09.26.2016

Today, after over a full week of sitting home doing nothing, Ash was finally able to work again. It still hurt like hell, but the doctor told him that wasn't as bad as it seemed. Of course, rumors had already spread like wildfire about his broken nose, but Ash and Marceline had decided that it was "An accident". Like that Marceline wouldn't have to explain the whole story over and over again. Nobody would get on their nerves too much. He didn't need anyone else for that. Ash was already pretty annoyed as it was.

At first, Ash had been angry at his girlfriend, but after getting help from Dr. Gross that quickly changed. As the painkillers kicked in, he noticed how worried his girl had been the whole time.

I was an idiot. She hates surprises, I know that. But I just had to prove her otherwise... Had it coming, I guess. He always had the bad habit of trying to convince other people of his opinion, and with Marceline that was especially the case. He loved her and thus wanted her to agree with his ideas. Of course, he didn't expect his nose to be broken for it, but maybe somewhere in this whole chaotic situation was a lesson he should learn.

He had apologized for his stupid prank shortly after that. He felt bad blaming her for all of this, but she just shrugged it off saying that it was understandable that he got emotional 'after his freaking nose got broken'. That was just like her. Marceline didn't seem like it, but she had a big heart and was quick to forgive people if they genuinely were sorry. She was always so mature when it came to stuff like that. That was one of the reasons he liked her.

Obviously, at first, they simply dated because their families wanted them to, but Ash had real feelings for her for a long time now. He wasn't ashamed of it either, because Marceline was different. Not just because of her tight beautiful black ponytail, she wore at work, or her muse like voice, what Ash loved the most was her spirit. She was a fighter. Always hard-working, always on point with her schedules, and always so clean and perfect in each and every project. Never childish, or too silly. Always making the mature and collected choice. That was exactly why he didn't like recent developments. Why did she go to college? For what? It was just wasting her precious time. It was so unlike her to do something like that. She had a bright future ahead here at the company.

Maybe I just don't see it? She must have a reason for attending college. It's Marceline, of course, she has one, I just don't get it yet. He concluded, as he carefully washed his face with a washcloth made out of soft wool. He winced as he touched the area around the middle of his face, but it was slowly getting better. After he was done, he looked into the mirror, inspecting his new self. Blonde hair, well-kept and styled. Blue eyes just like the ocean. A square jawline, combined with a sweet smile. He needed to be perfect so that he could be a fitting partner for Marceline Abadeer.

He took a big breath, before leaving for work. Today would be an exhausting day. Everybody would bug him about the cast in his face, and if that wasn't enough he had to work someone new in today. But all the trouble was worth it. He would see Marceline again, and have lunch with her today.

…

Ash was already waiting for her as she came down the corridor. Her heavy backpack, full of worksheets for her and Bonnibel's project, was a heavy reminder that the girl still hadn't really talked to her since that one day at the library. Nowadays, the pink-haired girl was acting cold and distant towards Marceline.

She was never 'warm' to me in the first place, so why should I care now? She wondered but didn't have much time to ponder on that, because of her boyfriend hugging her as soon as she arrived. Quickly hugging him back, she asked: "How is the injury? You alright?"

A pretty smile grew on his face. "Worried that your boyfriend is still hurt?"

"Of course I am. Still feeling guilty as hell too."

"We talked about it, didn't we? I shouldn't have surprised you as I did. If the situation was different, and it wouldn't have been me, your reaction would've been perfect." He said, rubbing her arm to cheer her up.

She looked to the side and shrugged. She knew he meant it. Ash was a very 'in your face'-type of guy. Still, I broke his damn nose. I wouldn't blame him if he was at least still angry with me.

"Marcy, I know that face." Ash suddenly said, cupping her cheek with his hand, an amused expression growing on his face. "I wouldn't hate you, just because of a trivial accident like this."

"Right." She said, and to both their surprise she laid her own hand on his. Normally she wasn't the one that showed much affection. "I guess I was… I don't know."

"What about you? You seem very tense lately, Marcy. You doing alright?"

"I…" Working at her father's company, while going to college was hard, she rarely had time to go to her park and take a breather as it was, but now with that group assignment, even that was nearly impossible. If all of that wasn't enough, her partner for the assignment didn't even bother talking to her anymore. Bonnibel wasn't being rude or anything, but simply ignored her for most of the time they were together. And how could Marceline blame her? Marceline had been rude. She didn't need her classmates help obviously, but Bonnibel hadn't given her any reason to act as she had. "I'm just stressed right now, sorry Ash."

"It's fine, everybody is sometimes. We're just humans. Why are you stressed though?" He could only guess that it was because of college, but still asked in hope that it might open his girlfriend's eyes. If she saw that college was stressful and useless, she would drop it eventually. Or at least that was what he wanted for her.

She could've told him, about Bonnibel Buchholz, could've told him, that she was bothered that the pink-haired girl did ignore her now, could've told him that this girl was the first person in her life that made her act as childish as she did, and yet offered her to help her. But Marceline didn't talk about the girl. She couldn't say why, but it felt wrong.

"Got a big assignment that needs to be finished. That's all." She didn't lie, but why did it feel like she did?

Hearing this Ash sighed. "You will manage alright, I know you will, but maybe you should think things over, you know?"

She pushed a rogue strain of hair out of her face. "I know you don't get why I wanted to go to college, despite having my future here at the company, but that's what I wanted to do." She told him calmly.

"I know. Sorry, babe, I just worry about you."

"I know you do, but you should focus on your work instead." Trying to break the awkward atmosphere that suddenly grew between them she asked him: "How was your day? It's getting pretty busy in your department, I heard?"

"Yeah, a lot of stuff got dumped on us recently by the higher-ups. We even got a new coworker to help us out." He told her while the two made their way into one of the company's cafeterias.

"Oh? Your favorite thing. Making new people acquainted with how things are run here." She said, with a sarcastic smile on her face.

"Yeah well, losing a full day because some people are horrible to adapt to new places is just annoying."

"That bad?"

He shrugged on that. "Despite being older than me, I needed longer than expected to explain everything so that she understood what her tasks were. Supposedly she didn't have an office job in a long time, so I can't really blame her, but it was still annoying to waste so much time. And she was so god-damn nice and polite the whole time, that even now I feel bad."

"Ugh, nice people are hard to deal with."

Ash chuckled on that. "You tell me."

…

09.27.2016

For the last week, Bonnibel did somehow manage to avoid Finn and his group of friends. She used the assignment as an excuse to not hang out with them, and they seemed to respect it. Finn seemed somewhat disappointed whenever she declined all their offers, but never upset. She didn't really know if that was any better though. Now she was feeling guilty that she was looking for excuses. And sadly, working on the project wasn't all that great either. She had to deal with the Abadeer girl whenever they worked on it. She had tried to avoid the rich girl as much as possible after Marceline had made a scene at the library. They barely talked even when they worked together, but Bonnie didn't really mind. She didn't want any friends, especially not those that bite a helping hand.

At some point, the project will be over. And at some point, I will have to talk to Finn. Of course, she knew that, but for now, pushing her problems away seemed like an easier decision. They didn't have too much time left for their project anyway. The deadline was at the end of the week. At least the project itself was progressing decent, and right now Bonnibel was focused on that fact alone. It was like her last ray of hope for the time being. Her partner had surprised her over and over if it came to the assignment. One could say a lot about Marceline Abadeer, but she did her work at the very least. Clean writing, always on time, and well researched. Somehow it was bugging Bonnibel that such a girl was also a hard worker.

She got a rich family, great looks, and is smart? Give me a fucking break, no wonder she can act like a spoiled brat all the time. She knew it was not a good idea to be jealous, but how could she not be? All the struggle her family, and she herself had to go through every day, and yet someone like Marceline Abadeer did get everything she wanted. How could she not be even a little jealous?

Bonnibel sighed, rubbing her eyes with her index and her thumb. Right now she was sitting in the same library as before, waiting for the said girl to show up. Probably for the last time, before they were finished. She didn't know yet if that was a good thing for her though. She wouldn't have any excuse after this for not talking to Finn.

Should I just ignore him? At some point, he would drop it, and start hating me probably. But at least, I don't need to confront him then... No, he didn't do anything to deserve this. Fuck it, I should be honest with him. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see something move and got startled by it. Surprised, she looked up to Marceline, who was just sitting down next to her, looking at her one brow quirked up.

"Hey."

Bonnibel quickly averted her gaze. "Hey. Finished the last part already?"

"About to."

"Nice."

And just like that, the awkward silence between them continued, as it had been like the last few days. The clock was ticking ever so loudly. Marceline started tipping a melody with her pencil against the desk, lost in her work. A person, not far from them started packing his stuff. At the other end of the room, another one sneezed. But Bonnibel couldn't just go. That would be too obvious. So she stayed, enduring all the noises. Endured for a whole hour, before deciding that if she went now it wouldn't be too suspicious. She packed her stuff and nodded towards Marceline.

"I'm done with my side. You managing?"

"Sure." The black-haired girl shrugged, just briefly looking up.

"Cool, see ya."

"Bye."

And just like that, Bonnibel headed out of the library. Now that she was outside, the cramp in her stomach finally eased up. This was it. The assignment was nearly done.