With careful precision, the young princess sat the bowl of nachos on the floor, and sat down in front of them, waiting for her best friend's return. She was sure they would lure him back. Who doesn't love Marco's Super Awesome Nachos? Pretty sure Marco himself was a big fan of his cooking.

Star Butterfly let out a sigh, her bangs moving slightly. She couldn't fathom why Marco would leave so long, and why he couldn't even say goodbye. She thought they were best friends. Best friends tell each other what's going on in their lives, and ever since Marco came to stay with her on Mewni, he hasn't been acting the same. Was she too harsh to appoint him as a squire? Was it too much of her to expect him to tend to her every need? After all, she did it so she could make time in her busy schedule to do silly things like they used to together. Maybe he didn't see it that way.

She let out a disgruntled groan. Why did she care so much? She had bigger, more important things to worry about. She had Tom, that she felt like she had been neglecting. She loved him, or at least she thought she did. She didn't know what to think or feel anymore. Her mind was clogged with second thoughts. But, Marco was important to her. So, so important.

Minutes passed, which soon turned to hours, and Star couldn't keep herself awake any longer. Her eyes began to shut, until she was fast asleep. She subconsciously hoped that Marco would be there. Back in her presence.

~•~

The ship was fast approaching the swirling vortex of a portal in the middle of the ocean. It's bunny passengers were freaking out, frantically screaming and calling for help. The ship was filling with water, and pretty soon it would go the way of the Titanic.

Suddenly, a rope appeared, and lassoed the bunny pirates, pulling them towards the back of the ship at the end of this rope was Marco Diaz, who was working with Hekapoo to close rouge portals once again.

"I can't... hold on... much... longer..." Marco moaned, as his muscles were beginning to become shaky. With one strong pull, he pulled the bunny pirates to safety, as Hekapoo swooped in to the bow of the ship. She used her own dimensional knife and shut the portal. The oceans of the bunny pirate dimension were calm once again.

The ship stopped pulling downwards, which caused Marco to fall back. The bunny pirates looked at him for a split second, then ran towards him and covered him with hugs.

"This young man is now an honorary pirate! Please, mateys, treat him well," the Captain Bunny said, thrusting his sword in the air.

The boy giggled as the bunnies' soft fur tickled his face. He didn't realize how much he liked cute things, like laser puppies... that Star Butterfly made. Oh gosh, it was happening again. Star was infecting his mind.

A hand appeared in front of his face, and it took him a minute to realize what it was trying to do. His eyes wandered into Hekapoo's red and yellow eyes, who were staring right back at him. He grabbed her hand and she hoisted him from the pile of bunnies. She was surprisingly strong.

"You were amazing back there," Hekapoo said as Marco began to dust himself off, "We make a pretty good team."

The boy's eyes widened at that last declaration. A pretty good team... Star was slowly creeping her way back into Marco's deepest thoughts.

His mind flashed images of when they fought the notorious lint monster. How they were so in sync, and how they knew exactly what to do to defeat it.

His mind then flashed all the way to their first day knowing each other. The days when Ludo was after Star's wand, and how they defeated his army of monsters, just Marco and his best friend Star... who were a pretty good team.

It brought tears to his eyes, which he quickly wiped away. He didn't know why he was crying about it, but it made him tear up. He had known Star for a year, as she just turned fifteen a week or so ago. He cared so much for her, and he even threw her a birthday party when she forgotten all about his. But these days, he felt as she didn't care about him as much as she used to. He was nothing more than her squire now.

Wait a minute, he was still her squire. He had been gone for two days straight, closing portals with Hekapoo. How would Star feel to know that her supposedly "loyal" and "trusty" squire had gone missing, tending to the needs of Hekapoo when he promised to her he wouldn't do it again?

Marco scoffed to himself. Star only made him a squire as an excuse to treat him like dirt. He was practically slave-bound to the princess, forced to watch her as she move on from him... far, far away from him. Right?

"Marco, are you okay?" The demoness said, snapping him out of his dilemma. He turned to face her, and she was wearing a concerned look. "You've been doing that a lot."

Marco rubbed his eyes with his hands. He still had Star on the brain, and he merely did this to get over her. But there was more and more evidence apparent to prove that this simply wasn't working for him.

"Yeah, Hekapoo, I'm fine... it's just..." Marco began

Hekapoo wasn't convinced. "... Star?"

Marco waved his hand in the air and gave a forced laugh. "Pshhh... Wha? Why would you... why would it be her...?"

The demon crossed her arms, and raised an eyebrow at the boy. "I've known you for 30 years, muscles."

The Latino looked over, then lowered his head, sighing softly. "You're right... and yeah, it's Star..."

Hekapoo chuckled. "Still hung up on the princess, huh?"

"... Yeah," he began, "It's just... I'm supposed to be her squire, and here I am with you. Shouldn't I be back with her, making sure she's alright?"

"Well, you're the one who said she doesn't have time for you anymore."

Marco sighed. "Well... like you said, maybe she'll make time for me. She's been busy trying to be a better princess."

"...And hanging out with her new boyfriend," Hekapoo said as she propped her head up with her hand, "What if you go back and she's sucking face with him?"

The mental image of that sent shivers up his spine, which then sparked into rage, but he quickly shook it off with a groan as he buried his head into his hands.

He felt a hand lightly touch his shoulder, and Hekapoo's voice in his right ear. "I'm just messing with ya, muscles. Look, if you wanna go check on the princess, go right ahead. I'll be here if you decide you wanna blow off some steam. Koppisch?"

Marco looked over, smiling softly. "Thanks, Hekapoo."

"No prob. You go ahead, I'll help the captain clean up."

The boy gave a gentle nod, and reached into his pocket, pulling out his scissors. With his back turned, he looked over his shoulder at Hekapoo smiling back at him before he sliced the air and stepped through.

~•~

Marco was back in his room as the portal shut behind him. His eyes scanned his surroundings. Everything was in place, except his sheets were a little messy. Although, they would only take a second to fix.

His nose caught a savory aroma. One that smelled hot of jalapeños and cheese sauce. He knew that scent anywhere. Why would there be a nacho smell? He hasn't been here to make them.

Marco stepped forward, and his foot collided with something hard on the floor, which caused him to look down. A plate of his half-eaten Super Awesome Nachos was on the ground, next to a slumbering Star Butterfly, who's face and heart-stamped cheeks were dirty with cheese sauce. She was in her bunny onsie.

He couldn't help but smile. She was so... cute. He didn't care if it seemed like he was hung up on his best friend. She was adorable and he was no longer afraid to admit it. "Aww," he whispered as he knelt down to her level. It warmed his heart that she remembered the nacho recipe, and went as far as to make them. It was even more surprising that they turned out seemingly perfect. Star was not a good cook to put it lightly.

Marco reached over and grabbed a nacho, popping it into his mouth. It was pretty good, apart from the strong sugary flavor. Classic Star, overloading her food with absurd amounts of sugar. He could feel the sugar rush course through his veins. He smiled and scooped of the plate of half-eaten nachos and the set it on his night stand, then he walked over to the sleepy princess. He couldn't leave her here on the floor, and he assumed a hard wood floor wasn't comfortable for her. Then again, it was Star, but still.

With one heave, he scooped the princess up into his arms bridal style, which caused her to writhe a bit in her sleep. She wasn't too heavy, but she was certainly heavier than she looked. He grunted as he hoisted her up and carried her off to her bedroom.

As he carried her, he felt a dainty hand touch his cheek, which caused him to blush madly. He looked down at the princess who was grinning with her eyes closed. "Thanks, Tom..."

He felt his heart jerk out of his chest. "Uhh-" he cleared his throat and lowered his voice before she caught on. "No problem, Starship!"

Marco lowered the princess into her bed hastily, pulling the covers over her small form, which prompted a comfortable sigh to come from her lips as she snuggled her head into her pillow while her trusty squire tucked her in.

After making sure she was comfortably tucked in, Marco walked towards the door. He gave a final look back at the sleeping Star Butterfly. "Goodnight, Star."

Before he could shut the door, he heard a familiar voice reply back to him coming from the room. "...Marco?"

Marco felt his heart fly out of his chest and smack the wall in front of him, and with that he firmly slammed the door shut, praying that she didn't see him.