Chapter 1: Birthday

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Vs. The Forces Of Evil

"Kelly wait up!" Marco shouted as he ran up to her.

"I just wanted to say if you need to talk-"

Kelly teared up and sobbed quietly as she embraced Marco "I don't know who I am anymore! All I know is I'm tired of being Tads girlfriend… and I can't seem to move on."

"That stuff takes time."

"I know but... ah… Tad's still in here." Kelly said while she held up her hands to her chest.

Marco smiled at her. "He'll always be in here." Marco said as he brought his own hands up to his chest. "But it gets ea-"

"No! Marco, he hasn't moved out yet. He's still in here." She said and pointed to her hair.

"Wait! What?"

"He just isn't getting it and I already hurt him too much."

"I could try talking to him."

"Really? Hmh Maybe he'll listen to you. You are his best friend… Heh."

Marco rubbed the back of his head as he laughed awkwardly. "Ha ha… I am?"

Kelly untied her hair and covered herself in it. "Go on in."

"In there?" Marco asked as he pointed to her hair and tried to laugh it off as a joke.

"Yeah."

"In your hair?" Marco asked with a dumbfounded look on his face.

"Get in hair! Get it? He he, Get. In. Hair! Ha ha!"

Marco entered what could only be described as a pocket dimension in Kellys hair. The place was quite large and resembled a cave, only everything was made out of hair. Marco, for the life of him, couldn't figure out how this could possibly work. Although he couldn't explain it, he wasn't even fazed by this since this didn't even come close to the weirdest thing he'd seen. Not. Even. Close.

He walked through the cave of hair, noticing all the empty pizza boxes and soda bottles.

'Kelly really needs to wash her hair more often' He thought.

Marco noticed a weird cat like creature, dressed as a pizza delivery guy, walking out with money in hand. Marco couldn't put his finger on it but there was something undoubtedly evil about that creature.

Marco walked up to Tad, who was sitting in a lawn chair, looking into his pizza box. Marco read what's written on the pizza box 'Vegan Pizza'. Marco silently gaged to himself. 'That explains why the pizza guy seemed evil.'

"Uhm… Hey Tad!" Marco said while awkwardly waving at him.

Tad dropped the lid of the pizza box, revealing his saddened face as a slice of pizza slid out of his mouth. "Oh hey bestie." Tad sighed. "Kelly dumped me again." He licked the slice of pizza that fell from his mouth.

"Yeah that's why I'm here. She asked me to come talk to you."

"Are we getting back together?" Tad asked in a much more cheerful tone.

"No. She needs you to move out bud."

"She keeps saying that but I've been looking."

Marco was a bit surprised by that. "Oh! That's great! Where?"

"Hmm… like… On the back of these pizza boxes… ugh… inside these chip bags… at the bottom of these soda pops." Tad elaborated and started gulping down the drink.

"Look dude, I felt the same way when Jackie and I split." Marco said, trying to sympathize with the weird hairball.

"That's your b man." Tad said while pointing the bottle of soda at Marco. "Kelly and I break up and make up constantly. We'll get back together in no time so why even bother getting out of this chair?"

"Tad. It's for real this time."

"You're hushing my groove Marco."

"Dude, Kelly wants to move on, you should give her that chance!"

Marco grabbed the pizza box and tried to yank it away from him. "Come… On… You're only making yourself miserable hanging around her."

Tad sighed and let go of the pizza box. "You're right, you're the expert."

"Well yeah I'm an expert in many thin- Wait! What? What are you talking about?" Marco asks, confused by what Tad meant. He crossed his arms and raises an eyebrow at him.

"How you're making yourself miserable by hanging around Star."

"Whaaaat? Pshhh… what does Star have to do with… If anything I'm miserable because… because Jackie dumped me!"

"Marco, you didn't come here for the soulrise."

"Yes, I did."

"Oh Marco, Marco, Marco, Marco… Marco." Tad says while putting 5 hands on his face.

"Ahhh." Marco protests.

Tad put a finger to his lips. "Shhh."

"I've been watching you all night. You have feelings for your best friend dude." Tad stated matter of factly.

"Whaat? Nooo! No. no." Marco retorted, sounding unsure himself. That last 'no' barely but a whisper.

"Dude, you have dimensional scissors! You could be knocking back soda pops and crushing pizzas in any dimension, and you're choosing to live with your unavailable crush. When it comes to making yourself miserable you are the master bro."

Marcos mind became a scrambled mess. He didn't know how to process the information that had just been dumped on him. Him…. having a crush on Star… his best friend. He just couldn't see that as a possibility. So he did the only logical thing his brain could conjure up at that moment. Deny it.

"No. No. Nonononononono. Oh nononono." Marco responded in his messed up state.

"Marco you okay? Buddy?" Tad asked, concerned about the way Marco responded to his truth bomb.

Marco backed out of the cave of hair while mumbling 'no' constantly.

As he reappeared back on the beach, Kelly asked if he talked with Tad but Marco didn't register this. His confused feeling and scrambled brain wouldn't let him. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't accept this new revelation. How could he have feelings for his best friend? He just couldn't face the truth, so he ran. He tried to get away from any romantic thoughts in his head, but no matter where he went, all he saw was couples. So he kept running until he saw something that he really wished he hadn't.

There, sitting on a pink blanket, was Star and Tom… kissing. You could practically hear his heart shatter at that moment. There was no more running from it, he had to face the truth, no matter how hard it was. He had feelings for his best friend.

But, just because he had to face these new feelings, doesn't mean he had to face them right at this moment. Right now, that was the last thing he wanted. So he pulled out his dimensional scissors and cut a portal to his room at the castle.

He stopped for a moment, wondering how his friends were gonna get home without his scissors but then he remembered that Tom could summon portals with his fire magic.

He stepped through the portal and went straight for his bed. He plopped down on it with a loud 'thud and looked up at the ceiling as a lone tear slid down his face. Now, in the quiet of his room, he could finally think.

'I can't believe this. I… have feelings… for Star. How long have I had these feelings? Ugh why did Tad have to say anything? I would have been perfectly fine living my miserable life as Stars squire. Well not really fine but at least not as bad. It's going to be so much harder hanging around Star and Tom now.'

Marco looked at the clock and saw that it was past twelve.

'This has got to be the worst birthday present ever.'

Marco woke up the next morning, groggy and tired. He hadn't really gotten a good night's sleep on account of his restless brain. He had spent most of the night mulling over his new (or maybe not so new) feeling and trying to figure out how deep his feelings for Star actually went. Was it just a crush, or did it go deeper than that? No matter, this wasn't really the time to think about that.

Today was Marcos birthday and he needed to look presentable so people wouldn't ask him questions.

He begrudgingly got out of bed and changed into a fresh set of his trademark clothes. Black skinny jeans, sneakers and, of course, his read hoodie. He was about to leave his room when the door slammed open- launching him across the room.

"Good morning Marco!" called out a bubbly voice that he would recognize anywhere.

"Morning Star!" Marco called out from the floor with a huff.

"Hey Marco, I wanted to ask you a question."

Marco stiffened up and started sweating. 'Oh God! How am I going to explain my sudden disappearance at the beach? They probably spent hours looking for me yesterday, and I just left without even so much as-'

His thoughts were interrupted by Star asking "Which dress do you think I should wear today? The blue one or the pink one?" She held up an elegant blue shoulderless dress with stunning butterfly patterns on its knee high skirt and a dress that resembled the one she wore at the Blood Moon ball but a lot pinker and with a longer skirt.

Marco was a bit baffled at her question. 'Isn't she even gonna ask where I disappeared to last nigh-'

"C'mon, Marco, hurry up. I don't have all day."

"Oh, the blue one" Marco quickly answered.

"Yeah, I was leaning towards this one too. Thanks Marco!"

Marco tried to recompose himself and quickly got off the floor. "May I ask what the special occasion is?" He asked as he dusted himself off. He didn't really think that his birthday was something worth dressing up to.

"Weeell today is mine and Toms three monthaversary!" Star practically squealed out in excitement.

Marco tried to suppress the frown that tried to creep up on his face. "... Oh… well... that's cool. Congratulations to you two!" Marco attempted to sound as cheerful as possible, but failed miserably. It's not that he wasn't happy for them. He was. Tom's one of his best friends and so was Star. He really did want to be happy for the two but these new feelings were making that very difficult.

Star didn't even seem to notice Marcos strange behavior. "Thanks! I'm taking him to this awesome BBQ place in Mewni but shhh, it's a surprise!"

"Don't worry, my lips are sealed." Marco responded, trying to sound happier. He pretended to zip up his lips.

"Well anyways, I need to go and get everything ready. Thanks for your help! See ya later Marco!" Star cheerfully shouted, as she ran down the hall of the palace.

Marco slowly closed the door as he stepped out into the hallway with a dumbfounded look on his face. "Well that was strange, she didn't even wish me a happy birthday. Did she forget? Nah, this is Star I'm talking about. She would never forget someone's birthday."

Marco roamed the castle trying to find the dining hall. Even after spending so much time in Mewni, he still had trouble making his way around the maze they called a castle. While searching, he accidentally wound up in the throne room of the palace.

River quickly noticed the red hooded boy and called out to him. "Good morning Marco, my boy! Could you come over here for a moment?"

Marco quickly made his way over to the thrones and attempted a bow. During his stay, he hadn't really talked much to the monarchs, so he wasn't quite sure how to greet them properly. "Good morning, your majesties!"

"There's no need for formalities Marco, you're basically family!" River said while waving his hand in front of him.

Marco smirked at the comment. "So what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Well, a couple of things my boy. Firstly, I wanted to apologize for giving you that cape. Someone who's done so much for the kingdom and, more importantly, my daughter deserves a real award. I've also heard that it's your birthday today so please accept this gift as a token of our gratitude, this is what you should have received back then." River says as he hands him a well-crafted red chainmail chestplate. It had a yellow star decorating its center that seemed to dimly glow.

Marco slowly took it from the king, surprised by how light it was. "Th- thank you.. I'm honored… I feel like I don't deserve such an exquisite gift."

River let out a hearty laugh. "Don't mention it boy. You have done more than enough to earn that, don't sell yourself short lad. Moon has enchanted the chestplate so that it's light, durable and resistant to magic in case Star accidentally blasts you during combat. It's made to be worn under your clothing." River finished with a wide grin.

"Again, thank you! I will wear it with pride!"

"While we're on the subject of clothing." Moon quickly cut in. "We've heard that Star has somehow managed to make you her squire so, if you're going to be squiring for the princess, you are going to need to look the part." She handed him a white suit, similar to the one he wore on song day, but with some elegant golden trimmings. Marco blushed a bit at the memory of song day. "This is going to be your new outfit around the castle. We can't have the princess's squire running around the castle in street clothing now can we?" Moon asked with a small smile on her face.

"So how come Star doesn't have to dress all fancy around the castle? Don't get me wrong, I love the suit, just... curious."

"Believe me, we've tried getting her to dress properly, but, ever since she returned from Earth, we haven't been able to get her in a proper dress. Maybe seeing you dressed so princely will encourage her to dress more proper." She teases.

Marcos cheeks became a tad bit redder. "Well thank you both for the gifts! I'm gonna go change now."

"Enjoy the rest of your birthday Marco! Don't party too hard!" Replied River.

Marco went back to his room to change. Once he was out of the throne room River sat back in his throne, crossed his arms and pouted. Moon glanced over at him and sighed. "What is it dear?"

"You know I've been wanting to give him that suit since Flag Day, and I didn't even get to be the one to give it to him! I had it specially made!"

Moon slightly chuckled at her husband's childish behavior. "You know very well why you couldn't give it to him back then. This was necessary though since he now has to accompany Star to royal meetings. His birthday was just a convenient excuse to give this to him and it seemed more fitting for you to give the armour."

River slightly chuckled. "I suppose you are right my dear. It would be a tad strange if I was the one to gift the suit."

Marco opened the door to his room and went inside. He placed the suit and chestplate on his bed and took off his hoodie. He grabbed the chestplate and wore it over his Goblin Dog shirt. He was surprised by how light it was, it felt like putting on an extra shirt. He also found it really easy to move around in which was important considering his fighting style. He then changed into the suit and examined himself in the mirror.

"Whoa… I almost look like the prince of Terra. Now if only I had Rolands sword to complete the look." Marco thought out loud. While looking at a mirror he heard an all too familiar ripping sound and glanced back, seeing a portal being opened in his room.

"What's up home fries! Now that the party queen has arrived, this party can finally get star... ted..." Pony Head exclaimed as she came out of the portal, trailing off as she noticed the almost empty room.

Marco smiled at his friends shenanigans. "Hey Pony Head! What brings you here?"

Pony Head looked around the room and then back at Marco. "Well I was expecting a party to be going on, but I guess you took the whole 'It ain't a party without me' thing literally. So what's going on? Where's the party at? And why are you dressed like that?" Asked Pony Head taking note of his new outfit.

"Sorry to disappoint Pony but I don't think there's gonna be a party today and as to why I'm dressed like this, this is sort of like my new uniform around the castle, what with me being the princess's squire and all."

Pony Head stared at Marco like he had grown a second head before bursting out laughing. "Ha ha ha… Nice one Marco! I almost believed you there for a second but now seriously, where's the party at? This girl has got to get her groove on!" Pony head finished with a bit of annoyance in her tone.

"I'm serious Pony. There are no parties going on today, at least not any that I'm aware of."

"What do you mean there are no parties that you're aware of? What about your birthday party?" Pony Head exclaimed with disbelief evident in her voice.

"I don't think I'm going to be celebrating this year. I don't really know that many people in Mewni, and I don't really want to go to Earth just to celebrate." Marco tried to shrug it off.

"Ohohoh NO! I'm not just gonna sit here while my Earth bestie remains partyless on his b-day. Where's Star? She must have prepared something by now."

"Actually, I think she's on a date with Tom. I think they're celebrating an anniversary or something."

Pony Head looked furious. "OH NO SHE DIDN'T! SHE DID NOT JUST BLOW OFF HER BEST BESTIE JUST TO GO ON A DATE WITH THAT DEMON! WHEN I SEE HER, SHE'S GONNA GET AN EARFULL!"

"Whoa! Calm down Pony Head! She probably just forgot. I don't think she would intentionally ignore me on my birthday."

"But that's even worse! No bestie would ever forget another besties b-day. Especially a BEST BESTIES!" Pony yelled in frustration.

"Hey, just relax! Listen, Stars has had to deal with a lot recently and she isn't really herself right now." 'I should know. The way she acted when I came back to Mewni, I could tell that something was really bothering her.' "She didn't mean to forget, she just has a lot on her mind right now and my birthday just slipped through the cracks."

"And her anniversary with Tom somehow managed to remain a top priority?" pony Head said in an annoyed tone.

'Ouch… Didn't really think about that.' "Listen, the truth of the matter is that Tom is more important to her now, and there isn't anything we can do about it. Tom is her boyfriend, and she probably just wants to spend more time with him." It was difficult for Marco to get through that sentence while keeping his composure, but he somehow managed.

"It's still not cool of her. Just ditching you like that on your b-day. If I was you I would be furious. I don't know how you can remain so calm after a backstab like that."

"Guess I've gotten used to it." Marco mumbled to himself with his head hung low and a small frown.

"Well I guess if there's no party then I should head back home. I think my sister are plotting to disown me again and I need to get back and figure out what they are up to before they put their plan in action." Pony Head says as she somehow produces scissors out of her mouth and cuts open a portal. "Here's your gift Marco, by the way. I didn't really know what to get you so I thought I'd just let you choose whatever you want." She spat out a small card out of her mount and into Marcos hands.

Marco instantly recognizes the gift card from Quest Buy and his eyes went wide. "Listen Pony, I really appreciate the gift but I've had some bad experiences with Quest Buy gift cards." Marco said with panic evident in his voice.

"Don't worry, this is just a regular gift card, not one of those weird 'friends till the end' cards. You can redeem any one item with it."

"Oh, thank goodness!" Marco lets out a sigh of relief. "Thanks Pony! I'll put this to good use."

"No problem! If you decide to go celebrate later, give me a call. I could get a small crew together, and we could go check out that new 'flounce lounge' everyone's been raving about!"

"K, I'll keep that in mind. Bye Pony!"

"Bye Earth Turd! Enjoy the rest of your birthday!" Pony Head exclaimed with a playful smirk. She went through the portal and it closed after her.

Marco stashed the gift card in his plum colored wallet that he had gotten with the previous gift card that tried to kill him and Star. He must admit that even though they almost died that day, it really was an awesome adventure. He missed the days where he could just go on mindless adventures with Star all day and goof off with her. He missed getting in trouble with her, only for them to find a way out of it together. Most of all he missed… her. He missed hanging out with Star, his best friend… his love. Ever since he returned to Mewni, she had kind of been ignoring him. Yeah, they kind of patched things up, and she made him her squire but even when they do hang out there's this awkward tension between them. She still seems to act pretty distant and things haven't really improved all that much.

He shook those thoughts out of his head. Today was his birthday and he wasn't just gonna sit around in his room and feel sorry for himself. He decided to practice a bit of karate to clear his head, so he changed into his GI and picked up some of the boards that were lying in a corner of his room.

It was later in the evening and Marco was studying up on his Mewman history with a couple of books that he had taken from the castles amazing library. It looked like something taken straight out of Harry Potter with its gigantic bookcases filled with ancient looking tomes.

He didn't really have anything better to do since Star and Tom were probably out on a date and he didn't have many friends in Mewni, so he decided to educate himself on what exactly has been going on in Mewni for the last couple of centuries. He figured the information would be useful when he would have to help Star with the monster rights issue.

Marco was just mindlessly reading a chapter about the importance of corn in Mewman culture when a ringing sound caught his attention.

He closed the ancient tome he was reading and went up to the magical mirror that he had asked Star to magic up for his room. He recognized the caller ID as the mirror from his home on Earth and promptly pressed the diamond on the side of the mirrors frame to answer.

"Happy fifteenth birthday Marco!" Marcos parents cheerfully shouted as soon as he answered, holding up a cake with the same phrase written on it in frosting.

"We're sorry for pulling you away from your party dear but we just couldn't wait any longer to see our little baby boy!" Exclaimed Angie.

"We were so excited that we decided to bake you a cake!" Rafael added.

"Aww thanks guys! You didn't have to." Marco felt a bit awkward since he wasn't having a party but decided against mentioning this since he felt like if he did, his parents would not leave until he had a proper party.

"Well of course we had to hijo! It's your fifteenth birthday and as your parents it is our duty to celebrate even if you aren't here!" Rafael said.

"Oh darling look at that suit!" Angie gushes to her husband then gasped and covered her mouth with both hands. "Did you finally become a prince?"

Marco tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean? This is my squire uniform."

"Oh! Never mind dear. Can you please open a portal so we can give you the cake?"

"Oh yeah sure mom." Marco took out his scissors and snipped at the air, opening a portal for his parents. They both instantly leapt through the portal and engulfed their son in a bone crushing hug.

"We've missed you so much dear!" Angie said as a single tear ran down her cheek.

"Aww come on mom, I visit you guys like every few days." It was true that he visited every few days but Marcos visits tended to be short, just enough for them to catch up over dinner. Marco didn't really know why but he didn't like going back to Earth. There was this weird feeling in his gut that seemed to be keeping him away and when he did go, he kept his visits as short as possible.

They pull back from the hug and Angie looks up at her son. "Oh we know that you try your best to visit us. You're probably so busy here but it's just a big change from being able to see you every day." Marco was hit with a feeling of guilt. In truth he wasn't all that busy. He didn't have any real obligations, and he hadn't really been spending all that much time with Star either since she would usually be out on a date with Tom.

"He he… yeah. Very busy." Marco said while sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck and averting his gaze from his parents.

"So anyways, how are you and Star doing?" Asked Rafael.

Marco visibly recoiled at the mention of Star. "Oh we're fine. We've just been having fun the past few days. Trying to get monsters rights, you know- little things." Marco said while trying to regain his composure.

His parents noticed the change in attitude and began to grow a bit worried. "Is everything alright between you and Star dear? Did you guys get into an argument?"

"What? No! I said that everything is fine between us, and we didn't get into an argument." Marco sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than his parents that everything was alright.

His parents shared a worried look but decided that they shouldn't press any further if he didn't want to share.

"Oh I almost forgot! Your friends made a little gift for you. They told me to give it to you the next time we see you." Rafael pulled out an envelope and handed it to Marco.

Marco opened it up and inside was a picture of him and a bunch of his friends that they had taken at the end of the school year. Marco flipped the picture over and saw that there were a bunch of happy birthday wishes written on the back. Reading the birthday wishes and comments about how they missed him brought a tear to his eye. Marco really did miss his Earth friends, but for some reason he just couldn't bring himself to go back to Earth. He thought that maybe he should organize a get together on Mewni if he couldn't bring himself to go to Earth.

"Thanks. Tell them that I miss them too and that I'll try to organize a little get together soon." Marco spoke with sincerity in his voice.

"Okay honey. Now why don't you blow out the candles so we can have some cake dear?"

Marco walked up to his father who was holding up the cake with fifteen candles in it. "Don't forget to make a wish!"

Marco thought for a moment before drawing a long breath.

'I wish…'

It was much later in the evening now and the sun was just starting to set. Marco was laying down on his bed, trying to relax his sore muscles and not agitate the bruises all over his body.

After Marcos parents had left, Marco decided to go train with the other knights and squires. He knew that he didn't really have to do it since his squire title was basically just an honorary one but he still felt like he had to at least try to prove himself as worthy of being a squire, if not for others than himself.

On his way to the training field he had ran into Kelly, who had wanted to wish him a happy birthday and thank him for talking with Tad and getting him to move out of her hair. She asked him why he had left so suddenly yesterday. He said that it was personal and that he really didn't want to talk about it. Luckily Kelly understood, she only asked since she had to cover for his sudden disappearance. She had seen him portal away and had told Star and Tom that he was tired and didn't want to ruin their fun which explained why Star hadn't brought it up that morning. Marco was grateful to her for covering for him and she said that it was the least she could do.

Kelly offered to train him a bit for helping her out since she was an experienced adventurer with quite a few tricks up her hair. Marco didn't really need the help since he still had some of the memories from his days in Hekapoos dimension and his karate, but he gladly accepted her offer since he didn't really know the other knights that well, and he needed to get his mind off of Star.

They sparred for about an hour, Kelly constantly besting him and giving him helpful advice. Eventually she had to go back home which left Marco to train with the other knight.

The other knights and squires didn't really go easy on him since to them he was just a peasant who had cozied up to the royal family. In fact they gave him special treatment which resulted in his muscles and bones now aching. It probably didn't help that he had went to the practice field in his new royal looking suit.

Marco was trying to rest when he noticed the smell of something burning. He turned his head and spotted a small flame on his floor. It suddenly grew to a massive pillar of fire and out of it stepped Tom dressed in his regular clothing.

Marco smiled at seeing his friend and sat up in his bed. "Hey Tom! What brings you here?"

Tom quickly grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall. "Don't play dumb with me Diaz. What you did was NOT COOL! How could you betray me like that? I thought we were BROS!"

"Tom what the hack are you talking about!? I haven't done anything!" Marco almost screamed in a panicked voice.

"That's precisely the problem! How could you not invite me to your birthday party man? I thought we were friends!"

"Tom I haven't had a party!"

Tom calmed down a bit and arched a brow. "What do you mean you haven't had a party? Did I mess up my dates? I could have sworn that today was your birthday." Tom trailed off at the end trying to wrap his head around this.

"It is my birthday today, I just didn't throw a party Tom. I don't get why everyone expected me to have a party today."

"…Because today is your birthday and you're best friends with Star Butterfly, AKA the self-declared party queen." Tom clarifies.

"Yeeeah… about that, I kinda think she may have… forgot… about my birthday…"

Tom stared at him for a few seconds before bursting out in laughter as he started rolling around on the floor. "Ha ha ha… I can't breathe… that's rich Marco… Star forgetting your birthday... That's like saying a fish forgot how to swim… ha ha…"

"Tom, I'm serious, I think she may have forgotten." Marco says with the slightest bit of irritation in his voice.

Tom laughed for a few more seconds before calming down and getting off the floor. "Okay… okay… what makes you think that she forgot?"

"Weeeell when I met her this morning she didn't even mention my birthday and she seemed to be getting ready to go on a date with you. She mentioned something about it being your anniversary." Marco explained.

"Well yeah it is our anniversary today but put yourself in Stars mind for a second. If you were Star and it was your best friend's birthday, what would you do?"

"Well… I would want to do something special for them."

"Yeah… go on."

"I don't know… I would try to surprise them maybe?"

"Good Marco! Now think, have you seen Star today."

"Well excluding this morning, no, I haven't."

"Here's a hint, I haven't seen her all day too. So, what does that mean?" Tom folded his arms with a smug smile on his face.

"That… she… forgot to invite you to the date in her excitement?"

Tom looked at him with a look of pure disbelief and face palmed. "Oh man you're dense. Try again."

"That… she's… preparing something?"

"Bingo! Took you long enough. Don't worry, knowing Star she's probably setting up the most over the top surprise birthday party ever."

Marcos lips curved into a small smile. "Thanks Tom. That made me feel better. I can't believe that I actually thought that she might have forgotten."

"Hey no problem! That's what bros are for!" Tom slapped Marcos back, almost sending him to the floor. "Now I don't have to burn you to a crisp for not inviting me!"

"I'm pretty sure Star would freeze you before you even got a chance to burn me." Marco joked.

Tom chuckled a bit. "Yeah, you're probably right. Anyways, while I'm here I might as well give you your present."

"Aww Tom you didn't have to get me anything."

"Of Corse I did. You're like my first real friend, I couldn't just not get you anything."

Marco arched a brow. "What do you mean?"

"Well… you're my first real friend. Everyone in the underworld just sort of pretends since… you know… I'm the prince." Tom explained.

"Weeeel… what about Star? I mean you guys did date before this."

"Yeeeah… but our parents kind of pushed us together. You're the first real friend I made as Tom not Prince Tom. I mean heck, we hated each other when we first met!"

"Yeah… good times." Marco said while reminiscing. "I must say Tom, you've come a really far way since then. I'm proud of you." Marco said with nothing but sincerity in his voice.

Tom had a small smile on his face from the compliment. "Thanks dude. Now for your present. I'm going to need you to hold out your hands in front of you, palms facing up and eyes closed."

"I swear if you put a goats head in my hands I'm gonna karate chop your head off." Marco deadpanned.

"Ah come on Marco, have some faith."

"I thought faith was bad for demons."

"Fine, just trust me man"

Marco nodded. "I trust you." Marco stuck out his hands and closed his eyes as instructed.

Tom hovered his own palms over Marcos and closed his eyes. He then started chanting something in a demonic tone and what sounded like multiple tongues. The room darkened. A bunch of runes and symbols started appearing all over the room, faintly glowing in different colors. Tom opened his eyes and tilted his head back. His eyes were glowing pure white. As he continued chanting the runes and symbols started converging around their hands.

Marco didn't dare open his eyes, hearing his friend's daemon chants but more importantly because he trusted Tom. He trusted him not to do anything that would cause him harm or distress. Also he knew that even if Tom did do something bad that Star would blast him to kingdom come.

The chant started growing in volume and intensity. With each passing second Toms voice grew more demonic. At this point all the symbols and runes had gathered between their palms, compressed in the small space between them. Tom yelled out one last demonic phrase as he brought their palms together. The room instantly brightened and Tom dropped to his knees, panting and sweating.

Marco opened his eyes and helped his friend up, supporting his weight. "Tom, you alright? What happened?"

Tom chuckled a bit to himself between breaths. "He he… check your hands."

"Check my han…" Marco looked down at his hands and noticed that they were covered in tattoos of runes and symbols. He flipped over the hand that wasn't supporting his friend and checked the palm of his hand. In the middle of his palm was an encircled pentagram. Marcos heart filled with dread. "Tom... WHAT THE HECK? YOU DON'T JUST GO AROUND TATTOOING YOUR FRIENDS WITHOUT AT LEAST ASKING FIRST. MY PARENTS ARE GOING TO KILL ME WHEN THEY SEE THIS!" Marco flailed his arm around to emphasize his point.

"Ha ha just calm down Marco. That isn't just a regular tattoo, it's a demon hex."

"How is that any better?"

"Well with this you can summon your own fire. Think of it as me giving you a bit of my powers. With this hex you can do basic fire magic." Tom explained.

"...Really? ...Uhmm thanks Tom. That's really cool of you. Could have warned me about the tattoos though."

"Don't worry, they will only appear when you actually use them. They should fade in about an hour or so."

"Wow… I don't know what to say… thank you so much Tom."

"Don't mention it, just try not to burn the castle down. You take full responsibility for any disasters you cause."

"Well if you manage to not burn everything to the ground with your anger issues then this should be a cakewalk." Marco playfully jabbed.

"Well I'll see you at the not so surprise party later Marco. I'm gonna go find something to eat. Casting that hex made me famished." Tom said as he went for the door.

"Take care man! See you later!" Marco waved goodbye to his friend.

Once Tom was out the door he started heading towards the dining hall. While trekking through the endless halls of Mewni castle he felt his mirror phone buzz in his pocket. He fished it out and found that he had received a text from Star.

'Hey Tom! Could you meet me at this address at 9.00 pm please?'

Tom smiled and thought out loud. "Looks like Star needs help setting up the party."

A/N: Hello everyone! This is my first time ever writing anything resembling a story so any criticism is welcome. This story will mostly stick to the canon universe with some changes here and there to fit the story better and obviously will diverge from LLB onward. I also wanted to mention since I'm not a writer this story wont have a set schedule. I'm gonna try to get it out bi weekly but that depends on if I get stuck at some point. The story is already mostly planned out I just have to do the writing and since I'm not that good at it, it takes me a lot of time.

I got inspired to write this story by a bunch of awesome svtfoe fanfics I've read. There are going to be a bunch of references to some of my favorites in my story. I'm also probably reusing a bunch of the tropes from the stories I've read; I'm not trying to copy anyone's work, I'm just not that creative I guess.