Things went from bad to worse in the photo album, the next photos showed Star trying to cheer up Marco. Depression slowly crept into his life… Star hated it. He went from outgoing and always happy to now a shell of what he used to be.
His confidence was shot and Jackie always knew how to twist the knife deep into his heart. Janna stayed out of his way…
Marco was out in his front yard in a fight with Jackie, "WHO THE HELL WAS THAT GUY BACK THERE?!"
They just got back from the mall, things were nice until they went to the food court for lunch. Jackie got the table as Marco ordered up the food, on the way to the table, he found his girlfriend with a male sitting across from her in a conversation she was enjoying.
Marco played it cool as he placed the tray on the table next to them, "You're in my seat."
Jackie didn't even look up at him as the guy just waved the latino off, "Why don't you find somewhere else to go?"
Our hero couldn't believe this was happening but leaned forward, "Last chance to walk away before this gets ugly."
Now, this was getting fun, she sure did get a kick when Marco would take out his anger on some punk trying to make a move on her… that's why she did it so much.
The male looks up at him and points a finger at him, "I said fu-"
Before the guy knew it, there was an elbow shamed into his face and was swiftly knocked out. Marco dragged the chair he was sitting on over to another table and laid the person on it to make it seem like he was sleeping.
No one even saw it happen, one thing that helped was how Marco used his opposite hand to cradle the man's back of his head and into the elbow.
This was one of the reasons Jackie stayed with him, there was always a bubbling amount of violence deep inside of him waiting to show it's face.
"I'm leaving…" Marco starts to walk away with Jackie biting her lower lip behind him. The drive to his home was quiet until he had enough of.
"You're getting loud again…" Jackie rolls her eyes at him.
Janna was in Star's room hangout, "Did you hear that?"
"Ummmm kinda?" They head over to her window to find the couple.
"I'm getting loud because it seems like you enjoy the attention of other guys more than mine!" His first was jerking with how pissed her smug face kept looking at him.
"Like you don't enjoy kicking their asses, if anything, I do it for you!" Wow, wow, wow… what kinda shit thinking process was that?
"Jackie… you need to figure out if you want to be with me or not. I'm getting sick and tired of hearing the rumors going on in town right now." Star and Janna weren't the only ones now telling him something was off about their relationship.
She walks up to Marco giving him her sexy lidded eyes, "Who are you going to believe? A bunch of liars that don't care about you… or me? Someone that loves you…"
Her hand reaches for his face but he smacks it away, "What I want is the damn truth!"
Now Jackie was pissed, "You know what, why don't you go back to the little bitch up there!" She points right at Star.
"You watch your mouth about her…" Marco tilts his chin lower with anger in his eyes.
"Or you'll what? I know how much you want to get into that tight little pussy you fucking Pedobear freak!" That was always her go-to when hurting him.
The girls upstairs jump after hearing that… they never saw a fight out in the open like this between them, "That fucking bitch…" Janna wanted to go down there herself.
"At least she would be faithful…" Marco was over the name calling.
"I don't need this shit or you!" She finishes off with a smack to his face, Marco could have easily dodged it but refused to. Jackie pulls back her hand back in pain while leaving a huge red mark on his cheek, she storms off and makes a few calls on her phone.
"We should probably give him some space for a while?" Janna spoke up.
"No, we have to be there for him, but can't make it obvious." Star said needing to come up with a plan.
"A plan…" The older girl said with an all-knowing sense.
"You got something over there?" Star was worried about what might happen if they didn't get to him on time.
"Maybe… no… that might not work?" The Filipino saw something in a movie just like this once.
"Wait, I thought you had a plan?" Star asked.
"What gave you that impression?" She did, but maybe it could end badly.
"Well, you said something just a second ago… let's just go with it before he walks into his house!" They could see he was ready to step away.
Janna raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, but that was me stating the obvious… you know what, just hold on!"
Star kept her eyes on Marco as she felt hands wrap around her ankles, "What th-"
Then she was swiftly thrown out the window screaming on the way down, Marco started running to her voice not seeing her until he slid on his back catching star in his lap.
"PRINCESS?! YOU OKAY?!" He sat up and started checking every inch of her body to make sure there wasn't a mark.
The blond was a nervous wreck as she looked up to the bedroom window finding Janna waving at her with a huge grin, "I'm… I'm fine…"
"You sure? Look at me!" He jerks her head to look at him and makes a few more checks then pulls her into a hug.
"Just what in the hell were you doing up there? What would have happened if I wasn't here?" That was a tough pill to swallow… Marco would do anything to make sure she was safe and even risk his own life and limb for her…
"OH MY GOSH?!" Really Janna… who are you kidding?
"DID YOU DO THIS?" He stands up with Star in his arms and makes his way to the other female.
Janna was legitimately scared as his feet stomped off the ground and he looked ready to murder, "WAIT?! I… I was sitting the window ledge and lost my balance… Janna tried to help me but was too late…"
He stops, "I'm… sorry about that… " Funny how he goes from being called a Pedobear to now catching the said girl from falling out of the sky
.
"Marco… can you put me down… I'm fine really" They had to keep his attention now that they had it.
"Sure yeah… I got a few things… to take care of." Even if he said it out loud, he didn't want to let her go.
After a few seconds she was placed back on the grounds as he started to walk away, "Hey… why don't you come out with us?" She asked out loud.
Star face palmed thinking how they probably just screwed up before they even began. However, she was able to play it off as a trip to someplace saying, "It's a surprise so we won't tell you until we're there!"
"I would but I have to take care of something…" More like going to his dark room and sitting alone the rest of the day.
Janna wasn't going to have any of that, "I'll make it worth you're wild…" That didn't sound dirty at all.
"Ewwww…" Star didn't like how this was all starting.
"Thank you for the offer but really guys… don't mind me." There was just too much on his mind.
"Fine then but you're not going back home… it's been a while the last time the three of us were hanging out together…" She missed him dearly.
Marco shrugged as he followed them from behind while looking at his feet, they walked along glancing back at him a few times. Quietly, Star began asking Janna for a place, to which she responded with, "Wanna try the comic book store?"
"Why?" Like really? It's not like they were kids.
"Well we don't know if there is a movie showing right now that he likes, his karate practice is tomorrow so the dojo is technically closed based on that. Also, we can't even offer to go to the park because last time I checked, Jackie hangs out there some days with other skaters" Janna knew everyone's schedule.
"If you have all this information already, why didn't you suggest that in the beginning!" Her plan to get this rolling really sucked.
Janna shrugged "I was busy trying to memorize his social security number in my head" Then in a split second she flashed his card that was mailed to him by the government.
"Give that back to him later!" How did Marco not even see that?
"Give what back?" Marco asked.
Star stuttered "Oh nothing! Just another surprise we have planned for you LATER!"
After being guided by Janna, the group finally reached the comic book store. The place was called McWarComics, home of the original fantasy. Despite the name making Star's head tilt a bit, Marco looked actually surprised.
"Wait so you're interested in this stuff too?" He asked them, he was a closet geek that they all knew.
"Well here's the first surprise, I've actually never been inside one before." Star started.
"Which is why I offered to take her here and decided to let you tag along because we both agreed you needed to be walked today!" Janna added and Star subtly gave her a thumbs up from behind her back.
"I'm not a dog." Well, maybe a lovesick puppy…
"We've noticed, there a lot cuter." Janna said before entering the place.
Shortly followed by Marco being upset by her comment, "HEY!"
"Shall we?" Star smiled at him as she offered her hand.
He sighed in defeat before taking it, "Fine, I guess..."
On that note, she pulled him inside with a quick yank that almost made him trip through the doorway. As they entered the store, Star let him go as she was awestruck at all the neat stuff that was inside.
Seeing lines bins filled with discount comics while new ones were placed on shelves that came up just slightly over her head. Along with display cases that showed off robots, making poises as if they were about to attack you.
Surprising her, even more, was some of the accessories hanging on the checkout counter. Some of them had a big headed characters on key chains or a necklace with some foreign symbol that was pointy.
Though one thing that made her eyes widen in wonder was a cell phone keychain that had a blue pony head with a pink mane. Something about it was calling to her, but before she could pick it up, someone asked.
"Hey, did you bring 'her' with you?" The owner asked from behind the counter.
Star looked up to see the store clerk behind the counter, "Huh?"
"The girl in the beanie hat over there." He pointed over to Janna who was thumbing through comics.
"It's more like she brought me here since it's my first time coming here, also how much for this keychain?" She held it up looking at the detail of the item.
He looked at it before saying "Oh that's like ten bucks if you ballpark it with tax but make sure you remind your 'friend' over there that she has one more strike before she gets blacklisted"
"Sure, sure, hey is it okay if I pay with debit here?" As she placed the keychain on the counter.
"No problem ma'am just use the pad." He pointed over to the card reader.
After the transaction Star went over Janna as she noticed some of the store's posters hanging on the walls. Some of them depict a warrior princess fighting an army of monsters with a thunderbolt-shaped sword and another one shows a man in green armor falling toward a planet.
She going to have to ask Marco about all of this exciting stuff. Oh crap! She forgot this trip was about cheering up Marco!
Looking around a bit as she headed towards Janna she soon realized he was gone, "Janna I need your help, also the cashier says you have one strike left and if you mess up you'll get black licorice."
"I'm pretty sure he wasn't talking about candy but, whats up?" Janna was giggling over what she said.
"Have you seen Marco anywhere?" Star was looking around the store.
"Oh, he headed to the back of the store where they sell board games and some pretty good novelty skull mugs." She thumbs over an Evangelion manga.
"Thanks!" The blond had to find him.
The girl turned another page as her friend left and replied, "No problem."
Once she made a sharp turn at a shelf she saw a new area to the store. Seeing tables and chairs set up as a couple of people played a game on them. Interestingly enough, it was Marco's friends Ferguson and Alfonzo with the guy in question.
"I don't think that's how marriage works." Marco went on as Ferguson nodded in agreement.
Alfonzo replied with arms crossed, "You guys are just jealous you're not married to the Pixie Empress!"
"Dude, I'm pretty sure she's just saying that stuff for the sake of roleplay!" Man could these guys really get into it sometimes.
On that note, his friend picks up the dice while saying, "Well I roll to banish you from the party using wind magic!"
Suddenly Ferguson started to shout out loud, "NO, we just got the crew back together!"
However, it was too late as it seemed, once the dice stopped moving on the sheet of graph paper.
"Sorry, but it's time for the naysayer to say bye-bye." The other member of the game started to wave him off.
Marco looked unmoved, "Oh don't worry Ferguson, maybe in the future, I'll send over an apprentice or something to plead for forgiveness."
"I'll only accept your apology if you erect a statue in her honor!" Get a load of this guy.
After that, he waved his friends farewell as he got up from the table and back into his normal downer demeanor. Though he was caught off guard for a second as Star asked "Hey… you okay?"
"What? I'm fine" Even though Ferguson was arguing with Alfonzo about banishing everyone who said his empress wasn't the bell of the ball. She remembered a bit of information that Marco was the fifth person that month as their conversation went on behind them.
Besides that, she went on to say, "Marco I'm just going to say it… you've been a bit off since Jackie…"
"Maybe." Was all he said as his eyes looked away from her. Trying to look like he was interested in a poster on the wall of a masked man riding a unicorn in space while throwing tacos at an alien.
"No it's not 'maybe', you haven't been yourself for a long time. I've barely seen you all summer, and when I do… it's just not the same. Plus your mom and dad are always trying to cheer you up but you just ignore them. Then anytime I ask if we can hang out like we used to… I don't even get an answer sometimes when I call you over the phone." Star was really letting him have it.
She put a hand on his shoulder, "We're still friends, right?"
His eyes locked onto hers before he took a deep breath and said, "No, you're right... Ugh! I know I've been a bit unbearable but it just sucks okay?" Marco said ready to get back to his old self.
"I've tried to forget about her shit, but I see her everyday with the other guy and it just makes me feel… like ripping them apart. Every waking moment I find myself wondering where did I mess things up? What moment made me into this? How could I've changed it so things could work out?" He said while slowly banging the back of his head into a wall.
Before he went on Star said, "Let's it go."
"It doesn't work like that Princess..." He hung his head low.
"I'm usually the one with answers or the guy that doesn't try to hurt people on purpose unless I think they're wrong. Yet, I can't stop thinking about how much I want to beat myself up whenever I remember her telling me how I didn't care enough." Marco was starting to open up, even if he didn't know it.
"She cheated on you." The words came out of Star's mouth before she could stop them.
"Because I spent time with you more than her!" The small shout got his friend's attention while Star stepped back a bit.
"I-I'm sorry..." Was it all her fault?
Marco didn't mean to say that as he took a step closer to the blonde, "Wait…"
"No it's fine, I… understand if you don't want to hang out anymore..." She tries her best to hide how frustrating this whole thing has turned out.
"No, I do want to… Star-" As the male uttered out the words, Star was already walking towards the entrance.
By the time she was on the sidewalk and out the door, he was running up to her, "Wait!"
"NO!" Star wanted him to be happy… even if she had to cut herself out of his life. But not for his sanity, it was for her own. She couldn't go on one more day knowing the hurt and pain that lived within himself. All for someone who didn't even appreciate him the least bit like she did.
Marco placed a hand on her shoulder to stop Star where she stood, "I'm sorry okay, I didn't mean to say that! I was just being an idiot so please stop!" He begged her almost on his knees.
She turned around to look at him, based on his expression, she must've looked pretty bad as she stepped up to him and told him, "You are not an idiot!"
"From the first moment we've met… I've thought you were the coolest person in the world, heck, even when I was little I thought you were the greatest chef in the world. Then the most knowledgeable, the greatest martial artist, and even started seeing you as real Knight in shiny armor… after that one time during Halloween." She jabbed her finger at his chest.
"But I've never, EVER, thought you were stupid." She could feel the heat coursing through her face.
"An all I've ever wanted was to see you happy again. I also know that it's true I'm a handful, that message came in loud and clear after what happened with Oskar. It proved to me that I'm this world's biggest screw-up but not you!" How the tables had turned…
Though as he was about to say something, she cut him off, "And to hell with Jackie! If she decided to cheat on you instead of actually putting in more effort… then newsflash! She isn't a person worth your time!"
Star took a deep breath, on one hand, she finally got to tell someone how she felt about that whole thing with Oskar since she didn't mention it to her parents. Mostly on the grounds that her dad would probably go to jail for murder and her mom would bar her windows along with her bedroom door.
While on the other hand, she thinks this whole thing might've just pushed her and Marco further apart.
"Marco… you mean me more to me…. more than a friend…" Star said getting her next thoughts in order. For a couple of seconds, none of them said a word until he did.
Marco could see… she was going to say was going to change the friendship they shared forever. Star wasn't ready for that next step, at least, that what he told himself, "Ummmm alright then... well I'm sorry again." She rolled her eyes at him, why did Marco have to stop her cold in her tracks?
"And you're right about everything, even if I don't see for myself until now." He was always right and always looking out for her.
On that note, Star started to turn and was about to walk until he reached out to put his hand on her shoulder again, "But I want to try, so do you think you could help a friend out?"
Star stood at a fork in a road now. She could tell him she wanted Marco all to herself… or continue as his bestie. Maybe she should give it just a little more time, "Only if you promise to smile twenty-four seven!" She barked out while not facing him.
"Already trying." This girl had a power over him he would never understand how…
She looked back at him seeing his small grin then in a split second she snapped a picture of it on her phone. Though the flash was on and he was only like a foot away, so he spent the next couple of moments being blind.
It made her mildly annoyed that he lost the smile in that instant but back in the present, she couldn't help but find it amazing as she looked at the photo in the album. Even more so when Jackie came back into his life a few days later...
God... I forgot how much I loved this fic...