AN: So remember when I said this was the last chapter? I changed my mind. I have enough for one more. In the meantime though, I hope you enjoy this second to last chapter. Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing thus far. It's good to know that you guys like what I'm doing with this pairing.

Haunted

Hunson Abadeer, age 32, was arrested in his home by authorities on federal indictments after a three year investigation. Abadeer had long been suspected of running the crime family once ruled by Martin Ambrosi, but the lack of evidence against him prevented police from making an arrest. Abadeer made himself known as one of the most fearsome leaders in the crime world with his brutal treatment of enemies. His quickness to use violence against those around him caused wide spread fear around those who worked for him, allowing him to retain power within the organization.

Rumors that his position was passed on to him directly from Ambrosi had long been speculated when it was revealed that Abadeer married Ambrosi's only daughter, however, this proved to be merely a coincidence. It did help his cause when he finally did take over the organization since many still remained loyal to Ambrosi and his family. Ambrosi, at the age of 80, remains in prison to this day.

Authorities hailed Abadeer's arrest as the final nail in the coffin for the crime family, although many had heard the same things when Ambrosi was arrested decades ago. Questions have been raised whether Abadeer's daughter might fill the vacuum of power left in the wake of her father's arrest, fearing a repeat of what occurred with Ambrosi's daughter. Authorities however, assure the public there is no danger of that happening. Abadeer's daughter, who shall not be named due to being a minor, has been placed in foster care with neighbors who often provided sitting services for the family when Abadeer was away. When asked if they knew what Abadeer's true job was, they stated that they had no idea he was running a crime organization.

"We thought he was away a lot because he ran a small business. I would have never thought he was doing something so horrible." Simon Petrikov responded.

He and his sister Natasha Petrikov, will be petitioning for full custody of Abadeer's daughter as soon as possible.

Abadeer is expected to face charges of racketeering, extortion, arson, conspiracy to commit murder, drug trafficking, and illegal gambling.

Bonnibel closed her laptop in shock. Marceline was the daughter of the infamous Hunson Abadeer. Not only that, but her grandfather had been the equally infamous Ambrosi who'd built the house she'd inherited. It was all too much to take in at once. She walked to her window and looked out towards the house. She could still see lights on even though it was rather late.

"She shouldn't be up so late." She thought to herself, but then again, she should be sleeping by now too. With all this new information however, she couldn't just go to sleep. She needed to know more. With all the ghost stories she'd heard about the house, you would think she'd do some actual research about it to get some truth from all the fiction, but she never had. No one ever had tried to find out the truth. Perhaps with how small the town was, they'd rather forget such a terrible thing and were content to let the house and any memories attached to it, fade away into obscurity or in this case, turn into a ghost story. She could only imagine how it must've been back then; the circus of news vans and federal agents invading the town and disappearing just as quickly once they'd gotten what they wanted. It sure wasn't something her little town was happy to handle.

The pink haired girl closed her window. She quickly walked back to her desk and opened up her laptop once again. She had a lot of reading to do and not a lot of time to do it.

xxx

"You don't look so good Bonnie." Lady sat down next to a nearly comatose Bonnibel. "Is everything alright?"

When no answer came, Lady gently nudged the girl and nearly screamed when Bonnibel suddenly sat up. Lady held her hands to her heart; she hoped she wasn't actually having a heart attack.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Bonnibel apologized to her frightened friend. "I'm just tired. I didn't sleep at all last night."

After reading article after article on everything she could, Bonnibel finally had an idea of what kind of life Marceline had been living before her father was arrested. If her math was right, which it always was, the dark haired girl had only been nine years old when her father got arrested. Ironic really, considering the horrible events that happened in the house occurred when Marceline's mom was only nine as well. Marceline's case though wasn't as bad as her mother's, however, that didn't mean that the event was any less traumatizing for Marceline. Bonnibel was certain that it must've been a hard thing to witness at that age and an even harder thing to comprehend.

Now though, she needed to decide what to do. Marceline had left it completely up to her to whether she wanted to continue to pursue their odd friendship. Even with everything she'd learned, Bonnibel had no doubt in her mind that she wanted to continue to be the dark haired girl's friend. It wasn't Marceline's fault that her father was a criminal, just like it wasn't her fault her grandfather was one as well. It's impossible to choose who our families are and it's certainly impossible to control their actions, but we can freely choose our friends and Bonnibel wasn't going to be like the other people in Marceline's life and abandon her. She just hoped that Marceline would be willing to accept her into her life.

School was the least of Bonnibel's worries as she nervously waited for the clock to release her from her prison. The last bell rang, signaling their freedom from school. She waited for no one and left as fast as she could. Bonnibel found Marceline sitting on her porch, absently strumming her bass. The older girl gave no indication that she noticed Bonnibel enter her property. This didn't discourage the pink haired girl. She pulled up an empty chair and sat next to her. Marceline strummed one last note before falling silent. Bonnibel assumed this as her cue to say what she wanted.

"How was your day?" that hadn't been what she'd wanted to say, but how was she supposed to bring up the subject that Marceline was clearly uncomfortable about?

Marceline shrugged. "Same as always." She responded in her casual manner.

"You were up late last night."

"Figured I should get something done." Marceline didn't mention how she'd been up late due to the fact her nerves would not let her sleep. She hadn't even been able to leave the house that night. She'd tried to but she'd felt so tired. It was her first time ever staying in the house overnight and, quite frankly, it'd been unnerving. Maybe it was because she was alone in such a big place or perhaps the stupid ghost stories had finally gotten to her, but whatever the reason it made her stay awake all night. Instead she'd turned on all the lights in the house and stared blankly at the ceiling in one of the rooms. Nothing like silence to bring forth every unpleasant thought in your mind. She'd never been so happy to see the sunrise, but that only lasted for a moment. The new day reminded her that Bonnibel more than likely knew about her and her families past.

Bonnibel was a smart girl. Marceline would be the first to admit that. She expected the pink haired girl to look up all the information she could as soon as she could. What she hadn't expected was for the younger girl to be back so soon and judging from the bags under her eyes, she'd gotten about as much sleep as she did.

"Go ahead Bonnie. Ask whatever you want to. I promise I'll answer honestly."

"Alright…." Bonnibel said hesitantly. "Is your father really Hunson Abadeer?"

"The one and only." Marceline confirmed, but there was no pride in her words.

"And your grandfather was… in the same business as your father?"

Marceline's laugh was hollow. "I guess business is the nice way to put it." she leaned her guitar against the porch railing and folded her arms over her chest. "I inherited this place from gramps. He passed away not too long ago. I never met him, but I knew of him."

"If you inherited this house from him why is no one helping you fix it up?"

"I have no family to speak of. I'm an only child. You already know where my dad is and mom passed away a while ago."

"Oh… I'm sorry…. I didn't mean to…."

"It's alright. You didn't know." Marceline took a deep breathe. "It's been a long time anyway. I was only six when it happened. Dad did his best with me but he had bigger things to worry about. Not that it mattered I guess seeing as he got arrest just three years later."

Bonnie played with the ends of her hair nervously. She had a feeling she was treading into territory that almost no one had before. In a way, it made her feel special to think that Marceline was opening up to her as much as she was. The older girl was laying herself bare to her, no more hiding behind the wall she'd built to protect herself.

"Do you resent him for that?"

Marceline was silent. Thinking about if she truly did or not. When she was younger, she didn't hesitate to tell people how much she hated her father, but it wasn't for the reasons one might have thought. Marceline hated him for leaving her alone. She'd learned very young that life was hardly ever fair. She thought it couldn't get any worse than her mother dying but she'd been wrong. Being left alone in the world had been hell. Those uncertain days in the orphanage taught her what being alone in the world felt like. She'd gone from having everything in life to nothing in the blink of an eye. She was alone with no one to turn to. No one to tell her it was going to be okay. What was there to look forward to in life? What was left for her? When Simon Petrikov finally managed to adopt her, she'd cried because she didn't feel like her life was so hopeless after all, however it hadn't been easy to grow up carrying the name of her father.

As a child, it'd been difficult for her to socialize with her peers. With the infamy that her last name carried, she was turned into an outcast. Friends became scarce and hard to keep. Parents were afraid to let their children associate with her, leaving her even further isolated during her childhood.

By far though, her teenage years had been the worst. Now those very kids she'd grown up and tried to befriend became bullies that tormented her every chance they got. Shunning her even further from society because they were too simple minded to see that she and her father were not the same person. That she wasn't the monster their parents had once told them she was to keep them away from her. The only saving grace in her life was the people that'd adopted her. Simon and Natasha were more than just her guardians, they were also her friends. They made her feel safe when she was scared, loved when everyone else rejected her, and they gave her the most important thing she'd lost: a family.

"No. I don't resent him."

"Really?" Bonnibel couldn't hide the surprise in her voice.

"Really." Marceline smiled sadly. "I know it seems odd, but I don't anymore."

"Why?"

"I look at life like a game of poker. Sometimes life deals you a great hand and you have everything you could ever hope for to win, but for some people, they get dealt a shitty hand and they have to make the best of it because there is no do over in this game. You're all in because that's the only bet you have to play with and sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. Whatever hand Dad got dealt must've been crap. It lead him to a life of crime and death; same with gramps. The same thing could be said with Mom."

"What happen that day in this house?"

"It was a mob hit. Some other guy wanted gramps out of the way and ordered the hit, but obviously that didn't go the way they'd planned. Grandma got killed along with a lot of the help they had around here. Gramps got out alive but got arrested and Mom ending up in foster care. She eventually struck out on her own and married my dad the first chance she got. She knew what kind of life he was already into, but she didn't care. She knew what was in store for her and she was fine with it."

"How did she die, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I did say you could ask whatever you want and I'll keep my word to answer you honestly." Marceline smiled slightly at the pink haired girl.

"You don't have to answer if you're not comfortable. The fact you're even telling me all this right now is enough."

Marceline shook her head. "I think it would be good for me to talk about it. I've never really opened up to anyone about this. To answer your question though, mom died of some form of cancer. Couldn't tell you what though and I never asked."

"I read a news article about your dad's arrest. It said you were adopted by someone. Your neighbor if I remember correctly. Did he end up adopting you?"

Marceline's lips quirked into a fond smile, the first Bonnibel had seen from the girl.

"Yeah that crazy old man and his equally crazy sister adopted me."

"Do you still see them?"

"I do. They're the ones funding this little trip of mine."

"Really? I always thought the inheritance you got was funding this."

Marceline shook her head. "It's funding the repairs to the house. Gramps made a lot of money in his day. Not all of it was through illegal means. The money he'd managed to keep after his trial was done and over with was put in a trust fund for mom. Once she found out she had the big C, she talked to gramp's lawyer and the will was changed so that I'd get everything. Mom left me a little bit of money as well, but I'm putting all that towards school cause that sure ain't cheap. Anyway, Simon and Natasha have been good to me. They are the family I thought I'd never have."

"Can I ask you one more thing?"

"Ask away."

Marceline was shocked when Bonnibel suddenly hugged her.

"What are you…."

"Can we still be friends?"

"Huh?"

"I know you said that it was up to me to decide if we could be friends, but it shouldn't be my decision alone. I know I want to be your friend but do you still want to be mine or have you changed your mind?"

Marceline chuckled. Bonnibel squeaked in surprise when Marceline pulled her down onto her lap.

"M-Marceline?" Bonnibel could feel her heart beat going at an abnormal speed.

"You're a weird one Bonnie."

Bonnibel forgot for a moment about the awkward position she was in and instead huffed in indignation. After their heartfelt conversation, Marceline goes and calls her weird?

"But, I wouldn't mind having someone like you as my friend."

xxx

They'd fallen back into their old routine almost immediately. Bonnibel would come over again after school so she could help the older girl with her repairs to the house. The pink haired girl also finally got to work on the room Marceline let her decorate. Picking out the color of the room had been a pain because the dark haired girl fought her tooth and nail to keep her from coloring it completely in pink. Instead she settled on a shade of red that reminded her of Marceline's eyes. Marceline had of course approved whole heartedly with the color, but she would've been happy with anything as long it wasn't pink. It wasn't that she completely hated the color, but the room would've clashed with the rest of the house. Bonnibel may not have gotten her pink room, but she was allowed to paint the edging around the room the pink color she'd wanted. She made sure to pick a lighter shade just so it wouldn't clash with the red of the room. Bonnibel had never had so much fun painting. She'd never had so much fun doing work in general. Somehow, when she was with Marceline, it didn't feel like work at all. It just felt nice to be around her.

"Are you going over there again?" Lumpy glared at her friend.

"Going where?" Bonnibel asked slightly confused. She'd been getting some things from her locker when she'd suddenly been ambushed by Lumpy. She looked less than amused at Bonnibel's question.

"You know where! To Marceline's of course!" Lumpy threw her hands in the air for dramatic effect. "Where else have you been going for these last couple months? We don't even get to see you anymore! What the lump is up with that!"

"But we went to the movies together that one time." Bonnibel hadn't even realized that she'd been going to Marceline's for that long, much less ignoring her friends. It couldn't have been that long since she'd hung out with them. She closed her locker and began walking towards the nearest exit. Lumpy did not hesitate to follow her.

"We went to the movies like a month ago!" Lumpy continued her tirade. "Since then we only see you at school and even when you're here with us you're glued to your phone! Is Marceline so much more important than us?"

Lumpy would have continued her verbal assault on Bonnibel had Felicia and Lady not shown up and held back the clearly irritated girl.

"What Lumpy is trying to say, in her own special way, is that we miss you Bonnie." Lady smiled sadly. "We use to always go to each other's houses, have sleep overs, and you'd help us with homework if we'd ever had a problem, but things have changed since we've met Marceline."

"Yeah," Felicia nodded in agreement. "Now you're always at Marceline's. We never hang out anymore. All your time is for her now. What's going on Bonnie? Do you not want to be our friend anymore?"

She stopped walking. Bonnibel was flabbergasted. In her pursuit of Marceline's friendship, she'd carelessly pushed away the people she'd been friends with long before Marceline came into her life. It hadn't been her intention to do so, but it was because she'd put so much effort into gaining Marceline's trust that she was able to finally gain her friendship, but that was no excuse for the way she'd been ignoring them.

"I… I didn't mean to push you guys aside like that."

"Then why is Marceline suddenly more important than us!" Lumpy demanded to know.

"I can't explain it." Bonnibel looked down at the floor.

"What do you mean you can't explain it!" Lumpy pushed Lady and Felicia aside. "If you're going to ignore me then you better have a damn good reason for it!"

The pink haired girl was at a loss. Even now, she still didn't understand why it was that she was so drawn to the dark haired girl. What was the reason she wanted to be by Marceline's side so much that she was ignoring her friends?

"Bonnie, do you maybe… like Marceline?" Lady asked.

"Eh?" Bonnibel felt an unexplainable heat traveling up her neck. She took a few steps back from the three girls who were slowly advancing on her. "W-what do you mean by like?"

Lady took a step forward.

"Just what it sounds like. Do you like Marceline?"

Bonnibel took another step back.

"Of course I like her. It's why I wanted to be her friend."

Felicia joined Lady's side. This only caused Bonnibel to take another step back.

"That's not what she meant and you know it."

Bonnibel felt her back hit a cold wall. Her friends had her surrounded with no way to escape the situation.

"Do you like-like her?" the three asked at the same time.

"I-I don't know." Bonnibel answered honestly. She didn't know if what she felt towards Marceline was mere friendship or if it meant more, but she hadn't dwelled on it much. She was just content for the moment to still be part of her life. Did that mean that she wanted more? Could she be content with just this friendship?

Her three friends sighed.

"Geez, what a letdown." Lumpy placed her hands behind her head, looing off to the side. "And here I thought there was finally something exciting going on in your nonexistent love life."

"I have to agree with Lumpy for once." Lady crossed her arms over her chest. "I seriously thought you'd finally started dating someone too."

"What! Why would you think that?"

"Because you've spent every waking moment you can with Marceline." Felicia said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "What else were we suppose to think?"

"That I was just hanging out with her!" Bonnibel couldn't believe her friends thought she and Marceline were a couple.

"Whatever." Lumpy flipped her hair to the side. "If you're not dating her then you should be okay not hanging out with her 24/7. Like come shopping with us."

Lumpy pulled at Bonnibel's arm, trying to lead her towards the bus that would take them to her desired destination. The pink haired girl resisted though, instead trying to go towards the direction to Marceline's house. Her fight was becoming futile when Lady joined in the pulling.

"Guys, I really need to get to Marceline's. She'll worry if I don't show up."

"Are you sure you guys aren't dating? Because what you just said really doesn't help your case." Felicia grinned at Bonnibel.

"I have a better idea!" Lady stopped tugging at Bonnibel. "How about we invite Marceline?"

"Oh! That would be perfect! Let's go to Marceline's!" Felicia began tugging Bonnibel in the opposite direction with the help of Lumpy.

"Whatever! Let's just go get her so we can get to the mall!" Lumpy tugged at the pink haired girl harder. She just wanted to hang out with her friends and if the only way that was going to happen was to get Marceline then the quicker they did it the better.

"But…" Bonnibel attempted to protest their plan.

"No buts! Just walk faster!" Lumpy huffed.

Resigning herself to her fate, Bonnibel allowed herself to be taken to Marceline's house. As they got closer to the not so haunted house, Bonnie was surprised to see that there was an unfamiliar car in the driveway. For as long as she'd been around, she'd never once seen anyone visit the dark haired girl. Who was visiting Marceline?

"Get out!"

The four girls were startled by the sudden scream. They remained safely behind the gate so they could watch the scene unfold before them. A boy, with three white Mohawk-like wisps of hair was tossed from the porch. He landed on his back with a thud. He didn't strain to get up and instead rolled on the ground in pain. Marceline jumped from the porch, standing a few feet away from the stranger.

"B-but baby!"

"Don't call me that!" In a few short steps, Marceline was beside the boy. She kicked him for good measure. "I don't know how you found me or why. All I want is for you to get the hell out of my sight and never come back! Now leave before I call the cops!"

The boy did not want to wait to find out if Marceline would go through with her threat or do something worse to him. Scrambling to his feet, he ran to his car. Marceline glared at him the entire way until he peeled out of her driveway.

"Marceline?"

The dark haired girl looked over at the gate. She hadn't even noticed she had other visitors.

"Bonnie? Ah, how long have you been there?"

"We saw you like toss that guy off you're porch." Lumpy answered.

"Oh."

"Who was he?" Bonnibel and her friends walked through the gate and up to the older girl.

"No one important. Just an unwanted visitor. Anyway, I wasn't expecting so much company today. What's the occasion?"

"We're here to invite you to the mall with us." Lady answered.

"Why invite me?"

"Well, you see," Felicia jumped in. "I don't know if you're aware of this, but you've stolen our friend."

Marceline looked confused at the teenagers. "I have?"

"Like yeah! We haven't seen Bonnie in like over a month!"

"Didn't you guys go to the movies not too long ago?" Marceline had recalled Bonnibel saying something about it after they'd made up and officially became friends.

"That was the last time we hung out with her." Lumpy rolled her eyes. "Bonnie thought the same thing when we pointed it out."

"Are you really sure you guys aren't dating?" Felicia boldly asked.

"Felicia!" Bonnibel admonished her friend. How could she bring that up in front of Marceline?

"Dating?" Marceline smirked at Bonnibel who was turning redder by the second. "Bonnie you haven't told them yet?"

"W-what?" the pink haired girl was at a loss for words. What did Marceline think she was doing?

Instead of answering her question, Marceline walked up to the stunned pink haired girl and caressed her cheek; her smirk was still firmly in place. Part of her still functioning mind told her that Marceline looked incredibly attractive with that smirk on her lips. Was she going crazy? The possibility was not completely farfetched.

"You shouldn't hide things from your friends Bonnibel." Purred the dark haired girl.

"Oh my glob!" Lumpy hugged the stilled stunned girl. "We were right!"

"This is so exciting!" Lady joined in the hug.

"You're actually dating someone!" Felicia toppled her three friends over with her inclusion in the hug.

Marceline couldn't keep her laughter in after seeing how the girls reacted.

"Haha, you guys are far too easy to fool."

"What!" the four sat up from their spots on the ground.

"I was just kidding. Geez, I don't think Bonnie's that hard up for a date."

"Pfft. I'd say she is." Lumpy dusted herself off as she stood. "Bonnie's never dated anyone in her entire life!"

Marceline looked towards Bonnibel with a thoughtful expression.

"Really? Pretty girl like you can't get a date?"

"It's because no one's ever impressed her." Felicia said with a sigh. "She's been asked before but she's never said yes to anyone."

"It's really infuriating sometimes." Lady agreed with her friends. "It's not like she's not popular, but she just isn't interested. Then you came along and we thought she'd finally found someone who grabbed her attention."

"Ah, I see. You have a picky one on your hands." Marceline chuckled. "Well sorry to disappoint you all then. We're just friends."

"Well, it was exciting while it lasted. So are you coming with us or no?" Lady questioned.

"I suppose I can. I don't get out much after all." Marceline held out a hand to help Bonnibel up. "Ready to go, Bonnie?"

"Are you still going to make fun of me?" she asked as she took Marceline's helpful hand.

"Depends. If your reactions continue to be entertaining I can't promise I won't."

Bonnibel sighed. It was going to be an entertaining trip to the mall alright, but not for her.

xxx

Marceline arrived back home after a long evening with the four girls. She had to admit, it had been a lot more fun than she would've thought. Being that she wasn't one to socialize with others very often, especially with ones who were so much younger than her, it was nice to know that she could stand being around others. It probably helped that Bonnibel was around. She'd found that she didn't mind being around others as long as Bonnibel was around. She'd never willingly go out just to look around shops unless it was absolutely necessary for her. She just preferred to be by herself or with Bonnibel. Otherwise she always found that she attracted unwanted attention. Mainly from those who though they stood a chance with her. Thinking about stuff like that reminded her of the visitor she had earlier that day. Her good mood took an immediate down turn.

Ash.

She'd thought she'd seen the last of him after she'd graduated high school. As much as she hated to admit she was ever involved with someone like him, she couldn't deny the facts. For a very short while, she dated that excuse for a human being. Simon and Natasha had never approved of him but she'd been in her rebellious stage and them telling her no only made her want to disobey even more. So she had and found out the hard way what dating a jerk was like. She ended it almost as soon as it began. This experience however was not lost on her. It opened up her eyes to not only the fact that the dating world could suck, but that she didn't particularly enjoy the attention of the male species. After graduating high school, she left the town she'd grown up in so she could attend college. There she began to find herself and spread her wings, in a manner of speaking. She came to accept that she liked those of her gender. Was she shocked? Perhaps at first but a visit home to talk to Simon and Natasha eased her mind. They assured her that they didn't care who it was she was attracted to. All they cared about was her happiness.

"I really need to pay those two a visit again soon."

Her mind eventually drifted back to what happened with Bonnibel and her friends. It had been fun to pick on her in front of her friends, but during their adventure at the mall, she couldn't stop herself from looking at the pink haired girl. Really looking at her. After all the time they'd spent together, she'd never noticed subtle things about her. Like the way her eyes twinkled when she laughed or the way her hair wasn't completely straight but was kind of wavy near the tips. Or how her blush was actually rather cute….

"Oh god…. What's wrong with me?" Marceline landed face first on her brand new couch in the living room.

She couldn't be having these thoughts about Bonnibel. She just couldn't.

"What are you doing to me Bonnie?"

AN: Yeah, I have a thing for making those in Marceline's family criminals. I need to change that up for whatever story I decide to do next. It'll be good to try something new. It keeps things interesting. Until then, reviews are appreciated.