So … here it is … after months of work … speaking of which, I would like to remind everyone that this story was started around the beginning of season two (a long time, I know) as wish, a lot of the plot details from the middle of season two (aka BBTBC) are … difficult for me to work with. But I digress, the reason I'm starting this today instead of Monday like I planned is because someone on Tumblr called me soft, so now I will be having your hearts on a plate (I'm sure they were being playful but there's no better reason to move up my schedule). I would talk more but I've talked enough for my first chapter and I'm sure you guys just want to get right to it … and I need to get to breakfast. With this being the first chapter, there are no reviews for me to go over yet.

Disclaimer: Star vs. the Forces of Evil characters belong to Daron Nefcy.

Beta read by Sabrina06

(No one's POV)

Star and Marco were on their way home from school after a relatively average day. "You know, dodge ball isn't usually played with live sharks, right?" Marco asked as they made their way down the street.

"I thought it'd be more fun." Star replied as she skipped along beside him.

"Was giving them legs and the ability to breathe air also fun?" Marco asked as he glanced at her.

"I thought that they would make the game more interesting." Star replied nonchalantly.

Marco let out a sigh of frustration and pleasure; although Star's antics still got under his skin, they became part of his daily life which he quickly accepted. "And here I was thinking that you had finally gotten a hand of Earth stuff."

"Please." Star began nonchalantly. "I've been on Earth for two years; I think I've got this Earth stuff down cold."

"One year, nine months, and twelve days," Marco corrected. "And I wouldn't say that you have it 'down cold'."

Star rolled her eyes. "Well I have it down well enough."

"Well enough to not embarrass yourself in front of the person you have a crush on?" Marco mocked. "Speaking of which, how is Oscar? You haven't changed him into any more giant insects, have you?"

Star pulled a one eighty and faced Marco, her joyful smile replaced with a hatful glare. "Diaz!" She began as she pointed her wand at the boy. "You should know better than to mention that incident! And you're one to talk, or did you forget what happened between you and Jackie?"

"I keep telling you, it was a completely mutual break up!" Marco retorted. The two stared angrily at each other, ready to tear each other apart, until they both burst into laughter.

"Man, I really did over fanaticize her, didn't I?" Marco said as soon as his laughing fit subsided.

"And I can't believe how upset Oscar was, I mean did you see how awesome he looked? He should have been thanking me for what I did." Star added.

Star and Marco walked up to each other and threw their arms around each other's shoulders. "Good riddance to old crushes." Marco said.

"Yeah, Oscar was as dull as a hammer." Star replied.

The two of them continued home, sharing a smile.

"So what's the plan for today?" Marco asked as they walked into the house. "What dimensions will we be adventuring to?"

"It's a surprise." Star replied. "Just let me put my backpack away."

Star began making her way up steps as Marco watched her with a knowing smile. "Did you remember to finish your homework?"

"Uhh … did you?" Star replied.

Marco shook his head. "I finished it in study hall while you were trying to build the Eiffel Tower using pencils … and subsequently magic."

"I'll take care of it." Star said as she ran up stairs.

Marco watched as a soft smile formed on his face; he had always liked Star and she had always been able to put a smile on his face. Then ever since he had gotten over Jackie, he had begun to grow more attached with his relationship with her. It wasn't just that he was in love with Sta, he had always had mixed feelings for her; but she had become a part of his life, one that he didn't want to lose. Though as he stood there contemplating his complicated feelings for his best friend, he began to notice that she had been upstairs for an unusually long time. He waited a little bit longer before realizing that she wasn't going to come down any time soon and the possible reasons worried him. "Star?" He called as he began making his way upstairs. He walked up to her door and gave a quick knock. "Star, you in there?"

He heard some rummaging before the door flew open with Star standing there; a slightly surprised look on her face. "Yeah, sorry I … got caught up with something."

"While putting your backpack away?" Marco asked. "You've been up here for more than ten minutes."

"Sorry, I lost track of time." She replied.

"Doing what?" Marco asked. Star pursed her lips as she looked away. Marco looked at her strangely before noticing a piece of paper that was sticking out of her desk that wasn't usually there. It wasn't all that suspicious but as he turned his head to look at it. Star noticed his head turn and quickly moved to stand between him and the paper; indicating to Marco that it was of more importance than he initially thought. "What is that?"

"Nothing." Star replied as she looked away and began playing with the ends of her hair.

Marco looked at her for a moment before shaking his head. "Could you be any more obvious?"

"What obvious? I no make obvious." Star said while beads of sweat began to form on her forehead.

Marco moved to get a better look at the paper as Star tried to block his view, he managed to catch a glimpse of some fancy bordering along the outside of the paper as well as some writing on it that he couldn't make out. "Is that … is that a letter?" He asked.

"No!" Star replied.

Marco began to feel worried as he began to assume the purpose of such a letter. "Is it from Mewni? Is it what I think it is?"

"What?" Star asked. "No it's not from-"

"Oh my gosh, it's from your parents, isn't it?" Marco asked as worry began to overtake him. He looked to the side as he placed both his hands on his head and began to talk in a hushed tone. " They're taking you back to Mewni aren't they." He gripped his forehead in frustration as he shut his eyes. "Of course they are, I mean you're almost sixteen, their probably going to-"

"It's just a royal invitation!" Star exclaimed breaking Marco from his panic attack.

"You're not leaving?" Marco asked, the fear in his voice replaced with relief.

"No." Star answered. "It's just an invitation to a … royal ball."

"Oh." Marco said as a new feeling began to come over him. "Another one?" Star nodded and Marco nodded with her. "Well … it's good that you're not leaving at least." Star nodded again. Marco looked at Star as they stood there in silence for a moment, both hoping that this time wouldn't result in an argument. "Should I bother asking?"

"It's a masquerade ball." Star answered. "It's a celebration of-"

"Not that." Marco interrupted.

Star closed her eyes and exhaled. "No Marco, you weren't invited."

Marco nodded as he tried to hide his annoyance. "When is it?"

Star looked down slightly with a worried look on her face. "Tomorrow."

"Ah, Friday." Marco replied as he tried to fake a smile. "So … I'm guessing our usual movie marathon is canceled … again?"

"You know I don't have any control over these things Marco!" Star defended. "As the princess of Mewni, I have to start attending more royal events."

Marco could think up a number of good comebacks to Star's flimsy defense but opted for the most direct and nicest one. "That's not the point Star." He replied. "I get it, you're royal, you have royal obligations that you would rather be doing."

"I wouldn't rather be doing any of them!" Star retorted.

Marco rolled his eyes and continued. "Again, not the point! I want to know, why am I never allowed to come to any of these."

Star stared at him for a moment before walking over to her desk, opening her drawer, and pulling out the golden mask that she had placed inside. "This ball is invitation only and you can only get in if you have one of these, I only have one and it's meant specifically for me so you can't come."

Marco sighed as his head dropped. "Okay … but every week, sometimes every other week or every third week, for the past nine months, you've been going to another royal party or ball and you mean to tell me that you couldn't bring a guest to any of them?"

"Not a one." Star replied as she rocked back and forth on her toes. "You need an invitation and I know that you were never sent an invitation to any of them, because like I've told you, I have checked."

Marco paused before shaking his head and walking out. "You probably have a lot of preparations to take care of, so I will leave you alone now."

"Marco!" Star called after him. "Come on, we can still do our movie nights on Saturdays!"

"I'll stick to keeping the movie night on Friday." Marco replied as he stormed out.

"You're going to watch them, without me?" She asked, a little heart broken.

Marco stopped at Star's door and turned around to look the princess in the eye. "You can do something by yourself and I can do something by myself, simple as that." He slammed the door and stormed off to his room.

Star looked at the door, feeling a little guilty. Although she didn't think Marco would be allowed to come to most of the events, she never actually checked. Thing is, like Marco, Star's feelings for her best friend had grown; but they grew far past the point of just friends a long time ago and they were still growing. This wasn't really a bad thing, heck, she might even enjoy the idea of going out with him. She didn't feel ready for the kind of permanent relationship that would come with being with someone with whom she already had a strong bond. Star was young and still wanted to have fun and see the universe with her best friend by her side; going through dimensions, beating up bad guys, and falling for the occasional cute guy ... and Marco wasn't just another cute guy. Sure, she could still do all the adventuring with him and whatnot but it was still the end of a chapter in her life; one which she didn't think was over quite yet. The thing is, most of the royal events were far from unromantic, and she wanted to avoid an incident like the one that happened at the blood moon ball that might shift their relationship to a level that Star wasn't ready for. This was not something she wanted to explain to Marco for a variety of reasons, so she figured that it was just a better idea to keep Marco away from the boring, slightly romantic, royal events as much as possible. At least until she was sure she was ready. Yes, Marco would be upset, but so far things have always blown over and they were friends again no sooner than two days later.

Unbeknownst to Star however, there was much more to Marco's anger regarding royal events. In fact, as he walked into his room, his eyes rolled at the sight of a box sitting at his desk. "Of course." He said as he sat in his chair and pulled off the letter. "Dear Marco Diaz, as Star's personal retainer, you are hereby invited to attend the bla bla bla bla bla, I don't care." He said as he tossed the letter onto his desk. It was beginning to get annoying. On average every other week, Star would get another royal invitation, lie to Marco, saying that he wasn't invited, and leave, canceling any plans they had. It didn't seem to matter how long the plans were set. She would come back later that night pretending like she didn't have a good time, and Marco would be mad at her for the next two or three days. It didn't help matters either that Star wasn't hanging out with him on the days he was willing to talk to her either; she had begun hanging with Janna most of the time or just going out on her own without telling Marco. That was fine and all, she was her own person, but Marco couldn't shake the feeling that she wanted to get rid of him. Therefor telling her about the invitations might lead to an end to their friendship, which was something Marco wanted to avoid.

Marco stared at the box for a moment before letting out a sigh. "Why do I even bother anymore?" He reached into his desk drawer and lifted up the false bottom revealing his numerous royal invitations. "Gota say, haven't heard them call me a retainer very often." He said before looking through them. "Dear Marco Diaz, as Star's personal body guard you are invited to accompany her …" Her skipped to the next one. "Body guard, body guard, servant, body guard, servant, body guard, … escort? Isn't Star the one who would choose me to be an escort?" He asked. He threw the pile of invitations back into the drawer and looked at his newest addition. "One more to the pile." He was about to throw it in with all the others until he paused and read it one more time. "Invited to attend …" He put the invite onto his desk as he pulled out the stack again and began reading them over one more time. For the most part he had been invited to accompany Star. That meant that even if he did bring it to Star's attention, it was still her choice whether or not he came and he figured that with all that was going on, she wouldn't want him there anyway. On a few occasions though, he was invited to attend, meaning that it didn't matter if Star wanted him there or not. That however wouldn't stop Star from seeing him there which would cause a very awkward confrontation. This being a masquerade ball though, Star wouldn't know that he was there; meaning that he was free to attend without the fear of Star noticing him. "Hm … a masquerade ball … yeah … she won't even know I'm there." He had a lot of work to do.

As a quick note, I will not be doing this same POV for the entire story, I tried, it didn't feel right for some reason. Now how about I get to that breakfast.

Have a nice day!