Oh you guyssssss, you are the sweetest! I've had some absolutely lovely feedback on this fic, I'm so glad people like it! I know I owe you the last chapter of Another Day and I will attempt to finish it asap, I've just already finished this chapter and had it declared fit for purpose by my gorgeous proofies and thought why wait?
As ever love and kisses to the inestimable Alquimiaverde for the prompt for this fic, it's been a real pleasure to write.
Quick note on this chapter, if you don't know who The Cure are I suggest looking up Love Song at the very least because it's awesome and emotional and lovely and also mentioned quite heavily here. I included the lyrics to the chorus so you can skip listening to it if you really want but I do think you should listen to it just because it rocks. Also yes Zak is an OC, but he's a sweetie, right? And Penelope is sorta canon, she's an adventurer from the distant future in the comics with grey skin and dark pink hair and Finn's hat. Coincidence? I think not.
Content Warning: awkward abuse of nautical terminology, song lyrics, not graphic but not particularly enjoyable descriptions of hetero sex, embarrassing kids.
"ZAK! HURRY UP!" Bonnie yelled up the stairs in frustration. Trust her boy to be slow and forgetful on the one night she had somewhere to be.
"I CAN'T FIND MY BAG!" he yelled back.
"IT'S DOWN- oh sorry, Zak. It's down here with your football kit, now come on, you're gonna be late." Bonnie told him as his tousled rusty head appeared around the corner of the staircase. Zak sighed and sloped down the stairs to her, gangly teenage limbs almost flopping as he walked.
"It's just stupid football practice, Mum. And I don't even wanna go." he moaned as he came to a stop in front of her and Bonnie straightened his shirt collar by habit.
"You'll enjoy it once you get there, honey. Besides, if you had your way you'd stay in your room all the time and never move and that isn't healthy." she replied gently. She almost had to lift her head to look him in the eyes now, he was only a little shorter than her.
"Why doesn't Penny have to do a sport?" Zak whined, shrugging his mother's hand off his collar.
"Because I actually exercise, dweeb!" his sister called through from the kitchen.
"Penny, be nice." Bonnie warned. Penelope sighed and came through into the hall too. She looked more like her father, shaggy brown hair and soft features. And she was so laid back it sometimes drove Bonnie crazy; Penny was the sort of girl who could happily dream her life away if nobody prodded her in the right direction. Still, she did exercise at least. She went to the gym three times a week and loved going dancing with her school friends. Zak was too focused on video games and studying to leave the house unless his mother nagged him about it. They all trooped out into the car together, Zak almost sprinting to get into the front passenger seat and turning to grin smugly at his sister in the back. She just rolled her eyes at him and sighed again.
"You're going to your Dad's after football, remember? Bonnie told her son as she drove through the evening traffic.
"I know." he replied with a huff in his voice.
"And Penny's spending the night at Luisa's place." Bonnie continued. "So there won't be anyone home until I get back from the party. Did you bring your father's birthday card?"
"I dunno." Zak shrugged.
"Zak, honestly. Well I've got my phone so just call if you need me, but your father will be expecting you." she replied with a sigh. Zak just shrugged again; more and more he disliked spending time with Braco these days and Bonnie knew it was because her ex-husband just couldn't keep his unfavourable opinions of her to himself. She was careful never to say a negative word about him in front of the kids but apparently Braco had no such qualms about badmouthing her.
"Hey, Mum? Why are you wearing make up?" he asked after a thoughtful silence.
"Because I'm going to a nice party." Bonnie replied with a frown.
"Because Mum has a hot date." Penelope corrected her with a grin. "She met a woman at the school reunion last week and they haven't stopped texting each other since."
"She's an old friend and it's nice to catch up." Bonnie muttered, cheeks going slightly pink in embarrassment.
"Uhuh, Mum bought a pretty new dress and went to the hairdressers this afternoon." Penny added smugly.
"Because it's a fancy party! It's on a boat and there'll be a lot of professional musicians there! As much as you two seem to think otherwise my love life doesn't exist purely for your entertainment!" Bonnie replied crossly. She pulled up at Zak's school gates and he rolled out of the car reluctantly.
"Denial, Mum. I can see right through you. Have a good date." he told her through the open car window. She watched him slouch out of sight and off to the school football pitch while Penny got out and went around to the front passenger seat to take his place.
"It's just a nice party." Bonnie said a little pleadingly when she was back on the road with her daughter. Penny had already pulled her phone out of her pocket and nodded distractedly.
"Yeah, you keep saying. Well enjoy your nice party. Do you wanna do a girly date for my birthday, by the way?"
"Oh that sounds lovely, sweetheart. Manicures, cinema and a facial? I can get us dinner too, my treat." Bonnie smiled. She loved spending time with her daughter like that, the older Penny got the closer they were.
"Sounds cool. Oh hey, there's Luisa. Drop me here, please." Penny replied, leaning out of the window to holler at her friend.
"Bye sweetie, have a good night!" Bonnie called at her daughter's retreating back. Penelope waved over her shoulder, already howling with laughter about something Luisa had told her. They reminded Bonnie so much of herself and Marcy at that age, although probably without the simmering unresolved romantic tension that had finally boiled over into a heated make out session the same day she'd had her first scan when she'd unexpectedly fallen pregnant with Penny. And then Braco had come home and the spell was broken; they'd leaped away from each other like their lips were on fire a second before he walked in the room. Then Marcy had disappeared for eighteen long years. Bonnie shook the memories free from her head as she drove on; it was just a nice party. She'd put on make up and had her hair done because there were going to be a lot of glamorous people from the music industry there, that was all. Somehow recently all of her thoughts had returned to Marcy no matter what else she'd been trying to focus on and deep down Bonnie felt that she should probably be more worried about it than she was.
Marcy had called it a houseboat but it was more like a floating palace. Bonnie felt her jaw drop as she pulled around the winding slope that lead down to the harbour. Beneath her was a huge wooden ship complete with a tall mast and a pirate flag fluttering in the breeze. As she drew closer Bonnie could see that the rigging was strung with thousands of tiny fairy lights and the deck had been decorated with a wealth of overflowing planters and patio furniture like someone had opened a floating garden centre. It looked supremely out of place next to the rusting trawlers and one or two larger sail boats moored alongside it. And there was Marcy herself at the bow of the ship chatting animatedly with some well dressed people Bonnie didn't recognise. And oh hell, someone had bought her a captain's hat too. She'd probably given the local fishermen an aneurysm when they'd seen her. Well at least Zak would love it.
"AHOY THERE BONNIBEL! LOWERING THE GANGPLANK!" Marcy yelled at her the moment she got out of the car. Bonnie cringed.
"Lovely boat, very, um, nautical." Bonnie told her a little awkwardly when she came aboard.
"Isn't it great? I always wanted a roof garden and I always wanted a boat and I didn't see why they were mutually exclusive. Hey, have you met the guys I used to be in the band with?" Marcy enthused.
"Hey." Bonnie told the three people behind her friend, still rather shy about being there in the first place.
"Yo, these are Bongo, Keila and Guy." Marcy nodded to them all in turn. Bongo was a big beefy man whose hair swirled up to a point and made him look a little like he had an ice cream come on his head, in Bonnie's opinion. Keila was a mousey woman with prominent Hispanic features and Guy was a tall thin man with dirty blonde hair and dirty looking personal habits to match. His stubble looked less deliberate and more like he'd just forgotten to shave or even shower in a while. Bonnie got the feeling she'd want to wash her hands after talking to him.
"Hi, so you guys are the Scream Queens?" she asked politely.
"Used to be. We're all doing other stuff now." Guy shrugged amiably. Bongo frowned at him and shuffled off muttering to himself. "Ignore him, he's sour the rest of us didn't want to keep on flogging a dead horse. When the show's over you gotta take a final bow and put the effects pedal away, you know what I'm saying?"
"Um, yes?" Bonnie hedged, not completely certain that she did.
"Coolios. You wanna take a tour of the place?" Guy asked with what he probably thought was a charming smile.
"My boat, my tour. Besides I'm sure the poor woman just wants a drink and a sit down." Marcy frowned at him. She slid a little defensively between the two and handed Bonnie a glass of something pink, fruity and very alcoholic smelling.
"I've got the car-" Bonnie protested.
"Leave it here for the night and come get it in the morning. I'll get you a taxi home." Marcy replied breezily. It had been a long time since she'd had a night of nice cocktails and good company, Bonnie thought. And the kids were away and she was finally allowed to just relax a little. Why not?
As the party ground on Bonnie found herself chatting animatedly with Guy about the finer details of being a professional musician and it was actually fun and relaxing. She was almost beginning to unwind and have a good time. But her eyes kept sliding across the deck to where her oldest friend was laughing with a group of suits from the radio station and she had to keep pretending to have heard what the oily man was saying.
"Huh? Sorry, what was that?" Bonnie asked for the fourth or fifth time in a row, looking around and realising she'd been watching the moonlight gleaming on the jet gloss of Marcy's hair instead of paying attention.
"I said, please correct me if I'm wrong but I suspect I'm barking right up the wrong tree, aren't I?" Guy said with a wistful smile.
"I'm not sure I understand."
"You haven't taken your eyes off her all night. And I don't know if you know but she hasn't shut up about you in literally forever. Listen, Bonnie, you're a real babe, really cool and sexy. But I know when I'm trying to sell dogs to a woman who likes cats. And you strike me as a cat woman." he replied knowingly.
"Um, I what?" Bonnie asked, confused. Her eyes were back on Marceline again anyway. She hadn't even realised she'd looked over his shoulder again.
"I mean, you're totally gay for her, right?" he asked.
"Oh! I, er, I'm definitely the sparkliest homo in the pride parade. But Marcy's my friend and-"
"And you want to be more than friends with her. I've known her a long time, trust me she feels the same." he replied. Guy stretched and got to his feet. "I'm gonna go take a leak and grab another beer. You're gonna plan how to seduce my awesome former frontwoman and best friend. Don't break her heart, she'll never put it back together again."
He walked away leaving the warning ringing in her ears and Bonnie looked around, noticing for the first time that a lot of the guests had already left. In fact there was just herself, the radio stiffs and Guy left along with Marcy on the desk. How late was it? Bonnie checked her watch, it almost eleven already. Where had the time gone, she thought in confusion.
"It's been awesome but I'm afraid I'm gonna have to hit the hammock soon. Got an early start tomorrow." Marcy was telling the radio guys as she gently herded them towards the gangplank. Guy hadn't returned from his beer run and suddenly Bonnie got the feeling she'd been spectacularly out-maneuvered.
"I should get going too." she said quietly as she came up to Marcy's shoulder. "This has been really fun. Maybe give me that tour of the boat sometime?"
"I called for a taxi but they said they'd be a while. Friday night, they're really busy. We've got time for the tour now the work people have gone." Marcy replied with a smile that wasn't completely free from being a little sly. Bonnie just nodded, she knew when she was being asked to stay. So she followed the other woman below deck into what appeared to be a well appointed kitchen and dining area that lead through to an open plan lounge hung with half finished paintings.
"Did you do these?" Bonnie asked, surprised.
"I'm just messing about with them. Felt like I needed a hobby outside of music." Marcy replied a little sheepishly.
"They're beautiful." Bonnie breathed. Most were of some kind of sea creature, mermaids and whales and giant squid surrounded by waving forests of kelp or the sunken wrecks of transport ships and trawlers. There was something about those beautiful creatures of the deep next to the ugliness of modern shipping; Bonnie felt like there was some deeper meaning behind those paintings but she'd never been much of an art critic and the significance escaped her. Still they were hauntingly beautiful even if she didn't quite grasp the deeper meaning. Something about them spoke of longing and unfulfilled desires, she thought a little tipsily. A bare breasted mermaid who looked not unlike herself when she'd been younger frowned down in deep concentration, apparently trying to figure out the significance of a drowned submarine's control panel. Bonnie felt her cheeks heat a little with embarrassment but surely it must be a coincidence? There must be a lot of slim, ethereal looking redheads out there who might be painted into one of Marcy's pictures. At least there was no danger of her getting painted as she was now; she couldn't see Marcy wanting a picture of a forty year old single mother with lines around her eyes and old pregnancy stretch marks on her stomach.
"That's one of my favourites." Marceline murmured, coming up behind her almost silently and standing just a little closer than Bonnie was completely comfortable with. "I love the expression on her face. What's she thinking? Do you suppose she's contemplating our world and wondering about us as much as we're wondering about her? I call that one The Thinker Of The Deep. Super pretentious, I know. But I always sucked at naming things."
It was the alcohol that prompted Bonnie to open her mouth, she knew it was.
"She, uh, sorta looks like-"
"You, I know. It's deliberate. At first I was just drawing randomly but the curiosity in her expression when she was looking at the controls reminded me of you, you remember how you used to get in physics class? All starry eyed and deep, you were so enthralled by the whole thing. So I redrew her, drew you from memory. I got offered quite a bit of money for her before I moved back but I didn't want to sell. Didn't know if she'd be the closest I'd ever get to you again. I should have come home years ago." Marcy finished wistfully.
Bonnie turned and gaped, unsure what to say. And Marceline was closer than ever, giving her a look that Bonnie didn't want to believe was tender and longing because it was stirring all kinds of feelings in her chest. Almost like the other woman really did think she was still as beautiful as the mermaid in the painting.
"Y'know, I never stopped thinking about you, missing you." Marcy breathed. She swayed forwards a little with a soft sigh, eyes fluttering closed as she leaned closer-
Bonnie's mobile rang in her bag. She looked around, confused, suddenly very aware her brain had gone numb. Surely it was pure insanity to be standing there in Marceline's houseboat letting her gorgeous friend seduce her with those beautiful eyes and getting right back into the same kind of craziness that had so effectively flayed her emotions eighteen years previously. She turned away, ashamed, and pulled her phone out. It was Zak.
"What's wrong, honey?" Bonnie breathed down the line to him, back turned on Marceline who was watching her with some unreadable expression.
"Mum? Dad went out to the pub and I didn't wanna stay there alone. He dropped me off at home, I thought you'd be back already. I don't have a key." Zak told her plaintively.
"I'm just waiting for a taxi now, sweetie. I had a couple of drinks and I didn't want to drive." Bonnie replied, shooting a frown at Marcy who just shrugged at her like she hadn't deliberately kept the redhead's glass topped up all night. Marceline was the worst influence, she should have remembered.
"Mum, it's raining. Can you hurry?" her son whined.
"I'll be as quick as I can."
She hung up the line with a brief goodbye and another promise to get home quickly and turned to stride back across the lounge and out onto the deck again where at least the low lighting and magnificent paintings wouldn't screw with her head.
"Bon, wait! Please!" Marcy pleaded.
"I've got to go, my son's waiting." she replied with a shake of her head. "I'll be back to get my car tomorrow."
"Will you come back some other time?" Marcy asked quietly.
"Maybe. But right now I have to go." Bonnie replied in a tight voice full of regret and hurt and so much repressed desire it felt like it was slowly burning her from the inside out. But Zak was waiting for her and she'd been hurt too badly by Marceline in the past, she wasn't about to make another huge mistake again. Bonnie took one last look at her old friend standing bereft in her half unpacked lounge and turned away to the door. She'd figure it all out later when she was sober and had time to analyse how she felt. For now all that mattered was that she was a mother and she needed to go home for her son.
The door closed on her disappearing back and Marceline sank down into a chair still covered in a dust sheet, staring after the only person she'd really loved as she walked away possibly never to return. She had a sudden epiphany about how Bonnie must have felt when she'd walked out and gone pretty much straight to the airport that night eighteen years ago; wondered if the redhead knew she'd cried silently right through her flight and every night afterwards for many weeks.
...
"You're such a dweeb." Penelope told her little brother for the tenth time a week later. "I love it, thank you!"
"Whatever. Happy birthday you big nerd, go crazy, read the world." Zak told her happily. Penelope had just unwrapped a brand new e-reader and was already fiddling with it, putting in the wifi code and setting up her account. "Hey Mum? I got a little present for you, too."
"Zakky, come here you little angel." Bonnie beamed, holding out her arms to him. He shuffled across and let her hug him tightly. "You didn't have to get me anything at all."
"Birthdays are important for mothers too, it's the anniversary of one of the biggest events in your life. You should be honoured today for everything you do for us. His Holiness The Dalai Lama said so." Zak shrugged with a blush.
"Zackary Dylan McFarlane-Sugar, you are the sweetest boy I've ever met. One day you're gonna make someone very happy." Bonnie told him seriously, eyes welling a little with emotion.
"Muuuuuum, stop making it weird and just open your present!" Zak wailed in embarrassment, wriggling out of her hug and pushing an envelope into her hands. Bonnie took it with a happy sniff.
"Zak, this is expensive. How are you affording this?" she gasped when she opened it to reveal two manicure vouchers for her and Penny.
"I told Dad I needed some money to treat a special lady in my life and he winked at me and told me he remembered being fifteen, whatever that's supposed to mean. It's not my fault he's too stupid to ask for more details." Zak replied with a grin.
"Zak." Bonnie scolded him, although she couldn't quite keep a small smile from creeping onto her face. "I doubt very much that His Holiness would approve of you manipulating your poor father like that."
"Good thing I'm not a Buddhist then." Zak replied, still blushing.
"You're a weirdo." Penny chimed in, looking up briefly from her e-reader.
"Right sweetheart, put that down for now. We've got a girly date." Bonnie announced with a proud smile for both of her children. Penny put the e-reader away and went to go get her bag and shoes, Zak trooped off to his room to fetch his laptop. He was spending the day and night with one of his closest friends and no doubt they'd be up until the early hours playing video games. Zak and William had been inseparable since they'd met on their first day of primary school and as much as Bonnie thought Will's father was a bit nuts for always stealing all the puddings at the school's PTA meetings Zak always seemed to come home from the Almond household with a grin on his face. At least Will encouraged him to go outside every now and then.
"Birthday girl shotgun!" Penelope yelled the moment Bonnie opened the front door, shoving her brother out of the way and racing to the car like she was still much younger. "Unlucky, dweeb! Only losers sit in the back."
Zak just shrugged, still smiling quietly to himself about something.
"Whatever. You're gonna be my slave for a week soon enough anyway. Then we'll see who's a loser. Spoiler, it'll be you." he replied cryptically.
"Do I even wanna know what you two are betting on?" Bonnie sighed as she backed the car off the drive.
"Nope." they replied in unison. She figured they were probably right, and let it lie.
It was a quick drive into the town centre and Bonnie didn't think twice about flicking the radio on as they went. She almost crashed the car in shock when she was greeted by a voice that she'd last heard begging her not to leave, murmuring that she'd never stopped missing her.
"-afternoon, and if you've just tuned in my name is Marceline Abadeer and I'm taking you on a rollercoaster of nostalgia right here on Eclipse Radio. Don't you think things from the past are almost sweeter? Like, they're perfect. They're even better because you can't reach back and ruin them afterwards, you can just remember them in all their glory and perfection. And with that in mind sit back and relax, you're about to get a dose of The Cure and Love Song, for all you heartbreak kids out there. Don't go anywhere."
Bonnie kept her eyes very carefully on the road and tried not to make any facial expressions at all. Love Song was the tune Marcy had been singing so hauntingly that day twenty five years earlier in the music rooms at school when Bonnie had stood outside and watched her through the window, it was the song Finn had kept playing on the school radio and cringingly called 'their song' for ages. And it was the first thing Marceline chose to play on her radio show, talking about the past and how perfect memories could be. Bonnie was trying hard not to read too much into that but the words seemed like they were bouncing around the inside of her head.
However far away
I will always love you
However long I stay
I will always love you
Whatever words I say
I will always love you
I will always love you
"This song is weird." Zak complained, pulling his mother back from the distant past.
"It's The Cure. They were a weird band." Bonnie replied in as normal a voice as she could manage. "They were really popular when I was in school. My best friend absolutely adored them."
"You know nothing about the history of music, dweeb. The Cure were the band who basically invented modern Goth, Emo and Alternative. They're like, one of the most influential bands in the last thirty years." Penelope told Zak with her signature eye roll.
"Well your sister's pretty much right, Zak. They were a highly influential band at the time." Bonnie added with a relieved nod. At least that was the only part of the conversation they'd picked up on. "Look, there's William. I'll drop you off around the corner. Have a good time, sweetheart."
It was with some relief that Bonnie watched her son slouch off in the direction of the shops with weedy little Will Almond. He was a short, round boy with an unfortunate haircut; Bonnie had to hope sometimes for his own sake that Zak could be something of a corrupting influence on him. Not that Zak was terribly corrupt, but he had significantly more cool than poor little Will. The girls in his school had finally noticed that he was handsome and smart, not trying desperately to impress them like most of his peers. Of course Zak hadn't noticed the girls in his school noticing him but perhaps it would happen one day. Bonnie hadn't noticed the boys in her school either, she'd been too busy noticing Marcy and hoping that the very explicit dreams she'd started having about girls didn't mean she was, horror of horrors, a lesbian. And then college and university had happened and there was no time for dating anyway. Not until a tall, handsome boy with a soft voice and a face to match had pursued her relentlessly until she'd finally given in and gone to dinner with him. Her roommates had been so jealous, told her that Braco MacFarlane was such a catch and she was so lucky. And Bonnie had distantly supposed that she must be lucky, everyone seemed to agree that he was a dream guy. When he'd carefully and gently asked if she wanted to make the relationship physical she'd figured it had to happen sometime and lay quietly on her back thinking about theoretical physics until he rolled off her and told her how amazing she was, how talented and wonderful. She'd done nothing but lie there with her clothes off, she hadn't understood why he felt the need to compliment her for that. Bonnie had no idea if Penny had gone all the way with her most recent boyfriend but she hoped to God that when her daughter did get physical with someone it was more loving than the night she'd been conceived.
"Hello, Earth to Mum. Are you trying to be funny? Mum!"
"What? Sorry. I spaced out a little." Bonnie replied in embarrassment, shaking her thoughts free from the past again and focussing on her daughter.
"Are you gonna park the car or are we gonna drive around and around the multi-storey really slowly all day?" Penelope asked with a frown.
"Sorry honey, I wasn't paying attention. Didn't sleep so well last night." Bonnie muttered. It was true, she'd woken far earlier than usual from dreams full of lips like silk and slim, caramel coloured hands sliding around her hips. After that it was almost impossible to get back to sleep so Bonnie had just stayed up and thrown herself into cooking an extravagant birthday breakfast for her daughter.
"So are you gonna see her again?" Penelope asked a little slyly as they got out of the car.
"I'm sorry?"
"The woman from the boat party. The one who's made you walk around the place with you head in a cloud humming to yourself all week."
"I don't know what you mean." Bonnie muttered, looking away to try to maintain even a tiny shred of dignity.
"Mum, come on. It's been forever since you went on a date with anyone and suddenly you're sighing dreamily out of the window and singing in the shower like a Disney princess. I'm not stupid you know."
No, Penelope was far from stupid; in fact she was far too observant for her own good. Bonnie hung her head with a long sigh, defeated.
"It's complicated. She was my best friend at school, my first crush and my first gay kiss. She disappeared without a word before you were even born and now she's back with barely any more warning than when she left. And she's kinda like a tiger. She's hypnotically beautiful, totally unpredictable and if you try to keep her in any kind of cage she could easily turn and maul you without a second thought. She's the best friend I ever had and the only person who ever really broke my heart. I'm not sure having anything to do with her is a good idea anymore."
"Mum, you should date her. I mean, properly. It's obvious you're super into her and she's gotta be pretty stupid if she's not into you too. I'm staying at Dad's tonight anyway, you should invite her over." Penelope replied decisively.
"Are you trying to get your mother laid? Penny, that's so distasteful!" Bonnie frowned as they made their way to the manicure salon.
"Whatever, Mum. Like I don't know you're an adult who's had adult relationships before. You've been single too long and even Dad manages to pull more than you do and he's a total dilweed. So call her and invite her over, or I will."
Bonnie sighed and shook her head again, at a total loss for how to reply. Instead she pretended not to have heard and made a show of looking over the different shades of nail polish in the salon window, like there was any chance she was going to choose anything other than her usual shade of soft pink.