So after reading several requests to have PB reciprocate Marcy's feelings, I decided to continue this story at my leisure. There will be more chapters to come.

I do not own Adventure Time, or any of its characters.

I also do not own Matt Nathanson's song Faster. But I heard it the other day and I wanted to include it.

R&R and I hope you enjoy.

*10/18/2014 Reviewed and edited!

Princess Bubblegum blinked the sleep from her eyes, moaning slightly as she felt the heaviness slowly drain from her slumber-sore limbs. She sat up in the bed, stretching ungracefully before scanning the dim room. A sliver of pre-dawn glow from a dip in the drapery was the sole source of light in the pink bedchamber, and the princess allowed herself a moment to admire the plays of shadow on the walls, dimly aware of the emptiness of the bed. She felt simultaneously rested and exhausted, and she sighed, accrediting her present state to the late hour at which she finally fell into her unconsciousness. Why she had chosen to stay up so late in the first place, she wondered. Her hand mindlessly slid to the space beside her, and she was surprised to find herself missing something. Something very important…
Like a slow stream, the events from the night before trickled into the princess's mind, and she searched for her companion under the covers and in the lonely room. When she found nothing beside her, she scanned the corners and coatracks for the small form of a bat, failing to find any indication that the vampire may still be in the castle.
Sighing, Princess Bubblegum rose, surprised to find herself donning the black t-shirt gifted to her years before by the very woman she now sought. Had she imagined their passions? She crawled off the edge of the bed and blushed to find her nether regions unclothed. All suspicions that her memories were no more than a dream immediately evaporated, and a newfound desire to locate her friend grew within the princess. Walking to her dresser, she pulled on a pair of boy-shorts, trusting the early hour to keep her staff from her path as she explored the castle for her bedmate.
She left her room on velvet toes, looking in every nook and cranny for the vampire. She peered out at the almost-dark through the windows and concluded that Marceline had to be in the castle, as they'd fallen asleep much too late for her to get home safely before the sun rose. The princess avoided the sunroom and sitting rooms completely- they'd be much too bright. She also avoided the cellar and dungeon. While darkness and morbidity screamed of the vampire's personality, Bubblegum knew she'd seek somewhere peaceful to rest during the day...especially after the scuffle they'd had the night before. She shook the memories away, grumbling to herself about selfishness and irrationality.
"That jerk…she could have stayed with me in the bed. Why did she leave?" Bubblegum scowled to herself and allowed her thoughts to drift back to the night before. She paused suddenly, groaning and tapping her forehead with the heel of her palm as she recalled that she had failed to invite the vampire to stay in bed that night at all. Instead, after being spurred to some of the most earthshattering orgasms she'd ever had, the princess had been lulled to sleep by the gentle caresses of the vampire's tongue against her...she shuddered and pushed the thought aside, looking back further still, past the attentions her friend had given her, and blushed even deeper at the memory of touching and grinding cores together at the vampire's request. How could she have done something so…
Princess Bubblegum was frustrated with herself, scouring the deepest corners of her mind for the one detail she found it impossible to remember; something important, of that, she was sure. She continued on her trek, eager to complete both missions soon, as her stomach was protesting for lack of breakfast and she was sure the vampire would be in a foul mood because of similar conditions. A chill met her in the hallway, running down her spine in greeting and she cursed her earlier self for leaving her chamber in such skimpy bedclothes. She crossed her arms about her chest and looked about, confident to find Marceline, get properly dressed, and fetch a meal from the kitchen as soon as she could. Eager for the latter most of all, Princess Bubblegum became exasperated very, very quickly.
After searching every room in the castle, she had failed to find Marceline, and now the sun was starting to rise. Her staff would be up in no time, and surely one of them would find Marceline before she did, and that would be simply unacceptable. Princess Bubblegum wandered aimlessly now, looking into rooms she had already searched in hopes that she had somehow overlooked her friend, or mistaken her for a cushion or shadow or something. She ran over several scenarios in her head for scolding the woman when she found her, looking up to see that, without realizing, her feet had carried her up several flights of stairs and left her standing before a large wooden door. A very familiar wooden door.
Princess Bubblegum smiled. Centuries ago, before she had increased her biomass to an age suitable for the throne, the young princess spent countless hours in this attic, playing knights and monsters with the vampire. She reminisced on the innocent times, and she suddenly remembered something:
When she was a child, Princess Bubblegum would stand outside the door with her cheek pressed to its cold wooden surface. She'd had lessons even then, but she'd hurried through them and scampered up the steps, arriving hours before her scheduled lunchtime meetings with the vampire, held here for the secrecy of the room. She'd been told by Peppermint that the citizens wouldn't trust her if she associated with such company, but if anyone could make him melt it was she, and he eventually surrendered permission for these afternoon meals in her previous caretaker's company. She'd sit at the threshold thus, secretly listening to ballads of love and tragedy, happiness and triumph, her mind spiraling to worlds unknown to her, her heart growing so swollen with meaning and love that she felt it would burst out of her chest one day. Sometimes, if the vampire suspected the princess was listening, she'd sing lullabies and nursery rhymes while playing along on her bass, or make up songs about parents reprimanding their children for not following orders, slowly drifting closer and closer to the door only to open it and take the girl into her arms, tickling her as a punishment for spying.
Bubblegum opened her eyes to centuries ahead; the wood had shrunken and swelled, been broken and patched, hinges replaced, painted at some point. But where the ear of a child could easily reach it was the ancient keyhole Bubblegum had peered into throughout her childhood and it felt so natural to do it now. Pressing her ear to the keyhole, the princess closed her eyes, and waited, surrounded by the musty smell of old wood and aged dust. A smile broke across her face as she heard a few strong notes echo across the small room. Eagerly as ever, she listened.
"You're so delicious. You're so soft, sweet on the tip of my tongue…" The princess's cheeks grew warm upon hearing the song the vampire was singing, but she kept her ear pressed to the door. "You taste like sunlight and strawberry bubble gum…" A pause, and the princess strained to hear more. A deep sigh met her, followed by the words you make my heart beat faster at a near whisper. The vampire's words slowed, and the key changed, stretching the mellow song to a tune that sounded almost mournful, the sound of a hearse were it an ice cream truck. She shuddered, but listened still.
"I beg, I still…I fall. Oooooo, you own me…" Marceline sighed. "Yeah, you own me…you make my heart beat faster, faster…faster, faster. I can't get enough…"
Bubblegum's heart stilled at the sound of a sniffle, and she waited, waited. A single note echoed through the room, to her ear, down, down to her heart.
"This is gone…this world is over to me." A final riff, and the bass stopped with a muffled thud as it was set on the ground. The music, too, was gone, and Bubblegum's nostalgia dead, lacking the almost-warmth of dead hands scraping about her sides in feigned attacks, of raspberries blown into her warm neck trusting the fangs that brushed against it not to pierce, not to hurt.
Bubblegum slid to the floor and hugged her knees as the words stung her. The vampire had sung this tune to her in the past many times, but never before had she sang the last line. The words the vampire had spoken to her the night before ran through her head again and she couldn't push them away, couldn't make them disappear. So instead she disappeared into them, into her misery, burying her face into her arms, nuzzling her elbow. It was no mystery Marceline had decided to spend the night elsewhere, after all.
"I'm so…"
With a yelp, the princess found herself laying on her back under the intense gaze of the vampire.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the little sneak."
Marceline floated above the princess wearing her grey tank top and a pair of purple panties that had obviously been pilfered from her underwear drawer. She gave the princess her usual lopsided smile, and Bubblegum's heart melted; Marceline's actions were so wrong, so unfair. Bubblegum didn't deserve that smile, and it hurt her to look at it. She wondered if Marceline knew that.
"I…uh…" Her heart ached and jumped into her throat. Marceline cocked her head to the side.
"What?"
"I…wanted to hear you sing…you don't sing the songs I request, so…" Bubblegum said softly. Marceline rolled her eyes.
"It keeps things exciting, Prubbs. We don't all get what we want at the wave of a magic wand. Such is life and junk. It sucks. Usually." Ouch.
Despite herself, Bubblegum smiled halfheartedly, and Marceline frowned, not buying it at all.
"What's wrong, babe?" As if she didn't know. Bubblegum looked away, and Marceline's ears perked.
"Seems they've awoken." With that, she lifted the princess bridal style and carried her into the room, closing the door behind them with a bare foot. She settled the princess comfortably in her lap as she floated in the air, ringing her waist loosely with gangly arms mostly made of jutting elbows. Marceline dipped her head and pressed her face gently into the princess's chest, listening to her heartbeat. She inhaled softly, resting her head against a soft breast, pulling the girl closer to her with restrained ferocity. "Bonni, Bonni...you smell like sunlight."
The princess looked down at the vampire sympathetically, smoothing her wild hair gently. She shuddered when she felt the cool exhalation against the skin of her chest.
"How would you know what sunlight smells like, Marceline?" Bubblegum asked glumly. Marceline breathed without needing to, once, twice, and Bubblegum wondered if it was like remembering the relief of breath without ever feeling it again. Did Marceline know that, too?
"I lived in the sun once too, Bonnibel. It's warmth, it's safety. Like you, really." She admitted the last part quietly, unsurely, then kissed Bubblegum's head, and the princess shied away from her touch.
"What is it? I'm…sorry…" Marceline shifted Bubblegum on her knee, but rather than pull away further, the princess leaned into her. Confused, Marceline raised an eyebrow.
"Don't apologize…Marcy, I'm sorry…" Bubblegum leaned her head on the vampire's shoulder cautiously, hugging her tightly and dangerously close to tears. Marceline stiffened, not knowing what to make of it. Bubblegum noted it, ran her hand soothingly over a grey thigh, thumbing the hem of her stolen underwear. Marceline placed her palm over the hand, fingers lightly stroking the smaller digits beneath them.
"Bonnibel…"
"I didn't…I mean…I love you, Marceline…I never meant to make you think I didn't. But your proposition, it had me so flustered, I…"
"Bonnibel, stop…"
"I just didn't know what to think! And…and I hurt you because of it. And then you stayed with me until I slept. You…did those things for me even though I don't always reciprocate the way you crave…it must be hard…" She looked away then. Shamed, embarrassed, wanting forgiveness for her actions but no, no not enough to give in if she asked again. She was the princess, her opinion was steadfast and her word was law, even in this case, she couldn't fold, she wouldn't give in, she wouldn't...
"I just want to please you…" Marceline whispered against her hair, and Bubblegum cringed. She wouldn't...cry.
"You're not a servant! I…I feel so selfish, Marceline. I'm so sorry…" Bubblegum pressed harder into the vampire, pawed at her chest, all out SMUSHED her face into her nape and dry sobbed as the lyrics came to her, rung in her head and why wouldn't they stop?
"Babe…calm down. It's ok…" Marceline hugged the princess to her form and pressed her face into her hair. "It's ok…"
"I…I just never thought you wanted to...well to merge, you know?..." Her voice was deathly quiet but when Marceline tried to interject she didn't let her, continuing "…I…I thought we were more than that, I didn't think we'd face things like this. I didn't think we'd ever need to define what we have…I'd grown so comfortable, Marceline. I didn't think it would ever end, or that I could lose you. I assumed you were as comfortable as I was…I thought you understood my role, what I needed to do..."
Marceline stayed silent, running hands through thick strands of pink hair gently while listening to the princess's words. Some strands were clumped together; how long had the princess been crying? Or were those tears melting the sugar about her ears Marceline's, from the night before? She felt the girl sniffle against her, and she pulled her closer, kissing her head again. This time, the princess did not resist.
"Marce?...say something…"
"…do you love me?" Marceline asked, softly. Bubblegum made a choking sound.
"Of course I do, Marcy. I always will…I told you, I told you Marcy, and I've never said anything more serious in my life."
Marceline stayed silent a long time.
"That's all I need, then…all I need is you, Bonnibel. And I don't care how I have you…" She pulled Bubblegum back and looked into her eyes. "Because I love you, too. And it shouldn't matter how I love you, does it?"
Bubblegum shook her head, cuddling into her friend. "No, Marcy. As long as…as long as you don't leave me. And I won't leave you, ever…" Bubblegum leaned up, and with a slight blush, kissed Marceline on the lips. "I promise to always be yours, Marceline. Boyfriend or not…King or not, I'm yours."
Marceline couldn't make sense of the princess's words, but she smiled despite the sting in her heart and kissed her princess again.
"I know, princess. I know."