•Fionna•

"WAKE UP!"

My eyes immediately bolt open at the sound of a screeching voice, having to be louder than anything I have ever heard in my entire existence. I spring up into the sitting position on my bed, having just been harshly roused.

I spin around to see Cake standing in my doorway. Of course she has been the one shouting. Who else?

I rub my eyes and yawn. "Cake, what the hell are you doing screaming and shouting at...," I look over at my alarm clock. Once my eyes adjust to the light (which Cake has of course turned on) and I read the time, my eyes widen and I am fully awake. "Six o'clock in the morning?! What the hell, Cake?! You don't wake someone up at six in the morning! What the actual fudge?!"

Cake places her paws on her hips and eyes me. "I woke you up because today is Christmas Eve, aka the day before Christmas! DUH, babycakes!" she says in an obvious tone of voice.

I scratch my head. "Oh," I mutter. With how crazy Bubblegum and Gumball's Birthday Ball went yesterday, I had completely forgotten Christmas Eve was the day after that, which is now today.

Like Thanksgiving, every Christmas and Christmas Eve, the Mertens family (along with their friends) has their traditions. On Christmas Eve, one of them being we wake up at a ridiculously early time in the morning to get started on officially preparing for Christmas.

The first thing we do is get out all the old Christmas decorations and start decorating the tree fort, inside and out.

Unlike normal families (because we're anything but normal) we leave our Christmas decorating to the last minute and decorate the day before Christmas. When Finn and I were little, several Christmases ago, Cake and Jake had forgotten to put up the Christmas decorations until they suddenly remembered on Christmas Eve and they put them up. It's been a tradition ever since.

Cake stretches her arms across my room and yanks me out of bed. "Now, come on, Fionna! Your brother and Marshall are already up, and Jake is getting Gumball and Bubblegum up right now!"

Another Christmas tradition we have? The whole gang spends Christmas and Christmas Eve with us. The night before Christmas Eve, our friends will bring their sleeping bags, pajamas, and tooth brushes and haul themselves over to our tree house to spend the holiday with us. Which means we all live together in the tree house for two days straight, forty-eight hours of constant companionship (never being alone ever) and having to share the upstairs and downstairs bathrooms. They would all head home the morning after Christmas is over, a week before New Years which has its own traditions, but more on that later. Right now, we're on Christmas.

"What about Flame Princess?" I groan, letting Cake pull me across my room because I don't have the energy to move by myself yet. "We all have to be woken up at the crack of fricking dawn while she just gets to sleep in? How is that fair?"

This Christmas is Flame Princess's first Christmas she is spending with us. Last Christmas, Finn had nowhere near worked up the nerve to tell her how he feels about her, and we hadn't really hung out with her last year. We really only started hanging with her at the beginning of this summer when Finn finally grew a pair and started talking and hanging out with her more. Eventually, he finally got the courage to ask her out and she soon afterwards officially became a part of the gang not too long after.

So, this year is FP's first Christmas Eve and Christmas with us. I just hope we don't irritate the crap out of her too much.

Cake rolls her eyes and continues to yank me. "Flame Princess was actually up before Jake and I were, which is saying something considering we wake up at about five in the morning on Christmas Eve. Apparently, she's an early bird," she explains, and my tired eyes widen again.

Flame Princess was up before Cake and Jake on Christmas Eve? In all the years we've celebrated Christmas Eve and Christmas, no one had EVER been up before Cake and Jake.

Cake eventually yanks me across my entire room and shoves me out my doorway into the hall. "Now, go take your shower and get on some warm clothes, because as soon as everyone's all clean and ready to go, we're going to be diving headfirst into extreme Christmas decorating!" she says excitedly before she takes off down the stairs. We always start Christmas decorating on the outside of the tree fort first to get the hardest done first, considering it's December and therefore freezing outside. After we are done decorating the outside, we will all come inside and start decorating there all the while having Jake's famous Christmas chocolate cocoa and playing Christmas music.

No doubt Christmas is always a fun time for the Mertens family. It's my favorite holiday out of all the ones we make up traditions for.

Suddenly, I hear pounding coming from down the hall.

"Hey! Who's hogging the bathroom? I've got two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree I need to take to the toilet if you know what I mean...!"

"Yeah, well, I'm busy taking five golden rings to the toilet if you know what I mean, so ocupado, buddy...!"

I run down the hall and turn the corner to see Finn pounding on the bathroom door, Marshall standing behind him.

"Hey, what are you guys up to?" I ask, leaning against the wall.

"Well, I'm trying to get into the bathroom to take a shower like Cake told me to do, but Finn here wants to get rid of his partridge in a pear tree or whatever the hell he just said," Marshall explains, a tired look on his face.

"And who's in the bathroom getting rid of their... Um... five golden rings...?" I ask.

"That'd be me!" Marceline's voice calls from inside the bathroom.

"Well, I kinda have to take a shower..." I say awkwardly before I give an equally awkward light knock on the door.

"Well, you'll kinda have to wait," Marceline replies bluntly. I scoff.

"Yeah," Finn says, shoving me aside slightly. "Get in line, sis."

I roll my eyes at my brother and shove him back. "Whatever, bro."

So we all stand in a line at the bathroom door, each waiting for our turn in the shower. Eventually, the line grows longer as Bubblegum and Gumball show up to shower as well.

"How long can using the bathroom possibly take?" Bubblegum asks loudly for Marceline to hear.

"You'd be surprised, babe," Marceline calls out from inside the bathroom. "Especially considering what we had for dinner last night."

After Marceline and Bubblegum officially made up, after the Birthday Ball ended, they went out to eat on a date for a few hours.

I'm guessing what they ate has come back to haunt Marceline.

"I told you not to order what you did. But did you listen to me? Of course not," Bubblegum hums.

"You didn't tell me squat."

Bubblegum narrows her eyes and places her hands on her hips. "I so did too!" she argues back.

Marceline sighs dreamily on the other side of the door. "Awww~! Our first fight back together as a couple~! We're making beautiful memories here, Bonnibel."

Bubblegum smiles and rolls her eyes. "I should have never have told you that I wanted to get back together with you," she jokes.

"Yeah, well, too late. You get what you ask for. No refunds. You're stuck with me, and I must warn you, I am leechy," Marceline replies.

Bubblegum smirks. "Trust me, I already know."

Finn pounds on the bathroom door. "Can you finish up in there today, maybe?" he asks, irritated.

"Shut up, Mertens."

-------------------------

The bathroom door opens as Finn exits. A steam cloud is released into the hall from the freshly taken shower. Finn's golden blonde hair sticks to his head, wet. He shakes it out, little droplets spraying all around, as he walks past us.

Marshall wipes his face. "Dude!" Next to him, Gumball resists laughing too much and Bubblegum just smiles.

Finn faces him. "Sorry. You were in the splash zone. Watch where you stand next time, man," he says coolly before he shakes his head again, this time spraying me.

I scrunch my eyes shut on impulse and wipe my face before I open my eyes to my smirking twin. "What the glob, Finn?!" I demand, still wiping my face.

Finn shrugs, still smirking. "What? You're standing in the splash zone. Gosh, one would think you'd learn after seeing Marshall fall victim. Tsk tsk." He wags a finger at us.

Marshall rolls his eyes. "Whatever, dude," His hand goes for the bathroom doorknob. "It's my turn with the shower. BRB." He starts to enter the bathroom.

Finn stops him by nudging his shoulder. "Hey, man, just some advice, this time don't have your usual Fionna shower fantasy, since there are people here," A giant smirk plasters itself on his face. "No one wants to hear how much you adore her. Just a heads up."

Bubblegum and Gumball's eyes widen. I immediately feel my face heat up just as I see Marshall's turn bright red. "Shut up, dude!" he hisses. "Do you have a death wish?"

"I know you have a wish, but it has nothing to do with death, unless you're talking about death by intense pleasure. Don't worry though; I won't say what it is out loud being as it's too graphic and sexual for my taste, and probably everyone else's," Finn hums as he wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.

Gumball coughs awkwardly. "Well. How nice to know."

I feel my face heat up even more. "Shut up Finn, or I'll shut you up myself," I snap at my brother.

Finn nudges me. "Oh, and the same goes for you, Fionna; don't have your usual Marshall shower fantasies--"

I reach up, pinch him, and twist. Hard.

Bubblegum and Gumball gasp in surprise as Finn yelps and immediately yanks out of my grasp. "OW! Fionna, what the hell?! You purple nurpled me!" he whines. He gingerly rubs where I pinched him.

"Leave," I deadpan, "or your other nurple will be purpled."

Finn is gone within seconds, dashing down the hall before I hear the slam of his bedroom door.

Marshall snorts, smirking at Finn's retreat. "Ha. Wuss," he snickers before he opens the bathroom door all the way and steps inside.

I smile triumphantly and Marshall smiles back before he closes and locks the bathroom door.

A few seconds later, I hear running water and know Marshall is in the shower. I stalk away from the bathroom door and lean against the wall opposite from the door, waiting my turn. Bubblegum and Gumball wait their turns as well.

Minutes later, and Marshall exits the bathroom, making it my turn to go in. I clutch my clean clothes and towel before I enter and close and lock the door behind myself.

-------------------------

I ring my hair out as I step out of the shower. I grab my towel and wrap it securely around my body before I grab my other towel and begin drying myself off.

Once I am almost completely dry, I grab my outfit and slip it on over my body. It is one of the warmest outfits I have; a long sleeved light orange and white striped shirt with a long orange skirt with black leggings. I even put a little black bow in my hair for the finishing touch (not too girly, of course).

Once I am finished, I exit the bathroom so that Bubblegum can enter and take her turn.

I turn down the hall and walk down the stairs before I reach the first floor. I walk past Marshall and take a close look at what he's wearing (a thin gray sweater with a red plaid undershirt, a small black bowtie, jeans, and a red beanie on top of his head to complete the look; this makes it official that Marshall is attractive in literally anything he wears). He's sitting on the couch, so I plop down next to him to wait for our friends. Finn and Flame Princess sit across from us on the other couch, both playing a video game on BMO.

I smile at them sitting next to each other, Flame Princess's head against Finn's shoulder as they play. I remember when, not too long ago, Flame Princess had trouble controlling her flames and couldn't touch anything without completely burning it to a crisp. She used to have to wear special protective gloves and sit on a special flame-resistant mat to keep from setting everything on fire. She couldn't even touch my brother; whenever she wanted to, say, give him a hug, he'd have to wrap himself completely in protective layering and would end up looking like a human burrito just to be able to get a hug from the fiery princess.

But now, Flame Princess is touching and kissing Finn and sitting next to him, nothing and no one so much as smoking. I'm really happy FP finally got control of herself, and I can tell she is too.

Marshall nudges me, breaking my train of thought. "Silently fangirling about your brother and FP's perfect relationship?" he asks. He must have caught me staring.

I face him and give him a look. "I might be. Problem?"

Marshall sighs. "The only problem is they're too perfect and I'll never have a relationship that measures up to half that," he mumbles, and I can't tell if he is joking or serious.

I feel something clench at my heart when he says that. I know he and I will never happen, but it still hurts for him to say he'll never have a good relationship. Well, at least he didn't say anything about me.

I turn back and continue to watch Finn and Flame Princess play video games. "Same goes for me," I mumble back, because I know it's completely true. "I'm doomed to be forever alone. Join the club."

Marshall doesn't respond.

Finally, hours later it seems, Bubblegum finishes her shower and emerges and not long after that her brother finishes and emerges as well. Now everyone is showered, which means only one thing: time to decorate.

So that's what we do--we all grab the several Christmas decorations as Marshall and Marceline grab their umbrellas and we all head outside.

As soon as we exit the tree house, the cold air of December hits me and I shiver; it is Christmas Eve, alright.

But cold weather didn't stop us from decorating for Christmas last year (and the year before that and the year before that...), and it doesn't stop us this year either. Why? Mainly because Cake and Jake are willing to make us stay out here until we all catch frostbite if it means finishing our decorating and making it perfect (Cake takes Christmas, like Thanksgiving, more seriously than it needs to be taken).

We end up taking two hours to completely finish our outdoor Christmas decorating and Cake and Jake finally let us escape the cold weather and go back inside the toasty, incredibly warm tree fort (which is a good thing considering the last time we stayed out too long, Finn somehow managed to get his tongue stuck to an icicle, which took forever to remove).

Now we are inside, and it is time to start the interior decorating.

"Is it only me that thinks Cake takes the holidays a bit too seriously?" Finn asks.

We all shake our heads.

"No."

"Definitely not."

"She's a holiday tyrant."

Finn nods and smiles. "Yeah, she is," he says with a satisfied hum as he watches Cake place some mistletoe above the front door. "But, you gotta love her anyway."

And we do.