I had to re-post this chapter 4 times now because the file wouldn't just copy and paste and ugh. It's been 4 years now and I maybe forgot how to use this website. Anyway... thanks to my quarantine and slight gay related motivation, I finally finished this chapter. after 4 years. Let me know if you guys want more, I'm on a roll now !
Chapter 8: The Lake
It was no surprise to anyone when they heard the blow of a pistol echoing down the halls. It was something that was to be expected, but what wasn't expected was Marceline and Bonnie walking back alone. What surprised them was the fact that Bonnibel walked back with her head down and red splattered across her face. She tried rubbing it off, but all it accomplished was smearing the still warm liquid across her cheek. Her eyes were bloodshot. She tried so hard to hold back from crying, but the tears managed to escape and run down her face.
Bonnibel never liked having to kill someone. She loathed it, but she had to push herself to the limits for the sake of everyone around her. She could have asked Marceline to do it, but she'd knew she didn't deserve to be put through that. Bonnibel had to do it herself, If she hadn't, if she just let him go, he could have infected other survivors and she wouldn't allow that. She knew the only choice was to put him down, and she hated that. She hating having to choose between life and death, because as much as she wants to choose life, death was the only option.
She was growing tired of this world.
When Marceline and Bonnibel returned, everyone saw the looks on their faces and they knew. No words needed to be said. Finn had stepped forward, but Marceline stopped him and just shook her head. The look on her face said enough, he didn't say anything.
Bonnibel used her shirt to wipe away any blood left on her pistol. She slammed the empty weapon down on the table as she leaned over it, holding herself up with her hands. She closed her eyes, allowing her salty tears drip onto the table beneath.
"That fucking idiot." Bonnibel mumbled to herself, trying to steady her breathing. Marceline slowly approached her friend from the side as she rested her palm on the edge of her shoulder. "Don't touch me." Bonnibel was quick to swat Marceline's hand away as she pulled her shoulder back. "Just don't…" Marceline took a step back as she mumbled some sort of apology. Bonnibel straightened out her back, leaving the weapon on the table. "I'm going to bed." Without any other words, she disappeared down the adjacent hall.
The survivors almost immediately jumped on Marceline, asking for answers, but she knew talking about it wasn't the best option right now. She didn't want to speak of it, at least not so soon. She was still trying to wrap her head around what just happened. The others understood that, and backed off.
Everyone felt the tension in the air. They wanted to speak, to break the silence, but nobody knew what to say. They had just lost two members in one day. That hasn't happened in well over a year.
Marceline slouched down into the table, head in hands. Finn got the nerve to take an empty seat next to the newer girl. He awkwardly placed his hand on her shoulder to try and comfort her.
"Has she always been like this?" She hesitated. "Bonnie, I mean." Marceline found herself saying out loud. It was true, Marceline had the chance to meet Bonnibel a few times in the past, but she'd never really had the chance to get to know Bonnibel.
"She's always been frustrated, yes. She's always been uptight. I mean, she has mellowed out a lot in the last year or so. I guess she just stopped caring so much about surviving." Finn sighed. "I've never seen her cry though. That's… that's new. She's always been strong. I guess she's finally breaking. I don't blame her, really. We've all reached that point already. She's suffered a great lost this week, I'd be concerned if she didn't cry." Finn has been around for quite some time. He joined up with Bonnibel and Fionna just a few months after the infection spread country wide. Him, Jake, and the rest of his family were over run. They wouldn't have made it out of there if it weren't for Fionna and Bonnibel. They'd all be dead by now if it weren't for them.
"So you think it's because of today?"
"Not just today. It was Fionna. You never got to meet her personally, but I'm sure Bonnibel is this way now because she's.." Finn paused a moment, trying to recollect his thoughts. "…gone."
"Fionna, the one Bonnibel was with when I had rescued her." Marceline slouched in the chair.
"Yeah," Finn Nodded, crossing his arms. "Bonnibel loved her. She'd thought we would have never noticed but we all knew. Just the way she'd look at Fionna was enough to tell. I thought she felt the same but… what Phoebe said the other day, I guess I was wrong."
"Oh man. I had no idea. Man, now I feel like a total jerk." Marceline hid her face in her filthy hands, cursing at herself under her breath. "She'd just lost someone she loved and we… wait, why? I mean like- you know what I mean you did walk in on us."
"Your guess is as good as mine, Marceline." Finn blushed as he was reminded of what he witnessed a few days ago. "But uh, my best guess would be that she was just overwhelmed with emotion. You know, too many things were going through her head and she needed something to forget. You were there, so you helped her forget, even if it was just for a night." Marceline didn't respond to Finn. She realized he was probably right, and Bonnibel really did feel like it was a mistake, though Bonnie didn't necessarily regret it.
"Would it be so bad if I checked on her?"
"I don't think she should be alone right now, so no. I think you should. Just…be careful." Finn patted Marceline on the shoulder as he stood up. "One more thing, if she isn't in her room, check the library. Sometimes she likes to hide out there for a while. It's down the hall and to the right. Big double doors and big glass windows. You can't miss it." Finn smiled at Marceline. He turned around and walked over to the rest of the group.
Marceline thanked Finn before he walked away, then made her way to the library. She hadn't bothered checking Bonnies room. She had a feeling she wouldn't be in there anyways and didn't want to waste time.
Marceline approached the double doors Finn mentioned. She cupped her hands on the glass windows, peering through for any sight of Bonnie. Her eyes stopped when she noticed a small lounge area, with a small, graying couch and a brown bean bag chair. She noticed Bonnibel sitting on the end of the couch with an opened book spread out on her lap.
Marceline pushed in one of the doors and entered the library. The sound of the closing door spooked Bonnibel and Marceline watched as she quickly looked up and closed her book.
"It's just me." Marceline gave a half smile as she raised her hands level with her head.
"You made me lose my page." Bonnibel growled as she reopened her book, flipping through the pages. Marceline stepped closer and took the opened seat on the couch next to her.
"You and I both know you were just staring at it like it was a blank page." Bonnibel closed her eyes and sighed, closing the book once again.
"I'm not sure why I even try anymore. I miss reading, but I never get the chance to." Bonnie slouched down, resting her head on the back of the couch. Marceline didn't say anything back. She didn't know what to say. She knew nothing would help. She's been in this situation before, but under much different circumstances.
They sat there for such a long time in silence, time passed by without them noticing. It was getting dark now, and sooner or later the little light coming from the sky light will fade.
"You want to go do something fun?" Marceline rested her elbow on the back of the couch, leaning the side of her head on her opened hand.
"Fun? You're kidding, right?" Bonnibel almost sounded disgusted.
"As serious as ever." Marceline smirked. "You'll just have to trust me, okay? I assure you it is safe, no harm will come to you or me. Besides," She picked a dried flake of blood off of Bonnie's cheek, "You need a bath."
"Marceline it's getting dark we can't just leave. It's unsafe."
"Then we go tomorrow morning, when the sun is up." Marceline stood up, reaching a hand out to Bonnibel. "Trust me?" Bonnibel hesitated, but accepted Marceline's open hand.
XXXXX
"Oh no, you are not blind folding me and dragging me into the woods." Bonnibel pushed Marceline's hand away, which held her sweaty bandanna. "As far as I know you're leading me to my own demise." She crossed her hands.
"Oh come oh, Bonnie. It's worth it, I promise. No harm will come to you." Marceline offered the bandanna once again, this time she puffed out her bottom lip and gave Bonnie those puppy dog eyes that she found herself being unable to resist.
"Don't look at me like that. It's not going to work." Bonnibel rolled her eyes. "Seriously, stop it." Marceline refused, continuing on with her puppy dog face. "I said no." Marceline still didn't break. "Ugh, fine!" Bonnibel threw up her hands in defeat. "But you're tying it."
Marceline smiled in content as she covered Bonnies eyes with her bandanna. She grabbed her by the hand and started walking through the trees. It didn't take them long to get there, though it did feel like forever for Bonnibel. After about the third time Bonnibel almost tripped on a fallen branch she couldn't see, she started getting antsy about where they were going.
"Marceline come on, we've been walking for an hour." Bonnibel complained.
"It's literally been like ten minutes, we are almost there." She was right, they were practically there already, Bonnibel was just getting impatient. Only after another minute of walking, Marceline stopped and pulled Bonnie in front of her. "Okay, stand right here." She helped adjust Bonnie in the right position before pulling off her bandanna. She untied the back, pulling it down and shoving it in her back pocket.
What Bonnibel saw caused a small glimmer to show in her eye. She looked around in amazement, she hadn't seen something so beautiful, so peaceful, in a very long time. She stood on a small cliff, only dropping down about a foot and a half. Below it was a small rock bed covered in debris from the tall trees surrounding. The smooth rocks were met by a small lake, water smooth like glass. A couple yards down a small doe and her fawn were drinking from the water. A flock of birds flew high above their heads and soon disappeared behind the trees.
"Marceline this is…wow." Her eyes met with Marceline. She realized the dark haired girl had that same glimmer in her eye, but she wasn't admiring the natural scenery. No, she had been watching Bonnibel this entire time, admiring her as Bonnies face lit up at the sight.
"It gets better." Marceline smirked before stripping down in to just her underwear. She leaped off the small cliff edge. "It's spring water!" She half shouted as she made her way into the freezing cold water. She had hoped Bonnie would follow her in. "The dead can't swim, Bonnie."
Bonnies mouth was wide open as she watched Marceline so freely strip down and run off like that. She pushed off the slight blush making it's way to her cheeks.
"This is insane, Marceline." She mumbled as she liberated herself from most of her clothing and made her way across the rock bed and into the water. "Holy mother of glob, that's freezing!" Bonnies abdomen muscles clenched at the sudden temperature drop. She forced herself deeper in the water, trying her best to ignore the freezing temperatures.
"You know it's easier if you dunk your head." Marceline smirked at the shivering red head.
"Absolutely not." Bonnibel crossed her arms, hugging herself to keep warm. "Marceline, don't you dare." She shook her head at her friend, who had been looking oh so mischievous. When Marceline took a step closer, Bonnie took a step back. Only when she had, she slipped on a slimy rock resting at the bottom of the stream. Bonnibel fell backwards into the freezing water, going completely under. She was quick enough to shoot up out of the water almost immediately, cursing at herself. She ran her fingers through her now soaking wet hair, pushing it back out of her eyes.
"Oh my god! Are you okay?" Marceline couldn't help but laugh.
"Okay? I'm freezing!" Bonnibel hugged herself, shivering from the ice cold water. It didn't take much longer for her body to get accustomed to the water. Marceline smiled wide at the red head before dunking her own head underneath the ice cold water.
"You've gotta admit though, it feels great." Bonnibel just rolled her eyes at the mischievous one. The two began using the water to clean the layers of dirt, sweat, and blood of their bodies. They did this in silence for only a few minutes before Bonnie noticed Marceline looking at her with slight confusion in her eyes. "What're you starring at?" Bonnibel said shyly.
"I know why we didn't recognize each other at first." The black haired woman tilted her head to the side, watching Bonnibel closely. "For one, you were pretty shit faced at that party." Marceline joked, getting a disapproving look from her friend. She stood up out of the water, now level to her waist. "You had that face nobody could forget. I wouldn't forget your face. I didn't."
"Marcy, what's your point?" Bonnibel crossed her arms, covering her chest.
"My point is I'm not one to forget a face. Especially not a face as beautiful as yours." Marceline stepped closer, the water rippling around her. She was only a few inches away from Bonnibel now. She didn't want to over step her boundaries, because what she was doing now was enough to do so. She noticed a small blush creep up on Bonnibels cheeks, though. She lifted her arm, rubbing her thumb across Bonnibel's damp cheek, removing some left over blood. "I didn't recognize you at first because, well, you were just dirty."
"I'll assume that's a compliment…" Bonnibel took a step back, putting space between her and Marceline. She was still trying to hide the very obvious fact that she was blushing. Hard.
Marceline remembered that night like it was just yesterday. She remembered how beautiful Bonnie looked. She was one to stick out from the crowd, and it wasn't because of the dyed hair. From the first moment she ever made contact with those deep blue eyes she craved contact with this woman, and it wasn't because of the alcohol in her system. Even now, Bonnibel is the most beautiful woman she has ever had the pleasure of seeing.
But Marceline knew she couldn't do anything about it. It would be wrong of her to pursue Bonnibel, especially knowing that she lost a loved one. She needs to give her time to move on and that could be months, years even. They both could be long dead by then.
Bonnibel took another step back, only to slip on yet another slippery submerged rock in the lake. She quickly latched onto Marceline out of reflex, only to bring the woman down with her. The two fell back into the cold water, the dark haired woman now awkwardly laying on top of Bonnibel. Realizing the position she was in, Bonnibel pushed Marceline off and stood back up on her feet, gasping for air as her head rose from the water. Marceline soon followed.
"Ow." Bonnibel groaned. "Shit, I'm sorry. I was trying to grab onto you for balance, I didn't expect to bring you down with me." She apologized.
"Don't worry about it." Marceline twisted her hair, wringing out the water that now soaked it. "You okay? You didn't hit your head, did you?"
"No, no. I'm okay, that rock about bruised my ass thought." Bonnibel joked. She rubbed her rear, it was a little sore from the impact. She noticed Marceline perked up and suddenly became before alert.
"Hey, shush. Did you hear that?" Marceline slowly made her way back to the shoreline, trying to listen closely to the sound.
"I don't hear anything, Marce." Marceline tried not to blush at the nickname.
"It sounded like someone stepped on a twig. Stay here, stay low." Marceline exited the lake, climbing up the cliff edge and over to their discarded clothing. She pulled out Bonnibels pistol from underneath her pants. She held it in position and started to scout the area. She couldn't lie to herself, she felt pretty ridiculous having to track down something in the middle of the woods, in her underwear. She stepped quietly around the trees, readying herself for anything that might lunge towards her.
The one thing the tall woman wasn't expecting though, was a cute fuzzy little fox, darting across the path she had been walking. Out of all things, a fox is what startled her. Marceline jumped back, muttering a few curse words at the animal. She lowered the borrowed weapon as she tried to slow her heart rate. It wasn't long after she calmed her nerves when she felt a gently hand on her shoulder. Marceline quickly spun around, aiming the weapon at the figure behind her, only to be met with those pretty blue eyes that had her swooning.
"Fuck, Bonnie. You should not sneak up on someone like that."
"Sorry! Sorry." The red head apologized as she raised her hands in defense.
"I told you to stay behind." Marceline walked passed her friend and back over to their pile of clothes that were scattered about.
"I heard you yell, I was worried." Marceline blushed at the idea of Bonnie being worried about her. "What happened?" She asked
"Just a fox." The woman sighed as she lifted her shirt and sliding it over her head. "Does anyone in your group know how to hunt? That could come in handy one day."
"We do hunt." Bonnibel paused, thinking back to the hunting trips that Phoebe and Fionna would go on together. They would be gone for an entire day and come back the next morning with mostly squirrels, sometimes a rabbit. Never large animals however, they were always hard to drag back to camp. "We used to," Bonnie hesitated to finish her sentence.
"Used to?" Marceline persisted.
"Yeah, uhm," Bonnibel swalled the lump caught in the back of her throat. "Phoebe and Fionna knew how to. They'd do all the hunting."
"I'm sorry." Marceline noticed the change in tone from Bonnie. She was clearly upset even thinking about it. Once she pulled her pants up to her waist, she sat down on the edge of the cliff, allowing her feet to dangle over the rock bed beneath. She patted the spot next to her, inviting her friend to come sit next to her.
"It's fine, there's nothing you need to apologize for." Bonnibel finished getting dressed, sliding her weapon into its holster after retrieving it back from Marceline. She accepted the dark haired womans invitation and sat next to her.
"Did she have a bow?" Marceline asked, realizing she still hasn't put on her shoes.
"They both had their own bow, obviously Phoebe took hers with her when she left." Bonnibel scoffed at the name leaving her mouth.
"So you still have Fionna's?"
"Yes, I suppose I do." Bonnibel was hesitant about this conversation, talking about Fionna still hurt. She hadn't even gone into her room yet, who knows if Phoebe took some of her things.
"Bonnie, I know this might be a lot to ask but," Marceline sighed, leaning her arms back to prop herself up with her hands. "Do you think I could use it?"
"You know how to use a bow?" Bonnibel acted surprised.
"I'm no pro archer, but I've had practice." Marceline thought back to her friend, Keila. "I had this friend back in the good ol' days. She was the guitarist in my band, but she knew her way around a bow. Gave me a few pointers and stuff." Marceline bit her lip as she looked over to her friend. "I could maybe teach you to use it, so we can still hunt and maybe not starve to death."
Bonnibel sat in silence for a few moments, thinking it over. Learning how to use Fionnas bow… it would be nice to have something of hers to remember her by, no matter where she ends up in the future. She gently nodded her head.
"Yeah, we can do that."