Neighbors Chapter 12

Sorry for the long wait. I hope you guys don't hate me. Its just hard to focus when insomnia gets you. I think I'm over it now, though. This chapter is a little depressing, so it probably doesn't make up for it. But thank you for reading! Thank you for the lovely comments, keep them coming! I love reading what you think about my story! I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Marceline and I had overslept that morning. We were stirred from sleep only by my cell phone ringing. Someone had called in sick to work at the bakery and to my misfortune I was the only one that they could get in contact with. I wanted to decline. I was quiet contempt with the idea of laying in bed all day with my lovely girlfriend. But I also knew that if I was ever going to get anywhere and get promoted to head manager that I would need to be a good employee and show a lot of initiative.

Grumbling my complaints, I forced myself awake and left after a good few minutes of snuggles and kisses. I left Marceline's room, finding Ronnie and Marshall had already left. I left for my apartment and got ready for the day, then drove my car to work.

It was rather slow, being a Sunday. The day dragged by and when it was over I was more than relieved. I clocked out at the proper time and got into my car to drive back to my apartment. When I was in the parking lot I turned my car off, took my keys, and began walking towards my apartment, ready to relax for the rest of the day and maybe spend some of the night with Marceline if she wasn't busy.

I walked towards the apartment building with a fast pace, but stopped dead in my tracks when a certain someone stepped in front of the door to the entrance. His arms were crossed and his stance wide. My heart was a jack hammer in my chest again. My mind went blank and I froze, despite the voice in my head screaming to me that I should turn around and run back to my car.

"What are you doing here, princess?"

There was a lump in my throat and I couldn't utter a sound. I wanted to scream.

"You're smokin' hot, as always," he said, his eyes looking me up and down.

I tasted bile in the back of my throat, knowing what he was thinking.

"I was gonna talk to Marceline, but I'd much rather spend another night with you, ya know."

My breath hitched and a few tears streamed down my cheeks. No! I wasn't going to let this happen again. But I was so scared. My body wasn't reacting to any of the signals my brain was giving it. I began to feel like I would puke. He started to step towards me and I didn't know if my body would react in time to defend itself. My head began to spin.

"What the hell are you doing here, Ash? I told you not to come here, you creep!"

I gasped and tried to gather myself back together. I was so relieved. My savior had come.

"I swear if I see you here again I am calling the cops," Marceline shouted fearlessly, spitting in his face.

"Whatever," he said, turning to leave. He passed me and our eyes locked as he grinned a toothy smile. It sent shivers up my spine.

"Bonnie, you look pale. Are you okay? Did he say something to you? I swear if he did I will go after him right now and beat the fuck out of him," Marceline said, still angry.

"No," I mumbled after clearing my throat. My voice was a little scratchy.

Get it together! She's going to suspect something!

"What's up then? You don't look so good," she asked, grabbing my arm and pulling me into the building.

"I had a pretty rough day. It was so busy," I lied, forcing my voice to sound normal. "I might be catching a cold, too. I had the sniffles all day."

Perfect cover.

"Your immune system sucks," Marceline laughed as I unlocked my apartment door.

"Yeah, I know. I'm gonna have to get more vitamin C," I said, grinning slightly.

Marceline placed her palm on my forehead, catching me off guard. I blushed as she stared into my eyes, determining if my body temperature was normal or not.

"You feel a little warm," she decided. "Come on," she said, taking me by the hand and pulling me into my apartment.

I allowed her to lead me to my room.

"Don't do anything else today and get some rest, okay?" She asked, her worried expression making my heart melt.

"Okay," I nodded as I sat on my bed.

"Need anything else?"

A thought crossed my mind of what I did want, but then it was quickly interrupted with a flash back that made me want to puke again. I felt myself go pale. I squeezed my eyes shut and covered my mouth, trying to force the memory back into the vault.

"Bonnie," Marceline called.

I thought I would be fine once Marceline had saved me. I really did. But now my body was feeling heavy and a darkness began to creep into my mind. I was suddenly so tired.

"Do you wanna go to the doctor, Bon? You look like you're about to hurl," she said, now sitting beside of me. I hadn't noticed at first when she put her arms around me and her voice was laced with even more worry.

I shook my head and faked a yawn. I didn't like the tone of her voice. It would only get worse if I didn't say something.

"No, I'm just really tired. Maybe I can sleep this off," I mumbled, resting my head on her shoulder.

"Do you want me to pick you up something?"

"Will you stay here with me tonight?" I asked, but it probably came out more like a plea.

"Of course," she replied, then turned to place a kiss on my forehead. "Go ahead and get some rest. I'll lay with you."

I made a small smile as she untied my apron, folded it, and placed it on the the table beside of my bed. I kicked off my shoes and pulled my socks off. I stood to go into the bathroom. I brushed my teeth and washed my face after I changed into a night gown. I returned, yawning and rubbing the tears out of my eyes from yawning so deeply. I wasn't sure why I was so tired all of a sudden, but I didn't feel well and I wanted to sleep for days.

Marceline pulled the blanket up and laid herself down, scooting over to make room for me to join her. When I was snug against her body, she pulled the blanket over the both of us and turned off the lamp. She wrapped both arms around me and held me tight. I felt so warm and safe in her embrace.

I felt bad for making her stay with me like this, going to sleep before it was even dark outside. But I was also so thankful that she was doing this for me. I would have been a wreck all night if she weren't here. I was so lucky to have met this girl, and even luckier to have her as my girl friend.

I fell asleep quickly, expecting to have a peaceful rest like I had all weekend while she was with me. It wasn't a pleasant sleep, though. The nightmares were terrible. I would dream of running away from a monster, but I couldn't loose it. No matter how fast or how long I ran, it was always right there behind me.

In the middle of the night I woke up with a jolt. I was out of breath and sweating. I covered my face, trying to keep my loud panting from waking up my girlfriend.

"What's wrong, Bonnie?" Marceline mumbled, still half asleep. She sat up a rubbed her eyes.

"A nightmare," I breathed. I inhaled deeply and forced myself to calm down.

"You okay? Wanna talk about it?" She yawned.

"No, its fine, just a silly bad dream," I said as I laid my head back down on the pillow.

"Okay," Marceline mumbled, laying back down and pulling me back into her arms.

I closed my eyes and buried my face into her chest, squeezing her tight. I listened as her breathing slowed. I wanted to go back to sleep, but I couldn't stop thinking. What could be wrong with me? I was fine. Nothing happened today. Marceline saved me and I was safe here with her. Why did I have nightmares again? I was sure I was going to be okay. I thought I could forget about this. I think I would have been able to had he not showed himself today.

Would I ever be okay? Or would he haunt me for the rest of my life? I wondered, how long would Marceline be able to put up with me? Would she be okay with me being this way? I thought that eventually I would probably become an annoyance. If I could never go into the next step of the relationship, would she give up and find someone else who would? I don't want that. I actually really like being with her. But I also don't want to deprive her of something like that.

I could go to a therapist, but they would ask me to talk and give me pills to repress my emotions. That wasn't something I wanted. If I did that, it wouldn't be long before the people I knew would notice and start asking questions, anyway. But if I didn't get better soon, how much longer could Marceline deal with me?

I was awake for the rest of the night. I ended up dozing off again after I noticed that the sun was beginning to rise. When I woke up again, Marceline was still there, an expression even more worried than any she showed me last night on her face. I yawned and rose up, blinking the sleep away.

"Is something wrong?" I asked her.

"I heard you talking in your sleep, Bonnie," she said with a frown.

My stomach churned. I did have another bad dream when I fell back asleep, but I didn't remember it as well as the first one. What had I said? Did I say something about what had happened in my dream? Does she know something?

"Bonnie, you've been keeping something from me, haven' t you?"

I froze and stayed silent.

"Bonnie, who were you begging to stop? What did they do to you?"