star
I walk up to the Thinking Hill (which I named, because Marco and I always go up there to talk about everything), but Marco isn't around anywhere.
I've looked everywhere. Where could he be?
I open up a portal to my room with my dimensional scissors and step in.
Once I'm in my room, I notice Marco sitting on the edge of my bed, as if he's waiting for me, although the lights are off.
I cautiously walk over, curious.
"... Marco?"
He turns around, startled. "Oh, Star. You scared me."
I smile and sit down next to him, slouching slightly.
Only silence rings around the room for a minute.
"What're you doing here, all alone in the dark, on the edge of the bed, staring into space, losing yourself in a spiral of thoughts - "
I catch him lift an eyebrow, staring at me warily.
"Sorry. Just blurting out things."
"Heh. Well, you're right. I was thinking about all the stuff that's been going on."
"It's tough, isn't it? I mean, a bunch of these crazy things, happening at once... All of this is caused by me. And... You're the victim here."
"What? No! Star, you're not a criminal."
"Marco, I never said I was," I point out, smirking.
"... I - I..."
It's quiet again. As we sit next to each other, the only sounds audible are the noises of our breathing.
I fidget with the bedsheets until I finally realise why I was looking for him in the first place.
"Oh, Marc - "
"Hey Sta - "
We lift our eyebrows and look into each other's eyes.
A small smile plays on his lips.
Marco points at himself warily and I nod, understanding that he wants to speak first.
He takes a deep breath and sighs, looking down.
"So... Star? You know you've been... Well? Kinda quiet these days. I'm sure you know this."
I shrink slightly and puff my cheeks out, filling them with air.
"And... We need to talk about this. It's not like we can stay silent forever."
He turns to me, and touches my arm gently.
"It's just - I really need this to stop. I won't be able to take it if this continues - I need to talk to you to... to... keep moving. Yeah, keep moving."
He looks away and his hands become warmer.
Or is it my arm that's heating up?
"I know. I need to talk to you, too. It's just - things've been really complicated these days, and I... I'm sorry. I don't want you to feel, like, ignored, or anything."
He smiles and looks up at me again.
"Yeah."
I'm almost stuck in his gaze for a while, before I finally snap out of it.
"Marco, I want to tell you something."
He lets go of his arm and waits, patiently.
I can't bring myself to say this, and all, but...
"Marco, I've known you for about a year now. And... we've been through stuff. Lots of stuff."
He chuckles silently.
"We have so many memories we made with each other, and I've... I've grown to... uh... well?"
He leans forward, expectant.
"I..."
"Star?"
"I just want you to know... that, I..."
"What is it?"
"..."
"Star."
"Marco, I really love peanut butter."
"... Huh?"
"Peanut butter. I love it."
"What?"
"I know I said I hated it that time, but I only said it tastes bad because... uh... because I didn't wanna disagree with you."
Marco just stares at me for a while, until he realises that I'm 'serious'.
"Oh. Oh, so that explains why you tried to... you know... hide it in the shopping cart."
I nod vigorously.
"Haha, you made it sound so serious. For a moment there I was worried," he admits, flattening out the back of his hair.
"What could be serious? I'm over it... All those emotional emotions. I'm Star now. The old one."
Marco flashes a grin, an actual, genuine smile.
"That's great."
I twiddle with the seam of my dress nervously, looking down at his feet. He looks down at mine.
I hold my breath, unsure.
I feel like I should do something, besides stand awkwardly in front of him.
I exhale sharply and lean forward, pulling him closer to my chest and wrapping my arms around him to let him know we're good.
To my relief, he does the same immediately, and pushes me to him in return, comforting me instantly.
I bury my face into his shoulder. I feel secure, safe and protected.
It's always like this.
That feeling of content, because I know I'm where I'm supposed to be.
marco
We break apart and the scent of her cotton candy-scented hair slowly fades as she moves further away.
I notice the way her bangs get too near her eye, and she huffs at the strands.
Heh.
"You wanna get some slushies?" I ask.
She lifts her eyebrows and squints. "Yeah."
*
star
"What?"
"I'm telling you, it's the truth. At least that's what they said, anyway."
"But Justin's always hitting on girls with pink hair."
"Apparently he's moving on to the ones with purple streaks on yellow."
Star puts down her slushie and decides on a topic.
"Give me your thoughts on... Oh! OSKAR."
I hear his name and cringe, recoiling slightly.
"Oskar? Uh... Mother issues."
"Pfft. You used to think I had mother issues."
"Huh? When?"
"When I used to sleepspell. You know? Psychology?"
He thinks for a while and snaps his fingers.
"Oh, I remember now. Dr Marco PhD?"
"Yeah. Do you still have the vest-thingy you wore that time? It's kinda chilly."
"It might take a little while to find it. I, uh, I could lend you my hoodie, if you'd like. I don't feel too cold, anyway."
"Aw, Marco!"
He unzips his hoodie and tries to take it off, but it gets stuck halfway on his arm.
I giggle. "Stupid Marco," I say, as I pull the sleeves off him. "You can't even take off a hoodie."
He blushes and I put on the hoodie. The inside is already warm from Marco's body heat.
I grab the nearest pillow and hug it tight - I'm warm, I'm relaxed, and I'm comfortable.
I'm sleepy...
marco
*
I open my eyes and look around.
While I was dozing off, she fell asleep completely.
She has her hair everywhere on the bed, and apparently we're both lying down, facing the popcorn ceiling.
"Psst. Star."
No answer.
I get on my elbows and lift my hands to clear her hair out of her face.
"Star?"
"Mmhmm."
I huff my breath and and play with her hair.
Why don't I try that braid thing girls always do?
I separate a small fraction her hair into three parts, and take the middle part and move it over to the left.
Is this how it goes?
I then take the right piece and slide it under the left part, twirling it around the middle piece.
After about five minutes, I end up with what seems to be a knot.
I roll my eyes, smiling at my own stupidity, and try my best to untangle her golden-blonde hair.
The ends of her hair lead my eyes to their roots, and I start to smoothen her hair down, starting from the scalp and ending halfway.
I gently run my fingers through her smooth locks, and I swear she sighs deeply but softly into her pillow, even burying her face deeper into it.
I pull weakly at the roots of her thick hair, massaging the scalp and relaxing it.
I'm really glad we managed to talk it out this time.
The other times I've tried, she just walked away.
Knowing our friendship is back to normal, I can finally breathe. I don't know what I'd have done if we still had a small but noticable distance between us.
I close my eyes and bury my own face into my pillow, and I drift off.
My right hand is still in her hair.