•Marshall•

"So, what do you guys think?"

Dominick smirks at me. "I think she just might die from an intense love overdose because of how damn good this proposal's going to be."

I smile, glad he thinks my proposal's a good idea. I'm glad to get another opinion besides my own, even if I think it's a good idea too; I'm actually pretty confident about it. Still, however, I'm nervous Fionna somehow, for some reason, won't like it.

Which is why I need other opinions—mainly the opinions of the guys that have been helping me plan my proposal to Fionna for a month now.

More days had come and gone like nothing, making it a whole month since I revealed I would be proposing to Fionna. I let out a sigh at that—a month. An entire month we've been planning this proposal. I can't believe it's been that long; it seems like yesterday that I called my guy friends to the tree house to tell them I'm going to propose, when it was actually four whole weeks ago.

Surprisingly, time went by faster than I thought it would. The day that I plan to propose to the love of my life is getting closer and closer. That's a good thing, because if I have to wait for much longer, I swear I'm going to explode.

"Good," I tell Dominick before I turn to the others. "What does everyone else think?"

Jake snorts. "Dude, I think if she doesn't marry you, I will!" Everyone chuckles at that.

I laugh as well, also glad Jake's on board with my proposal plan. "Do I even need to ask anyone else's opinion?"

Finn shakes his head. "No, not really. This is a kickass proposal plan, Marshall. There's no way my sister's going to say no," he speaks up, sounding certain.

Gumball nods in agreement before he says, "If she does, I'm going to seriously question her sanity. She won't, though, so there'll be no need to question anything."

Though I'm overjoyed by my friends' responses, I still can't help but be nervous about the whole thing. "You guys sure?" I question, trying my best to not let my nervousness show, but I'm pretty sure I fail.

My failure is confirmed when Ash gives me a look that says chill out, dude before saying, "Relax, Marshall. I don't even know her very well, but I'm sure she's going to love it. Honestly, who wouldn't?"

Wow. Even Ash is voicing his support and saying it's a good idea. We're still on slightly shaky ground even after he betrayed Ashley and helped us; we've gone through years of hating each other (well, my friends and I have gone through years of hating him). Although I'm sure Ash won't jump over to Ashley's side, and even though we're sort of friends now, it's still going to take some time for all of us to completely trust him and become totally comfortable with him.

After being around him for a little more than a month, though, it's getting way easier to have him around us. I'm actually starting to feel kind of happy around him, getting used to and enjoying his presence.

And, a little while ago, Ash did something that surprised us—he apologized to all of us, sincerely, about how he and his sister wronged us. We were all a little shocked, but we accepted his apology because he definitely looked like he meant it, and we actually did forgive him and wanted to move on. Apparently, he'd apologized to Marceline the day before and felt we were owed the same apology.

So, yes, having Ash around like this isn't half as bad as I made it out to be in my head, and I realized that after he apologized. And even before then, I acknowledged that being around Ash wasn't horrible like I thought it would be. That was certainly surprising to me, and it still kind of is now.

I mean, I didn't ever think I'd be okay with Ash being around all the time, but shockingly I am. Ash's presence doesn't annoy me nearly as much as I originally thought it would. In fact, it's nice to hang around him; he's actually a pretty cool guy once you realize he isn't a complete and total douchebag and when he doesn't act like he's one.

I'm glad he's helping me with my proposal.

My eyes widen at that thought. Yikes. Never did I ever think my life would end up like this; Ash helping me with my marriage proposal to the love of my life, me actually enjoying his presence.

But here I am anyway. I've kind of learned by now that life throws all kinds of unexpected shit at you. My relationship with Fionna was unexpected, even accidental. Our love was this amazing, unexpected, accidental thing that I've come to cherish dearly, fiercely; it's become an exceptionally important part of me. It's not just Ash and my relationship with Fionna, though—a lot of the things in my life were unexpected.

And I've found that the unexpected things in my life are the most important, the most cherished of all my experiences.

Hopefully, my proposal to Fionna will be another thing I can add to that list.

The guys and I once again met at the tree house, but not before making sure all the girls were gone. We've been sitting here, planning and discussing my proposal plan for a few hours, but we're mostly just hanging out. By now, I have most of what I'm going to do perfected to a T, so we're just here to fine tune some minor details just to be sure it's absolutely perfect.

Because, of course, there's always room for improvement, and Fionna deserves the best proposal I can give her, which is actually what I'm giving her (hopefully she'll feel that way).

"So," Finn says, propping his legs up on the coffee table, "is that it? Are we done? Have we covered everything?"

I think it over for a second, making sure every last detail is perfectly planned out, before I smile and give him a nod. "Yep. I believe that's it. We've officially planned my proposal!" I tell him, happy I've finally got it all planned and ready.

Dominick pumps a fist in the air. "Yes!" he shouts excitedly before he suddenly frowns and slowly lowers his fist. "Um... What do we do now?"

I stand up, tucking my hands in the pockets of my jeans as I pace around the room. "Well, now it's time we get the most important part of any proposal."

Gumball blinks. "But I thought you confirmed we covered everything," he says, sounding confused.

I shake my head. "Not everything," I tell him before I face the others. "We've still got to take care of one more thing, and that thing is pretty damn important."

"And what's that?" Ash asks.

I chuckle. "Well, gentlemen, the most important part of every proposal is the engagement ring."

Everyone's eyes widen at that. "Oh..." they all say, now knowing what I mean.

"I'd completely forgot about that," Jake says, shaking his head. "I've just been so absorbed in planning the proposal that I never even thought about getting the engagement ring!"

"Now that we've got my proposal down, I'd say it's about time I get a ring. Wouldn't you say so, fellas?" I say with a smile.

They all nod in unison. "Definitely!" they say together.

"Uh," Finn says with a worried look on his face, "where are you supposed to get an engagement ring? It's not like any of us have ever needed one before!"

I walk over to Finn before I sling an arm around his shoulders. "Don't you worry, my friend. I'm prepared; I know exactly where to get one."

——————————

My jaw drops as we enter the jewelry store.

"Woah..." I let out as I look at all the rings, each one beautiful and shiny.

Next to me, Engagement Ring Princess lets out a giddy laugh. "I knew you'd love it! I have to say, Marshall Lee, I was so excited when you called me! I knew you'd be here sooner or later!" She nudges me with a smug smile on her face. "You're finally putting a ring on it. I knew it was just a matter of time. We've got the best rings on the market, so I guarantee Fionna's going to love what you pick out for her!"

I smile at the princess and her clear enthusiasm. "Thank you, Your Highness." Luckily, my friends and I made good time getting to Engagement Ring Princess's kingdom. With Jake stretching himself into a giant for us to ride, we were able to make it here in no time.

My friends gawk at the enormous variety of rings all around us. Of course, I brought the guys with me; I'll need their help picking out the perfect engagement ring. I knew I'd find the perfect ring at this jewelry store because of course Engagement Ring Princess and Engagement Ring Prince have a gigantic jewelry store packed full of engagement rings.

Engagement Ring Princess's smile grows wider. "You're very welcome, Marshall. I sincerely hope you find exactly what you're looking for," she says before she checks her watch. "I've got to go now. I'm sorry, but I have an important meeting with my brother today. I'll be late if I don't start heading back to the palace. I trust our jewelers can help you and your friends find your way around?" She glances at the jeweler at the counter, and he nods a confirmation. She then turns back to me. "Good, then. I just know you'll find the perfect ring! And don't forget to call me when you find the one!" She starts to exit the jewelry store.

I give her a wave. "Of course, Your Majesty. You'll be the first to know," I tell her, smiling as she leaves.

"I better be!" she calls back before she exits the store, the door swinging closed behind herself.

Once she is gone, Finn claps his hands together, looking around at all the rings. "Alright, my dudes! Let's get started! Operation Find Fionna The Perfect Ring is officially underway!"

I smile at Finn's enthusiasm. "Let's get to it, then," I say before the rest of us guys nod. We then all spread out across the room, ready to yell for one of the jewelers in case we spot anything worth while.

"Hey, Mars," Dominick calls me over to one of the many display cases of rings. "Check this out!" He points at probably the shiniest, most gaudy ring I've ever seen in my entire life. "What about this one? It's great!"

I frown. Yeah, great if you want to damage your pupils every time you look at it and eventually go blind. The ring is so shiny and showy, I have to look away a few times. "That's not Fionna's style, and I'm pretty sure that ring would blind her," Like it's already kind of blinding me. "But if you like it, then you get it for the proposal to the love of your life."

Dominick scoffs and steps away from the tacky ring. "Like I'll ever have a 'love of my life' to propose to. That'll be the day," He then gives me a look. "You and I both know there's a very small, near impossible chance of that happening for me. If I were you, I wouldn't hold my breath. I have a better chance of getting struck by lightning three times in the same day than someday being able to propose to anyone."

At that, I just give my friend a small smile and a pat on the back. "Then there's a chance. If there's even the smallest chance that it could happen, then there's still a chance that it could happen," I tell him as I continue to look for a ring.

Dominick playfully shrugs my hand off his back. "You were always too darn positive for your own good. Honestly, Marshall, would it kill you to be a little more negative?"

I laugh at that and guide him away to another display case, hopefully one that has less tacky engagement rings. "Let's keep looking."

——————————

So we kept looking. We kept looking and looking for the perfect ring, but it hasn't been discovered even after hours of being here.

No matter how many rings we looked at, there was always something wrong with each of them; one would be too showy, one not showy enough, one too big, one too small, one too fancy, one too common, one too shiny, one too dull—there was always something that would deter me from choosing one. None of them were the perfect engagement ring. None of them were what I'm looking for.

By now, my friends are getting irritated with me.

"God, Marshall, quit being picky!" Jake says, gesturing at all the display cases full of rings around us. "Just choose one and let's go! They're all lovely rings!"

"But they're not the ring," I protest as we continue looking. "The perfect ring. I have to get the perfect ring, guys. Fionna deserves the perfect ring!"

"Yeah, and we deserve world peace and a million dollars, but that's not necessarily going to happen for us, Marshall," Gumball says in a matter-of-fact voice.

Finn nods. "PG's right, dude; the perfect ring might not exist—you might never find a ring you'll think is perfect. None of us are perfect, but we all live with that anyway. I really don't think there's any such thing as perfection. You'll just have to choose the ring you like best," he tells me, agreeing with Gumball.

"Besides," Ash says, checking his watch, "we've been here for four hours looking for the 'perfect' engagement ring. If we don't get back soon, the girls are probably going to panic over our whereabouts. They're probably already wondering where the hell we've been these past four hours."

"We can't leave yet! We still haven't searched the entire store!" I say, beginning to frantically look around.

"Dude, it would probably take us days to look at each and every single ring in this store, and I doubt we have the time for that when the girls are probably wondering where we are," Dominick tells me, but I ignore him and continue searching.

"If they ask us where we've been," I say as my eyes scan over more rings, "we can make something up. Say we had a guys night out or something."

Gumball blinks. "But it's daytime," he points out, gesturing at a random window in the store where daylight is pouring inside.

I roll my eyes as I keep looking. "That's not the point, Gumball. The point is we can easily come up with an excuse for where we've all been for a few hours. It won't be a hard thing to lie about." Now, I don't like lying to anyone, especially to my friends and my girlfriend, but this is just one of those things I can't possibly tell the truth about. If I told Fionna and the rest of the girls where we've really been and why, it would totally ruin the surprise which is a huge part of a successful proposal; the element of surprise definitely adds to the romance factor. That, and it would also totally ruin a huge part of my plan.

Finn and Fionna's birthday is coming up, and the day Fionna celebrates her birthday party is looming closer. On the day of her birthday celebration, I plan on giving her a surprise she'll never forget—my very romantic and heartfelt marriage proposal. Since Fionna's birthday celebration is the day I plan to propose, it would totally and indefinitely ruin my surprise proposal if I told her and the rest of the girls where the guys and I have been and why.

I've known I wanted to propose the day of her party for awhile now. It's perfect; my birthday gift to her will be my proposal, a gift she'll hopefully love. It's the main reason why I'm so hellbent on keeping this proposal a secret. It's why I haven't told any of the girls about it yet, in fear the information will somehow make its way to Fionna, effectively ruining the surprise. Girls like to gossip, and I'm not taking any chances. Even if they might not outright tell her I'm planning to propose, there's a good chance one of them could say something that would make Fionna suspicious, which I definitely don't want; I want Fionna to never have suspected anything, to never have seen any of this coming.

Gumball bites his lip. "I don't like the idea of lying to the girls..."

Finn gives him a look. "Dude, none of us do, but it's not like we can tell them the real reason why we've been gone! That would totally ruin the element of surprise which is a huge part of this proposal," he tells him firmly.

I keep myself from letting out a sigh of relief. Thank you, Finn.

Gumball sighs. "I suppose you're right. A surprise wouldn't be a surprise if everyone knew about it," he admits. I give him a nod of agreement.

"We should leave soon, though," Ash says, looking nervous. "The girls are probably getting suspicious right about now."

"Fine. We'll go soon, I promise. But just let me look for a little while longer! I have a feeling I'm close to finding the perfect ring!"

"If it even exists," Dominick puts in as I look more frantically, hoping they'll give me more time.

"It exists," I say as I search. "It has to."

"Marshall, come on," Finn says, sounding tired. "We've been searching for four hours, and we still haven't found anything. I want to give my sister the perfect proposal too, but there's no such thing as perfect, man; there's no such thing as the perfect ring. Just pick one and let's—"

"Oh my God."

Finn is interrupted when I let out an exclamation of awe. My eyes have just settled on a display case we haven't looked at yet.

And one of the rings behind the glass.

"What is it?" Dominick questions from behind me, but I don't answer him. I'm not even looking at him; my attention is solely fixated on the display case, or more importantly, that one ring inside it.

"Mars?" Out of the corner of my eye, I see Dominick and all the guys have shuffled up around me, looking at the display case with me. "Dude, use your words."

"I found it," I finally let out, still staring at the ring. "I found the perfect ring."

All the guys' eyes widen. "Where?!"

I point at it. "Right there! The one near the middle."

The guys stare at the ring with me.

"Wow..." Jake gapes at it.

Gumball's eyes widen. "It's..."

"Perfect," Finn says in surprise.

I smile at them. "I know. It's the perfect ring! This is the one, fellas. I finally found it," I tell them happily.

"You can say that again," Ash says as he and the rest of the guys keep staring at it.

I just nod, still looking at the amazing ring in awe. "This is it. This is the one. It's absolutely perfect."

"I'll go get one of the jeweler dudes," Dominick declares before he turns and leaves to go get one.

"Okay, we're getting this one," Finn states before he looks around the ring. "How much is it?"

After a few seconds of looking, we all spot a sheet of paper taped to the side of the display case that lists the prices of all the rings in this display case. I guess all the display cases must have them.

The guys and I scan down the sheet of the many rings and their prices, looking for our ring's price.

When we find it, I nearly keel over.

"Holy—" Jake cuts himself off as his eyes widen to the size of saucers. He snorts. "Dude, that better be a phone number and not the price of that ring."

"Th-There's no way that's the actual price!" I sputter, frantically looking at the sheet. "Maybe it's a typo...?! Because it can't be the price...! I don't have nearly enough money for that!"

"No problem," Gumball states, looking a little frantic. "We'll all pool our money!"

I just stare at him. "I can't let you guys—"

I don't even get to finish my sentence. Jake crosses his arms and glares at me. "You can and you will," he says sternly before his paws go to his waist. "Ugh, where's my wallet...?"

Finn nudges him. "Dude, you left it at home; you don't have any pockets to put it in. You hardly ever use it. There probably isn't even any money in there," he points out to his brother.

Jake's arms fall to his sides. "Oh. Right," He turns to the others. "Well. I guess you guys will be paying for it. Oops."

Finn just rolls his eyes. "It's fine." Then he and the rest of the guys proceed to empty their pockets and wallets, looking for any spare change.

As Ash gets his wallet out, he looks around the store. "God, where's Dom with that jeweler...?" he wonders aloud. I'd almost forgotten Dominick left to go find a jeweler. Well, this store is gigantic, so it makes sense that it'd take awhile to find one and get back to us; we're at the very back of the store, after all.

Way too soon for my liking, the guys and I finish emptying out our wallets, every last penny accounted for. When we add up all we have, my heart sinks.

"One hundred and fifty dollars," I say blankly, staring at our pile of money sitting pitifully on one of the counters near the display case. "Total, we have one hundred and fifty dollars... How is it that all of us, put together, only have one hundred and fifty measly dollars?"

Finn frowns and shrugs his shoulders. "We aren't rich, man."

"Isn't Gumball a prince, though?" Ash questions, pointing at Gumball. "Isn't he loaded?"

Gumball flushes red. "Erm, I'm not loaded, my kingdom is. Besides, I can't very well take that much money," He gestures at the ridiculously expensive ring, "out of our treasury without Bonnibel finding out about it and questioning me, which would not be favorable; we've already established that we can't, under any circumstances, let any of the girls find out about the proposal as it would ruin the element of surprise. Plus, I'm sure the citizens would be pretty peeved if I took a huge chunk of our money and used it on something that doesn't benefit the kingdom. So, I'm very sorry, but I can only put forward the money I myself own, which unfortunately is only fifty-three dollars and twenty-seven cents at this moment in time. Believe me, Marshall, I sincerely wish I could contribute more. I'm sorry."

I sigh and put a hand on Gumball's shoulder. I can tell he really does feel bad. "It's alright, Gumball. It's not your fault we're all poor and you can't do anything about it. It's just the situation we're in," I remove my hand and shake my head, an awful feeling settling in my stomach. "I can't believe it. After I finally find the perfect ring, I can't get it. I just know Fi would love this ring, but that doesn't matter because I'm too poor to buy it. I can't even give her a ring. What's that mean for the rest of the proposal? For our future marriage?" I wrap my arms around myself, beginning to panic. "What if... What if Fionna realizes I'm not all that and that I can't give her everything she wants and she ditches me?! I mean, I can't even get her an engagement ring...!"

Suddenly, Finn steps forward and grabs me, shaking me a little. "Cut that out, Marshall! Quit thinking like that! Fionna would never ditch you! She loves you more than life itself, man. She'd give up adventuring before she'd ditch you, and we both know she'd never do that. You need to calm down. Maybe you can't give her the perfect engagement ring, but you can give her you, and that's enough. You may not be able to give her everything she wants, but you can give her everything she needs—you. Just you," he tells me seriously, never once breaking eye contact with me.

I take a breath before I slowly smile. Thank God for best friends. "Thanks, dude," I say sincerely.

Finn smiles back before he removes his hands from my shoulders and gives my back a pat. "No problem at all, man. No problem at all."

Before anyone else can get a word out, Dominick suddenly appears with one of the jewelers.

When he approaches us, he lets out a groan. "Finally! It took us five hundred freaking years to find you guys!" He looks around disapprovingly at the store. "God, this place is a complete and total maze; talk about a navigation nightmare."

"Yes, we are a large store," the jeweler says before he faces the display case. "Now, which ring will you be getting today, sirs?"

A sour feeling envelops me. "None. The one I want is too expensive, and we don't have the money for it," I tell him.

He looks down at the display case. "Which one is too expensive?" he asks me.

In my opinion, they're ALL too expensive. I point down at the perfect ring. "That one, the amazing and perfect one."

The jeweler's gaze follows my finger before his eyes settle on the very ring. "Ah. Yes. A very fine choice, sir. Your girlfriend is sure to love it," he says before he promptly takes a key ring off his belt and chooses one of the keys. He then uses that key by sticking it in the keyhole on the display case and turning it, opening up the case. He takes the key out and puts his key ring back on his belt before he reaches inside the display case, carefully grabs the ring, and takes it out. After closing the display case, he turns to me with a smile and holds out the ring.

I just look at him. "But, sir, I just said we don't have enough, so..." My voice trails off.

"Yes, I'm aware, and that's perfectly fine," he says before he goes behind a counter, ducks down, and comes back up with a small pink bag and a little black box, the kind of box you only use to hold an engagement ring. Then he opens the little black box before he gently settles the ring inside and closes the box. "That's perfectly fine, sir, because I'm going to give the ring to you," He then puts the box in the bag and thrusts it out towards me, "free of charge. It's on the house."

The guys and I just blink at the bag he holds out towards me.

What?! He's just... going to give it to me?! "You're... you're just giving it to me... for free?!" I gape at him, my eyes wide.

"Well, yes, sir, that is what free of charge and on the house mean."

My jaw drops and I just stare at the bag in his hand. "I... I...," I take a step back. "I can't let you do that... That's really nice of you, but I can't take this..."

The jeweler just thrusts the bag towards me again. "Of course you can. It's no problem at all," He winks at me. "Anything for the Saviors."

Saviors. It's then I look around at my friends and realize that a good handful of the Saviors of the World are here, and of course that's why the jeweler is offering a ridiculously expensive ring to us for free. Being the Saviors, we have our fair share of admirers, which makes sense; when you save the world, people are bound to like you.

"B-But..." My voice trails off again as I'm at a loss of what to say.

The jeweler just smiles. "I know what you and your friends did for us—for all of us," he says before he comes out from behind the counter, still holding the pink bag. "I have a family, you know. They're still alive because of you," He thrusts out the bag yet again. "Please. Take it. It's the least I can do. I owe you my life."

I stand there for a moment and my friends remain silent. Then, I speak. "You... You don't owe us anything, but..." I slowly reach out and take the bag from him, "if you really insist..."

The jeweler gladly lets me take the bag and continues to smile. "It would be an honor and a privilege, sir."

I just stand there, now holding the bag with the most perfect engagement ring inside it. "Well, thank you, sir... But at least let me pay something for it... I can't just take it from you..." I then reach for the pile of our one hundred and fifty dollars still sitting on the counter. I am preparing to take my money from the pile and pay him with that, when Finn suddenly stops me by putting a hand on my arm.

"You can pay with my share too," he tells me.

Dominick steps forward, his wallet out of his back pocket. He takes money out of it—fifty-three dollars to be exact—and puts it on the pile. "And mine."

"Mine too," Ash tells me.

"And mine as well," Gumball says with a smile.

Jake suddenly looks embarrassed. "I don't have any money... Sorry, dudes."

I just smile at him as I take their money and my own. "It's okay," I tell him before I turn to the jeweler. "Please. Take it. It's not nearly enough, but it's all we've got."

The jeweler gives me a look.

I thrust the money out towards him. "Come on, dude. Take it, please. I can't just take this ring from you!" I insist. I'm not leaving here until this man gets paid.

The jeweler must sense my steel unwillingness to budge, because he gives me a smile before he slowly takes the money from me.

"You Saviors are too generous," the jeweler says with a bow of his head.

I doubt we're the generous ones since you were literally about to give us a ring for free. "Thank you. And thank you so much for the ring. Seriously. You have no idea how much this means to me."

The jeweler continues to smile before he starts walking, leading us back to the front of the store. "You're very welcome, Savior. It was a pleasure," he says. Once we're at the front of the store, he goes behind the main counter and deposits the money in the cash register.

"Really, man. Thank you. You've gone above and beyond for us. I won't forget this," I tell him sincerely, happily clutching the small bag with the ring inside it. "My girl is going to love this ring." Hopefully.

"Once again, you're welcome. It really was a pleasure assisting you fine gentlemen today," the jeweler says before he beams. "Now I'll be able to say I sold an engagement ring to one of the Saviors; every other jewelry store in existence is going to be green with envy!" He sounds so giddy at the thought that it almost makes me laugh.

Gumball chuckles. "Well, we're glad this pleases you so."

The jeweler smirks. "It definitely does," he replies before he gives us a wave. "Good day to you, Saviors! I'm glad you found your experience here fulfilling! Please come again!"

So we all wave back to the nice jeweler and the other jewelers, thank them again, and leave the store very satisfied having bought an incredibly expensive ring for just two hundred and three dollars.

Now that I have a perfect engagement ring, I officially have everything I need for a perfect proposal.

A proposal that Fionna will hopefully love.

•Fionna•

"Something's going on."

The girls turn to me, sipping from their drinks as we all sit at one of the tables outside the cafe. We all decided to come get a drink here after our girls day.

The girls day that the guys insisted on us having.

Marceline gives me a look after taking a drink of of her tea. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, something's going on. With the guys," I reply and look to the other girls. "Haven't you all noticed they've been acting weird lately? Sort of off?"

Marceline is silent along with the other girls. Then, she speaks up. "Actually, now that I think about it... they've seemed kind of withdrawn..." she says, now looking confused as to why the guys are acting strange. Frankly, I'm confused too.

Although, the truth is I've noticed they've been acting weird for awhile now. I don't quite remember when it started, but suddenly the guys were withdrawn or sometimes not around at all. Other times, they'd tell us they'd be going off to have a guys day or they were suddenly busy for some reason. Or they'd insist that us girls needed a break and they'd send us off on an impromptu "girls day" and we wouldn't see them for hours at a time.

Just like what happened today; Marshall suggested out of the blue that the girls and I should go and have another girls day, and it's been hours since I last saw him and the other guys. And even though he had been suggesting a girls day, it really sounded like he was trying to get rid of us girls so he and the guys could be alone. Honestly, it's felt like he and the guys have been trying to get rid of us for awhile now, but I haven't slightest idea why they wouldn't want us around them. I've tried to shake the odd feeling off and ignore it, but the more times they shoo us away, the more the feeling grows to the point where it's impossible to ignore.

They're up to something. I know it.

"You know, they have been acting odd lately..." Flame Princess mumbles as a look crosses her face, a look that says she's thinking. "I wonder what they're doing..."

Cake sets her cup of tea down, crossing her arms. "Well. Whatever it is they're doing, I think Fi's right; those boys are definitely up to something. I've noticed their strange behavior as well, but at first I just thought it was teenage boy hormones..."

At that, Breakfast Princess snorts. "Ha. Hormones," she says before she gets a thoughtful expression on her face like FP. "Seriously, though, ladies, you're right! Those boys are up to no good. I can feel it!"

"Up to no good?" Bubblegum repeats, sounding a bit concerned.

BP nods. "Most definitely, hon! Whenever a boy is acting strange and sneaking around, he's always up to no good! It's common knowledge," she explains, as if she's an expert in boyology.

"It is?" Flame Princess asks.

Breakfast Princess nods again, now looking like a bobble head. "Ye-es!" she replies, stretching the word out. "Don't you girls watch soap operas? Movies? Any TV?" She shakes her head like she's disappointed in us or something. "When a guy is acting weird, ninety-nine percent of the time it's not for a good reason. Take cheating boyfriends for example—they're always sneaking around, acting strange, finding a reason to be away from their significant others, making up excuses, being gone for long periods of time with no concrete evidence to back up their stories of where they've been and why... Do you notice that all these signs fit a certain group of gentlemen?"

I pale over at what BP's suggesting. "Are you saying... Are you saying that they might be... cheating?" I gape.

"What?" FP exclaims, looking shocked and worried. "You're saying Finn's cheating on me?"

Marceline shakes her head. "Nuh uh. Not possible. There's no way Finn, Jake, and Marshall are cheating. No way," she says, sounding confident and sure.

Flame Princess looks at her with wide, terrified eyes. "But that's what she's saying, isn't it?" she squeaks, sounding horrified at the suggestion of Finn being unfaithful.

Breakfast Princess holds up her hands in defense. "I'm not saying anything—I'm just saying they've given us enough reasons to be suspicious."

Bubblegum rolls her eyes. "Fine. We're right to be suspicious because, yes, they're acting weird. But why would they cheat? It's only Marshall, Jake, and Finn that have significant others anyway, so if they're cheating, what the hell are the rest of the guys doing? The rest of them aren't with anyone, so why are they acting strange and sneaking around? Plus, since all the guys are acting suspicious, it would mean they'd all know if Marshall, Jake, and Finn were cheating. It'd make absolutely no sense if they knew the three of them were being unfaithful and decided to help. I know for sure that they wouldn't help someone cheat on their significant other."

"Exactly," Marceline says, backing her girlfriend up.

They're right. They're absolutely right; Finn would never cheat on FP, Jake would certainly never cheat on Lady, and Marshall would never cheat on me. I know they wouldn't. I just know it. Finn, Jake, and Marshall love Flame Princess, Lady R, and me and they would never ever be unfaithful. Although they're showing all the signs of a cheating boyfriend, there's something else going on—there has to be. Marshall, Jake, and Finn would never cheat. I know it in my heart.

Plus, PB has a point; why would the other guys help the three of them cheat? They wouldn't because it makes absolutely no sense, so that means Marshall, Jake, and Finn definitely aren't cheating, not just because they're good guys but also because there's no way the other guys would help them being as they're good guys as well.

"They're right, Breakfast Princess," I tell BP, nodding at both Marcy and Bubblegum. "Finn, Jake, and Marshall would never be unfaithful. They love Flame Princess, Lady Rainicorn, and me. It has to be something else."

"Exactly!" Flame Princess says with a huff, her arms now crossed.

"Sorry! I'm just saying they're acting really weird," Breakfast Princess says.

"It's okay. They're definitely acting weird, and it's definitely suspicious," I tell her.

"So now that we've covered that no one's cheating on anyone," Cake says, eager to move on from the horrible topic, "let's actually try to find out why the guys are acting so weird. Everyone on board with that?"

Marceline nods. "Definitely. They've been acting strange, and I'm dying to know what it is they're hiding..." Her voice trails off and her eyes widen. "Do you think it's good? Bad? Scandalous?"

"Whatever it is, it must be big because they seem to think they can't tell us when they know they can tell us anything," Flame Princess says, and we all murmur in agreement.

"And it's been going on for awhile now, so whatever it is must be long term," Bubblegum puts in, and we agree with that as well.

"And whatever it is they're hiding is important enough to take up several hours of their day," I speak up, and the rest of the girls nod.

"Hours," Breakfast Princess says, shaking her head. "We've been out for hours and they didn't even bother to tell us where they're going! Wherever they are must be important if they see fit to spend several hours there at a time and not tell us they're there."

"Whatever it is, we'll figure it out," I say, sure of myself. Those boys can't hide whatever they're keeping secret for much longer. We'll find out. I know we will. "We'll figure it out. I know it. It's just a matter of time."

The girls nod and we all continue enjoying our drinks.

Whatever the guys are up too can't be bad... can it? No, of course not. They're good guys. Besides, they've been hiding whatever it is they've been hiding for awhile now; if it were bad, something bad would've happened by now. So that means it's not bad, and if it's not bad, it must be good... right?

Well, whatever they're hiding, I hope I find out what it is soon... If I don't, I just KNOW it'll drive me CRAZY... But it WON'T drive me crazy because I'll find out what it is.

So the guys are hiding something. Big deal. I'll find out what it is in no time, no problem. I'll figure out what they're hiding.

How hard could it be?