The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

A/N: No excuses over here. Explanation: Life kicks my ass on a constant basis and being an adult is super overrated. 10 out of 10 would not recommend. Please enjoy this long overdue update and thank you for still reading even though I'm a douchebag for letting you go so long without an update.

This chapter contains: Swearing, molestation/sexual abuse, drugs, angst, blood and SMUT

Rated M

Marceline x Princess Bubblegum (Eventually)

Summary: The first time ever she saw her face; she saw the sun rise in her eyes. She felt a pull so strong, her heart felt like it might burst out of chest in a bloody mass of veins and muscles. But even that pain couldn't compare to the sudden, surprising pain she felt when she saw that she was distinctly disliked.

Disclaimer: I own zero—zip—nada.

Chapter 10: Princess

Marceline had noticed something strange about Simon lately. He had been hallucinating more frequently about a past-lover of his: Betty.

Simon talked a lot about her in Marceline's years leading up to middle school and into his decent into madness. Back before she entered middle school, Simon wasn't quite batshit insane, more like a confused old man's sort of crazy. He was still her caretaker and very best friend, even if he wasn't quite himself all the time. It wasn't until 6th grade that Marceline learned to be scared of Simon and his madness.

She was drawing him a bath.

He was less volatile then and was easily maneuvered into the tub. The geezer was whining about his "penguin-pal Gunther" and begrudgingly Marceline went to get it.

Marceline had just returned from school. Nobody at school was particularly interested in being her friend and because of that Marceline was usually looking forward to getting home spending some much needed quality time with Simon. Finally she found Gunther stored under Simon's bed.

When she returned, Simon was standing up with a dull look in his eyes. He was erect.

"Betty! Oh my Betty…" he had said, looking over her ardently. "How I've missed you!" He shuffled out of the tub, his erection growing closer to the pale child with every step.

Marceline towered over Simon, even in her young age since he was a short man, but she felt so small now as he approached her.

When he reached her, he hugged her, tears streaming down his wrinkled face.

"Betty, why did you leave me? Why did you leave me here alone? B-Baby, I missed you s-s-so much…" He sobbed openly now, his head resting on Marceline's shoulder. Simon gripped her tighter. "Oh, Betty I need you so badly." Simon grabbed Marceline's pinned hand and laid it on his penis. He groaned loudly at the contact. "I need this, Betty."

Marceline's expression was blank. Simon began to move her hand up and down, stroking his member. Vaguely, Marceline could hear Simon cooing in the background, whispering sweet nothings. All Marceline could focus on was Simon's eyes.

They were deadened. Hollow.

Marceline didn't see the pensive eyes of her caretaker. Instead she saw the frozen eyes of a man she hadn't seen since she was five: her father.

What happened next was a blur until she felt Simon's shot of hot seed on the inside of her hand. As soon as he came, Simon was rendered limp.

"Oh, Betty… P-Please don't leave me again, please B-Betty…" He howled even louder this time, shoulders shaking violently with sobs. Instead of staying on Marceline's shoulder, Simon extrapolated himself from her. He grabbed Gunther, putting the toy in front of his naked crotch, and shuffled away into his room with tears still pouring down his cheeks.

Marceline was still frozen in place. His seed had now become cold putty on her hand. She moved to turn on the sink and wash her hands. Just like the water flowing in the sink, Marceline felt her love and trust of Simon plummet down the drain. Just like everything else.

As she finished drying her hands, she heard a voice so soft come from Simon's room that she thought she had imagined it.

"Sorry, Marcy."

=========================-X

"Hey, are you high yet?"

Marceline pulled on the joint, anticipating an answer. Her vision was honed in on her exhale, the smoke curling out from her pale nostrils like a dragon. Her wait was met with weighty silence. Marceline looked over to see Bonnibel still eyeing the trees warily.

"Um, Bonnibel?"

Bonnibel didn't show any signs of acknowledgement of Marceline and continued to stare into the woods.

"… Y'know… I think there's somethin' out there," Bonnibel drawled, squinting at the woods and shielding her hand above her eyes, "Yup."

"I'm pretty sure there's nothing out there." Marceline responded, casting her view were Bonnibel gazed. The dark-haired girl was 99.999 percent sure that there was nothing in the thicket of trees and that Bonnibel was just high as moose testicles. However as for that last 0.001 percent, Marceline was also high, so a simple confirmation couldn't hurt anybody.

Absentminded, Marceline passed the ever-burning joint to Bonnibel. Bonnibel took the joint, pulling in fumes while Marceline launched herself off the bench. She approached where Bonnibel was keeping her eyes locked.

Upon approach Marceline could see it was absolutely nothing—ordinary bushes, branches and leaves (and possibly some dog shit) underneath the cover of the trees. She sighed and walked back to the table, taking the joint from Bonnibel.

"There's nothing out there princess." She took two long drags and passed it back to Bonnibel.

"Well, why are the trees vibrating and getting closer?"

"Probably because you've been smoking weed." Marceline heard a splutter like a clogged pipe come from Bonnibel. Billowing out smoke, Bonnibel jumped off the bench and threw the joint on the ground, stomping on it. Marceline's eyes widened.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?" Marceline quickly shoved Bonnibel out of the way and bent down to inspect the remains.

"I can't believe I f-fu-freaking smoked WEED!" Marceline couldn't even comprehend the bullshit she was hearing. She stood to her feet in a flurry. She vaguely noted that Bonnibel's tan skin was flushed and her eyes had changed to a charged electric blue instead of her normal soft blue shade.

"What the fuck else was it supposed to fucking be fucking oregano?! You knew what it was earlier!"

"—I was just bullshitting! I-I thought it was tobacco!" Bonnibel was red in the face, hyperventilating and pacing manically. Tears of pitiable confusion were threatening to tumble off her cheeks.

Marceline simply couldn't believe it: Did Bonnibel, arguably the brightest kid in Ooo, nay, one of the smartest kids in the country, really, honestly not know the difference between marijuana and tobacco? And did Bonnibel-Middle Name-Last Name just curse?

Marceline busted out into loud, rambunctious laughter at the revelation. A look of major confusion showed on Bonnibel's face, causing Marceline to laugh harder. Bonnibel huffed and crossed her arms. Her face was still red. She still looked chagrined.

"I don't see what's so funny." The blonde sounded like a petulant child.

"Ohmigod, then you get mad." Marceline's laughter turned into a childlike fit of giggles. She was so tickled she was practically hyperventilating. The pale girl was laughing so hard, she let out a loud snort. Marceline started cackling then and even Bonnibel couldn't help but chuckle and eventually erupt into guffaws.

Eventually all their rustle and bustle died down. The pair sat back down on the bench, Marceline reluctantly accepting that her joint was but dust and ashes now.

"May I ask how you didn't know this was weed? I mean, I did ask you if you were high already."

"I don't do much besides study…" Bonnibel trailed off awkwardly.

"But like, seriously one's green the other is brown." Marceline said, popping a hand on her hip. There's no way Bonnibel was that fucking sheltered.

"My parents don't smoke anything. Whatever they do is what I do, which is essentially nothing. I rarely go out or hang out… or even just experience new things."

"Oh, c'mon you were at that party where Finn got fucked up on some molly."

Bonnibel huffed, her bottom-lip puffing out adorably. Adorably? Nah, I'm just baked. "I had to sneak out for that one. They have a zero-tolerance drug policy."

"Christ, you sound like a fifth grade hall monitor."

"So you're saying your dad approves of you smoking weed?"

"He's not my dad." Marceline hissed, boring her eyes into Bonnibel's. Bonnibel looked away quickly, flushed and started to apologize. Marceline cut her off with her dark reply. "And anyway, if he wasn't insane he'd probably flip his lid about it."

"… I mean, being high isn't so bad…" Marceline looked over to a blushing Bonnibel, her hands fidgeting as she looked contritely at them. Marceline lifted up an eyebrow in suspicion, figuring testing the waters was a harmless action.

"How do ya feel then?"

Bonnibel quieted. She knitted her light and wispy eyebrows together tightly. Marceline could practically smell the brain fumes wafting off her.

"Don't kill yourself over a dumbass question, princess."

"No, it's just… I feel like… introspective, I'd say. Mm, like very self-aware right now, almost too much so to the point of paranoia. But then there are l-like these notes of euphoria and stress-relief, creativity and all sorts of bodily numbness and then there's—" Bonnibel paused rather awkwardly and gazed directly into Marceline's eyes with this look. Honestly, Marceline felt like her very being was being scrutinized shamelessly. She couldn't look away. Bonnibel eventually tore her eyes away, the second blush of the day creeping down her neck.

Wow. For the life of her, Marceline couldn't understand what that moment was or what it was meant to be. But something stirred deep within her core. Her heartbeat was actually palpable for once in her pale, nearly hollow chest.

But before she could capture the thought, Bonnibel spoke.

"It's a fair amount of like a parallel trippy candy universe mixed with a derpy outer space adventure." Marceline almost let her eye outwardly twitch at Bonnibel's unabashed nerdiness.

What a fucking dweeb-a-saurus.

"Riiiiight. Wanna smoke more?" Leave it up to Bonnibel to nerdify anything that had fun or interesting anywhere near it. Marceline didn't wait for the blonde's answer to pack a piece of her remaining bud into her red pipe. She sparked it, inhaling deep. She gently opened her mouth and sucked the floating smoke into her nose. The guitarist looked back over to the blonde.

"Nah, I actually need to get back home kinda soon. I can't even imagine facing them like—this."

"Ya look just fine to me." Marceline said reflexively, quickly realizing with horror how wrongly it could've been taken. She winced and scratched the back of her head as her cheeks heated up.

"… Thanks." Bonnibel eyed Marceline with a flash of that same wanton look from earlier. This time Marceline looked away first. When she looked back at Bonnibel, the blonde's eyes were still glued on her. "I'm gonna go now… um, I guess I'll see you Tuesday?" Bonnibel asked.

"Uh, yeah that's right." Awkwardly, Bonnibel turned away from Marceline's perch on the bench and strolled back in the direction of her house. Marceline watched after her, idly taking in the sway of her hips. When Bonnibel was out of sight, Marceline relaxed back into her seated position and lit her bowl once again.