Chapter 36: Plans
A couple weeks had passed into vacationand it would be a little over a week before the group would be able to pick up their results from their finals. But until then they had decided one last trip would be a good idea.
"What about the beach?" Marshall suggested casually, leaning back in his chair. "It's boiling hot out this summer and I could do with a nice vacation like that."
"Or just the excuse to look at women in their bikinis" Marceline snarked. But she couldn't deny it was really hot out and it would be a great time away.
""I actually really like the idea" Bubblegum agreed. "But the weather itself is a reason not to. The beaches will be packed" she gave a pout, a small fan blowing her hair gently to cool her down.
"Yeah, that's true" Marshall sighed.
"That's hardly an issue" Gumball cut in, his shirt looking quite ruffled and scruffy. The heat was too much for even him. "My family have a private beach and a hutt. We can spend the weekend there."
"Oh? You sure thats okay?" Bubblegum perked up her interest again. "That'd be great if so."
"Yeah, they wouldn't mind. It'll go unused otherwise"
"Sweet! I'll borrow my old man's truck and we can drive out friday" Marshall went on "It'll be great"
"We should invite some others to come down then. It'll feel too empy otherwise" Marceline added. "Maybe invite Lara and Meg. I heard she was finally discharged last week and was able to take her finals. It'll be nice for her to get out with some friends"
"Yeah, that's a great idea. It's only a two hour drive" Gumball finished. And with that, they all decided it was final. On friday morning, they'd head out to the beach and spend a weekend there.
But despite that there was still something lingering on both Marceline and Bubblegum's minds. There wasn't long of vacation left and while Bubblegum had yet to recieve her letter of acceptance from the uni. Even so, both anticipated it. If she was accepted, she'd have even less time left before she'd have to go visit it and get officially enlisted.
"This'll be a great vacation before things start getting serious for us, huh? Especially you two" Marshall laughed, nodding to Gumball and Bubblegum. "You guys are gonna be so busy you'll hardly have time for little old me"
"I guess you're right" Bubblegum agreed with a sigh as the thought dawned. "I'm going to be extremely busy. My parents have already arranged our flight out there to see the uni even though I haven't been accepted yet. Talk about pressure"
Despite the words being lighthearted, it still stung Marceline. Because she knew it was true. Bubblegum would be too busy for even her. She'd just fall into the abckground while Bubblegum zoomed off ahead in life. It hurt, but it wasn't Bubblegum's fault either. She tried to be positive and supportive, but the closer it got, the more pain she felt.
"Hey, Marceline. Are you okay?" Gumball snapped Marceline out of her daydream, a look of concern on his face.
"U-urm...oh, yeah. I'm fine" She shook off with a smile. "I gotta go though!" She suddenly jumped up from her seat, laughing slightly. "I forgot that Simon needed me for something" She lied.
"Oh, hey, really?" Marshall raised an eyebrow. "That's odd"
"What, I can't have plans with other people now too?" Marceline frowned. "I might not be going to some big, fancy uni, but that doesn't mean I'm not busy with my own life. "
"Alright, alright. Sorry" Marshall raised his hands in defeat. Bubblegum watched in dismay as Marceline collected herself to leave.
"Hey.." Bubblegum said quietly, grabbing Marceline's wrist before she left. "Are you okay?" Bubblegum's soft, blue eyes stared into Marceline's sharp red ones with concern.
"I'm fine, but I gotta go. I'll text you later" She brushed Bubblegum off before she quickly made her exist.
She began running down the road away from Marshall's place, not looking back or stopping. She didn't know why she was running; she just wanted to get away from there. Tears began to burn at her eyes, fogging her vistion as she ran.
When she finally got a few blocks away, she slowed down before coming to a halt, her shoulders trembling as she finally let the tears out. She was so angry for crying that she immedietly swung her fist into a walk, which only hurt her in the end. It sent a wave of pain through her arm, causing her to clutch her balled and bloody fist to her chest, weeping quietly.
"Stupid!" She cursed, gritting her teeth. Why was she so upset and angry? Was it because everyone seemed to assume she had nothing going for her? That Bubblegum would just be leaving her behind to nothing? It did make her feel pretty pathetic and like her life depended on Bubblegum. But it also hurt that Bubblegum seemed to think the same thing. Marceline knew Bubblegum would be busy. Probably too busy for her, that she knew. But what stung and angered her was how helpless and lonely she felt at just the thought. She didn't want to be left behind.
"Marceline?" She froze up as she heard a familier voice call her name, but she didn't turn to face the person who spoke it. "I thought you were out with Bubblegum and all today?"
A slender hand touched her shoulder, slowly turning her to face them. And there stood Simon, gasping as he saw the state of Marceline: tears streaming down her face, her hand covered in blood and her clear weeping.
"Sweet, what happened?" he asked, quickly pulling her along with him to his car that was parked near by. "We need to get you home and cleaned up. Then you can tell me what happened, okay? Deal?" All she did in response was nod slowly. She knew she couldn't just run from him because he'd definitely contact one of her friends to ask what happened ect. So it was best to just go with him. After all, Simon was her guardian and probably one of the people she trusted most.
"Here you go, sweetie" Simon smiled as he placed a warm cup of hot chocolate on the table in front of Marceline, her hand all clean and bandaged now. "I made your favourite: hot chocolate with whipped cream, topped with chocolate chunks"
"That was my favourite when I was a kid" Marceline replied, trying to play it off cool.
"Well you still are a little kid to me, Marceline. The kid I promised I'd protect and look after. The kid I saw covered in blood and tears. Last time I saw you like that, you know what made you feel better?" he smiled.
"...hot chocolate.." she mumbled.
"With?"
"...whipped cream and chocolate chunks.." she mumbled again. But she couldnt ignore the fact that just thinking back to that time made her feel a little better.
"I know my girl, Marceline. " Simon said again, taking a sip of his tea as he relaxed back in his chair. "So, talk to me"
Marceline sighed, taking a sip of the hot chocolate. Sure, the weather definitely didn't call for this kind of drink. But Simon's house was always way colder inside than outside. So the drink was more than welcome here.
"It's just...everything with Bubblegum and her going to uni." She frowned. "I hate how much it's affecting me. How I can't truly be happy for her and support her because it just hurts so much that she's leaving. And she seems really happy about it. Like it doesn't matter that she's leaving me behind. She just...thinks I'll have nothing better to do than to wait for her to come back"
"I see." Simon nodded. "Makes sense, I guess. It's only normal to feel that way, Marceline. You can't force yourself to be happy when you're not. And I know Bubblegum will understand that."
"But I don't want to hold her back" Marceline sighed.
"You won't. She loves you, Marceline. Don't assume that it doesn't tare her apart just as much as it does you." he replied warmly. "she's a strong girl that has very strict parents to keep happy. And she's been working up to this her whole life. She probably feels even worse that this is something she can't just drop and will effect you."
"You think so?"
"I know so. You forget I've known you girls since you were very young." He laughed. "If there's one thing you two are bad at, it's communicating with each other about your problems. So talk to her about it, Marceline. She'll understand"
"Yeah, okay.." Marceline nodded, taking another sip from her drink. She didn't know when, but she'd try to talk to Bubblegum about it all. Though, she couldn't promise she would.
Meanwhile, Bubblegum had decided to head home early as well. She had been living back with her parents for a while now since they patched things up before finals. Still, Bubblegum missed staying at Marceline's with her. It felt lonely going back home. But then it dawned on her; that loneliness was only going to get worse. Because Marceline wouldn't be just a few blocks away. She'd be miles away. Bubblegum wouldn't be able to run to her girlfriend's loving and warm embrace when things got hard.
And she knew very well just how hard it would be on Marceline. She hated herself for it, but she knew there was nothing she could do about it at all. This was the uni her parents had picked out for her. The one she had worked her entire enducational life working towards. It was only going to be five years. So she was determined to come back to Marceline and never leave her side again.
"I'm home" She called as she entered her home. Ah, but it didn't feel like home without Marceline there to greet her.
"Welcome home, sweety" her father beamed. "Guess what came in the mail!" her chirped, walking over to his daughter with a envelope in his hands.
"Is this it?" Bubblegum beamed, opening the envelope quickly before scanning it with her big, blue eyes. Her expression lit up more as she took in the information. "It is! I got accepted!" she exclaimed.
"I knew you would" her father smiled, hugging his daughter. "Your mother is going to be so proud"
"Yeah.." Bubblegum smiled before the excitement quickly left her, but she kept up the beaming smile for her fathers sake. "It says open evenings are on the 29th. So just after I get my results"
"That's great! Next week then" he replied. "Better get packing then, huh? "
"Speaking of that, dad. " She went on. "My friends and I wanted to have one last good time together before we'd all have to be busy and they invited me out to Gumball's parent's private beach for the weekend"
"Oh, sounds fun" he nodded. "Seeing as you've been accepted, I'll let you go. Just no funny business, young lady."
"Of course! You know me better than that, dad" She smiled, running upstairs. "I'm gonna go pack! We're heading out friday morning"
As she closed her bedroom door behind her, all excitement left her once again as she slowly slid down the white door. She held the letter up, looking at it again with a sigh.
"How am I going to tell Marceline?" she thought to herself. Sure, Marceline probably anticipated it as well, but confirming it was another story. Because this was set in stone now. Bubblegum would be leaving next week to tour her uni for the weekend. Then there would only be two weeks left before she'd have to leave for good.
"Marceline..." Bubblegum choked on her words, tears brimming.
AN/: Another chapter done! I just wanted to say sorry for the long breaks between updates! And thank you so much to everyone who has waited patiently. You guys are awesome! Since the story will be coming to it's closing chapters, I wanted to make sure I update much faster. So it should be completed before the new years.
But that won't be all! I have already planned out for a second part to this story. The name isn't decided yet, but if you guys want to make sure you get to read it, follow me! For now, I hope you enjoy the final few chapters to this story!