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Ever since she realised her feelings for Bubblegum were more than merely platonic, Marceline has been telling herself that she’ll confess her love for the princess eventually, that she’d just have to find the right moment to do so. But every single time she thought the situation was appropriate for a feelings jam, someone, anyone would interrupt them. Let it be Peppermint Butler, Finn and Jake or even the god damn Ice King.
And now it’s been a year and she still hasn’t got the opportunity to confess to PB, so she’s decided that tonight she’s going for it. No backing down this time.
As she waits for the sun to go down, she can’t help thinking of all the possible outcomes. There’s a couple of questions that keep her nervous and unable to stop biting her nails. “What if she doesn’t like me back? What if she doesn’t want to be friends with me anymore after this?”
To keep her mind of off negative thoughts, she looks through her, as Finn calls it, “never ending” wardrobe. Unsurprisingly, she can’t find anything to wear. None of the thousands piles of clothing appease her, nothing catches her eye and nothing seems appropriate enough to wear while asking a princess out on a date.
By dawn, she’s decided on wearing something casual, a red sweater and a pair of black skinny jeans combined with her favourite red knee high boots. She checks herself in the mirror, which makes her remember she can't see her own reflection. With a sigh, she waves Schwable goodbye and heads off to the Candy Kingdom.
When she arrives at the castle, PB’s balcony doors are wide open. She peeks inside the room to see the princess carefully brushing her bubblegum hair. She smiles and floats inside, letting herself fall on the pink teen’s bed.
"What up, Bonnibel?"
PB places the crystal hairbrush on the pink vanity before turning to face the vamp. The fact that she’s beaming when she says “you’re wearing the sweater I knit you!” gives Marceline a boost of confidence.
"So Bonnie, I- I wanted to tell you something." The princess raises both her eyebrows and walks to the bed, sitting next to her friend. After a moment of silence, placing her hand on her friend’s thigh, she whispers, "go on".
"Okay, so-" Marceline’s eyes suddenly fall on PB’s outfit. She frowns and before the other girl can ask what’s wrong, she is sitting up. "Wait, didn’t you say you wore that shirt I gave you all the time as pajamas?"
Bubblegum looks down at her plain pink sleeping gown with a sad smile. “Yeah, I used to. But. Uhm.”
"Spit it out, princess." Marceline says impatiently, feeling her confidence slip away. If PB has stopped wearing that shirt that meant so much to both of them… Then maybe she doesn’t feel the same, right?
"Remember a few months ago? Ash sold Hambo to that witch so you and I went on a rescue mission to get him back?" The undead teen nods slowly, trying to come up with a logical reason why PB is mentioning that in their current situation. "Well, she said she wouldn’t give Hambo back because she had obtained him through a legal transaction, which I had to respect due to the kingdom’s laws. So I did the only thing I could to get Hambo back. I-"
"You traded Hambo for your shirt because the shirt had more sentimental value than an old toy, didn’t you?" Marceline finishes her sentence with a deadpan tone.
"Well, yeah."
Throwing her arms in the air and raising her voice, she yells indignantly, “What the fuck, Bonnie? Why would you do something like that? What is wrong with you!?”
"I did it for you! I know how much that stupid doll means to you!" Bubblegum responds in the same tone.
The princess calling Hambo a “stupid doll” triggers the anger in Marceline’s stomach, leading the girls to a verbal fight in which the vamp aggressively insists that Bubblegum shouldn’t have made that exchange and Bubblegum replies that it was the right thing to do.
They only stop their argument when Peppermint Butler knocks on the door, inquiring if everything is okay. The teenage girls sigh at the same time, replying with a tired and synchronised “Yes”.
After a few minutes in silence and with Peppermint Butler gone, Marceline murmurs an angry “fuck!”.
"What’s wrong, Marceline?" PB asks, stealing glances at her.
The vampire shakes her head with a defeated sigh. “Everything. It wasn’t supposed to go like this. At least not tonight.” When the princess tilts her head in confusion at her, she looks so god damn adorable that Marceline just decides, “Fuck it”, before grabbing Bubblegum’s face with both hands and pressing their lips together.
The undead queen’s cold lips are off PB’s plush ones before the other can process what’s just happened. Seeing as she gets no reaction from her crush, Marceline immediately begins to apologise hurriedly, not knowing what to say except “I’m so sorry, Jesus fuck. I shouldn’t have done that, I’m so so so sorry!”
As soon as some sense kicks into her, though, Princess Bubblegum leans forward and shuts Marceline up with a soft but firm peck. Their faces less than an inch apart, the princess smirks triumphantly and breathes “Took you long enough, asshole” against Marceline’s lips, making the other laugh, kissing her again and again.