A/N: This is only two chapters. Prepare for some feels!
Marceline found her bare feet in the air just outside Bonnibel's window, found her knuckles rapping on said window, all in the dark, early hours of the morning. She wasn't sure how or why she was here, but well… that's a lie. She had an inkling…
It took the princess a few moments to gather herself and stumble to the window to let her guest in. Marceline was pretty sure she heard angry mutterings about useless guardsmen, but chose to pretend she didn't. "Sup," she said casually, as though it was 3PM and not 3AM.
In the glow of the moonlight, Bonni's face looked too white, flavorless, Marceline noticed. It was a stark contrast to the black rock shirt she wore as her pajamas. "What, Marcy?" the drowsy girl snapped, rubbing her eyes with a thumb and forefinger.
"I-uh…" Marceline felt uncomfortable, suddenly, unusually. Her eyes met Bonnibel's, dropped to the nightshirt the princess wore, and then slid off to the side, a lump forming in her throat. She tried to swallow the lump away. "You really do wear it-"
"You cannot be serious!" Bonni interjected incredulously. Marcy could see the dark, angry pink coloring her face now. "Did you honestly come here at this hour to verify whether or not I really wore your shirt!?" Bonni's color shaded more deliciously crimson with each second Marcy didn't answer.
The lump stuck hard and Marcy's mouth went dry, quickly blurting, "No-no, I just-I… I wanted to talk to you… I couldn't wait, okay?" before Bonni had the idea to shut the window. The vampire hugged herself, twisting the fabric of her plaid shirt in her grip, feeling the harsh prick of tears at the corners of her eyes, fighting them. Why was it so hard to talk to the girl who used to be her best friend?
Bonnibel only responded with a short sigh and looked the floating woman up and down briefly before hooking her fingers around Marcy's heel to tug her inside, the latter letting out a small "oop" of surprise. Once over the pane, Bonnibel let go and Marceline touched down on the floor with a gentle thump. The princess stepped a few feet away to sit on her bed, the coverlet crimping beneath her weight. The vampire stayed a few feet away, scuffing her foot against the floor to add some noise to the awkward silence rising between them. The room was dark, but lit well enough by the moonlight that she could see nothing had changed since the last time she was here for a visit. Marcy could feel Bonni's irritation; it weighed heavily on her words, making it harder to dig around for them, to find the right ones to say.
But, to her relief- maybe?- the princess spoke first. "I know… I know why you're here. I should explain." Bonni placed her elbow on her knee and buried her face into her palm. With another sigh, she said, "I apologize for abruptly limiting contact as I did. It was for the good of all, I assure you." Marceline grit her teeth hard, the lump in her throat melted, but before she could disagree, Bonni went on while meeting Marcy's gaze, "You were distracting me from my responsibilities, and it became too much for me to handle. Adventures and pranks, I could only keep up with you for so long, Marceline. I have a kingdom to run and-"
The vampire threw her hands in the air suddenly, interrupting, and then jabbed her finger at the all-too-composed Bonni, temper rising. "Kingdom or not- you could have told me! Instead you just- you just push me away, being cold… making me think that you hated me! Looking down on me… down your nose, like I'm… Like I'm just-"
"My problem, yes- I heard you earlier today." Marceline's chest tightened past discomfort to a point of pain as she counted Bubblegum's third sigh to herself, noted it as the most frustrated one, and let the princess continue, "You aren't a problem, but… Marceline- I- I can't… We can't. We can't be… friends anymore. I can't go back to that." If there were tears forming in Bonni's eyes, Marcy couldn't tell by the moonlight, but maybe she could hear it in her voice.
The vampire's temper died for only a moment at the sound of hurt, of regret, in the princess's words. Only a moment. Her red eyes sparked, fangs flashing from under lips curled back as she clenched her teeth to fight the hot press of tears. Bonni's words stewed within her. "Why!?" she demanded, taking hard, angry steps toward the young woman on the bed. "Responsibility can't be the only reason!" Towering intimidatingly over the seated princess, she grasped Bonni's shoulders hard, too hard, nails digging through the fabric of the black shirt into pale, pink skin. "That's not enough to end our friendship!" Rage pumped through her veins instead of blood; she gnashed her teeth, ready to roar. The lines of her mouth softened, though, as she met Bonnibel's gaze, one of understanding and apologies and, still, frustration. Marceline's grip loosened, the edge to her voice dulling, "I can behave, mostly… I think-… I can-"
Bonni carefully encircled each of Marcy's wrists and firmly tugged them off of her person, apparently unfazed by the vampire's harsh grip. Pressing her palms against Marcy's shoulders, she gave a solid shove, forcing a surprised Marcy to stumble back and float up a few inches to keep from toppling. Rising steadily to her feet, Bonni pressed down the wrinkles of her shirt with a few careful sweeps of her fingers. Without so much as a glance at her surprise guest, she turned and walked away, her fingers now trailing over the bedspread absently as she crossed the room to pause in front of the mirror. She gingerly touched the candy-shaped intricacies carved into the wood. Marcy was speechless for the princess' actions; Bonni was momentarily silent, then, "It's not that simple," she said at last.
A/N: Thanks for reading!
