Saturday, March 18th

Bonnie groaned as she walked through her door. After a full shift with some additional overtime, she felt absolutely exhausted. Today of all days, it seemed as if the most annoying, irritable and entitled customers walked through the cafe door. This also included some unwanted company.

Usually, the annoyance would wear off by the time she had closed and locked the door. Her philosophy was that you shouldn't bring personal baggage with you to work and work baggage back home-if possible. However, there was one customer that stuck out like a sore thumb. A very sore thumb at that. He had been coming in almost every day for the past week and even though Marceline had told her multiple times that she didn't need to worry about her safety, the fact that he kept showing up at her workplace didn't settle very well in the back of her mind.

Of course, because she was at work she had to remain polite and courteous to her customers, which unfortunately included Ash. He walked in and smiled at her as if she were a long lost friend. As if he hadn't claimed his undying love for her. As if he didn't try to-unsuccessfully-manipulate her. As if she hadn't seen her Marceline shove a gun straight into his chest and pull the trigger.

He came in at the most inconvenient times-or at least in her case. He came in when it was busy and then would try to strike up a conversation as she was rushing to fulfill orders. He would stay far too long and act as if he wasn't watching her. It became increasingly more uncomfortable for her with each visit. She started to doubt Marceline's assessment.

He was dangerous.

"Long day?" The voice made Bonnie flinch. "Whoa, you okay there?"

Marceline comfortably sat in the middle of the couch, her feet propped up onto the coffee table as she watched what looked to be Grey's Anatomy. She was already in her pj's; a white v-neck tee with cotton Star Wars sweats. Her hair was wet and messy from having previously taken a shower. Bonnie was definitely glad to see her but hadn't expected her to be home before her.

"Can we talk?" Bonnie sighed, placing her stuff on the ground and closing the door behind her.

"Did I do something?"

Bonnie blinked. "What? No, babe-Ash keeps showing up at my work, and this isn't like he's just grabbing coffee or that he was a regular before. He keeps talking to me and it's starting to freak me out a bit." Bonnie plopped down next to her girlfriend who pulled her into a loving embrace. She could feel her girlfriend's lips on the top of her head-an action that often calmed her nerves.

"Just tell him to fuck off." She mumbled into her hair.

"But I can't say that at work. Customer service-"

"Then tell Jake to. He's the manager and could kick him out or call the cops if necessary." Bonnie sighed into Marceline's collar as her girlfriend stroked her hair, getting her long fingers caught in her tangles. "I promise you don't have anything to worry about. Remember, I'm here. And I'm a Jedi master. See? My certification." She gestured to her sweats that read 'Jedi Master' on the side.

Bonnie managed a smile. "Hey, Marceline."

"Hm?" She hummed melodically.

"I need to ask you something-" Bonnie's phone started vibrating in her pocket. By the way it was persistingly vibrating she could tell someone was trying to call her. She really didn't want to answer but picked up when she saw that it was Keila. "Why is Keila calling...Hello?"

"Can you give the phone to shit-for-brains?" Was her immediate answer.

Marceline rolled her eyes and took the phone. "Yeah?"

Bonnie could sort of hear the other side of the conversation but was starting to nod off. Marceline was warm and smelled like home. At that moment, she was willing to ignore her homework and anything else on her mind just to fall asleep in her girlfriend's arms. She was so soft and comfortable that she could fall asleep at any moment...

"Bon,"

"Mm?"

"Why don't we go to bed?"

Bonnie hadn't noticed that Marceline's conversation had ended, seemingly for a while. She grumbled and pressed into Marceline's side to show her disdain. "I'm comfortable, so don't move. I want to fall asleep like this." She mumbled into her collar.

"Wait, before you go to sleep I need to tell you something."

"Mm, I guess that's okay." She hummed jokingly.

It went silent for a moment, which signaled to Bonnie that it was a serious topic and that she, unfortunately, couldn't fall asleep like she wanted to. The fact that Marceline became so rigid and her breathing so skewed, her mind began to rush to the worst.

"Phoebe kissed me last night..."

That definitely wasn't what she was expecting. Actually, in comparison, this was practically nothing. "This was when you were with Keila?"

"No, we were hanging out before that."

Should she have been feeling mad or jealous? Yes, she was tired, but Bonnie felt as if she should be feeling something negative. Get mad; that's the appropriate response, right? But...she couldn't muster up any ill will toward Marceline.

Bonnie pressed her lips against Marceline's collarbone, trying not to doze off again. "Well...did you initiate it?"

"Absolutely not. I would never do that, especially not to you."

"I'm not mad. I promise. Just start from the beginning, dear."

"She just thought you were my roommate."

"Why did she think that?"

"I just..." Marceline trailed off. "I think I was afraid to tell her otherwise."

"Badass Marceline was afraid to say she's in a loving relationship?"

"That I'm gay in general. It's not because of you." Marceline squeezed her tighter to emphasize her words. "I know it sounds unlike me."

"You're very self-assured, if not a little narcissistic."

Bonnie could practically feel Marceline roll her eyes at her.

"I usually am. I'm proud of who I am. Hell, I even stood up to my dad. Thankfully you haven't met him yet, because he can be super intimidating. But, I honestly don't know why I didn't just tell her."

"You're not ashamed of me, are you?"

"Not in the slightest. You're more than I could ever ask for. You're the most driven person I've ever met. And hardworking to the point of making yourself sick. When you have your eye on something nothing can deter you. Even when I shrugged you off and called you names and treated you, you kept pursuing me. You kept showing me love because you're overly compassionate and too sweet for your own good."

Their relationship was never based on mushy sappy thoughts. So uncovering the sweet bits of Marceline's rough sarcastic personality was nice when she got the chance. It made her heart race.

She pressed her lips against Marceline's jawline this time. "You're amazing. I love this."

"I love you."

Bonnie's breath hitched in her throat. Was she really going to say it? Is that what she felt? Although she didn't want to analyze her feelings, her mind started to race before she could even think of stopping it.

Even though focusing on college was Bonnie's main drive, she found that just like tonight, she would rather spend time with Marceline instead of focusing on her passion. Marceline over the course of the last few months had drastically changed Bonnie's point of view. When she was around her walls fell and she found herself gravitating toward her.

It wasn't dangerous or consuming like a black hole, but Marceline was radiantly soothing and refreshing. Even when she was acting like a complete jackass when they first met, she couldn't ignore the fact that she was drawn in like a moth to light.

For God's sake, you don't move in with a significant other unless you love them.

Then the thought finally struck her: Oh God, Marceline's my first love. Oh fuck, I am in love with her.

"I love you, Bon." Marceline managed to whisper through the silence. She could feel Marceline's heart beating heavily against her ribs. "You're not falling asleep, are you?"

"How could I? Your heart is about to jump out of your ribcage." On cue, her heart started beating just a little bit faster.

"I can't really control that."

"It's kind of cute."

"You're so unfair."

"What's unfair?"

"I don't know what you're feeling, but you know what I'm feeling."

Bonnie smiled, not that Marceline could see it, considering she was laying on her chest. "Wouldn't you like to know?" She teased, holding back laughter.

"Fill me in. Give me all the details."

Bonnie sat up and in one fluid motion grasped at the collar of Marceline's shirt, pulling her in. Marceline's warm lips pressed softly against Bonnie's. It wasn't until now that Bonnie realized that her breathing was really heavy, as if she had run a full marathon.

When she pulled back to look into her eyes, she noticed that the red in Marceline's eyes were softly glowing in the harsh living room lighting. Her cheeks were red and her eyes were soft and they stared back into Bonnie's. She had never seen her this patient.

Bonnie smiled and quirked her head to the side, her thumb grazing Marceline's cheek. "Of course I love you, Abadeer."

For a moment, she swore she could see Marceline's eyes crackle like a bonfire. All the warmth radiated off of the smile that appeared. "I know it's kind of implied, but...Bonnibel, you make me really happy."

"And I'll always strive to keep you happy."

"Promise?"

Bonnie found Marceline's hand and looped their fingers together. "Pinky promise."