His room was silent. The only thing that kept him somewhat sane was the ticking clock on his wall filling his ears. He wasn't alone, though, as his thoughts were keeping him company.

Marco laid on his back, his eyes focused on the ceiling, keeping his attention focused on the steadiness of the ticking clock. He had done this alot when something was bothering him; just lay in his bed, staring off into space for what seemed like forever. However, this time was different.

He wasn't sad, he was overcome with blooming love, and he didn't know how to tell her.

Star Butterfly. Star Butterfly. Star Butterfly. His inner voice repeated her name over and over again in his mind. Thinking about her calmed him, and gave his racing mind some serenity, but it quickly vanished the more he thought about it.

He loved her. He accepted it, even though doing so filled him with the utmost apprehension. He wasn't angry at her for lying to him per say, as he could understand what her motives were for doing so. Thinking back to the start of their summer on Earth, she poured her feelings out to him, and he, being the dimwit that he was, didn't give her any closure. He couldn't have imagined how she felt, and he could assume that she didn't feel too good about it. Images of her tear-streaked face replayed in his mind, causing him distress once more. He turned on his side, gripping his sheets and holding them close. He felt like an insomniac, and he knew he wouldn't sleep well tonight.

After their lava lake adventure, he could say with one hundred percent certainty that he was deeply in love with Star Butterfly. What was keeping her from not knowing this? Well, the problem was clear after he thought about it. She got back with Tom, probably grief-stricken and sad from not getting any sort of closure. Secondly, she had just gotten out of a relationship with the demon not too long ago. It would be in poor taste to just tell her he loved her, wouldn't it?

Marco groaned to himself. He felt bad for not being upfront with her, and he didn't hold any grudges towards her actions. He could have avoided all of this awkwardness if he had just said something when he had the blinking opportunity, but the problem is that he wasn't sure back then. After their camping trip, the feelings for her only bloomed more, and he was sure they were on good terms, but still, something was missing. But now, he was certain. He loved her.

The boy sat up on his bed, sitting on the edge of it. He felt a sudden braveness overcome him. Star never knew how he felt, and he had to face his fears. Although that crush may have faded, the very least he could do was tell her how he felt about her, no matter the consequences.

With a deep breath, Marco got up from his bed and walked over to the door within the darkness of the night. He was going to talk to Star, and tell her how he really felt. She deserved to know this truth, at least. Tonight was the night that he would do so. However, Marco suddenly froze as he reached for the door handle. Where and how, was he going to reveal his feelings? Should he just blurt it out in Star's room, or should he try to take her to a special spot and give the girl a big speech about his feelings? These thoughts ran through Marco's mind as he started to pace around the floor of his bedroom. Marco wanted to tell Star how he felt that night, and the ticks of the clock were a constant reminder that time was slipping by while he hesitated. So much time had gone by since Star's confession on Earth, and here he was allowing even more time to tick by. This wasn't something he could take his time on and just wait forever. The boy knew how he felt and he needed to tell Star as soon as possible. He just had to figure out how he was going to do it, and he didn't have much time to spare.

~•~

She couldn't sleep. Her mind was plagued with thoughts, keeping her up in the midst of night.

Star Butterfly stared up at the canopy of her bed, thinking about the events that occurred during the camping trip. The way that Marco forgave her with ease, and the meaningful hug that they shared. It made her smile when she thought about it, and it almost seemed that the awkwardness had vanished. The more she kept her mind on the topic, the more that she began to realize that she indeed loved Marco Diaz.

She loved him, and with every fiber of her being she was certain.

Time and time again, she tried to suppress her feelings, and make them go away, but they never did. They only were suppressed, and for the longest time, it felt entirely painful. She didn't want them there, especially with the looming possibility that he didn't feel the same way.

This time was different. It seemed that perhaps he did feel something for her, and that gave her a bit of hope for the future. She just couldn't seem to spit it out to him. The last time she did that, it was a complete disaster. Star quickly shook her head before she started to cry. She didn't want to think about that, and she hated herself for even attempting to.

The blonde reached over and grabbed her phone. She needed a bit of encouragement, and who would be better for that job than Tom the demon? He was the one who pushed her to reveal the truth, maybe he could give her that extra shove she needed to completely come clean about how she felt. Star pressed the phone to her ear, sighing in relief when she heard a disgruntled groan on the other side of the other line.

"Ugh, what do you want Star? It's the middle of the night, and I'm exhausted from our trip."

"Tom," Star exclaimed hastily, "I'm sorry for waking you up, but I really need a friend right now."

"Is this about Marco again?" Tom asked with slight interest in his voice, "How did your talk go?"

"It went well... I guess," Star said as she fiddled with her hair nervously. It went well for the most part, although, not all topics were covered, which Star knew. "He forgave me quickly, which was surprising. I thought he would be more hung up about it."

"You and Marco are best friends. Of course he forgave you." Tom cleared his throat before speaking again. "So uh... did you tell him you're head over heels in love with him?"

She froze in fear. "Uh.... I uh... No. I haven't."

"Star, you can't keep more secrets from him. You have to let him know sooner or later. It's for the best. Remember what I told you on our last night as a couple?"

"It never hurts to test the waters," They both spoke in unison.

"So Star, you have to come clean to Diaz. Tell him how you really feel. I can promise you, you'll be okay. You two have been through everything together. I'm sure telling the kid you are crushing on him will not ruin any of that."

"I dunno, Tom..." Star paused as she got a quick mental image of what could possibly go wrong. "What if I completely weird him out? What if he... d-doesn't feel the same way?'"

She flinched as she heard Tom chuckle, which gave her a bit of doubt. "He's your best friend. Even if you do weird him out, which I doubt you will, he will always have your back no matter what. I mean, he forgave you for completely lying to his face, didn't he? Come on, Starship, princess up."

The blonde grimaced at his closing statement. He was, as much as she didn't want to admit to herself, absolutely right. She was being a complete coward, running away from her problems once again and rushing into new ones. She never fully confronted her feelings. Maybe it was time to face the truth head on, and to conquer it. If all else failed, she had the mind erase spell, and could completely start over if she needed to. That gave her more reassurance. "I guess you're right. Maybe I do need to princess up and tell Marco the truth."

"That's the spirit!" The demon exclaimed, "Now go break the truth to Diaz."

"I will break the truth to Diaz!... I mean Marco.... Marco Diaz! Here I come!" Star sighed to herself in determination before speaking again. "Thanks, Tom. You're a great friend. And uh... sorry for stepping on your foot back there."

"Anytime, Starship. Don't sweat it. Always happy to help. Go get 'em."

She smiled to herself as she hung up. She was going to face the music and tell Marco how she really felt, and tonight would be the night she would do it. She was going to go all out this time, and she knew just the way to do it. The princess hopped out of bed, and with a swift motion, ran to the door and opened it. She would surprise him with something great. She didn't know how it would go, but she would for sure make the night unforgettable.

~•~

"I could pick a bunch of flowers for her... no that's cheesy. How about I get her a headband or something with a star on it, and I can say she's the only Star I see? Ugh, that's even cheesier," Marco grumbled to himself as walked the endless castle halls in the darkness. He still had no idea how he was going tell Star how he felt, and each new strategy he came up with just seemed cheesier than the one before. Why did love have to be so complicated, and why did telling someone you loved them have to be near impossible?

"I've had months since Star's confession at that party. Plenty of time to come up a with proper response and plan, and yet here I am. I could have all the time in the world and it still wouldn't be enough," The Latino boy said as he beat himself up inside. "How do you tell the perfect girl that you have a crush on her? Nothing I say or do is going to be good enough for her... she may no longer be with Tom, but she's still Star Butterfly. Why would she still want me? I treated her the worst while I was with Jackie, and completely left her in the dark about my feelings for her. Maybe I'm not meant to be in love with anyone," He whined again as he rubbed his arm and looked down at his feet. Maybe telling the her how he felt about her wasn't the best idea after all. She deserves to know the truth, but would she care about how he felt after he had ignored her crush for so long? The boy walked the halls endlessly as all these thoughts and worries plagued him. One minute, he'd be sure that he was going to tell her, and then the next minute he feared everything that could go wrong. Sometimes being the safe kid with all these insecurities is really hard to deal with, Marco thought to himself. He needed to conclude this dilemma, once and for all. He needed a sign or a little extra push to nudge him in the right direction. Luckily for Marco, that push was just around the next corner, and it was blonde.

~•~

"Alright, I got the burritos and the nachos, but I still need grab a blanket and basket," Star said to herself as she walked back into the dimly lit castle from the royal gardens. "Stay focused," she told herself, "you need to focus on how and what you're going to say to Marco, not what items you still need for the picnic... Now, let's see, I don't want to scare him off, and if he's going to say no, I want to put that off as long as possible. So I'll give him a tour of the garden first, and maybe that'll help him calm down and relax? If nothing else, it'll help me relax." She wiped the sweat from her forehead. Preparing a picnic late in the evening was hard enough work, but all the stress she was going through made it even worse.

She was starting to sweat like crazy and was afraid of how she might look. She was wearing a deep green peasant dress that had white details on the sleeves, and a tie on the collar. Her ears were adorned with star-shaped earrings, which was rare for her. The princess had put on a new dress for Marco to impress him, but she was starting to regret putting it on before finishing the picnic setup. By the time everything was ready, her dress would likely be soaked with sweat and food. There wasn't time to switch outfits.

"I'm definitely starting this confession off on the right foot," Star muttered to herself sarcastically with a groan as she entered the kitchen. Dirty dishes lay everywhere from Star's cooking, and there were spilled ingredients on the floor along with some interesting smells. The princess let out a deep sigh as she walked through the mess and grabbed a picnic basket and blanket out of the pantry. "Come on Star, like Tom said, princess up," the girl said to herself as she straightened her back up and walked back through the castle halls, down towards the garden.

After setting up the picnic, Star overlooked her work with a triumphant smile. "Everything looks perfect. Marco is going to love this," she squealed to herself. She put her hands on her hips, but her expression quickly shifted to annoyance when she realized she had forgotten something. "Ugh, I forgot the cups."

The blonde quickly pushed herself through the doors and raced through the castle halls. She had to grab cups. What if Marco thought she was lazy for not preparing drinks, she thought to herself. Although, it was just Marco. She was nervous, and overly focused on impressing him.

Her train of thought was interrupted when she rammed her body into something blocking her path. Star gasped, and yelled out in frustration. She needed cups and some random guard getting in her way wasn't helping. "Ugh, watch where you're going!"

"Sorry, sorry!"

Wait a minute, she recognized that voice. "Marco?.."

"...Star?"

"Uhhhhhh," both of the teens said together in fright as they backed away. There was Star and Marco standing in front of one another. They were both face to face with the person they wanted to see, and yet neither of them were prepared. "How are you?" they both said in unison once again.

"I'm doing great. How are you?" Marco inquired hastily, trying to make it less awkward.

"Well, I'm doing great too," responded the princess as she puffed her cheeks and put her hands on her hips. "Nice... weather we're having."

"Yeah... it's totally not humid tonight. Um... well you look beau-, nice! You look nice! Your hair... looks exceptionally sleek today. It really compliments your dress nicely," added the boy as he mentally slapped himself over and over again for such an awkward compliment. He gave her a fake smile, hoping Star wouldn't notice his nervousness.

"Thanks," Star said with a smile. The compliment was strange, but it was a compliment nonetheless and it had come from Marco Diaz. "I thought I'd wear it for no particular reason," added the princess as she brushed some dirt and random flour off her dress. "So, you look well too. Trying a bit of a new hairstyle I see."

"New hairstyle?" Marco muttered as he reached up and realized that in all the commotion he had forgotten to comb his hair. He panicked, and tried to smush his hair down with his hands. How was he going to recover from this rookie mistake, the boy wondered. "Yeah... I um... I'm trying to let it go freestyle," Marco said, leaning against the wall, trying to look natural. "You know it's all the rage nowadays." Freestyle?! That sounded incredibly stupid, even to Marco.

"Oh, I haven't heard of that," Star replied as she grabbed a loc of her hair and ran her fingers through it.

"Not that you should ever change your hair," Marco interjected reassuringly as he leaned forward. "Like I said, your hair is... incredibly sleek," Marco said again as he tried to look cool by leaning back again,but only ended up looking more awkward.

"I guess so. Well... it was nice catching up with you!"

"Yeah, buddy," responded Marco as he stepped away from the wall and made the finger guns gesture. He mentally slapped himself again. He just called Star buddy.

"Thanks pal."

"No problem, friend," Marco added as he came face to face with Star. He put out his hand for a fist bump, hoping it would ease the tension and for all he knew, give him the strength to speak the truth. However, Star just stared at him awkwardly as she looked at his hand and then back at his face. "Um it's a fist bump," the boy tried to say reassuringly. "You know, like when you bump two fists together"

"Oh yeah, totally totally totally," Star answered with little confidence. "How's this?" She took hold of Marco's fist in her hand and held it. Her cheeks started to warm and she could sense a blush coming as she realised what she'd just done. However, she held his fist for a few moments longer as she was mesmerized by his touch. "Um Marco..." Star finally said as she took a deep breath and and let go of his fist, "there's something I need to show you."

"What is it?" inquired the boy.

"Come with me, I'll show you," responded the princess as she motioned for him to follow. Marco chased after her to see what the blonde had in store.

~•~

"What is this place?" Marco asked as Star led him into an open courtyard filled with bushes and different plants. He had never been in this part of the castle before, so this was an entirely new experience for him. His eyes were wide with wonder as he looked around the area.

"This is the royal garden of Mewni," Star proclaimed as she led Marco around. The princess showed the boy all the different vegetation the garden had to offer, and he listened to every last word that came out of her mouth with the utmost intent. He loved being with her, especially on a beautiful night like this. "This is known as the lovers rose bush," Star explained as they approached a large, bare bush with no blooming flowers. "My mom says it has the most beautiful flowers and that my father gave her one on their first anniversary."

"None of the flowers are open though," Marco said as he walked around the bush, inspecting it. "Everything else in the garden is in full bloom, except for this bush. Weird."

"I've never actually seen what these flowers look like. I've only heard about them in stories that my mom used to tell me when I was little. They say that this bush has a strong link with love, and it's flowers only bloom when it senses true love is near," Star said as she started to skip towards where she'd set up the picnic.

"A bush that knows when love is near?" Marco said to himself. "I've seen a lot of crazy things on Mewni, but I just can't believe that would be true."

"Come on Marco! There's one more thing I want to show you," the girl shouted.

"Coming," the boy yelled back as he gave the bush one more browse and took off towards his best friend. However, just as he left the boy swore he saw one singular flower on the bush start to bloom out of the corner of his eye.

~•~

Along a small path through some rose bushes was the location where Star had set up the picnic that she had planned.. There was a red and white checkered blanket laid out on the grass, complete with a picnic basket in the center. She was still frustrated at herself for not bringing the cups, but there was no time to be hung up over that. She was with Marco, and she vowed to make this night special for him.

Star walked over, brushing her dress off before sitting on her knees. Marco came a few seconds later behind her, his eyes widening as he saw what Star had planned for the two of them.

"Wow, what is all this?" Marco quickly shuffled over, looking down at the girl who was grinning at him.

"Te da! It's a picnic. I uh... thought tonight was beautiful, and even though it's late, I thought it was the perfect time to have one. I was going to wake you up, but you were already awake when I was coming back from setting it up. Do you like it?"

"It's awesome. I can't believe you set this up for me... for-"

"...us," Star finished.

Marco smiled back at the girl, and went over and sat across from her pretzel-legged. She was happy to see that he appreciated her effort. Maybe this confession wouldn't go as bad as she thought it would go, and she was worrying herself over nothing.

Star pulled out two burritos from the picnic basket, and handed him one as she took one for herself. The foil was still warm from when she had prepared them, so they weren't eating cold, soggy burritos. "I uh, made us burritos and nachos. I tried to follow the recipe from that taco place on earth. I'm not the best cook, so sorry if it isn't perfect."

Marco gave her a reassuring smile as he took the burrito from his best friend. "Wow, awesome Star! These look delicious. You really outdid yourself. You didn't have to do all this."

"Aw, thanks Marco." She felt her cheeks grow warm.

Marco unwrapped his burrito and took a generous bite. The beef was slightly overcooked, but he didn't mind much. Star put all of this effort into preparing this, and he wasn't going to get up in arms because his burrito was overdone. He swallowed before making an "mmm" sound, causing a giggle to come from the princess across from him.

He looked over to see Star opening a couple sugar packets, dumping them on her burrito. She then put it up to her face and took a bite. He chuckled as he remembered their days on earth, and how weird and hyperactive she was back then. He remembered how much she enjoyed "sugaritos", and how often they would go to the taco place down the street from his house to catch a bite to eat. That was back when things weren't so weird, and much simpler.

"Are you sugaring you burrito, Star?" Marco said with a smirk, "I thought you didn't do that anymore."

Star spoke with her mouth full of food. "Well, duh! It's so good, Marco! You've got to try it!" She held out her sugary food out to the boy, who put his hand out in protest.

"I think I'll pass."

"Oh come on, please?" Star cooed, "Don't be a party pooper. I promise you, it's not that bad. It brings out the flavor and makes the burrito ten times as good." Marco shrugged and gave her a nervous smile. "Suit yourself."

The blonde continued to stuff her face with the sugary food as Marco took another bite of his. He felt bad for turning down her request, but if anything, the girl had taught him that it isn't bad to change things up sometimes. On such a special night when Star had gone all out for him with this picnic, maybe he could be more open to try something new. If Star wanted him to try a sugarito, then he would try a sugarito.

The boy reached for a sugar packet, tearing it open carefully. He then sprinkled it on what he had left of his food. He took a deep breath and took a small bite, savoring the flavor. Star watched him as a smile slowly crept on her face. Marco smiled back and shrugged as he swallowed. "Mmm. Not bad.."

"See, Marco? I told you!" the princess exclaimed. She was a little jittery from dumping literal pounds of sugar on her food, and she was happy to see Marco trying a sugarito for the first time.

"Heh, I may need to try that more often," Marco said as the two teens finished the last of their food, giggling and laughing with each other as they reminisce about their happy times on earth. Things were looking off to a good start, but Star could sense that it wouldn't last forever, even though she coaxed him into trying her wild food combinations. There was still the rest of the night to endure.

~•~

Star finished placing the last items of the picnic into the basket. Even with all of her nerves, the meal had turned out better than she could've hoped and Marco seemed to like it too. The princess walked over and joined Marco who was sitting on the steps of the pavilion looking up at the sky. "You know, the sky looks really beautiful tonight," Star said as she sat down next to the boy.

"Yeah, it does looks really pretty this evening," Marco said in agreement.

"All the stars are shining really bright tonight, and so are the moons."

"Yeah... you know, there's one Star that shines brighter than the rest..." the boy blurted out as he looked over at Star.

"There is? Where?" asked the princess as she searched the sky.

"Nothing! Nothing!," Marco said , wanting to slap himself for that cheesy line.

The boy had not been quick enough, as Star swore she noticed him looking at her out of the corner of her eye. She tried to brush it off thinking it was just her imagination, but she couldn't shake the feeling that Marco may have just complimented her. She figured she was just hearing things, though, and looked back up at the sky. "Sooo..."

"Soo..." There was a long awkward silence as neither of the teens knew what to say to each other. They both knew that there was an uncomfortable subject that needed to be discussed, but neither was sure who was going to make the first move. "You know Star... we've been through a lot together," Marco stammered as he took a deep breath.

"Yeah, all the way from Ludo trying to steal my wand and fighting monsters, to destroying Toffee, and now dealing with my family history. And throughout all of this, working to reunite the relationship between Mewmans and monsters," answered the princess as she exhaled deeply as well.

"It has been a really crazy year," Marco said as he reminisced about all the adventures they'd gone on and all the dangers they'd faced. "It's been the craziest year of my life."

"Yeah... you know, sometimes I wish I had never dragged you into this mess."

"What are you talking about Star? I've never regretted meeting you. If anything, you've made my life so much better. Without you, I'd still be some safe kid in Echo Creek that barely anyone noticed. Thanks to you, I've had so much fun, gone on crazy adventures, and faced some of my biggest fears. That's a lot better than a nobody on Earth who people just see as a nerd."

"Marco the safe kid," Star said with a slight giggle as she remember how Marco was when she first met him. "If I'd never met you... my life would've been so different. I'd still be listening to my mom bark orders about how I have to act a certain way to be a better princess. For all I know, I'd be stuck at St. O's with... Meteora." They both shivered at the thought of Star being stuck at that school with Eclispa's daughter. "Without you, I'd probably still be living a lie."

"I'm really glad I met you Star."

"I'm glad I met you too," agreed the princess as they looked at each other. There was an awkward silence while their gaze's were transfixed on one another, but neither of them dared to look away. "Weird question, but what do your guts feel like?" Star asked in an attempt to break the ice.

"My guts?" Marco responded with a very inquisitive look on his face.

"Well um... my guts are going really crazy right now."

"I guess mine are actually feeling pretty queasy now that you mention it, but it's not the food or anything."

"Oh no no of course not," Star replied as they shared a nervous laugh. "You know... I've been thinking about that one time recently. Actually I've been thinking about it a lot."

"What time?"

"You know... the time." There was no response from the boy who was completely clueless to what the princess meant. Star let out a large sigh as she gave another hint, "The time I admitted the thingy."

"What thingy?" Marco was more baffled than ever.

"Ugh... the big thing, the mother of all things, the thing that could end the world." There was still no response from the boy, and Star started to grow more and more uneasy. "The um... um... well the... the time I said I had a crush on you... in front of everyone." Star's heart started to race as that last sentence came out of her mouth. She saw Marco's face turn pale white, except for his cheeks which were turning a dark rosy red. The princess's heart ached as the boy looked like he was about to say something, and then shied away and looked back up at the sky. "I um... realized recently that I... I... I still have those feelings for you and that they never really went away," continued the princess hoping she could still mend the situation. Marco did turn to look back at her and his mouth made small movements, but no words came out. Star panicked as she worried that everything was going completely wrong. You can't make it any worse, time to princess up and bring out the big guns, Star thought to herself. "Marco Ubaldo Diaz, I love you," Star blurted out.

"Star?!" Marco responded in complete shock. "I... I... I... I...."

The girl's heart broke as tears started to trickle down her face. "This was a mistake, and I'm so stupid for thinking it wouldn't be," Star cried out as she stood up and walked towards the nearby fountain. "I knew this would happen, and yet like a fool, I let my emotions get the best of me and pretended like things would be different. How could I possibly think such a cute, amazing, funny, and smart guy like you could ever be into a girl like me? I've pushed this farther than I should have... and it's time for me to end it once and for all. I'm sorry for putting you through all this Marco," ordered the princess as she turned to face Marco and started to concentrate her feelings.

"What are you talking about?! What's wrong?!" begged Marco as he stood up, feeling a sudden rush of courage and adrenaline. There was no response from the princess as stood there motionless. Suddenly, the girl's hand started to glow and she began slowly waving it around.

"I'm fixing this for both of our sakes," Star finally said as she put all her focus into her next words. "I call upon the earth and time..."

"Star what are doing?! Is this some kind of spell?!" yelled the boy as he walked towards her.

The princess paid him no mind and continued to recite the incantation, "...to bring it's mighty wrath..."

"That's it!" Marco blurted out, deciding he'd had enough of whatever Star was doing. The boy ran over to the princess and grabbed hold of her and her arm.

The young girl tried to fight back, and struggled to move her hand while reciting the spell, "...to erase his mind... Let go, Marco!"

"Wait a minute, are you trying to make us forget?! You're trying to erase our minds and our memories aren't you?" Marco questioned as he tightened his grip on Star's arm, refusing to let her continue. "I don't want to forget any of the time I've spent with you! Not one single moment! I don't ever want to forget that I love you!" Marco looked at Star's face as he realized what he had just said. This was his moment of truth. Right now was the moment that Marco had feared for so many days and nights, and yet he was happy now and felt like a tremendous load had been lifted off his shoulders.

"Whaaaaaa..." Star said as her arm went limp along with the rest of her body. The princess was sure that she would have fallen backwards into the fountain if not for Marco's arms holding her.

"Star Butterfly, I love everything about you," continued Marco as he looked deeply into the princess's eyes. " I love your smile, you cute heart cheeks, your long golden hair, the way you laugh, your strength, your beauty, your charm, basically everything that you are and do. I'm so sorry that it's taken me this long to tell you how I feel, but I was scared and didn't know how to tell someone as amazing as you that I love them. I now realize that I've been falling in love with you ever since we met. Since that first hug I've never been able to stop thinking about, and I've never wanted to leave your side. The fact is, that I, Marco Ubaldo Diaz, am madly in love with you Star Butterfly."

"Marco," Star weakly said as she used whatever strength she had left to raise her hand and stroke Marco's cheek.

"We've always strengthened our friendship with hugs," continued the boy. "However, I think it's time to try something different. Something... something... something that in all honesty I've been wanting to do for ages."

With a swift motion, Marco leaned into his best friend, gently touching his lips to hers. He felt his cheeks grow warm with a crimson blush as the reality of what he was doing hit him like a ton of bricks.

Star's eyes widened. He was actually kissing her, and she wanted it so badly. She closed her eyes, letting her mind go numb as she let herself savor it. She blushed madly, and it didn't falter when she felt the coldness of the air on her lips once more.

"Uhh..."

"Uhh..."

The two teens stared at each other as they realized what had just happened, blushes turning their faces crimson red in pure embarrassment. However, the princess was even more in love than she was before, and she wanted him more than ever.

The blonde grabbed the boy by the hoodie, her lips smashing against his once again. Her mind was filled with pure bliss, and she was the happiest she had been in her entire life. She was kissing her best friend, her crush, her... boyfriend?

Marco wrapped his arms around her waist gently as he leaned down to kiss her, shutting his eyes as he completely melted into the kiss, his fingers grabbing the fabric of her dress as he did so. There were no regrets in his mind, he let out what he felt he'd been hiding inside for so long, and this was the least he expected to happen.

Her love for him only grew more intense. Star slipped her hand out of Marco's grasp, the spell abolished from her mind. She gently moved it up to his head, running her fingers through his coffee colored hair. Slowly, the second hand creeped up, then they both fell around the boys neck as she continued to kiss him.

The boy tightened his grip on the princess's waist, trying to pull her up and closer to him, but the force from her was too strong, and he ended up falling over her. He tilted his head slightly as he lovingly kissed her lips, pulling away for a split second before pecking her lips again, feeling her fingers brush against his cheek. Star made a little whimpering noises as her hands pulled at the front of his hoodie, trying desperately to pull him closer, but this was objectively the closest that they had ever been, and she never wanted it to end. She wasn't afraid anymore. She loved...

Marco felt the grip loosen on his hoodie, and the pair of lips crammed against his move away, causing him to open his eyes and look down. Star was under him, her arms crossed and her head lowered and turned slightly away from him.

The kid backed off of her and threw his hoodie over his head in shame. "Star! Did I... do something wrong? I'm sorry... I think we went too far... I-"

"...Is this real life?" Star whispered as she looked up at him. Were they in another dimension? Was this actually happening? She wished someone would pinch her to make sure this all wasn't a dream.

He looked up, and reached his hand out to gently grabbed her arm with a smile, as if he was confirming that this was real. Star's smile got wider and her ocean blue eyes welled with tears. She leaped up and pecked his lips a few times, in which he happily returned. However, a bright light directly in her eyes stopped her in her tracks.

"Marco? What's up with your face?"

"...My face?"

Marco gently reached his hand up and ran his fingers over his cheek, which felt unusually warm. His blush was no longer there, so he didn't know what it could possibly be. He looked over at Star, who's heart-stamped cheeks were glowing a light rose color. She looked oddly beautiful, and this was the first time he had seen her beauty in full view. The rose color of her hearts illuminated the rest of her face, clashing with the light of the moon.

"What's going on?"

"I-I don't know, Marco!"

The boy rushed over and looked at himself in the fountain water. His reflection was staring back at him, and two golden moons were emblazoned on his cheeks.

Meanwhile, without either teen noticing, a large, red moon glowed bright in the sky, casting its radiance on the two lovers below.