Title: Escort

Rating: M

Summary: Bonnibel just wanted someone from campus security to walk her home after studying in the library late at night. She didn't expect Marceline, a young female security guard who was rude, infuriating, improper...and absolutely flippin' gorgeous. Bubbline AU.

A/N: I've been meaning to write some Bubbline for freakin' ages and I only just got around to it. Plus I seem to have a thing with College AU's lately. I don't know why, but they're fun to write. Haven't written for Adventure Time yet, so some reviews would be much appreciated since I'm only slowly figuring out what the hell I'm doing.

Notes: In a lot of Universities, you can call a number and campus security will walk you home to your dorm if it's late at night and you don't feel like comfortable going back by yourself. Pretty convenient, huh?

OOO

Escort

Part I

OOO

"Oh, shoot!"

The laptop screen went black almost at once and the backlights to her keyboard flickered off before Bonnibel's laptop was officially pronounced dead and of no further use to her. She cursed under her breathe and bit her lip as she kept tapping on her spacebar in vain in the hopes that maybe the computer just happened to go to sleep by accident and she hadn't just been interrupted right in the middle of her literature review paragraph. After roughly pressing the power button a dozen times to get just five more minutes of power, she sighed and pushed the laptop closed. Oh well. Thank Glob for Autosave.

The girl bent down underneath her desk to retrieve her bag, but was disappointed when she realized that she forgot to grab her computer charger yet again. She grimaced at the situation and let her bag plop back down on the carpeted floor with a thunk! that resounded through the empty library.

Well, so much for pulling an all-nighter.

Bonnibel removed her glasses and pressed the heels of her palms into her eye sockets to try to make the ache go away. Apparently staring at a computer screen for nearly five hours wasn't exactly the most intelligent thing she had ever done. Now that the glaring light from the screen was no longer present, her eyes and her temples were already pounding in protest, demanding that they get the night off. She peeked out from behind her hands and looked around the study area she was in. She was met with nothing but an abysmally empty room and realized with a sigh that even the sophomore who had been sitting a few tables away from her had decided to call it a night.

Deciding that it wasn't worth staying here any longer with a dead laptop and little to no sleep, Bonnibel packed up her laptop and the rest of her books and headed down to the first floor of the library.

The librarian on duty was sitting at her desk by lamplight and flipping through a novel when she looked up and noticed the young university student trudging down the stairs, trying to hold back a yawn.

"Another late night, Ms. Bubblegum?" the librarian smirked knowingly behind her book. "I thought you would stay a little longer as per your track record."

Bonnibel shook her head and adjusted the strap to her shoulder bag. "My Lady died on me," she shrugged, patting her laptop fondly. "Besides, I don't think coffee is going to fix me tonight. I should probably just head in early."

"Early for you, I suppose," the librarian muttered disapprovingly, staring at her wristwatch.

The girl laughed and zipped up her pink windbreaker. "Thanks," she waved behind her before jogging down the front stairs and exiting the library.

The fact that Ooo University had twenty-four hour libraries was both a blessing and a curse. This one especially was often very quiet and had an excellent assortment of reading material on biochemistry, which Bonnibel desperately needed to read up on if she was ever going to finish typing up the write up for her senior thesis.

Honestly, all the lab work was easy. She had no problems cooping herself up in a lab conducting practical experiment, especially when they yielded results that were nothing short of fascinating. None of her dorm mates ever understood how she could possibly prefer the stuffy dark atmosphere of a biochem campus lab to the lively, crowded, and intoxicating rush of frat house parties, but the senior liked to think that she at least had her priorities straight. She didn't work her ass off in school to earn a degree for nothing.

The only drawback that Bonnibel could ever see to her studiousness is that she often lost track of time, tonight being a perfect example. This particular library—while always open, always quiet, and filled with all of the material she needed—was all the way at the edge of the campus and at least a fifteen minute walk away from her dorm house. During the day, that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. But she quickly found out that walking by herself through a big city campus like this one wasn't really a good idea.

The girl shuddered when she remembered what happened yesterday when she stood here late for the first night. Some creep that kept calling himself Ricardio was following her the whole way back to her dorm, talking about how beautiful she was and how they were just made for each other and she just had to stop acting so coy. She wondered if he was even a student here. He looked too old and way too peculiar to ever be a student at such a reputable university.

Sure enough, Bonnibel pulled out her cell and confirmed that is was 2:30am and dark as hell outside. She briefly wondered if she could muster up some courage and just walk—or run—the whole way there to avoid tangling into trouble, but the thought of running into that Ricardio guy, or any other creep for that matter, was just too disconcerting.

Bonnibel flipped through the university contacts that she kept for emergencies. It wasn't too late to call for a security escort. She heard that most of them were really nice and had no problems helping students back to their rooms when it was too late to really be considered safe. Bonnibel had never really seen the point of it until now, and was desperate to hear the voice of a kind security guard at the other end of the line to put her worries to rest.

She listened to the drone of the dial tone as she waited outside by the front door and kept her eyes open for any strange activity. After a few seconds, a voice on the other end of the line cleared their throat and answered. "Hello, Ooo Walking Escort service. Who's calling?"

Bonnibel cleared her throat. "Oh, um. My name's Bonnibel, and I was wondering if I could get a walk back to the Candy Kingdom Quad. I kinda don't want to go there by myself…"

"No problem, miss," the voice on the other end assured warmly. "Where are you?"

Bonnibel looked up at the sign hanging over the library door. "I'm at the twenty-four hour library at the Grasslands Quad. Right across the street from Tree Fort Coffee House."

The guard on the other end grunted in acknowledgment and proceeded to sift through some papers from the sound of it. Bonnibel zipped her jacket up higher and leaned against the door of the library until the voice spoke again. "Alright, Bonnibel?"

She straightened up. "Yes?"

"I have a guard stationed about a minute away. I'll radio her right now and she'll be over soon. Think you can hang tight for a couple of minutes?"

She nodded and breathed out in relief. "Thank you so much."

"No problem. Have a good night!" the guard said before hanging up the phone.

Well, at least that put her paranoia to rest. Hopefully having an intimidating guard next to her will stop any weirdoes from following her around again.

She sat down on the railing next to the building and started swiping around on her phone for a game to play until the guard came to get her. She could already start feeling her eyelids droop just from passing the first two levels. Maybe she was working too hard. She had been up for over 48 hours and was already starting to feel the exhaustion set in now that she wasn't working in front of a computer anymore. This senior thesis was just so much work and she had a lot of deadlines to keep up with. She rubbed at her eyes again and decided that she would sleep for at least a few hours and start working before class in the morning.

Bonnibel was about to clear level 6 when a small cough interrupted her thoughts.

"Hey. You're Bonnibel, right?"

Her eyes snapped up to the stranger in front of her, and her breathe caught in her throat.

The first thing she noticed was that this guard was young, and was probably only a few years older than herself. She was dressed in tight black slacks with knee high boots that didn't look to be part of the police uniform at all, but she did have on a loose short sleeve Ooo Police Department uniform shirt with her badge clipped on one of her belt loops. Her hair looked like it would have reached the bend of her knees had it been loose, but she had it swept in a sloppy ponytail over her right shoulder. Her arms were crossed and she was clicking her tongue against her teeth waiting for the senior to answer.

Oh, Grod! What am I doing? Answer her, you idiot!

Bonnibel fumbled with her phone, trying to pocket it and simultaneously hold her hand out. "Um, yeah, I'm—" She stumbled off of the railing slightly and immediately righted herself before she made a fool of herself and tumbled on the floor right in front of this woman. "I'm…I'm Bonnibel," she said with as much dignity as she could muster with her head held high. "Thanks for escorting me, Miss…"

The woman raised an eyebrow at the hand, but was smirking like Bonnibel was the brunt of some ridiculously amusing joke. Bonnibel frowned as the pale woman looked to the floor and let out an amused little laugh. The student was about to open her mouth and demand what exactly as so funny before she lifted her head and smiled with bright, glittering teeth.

"No 'Miss' needed. You can call me Marceline," the security guard introduced while taking the younger girl's hand and shaking it firmly. Bubblegum returned the gesture, still trying to reign in her clumsiness long enough to not embarrass herself any further than she already was.

"So," Marceline began, looking over her shoulder. "The Candy Kingdom Quad, right?"

Bonnibel tilted her head to the left a little bit and was able to see a strange tattoo across the guard's neck. They looked like two puncture wounds made to appear as if a vampire had bit her. The girl smirked and chuckled.

Marceline turned her head and frowned slightly. "What?"

Bonnibel shook her head and brought her hands up in defense. "No, nothing at all. It's just…" The girl pointed to her neck. "I saw your tattoo."

The guard's eyes widened in mild surprise. "Oh that old thing?" Marceline scoffed. "Eh, I got that thing years ago. Kinda stupid now that I think about it, but at the time people thought it was the sickest shit ever. Why is it funny to you?"

"Oh, no, that wasn't it. I've just never seen a tattoo like that before," she explained quickly.

Marceline narrowed her eyes and smirked in Bonnibel's direction. The senior stiffened at the gaze and immediately felt very self-conscious for reasons she couldn't understand. Her eyes darted back and forth nervously, and she started wringing her hands together. Why was she still staring at her? And more importantly, why was Bonnibel not looking away? The guard must have been spinning some serious mojo on her, because there was just no logical explanation for all of this. Dang it, stop staring back at her, you idiot.

"Um…is everything…?" Oh, darn it, she could feel her ears blushing!

But before the senior could faint from sheer mortification, Marceline broke the spell and just laughed heartily. The guard mumbled something under her breath while she smiled and turned on her heel. "Come on, Bonnie. It's getting late and we need to get you home," she called over her shoulder.

Bonnibel blinked once…twice…before she shook her head out and nodded resolutely. "Oh! Yes, of…of course!" she told herself before she jogged down the steps to the library and walked in step with her escort.

Marceline shook her head and blew out a long whistle. "Are you always this antsy?"

No. Actually I'm the epitome of discipline and self-control. Except your stupid, gorgeous eyes and charming smile are distracting the crap out of me!

"I guess I'm just tired and a little out of it," Bonnibel said quickly, hoping this girl didn't have mind reading powers on top of hypnotic capabilities in order to tell what Bonnibel was really thinking.

"Well, I'd imagine you are. I mean leaving the library this late at night, added to the fact that your eyes look all bugged out." Marceline leaned her head in close to Bonnibel's and stared straight into her eyes again, starling the senior so badly that she had grab her heart to calm it down. Seriously, did this girl have any sort of decorum or notion of personal space?

Bonnibel blinked self-consciously and cleared her throat. "What's your point?"

Marceline shrugged as she turned a corner. "Nothing. Just that you were probably in that library for hours staring at a damn computer screen all day. I mean seriously, dude. Get out. Freakin' go for a walk, bug some freshman, something! Coop yourself up all day like that, you'll go fuckin' mental."

The senior frowned and stood up a bit straighter. "Well, pardon me," she spoke up, valiantly trying to defend herself. "I'm pursuing a very demanding major. I need to put in the proper amount of effort if I'm going to graduate with the grades I need."

Marceline's nose wrinkled up as if she suddenly just got a whiff of something foul. "What major?"

Bonnibel smiled and preened a little when she answered. "Biochemistry, with a minor in applied physics."

"Jesus Christ," Marceline blurt out, looking positively disgusted. "Do you have time to breathe?"

Bonnibel looked affronted, but mainly horribly confused. "What on…of course I do. What makes you think I don't?"

"Just that I've seen biochem majors…you know, back when I was in college?" she clarified. "And those dudes looked like zombies. I mean they were practically crawling out the library hugging those coffee cups like they were a bottle of Bacardi. You never saw them around, either. Always shut in somewhere studying all the goddamn time." Marceline darted her eyes towards the girl and smirked in amusement. "You strike me as exactly that type."

Bonnibel glared. "You make it sound like a bad thing," she grumbled.

"Hey, don't bite my head off, but honestly, I never understood sacrificing happiness for sanity," Marceline explained with a blasé look plastered on her face.

"I am happy!" Bonnibel declared adamantly. Sure, there were plenty of premed and hard science major in Ooo who were probably miserable because they felt obligated to the subjects in some way or another—whether it be due to their parents or their impression of the current job market—but Bonnibel prided herself on the fact that she actually enjoyed studying science and performing experiments in the comfort of a laboratory. "Besides, science is probably the most ideal subject you could major in."

At that statement, Marceline truly started doubling over in laughter, so much so that the two of them had to stop in the middle of the road because the young guard couldn't catch her breath. The senior already felt an angry flush rising in her cheeks—seriously, what was it with this guard making her beet red all the time?—and felt like stomping her foot on the ground like a petulant child. "Was something I said funny?" she growled.

The girl finally straightened and sighed in amusement, but seemed to have totally glazed over whatever Bonnibel had just asked. Instead, Marceline reached over and ruffled the top of Bonnibel's head, probably just to annoy her. "Ah, you're one of those people, then."

Bonnible immediately smacked the older girl's hand away and snapped, "What do you mean, one of those people? How dare you! Of all the rude, obnoxious things to say to someone—"

"Sweetie, let me give you a little bit of advice," Marceline replied sagely. "No path is more ideal or more lucrative than the other. Someone popping out of here with an art major can be just as successful as you. And science isn't the freakin' Holy Grail to life's problems. Take some appreciation for the other side of the picket fence, huh?"

"I never said that!" Bonnibel began to argue.

Marceline flipped her ponytail over her other shoulder, exposing her vampire tattoo again. "Didn't have to," she told her. "I bet you didn't appreciate any of the liberal artsy classes you had to take to graduate, am I right?"

It was a bit harsh to say that the classes went unappreciated. She didn't want to make it seem like the classes were a waste of time. But honestly, sitting in a modern art appreciation course when she could have been filling up her schedule with an advanced physics elective was nothing short of frustrating. It wasn't that she didn't see the value of the humanities. She just preferred to occupy her time with classes that she preferred rather than subjects that were just so unorthodox to her. What was so wrong with that? And she told Marceline all of this.

Marceline chuckled darkly, and for some reason Bonnibel shivered at the sound of it. The guard reached over and brushed some hair from Bonnibel's shoulder so that it hung straight down her back. The shivering got worse and Bonnibel had to hold in a squeak when a cold, but very pleasant finger accidently—or purposefully?—brushed along her clavicle during the effort.

"Really? Because you strike me as a chick who seems to like things that are a little unorthodox," Marceline leered, and suddenly the college student was getting very nervous about where this conversation was going. "Wouldn't you agree?" the guard asked with hooded eyes.

Oh my Grod, Bonnibel screamed internaly. Calm down, calm down, calmdowncalmdown!

Bonnibel swallowed, her throat suddenly going dry. "Uh..." Bonnibel's mind was going blank, and it wasn't helping that Marceline was clearly being suggestive about something and Bonnnibel was clearly responding to the suggestiveness. Gosh, what the heck did she get herself into?

Marceline stopped and smiled confidently at the younger girl. "I mean, a girl like you has to have interests that are a little…out of the box, shall we say?" The guard started stepping closer. "Because I refuse to believe you're that closed minded," Marceline continued. "Then again this is all speculation." She was now only about half a foot away from the senior, and the younger girl was about ready to faint or have a heart attack or both. "But something tells me that I'm right on the money."

The severely dirty and sexually deprived part of Bonnibel's brain was already screaming at her to reach up and touch her or kiss her or return the clever banter or flirt back…something! Because Bonnibel may have been a science dork, but she wasn't stupid when it came to things like this. And this was most certainly a come on that Bonnibel was not pushing away or refusing, even though she probably should have been. Come on, there had to be rules about fraternizing with other students, right?

Not really, and you're at a pretty liberal university to boot, Bonnibel answered herself. No one will even care.

Before Bonnibel could make a decision and resolve her internal debate, Marceline backed off and jutted her chin behind Bonnibel's shoulder. "Well. This is you."

Bonnibel turned around and was shocked to see that they were already standing in front of her dorm building. How the heck did they get here without her noticing? Was Marceline distracting her that much? Ugh, she felt so mortified she just wanted to crawl up on her sheets and die. All that riling up, and she just backed off? What kind of game was she playing at?

"Oh…I, uh…I….thanks," Bonnibel muttered lamely. Smooth, Bonnie. Smooth.

Marceline smiled brightly and gave a small salute. "No problem kiddo. Enjoy your night," she said as she started walking back to her post. But before Bonnibel turned to walk inside, Marceline called back to her over her shoulder. "Oh, and remember what I said, yeah?" With a final wink and a flirtatious smile, Marceline stalked away into the night, leaving Bonnibel in front of her building shocked, confused, and just a little turned on.

OOO

a/n: This is probably only going to be like four or five chapters long. But please review!