AN: That took longer than I expected. Not only did I have to do holiday shopping but I caught a cold of some sort. The timing couldn't be worse. I actually got two days off from work this week and now it looks like I'll be stuck in bed on meds. Well, it can't be helped I suppose at least I managed to finish this chapter. Hopefully I'll get over this cold soon so I can get back to writing again.
update: In my med filled state, I forgot to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter. Sorry about that. Thanks to the following people for reviewing:
MoiTrueDreamWriter, Guerrilla Warfare, Dolphin64575, CrimsonJoy, .panda, Mai-n43, Skire, Unease, Nobody2012, all the Anonymous and Guests reviewers!
You guys are much appreciated.
Haunted
Mrs. Mertens was surprised to hear someone knocking at her door so late at night. She looked to her husband who was just as confused as she was.
"I wonder who that could be?" Mr. Mertens got up from his seat and went to the door. To his shock, his son stood there with a young woman he'd never seen before.
"Finn?"
"Uh, hi dad."
"Sorry to bother you so late sir," Marceline began. "But I caught your son here trespassing on my property."
Mr. Mertens crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes towards his son who could only look down at his feet.
"Explain yourself."
"Uh, well, me and the guys went back to that haunted house and well, we found out it wasn't so haunted after all."
"Get inside. We'll talk about this later." He then turned to Marceline. "I'm sorry Ms…"
"Marceline."
"Ms. Marceline. I apologize for what my son did. You can be sure he'll be properly punished for this."
Finn looked up at Marceline in fear. He though she was going to take care of whatever punishment his parents would want to impose on him! Marceline smirked slightly seeing him sweat it out like that, but it would be in her best interest to keep her word.
"Actually sir, if I may suggest, would it be alright if I borrowed him for a bit?"
"Borrow?"
"Yeah, I need help cleaning out that old "haunted house" so I can move in."
"Why not hire people for that?" He asked skeptically.
"I'm just a college student sir. I don't have the money to spare for that sort of thing."
"Then how did you afford that house?"
"Inheritance. I hadn't even been aware of it until a few weeks ago. I've been cleaning it on my own so far but it's going to take a very long time if I don't get some help."
"Hmm, I suppose this will teach him a better lesson than simply grounding him for two more weeks. Alright, he can help after he gets out from school. If you need him on weekends you're more thank welcome to use him as well."
"Thank you very much. I expect you tomorrow after school Finn."
Marceline waved good-bye to father and son and turned the group she had left. The nervousness in their faces only made her grin more. Messing with kids was just too much fun.
"Shall we boys and girls?"
The group nodded and led the older girl to each and everyone one of their homes. She asked all their parents to borrow their kids to help clean out her house for trespassing repeatedly on her property. Marceline had to convince them at first, much like she had to with Finn's dad, but in the end she got them to see her way. All the parents agreed that it would be a fitting punishment for going back after they were told not to and they had to admit that it would be better than grounding their children for a longer period of time with whatever additional punishments they would add. At least this way they'd learn a valuable lesson. Marceline was rather pleased with the new helpers she had acquired. Work on the house would hopefully move a bit faster than it currently was. The dark haired girl walked back to her home at a slower pace.
Home…
She scoffed at the thought.
She really couldn't call it a home yet with the way it was. She stood in the yard and looked up at the house. For a long time, Marceline thought that this house was only in the imagination of her ailing mother. It wasn't until she got the call from the lawyers that she discovered that her mother wasn't as delusional as she thought she was. After arriving in the town, she heard of the ghost stories that attached themselves to the house. It made her laugh at first because of how ridiculous it was. After spending one night in the house though, she could see why people thought it was haunted. All the odd noises and tricks of the light would make even the sanest of minds think they saw something that wasn't really there.
Marceline walked into the house and went to the second floor where she'd left her belongings. The house was anything but livable so she'd been staying in a nearby motel while she remodeled the house. It was a greater undertaking than she expected it would be. Even if she had known the extent of the damage, she wouldn't have been able to hire help. Like she told Finn's dad, she was only a college student. She was already tight with money as it was, but she considered herself lucky that her long time guardian was helping her out and paying for the hotel room she was staying in. Whatever money she'd inherited with the house was to be used specifically to restore the decrepit home. Because of this, she took the semester off of school so she could take on this project. Not that she minded doing so. She'd been planning to take a break anyway in order to handle other family matters she'd been avoiding. Marceline sighed and grabbed her backpack. It was time to head back to the motel. She needed to get more sleep. These last few days had been spent getting trashed thrown out and turning the power and water on. She had to admit it was amusing watching the people look at her like she'd gone crazy when she went down to the city offices to get it all sorted out. To think that everyone in this town thought the house was haunted. Chuckling to herself, Marceline locked up.
In her opinion, the only thing haunting the house was bad memories.
"So I guess we go straight there?" Finn questioned his friends after school.
"That's what my mom told me to do. She expects me back in time for dinner so we won't be there that long." Jake answered.
"At least it's nice to know there really isn't anything scary about that house." Felicia was relieved that there really wasn't such a thing as ghosts there. It would make spending time at the house easier. She couldn't imagine what it would be like if she jumped at every noise.
"I'm sure it won't be that bad guys" Bonnibel was rather excited to be helping out the older girl. Why? She had no idea, but she assumed it was because she was going to be making a new friend if all went well.
"Ugh, I'm not built for doing manual labor." Lumpy grumbled. "This is gonna suck."
The teens walked through the gate which, to their surprise, had been repaired. The left side still had its missing letter but at least it wasn't useless anymore.
"Welcome to my humble abode!" Marceline greeted from the porch. She sat in a chair with a bass in her hands, absentmindedly strumming it. "You guys ready to work?"
"Aren't you going to help us?" Finn got a bad feeling about this.
Marceline smiled evilly. "Why do I need to work when I got you guys now?"
To say Marceline was a slave driver wasn't quite accurate but it was pretty darn close. The teenagers couldn't remember the last time they worked so hard. Marceline let them know they'd be working on the yard on this particular day. She had them pull all the weeds from the front yard and dump them into a large trash container she was renting from the city. It looked to be already full of other stuff like old furniture and other trash. Once the weeds had been pulled, she had the boys mow the lawn while the girls raked and bagged all the litter from the leaves from the trees. To finish off the work day, she had them clear all the vines that had grown over the fence along the front.
"Great work guys! I think you deserve a nice break before I set you free."
Marceline opened up a cooler revealing water bottles and sodas for the teenagers. After their long work day, they were more than ready to just sit down and have a nice cool drink and relax. Marceline went back to sitting in her chair while the kids sat around the porch, marveling how different the yard looked now that they'd given it some maintenance.
"Wow, it looks so… welcoming." Lady took a sip of her soda.
"Looks less scary, that's for sure." Lumpy agreed as she examined her nails. It was going to take her ages to get them looking good again.
"So, what have you been up to today?" Finn asked the older girl.
Marceline shrugged. "Nothing much. Dumped more stuff from the house, cleaned a bit more on the first floor. Nothing exciting."
"By yourself?" Jake asked this time.
"Yup."
"So no one's helping you clean this place up?" Finn looked around. He couldn't imagine fixing a house all by himself. "Sounds tough."
"It's not so bad, especially now that I have you guys helping."
"How old are you Marceline?" Bonnibel asked out of the blue.
"24."
"Do you go to school?" Bonnibel asked again.
"College but I'm taking a break right now."
Bonnibel frowned at the older girl. She wanted to have a conversation of some sort with Marceline but the raven haired girl was making it difficult with her closed ended answers. Bonnibel didn't try to ask anything more and instead listened to the conversation her friends were having amongst themselves. Marceline made no attempt to join or initiate any conversation herself. It was a bit disappointing. The teenagers finished their drinks and headed home for dinner.
"See you guys tomorrow at the same time." Marceline waved to them.
"See ya Marceline!" Finn waved as they all left.
Marceline smiled slightly. It was a breath of fresh air to have them around as opposed to being plagued by just her thoughts. With a final strum of her bass, she got up and got ready to leave again. A good amount of work had been completed so she didn't feel the need to stay as long as usual. Getting a decent nights rest, for once, would probably do wonders for her. Eating dinner would probably be good for her too.
The next day came and went. The teenagers were sent to work giving the back yard a makeover like they'd done for the front yard. This time though, Marceline joined in to help them. The back yard was at least twice the size of the front, Marceline did not expect them to finish everything but she hoped they'd get a good chunk cleaned up. She worked them hard like the day before but rewarded them again with drinks and some time to cool off before letting them go home.
"So, Marceline is this house really yours?" Finn was curious about the older girl. He'd never seen her around town and even though he'd only lived there for a few months, he'd realized that pretty much everyone knew each other.
"Yup. All mine thanks to an inheritance."
"Wow, so like, someone died so you could get this place?" Lumpy asked.
"Lumpy, that's not a very nice thing to ask!" Bonnibel admonished her friend. She couldn't believe how callous Lumpy could be sometimes.
"What? I'm just asking." Lumpy huffed.
"That's still not an appropriate thing to ask." Bonnie shook her head.
"Don't worry about it." Marceline took a sip of her water. "She is right after all."
"Umm, I hope it wasn't someone you were close with." Lady said uncertain. Death was always a touchy subject especially if it involved a family member.
"It's no big deal guys. Don't sweat it."
"So, do you play in a band or something?" Jake asked hoping to lighten the mood.
"I use to when I was in high school."
"Whoa, that must've of been pretty cool." Finn openly showed his admiration to the older girl.
Marceline shrugged. "I guess, but we were just a bunch of dumb kids. We didn't get very far with it."
"Still you were able to do something you liked for a short while." Bonnibel wanted to keep Marceline talking. She considered it a good sign that she wasn't just giving them short answers like the day before.
Marceline took a thinking pose.
"You know, you've got a point there Bonnibel. Even if my friends were a bunch of idiots sometimes, we did have a blast making music together."
"What was your bands name?" Felicia asked.
Marceline smirked. "Marceline and the Scream Queens."
Upon further insisting, Marceline gave in and graced them with some stories from her high school days. They hadn't even realized how long they'd been there until Finn got a call from his mother asking where the heck he was. That was their cue to get home before they got into more trouble, if that was even possible.
"See ya tomorrow Marceline!" Jake and Finn waved as they ran down the street.
"See ya brats."
The girls waved their good-byes as well and ran to get home. For whatever reason, Bonnibel felt compelled to look back towards Marceline. The dark haired girl lowered her arm and shook her head. The smile she'd seen them off with fell. She then turned back to look towards the house before sighing and heading back in. Bonnibel wondered what was going through the other girls mind. She always gave the appearance that nothing fazed her but perhaps not everything was well. Her ringing phone brought her out of her thoughts. It was her mother, probably wondering why she wasn't home yet. She answered and quickly ran down the street to get home. Tomorrow, she'd further her efforts to figure out the mystery that was Marceline.
In the days that followed, Marceline had them finish up the backyard before moving on to the interior of the house. They went room by room clearing away garbage, old furniture, and cleaning up everywhere they could. On the weekend, Marceline ordered pizza for them. The kitchen still wasn't completely functional so nothing could be cooked, but the dark haired girl wanted to show them that even though she was working them very hard, she still appreciated everything they were doing for her. During their little breaks, she'd even regale them with more stories from when she was in high school or any adventures she'd had in college.
"And that's how I got kicked out of my dorm." Marceline finished her latest story.
"That doesn't seem very fair considering your old roommate was violating more rules than you were." Lady took a bite of her pizza.
"She was but honestly, I was glad to be out of there. That's the thing about sharing a dorm room; you never know what kind of nutcase you'll get stuck with as a roommate."
"You got her back good at least." Jake gave her a thumbs up.
"That I did. Although, looking back on it now, I feel kind of bad for what I did."
"Why?" Finn was confused. She'd been done wrong and was getting even. What was there to be sorry about?
"Well, I kind of understand how she must've felt. Sharing your living space with someone isn't the easiest thing. You both have to adjust to your quirks and if you're lucky you get someone you're compatible with. If you're unlucky, like me, you get stuck with someone that constantly rubs you the wrong way. You can either find a way to live together without driving each other completely crazy or you do what we did and make each other's lives a living hell. Honestly, the moment I realized it wasn't going to work out I should've petitioned for a change of room. It would've been a long shot but I coulda tried. Maybe even found a place to live off campus, but I didn't. I wasn't mature enough to consider the consequences until much later. Looking back on stuff like that makes me realize how little I knew about the world."
"Do you feel like you know more now?" Felicia was honestly curious about the things Marceline was telling them. It was the first time they knew someone that they could relate to that was older.
"Haha, nope! I still feel like I don't know anything, but I'd like to think I'm a little smarter than when I was 18."
With the last day of their punishment drawing ever closer, Bonnibel began to feel anxious. The only time when she'd talk with Marceline was during their scheduled work time. Would they still be able to hang out even after this all ended? She tried her best not to worry too much, but the more she tried to put it out of her mind, the more she ended up thinking about it.
They continued to work as usual. Not a lot was left and even they were impressed by how amazing the house looked. The fact that they'd help get it to that state with their own hands gave them a sense of accomplishment they'd only felt when passing tests in school or defeating a particularly hard boss in a video game. The feeling though was magnified by the fact that they'd helped someone that they'd come to like and even consider a friend of sorts. The last day of their punishment came far too quickly, especially for Bonnibel. Marceline was standing on the front porch like always. She'd normally greet them before letting them know what project they'd be working on.
"I got a special surprise for you guys today."
"Oh! I like surprises!" Finn hopped on his feet in anticipation.
"You guys don't have to help out today!" Marceline grinned.
"What?" Jake questioned.
"You heard me. You guys have been a lot of help, but there's really nothing left for you guys to do. So I figured I'd surprise you by letting you guys off one day early."
"Alright!" Finn cheered, but quickly tempered his excitement so as to not offend Marceline. "Not that we didn't have fun helping you, but I'm glad to be done."
"Seriously, I've never worked so hard in my life!" Lumpy agreed.
"It was nice hanging out with you though." Jake walked up to Marceline and held out his hand. "You're pretty cool, for a chick."
Marceline took Jake's outstretched hand.
"And you're alright for a brat."
Jake grinned.
"Let's go to my house and play video games!" Finn suggested to his friends.
"Sounds like fun." Jake readily agreed.
"I'd rather go to the mall and shop." Lumpy began to make her way to the gate.
"I hear you there. Feels like forever since I've been there." Felicia followed her friend out.
"Shopping sounds like a blast." Lady turned to her boyfriend. "I think majority wins."
Finn and Jake gagged at the thought of having to spend their afternoon endlessly going to stores as their girlfriends tried on every piece of clothing they could get their hands on.
"Ew, no thanks." Finn ran past the girls. "Come on Jake! To the Finn Cave!"
"Right behind you buddy!"
The teenagers disappeared down the street eager to celebrate their freedom, all except one that is.
"Aren't you going to join them?" Marceline asked the one who remained behind.
Bonnibel walked up to the porch and opened the front door.
"I'd rather be here."
Marceline looked skeptically at the younger girl.
"There's nothing here for you to do."
"I'm sure you can find something for me to help with."
"Why?"
Bonnibel twirled around. Her eyes met Marceline's for the first time since the night the older girl had scared her. She wondered if Marceline's eyes were really that red or if it was the setting sun behind her that brought out the color in them.
"Because I want to spend time with you."
Bonnibel kept eye contact with Marceline, hoping that she wouldn't make her leave the property.
"Fine. Do what you want kid."
Marceline walked past the pink haired girl to begin her work inside. Bonnibel was more than ecstatic with the dark haired girl's response. It was better than she could've hoped for. She followed Marceline inside and up to the second floor. The older girl grabbed a clip board that'd been sitting on a table and began looking through the room before jotting stuff down.
"What are you doing?"
"Making a list of things that need to be repaired in each room."
"Can I help?"
"I guess."
"Well, what do you have written down so far?"
Marceline showed the pink haired girl her list. Together they walked through the second flooring finding all the things that needed to be fixed before it was deemed a safe place to move into. The older girl was surprised how fast she managed to get it done thanks having a second pair of eyes. It didn't hurt that Bonnibel would also point out things she'd missed. If she'd done it on her own, it might've taken her longer considering all she had been doing was standing in the middle of the room and writing down anything obvious like broken floor boards or cracked walls. She hadn't even considered all the water damage that might've seeped down into the first floor through the holes in the ceiling. Marceline's reservations about letting Bonnibel hang around her were slightly alleviated. She still wasn't sure why Bonnibel would want to stay and do work when she could be with her friends, but it felt nice not to be all alone.
"I better head home."
"Umm, thanks for the help Bonnibel."
"No problem. I'm glad you let me help. Maybe you'll let me do it again tomorrow?" the uncertainty in her voice was evident.
Marceline's lips quirked in a crooked smile.
"If you got nothing better to do then I don't see why not."
Without thinking, Bonnibel hugged the older girl.
"Thank you! I'll see you tomorrow!"
Before Marceline could reply, Bonnibel was gone. She tiredly ran a hand through her hair. Why was she allowing this? Was she so lonely that she'd let a kid hang around her? Frustrated because she couldn't answer her own questions, she decided to call it a day. There was no point in stressing about it. She began her walk back to her motel.
The next day, Marceline spent most her morning wondering if Bonnibel would actually turn up after school got out. Maybe the teenager hadn't wanted to go shopping with her friends and used her as an excuse not to go? She tried to keep herself occupied as much as possible which thankfully wasn't difficult to do. She didn't want to admit to herself that she was anxious about the pink haired girl arriving, but she was and she didn't understand why. Her fretting was put to a merciful end when she heard a knock. True to her word, Bonnibel stood on the other side of the door, ready to help out. The pink haired girl came back the next day and the day after that, and even on the weekends.
When it became apparent that Bonnibel had no intentions of stopping her visits, Marceline stopped questioning why. Instead she decided to enjoy the fact she was no longer the only one in the house. Since Marceline didn't really know anyone in the town, nor did she make an effort to, Bonnibel became a sort of friend in the lonely town. The younger girl though wasn't just good company. She was a great help when it came to figuring out which companies to call to get some repairs done. It was indeed very fortunate that the pink haired girl was familiar with a lot of business owners thanks to Bonnibel's parents being friends with them. It never hurt to have inside connections like that. It made her budget easier to manage knowing she wouldn't need to spend all of it on one single thing and perhaps sacrificing things that weren't as vital but that still needed to be taken care of. All in all, Bonnibel had been a godsend Marceline didn't know she needed. It didn't hurt to have someone to talk with either. It hadn't bothered her before but now that she was used to having someone around all the time, Marceline found the silence during the day when Bonnibel was at school the worst.
Marceline found herself purchasing a radio to play during the times the pink haired teenager wasn't around just so the house wouldn't feel so empty. During the weekends the two girls would head into town so that Marceline could shop around for furniture. Even though the house was getting to the point where it was livable, it wouldn't be quite as comfortable without any furniture. Bonnibel helped Marceline pick out things for all the rooms and Marceline even let her decorate one of the bedrooms with the condition that not everything be pink. They returned from their latest shopping trip to wait for the delivery men that were brining over the new furniture.
"Don't you have anything better to do than help me?" Marceline asked out of nowhere. Sure she'd accepted the pink haired girl's presence but that didn't mean the question wouldn't pop up in her mind every now and then.
"Do you not like having me around?"
"I never said that."
"Then why does it matter?"
"Well, why would you help a random stranger? Doesn't make sense from that stand point."
"You're not just some random stranger to me."
"Then what am I to you?"
Bonnibel paused for a second.
"Someone special."
"Pfft."
"I'm serious!"
"That's even worse."
"Why is it bad?"
"You shouldn't be getting attached to someone you know nothing about."
Bonnibel crossed her arms over her chest and turned away from Marceline.
"How can I get to know you when you won't let me? I've tried Marceline and you refuse to talk to me about yourself."
"That's not true. I told you stories about my high school days."
Bonnibel turned around and faced the older girl properly. "That's not what I want to know about you. I want to know about the real Marceline. Not the one that puts up this tough persona to keep people away."
Marceline frowned. "I don't do that."
"Yes you do! Even when we're out in town, you have this look about you that just screams stay away."
"Obviously I don't cause it didn't work on you."
"So you're admitting you do it on purpose."
"Whatever Bonnie."
"Don't whatever me, Marceline. I don't want you to keep pushing me away."
"Trust me. I'm not worth knowing."
"Isn't that something I should decide for myself?"
"That doesn't apply for me."
"Yes it does!"
"Just drop it Bonnie!"
"No!"
"Damn it Bonnie! Nothing good will come of getting to know me!"
"Then why do you let me be around you!"
"I'm just putting up with you okay!"
Bonnibel looked wide-eyed at the girl's revelation. All this time, she was just a nuisance to the older girl. She hadn't seen her as anything more than that. Not even a friend. Her hands tightened into fists as she stood up and ran. She thought that she'd heard Marceline calling after her, but she figured it was just her mind playing tricks on her; making her think that the dark haired girl had changed her mind. She ran as fast as she could back home, to the safety of her room. Bonnibel was grateful for once that the weekend was over. She could return to school, go back to what her life use to be before Marceline entered it, but it wasn't that simple.
"Are you okay?" Lady finally asked the pink haired girl. She and the rest of her friends were worried about Bonnibel's odd behavior. They'd come back from the weekend and they couldn't help but notice that she seemed really down. This was usually the opposite of how she'd be when returning from the weekend. They'd inevitably hear about what she and Marceline did to improve the house or how they'd gone into town to do shopping.
At first they'd found it really weird that Bonnibel wanted to continue helping out the older girl, but didn't question it. They though she was just being really nice which wasn't unnatural. Bonnibel loved to help others. She was just that type of person. So they couldn't help but notice her downcast expression when they'd asked her how her weekend with Marceline went this time. That had been on Monday and the weekend was upon them once more but Bonnibel had yet to cheer up.
"I'm fine." Bonnibel tried to smile but her smile just didn't reach her eyes.
"You know you can talk to us about it." Felicia joined them at the lunch table with Finn and Lumpy.
"I'll be fine guys really."
"Does this have to do with Marceline?" Finn asked bluntly.
They were sure it did once her smile completely fell.
"What did she do!" Jake exclaimed. "If she did something to you we'll teach her a lesson!"
"Did she say something to you?" Lady pried. She wanted to help her friend somehow.
Bonnibel shook her head. "I just thought we'd become friends, but it was my mistake."
The others looked skeptically at each other but decided to drop the subject. It was not helping their friend and the last thing they wanted to do was make her feel worse. Instead they decided the best way to cheer her up was by going out and doing stuff together. It'd been awhile since they done something as a group since Bonnibel had been using her spare time to spend it with Marceline. After a quick vote they agreed that seeing a movie would be the way to go.
Bonnibel returned home that day, feeling a bit better. She appreciated everything her friends did for her. It made her feel bad that she was worrying them so much though. She couldn't continue feeling bad about what had happened between her and Marceline. The older girl had made it pretty clear that her presence wasn't wanted so there was nothing more to think about. Besides she had other friends that did appreciate her and wanted her around so why did this rejection hurt her more than it should? She'd only known Marceline for a few weeks yet to be affected this much by her…she didn't understand why.
Marceline was such a mysterious person. In all the time they'd spent together, Bonnibel got very little background about her. Sure she knew that in high school she was quite the trouble maker and the names of her friends whom she'd created a band with, but she knew there was more to the older girl than that. Bonnibel wanted to know who she really was. What was her family like? Did she have siblings? Where was the town she grew up in? Where did she go to school? What was she majoring in? What were her dreams? Her goals? Bonnibel didn't even know what Marceline's last name was. What was Marceline hiding and why? She'd never get any of these questions answered now. She didn't have the courage to face the older girl again. She'd resigned herself to just letting things end as they had and perhaps forgetting about her someday.
The pink haired girl flopped onto her bed, intent on falling asleep when she heard a clink. Confused, she sat up and listened again. A second later she heard it again. Bonnibel sat up and looked around her room looking for the source. The third clink led her to the window. Was someone out there?
She pulled the curtains back and to her shock, Marceline stood in her yard, poised to throw another rock at the window. Marceline let her arm drop and the rock fall to the ground. The two looked awkwardly at each other unsure of what do to or say. Marceline made the first move and walked up to the house. Bonnibel had a wooden trellis going up to the second floor where her room resided making it easy to get up to the window. The pink haired girl reluctantly opened the window for her.
"Umm, hey." Marceline said nervously for once. There was no trace of her usual teasing tone. Bonnibel said nothing and instead just looked at the older girl with a blank face. This was not very encouraging. "Uh, I was just in the neighborhood and I thought I'd come see why you haven't come over lately…."
Bonnibel took a deep breath. She was asking why? After what she'd said? She couldn't take it! Bonnibel was about to slam her window shut but Marceline grabbed her writs, keeping her from doing so.
"Let me go." Bonnibel whispered harshly as she tried to pry her wrists out of Marceline's grasp.
"Not until you hear me out." Marceline said just as harshly.
"There's nothing left to say. You made it perfectly clear that you don't want me around."
"No. I didn't. Please, just hear me out and if you don't want to see me anymore after this then I won't come back."
Bonnibel stopped struggling. Marceline hoped this meant it was okay for her to continue.
"I'm….sorry, for what I said. I wasn't just putting up with you. I like having you around."
"Then why won't you let me get to know you?"
Marceline hesitated. There was a reason she only introduced herself as Marceline. Her last name was actually very well-known thanks to her father and once others found out who she was, they'd stay away from her. She'd lost many people in her life because of what her father did. She'd thought about changing her last name many times, but in the end she chose to keep it. She didn't think she could live her life constantly hiding her families past. It was enough of a burden as it was that adding something else on top of it was just too stressful for her. So she'd resolved keep her last name even if it brought nothing but problems, but this also ensured that she could keep people away whom she didn't want around her even if she ran the risk of scaring off those she did like.
"Abadeer."
"What?"
"My last name. If you want to know why I didn't want you to know me, look up it up online." Marceline went silent for a moment. "I wouldn't mind having you as a friend and if you decide that you don't mind either then, you know where to find me."
Marceline said no more and began to climb down the trellis. She hoped she'd done the right thing. Out of the many people she'd met, Bonnibel affected her in ways she hadn't expected. After Bonnibel had run home that day, Marceline had stood on her porch watching, waiting for her to return, but she didn't. The dark haired girl went back to the house on Monday and tried her best to get things done. The furniture she'd wanted had been delivered the day before but she hadn't felt like arranging it. Why? Because it was the stuff they'd picked out for the room she let Bonnibel decorate. Instead, Marceline avoided the room for the majority of the week and concentrated on the rest of the house, but she'd find herself stopping and just staring absently into space. The house didn't feel right without the pink haired girl around. She didn't feel right. With the entire week having gone by without her doing anything productive, Marceline decided to suck it up and apologize for her careless words. If there was a chance that Bonnibel really would accept her for who she was then she'd give her the chance to prove it. Then maybe she'd be able to return to work on the house instead of agonizing over whether she should seek out Bonnibel.
It was now up to the pink haired girl to decide whether she still wanted to be friends with Marceline.
AN: I'm going to end it there. I still had enough to write another five pages, maybe more but I think I'll use that Material for the final chapter. I hope you all enjoyed and are looking forward to the last chapter. I know many of you wanted this to be longer but perhaps I'll come up with another story that will fill your needs. Until then though, please review and what not. It's much appreciated when you do.
