Important

Okay, so I'm FINALLY getting to Star-of-gravity's request from like, what, chapter 10? Gosh I'm sorry this took so long. Yikes.

H. Mae: Lol yeah I know he actually doesn't seem like that bad of a guy. Probably because he "gets in the way" of Starco…although not in the last chapter haha.

LordryuTJ: I would except I know absolutely nothing about Reddit except that a lot of people don't like it.

I don't own Star vs. the Forces of Evil.

GENERAL POV

"Marco, you need to STOP trying to protect me all the time!" Star spluttered out, whirling around in the backyard to face her friend.

They were surrounded by smoke and dust and broken tree limbs. Star's dress was torn and her pigtails had been pulled out during their most recent battle with Ludo, leaving her looking somewhat crazed.

"Star, I was just trying to-"

"You let your guard down and Ludo almost got the wand,Marco! Stop trying to help! I don't NEED your help! I don't need you."

With that, Star stormed into the house, leaving Marco in the charred remains of his backyard with tears threatening to spill onto his cheeks. "Fine," he mumbled, crossing his arms and swallowing hard. "Fine."

LATE THAT NIGHT

"Star?"

The princess glanced up from her math book-why did people on Earth have such pointless school subjects?-to find Mr. and Mrs. Diaz standing in her doorway, looking concerned. "Yeah?"

Mrs. Diaz frowned. "Have you seen Marco, honey?"

Star blinked and set her book down, glancing at the clock. "No. It's almost eleven, he's probably in his room getting ready for bed."

Mr. Diaz shook his head. "No, he isn't. We haven't seen him since before dinner. We assumed he had gone to Ferguson's or Alfonso's after you two had your little…um…"

"Tiff," supplied Mrs. Diaz awkwardly. "But we called their parents, and they haven't seen him. Star, do you have any idea where he could be?"

Star was worried now. She knew, she just knew that it was her fault that Marco was missing. She shouldn't have said all that stuff to him. "No…let me go grab my dimensional scissors. With those, I can transport right to him."

She slipped on a pair of flats and darted down the stairs to grab her purse from the living room, the Diaz's in hot pursuit. She unzipped her bag and stared in blank surprise at the nearly empty space. "It…they were right here! Next to my wand, I swear! I never take them out of here!"

She groaned and sank onto the floor, clutching her bag in her hands. "Marco must have….gosh I am such an idiot."

"No, no, honey, you're not an idiot," Mrs. Diaz reassured her. "You and Marco just…had a fight…and he probably felt…."

"He felt like I didn't want him around," Star choked out, chucking her purse onto the floor with a thump. "This is all my fault."

Mr. and Mrs. Diaz looked at one another sadly. "Star…"

"No," Star said, swiping tears from her eyes. "This is my fault. I….I need to call Pony Head. See if she can find him."

They nodded and let her run back upstairs and into her room, calling Pony Head on her mirror and praying that the princess was still awake. Sure enough, moments later the floating head answered her own mirror, her eyes tired. "B-Fly, it is almost midnight. What are you calling for?"

Star swallowed and sank to the floor, and that captured Pony Head's attention quickly. "Whoa, hey girl, what's up?"

"It's….Marco's missing," Star whispered, looking up at her friend helplessly. "And he took my dimensional scissors, so he could be anywhere. Please, I don't know who else…."

Pony Head shook her…well, head. "Say no more, girl. I can get a pair of scissors from one of the girls down the hall and sneak out. I'll find him, you just hang tight girl. Why'd he leave?"

Star winced. "We…we had a fight….and I told him that I didn't really want him or need him…this is all my fault, Pony Head."

Pony Head smiled sadly. "I'll find him B-Fly. Promise."

With that, the girls hung up, leaving Star to curl up on her rug and start crying.

Marco trudged along the streets of some unknown dimension, Star's scissors dangling from his belt loops. Tears streamed down his face and he jammed his hands in his pockets, swallowing the massive lump in his throat.

He wasn't quite sure how long he had been dimension hopping, or how long he had been walking, but every time he started losing it he just hopped another dimension and tried hard to ignore the awful feeling in his gut.

"I don't need you."

The words screamed in Marco's head and he gasped, dropping to the ground and grabbing at his temples and struggling not to sob.

"I can't…." he mumbled, swiping the tears dripping down his face. "I can't."

"Marco?"

He flinched, recognizing the sharp accent immediately. "Go away, Pony Head," he whispered, his voice cracking.

There was a long pause, and then the disembodied head nudged her way underneath his arm and leaned against him. "When have I ever listened to you?"

He snorted, shaking his head and sitting back on his heels, looking at her while at the same time trying to hide his bloodshot eyes. "What are you doing here?" he finally asked.

Pony Head studied him for a long moment, knowing that now was no time for insults, no matter how playful. "Star sent me."

"For her scissors, right? Here, take them," he muttered, tossing the scissors onto the dirt in front of her. "I don't care."

"That's a lie," Pony Head declared. "And no. She sent me to come find you."

"Yeah right."

Pony Head sighed, glancing down. "Look, Marco, I'm not good at being sentimental and stuff. But Star is a mess right now. She feels awful about what she said to you. Heck, she's sitting on her floor sobbing right now. And your parents are probably worried too."

Marco shrugged, glancing away and staring out across the dimension, making out shapes that he hoped were just plants. "Doesn't matter. What she said had to have come from somewhere. You don't just say something like that without at least kind of meaning it."

He swallowed and looked down at his hands. "She doesn't need me, Pony Head."

His voice broke and the princess winced, nudging at his shoulder. "Hey man, of course she needs you. Lotsa people need you. You're important."

Marco scoffed and Pony Head rolled her eyes. "Seriously. Who busted me out of princess jail?"

"Me," Marco said with a frown.

Pony Head shook her mane. "Uh huh, and who was the one who came back for me when I was running from those guards?"

"Me."

"And who refused to give up on B-Fly when she was dealing with all that Mewberty crap?"

Marco glanced up at Pony Head, a sad smile on his lips. "Me. Pony Head, I-"

Pony Head cut him off. "Nope. Save it, Earth Turd. We're getting you back home so that you and Star can work this out together."

With Pony Head's help, Marco pushed himself to his feet and swiped the dimensional scissors off of the ground. "Are you uh…are you coming back to Earth with me?"

Pony Head snorted. "Just to make sure you actually go to Earth. This ain't about me."

Marco nodded and sliced a tear in the fabric of space, hesitating for a moment before a slightly menacing prod from Pony Head's horn pushed him through the portal and into his front yard.

"It's past midnight," Marco said with a wince as he glanced at his watch. "I didn't realize…."

"Just go, dummy," Pony Head reassured him. "They're probably still awake. You got this."

Marco paused for a moment, studying the wayward princess, and then wrapped his arms tightly around her neck. The action startled them both, but neither backed away for a few seconds. "Thanks, Pony. I uh…probably wouldn't have come back if you hadn't bothered to come find me."

"Well you are her best bestie," the horse proclaimed, pulling away. Marco waited for her to add "on Earth," and was somewhat surprised when all she said was: "And maybe one of my besties."

They both just kind of stared at one another for a moment before Pony Head gave him an awkward smile and clipped her way back to St. Olga's, leaving Marco standing on his front porch alone.

Taking a deep breath, Marco twisted the doorknob to his house and pushed the door in slowly, quietly, peering around the doorjamb before actually stepping inside. Star and his parents were seated silently around the living room, each one staring at their clasped hands in their laps. Marco flinched and pushed open the door the rest of the way, standing silently in the doorway.

After a long moment, he coughed softly, alerting them to his presence. "Uh….hey."

"Marco!" his mother yelped, leaping from the couch and darting over to him. She wrapped him in a tight hug and plastered kisses all over his face, making the boy squirm in her grasp. "You're okay!"

"I'm fine Mom, I'm fine," he laughed softly, pushing back from her. He gave his dad a sheepish smile over her shoulder. "I'm sorry, guys."

His father ruffled his hair fondly. "We're just glad you're all right."

Marco's mother glanced behind her at Star, who was watching them silently. "We will uh…leave you two alone for a moment, okay honey?"

He gave his mother a grateful smile and watched as they ascended the stairs. When he heard the door to their room shut, he turned his attention back to Star. For a long time, the two of them only stared at each other, trying to decide where to start.

"Star, I-"

She cut him off, flying into his arms and burying her head in his shoulder, sobs quietly wracking her body. "I'm so sorry," she whispered into his ear.

Marco winced and wrapped his arms tightly around her, rubbing her back soothingly. "Star, it's okay. I know you were just angry at me."

"But that doesn't matter," Star protested. "I shouldn't have said that. I do need you Marco. You're really important to me, and I don't want to lose you."

Marco smiled sadly at her and hesitantly brushed a tear from her cheek. "I don't want to lose you either. That's why I try so hard to protect you. And I know," he intervened quickly, seeing her look, "that you can take care of yourself. I know that you don't need a hero. But…sometimes I want to be one. I…I want to be yours."

Star blushed, glancing down at the floor and nudging the carpet with her toe. "Well…I guess you can be sometimes. But you have to know when that's okay, because sometimes it could end badly, like it almost did today…er, yesterday."

Marco nodded in confirmation. "I know. I'm sorry. I swear I'll try to work on that."

She hugged him again, burying her face into his shirt and taking a deep breath, her fingers clenching tightly at the back of his shirt. "I missed you," she murmured against his chest.

He swallowed hard, trying to calm his pounding heart, and chuckled. "I uh…I figured. I mean, you sent Pony Head after me, so you must have been desperate to get me back."

Star giggled and pushed him away gently, her eyes teary but sparkling. "Yeah, well, she found you, didn't she?"

Marco smiled. "Yeah, she did. Thanks, Star."

His pulse raced as he pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek before bidding her goodnight and darting up the stairs, leaving the princess in the living room with a hand on her cheek and a grin on her lips.

Okay, question: do y'inz like the cutesy stuff better, the drama-y stuff better, or a combination of the two? Because when it comes to Starco, I love writing all of it. Also I like exploring Marco and Pony Head's relationship.

What did you guys think of the new Gravity Falls? I, frankly, hate Stanford even more now. But that's just me.

Reviews are awesome!