Third Person POV-

There never was a choice—the answer had been painfully in her face the entire time, from when she first came to Earth to this dance today. Who else would she have tried to hard to conceal her feelings for? Who else would she have confessed to out of anguish over never seeing him again? Who else would she have tried to get over so hastily to make the pain of loneliness and rejection go away?

Her choice had always been him. Marco was the world to her: her best friend, her adventure buddy, her crush, her squire, her lifeline.... Sure, she liked Tom, but Marco was always her priority. They shared secrets and moments Tom could never hope to, and they knew each other better than almost anyone else. It was like she and Marco were the same soul; they had a bond no one could dare break.
(you see what happened to Tom when he tried.)

Twice had she run from it, and now, here she was back at the only conclusion that could work. She couldn't run any longer. I choose Marco. The weight of that revelation sorta scared her. There were so many feelings, so many things left unsaid that she had to face. They never even talked about her confession back on Earth, but part of becoming a better princess involves bettering the self. I'm afraid...Did Marco even like her? He was single, but What if he rejected her?

Then she remembered a line from that Earth play, Hamlet—which sadly wasn't about a singing ham— "To thine own self, be true." For her own sake, she needed a definite answer before deciding where to go next. Also, Marco deserved to know.

"Star?" Marco began to worry, and Star realized that they had stopped dancing. "You've been quiet for a while?"

Here goes nothing. "Marco, can we talk for a bit?"

"Oh... Sure thing." He bit his lip, looking away from Star.

Oh boy... but this must be done right here. Star took his hand, and the two sat down somewhere in the room, the red light still shining down. "Um... I know I kind of crossed a line, dancing with you. I'm..." Marco started sadly.

He's too sweet sometimes. "Marco, this isn't about that. And I had a lot of fun dancing just now. I..." She smiled to reassure him so he wouldn't beat himself up over his forwardness. In fact, she had much more fun being with him than on the last several dates with Tom before they broke up. Star took a deep breath to steady her racing heart, tightening her hold on Marco's hands. No turning back now. "Okay. Remember that confession I made to you on Earth?"

Marco tensed up, Star feeling his nerves on edge, "I remember. I hurt you and was a cruddy friend. It's okay, I get you moved on and are happy with Tom. I know you guys are fighting now, but I'm sure it will pass." He flashed a smile, but she saw through it.

"Marco," she took his other hand, forcing him to look into her eyes. "I should have been honest. Since you came back to Mewni..." Marco's brown orbs shined bright as if a confident fire somewhat got lit. "....I tried very hard to move on, but nothing worked....."

"So... Where are you going with this?" Marco's eyebrows knit together, puzzled.

Star took her hands away from him, playing with strands of her hair. "I... I've been running from you. I... I am still in love with you." Marco's heart skipped a beat, looking shocked more than anything. Oh no, this is just like that party on Earth. Even if rejection was to come, she had to keep up her confession. "I don't know if you like me anymore...." Before she could finish her thought, Marco pulled her in for a crushing hug. Wow... He's never hugged me this tightly before.

"I don't just like you," Marco said softly, his voice confident and proud. "Star...I love you. Have for a while. But I took a while to realize my feelings. I saw you and Tom kissing in Lava Lake, and, I fully got the picture." He let out a bitter laugh, making Star's heart feel a familiar ache. He went through what I did when he dated Jackie. That feeling is horrible. Now she was putting the dots together: Marco's disgust at watching Tom fawn over her, the fight on her birthday, the hollow loneliness in his eyes whenever they had a good time on adventures. Wow, maybe Star was the dense one here.

"I'm sorry I hurt you." Star began as they broke their hug.

"I deserve it though. You felt forced to move on because I couldn't make up my stupid mind." He clenched his fists, disappointment evident on his face. "I'm sorry."

Star just put a warm hand on his shoulder, flashing a bright smile. "Well, now we both know. We love each other, dummy." Star's heart fluttered. The world felt brighter, warm color surrounding Marco and herself. This feels amazing. Is this what actually being love feels like? She couldn't help but ponder, looking at Marco's face. He was on the verge of crying. "Those happy tears? Or sad ones? Cause I don't want to see sad ones, mister."

He hugged Star again, letting everything pour out of him. "I don't want to lose you again." His voice was hoarse and tired. Star just carefully hugged him, feeling the tension across his back. This isn't about just us... "When you left Earth, it was like part of me was killed. So, when I finally found you again, and Toffee took you away... I felt utterly broken." He sniffled, holding back tears. "When you came back, and we had our 'longer goodbye', my world lost all its color. I wanted that back. I wanted your light back. And—-" Marco let go, looking right into her somber blue eyes.

This is going to be about how I acted... Star couldn't finish her thought, with Marco rambling about how he messed up his return to Mewni. She couldn't even pay attention to this, feeling annoyance come over. "MARCO!" He stopped talking, worry shone in his brown eyes. "Stop. Just... I get it. You messed up. I messed up." Silence took the air for a minute before they both entered a laughing fit.

"So, we really messed-up on this one!!" They shouted in unison, continuing their laughing fit. Any tension in the room vanished at this point, the two lovers sighing in content.

"I guess we solved the problem or somethin' here?" Star giggled.

"We really needed to talk. Glad we did that finally," Marco said.

"You're telling me! My hearts hurts. Poor little guys..." She patted her cheeks, earning a chuckle from Marco.

"Your Cheeks hearts aren't living..." Marco froze, giving Star a serious look. "Unless Butterflys cheek marks are really alive. Like, living people and stuff?!" Star just punched his arm, laughing loudly.

He's priceless sometimes. "Silly, I really don't know if they are but I'll ask my mom later. Stop overreacting. My Safe Kid."

They shared another deep hug before leaving the temple. Both not wanting to kiss until the other is ready. As she started to walk off, the world much brighter than before. Marco followed, Star not seeing his bright smile and joyful posture.

"You know, we never did find what was haunting that temple," Marco said matter-of-factly after a moment of silence.

"Don't worry about it," she replied, "We found each other, so that must count for something." The pair laughed as they entered the forest of fire in the direction of home.