"I miss Star."
Marco paced around his room, thinking. It was a day after the dance, he had gone looking for Star, abandoning Jackie with a simple "I'll see you later" with no answers. No explanation. She took it to be rather rude and crossed her arms, as he could tell from the corner of his eye. He felt a bit bad, but Star is what mattered at the moment. He was her main priority.
He couldn't really tell why, though.
He could sense Star's romantic feelings, her aura, from the way she's been acting lately. The distancing, the pacing, and um okay- he overheard her conversation with Glossyrick. He was just curious, and a tad overprotective after all. And it might have caught on him, 'cause whenever he thinks of Star, the friendship shell around her name suddenly crumbled and was replaced by a mushy love heart. Unfamiliar, but a good feeling that he couldn't describe.
Maybe that little love heart was there all along, and those little skips of the heart were ignored and were taken for feelings towards Jackie, that maybe he lost along the way.
Maybe.
"I don't understand."
He sat on his bed, his lips letting out a exasperated sigh. "Love is complicated. Maybe things would've been different for me if Star never had come to Earth. Don't get me wrong, she's impacted my life in ways I would've never expected. I love her, but-"
And there it is.
Suddenly, Marco's eyes shot open. His confectionary skin stiffened and his legs felt as if they were to melt into the ground like chocolate on a warm day. He prayed for Star to not have listened, but the blonde curl peeking out of the bedroom door said otherwise. Then her pair of eyes, wide as well. She didn't expect this at all.
He loves Star Butterfly. Princess of Mewni, future air to the throne. His best friend. He loves her. He didn't understand how- or why- these feelings decided to randomly bubble up, but they have.
He remembers the time he saw who he had to guide around on their first day on Earth.
He remembers who he saved from a legion of alien monsters out to attack her.
He remembers who he had fought alongside all the battles he's won, all the enemies he's come across.
He remembers her.
And it's all too sweet and nice and gooey and mushy and lovey-dovey when he sees her trudge over to him, open the door with trembling hands, and place her lips on his caramel cheeks.
"You-I-we-" It's strange.
"Funny how I fell in love with an earthling. How are we gonna make this work when I leave for Mewni?" Star chuckles, and it's a tinkle of fairy chimes.
"Star, I-"
"I can't believe you like me." Her eyes lit up, brighter than the nearest star. She was glowing.
"S-star-"
"You like me-"
"STAR!"
"W-what?"
He took a deep breath, staring deep into her eyes, knowing he was about to regret his words. "I-you-you weren't meant to hear that."
Star's raised shoulders slumped, and the twinkle in her eye turned into more of a burnt lightbulb, or a broken one, the shards scattered around her iris. "I don't understand-"
"And neither do I. I was so used to being friends, and I do like you, and now I realize that. But I'm not ready for... whatever this is. I'm not ready at all."
His eyes cast down to the floor.
"You don't deserve this. You don't deserve a nerdy kid that wears stupid orange sweatshirts and does dumb karate and it's a complete and utter coward. You don't deserve a loser. You don't deserve me. You deserve a handsome prince. Or a flamboyant jock. But not... me."
He stood up, and left the room. "I'll see you later, Star. I'm going to go to a friend's house."
"Okay." Star whispered, but it was mostly towards herself.
One week later, they sat on the couch together, and she felt brave enough to show Marco her journal. All her adventures. All her secrets.
"Everything." Star marveled the pages with a smile.
A head on his shoulder, popping nachos into each other's mouths.
A shared moment. All it took was 4 attempts.
And about 7 more, but those were never taken into action, and maybe they shouldn't have. Because if they weren't, this wouldn't have happened. And this feeling wouldn't have soared through them, locked in their heads
Twelve different times.
