Bonnibel was staring at a poem with the task of analysing it when a scrap of paper dropped in front of her. She frowned, opening it up, looking over at her girlfriend, who was writing some note on her own copy of the poem.

At the top of the page, in block capitals, in Marceline's adorably messy handwriting, read the question, do you love me? Underneath, Marceline had drawn two check boxes, one with yes written next to it, and the other with no.

Stifling her smile, Bonnie checked the yes box and scribbled underneath, stop being so cute and focus on your work.

She dropped the note just on the edge of Marceline's paper, and watched out of the corner of her eye as Marceline opened it, read it, smiled, and scrawled something back. When the little folded piece of paper landed in front of her again, Bonnie unfolded it and read what Marceline had written.

I've finished. What's your excuse?

Bonnie looked over at her. Marceline was already watching her, green eyes sparkling mischievously, arms folded across her chest and a perfect eyebrow quirked up in amusement. She glanced at Marceline's copy of the poem; it was heavily annotated, black pen covering most of the available paper space. Bonnibel looked at her own copy and cringed. She'd written maybe four points. Poetry wasn't her strong suit.

She wrote back on the piece of paper, poetry is stupid, that's my excuse.

When Marceline read the words, she let out a quiet little snicker. She passed the paper back and Bonnie read, it's easy. They're basically just song lyrics and I'm a whore for a good metaphor.

Bonnie laughed. She had a feeling that Marceline had rhymed that on purpose. So you're a poet too?

It wasn't long before the paper was passed back again. I prefer lyricist, but I guess so. Anyway, date night tonight?

Can't, it's a school night, Bonnie scribbled back, because she definitely had a rule about that. No sleepovers, no dates. She had to be in a certain mindset for schoolwork, and it was incredibly distracting having Marceline there looking so pretty. Between her physics homework and Marceline, she always chose the latter, even though she was terrified of falling behind in class.

We could meet up to study, was Marceline's written response, and Bonnie's eyebrows rocketed to her hairline in surprise. Marceline? Asking to study?

You want to study? YOU? Have you been pod-peopled? Are you an alien?

Again, Marceline laughed quietly at her response, quickly dropping her smile to a focused frown when their teacher looked up from the desk. Silent working was annoying. Even Bonnie agreed with that; it felt awkward when you wanted to sneeze or clear your throat.

I want to study… anatomy.

She'd drawn a little wink face next to that, and Bonnie felt herself blushing. She wrote back and slid the paper over to Marceline. Recycling jokes now, are we? Study your own anatomy, darling.

Weak. Seriously, let me take you on a date tonight. Just a little one. You'll be home before 8pm. I promise. Cross my heart, hope to die.

When she looked up at her girlfriend, Marceline was pulling the entire puppy-dog face. Pouting, green eyes wide, hands clasped together in a pleading manner. How could she not cave? Fine. But I'm holding you to that. Home by 8. No later.

Marceline read the words on the page and grinned, writing back. Thanks, Bon-Bon. You're the best. Got something I want to tell you.

Bonnie raised her eyebrows at the paper. Well, you could've opened with that. Then I wouldn't have put up a fuss. Good news?

She watched Marceline carefully as she wrote back. Considering she was barely able to contain her smile, she assumed it was, but she was eager to read the answer anyway.

The best. But I might need your help with something. If you're willing.

Bonnie smiled and scribbled her answer.

Always.

Marceline took Bonnie to the café. Partially because her girlfriend was strict about her personal curfew for a reason, but also because it felt like the best place to tell her the news. She was basically bouncing with excitement as Willow led her to her usual booth, and she knew it was noticeable, because the old woman asked in her soft southern drawl, "Oh, you look happy, sweetheart. Something good happen?"

"Mhm," Marceline could only hum in reply, because she felt like she might blurt it out and she wanted to tell Bonnie at the perfect moment. "Yup."

"Oh, that's good," Willow said as Marceline slid into her usual side in her usual booth. Bonnibel sat opposite her. She was sort of half smiling, half frowning. "How's your father? I haven't seen him in years."

"He's probably fine," Marceline shrugged, immediately deleting that question from her brain. She didn't want him ruining her good mood. "I'll have my usual, but I think Bonnie will need a few minutes to look at the menu."

Willow smiled. "Of course, dear. I'll give you a moment."

As Willow shuffled back behind the counter, Bonnie's expression turned more to the frowning side. "You come here a lot?"

"Mhm," Marceline hummed again, bouncing her leg under the table, "Yep. Lots. Used to come with mom every Sunday."

"Oh," Bonnie took the plastic menu from its holder and glanced through it, but her gaze remained mostly on Marceline, "Any recommendations?"

"Go easy on the savoury because Willow makes the best apple pie maybe ever," Marceline said, and began drumming on the table in an attempt to contain her excitement. "We're sharing one after. To celebrate."

"Okay," Bonnie's hands reached out to still hers, and bright blue eyes bore into her, "you've been all twitchy all day. What's going on? Why are we celebrating?"

"Okay. So…" Marceline punctuated that by banging on the table again, "big news. Good news. I don't know where to start. Okay."

Bonnie raised her eyebrows. "Start from the beginning, maybe?"

"Okay. Yeah. Okay." Marceline nodded, dragging her teeth across her bottom lip. "Yes. A little while ago, you know how I mentioned, like… me and the guys are moving to L.A. after graduation?"

Bonnie frowned. "Yeah?"

"Well. So… yeah. Turns out it's not going to be a whole… going out there and taking our chances kind of thing. Because…" oh, there she goes, bouncing her leg again. What she said next came out at hyperspeed, all the excitement she'd been holding in all day bursting out at once. "A record label wants to sign us."

Bonnibel blinked at her, and Marceline wondered if what she'd said had even been understandable, or if she'd blurted it out way too fast. But then the words sank in, and Bonnie jumped up from where she was sat on the other side of the booth and practically threw herself onto Marceline in the tightest hug.

"Oh my god! Marcy!" Bonnie squealed, pulling away, but only for a split second, because she was pulling her in for a kiss. "For real? You're not messing with me, right?"

"For real," Marceline physically couldn't wipe the smile off her face. She seriously thought it might be permanent. "I'm not messing with you. This is really happening. I said this before when I mentioned it's how I found out about PVRIS but thank god for YouTube recommendations. Not even my YouTube recommendations. Jenna from Tonight Alive – they're a band – found the cover Keila and I did of Disappear and I guess she showed some higher-ups, and they already had a copy of our demo because we sent it in months ago and… they want to sign us."

Bonnie jumped on her in another hug, murmuring, "Oh my god, I'm so happy for you. And proud. And… just, wow. My girlfriend's going to be a rock star."

Marceline hummed against her, still feeling a little bit bouncy. "I'm just- still kinda processing it. It's crazy."

"Crazy, but a good crazy," Bonnie smiled, pulling away again but reaching down and knotting their fingers together, "I'm really so happy for you, Marcy. So, what was the thing you needed my help with?"

"Oh," Marceline remembered she'd mentioned that when they were passing notes, "well. You don't have to, especially not if it'll be too much work for you. But they want us to start writing and recording our debut in April. I talked to Principal Citron and since he's not exactly keen to have dropouts on his record… he said I could take all of my final exams and graded coursework early so I can graduate at the end of March, before Spring Break. Which means a lot of studying, and you know what I'm like with procrastination. So I'm basically asking you to help me."

"Of course," Bonnie answered immediately, and again Marceline had that moment of awe where she wondered what the hell she'd done to deserve her. "I'll help. Plus, it's extra study time for me, and more time with you, so there really isn't a downside."

"I love you," Marceline blurted out, and she wasn't entirely sure Bonnie knew how much, "I just… thanks."

"No need to thank me," Bonnie said, even though there was, "now, let's get this apple pie ordered. I'm excited to try it, and I think dessert for dinner is acceptable today. Since we're celebrating."

"Yeah, I'll go get that," Marceline said, but Bonnie stopped her and slid out of the booth herself, pulling her debit card out of her pocket. "No, no. I invited you here-"

"And we're celebrating your good news," Bonnie said, leaning down to kiss her forehead, "it's only fair that I buy you apple pie."

Marceline huffed, but only because she knew in a stubborn match, Bonnie would probably win. All she had to do was look at her with those big blue eyes, and Marceline would cave. Did that mean she was whipped?

(Who was she kidding? She knew she was whipped.)

She watched as Bonnibel went up to the counter and ordered, sighing happily to herself. She didn't know she could feel this happy, and when she thought about how she felt this time last year, and all the other years before it, she started to wonder if she was actually alright. Could you be depressed and not even know about it? She doubted it but thinking back to how she always just felt like she was living every day just to get through it, maybe there had been something going on there and she just didn't know she could feel more.

"Alright, that's ordered," Bonnie slid back into the booth next to her, as opposed to opposite, and Marceline felt a gentle arm around her waist, "so, I suppose we ought to start planning a revision schedule-"

"Can we organise all of that tomorrow?" Marceline flashed her that pout that she knew got her anything she wanted. "Come on, we're celebrating. Give me one last night of freedom."

"Okay, okay," Bonnie caved with a sigh, but she was smiling. "I'll definitely be drawing up a schedule when I get home, though. I know when most of your free periods are, and even though you've got a couple without me, I still expect you to utilise them to study."

"And there she is. Business Bonnie." Marceline joked, resting her head on the beautiful girl's shoulder. "Hey, you know what today is?"

Bonnie hummed in question, her fingers winding their way through Marceline's hair. She loved that. "The first day ever you were bright and smiley all day at school?"

Marceline let out a snort of laughter and rolled her eyes. "Nope. This time last year is the first day I ever spoke to you directly. You came into the music store and started making awkward conversation and I told you I didn't like you."

Bonnie laughed. "Oh, how the tables have turned."

"What? No. Past me was entirely accurate. I don't like you." Marceline poked her lightly, and when Bonnie raised a disbelieving eyebrow, she smiled. "I love you."

"Should've known that was coming," Bonnie rolled her eyes, but she leaned in and kissed Marceline's cheek. "I love you too, darling. You know, Elle mentioned something kind of hilarious to me at the beach party. About you."

Marceline sat up with a frown. That couldn't be good. "I shudder to think. What did she say?"

"That the way you always tried to bother me and get under my skin was like crush behaviour," Bonnie smiled rather smugly, and even though Marceline had that realisation herself a while back, it was still embarrassing. "Like a little kid pushing over the girl she likes in the playground because she can't process her feelings."

"Alright, alright, what we're not going to do is embarrass me," Marceline elbowed her playfully, but admitted, "I might've had that realisation a little while ago, though. As annoying as you were, I kinda couldn't stop thinking about you, so…"

Bonnie laughed, dotting little kisses on her cheek, "The big scary badass had a little crush on me, huh?"

"Oh my god," Marceline pushed her away lightly, wiping Bonnie's kisses away, just to be petty, "I don't know why I admit these things when you're so hell bent on humiliating me."

"If it means anything, I had a little crush on you too. I just wasn't aware of it." Bonnie's soft, gentle hand reached up and traced the line of her jaw. "I thought you were the prettiest girl I'd ever seen. And- god, you made me so nervous all the time, and I had no idea why. Until that realisation started, and then it just freaked me out more. And you always had to go and be annoying, making these stupid jokes about me fancying you and calling me babe sarcastically, and I really didn't know it was possible to want to kiss someone and strangle them at the same time."

Marceline just smirked. "That's an odd way to admit you've got a choking kink, Bon."

"And there you go again, just proving my point with how annoying you can be," Bonnie rolled her eyes, "Remember that time you took me for ice cream? That was like, one of the first times I ever really saw you smile. It freaked me out, but in the best kind of way, because I was just like… oh my god this girl is so beautiful. I'm pretty sure I actually texted you about it. Probably said something along the lines of she's a total bitch but I'm aware she's attractive."

Marceline scoffed. "Oh, wow, thanks."

"In my defence, you did act like one," Bonnie smiled and nudged her playfully, "and I still fell for you. Worked out in the end. To be honest, if it hadn't been for you, I'd probably still be desperately attempting to repress my sexuality, so…"

"I'm going to go around telling everyone I was your gay awakening," Marceline joked, and when Bonnie just rolled her eyes, she smiled, "Kidding, kidding. Even though it's true."

"Alright, stop it," Bonnie laughed, "I don't like cocky people, you know."

Marceline laughed at the implication behind that. "Nice joke. Ooh, I think that's our pie."

It was; Willow brought it over with a smile, along with two little plates and that thing you're supposed to use to lift the slices up. It was a large one, but Marceline figured they could take whatever was left over to go.

"I gotta save a slice for Simon," Marceline remembered aloud as she put a slice of pie onto Bonnie's plate, and then her own, "I still haven't told him the news yet."

Bonnie raised her eyebrows, picking up her fork, "Who have you told?"

"Keila, Guy and Bongo," Marceline answered, because that was obvious, "Principal Citron, because I couldn't just show up to his office and ask to graduate early for no reason, and you. The rest of the list is just Simon and Marshall. Kinda want to keep it on the down low for now, I don't know how dad might react if he caught wind of it. Kinda paranoid that Citron might mention something."

Again, she pushed him from her mind. It was a lot easier to do that, lately. Bonnie seemed to realise that she didn't want to think about him, and just nodded after a bite of pie. "Okay. My lips are sealed, then."

"Thanks," Marceline smiled, and asked, "so, what do you think of the pie?"

"Love it," Bonnie announced, "You said you used to come here with your mom?"

"Yeah. Every Sunday. Willow was friends with my grandma." Marceline said, and before Bonnie could ask, she added, "I never knew her. She died when I was tiny. But she and my mom were really close, so after grandma died, mom and Willow kind of bonded? She would bring me here all the time. And when I got old enough, I guess I carried on the generational friendship."

"That's cute," Bonnie commented, "does your brother ever come by?"

"Marshall isn't really the sentimental type," Marceline said; the simple fact was, her mother's grave would probably go forgotten if it weren't for her. "Maybe it's because he's a guy and they're just built different, I don't know."

"Can I ask you something?" Bonnie asked, and Marceline opened her mouth for the obligatory you just did joke. But Bonnie went ahead and asked her question. "How do you not resent him?"

Marceline blinked. That was a much heavier question than she was expecting. "Um… because he's my brother and I love him?"

"No, I know that, but… I mean, even I felt annoyed with him for being so peacefully oblivious to what you were going through." Bonnie said. "And you always make these little comments about how he's your dad's favourite, and I just don't get how after nearly eight years of dealing with all of your dad's bullshit, you didn't build up any kind of resentment."

"Well…" Marceline said after another forkful of pie, "do you resent your brother for still being with your parents, and standing by when they kicked you out?"

"Of course not," Bonnie answered immediately, "he didn't understand what was happening, and my parents' bigotry had nothing to do with him."

Marceline waited for the realisation to set in, but when Bonnie just looked at her, she laughed. "There you go, missing the obvious again. Catch up, brainlord. You just answered your own question."

Bonnibel frowned, and when she thought through what she'd said, she let out a quiet, "Oh," in comprehension.

"Yeah. It isn't my brother's fault that dad's the worst person on the planet and I wasn't going to let father dearest drive a wedge between me and the only blood-related family I've got. It's not anybody's fault besides his and like I told you a while ago, I'm not going to project my trauma onto other people," Marceline shrugged, and after finishing off her slice of pie, added, "because that's messed up and toxic. I would know, because I was messed up and toxic."

Bonnie's hand touched her thigh, and Marceline glanced around at her. There was a small smile on her girlfriend's face, kind of knowing, but also kind of teasing. "Honestly, Marcy, you joke that you're irresponsible, but you really are quite mature."

"Well… thanks," Marceline answered, but then her brows dipped into a frown and she added, "I think."

"Definitely a compliment," Bonnie assured her, and quietly admitted, "to be honest, I rather admire you. Not just in a wow, that's my beautiful girlfriend way, but in a wow, she's a really amazing human way."

"Bonnie," Marceline felt herself blushing, "seriously, I'm going to need you to like, ring a bell or something when you're going to say something nice, just so I can prepare myself."

"I mean it, though," Bonnie continued on, and the hand that was on her thigh reached up to brush her hair back, "You've been through so much, and you're still so good. You have such a good heart, you know? Where other people might've just given into anger and bitterness, going through all of that bad stuff just made you kind. And I really admire that."

"Well, I did give into it at one point, but… thanks. I was thinking earlier, maybe I did have some kind of depressive stuff going on, because lately, since I started staying with Simon…" Marceline paused in thought, because that was where she could remember that lightness coming from. "I just didn't know I could physically feel this happy, you know? Everything used to feel so heavy, and I wasn't sad, exactly, just… I don't know. Sort of empty? It's like living with my dad and dealing with all of that was poisoning me and I didn't even know it until I was away from it all."

"I think that's a perfectly normal feeling," Bonnie said, squeezing her hand gently, "you lived in that horrible situation for so long, it just felt normal to you. Once you were finally away from it all, that's when you notice the effects and realise it's not normal."

"Yeah," Marceline looked up and into a pair of gentle blue eyes shielded behind round glasses, "I want to thank you for that, actually. For going against me and taking that risk with my dad. I know I said I wasn't, but at the time, I was kind of mad. It was mostly overshadowed by the fear, but… thank you. You were doing what you could to protect me and I appreciate that a lot. You knew what I needed more than I did."

She felt Bonnibel's arms wrapping around her waist, always so gentle. She never held her like she was going to break; it was more like she was just treating her body with respect. It had always been kind of overwhelming, the way Bonnie valued her.

"Don't thank me for keeping you safe, darling. It was the least I could do." Bonnie said, and Marceline snuggled her face into her shoulder, relaxing completely. Being in Bonnie's arms – that was her happy place. "To be honest, I would've told if my idea hadn't worked. Even though I knew it would mean losing you. Your safety is more important than my feelings."

Marceline sighed into her. "I'm really not used to someone caring about me so much."

"Well," Bonnie smiled, her fingers tracing little hearts into her back over her t-shirt, "get used to it. You might not have noticed, but I plan on sticking around."

Marceline's grip tightened on Bonnie's shirt, and she didn't even bother trying to stifle her smile. It was impossible, anyway. "Me too, Bon. You're never getting rid of me."

"I'm perfectly okay with that," Bonnie kissed her before pulling away and helping herself to another slice of pie. "I can't wait to brag to everybody about my rockstar girlfriend. Admittedly, I'm rather surprised you asked me to help you with schoolwork. I would've assumed you'd jump at the chance to drop school."

"The irresponsible side of me wants to, but I know it'd be stupid," Marceline shrugged, "and I'm not that dumb. Also not looking forward to what is probably going to be a stressful few months, but… still."

"Aw," Bonnie grinned and kissed her cheek, "look at you, being all mature and responsible. I'm proud."

"Alright, alright, shut up," Marceline rolled her eyes, but couldn't maintain the façade for long. She smiled and said, "I know you tell me not to thank you, but… thanks. For helping. Being my personal nerd."

Bonnibel laughed softly. "I prefer the term girlfriend, but okay."

"Yeah, that too," Marceline bumped against her playfully, "just, thanks. Nerd."

"No problem," Bonnie said, poking her in the cheek, "dork."