Waking up in Bonnibel's arms had to be among the top three best sensations in the world.

(The second was the way an instrument felt in her hands, and the first was what she expected kissing Bonnie would be like. She was still waiting for the confirmation of that one, though.)

She kept her eyes closed, just savouring the feeling for a while. Bonnie was awake, if the fingers combing gently through her hair were any indication. She could hear the occasional flip of a page in her book and wondered what time it was, but she knew that if she opened her eyes, Bonnie would probably make her get up. It was nice to lay there with her as she read, feeling the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed and hearing the constant drum of her heartbeat against Marceline's ear. Plus, she really liked the way Bonnie was playing with her hair. She felt safe, secure, and wished she could wake up like this every day.

She must've moved, or her breathing must've changed, because Bonnie chuckled and murmured, "I know you're awake."

"You have no proof," Marceline mumbled into her shoulder, essentially giving herself away. She yawned, her grip on Bonnie's t-shirt tightening. She really didn't want to move. "Five more minutes, Bon."

"Okay, sleepyhead," Bonnie's fingers resumed their soft combing through her hair. "But we do have to get up soon, it's nearly ten."

She almost wanted to say forget spending the day in the city, just hold me, but she had plans and she knew that once Bonnie knew what they were, they'd be important to her. They were important to Marceline too, even though she didn't particularly have an interest in the thing she had planned. But Bonnie did, and Marceline definitely had an interest in seeing her happy.

"I'm not going to go back to sleep," Marceline yawned again despite what she'd said, and she still hadn't opened her eyes, "I just want to cuddle with you for a little while."

Marceline felt the gentle thrum of Bonnie's laughter in her chest. She moved her head slightly, so she could hear her heart again. "I wish I'd gotten that on some kind of recording. Nobody would ever find you intimidating again."

Marceline just hummed. She was too sleepy to bother with sarcasm. When she didn't reply, Bonnie kissed the top of her head and said, "Okay. I'm going to read one more chapter, and then we'll get up. Deal?"

"Okay," Marceline murmured, shifting her position slightly. There was a sharp ache of protest from her rib, but when Bonnie was pressed up against her and running her fingers through her hair, it was hard to care about a little bit of pain. "You're really comfy."

"You're not, you big lump," Bonnie teased her, but her hand moved from her hair to gently grip her waist, "That was a joke, before you get all grumpy and roll over. I slept really well. I think we've got a pretty good arrangement, me cuddling you and you cuddling Hambo."

"Mhm," Marceline replied, and nudged Bonnie's hand with her elbow, "play with my hair again."

"Someone's feeling needy," Bonnie commented, but she did as she was requested, and Marceline sighed contently. "Serious question, have you ever actually had a haircut before?"

Despite the preface, Marceline knew she was joking. She laughed quietly and nodded. "It just grows really fast. I had it really short a few years ago. It was after my angsty phase where I had a shaved side and I was growing it out, so I cut the rest off to even it out."

Bonnie snorted with laughter. "Your whole life is an angsty phase."

Marceline finally opened her eyes, purely to send Bonnie a mock glare. It didn't last long, though; it was like she couldn't look at Bonnie without smiling. Couldn't even think about Bonnie without smiling, most of the time. "Shut up, nerd."

"You're just being defensive because you know I'm right," Bonnie laughed and rested her book pages-down, purely to bop her on the tip of her nose. "I'll have to do a little bit of Facebook stalking to find pictures of this so-called angsty phase. Also I want to see what you look like with short hair. Probably just like your brother."

"It was never that short," Marceline said, but now Bonnie had her wondering if she and her brother would look like identical twins if they had the same haircut. "It was like… just above shoulders. If you want pictures, stalk my Instagram and go back like three years, because I don't post on Facebook. I'm not a grandmother."

Bonnie pouted at her. "I don't have Instagram."

"Make one, then," Marceline retorted, and finally feeling awake, she pushed herself to sit up. "Okay. I'm going to get a shower. And then if you're still feeling like a daredevil, it's piercing time."

Bonnie laughed, "Okay, Marcy. Enjoy your shower."

It didn't take long for both of them to shower and get ready, and Marceline was grateful that she'd booked two nights as opposed to one. It meant that they wouldn't have to rush today, and as first date part two, it was important that it wasn't rushed.

She googled some nearby piercing places, and there was one a short subway ride away that according to the internet, took walk ins. Bonnie held her hand the entire way there, and she was quite obviously nervous, but Marceline understood that. She'd been nervous for her first piercing, too. Even more nervous for her dad's reaction to it. But she didn't want to think about him right now.

"Have you got your earlobes pierced?" Marceline asked her as they left the stuffy subway and got out into the fresh air again. Bonnie looked up in surprise, and Marceline smiled comfortingly. "I only asked because I can tell you're nervous."

"I don't have my earlobes pierced." Bonnie admitted, and brushed her hair behind her ears to prove it. "My parents always told me that if God wanted me to have holes in my earlobes, he would've put them there."

Marceline frowned. "Weak. Your parents sound like total dillweeds."

"They are," Bonnie agreed, and there was that air of sadness surrounding her again. Marceline squeezed her hand, and she seemed to brighten. "Don't you think it's sad that between us, there's only one good parent?"

"My mom?" Marceline asked, because her dad certainly wasn't very good at the whole parenting thing. When Bonnie nodded, she smiled a little. "Yeah. I miss her."

She felt that ache in her heart again and wondered what things would be like if her mom was still around. Bonnie obviously sensed the drop in her mood, because she smiled and said, "At least we've both got one good parental figure. Peter is closer to a father than an uncle."

"Yeah. And I've got Simon, too. I actually spoke to him the other day, and he said we could go around for dinner one night." Marceline said, and a little bitterly, murmured, "He probably won't remember agreeing to it, so I'll end up cooking, but… still. I want you to meet him."

She loved how smart Bonnie was – at least when it came to things that weren't entirely obvious – because she picked up on Marceline's quiet reluctance to talk about it, and just said, "I look forward to meeting him. And if whatever you end up making is as nice as that spaghetti you made, I look forward to that, too. Though, obviously, you don't have to cook if you don't want to. I have a few things up my sleeve."

"Nah, I like to do it," Marceline shrugged, and tried not to laugh when Bonnie looked surprised, "What? It's fun. My mac and cheese is the best. Well, technically it's my mom's mac and cheese, because it's her recipe. I found her old scrapbook full of recipes and I've been working my way through them."

"It just surprises me," Bonnie admitted, "You don't seem the cooking type, you seem more the… blow up the kitchen attempting to cook type."

"I'm not denying I've never set the smoke alarm off," Marceline said, "mostly when I was first figuring out how to do it, because I was only like, eleven. But I like to do it, and you gotta learn at some point to be able to fend for yourself. I'll cook dinner for you one night when I have the house to myself. That'll be romantic."

"I never would've had you pegged as a romantic, either." Bonnie smiled and squeezed her hand. "I guess you're full of surprises."

Marceline hummed in reply. She'd deny it no matter how many times Bonnie poked fun at her for it, but she was kind of a romantic. And a softie. But that was obvious when being cuddled was one of her favourite things in the world. "I guess I am."


"Well, you've definitely got a strong grip," Marceline commented, rubbing at her hand with the other, "You better not have broken any bones, I'll sue for damages. I need my hands to play music."

Bonnie knew she was joking, but she still felt a little bit guilty anyway. But because Marceline was smiling, she just laughed and said, "Oh, suck it up, you big baby."

"Harsh words," Marceline pouted, rubbing her hand, "If I can't do barre chords anymore, Bonnie, it's your fault."

"I'm sure your musical talent remains fully intact," Bonnie said, pushing her hair behind her ear. It still stung at the top where the brand-new piercing was. She'd also decided to get her earlobes done too, just for the hell of it, but they didn't sting too badly. "Do they look good?"

"Mhm. Totally badass," Marceline commented, a smirk settling onto her face. "Looks sexy."

Bonnie laughed, "Oh, shush. Anyway, what were the top secret plans you had?"

"They're still top secret," Marceline said, quickly hailing a passing taxi, "But we're going to need a cab. Let's go."

Bonnie rushed forwards and held the door open for her. She'd decided that yes, chivalry was important when it came to Marceline. Though she hadn't technically admitted it, she was a romantic, and Bonnie was going to give her everything she deserved. "After you."

Marceline raised her eyebrows at her. "Trying to woo me with your romantic wiles, Bonnie?"

"You want me to, so don't get all teasing," Bonnie warned her, clambering into the cab after. She waited for Marceline to give the destination to the driver, but the dark-haired girl just smirked at her and showed the driver the address on her phone screen.

She craned her neck to get a good look, but Marceline locked her phone and shook her head at her. "No peeking, nerd. It's a surprise. Besides, curiosity killed the cat."

Bonnie harrumphed and folded her arms across her chest. "But satisfaction brought it back."

Marceline rolled her eyes. "How did I know you were going to say that? You'll find out soon, princess."

Bonnie ignored her, just to be childish, and stared out of the window at the passing cars and skyscrapers and commuters. She followed the road signs and looked for any indication of where they might be going, and Marceline watched her, one of her perfect eyebrows quirked up in amusement.

When the cab arrived at their destination, Bonnie noted how Marceline thanked the driver. She'd noted a similar thing what felt like forever ago, back when Marceline had gotten the school bus a few times, before they were friends. Bonnie had been walking behind her to get off, and she'd thanked the bus driver. It had surprised her back then, but it didn't surprise her now. She knew how considerate Marceline was.

As she climbed out of the cab, she looked around for wherever it was that they were going on the busy city street, squinting at nearby signs and reading every building name. Marceline laughed and took her hand again, "I got him to drop us off around the corner, dork."

"Always so mysterious," Bonnie shook her head in feigned annoyance but let Marceline walk her down the street, "but fine. Surprise me."

"Okay, it's definitely this way," Marceline said after checking her phone and turning them around the corner. "You'll like it, though. I hope."

Bonnie laughed. "Unless you're carting me off to murder me for some cult initiation ritual, I'm sure I'll enjoy whatever it is you've got planned."

"Oh, damn, you guessed it," Marceline replied dryly, "way to ruin the surprise, Bon. I was gonna jump out at you with an axe and everything."

Bonnie laughed as a large building came into her line of sight and they started walking towards it. It looked like some kind of a museum, which is exactly what she put forward as her real guess. "A museum."

Marceline didn't confirm or deny, instead just walked her closer to the building. "Well, yesterday, we did something that was more for me, going to the concert and everything. And I thought, in the spirit of fairness, plus wanting to make this the best two-day first date ever, we should do something that you'd really like. So… voila."

Bonnie followed Marceline's gaze and stared up at the sign on the building they'd stopped in front of, her grip on her hand slackening in surprise. The New York Hall of Science. She pushed her glasses up her nose just in case they were malfunctioning and tuned back into what Marceline was saying.

"…and I know you don't really like shopping and stuff like that, so I did a little googling and I thought you'd be interested since you're such a nerd, but like, in a cute way, so…"

Bonnie met her gaze, and Marceline flashed her that shy, soft smile again. For the first time in her life, Bonnie didn't overthink. She pushed herself forwards, and Marceline murmured a surprised, "Oh," when Bonnie cupped her jaw and finally pulled her in for a kiss.

It was everything that Bonnie had imagined and more. Marceline's lips were as soft as they looked, and when she snapped out of her surprise, they worked against hers perfectly. She tasted strawberry sweet and Bonnie knew that if there was some kind of award out there for best kisser, Marceline would win it. It was the most perfect, most magical thing that Bonnie had ever felt, and she wondered how she'd ever gone so long without kissing Marceline. Seriously, she was going to need to do this about fifty times a minute to be able to survive and pacify the butterflies in her tummy.

Marceline's hands slipped around her waist and pulled her closer, and Bonnie took that as an indication to deepen the kiss. She was nervous, and she knew that Marceline could tell, but her lips parted for Bonnie's tongue and she let her take the lead. After so many months of yearning and pining and wondering, kissing her felt so sweet.

She didn't want to pull away, but oxygen was becoming an issue. Bonnie smiled shyly. "That was…"

"Wow," Marceline finished for her. She bit down on her bottom lip to stifle her smile, but it didn't work. "So, all I had to do to get you to kiss me was take you to a science museum? Can you build me a time machine so I can go back a couple months and tip myself off?"

Bonnie laughed, aware that she was still blushing like crazy. "Come on, you goof. I want to see the exhibits."

She pulled Marceline along by the hand, the butterflies in her tummy still fluttering.


"You're letting me pay for this."

Marceline pretended to consider it, but replied with a flat, "No."

"Yes," Bonnie insisted, checking off the things with her fingers as she listed them, "You paid for the concert, the petrol to drive here, the hotel, and the science museum."

"Might as well continue my streak, then," Marceline took a sip of her wine. A flash of her relatively convincing fake ID hadn't even been necessary; all she'd had to do was bat her eyelashes a few times at the waiter, a teenage boy who she'd seen eyeing her. "I'm paying for this."

"No," Bonnie reached across the table and put a hand over hers, "Please let me get this. It's the least I could do."

Though Marceline had always been notoriously stubborn, she found it hard when Bonnie was looking at her like that and a soft thumb was tracing over her knuckles. "Ugh, fine. Only because you flirted with me to get your own way, though."

"Now you know how it feels," Bonnie shrugged, taking a sip of her own wine and glancing over the menu again, "seriously, though, this is way fancy."

"You deserve the best," Marceline replied. It was just simple honesty, but Bonnie looked at her like she'd just solved world hunger. "Plus, I'm sure it's the level of fancy that your majesty is accustomed to."

It was fancy; the waiters were in suits and ties, and those dining were in formal wear too. Marceline had told Bonnie to bring a nice dress when she was packing, and she'd chosen a pretty purple one that showed a little bit more thigh than usual. Marceline was enjoying the sight.

She was wearing a dress too, a pinkish-red one that she kept for formal events. When she'd changed, Bonnie had looked impressed, but instead of trying to make her blush, she'd just said, "hah, told you I wear dresses." Mostly because she was at risk of blushing herself when Bonnie had moved in and pressed a kiss to her jaw.

The conversation around them was hushed; no room to eavesdrop on strangers, which Marceline sometimes liked to do. People watching was fun, but it was hard to do in the low light, because most of the room was candlelit. Marceline was fighting the temptation to blow out the candle on their table, and the only thing stopping her was how beautiful Bonnie looked in its light.

Bonnie laughed and rolled her eyes. "I seriously don't know where that princess thing even came from, but whatever."

"Because you're all posh. It's cute." Marceline shrugged, and when she met Bonnie's gaze, she murmured, "Everything about you is cute."

Even in the low light, she could see the way Bonnie blushed. "Oh, hush. This is really nice, though."

"Like I told Finn," Marceline said, "the first date is where you're super romantic to trick them into a second date."

Bonnie laughed, "Or you're just super romantic. Which is okay, because I like that about you. I like everything about you. And regardless of how this weekend went, I was pretty confident that I'd want a second date."

Marceline found that hard to believe, and she knew Bonnie could tell. "Wait, really?"

"Uh, yeah," Bonnie smiled, and Marceline remembered her hand was still on hers when she squeezed it gently. "Like, come on, Marcy. We already know how well we get along, and I think we both know how we feel about each other. Even if… I don't know, the concert got cancelled, or the hotel sucked, or the science museum was closed, it wouldn't change how much I like you."

"Oh," Marceline felt herself blushing and blamed it on the wine, "okay, then. Good."

Bonnie squeezed her hand again, and it was coupled with a pensive sigh. "Oh, I really don't want this weekend to end. Can we just stay here? Run away from everything?"

"You know I would, but you wouldn't," Marceline said, "Run away from home, maybe, but you're too much of a nerd to run away from school."

"I'm sure a pretty girl like you could convince me," Bonnie retorted, and it was such a smooth line that it took her off guard, "I mean, I'm already considering staying here for university."

Marceline raised her eyebrows. "You weren't going to?"

"No. Well, I wasn't sure. When I first moved, it was a hard no; I never wanted to move in the first place, and Bubba and I had always had our sights set on going to Oxford together." Bonnie explained, then frowned to herself and said, "Oh, I just realised that's probably why people thought we were a couple. But anyway, there are lots of amazing schools here that people back home would kill to go to, if it weren't for the heavy international student fees. Let's say I'm considering my options."

"Of course school would be your reasoning," Marceline laughed, "Like I said, big nerd."

"Plus… there's a very, very amazing girl that I don't want an ocean to separate me from." Bonnie admitted, and that whole sentence did a lot of things to Marceline. Her stomach squirmed happily. "I'm going to start looking into some schools over here. I knew what my five choices would be at home. Oxford, Edinburgh, Imperial College London, UCL and Bristol. I believe they're all somewhere in the top ten for medicine on the league tables."

Marceline wasn't surprised by that at all. "Medicine, huh? You're gonna be Doctor Bonnie?"

"Yep. One day, hopefully," Bonnie laughed, "Doctor Bonnie and Rockstar Marcy. We make quite the pair, don't we?"

"Yeah," Marceline said, "We do."

When she met Bonnie's bright blue eyes, her heart had never felt warmer.