Communication was good. That was something Bonnie knew for definite. She just didn't want to ruin Marceline's good mood.

That was the justification she'd used all week, to avoid telling Marceline that her dad had threatened her. Bonnie knew she would somehow feel guilty for it, like it was her fault her dad was attempting to threaten Bonnie into complete silence. Bonnie promised herself that she'd tell Marceline at some point – every day, she made the mental note. But then it was Marceline's eighteenth birthday, and there was no way she was going to ruin that.

No. On the contrary, she was going to make it the best birthday ever.

It was a Friday, so when Marceline picked her up that morning, she jumped in the car and greeted her with a kiss and very enthusiastic, "Happy eighteenth birthday, baby!"

Marceline didn't acknowledge the pet name, but her blush was a little deeper than usual. "Thanks, Bon. But it's really not a big deal."

Bonnie blinked. That was the dumbest thing she'd ever heard. "Of course it's a big deal. It's not just your birthday, which is important anyway because you're important. But it's your eighteenth birthday. That's a big deal."

She let the rest go unspoken. It was a big deal because as of today, Hunson Abadeer had zero legal authority over her. As of today, Marceline was officially free.

"Eh, it always gets overshadowed by Halloween, anyway," Marceline shrugged as she started driving them towards school, "That's the problem with having a birthday on a holiday. You can relate, with your birthday landing on the biggest holiday ever."

"Oh, you're a big Star Wars day celebrator, are you?" Bonnie peppered the question with the perfect amount of sarcasm but didn't let Marceline respond. "Well, I think your birthday is more important than Halloween. And you're coming over later, by the way."

Marceline winced. "Can't. Keila already claimed me for a party, and a) I'm not going to be that bitch who ditches her friends for her significant other, and b) unfortunately for you, I've been instructed to bring you. She's dead set on that stupid PowerPuff Girls thing."

"As the birthday girl, we can go wherever you want. You get to be the boss today." Bonnie told her, and when Marceline only frowned, she quickly added, "But only today. Don't let the power go to your head."

It was mostly a joke, but Marceline just snorted. "Wow, is that my present or something?"

"Your present is something else, which I'm going to give to you later," Bonnie said, "So please, try not to get too sozzled tonight."

"Sozzled? Is that British for drunk?" Marceline laughed, but after a few moments, she shrugged. "Nah, I probably won't. Maybe I'll offer to drive, I don't really feel like drinking. Probably a weird thing to say on my eighteenth birthday, but whatever."

Bonnie smiled. "Maybe it means you've matured."

Marceline barked out a laugh like that was the funniest thing she'd ever heard. "Me? Mature? Have you met me, Bonnie? No way."

Regardless of what she'd said, Bonnie had to admit that Marceline was actually rather mature. She joked around and teased but when it came down to it, she had quite a mature outlook on things. Bonnie knew it was probably because she'd had no choice but to grow up fast, which was something she related to.

"Well, you don't have to drink if you're not feeling it," was all Bonnie said in response to that. "What did Simon do for your birthday breakfast?"

"Pancakes with strawberries and cream," Marceline said, "yum. And even though she attempts to surprise me with it every time, I know for a fact Keila's bringing a cake today, so if you want some, make your way to the music room at lunch."

"Thanks for the tip," Bonnie said, "but I was going to spend lunch with you today anyway. It's your birthday."

"Are you going to use that as an excuse to follow me around like a little lost nerd all day?" Marceline questioned, and when Bonnie just nodded, she sighed rather dramatically. The corners of her mouth were tilted up into a small smile though, and Bonnie could see that cute little dimple in her cheek. "Damn, Bonnie, I told you. Stop hanging around me, you're ruining my rep by association."

Bonnie chuckled lightly, and when Marceline parked the car in her usual spot, she leaned over and kissed her cheek. "You like it."

"Yuck. Don't know where you got that idea from." Marceline said, wiping the spot Bonnie had kissed in feigned disgust. But when she unbuckled her seatbelt and turned to look at her, she had that soft smile on her face, the one that was only ever directed towards Bonnie. "Alright, let's get the school part of the day over with."

Bonnie grabbed her hand before she could get out of the car and pulled her in for another birthday kiss. It didn't differ from a normal kiss at all, besides the fact that Bonnie murmured another happy birthday against her mouth.

"Alright, I don't need a present," Marceline said when they pulled apart, "you being my girlfriend is enough."

"What happened to me ruining your rep?" Bonnie teased her, "You soon changed your tune."

"Oh, you totally ruin my rep," Marceline said, but flashed her the softest smile right after, "but in the best way possible. Come on, nerd."

As she got out of the car, Bonnie followed. Marceline took her hand once she'd locked the car and shoved her keys rather unceremoniously into her back pocket, and it only slightly surprised her. Marceline had been holding her hand a lot recently, seemingly uncaring about whatever onlookers might infer from it.

They were ambushed the moment they walked through the main entrance.

"Guys!" Keila pounced, then wrapped her arms around Marceline in what looked like a bone crushing hug. "Happy birthday, you're officially an adult! How does it feel? Did you wake up this morning with all sorts of adulty wisdom?"

When Keila finally let go and allowed Marceline to take a breath, she laughed and said, "I literally do not feel any different to how I felt last night, so no. But who knows? Maybe my brother will turn up and suddenly not be an idiot."

"We know you love him," Bonnie nudged her, and Marceline just rolled her eyes, so she asked Keila, "There's going to be birthday cake at lunch, then?"

Hazel eyes widened and Keila gaped. "Dude, it's supposed to be a surprise."

Marceline snorted. "You do it every year."

"Maybe one year I'll surprise your ungrateful ass by not doing it, how about that?" Keila retorted, muttering under her breath, "do it every year. I'll show her."

Bonnie laughed and checked the time on her pink wristwatch, realising that she should probably set off to class. She had Statistics, and the mathematics department was on the other side of campus. "Okay, I've got to go to class. I'll see you guys later."

She paused and kissed Marceline's cheek before she had to go. "Happy birthday again, darling. Bye!"

Marceline had never particularly cared about her birthdays.

Like she'd told Bonnie that morning, it was always overshadowed by Halloween. That was a good thing in the sense that there were always parties on that they could go to and have fun, where Marceline had no planning, set up or clean up duties. It was basically a free birthday party.

Already, though, this birthday felt different. First of all, she didn't have to wake up to her father's stiff happy birthday wishes. No, this morning, Simon had woken her up before her alarm and brought her breakfast in bed. Admittedly, she hadn't expected he'd remember, but he had, and he'd done more than he had to. Then she was given plenty of kisses from her beautiful girlfriend, and hearing baby come from Bonnibel was still making her knees a little weak.

After that, though, she'd expected the usual routine. Keila bringing the cake in, and her and the guys loudly singing happy birthday to Marceline and her brother in the music room. But so far, things had been a little weird. Still mundane and everything, but weird.

Her first class had been history, which she shared with Keila. But she also shared the class with Lady and Elle, and when she'd walked past their desk towards the middle on her way to the back, Lady had flashed a bright smile and wished her a happy birthday. Even Elle had let out a rather begrudged birthday wish.

After history and morning break, she had computer science, which Finn sat next to her in. He'd greeted her with a broad smile, a "happy birthday!" and a candy bar outstretched in her direction.

She blinked in surprise and took the chocolate when he waved it exaggeratedly. "Thanks, man."

"Eighteen, that's pretty cool," Finn commented, and thanked her quietly when she offered him a slab of the chocolate he'd given her. "You can like, do some grown up stuff now. Like get a tattoo."

"Already got one, courtesy of my fake I.D." Marceline held up her arm, even though it was covered by the sleeve of her sweater. Bonnie's sweater, of course, "I can vote now, though, so that's pretty cool. And like… I don't know, buy a house, adopt a kid, sue someone. I could adopt a kid and then sue them."

Finn laughed, "You've got big plans for this year, then. Are you celebrating tonight?"

"Probably going to a Halloween party even though I don't really want to, so I guess so," Marceline said, and then added, "but Keila's got cake for lunchtime, if you want to come and grab a slice. There's always loads left."

"Yeah, I think I might, actually," Finn smiled like he knew something more, "thanks, Marceline."

When the bell rang for the one hour of freedom they got for lunch, he walked with her to the music room, making casual conversation about pop punk bands, which it turned out Finn liked. They got into a mini debate about which classic 2000's pop punk song was the best; Finn was championing Fat Lip by Sum 41, but Marceline would stand by The Middle by Jimmy Eat World.

"Dude, The Middle is timeless," Marceline said, "I could listen to that in my eighties and still vibe."

"And you wouldn't do the same with Fat Lip?" Finn retorted, "I'm going to be in my nineties and listening to that."

"How are you going to sing along to the 'we laugh when old people fall' line when you are an old person?" Marceline questioned, and grinned when he frowned in thought. "Hah, you questioned your own argument, I win by default."

Finn was muttering something about how he'd let her win because it's her birthday, but Marceline didn't really catch it, because she pushed open the music room door and was met with a loud chorus of "happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Marceline, happy birthday to you!"

She blinked and looked around the room. It was fuller than it had been on her birthday last year. The regular bunch were there – Keila, Guy, Bongo and her brother – but there were a few new additions too, in the form of Bonnie, Lady, Jake and the rest of that little crew who were probably just there for cake, and Finn, who was grinning beside her.

"I knew they were gonna do that," Finn said, and she rolled her eyes, because she'd gathered that much. "Cake time!"

"Wait, no," Marshall scowled, "forgetting that it's my birthday too?"

After singing happy birthday to Marshall as well, Keila pulled out a knife that there was probably some kind of school rule banning to cut the cake. "Where the hell did you get that thing from?"

"Snuck into the kitchens in my free period," Keila said, but when she noted Bonnie's stern, disapproving gaze, she smiled sheepishly and quite obviously lied, "I mean, I asked for lots of permission and borrowed it. With permission. No stealing."

"Come on, Bon," Marceline threw an arm around her disapproving girlfriend's shoulders, "It wouldn't be my birthday if someone didn't break a rule."

Bonnie was still frowning, but she sighed and said, "Alright. As long as you don't go breaking any, though."

Marshall snorted beside her. "She's probably broken every school rule there is already, so…"

He had a point, but Marceline elbowed him in the side anyway. "Shut up, asshole."

"Hey, don't be mean to me, it's my birthday," Marshall said, passing her a paper plate with a slice of cake on, "by the way, dad says he wants to talk to you later. Got a present for you."

She felt Bonnibel tense next to her and she spoke before Marceline could say anything. "He could always drop it off at Simon's. Marceline and I are busy tonight."

"Yeah, getting drunk with me," Keila grinned, dropping the last slice of cake onto her own plate and digging in with her plastic fork. Through a mouthful of cake, she added, "Powerpuff Girls, unite!"

"He said he needed to talk to you," Marshall said to her, ignoring both interruptions. "I don't know what about, but you know how he gets. Do it for my birthday present and save me from him being grumpy the rest of the week. He walks around the house muttering to himself all the time when he's grumpy. It's creepy."

"We've got him for Physics at the end of the day, so I'll talk to him then, I guess," Marceline said. She was more than a little wary as to why her dad wanted to speak with her – he'd rather blatantly ignored her since she'd moved in with Simon – but she knew that nothing bad could happen on school property. He wouldn't risk his job. The worst that would happen was that he'd make some demoralising comment about how much she sucked and was never going to go anywhere in life, which was basically the average conversation between the two of them.

"Marcy, a word? In private?"

She looked around at Bonnie and saw the concern on her face. This kind of thing wasn't something she really wanted to talk about ever, let alone on possibly the loveliest birthday she'd had in years. "Uh, not right now, Bonnie."

Bonnibel was nothing if not persistent. "It's important, though."

Bonnie might be persistent, but Marceline was stubborn, and maybe she wanted to enjoy her birthday for once. Her dad was guaranteed to ruin it later on. "Later."

The redhead let out an annoyed harrumph, her nose scrunching up in irritation. Bonnie pushed her glasses up her nose and frowned to herself, the frustration evident on her face. She went to take Bonnie's hand and promise her that they would talk later, and that she just wanted to enjoy the day while she could, but Bonnie whirled around and started talking to Lady rather quickly about their art teacher.

So much for enjoying the day while I can, huh, Marceline thought to herself, interrupting Bonnie's comment about how her art teacher's speaking volume went all over the place during her sentences. "Alright, fine, we can talk now."

Bonnie's previously stern expression faded into a softer look, and she sighed. "Okay. Outside, though. See you in a minute, Lady."

Marceline took her outside, out onto the little patch of grass behind the arts block. She plucked a red tulip from the small flowerbed and passed it over to Bonnie. "For you."

"Thought I said no rule breaking?" Bonnie was obviously trying to lighten the mood, but it didn't work. She sighed, flopping down onto the grass. "I should've told you. But you've been so happy lately, and I didn't want to worry you."

That wasn't the best preface. Marceline went from mildly curious to incredibly worried in a second, and she sat down next to Bonnie and grabbed her hand. "What's wrong?"

"Your dad threatened me," Bonnie said, and when Marceline stood up, to go do what she had no idea, she grabbed her by the hand and pulled her back down, "hey, hey, wait-"

"When?" Marceline asked, because she was a little confused as to why Bonnie would keep it from her. "You should've told me."

"Last week, when I went to his after-school session to do an experiment. I tried to keep an eye on the other students in the room, so I wouldn't be alone with him, but the last person left, and he tried to talk to me." Bonnie said, and Marceline felt her heartbeat quicken the way it always did at the thought of being alone with him. It was worse when she thought about Bonnie being alone with him, even though logically, she knew he couldn't do anything to hurt her. "He said he knew that I knew and tried to – god, Marcy, he tried to justify hurting you. Like it was perfectly logical, like he genuinely believed he was doing the best thing. Said that he'd put us together as partners on that project because he thought I might 'change' you and tell you to stop playing music. And if all of that didn't make me angry enough, he tried to turn me against you. He must've thought that you'd never tell me about punching Ash, but he tried to use that to make it seem like – I don't know, like you retaliated, like you weren't just an innocent kid during the whole thing but that you were just as bad as he was."

Marceline listened to Bonnie talk in a little bit of a daze. She'd never retaliated when her dad hit her – even the thought made her uncomfortable. But she wasn't thinking about what Bonnie had just said. All she managed to get out was, "How did he threaten you?"

"I told him I would tell if he even looked at you the wrong way. At first, he tried to threaten me with you. Said that you'd never forgive me if I told and 'ruined your brother's life'." Bonnie said quietly, and then admitted, "I don't care if that's the case, Marcy. If he touches you again, I will tell. I could live with you never forgiving me if it meant you'd never be hurt again."

"I… I know." Marceline let the words come out in a breath. To be honest, she wasn't sure if that was the case. It would've been, had Bonnie told when she was still living at home. Now that she'd been with Simon for a while, now that she'd gone since August without so much as a bruise, she was starting to realise that Bonnie had been right. Maybe she didn't deserve it, maybe it wasn't a punishment for mom.

Maybe she wasn't the reason her mother wasn't around after all.

"When he realised I wouldn't be swayed by that, he decided to go for a different angle." Bonnie said, twizzling the flower between her fingers. "He basically told me he'd write a terrible recommendation letter so I would never get into university. I told him to go ahead and do his worst."

The words made Marceline jump in surprise. She was aware that her eyes were so wide they were probably about to pop out of her skull, but it was an accurate measure for the level of shock she felt. "You shouldn't have said that."

She knew what school meant to Bonnie. Knew how hard she'd worked her whole life to get the best grades, so she'd have the best opportunities and choices when it came to university. Bonnie had basically given her childhood for that, and Hunson had threatened to take that away.

Marceline had never felt more revulsion towards him.

"I know what all of that stuff means to you," Marceline said, aware of how much she was glowering. She felt that white-hot anger towards her father and felt fourteen again, felt like doing something reckless just because she was so mad. She took a breath and gripped Bonnie's hand, tethering herself. "I know how much college means to you. You can't throw away everything you've worked for your whole life for me. I won't let you."

"He doesn't frighten me, darling. I might not look it, but I'm a tough girl. What can he do? Nothing, because if he followed through with his threats, I'll follow through with mine and tell the authorities. A bad recommendation letter will mean nothing if it comes from a man with serious abuse allegations and accusations of threatening a student into silence." Bonnie said calmly, and in a moment of weird awe, Marceline wondered when she got so badass. "And quite frankly, going to some fancy university means nothing to me if it means you're not safe. I mean, god, Marcy, can't you see how much I love you?"

Marceline's head shot up so fast she thought she'd given herself whiplash. Any anger she'd felt had melted away like snow on a sunny day when Bonnie had said those last three words. Bonnie realised what she'd said and the hand that wasn't holding Marceline's rocketed up to cover her mouth. Marceline sort of gaped, because that was so entirely unexpected, and when Bonnie spoke again, she expected a take-back situation.

"I didn't mean for that to come out right then," Bonnie said quietly, red staining her neck and freckled cheeks. "But… I suppose I ought to own it. I love you."

"Bonnie, I…" Marceline's mouth worked, and her brain yelled at her to get it together, "I love you too."

"You do?" Bonnie blinked, fluttering her long eyelashes and flashing those pretty blue eyes. Her mouth went from the surprised 'oh' face to settle into a soft smile. "Well. That worked out rather excellently, then."

Despite everything that Bonnie had just told her regarding her dad – she couldn't believe he'd stoop so low as to threaten Bonnie's college – she managed a smile. Marceline leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to Bonnie's soft pink lips.

When she pulled away, she murmured, "I can't believe you stood up to my dad the way you did, Bonnie. People would look at us and think I'm the badass, but really it's you."

"I don't know, I think you're quite badass too," Bonnie put an arm around her shoulder, and Marceline felt gentle fingers tracing little hearts all over her neck and shoulder. "I'm glad you changed your mind and spoke to me. I just felt like you needed to know, in case he tried to pull something later, or mentioned something to you and made you feel like I don't trust you. He seems the type to try and drive a wedge between people through manipulation and I won't let that happen between us. He knows I'll do anything to protect you and he doesn't like knowing I have the upper hand and could ruin his life by a slip of the tongue."

Marceline was still smiling. Not even the mention of her dad could ruin that, not when Bonnie had told her she loved her. "I know you trust me. I trust you too. I was just being stubborn because I figured the conversation would mark the beginning of the end of me actually having a good birthday."

"Oh," Bonnie's expression faltered, "did it?"

"How could it? You told me that you stood up to my dad, wouldn't back down no matter what he said, and told me you loved me." Marceline listed a little incredulously. "Like, it doesn't get much better than that."

Bonnie's smile came back full force, an unwavering grin of pure happiness. "Well, that's good, then. Come on, we ought to get back to your little lunchtime party."

Bonnie stood, smoothed out her dress, and held out a hand to help Marceline up. She was still holding the red tulip she'd given her in her other hand, and Marceline plucked it from between her fingers and tucked it behind Bonnie's ear. "You know what red tulips mean?"

Bonnie shook her head as Marceline ran her fingers through strawberry blonde hair, smoothing it out, making sure it was in place. "No, actually, I don't."

Green eyes met blue in a knowing smile, and then Marceline glanced back over at the flowerbed, at the orange, yellow, pink, white and black flowers in there, among others. Bonnie followed her gaze and seemed to realise that she'd chosen that one on purpose. "They symbolise deep and perfect love."

The big smile on Bonnibel's face only grew, if that was possible. "You were telling me without actually telling me."

"Yeah, well," Marceline stuffed her hands in her jeans pockets, "You know I'm kind of a romantic."

"Mhm," Bonnie said, her smile morphing into something a little more teasing, "I didn't know you were a florist, though."

Marceline rolled her eyes. "Naturally, you couldn't just let that one slide."

Bonnie let out the sweetest giggle and kissed Marceline's cheek. "Of course not."

"I can't believe you're eighteen, man," Keila paused to take another drink of whatever it was she was on now, "that's like, crazy. You're a grown ass woman."

"Hardly. Nobody grows up overnight." Marceline gave her best friend a once-over and carefully pried the cup from her hands. She sniffed it, and nearly gagged. That was a lot of vodka. "Okay, I'm cutting you off."

"See! Grown ass woman," Keila proclaimed, waving her hand around and knocking the blonde Bubbles wig off her head. She frowned at it on the floor but shrugged. "Eh, I don't need that anymore, I guess. Especially because a certain grumpy grump got changed. God, you're such a Buttercup."

"Hey, I got into costume so you could get Instagram pictures," Marceline nudged her, carrying her drunk best friend over to the couch and pushing her down. "Besides, it's my birthday, and I'm at home, can you blame me for wanting to get into pyjamas?"

"God, you really are old now," Keila rolled her eyes, and Marceline felt her arms wrap around her shoulders. She let Keila get comfy on her; she was a cuddly drunk. "I can't believe you didn't want to go to an actual party. And you're not drunk. I can tell because you're not laughing every two seconds."

That made her laugh. "Just didn't feel like it tonight. Think I'm all socialised out from school."

"Not much different there," Bonnie commented as she walked back into the room, changed into her usual pyjamas of Marceline's old t-shirt and a pair of random pyjama shorts. She took one look at her, and the way Keila was hanging off her, and laughed. "You two look comfy."

Keila hummed. "I am."

Marceline snorted. "I'm not."

"Now you know how it feels when you drape yourself all over me," Bonnie joked, sitting down on the couch and glancing over at Keila, "Want me to get her anything?"

"There should be water in the fridge and some kind of fruit juice. Water for hydration, juice for sugar. Always helps me." Marceline shrugged. There was probably some kind of science surrounding it, but all she knew was that whenever she woke up with a hangover, chugging apple juice helped. "I think someone needs to go to bed."

"What? Weak," Keila commented, and when she saw Bonnie walking towards the kitchen, she asked, "Hey, Bonnie! Did you know that you're Marceline's girlfriend? That's so cool!"

"Wasn't aware," Bonnie sent Marceline that really hot smirk she wore when she was being cocky. "You've been going around telling people I'm your girlfriend, Marcy? Can't believe you'd spread such lies."

"Like I'd want people thinking I'm dating a dork like you," Marceline retorted, scoffing, but one look into bright blue eyes made her grin instinctively. "Go get the water, genius."

Bonnie's smirk turned into more of a smile as she turned on her heel to venture into the kitchen. Keila gripped her tighter and said, "She's good for you. I'm happy you're happy. Because you know I worry about you, right?"

"Yeah, I know," Marceline helped her up, "come on. Let's get you into your pyjamas. You look like you're about to crash and I'm not going to let you pass out dressed like a PowerPuff girl."

"You're such a good friend. You're my best friend." Keila poked her in the cheek, and Marceline steadied her with one arm while rooting around in Keila's overnight bag for her pyjamas. "And I do worry about you. But you're not – you got mad at me that one time I tried to ask you about it, but you haven't been hurt for a while. I don't know what was going on there and I know you'd never hurt anyone, but I also know you'd probably let someone hurt you. I know you'll probably never tell me the truth but just promise me you're okay."

"I'm okay," Marceline said, her voice catching in her throat at Keila's long winded rambling. I know you'll probably never tell me the truth. She probably wouldn't, not unless she was well away from this town and her dad. "I promise, K. I'm alright. You don't have to worry about that."

"Good. Because I love you, you know that? You're family." Keila hugged her tight, and the words made Marceline drop the bundle of pyjamas she had clutched in her hand and wrap her other arm around Keila, hugging her close. "You're like my sister. Sister from another mother. Wait, that's not right."

"I know," Marceline said, "and I love you, too. Now, come on. Turn around so I can unzip you."

It was a hard task, getting Keila into her pyjamas when she insisted on wriggling about so much, but she managed to get her best friend dressed for bed, and then walked her into the bathroom and basically brushed her teeth for her. She had to shush her a number of times, because Simon had already gone to bed, but Marceline knew he basically slept like a rock. She could probably play her guitar on the amp and he'd sleep through it.

When she half walked, half carried Keila back into the lounge, Bonnie was waiting on the couch with a bottle of water and a juice box which they essentially poured down Keila's throat before allowing her to flop down on the sofa and immediately crash.

Marceline grabbed a spare pillow and a blanket and tried to make her best friend comfortable, making sure she was on her side. She scrawled a quick note for her and left a bowl by the couch, and Bonnie left her a glass of water and two aspirin for her inevitable hangover in the morning.

"Is she going to be okay?" Bonnie asked, looking over the sleeping girl in concern. "She drank enough for the both of you."

"Yeah, she'll be okay," Marceline said, "might have to get up in the middle of the night to hold her hair back, but I guess that's what I signed up for when I was given the best friend title."

Bonnie smiled fondly. "You mean sister."

"You heard that?" Marceline laughed. "Bonnie, don't you know eavesdropping is rude? Not very princessy of you."

"First of all, that isn't a word," Bonnie said, "and second, it's kind of hard not to eavesdrop when she was talking so loudly," there was a beat of silence, and then, "would you ever tell her about… you know?"

"Probably not. She asked me about it once, the time he broke my arm, but that was when I was kind of in that whole angry phase so I really snapped at her. Still feel bad about it." Marceline cringed at the memory. "She would go crazy if she knew. And anyway, it's not like I'm still there anymore. Thanks to you. And I'm eighteen now, so legally… he has no authority anymore. That's kind of why I expected he'd make some kind of threat today when Marshall said he wanted to talk to me."

Marceline had expected the worst – she always did when it came to Hunson – but he'd merely passed her an envelope, muttered a tense happy birthday, and made a comment about how hopefully she'd finally grow up and start acting like the adult she supposedly was while Bonnie glared rather angrily at him. The envelope had contained a hundred dollars and a written note telling her to spend it on college supplies.

She planned on putting it towards a new acoustic guitar instead.

"Anyway," Marceline announced, holding her hand out to Bonnie, "bedtime?"

"Going to bed at," Bonnie turned her wrist over to look at that adorable pink watch, but frowned when she realised what time it was, "half past one. Okay, I suppose you're not as old and boring as Keila claimed yet. I didn't realise it was so late."

"Late for you," Marceline said as Bonnie took her hand and followed her to the bedroom, "late for me is like, four."

"Yes, well, we're not all nocturnal," Bonnie rolled her eyes, and when Marceline went to flop down on the bed and get comfy, she stopped her, "Wait. I have to give you your present, remember?"

"Thought my present was you being a total badass?" Marceline asked, but softened when Bonnie just looked at her. "Okay. Go on, then. But you didn't have to get me anything."

Bonnie looked at her incredulously. "You're my girlfriend. And even if you weren't, you're still the best person I've ever met, so… yeah, I did."

Marceline watched with a frown as Bonnie leaned down and ducked under the bed. "That's a weird way to give someone their birthday present, Bon-Bon."

"Oh, shut up. I hid it under here because it's too big to wrap," Bonnie said, and added, "plus, wrapping it would be stupid, you can easily tell what it is."

Marceline squinted suspiciously, and when Bonnie pulled out the exact Martin electro-acoustic guitar she'd been eyeing at work for months, she blurted out, "Bonnie, no, you can't- how did you even know I wanted that one? And you can't buy me stuff like that, I-"

"Do you want me to get into the full itemised list of all the things you do for me?" Bonnie interrupted her, pushing the guitar into her hands. "Take it. You jokingly told me to buy it in summer, remember? That's what gave me the idea. So I went to the shop when I knew you weren't working but Keila was so she could confirm that was the one you wanted, and she let me use her staff discount because she knew you'd use that as a you shouldn't have excuse."

"You still shouldn't have," Marceline said, looking at the guitar in awe. She strummed the strings and frowned, quickly getting them into tune and then playing the first thing that came to mind, which turned out to be Stay Stay Stay by Taylor Swift. "But thank you, Bonnie. For more than just this."

"That's part one," Bonnie said, and Marceline gaped at her as she walked over to her bag and pulled out a little box, something that looked a lot like jewellery. "This is part two. And as you said to me on my birthday… it's sort of a present for me too, so it's kind of cheating."

Marceline watched in surprise as Bonnie opened the box. There were two silver rings in the box. They were simple, understated, one with little music notes carved into the metal, and the other with DNA strands and molecules.

"Admittedly, Keila also helped me here; she told me your ring size." Bonnie said, and Marceline just stared at her, hand gripping the neck of her guitar, wondering what the hell she'd done to deserve her. "I thought that… well, I could have this one," Bonnie pointed at the ring with the little musical notes engraved, "and you could have that one," now, she gestured to the one with the DNA and molecules, "and it would be like we were carrying a part of each other."

"Bonnie," Marceline managed to get out as she put the guitar aside, "I don't… god, I love you."

"I love you too, darling," Bonnibel merely smiled and took the science ring from the box, "Can I put it on you?"

Marceline managed a silent nod and let Bonnie take her hand, sliding the ring onto her finger. Silently, she did the same thing, taking the second ring out of the box and putting it Bonnie's finger, before bringing her hand up to kiss the back of it.

"You haven't got any more surprises for me, right?" Marceline asked, still a little bit stunned. "Because I don't think I could handle another one. I might just completely stop functioning."

Bonnie laughed, carefully moving the guitar off the bed and shifting forwards. She was inches away from Marceline when she said, "Does kissing you count as a surprise?"

She didn't give Marceline a chance to reply, instead just closed the gap between them and kissed her softly. Marceline felt her pushing her back against the pillows, and she let herself fall, let herself submit to the ecstasy of Bonnie's kisses.

When Bonnie's hands slid up her shirt, Marceline let out a quiet, "Oh," in surprise, and she heard the redhead's soft laugh. That was all she could register, though, because Bonnie's hands started doing wonderful things and all Marceline could do was let her.

Marceline didn't stop her when Bonnie took her shirt off completely, tossed it aside, and began trailing kisses down her stomach. Bonnie paused, and pulled her own shirt off too, and Marceline took that as her opportunity to kiss her again, one hand keeping Bonnie close and the other tracing over the soft ivory skin of a breast. Bonnie gasped against her mouth, but her surprise didn't linger for too long, because she was pushing her back against the pillows again, straddling Marceline's waist, leaning down to leave her mark on Marceline's neck.

When she felt gentle fingers slip under the waistband of her pyjama shorts, she managed to snap out of the complete bliss for a few moments of lucidity. Blue eyes met green, and Bonnibel's smile was filled with so much love that it made Marceline's heart ache. "Are you sure? I know you haven't before and…"

"Marcy," Bonnie leaned in and kissed her just off the corner of her mouth, "I've never been more certain about anything. Honestly, I've been wanting to make the move for a while, but… I wanted it to be special. I wanted you to know I loved you before we took that next step. But thank you for checking in with me, darling. Are you okay?"

"More than okay," she knew she sounded a little breathless as Bonnie's fingers traced little hearts on her stomach. It was hard to process that. Hard to process how amazing she was. I wanted you to know I loved you before. It was far from Marceline's first time, but it would be the first time it mattered. "Really, really okay."

"Okay," Bonnie smiled, "good."

The only response Marceline managed was a quiet whimper when Bonnie kissed her somewhere entirely new.