Cold Showers

It had been six months since Star had come to live at the Diaz house. Six crazy, chaotic months. Six fun months. Six confusing months.

Marco looked at himself in the bathroom mirror. He had dark circles under his eyes. He poked at them, wishing that it would make them--and the reason for them--disappear. After a few minutes he turned the light off and slumped exhausted back to his bed. The clock next to him read 3:28 AM.

He stared at the ceiling, arms laying limply out beside him. Sleep just kept evading him! Maybe because every time he closed his eyes, Star's giggling face popped up. “Marco!” he heard silently, “Marco, what is that? It's so cooooool!” Marco groaned and rolled over, hoping that turning his head would make his mind look away. But it was no use.

Finally, dawn broke and Marco realized he must have fallen asleep. Opening his eyes felt like the hardest thing he had ever done. The sun was blazing in the window onto his face, making him feel overcooked and sweaty. Marco pulled the covers over his head. Just as he was starting to accept the day, the door to his room suddenly burst open.

“MARCO! Marco it's MORNING!”

Star leapt across his room clumsily with a giggle, closing the gap in one bound, before jumping onto him in his bed. Marco curled up underneath the sheet, grumbling, his tousled brown hair concealing his face as Star tried to uncover him.

“Breakfast is readyyy,” Star whispered in his ear in a low voice, pressing down on him and rolling him back and forth on the mattress under her hands.

When Marco didn't respond, Star abruptly got up in a huff.

“Well FINE, more waffles for me! You never come down for breakfast anymore!” she snorted before turning and bouncing out of his room.

After he heard her footsteps thunk down the stairs and her chant of “Square food! Square food!” getting quieter, Marco rolled onto his back and let out a huge sigh. He didn't know how much longer he could deal with this. Star was his friend, but after the Blood Moon Ball, things had gotten weird. For him, anyway.

I went there to protect her from Tom, that's all, Marco told himself.

As he had been telling himself, over and over, since that night.

But every time, a pit formed in his stomach. He hardly even remembered Tom from that night. What he did remember was how Star had worn her hair up in a big, tousled bun. And her dress, which fit right to her slim frame, and how she had put it on with him standing right there in the room. Marco's face grew hot just thinking about it. And most of all, he remembered how she had looked at him in the red glow of the moonlight, gripping his shoulder gently as he spun her across the dance floor. How her half-lidded eyes sparkled, how she stared longingly at his lips underneath his mask, the way her waist felt pressed against his hand. How many times had he imagined leaning in and pressing his lips to hers?

His heart fluttered. Something else fluttered, too, down below his waistband.

Marco sat up. He didn't have time for this.

Defiantly, he threw off his bedsheet and grabbed his bath towel from the back of his desk chair. A cold shower would definitely help him at this point. At the very least, it always seemed to help get rid of the painful tent in his shorts.

He turned on the water and hopped in, not waiting for it to warm up. The cool water stung and felt harsh, but he was glad because it distracted him from the heat of everything going on inside of him. Marco shivered and leaned back against the shower wall, feeling himself calming down.

I should just keep staying away from her as much as I can, he thought, I can't keep taking so many cold showers.

After he had finished getting ready, Marco grabbed his schoolbag and headed for the door.

Star slid out of the kitchen behind him on her socks. She stood there for a moment, perplexed.

“Marco, what are you doing?” She asked.

He looked over his shoulder at her before replying, “I'm going to school. Are you ready?”

Star took a few padded steps forward. “Marco, it's Saturday. I'm pretty sure school isn't on Saturday.”

Marco stopped, rubbing his temples with his free hand. How did he forget what day it was? He closed his eyes, tired.

Behind him, Star's brow furrowed. Her tone softened. “Marco...are you okay? You've been acting kind of strange.”

She approached him, putting her hand on the back of his shoulder. Marco shrugged her hand off, turning around to meet her gaze. Star's face fell. Instantly he felt a pang of guilt; he didn't want to hurt her feelings. He wanted to do the opposite, actually. He stared into her big, shiny blue eyes, and his gaze trailed down her face to her lips. They looked so soft and shiny, covered in some sort of  vanilla scented lip gloss. Marco suddenly got the overwhelming impulse to taste it—he could bet it was sweet. Meanwhile, Star was staring into him, still waiting for his response.

After another moment, Star's face flushed. She looked away.

“Look, Marco...I'm sorry if I did something that bugged you.”

Marco's heart jumped in his chest. If only she knew how much she was “bugging him”.

Marco shifted, a pressure growing inside of him. That same burning feeling that he felt when he thought about her at night, or after the ball, or whenever she got too close to him. He could barely help her fight demons anymore—when they would fight, she would touch him, she would get close to him, and he would get sloppy and distracted. The smell of her hair...she smelled like cotton candy. He never noticed how good she smelled before. He could smell her intoxicating scent now. The tension was growing quickly and he was losing control over it.

He set down his backpack at his feet.

“Star...it's not that,” Marco said softly, dropping his head.

It's only that I think I might totally want you, he wanted to say, that ever since we danced, I can't stop thinking about you.

But he couldn't tell her that. He remembered what she said the night of the ball--that she needed a friend, not a hero, not a boyfriend. His heart sank.

He lifted his face to meet hers. “It's nothing,” he said in a fake chipper tone, “Really. I just haven't been getting a lot of sleep...because it's been so hot out!”

Star's eyes wandered over his face before narrowing suspiciously. “Ooookay...” she said, long and drawn out, “If you say so.”

She turned quickly on her heels and scooted back to the kitchen on her socks. It was only a moment before he heard her sloppily devouring more waffles, kitchen cutlery clanging and scraping. Marco's smile faded as he dropped his head in relief. Suddenly an overwhelming urge to go back to bed overcame him, so he trudged back up the stairs and collapsed onto his bed, not even bothering to get under the sheet.

He was just starting to nod off when he heard his door open slowly.

“Marco...?” a whisper called, “Are you asleep?”

Marco stirred, too tired to say anything. Suddenly the bed shifted and he realized someone was in bed with him. He smelled cotton candy.

Inside his chest, Marco's heart was thrumming, but he pretended to be asleep. He could feel her hot breath on his face. She was close.

Star lay there for a few moments, face to face with him. Tentatively, she moved in and pressed an almost imperceptible sticky kiss to his lips. She pulled away quickly, trying to see if it had woken him. Marco stayed still, so she leaned in again, this time kissing him slower, softer, and longer. Her hand reached out to rest against his chest. Marco, unable to help himself, took a sharp breath in through his nose and began to press back into the kiss.

Star's fingers fisted in his tee shirt, and it was all Marco could do not to reach out to grab her. Instead, he pressed his tongue against her lips. Star's mouth parted in a small gasp. Her hand slipped down his chest to the hem of his shirt, their tongues probing each other's mouths.

“Marco...” she whispered when the kiss broke for a moment, her fingers slipping underneath his shirt.

Marco shivered against her touch, pressing harder into her sweet tasting lips. He could feel the lip gloss smearing and he was tasting it eagerly. Star's breaths were coming in hot, quick pants. Marco realized he was breathing hard, too.

Her hand explored his flat stomach for a moment before trailing down to the top of his pants. Marco tensed. His erection was pressing hard against his zipper. He suddenly felt alarmed. This definitely wasn't something that “just friends” do, but it felt so good, he couldn't bring himself to stop her. He was worried that if he pretended to wake up, that it would be over. In fact, he wasn't entirely sure that this wasn't a dream.

Her hand dipped into his pants and she broke the kiss, instead pressing burning lips to his collarbone. Marco's face flushed. He wanted to touch her. He wanted to feel her. The fire inside of him was blazing. Her fingers unzipped him, and his erection bounced loose inside his boxers. A moment later, her fingers wrapped around his length through the fabric.

This was too much. Marco groaned, and his hand reached out and grabbed her behind the waist, pulling her in as his hips bucked.

Star pulled back.

“Marco,” she asked, “Are you awake?”

Marco opened his eyes to see the tousled blonde, lipgloss smeared, face flushed red. His erection was pressing against her stomach, throbbing.

“Don't stop,” he whispered lowly, looking into her eyes. He wanted this more than anything.

“Please don't stop.”

She stared at him wide-eyed for a moment, her cheeks flaming. He closed the gap between their faces, kissing her hungrily. Star's hand reached back down to grab him, and he ground against her with a moan.

“Star...” he groaned needily into the kiss, his cock swelling at the sound of her name.

She whimpered, stroking him slowly up from his base. Each time her fingers reached the head, Marco gasped. He was definitely going to come soon if she kept touching him like that.

Marco's hand traveled up her back to the zipper on her dress. Quickly he zipped it all the way down, pulling it off of her shoulders. Star obliged, releasing him in order to slip the dress down over her arms. Marco saw she wasn't wearing a bra as her creamy, pert breasts sprung free. His head dipped down to taste her pink nipple and Star arched into him, whimpering his name.

Reaching up to meet his face, Marco's hand squeezed her gently. He never imagined she would be this soft, and he loved how she flushed red as he touched her. Her hips were pressing against his hardness now, grinding on him, and Marco bucked involuntarily. He could feel the front of his boxers getting wet.

Marco moved up from her chest to kiss her tenderly on the lips. Star was completely undone.

“Star,” Marco panted, his eyes half-lidded, “I...really want you.”

She didn't say anything, but ground her hips with a moan harder into his length. Marco's eyes rolled back in pleasure. That was good enough for him.

His hand dipped under her skirt and he lifted her dress above her head. Meanwhile, Star's hands were quickly tugging down his boxers, and for the first time Marco's bare flesh met cool air. He took a moment to take in her lean figure, her shapely hips, before he grabbed her panties roughly and yanked them down. They were soaking wet.

His hand reached down to touch her, and she shivered. He slid one finger in between her lips, rolling over her soft pink bud, before removing it and stroking her folds again.

Star moaned.

Marco pulled his hand back, rolling on top of her. Their hips were pressed together, and the wet beads of dew at the end of his cock were sticking to the inside of her naked thigh. He looked down beneath him at her flushed face, her lust-filled eyes staring widely back at him. She lifted her leg up to wrap around his hip and he took the opportunity to press his swollen tip against her entrance.

He hesitated.

“I...I've never done this before,” he admitted.

“Me either,” she replied, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him in for a deep, open kiss.

Marco pressed into her, slowly engulfed in her wet heat. Star gasped, digging her fingernails into his shoulders. Marco dropped his head into her neck, trying to focus on pretty much anything else so that he didn't explode right there. He planted a few wet kisses there, staying completely still.

After a moment, they had both adjusted and Marco lifted his head to look at Star.

“I-I'm going to move now, is that okay?” he asked her gently, but she was lost in pleasure.

“Ah,” she responded. “Mmhmm.”

Slowly, he pulled his hips back and began to thrust. The pleasure was more than he could have ever imagined. She was so tight, gripping him, sucking him back in.

“Oh, oh God, Star,” he choked out.

His speed picked up, and Star's fingers traveled up to knot in his dark hair.

“Marco,” she cried, and at her call he dipped in to kiss her.

With each thrust she was beginning to lift her hips to meet him. Their kisses were getting sloppier, and Star was moaning louder each time he plunged back into her. Marco's hand reached down to push her thigh down against her stomach, spreading her wide. He bottomed out in her, rocking his hips into her hot tightness with short thrusts. The tension, the friction was growing, and he felt himself rapidly approaching his release.

With that movement, Star's whole body tensed. The boy above her began to shudder, losing control.

“Star...I'm gonna--”

“Marco, oh, oh, ah!”

At his voice, Star peaked, crying out Marco's name, trembling with each wave of pleasure. Marco thrust deep into her and stopped, his cock pulsing as he released rope after rope of cum into her.

“Ah, S-Star...mmh,” He gasped against her lips.

Star held still, wanting to feel every pulse, every movement in his body. Finally, he dropped his sweaty forehead onto her chest, kissing her there between spasms as the orgasm faded. Star clutched him, still riding the aftershocks.

After a moment Marco brought his hands to her waist and ran his hands along her creamy white skin, just enjoying the feel of her beneath him. Star was still tangled in his hair.

“That was amazing,” she finally whispered, “But I need something, Marco.”

Perplexed, he lifted his head, “What is it?”

“You have to get up!”

Marco's eyes flew open. Star was fully clothed, staring at him from the doorway.

“Marco, you have to get up! It's almost noon! We've got STUFF to do!”

He sat up abruptly. On the front of his jeans was a conspicuous stain. How had none of that been real? It felt real. It felt REALLY real.

He glanced toward his bath towel. Maybe he really did need another cold shower.


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