It had been one week since the sleepover and Joe had gone deep into avoidance. Whenever he didn't have to be near Star or Marco, he was gone. He was very thankful when he found out Ludo had attacked them again, but hearing how devastated Star was from failing a test hurt him a bit. He knew he had to stay away from them. He couldn't let himself get caught up in other people's problems. Not after last time. Marco and Star however, had different plans.

"Star, he really seems to open up to you. I really think you need to be the one to approach him on this."

"I don't know Marco, it just seems that it's because of our talk that night. It's, the last time we talked." Star was staring at her feet as they walked, Joe having sped along home again.

"Star, relax. I think it's cause of whatever happened in his past. He relates to you heavily, and I think he is just embarrassed at how open he became so quickly. You'd be surprised at the number of foreign exchange students started off the same way. I'll let you go alone. He seems to get even more talkative when it's just you."

"Well, maybe. What will you do though?"

"Oh, that's easy. I will work on protecting Ferguson until the big game. Gotta have our mascot safe for the probable slaughter Friday." Star nodded. Reminding herself that she would need a plan to help the school win this, 'football' game. With that, Marco and Star parted ways, Marco heading home for some supplies, and Star heading to Joe's to talk to him. As she arrived, she noticed that, unlike the Diaz's, Joe's house was very plain. Only grass for a lawn, no special decorations on the outside, and while clean, it looked like the paint was old. She was stock still for a moment, a whisp of a memory conflicting her before she thought of Joe. She wanted to help him and so she pressed onward to his door. She steeled herself then knocked. She heard the sound of clattering and then a shout from Joe.

"Fuck!" He sounded upset. Star,internally chastising herself. She should have not come alone. He was gonna be upset at her for disturbing him when he wanted to be alone. As the scenarios ran through her head, she heard a door latch become undone. She froze as the door opened, revealing Joe, and a bloody hand over his neck.

"Star? What are you-" before he could even finish, Star was upon him. She was sending out a constant stream of words, clearly terrified that he was hurt so bad. Under normal circumstances, or perhaps with other people, Joe would have brushed them aside. Star somehow disarmed him, making him feel comfortable and open. Without being able to stop her, she forced her way in and started to look over the cut.

"Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. W-where's your first aid kit? We need to get you some help. Where are your parents? We-" Joe, finally catching himself, interrupted her.

"Calm down Star. Calm down. First, it's nothing serious. Just a small cut on my neck and hand. Second, it was no one's fault but mine. I saw a knife that wasn't in perfect condition and, while checking it out it broke on me. You knocking on my door had nothing to do with it. Third, first,aid kit is in the kitchen, but I can take care of this. Finally, what are you doing here? Thought you were going to hang out with Marco and help with the football game?"

"Well, I was, but I was worried about you." Joe was skeptical. "Let's get that first aid kit, then we can talk about the rest." She grabbed Joe's hand and dragged him towards where she presumed the kitchen was. Thankfully, though a little different, it was clearly the same design as the Diaz residence. Joe decided to accept his fate, showing Star where the first aid kit was. She thankfully didn't question the large amount of medical supplies, opting to treat his injuries instead. When they were done though, she stared him dead in the eye, a fire seemingly burning behind her sky,blue eyes.

"You have to be more careful! What if you had gotten a deeper cut? It could have killed you!" Joe was taken aback. He had not expected Star to yell at him for getting hurt. Most people enjoyed it. Her eyes did not falter, her soft anger present as she got up into his face. He began to back up, but Star had none of it, grabbing his shoulders and pulling herself to him. "Promise me you'll be more careful." She seemed to realize her situation at that, and grew a little softer still, the anger finally evaporating from her. "Please." Joe looked into her eyes. Genuine affection. He realized immediately that, this girl had a strange power beyond magic. He couldn't describe why, but she had already made a place in his heart. She was his friend.

"I promise Star. I'll be more careful." He decided to just, let it play out. Her momentary smile was reward enough. But just before she could respond, Olivia arrived home early.

"Joe, I'm home. Where are you?" Star felt worry in her voice, she at first thought about him being hurt, but that wasn't until just a moment ago. Before she could think any longer, Joe answered.

"In the kitchen. Star's here too." After a moment, Olivia appeared in the door, looking directly at the two. She immediately spotted the bandages and began looking between the two. "Got hurt accidently when a knife broke. Was going to try and surprise you with dinner later, but uh, guess that isn't happening." He gave her a sheepish smile, and with a nod from Star, Olivia decided it wasn't worth pressing.

"Well, I did bring some burger home. Tell me star, have you had salisbury steak before?" With a shake of her head, Olivia gave a small smile. "Well, then you're in for a treat. I'm gonna make some for us today. That is, if you are able to join us?" She gave Star a hopeful look. While doing so she took notice of their positioning. Star had been next to Joe the entire time, and yet he wasn't pulling away. She hoped this would last. Joe needed it too.

"I, think I can. Let me just let Marco and the Diazs know and we can go for it." With a smile and a nod, Olivia handed Star the house phone, quickly calling Marco to let him know. Apparently he had a plan to protect Ferguson all made up, but he didn't want Star to get involved. Said she should just enjoy herself for a little while. When she hung up though, Star made her feelings known.

"I just want to help Marco." The hurt in her voice was evident. "Hey Joe, what can we do to help for the upcoming battle?" She and Joe had walked back to the living room they had originally entered, leading to an important discussion.

"Battle?"

"You know, this 'Football' game?"

"Well, nothing really. We aren't on the team so we can't really do to much. You could join the cheerleaders or cheer from the stands, but beyond that, nothing really."

"So, it's like cornball and not an actual battle?"

"I have no idea what cornball is, but it's certainly not a battle. While people can be hurt, the goal is only to score points by getting an oddly shaped ball from one side of the field to the other. Only team members and referee's, who make sure the rules are adhered to and that people don't get too badly hurt."

"No traps or weapons, or even armor?"

"No traps period, your only weapon is your skill at the game and your mind, but there is special armor to protect people in the game."

"So, there really isn't anything I can do?" She seemed dejected by this.

"We can easily just cheer for them. Having the mentality that the audience is rooting for you can be a huge confidence booster." Just then, Olivia chimed in from the kitchen.

"Joe used to play at his last school. He was a running back and he was damn good!"

"Sis! *sigh* Look, I played the sport yeah, and having a cheering crowd always helped us rally. I wasn't that good though. If I was, we would have won in the quarter finals for the county." He sat down on his couch, smaller than the Diazs, it was just big enough for two people, and Star decided to take the other side, leaving just a bit of space between the two. Joe was now unable to escape, not wanting to hurt the girl that he finally had to admit, was his friend.

"He's lying. He nearly set a new record for distance ran with the ball!"

"Which doesn't matter when you lose."

"And you only lost cause the enemy linebacker was almost eighteen! SEriously, who let's an eighteen year old play against thirteen year olds?" Olivia began grumbling as it appeared Star was beginning to blow a fuse.

"Sorry about that Star. You probably barely followed that, but essentially, I played for a while at my last school. Didn't end well." Star looked inquisitively at Joe. "Sorry, not going into detail on that one. Just know that I was still on restrictions until a few days ago." She nodded, a slight look of sadness on her countenance.

"I, can respect that. You, you really did go through a lot, didn't you?"

"So did you." She nodded slightly. "In a lot of ways, you're just like me. Someone who has been broken. The pieces never coming together quite right anymore. I think, that may be why I am so open with you. We are the same." She nodded again, but with more force this time.

"I think, I think we need to help each other." She sighed. Clearly this had been on her mind for a while. She spoke softly, afraid Olivia may be listening in. "If we really are the same, then we are probably the only ones able to help each other. And, I think we should. That's what friends do, right?" She smiled, uncertainty evident on her face.

"Yeah, I guess. That's what friends do. So, I guess we should." Her uncertainty disappeared, and her smile grew greatly. "I already know how it will end though."

"Huh?" Her smile disappeared.

Shit. "Well, you see, everyone eventually gives up." Nervousness entered her again, she was clearly a little scared that she had already messed up. "It won't be your fault. It's never the person's fault. Always mine. Always… mine." She closed the distance slightly and put her hand on his shoulder. He missed this. A friend having his back, caring for him, keeping him from breaking. A brief moment of calm overcame him, and he decided to accept it. After a moment he and Star decided to just, watch some TV. A comedy was playing. They laughed a bit, simply enjoying the time passing in each others warmth. Olivia at one point wanted to join, but upon seeing the two of them, decided against it. He certainly needed it, and if Queen Moon was right, so did Star.

They passed the time like that, eventually eating dinner. Star stayed after, helping to clean, and enjoying some more time with Joe. Marco was going to be busy for a few days, so they spent the next few days together as well. Joe was surprised each day. Star was changing, she was becoming, more open. More and more often he saw a smile on her face, even just upon seeing him. Just as he had suspected, they had become friends. They had become really good friends. He imagined this was what Star and Marco had before. He tried to remember the last time this happened, and he couldn't. With all the time they spent together, he had expected her to begin the change, but she hadn't. He began to catch himself letting his guard down. He began to become afraid. Both of letting her in, and of letting her go.

Star on the other hand, had no qualms. She wasn't ready to talk still, but she was happy. She got to spend time with her best friends each day, and Joe, who she identified with, was quickly coming around. Even Olivia was surprised. She told Star one night while helping her home, Olivia told her how he had never opened up that quickly. Star took this as a sign that she was doing something right, feeding into her drive to talk to Joe, or at least spend some time with him. Marco occasionally got upset, but he seemed to just get distracted by Ferguson again. Tonight that would end though, it was game night. True to Joe's talk, there was nothing for her to really do, and it sucked. She was too nervous to really cheer.

During the halftime break, Star did disappear for a bit, and when she came back she looked exhausted, and a little hopeful. The third quarter was a massive shift in tone. Suddenly, the Possums were the pushing team, forcing point after point after point. Three minutes into the fourth quarter, the Warriors surrendered, giving the Possums their first win against them in years. Turned out Star used her magic to give the Possums a little boost in strength. None of them would admit it though. They didn't want the win to be taken away. The secret stayed between the team, Star, and later, Marco and Joe. The trio stayed to celebrate a bit before finally heading towards home.

"So, you didn't have any attempts against Ferguson, at all?"

"No, I guess they saw us as such an easy target that it wasn't worth it to even try, Wasted all that time and effort on, nothing." Star patted his shoulder reassuringly.

"It's okay. Joe and I were able to talk and bond during that time." Marco grimaced for just a moment before returning to normal. Confusion crossing his face as he realized what had happened. "It was just as you said, the two of us get along pretty well." A smile crosses Star's face and Marco grimaced again. An even more confused expression crossing his face, and his pace completely stopped. "Is, is something wrong Marco?" Star and Joe stopped. Looks like it was happening to Marco completely now.

"What is going on? Why does that keep happening?" Star looked at him inquisitively, looking back at Joe. Joe silently cursed himself as he decided to put his hand into this one.

"Oh, that's just the curse." Star and Marco snapped to Joe. "The more time I spend with most people, the more they get angry at me. Some end up taking that anger and making hatred, but usually, it's just random spikes of unexplainable anger. Everyone gets it eventually." Star and Marco just, stared at him. "I don't know why it happens, I just refer to it as a curse, but for no particular reason that I know of, it happens. The more time I spend around people, the more it affects them." Star jumped in on that note.

"Is that why you were avoiding us?" Worry covered her expression as she simply looked at him, but it seemed she believed him.

"Yeah, it's been a thing since forever. Wherever I go, it happens. They don't even know why they are doing it, and it just makes it worse for all involved." Marco hopped in on this, not really believing Joe.

"But, wouldn't your sister do things to you then?"

"She's an exception. I think it's cause of her desires and what she really wants." Star and Marco gave him a stare, clearly wanting to hear his theory. "She wants to have a large family, specifically, she wants lots of children. She sees me as one of those children, and I think that love somehow prevents the bursts from being seen. That, or all the distance she gets from me when she spends the night with her latest date resets the timer or something. I really don't know. Until recently she was the closest I have had to an exception."

"Am, am I an exception?" Star asked inquisitively. "I haven't had any episodes I am aware of." She looked worriedly now at Joe.

"Yeah, you're so far an exception, and it's weird. Like I said, I am not sure of why Sis isn't affected, but you, you are in far more contact with me, and you have no familial bond with me. I am really unsure as to why you are still so, friendly, with me." Star entered a deep thought while Marco decided to pick up the conversation.

"So, you're saying this has happened before? Most people just, getting pissed off at you for literally no good reason? And it also has been a thing your entire life so far as you know, and the only exceptions are Olivia and Star? That seems oddly specific. What's so special about your sister and Star that would cause them both to be immune, or at least very resistant to this effect, and why does this effect exist in the first place?" Star seemed to blush at her thoughts, beginning to fidget a bit as she continued to think while keeping an ear on the conversation.

"Well, that's an unknown. I literally only have two people in the entire world that I have met that aren't affected so far as I said. The only other evidence I have, are people with a partial resistance. This gives us currently five total people. Those who are unaffected, Sis and Star, people who are slow to be affected, people who are averagely affected, that's you MArco, you're average." He nods, a little sad that he isn't more resistant to it. " People with a small weakness to it, and of course, people who seem to be affected in literal seconds. Nothing special, but these categories are broad. Everyone not named Star or Olivia in my life have been affected within the first 24 hours of contact. And that specifically counts from being in my presence, talking to me. The less you interact with me, the less you are affected I have seen. Meaning, Star should be about where you are, if not more so since I have spent almost 30 total hours with her so far, and you are at about 24 hours." Joe looked over to Star, her face completely red, and that worried him. He tentatively broke his conversation with Marco and put a hand to Star's head. He figured her reaction would tell him what was going on. Or at least, that was what he later decided was the reason. She immediately jumped back into reality, her blush momentarily worsening.

"Um, uh, what…?" Marco jumped in, worried about Star now.

"You were kinda out of it Star, you okay? You're really red." She stared ahead for a bit before turning away shyly.

"I-I'm fine. Just, thinking about all this." She turned back, her blush mostly under control. "But, that's horrible? People disliking you for no reason? How could you have any friends?" She was beginning to cry a little, Joe believing she was merely holding her tears back earlier. "Is, is this why you-" Joe cut her off, wanting the conversation to end.

"It's why everything has happened, but what happened was certainly far worse than simply people getting upset and yelling. It will escalate from here. It always does. And before you ask, the reset is to avoid being in the same area for weeks to months. It's not something that will be possible." Both Marco and Star looked sad at that, both actually crying as Star grabbed Joe is a crushing, sincere, hug.

"That's just, too sad." She sniffled a bit before continuing. "I promise to be your friend forever, if not your best friend forever!" She held on tight as Marco also joined in the hug. Joe felt touched at this, but worried. The more Marco did stuff like this the worse their relationship was going to be. He found himself returning it anyway. A small warmth spreading through him. But before he could close his eyes and enjoy it, he saw it in Marco's eyes. Hatred. He had been expedited. He seemed to calm down and continue the hug, but it was obviously the end of it already. When they finally went their separate ways, Joe felt saddened. He was really starting to bond with both Star and now Marco, but Marco was getting affected. A vibration caught his attention. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. Nothing. He felt it again and after a moment, realized it was that compact mirror. He took it out and answered it.

"Hello?" An image appeared on the mirror in Joe's hand, and his breath hitched for just a moment.

"Hey Joe." Marco "Look, I wanna apologize again. We may not be able to understand or control this, but that doesn't make it right or acceptable. Star and I have come to an agreement. We are gonna find out why this is happening and fix it. You're a good guy Joe, you deserve to be happy."

"Th-thanks Marco." A genuine smile crossed Joe's lips. It was, comforting, to know someone cared enough to apologize. It was the first time. He suspected maybe Star had noticed and said something, but Joe felt that this apology was genuinely from Marco.

"I accept the apology Marco. Thank you, really. You two are probably the best friends I have ever had." A small giggle escaped Joe's mouth with him stopping for a second out of shock. He hadn't done that since-

"I'm glad you think so highly of us. Star will be thrilled. She's already changed for the night and my parents want some distance between us when we start winding down, but I'll let her know in the morning. Take it easy Joe. See you in the morning." With that, Marco hung up. A small amount if agitation working it's way through his final few words. Joe took no offense, Marco clearly didn't want to create a scene after that short, but sweet conversation.

Joe then got home and went to his room. He had very little in his room, a large bed, two pillows, pure blue sheets and comforters, but nothing else, besides a locked trunk with a number wheel for the lock. Joe simply made his way to the trunk, going to the lock, he turned the numbers, 0595. It clicked open and he pulled out a book. There were a few like it, all hand written besides a single blue picture book. He grabbed a green book and began writing in a bookmarked page. A small smile crossing his face as he wrote 7 words he never thought he would write again to start him off.

My new best friends, Star and Marco.

Author's Note:

So, not used to doing these this way, but still, this isn't my first foray into fanfiction, and might not be the last, but I have a few things I wanted to say.

Firstly, I find these chapters, short. Eventually I plan to start straying a bit from the show, and then the story can really start getting longer, but as you can probably tell, it will be a long time until we get that far.

Second, I understand the norm is Starco shipping, and trust me, I am a major Starco shipper myself. I got at least two stories in my head for Starco, but I plan to work on this story to completion before I work on other projects.

And that's really about it. Enjoy!