Chapter II, We Grew Bitter, We Were Sweeter

It was one of those days that Marceline wished she could just stay in her bed and hope for the best. She knew precisely that nothing interesting will happen, so why even bother? On the other hand, if something like that would occur, the past events taught her that it would usually end up badly for everyone. And by everyone she meant herself. While most of the time she wouldn't mind a bit of trouble here and there, today she was rather sensitive about it. Therefore she decided to spend that time doing what she's best at – making music and avoid everything and everyone. That wasn't really all that difficult since recently, hardly anyone visited her. Aside from the occasional interrupts made by Finn and Jake, that bumped around without any good reasons and Simon, who was more tiresome to watch at in his current state than anything. Other then that - she was completely alone.

"Aight Marceline. Time to do something."

She said to herself as she stood up and ventured towards her desk. There, her guitar and a sturdy pair of headphones just waited for her almost invitingly. As she sat down and prepared her equipment, she gazed at the desk. Aside from the usual 'creative mess' as she called it, one thing grabbed her attention. A small, framed picture. To tell the truth, each time she sat here she tried to ignore it and each time, she simply could not. There was a time that this little thing was dear to her. One of the most precious thing she ever received. A simple photo of her and the princess, tangled together almost as if it meant something. Almost as if they meant something to each other. The sign below, stating 'from your number one fan' was just icing on the cake. Nowadays, it just reminded her about how far they went from each other.

"Ugh... You put me off today..."

Saying that, she turned her sight away and started to recite some lyrics from atop of her head, while her fingers attempted to create the adequate sounds. She still felt observed however, as in her head, the picture mocked both her and her doings. And she wasn't the one that takes criticism lightly, even the one in her head.

"Stop staring at me like that..."

She said. For some reason she just couldn't turn the picture around or simply hide it away. It was always beyond her,despite each frustration it brought. At the end it always remained in it's place.

"I said stop it!" She screamed. "Go stare at him, don't pretend I'm... just... just don't! Just go!"

She stood up and grabbed the thing in her hands. As she changed into a werewolf, she considered just smashing the thing, once and for all. Her claws pressed harder and harder, but as the glass finally started to shatter, she snapped out of it and shifted back to herself. She looked once again at the photo, inspecting it closely. It now had a crack, right in between of them. Marceline sighted loudly.

"Bonnie..." She shook her head in confusion. "Why did you even gave me that if you were to..." The vampire sighted, as she stared at the princess. "If you'd care, you'd come back... you were different... or was I?"

###

"Thank you everybody!" She bowed down, only to whip her hair around. "You all are great! Woo!"

The crowd cheered, shouting and crying out for more. The vampire just smiled to herself and with the last chord on her guitar, piercing through the night's sky, their performance was over. For now at least. As she walked down the stage, before she could reach her wardrobe, pink hands draw her away from the sightings of people, right in between of two huge inactive speakers. She gazed at the princess, whom looked at her with a huge smile and blushing cheeks. It would seem that it's hard for her to catch a breath.

"You. Were. Amazing." She finally managed to spill some words out. "Amazing!"

"Um..." The pink face staring at her in awe caught Marceline off guard, as she didn't really know what to say. "Yeah, maybe."

"The way they cheered at you, the way the crowd moved with every sound, the way they shouted your name, that was rad!"

"And... did you enjoyed it?"

"Well... let me put it that way." Bubblegum began to play with her gummy hair, which would only indicate that she was after something else than just cheering around and enjoying the show. "You have a break now, right?" She finally asked playfully. "Because I wanted to order a more private performance."

"Well, normally we don't do self-interests." Marceline smirked. "But for a fine fan like you, we could make an exception." Her smile got more bitter. "Guy would love that I'm sure."

"No doubts about that, still..." She giggled nervously and quickly added. "I don't want all of you. I want only one person, the one standing before me." The princess came closer and caught her hand. "And since I'm also your manager, I think it's only wise to practice a bit on the side."

"Judging by your role, I can only adapt." She chuckled. "Have something in mind about the theme of the performance?"

"Not really, not a thing..." She looked around to see if anyone is paying attention to them. Oddly enough, no one was, so she smooched the vampire on the cheek. "Many things."

"So, what's the deal?"

"First off, let's go where no one will be looking for us." She chuckled. "And at us."

"And that would be?" Marceline shook her head. "If you haven't noticed, there's like peeps everywhere. Tons of them."

"Behind the stage, obviously!" The princess stated surly. "When your support will play, everyone will be at the front, duh!"

Bonnibel grabbed her hand and dragged the girl right into the crowd. She wasn't opposing in the slightest, even though it was quite hard to get through all of them. Almost everyone wanted an autograph, exchange of a word or two, or simply wished to bask in the glory of someone famous. Bubblegum was quite good at avoiding most of them however and those that caught them were disposed rather quickly with a diplomatic response. Well, most of the time, as the princess apparently was in quite the hurry and wasn't afraid to smack someone in the face to get away. Finally, after the struggle to get out, they reached their destination. With all the junk laying around, the trailers and caravans parked everywhere and crudely packed equipment, it was hardly a place that someone would like to stray into. And that would mean only one thing – they could be alone. As they squeezed in between two rather large carts, the princess pinned Marceline to the wall. As she pressed onto her body, she began to kiss her on the neck. Sadly for the two, she stopped right after, as she could swore she heard someone passing by. And they stood there quietly, with only their breaths piercing the silence. As they looked at each other, Bonnibel began to whisper into the vampire's ear.

"So remember how you always told me that being a vampire is a butt-junk fail-deal at times, since no reflections, no photos and such?"
"I said that?" She smiled and shook her head. "Naaaw."

"I'm pretty sure you did. It does sounds quite like you..." She giggled. "But never mind, that's not an issue right now!..." She shuffled around her little bag. "What's important, with a little work on the side and with a bit of effort, I managed to get some results! You know, the thing was in chemicals mostly, as the bath in them needed a certain amount of measurements!" She began to talk faster and faster, as she still searched for that certain thing she began to chat about. "But as I increased the contrast a bit, dodging exposures in certain delicate areas, played a bit with printing aperture and spent much time in the dark room, using not only the typical tools but also, and you won't believe that, some palladium and potassium, mixed up with lots and lot's of sulfur..."

"Errr... Say what now?"

"Science, Marceline, science!" She finally found the item withing the depths of her bag and as she took out the nicely framed photo, she just waved it in front of pale girl's face. "Look!"

The vampire did just that, gazing closely at it, both shocked and amused. Bubblegum simply smiled and giggled around, as she knew she did her job correctly.

"Does it mean that..." She still tried to unravel the puzzles in her head. "That we..."

"It means exactly what you'd wish. So it's more dependent on that..." The princess asked in a form of yet another riddle. "So, what do you think it means?"

"I... I don't know, I thought that you and..."

"Scratch that. You think way too much." Bubblegum flicked her on the forehead. "Better leave that to me."

Marceline still wasn't quite sure what to make out of it. She was grateful for the gift, obviously, but she simply saw her pink companion way too many times with someone else to believe those words just like that, right off the bat.

"You don't look too motivated."

"What? No, just many things in my head..."

"Hm..." The princess pondered. "That means I'm doing a poor job as your manager!" Once again, looking around if no pesky eyes are spying on them, she kissed her on the cheek. "We need to change that!"

"Um... Bonnie?"

"You see, I have a plan, as always! And with a bit of science..." She pulled out a large pack of keys, obviously snatched from one of the staff members. "...and fast hands, we can make it happen!"

Without further explanation, Bubblegum rushed from their little hideout right towards one of the caravans. There, one by one, she began to try out the tools she was given. Or rather, the ones that she claimed by herself, for herself.

"Normally, it was you that always asked me that question but..." Marceline came right after her. "...you know what you're doing, right?"

"Of course silly. Just giving us some room." One of the keys finally unlocked the door. "There we go! It's not like we're going to steal a thing. We'll just borrow some... private space."

She quickly went inside, so did the vampire, looking around if no one is watching. As soon as she stepped through the door frame, Bubblegum closed the doors behind them, almost instantly reaching for Marceline's hands. As their bodies collided, as their lips met, they ventured around in the dark, knocking down various things in their passionate dance. Eventually, the princess grabbed her lover and placed her right at the table, leaning towards her. During that, the music clearly started to play on the stage, both to accompany their movements and to hustle them ahead.

"We don't have much time..." Bonnibel sighted. "Too bad. We need to use what we have!"

Once again their tongues met and the vampire did not oppose this course of action. But within each ravel, within each tangle, with each smudge over her body, with each sweet drops of saliva, she got more and more nervous. More and more pensive. Finally, she just couldn't take it.

"Bonnie..." The princess ignored her calls completely, as she ventured with her lips all over her pale neck, almost ripping her shirt while she tried to get even lower.. "Bonnie!"

"What?" She looked at her, quite surprised. "What's wrong?"

"Straight, clear answer. Now." She pushed her back a bit. "Guy or me."

"Marceline..." Bubblegum rolled her eyes. "It's all your imaginings, I'm not with..."

"Straight answer." She sounded quite angry. "You can't have both. You can't pretend I'm blind either. Walks by the beach, laughs and tweets. You think I'm stupid? Quit it and answer me."

"You." She bit her lip. "Always you."

"Promise?"

"Marceline, please..."

"Bonnie." She sat down and grabbed her hand. "Promise?"

"I promise." She sighted and quickly tried to make a jest out of it. "As your manager I should take care of you in every way possible!" She tapped on her belly, and before Marceline could even take notice, she quickly swopped down her pants. "Now, that's more comfortable I'm sure."

"You're so sure of yourself lately." The vampire smirked, even thou she still wasn't all that keen to the whole idea. And the share notion that it was her that hesitated bothered her greatly. "So what now?"
"Now? Now I'll show you how good I am, by motivating you and... maybe we'll squeeze some new verses out of you!"

Bubblegum eventually accomplished her goal, by tearing her shirt apart just to get where she wanted to. She was used to obtaining things she strove for, it was only a natural course of action. She kissed delicately over her lover's cold, smooth body, caressing her on the chest, as her hands ventured lower and lower, placing themselves on her waist. At first, the pale one pondered, whenever the promises made by the dearest person in the word are worth listening to. She eventually figured, that time will show, as it always does. So she simply accepted it, as the sweet trail of saliva began at the very top of her body, only to venture lower. 'You got me.' The vampire thought to herself, as the princess lips finally did more than just spew out numerous words. 'No, wait. You always had me...' So did her tongue for that mater, warm yet vigorous, almost like an eel. 'I think I love you. Will you love me back one day?'

In the background, the crowd cheered as the leader of the band pulled all the strings of his guitar in a single hitch, only to delicately smudge each and every single one of them afterward, knowing that not a single part should be avoided in order to obtain perfection. Momentum needed to be precise as well, since the slightest mistake could mean dissatisfaction. Through his chords, the other one that sang, let loose the moaning screams, echoing through the air. Loud, rhythmic, passionate and primal to some extend, yes, that made everyone go crazy, that made them loose their minds and almost bend to the very notion of that sound. They danced, they waved their hands, they hold onto one another to have their share of fun. And in the end, the crowd screamed for encore, encore! And so did Marceline.