Promises

Chapter 18 Part 1.1

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

The door opened, revealing Marco's mom as she entered her son's bedroom.

"Oh, don't you look handsome, Mijo?" Marco's mom commented. Marco let out a chuckle as he adjusted his collar and hair in the mirror.

"Thanks mama, But, you have seen me in this before though." Marco said, looking over to his mom.

"I know, but you look different. No suit jacket, but white suspenders and grey shirt," Marco's mom stood beside him, looking him up and down in the mirror. "But most importantly...happier." Marco's mom smiled, giving him a side hug.

Marco looked over and returned the smile. He looked back to the mirror, adjusting his white bow tie, and proceeded to roll up his sleeves.

"Let me, Mijo." Marco's mom said, reaching out. Marco stopped, retracting his hand to his side, and watched closely as his mother began adjusting his sleeves.

"How is she?" Marco's mom inquired, smoothing out the sleeves carefully.

"She's fine. We've been talking through the phone. She's able to walk without the crutches now," Marco's mom hummed in response.

"She's also been learning about what she can about her ancestor and training with her mom and Mr McArthur to control her magic."

"That's a lot, especially when she just returned from the hospital..." she noted, folding up a sleeve.

"Ya, I know. I told her not to push herself and she does listen, but I know she's stubborn," A corner of Marco's lip twitched. "She also had one or two incidents where the headaches came back, and I wasn't there. Luckily, the pills that Mr McArthur provided worked..."

His mother looked up and Marco was frowning at the wooden floorboard. She curled one corner of her lips down and moved onto the other sleeve.

"You can't always be with her, Marco. She knows that and she has been responsible for looking after herself." Marco looked over to his mother. She folded the sleeve up once and looked over. "Plus, her parents are there, probably watching her like a hawk now." His mother remarked, gaining a chuckle from each of them at the end.

"Ya, I guess," Marco sighed. "She told me she wanted to make amends, so she has been doing as she promised, which I'm happy about. In the past, I wasn't there when she needed someone and was hurting her. Now that she's back, I still wasn't at her side."

His mother stared at his son's pained expression and let out a sigh. She looked back at the sleeve and continued.

"She has what she needs to ease the pain: her family and friends, the medicine and you. She now has more faith than before. Why not put your faith in her and be there when you can?"

Marco looked over to his mom. She folded close to where his elbow is and meticulously smoothed out a crease above the fold.

"She won't be upset if you can't. She knows you will always be there for her. You don't have to be so hard on yourself. Isn't that why she has been doing what you both promised: to let you know that she's alright?"

She stood up straight and looked at her son with a half-smile. Marco returned the smile and nodded. Her smile widened and she pulled him into a hug, which Marco returned.

"Don't worry so much. You're going to UCLA soon. She won't be far and you can believe she will be here, waiting for you." Marco's mom whispered as she pulled away, gazing at her son. Marco smiled and nodded.

"Good boy. You better hurry, she's probably waiting for you at home." Marco's mom said walking to the door. Marco chuckled.

"Okay mama. Thank you."

"No problem." Marco's mom took one last look at him, before walking out the room, pulling the door closed.

Marco sighed and looked back at his mirror. He hiked up the folds above his elbow and touched up his hair. He looked at his wrist and noticed Star's bracelet. He lowered his arm and smiled, staring at it. He blinked a few times and turned to his bed, walking over to it. He picked up the bouquet of roses and made his way out of the room, shutting the door behind him.