the Easter chapter is actually being posted around Easter time - i feel like i've accomplished something there tbh

so this chapter was intended to be 100% fluff, but it kind of evolved into something else because of me getting an idea at like 3am last night so now it's like 20% sad/angsty stuff 80% fluff

guest who asked if i'd write out a panic attack: most likely yeah, although it's undecided whether it'll be from Bonnie's POV or Marceline's

bubblevamp: there might be a scene in the future where Bonnie meets Marceline's Dad, you'll just have to wait and see

Sunday 20th April 2014

Marceline knelt down on the grass. It was wet with dew, soaking the knees of the skinny jeans she was wearing. Marceline exhaled – her hands shook as she put each individual flower from the bunch she was holding by the stone. She admired them; carnations – they'd always been her favourite. Marceline made sure every single flower was perfect – everything needed to be perfect for her Mom.

She evened out the sides – she couldn't stand it when her brother only put flowers on one side of the grave. Not that he ever came up here that often.

Once she had finished arranging the flowers, her unsteady hands came to a stop and rested on her thighs as she stared at the grave. She took in a shaky breath and allowed herself a small, watery smile. "Happy Birthday, Mom."

Marceline sighed, running a hand through her black hair. "I…I haven't been up here for a while, and I'm sorry. Things have been kind of crazy. Dad's still an asshole, in case you were wondering."

Marceline allowed herself a shaky laugh, and sniffled. "I made a new friend. I know, me. Shocker. Her name is Bonnie. Well, Bonnibel, but I call her Bonnie. She's amazing. She actually listens to me and thinks I'm good at playing music and she's so smart and I – I think you would've liked her. She's understanding, like you were. Even though she wants to be a doctor, I think she'd be a good teacher – she's so caring and she doesn't patronise people and I think she's awesome."

"I miss you so much. Every time Dad comes to visit I feel so fuck – I mean, so horrible when I wish it'd been him. I know I shouldn't think things like that and I try not to, really. I know I act like I don't care that he pretty much hates me, I do. And I hate that I care. As much as he thinks I'm a screw up, I do love him. I mean, he's my Dad, right?" Marceline let out a bitter laugh and wiped a few stray tears from her eyes. "I just feel like I wouldn't be so screwed up if you were here. You never pushed me too hard or pressured me or yelled at me for getting a B and then excused Marshall for every little thing just because he's a boy. You were my best friend. Even before Keila."

"I...I want you back, Mom." Marceline murmured. She was now rubbing at her eyes almost violently in an effort to stop the tears. "I want to hang out with you on Sundays like we used to and I want to play music with you and I want to be able to actually get you a real present for your birthday and not just put flowers on your goddamn grave and I want you to meet Bonnie so badly."

"I hope you can hear me, wherever you are." Marceline's body was softly shaking with sobs, and she'd given up on trying to hold them back. "I love you, Mom. Happy Birthday. I'll come back and talk soon. I promise."

Marceline unsteadily rose to her feet, and looked down at her Mom's grave once more. She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her hoodie and then forced herself to walk away, sitting down in the driver's seat of her car and breaking down into tears.

Marceline headed towards the freezers in the store, planning on buying some Ben & Jerry's to make her feel better. But, the universe didn't seem to agree, and Marceline just so happened to run into the one person who could make her feel much better than ice cream could.

Bonnie.

Marceline automatically noticed Bonnie as she was looking through the candy aisle. Marceline smiled to herself – Bonnie was wearing the shirt Marceline had given her along with a pair of pink sweatpants, and had clearly not brushed her hair yet. Marceline thought she looked adorable.

The dark haired girl headed over to Bonnie, who seemed torn between a caramel bar and a regular chocolate bar. Marceline smirked, wrapping her arms around Bonnie's waist and putting on a fake British accent. "Well, hello. Aren't you cute?"

Bonnibel jumped away, and a look of relief crossed her face when she saw Marceline smirking at her in amusement. "I thought you were some random attacker! Couldn't you just say hello?"

Marceline just shrugged. "I was being original."

Bonnie noticed how Marceline looked like she'd been crying, but decided it'd be better if she didn't bring anything up. "What are you doing here?"

Marceline noticed how Bonnibel began trying to detangle her hair with her fingers and smiled. "Just stopping by to get some ice cream. You?"

"I needed to refuel after doing an experiment." Bonnie explained. "Chocolate usually helps."

"You wore that to do an experiment?" Marceline raised an eyebrow.

Bonnie seemed to notice that she was wearing Marceline's shirt and blushed. "Oh…yeah. And my lab coat."

"You have a lab coat." Marceline repeated, rolling her eyes. "Of course."

"What did you expect?" Bonnibel shrugged. "Anyways, what are your plans for today?"

"I'm going to go home and sleep, probably." Marceline replied. "You?"

"Well…I was just going to go home and read my book – you know, since I finished my experiment – but would you maybe want to come and hang out? We could watch a movie or something." Bonnie offered.

Marceline thought for a moment. Hanging out with Bonnie was bound to be much more fun than just sitting around the house all day. "Sure."

Bonnie's smile almost looked relieved. "Awesome. Just let me pay for this and we can head back to mine. Did you drive here?"

"Yeah." Marceline nodded. "I can get us back to your place."

Bonnie took hold of Marceline's hand and decided she'd buy the caramel chocolate bar. As they headed towards the cash register, Bonnie paused. "You didn't want to buy anything, did you?"

Although Marceline was a little hungry – she hadn't eaten since her breakfast of Oreos and chocolate milk – she shook her head. "Nah, I'm good. Let's go."

"Okay," Bonnie smiled, tugging her towards the cash registers.

Marceline froze when she saw who was behind the counter. Ash. "Fucking hell. No. Not that asshole."

Bonnibel immediately understood. "Hey, don't worry. I'll be right there to talk you down if he says anything to you. I promise."

"Can't I just wait outside?" Marceline pleaded. She really didn't want to deal with Ash. Not today. "Please?"

"You can't hide from him forever." Bonnibel replied. "Face your fears."

"I'm not afraid of him," Marceline snapped, her expression softening at the hurt look on Bonnie's face. "And if you want me to face my fears, can't you just make me touch a spider or something?"

"It'll be fine, Marceline. I swear," Bonnie assured.

Marceline sighed, knowing that she wouldn't be able to convince Bonnibel to let her wait outside. Bonnie pulled her along until finally, they were in front of Ash. Marceline wanted to punch the smug grin off his face.

"Well, look who's here," He smirked, "Are you buying a present for your Mom?"

"Shut the fuck up." Marceline snapped. Bonnibel gulped as Marceline's grip on her hand became tighter.

Ash scanned Bonnie's chocolate bar. "Sorry, I forgot she killed herself. Hopefully you'll follow in her footsteps."

"I don't know about me but I fucking hope you do." Marceline glared at him as Bonnie passed her money over. "There's this new drink you should try. It's called bleach."

"Go fuck yourself."

"You know, I always wondered why you were such a dick," Marceline replied, "Then I realised you need to compensate with your personality because your actual dick is microscopic."

With that, she stalked off, leaving Bonnibel to quickly snatch her change from Ash and take her chocolate bar before running after Marceline.

She found Marceline kicking the wall at the front of the store as hard as she possibly could and saying as many different variations of the word 'fuck' she could think of. Bonnibel quickly pulled Marceline into a hug. "Hey, it's okay. I'm sorry. Next time you can wait outside."

"Or I could go in there and kill him and there wouldn't be a next time."

"You wouldn't do that." Bonnibel said, "And you know it."

"Oh, yeah? Try me." Marceline leaned back against the wall and sighed. "It's just…I'm already fucked up enough today."

"Is that why you were crying?" Bonnie asked. She knew this was probably moving onto a more sensitive topic for Marceline, so Bonnie decided to tread carefully.

Marceline nodded. Bonnie was surprised Marceline didn't question how she knew. "Yeah. It…it's my Mom's birthday and I went up to put flowers on her grave and I'm just…not at my best, I guess."

Bonnibel smiled. "Well, we'll go back to my place and watch a few movies and I'll do my best to cheer you up."

"You're unbelievably awesome." Marceline murmured, looking up at Bonnibel and shooting her a weak smile. "Sure. Let's go."

"I can't believe you made me do that," Marceline said, staring down at Bonnie who was arranging the pillows in their newly constructed blanket fort in Bonnie's lounge, "I haven't built a blanket fort since I was like five."

"Then this was a much needed activity," Bonnie replied, placing a pillow next to her and patting it. "Come on. Sit. And bring the last blanket, we can sit under it and warm ourselves up."

"I hope your parents are cool with us dismantling your living room to make a fort." Marceline said as she unfolded the last blanket and sat down next to Bonnie, draping it over the two of them.

It was true – Bonnie had decided the only way to make the perfect fort was to move one of the couches to a certain angle so the blankets would be at a good height. Or at least, that's what Marceline thought Bonnie said. Most of the time Bonnibel had been using long words Marceline usually avoided as she associated them with things like Physics and Math. Marceline had just gone along with whatever Bonnibel had said.

"They were cool with it when I was a kid, so I don't see why they wouldn't be cool with it now." Bonnie offered. "Besides, it's not like we won't put everything back the way it was."

"Okay, but if they get pissed I'm blaming you." Marceline replied. "I don't want your weird fort plans to affect my credibility with your parents."

Bonnie just shrugged as she grabbed the TV remote and unpaused Star Wars Episode I; The Phantom Menace. Marceline had insisted they stop off at her place on their way back from the store so she could pick up her DVDs of the recent Star Wars trilogy and was forcing Bonnie to watch, not that the pink haired girl was complaining – she liked spending time with Marceline.

It was embarrassing, really. Bonnie had been so nervous asking Marceline to come over – she'd never been like that before – and was sure Marceline could probably tell she was freaking out on the inside. Bonnie didn't understand it; she'd never gotten nervous asking Marceline to hang out before, and was even more concerned about how self-conscious she was becoming every time she saw Marceline - Marceline always seemed to look her best, and Bonnie always thought she looked like she'd just crawled out of a dumpster whenever she happened to run into Marceline.

"They won't get annoyed. They actually relax when you're around." Bonnie replied, "I don't really know why."

"Maybe it's because I'm so mysterious and aloof."

"You are so annoying." Bonnibel replied, gently elbowing Marceline in the ribs. "Jerk."

Marceline held her hands up in defence. "You were the one who said I was aloof and mysterious. It's not my fault I found that hilariously funny."

"You could at least stop bringing it up," Bonnibel blushed – she hated how her embarrassment was so clear, "It's embarrassing."

Marceline grabbed hold of her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. Bonnie blushed even harder and felt her stomach flip, inwardly scolding herself. "It's funny. Lighten up, Bonnie. You can make fun of me all you want."

"Really?" Bonnie looked up, an eyebrow raised in temptation.

"Of course, nerd." Marceline rolled her eyes and looked at her like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "That's what friends do."

"Well…" Bonnie bit on her lip in thought, before looking to Marceline with a smirk. "You're so weak an ant could beat you in a fist fight."

"Okay, that was uncalled for," Marceline began, although by the amused smile on her face, Bonnie could tell she wasn't at all offended, "I am much stronger than an ant. I'm stronger than you."

Bonnie shot her a knowing, doubtful look. "Remember that time you couldn't get the cap off your Coke bottle?"

"I loosened that up for you." Marceline shot back. "Anyways, who needs strength when you have a good music taste?"

"I like good music!" Bonnie defended.

"Literally all you listen to is Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift." Marceline replied, "Dude, broaden your taste."

Bonnie sat thinking up a good response, looking up at Marceline and shooting her the best faux-annoyed look she could muster. "At least I -,"

"Whoa, whoa! Shush!" Marceline pointed at the TV screen with an adorable look of genuine excitement on her face – the look which always made Bonnie feel little butterflies swarm in her stomach. "Do you not think that Darth Maul's lightsaber is the coolest thing ever? I mean, it's fucking double sided! I want one."

Bonnie smiled, chuckling. "I know you always deny it when I call you cute, but you are cute. Especially when you come out with things like that."

Marceline frowned and crinkled her nose in disgust. "I'm not cute. I'm punk."

Bonnie smiled even wider, unsure how somebody could be so cute and yet so devastatingly beautiful at the same time. It was like Marceline was two different people; one flirtatious and so frustratingly attractive that made Bonnie feel things she knew she shouldn't, and the other an adorable, Disney loving dork who Bonnie just wanted to cuddle and kiss and – no, Bonnie. Too far. "Whatever you say, Marceline."

Marceline laid down, resting her head on Bonnibel's shoulder and keeping her gaze on the TV. Bonnie gulped, feeling her cheeks heat up.

She knew she couldn't let herself develop feelings for Marceline – even though it seemed like she already had. It would ruin everything, and she couldn't lose her best friend. Not again. It wasn't Bonnie's fault that Marceline was so funny and charming and smart and gorgeous. Why did she have to ruin everything?

She wanted to keep Marceline as a friend – Bonnie cared way too much to lose her. She really did want to keep everything the way it was, but she also wanted so much more. She wanted to be able to call Marceline her girlfriend. She wanted to hold Marceline's hand and have it mean something. She wanted to be able to lean down and kiss Marceline and show everyone she was hers.

She hated herself every second for these stupid thoughts. She could never have any of the things she wanted. She had to keep her stupid crush a secret and try her best to stop it before things got too serious. Bonnie had finally admitted to herself that she had a crush on her best friend.

She was such an idiot.

"You want me to make you some tea?"

Bonnibel jolted out of a daydream and frowned. "Sure. I mean, it's my house, I should be the tea maker -,"

"Shut up," Marceline cut in, "Chamomile, am I right?"

Bonnie blushed, nodding. "Yeah."

"Okay. Be right back."

Bonnie sat and watched a few more minutes of the movie, before becoming restless and heading into the kitchen to see if Marceline had found everything, only to see her picking up the cups to head back into the lounge.

Bonnie frowned. "I thought you didn't like chamomile tea. Why did you make yourself one?"

"I noticed you had some green tea and I couldn't resist." Marceline shrugged, passing Bonnibel her chamomile tea which Marceline had put in her favourite pink mug.

Bonnie smiled. "Thanks. Let's finish the movie."

They headed back to their blanket fort and Bonnibel set their drinks down on the coffee table. As they got comfortable, Bonnie spoke up. "You know, you should hang out with Finn. He likes Star Wars."

"Hanging out with your friends is the dictionary definition of torture." Marceline replied. "Besides, they don't like me."

"That's ridiculous. Of course -,"

"They look at me like I'm about to pull out a shotgun and kill them all." Marceline deadpanned, before she pushed a few stray hairs from her eyes and let out a long sigh. "I just don't see why I should try with them. They don't like me and I don't particularly like them."

"Well…you're friends with Lady and you've talked to Finn and Gumball," Bonnibel tried to be an optimist about the situation. "Besides, you kind of have to like Gumball if he and your brother ever end up dating."

Marceline just shrugged. "I barely know them. Plus, that big guy is always there and he scares me a little."

"You're scared of Jake?" Bonnie laughed. "He's scared of you too, you know. You can bond over your mutual terror."

"You're delusional if you think I'm suddenly going to hang around with you and your band of nerds." Marceline replied. "I have a reputation to uphold."

Bonnie burst out laughing. "What reputation? You have no reputation."

"Shut up." Marceline muttered. "You're so annoying."

"You say that, but I know you don't mean it." Bonnibel replied. "You love me too much."

"I can love you and think you're annoying." Marceline shot back. "Those two things aren't mutually exclusive."

"You're such a jerk."

"And you're such a nerd."

"Says the girl who wants a lightsaber." Bonnie shot back.

"Actually, I have a lightsaber. I want a double sided lightsaber." Marceline replied. "Get it right."

When Marceline went silent, Bonnibel laughed. "You just realised how nerdy that sentence sounded, didn't you?"

"…Yeah."

"That is totally unrealistic." Marceline exclaimed with a frown as the couple in the romantic comedy Bonnie had picked out ran into each other on the streets for the fifth time. "There are seven billion people on this planet. You wouldn't run into the same attractive stranger five fucking times, especially in a huge ass city like New York. This is why I hate romance movies."

Bonnie scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, because Star Wars is so realistic."

"Star Wars is set in a galaxy far far away," Marceline said, "This bullshit is set in the real world. Beat that."

"This is still more realistic." Bonnibel muttered.

"Actually," Both Bonnibel and Marceline spun around to see Bonnie's Dad making his way into the room, placing a bag of shopping on the coffee table – the only part of the living room Bonnie hadn't moved to make their fort, "Marceline's right. This is stupid because it's set in the real world and that wouldn't happen. Star Wars is a sci-fi movie. If it was realistic it'd be boring."

Marceline nodded. "Thank you. Suck on that, Bonnie."

"You're such a jerk." Bonnibel said, shoving Marceline away from her. "Get off me."

Marceline just raised an eyebrow and jabbed her fingers into Bonnie's sides, making the pink haired girl squeal in laughter. "Every time you call me a jerk I'll tickle you."

"That's unfair." Bonnibel stated, grabbing hold of Marceline's wrists so the dark haired girl couldn't tickle her. "If you do that, you have to tell me where you're ticklish."

"No fucking way." Marceline crossed her arms and shook her head. "Because you'll use that against me later. I just know it."

"I wouldn't. I'm not like that." Bonnie lied, smirking.

"You are such a liar." Marceline deadpanned, shaking her head. Bonnie could tell Marceline was having trouble hiding her smile.

Bonnie's Mom walked into the living room and frowned. "Why does the living room look like a campsite?"

"Ask your rebellious daughter, Lynn." Marceline replied.

Bonnie just shrugged. "I decided to build a blanket fort so Marceline and I could watch movies in style and comfort."

"As long as you put it back the way it was, it's fine." Lynn replied. "Marceline, are you staying for dinner?"

"Uh -,"

"Yeah, she is." Bonnibel interrupted.

Bonnie's Mom rolled her eyes and headed out of the room – Bonnie's Dad following – leaving Marceline and Bonnibel to their movie. "You know, we're back at school on Tuesday."

"I was aware." Bonnibel said, "Why are you bringing this up? You hate school. With a passion."

"As much as that's true, I was just thinking that we could hang out." Marceline replied. "You know…at school. If you want."

Bonnie grinned. "Really? I'd love to. Where shall I meet you at lunch?"

"Geez, someone's organised." Marceline commented. "Simon's room, probably. I'll text you."

"Okay." Bonnibel smiled. "So…learned any new instruments lately?"

"Well…I bought a mini-harp. I'm going to learn that and then I might learn something else to stop myself from getting bored." Marceline just shrugged. "Nothing big."

"Teach me piano." Bonnie said, looking up. "It seems interesting and there's no holding down strings required."

"Okay." Marceline replied. "It's kind of hard, but you're smart. You'll figure it out."

"Speaking of being smart," Bonnie began, "Did you do the History homework? That worksheet?"

Marceline raised an eyebrow and smirked. "What do you think?"

"Of course you didn't do it," Bonnie said, "Forgive me for asking."

"Actually, I did." Marceline retorted, "Sort of. Keila helped and did most of it for me. She does History and Music down at the community college."

"Oh, okay." Bonnie was surprised that Marceline had even bothered to pick up a pen at all during the Easter break. "Did Simon get you an Easter egg?"

"Yeah. He got me one and then Betty got me another in secret." Marceline told her. "Surprisingly, my Dad got me one, too. How many did you get?"

"Well, one from my parents, one from my Aunt who still lives in New York, and the other from my Grandparents in Ohio." Bonnie said. "We match."

"I would say we're twins but I already have one of those."

Bonnie just rolled her eyes. "Clever. Happy Easter, by the way."

"You too, nerd." Marceline gently nudged Bonnie in the side with her elbow.

Bonnibel slung an arm around Marceline's shoulder and pulled her close. Marceline rested her head on Bonnie's shoulder and sighed in content. This was probably the happiest she'd ever been on her Mom's birthday.

And it was all down to Bonnie.