There were heart stickers all over the corridors that looked like they'd sprung up overnight. Bonnie didn't remember being asked to create any decorations, so she assumed maybe one of the younger grades were asked. Or a few students just took it upon themselves to decorate.

Bonnie had a strong feeling which student that would be when Elle practically pounced on her and Lady the moment they left their history class. "Guys! Happy Valentine's Day!"

"I should've known you'd be one of the ones to celebrate," Bonnie commented once she was released from Elle's death grip, "Did you put up all of these decorations?"

"No, but they were my idea. The new guy I'm seeing… I'm probably not supposed to tell you guys this, but we're all friends here," Elle paused for dramatic effect, "he's Principal Citron's son. Leo! I kept telling him how much I love Valentine's Day, and he got his dad to allow decorations for me!"

Elle looked like she was literally about to swoon, but she composed herself long enough to ask, "Do you guys have any romantic V-day plans, then?"

Admittedly, Bonnie had kind of forgotten that Valentine's Day was a thing until about a week ago. She'd never cared for it, and never had anyone to celebrate with. But she had a girlfriend, so for the first time in her life, Bonnibel had a valentine. She hadn't asked Marceline about it; even though Marceline was not-so-secretly romantic, she still seemed the type to scoff at Valentine's Day.

"Jake's taking me out for dinner," Lady said, "I'm looking forward to it, we haven't actually done a legit date in forever."

"What about you, Bonnie?" Elle asked, "Do you and Marceline have any plans?"

"Not really," Bonnie hummed in thought, "I didn't actually ask her about it. And she didn't bring it up either. But I've never really cared for Valentine's Day, and she doesn't seem like she-"

"I don't seem like I what?" A familiar, teasing voice interrupted her, and Bonnie stopped in her tracks, spinning around to see the most beautiful girl in the world, twizzling a single red rose between her thumb and forefinger by the stem. "Care about Valentine's Day? Hm, alright. Guess I won't give you this, then."

Bonnie rolled her eyes and took the rose when Marceline held it out anyway. She was surprised at such an obvious romantic interaction in the middle of school – aside from handholding, Marceline had never been one for public displays of affection – but Bonnie leaned in and kissed her cheek. "Thank you, darling. I have a card and gift for you in my locker, if you'll come with us."

"I guess I could," Marceline took Bonnie's outstretched free hand and walked down the hallway with them without complaint. She surprised Bonnie even more when she looked around her to ask Elle, "Tell me you're not seeing Brad tonight."

Elle scoffed. "Please. I'm over that jerk. He actually had the nerve to text me last week. I told him where he could go."

"Was that place hell?" Marceline questioned, and when Elle hummed in affirmative, she nodded. "Good. Glad you've finally found some self-respect, girl. He didn't deserve you."

"Damn straight," Elle answered, and Bonnie wondered what the hell had happened at the winter dance. She meant to ask Marceline about it on the night, but they'd gotten a little… distracted. "Do something romantic for Bonnie tonight, will you? She's a Valentine's hater, she has to be converted."

"I'll do my best, captain," Marceline coupled with a mock salute, nudging Bonnie lightly, "I got something planned, anyway. I might've been conspiring with Peter."

"Colour me impressed," Lady commented, "I had you pegged as a hater too."

"Eh," Marceline shrugged easily, and Bonnie's heart fluttered at how open she was being, "who doesn't love a little bit of cheesiness and romanticism?"

Bonnie remembered what Marshall had said on New Year's Eve. It's like she's not afraid to be herself anymore. Bonnie felt a wave of pride wash over her, and when she pounced on Marceline in a secure, impromptu hug, she hoped her girlfriend could feel how proud she was.

"Whoa, hey there, Bon-Bon," Marceline laughed, wrapping her arms around her tightly, "what's this about?"

Smiling into Marceline's shoulder and twirling the rose in her hand, Bonnie mumbled, "I just really love you."

"Oh," Marceline squeezed her gently around the middle, "I love you too, nerd."

When Bonnie pulled away, she smiled softly, and Marceline grinned back. No restraint, like there usually was in school. She took her girlfriend's hand again, and after a quick goodbye to Lady and Elle, diverted off to her locker. She hesitated, and asked, "Would you prefer it if we exchanged presents later? Would that be more romantic than me giving it to you in the middle of the school hallway?"

Marceline shrugged, an easy smile tilting up her face, showing the little dimple in her cheek. "Up to you, Bon. I don't mind either way."

"Well," Bonnie opened up her locker and carefully deposited the rose inside, "you'll get it later, then. Though, I do have something else for you that isn't strictly related to Valentine's Day."

Marceline raised her eyebrows. "You do?"

Bonnie grabbed the larger of the two packages in her locker, passing it over. She'd wrapped it in the pink Valentine's wrapping paper she'd picked up, but it wasn't Marceline's proper gift. "Here. Open it."

Marceline opened the parcel and threw the wrapping paper in the direction of the nearby trash can. It went right in. She unfurled the red fabric and frowned. "A scarf?"

"I decided to take up knitting as a… healthy way of coping with anxiety," Bonnie admitted, and Marceline looked at her in surprise, "I wanted the first thing I knit to be for you. It matches your jacket."

Bonnie tugged on the hem of the jacket in question, because Marceline was wearing it at that moment. The older girl looked at the scarf again and pulled her in for a hug. "Oh, Bonnie. Thank you."

"It's probably not very good, since I really only just started," Bonnie said, "but I tried. And that's what counts, right?"

Marceline pulled out of the hug and immediately wrapped the scarf around her neck. "It's amazing and I love it. Nearly as much as I love you."

When there was a knock on her front door and she opened it to Marshall, not Marceline, she was more than a little bit taken aback. Peter had been sort of… smirking at her ever since Marceline had dropped her off at home with the promise of being back later for lots of romanticism, so she'd assumed that was it. Marceline was here, and the romanticism was going to commence. But no. Marshall was smiling a little sheepishly, and she did a tiny double take just to make sure Marceline hadn't decided to chop all her hair off on a whim.

(Admittedly, Bonnie would be a little bit heartbroken if she had, because she loved playing with Marceline's hair.)

"Um…" Bonnie finally got out, "have I travelled back in time a year? Or… did you and Marceline swap bodies?"

Marshall laughed. "No, she's hiding around the corner, I'm the decoy. We're going for a walk."

"Dude, you're not supposed to tell her," Marceline's voice came, affronted, from somewhere nearby. "Also, I'm not here, forget you heard that."

Bonnie laughed, and when Marshall offered his arm, she took it. "Alright. I suppose we could go for a walk for absolutely no reason at all."

When she was halfway down the driveway, Bonnie turned around just in time to see Marceline run into the house, perform some sort of little ninja move, and nearly fall over. She snorted with laughter. "She's such a dork. Any reason she's ninja style sneaking into my house?"

"I'm not supposed to tell you that," Marshall answered, "but I've got to keep you busy until she texts me. I guess it's a good thing I'm single, right?"

"But you like Fionna, don't you?" Bonnie asked him, and when he spluttered in surprise, she grinned. Caught. "I saw you checking her out at that beach party. You should ask her out."

"I can't do that!" Marshall looked at her like she was crazy. "No way."

"Why not?" Bonnie frowned at him, "You asked me out perfectly fine, and I'm gay as rainbows."

Marshall rolled his eyes. "Well, I didn't know that, did I? And besides, it's different with her. She's my friend and I've known her for years. It'd be weird if I asked her out. She wouldn't say yes, anyway."

"How do you know that?" Bonnie questioned, even though she couldn't exactly talk. Despite her arguments, Marceline had made it rather obvious that she was interested in Bonnibel, and if she actually caught on or stopped second guessing, they could've been together for longer. "Why not just give it a shot?"

"Dude, she always acts all annoyed with me, and punches my arm, and stuff," Marshall rubbed his bicep with his other hand like the memory of the punch was making him feel it. "Sometimes, I don't even know if she likes me as a friend."

Bonnie hummed. That sounded like some version of flirting. "Do you want me to ask her?"

"No!" Marshall spluttered. "You wouldn't even be subtle about it, you'd just straight up ask her, and then she'd want to know why you're asking, and she'd probably figure it out and then talk about it with her friends. Girls are scary, man."

"Admittedly, I have to agree with you there. Girls can be terrifying." Bonnie admitted. "To be honest, that was another, more minor reason that I was kind of frightened of liking them. At least boys are straightforward."

Marshall hummed in reply. "Yeah. I guess we are. How do you cope with my sister, then? She's the scariest girl. Especially at that time of the month, because she was always extra grumpy then."

"I think she really does just save the grumpiness for you, because she's always lovely to me," Bonnie said, and realised the other thing he'd said and added, "and you're a cis man, no period jokes for you."

"God, you sound like her," Marshall laughed, "thanks, though. For whatever it was you did to make her so happy."

"I can't take credit for that. It wasn't just me." Bonnie said. It was circumstantial, too. Being out of a toxic environment, as well as Marceline consciously making an effort to be happy. "I just… support her. With whatever she needs."

"I was pretty worried about her, you know? We joke around and stuff, but she's my sister and I love her," Marshall said, and Bonnie wondered if they'd ever actually say that to each other, or just through her. "I know you said you knew for a fact she wasn't fighting people, but she was hurt a little too much for it to be like… accidents, and she was always so angry all the time. But that stopped, and I still don't know what was going on, but… I don't know. I felt kinda useless with the whole thing. Like I couldn't do anything to help her, and even though she's a few minutes older, as a brother, you're supposed to protect your sister. Even when I asked her what was going on, she got really defensive."

Bonnie had encountered a little bit of that defensiveness before. She almost wanted to tell Marshall, but she wouldn't betray Marceline's trust or jeopardise her safety. Maybe one day, Marceline would tell him herself. She understood now that it was never her fault, that she never deserved any of it. Maybe one day, she would be brave enough to tell.

"I asked dad what he thought was going on. They hadn't been really close for ages, but he told me that it was fighting, and she even said that to me once, so…" Marshall sighed, "I didn't want to think that about her, but she told me herself, when her arm got broken and she came back from the hospital with dad."

Bonnie bit down on her bottom lip, remembering the way Hunson had practically forced Marceline to tell her she'd been fighting. Like she would have believed that. No way.

Wanting to get off that subject, she muttered, "Your dad hasn't mentioned anything about Marceline going home, has he? I know he's pretty obsessed with wanting her to go to college, but… she says he's just been ignoring her."

Which is what we want, Bonnie said. Hunson Abadeer hadn't acknowledged her existence since he'd tried to threaten her, too. She was perfectly happy with that.

"Nah, they kinda got into a fight at Christmas, and I think he's still mad she talked back. She's never really done that before…" Marshall said quietly, "I don't know about the college thing, either. He's setting me up an internship in his friend's business. I think dad's a shareholder or something."

Bonnie narrowed her eyes. "And that's what you want to do?"

"Not really, but I don't know what else I'm going to do," Marshall shrugged, "I'm not exactly the smartest."

"Grades do not equate to intelligence, so whoever told you you're not smart is probably not very smart themselves," Bonnie answered, "and if it's because Marceline calls you an idiot, you know she's joking, right?"

"Yeah, I know. It's dad, he kind of makes a stink about my grades sometimes. Nothing serious, but it kinda gets me down." Marshall shrugged. "That's why he's getting me the internship. He says I can work my way up in the company. I guess in his own way, he's just showing he cares, you know?"

"Funny way of showing it," Bonnie sighed, "Parents shouldn't try to make their children be something they're not. I know a little something about that."

"Is that why…" Marshall seemed to second-guess asking, but he asked anyway, "is that why you live with your uncle?"

"My parents were extremely homophobic and kicked me out because they didn't like who I was," Bonnie was surprised at how easily it came out. She'd always kept that close to her chest, kept it a secret from everyone. Maybe the closure had helped with that. "That's why I have a problem with parents who try to change their children. In any aspect."

"Oh. That… that really sucks. I'm sorry, Bonnie." Marshall flashed her an earnest smile, and despite the whole fraternal twin thing, he looked a whole lot like Marceline. "But I guess in a way, it's kind of a good thing? Like, if you didn't live with your uncle, you wouldn't have moved here."

"That's very true. Every cloud has some kind of silver lining, I suppose," Bonnie answered, "To be honest, I don't even know why I still refer to England as my home. The only thing I really left behind was Bubba. I have good friends here, and an amazing girlfriend. Feels more like home here than it did back there."

"Home is where the heart is, huh?" Marshall laughed, kicking a little pebble on the ground as they walked. "How are you going to handle it when your heart is in L.A.?"

Bonnie sighed, and her actual heart felt a little heavy in her chest. "I've been trying not to think about that, honestly. I'm going to miss her so much. Not just her, Keila too."

She thought about her Oxford offer again, sitting there in her inbox. All she had to do was go and accept it, and she would've done it in a heartbeat if it had been there a year ago. Now? Perhaps the fact that she was hesitating was enough of an answer to her dilemma.

"I'll miss them too," Marshall said, "I know I'm friends with Finn and Jake and everyone, but I've been friends with Guy and Bongo since kindergarten, and I've known Keila for years too. And I've never been without Marceline before. Obviously, it's different now that she doesn't live at home, but I still see her every day at school."

Bonnie frowned. "You play guitar. Why don't you ask them if you can join the band?"

"Asking to join the moment they get signed officially? That looks so bad." Marshall cringed. "Anyway, if I drop out of school to join a band, dad will flip. And I mean like, disownment flip. I'm not even joking."

A question popped into her head. "Do you think that's why Marceline's working so hard to graduate early instead of dropping out?"

"Maybe," Marshall said, "I don't know. I told you they weren't really close, right?"

I think I know more about that than you do. "Yeah, you mentioned."

Marshall nodded. "Yeah. It sucks, but I honestly don't think it would bother her that much if dad threatened to disown her. It kinda upsets me, because I wish they were closer, like they used to be before mom died. Dad kind of changed a lot after that, got all closed off, especially with Marceline. She reminds him of her, I think. In a way, I've kind of admired how she doesn't care what he thinks. I think she's just working to graduate because she's a secret nerd."

Bonnie laughed at that last part; the rest, she'd already known. "I don't think it's that much of a secret. Honestly, sometimes I'll be explaining something, and she goes all dramatic like oh, I can't do it, it's too hard, but then when she actually does it, she gets everything right. Secretly, I think she'd be fully capable of graduating without my help, but she just asked because she wants to spend time with me."

She'd had that inkling a few times, especially when she'd seen the work on limits in Marceline's math notebook dated a day before they'd gone over it together. Almost every solution was correct in the notebook, and yet when Bonnie was trying to teach her, all Marceline did was make dramatic Mean Girls references and announce that she didn't get it.

"I could believe that, actually," Marshall laughed, "Either that, or you're bringing it out of her, because she never studied and still got good grades, like, mostly As with a few Bs. She was always really annoying with that."

Bonnie hummed. "Usually, the people that say that are lying, but with Marceline, I could probably believe you. Especially in literature class. She makes the wildest things up and then somehow manages to back it up with quotes from the text."

Marshall opened his mouth to respond, but there was a distinct sound of a phone buzzing, and he pulled it out to read the text. He smiled. "Your valentine wants you back at the house. Apparently everything is ready."

As they turned back in that direction, Bonnie broke the comfortable silence and said, "Hey. When you get home, call Fionna and see if she's doing anything. Because I'm ninety-nine percent sure she's not. She was talking about it at school."

Marshall groaned. "You really think she'll hang out with me?"

"Mhm," Bonnie affirmed, "I do. Call her."

"Alright," Marshall sighed, "maybe I will."

When they arrived back at the house, the front door was locked. Bonnie waved goodbye to Marshall and knocked on the front door of her own house, waiting for it to open. When it did, Marceline was wearing that soft smile, and she stepped aside to let Bonnie in. "Hey. Nice casual evening stroll?"

Bonnie laughed. "Yes, it was lovely. What have you been doing to my house?"

It looked the same, but Bonnie supposed she wouldn't have had time to cover everything with hearts. Marceline smiled knowingly to herself, her fingers playing a little anxiously with the sleeve of her sweater. It was the sweater that she'd stolen from Bonnie's wardrobe.

"Oh, nothing, nothing," Marceline gestured to their left, towards the closed living room door. "If the princess would kindly step inside."

Bonnie raised her eyebrows but turned the handle and blinked in surprise. There were a number of lit candles on the coffee table, a fire lit in the electric hearth Bonnie and Peter never used, and the couches all turned around to support a little blanket fort pointed at the television.

"I hope you're hungry," Marceline said, all while walking her over to the blanket fort and gently pushing her down to it, "because I cooked dinner. First attempt, but it actually went pretty well, if I do say so myself. Brought my little deep fryer over and everything."

Bonnibel watched after her as she sort of skipped out of the room, presumably headed into the kitchen. She sank back against the pillows in the blanket fort and allowed the dazed, lovesick smile to settle onto her face.

When Marceline came back out of the kitchen with two plates and cutlery, the lovesick smile only grew. Her mouth worked as the plate was placed on her lap, and she stared at the golden batter that made the scraps on the chips, and… "You made fish and chips?"

"Yup," Marceline flashed her a small smile as she sat down with her own plate, "I told you, I'd been conspiring with your uncle. He's out on his own date, but he helped me turn your living room upside down before he left. For the food, I figured it'd be more romantic and private for me to cook dinner here, rather than taking you out. Went to the market after school to buy the fish – I couldn't find the haddock you like, so I got cod – the fries were easy to make because I've done it before, and those scrap things were just sprinkling some of the excess batter in the fryer at the end. Easy as pie. And…"

She grabbed the TV remote and pressed play, and Bonnie watched as Star Wars: A New Hope started up. Marceline looked at her with that adorable smile and said, "Happy Valentine's Day, Bonnie."

Careful, because of the plate on her lap, Bonnie leaned over and cupped Marceline's jaw, pulling her in for a kiss. "Oh, Marcy. Happy Valentine's Day. Thank you so much."

"You know what I'm going to say, don't you?" Marceline laughed, and then said it. "Don't thank me, nerd."

"Oh, this is absolutely delicious," Bonnie said as she tried her food, because it really was. It was quite authentic, too. "Don't get me wrong, I love all of this, but you really didn't strike me as the type to enjoy Valentine's Day."

"I'm not, usually," Marceline said after a few bites of food, "but probably not for the reason you might think."

Bonnie raised her eyebrows. "Do tell?"

"I guess I just don't like the idea that there's a set day to show someone you love them, you know?" Marceline shrugged after a little while. "Like, if you really love someone, you show them every day. Not just one day a year because some greetings card company tells you to."

"Oh," Bonnie had to admit, she hadn't expected that. After eating a couple of chips, she said, "You've actually got a very good point."

"But hey, I like to think I do a pretty good job of showing you I love you every day, so… what's wrong with buying into the valentine stuff too?" Marceline said, and she leaned forwards to put her already half empty plate onto the coffee table. "Speaking of, here's your obligatory card, and your not-so-obligatory present."

Bonnie placed her plate on the coffee table too, quickly running into the hallway to root around in her school bag for Marceline's card and present. Once she'd located them, she went back into the room and settled down onto the blanket fort, passing Marceline her card and present and taking her own from the other girl.

"Bonnie, you didn't have to get me anything else, I loved the scarf you made," Marceline said, looking at the little necklace with the tiny music note charm that Bonnibel had bought for her. "Thank you, though. You're the best."

"You're welcome, darling," Bonnie said, and just as she was about to unwrap her own present, Marceline put a hand over hers, "What?"

"There's kind of a preface for this," Marceline said, looking down at the present with a tiny blush tinting her cheeks pink. "So… this might be kind of cheesy, and totally early 2000's, but it's mostly… it's mostly just in case you miss me. You know, when I'm not here."

"It's basically guaranteed I'm going to miss you, love," Bonnie kissed her cheek, before digging a fingernail under the corners of the wrapping and pulling it open. She turned the item over with a wonderful smile. "A CD?"

"I told you, it's totally early 2000's." Marceline admitted, blushing even deeper. "It's a mix of some covers and originals. All equally as sappy. And all me, like, vocals, instruments. The drums took the longest to get right because I'm still learning but I just… I don't know. If there's ever a time where you miss me, and for some reason, I can't be there, you could listen to it and it'd be like I'm with you."

Bonnie threw herself on her in a tight hug, the CD held securely in one hand. "This is so thoughtful. Thank you so much, Marcy."

"And, you know," Marceline said into her shoulder, "It seems right that my number one fan should have the only copy of my first album."

Bonnie just hugged her tighter. "I love you."

She felt Marceline kiss her shoulder. "I love you too."

When Bonnie pulled away, she flipped it over – the cover was drawn cartoon style like Marceline's story about 'Princess Bubblegum and the Vampire Queen' – and read the ten song tracklist. "I know that Paper Rings and Lover are covers, but which are yours?"

"Slow Dance, Monster, and I guess Everything Stays. I wrote a second verse." Marceline said, taking her hand slowly. "I'm really glad you like it, Bon."

"I don't like it. I love it." Bonnie said, and quoting Marceline from earlier, she smiled. "Nearly as much as I love you."