I wanted to wait at least a week before I posted chapter two, but everyone seemed to really enjoy chapter one and chapter two is already done and ready to go, so I figured I'd just go ahead and post it.
This chapter is why the story is rated "T." Just for implied inappropriateness.

Part 2: Awkwardness

22:43:30

The gang parted ways after lunch, each returning to their respective homes. Star and Marco strolled along hand-in-hand...which they would have done anyway even if they weren't handcuffed together.

"Our friends clearly don't have any faith in us," Star said.

"I know, right?" Marco scoffed. "What's up with that?"

"I don't know. But we totally got this!"

"Exactly! We may be in love, but we're still best friends, and we were best friends for way longer than we've been a couple!"

"Uh, yeah! It's not like our entire relationship has devolved into nothing but the constant exchange of affection twenty-four/seven or something!"

"Ha! Obviously!"

They reached the front walk of 4815 Avocado Terrace, the Diaz family residence. As they headed for the front door, a sharp twinge abruptly struck Star in her heart. She stopped walking, the handcuffs unintentionally jerking Marco to an sudden stop. He looked at her quizzically.

"Star?"

No! Not already! Shake it off shake it off shake it OFF! But the more Star tried to ignore it, the stronger the pang became. "Oh, corn, I feel it, Marco."

"Feel what?"

"I feel like I need..." Finishing the sentence was unnecessary. Marco's right arm followed her left as she raised her arms outstretched as if ready to receive him for a hug. Her expression was one of pain.

Marco's eyes bulged. "Already?!"

"Yeah, already," Star whimpered.

As one does in conversation, Marco locked eyes with his girlfriend. He instantly regretted doing so. Star was clenching her teeth, her brilliant blue eyes shimmering with anxiety. In moments such as these, Marco's natural instinct was to bestow upon her a comforting hug, which he started to do simply by instinct, until he felt the weight of her arm moving with his and the clink of the short handcuff chain.

"Oh. Whoops."

And just like that, Marco felt it, too. His arms felt empty, a longing feeling that begged him to wrap his arms around his girlfriend's body and hold her close.

Quickly, he tried to look away, attempting to focus his gaze on literally anything else. A tree across the street. His mailbox. The large saguaro cactus in the front yard. But the more he tried to look away, the more he found his eyes naturally drawn back to Star, longingly gazing at her sugary sweet lips and wanting to kiss them; her impressive mane of blonde hair that begged him to run his fingers through the soft locks; Her gleaming blue iris's, hypnotically beckoning him closer. And then there was her hand, literally bound to his, warm and familiar, constantly reminding Marco of what was attached to it.

"Oh, no..." he moaned.

"You feel it, too, don't you?"

"Oh, yeah. Big time."

Star gave a cry, grabbing a fistful of her own hair with her free right hand in frustration. "Marco, this was a mistake. A big, big mistake! Our friends are right! We are addicted to each other's affection!"

"I know! But what are we gonna do? We can't let them win! It hasn't even been an hour and a half yet!"

"I don't know!"

Marco moaned mournfully and headed toward the front stoop, unintentionally dragging Star along with him. They sat down together on the steps, Marco running his free left hand through his hair and rubbing his eyes.

"This must be what withdrawal feels like," Star said. "I have never felt like this before ever."

Marco shook his head. "Neither have I. I've never felt such a weird sensation of..." He clutched his free hand to his chest. "...emptiness."

"I know, right? You're sitting right. Here. Next to me, holding my hand even, and it feels like you might as well be a thousand miles away!"

"Yeah, I feel the same thing." Marco looked at his shoes, falling quiet.

For a few minutes, the pair sat in silence. It was a very quiet and peaceful afternoon in the area of Earth-ni that was still referred to as Echo Creek. The only sounds were the birds twittering in the trees and the sound of the occasional car or thirty-foot-tall monster stomping past on an adjacent street. They dared not look at each other for fear of becoming overwhelmed by the desire for affection.

Marco eventually found his voice again. "Have we really been acting this way for over a year?"

Star considered his inquiry. "I...I guess we have. I mean, if I'm being honest...I've never wanted to stop being affectionate."

"Me neither. We were only separated for, like, forty-five minutes after you destroyed the magic, but those forty-five minutes felt like an eternity," Marco confessed. "I thought I'd never see you again." He cautiously looked at his best friend. She did not meet his eyes. "I guess...I was so relieved that I'd never have to worry about losing you again..."

"Especially after I told you I had a crush on you and then started dating Tom and then you fell for me and I no longer requited," Star said in one breath, ending with a nervous laugh. "We got a chance to kiss once, well, once that wasn't against our will, and then we got thrown right back into the frying pan, and then not long after that, we were separated forever." She gave a slight smile. "I know that's why I became so clingy. I guess I just didn't want to miss out on-" Finally, she looked back at Marco. "...on being with you."

Marco blushed slightly. "Yeah...same. And I don't think you're clingy, I always hear people use that word in a bad way. I love your affection, and I can't imagine ever getting tired of it! I love holding your hand and kissing you and snuggling with you. I never want it to end! But...I do think our friends are right. We're a little over-the-top."

Star nodded. "I hate to say it, but, you're right, they're right. At the very least, we should learn to tone it down when we're around other people."

"Yeah. We should."

There was another minute of silence.

Star quickly asked, "When you say 'other people' you just mean people we know, right?"

"Oh, of course. I don't intend to stop making out in public!"

"Good, because I enjoy that!"

"Ha ha, so do I!"

They're excitement at agreeing on their mutual feelings was almost too much for them to handle. They instinctively leaned toward each other, both going in for a kiss and lifting their arms to wrap the other in a passionate embrace.

But then their handcuffed arms got in the way, and they were reminded of their bet. Slowly, both embarrassed, they moved apart again.

"Heh. Sorry," Marco said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Same. It's a, uh...hard habit to break."

They laughed and leaned back more comfortably on the steps. Both still felt the urge to kiss and cuddle, but they did their best to ignore it.

"So..." Marco began, "what now?"

"Well, we're definitely not giving up on the bet. Now that I know that cereal exists, I HAVE to try it!"

Marco laughed. "I knew you'd say that."

"All we have to do is pretend that it's, you know, the good old days, back when I was-" Star made air quotes with her free right hand. "-an 'exchange student from another dimension' and you were my best bestie. It'll be easy!"

"Okay! Sounds good to me!" Marco suddenly frowned. "What did we even used to do back then?"

"Well, you used to help me practice my spells. Huh, can't do that anymore...no magic. We'd go to other dimensions and have adventures. Can't do that, either, no portals. Sometimes I'd try to help you win over Jackie."

"Big ol' 'no' there."

"Yup. We'd get attacked by monsters and fight them, but that doesn't happen anymore. You'd teach me Earth skills, I'm pretty caught up in that department. Man, is there anything we used to do that we can still do?"

Marco cleated his throat. "Well, I mean, 'Friendship Thursday' didn't involve any magic or monsters or dimension hopping, but, uh..."

"Yeah, sitting on the couch together under a blanket in front of the tv is probably tempting fate." Star leaned her head on her hand. "Man, is there anything we used to do that's still even possible?"

"Doesn't seem like it." Marco started to stand, remembering that the short handcuffs meant that he had to wait for Star to stand as well. "C'mon. Let's go inside. We'll think of some way we can spend the day together that won't make us lose the bet."

"Okay!" As Star got to her feet, her eyes abruptly widened in horror. "Marco?"

"Yeah?"

"We're handcuffed together."

"I noticed...?" Marco was not sure where Star was going with this train of thought. He was busily fishing his house key out of his right pocket with his free left hand.

"Marco." Star grabbed his face with her free hand and steered it toward her. She looked hard into his eyes. "Marco. We're handcuffed together. For twenty-four hours. We can't be in separate locations."

"We usually aren't apart ever?" Marco was becoming extremely confused.

"Yeah. We never are. Except for when...?"

Realization struck. Marco froze. "Oh no."

"Yeah. That."

"And we just ate-"

"Yyyyyyup."

They locked eyes, both suddenly painfully aware of the situation.

"Call Janna?"

"Call Janna. Call Janna now."

22:10:14

Janna was feeding her massive creepy crawly of unknown origin. The Box of Truth levitated just above the tank, silently.

The ringing of her cell phone caught her attention and she briefly glanced at the caller ID: Marco. She ignored it and continued with the task in progress. It rang a second time. Still Marco. She ignored it again as she watched the massive centipede-like creature enjoy its lunch.

The phone rang a third time. This time it was Star. She still did not pick up, but she did glance at the Box, wondering to herself why it was still silent.

They're probably just going crazy.

Finally, after her phone displayed seven missed calls, Janna picked up her phone and answered Star's call.

"Yeah?"

"Janna!" Both Star and Marco's voices yelled her name. They must have been on speakerphone on their end.

"Janna, you have to give us the key to these handcuffs and unlock us!" Star demanded.

That certainly wasn't what Janna was expecting to hear, but she rolled with it nonetheless. "No, I don't," she said calmly.

"Janna, puh-leeeeeaaase!" Star's voice begged.

Janna frowned. "What, did you guys actually somehow get tired of each other?"

"What? No!" Marco said. "You overlooked something when you handcuffed us together!"

"Uh-Huh. Which is...?"

Their voices chorused angrily. "How are we supposed to go to the bathroom?!"

Janna let out a snort as she tried to keep herself from laughing and hoped they didn't hear. Oh, man, this is too good. "Not my problem," she said as calmly as she could manage. "Bye." And she quickly hung up, smiling with pride.

"I know I'm supposed to remain impartial," said the Box of Truth from where it now hovered above her desk, "but I think maybe *you* could use an intervention."

"Shut up."

22:01:56

"Janna? Janna?" Star yelled at the phone. There was no response. "She hung up on us!"

"Well, now what do we do?" Marco clutched at his stomach in discomfort. "I wish you hadn't noticed this predicament. I felt perfectly fine, but as soon as you brought it up, now I gotta go!"

"Same." Star still held her phone in her hand. She took note of the time. "Oh, hey, look. We made it two hours."

Marco huffed. "I'm gonna kiss you just to end this in about five minutes if we don't figure something out."

Star didn't want to give up on the challenge, not this early. There had to be a solution. She wracked her brain. "Hmm...I heard your mom say once that the best solution is often the simplest..."

"So...blindfold?"

"Not really sure how that solves our problem. And in any case, don't you think we'd end up just making a super-gross mess?"

Marco covered his eyes with his hand. "Star...blindfold goes on the other person, not the one using the toilet."

"Ohhhhhhhhh. Okay, yeah, that makes more sense." Star quickly thought over how such an arrangement would go. It was definitely going to be weird and awkward. But, if things were going to be weird and awkward, at least it would be a little less weird and awkward with her favorite person in the multiverse.

"If you were anyone else, I would say no." She about yanked him off his feet as she took off toward the stairs, heading for the upstairs bathroom. "C'mon!"

21:42:12

Roughly twenty very awkward minutes later, having each taken a turn wrapping a blindfold around their eyes while the other conducted their business, the two teenagers sank into the living room couch.

Marco rubbed his eyes. "I really hope we don't have to do that too many times before the clock runs out."

Star agreed. "Let's not think about it too much. What should we do now?"

"Oh, yeah. We never actually determined that."

"Actually, that panic and subsequent awkwardness definitely made me not want to cuddle."

Marco grabbed the tv remote. "Good, I don't feel it anymore, either. Let's just sit here as still as possible, not say anything, and not look at each other." He flicked on the television. "Hopefully that'll help us stretch this weirdness out to a couple of hours at least."

"Good plan, good plan. Liking it."

"Cool. Let's see what's on."

Marco pulled up the channel guide and started searching for something to watch.

"Hey, Marco?"

"Yeah?"

"It's back."

Marco dropped the remote. "Seriously?!"

"Yup."

"You got past the awkwardness of what just happened that fast?!"

Star shrugged. "You're my best friend, and I love you. Nothing is ever awkward for long, if ever." She clenched her eyes and leaned back in defeat. "And I want to cuddle with you so much!"

Marco hid his face with his free left arm and leaned over on the side of the couch, facing away from his girlfriend. "Augghhhhhh...so do I!"

Star moaned mournfully. "Marcooooo...what are we going to do?"

"I don't know." His response was muffled by his arm.

Star rocked back and forth, slowly gravitating toward Marco and then forcing herself to back away. "Every fiber of my being is telling me to snuggle. Make it stop, Marco, make it stooooop!"

Marco let out a soft, frustrated growl that grew in intensity until he jumped up off the couch...forgetting that he was tethered to Star and accidentally pulling her onto the floor.

"Oops, sorry."

"It's cool."

He helped Star to her feet and then placed his free hand on her shoulder, looking hard into her eyes. "Look, Star. We have faced a lot of challenges together. Like, a lot. I even had my soul literally sucked out once!"

"Please don't make me relive that."

"The point is, we've overcome so much, this should be easy by comparison! We should be kicking this bet in the butt!"

Star let out a half-chuckle. "Maybe the last year of absolutely nothing bad happening to us has made us soft."

"Exactly. And you know what would definitely take our minds off of our forced lack of affection?"

Star now understood where Marco was going with this. She flashed a determined smile. "Some 'dane-gah'?"

"Oh, yeahhhh."

"Hmm...might be a little hard without magic. We're also, kinda, you know..." She jostled her wrist and the short chain on the handcuffs rattled. "That sure won't make facing whatever danger we can find any easier."

"Well, then...I guess we'll just have to make our own manageable-while-handcuffed danger. Are you with me?"

"Oh, you know I am!"

They high-fived with their free hands.

Marco thoughtfully scratched his chin. "Now what kind of danger can we get into that we can successfully not get killed by without the use of both of our hands and that also doesn't require magic to find or create...?"

They both pondered the question while simultaneously resisting the urge to hug.

After a few minutes, Star said, "It only takes one hand to wield a sword. Well, certain swords."

Marco snapped his fingers as inspiration struck. "Ooh, a cutlass!"

"Yeah, like pirates! If we each had a sword, what could we fight?"

More pondering.

"The Echo Creek Public Works Department hasn't been able to clear out those man-eating Mewni fly-trap vine plants from where the park merged with the Forest of Certain Death," Marco suggested.

"Works for me! Let's go!"

Star roughly dragged her boyfriend out of the living room by their tethered appendages.