Star couldn't take it anymore, the party had long since ended and most of her friends had since left to go back to their dimensions, even Marco had left to go to bed a short while ago.

But he was still here, and he wasn't even looking at her. Tom just sat there, at the folded table, fists clenched, glaring at the wall, looking lost.

Not being able to stand to see her boyfriend so upset, Star headed across the room towards him.

"Tom I-"

"Look if you wanna break up with me, just say it."

For once Star was speechless, it took a moment for her to process his sentence. She couldn't understand what would make Tom even think she wanted to break up. She thought things had been going well, you know, other than the stump almost killing them all. But they were all laughing and dancing and having fun! Or so she thought. What happened to put her boyfriend in such a dour mood.

"What are you talking about?"

Tom continued not to meet her eyes, he gritted his teeth and stared at the floor in some sort of defiance. How could he look so angry and yet look like a kicked puppy at the same time?

"I assume that's why you want to talk to me. You want to break up right?"

"Tom! No of course not, why would I-"

"WELL YOU SHOULD!" Fire flashed around them in a hot wave, but died down almost just as fast as it had appeared.

Tom truly looked dejected then, so hurt, Star hated it. She moved to sit next to him, as she did Tom turned away from her and broke down.

"I almost ruined your birthday, ruined stump day. I lost my temper, I attacked Marco! My friend Star! I argued with him and almost got us all killed by the stump!" Tom was trembling now, tears springing up in the corners of his eyes.

"I thought I was getting better, but I'm not! I'm still angry, all the time! Marco was right, I am a bad boyfriend, you should break up with me. You'd be better off."

Star was torn between slapping some sense into the half demon, and hugging him close until he stopped crying. She was never good at this, knowing what to say to make him feel better. It's a big reason they broke up in the first place. She never knew what to do or say when he was upset or angry, so she became frustrated, and in turn that only made him more volatile. But things were different now. They were different. She wanted up help him, to understand, and to make him feel alright.

"Alright, that's it."

Star stood up, brushing imaginary dust off of her bunny onesie, before taking Tom's hand and forcibly dragging him out of the room.

"Star! What are you doing?"

"I was thinking we haven't been able to spend any alone time together lately and it's such a nice night out-"

"Star it's freezing-"

"And I just thought, what a perfect time to go out on a walk with my boyfriend, whom I love very much!" Star finished with a bright smile, hoping the brightness of it would break through Tom's sudden bleakness.

It seemed to work, at least a little. Tom gave her a soft smile in return, shaking his head. "Your crazy Starship you know that?" His voice was soft to, but she could still see a sadness lurking behind those eyes.

She wanted to talk about his blow up, about his fight with Marco, about why he thought she would ever actually break up with him… but she knew she needed to give him a bit of time. She couldn't push Tom, not yet, she learned that since they got back together. He would come around and open up and speak about his feelings and be willing to listen to hers, when he was ready.

Within the next few moments Star used her wand to conjure up some warmer clothes, Tom lighting a few controlled fires around them like a portable heater, and they were walking the streets of Mewni.

They were quiet, hands held tight between them, though Star could feel Tom was a bit tense. She had to wait for him though, had to let him calm down and talk to her when he was comfortable and rational! This kind of thing took patience and subtly-

"So… you uh, wanna talk about uh, what happened back there." She never said she was good at either of those things, maybe it was something she needed to work on to.

Tom tried to flinch back his hand but Star held on tight.

"Come on Tom, you usually never have trouble telling me you're upset. I'm not mad okay? I promise but if something's wrong you need to tell me."

"But Star that's just it, I shouldn't be upset, I'm supposed to be getting better, but I just… I shouldn't have let Marco push me, I shouldn't have attacked him! I should've walked away! But I got so mad I just… I don't want to be mad anymore Star. People don't like me when I'm mad."

Tom let go of her hand then, and moved to sit on a snow covered bench, he didn't seem to notice the flames around then melting the snow and soaking his clothes.

Star wishes she knew what to say, Tom was able to comfort her after the whole fiasco with the party and the monsters and heinous. He didn't help much but the fact he tried warmed her up much more than that hot cocoa did.

A smile found a way to her lips as she thought up an idea. She sat down and curled herself up next to him, she could feel the melted mess was soaking into her clothes as well but it was nothing she couldn't dry with magic in a moment. Tom was upset and she could deal with a brief moment of discomfort if it meant consoling her boyfriend. With a wave of her wand she summoned two steaming cups of hot cocoa, moving to hand one to the half demon.

"Hot cocoa, made it myself." She saw her little joke made him crack a smile but he didn't comment further.

"Look Tom, I won't lie and say I'm happy you got mad and attacked Marco. It was upsetting to see my best friend and my boyfriend fighting on stump day, not to mention my birthday." Tom opened his mouth, an apology at the ready, but Star interrupted him.

"But, Marco shouldn't have pushed you. He really did a number on your buttons, and trust me he will get an earful from me later."

"But I still shouldn't off-"

"Thomas stop."

A small silence stretched between them for a moment, only the sound of wind and the sipping of hot chocolate could be heard between them.

"Look." Star sighed. "I'm not good at this, giving good advice and counsel, it's something I'm still striving to be better at. But I can't expect to be perfect now, to be a good princess just because I want to be better. Tom you want to be better and you're trying and that's what matters here! So you blew up at Marco, big whoop. I'm not expecting you to just never get angry again and neither should your! Setting up expectations like that are only going to hurt you, and I don't like seeing you hurt Tom."

"So you're not mad?"

"At you? No. I'm… frustrated at what happened but I'm trying to understand okay? But you've got to help me out here. Why did what Marco say make you so mad?"

Tom was quiet for a moment. He sighed, finishing up his cup of cocoa before turning to Star, he placed his hands on her cheeks and held her face to his. He closed his eyes for a moment and leaned his forehead against hers.

"I was scared okay, when Marco accused me of being a bad boyfriend I thought he may be right and you would realize it and decide you wouldn't want to be with me anymore and I just got so upset Star. He's your best friend and to respect what he says and value his opinions, and I thought if he thought I was a bad boyfriend you would too and-"

Star kissed him then, hating seeing Tom look so small and insecure. She tasted the hot chocolate on his lips, and smiled into the kiss until she felt his like curl up with hers.

She broke the kiss and gave him a peck on the cheek, whispering into his ear.

"Tom I can decide for myself if you are a good boyfriend. Marco is my best friend and I love him but he is not apart of this relationship, he had absolutely no say in who I date. My opinion is all that matters, and personally Tom, I think you're a great boyfriend."

Tom cried again then, but these tears were full of joy and hope, and he grabbed Star and clung to her. She in turn wrapped her arms around him and let herself be carried away in the feelings between them.

She knew they would both mess up again, over and over, but they would get better together. And anytime one of them needed comfort, they always had each other and and hot chocolate.