Fiolee: Through Thick and Thin

Chapter 6

Marshall POV

So here I am, in an old, smelly cabinet with who knows what in it, as a bat eavesdropping on the confession of a sixteen year old adventuress. All the while, I am still not entirely cured of my...thing. So basically, I am a bat in a cabinet eavesdropping on an adventuress while having minor heart attack-thingies. What has my life come to?
I had just woken up from the tantrum I had in PG's lab, and saw the needle protruding from my right arm. It felt numb. Gumball was looking at me with a bit of relief, but I also sensed a little remorse coming from his direction. Huh. I was obviously fine, since my fiasco was ove- never mind.
Glob is probably laughing his balls off at my expense right now. Thanks a lot, punk. I had known that the medicine inside of that shot would only start affecting me after a couple of hours, so I jut kinda closed my eyes and stayed on the soiled, potion covered floor. PG was telling me something, but I wasn't listening, as usual.
Lying there ignoring Gumball, I sensed the almost inaudible sound of footsteps making their way across the candied floor of the hallway. This lab being the only room on this floor, I knew that whoever it was was heading in our direction. I shot my eyes open and quickly made my move.
"PG, shut up and find me a hiding place. Now." I know, I know, not the smoothest move I could've made, but considering my painful circumstance, I didn't have many options.
He scanned the room with a frantic and critical eye, landing on a small cabinet in the corner of the room. He tried to pick me up, but my numb body made it incredibly difficult for Mr. No-Muscle over there, so I used most of my energy to turn into a bat. He whispered his thanks to me, and I just grunted.
All too quickly, we heard an ear-splitting knock on the lab door, causing Gumball to jump and stupidly drop me onto the floor.
"What the hell, man? That hurt!" I aggressively whispered to him. I could already feel a bump forming on the back of my head.
"Well sorry, I wasn't expecting anything since you didn't tell me what was going on. Karma." He gave me a shrug and a small smirk. Once I was better, I'd punch that stupid thing right off of his girly face. We argued a bit more as he walked closer to the cabinet, and we heard a tapping and a sigh from the door. It sounded kind of...familiar.
Suddenly, we heard a click as the door starts to open, and His Highness threw me in the cabinet and ran over to the guest. Jerk.
I quickly closed the door and heard the voice of one of my best friends-Fionna? What was she doing here? I dragged myself over to the keyhole and brought my eye up to it, seeing the bottom halves of a candy prince and adventuress. As expected. What was more interesting was what she was asking. I could only hear snippets of what was being said, such as,"fight-Cake about Marshall-up and there was-ears and now I-Marshall situation-heart gut-and I don't-came to-because I need your stupid-can't ask-it-clear?" Yeah, real clear. Thanks. But one piece made me curious-Marshall situation? What did that mean? Does she hate me because something I did? Like that one time she found a dress in my closet, or when I shoved her into that freezing lake, or accidentally chopped off half her hair? But she said something about a fight and Cake...maybe she and Cake got in a fight about me?
Right as this thought passed through my head, I had another attack. I fell onto my back, hitting my head on the way down, and clutched my chest, hearing the silence behind the safety of my hiding place. Shit. Fionna was sure to be curious, and then she'd be mad at me for eaves-dropping (even though I still have no idea what's going on). I braced myself for the opening of the cabinet and the shock, the accusation and anger-but it didn't come. They just kept talking. And I, having calmed down a bit, went back to my spying position.
From what I could see through my limited sight, Fionna was threatening PG. Ha! Karma, bitch! PG said something I didn't bother trying to hear (seriously though-what is this cabinet made out of? I'm a vampire with super hearing, how can I not hear a conversation a couple feet away from me?), and Fionna backed down. Suddenly, Gumball raised his voice a bit, and I heard the question clear as day- "Do you love him?" Now this made me interested. I pushed my ear against the keyhole, testing if I could hear any better in the new position. Surprisingly, I could by, like, a decibel.
I heard a loud thunk, and assumed PG had been thrown on the floor by a flustered Fionna. She tended to get physical when she was emotionally uncomfortable. I would know. From there, Fionna started to ramble, and I would bet anything she was blushing, too. I heard a squeak from Gumball's sneakers, meaning he's pushed himself from the floor, and he starts to say inspirational crap to Fionna to coax an answer from her.
And that's where I am now. Awaiting the answer of one of the most personal questions of my best friend in a dark cabinet as a bat. After what seemed like ages, I hear a soft, choked up voice respond- "No. Thank you." Footsteps make their way through the door and down the hall, paired with soft sniffles and the sound of teardrops.
I'm paralyzed-not by the shot-but by a question running through my mind a hundred miles a minute. Why would she be crying? Shouldn't she be happy that she now knows not to chase after someone she doesn't love? Then again, even though she doesn't always seem like it, she is a girl. And girls are complicated.
Out of nowhere, a piece of my concentration breaks, turning me back into my human form, and I hit my funny bone on the side of the cabinet.
"Damn it all," I cuss under my breath, as I clutch my elbow and look over at Gumball. His eyes seem alarmed as he stares at the door but then shift over to me.
"Let me help you up. You look like even more of a ditz than usual like that," he halfheartedly teases, stretching out a pink hand in my direction. After a couple tugs, I'm out of the cabinet and giving my gum-y acquaintance a look. All he does is sigh and motion to a chair next to his window. Reluctantly, I walk over to the girly chair and shake out the rest of the tingle from my arm.
After several seconds of silence, I get impatient and ask,"So, dude, are you gonna tell me what's going on or what?" I must sound like a more masculine version of LSP, but I mean, who wouldn't be curious about their best friend's love problems?
Instead of telling me the details of the obviously intense situation that just occurred, Gumball grabs a couple tool and starts doing a checkup on me.
"No," he replied, "if you want to know what's going on, then ask her yourself. I'm not going to give out personal information if it's meant to be hidden."
Now this pisses me off. "Come on, don't be such a sissy! At least tell me who she's not in love with." PG stops shining a light in my ear and stares at me with wide eyes.
"Do you really not know?"
"No, your stupid cabinets are cursed or something. I could barely hear a thing. So are you gonna tell me or not, because if you aren't, I gotta go."
He sighs yet again, then gestures to the window and warns me, "Don't talk to Fionna yet. She's in a very delicate state, and I fear you'd just make it worse. But I'm not going to tell you anything, so you might as well go on home to strum your little guitar or whatever you do in your free time. See you later." Glob, when did he become such a buzzkill? I scoff and fly out the window, but not before grabbing an umbrella to hide my vampire skin from the harsh, deadly sun.
Lifting the umbrella way over my head, I scan Aaa for Fionna, finding her under a crabapple tree. Allowing a tiny smirk to rest on my face, I float over to where she sat, back against the trunk of the tree.
"Hey Blondie, whatcha up to?" I ask, hanging upside down in front of her. Her light blue eyes widen in surprise, tears glistening on the edge of them and her soft, scarred cheeks. Quickly, she brings the back of her hand up to her face and roughly wipes the wetness away.
"What do you want, Butthead?" She horsely asks, giving me a look of pure aggravation and hate. I guess now would be a spectacular time to play the nice guy card. I turn right side up and put on a genuinely concerned face.
"Fionna, what's wrong? Did something happen? Is there anyone you want me to beat up? 'Cause anyone who makes you cry deserves to get a beating." I try to make her laugh a bit, but all I get is a mumble and a sour expression. Now this is getting annoying. Fionna is never like this-usually she'd try to make me laugh too and we'd end up fairy hunting. But now she's...mumbling. Ugh.
"Hey, cheer up. Things will get better, I guarantee it. So, do you wanna talk about it?" I give it one more attempt and seat myself right next to her. This somehow stirs her and she springs up, glaring daggers at me.
"Stop, Marshall," she spat at me. "I'm not going to put up with this anymore. Just go-and stay-away from me. Don't come near me, don't look at me, don't even think of me. I mean it." And then she ran off. What the hell was that about? I just wanted to know who she was crying about. Jeez. I start to fly off toward my house, planning to try and talk to Fi again later, when I almost trip on a green backpack lying at the tree's trunk. Fionna's. At least now I'd have a reason to see her again. I grip the backpack tightly as I fly home, thinking of Fionna the whole way back.
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Sorry this took forever! I didn't really know what to do with this chapter, so it took a while to write it down. That's probably why it didn't turn out so great...but hey, it's here now, right? I hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving and have a great day today/tomorrow/every day (after voting, commenting, etc. ) and thank you so much for reading.