tw for hunson

While everyone was taking midterms, Marceline was taking midterms and finals.

Bonnie had started to get a little bit aggressive with the whole studying thing again. Basically, back to being a studious dictator, except she'd listen to Marceline when she told her to cool down. Admittedly, she was a little bit worried that Bonnie would go overboard for her finals, when Marceline was in L.A., so she'd made Lady, Finn, Jake and Elle all promise to check up on her in her absence. If they failed, she had proof in the form of text screenshots to hold against them.

She stayed after school for her math final, and actually finished it with a little bit of time to spare. She'd never admit it to Bonnie, but in a way, math kind of reminded her of music theory. It made it easier, when she thought of it that way. She still hated it and was glad to be shot of it, though.

As she was walking down the steps of the science and mathematics building, she rounded the corner at the exact same time her father stepped out of his classroom. She glanced up at the ceiling. Security camera. He couldn't do a thing, even if they were alone.

He stared at her contemplatively, and Marceline stood by the staircase, staring back. She felt… oddly brave. Or at least not afraid. That kind of stare used to root her to the spot, paralyse her from sheer terror, and she could never, ever look back at him. Now, she stared at him defiantly, and when he stayed quiet, she started walking again. Towards him, because he was between her and the exit. A little bit of natural fear sparked at being so close to him, but she stayed out of his reach.

Hunson was the one to break the silence, just as she walked past. "Marceline. What are you doing here so late?"

"Studying," she answered, because it wasn't technically a lie. "Math."

He squinted at her. Maybe he didn't believe her, but he answered with a tense nod. "Yes, your brother has mentioned that you and Miss Butler have been studying together quite often. Does this have anything to do with Principal Citron asking me to allow you to take your finals early?"

Marceline frowned. Did he know? Surely not. If he knew, he would've confronted her about it. Maybe Principal Citron had actually done her a solid and not told him why. She'd used the I'm eighteen so legally you can't tell my dad anything excuse, but she wasn't sure if that actually was a law.

"Um, yeah," Marceline said quietly, "I wanted to get them out of the way so I can focus more on other classes."

"That is uncharacteristically responsible of you," Hunson said, and she marvelled at how he managed to turn a compliment into an insult. "I will allow you to take the finals as long as you promise to take up the business elective after Spring break. I believe you should get a little bit of experience in it before choosing it as your major. Though, no college letters have come to the house yet…"

"They're going to Simon's," Marceline was amazed at how easy it was to lie to him. It was a matter of self-preservation, she told herself. If he found out that she was leaving in a month before she was already in her car and driving away, she didn't doubt he'd lock her up in the basement. "Figured that would be easier. Wouldn't want to have to keep coming over."

Yeah, that's right, father. I can do the subtle insults too. Hunson narrowed his eyes but nodded, again rather tensely. "I suppose that would be the case."

"Yeah," Marceline glanced towards the double doors again and started inching down the hallway, "we done here?"

"Actually, there is something I would like to talk to you about without the presence of your little… friend, Bonnibel." Hunson said, and the way he emphasised friend made her realise what the conversational topic would be. "I have heard some unpleasant things surrounding the nature of your relationship with Miss Butler."

Five months ago, she would've done everything she could to deny it to him. She knew he'd never be okay with that, knew it ever since he gave her a black eye and a split lip for coming out to him when she was fifteen.

It wasn't five months ago.

"Yeah, she's my girlfriend," Marceline said, staring him down in what was probably the ultimate defiance. "What are you going to do about it?"

She saw the anger inside him, but it didn't rise to the surface. "I thought you would be over this little bisexual phase by now. You know I do not approve of that lifestyle."

She almost scoffed. "To be honest, dad, I really don't care what you approve of. I love her."

"She did this," Hunson said quietly, looking her over. "You were always stubborn, but you were never this insolent. You would never have dared speak back to me like this. That is because of her. She has made you disrespectful, filled your head with all sorts of lies. I love you. This… girl does not. I am your father, and you will treat me with my due respect."

"I will when you do the same for me."

The words tumbled out before she could stop them, and she had to admit that they felt good.

What felt less good was being slammed against the wall, her back hitting one of the work display cases. The familiar fear came back in an instant, but she wouldn't let him see it. Instead, she stared into icy blue eyes defiantly, ignoring the pang of a bruise forming on her lower back, before glancing up at that security camera and snapping out, "Don't fucking touch me."

He seemed to remember where he was and stepped back, smoothing down his suit jacket like he'd left it on the back of his chair and it had gotten wrinkled, not like he'd just slammed his daughter against the wall.

"Respect is earned, Marceline," Hunson's voice was level and calm, but she could see the fury in his gaze. But there was something else. A little bit of fear, maybe? "You will earn mine when you grow up and stop throwing your life away."

"Yeah?" She glared at him, the sting of the bruise on her back only fuelling her rebellion. "You'll earn mine when you stop being an abusive sack of shit. So I guess that's never."

As she turned and whirled out of the hallway, she took one last glance up at the security cameras.

Perhaps she would be breaking a couple more school rules before she left.

Bonnie looked at the papers in front of her, her brain only taking in the first line of the cover letter.

Congratulations! It is our great pleasure to offer you admission to UCLA.

She read the sentence over and over again, wiping her glasses clean a few times just to make sure it was really there. It took a while to sink in, and she was surprised by how absolutely over the moon she was. Or maybe she wasn't surprised. No, she was, but she was surprised at her excitement for this, compared to the excitement she'd felt when she'd received her Oxford offer.

She picked up her phone and immediately called the number she knew she needed to call. Then she remembered timezones were a thing and quickly checked her clock, doing the relevant maths and realising that Bubba would hopefully be free.

He answered her FaceTime call a few moments later, smiling that charming smile through the camera. She could tell he was at home, sat at his desk. "Bonnie! We didn't organise to talk today, did we?"

"No, it's a little bit impromptu, but… well, I needed your opinion on something," Bonnie said, and then reconsidered and added, "Well, actually, more like I needed to talk it out with someone who gets it."

Bubba nodded. "Okay. What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong. Actually, it's really good news. So, I told you I got into Oxford, but I just found out I was accepted to UCLA too. Which is where my girlfriend is going to be. Well, not at UCLA, but she's going to be in L.A." Bonnie said, and even though it was technically a secret, it wasn't like Bubba was going to look up Hunson Abadeer and tell him. "She's recording an album with her band. She leaves in a month."

"Oh, wow," Bubba commented, "so… you want to go to L.A.?"

"When she first mentioned it, I'd already started kind of looking at schools over here. Because I am… I am actually really happy here." Bonnie admitted quietly. "And I saw that UCLA was in the top ten for medicine, so I was going to apply anyway, before she told me she was going to go out to L.A. But Oxford was the dream for years, you know? And when I actually got in, I wasn't as… excited as I thought I'd be."

"Maybe because you knew if you didn't get in, you wouldn't have to choose between them," Bubba said, and Bonnie was pretty sure he was spot on. "In your heart, where do you really want to be? At Oxford, or UCLA?"

Bonnie tried to imagine both scenarios. At Oxford, she'd have Bubba. They'd room together, like they'd always planned, and have their study sessions again, and it would be nice to be with her best friend and go out and meet some likeminded people. But at UCLA, she'd have Marceline. She'd live with her girlfriend, fall asleep with her arms wrapped around her every night, come home to her after classes, listening to her create music with her best friends. There would be people in her classes with similar interests she could befriend. When she thought about L.A., there was a tug in her heart. One that just wanted to be there with Marceline.

"I want to be with her," Bonnie sighed finally, "but then I don't know if I'm being stupid and just wearing love goggles. I mean, if Lady told me she wanted to forget about her dream school for Jake, I'd tell her she was an idiot, that we're young and they'll probably break up a few months out of school. But then, some people do stay together. There are the rare few that make it, and what if Marceline and I are one of those, but I muck it up by creating that distance?"

"Didn't you say she was in a band? What happens after the album comes out? Usually a tour." Bubba said. "There's going to be distance anyway, whether you're creating it or she is."

He had a point there, too. Marceline wouldn't always be around. But if Bonnie was in Oxford, she'd never be around. "I just don't know."

"Have you spoken to her about it?" Bubba asked, and she saw his cheeky grin through the camera, "Or are you still freaking out over how confusing she is?"

"I talked to her about it when I got into Oxford," Bonnie said, biting down on her bottom lip. "She was so… sweet about it. She said she'd support me no matter what I chose, and even though I was worried that maybe things wouldn't work out, she made me feel better about it. That's kind of why… why I think maybe she and I would be the ones to make it. It's like I can feel in my heart that she's the person I'm supposed to be with. She's special. She anchors me, she takes care of me, and sometimes I just really want to see myself how she sees me, because she looks at me like I'm the one who put the stars in the sky."

"You know I'd never tell you to do something stupid, right?" Bubba asked, and when Bonnie nodded confusedly, he smiled. "Go to L.A. with her. I've never seen you like this, Bonnie. She's good for you, and you'll just get all mopey and miss her if you're at Oxford, and I don't want you yapping my ear off about it."

She knew the last part was mostly a joke, but she smiled and said, "You really think I should go?"

Hearing it from him made it seem less like she was blindly chasing after a high-school sweetheart, and more like a sensible idea. He just smiled at her through the camera. "Yes. I think you should go with her. But at the end of the day, it's up to you."

Bonnie nodded. "Okay. I think I'm going to talk about it when I see her next, but I… I think I know what I want. Thanks for talking things out with me."

"You know I'm always here," Bubba said, "and if you pick Oxford, let me know. They need to know you're going to be my flatmate."

"Yeah, I will," Bonnie smiled, "talk to you later, Bubba."

"Bye, Bonnie," He waved, before hanging up, and her phone switched back to the home screen. Her background was a picture of herself and Marceline, one that Lady had taken at lunch one day. Marceline was smiling at her so softly, and Bonnie was looking at her the same way. It was like the picture had captured how in love they were.

She placed her phone down on her desk and sighed. She'd talk to Marceline before making any final decisions, but she was fairly confident she had one.

"Surprise!"

Marceline blinked and looked up from her laptop. She'd been staring rather blankly at her final draft of her literature essay with the intention of proof reading. Really, she'd just zoned out into a daydream.

For a moment, she thought Bonnie was part of the daydream and she'd just seeped into reality. Usually, Marceline was the one to show up unannounced, and Bonnie called first to ask if she was busy.

"Um," Marceline stared at her, feeling her mouth tilting up into a smile, "hey."

"Hello," Bonnie held out the pizza box in her hands. It was rather large, but by now, she knew Marceline ate enough pizza for like, ten people. Or maybe ten families. "I brought dinner. I thought you deserved it after all of the hard work you've been doing. How many finals do you have left?"

"I need to go over this literature essay, but the words aren't really going into my brain," Marceline pushed her laptop aside and patted the bed next to her, "and I've got some history coursework to finish, and then my dad's stupid science finals. And music, but I'm not stressed about that, I could do that in my sleep."

Bonnie sat down and pushed the pizza box open, grabbing Marceline's television remote and Xbox controller. She'd taught her how to use it in the sense of getting Netflix on, but Bonnibel gaming was quite a hilarious affair. "You're well over halfway done, then. Your dad doesn't know why you're taking everything early, does he?"

Marceline grabbed a slice of pizza, the bruise on her back from a week prior still aching. She wasn't sure if she should tell Bonnie about it and glanced at the little black USB drive on her nightstand. After the determined fury had worn off, she wasn't sure why she'd broken into the main office and uploaded the section of footage from the camera onto the drive. It was weird. She'd never wanted her dad to get caught, never wanted him to have any consequences, not when she thought she'd deserved everything. But now she knew better and it was like she almost wanted to tell.

She thought of Marshall and looked away from the USB drive, but instead of the definite resolve not to tell anyone, to just take it all in silence, there was a tiny little temptation.

"He doesn't exactly know why," Marceline said slowly, and in manner of a joke, added, "if he did, I'd be locked in the basement."

Bonnie didn't laugh, just asked, "Citron hasn't said anything to him?"

"Surprisingly not," Marceline said, "Which is weird, because I thought they were best buddies."

"Hard to imagine your dad being best buddies with anyone," Bonnie muttered, grabbing a slice of pizza and leaning to rest her head on Marceline's shoulder. "That's good, though. That he doesn't know."

For a moment, Marceline almost told her he'd pushed her, but she knew that Bonnie would freak out. If she was going to tell, she didn't want to be anywhere near him when she did, and she didn't want Bonnie anywhere near him, either. She had no idea what Hunson Abadeer might do if he knew he had nothing to lose.

"Anyway," Bonnie said after she'd finished her slice of pizza, "I've got news."

"You do?" Marceline asked, and she hoped it was good news. "What's up?"

"I was accepted into UCLA," Bonnie said, and Marceline grinned. Definitely good news, then. "And I think I'm going to accept the place."

That was even better news, but despite how she wanted to be a little bit selfish and do a happy dance, she had to make sure. "You're not giving up Oxford for me, are you?"

"No. I'm giving up Oxford for me," Bonnie said, and with the softest smile, she pressed a kiss to Marceline's cheek. "You know I want to be with you, you goof. And it's not like I'm going to a sub-par school to stay with you. It's an amazing school, actually. To be honest, there wasn't really a question once I saw I'd been accepted."

"You're really coming to L.A?" Marceline asked, because she had to double check. Just to it would sink in. "Really?"

"Really," Bonnibel confirmed, "had to follow my heart, didn't I? That's you, if you didn't get that."

Marceline dropped her slice of pizza back into the box and pulled Bonnie in for a tight hug. "I didn't think you'd actually choose L.A. so I'm kind of shocked, give me a few minutes to remember how to function again."

"What? You didn't?" Bonnie laughed into her shoulder. "Come on, darling. It was obvious from the start. I was never going to choose the option that separates me from you. Never. I thought I'd made it quite clear that you're stuck with me. I'll even… pass me your computer."

Marceline pulled out of the hug and passed her laptop over to Bonnie, who logged into her personal email and scrolled down to the Oxford offer. Marceline watched in surprise as Bonnie declined the offer, and then went on and accepted the one from UCLA.

"There," Bonnie closed the lid of Marceline's laptop and passed it back. "All done."

"You really…" Marceline couldn't make herself get the words out, "wow."

"Mhm," Bonnie smiled, "I'll give you a few minutes to let it sink in. I assume we'll share a bedroom, yes? If the answer is no, I might have to ring Oxford and ask for my place back. I expect to fall asleep next to you every night."

"Yeah, totally," Marceline quickly nodded, even though Bonnie's words had mostly gone in one ear and out of the other. "You're really going to come to L.A."

Bonnie laughed. "Wow, you really didn't expect it, did you?"

Marceline blushed. "No, I thought… I thought you'd go to Oxford and I'd have to catch eleven-hour flights to see you. Which I'd do, obviously, but… damn."

"I want a life with you, Marceline," Bonnie said, and Marceline wondered if she really did, or if she was just trying to kill her by saying that. "Can't do that if I'm being a hermit in Oxford. I'm serious about you, and I know that you'll be away on tour sometimes but… at least I'll be able to keep your bed warm for you, and at least I know you'll always be coming back home to me. This… I don't think I could ever love anyone else the way I love you. I mean that."

"You won't have a life with me if you keep talking, because I'm actually going to get a heart attack," Marceline managed to get out, aware of how much she was blushing. God, how did this girl make her an embarrassing mess? "Bonnie…"

"You don't have to say it," Bonnie said, "but I know you feel the same."

"I do," Marceline said, and composed herself enough to pull Bonnie in for a wonderful kiss, "I really, really, really do."