Ford could practically feel Marco's pain as if it were contagious. They made it up the stairs, but with a slow and excruciating pace. At one step, Marco's hand tightened with strict hold on Ford's shoulder and the old man knew he was going down again.

When Marco did hit the ground and made a loud thump, he felt strong empathy for him. The pain of his own body experience after Bill would continuously overuse his body until it was sore, made Ford see Marco as if the boy was himself. He had to look away from the boy who struggled to catch his breath while trying to get up quickly.

"It's okay." He said to the wall behind them and the staircase. "Just take your time." When Marco didn't get up with success and his breathing was sharpening, Ford kneeled down next to him. "My boy, are you alright?" Marco couldn't seem to hear his voice, unfortunately. He blocked it out. Instead, he thought of the numb, yet still sharp, pain his body was in.

"Yeah, fine. Just tired." Marco said with surprising breath strength. Ford's worries were silenced when Marco began to stand up and walk once more. Even though he was in pain and exhausted, Marco pushed on. His eyes couldn't keep themselves open and his muscles were so weak. His legs shook with every careful step and his head pounded with every little movement. Still, he pushed on.

By the time they got to the hallway of the second floor to Ford's room, Marco stopped unexpectedly. "Marco?" Ford said, but the boy was already collapsing. Marco's arm fell loose from Ford's shoulder and his body became drooped. He hit the wooden floor with a tremendous, ground-shaking, frightening drop. "Woah, woah, woah!" Ford exclaimed, increasing every word with more volume and fright. Ford was already by his side, on one knee, checking Marco's pulse. When his pulse was steady and normal next to his own, Ford sighed with depth.

"Ford!" Stan's annoyed and awakened voice intruded by his own bedroom door. He rubbed his eyes and leaned up against the doorframe lazily. "What is your deal? It's one in the morning!"

"He's fine. Thanks for your concern." Ford shot back with squinted eyes, referring to Marco.

Stan fixed the glasses on his face and looked down at Marco, who was unconscious. "Oh, so now you're killing the kids. That's just great."

"He's not dead!" Ford informed Stan. "He just fainted. It's perfectly normal for...well, what he's been through." As he struggled to find the words for Marco's case, he made hand gestures, circling his hands around one another.

"Perfectly normal, huh?" Stan argued back, his anger flooding up to his head. "Y'know, last I checked, kids don't just drop to the ground, unless they've been kicked in the stomach by a mule! I thought I told you to stay away from the kids! I knew you'd be trouble for them!"

"I had nothing to do with this, Stanley! I was actually trying to protect them!" Before they both knew it, their fight had attracted Dipper and Mabel. They came up the stairs together and still had sleep lingering in them.

"What's going on?" Dipper yawned.

"Can't you guys wait until morning to fight?" Mabel commented with her raspy, unused, sleepy voice. Her eyes fell to the floor where Marco laid, then back up at her Grunkles. "What happened? Is he okay?"

"Yes, he's fine." Ford stepped in. "Marco just needs to rest." He, then, proceeded to lift Marco up, carrying him by his back and then his legs. With a hundred pounds of dead weight in his arms, Ford took the boy to his room and set him down, gently.

. . .

Marco quickly jerked forward, making Ford leap out of his seat. The ice pack on his forehead dropped into his lap as he sat up so suddenly. Thinking Marco was in a panic, Ford calmed him. "Hey, woah. Easy there. You're okay."

"What happened? How long was I out?"

Ford chuckled before answering. "You've been out for a whole day. It's about time you woke up. I was beginning to worry." Marco couldn't help his eyes to retreat and get attached to Star's blue eyes in the doorway. She didn't allow herself to even take a step in the room. She kept her distance, no smile was beheld on her face.

Marco was getting fed up, now. Star hasn't shown any remorse for him whatsoever. He was her best friend.

What happened?

"Star?" Marco asked, making Ford turn to where the boy's eyes were looking. Instead of saying anything back, Star turned, letting her blonde hair softly wisp behind her. She was about to leave, but Marco stopped her. He tried to get up on both feet, however, could feel his bones working against him. "Star, stop! Please!"

"What?" Star snapped back with a nasty attitude. She didn't bother to turn around, either.

"Stop giving me the silent treatment!" Marco begged to Star's back head of hair. "What did I do? Tell me."

"You mean, you seriously don't remember?" She rotated to face the mangled, bedridden boy with a blank expression. Marco shook his head in response.

"I'll just...leave you two alone." Ford decided before letting himself out and shutting the door behind Marco and Star.

"Star, I am really sorry."

Star let a puff of air out through her closed lips. "Oh, so you do remember?"

"Actually, no."

"Then, how can you apologize for something that you didn't know you did?" Star exclaimed with frustration.

"Then, tell me what I did so I can apologize for it!" Marco demanded. Star mentally laughed. Marco was cute. He knew his innocence and Star knew that being apologetic was his thing.

Star's eyes found themselves meeting the floor and avoiding Marco's soft eyes. She couldn't even dare look into those eyes without her heart melting, so she didn't. She took the empty chair next to him and sat down, all while avoiding his eyes. "You blamed me for everything. I mean, what even was that?"

"Star, I didn't blame you for anything."

"But, you did!" Star threw it back in Marco's face out of quick anger and aggravation. "Everything I did wrong on Earth, you apologize for, even when it seemed like it was my fault! And then, to make it worse, you call me out for it all!"

"What are you talking about?"

Star went on ranting and soon was pacing back and forth in the room. "You called me out for getting us stuck here-"

"That wasn't your fault!" Marco shouted back, trying to get Star to listen. Though it was Star's fault, she didn't purposefully lose her dimensional scissors along the way. She hadn't even known that she had dropped them.

"-then, you called me out for destroying my wand-" Star waved her white winged, star-split wand in her hand and gestured to it with her other hand.

"Again, not your fault!" Marco protested. It was almost as if she was ready for her friend to wake up, considering she had so much to say.

"-and worst of all, you called me a screw-up!" Marco couldn't deny the tears that flooded from his best friend's eyes that drowned the pale hearts on her cheeks. The sight of Star's heart breaking gave Marco a grave scare. His heart began to thump and drum hard in his chest. It was the first time ever that he had seen her actually cry. He wanted to make it the last, too. "I thought I knew you better than that, Marco. Friends should be the ones to be there for you, not call you out for your flaws."

Star immediately wondered why Marco got his school reputation for "Safe Kid". If he was so safe and protective of himself and others, then why would he hurt her feelings by saying something so dangerous? Suddenly, another thought crossed her troubled mind. Why would Marco build Star up, high and proud, through her insecurities just to push her down and tell her she was failing at trying? The fall from that tall cliff that Marco built under Star's feet is a death-defying drop. It seemed to her that he was letting her get higher to the top to just catch more momentum for her painful fall to the bottom.

"I am your friend, Star!" Marco stood up, even if the pain still struck him with a sharpness, yet numbing. He gestured to himself with both hands and soon found his own voice to be raised with anger at Star's stubbornness. "I'm your best friend!"

"Are you really? Because I'm not so sure about that anymore." With that, Star left Marco alone with it.

"Star! Star!" Marco yelled, but didn't see her come back. Behind her, she slammed the door shut with a loud force. Marco's lengthy, infuriated, roaring scream followed.