Chapter Text
Marco stared at Star in worry as a shock blanket was placed over. She was shaking like she was dipped in a bucket of ice-cold water and her eyes were downcast. Oshua was already by her side, not saying a word but taking a delicate hold of her hand.
Oskar was weaker than he had anticipated and with a swift kick to the side of man’s head, he was out like a light. The police had arrived within five minutes and immediately detained the man.
There was a crowd at the door, her neighbours stared worriedly through the door as they already began to spread gossip. Oh, sometimes Marco forgot that Star was an upcoming actor/model and knew everyone in the apartment complex to some extent.
He sighed and looked back over to Star, she was holding on to Oshua for dear life and vice versa. It has been months since they had seen each other, though this circumstance wasn’t ideal.
“Star!” Marco heard a familiar shout but before they could go any further they were stopped by the police.
“She lives here,” Marco said to the officer and he immediately let her through.
Pony ran up to Star but didn’t touch her until she got the go-ahead. “I was just coming back home for some more clothes when I saw a huge crowd outside.” She said as she hugged her dearly. “Oh my gosh, you must’ve been so scared.” She continued.
They also haven’t seen each other in months.
Marco sighed again and ran his hands through his hair. Then he heard another familiar voice.
Wyatt.
Then Tom and Emma.
One by one they went up and comforted Star and he would’ve taken a picture for how ridiculously adorable all of them looked just smooshed together if the memory wasn’t going to be tainted.
It was an hour or two later when Star had calmed down and answered an officer’s questions that the crowd died down and everyone went away. The pile was still there, Emma and Oshua were both asleep in her lap, Star looking close to joining them. Pony and Wyatt were on either side of her, they were slurring and whatever they said made no sense. Tom was on the ground, head resting on her legs, also asleep. He did do exams back to back today, he was probably out for the next two days.
Marco sighed again, should he let them be and have terrible back pains in the morni- oh, it was basically morning. He decided to let them stay and eventually caved in and took a picture.
He checked the time to see it was a little after four in the morning. Screw work, screw school, they all needed a few days off. He looked around the apartment to see it was not messy but had a light layer of dust everywhere. Star’s busy schedule must’ve just allowed her to sleep then go. The kitchen had a few cups in the sink and the tea packets scattered all over the counter and island. A few stacks of paper were tucked in a corner and her laptop beside it, also with a light layer of dust.
He definitely could not sleep after worrying for months so he got to work.
“He looks ridiculous.” A voice, that sounded suspiciously like Pony, whispered.
“He always looks like that.” Another chuckled. Tom?
“How did you even achieve this?” Pony whispered, again.
“He sleeps like the dead.”
“So you just always have a maid outfit on you or something.”
“Not very proud to admit that.”
There was a short span of silence. “What the fuck Tom?” Pony’s voice sounded like she was disturbed and it also rose a few octaves.
“Are you gonna judge me or are you gonna take the damn pictures?”
There was another round of silence then a sigh. “Grab the broom.”
“Noted.” There was a smile in that voice.
Marco drifted off back to sleep not even trying to make sense of the conversation.
He woke up a little after one in the evening to the hush sounds of voices in the living room, a few dishes clinking together and the sounds of keys being touched on a laptop. He looked down at himself and suddenly the conversation he heard earlier made perfect sense.
“Tom, what the fuck?”
“He’s awake.” The man he’s about to murder said with a chuckle. “Did you have a nice rest, Turdina?” There was a smirk evident on his face.
“Turdina?” Star asked as she walked in with a bowl filled with fruits and sat at the foot of the couch. There was a small smile on her face as her eyes sparkled with curiosity.
“Apparently that’s his princess name.”
Marco really wanted to tear that innocent smile off of Tom’s face. He was very close to strangling him.
“Turdina?” Pony deadpanned as she fought the smile making its way in her expression.
“Drunk Marco is hilarious.” Tom chuckled as he grabbed fruit from the bowl.
“I’m going to go become one with the couch now.” Marco finally said, his face as red as the strawberries in Star’s bowl.
“Oh cheer up! It's entertaining. Probably even downright adorable……. To some creature out there.” Tom replied without missing a beat.
Sadly, they had this conversation regularly. Marco groaned and sank further into the couch.
Pony and Tom went back to talking quietly while Marco stared at the couch in silence. He felt a poke in his back and he turned to see Star looking at him.
He sighed and sat up to make room for her to sit.
“Turdina is really terrible.” She muttered after a while, making him huff out a breath of frustration.
“I was five.” He tried to explain.
“And even when you grew up the name stuck?” She countered with a raised brow.
“I won’t stand for this bashing-”
“Luckily you're sitting.” She replied without missing a beat.
He huffed again. “Where are the kids?”
“Oshy and Em are still sleeping and Wyatt had a test today.” There was a slight downturn of her lips as she finished, seemingly lost in thought.
Somewhere between their exchange, Tom and Pony had disappeared- they just went to her room- leaving just the parents alone.
Marco took this as an opportunity to grab Star’s hands, which were shaking slightly. “Talk to me.”
“I’m fine.” She replied like it was programmed into her.
“I never said you weren’t.”
“I just can’t believe…” She trailed off, her brows furrowed in confusion and the corners of her lips downturned. “I just can’t believe, full stop.”
“Since when were you English?” Marco asked, fighting the urge to snort.
“Period cannot be used in a serious context. The internet ruined it for me.”
“Fair enough.”
“It’s just…… this huge weight has been lifted off my chest, I feel twenty pounds lighter. I haven’t seen Oshy in months, ran myself ragged with work and school until my coworkers nicknamed me ‘Undead Princess’. ‘Solved’ my parental issues- somewhat- but haven’t gotten around to spending time with them since the first time they’ve visited. Pony is probably moving back home- all of it is just very hard to believe.” She ranted and she sure as hell felt better getting everything off of her chest.
“Well, one day, when you’re sitting down just drinking tea or working or doing schoolwork or dropping Oshy off to school or visiting your parents or-”
“I got it.” Star interrupted with a small chuckle.
“It’s going to hit you like a truck, or Jupiter crashing into the Earth-”
“Spare me the 3:00 a.m. thoughts.” There was a small smile on her lips and amusement dancing in her eyes like it was Christmas like it was her birthday or Oshy did something hilarious- as always. He missed that look.
“It will be believable. I don’t know if the worst is over but please know that you have a lot of support around you now. Don’t even fathom the idea of dealing with things on your own.” Marco finished and was immediately pulled into a hug- which he returned.
“Thank you for being in my life, Marco.” She muttered in his ears, her voice sounding close to tears- or maybe she was already crying.
He held onto her a little tighter and they stayed like that for a while.
“May I point out the fact that you’re still in a maid outfit, Turdina?” There was a smirk in her voice that made Marco groan and let her go.
“I’m never drinking again.”
“The damage is already done.” Star chuckled.
.............
Where Star was, Oshua was never far behind. He was like her tail- no- he was exactly her tail. They all - literally all of them- decide to take the rest of the week off from work or school to just spend time together. They did eventually relocate to Marco's home as he had more rooms- and food- and Oshua hasn’t let her out of his sight since.
She got random hugs and if she wasn’t speaking then he was stuffing her face with snacks and telling her about everything she missed in the last few months. It was amusing to everyone but Oshy who took his role as caretaker very seriously.
The bags under her eyes had diminished tremendously and she was getting back her natural glow. She did send a picture to her workgroup chat with the text ‘Undead no more’ and received a lot of stickers and GIFs in reply. All in all, she was having a wonderful time with everyone but then… everything changed when the Fire Nation att- whoops wrong fic.
Oshua had pulled her into his room- which was weird for her to think about- where the both of them sat on the bed.
“I don’t want to make you sad. I just want to know what you were hiding from me.” Her son had said delicately. He also sounded tired as if he was expecting a deflection- again.
“He is your father,” Star replied simply.
Emotions she never knew he could possess flash through his eyes as he processed what he heard. “That son of a bitch is my dad?” He settled on hysterical disbelief.
“Oshua!” Star chastised with no bite behind it.
“If I had known I would have kicked him in the nuts or something!”
That caused a snort to escape Star’s ‘stern’ expression.
“Mama, how did such a beautiful soul like you score him ?” He said it with such a theatrical, disgusted expression that it brought a huge smile to her face.
“He wasn’t always bad.” Oshua gave her a deadpanned look that made her snort. “Okay, I was stupid and young back then.” She rephrased.
“I don’t even know the man but my radar said he was bad news.” There was silence after that- neither comfortable nor uncomfortable- just stagnant, like two awkward teenagers trying to convey their bottled up emotions. “How did you meet him?”
“In high school.” She replied after a beat. “I was a well-rounded individual and he was a wasted space that caught my attention. He downplayed my worth constantly to a point where I developed low self-esteem.”
Maybe she should wait until he is older, thirteen maybe? Was it too much for an eight-year-old who’s not even learnt what puberty was- It was Oshua he definitely knew? Maybe if it was another child, maybe sugar coat it a little. Oshua was very mature for his age but that does not mean he should have adult-like conversations. This was one thing she struggled with as a parent, when was the right time?
“Why didn’t you leave?” Oshua asked softly as he began to play with her fingers.
Fuck it, if he’s messed up later she’ll fix it with therapy.
“He was the one downplaying my worth but he also made me feel special. He was an A- grade manipulator.” She held back a few unsavoury words and also the bile rising in her throat.
“How did you leave then?”
“He left me.” It came out more bitter than she intended. “I pushed him away?” She questioned trying to remember the specifics. “I thought it was somewhat mutual.” She settled on.
“You got out, that’s what's important.” He supplied as he rubbed the kinks out of her hands.
They sat there in silence for a while and at that time Star contemplated if Oshua was actually ready to hear this. He was just eight.
“Spit it out.” He said softly.
“I- I don’t know if I should-”
“It’s fine, just pay for therapy later.”
“You’re my son alright.” She muttered to herself. It took a few minutes for her to compose herself. “When I told him I was pregnant… he asked if I was going to get rid of you.” There was a tense silence, the air getting thick with multiple emotions.
“As in abort?”
Great… of course, he knew about abortion. She gave a small hesitant nod in reply.
“The minute you said you were pregnant?” She gave another nod then it was back to silence. “Mama,” He said, breaking the silence.
“Yes, Oshy?”
“Thank you for having me.” Then he hugged her tightly.