tw for hunson being a manipulative bitch


Marceline didn't like being home.

Well, she'd never liked being home, but she really just didn't like not being in New York with Bonnie. It had been a magical weekend; even the science museum part. Though Marceline hadn't cared about the exhibits, it was adorable to see Bonnie nerding out. For someone usually so calm and composed, she got incredibly animated and bouncy, everything about her lighting up as she rambled on about some scientific thing that went well over Marceline's head.

She cringed at herself and strummed a chord on her guitar. "God, what am I doing? Sat here daydreaming about my crush? Ugh."

She shook her head. That was out of character for her. She blamed Bonnie for being so cute.

And then, the fluffy, gooey thoughts took over again, and all she could think about was kissing her. The way it had taken her so by surprise when Bonnie had grabbed her and pulled her in, right outside the science museum. It had been perfect – felt like something right out of a movie – and she couldn't stop thinking about it. Couldn't stop smiling when she thought about it, either.

Her phone buzzed and she picked it up. Anything to distract from the fact that she was being sappy. But naturally, the text was from the subject of said sappy thoughts.

bon-bon (5:04PM): Everything okay?

bon-bon (5:04PM): Also, I miss you!

Marceline read the two texts, the first one making her smile falter just a little bit. She still felt weird about Bonnie knowing, and she knew she was trying really hard to respect what she'd asked and not act different because of it. Really, she was grateful that Bonnie cared to check up on her, but she didn't know how to process it. It had been nearly eight years of dealing with things alone, and rather than comfort, all her injuries ever brought was negative judgement.

Oddly, she didn't know how she felt about this new development.

Marcy (5:06PM): father is nowhere to be seen so yes everything's just perfect

Marcy (5:06PM): miss you too nerd

She hadn't seen her for six days – aside from those eight days where Bonnie had avoided her, it was the longest she'd been without her company since they'd gotten close. Marceline had been picking up more shifts at work, and Bonnie had plans with her friends today. On Marceline's other day off, she'd already had plans with Keila.

bon-bon (5:08PM): I'm so bored right now.

bon-bon (5:08PM): No hate to my friends, I care about them, but I never really know what to do when I spend time with them as a group.

bon-bon (5:10PM): If I bat my eyelashes and promise to kiss you after, can you make up some emergency to get me out of here?

Marceline laughed. As much as she'd love to do so, she had a feeling that Bonnie's friends – or maybe just Lady – would catch onto the lie. Plus, she was kind of enjoying the alone time. She got like that sometimes, and it was so rare for her to get the house to herself.

Marcy (5:11PM): no can do loser

Marcy (5:12PM): you know they'd know i'm lying to get you out of it bc you've got a track record of antisocialness (is that even a word?)

bon-bon (5:13PM): Ugh, you're right. I suppose I'll stick with them for a little while longer. Though, we could do a sleepover, maybe?

Marcy (5:13PM): sleepover, huh? you can't see me but i'm wiggling my eyebrows

bon-bon (5:14PM): …. Not like that, you distasteful arse.

Marceline laughed at the text. She imagined Bonnie's famous 'disapproval' face, where her freckled nose scrunched up in that adorable way and her pretty blue eyes narrowed to a squint.

Marcy (5:15PM): you like it

bon-bon (5:15PM): Hm… that's debatable.

Marcy (5:16PM): my phone's lie detector just pinged and apparently it's never had a lie that big before so congratulations on your new world record!

bon-bon (5:16PM): You're lucky you're so cute, Marceline. Otherwise, I wouldn't put up with your nonsense.

bon-bon (5:16PM): (I like it really)

Marceline smiled down at her phone. She'd been doing a lot of that, ever since Bonnie had made the trip across the pond. What was this girl doing to her? Even Keila had told her she was turning into a sap, when she'd seen a few rough lyrics she'd scribbled down, and Keila had no idea she was crushing on Bonnie. Maybe she should get around to telling her, now she knew it would go somewhere.

Marcy (5:17PM): i know you do

Marcy (5:17PM): i mean i don't blame you i'm basically irresistible no wonder ur gay ass couldn't stay away

bon-bon (5:18PM): My 'gay ass' will now be removing herself from this situation upon the realisation that your head is filled with more hot air than Elle's. And that's saying something.

Marcy (5:19PM): hah i made you say gay ass

bon-bon (5:20PM): Shhhhhhhhhhhut up

She coupled it with an eye roll emoji that made Marceline let out a quiet laugh. She put her guitar back on its hanger and responded to Bonnie when she sent another text, after she'd changed into her running clothes.

bon-bon (5:20PM): Wait, come back! I didn't mean that! Please come and save me from the social situation I am presently in.

Marcy (5:22PM): i was just getting changed, dork

Marcy (5:23PM): spend some time being social with your friends and if you don't feel too burnt out after you can come over and spend the night

bon-bon (5:23PM): Ugh, fine. Only if you promise to text me while I'm here, though.

Marcy (5:24PM): i will but i'm going for a run now so i'll text you in a little while

Marcy (5:24PM): go be present okay?

She locked her phone and put it in her pocket, grabbing her earphones and tying her hair back into a ponytail. Bonnie texted again, but she didn't reply yet, too busy selecting her running playlist on her Spotify and heading out of the house.

Half an hour later, when she returned home, her father's car was parked in the driveway and her stomach dropped with dread. It was a natural instinct, but she told herself that she hadn't done anything wrong. And she hadn't, she'd done everything she needed to do around the house before he was home. Even though it felt much better, and hadn't hurt at all during her run, Marceline touched her hand to the rib, feeling the little dent in one. Would that ever go away?

She swallowed the lump in her throat and walked up to the front porch, fumbling with her keys and nearly dropping them while she tried to unlock the door. She knew she'd be fine, rationally. It was just… natural fear, she supposed. He'd probably just ignore her. He usually did, aside from a few snide comments about what a disappointment she was.

She shut the front door quietly, but apparently not quietly enough. A shadow fell over her as she was slipping her shoes off, and she tensed on instinct.

"Marceline," Hunson said, and she was expecting some thinly veiled insult or threat. All he said was, "Do you have any plans this evening?"

She blinked in surprise. "Um… no? Bonnie might come over later, but… she's with her friends right now and she gets kind of burnt out from socialising, so I don't think she actually will. Do you want me to start on dinner?"

She cringed when she finally managed to shut her mouth. Anxious rambling, that's what all of that was. Hopefully she didn't say anything he didn't like.

"No need to cook tonight," her father smiled at her in his oddly tight manner. Bonnie had compared it to an alien in a human suit before, and Marceline had never heard a more accurate description. "I will order pizza. We're going to have some… father-daughter time."

Marceline held back a gulp. Usually the only father-daughter time they had ended with her covered in bruises. "Why, exactly? Have I done something wrong?"

"Nothing like that. Just want to spend some quality time with my little girl." He said, again smiling at her in that funny kind of way. She wasn't sure if he was lying to her. Maybe he knew something. But as far as she knew, she hadn't done anything wrong.

"Uh…" she glanced towards the stairs and tried to think of an exit route. She couldn't lie and say she had plans, because he'd already gotten it out of her that she didn't. "Can I shower first?"

"Yes," he said, and she decided that if she remembered something she might've done to tick him off, she'd climb out of her bedroom window. "I will order the pizza for seven o'clock. Pepperoni?"

"Um, yeah, please," She backed away towards the stairs, "I'll just… be right back."

She nearly tripped up the stairs in her haste to get away, and she breathed a sigh of relief when she got to the safety of her bedroom and put a locked door between herself and her father. She got her phone out of her pocket and looked at Bonnie's last text, telling her to go easy on her run. It would be so easy to message her and tell her that she was alone with her dad and he wanted to spend quality time with her. She knew Bonnie would come over in an instant.

"No," Marceline murmured to herself, "I can't do that to her."

She threw her phone back onto the bed and unlocked her bedroom door to brave the walk across the hall to the bathroom for her shower. She dragged her shower out for as long as she could, and then took as long as she could drying her hair and picking out a sweater and jeans to throw on.

When she finally ventured downstairs, her father was just taking the pizza from the delivery guy.

"Perfect timing," Hunson commented, and passed the box to her, "take that into the living room. You will find that I've left some plates on the coffee table."

She did as she was told without question and made sure to sit far away from where his coffee mug was. Out of his immediate reach was always safer. She watched warily as he sat down and opened up the pizza, waiting for him to take a slice before she did.

"So," Hunson broke the heavy, awkward silence between, and Marceline waited for the punchline to all of this, "You're going into your senior year soon."

She had to bite back a sarcastic comment about how she was fully aware which grade she'd be moving into. She just blinked at him and waited for him to continue. With her father, saying nothing was almost always best.

"Have you thought about which colleges you'd like to go to?"

Ah. There it is. She bit down on her bottom lip and knew she had to lie. If she said she didn't want to go to college, she'd be going to bed with more than a few bruises. That would be one of the bad times, no doubt about it. He might break another rib. "Not really."

He tutted in disappointment. "Marceline, you know it's important to start thinking about it. And I hope you know that I won't pay for you to study music or any other silly worthless subject."

She'd known that for years, but she didn't know what to say to that. What she wanted to say was music isn't worthless, but that would get her smacked. "Um… I'll think about it, I guess."

"Business would be a good option to study. Or law. You're very intelligent, and I don't know why you insist on wasting that on playing that infernal guitar." Hunson commented, and Marceline knew that because it makes me happy wasn't a valid answer. "Perhaps you should speak to Bonnibel about it. I'm sure she's had university plans since elementary school."

Truthfully, Marceline didn't plan on telling Bonnie she wasn't going to college, either. She knew it would elicit some kind of shock horror reaction from her, what with Bonnie's obsession with academics, and the last thing she wanted to do was disappoint her.

But talking about Bonnie got the conversation off of her, so Marceline took her opportunity. "She wants to go to Oxford and study Medicine."

"I don't doubt she'll get there. She's the brightest student in your grade by far." Hunson said, and Marceline almost mouthed the words along with him when he said, "It would do you no harm to be more like her. Still, I suppose it's a good thing that you hang around with her over that irresponsible Keila girl nowadays."

She opened her mouth to defend her best friend, but then remembered who she was talking to. She sent Keila some kind of psychic apology and occupied herself with getting another slice of pizza. At least her dad didn't know that 'hanging around with Bonnibel' contained zero studying and as of last weekend, a lot of hand holding, cuddling, and kissing.

It kind of blew her mind, but Marceline had a feeling that her dad would approve of her dating Ash over her dating Bonnibel, purely based on gender. He wasn't religious, so he couldn't even use that as an excuse for his homophobia, he was just an ass who deemed it 'disgusting'.

"Yes, Bonnibel is a very smart young woman," Hunson commented when she kept her mouth shut, "smart enough to make deductions and assumptions."

She froze in the process of taking a bite of pizza. "What do you mean?"

"I find it interesting that despite believing you were in a fight, she still returned here and took you back to her house. Where you stayed with her for a number of days." Hunson said calmly. Marceline's brain went into overdrive. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Think fast. "Because she is a responsible young woman, I highly doubt she would want to associate with someone she believes to be violent. So, I wonder if she's made certain… hypotheses about how you came to be injured."

Marceline's mouth worked, and she knew she looked like a fish out of water. If he knew she'd told Bonnie, she was in for it. If he knew someone knew, if he knew he could get caught… god knows what he'd do. "I don't know what you mean."

He continued like she hadn't spoken. "Yes, she's a very intelligent girl. If she believed that you were a violent layabout, she would want nothing to do with you. So, Marceline… why is she still spending time with you?"

Her throat closed over and she didn't know what to say. What could she say, other than the truth?

"She wouldn't understand why I have to do those things, Marceline. She would think that I was some abusive deadbeat father who hates his children, which I am not. I love both you and your brother very much, and you are both dear to my heart." Hunson said, and Marceline felt like she'd been glued to the sofa. She couldn't move. Couldn't think. Couldn't even breathe. "I only punish you when you make me. I provide for you. I have bought you dinner tonight, I keep a roof over your head, I pay for luxuries like phones and internet and television, and I will pay for your college so you won't have any student debt. I gave you my old car when you passed your driver's test. I love you."

Would've given it to my brother instead if he'd passed too, Marceline thought bitterly, but there was no way she was going to say that. She couldn't if she wanted to. All she managed to force through the knot in her throat was, "I know."

"I only punish you when you break the rules that you know are there," Hunson said, "and if Bonnibel has these assumptions of what might be going on here, I am going to need you to diffuse them. I was wrong to have gone as far as I did last time, and I apologise for that. But people wouldn't understand, Marceline. You would be taken away, separated from your brother and your friends. You don't want that."

Again, all she could force out was, "I know."

Hunson looked her over and said, "Glad we are on the same page. You're an intelligent girl yourself, Marceline. You're smart enough to know what's best for everyone."

What's best for everyone, Marceline thought resentfully, or what's best for you?

"Now, if you will excuse me, I am rather full, and I have some prep work for next semester to complete," Hunson leaned forwards and placed his plate on the coffee table, and she flinched back, "Do be sure to wash the dishes. Remember, talk to Miss Butler and diffuse the situation. I do not care if you have to convince her that you are some violent layabout, as everyone else thinks that anyway. I cannot have her suspicious, Marceline."

She stayed frozen in her seat until he was long gone, her heart beating out of her chest in a panic.

What the hell was she supposed to do?