Author's Note: It's been a little while. Another short update. I'll try to make the next one longer.

What Once Was:

Marco and Jackie

With all of his ingredients set out before him, Marco went to work.

He usually reserved his Super Awesome Nachos for celebrations and this certainly wasn't a party but he couldn't think of a better distraction. The last person he expected to see was Jackie, especially seeing as though he'd been actively avoiding her. He knew it wasn't right but every time he tried to pick up the phone, he couldn't make himself call. He'd listened to every one of her voicemails, sometimes more than once, but he was still too nervous to do anything about them. He knew that she was upset and that she deserved some sort of explanation but he didn't have all the answers. His summer vacation so far consisted of watching an absurd amount of mindless TV, playing video-games, and hiding out in his room. It was all a bad attempt to avoid one glaring problem and, so far, he wasn't making much progress. Jackie showing up unannounced was probably the first shake in his routine for days. He briefly cut his eyes over in her direction, watching as she nervously chipped at her nail polish. It felt like they were two strangers instead of a couple. Were they still a couple? There was only one way to find out.

"So", he finally said as he slid the pan into the oven, "Talk".

"Yeah...talk", she sighed, "...Um...you start".

"Uh, okay. I'm sorry. I know I should've called you. I kind of left you in the dark which wasn't cool".

"I understand. You're dealing with a lot right now, with Star..."

Even hearing her name was enough to send a sharp pain through him. He missed her, that much was obvious, and no amount of reasoning could change that. Everything was boring without her and the more time that passed, the worse it became. He...had a plan. A dumb and extremely dangerous one but still a plan nonetheless. The only issue was getting the courage to actually go through with it. He met Jackie's gaze, the hurt in her eyes enough to remind him that Star wasn't the only one that needed him.

"That still doesn't make it right. I really like you, Jackie, and I never wanted any of this to happen. I thought we'd be having an awesome summer right now and we're not and it's mostly my fault and-", he shook his head, "I think...right now...maybe it's best if we...just..."

She looked at him for a moment before a sad smile graced her face, "You're breaking up with me".

"I, um, no! I mean, it's...just...I guess I am..."

He wasn't sure how to feel and the confusing mix of emotions was only making him nauseous. He never imagined that his first relationship would end so abruptly and he never thought he'd be the one to call things off. He had no idea how these situations were supposed to go which only made him more nervous. Jackie didn't seem angry but he couldn't see how she wouldn't be. He was breaking up with her after not speaking to her for days, on top of his best friend admitting she had feelings for him. No matter how he sliced it, the situation wasn't ideal.

"It's...okay. Well, it's not okay but...I get it. Things are weird right now and us being together isn't helping".

"I'm sorry, Jackie. I really wanted this to work".

"Yeah, me too".

It was at that moment that the oven timer decided to go off. He was almost glad for the noise since it helped to cut some of the tension but he knew the conversation was far from over. He took the nachos out of the oven and placed some on a large plate. He quickly set it down on the table, breathing a sigh of relief once Jackie ate one. At least that hadn't changed.

"These really are awesome nachos. Kinda sucks that I won't have them after this".

"We're still friends, Jackie".

"I know. I just need some time to myself. To think".

He couldn't blame her for needing her space. After all, he'd done the same thing to her. Even still, hearing it was difficult.

"Yeah. Okay".

"How long did you know?"

"Know?"

She nodded, "That you liked her".

He froze for a moment, not knowing how he should proceed. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Jackie's feelings and he definitely didn't want her to think that he'd had feelings for Star all along. But he knew that he couldn't lie to her.

"...Awhile, I guess. I liked you too! I mean...that sounds worse than I intended..."

Surprisingly, she started to laugh. After a few seconds, he found himself joining in. It felt good to laugh about the situation, even if it wasn't very funny. He'd have plenty of time to beat himself up over it later but, for right now, it was nice to get a break.

"Dude, it's okay. I always kind of knew you two had a thing for each other. Guess I just didn't want to believe it".

"It wasn't like that".

"I know. Well, when are you going to tell her?"

"Oh, you know, never?", he scoffed, "Not like I can just waltz over to Mewni and..."

He trailed off, his hesitation enough to pique her interest. He knew that he'd made a mistake even before he saw the look on her face.

"You've got a plan, don't you? And you're worried about messing it up?"

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence-"

"What are you waiting for? You went after me, didn't you?"

"Are you kidding? That took ages-"

"Then don't wait around this time! Come on, Marco, what are you so afraid of? You kick monster butt on a daily basis".

He crossed his arms, "This isn't the same, Jackie. Something's wrong. I can tell".

"Even more reason for you to be there", she eyed him carefully, "This isn't even for me to say but...if you care about her, you should let her know. She told you how she felt. You need to do the same".

As much as he wanted to argue, he knew it was pointless to disagree. She was right; he needed to do something. The longer he sat around, the worse things could be for Star. Who knew what she was going through? He took a deep breath before he motioned for Jackie to follow him. He led the way upstairs towards his room where he headed towards his computer desk. Sitting on top of a few books were the dimensional scissors. He'd been staring at them for days, too scared to actually use them but needing to have them near. He took another breath before he picked them up and turned to show them to Jackie. She took one look at them before her eyes widened.

"Are those...?"

"Yeah", he looked down at them, "They're mine. I can use them to get to Star. But I don't know what I'll do when I get there. I don't even know what I'm walking into. And my parents-"

"I can help".

"Jackie, I can't expect you to do that for me".

"Oh, I'm not going with you", she smiled, "But I think I know some people that would".