Chapter 51: Sleepovers are for Secrets

Summary: Love is just too complicated

Steven rested on the wall. "So … this is how Gems … exercise." Steven noted as he huffed and puffed.

"Not really." Garnet shrugged. "We're as strong as we are from birth, so we can't improve physically, but mentally Gems don't have an upper limit, so skill gets memorized more and more until you're a master of your combat style." She pointed at the two of them. "However, you two can get physically stronger, so that's what we're working on at the moment."

"Nothing I'm not willing to put myself through." Marco, wearing those stone guantlet's Garnet has had him wear for a while now, slowly reeled it back, and thrusted it forwards, smashing it through four wooden planks. "Finally did it! If only I had these things a couple months ago. I could've avoided getting a demon in my arm."

"Soon we'll move onto a heavier material once you're used to that." Garnet said. "For now let's work on reaction time. It's all about prediction and being in the moment. For example, changing your body mid strike to hit a moving target about to dodge."

"Isn't that what you use your future vision for during a fight?" Steven asked, getting his shield ready as Marco stretched out his arms.

"Exactly." Garnet cracked her knuckles. "Learn to use future vision without using it."

"Please tell me you see something interrupting this probable beatdown." Steven pleaded.

"... You're very lucky I do." The worst part was that he couldn't tell if Garnet was disappointed that she wasn't going to get the chance to beat them up.

"Hey guys, whatcha all doing!?" Star came up from the warp with Amethyst, likely needing her to warp her here.

"Just training." Steven waved off. "Learning how to fight better so we don't get caught off guard by Peridot, or Ludo, or someone else."

"Ugh, like dealing with one annoying green bad guy wasn't enough." Star rolled her eyes. "And you know what, I realized that we've all been trying to double down on training and stuff, I say we've earned ourselves one night of fun before we get back to it."

"Oh, like an arcade night." Marco smiled. "I've actually been saving up a pile of tokens, we can technically play for a solid three days straight if we ration it."

"Love the dedication, roomie, but I was thinking more of a slumber party with our friends!" Star said excitedly. "Kelly was there when I planned it, and I just sent invites to Sadie and Jackie. I just got to send the last three to Jana, Ponyhead, and Starfan13."

"Oh, that's um …" He and Marco looked at each other.

"Intense …" The boy agreed. "I mean, hanging out is one thing but having girls at your house, our house slash room is a bit …"

"…much?" He finished. Steven had no problem with it in all honesty, talking to girls wasn't that different than anybody else, the problem was that Kelly would be there, and he had so much baggage on that front that it would probably ruin any fun he could have.

"Oh come on, I went through a lot of effort for this!" The girl complained. "I even made sure to get everything ready before Tad was finally released from the hospital … again."

"He does get hurt the most out of any of us…then again he's the guy that does the least in the group." Marco shrugged. "I know I can't fight you on this, but did you really have to invite Jackie? Something bad always happens whenever she hangs out with us, and I don't want to freak her out."

"Marco, if she really was freaked out by anything, she wouldn't even bother talking to you at all, let alone accept an invite." Star explained.

Steven thought the situation over. "... Fine. But I have conditions."

"Fine. Have it your way, little bro." Star huffed. "What do you have for me?"

"First, Ponyhead can't bring anything too crazy. I love her, but she has a habit of bringing dangerous problems that risk our lives."

"That's what we do usually, but okay." Star nodded.

"Second, guys and girls sleep in separate rooms. I don't want to have to explain to the Diaz family a second time why their son and exchange student were sleeping in the same bed as two other people."

"And you thought that was awkward for you." Marco grumbled.

"Hey, it was the best night of sleep I had in months." He was glad to make his sister happy, but he didn't need to have mewberty talk 2.0 in his life if Steven could help it.

"And third of all…no teasing about crushes of any kind to anyone." Steven crossed his arms.

"Aww come on-"

"I will blab to Oskar about how you stayed awake twenty hours for a phone call." Marco threatened.

"Ugghh, fine. But you two can't run away from your feelings forever, just so you know!"

"There are no feelings to run from because there's no one I can crush on." That's what he kept telling himself that is.

"Would you like to join for the next hour of combat session Star?" Garnet asked. "Ponyhead is busy avoiding her sisters and Jana is currently trying to speak to her dead hamster."

"Nah, I got brownie's to prepare for tonight. It'll be the first time I've made something on my own in the kitchen."

"Star, you've only cooked something when mom had us help her with pies…do you know how to do that by yourself?" He could vividly recall the time she put rat poison in the mix of purple nurples.

"I'm gonna be fine, ain't that right Garnet?"

"... We should really get back to training." It was a tragic time to have lost his healing spit.

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"Who is ready to party it up!?" Ponyhead shouted. "Let's get it on and shake it, make it, break it!"

"Less focus on that last part if we can help it!" Q-fly shouted. "Mom lowered our allowance, so we can't pay for the damages on our own without telling her about it." Parents, the enemy of fun.

"And I'd rather not replace any childhood photos or special memory objects!" Earth turd added in. "And … why do you have such a large bag?" He asked with suspicion.

"For my clothes and pjs and sleeping bag, doi." She said the obvious.

"Well yeah but … there's not much to …"

"Oh, just because I'm a head means I can't accessorize how I want, is that it?" She snapped back. "You saying I'm not allowed to get comfy in what I want when I sleep?"

"I meant nothing like that, I was just asking how you did it!"

"A girl has to keep some secrets about herself." She rolled her eyes before laughing, enjoying riding this guy's coattails in general. 

"Wow Marco." An earth girl with awesome hair laughed. "Never took you for someone interested in a girl's stump."

"The boy is into pretty weird stuff." The earth girl with a green cap joined in on the laughter.

"Oh you're going to get it one of these days, I swear." Earth turd glared at the green cap girl.

"I count on it, Diaz." The fun gal laughed. "So, we're gonna get some of your Nachos?"

"Actually Star's making brownies."

"Brownies from Star Butterfly!?" A glasses gal shouted. "This is the best day of my life!!" Obsessive fangirl, glad to see B-fly finally getting one.

"The girl barely knows how to use a fork to eat, let alone a whisk and an oven." Kelly, the girl she had mixed feelings on, deadpanned. "Steven, exactly how safe are we now?"

"I'm currently trying to make my shield strong enough to work on a room level, but I doubt that will save us." The boy answered. "We just have to suck it up, like me and Ponyhead did with the skittle cake."

"Ugh…I didn't know rainbows were supposed to taste like acid." Ponyhead shivered in remembrance. "If that's the case, get your pet lion on standby for when we need to make an emergency hurl trip."

"You actually have a pet lion?" The donut girl asked.

"Yeah, he's over there in the corner." He pointed to the giant pink bundle staring down at a ball of yarn like it was a mortal enemy. "Super adorable."

"So fluffy, like a pile of cotton candy that came to life!" The fangirl rushed over and sank her head into the fluffy thick fur. "If I showed him to Robaldo, I could scare the truth about magic right to his dumb face."

"Good luck with that. He just posted a video about the hand ship and tried to connect it to his conspiracies." Earth turd rolled his eyes.

"Which, surprisingly enough, WAS aliens … just not lizard people." Q-fly spoke up. "Those guys live on mewni. The hand was more rock aliens like the Crystal Gems."

"Wait, so there are alien rock people with tech that looks magic, AND magic from another dimension?" Hair strip asked them.

"Yeah, it's a bit much, especially when we're facing danger from both sides all at once." Marco sighed.

"Yep, Star's whole deal is magic, and mine is the science of space rocks, together we make space magic." Q-fly said with a small grin.

"The best kind of magic." B-fly came in with a tray of brownies. "Everyone, dig in."

Praying to the almighty corn in the sky, Pony scooped one brownie into her mouth as everyone tentatively took a bite out of theirs. The moment it hit her tongue, it felt like all of her tastebuds were being assaulted by tiny monsters made from mud and garbage dancing on them. "So…delicious."

"So yummy, so deletable!" The fan girl shoved her entire piece in her mouth before grabbing the dozen or so left on the tray and forcing them all in. "Soo gooood…" The girl's sacrifice would be remembered for years to come.

"The most unique taste I ever had." Sadie got out as she finished hers.

"So … great …" Q-Fly was able to ditch his piece when nobody was looking into his lion's mane.

"You're a good cook … Star." Earth turd gave a weak thumbs up.

"I've never had anything like it before." Streak girl was probably the most honest about it without being too harsh.

"Such a shame there isn't more." Kelly took her half and chucked it in her own hair when Star's back was turned.

"Thank you! I harvested the sprinkles fresh from the rainbow!" Star bought their lies, and everyone that had suffered their current trial made a shared silent vow to let her bestie live in her delusions. 

"Now that we ate, I have the perfect thing for everyone!" Ponyhead pulled a blue box out of her bag, covered in lines. "Truth or Punishment!"

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"No." Sadie quite enjoyed the sleepover so far, they hung out, chatted, and watched movies.

"Yes." They messed with each other's hair and did pedicures too, which did wonders for her hand.

"No." And Marco and Steven were fun additions, cause they were in touch with their feminine sides.

"Yes." However, ever since the brownies of nightmares, Ponyhead and Star had been advocating the game of 'Truth or Punishment'.

"No!" Something the only two boys there were firmly against.

"Yes!" And now it came to a violent climax.

"This is literally rule one, Star! Rule one!" Steven shouted. "One wrong move, and everyone gets hurt if they tell a lie!"

"Hey, Ah, as someone that's relatively new to the magic and alien thing, what exactly are we talking about?" Sadie decided to inject before things got too crazy. "This wouldn't happen to be another dimension version of truth or dare, is it?"

"Truth or what now?" The three extra dimensional characters asked.

"You get asked 'truth or dare', pick one, and you either have to tell the truth, or do a dare." Marco explained.

"Like, I dare you to drink fire salt from the bottle." Jana grinned.

"You know what, truth or punishment sounds a whole lot more appealing now." Steven quickly changed his mind. "Basically you get around a blue box and you have to tell the truth to any question it asks. Tell a lie, and it shocks you with ticklish lightning that gets more violent with each level."

"... How is THAT more appealing!?" Marco asked.

"Do you want to be forced between revealing personal secrets or getting dares from Jana or Ponyhead?" Steven asked.

"..." Marco looked more contemplative than she's ever seen him before. "Tough call …"

"Come on, Q-fly, don't let earth turd dull your sense of fun! It's a fun bonding ritual or whatever, where people get to know each other and stuff." Pony Head smiled. "All we have to do is take the pinkie oath and consent, then the game is on!"

"And all we have to do is not lie, right? That's easy enough to do." Kelly pointed out. "I mean, I've never seen you not be honest about something.

"Is that so?" They all watched as the box floated in the air, cracking open as a small mouth presented itself. "If an honest heart is what you claim to be, swear an oath of pinkie and we shall see."

"Yeah, come on guys, it can't be that bad. At most we just end up bonding in laughter." Jackie held her pinkie out and pressed it against the mouth. "I pinky swear."

"Yeah Marco, it can be fun. Let's see what the box has in store." Jana placed her pinkie out and pressed it against the mouth. "I pinky swear."

"I've never done anything like this before…or really been to a sleepover before." Sadie admitted, pressing her pinky against it. "Might as well do something new while that train is rolling. I pinky swear."

"Trust me everyone, it's gonna be a blast." Pony pressed her tongue against the mouth. "I ine square." She spoke awkwardly. 

"We handled more danger just by going swimming. We got this." Kelly went and did hers.

"Anything Star says is fun must be fun!" Starfan13, the girl insisted to be known only as that. "I pinky swear."

"I pinky swear." Star placed hers on the spot. "Just the boys now."

Steven and Marco looked to each other in exasperation. "Peer pressure sucks." Steven kept his head down and pressed his finger on it. "I pinky swear."

"You're all lucky I'm a nice guy. I pinky swear." Marco finally relented.

"All have signed the agreement … it is time for Truth or Punishment." The box closed, it's front flipping in place and slowly landing on certain words. "What is …"They all tensed. "Your …" The room was filled with anxious energy. ".... Favorite Color?"

"Really, that's it?" Sadie asked. "I was expecting something a little harder."

"It must be a build up." Pony Head shrugged. "It starts with the easy stuff before getting to the nitty and gritty, like if you've ever killed a man." Why was that the first thing to come to mind?

"Hey, did we kill Toffee?" Star asked. "I know I was the one that blew up the wand but he literally asked for it and never tried to run away."

"I personally count it as him killing himself." Steven shrugged. "Okay, I'll go first. It's Salmon pink for me." Not surprising, it was the main color he wore all the time.

"Sorry bro, but I have to go with yellow." Star shrugged.

"That's my favorite color too!" Starfan13 smiled widely.

"No way, what a coincidence!" Star obviously didn't read the obsessive signs present. Probably for the best she didn't."

"Neon green for me." Jackie smirked. "Always just loved how it stuck out in the dark, like I'm a firefly or something."

"Turquoise is a fun one." Kelly leaned back. "It was the color of my dad's fur, it just fills me with comfort."

"I go with black, it matches my soul." Jana smirked.

Guess it was her turn. "Hmm, when I think about it, I think black might be mine too." Sadie thought it over. "After a hard day at work, my mind just feels like falling into an abyss, and that feels slightly comforting."

"Way too many people need therapy." Marco grumbled.

"It's my second favorite." Jackie smirked. "I'm gonna call us the black gan-nope, nevermind, hearing it outloud is horrible." Saddie snorted at the attempt.

"I'm Red." Marco finished, another obvious one.

"Oh, like blood?" Jana asked.

"No, I wear a red jacket all the time."

"We'll mine's Ponyhead color." Pony said confidently.

"The heck?" Every human asked.

"It's a surprisingly popular color on Mewni." Steven shrugged. "Their entire castle renamed it after liking it so much." She had serious questions about how their dimension worked.

The box changed to red. "Someone … is lying!" It shot out red lightning, hitting them all as Saddie felt herself being tickled down to her nervous system.

"Hah-ha-seriously, this one was easy!" Kelly rolled over laughing. "Who-who needs to lie about-Hah-their favorite color!"

"I dunno-HAHAHA-I really prefer salmon-Hehehehe-to Rose pink!" Steven laughed, holding his sides tightly.

"And I really like black-ahahahahaha! I want to wear a black leather jacket and everything! Hahaha!" Sadie replied. "Someone tell the tru-HAHAHAHA!"

"Ponyhead-heheheh-is a real color-aAHAHAHAHA!!" The horse groaned in agony, hitting the ground.

"I just love everything-GAAAHAHAHAHA-Star loves!" Starfan13 shrieked. "Someone just say-HEHEHEHE-the truth already!"

"ALRIGHT, IT'S PINK!" The lightning stopped at Jana's declaration, the box turning green.

"Truth." It spoke plainly.

"I hate contributing to stereotypes." The girl hung her head low.

"Jana likes pink AND fights the patriarchy, impressive stuff." The box spoke as it began floating.

"That's it, this was a mistake!" Steven walked up to it. "I'm putting this box down before anything else happens tonight!" A pink bubble was placed … before popping.

"All beings, no matter how mighty, can not defy my will once the oath has been pledged!" Lines expanded from the box and covered the room. "This game will last until all three questions have been asked!!"

Soon they were all boxed in, literally. "Star, did you know that this game would trap us in jt jumanji style against our wills?" Marco accused.

"Jumawhat now?" The girl asked with a raised eyebrow.

"We probably should've just made this entire sleepover just catching Star and Steven up on movies." Jana laughed. "Well, no use complaining about it now."

"Let's just agree to be as honest as possible now, no matter how brutal we have to be." Pony said.

"The second question will begin." The words clicked. "What … did you really think …"It started, as all of them tensed. "... of Star's brownies?"

"HACKS!" Saddie shouted. "How do you even become programmed to ask that question!?"

"I'm a machine that runs on magic…plus when I scanned your pinkies, I read your minds."

"I call it an invasion of privacy and sue you for it!" Marco shouted as well.

"Look, I have legal binding from the Magic Commision, you all read the rules … or at least Ponyhead skimmed through them."

"PONY!" Steven shouted with an accusation. "I specifically told you to not bring anything dangerous, and it's the first thing you do!?"

"Sorry! I just wanted to have fun with my besties! It's been forever since the last sleepover, and you've all been getting bummed and stuff." Underneath the ego there was something of a heart in that head.

"What's the big deal?" Star asked. "You just have to tell him how much you loved them, right?" An awkwardness descended over the group. "Right?"

"I loved them." Starfan13 shrugged.

"As someone who doesn't want to be tickled to death, I'm going to be brutally honest Star." Steven spoke up. "They were terrible, and I threw mine in Lion's mane."

"Same, except with my own hair." Kelly replied.

"I ate it all due to lack of disposal, I didn't want to hurt your feelings because you seemed really happy about it." Marco answered.

"I've eaten worse at the Big Donut, but they weren't the best." Sadie answered honestly.

"I just took advantage of the fact I don't have a stomach and can't throw up." Ponyhead responded.

"Your physiology fascinates me." Jana muttered. "Also yeah, they were bad."

"Aww …" The girl pouted, leaning down.

The box turned red once more. "Someone is lying!"

"Haha, I knew you like-" Star couldn't speak, holding her face as it began swelling. Saddie could feel her own follow, shifting and popping?

"Oh come on! Can I go one month without a body changing horror happening to me!?" Steven's face got scaly as Marco's grew a trunk and elephant ears.

"Now you're all as ugly as the lies you tell!" It showed them a mirror. Saddie, who saw she had multiple warts growing out of her face, screamed in horror.

Everyone angrily turned to Starfan13. "What, I really.."

"SERIOUSLY!?!?!?" Everyone except Star yelled out.

"Fine,'they were the worst brownies I ever had!! They tasted both raw and overcooked, it felt like swallowing barf!" The box shifted to green, the changes went away, as everyone panted.

"Truth."

"You, are a very demented little box." Kelly flipped it off.

"Don't blame me, blame the Koala that designed me. He's the one that wanted order." For sanity's sake, she wouldn't question it.

"Okay guys, last question." Steven patted the backs of Star and Marco. "Let's give it full honesty, no matter how much it hurts everyone else and others."

"This game sucks. I'm sorry I brought it." Ponyhead apologized.

"The final question." The box began flipping once more. "Who …" They all tensed. "... Do you …" Ready for anything. "... Have a …" Accepting their terrible fate. "... Crush on?" The looks on their faces spelled doom for Saddie, and she felt inclined to agree.

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"Oh come on!!!" Kelly felt her stomach sink a little when Marco screamed. "Can't we get a do over question!? I would rather answer the 'have you ever killed a man' one instead of this!"

"No take backs, the question is asked. Answer or-" It temporarily turned red. "SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES!" And turned back blue.

"Okay, I'll go first, since it's obvious." Kelly raised her hand, hoping that the box would accept half the truth. "I already am with someone I like, so I don't have a crush."

"There was this one guy at skateboard camp that looked cute." Jackie stated. "But I never saw him after that summer."

"Mines Oskar Greyson. He's a rebel with a record, of course I'd like that." Star said confidently. Kelly suspected that was bullshit from what Steven told her and from what she's seen, but hoped that was not the case.

"I have a crush on Star." Starfan13 held the girl close, who returned with a pat on the back.

"As for me … I have a crush … on myself." Pony Head winked at all of them.

"I always knew you were a narcissist, I just never knew how deep it went." Marco deadpanned.

"Oh really now, tough guy? Then who do you like?" Pony countered back. He walked right into that one.

Marco looked at everyone around him, before sighing. "I … have a crush on Jackie Lyn Tomas." He said, the girl in question blinking at the admission.

"Oh…oh.." Sadie's face got super red. "This…this is going to be awkward then."

"Sadie, I just admitted I had a crush on the girl I tried to be casual around since elementary school." Marco deadpanned. "Unless you say 'I have a crush on Lars', it can't be worse."

"I do, but I…have another crush…a bigger crush…on you."

"... Ah …" The boy was now as red as his jacket. "... Well I'm sure Jana can't make this any more awkward."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that." Steven muttered quietly.

"Aha, Ah, so do we really need to say who we have the biggest crush on, can't it be one's we used to have, or on dead celebrities that don't get enough credibility." The sweating Jana was a very troubling sign.

"While I agree Eighteenth Century Poet John Keats could rock a shaved face, I will not take that as an answer."

"Fine…I guess I put myself into this mess." Jana sighed sadly, trying to hide her blush. "My crush…I…i…I have feelings for Steven Quartz Universe Butterfly." What!?

"... Huh?" The boy in question looked stunned. "I … I thought you had a crush on Marco … back in Rose's Room?"

"I did" The human hid away in his arms "…but I got to know you, your not afraid to be weird and you like pink, and when we formed Quana…it was genuinely the best thing I've ever experienced, I felt so…happy to be myself." Kelly knew that personally, so very much so.

"Is fusion really that great?" Pony Head asked.

"It's messy if you get it wrong, but amazing if you get it right." Steven sighed, looking around at the room, looking at her, then looking at Jana, before groaning. "I..I don't know what I feel." That kinda stung, but it made sense.

"I have heard all your answers … I have listened well." The box stated, before turning red. "But there are still lies present!" It began to form spikes. "Filthy filthy LIES!"It screamed as it shot at them.

"Marco, are you sure you didn't lie about anything!" Ponyhead yelled,'avoid the attacks.

"I really have had a crush on Jackie since the second grade!" The boy shouted. "Other than that minor break where I had a celebrity crush on Megan Fox, but any guy would do that!" He looked at the girl in question. "I just want to be someone that knows her and cares for her for the person she is, and not some idolized version I've made up!" He explained as a tornado formed.

"Steven, bro! I know this stuff is embarrassing, and I tease you alot, but you shouldn't deny your feelings!" Star called out to her brother.

"Yeah!" Kelly shouted. "You don't need to hold back, just be honest, man!"

"I didn't lie!" Steven shouted at the box. "I really don't know! I thought I had a crush on Kelly, but she was dating Tad so I didn't want to get in the way of that because he's an okay guy when he's not jealous, along with how wrong our fusion felt at first and how invasive I became. Then I met Jana who's a fun loving person and is nice to hang out with, but I view them as a friend and JUST learned they have a crush on me! My mind is a messed up mumble of feelings and emotions I don't comprehend and at the end of the day it's telling me that I don't deserve romance at all because I just fuse with whoever I touch!"

The box stopped its rampage, turning blue as it leaned in close to Steven. "Wow … I always get to the truth of the matter but … that was some deep deep stuff. Kudos, really! Do you need a moment?"

"Yes, thank you." The only two boys in the group were placed in chairs, chains wrapped around them.

"You're welcome, because the two liars weren't either of you!"

"Two!?" Sadie yelled out. "Who would be dumb enough to lie after all that!!?"

"I really do have a crush on Oskar, his music is awesome!" Star shouted. "Pony Head?"

"My self confidence is endless, I love myself girl!"

"Starfan?!" Star asked her fangirl.

"If you asked me I would take off my clothes and get hitched with you in the wild right now!" … Kelly wasn't going to touch that with a ten foot pole. 

It looked like she would have to be honest here. Steven and Marco were forced to go through awkward as hell confessions, and Steven's head was already so messed with that it wouldn't be fair to let him suffer when she was being stupidly stubborn.

"Why are you so crazy anyway!?" Steven screamed at the box before she could shout out the full truth.

"Lies are plagues, viruses, weeds! They must be destroyed at the roots! All lies must be annihilated!"

"Not everyone knows they're lying!" Star shouted at the crazy contraption seconds from killing them.

"Come again?"

"Yeah, humans are complex!" Sadie added in. "You can't just say we're black and white. We don't have all the answers, we make up stuff without even realizing it." The girl looked at Marco. "My favorite color is red right now."

"True? Wait, that's wrong, you can't change your answer!" The green box shouted.

"Of course we can!" Jana shouted. "Some things are always true no matter what, but the more we live, the more the truth changes with what we learn! Jackie, who you have a crush on now?"

"I.." Jackie looked at Marco with a blush. "..I don't know anymore."

"That isn't stop this I can't you're lies." The box began shifting between between blue, green, and red.

"That's right! Sometimes what you have is a whole rainbow of feelings happening inside of you no matter what!" Kelly shouted."I like Tad…and I also like my ex Gordy, and this one guy I saw with a dragon cycle, and I also hate all their guts!"

"Can't compute error, error ." The box flickered rapidly through colors, before breaking apart, falling to the ground in pieces as all the stuff it made vanished.

"Worst…game ever." Ponyhead groaned, and everyone agreed. Now Kelly had to live with the fact Steven and herself had crushes on each other … and Jana was in the mix somehow.

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Star waved to everyone as they walked out of the door. "Hope you had fun."

"It was amazing!" Starfan13 was a bit obsessive, but they were fun and nice to everyone, so it evened out.

"Heh, definitely the most memorable first slumber I've ever had.You guys certainly know how to liven things up." Sadie gave a small grin before turning to Marco. "Thanks for the good time."

"Yeah..no problem." Marco sent a slightly weak wave before picking up the energy when Jackie passed by. "So..see yah by the lockers?"

"Of course man." She nodded. "And when you make a choice just hit me up, i'm cool either way." She said, before jumping on her skateboard and riding off.

"Wow, she's super chill. No wonder you like her." Steven looked at them before turning to Jana. "Okay..I.."

"Never say you're not deserving of love." Jana hugged her brother quickly. "See you around, dude." She walked off, making her way out of the house.

"Sorry B-fly, Q-fly, really thought it would be more fun than hectic like that." Pony Head apologized to them.

"It's fine Pony. It'd be weirder if something like this didn't happen." Star and Steven surrounded her in a sibling hug. "How many stomachs ached whenever I made you guys something?

"Only about fourteen of them, but it's no big deal."

"Stomachs, as in plural?" Marco asked, caught out of his daze. "How do you function, woman!?"

"The best mysteries are the ones that are never solved." Pony laughed before flying out the window.

"And then there were four." Kelly said as they all sat down at the dining room table. "So … about what happened …"

"I really." Steven started. " Really don't want to talk about it. I just want to sleep this off and try processing it before I do anything. Marco, can I crash in your room?"

"Best suggestion I've heard all night. Sorry Star, no breakfast burritos today. I'm crashing too." Marco led her brother up the stairs.

"Yeah, you do that." Then it was just her and Kelly. "You were one of the liars, weren't you."

"What are you talking about?" Star asked. "Who would I even have a crush on?"

"Marco. Doi." Kelly flicked her forehead.

Star laughed. "Come on Kelly, get real." It was funny. "Me, have a crush on Marco?"

"T-t-true." She stared at the busted up box, never dropping her smile as she aimed her wand at it. "Sh-sh-shi-" And turned it to dust, humming happily as she went to grab a dust pan.

"I get why you did it….I'm the other liar." Star paused at Kelly's confession.

"Wait..but Tad..and you..and… you DOhave feelings for Steven?!"

"It was a half truth." She shrugged. "I was hoping it would mess up when I said I don't have a crush because I'm with someone."

"That doesn't mean anything in the long run." Star sighed. "A crush means you have feelings regardless of anything. My brother thinks he can't have feelings for you because of your whole mess with Tad."

"It's complicated." Kelly said. "I … it's … I don't want him to …" She groaned, banging her head into the table, cushioned by her own hair. "I have a crush on Stelly."

"…You have feelings for the fusion that's made up of you and my brother?" 

"I like being them, Steven brings out something in me when we're together like that, and it just feels so good when we're together like that."

Star…didn't like what she was hearing. In fact, she was pretty sure she was hating every word that was coming out of Kelly's mouth. "Are you taking advantage of him?" She asked very calmly, gripping her wand tightly.

"I…I don't…it doesn't matter anyway. I have Tad when we're dating, and I have Steven when we're not."

"Kelly …" Star said quietly. "I am going to tell you this once … leave before I snap."

Kelly didn't say a word before she headed out the door, Star barely suppressing the urge to blast narwhals from behind her. After a few minutes she banged her head into the table, groaning in annoyance. "I really hate today." If she ever saw a truth or punishment box again, she would obliterate it on the spot. 

Because now two girls crushed on her maybe crush who was crushing on one of them, and her brother had a toxic relationship that, as it turns out, was a double parasite relationship rather than just one of them!