Hello again. Looks like I finally got this one finished just barely in time for Valentines day. Hope all of you out there like it!


When I reach the stairs to the castle the princess jumps off of my back. "Thank you for today Marceline. I haven't gone out like that in a long time. I normally spend all of my time in my lab or off on princess duties." She shakes her head, "Peps is always on my back about me getting out of the castle, maybe he'll stop worrying so much now."

"Well you can't really blame him for worrying, the kingdom needs its princess."

"Couldn't we say the same about your kingdom and its Queen?" she asks with a snippy tone.

"Look, bonnie, I've told you already that vampires don't take much governing. Besides, they know better, I had to earn my title. No one is going to challenge my rule." I look at the sky to find that it's well after midnight. "Anyway, I'm pretty sure that you will need your sleep, so I'm going to be heading back home." I turn to fly back to the tree house, but I'm stopped when her hand grabs my wrist.

"Hold on, I have something to ask first." I turn, and am surprised with what appears to be a look of concern on her face. "While you were off at your house earlier, I heard some things." She must have seen my confused look as she clarifies, "I talked to Joshua the dog and his wife Margret. They… well… they were complaining about you Marceline. They said that you chased them out of a house that they were inspecting for their children."

"Oh yeah, I remember them. The two dogs with a pup and a human boy, yeah I showed up while they were in my house and I had to tell them to get lost, what about it?"

"Well I had to tell them that you were here for diplomatic reasons, so that way I could get Joshua to not try to kill you, he really doesn't like vampires." She explained. "But they mentioned something, they said that you had told them you weren't going to be staying in Ooo long." She pierces me with a pleading look, "Is that true?"

"Ah," I rub my neck and touch my feet back to the ground, "Well I did tell them that didn't I?" I look up to meet her sad eyes, "Well here's the thing, I hadn't planned on staying. When I came here I thought I would just stay for a few weeks after the funeral before heading back out. But I think I've decided to stay longer. I kinda like being here, I might push those weeks to a few years instead."

She looks visibly relieved, "Wait, you're going to stay for a few years instead of weeks? Isn't that a bit much of a jump?"

I just point at myself, "Immortal, hello? The difference between a few weeks and a few years isn't that big of a deal to someone like myself." She nods as if she just remembered this. I think back to what Peppermint had told me before, "though, how long I'm going to stay really just depends."

"Depends on what?" She asks, cocking her head at me.

I give her a weak, shy smile, "On you, Bonnibel."

"On me? I don't get it, what do I have to do with-" She freezes when I take hold of the sides of her face and my lips make contact with hers. I push my body in close to hers as I take in her strawberry scent and flavor. She is completely stiff with her hand still in the air in confusion, but she seems to melt in my hands (hopefully figuratively), her wide open eyes slowly close as she begins to soften into my embrace. I pull back, Bonnibel taking an audible, and possibly much needed breath when our lips part. Her half-lidded eyes slowly open again and her hand is still in the air as she speaks again, blinking the shock off of her face "Well," she clears her throat quietly, "That actually answers more questions than I had even thought to ask."

"I'm glad I could clear that up for you." I retort, turning to stare at the ground.

"So, just to be absolutely certain here," She continues as if I hadn't said anything, "Tonight wasn't just a night on the town was it?" She continues awkwardly when I don't respond, "This… this was a date?" All I can bring myself to do at this point is to simply nod. "Wow," she runs her hand through her bangs, "I never even considered that this was possible. I….I think I'm going to need a bit to process this" her pink cheeks are now a bright, hot, red and I can hear her heartbeat from where I am standing.

"Yeah, you go do that," I say softly as I turn away to leave, my own cheeks burning up right now, "I'm gonna just leave you alone now." I fly off, stopping when I hear my name called.

"Marceline!" the candy princess shouts up at me, "Can you just come over tomorrow night when you get up? Just so we can talk?"

I wave at her and call back, "Sure, we'll talk then." I turn around and keep heading back, my mind racing about everything that just happened and the possible implications of it all.


It turns out that Bonnibel's specification of "when I get up" was useless, I was up all day long. Stupid, Stupid vampire! What were you thinking kissing her like that? That was way too sudden, and not just that, way too soon! I scold myself as I pace around the kitchen of the tree-house. Look, first thing when you see her later, just apologize for kissing her. She did think you were drunk after all, she might decide it doesn't matter. But wait, what if she doesn't want to talk about that at all? What if she's just wants to talk period? What if she tries to pretend it never happened? Alright, don't bring it up first then, just go to her and act like the whole thing never happened.

I walk over to one of the windows and open the shutters slightly so I can check the time. I wince as my skin chars long enough for me to see that there's a few hours left till sundown and then close the window back up. Ok, best case scenario, she decides she doesn't want a relationship with me but just wants to stay friends, I can live with that. Worst case, she gets mad about it and kicks me out of the candy kingdom.

No, wait, she can't do that. I'm royalty and I have close connections to her mother, she can't just kick me out. Oh right, I forgot she has a habit of bossing other royals around in a way that makes them listen. I groan as I slump down into a corner of the room, ugh, I'm getting nowhere with this! I begrudgingly pull myself up, take a deep breath, and go to the fridge to grab an apple. I suck the color out of it as I continue to pace, slower this time. Alright Marceline, you're a grown woman, get it together. Just go to her and talk about whatever it is that needs to be talked about, just play the whole thing off as a big mistake and hope for the best. I take a bite out of the white apple for comfort, long now having outgrown my need to actually eat but not my ability to do so.

I head over to the mirror, sighing as I see how my lack of sleep is apparent in my face and my frazzled hair. I focus on my reflection as my shape shifting powers take hold, my hair snaking out in random directions before each strand straightens itself behind me and falls back down neatly, a single tuft of hair hanging around the front of each of my pointed ears. Unfortunately, I cannot do anything to mend the tired look in my eyes. I do however, change into a more casual outfit of a gray shirt with a red sign in the middle of a lit cigarette with a line crossing through it and a pair of blue jeans.

After waiting a bit longer, I decide to head to the candy kingdom early. I grab my skeleton umbrella and head out the door, keeping myself as shielded from the sun as I possibly can.


I fly though the main entrance to the castle when I arrive, looking somewhat distractedly for Bonnie. The main hall is somewhat empty at this time of day, everyone must be in the dining hall right now finishing up dinner. I figure I would best avoid the servants, specifically peppermint butler, who has most undoubtedly heard about what happened last night. I swoop up the stairs go down the hall and duck into Bonnibel's room, which is left with its door open. I flop down on the bed while I wait for her, I figure she wouldn't mind since she's let me sleep in it before.

Approximately half an hour passes before I'm woken by the clatter of dishes as the servants begin to clean up downstairs. Shortly after I hear a pair of footsteps ascending the stairs accompanied by Bonnibel and Queeny's muffled voices. I turn invisible while I wait for their words to come into focus.

"-else dear, remember, you've been through this before." Queeny says.

"I know mother, but this just feels different. I don't want to make the wrong choice."

"Bonnibel, Just treat it like one of your diplomatic missions. Just go in and feel the situation out so you can decide what you feel to be the best decision. Find out what it is that you want and act on it."

"That's just it mother, I'm not quite sure I know what that is right now."

"No one truly is, life can be confusing like that. But the key is to simply not regret your decisions because they are your own."

"Alright, I'll try to take that into account." Bonnibel said as they separated and Queeny walked into a separate room.

Bonnie walks into the room and looks right through my invisible form. She's wearing a slim pink sleeveless dress with a slightly raised collar and poofy shoulders. She walks to her desk and starts sorting through papers absentmindedly, obviously lost in thoughts unrelated to any of the papers in front of her. I float over to her silently and get ready to surprise her.

"Hi Marceline." She calls out suddenly when I'm a few feet behind her.

"What?" I shout out in surprise when she turns around and stares right at my still invisible form. "how did you know I was there?" I ask finally dropping my spell.

"There was an impression on the top and side of my bed covers when I walked in here the exact size and shape of your butt and legs." she smirks. Clever girl I think to myself.

"Anyway, thanks for coming here so early, there's something I wanted to talk to you about." she said, suddenly looking away from me and drumming her fingers on her desk.

"Yeah? What is it?" I ask, desperate to stop worrying about where this is going.

"Well, it's about last night." oh geez here it comes, she turns to face me and I swear I think she is blushing, "You said that you might possibly be leaving Ooo soon."

I blink, not expecting this turn of the conversation. She curls a single finger around her mouth dragging her bottom lip down by the corner, her nose resting on a single knuckle. "I talked to Joshua the Dog and his wife Margret again after you left this morning. He talked about you quite a lot, mostly about how he wanted to destroy you for scaring his children, until I told him I knew you personally that is. He kept talking about how you kicked him out of his kid's future house that they had picked out. He was quite strong in his language about the situation too. " she continued before I could interrupt. "I'm going to ignore the whole house business," she said, raising her hand as if to stop my protest, "but he also told me that you said you weren't planning on staying in Ooo and that this was the main reason that he wasn't going to press the issue with you yourself." she turned her head up at me with wide eyes, "So, I have to ask, are you completely set on leaving like this?"

"I told you Bonnie, I'm not entirely sure how long I'm going to be staying. I mean, I have made promises to some of my undead friends. Also, as you said last night, it's probably about time I started actually using my title for more than just getting good seats at a restaurant." I pause, feeling like I'm missing something. "What brought this on anyway?" I ask, my feet touching the ground.

"Well, last night when we were out... I started thinking... I don't want you to go." she pauses, her eyes darting away as she starts sifting through papers again. "I really like hanging out with you, you're one of the most fun people I've ever met. But at the same time..." she trails off, her words apparently failing her.

"At the same time what? What's wrong?" I ask, worried about what is going on. This isn't like her. She sighs and I reach out to grab her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.

When I do this she suddenly turns around and grabs my hand at the halfway point.

The next thing I am aware of is the taste of strawberries.

It takes a moment before my eyes widen as I realize what is happening. I'm shocked, the pink girl that I was just worried about having upset with my actions last night... is kissing me.

My mind blanks, all I can think of is her strawberry flavor on my lips and the feeling of her hand running through my hair. It feels as if my body, as well as all of the anxiety I had about this meeting today, is all melting into her embrace. It takes a moment for me to gain enough control over my body so my arms can move enough to wrap around her and pull her even closer to me.

The princess is the one to break contact. Slowly pulling her hand from my hair and taking a deep breath. "As I said," she continues, her cheeks a bright shade of red, "I've been thinking, and I don't want you to leave. I want you to stay here... with me."

I blink a couple time to get my bearings. "Hold on just a minute." I stammer, "So you mean to tell me that after I showed you my hand last night, you actually like me back? For real? You don't think I came on too strong or something?"

"Not at all." she smiles, "I had to think about it some considering how little I ever consider romance in general, much less with another royal, or a woman for that matter." she reaches up to stroke my face, my hand comes up to hold her own and conserve the warmth. "But I eventually realized that I like you a lot, and I don't want you to leave my side. I..." her blush deepens even more, if that's even possible,"I think I love you Marceline."

"Oh Bonnibel," I whisper, tears of joy filling my eyes, "thank you, you have no idea how much this means to me. I love you too." my hand sinks into her soft gummy hair as I slowly pull her in to me and kiss her again. Her lips meet mine and we both sink into each others embrace. My eyes shut as I listen to the steady, but quickening, beat of her heart. Her strawberry scent and flavor overwhelms my senses and all I can think about is...

"-Oh."

I stiffen at the sound of the all too familiar voice gasping in surprise behind us. I quickly pull away from Bonnibel, who is somewhat surprised by my reaction, and turn to face the voice.

Queeny is standing in the doorway in her night gown with a hand over her mouth in shock. I can feel my gray skin turning a bright red color that on anyone else I would think looked delicious.

"So this is what you were referring to earlier I take it?" Queeny asks Bonnibel.

"Oh, um" she clears her throat, "Yes mother." she says, her face also brightening a few shades.

"Wait, what are you guys talking about? Referred to when?" I ask

The princess responds, "Well Marceline, earlier I had asked mother for advice on what to do about... well..." she trails off not knowing how to say what she is thinking.

"She wasn't sure what to do about your advances," Queeny finished for her, "I should have realized that something was up due to her refusing to tell me who this mysterious admirer was. Especially with it being so rare for her to not just turn any potential suitors down on the spot."

"Given your attitude, I'm taking it that you don't approve." I say, my eyes dropping down to my side.

Queeny sighs and leans against the door frame, "Marcy, you changed my diapers when I was a baby. And I just walked in on you kissing my daughter. How do you think I feel about this?" she shakes her head, "No, I just... well... I don't really know what to think about this. After all, it's not like I didn't expect you to get with some teenage boy at some point, you're immortal after all, it's too be expected. But when it's my child that you end up getting with... It just feels weird."

She stands up and waves dismissively at the two of us. "Just leave me be for a bit, let me mull this over. I'll come up with an opinion as to whether or not I disapprove after I've had time to think about it." She turns and walks away towards her room.

Me and Bonnibel turn and face each other, she speaks first. "Well that just got about nine thousand percent more awkward didn't it?"

I scoff, "Tell me about it, and I saw that coming too." I shake my head of the thoughts, "You know what? Let's head over to my place. We can talk more there without having to worry about anyone else walking in."

"All right." She replies. "At the very least, we can stay away from mother for a bit that way."

she climbs on my back and I kick off once more and soar out the window of her bedroom.


We arrive at the tree house shortly after. She steps off of me and looks at it for a bit. "You know, i've always known that this place was here, but I've always wondered why a place like this would be abandoned."

"You say abandoned, I say temporarily vacant." I chuckle as I open the door for her. "now if you will excuse me Princess, I have to use the bathroom, make yourself at home. The bedroom is up the ladder and down past the kitchen to the left." I direct her.

"Ok Marcy, we'll talk in just a bit." she says as she climbs up the ladder surprisingly quickly.

I head up to the bathroom and lock the door behind me. I was lying about needing to use it, I just needed to collect myself. After turning the tap on I splashed myself with some cold water and stared at the mirror to think. Alright Marceline, things are looking up. You've dealt with some crappy relationships before but this one is different, I can feel it. There was no need to worry earlier, you actually pulled it off. Remember that, you have pulled this off.

My mental peptalk is interrupted when I hear a soft hiss coming from upstairs and Bonnibel screaming followed by a somewhat familiar voice shouting. "What are you doing here?" I swear if this is going to be a trend with this relationship... my thoughts trail off as I rush out the door as fast as possible.


Now who could this mysterious "familiar voice" be? Is someone pushing on Marceline's territory? You'll find out next time. This chapter actually caused me some grief, I had to go through a few re-writes before I could actually finish it. So as always please shoot me a review and I will talk to y'all next time!