"Alright, Marshmallow, there are no cameras in here. What's up?"

Marsh pressed the tips of her fingers together and hesitated -- it'd all sound so heartless, laid on the table.

The Hotel OJ master suite was lit only by a candle when Marshmallow was there. It basked everything in an orange, somehow sacred-feeling glow. It was hard to speak because it felt like there was a huge, silent tension in the room.

"This has something to do with Apple?"

Marsh stopped hesitating and sighed. "Doesn't it always?" Marsh deadpanned. "I kind of wish I wasn't so... predictable."

"Predictable isn't necessarily a bad thing. You two are getting along?"

"Oh, um, yeah. Things are wonderful." Marsh rubbed the back of her head awkwardly.

"And how's Bow?"

"She's well. I don't know what she gets up to on that phone of hers, but she's her same old self."

"I've heard some stories from the others. Paintbrush has gotten some funny texts from her." He waved a hand dismissively. "But that's besides the point. If things with Apple are going okay, and Bow approves... I'll put it this way: we're friends, but we're not exactly close. Why are you coming to me about this and not Paintbrush?"

Marsh looked away with a nervous chuckle. "No reason... I guess you could say my relationship with Apple's going... too well."

He raised an eyebrow. "Too well??"

"Um..."

She tapped the tips of her fingers together, rocking on her feet.

'Maybe I should have gone to Paintbrush after all,' she thought. 'How do I even phrase this...?'

His brow furrowed. "...Marshmallow, is there a child involved?"

It took Marsh a second to realize what he meant. "What? N-no! We're just running out of money at the mansion."

He raised an eyebrow. "That's a pity. You can always stay here when it's gone, free of charge."

"Thanks..."

"That's what friends are for," OJ replied. "But I'm assuming there's more to it than that."

"Well, you're right." Marsh twiddled her thumbs. "A few months ago, Apple... proposed."

The only indication that OJ was surprised was the slight widening of his eyes. "Oh."

"Y-yeah... I said I had to think about it."

"I never would have taken her for the proposal type. Congratulations. But are you sure you should be talking to me about this? Don't get me wrong, we're friends, but you're the only one who knows what you want. And emotional advice isn't my strong suit. You should get Paper for that."

"W-well, um. There is a reason why I came here." OJ raised his other eyebrow. "She wants it to be a huge celebrity wedding. So, chances are, we'll do it here if we, uh..." Marsh twiddled her thumbs. "I don't want a big wedding, but... she thinks we could use it to get enough money to stay at the mansion for longer. And that maybe you could profit too. S-so, if I say yes, maybe, y'know..."

"Wow. Sounds simultaneously just like her and not like her at all."

"Yeah... She's different... But do you think there's any way she's right?"

"It sounds like a choice for you to make."

Marsh averted her gaze. "Well... I mean... financially. If we were frugal about the wedding... Could we profit enough to add more time to our mansion stay?"

OJ pulled a sheet of paper out from his desk, clicked a pen, began scribbling some numbers; if he thought it was selfish, he said nothing of it. His pen's long, maroon shadow moved for a long few minutes.

Marsh tried not to fidget too much.

It was perhaps three minutes before he replied, "Are you sure this is her idea? I'm working with flawed numbers here, but it checks out. It's genius, actually."

"Really?"

"Yeah." He got out of that fancy-looking office chair of his and walked over to Marsh, the sheet in hand. "If you have ten thousand dollars in the bank. I'd say you could get up to ten thousand from the fans themselves. If you accepted a ton of publicity from the press, then it'd be a race for the highest bid for who got airing rights. And considering it's a celebrity wedding, there'd be a lot of people who'd want their brand promoted on commercials on that station."

"Of course, celebrity weddings aren't cheap. But companies all want to be involved at celebrity weddings, and we know people who might feasibly give us discounts. It's all up in the air, but I don't think you'd wind up poorer than you are now. I'm no professional, but if all goes right, you'll probably get at least five extra years, possibly as many as fifteen, assuming you live at a thousand per year."

'Whoa.' Marsh's knees wobbled under the weight of the realization. 'It'd work. That's crazy. ...Am I actually excited about this?'

The silence endured as Marsh tried to digest the information. "That's a lot to take in. ...What kind of time commitment are we looking at here?"

OJ hummed. "...I couldn't say. Wedding preparations would take about a year. You'll probably need to stay here at the hotel for most of that time, and then for a while after that you'd be in the public eye to max out profits."

'Yikes.'

OJ handed her the sheet and sat back in his chair. "Obviously, you two need to have a long chat about this. But my advice is not to worry too much about the logistics, because things tend to work out in the end. Think about what you want."

He opened a drawer and rummaged through it for a moment, then passed Marsh a palm-sized, velvety black box.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what was inside of it. Her jaw dropped. "Why-"

"...Look, if you use that ring, it's no big deal. It's seven karats, which is big, but not that garish or expensive. We'll see what the profit margins look like when we negotiate repayment after this is done. Deal?"

Marsh's pulse was quick. 'He's talking like this is a sure thing...'

And maybe, she admitted to herself, she was. After all, the question wasn't really of feelings...

XXX

One difference from the first reunion to the second one was that OJ not-so-subtly placed Marsh and Apple in a different hallway than almost anyone else.

It was on the fourth floor, with a rather nice view from its sole window. It had dark orange, almost red, walls. Instead of just a bed or two, there was a queen-sized one, with a curtain available to pull around it. Red roses decorated the bedside table; Apple looked up from smelling one as she came in.

Marsh couldn't help the feeling that the room expected them to do something.

"Where'd you go?"

Marsh tucked the box away.

"I just needed to talk to OJ about something."

"Ohhh." There was a moment of silence. Then Apple said, "Was it about, you know..."

'She really is brighter than I give her credit for sometimes. I guess she didn't forget she proposed, after all.'

Marsh took a deep breath, and sat beside her on the bed. "...Fifteen extra years, max. That's twenty-five total.."

Apple's face lit up with a smile that soon faltered. "...You don't sound happy."

"I-I didn't even last a week last time. This would take us way longer.

"I-I believe in you, Marsh."

Marsh grinned uneasily. "It's still a lot of misery to deal with for something that might not even last."

"Aw, c'mon. Why wouldn't it last? We're a team."

Marsh struggled to find the words for a moment. "Things change. Maybe you'll be different, and we won't want to be married."

"I won't change."

"Don't be stupid; of course you will."

"...Well, I won't regret marrying you."

"Be serious," Marsh answered. "We can't promise not to regret things, because it may happen. Maybe it'll be once we get into a fight, or you find someone better to build your life with. Maybe even it'll be sixty years from now, when you're suddenly past the prime of your life without having traveled, or seen a Broadway show, or gone on a fancy dinner date."

Apple raised an eyebrow. "Uhh..."

"Even if you don't, I might."

There was silence. Apple looked at her a bit strangely for a second before grabbing her hand. "You're not going to live to regret this because you love me and I love you and we love each other and we're best friends to the end!" Apple gestured grandly. "Nothing would even change, except we'd be rich."

Something about the reassurance just didn't feel quite right. "Legally and socially, we'd be one person, a unit. Everyone would ask about me when they saw you just because that's the polite thing to do. You might never get the attention you deserve from fans apart from me. I can't do that to you."

Apple beamed. "I don't mind being 'Marshmallow's wife' instead of plain ol' me."

Marsh's heart ached so much that she could hardly look her in the eye. "But you're so much more than that."

"Marsh, I don't wanna be more than that!" Apple braced her arms on her shoulders, leaning in close. "Being your wife is more than I could ever hope."

Marsh blushed and looked down with a soft giggle. It was hard not to meet her stare, considering she was so close. "Gee. I guess your hopes aren't high, then, huh?"

"Marrying you would be such an honor. We could hold hands wearing wedding clothes so everyone knows we love each other."

'Gee. I guess she didn't stop thinking about it over those months, after all.'

Her heart pounded out a happy little beat. For a moment it was like that was all there was in the world: Apple, and that giddy feeling Marsh got at the mere sight of her.

'How did it take that funny drink to tell me what I wanted? Talk about not being self-aware...'

"It sounds nice," Marsh confessed, voice hardly a whisper. She wondered whether it was because the moment felt so sacred, or if Apple was just taking her breath away.

"So, what do ya say?"

That hopeful smile did something to her, she had to admit. Her heart was pounding, begging her to respond.

Meanwhile, the gears of her mind worked feverishly.

"We can't be rash about this. I've done that before, and it's been..." Marsh winced at the memory of that fateful day on Crappy Cliff. "...Marriage isn't trying something. If us doesn't work out and we're just dating, we can quietly change sleeping arrangements. But if we're married, divorce will be public and expensive."

"Divorce?"

"Ending the marriage."

Apple's jaw dropped. She stuttered for a moment, then burst out, "What?! I don't get it. We love each other, why would we ever-"

"Apple, you know that I love you! I'm not lying when I say so. But have you ever heard of puppy love? I'm worried that the feeling I have when I look at you might be that."

Apple blinked. "So you think you don't love me?"

"No! I do love you, but-"

"So you love me, but...?"

Marsh hated it. She hated the way she was on the defensive, the way she felt like a caged animal.

"I don't know, Apple... I don't know."

"...Oh." It was a syllable marinated in disappointment. Apple looked away.

Marsh wished she hadn't spoken. She could feel the sadness coming off of Apple in waves, and it hit her hard in the gut.

"It's not that I don't care. But I always doubt these things. It's not your fault. It's just that..." Marsh thought for a long moment, "well, we're young. Maybe we shouldn't put all our eggs in one basket, even if the basket seems strong. A-and, like I said, one year in the public eye, just..."

Apple was silent.

Everything was wrong.

'I can't cry. I won't cry.'

"I know I'm being negative, but... I don't think we're really ready to choose this."

"'Aren't ready'?" Apple echoed hollowly. "Am I just some little kid to you? Is that why you never tell me stuff?"

Apple's arms were crossed; she looked small. A jab of pity hit Marsh's heart with the force of a freight train. "What're you-"

"Your nightmares. You never tell me."

'Oh.'

There was a tense pause. Marsh's stomach felt like it had a rock in it. Then Marsh cleared her throat. "I can handle them."

"You say that, but you have nightmares all the time and wake up at such weird times that I dunno if it's early or late. You'd lie and say you didn't have any if I didn't already know. Do you even trust me?"

"I do!" Marsh's voice cracked. "But it's just... most of my nightmares are in the past."

"Can you just try me? It'd make me feel less unimportant."

Marsh could hear the sting of tears in Apple's voice as well as she could see them in her eyes. Apple quickly went on, "It's not enough for me to just hug you when you're having a bad day anymore. I want you to never have nightmares. You told me you'd let me help you, but all we did was watch stuff. I-I just want to help you in a grown-up way. You're so grown-up, and... marriage is a big grown-up thing..."

There was a silence. Marsh sighed sadly.

"...We depend on each other too much to be adults about this. Dating works for us. So the answer is, well..."

"I hear you, loud and clear..."

This was the right answer. It was the reasonable choice. They couldn't get married without being prepared for it. It didn't matter how crushed Apple sounded, because she didn't understand.

'So why does it feel so wrong?'

"Marshmallow... um..." They looked at each other. "That's okay. W-we don't have to. I... I'm really sorry I asked. B-but, um, there's something I have to say. You're amazing and make me smile every single day. I really like looking at you, and touching you," Apple stroked her hand, "and even listening to you talk. I really like what you have to say, especially when it's 'I love you.' ...J-just about the only thing I don't get to do is see you in one of those fancy white things that says you're all mine."

Apple lost her composure for a second, then rubbed her tears away.

"A-and that's fine. Somehow you picked me, and... I really don't know why. Maybe I'm too dumb to ever get it. I'm so lucky to have you anyway. And if you don't want to marry me, that's okay! But I can't stand it when you deal with stuff alone, s-so I'm begging you, please just... let me stay with you."

It made her feel rotten. Marsh wanted nothing more but to turn that frown upside down, but...

"...W-why is marriage so different from how we are now?"

"I want everyone in the world to know you picked me. And if we get extra time together out of it, it's even more worth it. I love you."

I love you.

Was that all it boiled down to?

It was a thought that made Marsh smile, one that made her heart speed up. One that made her heart twist like a pretzel. One that made made her feel suddenly, inexplicably trapped.

It was a thought which made her gently push Apple away from her.

"...You think I'm a good person. But am I really? ...Even right now, I'm playing with your feelings. Sometimes, I just want to cling to you and not let go, but other times, it's like, I just can't... I'm too fickle."

"I get that, but you love me. And you're amazing, so I love you too."

"I'm a killer," Marsh blurted without thinking.

"Me too."

Her nonchalant tone bothered Marsh. She shook her head vehemently. "Yes, but... I-I... I killed Bow. She's a ghost, and she'll never live again." Had she ever said the words out loud before? They hurt to say in a way few other things hurt. "A-all she wanted to do was sit in chairs and b-be my friend. I ended her life for it! I-it's the worst thing you could ever do to someone!"

Apple stared at her with wide eyes.

"I didn't even think about it at the time. I did that evil thing only thinking about myself. I missed her, but that was because I wanted her around, not because I felt bad. What good person doesn't even feel bad for it? We both know what it's like to feel alone... Bow was all alone, in that box and at the mansion, and... it's all my fault."

"I hate what I am: a killer."

Without another word, Apple hugged her. "...You okay?"

Marsh laughed. The tears bubbling in her eyes began to fall.

"About this? No. I-I haven't been okay in years..."

"So that's what's in your nightmares. I shoulda known."

"...I-I haven't exactly been subtle... Now do you see why gardening was my line of defense?"

"Uhh, kinda, yeah."

There was silence. Marsh's fists clenched at her side, then she sat on the ground, making herself almost as small as she felt.

"Uh, I never thought of it as murder. It was an accident, right? Stuff happens. Bow forgave you like I did. I-I kinda forgot about this, honestly. I didn't know you felt so messed up inside about this... I wish I knew. You shoulda told me. It's an important lesson, but it's better late than never." Apple stared into her eyes, smiling slightly. "I kinda get it. I wouldn't want to talk about it either."

Marsh stared.

Apple continued, "But talking helps. I'm bad with words, but never keep secrets, please. I... I want to help you. And, uh, here's a, maybe dumb, idea. But... Um. If gardening makes you feel like you're making up for it... j-just, how much you could make me live? How much could our family grow?"

She kissed the spot above her eyes as if apologizing.

"...But anyway, we'll keep learning about love in case you ever change my mind. Just... from here on out, please tell me everything, okay?"

Her expression became blank. "And that includes what 'fickle' means."

Marsh wiped her tears. After a few moments of racing thoughts, Marsh swallowed and hugged her.

"T-thanks..."

XXX

That night, Marsh found that she was restless. As warm as Apple's sleeping presence was at her side she found herself sitting up, drawn to a presence that was distinctly less warm.

The engagement ring.

It made her pulse race, her mouth go dry. Yet, despite the fear she felt, she couldn't stop looking at it.

'We're not even old enough. And I already said no. I shouldn't be looking.

'And yet...'

Yet...

Not a lot of people even had relationships like this so early in their lives, so maybe marriage wasn't as far-fetched as it would have been. Their relationship certainly wasn't a bad thing...

One way or another, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Apple grumbled in her sleep, rolling over.

Marsh thought back to the proposal. Her heart had pounded so fast. Did it ever go that fast before?

Well, it'd certainly come close when Marsh had given her letter of confession to Apple. And when they first exchanged I love yous under the stars. And when Apple had revealed their relationship to everyone.

The only time it had ever gone faster was the fateful night they ran away from the hotel, blazing a new path of friendship and forgiveness..

All were paradigm shifts in the way she saw her dearest friend.

Perhaps that meant there was no going back.

Marsh hesitantly removed the ring from its box and turned it around in her fingers. It was cold, but even in the half-light its beauty was clear to see, and it'd look great with Apple's red.

It wasn't that simple...

...or was it?

Marsh shifted, looking out the window. The stars gleamed bright. The memory of that truce, their universal truce, was vivid in her mind.

'There'll never be an opportunity quite like this again... Whatever Apple says, I can't just accept her proposal some other time. I'll be too afraid to change my ways.'

Marsh set the ring back in its box and slipped it into a drawer again.

She made a decision.