Star vs The Forces of Evil: Unforgettable Getaway

Chapter 4: Midnight Trauma

Later that night, Star and Marco were enjoying a mostly quiet sleep in their water bed. At least at first they were. But deep into the night Star began to toss and turn. It was mostly harmless at first, just typical "uncomfortable sleeping position" tossing & turning. But along the way it morphed into something more concerning. Grunting noises & soft shrieks began coming from Star. Slowly it began to get more aggressive as she started to kick her blankets all over.

Air punches, right hooks, left kicks...finally a scream from the girl as she sat up in a cold sweat. Panting harder than she had in some time, she sat there in the dark, with only a shining glimmer from the curtains to their immediate right. Amazingly, Marco only stirred in his sleep. As she wiped the sweat from her forehead, she kissed the sleeping boy on his cheek, then got out of bed. Approaching the closet, she quietly opened it and clawed through the legion of clothes they had hung up. Stored in the back of the closet - out of sight from anything Marco could see - was the tiny red box with the promise rings. Unbeknownst to Marco, Star stored these away in her luggage and brought them with her. While she had no intention of attempting to give them to Marco again, their presence on the trip felt like a safety blanket of sorts for her. A comfort.

She took the box and made her way towards the bathroom...the broken one. Once in, she slide onto the floor and help the box in her hands, cradling it and contemplating the horrible nightmare she just endured.

Unfortunately for her, the sound of the door opening and closing got Marco's attention. He sat up slowly, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, and made his way to the bathroom. He didn't realize she went into the broken one. He knocked on the door to the functioning bathroom. "Star?"

"Other one." She said bluntly. He turned around and prepared to knock on the door. "You can just come in."

He slowly opened the door, taking note of the girl sitting on the floor and cradling the box. She slowly looked up at him with a look of embarrassment and shame written on her face. "Are you okay?"

She stayed silent for another moment. "Bad dream."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She looked away from him. "Not really."

"Do you want me to just sit with you?"

This time she looked back up at him and nodded. So he unapologetically walked over to her, sat down right next to her, and hugged her. She reciprocated the hug. For the longest time, there were no spoken words. Not even any exaggerated noises. Just calm, albeit uneasy silence between the two. At one point she hit him with several cheek kisses completely unprompted. Internally, she was struggling badly to conjure the words she needed to explain what was screwing with her head.

"We...we were fighting Mina and her Solarian army..." She finally started, her voice cracking. "A-And she backed us up to a ledge, and then...and then I jumped off the ledge. I left you there...all by yourself...to fight Mina."

Marco's face fell. He opened his mouth but no words came out.

"I-I abandoned you to get killed...f-for nothing."

He hugged her tighter, hoping it would do something for her, but it was as if she didn't even feel it.

"A-And then you and I were at the Blood Moon Ball..."

This statement raised an eyebrow for Marco, causing him to decide to prod her about it. "The Blood Moon?"

Again, she looked away. "I was alone in the middle of the ball room, a-and some creepy guy came up to ask me to dance. I...I said no, but he grabbed me and he started throwing me around the dance floor. I couldn't get way. You...You were standing with the crowd a-and you..."