love bites » marcelee.

41: F(r)iend Or Foe

Chapter Forty-One: F(r)iend Or Foe

The first thing Marshall Lee noticed about his girlfriend when he went over to her house was that she was walking awkwardly, muttering "today is so not my day" to herself.

"Why are you limping?" he asked in concern.

Marceline, who had just gotten out of the bathroom after a shower, simply replied, "I sprained my ankle while running."

Marshall sighed. This girl's always running. Floating over to her, he encircled his arms around her waist and pressed his forehead against hers. "You oughta be more careful, sweetheart."

She smirked before pushing him back in an antic manner when she heard the sarcasm in his voice. "I'm fine, you idiot." she declared jokingly and limped past him.

He followed suit as she sat on the bed, gingerly bringing her legs up to cross them, the one with the sprained ankle on top of the uninjured one.

"I talked to my Dad this morning, you know." Marceline piped up, grabbing his attention.

"What did he say?"

"Well, he just..." she shrugged. "Kept quiet."

"At least you guys didn't shout at each other for an hour straight." Marshall said sarcastically about his situation with Helena, which he had to go through.

Marceline snickered in response and he kept his gaze on her for a while, until they heard a knock on the door, and the voice of a man calling her.

"It's my Dad," she whispered before slowly getting up. "I'll be right back. Turn invisible or something."

So Marshall did. He followed closely behind Marceline, and overheard the little conversation she had with Hunson.

"Hey, Dad." she acknowledged her father with little interest.

"Marceline, I'm going out for a while." Hunson informed her.

"Where? To see her?" she quipped, referring to Helena.

"Yes," he said, leaving a few seconds of silence before adding, "To break off with her."

Marceline narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

"Because you're more important," Hunson reasoned, letting out a sigh. "And I want you to be happy."

"I... Uh..." she struggled to form the word in her mouth. "Thanks?"

"I think it's best for the both of us. I just don't want to get in the middle of your life."

"Dad...you're my Dad," she reminded him. "You are part of my life."

"So are you, sweetie." Hunson smiled genuinely, rubbing her hair.

Marceline returned the smile and nodded. "Okay, Dad. Bye." she finally said and closed the door.

Marshall materialized in front of her.

"See? I told you he cares about you." he substantiated.

"I don't know. I think he's obliged to stop seeing your Mom because we're dating," she paused. "I just hope she'll be okay with what my Dad has to say."

Marshall's smile fell when she reminded him. Helena.

"Crap." he blurted out.

Marceline's eyes widened. "Why? What's wrong?"

Marshall held his snakebites. "My Mom's not gonna be too happy about that."

"She's not gonna hurt my Dad, is she?" she asked dreadfully.

He sighed. "It's my Mom. There's no telling what she's gonna do."

Marceline gulped, backed up a step, another and another until she hit the edge of the bed. Her knees collapsed and she plopped onto the mattress. "I gotta follow my Dad."

She stood up but he pushed her back down onto the bed. "No, you stay here."

"But-"

"No buts. You can barely walk properly, yet alone drive. So I'll go." Marshall insisted.

Marceline bit her bottom lip, almost willing it to bleed. Her face showing nothing else but an expression of worry.

"Hey." he called her and she looked up.

Then Marshall shape-shifted into a bat.

Flapping his wings, he flew over to Marceline and she flinched in surprise when his small bat form landed on her lap.

"Relax, it's just me." he tried to calm her down, staring up at her now bigger-but-still-pretty-looking face.

"You're a talking bat," she forcefully expelled the air from her lungs. "You never showed me you could do that."

"There's still some things I haven't show you," Marshall admitted. "But I will...soon."

Cautiously, Marceline picked him up with her hands and began stroking him.

"You're really cute." she said and gently held him against her warm and soft face, as if hugging him.

The sound of a car door slamming jolted them both apart.

"Alright babe. I gotta go." Marceline reluctantly let go of him and he flapped his wings to keep himself in the air. "Try not to worry so much." he said before flying out through the window.

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Marshall tailed Hunson's car all the way to some bar downtown. He perched on top of a lamppost and eyed him privily. Waiting outside the doors was - surprise, surprise - Helena, in her human form. She hugged Hunson, mouthing a greeting at his presence before proceeding to head inside. But he held her back, his mouth moving but Marshall couldn't quite hear what he was saying because he was too far away.

He flew to the roof of the bar.

"...okay, we'll have a few drinks first, then you can tell me what you have to say." Helena persisted.

Hunson gave an obliged nod, and she smiled triumphantly, dragging him inside. Great. Marshall would just have to wait out here until they're done drinking. His mother wouldn't try anything in there. Especially not where there were other people. So he sat on the rooftop of some short building next to where the bar was, turning invisible. Time passed by as he stared at the night sky.

His ears perked up upon a loud groan coming from a distance away. He looked down and saw some white-haired dude stumbling around in his drunken stupor, slurring words no one could hear. Hold on a second, was that Ash?

All of a sudden, there was a roar. A gasp. A short-lived scream.

Marshall swung his head around to find the source of the sound and saw, down below him, in an alleyway at the back of the bar, a couple struggling with each other. The woman had the man pinned up against the brick wall. Only, the woman didn't look human. It was his mother, in her demon form. And Helena was doing something to Hunson which he had never wanted to happen, which Marceline would freak out if it happened.

She was sucking his soul.