Chapter 2
Awareness came slowly to Star as she awoke, and she tried to piece together where she was and how she got here. "Your phone… it's loud!" Tom groaned from beside her… Tom! It all came back to her- his proposal, the night of celebrating, and crashing back in Tom's room in the underworld. Her phone was going off… oh yeah, her alarm!
Star hadn't partied like that in a very long time- maybe not since the Bounce Lounge closed, back when she was on Earth. Those were good times. It was really nice to get the chance to cut loose again, especially with the constant stress of being Queen.
There were some downsides, she was now acutely aware, of partying like there was no tomorrow. She was sure she had somewhere she was supposed to be, if not now then soon, and she didn't feel like she had gotten much sleep. If Marco were there, he'd have stopped us sooner. Star mused fondly. That might have been for the best.
Marco had declined, and he'd been acting… weird. He had immediately congratulated them, but there had been something off in his smile, and his voice shook when he mentioned being a third wheel.
In hindsight, Star realized that yeah, it might not have been the best night for Marco if he'd come along. She really couldn't have guaranteed that Marco wouldn't have been a third wheel despite her best intentions, and while Marco cut loose from time to time, and he actually was a good dancer, the party scene wasn't his thing.
She resolved to make it up to him today, maybe pull him away from his books and paperwork and go dimension hopping. Wait, what was her schedule for today? She pulled out her phone and checked it.
Oh right, the Butterfly-Lucitor friendship summit. Star grinned at her boyfriend… fiancé, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. How convenient that she and Tom had crashed in his room in the Underworld, and what a coincidence that he had proposed to her the day before the two kingdoms had their yearly re-affirmation of friendship.
Her smile turned to a grimace as she realized that she needed to get ready, and fast. Star rolled out of bed, to Tom's annoyance. "Look Tom, we have the summit thing with your parents in like an hour. So as much as I'd like to have a lie in, it ain't happening."
"Shit!" Tom cursed, practically throwing himself out of bed. "That's now? My parents are going to kill me!"
Star giggled at just how quickly his demeanor shifted. "Alright, well I need to get ready, enjoy your morning Mr. Butterfly." She teased.
"And you yours, Mrs. Lucitor." Tom returned with faux formality. Star opened a portal stepped through it, before turning and sticking her tongue out at Tom.
She rushed through her morning routine. Showering, brushing her teeth, picking out her formal clothes for the meeting. On the way out, she went to her desk, where she found the packet for the meeting on the top of the stack of papers Marco had prepared for her. Within it was a refresher on all the trade deals and other agreements currently active between their two kingdoms, along with a slew of other information about the underworld kingdom that Star only half knew.
The summit went well. Of course, that was because it had become quite informal the moment Tom announced their engagement. His parents were overjoyed, to say the least. Queen Wrathmelior had even cried. They'd always been fond of her and very supportive of their relationship.
King Dave had eventually turned the conversation to when they would officially announce the engagement, which left Star at a loss. She was sure there was some tradition for that in the Butterfly Kingdom, but she wasn't certain. She'd have to have Marco look into it.
They'd accepted Star's 'I need just a bit of time to figure that out' well enough, they were incredibly happy with her at the moment, after all. The rest of the meeting had gone easily, even more so than last years'. Star supposed it had something to do with the good feelings over the engagement, but she also liked to think that she was also getting a hang of the whole 'Queen' thing.
Both kingdoms were happy with the current state of trade- which mostly consisted of mewman corn in exchange for the underworld's forged metals. Tom had sat back and let his parents direct discussion at this point. That was something they'd talked about. Star couldn't exactly fault him for his lack of interest in certain political areas- Star didn't find much of it all to interesting herself. Still, he was going to be a King one day, her King, and Star had come to accept that dealing with boring stuff like this was part of the job.
Tom had promised her that he was working on it, and had said that his father was also 'encouraging' him to get more involved in the running of the kingdom. Star couldn't be prouder at how much progress he'd made over the past few years, so she was happy to give him leniency. After all, she and Marco would be able to pick up the slack while Tom got used to his position.
Star really did appreciate how much Tom tried to work on his faults. While the two of them had their hang-ups, it was all worth it. There were moments between them, moments of pure passion that took her breath away- like their dance at the Silver Bell Ball, or when she lost her virginity to him, or when he proposed to her. She was still giddy from that, to be honest. Tom had gotten on one knee, and fountains of water and fire had erupted around them, she recalled how his eyes were alight with passion and love. Oh, she should really get the girls together again; they'd love to hear about it!
After the meeting, Tom had suggested they slip away for some 'private time'. Star had to shake her head apologetically. "Look, I'm sure whatever you have planned would be simply amazing. But I have a lot of stuff I need to do." She decided not to mention that she was planning on spending time with Marco. Tom really did care for Marco. She knew the two of them hung out regularly and seeing them get along like that made her heart swell. Unfortunately, he had the tendency to be… sensitive about her and Marco's friendship, she didn't want to give him the impression that she was choosing Marco over him.
Tom rolled his eyes "Whatever, Mrs. Lucitor." She could tell he wasn't happy by her refusal, but she appreciated that he didn't push her on the issue. He dipped down quickly, capturing her lips in a kiss, eliciting a giggle from her.
"I'll see you later, Mr. Butterfly."
Star's plan to spend time with Marco and figure out what was up with him last night had hit a slight roadblock. She couldn't find him.
He wasn't in his room, or in the library, and no one in the castle could tell her where he was. She'd checked her phone for Marco's schedule, but it contained nothing out of the ordinary. He hadn't sent her any texts either…
Ever since he'd snuck out to close portals with Hekapoo, Marco had always made a point of sending her a text if he had to do something last minute. Star frowned, a feeling a sense of unease settling in her stomach.
Things weren't exactly peaceful in Mewni these days. Mina Loveberry was now leading a faction that called themselves 'the Purists', and had begun raiding monster communities despite Star and Marco's best efforts to put a stop to it. They'd been frustratingly hard to pin down, slipping through their fingers every time. Tensions were rising, and some groups of monsters had struck back at mewmans. They were isolated incidents so far, but Star and Marco had spent many a late night together worrying about the issue.
What if something had happened to Marco? Maybe Mina's people or some renegade monsters had gotten the drop on him? Star's stomach twisted uncomfortably at the thought of Marco being taken while she was out with Tom when she should have been right at his side for friendship Thursday.
Marco, where r u? She texted him.
It took less than thirty seconds for Marco's reply to come through. The roof.
Star frowned, at least he was safe, but his behavior was worrying her. She definitely needed to talk to him. The last thing she wanted was for Marco to feel like a third wheel- he was so important to her, he had to see that.
She used cloudy to fly up to the roof. Sure enough, she found him, legs dangling off the edge of the roof, looking off into the distance pensively.
"Marco, there you are!" Star chirped "What's up, bestie?" She put on her happiest mood, hoping it would be infectious. She plopped herself right beside him, and put a hand on his shoulder. She was surprised and a little hurt when he flinched away at her touch, scooting to the side. "Marco?"
"Star." His voice was rough with emotion. Star had never seen him like this before "This. This is gonna be hard. I have some things to say to you."
"Is everything alright?" She asked cautiously "Because I noticed you were a little… weird last night and…"
"I have a crush on you." He blurted out. "Well, that's putting it lightly. I have for a long time now, and I… can't do this anymore." He spoke haltingly, as if every word he forced from his mouth exerted a toll on him
Star was in freefall, as if the ground had been pulled out from under her. Her mouth opened and closed uselessly, trying and failing to find something to say. "I'm leaving." Marco choked. He put a hand to a face, and Star realized he was wiping away tears.
Star shook her head minutely, not in argument but in pure disbelief. This… this couldn't be happening. This had to be a dream… a nightmare. There was no way this was real. There was no way was Marco actually leaving.
"I can't do this anymore." He repeated "I can't keep pretending that I'm happy here. I'll never be able to get over you when I see you every day. I'm sorry, Star."
He started to get up, and Star's heart leapt in terror. "No." She grabbed his arm forcefully "No. No. Nonono. Marco! Marco!" He turned back to her. There were tears streaking down his cheeks, and Star felt her eyes sting with her own. This was wrong. They were supposed to stand by each other. They were meant to have each other's backs, no matter what. He was her best friend, her partner, her lifeline.
"You can't leave, Marco. Please. I- I need you here, by my side." Like always. Star pleaded, her voice wobbling. She could see the conflict in his face; she could tell that he was tempted, so she pressed on. "Please. We can fix this. You don't have to leave. We can work this out. Just please. Stay."
Marco furiously blinked tears from his eyes, seeming to steel himself. "I can't." Unable to look her in the eye, he turned away from her as pulled his arm out of her grip and grabbed for his scissors.
"I'm sorry!" Star cried, lunging towards him and clutching at his hoodie "Please! I'm sorry Marco." She didn't even know what exactly she was apologizing for, just blindly trying to find something to fix this, anything to make it better.
"No, Star. Don't be sorry. It isn't your fault that I fell for you." He gave her a bittersweet smile filled with equal parts affection and loss, and it stung bitingly at her heart.
"You've been wonderful, and I'll never be able to thank you enough, for everything. For being the best friend a guy could ask for. For showing me how big and wonderful the universe is. For showing me how much more I could be. If it weren't for you, I'd have been nothing. Nothing but the safe kid until the day I died."
"M-marco…" Star sobbed, fingers digging into the fabric of his hoodie.
"So please, Star, just do one last thing for me. Please let me go."
Star closed her eyes as they flooded with hot tears, and nodded. Her hands went slack, letting the fabric slip through her fingers. Star watched, unable to stop her tears as her best friend opened a portal and stepped out of her life.
It was at that point that Star broke down, falling to her knees as her body shook from the force of emotion that was trying to explode from her. She clutched at her chest, as if she could soothe the gaping wound that had just been torn into it- like a piece of herself had just been cruelly ripped from her.
Marco… was gone.
And Star wept.
A/N: Well, there we go- Marco has left. Next chapter, we take a look at the aftermath. I really appreciate the response this story has gotten, let me now what you guys think! And yeah, for the record, I did cry writing this.
