This one takes place a short but undetermined amount of time after "Stump Day." I'm not sure how much I actually like this story, I often start writing with just a setting in mind and try to force a story out of it...which is pretty much what this is because it doesn't really have a point.

In Echo Creek, California it was rare that Marco ever required more than his trusty red hoodie to keep him warm. The same did not apply on Mewni, where snow was a constant factor during winter months and the season was often harshly cold. Fortunately, Butterfly Castle had plenty of fireplaces to keep it comfortably warm and there wasn't much reason to venture outside.

One day, the temperature dropped even more. Without a thermometer, Marco wasn't sure exactly how cold it was, but when he stuck a hand out his bedroom window, his bare fingers immediately stung from the frigid air.

Marco slammed the window closed, shivering. "Boy, it's cold!" He wrapped the comforter from his bed around his body.

The door to his room swung open and a head of blonde hair poked through the entryway. "Morning, Marco!" Star greeted cheerfully. She shivered. "Eugh! It's freezing in here!"

"I know. The heating ducts aren't actually...you know...attached to anything," Marco said, which was true. Star had magically recreated his bedroom from Earth on the exterior wall of the castle, which meant the HVAC ducts dead-ended wherever they would have joined to the rest of the Diaz house. "And I obviously don't have a fireplace, either."

"Oh! Well, that's an easy fix!" Star held up her wand, the crystal already glowing with magical anticipation. "I'll just make you a fireplace!"

Marco frantically waved his hands to stop her before she waved her wand and a mantel materialized in his bedroom. "No, no, don't do that!"

Star raised an eyebrow in confusion as her wand crystal blinked out. "Why not?"

Marco pointed downward. "Hardwood floors."

"Oh, right. Fire hazard. I could change your floor into tile."

Marco shook his head. "Tile floors are too cold. I'll just ask your dad if I can sleep on on the little couch in his study. There's a fireplace in there, I'll be nice and warm."

Star's eyes instantly lit up. "I use to have sleepovers in my dad's study with Pony Head all the time when I was little!"

"Why in there?"

"Because that room has the perfect cozy-but-slightly-creepy-atmosphere that's perfect for staying up all night telling ghost stories! It's ever better still when the only light is from the fireplace." Star leaned against the door frame, hugging her wand to her chest. "Ah, memories. It's been forever since I stayed in there." An excited gasp escaped from her lungs, a broad smile stretching from cheekmark to cheekmark. "We should have a slumber party in my dad's study!"

Marco's arms snaked out from beneath the blanket just long enough to wave off the idea. "Ohhhhh, no! Not again! Not after what happened last time!"

"C'mon, Marco! I promise, Truth or Consequences won't be anywhere near this sleepover. I won't even invite Pony Head. It'll just be you and me!"

Just you and me. Just you and me? Just you and me! Marco felt like he should be excited about that. And he would be, were Star not currently dating Tom. But as it stood...it turned his stomach to knots.

But it's not like I can say no...she's my best friend. I should be happy to do something just the two of us.

Alright, Diaz, you can do this. Just pretend you're happy. You *are* happy. Nothing is different.

Nothing is different...yeah, right.

"Hmm...well, it has been a while since we've done something just the two of us." He smiled. "Sounds nice."

"Oh, you bet it will be! We'll make hot chocolate, and tell scary stories and play board games by the fire, and we'll bring all the fluffy blankets we can find, and we'll be snug as two bugs in a rug- in two rugs," Star quickly corrected herself. "Two separate rugs. Two very separate rugs."

Marco's blood ran cold. Does...does she know how I feel...? Just play it off... "Okay...not sure that I needed quite that much specification, but okay! I'm game!"

Star pumped a fist in the air. "Woo! This is gonna be so much fun!"

That evening, a snow storm blew in. The wind chill from the gusting snow made the stepping outside the castle unbearable. Unfortunately, thanks to a number of broken windows from the Stump's visit several days earlier, the grand dining hall became an easy entry point for the frigid winds. The doors to the dining hall were kept firmly shut, but they weren't even remotely airtight, and the chill permeated the entirety of Butterfly Castle.

Marco was worried that King and Queen Butterfly would take issue with the two young teenagers spending the night in River's study alone together, but they apparently trusted both of them quite a bit.

Or, at the very least, River did.

"Bully idea!" the King exclaimed. "With this chill in the castle, you'll be much more comfortable in there! I'll make sure there's plenty of wood for the fire in there for you!"

"Thanks, Dad! You're the best!"

So, while River toted enough firewood to last the pair through the night up several flights of stairs to his study, Star and Marco collected their supplies. When night fell and the King and Queen had gone to bed, the teens retreated to the study.

"If we really want to stay warm in here, we should do a little insulating," Marco explained as he held up several blankets. "The windows and door aren't exactly airtight, so let's plug the gap under the door and put one over the window."

"Good thinking, Marco! On it!"

Several minutes were spent plugging up any spot where cold air could sneak its way into the room, and when they were finished, they knelt side-by-side on the rug in front of the hearth. The fire, like the ones in every other fireplace in the castle, had been burning nonstop for quite some time now, but it had died down. Marco added a few small logs and stirred up the glowing embers with the poker until he had built up a roaring flame.

Star held up her palms toward the flame and warmed her fingers. "Ahhh, toasty!"

Marco nodded in agreement, but he was having trouble keeping his eyes averted. His best friend was clad in her cold-weather pajamas: a pink hooded onesie, with bunny ears on the hood and a fluffy tail. Sure, he'd seen it on her plenty of times, but she almost never had the hood up. Now she did. Only her face, a few strands of golden hair, and her hands were exposed.

And she looked so gosh darn adorable that Marco couldn't help but look at her.

Stop it, Diaz! She's gonna notice!

He was grateful when she slid back a few feet, out of his peripheral vision. "Whew! Great fire!"

"Yeah!" Marco agreed, choking slightly on his response. "We'll be plenty warm in here." He kept his focus on the fire for several minutes more before the sounds of rustling and clanking caught his attention. "What're you doing, Star?"

She was holding a pan and a bag that looked fit to burst, looking very excited. "Making hot chocolate!"

Marco raised an eyebrow. He was used to making hot chocolate with water in a teapot and a powered mix. What was the purpose of the pan and whatever might occupy that bag? "You need all that to make hot chocolate?"

Star walked on her knees back to the hearth. "Yup!" She set her pan on the stone and removed a large glass bottle from her bag. "I've seen your Earth instant hot chocolate, and while I like the instant part, I'm honestly not impressed." She poured the contents of the bottle into the pan. It appeared to be milk, though Marco had the feeling it hadn't come from a cow. Mewni didn't have cows. "If you really want good hot chocolate, you gotta do it the hard way."

Marco scoffed. "Says the girl who used Magic to open her locker because 'you've got a Magic Wand, you might as well use it.'"

Star carefully set the pan on the wire rack above the fire where her father usually roasted meat for a snack. "What're you getting at, Diaz?"

"I'm just surprised you didn't wave your wand and make the most instant hot chocolate conceivable."

Star pulled a bar of dark chocolate from her bag and shot Marco a sly grin as she began breaking it into pieces. "Okay. I admit it, I was too reliant on Magic for a while. And yeah, I've got a lot of food-themed spells, so I bet you'd think I could just Magic-up some hot chocolate." She tossed the pieces of the chocolate bar into the warming milk. "You ever eat any of the food that's come out of my wand?"

"Uh...I don't think so."

Star picked up her wand from where she'd set it on the floor. She aimed it into the palm of her free hand and whispered "Cupcake blast." A small, perfect vanilla cupcake with strawberry icing and rainbow sprinkles appeared in her palm. She held it out to Marco, still wearing a very slight but smug grin.

The expression on his best friend's face unnerved Marco to some degree, but he nonetheless accepted the confection and took a hesitant bite. Star watched as his eyes widened, staring unblinking at the cupcake before spitting the contents of his mouth into the fire. Marco stuck out his tongue in disgust. "Yuck!"

Star laughed. "Oh, Marco, you should have seen the look on your face. Priceless!" She pulled two ceramic mugs from her bag and set them on the edge of the hearth. "Yeah, everything that comes out of the wand is made of Magic. Magic is really pretty and sparkly and glittery, but it does not taste good. Not even a little."

Marco was still trying to get the rancid taste of that cupcake out of his mouth. "Well, I sure hope your hot chocolate is better than your brownies," Marco joked. "I mean, from what I heard. I never had one."

Star laughed nervously. "Yeah, well, that was my first time making brownies. I've made hot chocolate lots of times! Trust me, no one makes a better mug of hot chocolate than me!"

She removed the pan from the fire and grabbed a whisk from her bag, vigorously beating the milk until the melted chocolate within had become fully incorporated. Two small containers were the next items produced. One was a salt shaker, which she gave a single, vigorous shake into the rich brown mixture. The other turned out to be maple syrup, and Star added a healthy amount to the pan before vigorously whisking once again. When she deemed the mixture satisfactory, she carefully poured a serving of the steaming liquid into each mug. Her hand dipped into the bag one last time and fetched a tiny sack of marshmallows, which she spilt evenly between the two mugs.

Star picked up the ceramic vessels and offered one to Marco, smiling broadly. "See how ya like that, Squire!"

Marco accepted the drink and took a slow sip of the steaming liquid as Star did the same. It was sweet, rich, and chocolatey. "Mm! Wow, Star! That's-"

She lowered her own mug, having just sucked down about half the contents. Marco froze mid-sentence at the sight, because now his adorable best friend was not only clad in a pink bunny onesie, she also had a huge hot chocolate mustache. Just when I thought she couldn't get any cuter...

"What was that, Marco?" She smiled at him, that same friendly, encouraging grin he'd seen a thousand times, while her vibrant blue eyes sparkled in the glow from the fireplace.

Marco certainly wasn't cold anymore. He was sweating. "It's-" He swallowed hard. "It's really good hot chocolate. Best I've ever had!" he added.

"Yeah, I know it is!" She giggled. "Thanks, Marco." She downed the rest of her own mug and then poured in the remainder of what was left in the pan. "C'mon! Let's build a pillow fort!"

So they did. Star had brought every spare pillow and blanket she could find into the study, so building materials were abundant. They stretched a heavy blanket from the back of the small sofa in front of the fireplace to the top of River's desk, covering the entire floor between them with pillows.

Lounging inside their fluffy structure, Star told Marco every Mewni ghost story she could think of, late into the evening. When she couldn't think of any more ghost stories, Star suggested they play a board game.

"Buff Frog loaned me his copy of Puddle Defender! Let's try it out!"

About halfway through the game, Star, having exhausted her energy, dozed off. She was facedown in the pillows, right beside where Marco reclined, leaning back against the front of the sofa. At some point she had removed her bunny-eared hood and her mane of golden hair spilled out all about her.

The boy was far too wound up to sleep. His imagination was very busy. As the sound of the wind-blown snow thumped quietly against the blanket-shrouded window, Marco could not help but notice how romantic the setting was.

If only Star were still single...

He imagined he and his bestie together in this room: warm, cozy, lit only by firelight, surrounded by a sea of blankets and pillows while the storm's frigid winds whistled past. He imagined them shyly sneaking glances at each other, their hands brushing as they worked on their pillow fort, gently sweeping an escaped strand of her hair from her face and tucking it back inside her bunny hood...locking eyes...both unable to move...unable to speak...mesmerized by the reflection of the fire twinkling in each other's eyes...nothing to do but give in to the magnetic forces pulling them slowly closer together until their destined union in the center when at long last their lips finally touched...

I love you, Star.

I love you, Marco.

Wrapping their arms around each other and holding each other tightly until morning...

Marco shook the thoughts away as he watched his snoozing best friend on the floor beside him. It's never gonna happen. She's with Tom. She's happy with Tom.

Tad was right. I'm just making myself miserable.

What about Kelly? I like Kelly. She's nice. She's cool. More importantly, she's single. He tried imagining the same scenario again with Kelly in place of Star. But the Kelly in his imagination kept manifesting hearts on her cheeks, and her blue hair kept turning blonde.

I'm hopeless.

A small noise jerked Marco away from his fantasies. Star stirred, shifting onto her side. Her hand bumped against Marco's leg, and suddenly her arms were curling around his left calf, holding it as if it were a very long stuffed animal.

Marco grinned. She's so...adorable... A hesitant hand reached out and stroked the top of her hair. A tiny, content sigh escaped her lungs as her lips curled into a tiny smile in her sleep.

I I should probably try to move her...she did drastically overstate the fact that we were supposed to be separate in here.

Marco gently moved his leg, trying to get Star to release her grip, but every time he shifted she only tightened her grip. Eventually, he gave up.

Well...Can't say I didn't try. Might as well just enjoy it, I guess.

And so, Marco let his imagination run again. It may make him feel miserable in the morning, but he supposed he was okay with that.

A soft tone from his phone interrupted a fantasy of snuggling with his bestie. He pulled his device from the pocket of his hoodie and tapped the screen to wake it up. The time showed that it was midnight. The date showed that by the Earthian calendar, it was the 25th of December.

Marco slid the phone back into his pocket and gently stroked Star's hair again. He whispered an almost imperceptible, "Merry Christmas, Star."

And to his surprise, she replied in her sleep. "Mrrr Chrisms, Mrco..."

Even though we aren't sure of the exact date of Stump Day, I think the fandom has collectively agreed that it doesn't take place on December 25. It would make sense for it to be on the 26th since that's Eden Sher's birthday, but I'm taking the creative liberty to say that Stump Day takes place a couple days before Christmas.

Happy Holidays everybody!