Marco stared at the ground, kicking some of the dirt on the ground with the toe of his sneaker. He was starting to feel more and more apprehensive after his harsh comments to Star. Seeing the tears run down her face, her practically begging for him to stay played in his mind over and over again. How he wanted to wipe her tears away and pull her into his arms, and tell her that everything would be alright.

Stuffing his hands back into his pockets, he made his way to Kelly's humble abode. He had spent enough time wallowing alone, thinking about Star's date with Tom. He just assumed that she had an amazing time with him, and didn't even think about what had happened earlier that day. Marco sniffled, and wiped a few tears that were leaking out of his eyes. Why did he care so much? She was treating him badly, but he needed it? After all, he did promise to her that he would stay by her side in times of peace and danger, and he was doing the exact opposite. He was running away from just that, and the more he thought about it, the more that he began to think that he should probably go back.

The boy bought his hand up, exhaling softly, and gently knocked on the wooden door. A few seconds passed, and the green-haired girl answered, giving a reassuring smile.

"Oh, hey Marco. How did your talk with Star go," she asked as she gestured him inside. Marco followed her lead, saulking as he plopped down on the sofa with his hoodie over his head. "Oh, you don't look so good. It didn't go well I'm assuming?" Marco sighed, repeatedly zipping and unzipping his hoodie as he blew a strand of his hair out of his face.

"Well, it did go well. I told Star exactly how I felt."

Kelly was confused, and she raised her eyebrow. "Oh? Well, if it went well like you said, why are you moping? I thought you wanted Star to know the way she was treating you was wrong."

"I did! Well, I thought I did. I just... feel bad about it." Marco sighed, putting his head into his hands. The more he thought about it, the worse it made him feel. The green haired girl looked down and began to twiddle her thumbs, then looked over at Marco, who began to mess with his hair.

"Feel bad? Why? Didn't she need to hear this?"

Marco then adverted his attention back to Kelly. "Well, yeah. But the look on her face, she was sad about it. I could tell. I... made a promise to her that I would always be there for her no matter what. As her squire."

Kelly was confused. After all the things that he had told her, why was he thinking that it was a good idea to go back to her? Logically, a friend treating another friend like dirt wasn't right in her book. She knew that Marco was a caring individual, and believed that he shouldn't be subjected to that sort of treatment, even if she was friends with Star or not. "But Marco, isn't your well-being more important than some dumb squire position? Look, Marco, you're a great guy, and you should be worrying more about yourself." Marco felt a hand touch his leg, and he flinched in surprise to see her hand on his knee. His eyes wandered up to her lips, which were done up in a warm smile.

"But, Kelly," Marco said, frantic, "Star is important to me! I know she doesn't care about me as much as I care about her, but it is my job to protect her, and I'm doing the exact opposite. I feel terrible!"

"Hey, look at me," Kelly said in a soft tone, moving her hand to place on his mole-splotched cheek, "You're a great guy,and the way she was treating you wasn't cool at all. She's lucky that you still care about her. But... I think you did the right thing. So, please, try not to worry about it too much, okay?"

Marco was mesmerized, watching her face with every word she spoke. Her eyes were on his, and her face was getting closer, closer... until their lips were nearly touching. This wasn't right, Marco thought to himself, This isn't right. Marco closed this eyes, letting out a breath of air that disrupted Kelly's bold move.

"Kelly, I can't do this," Marco said firmly, "Look, you're an awesome gal and all, but it wouldn't be right for me to kiss you when I am in love with someone else." He placed a hand on her shoulder as he brought himself to his feet, and Kelly stood up.

"But Marco! She's head over heels for Tom, and you deserve to be happy," Kelly hastily said, "I can't stand seeing you like this! You deserve happiness, not chasing your unavailable crush!"

The boy sighed at her valid point. What he was doing wouldn't get him anywhere. Despite all of this however, it felt strangely right. "Kissing you won't make me feel better, Kelly. It's more complicated than that. I don't need kisses from a supportive friend, or fancy adventures, what I need is a friend to support me in whatever choices I decide to make... stupid or not."

Kelly felt awful, she felt like she was being bold only to fulfil her own selfish desires. She looked down, grabbing at her sweater as Marco turned away from her. SIghing, she began, "I get it. I'm sorry for being so... pushy. Are we... still friends, Marco?"

Marco walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Of course, Kelly. You were just trying to help. I appreciate it."

"Well, I guess kissing you isn't helping you with your issues with Star. You can go back to her if that's what you really want. I'll always be here for you, Diaz."

Thanks, Kelly," Marco said as he pulled her into a tight hug, which she readily accepted. The pink blush on her brownish cheeks turned slightly redder.
"No problem. Want to get a goblin dog or two sometime?"

"Of course, that sounds lovely."

~•~

Star laid on her bed, belly up and wide-eyed as she stared up at the ceiling. She was trying to piece together this rubix cube of a puzzle in her head. It didn't add up. It was like some weird conspiracy to her or something along the lines of that. Why did it seem as if her life was beginning to crumble apart?

As her princess preparations began to become more intense, to compensate, she rushed things, She was close to uniting Mewmans and monsters, that plan failed miserably. She tried to reconnect with Tom. That also failed, not as miserable as her peace treaty, but almost. She tried to mend her friendship with Marco, and that also seemed like an epic fail. Everything was falling apart again and again.

She put a pillow over her face and groaned into it.

"Globgore! Globgore!" A barking Glossaryck interrupted her train of thought.

"Not now Glossaryck," Star Butterfly moaned, "I'm too busy thinking!"

He whimpered, a leash in his mouth, then placed it on the bed beside the grieving girl. Star sighed, sitting up on the bed and picking up the leash and eyeing it closely. "Sorry Glossaryck, I can't walk you today. I'm not in the mood. It would be great if I had a squire or something, but noooooo... He just had to think I was abusing him, huh?" Star stood up and waved her hands in the air as she began to pace, causing Glossaryck to look at her, intrigued.

"I can't believe Marco would think something like that! I am his best friend! I would never treat him like dirt! Why would he... why would... Oh." A wave of realization came over her as she continued her monologue to herself and the genie-dog.

"Well, Glossy, I guess I was kind of a jerk to him. I shoved him into the laundry room with Lavabo, and I did sorta forgot to wish him a happy birthday. I didn't even bother to do it after he threw me that birthday party, which was very, very sweet, even though I didn't want it. Oh, no... Poor Marco. I was an idiot, wasn't I? He would never be into a jerk like me. What in corn was Tom thinking?! Marco doesn't like me! He's probably still heartbroken about Jackie! I don't understand why he would give up his whole life on Earth to come back to Mewni, when it's still recovering from the whole Toffee fiasco!" Star, enraged, kicked the side of her bed, causing a shooting pain to travel up her leg. She yelped, grabbing her foot as she hopped around for a few seconds, amusing Glossaryck.

"Glob glob glob!"

"Quiet you," Star snapped, "You lost a few... a lot of marbles!"

The princess growled to herself, pulling her hair out of her devil horn headband. "Stupid Tom! I gave him another chance to be with me, and he just drops it like he wasn't into me before?! What sense does that make? In love with Marco?! I got over it! I don't love him! I don't love anyone! I..."

"Glob..."

"You're right, Glossaryck! Maybe this is a weird voodoo trick or something! Janna may know something about this!" The blonde pulled out her compact phone and began calling for Janna, causing an annoyed 'Globgore' to come from Glossaryck as he slapped his forehead.

"Star!" A voice called from the doorway, starting the princess. She drew her wand and fired a blast of rainbow energy, causing a scream from the figure standing in the door. It ducked just in time as the spell dispersed right above his head, charred wood simmering.

"Rainbow Fist Punch," Star exclaimed. She gasped when she realized who was there.

"Marco! I have to teach you how to knock! Wait a minute... Marco?"

The boy rubbed his head, a nervous smile painting his face. "Hey, Star... I'm back."

Star's surprised expression faded, and she chuckled nervously as he walked over. "Hey, uh."

"Look," Marco began as he sat on her bed, looking up at her with a serious expression, "I'm sorry about yesterday... I don't know what came over me and... I guess I just overreacted." Star sat next to him as he continued. "I don't know what I was thinking. Being a princess' squire is a pretty sweet gig. I mean, I had the privilege of living in this big castle with the most powerful of Mewmans, and with the most bea..." he stopped himself before he said to much, gained his composure, and continued. "Uh, well, you get the idea. Look, I'm sorry Star." He handed her a goblin dog. The wrapping on it was a bit damp, and it was cold, but still fresh nonetheless. "I brought this back for you. I know, it's a little cold. I went to go get goblin dogs with Kelly and... yeah."

Star giggled as she took the hot dog from Marco and flashed a smile."Thanks Marco, but I should be apologizing to you. I didn't realize how horrible I was to you. I've been treating you like dirt! I'm just trying to be the best princess I can now, and that shouldn't be an excuse to treat my best friend horribly. I guess I shouldn't have been so invested in my duties as a princess, or my relationship with Tom... I'm so sorry, Marco."

Marco looked at her, and saw sadness in her blue eyes as they became glassy with tears threatening to spill over. He could tell that she regretted her actions dearly. She looked up at him with a skittish look, which caused the boy to offer her a reassuring grin as he touched her shoulder. "Don't sweat it, Star. We'll always be friends. I realize that now."

The princess smiled up at him. "Friends forever?"

"Friends forever." He went to hug her, but she didn't move. They fiddled around for a minute, bumping into each other and giggling, until they just settled for a friendly fist bump.

"So uh," Marco began awkwardly, "how did your date with Tom go?"

Star froze in place. She wasn't ready to tell him that they in fact cut it off so soon. Her eyes widened, and she could feel sweat beading on her back. She opened her mouth to speak but it came out as stuttering. "U-uh... it was... great! We did a lot of... spooky stuff! Demon stuff, yeah!"

Marco wiggles his fingers. "Sounds pretty spooky!"

"Yeah," Star said, "I know right?"

They both laughed, then Marco got up and walked to the door. "Look, Star, I'll be in my room. I need some rest since I've been doing a lot of traveling lately. Just give me a yell if you need anything. After all, I'm supposed to be your loyal, trusty squire."

Star smiled warmly. "Thank squire."

The Latino boy smiled as he gently shut the door behind him. As soon as he left, her smile dropped. She was so afraid of rejection, and it ate at her very soul. What was she going to do if he didn't in fact like her back? She could take Tom's advice, but that is too simple. She sighed to herself as she fell onto her bed once again. This was quite the predicament.

~•~

Marco laid in his bed, exhausted from all the mishaps and drama that went down the last few days. However, despite all of this, he was happy to be home in his own bed, which Star just down the hallway once again. It almost felt like old times, except the awkwardness that he could feel forming between them. It made a pit begin to form in his stomach, but he didn't think too much about it.

All of sudden, the laser puppies began to bark madly at seemingly nothing, interrupting his rest. Their lasers burned holes through the walls and his bed. Marco picked his head up and shot a glare at them. "Aw, man! Would you guys stop ruining my stuff?! I have to get Star to fix that later."

A scroll appeared out of thin air, from a burst of flames and it fell right into Marco's lap, the intense heat making him yell in pain. "Ow! Where did this even come from?!" When the heat subsided, he picked up the scroll and opened it up.

Hey, Earth turd! I mean.. Marco! I'll be there to pick you up tomorrow afternoon! We have to catch up on some things, maybe play a few games of ping pong or something you know?!

Marco furrowed his brow. What could Tom possibly want with him? Does he think that he will steal Star away from him again? Perhaps try to kill him again? Whatever it was, he didn't have a good feeling about it. "What does that demon even want? Ugh, I don't even think I should go."

He flopped back down on his bed. His crush on Star was causing him grief, and the more he started to wish this feelings would just go away, but the more he wished, the more they stung. He wasn't getting over her any time soon.