Chapter 16: Junk

It wasn't a special or unique night when it happened. If anything, it was more boring than the other nights the two had shared. Bubblegum had an overabundance of work, and had been reading and signing documents all day and still hadn't finished; so she continued with Marceline over, who didn't mind at all. The vampire floated idly over the pink bed, mindlessly plucking at her bass, simply enjoying the presence of the younger girl.

Bubblegum sighed at her desk, prompting Marceline to speak. "Why don't you just turn in for the night, Bonni? You've given more than enough time to your kingdom for the day, I should think." She teased.

The princess let out a small grunt of disapproval. "Well we can't all have kingdoms that don't require their monarchs, Marceline." She turned a little in her chair to face the Queen. "Honestly, how do you do it? You're here almost all the time…"

Marceline floated over to her, noses practically touching. She relished in the way Bubblegum's cheeks flushed. "Well, Bonni, you're only sixteen. Maybe you just don't know how to manage a kingdom as well as I do…" she watched as the princess' cheeks puffed up.

"I resent that, your Majesty. I have been running my kingdom wonderfully, thank you very much." She crossed her arms, work forgotten in the moment.

Marceline smirked wickedly, realizing the attempt to make her upset. "You know I don't like it when you call me that, Bonnibel." She snaked her tongue out a little, hissing quietly.

"Well we can't all have a thousand years experience! And how well can you run it when you're practically never there! I have treaties and mergers and parties and all these things I have to approve and sign. You must live in a very peaceable to not have to really be there."

Marceline laughed out loud. If there was one thing the Night-O-Sphere wasn't, it was peaceable. She visited home often enough to assert her power, and that was all she needed to do. There wasn't really any taming of her realm. "I go home enough, Bonni. My realm doesn't really have too many treaties and things to sign anyway. Most steer clear." She floated back over to the bed and sighed a little. There wasn't a lot of room for acceptance when it came to demons, vampires, and monsters.

Bubblegum rested her head on her arms over the back of the chair. "Why is that?" She asked innocently.

Marceline tilted her head forward to catch a pair of deep pink eyes. "Well, would you want to laugh it up in a realm where the ruler is a vampire? Most people tend not to like me."

Bubblegum got up and walked over, sitting down on the bed and twisting Marceline's head around in the air to face her. The candy princess understood completely. Marceline had been her friend for ten years, her girlfriend for two, and still she saw peppermint glare at the vampire whenever he saw her. "Well I like you." She said simply, placing a reassuring hand on chilled skin.

Marceline smiled sadly, and that's when it happened. That's when the horrifying realization washed over her like an ice bath. I love her. I'm in love. Stupid, dreadful, painful, mushy, vulnerable love. Glob! When in the name of Ooo did this happen? I don't love! I've never loved. I am Marceline, Queen of the Damned and of Evil and of Night Terrors and…and I don't love! Yet here I am, wanting to grow older with her and be with her all the time and write songs for her and take her out and do everything possible to show my love but tell her. She loved more than she thought possible, and had for quite some time.

She had loved Bonnibel since the girl was six, and now…now she was in love. And she had only just realized this.

She jerked away from the girl in mid-air, bumping violently into the wall behind her, eyes wide with fear. I can't tell her. I can't. I mean, she tells me all the time, but she's told me since she was six! Oh glob, this is like, super bad. How do I handle this? I can't tell her, I can't! Vampires don't love! I don't love. Well lumps on that because apparently I do and apparently this lumping girl has stolen my heart guts from me. I ought to chop her head off for taking something of mine!

Bubblegum's brow furrowed heavily in concern. "Marci are you okay?" She moved closer, only to have the vampire slink along the wall away from her.

"What? I'm fine. Like totally. One hundred percent." She lied. Fine? I'm not fine, I'm in lumping love! Ugh! Over a thousand years and this has never happened. What do I do? Glob, glob, glob.

"Marceline, you're acting really funny. If this is about you're kingdom and ruling habits, I didn't mean to offend you." She was backed into a corner of the room.

"What? No that's like, whatever, man. I'm not acting funny. Am I acting funny? I don't think I'm acting funny." She spewed. Remembering she could fly, she arched up and over the other girl's head to the other side of the room. I am totally acting funny. And weird. And in love. Can you act in love? I bet I've been doing it for a while without even noticing. Glob! What if she already knows? But she can't really know unless I tell her. Lumping lump of a lump!

Bubblegum crossed her arms. Sure, Marceline had evaded topics before, but she was always sly about it. She had never so openly acted strangely about a topic. "Marceline I've been you're girlfriend for two years. I know when something is weird." She walked over to the vampire and took two grayish blue hands in her own. "You can tell me when something's wrong, you know…" She said quietly, offering her support to whatever Marceline was feeling at the time.

The two remained there for a moment, Marceline looking down at her girlfriend, and finding her resolve not to tell wavering. She is everything I want, everything I need. Am I supposed to tell her that? Am I supposed to feel this way? What if it's not normal, what if I'm some sort of freak? She gulped after several minutes had passed. "Bonni I…" Her jaw froze, protecting her from allowing someone in so completely after all her years.

"You…?" The candy girl prompted softly.

"I like love you and junk, okay!" Marceline screamed, hair flying around in nervous tendrils. "It's weird and stupid and I'm not supposed to because according to all the mythology I don't have a soul or whatever but you are just everything and I've loved you since you were six only I didn't know it and now I'm in love with you! I'm in love with you and I'm not supposed to be able to at all and I don't know how it happened!"

Bubblegum was taken aback by the face paced scream rambling. She laughed for a good few moments after she had recomposed herself. "You love me? Is that all? Marceline you know I love you too." She laughed again.

Marceline tensed. "It may be not a big deal to you, but like, it is to me. I've never loved anybody, okay?" She confessed quietly. "And you're just…you're like all the color in the world and just…ugh…" She groaned and trailed off.

"…you've never loved anyone?"

"Well…I like love my dad or whatever, but I hardly see him and he really isn't the best. But I love him because he's my dad. You it's because you let me eat your strawberries and tell me you like me and can make me smile when you're just sitting at a desk doing paperwork and you make me forget about everything else and it just feels so, so right and a million other things I can't put into words and I'm being all mushy and junk and I just don't think love is something so lumping easy because it's a vulnerable thing and I don't like that!" She rambled again, heating up at the last sentence.

Bubblegum had a huge smile across her face. Everything Marceline had said was wonderful in a way she couldn't describe at all. "You are the world to me, Marci." She said quietly. "And I know I've been saying it since forever, but I love you too. Like, in love, love you." They shared a soft kiss. "And I don't really think that it's junk at all."

A/N

Okay a bit shorter than usual but I like it all the same. This one is from Silenthill who wanted 'the first time Marceline said I love you...' So viola! I might write another chapter and have it up today because of the length (Monochrome Masquerade I'm looking at you) or I might save it for tomorrow. Who knows.

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Thank you all so much for the compliments and wonderful reviews. I'll try to get to all the suggestions. In a few chaps I'll put up how Marceline dealt with the break up. In a few. Thanks all so much!

-JD