-Chapter 4-

Her toe delicately touched the ground and she stood in that position, taking a deep breath as she prepared to re-practice her dance. It was harder than she thought with no partner but for now, it was the best she could do, despite being unable to complete half the dance. She wasn't too willing to bring up the subject of her marriage to anyone, not even Mrs. Diaz.

She looked up at a full moon. Without all the city lights on, there were thousands of stars smiling up in the sky. She didn't try to pick out any specific constellations. Instead she chose to let them be without formation or order—free to be what they wanted. And they were amazing that way. They didn't have to be the Big Dipper or Orion's Belt, they were just...stars. They were just there, nothing was forcing them to be in any one group. And as they stood alone, they shone brighter and better.

It reminded her of why she would never bring herself to have one hint of dislike for Earth. This was one of those moments when time should stand still and let the beauty of the heavens mesmerize everyone who happened to lay eyes upon such a sight.

Suddenly the peace was disrupted by a short click behind her.

She turned around and there was Marco, standing calmly in front of the door with a mysterious smile on his face. Her immediate reaction was to simply freeze up—his mother had given her a thumbs-up but hadn't actually agreed to keep anything a secret. For all she knew, Marco had every piece of information his mother did. If that was the case then he was not as calm as he appeared to be. She imagined he would be seething with anger. Maybe he'd found out all the secrets she had been keeping from him for a long time now. All those secrets...

As he began walking towards her, he looked up at the same stars she had just been looking at, hanging around the same moon in the same positions, and shining the same beautiful way. But he was getting so close...and wasn't even bothering to look her in the eye... She didn't want him to look her in the eye. He wasn't even saying anything; he was just looking away but still coming closer.

She took about two steps back and hung her head, turning her gaze from Marco to the ground beneath her. It wasn't to be rude, it was just...she didn't want to see the rage in his eyes, or any judgmental stare he might have. If she saw that coming from him, of all people—or come to think of it, any of the Diaz's—she wouldn't be able to handle it. Legally the Diaz's had custody of her so they could just as easily disown her. It could—and did—happen on Mewni; and while Earth's culture was so different, Mrs. Diaz had clearly said this was just one part of Earth, and that other parts had cultures similar to that of Mewni. Maybe those cultures had integrated slightly... How could she explain having to go back to Mewni early to her parents?

In her peripheral vision, she saw a hand stretch out to her. On Mewni it wasn't uncommon to receive a slap to the face as punishment for something—in fact that was the main way to punish a child. She briefly thought that was what it was, but just as quickly remembered that on Earth, slapping someone was considered wrong and completely uncalled for no matter what the circumstances were. Marco had no knowledge of Mewni culture, so of course he would never strike her. But that only brought up the question of why he wanted her to take his hand.

Daring to look up, there was no hint of negativity on his face. His expression was soft and caring, not at all what she was expecting it to be. She wasn't about to complain about it even though it was something she hadn't been prepared for.

She took his hand and immediately he did something else she hadn't prepared herself for—he made his intentions very clear by pulling her closer and twirling her. Either he was being completely whimsical and just felt like dancing, or he had happened to see her practicing the wedding dance and assumed she wanted to dance. Normally these dances were done in formal clothing but somehow his casual hoodie seemed so much more appealing.

He didn't know about the wedding dance, so she decided to let him lead and go along with an Earth dance. Besides...she would miss these dances. She would miss everything about Earth.

He gently held her hand as she slid by him to the point where she barely touched his fingertips. She twirled closer to him again and let him hold her waist while he swayed his body back and forth, moving her with him.

That was when she realized what Mrs. Diaz had been suggesting when she asked if someone was holding her back from accepting the marriage. This whole time she hadn't been willing to admit any of it to herself, let alone someone else, but the longer Marco held her so close to him, the clearer it became—the real reason she didn't want to leave wasn't because she loved Earth, it was because Marco was here.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and followed every step he made, matching her footsteps with his.

Even though Marco was here, it didn't change much. She still had to get married to someone else...but if she had to anyway, why couldn't it be him? Not that she liked him that much, just...someone she knew and trusted. She knew him. She trusted him. He'd helped her through so many situations and so many tough times...

This was when she was supposed to twirl once more, but this time he stopped her and kept her close, not allowing her to twirl away from him. Instead he wrapped one arm around her shoulders and kept the other one wrapped around her waist. He leaned her over to the side and, if not for him holding her the way he was, she would've fallen. She tightened her own hold around his neck on instinct.

He slowly began to lower his head towards hers and she recognized what he was intending to do. Her heartbeat rose and a blush spread across her cheeks. He, on the other hand, didn't have the slightest hint of red on his face. It gave her the impression that he'd been meaning to do this for a long time, but was either just now working up the courage or had been waiting for the right atmosphere. With a night like this, and with her having already been outside admiring it, he finally did have the perfect atmosphere. And she could feel it all sinking in, like she was absorbing some unknown energy.

Once he had reached a certain point, she lifted her head and her lips slowly met his. She hadn't given much thought into what her first kiss might be like, but feeling his lips on hers stirred something inside her. His kiss was so tender and loving. It made her heart flutter and gave her, as they said on Earth, "butterflies in her stomach". Even now she didn't want to admit it, but she did nevertheless—she wanted this. Even though she was going to be married in a mere month, she wanted him. Nobody else would suffice.

And despite knowing this one kiss would end up hurting both of them, she couldn't bring herself to break it. If it was going to be broken, he would have to do it. Forget about the stars and moon—this was the moment time would do well to stand still in. She'd gotten a taste of ecstasy; now she wanted more, and she wanted it to last as long as possible. But it would end soon enough and when it did, her conscience would be breathing down her neck about it.

And naturally, right after thinking that, Marco parted and that no-longer-mysterious smile returned.

Immediately she knew she'd made a huge mistake. This kiss alone was exhilarating...intoxicating almost... No. She shouldn't have allowed it to happen. She was already promised to someone else, someone who was not him. Not Marco... And this wouldn't just kill her, it would kill him too. She was never going to come back. What would he think then?

But...then again...it was an arranged marriage...done without her consent. She was in love with one person but betrothed to another. And then Marco pulled a fast one like this. Maybe it was his smile that captured her. Maybe it was his eyes. Or—going out on a limb—maybe she had loved him all this time and refused to admit it due to being forced into a marriage. That seemed pretty reasonable right about now.

Marco placed his forehead against hers, which somehow had a comforting effect on her. The kiss had already happened, the damage done. So why spend this next month running from him when she could very easily spend it with him?

"I've wanted to do that for a long time," he whispered breathily.

She smiled and this time, it was real. She was smiling out of happiness...not a mask to cover her lies, not something to simply pretend she was fine when she wasn't.

She inhaled just before he tried for another kiss—and succeeded. It was no less thrilling than the first.

This time tears flooded her eyes and for the first time, she cried about her arranged marriage in front of him. While she relished in the moment, she knew it was something she would be giving up. Being with him would only hurt her and she knew it but...maybe he was worth the pain. Maybe that was why she was allowing herself to be with someone she knew she couldn't.

But a part of her still felt uneasy about this. Her parents wouldn't approve. Mewni wouldn't approve. It felt like she was going against her culture. Yet, at the same time, she knew she wasn't—not yet. She was still unmarried and was free to choose who she could be with until her departure. She chose Marco. At the end of the day it would still be considered wrong to do this to him and herself, but it felt so right. That phrase had been so overused but it was true. They did seem to fit perfectly together.

But if they were so perfect then why had fate turned her the other way?

A/N

YES~! First Starco moment! So. What did you think? I can't do dance scenes very well so I hope this was at least okay-ish, maybe like a 5 out of 10. Oh well. I tried my best. Thought that counts, right?

Oh, and I'm thinking of changing this from Romance/Tragedy to Romance/Hurt/Comfort. Do you think I should do that?

Well, uh, I didn't expect this story to get as much attention as it is. In fact I'm not so sure I expected it to get any attention. ^.^ But, I did promise review replies, so here you are:

Rainbowlaserparty- You're welcome! Awww and thank you. :D I'll try my best!

Bigmike33321- I got a few surprises up my sleeve. ;)

arael205. ar- OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH! :'D That means the world to me! And sorry about the space in your name, but if I didn't space it fanfiction would think it's a website.

Guest- I hope I can continue to make it amazing. And I'm sorry to say, but I've seen Randy Cunningham before and I'm more into Naruto-style ninjas. But everyone likes different things; I respect that.

Prattle of the Sun- :3 Maybe I won't...BUT MAYBE I WILL.

PlasticPencils- Of course not! Star's getting married, she's gotta say something to her. lol

slammingfigure8- Really? I was afraid I might've made her a tad OOC.

JDaddyExplosion- I could see it aligning that way too. I mean I'm really tired of seeing everyone else writing it out as though Mewni is Earth when it's clearly not. And from what we've seen so far, it's very different.

DoomParchment- I love that word! :D

DaringTheIscolete- lol No not this one.