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Marceline isn’t good at love. She’s clumsy, brash, and a bit intense. However, that never made Bubblegum love her any less. No matter how many times Marceline insulted her, played pranks on her, and pulled her into mischief, Bonnie still loved her. The insults stung, the break up song still lingered in her head but her love never died, wavered but never died.
Things were getting better, though. Marceline had matured over the years, and Bonnie had mellowed out. They could hangout again, these days without the help of Finn and Jake. Bubblegum didn’t always approve of the times Marceline dropped by, usually in the middle of the night. The vampire would sneak through one of her large bedroom windows. When Bonnie was asleep, Marceline would usually take up a spot next to her on the bed.
Marceline always kept good watch of Bonnie through the night, only dozing off here and there. Sometimes the princess would turn in her sleep, catching Marceline in an embrace. When she woke up, she would apologize to Marcy, then scold the vampire for sneaking in. Bonnibel really didn’t care, she’d let Marceline into her home no matter what, but she liked to see the way Marceline got flushed and apologized. After all these years, they were still working on her manners.
Today the princess had woken up in bed alone. It was rare these days, which made her think Marcy was somewhere nearby. Bonnie let her limbs wake up before she sat up. The room was chilly and a glance at the window told her why. It was open. That told the princess all she needed to know. Marceline was larking around somewhere. Bonnibel reached for the closest coat, which was Marceline’s red letterman jacket. It was a habit the vampire had of forgetting her clothes with the princess.
This had really expanded the woman’s ‘at home’ and night time wardrobe.
As Bonnibel fumbled with the zipper of the coat, the door to her room opened. With the lack of a knock, she figured it was Marceline creeping back into the room, causing her to glance up.
“Hey princess.” Marceline greeted her with a smile, one that showed her fangs. To anyone else it would probably be mistaken as a crude gesture, but Bonnie knew it was just another goofy thing her friend did.
“Good morning, Marceline. Could you shut the window, please?” Bubblegum returned the smile as the queen glanced towards the window.
“Oh, yeah! Sorry P.B.” Marceline spoke as she headed to the window, shutting it and drawing the curtains after. Usually the candy princess preferred them open, but she understood how the sun hurt Marcy, so she was okay with a bit of a dark room for today.
Once the vampire queen had finished, she returned to the bed; her smile turning into a smirk. “Is that my jacket?” She questioned, teasingly tugging at the fabric.
Bonnibel grumbled but nodded to the question. “It was cold in here. Plus, it was closer than mine.” The princess tried to explain it away. However, even if one of her coats had been closer, she still would have picked Marceline’s. While their clothing styles were nothing alike, Bonnie still enjoyed dawning a piece of Marceline’s wardrobe every so often. It reminded her of when they were still together, when the candy kingdom was still small and manageable.
“I don’t mind if you wear my stuff, Peebs. It’s sweet. I like when you wear my clothes.” Marceline admitted with a small shrug. “You know? Reminds me of the old times.” Marceline had murmured the last line. She didn’t like to think of the old days. They were sweet memories, but they were often clouded by the memory of their breakup.
Marceline had hit a rough patch after their breakup, trying to fill a void. The queen had taken the breakup less gracefully than her former partner. She’d been angry with everything. Her music had taken a turn along with her attitude. Marceline had tried dating other people too, mostly Ash. That hadn’t gotten her anything but more heartbreak. Even with all the time between them, she still had feelings for Bonnie. That was obvious to anyone who looked.
“I miss the old times.” The princess admitted with a sigh. “I miss you, Marcy.” That had surprised the girl, causing her eyes to widen slightly and a wry laugh to come from her.
“You miss me? Really?” The reply didn’t come with its regular sarcasm, instead genuine surprise. “Bonnie. I thought I was nothing to you.”
Bonnibel said nothing for a moment before she broke out into laughter. At first Marceline was hurt and confused until Bubblegum had grabbed her hands. “Marcy, you’re everything to me. Glob, I miss you more than anything.”
They caught eye contact, and it only took Bonnie a second to see how Marceline’s eyes glimmered with tears. Bonnie would usually be worried, scared she had said something wrong, but she knew Marceline. The girl wasn’t used to affection, and this was probably something she hadn’t felt in a long time.
“Marceline, forgive me if this is a bad time but, I’m still in love with you.” Bubblegum spoke, her already pink cheeks turning a bit rosier.
The vampire took a second to take in all the information. She didn’t know what to say, where to start even. Marceline panicked, trying to remember her words. Bonnie noticed and stroked her thumb over the back of the vampire’s hands.
“Take your time, Marcy, it’s okay.” Bonnibel gave her a reassuring smile. Marceline nodded, drying to tears from her eyes as she tried to figure what to say.
“Bonnie, I love you. I never-what I said in the glass kingdom-I love you so much. I never stopped.” Marceline fumbled over her words, her usual way with them gone.
“Wait, really?” The princess had been surprised, she thought after the events at the glass kingdom Marceline hated her, regretted ever dating her.
“When I said all of that stuff, I was just a kid. I was hurt, and I didn’t know what else to do.” Marceline started taking it slow, finding out the right words to express herself. “I tried to move on, tried to convince myself I really hated you, but I didn’t. Bonnie, I never hated you, I was just scared.”
Bonnibel stopped for a moment. Her chest was tight, and she hadn’t felt this way in years. She brought her arms around Marceline and pulled the girl into a tight hug. “We both said stuff we didn’t mean, Marcy. That’s okay because we’re better now and if you want, we can try again.”
“Try again?” The words were hesitant, as if Marceline didn’t believe those were the correct ones. “You’d want to try again with me?” Bubblegum only responded by pulling the girl closer, rubbing gentle circles into her back.