It was so recent, and yet it felt so long ago. It hasn't even been three months since they left him. He thought they were his friends. His companions. His band. But after a single gig gone wrong, the whole lot of them decided that it was all his fault. His fault that everything went wrong. He tried to tell them that it was nobody's fault, but after they abandoned him to form their own band and everyone at school began to bully him for what happened, he began to believe it himself.

Now here Marco was, lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, lost in thought. He turned his head to look at his phone and read the time. 1:30 PM, it read. To late to head to school now. Deciding that he's done enough moping about for the time being, Marco got up from his bed and went to the bathroom and got a shower. Coming back to his room, he dried his hair with the towel and ditched it on his bed before opening his drawer to get clothes.

Usually, he'd dress up in his usual jeans, white shirt, and red hoodie. But not today. Today, he decided to try something new. He put on a pair of black jeans, a white muscle t-shirt, and a black leather jacket. After getting dressed, he went back over to his chest of drawers and opened the top-left drawer where his socks were kept. Moving the socks aside, he found what he was looking for: His butterfly knife.

Taking it from the drawer, he unlocked it, flipped it open before flipping it closed again and tucking it into his pocket. Grabbing his wallet and house keys from his bedside table, he headed down the stairs and left out the front door, not bothering to announce his leaving since his parents were out of town on business. He didn't exactly know where he was going, just that it was anywhere but school or home.

He walked along the sidewalk for nearly half an hour before he came to a place that he'd never been before. It was some kind of restaurant with a large sign up front that read "Quentin's Diner And Grill" in big, bold letters. Hearing his stomach rumble, he decided to give this place a shot. Heading inside, Marco was surprised by the layout of the restaurant, for it seemed to have the Whovian effect of being small on the outside and bigger on the inside. The place looked almost identical to Jack Rabbit Slim's from Pulp Fiction. The booths were modeled after 50's & 60's style cars, the music was playing from a jukebox in the corner that was next to a small dance floor, and the smell of fresh cooked burgers and fries was in the air.

After being seated in an old-fashioned Mustang by a Marylin Monroe lookalike, Marco made his order and waited. After about ten or so minutes, his food finally arrived and he was surprised at how good it looked. The burger was large and looked to be made using fresh vegetables as well as quality meat, the fries were a good size with the perfect amount of salt on them, and his milkshake looked heavenly. It was a large vanilla milkshake with whipped cream, crushed M&M's, and a fresh pitted cherry on top rather than the typical maraschino cherry one would find on their milkshakes. He couldn't help but stare at the beautiful meal before him before he had his thoughts interrupted by a voice from behind him.

"Are you often mesmerized by your food?" The feminine voice asked.

Turning around, Marco was met with a long-haired blonde girl with a wide grin wearing a blue dress, red stockings with purple stripes, and rosy cheeks.

"W-what? N-no," Marco stuttered a bit nervously, causing the blonde girl to giggle at his awkwardness.

"I'm just messing with you. Do you, um, mind if I sit with you?" She asked.

Marco looked at her for a moment, giving her a quick once over before shrugging.

"Sure, I don't see why not."

"Cool, thanks," She said, sitting opposite him on the other side of the table, "Star Butterfly. Nice to meet you," She said, sticking out her hand.

"Marco Diaz, the nice is all mine," He said with a smirk, shaking the blonde's somewhat dainty hand.

One of the things that Marco noticed about Star's meal was that it seemed to be the exact opposite of his. While he had a normal hamburger, she had a cheeseburger. Where he had steak fries, she had shoestring fries. And where he had a vanilla shake with crushed M&M's, she had a chocolate shake with crushed Reese's Pieces. The one thing the two meals had in common: They were both genuinely handmade.

After about an hour of lengthy Seinfeldian conversations combined with eating their now dinner, Star and Marco were exchanging heartfelt laughter and sincere compliments. Then the former realized something.

"You know something, Marco? You're a really awesome guy. I really mean that. You're smart, funny, cool. I don't know why your band mates left you."

At the mention of his old band, Marco grew silent and a small look of sorrow grew on his face.

"Because if you knew me a couple of months ago, you'd have thought I was a screw-up and a loser."

"Hey, you are not a loser. Like I said, you are smart, cool, and a total badass," She said with a smile.

This caused Marco to smile a bit at this before he answered.

"You know, some people would argue that cool and badass are one in the same," He smirked.

"You know what I mean," Star said with a chuckle.

"... You know what? I think you're right, Star," Marco said with a smile.

"No, I'm just not wrong," She said with an equally sized smile.

Marco was honestly surprised by today's events. Him talking with a girl he had just met and talking as if they had been friends for ages. He honestly wishes he had met her so much sooner than today. She just had a way of putting a spin on things that made them better. All of a sudden however, Star got up from her seat.

"Come on," She said, holding out her hand.

"What's going on?"

"I'm about to show you how to make mistakes, have fun... put a twist on things," She said with a wide smile, grabbing Marco by the hand and dragging him over to the dance floor before she went over to the jukebox. After selecting a song, an R&B/Soul instrumental by Michel Legrand, she came back to the dance floor and stood next to Marco.

"Just follow my lead," She said as the record was put in place under the needle and the music started to play.

Star started to do some kind of line dance which she called The Madison Dance. The steps seemed to be easy enough: Snap your fingers to the beat, side-steps, jump, a rough swing, and repeat. By the middle of the song, the duo's sudden dance sequence drew the eyes of most of the customers' attentions and they started to cheer them on. By the song's fade out, everybody, from employee to customer, applauded the two's wonderful performance. The two looked at each other in slight surprise at the applause but shrugged, took each other's hand, and gave a bow to their audience before paying their check and leaving the restaurant.

The duo made their way back to Marco's house, continuing their many conversations about nothing. When they finally made it to Marco's front door, he turned toward her and smiled.

"I really gotta thank you, Star," He said.

"What for?"

"For showing me a good time."

At that, Star grew a sly grin and leaned towards him a bit.

"Did I? Did I really?" She whispered, leaning in further, her lips making contact with Marco's.

Marco jumped in surprise at first, but slowly began to melt into the kiss. Her lips... they tasted of... Honeysuckle and roses. It was the greatest feeling he had ever felt, and it was from a girl who he had only known a few hours. Kissing this girl, it felt so... liberating. So right. As if all of the cares of the world melted away when their lips touched. They soon broke apart with Star nuzzling against his neck before leaning into his ear.

"Your room?" She asked with a wide grin.

"My room," Marco replied, opening his door without looking as the two locked lips once again. This time, rather than being slow, it was fast and passionate. When they were led inside the house, they broke their chains and didn't hold back.

The two lied in Marco's bed, panting for breath, tired after two tiring yet VERY worthwhile hours of "exercise".

"Wow," was all Marco could get out as he stared at the ceiling, Star cuddled up against his chest, a satisfied grin on her face.

"Yep," was all Star said, adjusting herself to get more comfortable, wrapping one of her legs around Marco's.

"That was..." Marco trailed off, his words failing him.

"Amazing? Spectacular? Ultimate?" Star suggested as possible adjectives.

"You really think it was that good?" Marco asked.

"Totally," Star said, rubbing her head against his chest affectionately.

"Glad I can make someone happy," He said, kissing the top of her head.

"Same here," She said as the two drifted off to sleep.

Welcome one and all to the rewrite of Infinite Aether (I misspelled it the first time). While the first few chapters will mostly remain the same, I hope to continue this story soon with new chapters. Until then, please be patient, review, fave and follow. Til then, this is Lord Zeppelin signing off.