Tom, Janna, Marco, and Star all stared at each other in stunned silence, quietly removing their goggles and masks. None of them had any idea where to start. In the end, it was Marco who decided to break the tension, eyeing Tom's horns curiously. "So, Tom... what's with the new headgear?"

"The new..." Tom reached up to his head, feeling something soft mounted on his horns. He'd completely forgotten that Janna had put something there to protect them. Tom pulled away the mystery covering and held it out in front of him, finding two rolls of toilet paper in his hands. "Dangit Janna!"

"Worked, didn't it?" As Tom tossed the toilet paper into a nearby trash can, Janna turned her attention toward Star, looking genuinely shocked to see her. "What are you guys doing here? I thought you and Marco were going to that card game tournament today. Monster Trader or whatever?"

"The comic shop was closed where we got there. Bug bombing or something, I think. Which, considering..." Star shuddered, wings fluttering gently under her clothes. "So we decided to do something else fun! Also Marco had a two for one coupon." Marco gave a thumbs up, looking rather proud of himself. Star shot her boyfriend a quick wink, then was suddenly struck by a realization. She tilted her head, staring skeptically at Janna. "Also also, I don't think I ever told you about the tournament."

"Y- yeah... you did, a couple days ago. Otherwise how else would I know about it, right?" Janna's gaze darted rapidly around the paintball course, almost like she was looking for an escape route.

"Makes sense if you don't think about it, but I'm still preeeeeetty sure I didn't." Star narrowed her eyes at Janna, leaning in suspiciously.

Before Star could interrogate Janna in earnest, the group heard the PA system crackling to life, a loud snoring coming over the air. There was a sudden crash, followed by a sound of scrambling and a mumble. "Wait, we're done?" Reggie cleared his throat, now sounding slightly more alert than before, although that wasn't saying much. "And from the view on the security cameras, it looks like we're down to one paintless player. I missed the end because I was, uh... inspecting the new paintball shipment... so let me just review some footage here, ah... very interesting..."

The teens waited, glancing at each other in confusion as they heard the sound of a mouse clicking over the speaker. "It seems that number 21 and the people with her took their helmets off while still on the field, so that's a disqualification for violating safety rules. How unfortunate." As ever, Reggie sounded like he was talking about the endless thrills of watching paint dry. "Today's victory goes to our fifth place winner, number 13, Miss... Sabrina Backintosh? Please come to the front desk and collect your $20 gift card for Stop-N-Slurp."

"Hooray!" The group heard a distant cry of victory from across the paintball field, followed by a loud crash. "Ow!"

Marco looked around for the source of the noise, pretty sure Sabrina hadn't been seriously hurt, but wondering if they should check, given her history. "Should we... should we go help her?"

"She's a big girl, Marco." Star shook her head, not really wanting to get involved. At the moment, she had bigger concerns. Star turned her attention toward her surprise encounter. "So... Janna. Tom. What brings you two here... together?" The last word was filled to the brim with suspicion, coupled with a small, curious smile.

Janna coughed nervously, Star's sudden appearance throwing her off her usual game. "Oh, uh... we just... had a bet. Right, Tom?" Janna elbowed him, hoping he would take the hint.

"... right." Tom nodded, deciding to play along. It was obvious to him that Janna was shaken by Star and Marco's presence. Tom wasn't really in the mood to explain anything either. Technically, it was true that they were there because of a bet. "Speaking of that, who won? I mean, between us?"

Janna looked at Tom like he had just seriously asked her what two plus two is. "Duh. You see any paint on me?"

Star observed curiously as the strange scene played out between Tom and Janna. She didn't want to doubt her friends' explanation, but she was quite certain she hadn't been given the whole story.

"But you took your helmet off first." Tom scratched his head, trying to make sure he had the order of events right in his mind. "That means you were disqualified before you shot me. Technically I lasted longer, so... doesn't that mean you lose?"

Janna narrowed her eyes, glaring at Tom. "You trying to weasel out of this deal?"

"How is that weaseling!?" Tom growled in increasing annoyance. "That was the exactly the deal!"

Star smiled wider as her suspicions continued to grow with every angry word, covering a giggle at her increasing certainty of what was going on between her friends, while Marco simply watched in bewilderment.

"Oh, so you're trying to win on a technicality, huh?" Today clearly hadn't gone according to plan for Janna, and Tom could tell she was fighting to recover. "Weren't you the one just telling me it's all about principles?"

He hated to admit it, but Janna did have a point, and he could tell this was a hill she was prepared to die on. Tom threw his hands up in defeat. "Ugh! FINE! I'll go on the stupid d-"

Janna was on Tom like greased lightning, clamping a hand over his mouth before he could finish getting out the last word. She carefully peeled her hand away from Tom, who blinked in surprise. "Star, you, me, not here, right now." Janna grabbed Star by the arm, immediately dragging her off the paintball field.

Tom and Marco simply watched in astonished confusion as the girls took off, disappearing back inside the Paint-O-Rama facility.

After a short silence, Tom cleared his throat, and Marco saw no point in delaying the inevitable awkward conversation any longer. "Tom."

"Marco." Tom, likewise, figured there was probably no way out of it.

Marco wasn't sure where to begin. It had been a while since he'd really talked to Tom. Their relationship had become a little uneasy after certain recent developments. "Haven't seen you much, since..."

Tom sighed heavily, deciding to complete Marco's thought. "Since you started dating my ex?"

"Your words." Tom and Marco stared blankly at each other, neither one entirely sure about the current status of their friendship. "... so are we cool?"

Tom rolled his eyes, groaning. "Ugggggghhhhhh... I mean, I GUESS." Star had been honest with him and offered him a clean break, so he couldn't exactly blame Marco for anything. Though he was still rather disappointed how the events had unfolded, Tom had more or less gotten over Star, and he didn't really see any point in holding a grudge.

Marco coughed, shuffling his feet awkwardly. He couldn't exactly just leave without Star, but the only remaining question he had wasn't one he thought would be safe to ask. At least Tom didn't seem to want to kill him for dating Star. He wasn't sure if that meant they were still friends, but it was a start. "Soooooooo... overpriced concession stand hot dogs?"

As Tom thought about it, he realized he had actually gotten pretty hungry from the round of paintball. He shrugged slightly, having no better ideas. "I could eat."

Tom and Marco had split off in the locker room to get their clothes back, then met out in the lobby at the Paint-o-rama concession stand for hot dogs and sodas. Even when they headed outside for some air, Star and Janna were nowhere to be found, so the boys decided to proceed on their own for the moment. Their conversation mostly consisted of mundane small talk about the weather, Tom's sudden switch from a wallet to a money clip, and comparing the local hot dogs unfavorably to Goblin Dogs.

By the time they were done with their food, Tom was tired of beating around the bush. "Look, just say it already."

Marco was just finishing his own hot dog, stuffing the last bite in his mouth, talking through a mouthful of food. "Shay what?"

"Come on Marco, we're both thinking it. Let's just get this over with." Tom knew exactly what the question on Marco's mind was, and by that point, he just wanted it done.

Marco shrugged and swallowed the final piece of his hot dog. "No idea what you're talking about, Tom."

He was doing an almost convincing job of playing dumb, but Tom didn't buy it. Tom calmly sipped the last remaining bit of his soda, a sucking sound coming from the cup. He pulled the straw out, fiddling with it idly between his fingers. "Marco, do you know how many ways there are to kill a man with a bendy straw?"

While Marco wasn't been nearly as invested as Star seemed to be, he had a decent guess as to what he had witnessed earlier, and he was morbidly curious as to whether he was right. Marco's tone was completely flat, more of a statement than a question. "Tom are you dating Janna."

"Funny you should ask." Tom took a deep breath. He'd been mentally preparing an explanation for the past several minutes, but that didn't make the delivery any easier. "Technically, I'm about to, but the good news is it's only once. The bad news is, I think even the first date with that girl comes with some kind of body count." Marco stared blankly at Tom, like he was waiting for Tom to give him the REAL explanation. "I lost a bet, okay?"

Without breaking off the dead stare, Marco tossed his crumpled up hot dog wrapper into a nearby trash can, then spun on his heel away from Tom. "So it's gonna LOOK like I'm leaving..."

Tom hadn't expected this to be an easy conversation, but it was already going even worse than planned. "Marco..."

"TOM!" Marco twisted back around suddenly, a judgmental glare on his face, pointing a finger straight at Tom. "I WARNED you about Janna!"

"I know, I know! I should've listened, okay? I just thought... I don't know." In hindsight, Tom wasn't exactly sure why he'd ignored Marco's warnings. The red flags had certainly been present, and yet... "Some of the stuff you told me was so crazy I thought you had to be exaggerating at least a little."

Marco narrowed his eyes at Tom, insulted that his word had been doubted. "Was I, Tom? Was I?"

Tom glared back, feeling that he had endured enough abuse for one day. "Dude, you don't have to be a tool about it." To some degree Tom had expected an I-told-you so. He thought he probably even deserved a little bit of it. But now Marco was just rubbing it in.

"Okay, okay." Marco accepted that he'd probably made his point. He led Tom to a nearby bench, patting it and gesturing for the demon prince to lay down. "Talk to Doctor Marco."

Tom laid back and stretched himself out on the short, hard bench, legs hanging over one end, with his head rested uncomfortably on the hard seat in a makeshift imitation of a therapist's couch. "So I don't really know Janna aside from her being at that Stump Day party. I don't think I talked to her at all that day. But a couple days ago when I came home, Janna was just... in my room. Like it wasn't even a thing." As Tom leaned his head back toward Marco, he saw there was already a pad and paper out, finding Marco scribbling notes, leaned against a nearby light post. "Were you just carrying that thing around?"

"Ah, ah, ah! The Doctor will ask the questions here." Marco shook his pencil at his patient. "So... what happened next?"

"So we had a super weird conversation where I'm pretty sure she accidentally admitted to having a serious thing for yoooouuuuuuuunicorns." As the word was leaving his mouth, he changed course at the last second, desperately hoping that Marco hadn't noticed his slip up.

Marco's pencil suddenly slowed to a stop. He raised an eyebrow in confusion, gazing curiously at Tom. "... unicorns?"

"Uh... yeah." Tom was suddenly aware that he had been a single word away from signing his own death warrant. If he so much as hinted she might have feelings for Marco, he wouldn't have been surprised if Janna actually murdered him. And even if it was Janna, Tom had higher standards than to rat her out on a secret crush. "I'm not completely sure, but I think she's secretly crazy about... unicorns."

"Huh. That IS pretty weird. Janna doesn't usually go for that kind of girly stuff." Marco scratched his chin thoughtfully, trying to make sense of what Tom had just told him. "You sure she was talking about unicorns?"

"Like... metaphorically. Look, don't ask questions you don't want the answer to." Tom pointedly cleared his throat, thinking he should probably get out of the conversational minefield before he said any more. "Forget it, it's not important. Point is, on the way out, she slapped my butt, stole my wallet, and left me..." Tom reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, unfolding it for Marco. "This."

Maco squinted, shock rising on his face as he realized the phone number on the paper belonged to Janna. "You didn't."

"Welllllll, you'd think that. And yet here we are." Tom still couldn't quite decide if he regretted his decision. "Somehow during THAT equally weird phone conversation, where at one point I swear she was talking with my rabbit, she bamboozled me into a paintball bet. Which even though she technically lost, she still somehow won. So now I have to take her out for dinner and a movie."

Marco stared blankly for several long seconds, putting his notepad back in his hoodie, before suddenly turning to leave Tom behind. "Welp, it was nice knowing you Tom. I'll make sure to send flowers to your next of kin. Enjoy your brief remaining time among the living."

"WAIT!" Tom bolted up from his position on the bench, grabbing the sleeve of Marco's hoodie. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but... I need your help."

"With what, your bucket list?" Marco looked at Tom with hesitation. "I mean, I'm not saying NO to the flamenco dancing classes, but this time you're wearing the dress. Those pantyhose-"

"No, man! Keep her from killing me! Or... keep me from killing her?" Tom mulled the thought over in his mind, then slowly shook his head. "I honestly think it could go either way at this point."

"Yeah, I feel you." Having been the unwilling target of Janna's attention on many, many occasions, Marco didn't exactly envy Tom. At least she had never asked him for a date. "I mean, if Janna had a crush on me, I think I'd go for a swim at Lava Lake Beach."

Hearing that, Tom wondered if he should tell Marco what Janna might REALLY think about him, but quickly thought better of it. Instead he chose to focus on his own situation. "Dude, come on, she's not THAT bad." Tom understood where Marco was coming from, but he felt like his reaction might be a bit over the top. "She's really annoying, sure, but she can be be kinda fun. And she's kinda cu-"

Tom caught himself just a little faster this time, but it was too late. Marco was already staring at him in sheer horror. "Tom. I want you to think very, VERY hard about what you were going to say just now."

"Oh. Ohhh. Oh no. She's all up in my head, man! I don't even know what's real anymore!" Tom shot up from the bench he had been resting on, beginning to pace the sidewalk. "It's like, she's annoying and terrifying and I hate her, but I can't stop thinking about her!"

"Tom, snap out of it!" He raised a hand, bringing it across Tom's face in an open palmed slap. "Uh." Marco stared blankly at Tom, realizing too late what he had just done.

Tom rubbed his cheek, letting out a quiet sigh. "No, it's okay. I needed that." He then narrowed his eyes at Marco threateningly. "But don't ever do it again."

Marco wiped the sweat off his forehead, grateful to still be alive. "You're... unusually cool about this."

Tom shrugged slightly. Normally he would have immediately lost his temper over something like that, but somehow he had found himself becoming... desensitized to lesser annoyances. "Considering everything Janna's been putting me through, and how SHE likes to slap people, this is pretty tame in comparison."

Having been in that position himself, Marco didn't really have to imagine. "Yeah, about that. Under normal circumstances, I'd be happy to help out my bro. But Janna wrangling is above my pay grade."

"Oh come on! Us bros gotta stick together, right? Especially in times like this!" Tom folded his hands together in a begging gesture, giving his best puppy dog eyes. "The Bro Code?"

Marco had to give him credit for the effort, but as much as he liked Tom, he feared Janna even more. "Tom, when the Founding Brothers were writing the Second Bromendment, they couldn't have possibly predicted the high capacity sexual assault Janna."

Tom backed off with a heavy sigh. Somehow he had known it wouldn't be that easy. "Okay Marco, you win. What's it gonna cost me?"

Although Marco was seriously considering the offer, he didn't look happy about it. He eventually decided he would solve the dilemma by demanding a price he was sure Tom would never pay. "Okay. Your ultra rare limited edition autographed Love Sentence vinyl? Mine."

"Wh- you can't be serious!" Marco might as well have asked Tom to tear out his own still beating heart. He was aware that Marco had had his eye on the piece for quite a while, but both knew that Tom would never give up that particular collector's item. "That's like the centerpiece of my collection!"

Marco shrugged, almost relieved that Tom had rejected his offer as he turned to leave and go find Star. "Good luck with the wedding and/or funeral."

"You sneaky little... okay, fine!" Tom grabbed Marco's sleeve once again, tugging him back by his hoodie. He couldn't believe the deal he was making, but he was desperate. "Just save me!"

"... okay. I have an idea." Marco took a deep breath, hoping this commitment would be worth the trouble. He also hoped that his plan wasn't completely insane. "I'm pretty sure it'll work... but I don't think you're gonna like it."

After getting their clothes changed in the locker room, Janna had dragged Star out of the Paint-O-Rama lobby and found a relatively secluded bench in a nearby park.

"Okay... I think we're safe." She double checked to make sure Tom and Marco hadn't followed them, but it was finally just her and Star. Only one thing could be worse than the conversation she knew she was about to have, and that was if Tom somehow found out about it. Star had been practically bursting with excitement since Janna's verbal tussle with Tom. Janna had hoped she wasn't so obvious, but Star was obviously onto her. Still, she thought if she played her cards right, she might be able to get out of it. "So... here's the thing."

"Oh my gosh! Janna! Tell me everything! What date is this? Second? THIRD!?" Star was going a million miles a minute, completely unable to contain her curiosity. "Are you two officially a thing yet? What's your couple name? Jom? Tanna? What about-"

"STAR! This isn't a date!" Janna cut her friend off before the one sided conversation could get any more awkward. "And we're not a couple!"

"Really?" Star raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying Janna's denial. "Not even like, frenemies with benefits? You two were hateflirting pretty hard back there..."

"Neither of the things you just said are even things! Look. Tom and I are... friends?" Janna didn't think she sounded very convincing. She wasn't even sure she believed it herself. "Friends" might not have been quite the right word for her relationship with Tom, but she couldn't really think of anything else that fit either.

"Hmmmmmm... that's cool." Star shrugged casually, now apparently accepting Janna's claim.

"I'm telling you, there's nothing going on betwee- wait, what? You... you actually believe me?" Janna was shocked that she had managed to convince Star so easily. Knowing Star's penchant for playing matchmaker, she had expected a much harder fight.

"Sure. Nothing wrong with just friends. You can never have too many friends, right?" Star had gone from 60 to 0 in a matter of seconds. Janna wasn't sure what it meant, but she didn't like it one bit.

"... right." Although Janna remained skeptical of Star's intentions, she was unconsciously starting to lower her guard.

"Tom's pretty cool."
"I mean, sorta..."
"And hey, even if you're just friends, he's fun to hang out with."
"I guess..."

Star paused for a moment, allowing the thought to stew in Janna's mind before she followed up, continuing almost off hand. "Plus he's a total hottie."

Janna was suddenly overcome with a dreamy, faraway look and a goofy smile, staring far off into empty space. "Yeah..." She jerked back as she realized what she had just said, desperately trying to shove the proverbial cat back in the bag. "Wait, no, I mean-"

"AHA!" Star leaned into Janna, a victorious grin plastered across her face. "I KNEW IT!"

"Dangit, Star." Janna sighed defeatedly, knowing that she had been caught. She had to admit she was a bit impressed that Star had beaten her at her own game. "Gotta say though, you're getting better at this."

"I learned from the best." Star allowed herself to feel at least a little pride at Janna's compliment, but as the gravity of the situation started to sink in, she soon took on a more sympathetic tone. "So... what's the problem?"

"Ugggggghhhhhhh... I don't know. It just feels so... WEIRD. Why is it so weird?" Despite her best efforts, Janna hadn't quite been able to put a finger on what had been bothering her. Or at least, she didn't want to admit it.

"Janna, if this is because I used to date him, don't even worry about it. I am WAY over Tom." Star giggled softly, a light blush spreading across her features. "Marco's been making me forget alllllll about him."

Janna stuck her tongue out, gagging lightly. "Gross. Also, not the problem."

"Okay, so...?" Star decided to take it slow and easy while probing for information. She genuinely hoped she could help in some way, but Janna was clearly uncomfortable with the topic, and Star didn't want to push her too hard.

"I dunno, it's just... I never thought I'd get this far!" Janna pulled her hat down over her head as far as she could, almost like she was trying to vanish from Star's sight. "I really thought I'd have scared him off by now... that's what usually happens anyway."

"Wait a minute. Janna... are you embarrassed about liking a boy?" Star had a hard time believing Janna would so flustered over something so simple, and yet that was the impression she was getting.

"Shut up, NO!" Janna immediately gave Star a light shove at the accusation, but then went silent, looking like she was deep in thought. After a long pause, she finally spoke again, her voice barely a whisper. "... maybe."

"Really?" Star raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised that Janna had a sense of shame, and even more surprised that it would be so badly misaimed. "You've dated before though, right? Didn't you used to date that skeleton guy?"

"I only went out with him once." Janna cringed at the memory of their only, extremely awkward date. "Besides, we totally weren't looking for the same thing in a relationship. Turned out he only want to bo-"

Star held up a hand, cutting Janna off. "Yeah, Janna, I could see the pun coming from three dimensions away."

Despite the moment of levity, Janna was reaching the point where she didn't want to ignore the problem any more. Or rather, she did want to, but part of her was starting to realize that jokes and deflection wouldn't protect her forever. "So... what do I do?"

"I have some Mewni joke books you could borrow." Star tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Some of the cultural humor probably won't translate very well, but-"

"ABOUT TOM!" Just when Janna finally felt ready to talk, Star decided to stop talking the conversation seriously. Janna's frustration already outweighed her appreciation of the irony.

Star shrugged non-chalantly. "Sure, he likes girls with a sense of humor."

Janna stared down Star with a completely deadpan look. "Star, can I be serious for a minute?"

"I don't know, can you?" After waiting for a response that never came, Star decided to follow up. "... that isn't sarcasm, I honestly don't know if you can."

Janna wasn't quite sure herself, now that she thought about it. But she figured she was willing to try anything once. "It's a day of firsts."

"Okay, okay. I'll put on my serious face. Just... promise me you're not pretending to like Tom just to mess with him." Even though they hadn't seen much of each other lately, Star was still rather protective of her now ex-boyfriend, and had no desire to see him get hurt.

"Star, this is me we're talking about." Janna raised an eyebrow, a little insulted by the accusation. "You think I'd pick on him this much if I wasn't into him?"

"Yeah, okay." Star nodded, figuring that sounded about right for Janna. But as she thought about it, she was getting close to a dangerous realization. "Wait, but... you used pick on Marco all the time. Now that I think about it, you really only stopped just after we started dating, so... that means..." The gears in Star's head were turning slowly, but to Janna's horror, they were very much turning. "That means..."

"I BET TOM THAT HE'D HAVE TO TAKE ME ON A DATE IF I BEAT HIM AT PAINTBALL!" Janna suddenly blurted out the confession before Star could finish her thought.

"JANNA! THAT'S what the bet was about? That's the most low down, dirty, despicable trick I've ever heard!" Star stared judgmentally at Janna, until a wicked smile slowly spread across her face. "... but I like it."

Janna breathed a sigh of relief that her distraction had been effective, knowing that she had just dodged a Marco sized bullet. "Yeah. So."

"Yeah. So. A real date." Star leaned in, narrowing her eyes at Janna. "You're serious about this?"

"Serious?" Janna scoffed. "I pretended to put a ball bearing in my paintball gun."

Star's eyes went wide with shock. Any doubts she'd had about Janna's the sincerity of crush had just been erased. "Wow. WOW. You've got it BAD."

Janna buried her head in her hands out of embarrassment and frustration. "You have NO idea."

"So you've got a little crush on Tom. It's no big deal." Star placed a hand on Janna's shoulder, trying to calm her down. "Why don't you just tell him you like him and see what happens?"

"Really." Janna narrowed her eyes, staring down Star in cold disbelief. "Little Miss Emergency Friend Meeting is gonna sit there and teach me all about emotional honesty."

Star stopped dead, at a loss as to how to respond, but she quickly recomposed herself. "No idea what you're talking about. Besides, there's a big difference between this and the thing you just said that totally never happened. The very eligible Mr. Lucitor is SINGLE."

"Oh, so what? Not like it matters." Janna let out a deep, defeated sigh. "This whole thing was a stupid idea. I barely know him, and he'd never go for somebody like me..."

"What!? No! Janna, come on girl! You're fierce! Rawr!" Star thought Janna was the one person she would never have to pep talk. "You're good enough, you're smart enough, and gosh darn it, people like you!"

"... you really think so?" Janna seemed to perk up just a little, taking some genuine encouragement from Star's words.

Star nodded, giving Janna a friendly slap on the shoulder. "You're gonna drop the charm bomb so hard, they'll have to declare Tom's heart a war zone."

Janna sighed softly, still skeptical of her chances, but now more willing to give it a try. At least the way Star has phrased it sounded a bit more her speed. "Let's say I believe you. What's the plan here?"

Star rubbed her chin in thought, until she was suddenly hit by a flash of inspiration. "Wait! You said it's dinner and a movie right? Did you decide on any details?"

"Uhhh... I guess not." Janna scratched her head, unsure what Star had in mind. "Why?"

"Welllllll... I actually have some thoughts on that. So-" Before she could elaborate on her plan, Star saw Marco and Tom heading toward them out of the corner of her eye. "Oh, here come the boys! Just follow my lead." Star jumped up, waving Marco and Tom over toward them.

Marco waved back, rushing over to where the girls were sitting. "Star! We've been looking for you!"

"Hey cutie. Missed me that much, huh?" As Marco approached, Star rose from her seat and wrapped her arms around him, pecking him on the lips and nuzzling into his neck.

Marco blushed with embarrassment, but he made no real effort to push his girlfriend away, even as he caught Janna and Tom starting to stare at them. "Star, c'mon! People are watching..."

Janna watched in horror, not used to seeing that level of public affection, especially from people she knew. "Does anybody else have this weird urge to hurl? No? Just me?"

Tom slowly raised up a hand, his index finger and thumb separated slightly, unable to tear his eyes away from the train wreck he was witnessing.

Star pulled herself away from Marco, clearing her throat and gesturing toward her friends. "Sooo... you heard what's happening with these two lovebirds."

Based on his conversation with Tom, Marco wasn't sure "lovebirds" was the right word, but he was willing to go along with it. "Yeah, and I was thinking-"

"Double date!" Star didn't bother giving Marco a chance to finish, having already guessed what he was going to say.

"Yeah! Wow, that's EXACTLY what I was thinking!" Marco laughed with glee, happy that he was already becoming so in tune with his girlfriend. "Can you believe it? We're so in sync we're actually finishing each other's-"

"Burritos!" Star interrupted again, quite confident in her Marco reading abilities.

"Sentences, Star." Marco sighed, wondering if their psychic link might need more work after all. "Is what I was gonna say."

"Ohhhhhhhh, yours makes more sense." Star looked lost in thought as she reconsidered her guess, then shrugged. "Well, one for two. And as for YOU two..." Star leaned in toward Tom and Janna "... we're gonna make sure you have the most romantic night of your lives."

Tom shook his head subtly, as much as he could without Janna noticing, mouthing the word "no" to Marco and Star. Star caught the gesture, and nodded back with an excited grin. Marco simply shrugged, like he knew he couldn't really do anything to stop Star once she made her mind up. As Tom glanced to the side, Janna was simply watching the whole scene with an expert poker face.

"We'll set everything up and call you guys with the details. Got any plans for next Saturday night? Doesn't matter, cancel 'em. We're doing this. Later!" Without even waiting for a response, Star turned to leave, heading in the direction of Marco's house.

Before Marco could follow Star, Tom grabbed him by the sleeve, pulling him back and whispering quietly. "You're sure about this?"

"Kinda." Marco sighed, shaking his head. "Not really. I told you you wouldn't like it. But at least this way you've got some backup if Janna tries anything."

Star had already skipped halfway down the block before she realized she didn't have Marco in tow. "Marco, c'mon! We have a super romantic double date to plan!"

"But dealing with Star playing matchmaker might be tough too. There's a reason you're not getting this cheap, and it's not JUST Janna." Marco was already beginning to regret striking this deal with the devil. Or at least, A devil. "Coming, Star!"

As he watched Marco chase after Star, Tom couldn't help but notice that Janna had gone unusually quiet. He was starting to wonder if she was feeling as uneasy about the scheme as he was. "So Janna, you're cool with whole the double date thing? I mean, if you'd rather have some privacy we could always aaaaaaaaand she's gone."

When Tom finally looked back over to where Janna had been standing, he found she had already vanished. Tom thought it was possible she had slipped away into hiding nearby, but more likely vanished back to... wherever Janna went when she did that. He wasn't sure he wanted to know how or where. "Swear to corn I'm gonna put a bell on that girl..."

Tom would've preferred to just get the date over with rather than having to spend an entire week dreading it. But for the time being, he decided to return home to plot his next move. Until Star contacted him with more details he wasn't sure what else he could do besides wait.

Tom was sure of one thing though. He and Brian were about to have a VERY long life coaching session.