Work Text:
Prologue:
Several weeks ago.
Tom and Star are talking in the middle of the night “Tom, you can’t tell Marco any of this” she says as he’s leaving “Jackie didn’t know about how Marco feels, not until I told her. He’d be devastated if he knew. Please don’t tell him”
“I won’t.” He climbs out the window.
“You’d better not.”
Part 1:
Marco closes the front door quietly and walks slowly up to Star’s room. It’s still early enough that she’s still awake. “Marco. How was your date with Tom?” He just stands there with his head hung low. “Marco?”
His hand shaking, holding back tears of anger. “You told Jackie how I feel. Why?” Straight to the point. Star just stands there too stunned to respond, tears rolling down her cheeks. “I asked you why.” Marco reiterates.
Pleading “Marco, please don’t be mad” barely holding it together.
“No. Just tell me why.” He mutters.
Trying to find the words “I just let it slip, I thought maybe if she knew that it might help you… I was wrong and I’m beyond sorry.” Marco walks away going to his room. “Please wait!” She grabs his sleeve.
He tenses “Get. Off.” He’s holding himself back. “Just go.”
She lets go and lets him leave. Her eyes pouring with regret and shame, she breathes “I’m sorry.” She sinks.
Marco sits silently in his room for hours. Trying to cope with his own feelings when a pair of horns comes peering through his window. “Marco” Tom says pulling himself into his room. Marco doesn’t reply, just sits there lifeless. “Talk to me, what can I do to help?”
“You can’t help.” He says bluntly, looking up slightly. “I need to help myself.” dropping his head again.
Tom approaches slowly but Marco puts his hand up to stop him mid stride. “Marco I shouldn’t have told you”
“Yeah you shouldn’t have.” Cutting him off.
“But you can’t change how she feels, nothing can. You have to know that.”
Marco looks up to match his face “You don’t think I know that? I’ve known that for a long time. I just wish I was the one to tell her.” Tears in his eyes
Tom comes closer “Would you have?” He asks genuinely
“Heh, Probably not. I had every opportunity to tell her but I squandered them all.” A bittersweet realization. “She probably wouldn’t have ever said yes… I wasted years on her.”
Tom sits next to him “That’s not true, if you really loved her then those feelings would get through to her. Love doesn’t come from nowhere, it comes from time and care given by another person.”
“What did you read that in a book?” Marco laughs
Tom smiles “maybe. I think it was a magazine actually.” They both start laughing. Tom stands up and holds out his hand “I take it you got heated with Star, what’ya say we go talk to her.”
Marco takes Tom’s hand and the pale young man pulls him up “Yeah, let’s do that.”
Part 2:
Star is in her bed, curled up in a crying ball of regret. Marco opens the door and runs over to her, Tom staying in the doorway. “Star!” Marco calls getting her to sit up. “I’m still mad but I’m sorry” he says hugging her tightly.
Star hugs him back and notices Tom in the background, her face suddenly turned to inconsolable fury. “You told him!” She stops hugging her friend and lunges at Tom, he tries to run but it’s too late, Star is on top of him. “I told you to never tell him!”
Once again it’s up to Marco to pry her off of him. “Star, stop! He’s here to apologise!” He says squeezing her arms to her side. “Let him go!” Star stops flailing and gets off of the demon boy. “Tom, tell star what you told me.”
Tom clears his throat “Star, what was said should have stayed between us, I don’t regret telling Marco because he deserved to know but I wish you would’ve told him. That being said I am sorry for betraying your trust in me.” He recites “I hope that you can forgive me.”
Star looks at him and sighs “fine, I forgive you, Tom. As long as Marco does” she looks at Marco and he nods. “Just don’t hurt him and we’re good, got it?” He nods nervously. “Good.”
“Tom” Marco interjects “I want to make it up to you for how our last date ended, wanna try again?” He says blushing like a schoolgirl.
Tom’s eyes go wide “Yes! I would love that!” He runs to him and hugs him tightly. “You can decide what we do this time, whatever you want!”
Marco thinks for a minute “I want to just hang out, nothing fancy like last time. I felt so out of place at that restaurant.” Tom shakes his head excitedly. “Just tell me when and I’ll be there.”
“How about tomorrow?” Marco agrees. “Great, see you then.”
Part 3:
Marco arrives at Tom’s lair at noon. “Tom!” He says enthusiastically. They hug and Tom leads him inside. “So what are we gonna do on this date?”
Tom goes to his kitchen “I was gonna make dinner for you then I thought we could watch a movie, again an oldie but a goody.” He says happily “If you want to do something else we can.” Marco smiles warmly and says he’s okay with it. “Great, why don’t you have a seat and I’ll get the tacos going.”
Marco giggles “tacos? That’s a little on the nose don’t you think?”
He sweats nervously “I can make something else if you want, I haven’t started yet!”
“It sounds perfect, Tom.” Marco has a seat at the kitchen table “is it okay if I sit here and watch you cook?”
“Absolutely!” Tom begins to cook, but struggles to do so “FUCK!” He explodes slightly
Getting out of his chair “Tom,” Marco grabs the pan from him “let me show you how it’s done.” Marco begins to cook furiously practically dancing as he does. Tom gets enraptured in watching him season the beef and add spices. Once he’s done he breaks out of his rhythm and sees Tom gawking at him “What?”
“That was epic!” Tom shouts “where’d you learn to cook like that?”
Flustered “I-I learned it from my mom, she taught me how to cook.” He explains. He serves the tacos in a corn shell with lettuce and cheese giving Tom the option of adding sour cream, he puts some on his own.
Taking a bite of his food “wow, this is great!”
“You really think so? Thanks, Tom!” A wide smile grows from ear to ear. They finish their tacos and sigh satisfied “So what movie did you wanna watch?” Tom’s eyes go noticeably wide. “You don’t have one picked out do you?” Tom is now sweating profusely “It’s okay, I brought one just in case” Marco pulls out a DVD from his jacket.
Sighing with relief “what did you bring?”
Turning a light shade of red “It’s a romantic comedy… ‘About Time’ it’s about a guy who can time travel.”
“That sounds awesome!” Lighting up. Marco puts in the disc and the film begins.
Part 4:
Halfway through the film the two are snuggled under a blanket, Marco in Tom’s arms laughing at the movie. It comes at the climax when Marco starts crying “The dad was so likable, I can’t believe he died!” He says through bitter whines. Tom holds him slightly tighter holding back his own whimpers, poorly. “Aww, it’s okay to cry a little Tom” he says nuzzling up to Tom’s chest “It’s just us here.”
Tom let’s loose a small amount of tears “Marco, thank you for this.” He mumbles.
“For what?” Confused.
Looking Marco in his misty eyes “for this chance.”
Before he can react Tom kisses Marco. Shocked at first Marco doesn’t know what to do but slowly leans into the kiss with equal enthusiasm to Tom. They begin to get more intense, surprisingly it’s Marco who pushes his tongue into Tom’s mouth. They keep this up for a minute then separate “wow… that was amazing.” Marco says with heavy breath.
Tom grins slightly “yeah, I’ve never kissed anyone before.” He bites his tongue a moment too late.
Marco just giggles “I haven’t kissed anyone either. Wanna do it again?” Before he can get a response he just thrusts his lips onto his boyfriend’s.
Epilogue:
A week after their eventful date Marco and Tom are open about their relationship and the first to hear (other than Star) is Jackie. Marco runs into her at school “Hey, Marco, I’m happy for you!” She hugs him congratulating him on his relationship.
“Yeah, I am too. How have you been?” He politely asks.
“I’m great! Just happy to see my friend happy” she grins
Marco has a moment of sentiment and kisses her on the cheek “that’s for being cool.” He walks away.
Lighting up like a stop light “Yeah… thanks, Marco”