby stuff again, his heart feeling strange. His eyes met the other's again and he thought back to the person Fionna had described. Blonde, check. Tall, he was just barely taller than him, but everyone's taller than Fionna so, check. Smelled good... well, check. Plus he knew his name and where he lived so this must be Fionna's supposed friend.

"Nice to finally meet you! I'm Barnaby. Our mutual friend, Fionna, has informed me that you and a certain little someone are in need of my help." A crystal-blue eye winked. "Your savior has arrived." Marshall heard the humor in his voice (along with a slight accent?) but he didn't laugh. He was too shocked and half-asleep for that. Instead he just blinked, processing what was said prior. Okay well that answered that, he was definitely Fionna's friend. Honestly, Marshall didn't ever think he would ever show, he'd given up on that hope days ago. This was definitely a surprise to say the least.

"...Is this a bad time?" The blonde asked, feeling a little awkward. Lee had done nothing but stare at him. Not to mention he looked like he just crawled out of bed. "I would've come when Fionna first called me but I was taking a week-long vacation to Mexico and, you know how that goes." He waved his free hand for effect.

Whoa, Mexico? For a whole week? Damn this guy must be rich. Marshall shook his head in an attempt to wake himself up more. "Huh? Oh sorry, no, come in." He stepped aside to let the taller boy in. As he made the move to come inside his apartment, Marshall instantly felt on edge. "Wait." His arm blocked the doorway, preventing the stranger from entering. Barnaby raised his thick eyebrows as Marshall furrowed his own. Something was telling him not to trust this man so fast, especially not with his daughter in there. "How do I know you're not gonna hurt her or something?"

The blond almost wanted to laugh. He should've known this guy would be protective over his first child. Instead he cocked his hip and lifted one of his perfect eyebrows sassily. "Do I look like someone who likes to hurt babies?"

The young father actually did glance him up and down, taking in his million-dollar appearance. Fionna said this guy was rich and he sure ass he'll looked like it. Glob, even his name sounded like he came from wealth. "You could. I don't know what you like to do for fun. For all I know you could be here to steal my child and sell her for drugs or something." Okay maybe that was a little far-fetched, but you never know anymore in today's world.