Damn. It's been a while.

Half-baked author's note in 3, 2, 1.

A/N: (cue 'Without Me' by Eminem) Guess who's back? Back again? It's me, with some more review acknowledgements, a little note on the long wait, and a particularly lengthy chapter to make up for that wait.

Onward to the reviews!

chrissdomm: "I'm not quite sure if my writing is that great", that's what cripplingly low self-esteem and a drive for perfection gets you. Weird combination, right? Thank you for your kind words, and again, hope I didn't butcher that Spanish too badly. Thanks!

ericbarrera38: That's what I aim for.

Guest (1): Blood is not personally what I aim for, but if you think it must be done, DO IT. And in all seriousness for me, I love writing this story, and I want to write more often and in higher volume, I really do, but my studies don't allow for that right now. Come May and during the summer, be prepared for all the Starco fluff you can handle. Thanks!

Guest (2): Thank you very much, and I'm thinking 6 to 8, depending on how I'm really feeling there at the end. It depends.

ZeliaDay: Yeah… sorry to disappoint, but probably not in this one. I would have preemptively rated M if that were the case, but if you guys really want it, I'll learn how and post a separate one. Just fluff, if not a few suggestive moments to keep you entertained ;)

Anonymims: Thank you, I try to put out as much quality content as I can, and I hope I'm doing the trick. I know, when I first started with the story, I didn't want to put Jackie in a characterization like this, but I have to give some buildup to the main event which she plays a crucial part in so that it doesn't look deadpan. From what we did see anyway, she seemed kind of laid back, so a chilled persona with a bit of quirks behind a popular facade seemed at least sort of appropriate. And subtleties will come in future fics. Trust me. I LOOOOVE the subtleties. When I was writing the first chapter, I had some irl stuff on the brain that I wanted to churn out creatively, and this rushed relationship happened that they are still working out as you can see, and I guess it worked out for plot, so let's just say that was on purpose. Backstory unnecessary there, but whatever.

aliyaperez101: Oh, I intend to. Expect future projects, just got to get the right inspiration. Thank you, that really makes me feel great to have people tell me that I'm pretty good.

2hot2handle: I strive for having awesome writing to show the world, and to have someone tell me that I have the awesome work like I work for is awesome. That made sense, right? Anyway, Thank you.

Also, shoutout to anyone that reviewed this that is actually seeing this, given it's been two months I believe since I updated this. Damn.

Now, the message. Exams have really got me down. High school is rough, not gonna lie. And since I'm taking so many AP classes, the stakes are even higher and I have more special exams to take. They're all coming up in a few weeks, and I've been studying up like crazy. That and catching up on a whole bunch of other stuff in and out of school is why it's taken so long.

An interesting side note, I totally didn't prepare for the ending, or really the last half of the chapter to go the way it did. I was planning to have it go a completely different direction, but I thought that this would flow better and provide some more character development. Just in case you guys actually cares about what goes on up in my head. And if you don't, then just don't read this. Whoops, too late.

Disclaimer 1: Swearing. It's a T rated fic, so it shouldn't be too big of a problem, but an f-word and a few hard Russian swears (that'll be explained) do slip through the cracks, as well as other words I wouldn't outright say to my own mother, and if you think that needs a rating bump, then by all means, let me know.

Disclaimer 2: You know the drill, story's mine, characters aren't; look no further than Disney and Daron Nefcy.

Now back to your irregularly scheduled program. The hiatus for this story is over(ish). Now we wait for Season 2…

Chapter 4: Stressors and Decompressors

Marco's POV

Mental math was always fun for me. It reassured me of my intelligence, and sometimes I really needed that reassuring pat on the back. The ones that Star couldn't give me, anyway.

31 and some change days. That's about a month straight of working for a decent amount of hours. Just to double check, 1250 for the jewelry divided by 8 bucks an hour leaves about 156, and divide that by 5 and that gives me 31 plus a little bit. 5 hours a day, for a month. Oh, almost forgot, there's the 8 percent sales tax, so about 34 days I would say. That's all it takes. How to work that in the schedule though? I get out of school at 3:30, and get home at around 3:50 to 4, so if I put 2 hours into homework straight away, then do my 5 hours from 6:30 to 11:30, I can get home by midnight, spend a few minutes with Star, finish up any homework I have left and go to bed with a solid 7 hours of sleep. And then there's the small matter of the weekend. I guess I could always pass it off as a series of karate tournaments, but then she might want to go and see them, or she might see me go out without my gi and start asking questions. At that point I stopped myself. What the hell am I doing? I am scheming behind my own girlfriend's back about something as trivial as jewelry! This is madness! You can't do this to her or yourself. It's too much lying, and it's definitely not good for the relationship. But my brain might as well have been yelling at a brick wall at this point. I was doing this not because I wanted to, but because she deserved nothing less. No matter how flawed that logic was. And that was final.

I looked at the clock in my room as I lay on my bed. 6:20. It was a Monday, so we had to go to school, something everyone dreaded, but I was only looking past that. I had all of 11 hours to come up with a good enough lie to get to my first day of work. I cringed at the very thought of lying to Star. Why are you even doing this? What if she doesn't even like the jewelry? "Oh relax Marco, she will. Besides, it's not like she would care that you're getting a job." But what about who it's with and the fact that I have to be dishonest with her? She got really upset when I was hanging around her last. Don't even try and lie to yourself, you saw how she looked. I kept the internal debate raging on as I went into the bathroom and brushed my teeth alongside my beautiful princess. "Goooooood morning Marco! How was your night?"

"Thoughtful, to say the least."

"Uh-huh, so what were you thinking about?"

"You, of course." I didn't tell her that I was thinking about her because I was preparing to drop over a thousand dollars on jewelry for her while sneaking out without her knowledge, effectively putting the time we spend together at 0, but those were small details that could be worked out later.

She giggled, with that infectious little laugh of hers, reminding me of her inner beauty, youth, and innocence every time I heard it. "Glad you're not thinking 'bout Jackie or something, because I sure as heck ain't thinking about Oskar anymore with you around." Once again, that wasn't entirely true. I was thinking about her, but not in the borderline-idolatry manner that plagued me for years. Rather, it was a sense of confusion, not knowing what was going to happen at work, and fearing that something might happen that could ignite the spark that set off the gunpowder keg. I feared the worst, but the logical part of me knew that in all likelihood, nothing super sketchy would happen between her and me, but I put myself on high alert throughout the day, just in case. Which made me all the more guilty about what I was doing. I hoped that she was doing ok.

Star's POV

I was not ok. No matter what I did, how I made myself look on the outside, his talk with Jackie kept resonating with me, and not in a good way. I wanted more than anything to take Marco at his word. He was my best friend, and he would never hurt me. And if it were any other girl, I would have felt ok. But this was Jackie. I almost felt bad for her, considering that she was little more than just a pretty face with no personality until a few weeks ago, (A/N: I purposely added that in there to address the fact that some of the personalities in this are not very canonical. This one's for you, Anonymims.) and I ripped the guy she had 'apparently' had a crush on right from her fingertips. Granted, I had no idea where she was with her own version of Marco's 23 Step Plan (patent pending), and really no idea she had a plan at all. This whole situation was making my head and heart hurt. I just had to keep on smiling. Because I knew that was what made Marco smile.

When we got on the bus, it was rambunctious as usual. Now normally, we would sit right next to each other, but today, Marco decided to sit in a different seat that day, a row of seats and noisy high-schoolers now in between us. Was it something I did? Why doesn't he want to sit by me anymore? Is he looking for a way out? Oh God, what have I done! Surely there must be a reason why he wouldn't want to- I got my answer to that question pretty swiftly. As the bus stopped again, Marco motioned for Alfonzo and Ferguson, who had just gotten on the bus to sit in the row he was sitting in. Phew, he just wanted to talk to his good friends. That's all Star. It's not like he's thinking about cheating on you or anything. Wait, would he?

For the rest of the bus ride, I was stuck on this stupid tangent, all because of my own insecurities. Maybe it's because I've been too relaxed around him. Maybe he's just put off by me being too loose. Or maybe I'm not loose enough? This is all so confusing! Am I doing something wrong? How many things am I doing wrong? I wonder if he doesn't like the way I dress. He doesn't compliment me a whole bunch like he used to about my attire, so maybe he just doesn't like the way I dress. Almost on cue, Marco's eyes lit up, and he swung his head around and said, "Oh, by the way Star, you look extra nice today." Half the bus then let out a resounding, "Ooooo!"

"Thank you Marco!" Damn it, why did he have to be so nice? And what was he even talking about with those friends of his anyway? Was that sentence just to throw me off his scent? But what am I even trying to sniff out? Why am I talking about sniffing? Whatever. I strained to hear him, but he was whispering for some reason. Maybe Ferguson asked them to be quiet because he had a story to tell. "Or maybe he's hiding something from you." GOD, WILL YOU EVER TAKE A DAY OFF, INSECURITIES? But I started to give into them. I couldn't bear the stress of a relationship with Marco while my greatest fears were the backseat driver, having every control over what I thought. It was terrible. My fear of losing Marco, not just as a boyfriend, but as a friend was tearing me apart, and to constantly doubt his loyalty hurt me deeply, but I couldn't help it. It was terrible of me to wish this upon him, but sometimes I wished that he would have the same internal struggles I had so that he could maybe understand me a little better.

Marco's POV

I only wish that Star could feel what it felt like doing what I was doing. I made the decision to not sit by her today, one that I could tell hurt her. And the only reason I wasn't giving her the undying affection I should have been today was because I needed to get stuff off my chest. And the only people I knew to turn to were Ferg and Fonzi. My two best friends. Which I realized as they were walking over to me were the two people that had been most affected by me dating Star. I had been putting off hanging out with them in the same way I'll have to with Star when I start work today. Which is exactly what I wanted to talk about, which would also be really close to home because I had been blowing them off, so in short, this wasn't going to entirely be the relieving conversation I first pictured.

I made sure to whisper, so as to not let Star hear the conversation, because if she found out, she would absolutely freak. When they sat by me, I didn't spare a single second with formalities. "Fuck. Guys, I am in a big predicament."

Ferguson immediately spoke up. "Dude, we're on the bus. I know you're whispering, but you should use another language to keep it on the down-low. Try saying something like blyat, or call someone a сука. Ah, Russian is such a satisfying language to speak."

I quipped, "A man of many cultures I see. First Spanish, then Russian? What's next, Mandarin Chinese?"

"Well actually, I was leaning more towards Korean, but if you insist-"

"Ferg, that's not what I meant."

"Sorry. Wait, why the hell am I saying sorry? I'M MAD AT YOU! YOU'VE BEEN BLOWING BOTH OF US OFF FOR LIKE TWO WEEKS NOW!" His whisper yelling was freaking me out, but nobody seemed to notice, or even care.

Alfonso piped up, "Yeah!"

"Look, guys, I know I haven't been that good of a friend lately-"

"You think?" said Ferguson.

"Oh but I know. And I'm going to make it up to you guys. But I am in a HUGE situation, and I need some advice." I was very regretful at the fact that I had not been giving more attention to my friends, but I couldn't worry about that now. I was going to make this up to them, but it would have to be later.

Ferguson took a bit to collect himself for a response. As he was deciding what to say next, I casually looked back to where Star was sitting, and it looked like she was trying to listen in on our conversation, like she had something to be worried about. And while she totally did, she didn't need to know about any of this. I decided I needed to throw off some suspicion. Wait a sec, throwing off suspicion? Jesus, what have you even become? "Oh, by the way Star, you look extra nice today." With that, there were a chorus of kids saying, "Ooooo!" Star responded, "Thank you Marco!" With that, she went back to keeping to herself. Hopefully that would keep me safe for the rest of the bus ride.

"So. Marco. What kind of a predicament are you in?"

I whispered, even softer than before, "Ok, so this problem has two parts. But first, let me give a little context. So I was at the mall with Star a week or so ago, and a pair of earrings and a necklace caught her eye especially. And for good reason too. They were beautiful, and they would suit her perfectly. But I don't have any money. And that's when both parts of the problem kick in at once. So Jackie-"

Alfonso stepped in first. "Whoa whoa whoa, the same girl you had a crush on for almost a decade and whose heart you broke right in front of her? That Jackie?"

I was a little peeved that he framed it like that. "How many other Jackie's are there in our school anyway? Especially ones that you and I both know of?" I could see that I had been a little too snarky, but I didn't particularly care at the moment.

"None, but then again, that Jackie is the one I'm pretty sure is really pissed at you right now. Granted, I haven't talked to her, but I wouldn't blame her."

"I wish she was pissed at me. Then I wouldn't have to deal with all of the crap I'm dealing with now. She could just move on, not talk to me again, give me dirty looks, and that would be the end of it. But NOOOO. Instead, she all of a sudden wants to be my best friend! I told her I appreciate it, and to a certain degree, I do, but I have no idea what she may or may not do, and it's freaking me out! Not only that, but when she found out about my jewelry predicament, she offered me a job!"

It was Ferguson's turn to irritate me with poorly framed responses. "Look, Marco, I'm you're best friend, and we've been friends for almost as long as we can remember, and I've listened to a lot of your problems. A lot of big ones too. But every time you've come to me with a problem, it's nothing like this. All of this sounds like a non-issue, and some of it sounds like you're almost gloating! I mean, a pretty girl who wants to be your friend and offers you a job out of the kindness of their heart? IT'S NOT A PROBLEM AT ALL!" Right there he stopped whispering, and from the look on Star's face, she was getting more and more worried, even with the smile that was obviously forced.

"Jesus, can you keep it down? Ferg, you do realize that-" Just as I was about to chew him out for not keeping it at a whisper level, the bus screeched to a halt at the front of the school.

"Ok, I'm going to have to talk to you about appropriate voice levels later, but right now, we have to get to class. I guess I'll tell you the second part later."

"Whatever, dude."

"See ya guys."

Star's POV

'What's not a problem?' was what was echoing through my head on the entire trip to first period. 'What on Earth could he be talking about?'

All of Marco's talks with these people were really starting to bug me. As if it wasn't bad enough that I was scared for my life that this whole thing was going to collapse because of Marco's conflicting emotions about now-best friend Jackie, I now have to worry about Ferguson's perception of what is and isn't a problem to him. 'So now I have to decipher what Ferguson was talking about. He normally is worried about the same things Marco is, after all, they are best friends. So it would probably be something Marco has to deal with that Ferguson doesn't feel is that big of an issue. And the only thing he wouldn't get because he couldn't share the same experience with his best friend is... ME! It has to be something about the relationship, or else Ferg would be so much more invested in his problems.'

At that point, I couldn't stand the silence any longer. "So, how was your talk with your besties?" The second I brought up the conversation, he started to tick. He blinked a bit more rapidly, he started fidgeting, and he looked around at the surroundings to avoid eye contact. It's amazing some of the things you pick up about your partner when you're with them almost constantly. He replied, "It was good, I guess. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason."

"Star, I saw you scanning me when I started to get fidgety. I know that you think something is up. And I can tell, in the way only a best friend could, that you're anxious about something, and it's most likely me. Do you need to talk about it?"

We were just outside of the classroom, door wide open, when I grabbed his hand and stopped us both. I didn't want to do this at school, but I felt like I wouldn't get this opportunity again. I decided to tell him everything, for better or worse. No matter who was listening. "Marco, I feel like I'm falling apart! I feel like our relationship is falling apart! I don't even know why, because we haven't even argued once, but at the same time, I do know why! I'm being torn apart from the inside with worry that you'll cheat on me with Jackie. I can't take that. I can't handle losing you. I almost have once. But now I feel like I'm losing you again." Before I knew it, I was breaking down crying right in his arms. He stroked my hair in the way that only he knew how, comforting me when I felt the most alone. The classrooms around us started quieting, most likely to hear my sobbing, but I didn't care anymore. Here I was, with the single most compassionate, friendly, kind, understanding, charming, amazing person I had ever met, and I was deathly afraid I was losing him every second. "I don't want to lose you, Marco."

He pressed his lips against mine, as I felt a tear roll off my cheek and hit the ground. It was just for a few seconds, but it was a sense of calm that I only prayed would stay. "Star, you never will."

But hearing that only made me cry even more. "But how do I know that? How do I know you won't just get up and leave me? How do I know that you'll stay with me?"

He stopped hugging me and put both of his sturdy hands on my shoulders. He looked at me with a new life in his eyes I had never seen before, and said, "Do you remember when we first met?"

I sniffled and wiped the tears out of my eyes. "Yeah, I remember. How could I forget? I think about it all the time. Normally, I would think of how you wanted to protect me at the convenience store, and how you were there for me, but now I can't stop focusing on how you wanted me gone. You were so freaked out by me, and you wanted nothing to do with me. You wanted me to leave and never come back. How do I know you won't do the same now, just tell me to leave?"

He shook his head. "There are just too many reasons to count as to why I would never do that. There are a few more simple ones that happen to come to mind. We're best friends, we know each other, and we've been through too much together for me to ever want to try and get out, but those aren't the reasons you want to hear right now." It was then that he began pouring his heart and soul out for the whole world to see. "The one I think that you really need to hear is this: Star Butterfly, I love you. More than anything or anyone else in the world. You are my other half. You complete me. To throw away my other half, my better half, would not only be the single dumbest thing I could ever do, it would also be the hardest. I couldn't bear even the thought of losing you, same as you can't bear the thought of losing me."

I wiped the remaining tears from my face and brought him in for a kiss. It wasn't meant to be passionate at all, just something to bring us back into our own little realm, where nothing could possibly hurt us. But it soon became even hotter, sweatier, and harder to breathe as I tugged at his mat of hair and he held me in the tightest embrace while our tongues danced lightly around each other. What only felt like a few seconds of passion was in reality going on right in front of 3 entire classrooms, each intently staring at and recording our session. I just didn't care. My hand started to make its way further down his back until…

"Ahem." We both stopped to see Principal Skeeves standing just a few feet away from us. We pushed each other apart and blushed as we saw classes staring out of their still open doors, some recording us with their cell phones, some drooling, others handing over cash, though I couldn't possibly know what for. "Are you two…" He looked up and down our bodies, as if scanning for anything that could be grounds for suspension, or at least detention. "… done here?"

Marco responded, "Yes sir, we are. We were just having a bit of couple troubles, that's all. I'm sure you would understand."

He raised his eyebrow at Marco, as if trying to tell him something without saying anything out loud. It was subtle, but I could swear that they gave each other a small nod. Maybe it was just me imagining things. "Yes… I understand. I guess." "Thank you, Principal Skeeves."

As he walked away, Marco turned to me and said, "Do you want to take this somewhere else?" I looked at the clock, and realizing we had one minute until class started. "Marco, as much as I want to keep talking about this, we have to go to class."

Marco shook his head. "No. You need me more than the school needs me right now." He grabbed my hand and lead me away from the door to the classroom as the tardy bell rung in our ears. I said, "Aren't you and I going to get in trouble?" He replied, "I don't care about getting in trouble anymore. I care about you. We'll get to class before the period's over. And I've been studying ahead as of late, so I'll be able to help you out later tonight."

I simply nodded as we walked down the hallway, to where I didn't know. I wasn't sure what would make him want to study ahead, but I didn't question it.

Marco's POV

What the hell! Why would you say that? I was in the middle of mentally chastising myself for giving that small detail away that could unravel everything. Hopefully she didn't notice. As we headed down the barren hallways, I could feel the eyes of teachers in their classrooms watching me. My safe kid instincts were going absolutely nuts, but one look at the girl next to me put all of the alarms to rest. She needs this just as much as I do. Probably more so. She asked, "So what exactly are we doing, and where are we going?"

I answered, "We're going somewhere that we can be alone. And you and I are about to have some alone time." I still hadn't figured out where exactly that place was, but I was going to find it. I still couldn't believe I was cutting class, but my validation was walking right next to me. I finally found just what I was looking for: a janitor's closet with the door open and the keys in the door handle. I quickly pulled her in the closet and shut the door. The only light was the dim bulb hanging from the ceiling. And that was just how I needed it.

As we stood in the small, dimly lit room, Star looked around with a sense of curiosity. I grabbed her hand, to which she recoiled slightly. Her nerves were getting the best of her. That wasn't a boyfriend thing to understand, rather, a best friend. But that one small, unconscious gesture, made me realize why I loved her the way I did, and why I rushed into this so quickly. I loved her because she made me complete. I was no longer some pushover safe kid. Instead, I was a monster fighter. A protector of friendship. Of compassion. I had come out of my shell.

It was then, in those seconds, that I had my epiphany. I realized that the reason I wouldn't go after Jackie back in those days wasn't because I was scared, but because I didn't know her. She was unfamiliar. She was new. She was scary. But Star was different. Though it happened by complete chance, I became best friends with a girl all through my own merits, and because she helped me in so many ways unlock who I was always meant to be. I was indebted to her.

Star softly asked, "Marco, what are we doing in here?"

I replied, "This." I pulled her into a warm and tight embrace, one that she didn't immediately return. Her eyes widened and her body tensed. Am I doing something wrong here? Was this not the right thing to do after all? It was then that she returned with an even tighter squeeze. She buried her head in my chest, nuzzling me softly. "Marco, can we just stay like this forever?" I chuckled. "Star, I wish we could." I tenderly kissed her forehead, causing her to gasp in surprise. She looked up at me, at first with a timid look in her eyes, but soon turned into one of compassion.

We slowly slid down to the floor, never breaking our embrace. She trailed butterfly kisses down my face until she arrived at my neck, slightly sucking on it as she went, sending chills down my spine. It wasn't long before we both got tired and gave up trying to force any more smut into the day. We occasionally kissed each other, but mostly, we just snuggled together on the uncomfortable concrete floor. I could be sitting on broken glass and I wouldn't care, as long as Star was right there beside me. Before we knew it, we started to drift away…

Marco's Dream

I always wondered why nobody seems to remember where a dream starts, almost as if you were just shoehorned into the already occurring dream, and you just went along for the ride. At any rate, my surroundings were hard to make out, mostly because they were always changing. At one point, I was on an island, and a few seconds later, it morphed into a city block. Then it morphed into a forest on fire, and so on in random locations. But the strangest part were the people around me.

All around me, I saw my best friends, my acquaintances, my teachers, my parents, the monsters, and standing right beside me, Star. They were all just standing there. Then one by one, they all started turning to me. Ok, this is a little freakier than normal. Then, all at once, they started airing their grievances, their hopes, their fears. It should have sounded like a jumbled up mess, but I could pick every voice out individually and listen to all of them at the same time. It was starting to make my brain hurt.

"…I wish that the other cheerleaders appreciated me more…"

"…I wish I could be better with the kids I teach…"

"…I hope I am a good husband to Angie…"

"…I'm afraid I'll always be at the back of Ludo's pack, never in the spotlight…"

"…I'm afraid I'll lose you forever." That one caught my attention. I was spiraling around, looking at everyone around me talking, but it all came down to Star. I looked at her, and she said once more, "I'm afraid I'll lose you forever. Don't leave me." I tried to open my mouth, to reassure her I never would, but the words just didn't come out, and she was left confused and torn. "Marco, I thought I could trust you. Why did you break that trust?" I tried to say that I didn't, but then I realized the point of the dream. It wasn't that everybody had these problems, but it was about how I couldn't fix the problems I made. And with that, my eyes shot open.

End Marco's Dream

I was now fully awake and aware of the sleeping beauty beside me. I didn't want to wake her, but it turns out, I didn't have to. The bell to signal classes changing started violently clanging, and a jolt of energy shot through Star, who upon sitting up, hit her head on one of the shelves of cleaning supplies. "Ow! Damnit!"

"Are you ok, Star?"

"Yeah, I'm alright, but man, that hurts."

"Yeah."

"Wait a second, Marco! How long did we sleep?" As soon as I connected the bell with classes being over in some capacity, I immediately dove for my phone, checking the time. "Holy crap Star, it's 12:15! We slept through two of those bells!" We burst out of the closet door as everyone was walking to the cafeteria. Unfortunately for us, the act of two kids bursting out of a closet during the middle of a school day in a crowded hallway is one of the most attention-grabbing things that could happen during school hours. The entire hallway just stopped moving and looked at us. A few people were pointing at me, and when I realized that they were pointing at a fresh purple mark on my neck, I tried to cover it up as best as I could, but it probably only made the situation worse.

After everyone got bored at staring at us, they started moving again, but still whispering about us all the while. Since we were all going to the same lunch room, it made for one of the most awkward walks of our lives. At least we were together. Interestingly enough, I didn't see Jackie in any of the fray. Which reminded me that there was still some air to clear with Star. We got our lunch together, still hearing whispers about the newfound mark on my neck, and sat down at a table alone, making sure we were sitting across from each other.

We started eating our food, without making eye contact, when I accidentally inhaled a small piece of food. It wasn't big, but enough to make me break out into a coughing fit. Star asked, "Marco, are you all right? Should I get someone?" I said as I started finishing coughing, "Nope, I'm good. Just a bit of food, that's all." She merely responded, "Oh. Ok."

We continued eating, when I suddenly felt the need to really clear things up, once and for all. "Star, what are you feeling?" She put down her utensils and took a deep breath.

"Marco, it's honestly nothing. I just feel like we should hang out more. Like friends."

I started realizing what she was saying. I saw Ferguson getting slapped by yet another girl, with Alfonso there to pick him up, and a lightbulb went off in my head. "Star, I think I may have just thought of the perfect way for us to put a friendship back as priority 1, while also making amends to Ferg and Fonzi, just like I said I was."

Star said, "That's great! Just one question though: how?"

I said, "Let me make a few phone calls after school, and I'll tell you."

After School, 4:30…

As we got home, I told Star to go on inside, and that I would catch up with her once I was done. I opened up my phone and went into my contacts. I hit the number I wanted and sat back as the phone rang. After two rings, I heard her voice. "Hello? Is this Marco?"

"Yeah Jackie, it's me."

"So glad you called me! It's been a while since I gave you my number and I hadn't really heard from you. Anyway, I can't wait for you to start work today!"

"Jackie, that's sort of what I called about."

"What about it?"

"Well, I don't know if you saw what went down with me and Star at school today before classes started-"

"It was pretty hard not to see it. Especially with that mark of yours…"

"Hey, stop that!"

"I'm just teasing, you know that."

"Yeah, whatever. Anyway, I was calling to tell you that I kinda have to skip out on training today. Is it cool if I start out tomorrow?"

She paused for a few seconds. "Umm, I'd have to check with my boss, but I'm sure one day wouldn't hurt. Any reason other than Star that you'll be missing out on work?"

"Yeah, I've gotta worry about Ferg and Fonzi. I haven't been treating them all that well since I started dating Star, so I was going to take the day and hang out with them. Put in a little time before I get occupied with work and all."

She sighed. "Ok, I guess I'll see you tomorrow. Oh, actually, where are you guys going?"

I replied, "I figured since those two both love it, and Star's never been, laser tag would be pretty fun. I don't know if Star will be that into it-"

"Umm, Marco? I don't know if you remember when she rigged the football field with explosives and crap and turned her wand into a mace, but if you don't think she'll like any kind of violence, real or fake, maybe this is a sign you don't really know her."

I chuckled. "I guess you're right. See ya tomorrow."

"See ya."

I hung up and immediately called Ferguson. If this was going to happen, I definitely needed to apologize to him first. One ring. Two rings. Three rings. Four rings. Finally a fifth ring went by, cutting off halfway through its beep, and Ferguson's voice rang through the air. "Hello?"

I said, "Hey Ferg, listen, I was hoping I could-"

He then said, "What? I can't hear you that well."

I replied, slightly louder this time, "I said I was hoping I could-"

He interrupted, "Sike boi, you just got pranked! This is a recording, so once I'm done talking and you're done making a fool out of yourself, leave a message." I sighed as the beep signaling that it was time to leave a message chimed. I started saying, "Hey Ferg, get back to me as soon as possible, because I was hoping you could-" That was when I was interrupted for the third time, the beep for an incoming phone call going off in my ear. I checked to see who it was. It was Ferguson. I ended the voice recording and answered the call.

"Hey Marco! Did my leave-a-message thing get you?"

I exhaled as loud as possible, so as to let him know I was exasperated. "Yes, it certainly did."

"You made a fool out of yourself, didn't you?"

"Yeah, you made me yell like a freakin' idiot for no reason."

"Pretty funny, huh?"

I looked back on how moments ago I was shouting into the phone like an idiot, and chuckled. "Yeah, I guess it is sort of funny. Luckily, no one was around to hear that."

"Aw man, that's the whole point of it, to embarrass you in public!"

"I've got to remember not to fall for that next time."

Ferguson said, "So anyway, why'd you call? I mean, now of all times, when you could have talked to me for weeks now but didn't because Star was taking up all of your time."

"Ok, like I said on the bus, I feel really bad about that, but I can't exactly go back and change what I did. I called because I wanted to try and make amends with you and Alfonso, as well as get rid of the recent tension between me and Star."

"You're bringing Star into this."

"Yep."

"And I can't change your mind about this?"

"Nope. Plus, I think it would be fun for her too."

"So what exactly are you proposing?"

"Laser tag. You, me, Fonzi, and Star. It would be Star's first time playing it, so there's the added bonus of teaching her how to play, which could be pretty fun."

"What time?"

"An hour. Just by the way, I'm skipping my first day of work to hang out with you guys, so keep that in mind while we're playing, and don't take today for granted."

"Dude, after the way you hung us out to dry, we'll pretty much take anything at this point."

"So I'll see you in an hour? Around 5:45?"

"Yep. See ya later man."

And with that, I was all set to try and make everything right.

Star's POV

I was waiting patiently inside on the Diaz's couch for Marco to get done with his phone call. It was slightly nerve-racking, but I knew that whatever he was talking about, his intentions were pure. It was after about 5 minutes that he came right back through the door. He said, "Alright, I've got everything set up for us to have the perfect friendship day for us."

I suddenly got very excited. "So what do you have planned for us, my sweet?" I could tell he got the butterflies in his gut whenever I gave him a cute nickname, and I suppose that was the whole goal of cute nicknames anyway.

"We're going with Ferguson and Alfonso to play laser tag." I was now genuinely curious, as I had never heard of this before. "Laser… tag? You mean like with the lasers that the puppies have?"

He looked a bit shocked, quickly getting out, "Oh, lord no. That would be much more painful and much less fun. This will be quite the experience for you, I promise. All you have to do is shoot little electronic lasers at other people to either get points for yourself or to get them out, depending on which game is going on at the time."

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"Whoa Star, we have a whole hour here to ourselves before we meet them at the laser tag park. So," he said in his flirting voice, one I so rarely got to hear unless I forced it out of him, "what would you like to do in the meantime?"

I smiled. "A plate of nachos and TV will do just fine."

He smiled right back at me, saying, "Those two things happen to be my speciality.

Later…

One giant plate of nachos and an episode of Game of Thrones later, it was 5:30, and Marco arose from the pile of nacho crumbs more lethargic than ever. He said, "I'm gonna go get changed, and I suggest you do that as well. Unless you want to get spotted in the game, I would put on your darkest clothes."

Minutes later, we had both changed into dark clothing, Marco in a black long-sleeve shirt, skinny jeans, and black Nike's, and myself in a royal blue shirt and jeans with my dark purple boots. We got onto Marco's bicycle and started riding to the laser tag park. Normally, I would have been impatient and bunny-rocket-blasted us there in seconds, but today I just wanted to enjoy the ride.

I felt the wind rush through my hair as we leisurely rode on the street. "Hey, Marco?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we do this more often?"

"Whenever you say so. Any time with you is time well spent."

It only took a few more minutes to get all the way to the laser tag park. By the time we got to the outside of the building, it was 5:50, and Marco's two best friends (other than me, of course) were waiting for us.

Marco and I hopped off the bike, and he ran over to put the bike on the rack by the entrance. When we approached the two friends, Alfonso said, "You two aren't very punctual, are ya?"

Marco was about to respond, until I put a hand on his chest. I could feel his heart rate raise at the simple touch, and it made me feel that much better. "Sorry we're a bit late, we were just enjoying the scenery. Isn't that right, Marco?"

He snapped out of the daze I don't think he realized he was in, quickly scrambling to say, "Oh, yeah. Right. Scenery. Got it."

Ferguson and Alfonso both raised an eyebrow, looked at each other, and shrugged. Ferguson said, "Well, it doesn't matter that much, the next round starts at 6:00 anyway. We just wanted you guys to get here early."

Alfonso then said, "I see you still haven't covered up that mark of yours from earlier."

Marco's entire face turned red, and I gave him a small punch on the arm to tease him a bit. I said, "You know, it's not exactly something I would hide. Heck, I would show that thing off if it belonged to you." Marco broke into a smile, and as we slowly inched toward each other, I couldn't help but stare into his dark brown eyes, just thinking about the future, what we could do together when- "Ahem." We turned and saw Marco's friends looking at us with a bit of annoyance. Ferguson started, "I hate to be a Principal Skeeves here-" I interrupted him. "Wait, you saw that?" Alfonso said, "Pretty much everyone in our grade saw it or at least heard about it. We were close to the door today, so we got front row seats."

Marco quickly tried to save a bit of self-pride by changing the subject, and said, "Ok, I think that's enough of that conversation. Shall we go in?" He motioned to the entrance, and we walked into the dimly lit lobby of the park. I marveled at the dark room with neon strips of light all around it. It looked like something ripped straight out of one of the sci-fi movies that Marco and I watched together. "Wow," I thought out loud. Marco said, "It's cool, isn't it?" I blankly nodded as I walked around the smallish lobby, thinking how thoughtful Marco really was, as a boyfriend, and just as a good friend.

Then, all of a sudden, there was a crackling, and a voice coming out of a PA system. "Attention all players, the preparation room is now open. Go inside the room in an orderly fashion, and your guide will assist you with your gear and get you on your way. Enjoy." All of the other people in the lobby started shuffling towards the entrance. Marco grabbed my shoulder, causing me to turn around. "You ready Star?"

I sighed. "I'm more than ready."

"Great. If we get on the same team, all you really have to do is pretend that all of the kids in here on the opposite team are just one of Ludo's monsters."

"Oh, yeahhhh! That makes a lot of sense. Now I know these guys don't stand a chance. Wait a second, we haven't really seen Ludo as of late, have we?"

Marco said, "I guess not, but then again, you did throw him into god-knows-what dimension after we confronted Toffee." I shivered, because it brought back the memories of the time I almost lost him. He clearly saw how I looked and took my hand.

"Star, I know what you're thinking right now. I'm sorry I brought it up, but it never leaves my mind either. It may not always be at the front, but it'll always be there." He smiled.

Now I knew. Now I knew he really wouldn't ever leave me.

When we got into the room, the instructor asked, "Is there anyone who has not played laser tag before in this room?" I raised my hand, and everyone but Marco and Company groaned. One of them said, "Can't we just let her figure it out on her own?" This was met with some level agreement in the crowd, and the instructor took note.

"Alright, so standard procedure is that I explain what this is and how to play, but I really want to get this show on the road, so I'll give you the shortened version." I simply nodded my head. "Alright, so on the walls, you'll see a chest piece and a laser gun. Put the chest piece on top of your clothing, and once you've done that, press the button on the side of your gun to set it into active mode. That means that once you walk in there and the time starts, any other people in there are fair game. This will be a free-for-all match, each person with one life. Depending on how badly you guys suck or how good you guys are, this could take anywhere from 2 minutes to 20 minutes. By the looks of you guys, I would say about 10 minutes, so enjoy yourselves. Remember, no cheating by shooting before the timer starts, or else you're disqualified. Alright?" Seemed simple enough. I did as the instructor said and put the chest piece over my shirt. It was pretty uncomfortable, but then again, I had worn the official Mewman Royal Guard armor before, so it wasn't unbearable. I touched the button on the side of the gun, and as other people did the same, little lights that I assumed were sensors started turning from green to dark red. Once everyone's armor had turned red, the doors to the arena opened. Marco whispered to me, "Ok, so I was counting on it being two teams, but there's no rules against alliances. I just talked it over with Ferguson, and those two will split up at the back corners of the arena, scouting for any runners, and thinning out the field. You and I will stick together, covering each other's backs. If all goes well, it should be us four at the end, and we'll make up our own rules from there. Sound good?" I nodded. "Sounds great Marco, as long as I get to blast someone." He said, "Also, it's sort of a fun tradition to anyone that comes here somewhat regularly that when you get shot, you fall to the floor as hard as you can. A little weird, but that's the kind of thing that makes me love this place. The sense of community here in Echo Creek."

I looked at the timer counting down to the start of the match, at 15 seconds. By then, most other people had fanned out across the giant arena. I asked, "So how exactly are we going to find everyone? There's some really good hiding spots here, and not a lot of good lines of sight." Marco replied, "We've just got to adapt to whatever they do." And with that, the bell had rung, and I could hear lasers start to fire.

Marco grabbed my hand and ran down a narrow hallway, trying to get to a higher spot. I could already hear a few thuds on the ground, one of which was pretty heavy. A voice calling out into the dimly lit arena confirmed my suspicions. "KING FERGON DOWN! I REPEAT, KING FERGON DOWN! I THINK FONZI IS ABOUT TO GET TAGGED TOO, SO YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN MARCO!" I sighed. "Looks like it will just be us at the end, hopefully." He simply nodded.

We started moving again, trying to find any people to get out. We got to a small intersection, and as we were running, one guy tried to ambush us. He missed, and both Marco and I shot at him at the same time. "HEY! NO TEAMSIES!" I replied, "NO CARESiES!", which got a very good laugh out of Marco. The downed player simply got up and walked away. But amidst his laughing, I thought I heard footsteps behind us. Without looking first, I fired off three shots behind my back. And just like that, I heard a thud hit the ground. However, when I turned around, it wasn't an enemy. "Star, how could you?" I was shocked as I saw Alfonso on the ground, but just as Marco was kneeling down by his friend, Alfonso yelled, "BEHIND YOU!" I quickly turned and fired, getting a direct hit on another player. I said, "Yes! Score!" A voice on the PA system said, "There are now only 10 players left. Good luck." Alfonso quickly got up and moved toward the loser's exit. Such a shame, I thought to myself. I thought things were going to get interesting at the end.

We decided to stay in one place, that way if someone found us, we would be able to overpower them, and we could lead others to us, thinning the crowd even more. After only a few minutes, all of the players had hit the ground and then exited the arena. Except for us two.

I looked at Marco, then threw the gun down on the ground. "You set up this whole day just for us, so you deserve to win."

He didn't take that as an answer. He put down his gun, and said, "But this whole day was about friendship, and about putting our friendship first. I did this all for you. You deserve nothing less than to win. Besides, it's your first time."

I was flattered. I smiled at him gently, and he smiled back. And that's when I caught him with his guard down. I quickly picked up my gun, giving him no time to react, and shot him 5 times. The PA system once again crackled to life. "Congratulations, champion." Marco dropped right down to the floor, but he was a fairly sore loser. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" I grinned. "Sure did. But wasn't it fun?"

He he got up, shrugged and said, "I guess so. But never forget that I totally let you win." I said, "Whatever makes you feel better." He then replied, "Well, there is a little something I do know makes me feel better." He gave me a sly look, causing me to blush.

We went back to the prep room and hung our gear on the wall again, to be greeted by Ferguson and Alfonso. At the same time, they said, "Star, that was awesome!"

"I guess years of monster fighting really paid off for me, huh?"

Alfonso said, "It sure did. Hey, you guys wanna play another round?"

Marco replied, "Nah, it's getting kind of late, and I've got a busy day tomorrow." I thought to myself, Wait a second, it's only 6:20. Why is he all of a sudden in need of 12 hours+ sleep on a school night? When he winked at Alfonso and Ferguson, it made me worry all over again.

I said, "Marco, what exactly are you needing all of those Z's for?" He wrapped his arm around me, and said, "I just wanna get back to the house for a bit." This time, he winked at me, getting rid of the anxiety and replacing it with butterflies, but certainly not the bad kind.

"I guess you're right." I motioned to the two friends, and said, "It was nice hanging out with you guys, if only for a little bit. We should do this more often!"

Alfonso said, "Totally! See you two at school."

"Alright, take care, Fonzi. You too Ferg."

We went back to the rack to grab the bike, and I felt at home again. When we got going, I knew it was going to be about 10 minutes until we arrived at the house, but even out here, as long as I was with Marco, I felt right at home. I hugged him tightly from behind as we rode off, the sunset to our backs.

A/N: Holy crap, I did not intend for this chapter to be this long. I was shooting for it to be a longer chapter, like 5k words without the intro, but damn, I wrote a lot more. I think it turned out to be like 8.6 thousand words in the actual body, which is much more than I'm used to, but I feel a lot better about this chapter than previous ones. Once again, I feel as though I rushed that ending and that fight scene too much, and if you think I need to improve on something, feel free to let me know. As for now, I hope I'll be able to get out another chapter of something within the next two weeks, but at this point, who the hell knows.

Also, I did a fun little trip down memory lane, and I read Shades of Truth from Chapters 1-4, and I must say, I definitely evolved as a writer. Not gonna lie, the styling, wording, and grammatical errors were much better as I progressed. I probably would have done better on Chapter 3 if my computer hadn't screwed up so badly that my keyboard wasn't recognizing 5% of my keystrokes and autocorrect was correcting to the wrong word, but that's in the past. I think I'll iron all that stuff out once I complete the story just so that any new readers or anyone going back and reading the whole thing can read it without any mistakes.

Until next time!