"Marceline!"
A pink figure crawled up the ladder frantically to the top floor of a strange purple home, one inside of a deep cave. The figure carried a letter in his hands and was desperately trying to find his roommate. It wasn't hard, however, as she was hiding under the covers of her bed, pretending to be asleep.
Bubba entered her room, smiling from ear to ear.
"Marcy! Check this out!" He held out the letter in is hands, it was pink, and fancy looking. "PB invited us to a ball, TONIGHT!". Gumball was enthusiastic, he'd spent so much time with marceline doing 'Marceline' type things that he'd hadn't been to anything like this in a long time!
Marceline, however, let out a growl from under the covers.
"SO?!" He heard her say.
"So we're going out tonight! To a party! We need to get ready!" He was practically jumping up and down with excitement, "Man, I missed going out to parties, feels like a decade! I have a new suit I can totally try!"
"Ugh...NO! Balls are stupid..." She groaned
"C'mon marcy! We could go dancing!"
"No, balls are stupid."
"Hang out with your friends..."
"No, balls are stupid."
"Wear cool outfits?"
"NO, BALLS ARE STUPID!"
The prince crossed his arms, "C'mon marceline, I haven't been to a ball in forever, this could be the closest experience I've ever had to being home..." He was almost begging, "Please marceline?"
"No...just go by yourself..."
"But the invite says both of us, I need you." He sat down on the bed, trying to remove the covers off the vampire queen's face. "Please?"
She made another groan in protest, bubba frowned. Marceline was a stubborn girl, probably more stubborn than Fionna and Marshall combined. He wanted to go out, it wasn't like he was being shut inside her home, but he certainly didn't like being here all the time. He wanted to get out, have more fun outside of this home. The idea of a ball was amazing, It wa something he missed.
The last time he was at a ball was when...
When he left and ended up in this strange new world.
A nice night out sounded good to him.
"C'mon marceline, your a rockstar. Haven't you been to plenty of parties before?" He asked, The mound under the covers revealed the fave of a pale woman, with fangs. Her hair was in a mess and she looked unenthusiastic. She let out a huge yawn, exposing her sharp teeth.
"Bubba, there's a difference. My kinda parties don't included ball gowns, boring music, and prissy royalty spoiling the fun..."
Bubba frowned, "Gee...thanks. Y'know marceline, whether you care or not, this isn't the life i'm used to. I don't share a bed with someone, I don't go out to eat, I don't sleep all morning...". His tone grew silent, "C'mon marcy, this would mean so much to me...please?"
"Uggggghhhhhh...fine...but i'm not gonna enjoy it..." She said, throwing a pillow in the princes face.
He hugged her excitedly, knocking the wind out of her .
"THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!" He said, "Now we just need to find you a dress and everything!"
Marceline couldn't look any less interested.
"I don't wanna wear a dress bubba..." She groaned, "Dresses are stupid, plus, I don't even have anything that fancy...". She laid back on the bed, running a hand through her hair. "I'll just go in my jeans and hoodie okay?"
Bubba suddenly had an idea, "Hey, how about I call bonnie?! Bet she's got tons you could wear!"
"WHAT?!"
"I'll call her right now!" He said, getting off the bed and heading downstairs to use her phone.
-
Marceline made a face at bubba as she left towards the candy kingdom to greet her friend.
"See you tonight marceline!" He called out as she left.
Ugh, sometimes he really pissed her off.
But now she had to go, so she went on her way to her friend's kingdom.
"Ugh, just don't make me wear anything stupid bonnie..." She said, visioning herself in a pink dress with frills. She entered the gates of the candy kingdom, the candy princess was waiting for her, smiling brightly.
"Marceline! I'm so glad your coming to the ball tonight, I kinda thought you might stay home." She grinned.
"Bubba made me come..." She stated, "Can we just get this over with now?". She floated past her friend towards the castle, awaiting her doom.
"Well then I say bubba is a positive influence on you then."
"Whatever..."
At the arrival of the princesses bedroom, marceline immediately sat down on her bed. Crossing her arms in disapproval as the princess dug through her wardrobe in excitement. She was going through all her fancy dresses, trying to find something nice for her best friend to wear.
"We're gonna do your hair and everything, wait till bubba sees you..." She said in excitement, digging through more dresses.
"Is that what this is about...?" Marceline asked, "Really bonnie?"
"w-well...I wanted to make this ball s-so that bubba might find his home, make new friends y'know?" She said nervously.
Marceline raised an eyebrow, "Uh huh...right...". She looked at the nervous princess, "Bonnie, I though we already proved i'm right, bubba is not gonna find his home, not if it doesn't exist."
"Well, it's just to be sure...oh yeah, I forgot to ask, did he feel weird when you told him? Something as big as that would take alot out of him..."
"Er...uh great...he's fine now..." Marceline bit her lip, she still hadn't told him, and now just the thought of it made her feel awful.
Pb turned around at her friend, eyes wide, she looked angry.
"You didn't tell him the truth...did you?"
Marceline had never seen her so angry and disappointed in all her life, she scratched her head in embarrassment. "I-I well..."
"Marceline, you promised...bubba has to know where he came from..."
"But if he knows...imagine how he'd feel bonnie. I know bubba, I know what he's gone through, why he seems so sad sometimes and happy at others. He loves his home, and if I told him that it was never real, that he wasn't real...he'd hate me."
The vampire hung her head, "I don't want him to feel any worse than he already does...". She could still recall the day she found him unconscious in the middle of the woods, sad, terrified, lonely.
The thought of the time she kicked him out haunted her, just how he looked at her was enough to make her ache.
She couldn't bring herself to do it, either way wouldn't end well, she didn't want to choose either option.
PB just looked at her, she could tell marceline felt bad about her actions, whether she showed it or not. "I have something to admit too marceline...", she admitted, "this ball, was actually made for the two of you..."
Marceline looked up, "What?"
"I-I'm sorry marceline, I wanted to throw this party because...because I miss you guys. Y-you are always hanging out together..." She felt embarrassed, "I-I'm sorry, sometimes, I just get lonely up here, I miss you..."
"Sorry, we kinda haven't hung out enough since bubba came around..." Marceline said, playing with her hair in an attempt to distract herself. "I'm just kinda all he has out here and I guess I just don't want to abandon him, and I know abandonment better than anyone else..."
"I'm sorry too marcy, it was selfish..." The princess wasn't even going through her stuff anymore. She was just sitting on her bedroom floor, saddened, shoulders sagging and not exactly sure what to say next. Marceline got up off the bed and sat next to her friend, trying to comfort her, like how bubba had comforted her when she made mistakes she was guilty about.
"It's not selfish bon, we're both kinda being butts to each other lately, maybe we should all hang out sometime. Trust me, I think you and bubba have ALOT to talk about...". It was partially a joke, but it had some truth into it.
"Yeah...we should definitely do that...and next time, i'll make sure you wear something more 'casual'.." She went back to digging through the last of the dresses in her closet, leaving a huge mess all over the floor. Peppermint wouldn't enjoy having to clean this all up.
Marceline grinned, "Thanks brainlord..."
PB smiled back, "Y'know these dresses aren't 'you', I have a better idea..."
-
Bubba wasn't sure what to expect when he entered the candy kingdom gates that night, he was dressed perfectly fancy, bowtie and all. He was excited, no doubt, but he wasn't sure what kind of parties bonnie even through.
She had called and told him to meet marceline here, so he didn't know what to expect with her either.
He couldn't help but laugh nervously as he entered the castle.
He grinned.
It was beautiful, lights twinkled from the ceiling, the walls were decorated with all kinds of candy. It was full of royalty, ones that looked familiar, but gumball knew better than to approach familiar people in this world.
He took a moment to breath, take it all in.
"Thank you marceline..." He said under his breath, it felt like home, everything from the atmosphere to the people, to the clothing. This was even better than he could imagine, he needed to thank bonnibel immediately when he saw her.
And marceline.
He wandered through the ballroom, admiring everything from the food to the tiny details on the walls.
"Bubba!"
The princess pushed her way through the crowd towards the prince, wearing a lovely pink dress that seemed to shimmer in the light. She didn't hesitate to take the prince's hand and shake it.
He bowed to her.
"Bonnie, thank you for inviting me here tonight, this castle looks beautiful!" He put his hands together and smiled, showing all his teeth. "I didn't realize just how much I missed this kind of stuff!"
"My pleasure." She beamed, "Thank you for convincing marceline to come too..."
"Hey, I wouldn't go without her" He said, then the vampire queen came back to his mind, he looked around the room full of people. "So where is she anyway?"
"Still getting ready, don't worry, you'll see her soon enough..." She said excitably. She took his arm and dragged him through the crowd to the corner of the ballroom so they could talk properly. Bubba straightened out his clothes, and fixed his crown.
"You look great by the way Bonnie", He complimented, " very classy."
"Why thank you, you look quite handsome yourself, marceline is gonna love it."
"Wait, wha-?"
She smirked, "You should ask her to dance when she shows up." Gumball crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, seeing where this was going immediately. He was unamused by her attempts to set them up.
"Bonnie..."
"What?" She giggled, "Don't tell me you've never even thought of it?"
"Look...bonnibel..." He stated, sighing, "Marceline is awesome, she's an amazing girl, I-I just...I don't think it would work...". He bit his lip, thinking, he'd never considered dating marceline, not even in all the time they'd been together. He cared about her, and she did so much for him, and he found her charming, and funny, and talented...he shook his head. "Bonnie...no...I- we're just friends..."
"So were we..." She mumbled under her breath, "Me and marceline...but it's over now, it's nothing we can fix..."
Bubba looked embarrassed, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't know..."
"Don't worry about it, I just think that maybe...maybe she needs someone like you in her life...someone like me, but not entirely like me.."
Bubba looked at her, not wanting to say anything, not even sure how to respond to this new information. He looked at her, speechless. It took him a few moments to muster a word in response, "B-bonnie...I-"
"Look...i'm not trying to force you two together or whatever, it's just- marceline's my best friend, and I want to see her happy again. You two, well...you both seem to really get along, you've convinced her into things I'd never though she'd do, you guys take care of each other, and she seems really happy to have someone like you around...", she felt her stomach welt up with guilt and embarrassment. "I'm sorry bubba...I shouldn't have even suggested such a thing..."
"Oh, no no..." He put his hands on her shoulders, trying his best to comfort the distressed princesses. " Look, I can't promise you right now that me and marceline will end up like that, I know you care about her. But if anything happens between us, good or bad, it should happen between us, okay?".
"Alright, fine...I'll get out of the way." She joked, "But if you too hook up, i'll give you the 'I told you so' "
"Fine..."
"OH MY GOD, IT'S MARCELINE!", Came a cry from the crowd. Awws and gasps could be heard from every side of the room, and all faces turned to see exactly where the vampire queen was.
Bubba and bonnie immediately looked around for any sight of their friend.
Marceline stood at the top of some stairs in the corner, crossing her arms and looking as if being here was complete torture. Her hair was in a rather large ponytail, she was wearing long black gloves, and an elegant dress. a dark red one sleeveless one that looked silky, it hugged her hips perfectly.
If only she actually cared about that, she felt embarrassed wearing this stupid thing. Sure, she's worn fancy things like this before, but this was certainly not for her, at least bonnie hadnt noticed she was wearing her boots under the dress yet.
Bonnie decided to have a custom dress made for her friend, something that she believed suited her.
And it was perfect.
And considering bubba's reaction to her, he felt the same.
He didn't know why, but she looked like someone knew, perhaps because he had never imagined marceline looking like this. So used to her punk, lazy attitude, that he never imagined seeing her look so...royal.
He couldn't help but look at her as she made her way towards them, ducking her head in embarrassment.
She stood in front of them, embarrassed, refusing to even look at them in the eyes. PB was giggling, "You look great marceline, red is certainly your kinda color.", Marceline responded with a glare. Bubba grinned, enjoying her cute embarrassment, perhaps because she always seemed so confident and powerful, this was an interesting change of pace from her rock star attitude.
"I think you look wonderful marceline..." He said, awkwardly. "Very nice..."
She looked up at him, "Yeah, fine, you look good too...lets just get this over with alright?"
Avoiding Bonnie's gaze, she took bubba's arm and went to the nearest corner, bonnie smirked. Marceline didn't want all these people looking at her, so she just wanted to talk to bubba privately.
She let him go.
"Bubba...this was stupid, look at me..."
He lifted her face carefully, forcing her to look at him.
He grinned.
"You look amazing..."
She felt red, she removed his hand immediately, "Can we go home bubba? I don't want people seeing me like this!." Bubba looked disappointed at her, "Why not?". She looked at him, shaking her head, "It's just not me bubba..."
"It's okay Marcy, I shouldn't have made you come..."He hugged his arms in guilt, "We can leave, if you don't feel comfortable staying..."
She bit her lip, he looked rather rad at the idea of leaving so soon. Especially since he'd been looking forward to this since he'd heard about it.
"Fine...i'll stay, but you owe me..."
He hugged her, "Thank you marceline...we'll have fun together, I promise."
He held his hand out to her, "Wanna dance?". Marceline looked at it as if it was a foreign object, he was being polite, and she wanted to take it, but dancing would only draw attention to her.
And him.
"Can we eat first? Talk?" She suggested, ignoring his hand completely. Bubba nodded, just happy they were going to stay and enjoy themselves.
They were sitting at a table, eating food off a plate together, gumball was trying to cheer her up with jokes and stories, get her mind off everything. Marceline smiled, slightly, but he still allowed her to feel more comfortable out here.
"Marceline?..." He said, "Can we talk about something serious?".
Marceline, whose mouth was full of treats, almost spit. She looked surprised, perhaps because she was still worried that any day now he would mention the books, or figure out she was lying to him. It never seemed to be the case, but it felt as if one of these days it would become a reality, and she couldn't imagine just how terrifying it would get if he found out the truth.
"Uh...sure...whats up?"
"Bonnie, you guys dated?" He asked.
Marceline spit out some strawberry, "How-?"
"Bonnie told me..."He said as politely as he could, "Is that why you guys act so weird around each other?". He didn't want to poke around so much, but ever since bonnie brought it up he felt the need to ask.
"Well...yeah...but it's fine, we're fine..." Marceline said, reassuring, "Don't even worry, we're both still buds and it's nothing you should worry about...". She was giving him an odd smile, like she was embarrassed but wanted to cover it up.
"Do you still like her...?" He said, almost rather sad.
"No...not like that anymore...it's been over for awhile."
"Oh...okay...", he suddenly felt a lot less heavy.
Marceline looked at him, studying his face, it wasn't like him to snoop into her life. She wondered what exactly Bonnie had told him in their little "Chat", if she told him the truth she was gonna kill her. But there was another thing, another thing she didn't want poking it's way through gumball's head. It was weird enough that they lived together, slept in the same bed, but now Bonnie was clearly thinking the possibility of them being a little more than friends.
She had to admit, she liked bubba, she enjoyed his presence, how much he cared for her, that he was so forgiving, that he spent so much of his time doing things for her instead of searching for his home, that he made such food for her, that he enjoyed spending so much time with her...
That he missed her, wanted to stay with her...
She felt herself grow red.
"Marcy?", Bubba's hand was waving in front of her face, trying to snap her out of whatever trance she was in.
She woke immediately, "Oh...uh, bubba...sorry, I was just thinking about stuff...".
He grinned, sticking out his tongue, "Awwwwww, what were you thinking about marce?". She pushed his face away lightly, laughing, "Sorry you, that's private..."
"You guys are so cute..." Bonnie took a seat at the table, she looked at bubba. "So, see anyone you might recognize?", maybe he wasn't real, but she still had to give him some hope until marceline broke down the truth to them.
"Well yes and no..." He said, truthfully. "I see people I think I know, but they don't seem to know me..."
"Well...how about you guys dance?", She said, winking, "and don't try to get out of it Marceline, this my my party and i'm having you guys take the first dance."
Bubba stood up, "Thats good enough for me...", he held out his hand towards the vampire queen, with puppy dog eyes. "Milady? Would you like to dance?", it's been awhile since he's danced with someone, but he was sure he could manage.
Marceline took his hand, "Ugh...just...lets get this over with..."
He awkwardly lead her to the center of the dance floor, and positioned himself in front of her, taking one hand in his and putting another on her waist. She tensed, feeling eyes on her, but reluctantly put her other hand on his shoulder.
"Bubba...they're freaking looking at us..." She whispered, angrily.
'Whoa...hey", He was speaking very calmly, "Marceline...look at me...". The vampire queen pouted, and tried to look him in the eyes to the best of her ability. He gave her a faint smile, "Don't worry about all of them alright? Right now, it's just you and me."
Marceline gulped.
"You know how to dance right?" He asked, desperately hoping she did have an idea what to do.
"Yeah...whatever..."
He held her tight, and they started to dance, marceline wasn't exactly making much of an attempt. Looking bored and embarrassed, she wasn't even following his moves. Bubba was irritated, but that didn't stop him from trying. He was twirling her playfully and dipping her, she looked irritated with him whenever he did so, he gave her a mischievous smirk at her irritated expression.
He liked messing with her.
Well two can play at that game...
Marceline suddenly changed positions, taking over and dipping bubba before he knew what was even happening. She couldn't resist smirking at his reddened face, "Sorry princey, but I wear the pants around here..."
He gave a weak smile, loss for words.
They continued to dance, marceline was actually smiling and laughing now, they both were. Messing with each other and cracking jokes about the other's lousy skills as they continued to dance, they didn't even notice that they were no longer the only ones on the floor.
When the song ended, both almost looked sad to stop.
Marcy was going to ask to go again, until she heard some whispering from the audience.
"Look at those two..." "I wonder which one of them is the girlfriend?"
"What a weird couple..."
Bubba hadn't noticed.
"Again?" He said, excitably, still clutching onto her hand.
"I-...I uh..." She mumbled nervously, she let go of his hand immediately, "No...I want to go home...".
"Wha-?"
"Isaid, I want to go home now bubba!" She said, more aggressively. He looked surprised at her aggressive actions, "Marceline, is everything alright?".
"No...I-I'm going home, you can stay here if you want...but i'm leaving..." She refused to look as him as she marched her way out of the castle in her dress, bubba couldn't even tell that she was crying as she left.
Bonnie walked up to the shocked prince standing in the middle of the dance floor.
"Bubba..." She said.
He looked at the floor, sadly.
"I'm going after her...she's all I have out here..."
"I'm sorry about the party..."
"There will be plenty of parties, but there is only one marceline..." He said, Before turning to the princess. He looked sad, but he still managed to put a smile on his face, "Thank you for inviting me tonight, for inviting both of us, I can't remember the last time I've had this much fun at a party." He proceeded to walk towards the exit, but before he left, he stopped and turned towards the princess once last time.
"And bonnie...?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you, she looked beautiful..."
He ran off on his way back home.
"Good luck..." Bonnie said, watching him leave.
-
Marceline kicked the wall of her bedroom, screaming in anger.
"UGH! What's wrong with you!?" She yelled, hissing. "Why did you force me to act like that!? To make me look like THIS?! To make me..."
She sniffled
"like you..."
She put her back against the wall, her hands came over her eyes as she cried, she slid to the floor. She felt so awful, miserable all over, a headache was growing and she felt sick to her stomach.
She didn't know why she left, she felt so confused.
WHY?! Why did she?!
"Marceline?", Came a call from downstairs.
Bubba...
"Marceline, i'm coming up, I want to talk to you..."
Marceline didn't even make an attempt to get up, to block the entrance, or hide in the bathroom, or even answer with a insult.
She felt so...weak.
Bubba didn't hesitate to go up the ladder into their room, and when he saw the queen huddled up against the wall, he gasped. "Marceline!..." He said, softly, running over to her and getting on his knees.
She continued to cry.
"Marceline...please talk to me..." He said, "what happened...at the ball?"
"Just go back to the party..." She grumbled, "thats where you really want to be..."
He shook his head, "No...you matter so much more to me than any dumb party, I'm not leaving you..."
She looked at him sadly.
"Do I embarrass you?" He asked, "Is that why you left?"
"What? No...bubba, I-I just couldn't handle it..." She mumbled sadly.
"handle what?"
"Bubba...they make fun of me for being around you, for thinking that we're 'together', like that..."
He grew silent, blushing at the thought of just how many people had been looking at them, thinking that they had been a couple rather than than friends. "Is it really that bad...being with me?"
"W-what no!"
"So your not bothered by the idea of dating me?"
"No...I-I just...my relationships in the past have been terrible bubba...and...", She didn't finish her sentence, "Forget it...".
Bubba hugged her, pulling her close to his chest, petting her hair.
"It's okay...", he said, "I'm sorry I made you go out today...I shouldn't have forced you to do this kinda thing with me..."
"No...it was so much fun bubba, like...alot of fun..." She admitted, "I-I really want to do it with you again sometime...I'm glad you convinced me into going, even if it was a little wierd at first."
"That sounds like fun marceline..." He said, smiling softly.
"Your amazing bubba..." She admitted, "I know you want to thank me for all of this...but I think it's kinda the other way around. You've much more for me these past months than i've ever done for you..."
He released her, looking into her eyes, "I wish I could stay...with you, have days like this forever". He leaned in close, marceline felt herself grow red, until she felt something warm kiss her cheek. He smiled, "Thank you for tonight, I'm so sorry you felt hurt, but i'm glad you came with me, You look beautiful..."
She had no words as he stood up, pulling her up with him.
"Hey...lets just both get some sleep, It's been a long day for us...maybe some rest will help us both for now."
"Uhhh...yeah..." She said, she felt as if her cheek was glowing.
"I'll let you change first, call if you need me...okay? I care about you, and I want you to be alright."
He was about to head down the ladder until...
"Hey bubba?"
"Yeah?"
"I-I...never mind..."
He went down the ladder, and the vampire queen placed a hand on the spot where he kissed her. Realizing the real reason she couldn't handle that scene in the ballroom, not because of the people, or bonnie, or the dress.
It was because of him.
She felt the spot one last time.
Maybe Bonnie's idea wasn't as weird as she once thought...
Happy New Year Guys!
See You Next Year!