Epilogue. Oh, it's been such a pleasure sharing this with you all! Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for coming on this journey with me and for all of your wonderful words of support and appreciation. I'm honoured to have such wonderful readers.

The only content warning needed for this epilogue is for one final moment of lady sexing, feels and historical character death. It's significantly longer than any other chapter because there was a lot of stuff I wanted to include, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I hope you like it too and think it's a decent end to this story. So, enjoy.

In the past four years they'd had their share of sorrows as well as joys. Their first row had been epic and terrible, definitely a sorrow not to be repeated. But there were so many joys too; their first red carpet together when Marcy's debut album won her Best Newcomer at the industry awards or the rapidly expanding collection of photographs in their lounge showing them visiting places all over the world together. And the joys had outnumbered the sorrows and time had flown past in that comfortable way it did when Marceline was happy. And today, well today she was almost bursting with pride right alongside her happiness. Probably other people looked at their girlfriends in wedding dresses or something the way Marceline was watching Bonnie in her PhD graduation robes. But it was hard not to be enthralled by the sheer brightness of the smile Bonnie shot her when she caught Marceline's eye. She was sitting right in the front row of the assembled friends and family next to Bonnie's Mum. It looked like the redhead had actually forgotten how to stop grinning, actually.

"Doctor Bonnibel Penelope Sugar." the serious looking bearded man reading the names out intoned. He was some important university guy or other, Marceline hadn't been paying much attention to him or his boring pre-graduation speech. She'd been too busy watching her girlfriend almost explode with excitement over finally being a genuine actual science doctor. Bonnie accepted the scroll they presented her with a handshake and another blinding grin before she stepped down off the stage to a polite smattering of applause from the assembled crowd. She was the last student graduating that day anyway and they were almost done. That was lucky; Jake had threatened to come and gatecrash the graduation ceremony if they weren't at Bonnie's surprise party by five. There was another brief and equally dull speech and then they were finally free to leave. Marcy got up as fast as she could and made her way to the back of the hall where the small knot of brand new graduates were being congratulated by their relatives.

"Yo, out of the way, genuine cripple coming through!" she grinned, prodding people's ankles with her cane and grinning even harder when she caught the disapproving look her girlfriend was shooting her.

"Don't be a butt, Marcy." Bonnie said, throwing herself into Marcy's arms anyway and hugging her tightly. Marcy hugged back and pressed a kiss onto Bonnie's forehead. I just kissed a doctor, she thought smugly.

"Hey Bon," Marcy whispered into her ear. "I just kissed a doctor. And tonight do you know what else I'm gonna do with a doctor?"

Bonnie's face turned an interesting shade of pink and she swatted Marcy's arm gently.

"Shut up you perv, my Mum's right behind you." she hissed.

"You're a doctor." Marcy reminded her. Bonnie grinned, instantly forgetting all about her embarrassment.

"Yeah, I am." Bonnie replied happily.

In the end they splashed out on a taxi to Jake's boutique instead of bothering to drive through all the traffic. Marcy didn't like taking the Tube since her injury because it was difficult to keep her balance with the way it rocked and the kind citizens of London rarely offered her their seats despite her obvious limp and cane. She didn't mind though, it wasn't like they couldn't afford it. Jake and Lady had used the money Marceline had given them to open a swanky boutique in Covent Garden for Jake's shoes; he was now one of the most sought after designers in London and he'd even threaten to pay her back the start-up loan since business was going so well. Marcy had immediately retaliated by threatening to donate it all in his name to the freakiest online start-up she could find if he did. Jake had spent an enlightening evening with Google and promised solemnly after that never to speak of it again.

"SURPRISE!" the assembled crowd shouted as they stepped through the door to the shop.

"Oh right, you desperately needed to go get some new shoes immediately after my graduation ceremony, that was subtle." Bonnie muttered to Marceline as she accepted the hugs and slaps on the back from all of their friends.

"Didn't know you knew the meaning of the word 'subtle', dork." Marcy grinned back, sliding into the chair by the door that Jake had thoughtfully put there just for her to use.

It was a pretty awesome party even if Lady had to leave halfway through to collect little Kim from nursery. Marceline offered to loan her the walking cane and she was only half joking; Lady was seven months pregnant with their second baby and moving around was starting to get difficult for her. Lydia and Johnny were there too; Lyds had surprised them all by actually keeping hold of a boyfriend for longer than a month and four years into their relationship they showed no signs of breaking up. Bonnie at least was glad for them even if Marcy rolled her eyes and muttered that it was only because they'd never find anyone else who matched their brand of crazy again. From her position sitting comfortably by the door Marcy had an excellent view of everyone and plenty of time to reflect on things.

There was Finn with some gorgeous doe-eyed girl hanging off his arm. Every time she laughed at something he said his whole face lit up and his chest puffed out proudly. Marcy had always suspected that as soon as he'd gotten over his insecurities and got a bit more comfortable in his gender expression he'd be a total ladies' man and it looked like she'd been right. She was glad for him; nobody deserved to be happy more than Finn.

Ash had brought Anton too, another relationship that had lasted despite the odds. They were laughing together in one corner of the room with their heads together. Anton said something quietly to Ash and Marceline watched the blonde man's eyes widen a little and a light flush creep into his cheeks. Probably that was how she looked when Bonnie said something unexpectedly filthy; it made Marcy smile to herself to see how relaxed and happy her old friend was these days.

"Sitting in the corner staring creepily at everyone, Marcy? I do not know why I am even surprised."

She jumped at the voice and stood up hurriedly to fling a hug around the neck of the tall man who'd addressed her.

"B-Mo! You're supposed to be in Liverpool! You came back just for Bonnie's party?" she asked with a huge smile.

"I drove. I have a driving licence now." he replied proudly with an equally huge grin. "And I got myself a car. A nice one, an Audi. I can take you for a drive some time."

"I'd like that. But I thought you were in the middle of exams, shouldn't you be sleeping in till the middle of the afternoon and Febreezing your socks instead of washing them like all the other students?"

The tall boy just shrugged, too glad at being home again to care about her gentle jab at his bachelor lifestyle.

"I finished my last exam yesterday and I did not want to miss Bonnie's graduation, she has worked so hard for this. Besides I missed you all. I am coming home the minute I finish university. The north is fun and I have a lot of great friends in Liverpool but Mahtab is growing too fast and I've already missed so much. Besides Asif is getting so sulky and moody and his grades are not as good as they could be. He needs his big brother around to help him through being a teenager. Just like I needed my big sister."

Marceline hugged him again; she was so glad he'd managed to make the party. Since Mo had moved away for university she'd not found so much time between recording and touring and travelling and all the other stuff she was doing to go visit him. But there were plenty of jobs in London for a talented young video game programmer; Mo wouldn't struggle to find work when he graduated. He was top of his class and on course to earn a first with distinction when he finished his bachelor's degree next year. Something about video games and programming spoke to Mo on an almost molecular level; Marcy was indescribably proud that she'd bought him his first console when he was just a kid. They spent the rest of the party laughing together in the corner, sharing stories and catching up.

…

By the time people were saying their goodbyes Mo had talked Bonnie into letting him drive them home in his shiny new car. She slid into the back seat a little cautiously and let Marcy sit up front and direct him. Mo actually wasn't as bad a driver as she'd feared and they made it home in one piece despite her misgivings.

"Thanks, B-Mo!" Marcy called as he pulled away from their front door. He waved over his shoulder before turning back onto the main road at the end of their street.

"Weird that he's so grown up now." Marcy murmured as Bonnie opened the door.

"Mhm, but time will do that to people. You wanna get a cup of tea or just head up to bed?"

Marceline took a moment to really look at her girlfriend before she made her mind up. Same intensely blue eyes, same round glasses, light spattering of golden freckles across her upturned nose and red-blonde waves falling past her shoulders. No different than she'd been the day before or on any other day. But Bonnie was an actual honest to God doctor of genetics now, officially one of the smartest people on the planet as if there'd ever been any doubt. And Marcy let a slow smile spill across her face. No she didn't want to do anything boring and mundane like having a cup of tea. She leaned in and slid her hands around Bonnie's waist; tugging her forward and into a kiss every bit as enthusiastic as the first one they'd ever shared.

"Bed. Or the sofa, or even right here on the hall floor. Not really bothered which." Marcy mumbled between kisses, "Wanna celebrate, if you do?"

Bonnie replied by taking her hand and pulling her gently towards to stairs, slipping out of her shoes and light jacket as she went.

Of all the things she loved about Bonnie, and there were a lot of things, it was that amazing warmth that really took her breath away Marcy thought distantly. She would never ever stop being amazed by how warm and how soft her girlfriend was when they were skin to skin; it got her every single time. And that talented touch that could make her see stars, she absolutely couldn't get her head around that either. She had no idea what she'd done to deserve such an amazing girlfriend and she very suddenly had an urgent need to tell Bonnie so.

"Huh, what?"

"I said, you're absolutely fucking amazing."

"…Thank you? I think you're supposed to tell me that after we've finished, actually."

"No, I didn't mean the sex. I mean, yeah that's pretty damn amazing too. But you, just you exactly how you are. You're just amazing and I love you so much."

"You're such a sweetheart, I love you too. But do you really wanna stop and have a conversation about it right now or do you want me to continue doing other things with my mouth?"

"Fuck, other things. Sorry, I got lost in my own head for a minute there but if you stop now I- oh Jesus fucking Christ, Bon-"

Bonnie grinned to herself and repeated the gentle circular motion with her tongue. Most of all she loved that she could turn strictly atheist Marceline into a devout believer for those few crucial moments just with the power of her touch. Possibly their neighbours loved it less but at that particular point neither of them could bring themselves to care at all. A few breathless minutes later once the other girl's hand had finally unclenched from the back of her head Bonnie slid back up the bed to wrap her arms around Marcy and rest her head lovingly on her shoulder.

"Now's when you thank me." Bonnie prompted her with a gentle teasing smile.

"Mm, can't, forgotten how to talk again." Marcy murmured in reply with her eyes still tightly shut.

"Typical. Just when I thought you were going to write a love song to embarrass me. Again."

"Hey, it's not my fault that the great British public adore songs about you. If you put the radio on 'Day By Day' is probably playing on at least three different stations right now. You're getting pretty popular on the continent too, I'm going overseas for my next tour." Marceline replied, opening one eye to check what effect that had had on her girlfriend. Bonnie just snuggled in closer and hid what was possibly the faintest blush against Marcy's shoulder.

"I still can't believe you wrote that, y'know. And then released it as a single, and now everywhere I go I hear you singing about me and our relationship and stuff. It's a really weird feeling."

"Do you wish I hadn't?" Marceline asked curiously. She rolled over onto her side and pulled the covers up over their heads so they were enclosed face to face in a little cocoon of bedsheets together. Bonnie giggled a little despite herself.

"No, I'm glad you wrote it and really glad it's a massive hit, that's your dream coming true. But it's strange because I'm so used to hearing you sing just for me or just in the house. Now I keep hearing your voice coming out of shops and cars; it's like you're stalking me or something. I keep looking around expecting you to be grinning at me from the corner of the lab when we put the radio on." Bonnie replied. It was a little difficult to get the words out around the enthusiastic kisses her girlfriend was peppering her throat and shoulders with though so in the end she gave it up as a bad job. She was glad Marcy's song was so popular and it was amazingly cute. She'd just have to get over her embarrassment at knowing it had been written about her.

"Y'know how many fangirls I have who'd give their right arms to be where you are right now?" Marcy asked with a grin between kisses. "My manager called while you were busy getting ready to graduate, apparently they've set up a fan club for me. Seriously. I have an actual honest to God fan club. This is all getting a bit mental."

"You tryna make me jealous, love?" Bonnie replied with a knowing smile.

"Maybe? I have this feeling that jealous Bonnie could get kinda energetic. Might be fun finding out." Marcy replied with her most wicked grin. A moment later she squealed and tried to wriggle away as merciless fingers tickled her ribs in revenge.

...

Apparently Saturdays were a thing that happened to other people but not to scientists. Marceline woke alone which she was perfectly used to; Bonnie would have snuck out of bed hours ago and was probably already elbow deep in science. The university had allowed her a day off to officially graduate but they wanted her straight back in her lab the very next day and it wasn't like she minded. So Marcy had a relaxing morning lounging around at home before she made herself a quick lunch and called a taxi. There was someone she wanted to go talk to.

It was a gloriously warm summer's day and the grass of the cemetery was starting to get long and full of daisies. She sat by the headstones and fiddled with the blades of grass distractedly, trying to think of a way to start.

"Hey, guess who. I'm sorry I didn't come to see you sooner. It's been a crazy... I dunno how long. Life is just bananas at the minute, in a really brilliant way. Bonnie graduated from her PhD programme yesterday; she's officially Dr Sugar now." Marceline began. "I don't even have words for how proud I am of her. She's worked so hard for this for so long and they already have her writing her first professional solo paper. I was that proud of her; you should have seen how thrilled she was. And my new song is number eight in the UK charts and it looks like it's gonna climb even higher. We're just waiting for this week's sales figures but if it goes how the studio think it will I might actually have my first number one hit single on my hands. I'm still trying to get my head around that. Figured you'd want to know, though."

Marceline paused and stared up into the cloudless sky. What else was new? She still struggled to organise her thoughts sometimes. Oh, yeah. That was less fun but it was still news.

"Apparently Detective Hope went missing. I didn't want to ask Papa Bolshakov if he had anything to do with it, I don't want to know the answer. He's still on the business side of the family and I don't need to tell you how uncomfortable I am with that. But equally I can't ask him to change and I'm not going to act against him. Not now I'm finally allowed to just get on with my life without their interference. He's doing his thing and maybe it's selfish of me but I just don't want to have anything to do with it, I don't want to bring the whole family down or anything like that. I only ever wanted Hunson out of my life and now he is. What Petya does with the rest of the old Moscow crowd is nothing to do with me anymore. And you wouldn't want me to get your old friend in trouble, right? Ninety percent of what Petya does is perfectly legal; he's an excellent lawyer and he looked over all my contacts for me before I signed anything. So I just... yeah, not gonna overturn that particular rock. He's still my family however shady he is. And I need all the family I can get."

She paused, more out of habit and for breath than because she expected any answer.

"I really miss you. It's been awful without you, I keep remembering at odd times and having to find somewhere to go and have a private cry. I'm sorry I didn't come sooner. Maybe I just wasn't up to seeing you like this again, since the funeral. I just... miss you so much." Marceline murmured quietly. She put down the grass stems she'd been rolling idly between her palms and reached out to trace the name on the headstone gently with fingertips that hadn't trembled uncontrollably in months now.

SIMON NIKOLAI PETRIKOV
Beloved Husband, Uncle and Brother

'Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality.'

"I gotta go, Simon. Loads to do; apparently being a wicked successful musician is actually hardcore busy. Say hi to Mum from me, and Marshall and Aunt Betty too. Tell them I'm so glad you're finally home with them again even though I miss you terribly. Tell them I love them all so damn much. Love you, too."

Marcy sniffed back the tears that wanted to come with long practice. After Simon had been taken into hospital with his first heart attack she'd been half expecting another call, had lived every day waiting for it just a little. When the call did finally come six months ago Bonnie had driven her to the hospital in the middle of the night and held her hand while she signed the paperwork and said her last goodbye. Then she'd taken Marcy home again and sat up until dawn holding her while she sobbed inconsolably, unable to process that she'd lost her only remaining parent. But Simon was at peace finally; Marceline wasn't clear on what happened in the next world but she couldn't believe that her uncle would have gone anywhere without Betty. It was another empty space in her heart right next to where she'd lost her mother and brother but the edges weren't raw and painful in the same way anymore. No matter how badly she missed him Marceline was happy Simon had gone to his final rest peacefully in his sleep. She laid the bouquet of white roses she'd brought up against the headstone and rested her hand against the cool marble one final time before she stood and turned to leave the cemetery.

And that would have been her afternoon, lost in thought and alone with her memories. But at the gates a timid voice interrupted her and brought her back to the here and now; someone she didn't recognise was speaking her name.

"Excuse me? I'm so sorry to bother you, you're obviously doing something very personal right now. Just, um, you're Marceline Petrikova, right? The singer?"

Marcy turned and found she was being addressed by a middle aged man with a shy looking girl half hidden behind his legs. She couldn't have been older than about eight and she was staring up at Marceline with huge amazed eyes.

"Yep, that's me. Not often I get recognised with my hair tied back and my tattoos covered." Marcy replied lightly. She wasn't about to turn away a fan even if they'd caught her at an emotional moment.

"Sophie recognised your cane. She's your biggest fan, aren't you honey?" the man turned to where the girl was holding his hand in a death grip and she squeaked a little in reply.

"Hey there." Marcy told her, crouching carefully down so they were eye to eye. The girl squeaked again. "Bit shy, right? I was exactly the same when I was your age. It's really nice to meet you, Sophie. Do you have a camera? Wanna do a picture together?"

The girl looked like she might faint from amazement but nodded and her father handed her his phone with the camera app already open. She shuffled across to stand next to Marcy and they snapped a couple of photos together. Then unexpectedly the girl flung her arms around Marcy's neck in a tight hug.

"Are you here to visit the graves?" she whispered in Marcy's ear.

"Yeah. I lost my uncle a few months ago and I wanted to come tell him about my song getting popular. Did you lose someone too?"

"Mhm. My grandma. She was really nice and I miss her loads."

"I bet she's up there chilling with my uncle right now. He's probably telling her one of his funny stories and making her laugh." Marcy told her gently. The little girl showed no sign of letting go of her neck so Marcy just continued to hug her and ignore the way her ankles were starting to cramp for being crouched for so long. "Y'know, do you have a copy of 'Like The Night'?"

"I got all your albums. I like 'Like The Night' but 'Run, Jump, Dance' is my favourite."

"Yeah, that's a good one. It's named after some of the things I wish I could still do. But if you listen to track five on 'Like The Night' it's about losing someone, I wrote it a long time ago about my big brother. It helped me to write down all my feelings when I missed him too much."

The girl nodded again.

"I read about him on your wiki page. You had a brother called Marshall who died in a fire when you were little. And you got a girlfriend too and your wrote 'Day By Day' about her and how much you miss her when you're away on tours and how you count the time day by day until you come home again."

"Come on, Sophie. Your Mum will be wondering where we are." the man interrupted gently. Reluctantly the girl let go of Marceline's neck and stepped back, watching in fascination as she leaned heavily on her cane to straighten up again.

"Bye, Marceline. It was awesome meeting you."

"Bye, Sophie. It was awesome meeting you, too."

She shook the man's hand too and turned back to the gates; they watched her limp off out of sight together.

"Y'know, Dad, Marceline is my hero. And she's really nice in real life too. I wanna be a singer like her one day. Did you know her uncle died a few months ago? And she said he's probably chilling in heaven telling funny stories to grandma. And she wrote a song on 'Like The Night' about her brother and he died too when she was just little and she has a girlfriend and her girlfriend does science. Did you know that, Dad?"

"Yes honey, you told me five times since breakfast. You wanna listen to her album in the car?"

Sophie nodded, happier than she could remember being since her grandma had died.

...

There was soft singing and piano music filtering down from the converted studio room upstairs when Bonnie got home that evening. She smiled fondly to herself before hanging up her keys and placing the large box she'd been carrying on the floor. She opened it, waved down at the contents and made the hand sign she'd been practising all day. Wait. Then she closed the box again and headed upstairs.

"...I'm past one hundred thousand miles

I'm feeling very still.

And I think my spaceship knows which way to go

Tell my wife I love her very much.

She knows."

Bonnie smiled to herself again; she'd never really appreciated David Bowie until Marcy had made her listen to the original vinyl records the way they were supposed to be played. Space Oddity had been one of Simon's favourites; she knew Marcy had gone to visit his grave that afternoon and still missed him more than she was willing to really talk about. But there was every chance Marcy was recording and she didn't want to interrupt so Bonnie just stood outside until the song was finished and the last note faded away. It wasn't like she minded listening to her amazing girlfriend sing, it was one of her favourite things to do. Once the room was silent again Bonnie knocked carefully and let herself in.

"Hey babe, are you done?"

Marcy looked up from where she'd been fiddling with the inner workings of the piano.

"Oh, hey! I didn't hear you come home. Just figuring what I might wanna do for encores for Europe, but I can be done for now. How was your first day being a research doctor? Figured we could go out for dinner if you like? I don't feel much like cooking." Marcy replied with a smile.

"Actually I brought dinner home. I have a present for you and I don't think you're gonna want to leave the house once you see it."

Marceline looked at her curiously and came around the piano to the door, allowing herself to be pulled forwards into a kiss.

"C'mon, it's not a present that can wait too long." Bonnie murmured against the kiss before she took Marcy's hand and gently lead her out of the room and down the stairs. Marcy stopped dead in the doorway to the lounge, staring at the scene in front of them. The box had tipped over onto its side and the present was currently wandering around the lounge sniffing the rug and sofa curiously.

"Bon, the fuck is that? Is that a puppy?"

"Surprise." Bonnie said quietly. "Ok, let me explain. I saw an advert looking for a home for him and I figured you might wanna take someone with you when you're off touring around Europe. This little guy is a pedigree and he's got a pet passport so you can take him across boarders with you. Because I didn't want you to get too lonely, I know how much you hate being away from home so long."

Marceline was just staring at her with her mouth halfway open.

"So you bought me a puppy? Ok, right, I get that, it's really lovely and thoughtful. But this- I mean, what breed even is he? Babe, he looks like a cloud with legs. Is he a pedigree cloud?"

"Poodle. He's a pedigree Standard Poodle, he's gonna be the size of a Labrador when he's fully grown."

Marceline's face fell.

"Oh love, he's literally the cutest and you know I always wanted a dog. But I can't take an animal on tour with me. I'm really sorry but it'll be too noisy and upsetting for him; it's too noisy for me some days. It wouldn't be fair on his sensitive little ears."

But instead of looking upset or disappointed Bonnie just grinned wider. Marceline recognised that grin, that was Bonnie's devious grin. That was the grin she wore when she'd already thought of a counter argument for every possible objection. Nothing Marcy could do but just wait to be amazed by Bonnie's spectacular brain yet again.

"He won't be upset by the noise, sweetie. He won't notice it at all. He's completely deaf."

"You got me a deaf poodle so I wouldn't get lonely."

"Yes! It was Sue's idea actually. He's trained to sign language and he's got a vibrating radio collar so you can signal him in the park."

The puppy had crept forwards while they were talking and was cautiously sniffing Marcy's feet now. She carefully lowered herself to the floor next to him and offered her hand for him to investigate.

"Hey little man. Wanna come and play the European festivals with me this summer?"

The puppy didn't look up at her voice and Marcy remembered he was deaf and reached out to stroke his silky little ears instead. The puppy wagged his tail and nuzzled into her hand.

"There's a guide to training a deaf dog in the box too. He knows a few signs but he'll need some more training, he's just a baby." Bonnie told her gently.

"I'mma call you Schwabl, little guy." Marcy told him, even though he couldn't hear her. She carefully scooped the puppy up for a cuddle and he licked her face enthusiastically.

"So you like him?"

"Like him? I think I'm in love already. He's totally adorable. And only you would ever think to buy me a deaf poodle. You're so amazingly weird, babe."

Marceline looked up at her with a huge smile and very suddenly decided that things that she'd been planning on holding back until the autumn just couldn't wait after all. There was a huge surging tidalwave of love filling her chest and Marcy absolutely needed to share it right away. She carefully put Schwabl down and heaved herself upright again.

"Wait here. I've got something for you, too."

She ignored Bonnie's curious look and limped back to the stairs, up to the wardrobe in one of the guest rooms that was full of their winter clothes. It was the only place in the house Bonnie was unlikely to go poking around in until the weather got colder so it had seemed like the perfect hiding place. Marceline slid her hand into the pocket of her biggest winter coat and pulled out the small box she'd hidden there a few weeks earlier.

Bonnie was sitting on the sofa with Schwabl on her lap happily chewing the collar of her shirt when Marceline slipped back through the door.

"You're acting way mysterious, anything I should be worried about?" Bonnie asked in a voice that was only half joking. "Marcy? Seriously, you're freaking me out a little."

Marceline didn't reply straight away, she was too busy nerving herself up. Getting on the floor wasn't an easy thing for her to do since her injury and there was a bubble of some nameless emotion in her chest like something halfway between fear and excitement. She took half a second to assess her own feelings; was she completely certain? Marcy locked eyes with her girlfriend and nodded to herself. Yeah, completely certain. She took a breath.

"Bon, please listen for a minute. Alright? I was waiting until autumn with this because, I'm not actually sure why anymore? Something to do with being away most of the summer. I'm certain I had a good reason for waiting but nah, not waiting anymore. I changed my mind." She flicked the box open and held it out for her girlfriend to get a good look at. "And I have a whole speech prepared if you wanna hear it. But I have this feeling like you just want to hear the end of it instead because you're impatient as well as totally amazing. So, the end of the speech. I have literally never loved anyone as much as I love you and I don't think it's actually possible for someone to love someone else more than I love you. Like, it feels like love was invented just for us, you know? And you know I always said I didn't see the point in doing this. But thing is, I always really meant I didn't see the point in doing this with anyone else, right? I was thinking about it and about how we're both getting a little older and how I literally wouldn't even know how to begin again with someone else and I never ever want to have to. I'm definitely a one woman kinda girl. So for you? Yes, I can totally see the point when it's for you. Forever isn't long enough when it's with you. You are stunning, perfect in every possible way. You're like a work of art come to life and I can't even begin to tell you how lucky I am to have you. So, babe. Will you m-marry me?"

She'd so nearly managed to get the whole thing out without stuttering but from the expression on Bonnie's face Marceline was certain she hadn't even noticed. Bonnie gently moved the puppy to one side of the sofa before she slid limply onto the floor next to Marcy.

"You… you wanna…"

"Yeah, if you do? I think I pretty much wanted to marry you the first day I met you. But I figured it'd be polite to wait until I actually spoke to you first. Bon, are you crying?"

She was; the tears were streaming silently down her face. Marcy snapped the box with the engagement ring in it closed and pulled her girlfriend into a hug instead.

"Is this too much? Because we can totally just eat dinner and watch a movie or something and pretend I didn't just make it really weird." Marcy murmured worriedly. Bonnie just clung onto her and sobbed harder. "Or we can sit on the floor and cry, that's fine too. Did I do it wrong, love? If your answer's 'no' then that's ok, I can take that."

But then there were lips pressed against hers, a little wet and salty from the tears but Marcy couldn't have cared less about that. Bonnie took the box out of her unresisting hand and opened it then slid the ring onto her finger.

"…yes." she mumbled when she finally broke the kiss. "Yes, I'll marry you! I never thought you'd ever want to, thought you didn't believe in it. I think I'm in shock. You're not joking, right? If this is a mean prank I'll be heartbroken."

"Not joking. I am absolutely certain that I want to spend the rest of my life receiving mail addressed to Dr and Mrs Sugar. Because you don't want to have to spell Petrikova to everyone you ever meet forever, it sucks."

Bonnie was smiling up at her now despite the tears that were still slipping down her face. Marcy was sure she'd never seen anything half so beautiful in her whole life.

"We could just keep our own surnames." Bonnie finally replied a little damply through her tears.

"But then how would anyone know we're married?"

"Well the wedding rings and the fact I'd introduce you to everyone as my wife might be a giveaway?"

They kissed elatedly for a long minute on the floor of the lounge, until Schwabl jumped down from the sofa and tried to excitably chew Marcy's hand. They broke apart, laughing, and scooped the puppy up to snuggle between them.

"I'm gonna let this little dude out in the garden to relieve himself and then I was thinking maybe dinner and a movie with my doctor wife." Marcy said with a joyful grin. Now that the fear had subsided she was just left feeling like she was flying, like the happiness filling her was so light she was floating.

"Fiancée." Bonnie corrected her although she was grinning irrepressibly too.

"Just getting used to the way it sounds. I like 'wife' way better than 'fiancée'. How about we hurry this whole thing along and have the wedding as soon as I get home from touring?"

"Mum's gonna think you somehow got me pregnant if we're in a rush to get married." Bonnie replied teasingly. She shook her head fondly at the way Marcy's eyes lit up.

"Oh now there's an idea! We could fill this big empty house with a whole football team of tiny Sugars!" Marcy grinned back. "Then it'd be a-"

"No, whatever you're about to say, please-"

"-a Sugar Bowl."

"That was appalling, babe. Literally the worst pun you ever made and that's not an easy contest. How about we see how we get on with a puppy first?" Bonnie asked.

Marcy just grinned back in reply and opened the French doors to let Schwabl out into the garden. The funniest thing was that Bonnie thought she was joking. But starting a big happy family with the woman she loved most in the whole world? Yeah, Marceline really couldn't think of a happier ending than that.

~The End~