We're on the home strait now, there's just the epilogue left to post after this. Thanks for reading all the way to the end, it's been an absolute pleasure sharing my story with you all. As ever much love and kisses and squishy hugs to my reviewers for sending me their wonderful words. All that remains is to say thank you for reading, and enjoy this chapter and the epilogue.

Content Warning: Not much I can say here. Fluffiness? Cuteness, the tying up of loose plot ends, some very mild references to lady sex.

It took another month and a half of intensive physiotherapy as well as various other therapies and counselling but on Valentine's Day Marceline did finally walk out of hospital and straight into the passenger seat of Bonnie's car. She was leaning a lot of her weight on a fancy carved walking cane that Finn had insisted on getting for her but she was walking and that alone felt like a miracle. It was even sunny and unseasonably warm, perfect weather to no longer be a hospital invalid. The only thing missing was the crush of photographers and press that she'd been expecting to have to endure; Hunson's suicide had been in all the papers at the time. But they were conspicuous only by their absence. Marceline made a quick mental note to thank Papa Bolshakov for that, she'd bet anything he had something to do with it.

They listened to her Dad rock mix tape on the way back to Bonnie's apartment, singing along to the cheesy music together and sharing a joyful grin every time their eyes met. Marceline didn't even mind that she still occasionally stuttered over the lyrics. She was out of hospital and her words were improving a little more every day. If she practised the exercises her speech and language therapist had given her then there was every chance she'd be singing in grungy pubs again before the end of the year.

"Jake's planned a surprise party for you, I tried to discourage him but he barely even needs an excuse at the best of times." Bonnie warned her as she parked in front of the house. "Just, so you don't get a shock and faint or something."

Marceline scowled; she was still doing that with alarming regularity especially if she got a fright or tried to get up too fast. She might never stop doing it, it was frustrating.

"Is there gon-gonna be a lot of people there?" she asked, making a good stab at pretending to be apprehensive. Bonnie pulled what Marceline was beginning to recognise as her trying-to-break-bad-news-gently face.

"Well, a few people. I got them to agree to keep it small at least. Susan and Finn, Lady and Jake, Mo, Mo's little brothers and sisters, Mo's mother, Ash and Anton, Lydia and Johnny, the guys from your old band and me. Yeah, a few people. But we'll all be real quiet and gentle with you, ok?"

Marcy waited until Bonnie had gotten out of the car to let her mischievous grin out. That was perfect, she wanted as many people there as possible for her plan. Ash already knew, he'd sort of known before she did, but he was a special case. Everyone else… well, they'd find out when she told them.

She allowed herself to be helped out of the car and gently supported up the stairs into the apartment. She even did a good job of looking surprised when everyone was crammed into the tiny living room together with a big home made banner that read 'WELCOME HOME, MARCY!'. Apparently Finn had wanted to write 'welcome back from the dead' but Bonnie had told him to make something more tasteful. Marcy quite liked the back from the dead one though, it was pretty funny given she had been technically dead for a little while.

"Ah, y-you guys! What's all this?" Marceline asked around her huge smile.

"Surprise! You deserve a party!" Jake grinned at her as he pressed a warm can of beer into her hands. She carefully passed it straight on to Bonnie who placed it back on the table with a small head shake.

"Hey, I'm glad you're back. I, uh, I made you a cake. It's even vegan. It's like, an apology cake." Lydia mumbled with an awkward smile when she caught Marceline's eye. She was still feeling guilty despite Marcy insisting that it wasn't her fault and that her crazy father would have tried to kill her sooner or later anyway. Hassan was clinging to Lydia's back like a monkey and grinned when Marcy ruffled his hair fondly. It was a surprise to discover that kids liked Lyds but they probably thought that her sarcasm was meant as humour. Besides little Hassan had a weird ability to charm pretty much anyone; clearly Lyds wasn't immune to him either.

"MARCY! You're all better!"

Finn stepped forwards and caught A-Mo before he could knock Marceline to the ground with his enthusiasm to hug her and she shot him a grateful smile.

"Hey, A-Mo! Y-yes I am, mostly. And I'm so glad you're all here, cause I've got some stuff to talk to you all about."

"Um, actually, we kinda had an announcement too. Since everyone is here." Lady spoke up from the corner she was sharing with Susan and the rest of the Screams. "But you go first, this is your party."

Marceline nodded to her and sent the Korean woman a shy smile. She didn't know Lady that well but she seemed to be a very sensible and very kind person; she was close with Bonnie and she'd come to visit Marcy in hospital a few times. Marceline got the feeling she'd be seeing an awful lot of her from then on anyway.

"So you all know about w-why I was in hospital." Marceline started, running a hand self-consciously against the short patch of hair on the side of her head where they'd had to surgically remove a section of her skull. When she flattened her palm over the scars she could just feel the metal plates they'd fixed her head with under the skin. "And you know my Dad t-took his own life in… jail. I found out a little while ago that he left a will and he left me some… some… money. Apparently beating someone within an inch of death doesn't m-mean they can't inherit. Thing is, I don't want his… money. I never wanted it, or his name or anything to do with him. And I thought about just donating it all to charity but then I thought about m-maybe helping the people who've b-been good to me. Paying you guys back for putting up with my… my drama."

She opened her bag and pulled out a stack of envelopes with names on. Most everyone was there, she had an envelope for each of them and a few more in the bag. There was one for Mo's school and one for the women's refuge near her apartment block, one for the hospital and another for the ambulance crew who'd saved her life. Marcy handed them out and didn't say another word until everyone's envelope was open and they were staring at the cheques inside.

"I can't accept this, it's too much." Finn gasped. He tried to hand the cheque back but Marceline stepped out of reach and shook her head.

"Look either you please take my awful father's m-money or I'm going to get a stress migraine from having to manage it all. It's too much, even if I hadn't gotten it from him. I don't know what to do with that kind of, of… money, I don't want to know. So you all get some, and you can do whatever you want with it. I arranged your surgery, Finn. I had a lot of… spare time in hospital to m-make... the arrangements. Th-there's a time slot next month being held for you with a p-private surgeon if you want it, he's just waiting for your confirmation call. I already… paid but I didn't know exactly wh-what you wanted doing so you need to... to... go talk to them. Buy a house, go travelling, pay you st-student debts, open a rescue shelter for urban foxes, I d-don't care. Jake, s-seriously, get a shop and st-start your own shoe label or something, you're amazing. Just enjoy it; someone should and I know I can't. P-please?"

They were staring at her, all of them, with varying degrees of shock on their faces. That was brilliant, Marcy decided. The best prank she'd ever pulled off; turning her surprise party into a massive surprise for everyone else. It was magnificent, she didn't think she'd ever be able to top that. It was even worth stuttering over a long speech in front of them all just to see the look on their faces.

"Your… a-announcement?" Marcy prompted Lady after a few seconds of stunned silence. The other woman looked up from where she'd been staring at her cheque in disbelief and blushed at finding herself the centre of attention.

"Oh! Right. Yes. Um, well Jake and I had a little accident and we are now three months pregnant. I had my first scan yesterday, the baby is healthy and growing well. And we were worried about managing financially, but... wow. Thank you so much, we will use it to plan for the little one."

Marcy sneaked out of the lounge under cover of the explosion of noise and congratulations that followed Lady's announcement and limped carefully into the kitchen to help herself to a glass of water. She didn't jump when a voice interrupted her, she knew only Bonnie would have noticed her escape.

"I'd stay to congratulate Lady but I already knew. She told me while you were still unconscious, I think she was trying to cheer me up. That was a wonderful thing you just did for everyone, sweetie."

"Not really, it was pretty… selfish. I can't deal with that level of r-responsibility right now so I made everyone else have to do it instead." Marceline replied with a shrug, turning frustratingly slowly to face her girlfriend. "I gave the deeds to the apartment to Mo. Figured he might want a place of h-his own soon anyway and I don't much want to go back there after… what happened to me there."

Bonnie slid her arms around Marceline's waist and pulled her into a tender kiss for a long moment. She was still sometimes a little amazed that she could just reach out and touch the other girl, that she finally had someone amazing to share that intimate physical closeness with. That it should also be the kindest and most breath taking person she'd ever met was more than she could understand sometimes.

"So where will you live? Did you hang onto one of the houses you inherited?" Bonnie asked when they finally broke apart.

Marcy shook her head, she didn't want to live anywhere that was associated with her father.

"Right now I was thinking I'd stay in y-your bedroom, if you'll have me. Long term I m-might look at buying somewhere around here for a change. I've seen some gorgeous old f-fashioned town... houses out by the park and I'm sure we could find one with a…a, um, decent sized study and a s-spare room for Neddy to v-visit, within walking distance fr-from you Mum's place." she replied, not quite meeting Bonnie's eyes in case she'd misjudged it.

"I- what? Are you asking me to move in with you?" Bonnie asked her after a moment of shocked silence. Marceline nodded carefully.

"If you want to. I'm not sure I'm really… s-stable enough to live alone for the time being. I totally understand if you don't want to be my full time… my c-carer as well as everything else though." she added worriedly. Bonnie kissed her again, hard and enthusiastically. They were both a little breathless by the time she pulled back.

"Yes! Oh God, I thought you'd want to take it slow but I would love to move in with you! When do you want to look at houses? Do you wanna look now? Wait, are you sure you want to live with me though? You don't want to ask Lyds what kind of awful room mate I am first? I'm messy and I like pink far too much and sometimes I stay up baking until the sun comes up and-"

Marceline cut her off with another firm kiss.

"Shh, don't over think this, d-dork. I'm sure. You were there for me no matter how hard I tried to… to push you away. Y-you stayed, even thought I'm b-broken and fucked up. Bonnie, will you m-move in with me?"

It was a good half hour of delighted kissing before they finally re-joined the party.

…

Their new house backed right onto the park and it had a large private garden and everything, a rare luxury in the city. By the start of summer all the contracts were signed and conveniently Marcy had picked a moving day in between Finn's professional races so that he could help carry boxes. He didn't even mind, he was running again properly for the first time since he started transitioning and he'd have carried a literal ton for them in gratitude. Marceline was taking full advantage, of course.

"Is that k-kitchen stuff? Or music room stuff?" she asked from where she was perched on top of the big pile of boxes he and Mo had already carried in. She could have hired someone to carry the boxes but Finn had offered and Marcy knew he wanted the excuse to show off his ability to lift and carry now that he was recovered from his chest surgery. Finn shrugged in reply and dumped the box in the middle of the sizeable lounge floor.

"I'm pretty sure it's house bricks actually." he huffed with a frown, massaging his shoulders. "Or Bonnie's books, did you buy her a bloody library? Feels like it. Anyway, that's the last one. And is it just me, or is it really hot in here?"

There was something about the glint in Finn's eye when he said that so she didn't complain when he reached down with a grin and stripped off his t-shirt.

"Oh man, y-you went to the tattoo place?" Marcy asked in surprise, eyes taking in the slightly scabby design covering most of Finn's chest. He grinned and nodded. The scars from his surgery were hidden beneath the twisting scales of a bright blue Chinese dragon that rippled across the developing muscles, so realistic it almost looked like it could soar off his skin and into up into the sky.

"They did a fantastic job! Finn, it looks so awesome." Marcy grinned back at him. She was glad he'd taken her advice and gone for a cover up with the same amazing tattoo artist she'd used; he'd been so self conscious of his scars after his surgery.

"Flashing my girlfriend, Finn?"

They both whipped around at Bonnie's voice and Marceline overbalanced and toppled off the pile of boxes. Luckily she landed on top of a still shirtless Finn who was blushing right the way down his neck.

"L-look at that, girls are throwing themselves at you." Marcy snickered, pressing a quick kiss to his stubbly cheek before he carefully put her down. She was still a lot thinner than she had been before the attack and Finn didn't have any trouble carrying her around the place if he needed to despite being ever so slightly shorter than her.

"Hey, the tattoo looks amazing! It's so realistic, you look awesome! Oh, is that the box with all the books in? You should have said, I would have helped you carry it." Bonnie added, coming forward to rummage in the box and admire her newly expanded library.

Marcy dropped a quick kiss onto her girlfriend's distracted head and wandered out into the garden through the open French doors at the back of their sunny lounge. Packing the books had been traumatic enough and she had no desire to be in the firing line if Bonnie found a single page even slightly bent. It was a bright blue summer day, very warm and surprisingly quiet for a Saturday. Marcy stretched out carefully in the somewhat overgrown grass and lay back to enjoy the feeling of sunlight on her skin. She must have dozed off for a while listening to the distant laughter of children playing in the park and snatches of music from the occasional passing car at the front of the house. All of a sudden Marceline was aware of warm lips brushing against her cheek and she opened her eyes to find Bonnie had come and sat next to her in the long grass.

"You shouldn't just lie down and sleep out here, love. For a second I thought you'd fainted. It's a good thing you were snoring." the redhead said with a small frown.

"Mm, sorry. Didn't mean to take a nap, it was just really nice in the sun." Marcy replied around a yawn. "Where're Finn and Mo?"

"Mo went to the corner shop to get rice milk for you and Finn's returning the moving van. I thought you'd like to spend a couple of minutes alone in our new place?"

That was subtext for 'making out' if ever she'd heard it. Marceline grinned sleepily, pulled Bonnie down to lie next to her on the springy grass and wasted no time in enthusiastically spending a couple of minutes alone with her girlfriend. Of course they'd forgotten how fast Mo could walk with his long teenage legs that seemed to have grown some more every time Marcy looked.

"Ew! Guys you have a bedroom, do not make out on the lawn where innocent children might be influenced by your filth."

Bonnie rolled away with a pink blush staining her cheeks but Marceline just grinned up at Mo and stuck her tongue out.

"Excellent suggestion, B-Mo! Wanna go check out the b-bedroom with me, Bon?"

Her girlfriend didn't reply, just curled into a little ball of embarrassment and from what Marcy could see of her ears around the arms she'd thrown up over her face was trying her hardest to blush herself to death.

"Maybe later then." Marceline said with a shrug.

"I am heading home now anyway so you two can be as gay as you like." Mo replied with an awkward smile. He was trying really hard and Marceline really appreciated it but he was still sometimes just a little uncomfortable when they were too affectionate. She rolled up off the grass and limped forward to give him a hug.

"Thanks for your help today, man. I really appreciate it. Say hi to your Mum and everyone, right? Tell them they're all invited to our h-housewarming party as soon as the boxes are put away."

Mo nodded and took his leave of them, letting himself out by the small gate at the side of the house that lead back onto their leafy suburban street. Marceline sank back down onto the lawn. This time she stretched out with her head in the cradle Bonnie's crossed legs made and let out a contented sigh when her girlfriend began sliding her fingers through Marceline's hair. It was beginning to grow back but she doubted she'd ever be able to get it down to her waist again. Like so many other things it was familiar but slightly different now.

Marceline stared up at the summer sky and let her thoughts wander; so much of her time these days was taken up with introspection and learning to organise her mind around the lingering trauma still messing with her head. She could walk more or less as easily as ever although she had a slight limp now. But she still preferred to use her cane, just in case. And she was still fainting from time to time; her blood pressure sometimes dropped unexpectedly. It meant she'd never be able to drive or even take a decent bath alone in case she lost consciousness and accidentally drowned herself. But she'd gained things too, things that she wouldn't have traded anything for. She tracked a small white cloud as it gently drifted across the sky above them and when it passed over their heads spent a few minutes happily distracted by admiring all the colours the summer sun threw through her girlfriend's hair. It looked almost pinkish in the golden afternoon light, like a very pale red shot through with streaks of amber where the light shone directly through the strands. It was the most distractingly beautiful thing Marcy had seen in a long time and she must have been staring for longer than she realised.

"You ok?" Bonnie asked her quietly after the silence stretched on for long minutes. Marceline squinted up at her, shading her eyes against the glare of sunlight when she moved her head.

"Yeah, just… I dunno, I feel really thoughtful? Like, w-we have a house and we live together now. It's been the craziest year of my life, which is saying a lot because I've had some pretty eventful ones."

"Mm yeah it's been pretty mental." Bonnie agreed. "But would you change it, if you could? Make all of the bad stuff have not happened but in return not have this? We'd never have met, I'd be a graduate already and you'd still be living alone upstairs from Mo. Would you change back to that if you could?"

"No. Not even for a second. I'd let my D-dad beat me into a crippled pulp a hundred times over if I got you at the end of it." Marceline replied without even stopping to think about it. Her therapists were encouraging her to talk about the attack regularly and to use whatever language she felt comfortable with so long as she wasn't repressing her memories of it or trying to downplay her feelings. In a weird way it helped that she'd had the experience of recovering from the fire too because she knew how to avoid most of her post-traumatic stress related panic attacks and knew what her triggers were, what to do when things got overwhelming. A big part of her psychological recovery was the shiny new piano standing pride of place in the spare bedroom she'd had converted into a mini recording studio. She still hadn't quite regained the hand coordination to play her bass or ukulele to a completely professional standard yet but the piano felt easier. She was familiar with it and playing the piano didn't require the same amount of hand strength as most other stringed instruments. The record label who'd offered to sign her after her Newcastle gig had agreed to let her record a demo of piano tracks in lieu of a first album and she was enjoying just going at her own pace, mixing covers and original songs and exploring a gentler kind of music than she'd previously been making.

Marceline became aware that while she'd been wandering around in her head Bonnie had been holding an entirely one sided conversation.

"…if you fancy it, or somewhere a bit less blistering hot?" Bonnie was asking her.

"Sorry, what? I, um… spaced out." Marcy mumbled with a slight blush.

That was another annoying effect of her brain injury; Marceline often struggled to focus for longer than a few minutes at a time especially if she was stressed or tired.

"Sorry, love. I was asking if you fancied a holiday someplace, before I'm back at uni in the autumn and you become a library widow for weeks on end. Maybe Ash and Anton's new place in Spain, or somewhere I won't actually burn to death under the midday sun?"

"Mm that sounds really nice. Me and Simon used to travel a lot when I was… was little. He couldn't dig too well after his hands got burned so I used to assist him with archaeology and stuff. We went to Machu Picchu one year, on my birthday. It was so c-cool."

"Yeah, you told me. You wanna go back to Machu Picchu then?" Bonnie asked with a lopsided smile, the kind that Marcy knew meant she was joking about something she actually kind of meant seriously too.

"Sure, I can tell you all about the Incan empire. It's a long flight to Peru though, sure you wanna g-go that far?" Marcy asked, genuinely curious. She knew Bonnie hadn't travelled much except for when the whole family had gone to Germany with her Dad's work. Her Mum hadn't had a lot of spare money for holidays when she was a kid.

"I might get scared on the plane, might need to snuggle up with you." Bonnie said with a smile, blue eyes sparkling mischievously. Marceline laughed and pulled her down for a kiss, right there on the lawn in their garden, in the house that they owned together. She reflected that she'd meant every word she'd said earlier. She'd have gone through it all a hundred times over if she'd know that would be the end result.

"We'll think about it, maybe look at flights when the internet connection's set up. But I think we should follow Mo's s-suggestion and check out our brand new bedroom." Marcy murmured against her girlfriend's lips. Bonnie nodded her agreement and gently pulled Marceline to her feet, following her indoors and up the stairs to their room with a soft smile on her face.