A/N: This is a story I've been wanting to do for a while. It's my take on how I, if I were in Marco's shoes, would have done/dealt with the whole situation that starts in the SVTFOE episode: "Lava Lake Beach." To me, this was the beginning/blooming of the Kelco ship, and I wish the show would have touched on it more but I understand that their focus is on the canon that is Starco. It's obvious lol. So, if it hasn't been obvious enough already, this will be another Kelco story that will somewhat follow the canon of the show. I may change that, I don't know yet.

The reason why I ship Kelco instead of Starco more, because I still enjoy myself some Starco, is because I felt that Marco helped Kelly move on from an existential crisis in his own 'Marcoish' way. Kelly turned around and picked up the pieces of Marco's heart, helping him try to move on from his own problems and heartbreak from the TomStar stuff in the show. They pretty much helped each other out of whatever pit they were in, creating a solid relationship in the process. The show didn't touch up on that but it hints at it, especially in the episode of "Booth Buddies" that show them riding on Nachos together. I am aware that that episode was indeed Starco centered, and enjoyed it, but still felt a little let down.

Sorry for the long author's note, but it had to be addressed lol. Anyway, hope you enjoy this story because I know I will. Also, if there's anything I get wrong based on the show's canon, PLEASE let me know. I have the attention span of a potato.

Disclaimer: (This disclaimer actually belongs to jolleIQ, who I heavily recommend you all check out) I do not claim the right to Star vs. the Forces of Evil or any of the characters in the show. They belong to Disney and the show's creator, Daron Nefcy. I do, however, claim the right to the plot as well as any original characters that may appear in this fic. - Sky

The loud sounds of lava crashing into the rocky sides of the beach went unnoticed by the red-hooded boy and light turquoise-haired girl that were standing on the dark, but warm, sand of Lava Lake Beach.

The vibes they were giving off were those of pain and confusion.

"No, Marco. He hasn't moved out yet. [points at her hair] He's still in here." Kelly whispered with pain clearly evident in her eyes.

Marco did a double take, not believing what she had just said. "Wait, what?" said the shorts wearing boy.

[whispering] "He just isn't getting it, and I've already hurt him too much."

The eerie wind passed through the two individuals, providing a low but pleasing hum in the area.

"I could try talking to him." Marco said with an awkward smile.

Kelly gave Marco a hopeful look, "Really? Hmm, well, maybe he'll listen to you. You are his best friend." she said with a light chuckle.

[laughs nervously] "I am?" the boy said with confusion.

[unfurls her ponytail and turns around] "Go on in."

"In there?" Marco says nervously, while pointing at her bushy hair.

"Yeah."

"In your hair?" he asked flatly.

"Get in 'hair'! Get it? [laughs] 'Get in hair'?" she finished with a titter.

Marco enters a large, open, but messy, space inside Kelly's hair. "So this is what's inside Kelly's hair." he thought. A pizza delivery guy walks past him as he walked up to a sulking Tad, who was sitting on a lawn chair, hiding his face behind a smiling pizza box.

"Umm.. hey, Tad." he said with a nervous smile.

Tad lowers the pizza bow down, revealing a deeply sad bush with pizza running down the side of his mouth. "Oh, hey, bestie. [sighs] Kelly dumped me, again." Tad said, while licking some left over pizza on his chin.

"Yeahhh, [shrugs] that's why I'm here. She asked me to come talk to you."

"Are we getting back together?" Tad said with a hopeful tone and smile.

"No.. She needs you to move out, bud." Marco said sadly.

"She keeps saying that, but I've been looking." he said with shifting eyes.

"Oh! That's great. Where?"

"Mmm, like… on the back of these pizza boxes? Uh, inside these chip bags? At the bottom of these soda pops?" [drinking soda pop sadly, while searching for a chip in an empty bag]

"Look, dude, I felt the same way when Jackie and I split." Marco said understandingly.

[points soda pop bottle at Marco] "That's your 'B', man. Kelly and I break up and make up constantly. We'll get back together in no time, so why even bother getting out of this chair?" he said sadly.

"Tad… it's for real this time."

[Squints] "You're harshing my groove, Marco." [drops bag of chips on the floor]

"Dude, Kelly wants to move on. You should give her that chance." Marco tries to take Tad's pizza box away, but Tad resists.

"Come on, man!" Marco said, starting to get annoyed.

"No! Noooo!" Tad cried out sadly.

"You're just making yourself miserable hanging around her." Marco stated, feeling a slight pain in his chest as he did.

[sighs sadly] "You're right. You're the expert."

[smiles] "Well yeah, I'm an expert in many things- Wait, what? What are you talking about?" Marco asked with a raised eyebrow, while crossing his arms.

[shrugs] "How you're making yourself miserable hanging around Star."

"Whaaat?! [scoffs] What does Star have to do with it? [stutters] If anything, I'm miserable because… because Jackie dumped me." Marco said nervously. He instantly felt guilt and sadness after saying that, knowing that Tad was…

"Marco… you didn't come here for the Soulrise." he said plainly.

[puts his hands on Marco's face, eventually touching his eye] "Oh, Marco, Marco, Marco, Marco, Marco…"

Marco grunts.

[places finger on Marco's lip] "Shhh. I've been watching you all night. You have feelings for your best friend, dude."

"What?! [shakes head] Nooo! No. … No…" he whispered the last bit with a sad expression.

"Dude, you have dimensional scissors! You could be knocking back soda pops and crushing pizzas in any dimension! And you're choosing to live with your unavailable crush? When it comes to making yourself miserable, you're the master, bro."

Marco goes wide-eyed and furrows his brow, "No, no. [slowly backing away] No, no, no, no, no. No, no, no."

"Hey, Marco, are you okay?... Buddy?" Tad asked worriedly.

[Wide-eyed] "Noooo… Noooo…" he said slowly.

Marco backs out of Kelly's bushy hair. I Don't Wanna Know plays in the background, as Kelly kicks over a skull just as Marco comes out of her hair. "Hey, did you talk to him?" sh asked the red hooded boy.

Marco turns and runs away.

"Marco!" Kelly calls out from inside her hair.

Marco runs around the beach with his hands covering his ears. He sees multiple couples enjoying each others company, being affectionate and cheesy with each other, until he runs up a small hill of sand and stops. Up ahead was Star and Tom sitting on their beach towel, under the pink umbrella, and they were… kissing.

Marco's eyes began to shimmer, full of sadness, at the scene before him but he then closed his eyes and turned his back to them, walking away.

As the waves of lava moved up on the dark sandy shores littered with bones, trash, and broken ships, sat a contemplative teenage boy by some debris. He was zipping his hoodie's zipper up and down repeatedly, as he tried to process the fresh set of events. As he looked out towards the deadly lake, with half lidded eyes and a look of sadness, his mind continued to run.

'What are you doing Marco?!... What are you doing?... [sighs] Star is with Tom now, and both of them are your best friends and they look happy… I was stupid to come back from Earth thinking she would welcome me with open arms... there's only one thing left to do now. I have to… let Star… go.' As Marco finished his thought, another resurfaced.

'How am I going to do that?'

"Oh, there you are. Whatever you said to Tad worked. He moved out. [smiles] I feel lighter already. Also, I think the zipper works, so… Yeah, you don't need to…" Kelly said.

Marco stopped playing with his zipper and turned to Kelly, which she noticed looked a bit sad, "I'm glad that worked out for you." he said with a blank gaze.

"I know that face. [jumps over hill of sand] Come on, Kelly's driving." She began to pull an unreactive Marco across the sand, grunting.

"I'll walk!" Marco finally exclaimed, still bummed.

They walked along the spooky beach. Kelly looked over to Marco, "You know, Tad and I? We used to come to every Soulrise."

"So why come here now?" Marco asked.

She gave him a small smile, "I love the Soulrise. I don't want it to be a place that makes me sad. The only thing I could think to do was face it. Rewrite it so it was mine again."

Marco turned to her, and returned the gesture. "That's very mature of you, Kelly." Kelly thanked him for the compliment by giving him a small nod.

Marco and Kelly walked up to a black and red lifeguard tower near the shore.

"Where…[pokes a skull on stick] are we? Should we even be here?" asked the safe-kid.

Kelly removed a skull off of a stick, "It's the best view of the Soulrise!" she said happily.

She aims and tosses said skull up into the tower, and it dislodges the ladder entrance underneath on its way down. She was leaning against one of the tower's supporters when it opened, exclaiming "Ladder!" as she gestured to it with her arms.

They climbed the narrow tower, finally reaching the top. "Wooww, you can see everything." he said. "Told ya!" quickly replied Kelly.

"I guess we should… go find Star and Tom, huh?"

"They don't need this. [she turns to Marco] They haven't earned it." she finished with a smile.

The lava started to ripple ominously. Marco glanced at Kelly and took off his hoodie, draping it around Kelly.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Kelly asked with a smile as she looked over at him.

"Oh, I was just… trying to… warmthen [gestures to Kelly]… you… You know… You looked cold." [groans]

Kelly wrapped herself in his red hoodie quickly, but then moved closer to him, giving Marco an understanding look as she draped half of the hoodie around him. Now they were both under his hoodie. "Thanks, I… I was cold." she stated.

They looked up at the sky, now waiting for the Soulrise to begin. Seconds after, the lava rippled once more as dark eerie clouds gathered in the sky. A giant rock-like eyeball emerged from the lake. As it rose out of the lava, it emitted a beam of bright light. Souls started to swim up the beam and release into the sky with screeching skeleton demons flying overhead.

It was a scene out of a horror show.

"Is… Is that thing…? [one of the flying skeletons flies past Marco's face] Aah! Oh! Ha-ha! Sorry."

The two continued to watch the Soulrise together. Marco glanced over to Kelly, "Is it past midnight?" he asked with a smile. She glanced down at her watch, "Yeah." she replied and went back to watching the creepy event.

"Then it's my birthday."

Kelly's eyes shifted back to Marco, "Happy birthday, Marco Diaz."

Marco and Kelly were walking back, still under the hoodie, to the spot they had all planned to see the Soulrise initially, and, on the way there, decided to learn more about each other. Marco told Kelly about his life on Earth, his family, the friends he had (Yes, even Janna), and some of the adventures he had with… Star, but he kept those to a minimum.

The reasons being obvious.

Kelly told Marco about her life, which he was excited about since he knew little about her, besides the Tad stuff, which no longer seemed to be the case. Apparently, Kelly was indeed Mewman just 'different', as she had called it, and lived by herself in a small dimension called 'Pandora'. Well, she didn't live alone alone, she lived with her clan, whose name was too complicated to pronounce or remember at the moment for the red-hooded boy. She said that the dimension was covered with plant life, especially trees that seemed to be "as tall as mountains" as well as plenty of animals to hunt.

"The reason my hair is green and shrubbery is because it provides good camouflage against predators. It's also very handy for storing stuff." she chuckled, to which Marco joined in.

"Wow, you remind me of an Amazonian woman?" he said with a slight chuckle.

Kelly gave him a confused look, "What's an 'Amazonian woman'? Is it bad?" she asked, worry slowly rising on her face.

[shaking his head rapidly] "No! I mean… not really. On Earth, there are stories as old as most civilizations that speak of a tribe of incredibly strong and beautiful women warriors that rivaled the gods themselves!" he said enthusiastically.

Kelly looked at Marco with a smile and jabbed his shoulder playfully. "So you're saying that I'm not only beautiful but strong enough to defeat mighty beings from your dimension?" she asked with a cocked eyebrow.

Marco, finally realizing what he had just said, flared up instantly.

[Stutters] "I-I-I… yes?" he said, hoping to not have offended his new friend.

Kelly laughed at Marco's reaction, "So tell me [chuckles] how you know about that stuff?"

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, almost tripping on a rock that was sticking out of the sand. "Don't laugh okay. On Earth, I took a class that talked about myths and legends from history. The section that I enjoyed the most were about the Greeks, which happened to mention Amazonian woman. As part of a project, every group had to have one person dress up as one and well… I… [sigh] was the one that got stuck with the role. You can imagine the rest."

Kelly was about to burst out laughing, picturing Marco with a wig, but stopped herself when she saw how deflated he looked. Instead, she wrapped her arm around his shoulder. "I'm sure you looked fine, Marco. [chuckles] The women you speak of do sound like the ones in my clan, since it is entirely made up of women… Now that I think about it, I think we have rules or something pertaining to contact with the opposite gender, but don't worry [she winks] I won't tell if you don't." she said with a grin.

Marco chuckled and slowly nodded. "My lips are sealed, Kelly… Wait, so does your tribe allow males at all?" he asked. Kelly tapped her chin, as if thinking, but shook her head after a few taps. "Our tribe does interact with males of our species but… umm.. [she began to get nervous] we… are only allowed to do that when… it involves… intercourse." she said the last word quickly.

[Blushing] "W-Wow… that's ummm, tough, Kelly. I'm sorry to hear that?" he said awkwardly, trying to comfort her. "So did you and Tad-"

"Oh gods no! We never took that step…"

"Oh."

They walked in awkward silence for a few minutes.

She eventually looked over at Marco and smiled, "But don't worry Marco, I'll be fine… It does suck that I never met my dad because of it… but oh well. What can you do?" she said with a smile that Marco realized was forced. He wanted to ask more but didn't want to impose on her privacy, so he chose to leave that topic for another time. He also didn't want to say anything awkward like he had earlier. Good thing Kelly dodged the subject like a pro.

Kelly, noticing how quiet Marco had gotten, bumped into him playfully. "Hey, relax Diaz. I'm a big girl. I can handle myself." Marco looked at her, making eye contact, and gave her a small nod. "Alright Kelly, you win." he said, almost out of breath.

The heat was starting to get to him.

They continued to walk in a pleasant silence for a few minutes, until they saw Star and Tom up ahead… kissing.

Marco closed his eyes, taking a big breath and exhaled before he opened them, looking ahead with a blank stare. Kelly, seeing them kissing, shook her head a little annoyed. "I really don't want to be reminded of couples right now. [sigh] Anyway, thanks again for what you did Marco. [punches Marco's shoulder softly] It means a lot to me." she said with a small smile.

Marco, snapping out of his stupor, chuckled. "Anytime Kelly. That's what friends are for right?" he said while guiding Kelly away from a rock that was sticking out of the sand. She noticed this and couldn't help but smile. "The nickname 'Safe Kid' suits you."

Marco looked at her wide-eyed. "No! I'm a misunderstood bad boy!" he said, almost pouting. Kelly covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing, but failed miserably, causing Marco to roll his eyes. [chuckling] "Okay, bad boy, I have a favor to ask you. [He turned to her] I'm going adventuring tomorrow and was wondering if you'd like to come, if you're available of course." she said with a grin.

Marco scoffed, "Are you sure you'd like a 'Safe Kid" along?" he asked with a smirk. [rolling her eyes] "Marco, I need a safe kid. I'm too reckless when it comes to these things. [sigh] Besides, I'm not allowed to go alone, clan rules." she said a little peeved.

After a few seconds of being in the heat and the puppy dog eyes Kelly was giving him, he cracked. "Fineee. I'll go with you." he said in defeat.

"Yes! This is going to be fun!" Kelly exclaimed, causing Marco to chuckle slightly.

"What's going to be so much fun?" Marco turned towards the direction that the words had came from and steeled himself.

It was Star, holding hands with Tom.

"Marco and I were just making plans for tomorrow, Star. No big deal." Kelly said to the princess. Star glanced between Marco and Kelly, noticing that they were practically hugging each other under Marco's hoodie, a frown slowly growing on her face.

"Well, Kelly, it is a big deal because Marco is my squire and he is accompanying me on a very important mission tomorrow. So, he won't be going anywhere with you tomorrow, sorry." Star said with a smile. Kelly squinted her eyes at Star, and was about to say something when she was stopped by Marco's hand.

[hand over Kelly's mouth] "Star, I'm sure Tom would be delighted to go with you around Mewni to help get the royal youths signatures on your petition for the equal treatment of Monsters. Right Tom?" he said with a serious look.

[sigh] "Yeah, I would be happy to go with you Starship." the three-eyed demon said with fake enthusiasm. Star looked hurt by Marco's suggestion, "But Marco, this is a very important and delicate matter. I need my bestie with me." she said with puppy dog eyes.

For some reason, they didn't work on Marco.

"Star, I don't need to be there for you to get those signatures. In fact, some of the royals owe me a few favors so just say that I'm collecting them to get their signatures if they get difficult. [He looks over at Tom] "This is a perfect opportunity to show Star how serious you are Tom. Don't you agree?"

Tom simply nodded, mouthing 'thank you' at him, as he rolled his eyes. "So there you have it Star. I pretty much did all of the work for you. [looks at Kelly] So my schedule is free tomorrow." he said with a smile, causing Kelly to smile behind his hand.

Star put on a fake smile and nodded slowly, "Great. Good work, Marco. Can you open a portal to the castle? I don't feel so good for some reason." she said with hints of irritation in her tone as she laid her eyes on Kelly.

[pulls out dimensional scissors from his short's pocket] "Sure." [opens a portal]

Star leaned up to Tom and gave him a quick peck on the cheek and jumped into the portal, without saying goodbye. "Tom, you're good right? I have to take Kelly home." Marco asked his demon friend.

"Yeah, I'm good Diaz. I can walk home, it's not that far, so see ya!" he said, instantly using his flames and magic to fly out of sight.

"[shaking head] So much for walking. So Kelly, you ready to go?" he asked Kelly, who still had Marco's hand over her mouth and hadn't left his side from under the hoodie. She realized this and moved away from Marco.

[blushing] "Y-Yeah, I'm ready." she said quickly, causing Marco to raise an eyebrow at her, but quickly dismissed her odd behavior. "So, Pandora right? [she nodded] Hmm I don't think I visited a dimension like yours during my Trials…" he mumbled.

"What?"

"Uh, nothing. [opens portal] Well, check if that's the right portal." he said to his bushy haired friend. Kelly peeked her head into the portal and pulled out just as quickly. [smiling] "Yup. That's the place alright. It's not the exact location but it's not far from it so don't worry."

They stood there awkwardly for a few minutes, neither knowing what to do or say next.

[ahem] "T-Thanks again for the pick-me-up Kelly. I definitely needed that." he said with a small smile. She shook her head, "No thanks necessary Marco. That's what friends are for, right?" she said with a grin.

[smiling] "You're right." he replied.

Before he could say anything else, Kelly gave him a quick hug but separated just as quickly. [moves stray hair behind her ear] "I'll send you the information later. What's your mirror phone number?" she asked sheepishly.

Marco went wide-eyed. "I don't have one." he deadpanned, causing Kelly to chuckle.

"Don't worry, Marco. Hmm, oh, I know! I'll send the information to Star and you get it from her!" she exclaimed with a smile, earning a groan from Marco.

"Is there another way? I don't want to… bother Star."

[tapping chin] "Well, your scissors can save locations right? [he nodded] Then just use your scissors! I'll meet you there at 8 AM Mewni time, though. [He gave her a confused look] My dimension is two hours ahead, so for me it'll be 10 AM." she said matter-of-factly.

"Ohhhh, that makes sense, I guess."

[rolls eyes and taps his chest with forefinger] "Well, don't be late bad boy." she teased.

Marco cocked an eyebrow at her, "I wouldn't dream of it, Kells." he teased back.

Kelly quickly turned to give her back to Marco, in order to hide the rapidly spreading blush on her face. "J-Just don't be late okay. Later, Marco." [jumps through portal]

Marco closed Kelly's portal and the one that lead to the castle, more specifically Star's room.

'Wait, were Kelly and I teasing each other?" Marco though, but shrugged it away. 'It's probably just my imagination. Besides, we both just got out of relationship problems, sort of, so that's highly unlikely.'

He shrugged and opened another portal, leading to his room. He had to wake up extra early to explain to Sir Lavabo why he wouldn't be helping him out in the morning. [sigh] 'Hopefully he doesn't get upset and make me do a hundred push-ups again' he thought worriedly.

He was about to traverse the portal, when something shiny by his feet caught his eyes. He bent down to pick up the object and sighed. They were Kelly's glasses. 'They must have fallen out when she turned around quickly for some reason.'

He put the glasses in his short's pocket and walked through the portal.

'I'll return them tomorrow. Hopefully she will be alright without them.' he thought as he stepped into his room. He placed the glasses on a table near his bed and headed towards the bathroom to shower. Once inside he took off his hoodie… Wait, [he patted himself] where was his hoodie?! He retraced his steps and relaxed after a few seconds of doing so. Kelly had taken his hoodie by mistake. She must have forgotten to give it back since she rushed back home.

He sighed and took off his grey undershirt, revealing a decently toned body but, sadly, no abs on the reflection of the mirror in front of him. Marco stared at his reflection with a blank stare, the scars all over his chest brought back unpleasant memories from his Trials. Hekapoo had explained to him that any damage, such as scars, would disappear when he finished said Trials, but here he was, covered in scars, that began and ended on his upper body except for the arms. It's a surprise no one had noticed yet. It was probably because his red hoodie was doing such a wonderful job of hiding them. He now had several reasons to be conscious of his body.

Marco shook his head in order to focus, went back to undressing himself, and walked into the shower. Once he was done, the brown haired boy laid down on his bed, quickly glancing at the clock.

It was 1 AM.

He set the alarm on his clock and phone, just in case, for 7 AM. He placed the phone under his pillow and laid back down.

He looked up at the ceiling and stared at it for a few minutes, until sleep began to take hold of him. As his eyes were beginning to fully close and finally be able to fall into a pleasant sleep, a memory from his Trials quickly passed through his drowsy mind.

An image of someone strapped and struggling on an operating table covered in blood and medieval tools of torture flashed through his mind. Someone else could be heard screaming from behind the room's door, until it went dead silent. A few seconds later, a person wearing an apron drenched in blood came through the door. The person's face was hidden behind a matching doctor's mask, who held a butchers knife.

Blood slowly dripping down from the blade, making a pool near the person's bare feet.

"Let's make you feel better. Now hold still, this might hurt a little."

The image blurred as the individual on the table cried blood curdling screams.

Suddenly, the door came crashing down and someone wearing a bright fiery orange dress stepped in, kicking the individual with the butcher knife into the wall. A sizable crack was heard from the impact.

The dress wearing individual walked up to the table, unstrapping the person from the bloody table.

"I'm sorry. I'm Sorry. I'M SORRY." the individual wearing the dress said over and over, voice cracking and choked up from crying as the person tried to stop the bleeding with their hands, to no avail.

Tears were landing on the bleeding person's face... as they continued to bleed out.

As quickly as the memory came, it was gone, but Marco didn't seem to mind or care about it since he was fast asleep, as if nothing had happened. Completely unfazed.

He was used to such memories by now.

A/N: Wow that was fun! Well, not the last part but you know what I mean. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this chapter from my new story. Most of it was dialogue from the show so not much in originality lol but I wanted to do it that way so I could set it up for things to come. It'll make sense, I promise. Anyway, thanks for any support on this. I deeply appreciate it so don't be shy if you'd like to PM me or anything, especially about suggestions to make the story better. I promise I don't bite lol. Well, once again, I hope you all enjoyed it and until next time. Peaceeee. Kelco 3