10.01.2016
Lady stared at Jake with big eyes, not giving the girl sitting on his lap even one look. "Looks like he has everything under control, right Bonnie?"
It was only now that the older Adons Brother noticed the two girls too. He gently pushed the hands which were around his face away, while rolling his eyes. "LSP, please calm down."
But the saucy dressed girl just laughed at his attempt to free himself. "C'mon, we are partying, let's have some fun."
Bonnibel couldn't see Lady's face as the blonde girl started walking over the two, but her voice was enough to tell her that this was not good. "Hmm, you two seem close. Didn't you say she was just an acquaintance?" She asked, arms crossed over her chest.
"We go way back." LSP answered.
"Wasn't talking to you." Lady said, scowling with narrowed eyes down at the girl on Jake's lap. "Why do you not get off of him? He doesn't want to party with you."
"Whenever her boyfriend breaks up, or she gets drunk, she gets touchy, just ignore it."
"That's so not true, Jaky-Jake."
"You taking her side now?" The taller girl pointed at LSP.
"What side?" Jake furrowed his brows. "I just wanted to help her, what is so wrong with that?"
"Yeah? Do you like being used?"
"I wasn't... What the hell, Lady?"
"Her ass just got dumped, she didn't care who you are!" As if she just realized her own behavior, the tall girl let her arms drop to her sides, and shook her head. "Never mind." She turned around, walking past Bonnibel away from the older Adons brother and this LSP girl. Only getting a glimpse of Lady's face. The taller girl had her jaw clenched, and her nose was wrinkled in irritation, but didn't turn back and dashed away. The pink-haired girl didn't know what to do, should she run after her? Jake should be the one going after her, that idiot.
"What's her deal?" LSP said.
Ignoring the annoying girl, Bonnie looked at Jake, who slowly stood up, while trying not to throw LSP on the ground. "Where is she going?" He said, his voice low. He probably could already guess what was going on. He bit the inside of his cheek, and his eyes were digging themselves into the ground. "She gets touchy with everyone, it doesn't mean a thing."
"To you, it doesn't." It didn't sit right with her to let Lady wander off alone. She knew Jake was a good person and believed him when he said it meant nothing to him, but her voice was still sharper than expected. The pink-haired girl then hurried after Lady.
Squeezing herself past a few groups, her green eyes darted through the rooms, but the blonde girl was nowhere to be found. The loud music hammering through the air was now starting to get on her nerves and the air was thick with smoke and the smell of alcohol.
Where are you hiding Lady?
Then she remembered that Wolf, Jake's buddy and host of the party, had told her that upstairs everything was more relaxed and quiet. She stepped over some guy that was passed out on the stairs, and made her way up, just to find herself in a corridor with a few closed doors.
Great, the last thing I want is to walk in on somebody. At least the distracting music was now a little muffled, and with caution she held her ear against the first door to her left. It giggled from inside the closed room and decided to skip that one. The second one was silent though. She knocked and waited a few seconds, but didn't get any response. Then she peeked into the room. There was a big window, but it had curtains blocking the view, an old-looking shelf with random stuff on it, a desk and a large bed with Lady sitting on the edge of it, energetically bouncing with her leg.
"Oh, it's you, Bonnie." She didn't even try to hide her disappointment. "Sorry for ruining the night."
The pink-haired girl shrugged as she entered, closing the door behind her. "Don't worry, I'm happy to be out of that mess downstairs." The music was nearly muted here in the room, and only fragments of voices reached them.
"To be honest, you did better than I expected." Lady said, as she shifted to the side to make space for the other girl.
"You tell me." Bonnie gave her a half-smile, while sitting down next to her on the bed.
"You gonna be a party animal in no time."
"A party mouse maybe." She retorted, and with their chuckles some tension was blown out of the air.
"I thought he was different, you know." Lady let a long sigh escape, and let herself fall back onto the mattress. Her gaze did not leave the ceiling. Then, she shook her head. "Hah, I always do."
The pink-haired girl looked at her from where she sat. Lady's mouth formed a smile that didn't contain a single grain of happiness, and her eyes weren't fully in the present. Bonnibel started fiddling with her fingers. It felt wrong to ask her what she meant by that. So, instead of asking her, she simply let herself fall next to the blonde girl, and the two lay there in their muffled world staring at the ceiling together.
"I always had bad luck with guys I crushed on."
"So you have a crush on him." Bonnibel noted as she turned her head to see Lady.
Yet another sigh, followed by Lady pressing her palms into her eyes. "I guess."
"I don't think he lied when he said it meant nothing."
"Yeah, he isn't someone that would lie about stuff like that, I think so too."
"So why did you bail then?" Bonnibel asked and immediately bit her tongue for letting the question slip. She wouldn't want to be asked those personal questions herself, so it wasn't fair of her to bring Lady in that situation either. To her surprise, the blonde girl didn't seem to mind at all, folding her hands behind her head before answering the question with one of her own.
"Did you ever have a crush?"
"Not really." Bonnibel said a tad too quick.
"It sucks. You get high hopes and put them on a pedestal, and either get blind to any mistakes they make, or you realize them and end up devastated because they are not perfect. I hoped that there was nobody in college I would be interested in."
There was a pause between them. A couple went past the room, their voices and giggles not loud enough to be intelligible, all while Bonnibel frowned at the innocent ceiling, deep in thought. "Sounds not like something I would want." She concluded.
Lady turned her head to the pink-haired girl, blinking a few times. "You seriously never had the hots for someone?"
Bonnibel shrugged in return, eyes glued to the top of the room.
"You don't choose who you like, you know?" The blonde girl said matter-of-factly.
The pink-haired girl felt her face getting warm as she realized that she said something very obvious. "I know, gee…" Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see Lady giving her a look with one eyebrow quirked up, and an amused smile dancing over her mouth. The pink-haired girl knew she would play right into the other girl's hands if she said anything now.
Luckily, Lady noticed that she was getting uncomfortable and let her off the hook, and instead said: "It's funny, sometimes it feels like love brings out my ugliest self."
"We all have that side, though."
"I guess."
"I don't want Jake and you to fight over this."
Lady chuckled. "Me neither."
Bonnibel sat up. "You gonna talk to Jake then?"
"Naa. First, I'll let him suffer for a day, then I'll talk to him." Lady gave her a wink, before standing up herself. "You gonna stay here, or wanna walk home with me?"
She gave Lady a look that said You have to ask? "Just remind me to never get on your bad side. Ever." Bonnibel said, as the two walked to the door. "I'll be honest, this was shorter than expected, but I kinda had fun."
"Shouldn't have said that. Now there is no running from the next one, prepare yourself!"
As the pink-haired girl opened the door, the noise hit them like a wall, but with no way around it, the two made their way through the corridor Bonnibel had gone through before, and down the stairs again. Bonnie, being in front, stepped over the passed out person laying on the stairs first, and as Lady did the same, the drunk suddenly tried to rise up. The sudden movement startled the blonde girl, and she slipped. Trying to catch her balance, she instead stepped on his foot and toppled. Now in free-fall, she gritted her teeth and prepared for the hard, unforgiving floor. It would be a fitting end for the night. But the pain never came, instead something much worse happened.
As she opened her eyes again, Lady found herself lying on the blonde, pretty guy that had been drinking with Wolf and his friends outside, some kind of dip all over his face. Before she could really act two hands grabbed her under her arms and pulled her up again. Bonnibel looked at her like a mother looks at her child that just hurt herself.
"Lady, you all right? Did you hurt yourself?"
The tall girl looked back to the stairs, but the drunk person had apparently gone upstairs without even realizing or caring what he had done. "N-No, just-"
"Excuse me? You gonna ignore me?" A sharp, spiteful voice came from below them, as the blonde man glared at them. "Look at what the fuck you did." He said as he slowly stood up. "This shit is all over me!"
Bonnibel stood right between them and now turned to face that angry person. "We are so sorry. Maybe we can find some tissues to wipe that off for you?"
"The hell were you thinking crashing down the stairs, you can count yourself lucky I didn't hurt myself!"
We're the lucky ones? She got even more fed up with this guy once Bonnibel noticed that he wasn't even looking at her, glaring at Lady instead, who seemed to be shocked and overwhelmed by the situation. "How the fuck will you repay me?"
"Hey! I already apologized! Stop harassing my friend and me, you dipshit!"
That last word got his attention. "You ruined my whole jacket, fuck!" His eyes darted back to the taller girl. "You'll have to pay for this, you blind idiot!"
"We have to do jack shit. It was an accident, get over it." Bonnibel said, crossing her arms.
"I want her to apologize." He said, energetically pointing at Lady, making a few steps towards her. But Bonnibel didn't let him, blocking his way with her own body, while looking him dead in the eyes. He probably didn't expect the pink-haired girl to be so persistent, and it took him a few seconds in which he stared at her with his mouth open, but then his anger directed itself at her. He pushed his index against her shoulder with enough force to push her back a little, as he was clearly stronger than she was.
"Who do you think you are, you litt-"
"Don't you fucking touch her."
A new voice blowing up, surprised all of them, as somebody shoved the pretty boy to the side so hard that he lost his balance and, while cursing loudly, fell yet again on the floor. No, not someone. Bonnibel knew who it was the second she heard her voice.
"Marceline?"
"We have to bail. Now."
"Wha-" But the black-haired girl already grabbed the two perplexed girls and pulled them away from the infuriated person. Bonnibel looked back just before he was out of sight, and could see that he wasn't about to chase them, and instead looked at them as if he had seen a ghost. Did he know Marceline?
"W-Where are we going?" Lady finally found her voice again, as they quickly left the house. Now there were lots of people outside, some drunk, some high, and some just talking with each other. Nobody even noticed the three girls hurrying away from the party, and it was only now that they noticed that Marceline wasn't walking in straight lines, instead wobbling from side to side.
She's drunk! Bonnibel pulled her hand back and stopped. "What the hell is going on Marceline?"
As the black-haired girl turned around, she surprised the two other girls. Her eyes had a watery shine to them, and she was nervously looking around. "I-I fucked up is what's going on. I always do. We need to bail!" She slurred in a panic.
"Okay, but let's calm down first." Bonnibel gestured Marceline to calm down.
"No, you don't get it."
"Then talk to me."
"Why should I?" Marceline's expression suddenly changed. She now glared at the pink girl. "You hate me."
"I what?" Bonnibel raised her brows up while shaking her head. "No, I don't."
"No, my ass. You're full of shit. You all are!" And with that Marceline stomped away, leaving Lady and Bonnibel behind. The two girls stared at the Abadeer's back for a moment, but then Bonnibel ran after her.
I can't leave her alone like that.
She grabbed the drunk girl by the shoulder, but her hand got shrugged off immediately, the girl didn't slow down at all. "Leave me alone, Keila." Bonnibel couldn't see her face as Marceline was walking faster and faster, but her low faltering voice was not a good sign. Keila?
Lady caught up to them now too. "Thanks for helping us."
"Just forget I was ever here."
"Why should we? You were awesome." The blonde girl said, walking quicker to keep pace.
Maybe it was the genuine compliment, or maybe it was the bold question. It didn't really matter as Marceline stopped dead in her tracks. She wished over her face with both hands before turning around to look at them, her angry expression gone. "I was stupid, is what I was."
"You stood up for us. You and Bonnibel both saved me in fact. You're a hero girl, Marceline. Both of you are."
"Hero girl? What is that? Sounds stupid." The silly grin contradicted that statement.
"Maybe, but that's what you are now." Lady declared.
The pink-haired girl let an exhausted sigh escape. "We got a plan?"
Lady shrugged. "I don't live far from here, you two could sleep over if you want to?"
"No." The Abadeer girl blurted. "Not without Schwabl."
"What is a Schwabl?"
"Can't without him." Marceline repeated. "Schwabl…" And then giggled for no apparent reason.
Bonnibel, ignoring the drunk, thought for a moment. "Lady, I can't let her wander off alone. Gonna drop that mess at hers, I guess."
"Want me to help you?"
Bonnibel inspected the still laughing girl with a smile of her own. "Naa, I think she'll behave."
…
The two girls walked through the silent city. No cars drove anymore, and nobody was on the streets, only them. For a long while the two didn't talk much, aside from Bonnibel asking her here and there if they were heading in the right direction. The buildings were slowly growing into the sky, and there were more and more shops and offices around. This was clearly not an area Bonnibel's family could afford living in. At first Marceline was unusually reserved and quiet, and they both let the cool air prickle over their skins. Then, at some point the black-haired girl saw a stray cat walking over a wall, and started yelling, startling Bonnibel in the process.
"Cat, get down to us! Not gonna hurt you!" The black-haired hurried towards the wall, but the cat was long gone before she arrived. Bonnibel wanted to tell her off for running away, but hesitated once she saw the other girl's face. "Kitty? Don't leave too…"
"Marceline, I…" But her pride stopped her from apologizing. For what? She asked herself.
The drunk girl observed the empty wall for a few moments, before reacting to her own name. "Hm?"
"... You all right?"
The Abadeer girl frowned. "Why would you care?"
Even in her drunk state she still builds up walls, huh. It frustrated Bonnibel how she pushed her away even now, was there nothing she could do? The night was getting colder by the minute, and they should try to get home fast if possible, but instead they stood here in an empty street staring at each other. Bonnibel was the first to look away, rubbing the back of her neck.
"I don't hate you."
Marceline, with a sudden sober voice, said: "Don't worry, I'm used to it. Why are you helping me get home? Shouldn't you worry about yourself?"
"That one time I hurt myself... You helped me too, remember?"
"So you feel indebted?"
Maybe it was the way Marceline said it, but it didn't sit right with her. "N-No, I… I was worried. A girl pretty as you, drunk at night and all alone? Please."
Marceline turned her face away from her. "Whatever. We are nearly there anyway. What about you, how will you get home?"
Just then, it hit Bonnibel. She never had been to this part of the city and had no idea where she was.