Anonymous

43

Bonnie's brain didn't feel like it was working.

She wasn't sure if she should be happy or sad. She was fairly certain that she was allowed to be worried, even though Marceline had asked her not to be. Basically, she had a lot to think about, and her brain wasn't sure how to cope with it.

She didn't want to talk to Lady about it, at least not right away. She picked up her phone and scrolled through her text conversations, double checking the one with Marceline first. Every text for the last four days, since Marceline had gone home, had been similar.

bonnie (10:23AM): Everything okay? :)

Marcy (12:03PM): mhm, all good here, bon :)

She didn't want to overwhelm Marceline, but at the same time, she was worried for her. Bonnie was a natural worrier, and she cared about Marceline more than she cared about the average person. With Marceline's situation considered, Bonnie was surprised she hadn't flipped out and gone crazy bodyguard. Every time she thought about Marceline and her father, she felt physically ill with concern, even though Marceline had been fine so far.

She wouldn't lie, would she? Bonnie thought to herself. Though Marceline was notoriously hard to read, Bonnie could always tell when she lied. She hadn't seemed dishonest when she'd assured Bonnie she would be alright.

She looked back at today's text. Mhm, all good here, Bon. She guessed she'd just have to trust her, at least until she could figure out some way to get Marceline out of there safely without her having to 'ruin her brother's life'. She knew that Marceline would keep throwing herself into the firing line if it meant Marshall could remain peacefully oblivious and it was so frustrating. For now, all she could do was be on guard and try to figure out some kind of permanent remedy for the situation. It was just so hard to focus through all of her worry.

She left that text conversation and scrolled to her second most recent. Bubba had recently upgraded to an iPhone, so now they no longer had to rely on Facebook messenger and Skype. It was mid-afternoon now, so he'd definitely be awake – his last text to her was from this morning – but just in case, she sent a quick text asking if he had any time to FaceTime her.

She needed to talk to him about this rather than Lady. While Lady was a good friend, Bubba had always been the one to see the clear meanings in the things Bonnie overthought, and the fact that he didn't know Marceline at all made it easier. He was unbiased, and wasn't making judgements based on what he thought Marceline was like.

Her phone buzzed, with the notification that Bubba was calling. She answered instantly and leaned back against her desk chair, phone in one hand and the hem of Marceline's t-shirt in her other. "Hi, Bubba."

"Bonnie!" He smiled widely, "You alright? How are things?"

"I answered that question over text this morning, but just for your benefit, I'll answer again," Bonnie teased him, before admitting, "I'm okay. A little confused, but... I'm alright."

"Confused?" He asked, because she hadn't mentioned that part over text. There were a lot of things that she hadn't mentioned over text. "Confused how?"

"There's this... there's this girl," Bonnie started, and wondered if he'd just catch on, since she'd never shown any interest in boys around him. She'd never told him the reason her parents had kicked her out either, just that they had. She hadn't told anybody that before, aside from Marceline. She blamed her pretty green eyes. "And I think we maybe... both admitted that we like each other. But I'm not sure if I'm interpreting that in the wrong way. So, basically, I'm overthinking myself into a rut."

Bubba blinked, and she could see the realisation set in. She waited rather anxiously for him to say something, and when he did, all he said was, "Like each other in what way?"