"Marshall what the hell am I going to do?" Bonnie sobbed. She was still sitting on the bathroom floor after I got back from dropping Bubba off.

I slowly stepped towards her, crouching down to her level. "I don't know, Bon. We'll figure it out okay? You just need to take a deep breath and calm down-"

"HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO CALM DOWN!?" She screamed, throwing the three plastic sticks against the wall. She sobbed harder and clutched at her stomach. I was at loss for words, I had no idea what to do. I felt horrible.

"I'm so sorry, Bonnibel," I whispered, feeling so bad for her right now. She didn't need this extra stress added to everything. "You have to trust me that everything will be fine in the end..." I rubbed her back, trying to comfort her.

"How!?" She smacked my hand away. "I don't think you understand the severe complication in this situation. I'm pregnant, Marshall, and I'm married to a woman!" She yelled at me. "Oh glob... what is Marcy going to say...?" Bonnie sobbed again. Of course I understood. Two lesbians can't make a baby on their own together. "I'm supposed to meet her at the airport next week... I don't know what I'm going to do! I've already been keeping the truth from her as it is, now this!"

"Well eventually you're going to have to tell her..."

"No shit, Marshall!" She yelled, angry tears rushing down her cheeks like raging waterfalls.

"Alright well yelling at me isn't going to help anything," I glared. She shot me a dirty look before angrily wiping away some of the tears off her red face.

"I just don't know what to do... How the hell am I going to tell her?" She stared in front of her with an empty expression. I watched her for a moment. "She's going to hate me... she's gonna hate me for lying to her. And for being such a slut!" She hid her face in her knees.

"Here we go again..." I sighed and crawled in front of her. "Bonnibel. How many times do I have to say it for you to get it through your pretty little head? You are not a fucking slut for what happened. And it's not your fault whatsoever..." Bonnie didn't move or say anything. I huffed and pulled her head up to look at me. "Are you listening to me?" She watched me for a moment before nodding. "Then repeat what I just said." I let go of her face, watching her with a stern look.

"...I'm not a slut... and it wasn't my fault..." she said meekly.

"Good. Now get up off this nasty floor. We'll think of a game plan later." I stood and pulled Bonnie up and together we went downstairs. That's when I noticed that both the living room and kitchen were all cleaned up. Bubba must've cleaned while he was waiting downstairs. What an angel. I felt bad for kicking him out, but I just can't take care of Bonnie while trying to pay attention to him at the same time. Speaking of Bonnie.

"When's the last time you've eaten?" I asked, trying to recall if she ate during lunch or not.

"I drank some juice this morning..." She was back to her small, insecure state like when she first started staying here. I sighed, disappointed.

"Really? That's it? It's almost six, Bon. That's too long to not have eaten anything yet." This whole situation is taking a big toll on her, I can tell.

"I'm just not hungry... I'm not starving myself on purpose, I promise..." She twiddled her thumbs, staring at the linoleum tile of my kitchen floor. I really hope she's telling the truth and not refusing to eating on purpose. But I'd be a hypocrite if I said I didn't go through the same sort of thing. You get so consumed by your anxiety and worrying thoughts that you just don't feel hungry anymore. This needs to change before it gets any worse.

"I understand that, but you need to eat something. It's not healthy. How 'bout I make you something simple. Salad? Cereal? Soup? Anything?" I offer, hoping she'll want to eat. She sighed.

"Cereal, I guess," Bonnie mumbled, twisting her ginger locks around her fingers. I watched her for a moment. She looked so small and timid and not like herself at all. Just when I thought she was getting better, this had to happen. Back to square one, I suppose.

I got out two bowls from the cupboard and poured some sort of off-brand Lucky Charms in them. With what little milk I had left, I put in Bonnie's bowl and just faced the fact that I'd have to eat mine dry. Oh well. I was too lazy to make something else. We sat down and ate at the table.

After a bite or two, the curls that I forgot I had were falling down in front of my face, annoying me greatly. With a huff, I ripped off one of the rubber bands I always have on my wrist and tied back my... bangs? Were they bangs? What even was my hairstyle anymore? Anyway, I tied back the front half of my hair that seems to always get in my face. I need a haircut.

I finished my dry cereal shortly after. Bonnie was still taking her sweet ol' time, pushing around the marshmallows with her spoon. I sat and played on my phone for a while, waiting for her to finish. I wanted to make sure she'd eat it, and just give her some company.

I really enjoyed having Bonnie stay with me, we haven't been this close since we were kids. I don't think we'd ever been around each other for this long just the two of us. Marcy was always with us. Sometimes when both my mom and Marceline were gone for long, Bonnie would "babysit" me from time to time. Those days were always fun. She listened to my angsty pre-teen rants and we always went out to fun places. She was like a big sister to me, but way nicer. And even with the complexity of me and Marceline's lives, she always managed to be a beacon of positivity and happiness to us.

She cared for me most of my life, and now I had to care for her.

"Bonnie, I love you."

She took a small bite before looking up at me. Her eyes watched mine for a moment, and she smiled.

"I love you too, Marshall Lee."

"Marceline loves you too. She'll understand, I know she will..." Bonnibel was still worrying about her, I could tell. No matter what happens, I know for a fact that my cousin would continue to love her endlessly like she had done all of her life, and would understand and help her through this mess. I think Bonnie is just afraid of... everything. Not only is she scared of Marcy leaving her, but the fuck who started all of this was still out there; the police haven't updated us on anything. That sexual assault kit must've not been that helpful, considering she already showered and everything beforehand.

Everything will be fine in the end. We just have to give it time.

"I know she will... I just don't know what to say to her or how I'm going to tell her," she sighed, sinking a few soggy bits under her spoon.

"We'll figure it out, okay? I'll help you. And I'll be there when you tell her, if you want."

"Please." She took a few more unamused bites. When she seemed done, I took our bowls and washed them. I wish I had a dishwasher, it'd make life so much easier.

"Has she said anything to you today?" I asked, drying a bowl. Usually Marceline would call or text her a few times a day, saying she missed Bonnie and other typical couple-y stuff. It was cute, but it always made Bonnie a little sad, considering she always had to lie about what she was doing.

"Yeah," she replied. "She texted me a few hours ago and asked how the family was." She looked sad again. "And how she can't wait to see me again..."

"I'm sorry I asked. Just curious." I put the dishes away and leaned against the counter, eyeing up the cupcakes Bubba had made not so long ago.

"It's fine, Marshy. Don't feel bad." I didn't say anything after that. Mostly because I still did regret asking. I dug my finger into the frosting of one of the cupcakes and licked it off. Bubba was such a good baker. I love that kid. Looking into those teary sky blue eyes of his, I knew for sure I did. I felt it. I wish I would've told him that I loved him then. But it just didn't seem right yet. And I still had to do this thing with Ashley. I don't even know what that thing was yet. What would we have to talk about in order for me to feel like I could love Barnaby without feeling indifferent about it. This was all too confusing and complicated to sort out right now. Bonnie is my main priority, I need to remember that.

I stared at the empty milk jug on the counter. I still needed to get groceries. I could bring Bonnie and maybe keep her mind busy for a while.

"I think I'm gonna go grocery shopping in a few. Wanna come?" I asked.

Bonnie thought about it for a second. "Sure, I guess."

"Cool. Well, I'm gonna take a quick shower and then we can go." I not-so-discretely took a whiff of my underarm and grimaced. I walked out of the kitchen, before walking right back in to ask Bonnie something. "Can you do me a huge favor and make a list of some important things we need?" She nodded, and I went upstairs.

I walked through the very short hallway and into my room. Why they built the full bathroom only attached to my room was a mystery to me, but I couldn't complain; This place was cheap as hell. I entered the bathroom and examined my hair in the mirror for the first time. It was cute, not gonna lie. I painfully ripped out the rubber band, along with a few strands of hair, and slipped it back on my wrist. After tossing it around a bit, I got my hair in a style that looked similar to that of a 1950s housewife. Or if Marilyn Monroe went through a phase. Elizabeth Taylor? I laughed a bit and got in the shower.

>>>>><<<<<

It was getting closer and closer to when Bonnie would have to confront Marceline about this whole mess that was happening. Luckily, we had some sort of a plan. We had a tough time figuring out whether we should just meet Marceline at the airport where she would've been picked up anyway and go from there, or if we could find a way to get Marcy to my house and break it to her in comfort of my home. After some thought we decided on the latter.

It was Friday night now, over a week had passed and Bonnie would have to leave tomorrow. My plan has been to treat her like a princess until then. Beauty treatments, relaxing bubble baths, massages, and cuddling up and watching movies were just the tip of the iceberg.

Bonnie had been doing a lot better again. She was fairly happy and was eating more, which was good. I still waited outside the bathroom while she showered or bathed, sometimes sitting in the room with her when she wasn't changing. The only negative to this whole Bonnie Extravaganza was her nightmares. The constant need to comfort her during the night was exhausting, but I bared through it. She was more important than my sleep schedule.

As of right now, we were chilling on the couch in comfy robes with face masks on and cucumbers over our eyes. All these beauty treatments lately had me feeling glamorous as hell. My skin had never looked better. Bubba even agreed. He wanted to go on a date tonight but I said I wanted to spend Bonnie's last night here with her. We would just reschedule it for some other time.

As I was sitting and contemplating life along to some chill songs, Bonnie spoke. "So Marshy, how are things with Barnaby? You haven't said much about him to me lately."

"Funny you mention, I was just thinkin' about him." As I usually do. "Things are really good. I feel like we're moving at a comfortable pace and nothing has been awkward between us. We can just totally be ourselves around each other, which I love."

"Have you guys... you know...?" she asked suggestively.

I could feel my face heating up under all this goop. "No!" I shouted, my voice reaching an embarrassingly high octave.

"Really? That's surprising. It seemed like you and Ashley were always going at it..."

"Alright alright. No need to bring her up... We were young and horny and irresponsible.Things are way different now."

"I'll give you that one. You have matured a lot since I last saw you. I must say I'm very proud of the person you're becoming."

"Aw, thank you, Bon." I blindly grabbed her hand and interlocked our fingers.

"You're very welcome. But what's keeping you from getting it on with Barnes, anyway?"

I had to think for a moment. Other than the fact that I'm worried about how that process would go down, there wasn't really anything keeping me back.

"I don't know, I guess I just don't want to rush into anything and ruin what we have now. I like where we are as a couple."

"Cute. I respect that."

"I wouldn't even know where to begin anyway. I've never been with a guy, I don't fully understand how exactly that all works..." I was getting all anxious just thinking about it, my hands were starting to sweat.

"Well I'm sure Barney knows what he's doing. He'd walk you through it I bet. Maybe you should go watch some gay porn or something. Google stuff. Read fanfiction. Educate yourself."

"Ugh. Even if I do, all that stuff isn't going to prepare me for the actual thing. I learned that the hard way with girls... Bubba just seems so confident and I know for a fact he knows what he's doing. I would feel embarrassed and stupid having him have to help me."

"Welp. I don't know what to tell you then. Sex is a learning experience." I stayed quiet for a moment, my thoughts about everything racing a mile a minute. "Wait," Bonnie chimed in. "Is Barnaby a-"

"Noooo, no no. He lost his v-card in like, seventh grade or some shit. He's been around."

"Jeez. These kids need to chill."

"You're one to talk," I teased.

"Excuse me, I lost my virginity after I graduated high school, thank you very much. You should be the one to talk."

I laughed. "Fair enough." Soon after that a timer went off on my phone signaling it was time to take off these masks. I let go of her hand and peeled the cucumber slices off my eyes, turning off the timer. We crammed into the half-bath downstairs and washed off the masks in the dinky sink.

                            >>>>><<<<<

Saturday morning rolled around, hours before we'd have to explain everything to my cousin. Bonnie was pacing the living room nervously.

"What if she hates me?" She kept asking over and over.

"She's not going to hate you, Bon-Bon," I reminded for the thousandth time.

"But-"

"Shh!" I grabbed her petite shoulders to stop her from pacing. "Listen. She's probably going to be mad and shocked at first but trust me that everything is going to be okay. Okay?" She nodded. "I'm going to text her now, alright?" She tenses up, but nodded again. I let go of her and grabbed up my phone, opening our conversation. I began typing and Bonnie asked to see. I typed a few different sentences before finally deciding on a good excuse.

Hey Marcy, could you pick me up on your way to get Bon-Bon? Also come over early, I wanna catch up.

It seemed like a good enough excuse because she replied: Yeah of course! She'd be happy to see you. And good bc I saw a pic of you and Gummy on his finsta the other day, you have a lot of explaining to do Mr!

"What's a finsta?" Bonnie asked, hovering over my phone.

"Fake Instagram account. Kinda like a spam account where you just post whatever you want."

"That's stupid."

"I know," I replied. "Anyway. Marcy is gonna be here soon. Are you ready to do this?" I asked. Bonnibel stared into my eyes for a moment. She was scared, but determined. She nodded firmly.

An hour or so had passed by and we were ready for the hell storm about to be released. A loud knock echoed from the door. Marceline was here. I shooed Bonnie away and she hid in the kitchen as I took a deep breath and opened the door with a smile.

"Marcy!"

"Marshall! Oh my glob, it's been forever! How have you been, lil cuz!? Jeez, you grew a lot." Marceline's tall, skinny figure envelopes me into a tight hug. I hugged her back, happy to see her, but I was still kind of tense. I invited her inside and she kicked off her heeled boots, making herself at home. "So, how've ya been?" She asked happily, plopping down on the couch with spread arms.

"Good, good. Great actually. Listen, there's something we need to talk about-"

"Is it about Gumball!? You're all over his social media accounts, what's up with that? You finally playing for the other team?" She winked. I sighed and down next to her.

"Can we talk about this later? There really is something important I need to talk about."

"Ugh, fine," she sighed dramatically. "Don't think I'm gonna let this go, though."

"Yeah yeah... Alright so, um.." I was lost for words. I mean, how hard is it to say, 'remember when you were gonna go get your wife from the airport? Well you don't have to anymore because she was raped and didn't tell you and has been staying with me for the past almost-month! Surprise she's also pregnant!' Yeesh...

"Spit it out, man! We have to get Bonnibel soon. No time for stuttering idiots." I glared at her. She smiled.

"Yeah, well, about that..." Come on, Marshall, this isn't even the hard part! "Bonnie isn't at the airport," I finally spat out. Marceline looked at me like I was stupid.

"What..?" She scoffed, not believing me.

"I said she's not at the airport. She never left."

"What the hell are you talking about? She texted me while she was on the plane...?"

"She never went to the airport at all. Never got on a plane, never visited her family, never left... She's been here the whole time."

Marceline sat up. "Seriously, Marshall Lee, I don't know what the fuck you're talking about. I think you're starting to lose it from living alone for so long..."

"He's right, Marceline," a soft voice budded in. We quickly turned to face it. Bonnie stood in the doorway to the kitchen, looking scared and small. Marceline's eyes widened, shocked from seeing her wife standing there, when for almost a month she had been believing she was across the country.

"Bonnie..." she whispered, standing up slowly. She carefully stepped towards her, probably disbelieving the woman was even there. "What the...?"

"Marcy," Bonnie whispered back, tears forming in her eyes. She reached for her wife, longing to touch and be comforted by her. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment before latching onto each other in a loving, heartfelt embrace. It was really cute seeing two lovers be reunited, but I knew a shit storm was about to ruin the moment.

"I don't understand. What are you doing here? And why?" Marceline asked, still shocked, as she clutched onto her wife's waist. She pulled away to get a good look at the red head. Bonnie's eyes found mine on the couch and looked at me expectantly. Marceline looked from her to me and then back again. "Wait... I... no way." She slowly backed out of Bonnie's arms. "No fucking way. Are you serious right now? This must be a joke..." Marceline stood in the middle of the living room and looked between us. Bonnie and I shared a look of confusion. "Bonnibel, are you seriously fucking cheating on me with my baby cousin!? Is that why you brought me here, Marshall? You sick fuck!" I quickly stood.

"Marceline! What the hell!? I didn't-"

"Shut the fuck up, Marshall Lee!"

"Marcy, please! Listen to him!" Bonnie pleaded.

"Bonnie-!" Marceline started off in a harsh voice but suddenly quieted down a little. "Bonnie, please. Stay out of this. We'll talk later. Right now I'm gonna be too busy murdering this pathetic piece of shit!" Her rage was back again. Suddenly she launched at me with a punch, but I quickly dodged. That didn't stop her from swinging another time. I grabbed her fist before it made contact and with a lot of struggle, managed to twist her arm and tackle her to the ground.

"Would you shut up and let me speak, you loud mouthed bitch!" I yelled. Bonnie gasped. "I didn't fuck your damn wife, alright! Let us explain." I slowly let go of her and stood back up, offering her a hand. She smacked it away and got up herself.

"Alright fine... talk."

"You might want to sit down for this," Bonnie added, taking a seat herself. Marceline looked between us suspiciously one last time before plopping down again. I followed her. We sat in uncomfortable silence for a while, neither of us knowing what to say.

"For glob's sake, will someone fucking say something!?" Marceline yelled, frustrated that we weren't explaining anything.

"Calm down, Marcy, just give me a second to get my thoughts straight," Bonnie stated, sounding frustrated as well. Marceline was quiet. "I didn't go back home because I was assaulted... sexually... while waiting for a taxi." Bonnie's voice was soft and quiet. She looked down at her pleated skirt shyly, picking at the seams, and her long hair hid most of her face.

Marceline's head whipped to face her. I couldn't see her expression, but I doubt it was a happy one. "What...? Who- Why didn't you tell me?" Her voice rose and Bonnie flinched slightly, still not facing her.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered, sounding ashamed.

"What- what happened? How- who- why-...?"

Bonnie proceeded to tell the less-detailed summary of her assault, a shortened version of her experience and what had happened over the past month. Marceline was silent the whole time but I could tell she wasn't happy one bit, and was probably still extremely confused and upset.

Marceline turned to me, staring at me with hurt in her eyes. "You knew about this? And you didn't even bother telling me at all? It didn't even cross your mind that I would've wanted to know that my wife was fucking raped!?" Bonnie flinched again but Marceline didn't seem to notice nor care. She stood again and walked to the opposite side of the coffee table, her arms crossed over her black crop-top. "This isn't happening. You're joking, you have to be. I know my Bonnie wouldn't lie to me for almost a month straight..." Marceline turned on her heel, staring at Bonnie with disappointed eyes. "Why the FUCK didn't you TELL ME!?" She screamed in a hurt voice. Bonnie started crying. I stood.

"Stop yelling at her! This is hard for all of us, alright?"

"I think I have a right to be angry! You both lied to me for a month! Over something as huge and serious as this too. Bonnie, you know for a fact you would've been the first person I'd go to if something like that ever happened to me. I can't believe this shit..."

"I'm so sorry, Marcy. I wanted to tell you, I really did. But I was already too far into this lie and just had to wait it out... please understand. None of this has been easy on me, don't think I enjoyed keeping this from you. It's been killing me inside everyday," Bonnibel sobbed. Marceline watched her as she cried, a sad expression on her face. "I love you so much, Marceline. Please don't hate me."

I sat back down and Marceline walked over to her and embraced her, sitting on her knees. "I could never hate you, Bon. I'm just upset that you decided to keep this from me. I love you too, and I never want you to keep secrets from me like this again. I could've been there for you in the beginning... but I guess you had Lee to take care of you..." she stated, disappointed, rubbing Bonnie's back comfortingly. She faced me. "You better have treated her like a goddamn queen. I swear if I find out you did anything to her-"

"Your cousin has been nothing but caring towards me, leave him alone. He's extremely sweet and understanding, I couldn't have made it through this without him." Bonnie looked at me with her red, puffy eyes, her head still resting on Marceline's shoulder. "I can't thank you enough, Marshall. I am extremely grateful to have you in my life."

"It's nothin', Bon. You know I'd walk through Hell for you." I shot her a wink and she smiled a little.

"Alright alright, I'm back now so y'all can break it up," Marcy budded in, glaring at me. I flashed her an innocent smile. "I missed you, Bonnibel. And I'm sorry for yelling. But you understand why I'm so frustrated, right?"

"Yes, and I'm sorry for keeping the truth from you for so long. I've missed you as well, it's been so lonely without you in my life. I don't ever want to be away from for you this long again."

"I don't either." Marceline leaned back from their hug and placed a long awaited kiss on her wife's lips. "Is there anything else you guys need to tell me?" She looked between us. I looked at Bonnie with a raised eyebrow, silently asking if she was going to break the other important news. She looked hesitant.

"There is, actually. But I'd rather we discuss that at a later time if that's okay." Marceline seemed a little annoyed but she smiled anyway.

"Sure, Bon. We'll talk later... Anything you'd like to fess up to, Lee?" She asked me.

I pondered for a moment. "Well, I'm kinda gay now, so... there's that." I shrugged. Marceline laughed loudly.

"What!? No way! How'd you figure that out?" She asked, a happily shocked expression on her face. She was still kneeling by Bonnie.

"Probably when I got a semi for a dude," I laughed, remembering some awkward moments from high school. "Also, I dating Gumball," I added.

Marceline laughed. "Aw, how cute. Well I'm proud of you, lil dude. Did you tell Hannah yet? I heard you two are on better terms now."

"Oh no no no, I'm not gonna tell the family anytime soon. So keep this on the down low for now, I want to be the one to break the news."

"Got it. You know I'm good at covering your ass, you can trust me." She winked.

We all talked for a few hours, catching up with Marceline and going out to get food. It was nice to see her and Bonnie together again, and I'm glad things ended up being fine between them. She still had to talk about this whole pregnancy thing, but I'm sure they'd figure it out just fine.

I was able to pull my cousin away for a moment to inform her on all of the things necessary to help Bonnie. Being there for when she had nightmares, making sure she was eating plenty, and when she went to go see psychiatric help, to make sure she'd take her medicine. Also to keep a positive, patient attitude around her and lift her up when she felt down. Marceline thanked me for taking care of her and we hugged.

When it was finally time for them to go back home, I helped Marceline load Bonnie's bags into their car. I walked up to my porch where she was standing and wrapped her up in a tight embrace.

"I love you, Bonnibel," I spoke into her hair. "Take care of yourself please. Get some help soon. And check up with me, alright? Keep me updated, I wanna make sure you're doing well."

"I love you too, Marshy. And I will, I promise," she said into my chest. "Thank you so much for everything. I owe you big time."

"Damn right after spending a month catering to your depressing ass!" I joked, and Bonnibel laughed loudly. "I'm just playin'. I'm always here if you need anything."

"I know, and same goes here." Bonnie stood on her tippy-toes and placed a kiss on my cheek. I smiled and kissed her forehead. "Thank you again, Marshall. I'll see you soon." She blew me a kiss as she walked away and Marceline opened her door, shutting it once she got in. She walked over to me and we said our 'good-bye's. And before I knew it, they were already gone, back to living their own lives.

As I entered my home I couldn't help but sigh. What a stressful month it has been. I was going to miss Bonnie so much. It was really nice having her here. Even if it meant getting little to no sleep every night and having to treat her like a parent forcing their child to eat his or her veggies. It was all for the best though. Now I just needed a nap. A month long nap. And maybe a hug from Bubba.

                           >>>>><<<<<

Jeez! A long-awaited, drama-filled chapter! So sorry for the wait, I know I suck. I hope this will suffice.

Thank you all for 18+k! I greatly appreciate all of the support on this book ❤️

If you don't already know, I have a One-Shot book out currently, all about gumlee! I have two little things written already.
Give it a read if you're interested! I'll try to update more on that.

Thanks again and I'll see you in the next chapter! ❤️