love bites » marcelee.

17: Funfair

Chapter Seventeen: Funfair

"We're gonna ride the Ferris wheel last 'cause it's the most boring one among all the other rides and games and speaking of games I don't know which one to play first!"

Marshall laughed at Marceline's overexcitement. Glob, she's like a cartoon character. When he had invited her to a carnival in town earlier this evening, her mood brightened like a kid on Christmas Day. He figured she hardly went to these kind of events. Hence they might as well make the best out of it.

Haunted House. Check. House Of Mirrors. Check. A couple of fun rides later, they hit the games, shooting and throwing at whatever's placed in front of them.

"Hey, look at that cute wolf!" Marceline pointed a finger at one of the prizes in a game stall. "I'm gettin' that."

She paid the vendor and received a baseball from him.

"Ya only got one shot, kid."

Marceline locked her eyes on the middle of the pyramid of empty bottles which were at a distance away, and threw the ball, slightly missing the centre.

Clankclankclank.

Four bottles fell but the remaining two stood.

"Dang it!" she cursed as Marshall laughed. "I wanna try again."

"Aye, kid." the vendor gave Marceline another baseball in exchange for her cash.

Clankclankclank.

"Hey!" she exclaimed when only one bottle stood, unfallen. "I was so close."

"Tough luck, kid." the vendor said.

"Ugh, whatever. I'm gonna play somethin' else." Marceline huffed in defeat and walked away.

When she realized that Marshall was not with her, she turned around and saw that he was still at that game stall. She stood with arms crossed, observing him. Evidently he paid for a ball. Then he threw it. And knocked down all the bottles in one shot. He picked out the prize, the one she had wanted, and the vendor gave it to him.

"Here," he pushed it to Marceline's face and brushed past her. "C'mon."

She grasped the plush toy in her hands and smiled at his back before catching up to him. "Wait up!"

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Marceline was stuffing her mouth with cotton candy while she and Marshall watched a clown juggle three red balls on a unicycle.

"Wanna watch him fall?" he whispered into her ear, half joking and half serious.

"No!" she swatted his arm playfully as he sneered. "Don't be so bad."

When the clown had performed his plethora of tricks and acts, people gave him a round of applause and some even took pictures with him. Oh well. Last but not least, they queued up for a ride on the Ferris wheel and got on the empty seat, secured by the metal bar. None of them were afraid of heights, so it was no big deal.

"Woah, dude, stop it!" Marceline laughed when the seat shook.

Marshall stopped moving and remained still next to her, chuckling lightly. As the Ferris wheel turned, their height above the ground increased. The view of stalls, lights, games and the top of people's head appeared smaller below them.

"It's funny." she piped up, her gaze downcast.

"What's funny?"

"It's funny that I kinda envy those kids below us. I mean, my dad never brought me to a carnival before and-"

"No," he cut her off and shook his head lightly. "Stop talkin'. We're here to have fun, not talk about parents."

Marceline looked up at Marshall who had scooted closer to her, and pursed her lips into a tiny smile. "You're right," She hugged her plushy wolf cub toy. "Thanks for winnin' Wolfie for me, by the way."

Marshall raised his eyebrows and laced his fingers behind his back, leaning against the seat. "Wolfie? Haha. How original."

"It's adorably fierce, okay?"

"Yeah, sure."

When they have reached the peak of the wheel, Marceline looked up at the full moon, admiring it. Or maybe just staring at it in hopes that her plush toy would come to life. Marshall stole a glance at her face which the moonlight shone brightly upon. This was an opening for him. She had nowhere to go, and she couldn't violently protest without the risk of any of them falling off the hanging seat.

"Hey."

She snapped out of her little daze and turned her attention toward him. "Hmm?"

"Don't freak out, alright? I'm gonna try somethin'."

She looked at him in utter confusion. "What? Why?"

"Just...close your eyes." he instructed her.

"Uh, okay..." Marceline shut her eyes and waited.

Wait, what? As she saw only darkness, questions ran through her mind. What if Marshall was playing a prank on her? What if he told her to close her eyes so he could do something mean?

Marceline became alerted when she felt a cool pressure on her lips and her eyes shot open to see Marshall's face in sudden extreme proximity to her. That's not all. Her eyes widened in shock upon the realization that he was...kissing her! His eyes were closed and his lips were pressed against hers gently, soft and experimental and she sat there motionless, unsure of what to do.

Sparks shot through her whole body and she blushed fiercely but when his hand held the back of her neck and pressed her closer to him, instinct kicked in. Her eyes fluttered close and she actually kissed back.

Marceline's emotions bursted inside of her like fireworks. This was wrong. He was her enemy, her best friend. Her frenemy. But why? Why did the synchronization of their lips felt right? This wasn't how it's supposed to be. But the hormones raging through her bloodstream said otherwise, and the constant battle of head-versus-heart was in favor of her emotions, not her logical thinking - It's so wrong, it's right.

Slowly with reluctance, Marshall pulled away. She gazed up at him, taking a deep breath. She couldn't believe that just happened.

"Wow." they said at the same time and let out a short laugh.

"That felt pretty damn good." Marshall said with a smug expression on his face.

Marceline didn't know why her brain decided to function properly only then. It was as if the moment Marshall had kissed her, it completely drained out any bit of common sense in her to push him away. But now that he wasn't kissing her, that part of her mind returned. She blew a tuft of hair away from her face. "Marshall, I just-"

And then she slapped him.

"Ow!" Marshall held his cheek. "What the hell?"

"That's for not telling me beforehand you jerk!" she laughed.

"Oh, come on! You totally enjoyed that didn't you?" he teased.

"As if!" Marceline denied just as the Ferris wheel halted.

The bar was raised, she got off and hastily strode away, smiling to herself and clutching dearly onto her plush toy to avoid further humiliation by Marshall, who chuckled in amusement as he caught up with her.