Disclaimer: I do not own Star vs. the Forces of Evil or any of the characters, plots, or subplots featured in said show. I, however, do own the plot of this story.
Ice Cream Cones & Kisses
It's strange, the house, he muses is too quiet. There's no shuffling of feet above him, no muffled whispers - nothing, and rolling onto his back, Marco stares up at the ceiling, narrowing his blurry eyes into thin slits.
"She's too quiet." He murmurs, tapping thin fingers against his stomach. "Way too quiet."
With a grunt, he's up, knees popping as he stretches his arms high over his head, messy hair falling into his face. "If you're plotting something up there, I don't want to be a part of it!" He says, voice loud - defiant, and when he's met with silence, he's shuffling as fast as he can out of the room, and down the hall. There's a sudden tightness in his chest that he can't quite place, a lump forming in his throat as his pulse quickens.
What if she wasn't messing with him? What if something had happened? He tries to squelch his rising fear as he dashes up the stairs that led to the girl's tower, palms sweaty, mind reeling.
"Star?" He calls, breathlessly stumbling over the top step. His knee brushes the wood, legs wobbling as he regains his composure. "STAR?!" He yells scrambling down the hall, and without a moment's hesitation rips the door open, eyes adjusting to the darkness.
He's half expecting to find an empty bed, a note from Ludo something - anything confirming his worst thought, but as the grey blobs begin to take shape, weak streams of light pouring into the room, there's nothing but the soft glow of Star's phone, illuminating her pale face, as she holds it over her head, glassy eyes staring at the screen.
"Marco?" Her voice is so small, so shaky that he barely hears it over the sound of his own laboured breathing. She lets her arms fall onto her lap, phone forgotten as he gropes about for the light switch, and when a flood of light explodes into the room they're both squinting, corneas burning, black dots dancing about their line of vision.
Marco notices it then, the swelling around her eyes. She's been crying. Star lets her gaze drop to her toes, knocking her strip socked feet together, chewing nervously at her lip. "Did something happen?" She probes disinterestedly. Her voice, it's wobbly as she fiddles with her fingers, averting his gaze.
"No," he shakes his head, stepping into the room fully, the door moaning as he pulls it closed behind him. "I was just..." worried, the word begs to slip from his lips, heart thumping in his ears as he works at swallowing the lump that's settled in his throat. She's staring at him again, eyes brimming with tears, and before he can stop himself he's crossed the carpet, crouching at the side of her bed.
His breath, it's warm, Star can feel it fanning against her cheek. She makes to roll onto her side, willing her tears not to fall, but Marco's taken hold of her arm. Fingers curling around her arm. "Hey," he breathes, and it's so hard to hear over the thundering of their hearts.
"Y-Yea?" She manages, voice small, eyes searching the boy's solemn face. He cracks a wry smile, brown eyes settling on her pale blue ones.
"How about we get some ice cream, my treat."
They don't speak much on the bike ride over to the ice cream parlour. Marco doesn't ask what's wrong, and Star doesn't sing songs at the top of her lungs like usual. Instead, she grips the handlebars beneath her tightly, knuckles going white, chin tucked against her chest as Marco whizzes across town, and even when they've sauntered into the parlour, the chime tinkling in that cheery way that always made the girl's face light up, she's still glum. Trudging up to the showcase, she smashes her forehead against the glass, breath fogging it as she takes in the flavours disinterestedly.
"Welcome to Echo Treat," the girl behind the counter says, smiling brightly in her cotton candy pinstriped blouse. "Whenever you're ready!" Her voice, Star decides is too happy. She's sickly sweet, green eyes washing over the pair. Marco offers a polite smile, and a quick thanks before she's back to polishing her station.
"So..." he starts, pushing his shoulder against Star's, brown eyes flitting over the cartons of ice cream. "What do you want?"
"Vanilla." Star deadpans, smashing her thumb against the glass, and from the corner of her eye she catches the counter girl cringe as she leaves a smudge on the display. Marco blinks, lips tugging down into a frown.
"Are you sure you don't want funfetti?" He's more than a little confused by the girl's odd behaviour, but when she shakes her head no, he doesn't pry. At least, not until they've settled into a booth, and Star's shoved her spoon into her ice cream, body sagging forward.
"Okay, what's wrong?" He asks, jabbing his spoon at the girl. She looks up, eyelids heavy, lips taut.
"What do you mean?" Marco sighs.
"I mean why're you so...not yourself? Did something happen? Is your Mom at it again?" Star sighs, stabbing her spoon at her ice cream, she mixes it around, lower lip protruding.
"When isn't she? It's not that though," she says shoveling a heaping spoonful into her mouth. Blue eyes flit up momentarily holding Marco's expectant stare before dropping back to her cup, and when she swallows, she falls back against the booth's cushion, body slinking downward.
"Earth boys are so...confusing." She mumbles.
Marco blinks. Of course, this was about Oskar Greason. He shrugs his shoulders, scooping a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth, cringing at the sweetness. Why had he gotten funfetti again? Eyes drifting toward Star's boring vanilla reminds him of this, and running his tongue along the roof of his mouth, Marco shrugs, stuffing the spoon back into the cup. If he wanted Star to talk, then he was going to have to coax it out of the girl.
"What do you mean?" He asks, tapping his fingers against the table. Star offers another sigh, spinning the melting ice cream faster now.
"Oskar doesn't even notice me." She mumbles dejectedly before she's back to swallowing down spoonfuls of ice cream. Marco mirrors her, cringing as he crunches sprinkles between his teeth.
Okay, that was enough of that. He pushes the cup forward, propping his elbows onto the table, and leans in toward the blonde. "Y'know Star..." he starts, and when she looks up, her cheeks dust pink. They're so close, Marco's brown eyes trained on her face, staring into her very soul.
"Not all guys are as stupid as Oskar."
Star gasps, eyes widening, head snapping up. "He's not -"
"Let me finish." Marco interjects, holding a hand up to silence her. Begrudgingly, Star complies, folding her arms over her chest as she sulks, that lower lip still protruding childishly.
"You're the coolest girl I know, Star. You're funny,sweet, kind...beautiful..." he pauses, unable to meet her stare. He sucks in a deep breath then, and continues when he's met with silence. "So what if that loser Oskar can't see it. What's so special about him anyway?" Star breathes in, ready to speak up, but one look from Marco has her snapping her mouth shut, cheeks tainted pink, heart thumping.
"I guess what I'm trying to say is..." Marco look down at his abandoned ice cream. It's melting, slopping over the brim of the cup, sprinkles disappearing into the polka-dotted pattern. He can feel his cheeks heating up, hands shaking ever so slightly. "One day some Earth guy's going to be lucky to have the chance to..." his voice has dropped an octave, nerves running haywire. Why was he suddenly so nervous? It was just Star, his best friend. He runs his tongue along the roof of his mouth.
"To what?" Star encourages, leaning forward. Her eyes have grown large now, gleaming pools, lips puckered into an "o". Marco blinks, swallowing hard, averting her stare.
"To...trade ice cream with you." He finishes lamely, mentally slapping himself as he slides his goopy ice cream toward the blonde. She stares at the depressing sprinkles, melting into the goop, a slow smile crossing her face, and when she looks up at him, cheeks shining, eyes gleaming, Marco's heart skips a beat.
"Marco?" She calls once they've slipped out of the ice cream parlour. He hums, turning in time to have Star crash into him, arms wrapping tightly around his waist. He's assaulted by the sweet scent of her shampoo - candy apple, her soft tresses tickling his bare arms.
"I wouldn't want to share ice cream with anyone but you." She breathes into his shirt, and it's impossible to hide the stupid grin plastering itself to his face, or the sudden leaping of his heart. He raises his arms, circling them around the girl's frame, chin coming to rest atop her shoulder.
"Me neither." He whispers into her ear, pulling her closer.
A/N: I absolutely adore Star vs. the Forces of Evil, it's such a cute show! And after being MIA from this site for a painfully long time, I've finally decided to post something new up, and it's actually fluffy. Gasp! YAY! Haha, I hope you all enjoyed, and don't forget to hit that shiny "review" button below to leave a comment, and let me know what you thought about the story. :'3