Thursday, September 20th

What was I thinking...

The younger Abadeer stared off in that girl's general direction, studying her. She was a klutz and had always been one, he noted, cocking his head to the side. This day, in particular, she was dropping all of her books onto the floor for the fourth time since she had been in the library. Sputtered out apologies, she quickly attempted to gather herself.

"I-I'm sorry!" Fionna scrambled to pick up the books she dropped. Marshall watched and studied her instead of studying for his test that was within the next hour. For some reason, even now he couldn't detach himself from her gaze.

This whole time she had known he was in there. She knew he was watching. She also knew he wouldn't say a word. That was fine, it didn't matter either way.

Marshall's eyes wandered over her general direction until a shelf covered his view of her, then found himself watching Garrison, who's nose was currently stuck in a book.

"Do you think I should-"

"Move on." Garrison replied softly-eyes unwavering from the text.

Marshall could only nod, knowing Garrison was, of course, right. He was always right...even when his conclusions seemed cold and confusing. He ended up being right every damn time.

His head collapsed in his hands as he stared blankly at the open book in front of him. He couldn't comprehend what was in front of him, no matter how many times he read it. His head was too jumbled up in thoughts of her. Sure, they only dated a week or so, but she was fun to be around. Pure of heart.

Even when these urges told him to go after her, he found he respected her more than any woman he had ever been with. That's why he kept his distance. He didn't want to hurt her more. She was probably trying to move on too.

That still didn't explain why she would nonchalantly make small glances toward his direction.

As charming as Marshall was, he would get nowhere sitting around dreading his mistakes. Sure, maybe he was reading her body language wrong, but he really thought he had a chance to win her back.

The young Abadeer stood, striding over to her, confidence ringing in every dull footstep. No preparation or pep talk was needed. All he did is exactly what his mind told him to do, kiss her.


Thinking it through his action would have saved him a red mark on his face. Her handprint perfectly glowed on his cheek and partially on his nose and lips. After hitting him once, she decided to hit him again for good measure, realizing a slap would have been useless.

His black eye wasn't completely formed yet, turning purple by the minute under his eye. The bruising would eventually turn yellow for sure. She really hadn't held back.

The throbbing pain didn't subside as he took his test, it only distracted him. He knew most of the material, not in great detail, but knew a good portion. After all, he was thinking of minoring in philosophy now.

He tried as hard as he could to focus throughout his test, but the throbbing pain turned into a deep pain-a soon to be migraine. He hated to rush through a test, half-assing the answers, but what else was he to do?

As he left he saw Garrison chuckle, and he knew then that he needed to move on and distract himself.

That whole situation was a complete disaster and he'd rather not repeat the awful words she has spat his way. He didn't know she would be so upset. All of his past relationships were like that: flirting with other girls when he was obviously dating one. They were all casual open relationships. All of them.

Marshal found himself in front of Simon's door, walking in without a word and sitting himself in front of Simon.

"I messed up."

Simon blinked and adjusted his glasses, cleaning them for a long moment before settling them back on the bridge of his nose. Taking a deep breath, he clasped his hands together in front of him on his desk. "How can I help?" His smile was genuine and caring, this is why Marshal grew so fond of him after the 'dad Incident' a few years back.

He was a caring man that took Marceline and him in without question, fully loving them as his own. Accepting every nook and cranny of their personalities. How humanitarian of him. He was a good man, and he wished he could be like Simon. Genuinely.


Sunday, September 23rd

"Shit fuck," Marceline whispered under her breath. She began to erase what she had written down and begun writing down a similar formula in its place.

Bonnie looked up from her book to check on her roommate who continued to curse under her breath at her homework for the next few moments.

The Sigma Kappa dorm was currently empty, mostly due to the fact that all of the girls went home that weekend. God, it was almost fall break already. A few weeks away and Marceline would be relaxing at Simon's with a hot chocolate clasped in between her hands. Oh, how she loved hot chocolate.

With a sigh, she pushed books as far away from her as possible in frustration. Running her hand through her hair, she took the time to glance over at Bonnie.

"Are you here every weekend, nerd?"

Bonnie barely gave acknowledgment to her comment, only a small delayed shrug.

Marceline didn't know her roommate well enough to know how she usually acted in most situations. For all she knew Bonnie could be practically mute. She was so quiet when she studied, so concentrated. So much so, at times it came off as if Marceline wasn't even present.

The rocker watched as the pinkette typed down some odd-looking equations on her computer screen. It looked more like programming than actual chemistry-or she assumed by her major that what appeared on her screen should have been chemistry.

"You usually get onto me when I cuss." Marceline pried.

Again the other girl shrugged, typing away. Marceline still wasn't great at talking to her, not that she really had an urge to do that often.

A hand reached out toward the pinkette and landed on her laptop, gently closing it. Bonnie's eyes shot up to give her some sort of look that crossed between a glare and surprise. Her eyes had a reddish hue red, most likely from a lack of blinking.

"What was that for?" Bonnie's expression settled on a pout.

She's kinda cute when she...Marceline stopped herself from continuing. The rocker tried her best to think of a reason why she would think that. There was none at the moment.

"Dinner?"

Bonnie eyed the musician, studying her again. After all, she had never asked her to do...well anything. The sudden change was more than alarming, even to Marceline.

"Yeah, let me just get my-"

"I'll pay," That was too quick of a response, Marceline thought.

"I have a meal plan. I was going to get my ID card." Bonnie cocked her head to the side. "Everything alright?"

Marceline gave a slight nod. Why was she acting like such an idiot today? "Hunger makes your brain stupid is all. Must be why I'm hanging out with you." She muttered casually as if she hadn't just insulted her.

By the sparkle in her eye, Marceline could tell that Bonnie took interest in her terrible answer.

"I'm sure there was a nicer way for you to phrase that, Abadeer. But I'm not really in the mood to analyze or fight you on it. If you give me a moment then I'll go with you. Don't leave without me."

Marceline was more than thankful. "Will do."


Somehow, even with Bonnie stuffing a burger the size of her head into her mouth, she avoided getting food all over her clothes. Her face, on the other hand, didn't escape the carnage. Mustard was smeared on the side of her cheek and ketchup served as lipstick. This was the messiest Marceline had ever seen her.

She expected that Bonnie was a preppy 'my parents are rich' kind of girl, where she would throw money around and be a stuck up bitch, but she wasn't. Bonnie wasn't like that at all, surprisingly. In fact, she worked part-time at the Coffee Kingdom Jake managed. Bonnie hadn't told her that. Marceline figured that out when she walked passed the little shop while with Keila a week earlier.

Marceline, as much as she hated admitting something such as this, misjudged Bonnie. Only now were they starting to form some type of relationship. She was even debating the notion of labeling her as a friend.

However, even though they lived together, she felt as if she barely knew Bonnibel. All she really knew was that she was an honors student all throughout high school, went to Ohio State the first two years of college, changed her major and then transferred to the best college in her department-which happened to be UC.

Well, maybe Marceline knew just enough.

"Want my tomatoes?"

Without hesitation, Marceline reached over and grabbed them off her roommate's plate. "I'll take them off your hands." She supposed she could add it on to her pile of tomatoes already on her burger.

Bonnie took another enormous bite of her meal, barely making a difference in its mass.

"Hey Bonnie," Marceline chuckled. "You have a little something on your face."

"Get it off then."

Marceline's brain scattered. "Uh...what?"

Bonnie raised an eyebrow. "I said, 'I'll get it off then'."

Marceline blinked. "Right." She hadn't noticed how loud it was in the cafeteria. In the background they could hear clattering dishes and silverware from the other diners along with others attempting to talk over the noise, only making it louder.

Marceline's foot started tapping rapidly under the table. It couldn't be helped. Bonnie wasn't being all that talkative today, and Marceline was terrible at keeping up conversations.

Bonnie shifted her weight in her chair and Marceline's foot accidentally tapped hers.

Shit...

Bonnie tried to hold back a smile as she taped Marceline's foot back. The rocker gulped, not that she would be able to hear it.

"I thought only middle schoolers played footsie?" Bonnibel commented.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Marceline retorted, "You're the one who played along."

"Touche."

It went back to silence between then. Marceline didn't tap her foot this time, or any limb in that matter. She instead watched as Bonnie wiped her face with a napkin, missing a few spots. The rocker cracked a smile when her phone buzzed.

Keila: Are you going to Simon's tonight? Or will you skip to go to a concert with me? I have extra tickets.

Marceline beamed. She had known Keila scored tickets a month before to a big concert at the edge of town. Keila had close relations to some roadies and workers inside of arenas. Naturally, she would score some great concerts every so often and Marceline was the first to be invited.

Marceline: How many tickets are we talking?

Keila: Guy, Me and 2 others, we already invited Marshal. I was thinking about bringing Rain and Jake but they're canoodling at the moment. Have anyone in mind?

Marceline eyed Bonnie across the table, who was also on her phone.

Marceline: You're cool with Bonnie, right?

Her phone buzzed as soon as she locked the screen.

Keila: We've only talked a few times. Is she your date?

Marceline choked on her spit. She tried to type out a mess of curses while countering a coughing fit. My date... "Doing anything tonight?" Marceline managed through the midst of her coughing fit.

"Well, I was thinking of studying-"

"I can't even begin to explain how lame that statement is." She interrupted, earning a pout from her roommate. "I'm dragging you to a concert. Keila has extra tickets and-"

"And?"

"And you're coming with me as my-" Don't you dare say date. "plus one."

Bonnie shrugged, seemingly okay with the concept of doing something quite out of the ordinary for her. "I'm in. We just need to stop by the dorm for my jacket."

Marceline stood from her seat as her phone buzzed. It was Guy this time. It read: Starts in 20. Meet me at the back entrance. -G

Guy still has a text tag on his messages? How fucking lame.

"Actually," Marceline started to gather her things. "we should leave now. I have an extra jacket in my car you can borrow."

Bonnie gave a nod, cleaning up her area of the table before making her way out of the cafeteria with Marceline. They both walked briskly across campus to her car.

When Marceline walked over to unlock her hellcat, Bonnie stopped in her tracks as if unbelieving. It was a glossy red that reflected any and all light that bounced off of it. It's slender body gleamed and screamed 'loud, fast and dangerous'. This matched Marceline's mysterious badass rocker vibe all too well.

"You coming?" Marceline asked, eyebrow raised.

Fighting through whatever her issue was, she gave a nod and settled herself in the passenger seat. Marceline could tell she was giving a silent prayer beside her, most likely begging any God that Marceline was a good driver.


They met Guy as planned near the back entrance of the shady looking venue. Unlike what Bonnie had expected, there weren't any gatekeepers or people begging their way into the scene. Then again, the venue was smaller than she expected. It wasn't a stadium. It was a decent-sized one-story building and it looked like most of the people who would be arriving were already in.

The place didn't offer enough paved parking spots to their paying guests, so they parked in the gravel parking lot. Marceline cursed under her breath about it up until they parked.

From the outside, you could hear a slight thump from inside the building; soft but audible.

A man of shorter than average height stood by the entrance with his phone in hand with a darker-skinned woman at his side, presumably Keila.

"Hey!" He yelled, meeting us halfway across the lot. "They're starting."

To her knowledge, Bonnie had never met Guy before. He held the confident yet stern look that both Marceline and Keila possessed. He wore a plain white T-shirt with regular jeans, ripped and slightly baggy. His shaggy brunette hair blew in the wind majestically, showing his dark green eyes.

Marceline gave a toothy grin to her friends. "I figured we'd be late. Thanks for the tickets though. We really appreciate it."

Keila rolled her eyes. "Well, I figured you didn't want to see your dad after last week's fiasco."

The young Bennett wasn't sure what she meant. Marceline came home as per usual last week with an unusually bright smile on her face. Maybe her happiness was unrelated. She did recall a few weeks back when Marceline had troubles with her father...perhaps that was what she was referencing.

"I'd rather not talk about that. Besides, I love hanging out with you idiots."

Bonnie wouldn't lie, that was her favorite expression that she had seen from Marceline: that sarcastic grin that possessed her any time she would make a sly remark. Although she usually saw her roommate with a focused or irritated look on her face, from the month they've been living together, she found that Marceline's little smirks gave her butterflies.

And from that observation alone, she could tell that she must have some kind of feelings for her. Feelings that she would bottle up for as long as she could. With how Marceline glared most times she saw Bonnibel in her vicinity, she could only assume Marceline would not return her feelings anytime soon.

Keila bumped her arm into Marceline's as they handed their tickets to the security guard. "Don't lie, Abadeer. I know you like having me around. Deep down in that pit of a soul of yours."

Marceline shoved her hand back in her pocket, her black leather jacket reflecting a dull light as she moved. "You wish."

This was a rave. Yes, there was no doubt about it. Bonnie could tell as soon as they walked in, the smoke pouring out as the door opened. She knew it when Marceline gave side glances to Keila as all of them submerged themselves in the venue, smoke, sweaty bodies and all.

Keila and Guy instantly started to dance, Keila just jumped, trying not to step on other people's feet. Guy, on the other hand, bobbed his head, grooving and moving his arms and feet to his own horrifically choreographed dance, not that she could judge.

Marceline looked at Bonnie, biting the inside of her cheek as if thinking.

"Have you ever been to a rave before?" She yelled over the music, still barely audible. All Bonnie could do was give an awkward smile in reply. Obviously not, Marceline. The rocker's hand suddenly reached out to grab Bonnie's arm to pull her closer.

Bonnie's blush at their physical contact went unnoticed. The lighting in the room was too dim and flashy for anyone else but her to know. Still, her whole body tensed up in response.

"We'll stand next to the bar. There's more room there. No one will step on you." She said in her ear. Marceline then proceeded to push past the dancers around her, holding onto Bonnie so she could follow. She now understood why she was able to get through the crowd so well at other parties they visited.

As she stated, the bar was more vacant than expected. Only one man was sitting there, talking up a storm with the bartender, obviously drunk and upset about something.

"Sorry," Marceline started. "I thought this would be more of a concert setting. If you're not comfortable I'll be more than happy to take you back. This isn't really my scene either-"

"Let's go dance, okay?"

For the first time, Bonnie actually saw her roommate look stunned. Giving a nod, they both went back onto the pool of people on the dance floor.

There wasn't much room to move, so they were really only able to sway.

She could tell Marceline was laughing at her when she tried to come up with some lame move on her own. Bonnie unmeaningly bumped into the taller girl multiple times, profusely apologizing to her with every instance. As if she could control how packed the venue was. She had even stepped on her feet, but to her surprise, Marceline never commented on it. Sometimes she would even laugh at Bonnie's sputtering.

It was definitely a nice change from her usual glares. Of course, Bonnie knew the rocker would never admit that she was enjoying her company this much. Maybe she was beginning to change her mind about her roommate.

People slowly began to make their way out through the night, Bonnie was coughing out the smoke and the music major practically had to carry her out. She had no help thanks to Keila leaving with Guy a half-hour back.

Bonnie was sure Keila and Guy were dating. Marceline barely seemed to notice. Then again, she didn't seem like the most observant person in these situations.

The pinkette wasn't sure what she had inhaled in the venue, but she felt a little better as she walked out.

"They really overused that fog machine." Marceline chuckled. "Fun though?"

Marceline had her arm wrapped around Bonnie's waist. From the racing in her heart, Bonnie couldn't shake the thought of how her touch seemingly simmered against her skin. Every slight movement was electrifying and noticeable. "Absolutely. Wanna hear a secret?" She didn't wait for a response. "Someone thought I was cute and bought me a drink."

Marceline couldn't help but laugh. "Well shit, you're a lightweight." Bonnie felt as her roommate's fingers moved across the seams of her shirt.

Bonnibel nodded, hugging Marceline's side. "Well, it was more like two drinks. I didn't have the guts to tell him I was interested in someone else."

"Oh? Pray tell." The rocker asked, something curious shining in her red-tinted eyes.

Bonnie bumped into the rocker with her hip. It bought her an extra second to decide if she should say anything about her feelings tard her. So she chose a name at random. "I dunno-Braco is kinda cute," She found herself saying, instantly regretting it. Not that, Marceline knew who that was. "Kidding," She recovered, bumping into Marceline again. "I'm way too gay for him."

"I knew it."

"What? That I'm gay?" Marceline gave a nod of confirmation. "Was it that obvious?"

She shrugged, squeezing the smaller girl tighter in her grip when their feet hit the gravel. Each step sent a loud crunch into the cold night air. "Do you want me to say no?"

Bonnie stopped in her steps, forcing Marceline to let go of her. "It would be super sweet of you."

"I'm not sweet, princess." She scoffed.

A small smile exploded on the little Bennet's face. "Why 'Princess'?"

"I don't know man, I came up with the nickname a while ago. It just stuck."

Bonnie leaned closer to the rocker, flirtatiously. "I like it." It had to have been noticeable in the way she looked at her roommate.

Marceline's sharply inhaled. By that reaction, she was unsure if that was a blatant rejection or good response. "Let's head back, yeah?"

Bonnie gave a slight nod, disappointed Marceline didn't return with a flirty response. "Lets."


Marshal sighed a breath of relief. His father was too busy with a client tonight to come to Simon's dinner. He instead stayed in his dorm room. Alone.

Garrison was gone for the weekend. His parents surprised him with a party when he went home Friday night. It was his birthday after all.

Marshal had gotten him a starter chemistry set as a joke. Turns out, Garrison needed some materials in there to help out with some...thing. He couldn't remember the word he called it. To him, it wasn't interesting enough to remember. He should probably work on paying more attention to his friend.

The past few days were hazy and not the greatest.

The test he took Thursday dropped his grade from an 83, which he had worked hard on. He didn't necessarily pass his test with flying colors, but it wasn't the worst grade either. He was just grateful that he was still passing.

His eye was now yellow in some places and wasn't as swollen as it had been the past few days. He received unwanted attention from other girls, even some he had dated in the past. For some reason, he shot every one of them down.

It felt wrong to take the kindness they offered.

Maybe after all of those years of sexual ambiguity, he had found some sustenance. That had to be it. That had to be it...

He hated being like this, sulking in his room over a girl that he dated for a very short amount of time. Sure, he had known her for some time before then, but there was no reason to be sulking the way he had.

Marshal's hand reached into his pocket to pull out his phone, dialing a number and letting it ring. She picked up on the second ring.

"Hey, you didn't show. Keila saved you a ticket."

"I changed my mind," Was his simple reply. "Sorry, you know I don't like canceling last minute-"

"Yeah I know, everyone knows." He tried not to think what that meant. He was sick of thinking about it.

"Garrison went home for the weekend and I wasn't in the mood to be in a crowded place. I thought maybe..." He trailed off, letting his fingers clasp the bridge of his nose. "Listen-I know you don't drink often and I'm not asking you to. I just-"

"Marshal," His sister stopped him from babbling. "Let me drop off Bonnibel at the dorm and I'll head that way."

"Thanks, Marce, I already have brandy so you don't have to buy any."

"Cool. See you soon." The call dropped and the room filled with silence.


Review Time!

Silver Blue Eyed Wolf: Sorry for the late update. My car set on fire and I've been trying to figure out that fiasco. Glad you like it!

DarkestAngel18: I'm also really super sorry about the update. As i said, I just figured out my car situation for work. I hope you like this update!