A/N: So, this one came as a request from someone who prefers to remain anonymous. Wherever you are out there in the big wild world of the internet I hope this lived up to your expectations and that you enjoyed it. As always, anyone is welcome to comment or PM me with a request so long as its reasonable. For example, the guest who suggested I write a chapter where Moon and Star bond in a rather…particular way, no, just no. Anyway, without further ado, let's begin.

Chapter 8: Marco's Birthday Bash

It was another sleepy weekend morning in Echo Creek, the kind of lazy day where people slept in and put off chores for a few hours, enjoying the blissful release of dreamland. Throughout the Diaz household, silence reigned supreme, broken only by the tiniest of creaks as a certain blond-haired princess crept into her boyfriend's room. Moving as stealthily as possible, Star crept up to Marco's bedside and took a moment to admire the sleeping face beneath her. He's so cute when he's sleeping, she giggled to herself.

Leaning over to wake him up she whispered "Marco" into his ear, receiving only unintelligible muttering in response. She tried again. "Marcooooo, c'mon wake up," this time punctuating her whispers with a light kiss just below his jawline. All this did was produce a small moan from her bestie and cause him to snuggle deeper into the covers. Alright, no more messing around, time for the big guns, Star thought to herself. Moving almost all the way back to the hallway to give her plenty of space, Star suddenly took off at a run only to launch herself into the air and land knees first directly onto Marco's chest while shouting "Good morning Marco~!"

Marco sat up with a gasp, instantly awoken from slumber and looking around panicked. "Star! What happened? What's going on?!" Star's response was to begin peppering his face with kisses while holding out a glowing hand, summoning fireworks and sparklers and little noisemakers.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON YOUR BIRTHDAY DAY~!" She shouted at the top of her lungs before diving back in for more kisses. When Marco finally managed to disentangle himself from the overly affectionate princess he was smiling while rubbing the back of his head with one hand and his eyes with the other, trying to will himself to wakefulness.

"Aww thanks Star but you didn't have to go through the trouble of a surprise wakeup."

Star gasped, "Of course I did Marco! What kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn't go all out for your birthday? And besides your 17 now! Isn't that a big deal on earth cause it's a huge deal on Mewni!"

"Nope sorry Star, here on earth 18 is really the big birthday, although I guess 16 and 21 are big too."

Star looked crestfallen for a moment but her smile bounced back pretty quickly. "Well even if it isn't a big birthday, it's still your birthday and I, being the amazing girlfriend and bestie that I am, intend to make it awesome. Oh that reminds me!" Star proceeded to pull out a rather large box with a bow on top of it from behind her back. "Here's your present!"

Marco looked at the package for a moment, muttering "where did you even hide that?" under his breath to softly for Star to hear. He decided not to press the issue, he'd realized a long time ago that when it came to Star you just had to accept a certain level of weird as normal. Opening the box Marco stared wide-eyed at what he found inside. Pulling it out he looked over the red hoodie in his hands. Unlike his normal attire, this one had gold trim along the edges and appeared bulkier, as if someone had sown padding inside of it.

Star was watching his expression carefully, hopeful as she saw the look of wonder on his face. "You like it?" She asked expectantly.

"It's amazing Star. The material is so soft and I love the gold trim, although what's with the padding?"

"It's made from a fiber gathered from a special plant on Mewni. Feather-light but as strong as plate mail. Now when we're out kicking butt, you'll be able to take way more hits."

Marco didn't say anything at first and just as Star was about to say something Marco wrapped her in a massive hug. "This is amazing Star. Why are you so good to me?"

Giggling, Star pulled Marco out of the crook of her neck and planted a soft and tender kiss on his lips. "Because you're so good to me you lovable dork." She hopped off his lap and stretched a little. "Now hurry up and get dressed, I've got a whole day planned for you Mr. Diaz, guaranteed to knock your socks right off!"

"But Star, I don't wear socks with my pajamas."

Star stuck her tongue out at him. "Yeah, yeah very funny Diaz. Now c'mon, daylights a-wasting!" One quick shower and change of clothes later and he and Star were out the door, strolling into town fingers intertwined with one another.

"So what's on the super awesome birthday agenda first Star?"

Star turned to look up at him. "Well I was thinking a romantic walk through Echo Creek Park, then some Brita's Tacos for lunch and then ice cream down by the pier. Not too shabby of an itinerary is it?"

Laughing, Marco leaned down and planted a kiss on Star's forehead. "Sound's perfect mi Estrella."

Several hours later as sunset bathed the town in a brilliant golden glow, a happy but exhausted couple meandered back towards the Diaz house. In Marco's opinion, it had been the best birthday of his life, a bunch of awesome activities with his beautiful and energetic girlfriend. Star for her part was just happy that she'd made Marco so happy today. Of course she'd collected on her payment with plenty of smooches as was fair after all. As they turned up the walkway towards the Diaz's front steps Marco turned to Star. "This really was a great day Star. How about nachos and a movie to cap off the night? I'm sure my parents bought a cake and we can have that too."

Star seemed to contemplate the idea for a moment. "Fun as that sounds Marco, I have a better idea." Marco looked perplexed, "oh yeah, what?"

Star's smile suddenly took on a mischievous glint. "This." And without further warning, pulled out her wand and shouted "super surprise blindfold beam!" Marco stumbled for a second, disoriented as his world suddenly went dark.

"Star, what're you doing?"

Star went up and grabbed him by the hand. "Don't worry Marco, I just have one more surprise for you. She led him around the back of the house before saying "Alright…here we…go!" and pulled off his blindfold with a flourish wile a chorus of "SURPRISE!" rang out. Looking around, Marco saw that the backyard had been filled with tables, balloons, food and drink, and a giant banner that read Happy 17th Marco! Standing beneath it were Tom, Janna, Furgeson, Alphonso, Kelly, Ponyhead, his parents, and a plethora of other friends he had made here and on Mewni. He was shocked that even Justin the football captain had shown up screaming out, "Marco Diaz rules!" to great applause.

Marco turned to Star who had her hands on her hips and a satisfied smirk on her face. "So this was the plan all along huh?" He asked, gesturing to the crowd and various party implements.

"A princess has to have some secrets Marco. Now c'mon let's partyyyyyyyy!"

Many hours, plates of food, presents, and memories captured by his parents' incessant photography later found Marco and Star standing together in the backyard, his mom and dad having gone inside and the last of the guests having left. Marco was holding Star from behind as she relaxed in the softness of his hoodie, his firm grip, and the unique Marco scent she loved so much. Nuzzling into the crook of her neck, Marco softly spoke "This really was the best birthday of my life Star, thank you for everything."

Star giggled and temporarily freed herself from Marco's embrace, much to the young Latino's dismay. That quickly ended though when she turned around and reengaged their snuggling, pulling the teen's head down to her level for a slow and sensual kiss. When it broke, Star leaned up and whispered "I'm glad you liked it Marco but your birthday's not over yet and I have one more surprise for you." Her voice had taken on a sultry, warm quality that could melt butter and her hands had moved from his back, one now gentle rubbing itself through his hair on the back of his head while the other lazily traced circles on hist chest.

The combination of touches and Star's absolutely sinful grin left Marco blushing furiously and struggling to put together a coherent sentence. "A..And what exactly might that be?" He managed to squeak out.

Star kept her gaze on the young man, "close your eyes." She implored him. Marco did as instructed, lust and anticipation leaving him a confused mix of tense and eager all at once. He felt Star's breath tickle his ear once more but was confused when the words "super sparkle cannon blaster" came out. In a flash of light, Marco found himself stuffed inside of a giant cannon like he would see in those old circus cartoons. Panicking, he realized he was well and truly stuck, unable to exit the giant contraption.

"Starrrrrrr! What're you doing? Get me out of here!"

Star, heedless of her boyfriend's protests, instead opted to walk around to the back of the cannon, holding the launch string with one hand while twirling her wand lazily with another. "Don't worry Marco!" She called up to him. "This is a tradition on Mewni. When boys turn 17 as a sign of manhood they're launched out of a giant cannon to see how far they can go! It's supposed to symbolize the ascent to manhood or something. Rumor has it the farther you travel, the manlier you'll end up. My dad went over 50 miles and look at him!"

Marco was now thoroughly freaking out. "No Star wait I don't want to be launched out of a cannon really this is fine I don't need to be a man yet no please don't." His incoherent ramblings fell on deaf ears however as Star prepped her countdown.

"Alright Marco ready?! 3!... 2!... 1!... Andddddd, you're off!" Pulling the string, an enormous thunderclap was heard throughout the neighborhood as Marco was launched screaming into the night, a trail of sparkles and fireworks following behind him, Star's own personal touch. As Marco shot over the horizon, screaming for his life, it looked to Star as if another twinkling light had taken its place among the heavens. She giggled to herself. Her Marco was going to be the manliest man ever! Oh she couldn't wait to tell her parents, they'd be so proud of him! Humming to herself, Star went back inside the house to make a mirror call and wait for her beloved's sweet return.

When Marco finally did return 3 days later, Star was overjoyed at his record-setting 120 mile launch! She couldn't understand what Marco had to be so grumpy about, not every girl had the ability to summon a giant cannon to shoot him out of! Honestly, the things she did for that boy! Although not quite a boy anymore is he? She thought to herself. Maybe it would do a bit of good to give him a sneak peak of the surprise she had waiting for him when Christmas came around. "Oh Marco~!" She called out, sashaying up the stairs. Things were about to get a little weird and a little wild in the Diaz house.

A/N: If you liked this request and want to see one of your own, leave a comment or PM me and we can discuss what it'll look like. Yes I know I put that exact message up at the top of this story but I'm doing it again down here ok?! God, so critical! Quick review roundup while I'm at it:

Starco4everr: Your continued enthusiasm for my little stories are commendable and it means so much you're willing to give them a shout-out time after time

LordCornwallis: Yeah that chapter 7 was really meant to be a gut punch. One thing I liked about the series finale was how the cleaving of earth and mewni seemed to represent how each of them inserted themselves in the other's world and definitely left a piece of themselves behind. Marco raced back to mewni in season 3 just as Star finds comfort of earth in season 4. I wanted to do my own take on how it might look when a large piece of Marco is left on mewni, but Star isn't there with him.

Until next time, stay classy everyone.