Marco Make-out Meyhem
Welcome to my first foray into fanfiction for Star vs. The Forces of Evil, coming to you from the service shop of the Chrylser/Jeep/Dodge/Ram dealership I work yet. That's right, a professional mechanic wrote this story about a kid's show, mostly on my lunch breaks at work over the course of a week. I proofread, edited, and posted it after business hours on a Saturday while waiting for the oil to drain out of my Mustang. Literally, it's sitting on my lift behind me as I'm typing this author's note.
Between now and the last time I posted anything on this site, I started writing and never finished probably fifteen stories in the Phineas and Ferb and Milo Murphy's Law fandoms that will likely never see the light of day. But when I discovered this show, I watched the entirety of the series in about five days and I am now completely obsessed with it, which is probably why I was able to actually complete this story.
It's been so long since I've contributed to my account that I doubt many of my followers from my Phineas and Ferb days are still even interested in fanfiction, and probably even fewer are also into Star vs. The Forces of Evil, but if there are, I hope you and any new readers enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed writing it! I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, so please leave a review and let me know what you think! Compared to all the other stories I've published on this site, I think this is the most well-written one, so I'd really appreciate your feedback.
Without further ado, here's Marco Make-out Mayhem.
Tom looked up from his phone as he heard the familiar clickity-clack of boney hooves on blacktop. He stood from the front stoop and watched his skeleton horse pull his carriage up to the curb in front of the Diaz's front walk and stop. He strolled toward it at a casual pace, and a moment later the door swung open to reveal Marco and Star. The recently-minted couple was dressed slightly more formally than usual; Marco lacked his red hoodie and instead donned a blue button-down shirt, and Star wore a pale yellow sleeveless dress.
Tom grinned at them slyly. "Hey there, love birds," he teased as they stepped onto the sidewalk. Marco had his elbow out as if to escort Star, but instead of simply holding his extended arm, she seemed to be hanging onto him as if her life depended on it while gazing up at her boyfriend's face. "How was your first official date?"
"It-" Marco started, but Star suddenly cut him off.
"Absolutely wonderful..." she sighed dreamily, her gaze never leaving Marco's face. Tom thought it looked rather like she was in a trance. He looked questioningly at Marco.
"Yeah," Marco said, "It was wonderful."
"What did you guys do?"
Star once again beat Marco to the answer, still gazing at him though half-closed eyes, her lips curled into a soft smile. "Almost nothing," she whispered happily.
Tom leaned closer to Marco and whispered to him, hoping Star couldn't hear him. "Nothing is a good thing?"
"She went through a heck of a lot emotionally in the span of a couple months," Marco whispered back. "What with Eclipsa and Mina and her mom and destroying the magic and our dimensions getting all mixed up and everything else that happened, she said she was really looking forward to, as she said, 'a total lack of excitement for a change.' So we went for Tacos and then went to the beach and sat on the boardwalk for a couple of hours and just talked."
Tom glanced back at Star. Her arms were wrapped around Marco's as if he would float away if she let go and was currently nuzzling her cheek into his shoulder, her eyes now closed. "So...what's with the trance?" he asked, still talking low even though Star didn't appear to be paying a lick of attention to their conversation.
"Beats me. We were sitting on the boardwalk, and I said something that made her laugh, I can't even remember what it was, and when she stopped laughing she just started looking at me like...well, like she just was a second ago. And she won't let go of my arm, either."
Tom jumped back. "Oh, no! Dude! Do you know what this means? She's been infected!"
Marco tensed up and he quickly looked at Star, who hadn't seemed to notice anything going on around her. "Infected?! Infected with what?"
Tom flittered his fingers for effect. "Infected with the Looooove Buuuuug." And he laughed at his own joke.
Marco relaxed and gave Tom a playful shove with his free arm. "Ha ha, very funny. Anyway, it's getting late. Thanks again for letting us borrow your carriage. What with not being old enough to drive, this was the only way I could think of to go out alone and not have to rely on anyone for a ride or pay for a cab."
"Not a problem, bro! You can borrow it any time." Tom climbed though the door. "See you guys around."
Marco turned his attention back to his girlfriend as Tom drove the carriage away down the street. "C'mon, Star. Time for you and me to go home."
"Okaayyyy," Star replied with a soft giggle. She did not change her grip on his arm, but her feet followed along as he walked her up to the stoop.
"Well..." Marco looked at Star, waiting for her to let go, but she did not appear interested. He cleared his throat, but she still stood there with her eyes closed, paying him no mind. So, he carefully pried his arm from her grip and positioned himself in front of her. She finally opened her eyes and gazed back into his. Marco was starting to feel slightly unnerved.
"Well...uh...I had a really great time with you tonight, Star."
"Me toooooo."
"I'm really glad we finally got to have an official first date."
"Me toooooo."
Marco's brow involuntarily furrowed. Okay, this is getting weird even for her, he thought. "So, um, even though we both live here, should we end the date with a kiss at the front door anyway?"
It had been nearly a month since they had confessed their feelings for each other and kissed in the pig-goat barn. Marco was beginning to forget what it felt like.
Star, on the other hand, had not forgotten.
Sure, it had been a while since they'd kissed. Thinking she and Marco would be separated forever and then Mewni and Earth getting inexplicably merged had injected a lot of stress into her life. It had been out of her mind until tonight on their date, when Marco had made all that stress melt away...
...and now, having been reminded of a kiss she'd long since been without, she didn't just want it. She needed it.
She stood up very straight and fully opened her eyes, her expression frozen. "Yes!"
Marco raised an eyebrow at her reaction. "Star...are you okay?"
"Yeah yeah, I'm fine I'm fine. Kiss now."
"Uh...okay."
Marco leaned in, closing his eyes as he did, and gently kissed Star on the lips. Then, before he could even realize what was happening, she flung her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, holding his lips against her own in the longest and most passionate kiss she had ever bestowed upon anyone in her life. She reveled in the electricity that seemed to course through her every vein.
On the other side of the lips, Marco had started out enjoying the feeling of kissing his best friend so intensely, but when he started to feel lightheaded he began to wonder if Star was ever going to release him or if she intended on sucking the air out of his lungs. When her grip eventually slackened a bit, he broke the kiss and her arms released from his neck. He started panting like a dog, desperately trying to fill his lungs and restore oxygen to his brain.
"Okay...we...may need...to work...on that...a little...Star..."
He looked at her. She was frozen again, eyes the size of dinner plates and staring so hard he felt like she was staring through him. Her shoulders were tensed up, as were her arms, stiff as boards straight at her sides.
"Star?" He inched closer. "You, uh, doing okay there?"
She did not move.
"Star?"
Marco waved his hand in front of her face, but she did not react. He snapped his fingers a few times, trying to break her trance, but still she did not move.
"Star!"
He gently patted her cheek with his fingers a few times.
"Star, you're freaking me out!"
The front door opened, revealing Marco's father. "Marco? Is everything alright? I thought I heard yelling."
"Dad, I think I broke Star."
Mr. Diaz bent down and leaned closer to examine the girl. "Hmmmm..." He repeated Marco's attempts to snap Star back to reality, waving his hand in front of her eyes and then snapping his fingers. "That is quite the thousand yard stare she has there." He then proceeded to yell as loudly as he could in her ear, but there was still no discernible reaction, though Marco did notice for the first time that she seemed to be very slowly and heavily breathing through her mouth. Her entire body seemed to expand and contract with every breath.
"Hmmm...Star certainly does appear to be broken," Mr. Diaz said very matter-of-factly.
"What should we do, Dad?"
Mr. Diaz put his hands under Star's arms and picked her up. "You get her legs. We'll carry her to the sofa. Just be quiet, your mother and Mariposa already are asleep."
They carried the frozen girl into the house and laid her down on the living room couch. They watched her continue to steadily suck in air through her mouth.
"You say you broke Star?" Mr. Diaz asked. "What exactly did you do?"
Marco blushed and averted his eyes. "Uh...I kissed her."
"Oh! That makes sense," Mr. Diaz chuckled.
Marco raised a confused eyebrow. "It does?"
"Oh, sure. You should have seen your mother the first time I kissed her."
"Um, this was actually the third time me and Star kissed."
Mr. Diaz shrugged. "Well, it hits everyone at different times, I suppose. Just give her some space. I'm sure she will come back to us eventually."
Marco looked over at his girlfriend on the couch, still feeling very worried. "Okay...if you say so."
Mr. Diaz ushered his son toward the stairs. "It is late. Let us go to bed. Star will fall asleep eventually and I am confident that when she awakens, she will be herself again."
And so, the Diaz's went upstairs and got ready for bed, leaving Star staring wide-eyed at the ceiling and slowly breathing as hard as she could in the living room.
Marco changed into his pajamas and brushed his teeth, then climbed into bed and waited for an hour. When he was positive his parents were asleep, he crept back downstairs.
Star was still exactly how he had left her.
He sighed and stroked her long, blonde hair. "Oh, Star...please snap out of it. You're really scaring me..."
Marco yawned. He took a seat in an arm chair in the corner and watched Star until he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer and succumbed to sleep.
Star blinked, her train of thought finally returning.
Wooooowwwwwwwwww. I've never had a kiss like that before. That was so intense I think my brain shorted out! She smiled to herself.
I wanna do it again!
She shifted her head slightly, looking around the room. Eventually her gaze landed on her boyfriend in the corner.
"MARCO!" She cried as she bolted upright. Her mouth and throat were so dry from several hours of breathing through her mouth that instead of "Marco" it came out as a barely audible "Maaacaaa."
Star smacked her lips, suddenly becoming aware of the fact that her mouth felt like it was full of sand. She stood from the couch, walked to the kitchen, pulled a glass from the cabinet, filled it to the brim from the kitchen faucet, and then chugged down the entire contents.
"Ahhhhhhh. Much better," she whispered to herself. She placed the glass in the sink. "Now where was I? Ohhhh, Marcoooo."
"Pssst. Marco. Marcooooo."
The one being beckoned slowly roused from his slumber and opened his eyes to find Star's face directly in front of his, their noses barely a half-inch from touching.
"Gah!" Marco yelped in surprise and jerked his head backwards into the chair. "Star!"
"Kiss me."
"...wha...what?"
She climbed up onto his lap. "Kiss me, Marco. Give me that sweet lovin'." Her whispering voice was at its highest (and cutest) pitch.
"Star, you are really freakin' me out."
"Whyyyyy? Just kiss me." She puckered her lips at him.
"Because I've never seen you act like this and it's super weird!"
"But all I want is one little kiss. Pleaaaase?"
"Are you going to lock up again?"
"No! Promise!"
"...Okay." He came closer and Star eagerly pressed her lips against his. This time, though, she didn't hold him captive or kiss him back as forcefully.
A moment later Marco broke off and leaned back into the chair. Star was smiling softly and her eyes were half closed again. "Mmmmmm...that was nice."
Then she fell over backwards onto the floor.
Marco sprang up from the chair and knelt beside her. "Jeez! Star, are you okay?"
He was met with the sound of Star softly snoring. He chuckled. "Wore herself out, I guess." Marco grabbed the blanket that was draped over the back of the chair and gently covered his girlfriend with it, then sat back down and fell asleep once more.
Marco was halfway through his bowl of cereal when Star came quietly into the kitchen.
"Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Diaz," she greeted warmly. "And Mariposa."
"Good morning, Star," they replied in unison from the opposite side of the table. Mariposa was too busy playing with her empty bottle in her high chair to acknowledge Star.
Marco put a spoonful of cereal in his mouth as he watched Star sit down next to him.
"Good morning, Marco."
She was smiling her usual happy smile and wasn't staring through him or gazing at him. She seemed to be back to normal.
Or, at least, as normal as Star Butterfly can be.
"Good morning, Star," he replied, returning her smile. "How do you feel after sleeping on the living room floor all night?"
She grimaced a bit as she arched her back, tensing up the muscles to stretch out her stiff areas. "Little bit sore."
Mr. and Mrs. Diaz laughed and stood up from the kitchen table. "We are off to run some errands," Mrs. Diaz said as she unstrapped Mariposa from the high chair. "We'll be back later."
"Okay," Marco said through another mouthful of cereal.
"Have a nice day, you two," Mr. Diaz said. "Oh, and Marco, I left a sticky note on the counter with some things I was hoping you could do around the house while we're out." And then they left.
Now having the kitchen to themselves, Marco cleared his throat as Star stood up to fetch herself a bowl. "So, uh, Star...what was going on with you last night?"
She frowned as she retook her seat. "What do you mean?"
"You froze up, like, literally, for a couple of hours. And then you woke me up in the middle of the night practically begging me to kiss you. You were acting really weird and I was worried something was wrong!"
Star poured some cereal into her bowl. "I'm sorry. I just...reallllllly liked kissing you the first time, so much so that I kinda...blacked out."
"And the second time?"
She shrugged and nonchalantly stated "I really, really, really wanted another." She added milk to her bowl. "Drat."
"What's wrong?"
"I forgot a spoon." She looked at Marco's own spoon, and then at him. "Feed me, squire."
Marco nearly choked as he laughed with a mouthful of cereal. "Uh, you're not a princess anymore and I'm not your squire."
"But you are my boyfriend." She pointed to her bowl. "And my cereal is gonna get soggy."
Marco smiled and shook his head. He reached over to Star's bowl and shoveled some cereal onto his spoon. "Alright, open up."
Star opened her mouth as comically wide as possible and Marco deposited the cereal in her mouth. She smiled at him as she chewed and Marco smiled and shook his head again, taking a bite of his own breakfast.
Star felt a tingle. My lips...feel lonely...only one cure I know of for that.
Marco fed her some more cereal and took another bite of his own. As he was still chewing, Star suddenly leaned over and kissed him.
"Ew, Star! I still had food in my mouth!"
Then Marco noticed that Star was chewing.
"I know, I got some of it," she said happily.
Marco looked at his bowl. He only had about a bite left. He handed Star his spoon. "Here, I'm finished. I'm going to go get dressed." And brush my teeth because that was super gross.
"Okay!"
Marco quickly placed his bowl into the sink and disappeared from the kitchen. Star heard him hurry up the stairs.
Aw...now I'm lonely.
She hurried through the rest of her cereal and headed upstairs, intending on going to her bedroom (the now redecorated spare bedroom since she had no magic to remake her tower.) Then she heard Marco brushing his teeth in the bathroom. She let herself in.
"Hey, we always brush our teeth together!"
"Shorry." He kept on brushing, causing him to stumble through speech. "I tought you'd shtill be eatig.'
She hurried to the sink and picked up her toothbrush. "Now I have to catch up. Gimme that toothpaste."
"Here-" Marco started to reach for the toothpaste tube but suddenly found himself being pulled toward Star's face. She kissed him on the lips again, and when she released him, she had some of his toothpaste on her lips. She happily started brushing as if everything that had just transpired was completely unordinary.
Trying very hard to remain calm, Marco spit out his toothpaste, rinsed his mouth, and returned his brush to the holder. He wiped his mouth and then turned to his girlfriend. "Star..." He took a deep breath. "That...was so gross and wrong."
She didn't appear to hear him and happily finished brushing her teeth while Marco stared her down, waiting for her to say something. When she'd rinsed her mouth out, she ambushed Marco with another kiss. "Mmm, fresh and clean!"
Marco blinked. "...please, no more kissing in the bathroom."
Once again, Star didn't seem to hear him. She started for the door. "I'm gonna go change because I've been wearing this dress since yesterday!" She paused in the doorway. "See you in a few, my looooove." And she blew him a kiss before disappearing.
Marco stood stunned, still trying to process what had just happened. Why is she acting like this? We didn't kiss for nearly a month after Earth and Mewni got all mixed up, and now it's like she's addicted or something to the point that she's being flat out disgusting.
As if on cue, he heard a familiar jingle coming from his pocket.
*Space unicorn! Soaring through the stars!*
"Who in the world...?" Marco wondered aloud as he extracted his cell phone from his pocket. He was surprised to see that the caller ID was Tom.
"Hello?"
"Marco, dude, you guys got sand all over the seats in my carriage. I thought you said you were just on the boardwalk last night."
"Oh, sorry, that's probably from me. I was chasing a giant spider that stole my snow cone and didn't realize how close to the edge of the boardwalk I was and fell into the sand."
"Yeah, you gotta watch out for those giant spiders. They have an inexplicable taste for frozen treats."
Marco sighed. "I'll keep that in mind."
"What's the matter? You sound kinda dejected."
Marco wasn't sure how to answer that question and wasn't sure he was comfortable explaining it to anyone, never mind his girlfriend's ex. "Just getting the feeling today is going to be a very weird day. And not the usual kind of weird, either." Don't I wish it was the usual kind of weird, he thought.
"Why?"
Star appeared in the doorway, having changed into her more usual dark green dress. She batted her eyelashes at him. "C'mon, Marco! I'm ready to go do stuff!" She disappeared again.
Then again, there was a chance Tom was the only being alive who would understand the current predicament. Marco swallowed uncomfortably. "I'll, uh, I'll tell you about it later."
Marco found Star downstairs in the kitchen leaning back against the kitchen counter.
"Alright, where's that note dad said he left for me?"
Star held it up. "Right here." She grinned mischievously. Marco reached for it and she pulled it away. "Not so fast," she taunted. "If you want it, you'll have to kiss me."
Marco tried not to let Star see him exhale in exasperation before leaning in and giving her a quick peck.
"Oh, c'mon, you can do better than that!"
"Star-"
He was cut off again as Star attacked his mouth voraciously. When she broke the kiss, she stuck the sticky note to Marco's forehead with a "Boop."
An involuntary groan escaped Marco's throat.
This is going to be a long day.
For the rest of the day, as Marco attempted to complete the list his father had left for him, (mow the lawn, eradicate the Mewnian Termytes from their nest by the back fence, install anti-giant eagle spikes on the gutters, sweep the garage) Star repeatedly ambushed him with affection.
As he was mowing the lawn, she snuck up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. When he turned around, she threw her arms around him as she kissed him, accidentally pulling his hands off of the lawn mower's push bar. When she released him, the self-propelled mower had made it halfway into the next yard, resulting in a harrowing chase to retrieve it. Just after Marco finally got control of it again, the fuel tank ran dry, so he had to manually drag it all the way back home.
He finished mowing the lawn and moved on to getting rid of the Mewnian termytes that had taken up residency in the backyard and were starting to eat part of the fence. Star grabbed him by the arm, spun him into her arms, kissed him, and then spun him back again. Marco lost his balance and fell into the termytes' nest.
"Yaaaa! Yow! Stop biting!" He crawled out of the nest, desperately trying to shake the biting insects free. "Star, help! Get 'em off get 'em off get 'em off!"
But Star had vanished.
When he'd finally quelled the infestation of termytes, he pulled a ladder from the garage and propped it up against the side of the house. He grabbed the spool of anti-giant eagle spikes (the thin spikes were attached to a roll of shingle-like material with adhesive on one side for sticking it to the gutter) and started up the ladder. Just as he was about to crest the edge of the roof, Star's face appeared right in front of him. She had climbed out a second floor window and had been waiting for Marco to sneak-attack-kiss him. She startled him, causing him to lose his balance, and then her kiss unintentionally pushed him over backwards.
"AHHH-!" Marco cried as he plummeted back to the ground, landing on his back with a thud.
"Oh my gosh! Marco, are you okay?"
Marco winced in pain. "Not particularly, no."
Star excitedly stood up. "I know what to do! I'll kiss it and make it better!"
Marco looked up at his girlfriend on the roof. She was holding her palms together, finger tips pointed outward.
"Please don't do what I think you're about to do..."
Star jumped off the roof as if she were diving into a pool.
"Nonononono-!"
*CRASH*
Exhausted and every muscle aching, Marco finally was able perform his last chore: sweeping the garage. At this point, he was expecting Star to ambush him with a kiss at some point. He figured he might as well just not fight it. After all, he was only sweeping the garage. What harm could a kiss cause him here?
He was surprised to notice Star sitting and watching him from the steps leading into the house. Her face was wearing that same starry-eyed expression she'd had last night.
Marco swept the leaves and various detritus into a pile, set down the broom and grabbed a dustpan and brush. He bent down to sweep it into the dust pan and when he looked up from his work, Star had materialized right in front of him.
"Hiiiiii."
"Uh, Hello."
Once more, Star wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. This time, though, not being a sneak attack, she held it for a very long time, to the point that Marco started seeing spots. He gasped for breath when she finally released him and sucked in a mouthful of the dust swirling around in the air he'd stirred up from sweeping. He alternated between coughing and gasping for breath for several long minutes before he finally was able to compose himself.
And once again, Star had disappeared.
Marco walked into the kitchen feeling like he'd been on the receiving end of a Warnicorn Stampede and was greeted by Star's umpteenth sneak attack kiss of day.
"Soooooooo..." Star began, hanging off his neck. "Now that you're all done with your chores, what should we do now?"
Marco looked at the clock. Somehow, it was already 4:15.
"Uhh...well, *I* am going to go take a shower," he said. While it was true that he'd gotten pretty dirty in the course of completing his dad's list, it was also secretly a way to get a short reprieve from Star's incessant kissing.
Then again, it isn't like she hasn't just invited herself into the bathroom while I was showering before...
Before Marco could finish that increasing uncomfortable thought, Star's compact buzzed. She released him to check it.
"Oh, hey, it's Mom!"
As Star answered the call, Marco quietly snuck upstairs and locked the bathroom door behind him, not taking for granted the fact that Star no longer had magic with which to unlock it.
What am I gonna do? Marco thought to himself as he let the hot water soothe his aching body. I don't want to hurt Star's feelings, but she's driving me crazy and causing me bodily harm with the incessant kissing.
What would I even say to her...?
Wrapped in a towel, Marco cracked open the bathroom door and peered out into the hall. He could hear Star's voice coming from her bedroom, clearly still on the phone, so he crept to his room as quietly as he could and got dressed. The shower had helped, but he still winced as he slid his arms into the sleeves of a clean hoodie.
There was a knock on his door. "Marcoooo! Marcoooooooooo! Marco Marco Marcooooooooooooo!"
Marco took a deep breath and opened the door. Star's eyes shimmered as she gazed at him for the first time in 40 minutes. "Heyyyyyyyy, Buddy."
"What's up?"
"Sooooooooo my mom and dad want me to have dinner with them. I told them you and I would be there, but my mom said-" Star imitated her mother's voice as she spoke. "'Oh, Star, we looove Marco, but, you see, we haven't seen you in quite some time and we were hoping to have some time alone to talk with you.'"
Marco laughed. As much as Star was driving him crazy today, she still always made him laugh. "That was a pretty spot-on impression of your mom."
"Thanks, I've been practicing. So anyway, I'm sorry to do this to you, but I have to go."
Hallelujah! "That's alright, Star. Maybe I'll see if Tom wants to grab a bite to eat with me."
"That's great! You can a have a little guy's night out while I have dinner with my parents." She stepped closer to him. "Well...I have to get going." She smiled at him. "I'll miss you."
She put her arms around his shoulders and kissed him. It wasn't the same hungry, desperate, and hard kiss she'd been giving him all day. It was a gentler, sweeter, deeper kiss, and for the first time all day, Marco was actually given a chance to kiss back.
And when she broke away, he found himself wishing it wasn't over yet. That was...really nice. Man, this is so conflicting!
"Well, I'll see you later." Star backed away and headed for the door. "Have a nice night. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."
Marco chuckled. "What exactly wouldn't you do?"
Star put a finger to lips in thought. "Not much. Commit a homicide maybe?"
Again, Marco laughed. "Haha, okay, I'll try really hard not to kill anyone."
Star giggled. "See you later, Diaz. I love you."
"I love you, too."
And she left.
Marco smiled to himself. That's the Star I know. Maybe she's back to her usual self.
He grabbed his phone and wallet and headed out the door. At the bottom of the stairs he turned into the kitchen and Star crashed her lips into his.
"Mmmmmmmwhaw! Gotcha! See ya!" And she skipped out the door.
Marco's eye twitched slightly. "Aaaaaaand we're back." He stared at his cell phone for a moment and sighed. He dialed Tom's contact. "Hey, Tom. You wanna go grab some dinner with me? ... No, I haven't forgotten about the sand. ... I'll do it after, promise. Look, I really need to talk to you about something. ... I just ate there last night. ... Yes, I did eat almost 30 in one day. Fine, just meet me there, okay?"
Marco sat down with his food across from Tom at one of the tables in front of the recently reopened Britta's Tacos. Tom was already halfway through his first taco.
"Man, I'll tell ya," Tom said through a mouthful of meat and shell, "best thing about Earth and Mewni being merged together: constant access to tacos." He took another massive bite. "I am never going to get tired of these things."
Marco slowly unwrapped a burrito. "Don't say that until you've tried to eat 50 in one day. Even I couldn't do it."
Tom wiped his mouth. "So you said you needed to talk to me about something. What's on your mind?"
Marco swallowed and stared at his food, searching for the right words. "Well...the thing is...um...how do I put this...?" He looked up and watched Tom continue to tear into his taco, all the while the half-demon's three eyes never broke contact with his own. He suddenly felt very self conscious. "Star is driving me nuts," he blurted out.
Tom stopped mid-chew. "...what?"
Marco took a deep breath. "Okay, look. The whole last month has been pretty insane. I've been with Star and Eclipsa and Globgor constantly trying to get Mewni properly integrated into Earth, traveling all over the world, getting involved with talks with various countries' governments...we've barely had time to breathe. When we did get some time to ourselves, she was so stressed out she would just ask me to sit and cuddle with her so she could try to relax a bit. We were no more affectionate with each other than when we were just friends."
Marco suddenly became very aware of his words and who he was talking to. "Sorry, this is probably super weird, you being her ex and all."
Tom shrugged. "Nah, it's cool."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Even though I don't have feelings for Star anymore, I care about her a lot. The only thing that matters to me is that she's with someone who makes her happy and treats her the way she deserves to be treated." Tom gave him a reassuring smile. "I can't think of anyone who fits that description better than you."
Marco couldn't help but grin. "Thanks, man. That means a lot."
Tom unwrapped another taco and motioned for Marco to continue. "So go on."
Marco sighed. "So...Eclipsa told us we could go home, that she and Globgor would finish up with everything, and that gave me a chance to ask Star on our first actual date."
"And then you borrowed my carriage and got it full of sand."
"Dude, I'm sorry, I promise, I will clean it up!"
"And I saw what was up with her when you came back."
"Yeah, but it got weirder after you left. We kissed on the front porch and she froze. Like, she didn't move for several hours. My dad and I had to actually carry her into the house."
Tom's face contorted in confusion.
"And then today, all day, she would. Not. Stop. Kissing me."
Tom laughed. "Doesn't sound that bad to me."
"Dude, you don't understand. She was, like, attacking me with her lips. To the point of causing me bodily harm."
"She hurt you...with kisses?"
"She made me fall off a ladder trying to kiss me and then, while I was laying on the ground in pain, she dove off the roof onto me...lips-first."
Tom winced. "Okay, ow."
"That wasn't the only painful thing that happened today, but it was definitely the worst." He took a bite of his taco. "Oh, she also kissed me while I was brushing my teeth to get some of my toothpaste."
Slowly, Tom retracted the taco from his mouth and set it down. "That is...super gross."
"Is this just something that happens to Mewmans, that they go kiss crazy? Did she ever act like this or freeze up from a kiss when she was dating you?"
"No."
"To which question?"
"All of them."
Marco laughed nervously.
"You know what I think it sounds like?" Tom asked.
"What's that? A curse? An infection? A mutation?"
"It sounds to me like Star is really, really in love with you."
Marco felt his heart skip a beat. "Really?"
"Sure. And this is just her own weird way of showing it. She probably doesn't even realize she's grossing you out and causing you harm because she's in her own little world being so infatuated with you."
Marco pushed his food aside, no longer feeling hungry. "I just don't know what to do. I love Star, but...she isn't acting like herself."
"Have you talked to her about it?"
Marco avoided Tom's eyes and looked at the ground. "No...I don't even know what to say to her. I don't want to hurt her feelings."
Tom stood up from the table and walked around to Marco's side, taking a seat beside him. "Marco, when Star and I were dating, I always felt weird talking about our relationship with her. I don't know why, but it just never felt...natural, and awkward. But you have an advantage that I did not."
Marco finally made eye contact with Tom. "What's that?"
Tom put a hand on Marco's shoulder. "You are Star's best friend. And I know she's yours. There shouldn't be anything in the world that you can't talk about with her." He punched Marco's shoulder to drive his next point home. "Plus, she freakin' loves you, man! Just talk to her. Trust me."
Marco smiled at his friend. "Thanks, Tom. I knew I came to the right person about this."
"Of course! I mean, who else are you gonna talk to about this? Pony Head? Janna?"
"Yeah, no. Maybe Kelly, but she's in a dimension that is currently...inaccessible."
The two friends laughed. Tom stood up. "Now, come on. If you help me clean all the sand out of my carriage, I'll give you a ride back home."
"Deal."
They started walking off down the road.
"By the way," Tom asked. "If Star hasn't left you alone all day, how did you manage to come here without her?"
"Oh, her mom called and invited Star to dinner with she and River. I didn't get invited."
"You dodged a bullet if you ask me."
"Why is that?"
"Let me answer that question with a different question: How do you get along with Star's parents?"
"We get along fine."
"Not what I meant. I mean, how do you feel about them?"
Marco thought for a moment. "River is pretty cool. A little nuts, but cool. Moon, on the other hand..."
Tom motioned for him to finish his thought.
"...she scares me a little."
"Yup. That's what I thought. I've known her longer than you and Moon still gives me the heebie-jeebies."
"...but you're a demon."
"Half-demon, actually. And what, demons aren't allowed to be creeped out by stuff?"
Tom gave Marco a playful shove. They laughed together as they headed off down the road.
All through dinner, all Star had been able to think about was getting back to Marco. Her mother, of course, had wanted to hear every detail about her daughter's travels with Eclipsa and had to interject her own opinions on nearly every subject.
By the time Star returned, it was nearly midnight. The Diaz's house was dark. Presumably, everyone was already asleep. She crept into the house as quietly as she could only to find Marco on the couch, watching tv with the volume turned down to a barely audible level. He turned towards her and smiled.
"Hi, Star," he whispered in the darkness. He picked up the remote and muted the tv. "How was dinner?"
She made her way over to him and dove onto the couch, wrapping her arms around him as she knocked him over backwards. She kissed him hard, and Marco kissed her back. Despite all the perils he had been forced to face today as a result of her kisses, he had still missed her.
Eventually, she let him go and sat up. "It was okay, I guess. Mom wouldn't let me leave, though. All I could think about was getting back here to youuuuu." She leaned over to kiss him again, and this time Marco put a hand up to block her. She looked at him with confusion and saw the serious look on his face.
"Star...we need to talk."
Star leaned back, not liking the sound of that dreaded sentence. "Oh...o-okay."
In the dim flickering light of the tv, Marco could see that her eyes were already glistening with moisture. He tried to give her a friendly smile. "Sorry about using those words, I know they aren't usually followed by good things. But it's nothing bad, I promise. I'm not breaking up with you or anything extreme like that. You've just been acting kinda weird and I want to know what's going on."
Star looked confused. "Me? Acting weird?"
"Star, last night when I kissed you, you stopped moving for like 5 hours. This morning you kissed me while I was in the middle of chewing cereal and then again while I was brushing my teeth! That is so, so gross and wrong.
"Then, you made me lose the lawn mower, pushed me into a termyte nest and made me fall off the roof with your weird sneak-attack kisses. And you always used to help me out when I had stuff to do, but the only time you even were around at all was when you randomly showed up to kiss me, and then not even acknowledge that you caused me a great deal of pain!"
A tear slid down Star's cheek. "Don't you like kissing me?"
"Of course I do, but not when I'm brushing my teeth or when it causes me bodily harm!" He thought for a second and then added, "And it feels like you're kissing me just for the sake of kissing me...and not because you love me."
Star sighed and looked down. "You're right...I know I've been being super weird." She wiped her face and took a deep breath. "You wanna know why?"
Marco nodded. "Of course I do."
Star shifted. "It's just...I have been under so much stress for the past, I don't even know how long, year? So much stuff has happened you could probably make a pretty exciting tv series about it. Worst of all was thinking that I had lost you forever when the magic was destroyed...and then when we were together again, we didn't even get a moment to rest because we had to go off with Eclipsa and Globgor for almost a month to try to sort out this whole merged dimension thing - which, by the way, I would still like to know how and why that happened-"
"Yeah, me, too," Marco interjected quickly.
"It's just all been so much." Star pulled her feet up onto the couch and hugged her knees to her chest. "But then...last night...we finally got a chance to just be us again." She looked at Marco. "And all that stress that had been building up over the last year just...melted away all at once. It felt like old times again, back when it was just you and me beating up Ludo's monsters...only, you know, without the fighting monsters part. Just you and me and no drama. I just felt so...relaxed, for the first time in ages, and I just...I don't know...had this overwhelming feeling of affection for you?" She paused. "And then when you kissed me on the porch...I don't know, it sparked something in my brain that was screaming 'morrrrrre!'"
Marco giggled, trying not to make too much noise.
"I just wasn't thinking straight. I'm sorry."
"It's okay, Star."
"No, it's not okay. I feel like I'm a little kid obsessing over a crush instead of the girlfriend you deserve to have."
Marco put a hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him. He smiled at her in a way that made her heart skip a beat and he brushed a strand of hair out of her face. Then he kissed her, long and slow and sweet, and she melted into the couch, surrendering all the stress she had brought back up in the last five minutes to the simultaneously electrifying and calming sensation of Marco's kiss.
"You know," she said when the kiss ended, "it feels totally different when you kiss me instead of the other way around. Like, better." And she smiled happily.
"Star, you are an amazing girlfriend because you're my best friend. It's just really, really gross and painful to be kissed the way you were kissing me today."
"Do you want me to stop?"
"Absolutely not! I love kissing you. You just need to learn to...read the situation a little better."
Marco placed an arm around her and she leaned against him, feeling secure in his embrace. For several minutes, they did not speak. They stared at the late-night infomercial silently playing on the tv, each just enjoying the feeling of the other being so near.
"Hey, Marco?" Star whispered. "How do you know we're right for each other?"
"Huh? Where did that question come from?"
"I don't know, just...wondering, you know?"
Marco thought for a moment. "You know, not long before I met you, back when I was pining over Jackie, my dad sat me down and gave me a talk."
"Nope! Nope nope nope! I do NOT need to hear about that!"
"Not that talk!" Marco said, his face turning bright red in the darkness. "He told me there are three qualities you should look for to know if you've found 'the one'."
"Ooh, 'the one'...sounds cool."
"He said I would know I'd found the right person when I found someone who I never got tired of spending time with, could trust with anything, and who made a great team with me. I guess in a lot of ways, it describes a best friend, too. I never really thought about it until now, but I knew the day we met that you and I made a good team. I've always felt like I could trust you with anything, and, until you started acting weird last night, I've never once gotten tired of spending time with you."
Star looked down. "I probably didn't make a very good teammate today, did I?"
"Yeah, not particularly. Why did you keep disappearing?"
"I don't know...I guess I was feeling kinda subconsciously embarrassed." Star sat up and faced Marco on the couch. "Okay, I'm making you a princess's promise, I won't kiss you when there are already things in your mouth, or when it's at a time that I might cause you a severe injury. And, for good measure, I'll throw in inappropriate times, too, like, uh, at funerals." This gained a chuckle from Marco. She held out her hand flat, palm down, in front of him. "And lets both swear, from this moment onward until one or both of us bites the dust, we will always, always, always be a team, no matter what."
Marco placed his hand on top of hers and looked straight into her eyes. "I swear."
"Me too." She flipped her hand over and intertwined her fingers with his. "I love you, Marco."
"I love you, Star." She leaned forward to kiss him, but stopped.
"What's wrong?"
"Is this overdoing it? We've kissed a grand total of twice before yesterday, and now we're up to like 20."
Marco closed the distance between them until his lips were barely not touching hers. "Wanna see how high we can get that number before I pass out from exhaustion?"
Star giggled. "Yes, please."
The next day, Mr. Diaz left Marco a note asking his son to rake up the leaves from the tree in the side yard.
"What? It's the middle of summer! And there wasn't a single leaf in the yard when I mowed the lawn yesterday!"
Star opened the garage and looked out into the side yard. "Well, there are now."
Marco looked passed her. "What the heck...?
The yard was covered with a thick layer of brown leaves. Star looked up at the tree that towered over the house. "Ooh, yup. It's a Mewnian Elderberry Tree. They shed their leaves every two weeks like a snake sheds skin."
"Oh, wonderful." Marco picked up a rake and headed out into the yard.
Star picked up another one and followed. "Right behind you, teammate!"
Working together, they had the yard cleaned up in less than an hour. They stood together admiring the giant leaf pile in front of them.
"Thanks for your help, Star. That was much quicker than if I'd had to do it alone."
Star wiped the sweat from her brow. "That's what I'm here for, bestie!" She dropped her rake. "I'm going inside for a drink."
She took a few steps, and then found herself being whirled around and drawn in for a kiss by Marco. Then when he released her, he spun her backwards, crashing into the leaf pile.
"Marco!"
"That's payback for yesterday," Marco laughed.
"I am so gonna get you for that!" Star cried, holding up her hand in Marco's direction. Suddenly she looked embarrassed.
"What's wrong?"
"I, uh, I forgot for a second that I don't have magic anymore. I was gonna blast you with cupcakes."
They both broke into laughter and Marco flopped down in the leaf pile beside her. Star took his hand. "You know, now that there's no magic and I'm not a princess anymore, I'm really looking forward to doing some normal teenager stuff."
"Like what?"
"I don't know. What do normal teenagers do?"
Marco started up at the clouds. "You know...I don't remember." They both laughed again and rolled to face each other. "I do know one thing teenagers tend to do a lot."
"What's that?"
Marco winked at her. "Make out."
Star grinned mischievously. "Until we figure out what else normal teenagers do, that sounds like a pretty good place to start."
"I couldn't agree more."
That's it. The End. Hope ya'll liked it. I'd love to know what ya'll thought! Send me a review if you have the time!