A Clean Room

Prompt idea submitted by TheSakuraHunter. Thank you!

Guest: I tend to do that to a lot of people lol :)

Finnjr63: Awww don't cry, here, have a cuter chapter.

Th3 Pho3nix 2.0: I'm sorry, but I don't feel I can accurately portray the characters in that way. I am not very skilled at writing AUs.

I don't own Star vs. the Forces of Evil. I kind of want to save up my money and buy a custom mermaid tail online…

GENERAL POV

Marco sat up from pulling garbage out from underneath Star's bed, wiping a hand across his forehead and letting out a puff of air. "Yeesh, how does a princess make such a mess by herself?" he muttered.

The teen rolled his eyes and dropped the crumpled up paper into the trash bag at his side, standing up and lugging the bulging plastic over to Star's desk. He pulled out the chair and sat down with a thump, immediately beginning to go through the papers scattered across her desk to see if they could be sorted.

Star had been really stressed out lately. Her mother had been getting on her more and more about being a better princess, and that piled on top of school work and her popularity (which Marco knew was mainly because she was a magic princess who rarely said no, sadly) and her bewilderment of earth was making her sleep poorly and just be generally anxious.

Marco thought it might help if he straightened up her room so, while she was out with his mom picking out a cellphone for her to have in emergencies, Marco had taken it upon himself to clean up a little.

Like the gentlemen he was, he stayed away from her closet and dresser, mainly worried about cleaning up the garbage from around the room and straightening out and dusting knick knacks.

He scanned the papers in his hands one by one. If they looked foreign or were written in another language, he immediately set them aside into a pile he deemed the "Mewni" pile. Anything that he could read or looked like homework, he set into an "Earth" pile.

This went on for a bit, and eventually became a monotonous task that required little attention, at least until he uncovered a seashell covered notebook.

Noting that the desk was nearly cleared, Marco flipped open the notebook to see if it contained school notes or princess spells.

Day One: I don't think Marco likes me much…..maybe not at all. I've only been on earth for a day and I already want to go home. I didn't mean to make him upset, and I know he said he wanted me to stay, but I can't help but think that he'll always have a grudge against me.

"Marco?"

The by nearly leapt out of his skin and Marco shot his head up, his cheeks burning with embarrassment and his heart pounding. Star stood in the doorway, her eyes filled with a mixture of confusion and anger. "What are you doing with my journal? What are you doing in my room, actually?"

Marco jumped to his feet, dropping the notebook like it was on fire and glancing at it only long enough to make sure it actually landed on the desk. "I uh…I noticed how stressed you'd been and um…I wanted to try and declutter your room."

Star just stared at him, her wand hanging limply in one hand and a shopping bag dangling from the other. Her fingers clenched on the wand just enough to make Marco tense, and she tilted her head. "Why were you reading my journal?" she demanded again.

Marco held up his hands quickly, stepping away from the desk. "I didn't know it was a journal, I swear. I opened it up to see if it was in English or Mewnian…I was sorting papers into piles…"

Star pursed her lips for a moment before silently walking to her bed and dropping her bag onto it. She sat down on the freshly made comforter and turned the wand over in her hands silently, her eyebrows furrowed. Marco chewed on the inside of his cheek and anxiously cracked his fingers. "Star, I swear…."

"I believe you," she interrupted. "Just…how much did you read?"

Marco winced and moved to sit down next to her, making sure to stay on the side that didn't have the wand. "Just the first couple of sentences. It didn't really sink in what I was reading until too late. I'm sorry."

He put as much sincerity into his words as possible and they fell into an awkward silence, both of them staring at the rug. Marco glanced sideways at the girl and sighed softly.

"Star….I don't hold a grudge against you, and I don't hate you. I promise. When I said that I didn't want you to leave, I meant it."

She shut her eyes and tugged harshly on a strand of hair. "Great," she mumbled. "Now I made you feel bad."

Marco shook his head rapidly and turned to face her. "No, no way. I mean….I feel bad that you thought I didn't like you. Star, you're my best friend. There's no way I want you to leave. I mean….if you did leave Earth I….I'd really miss you. Really, really miss you. I'm really sorry, I was just…trying to make you feel less stressed."

Star looked over at him and gave him a small smile. "It worked. Thank you, Marco. I don't plan on leaving any time soon, and when I do….well, I'll leave the scissors here."

Marco chuckled and pulled the girl into a tight hug, realizing with a start that she was trembling against him. "Why don't you get some sleep?" he suggested, rubbing her back soothingly. "I think you need it."

She pulled back and held up the bag. "What about my phone? I need to program it, and add in everyone's numbers, and-"

Marco took the bag from her gently and set it on the floor. "Don't worry about that right now. Sleep."

She nodded and rubbed her eyes with her fists while Marco stood and moved towards the doorway. "Oh, and Marco?"

He turned back, raising an eyebrow as she clambered underneath her comforter.

"Thanks for organizing my room, but if you ever read my journal again, I will have to turn you into a cow."

Marco burst into giggles and mock saluted her. "Noted. Sweet dreams."

He shut off the light and pulled the door shut quietly behind him, leaning against the polished wood for a brief moment before smiling brightly and shutting his eyes.

He maybe hadn't told her the whole truth. When Star had walked in the room and said his name, his jumping had caused the pages to slip under his fingers and as he set the journal down, he had caught sight of one sentence that made his heart skip more than he cared to admit:

I think maybe….maybe I like Marco.

Wooooaaaaaahhhhhh what? HMMMMMM? Okay, I'm done.

Reviews?