Author's Note: Hey guys. This is a Valentine's Day one-part. I HAVE to do something special to Valentine's day as Connverse laws demand that Connie and Steven must be shipped on this very specific day. Also, I gave lost a lot of love for my first story, Let's Forget About It, but I will finish...I'm terrible at the transition from dark to romantic. Enough wasting your time, LET'S DO THIS!
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Oh my Goodness! It's Valentine's Day! My mind went crazy as the thought raced through my mind. I jumped out of bed and instinctively grab my phone on my dresser. So excited, I forgot that it was plugged into the wall and the cord pulled the phone out of my hands. Thank Goodness my room had carpeting, smart phones just can't seem to handle the slightest tumble on any other surface.
Picking up the phone, and remembering to unplug it this time, I hit the 'Call Most Recent' button and put the phone to my ear. Before the third ring, Steven picked up the phone.
"HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!" We both shout at the same time. I guess it was a competition to say it first.
"Sooo...Steven," I start. "Will you, I don't know, be my Valentine!?" His answer was a guaranteed yes, but I felt that it had to be asked.
"Ohhh you see Connie. I would but I've already been asked," I could practically see the smirk he must've had in his face, "And she's kinda hot, to be honest." And to be honest, I should've expected him to make no less of a joke.
I kept my smile and lifted an eyebrow. "Steven. For trying to take you away from me, I'm gonna come over there and beat that girl so much, that she will be mistaken for a gem mutant. And after I make you watch, I will cut your arm off for actually considering choosing her over me." I could sense a rebuttal so I added, "Then I'm gonna cut your mouth off so you can't use your healing powers and so I can never hear your annoying voice ever again."
Despite how hurtful and heartbreaking this would be to him, we both knew I would never do such a thing...unless he was serious because then I would do something even worse. He spoke saying,"'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' as they say. Especially one who has been trained by Pearl." He paused for moment to yawn. "But yeah, of course I'll be your valentine. The thing is, I have nothing planned."
This was surprising to me. Usually Steven appears like he's always had something for the two of us prepared when it came to holidays. But he had explained to me a few days ago that he lost the love of counting down the days until a holiday, and I agree.
"Your pathetic," I say. "So your gonna leave the work to a lady, huh?" I was fully awake now. Something about talking to Steven makes my senses shoot up.
"So I take it that you have something in mind?" he said, ignoring my question. He knows me too well.
"I have a few ideas. Let's go to that Valentine's Day dance on the boardwalk. I helped decorate yesterday." I got really giddy and my voice sounded like a child's.
"Oh yeah, you told me about that. You volunteered to help your school set that up. That sounds like a great idea." I heard him walking and then a drawer sliding open. "Is this gonna be a casual thing or should I wear something nicer?"
I thought for a minute. "Just put on something that looks nice but is comfortable. I'd say you look better with your star shirt but this is a dance after all."
He chuckled. "And since when did you ever care about looking nice at a dance?"
He had a point. "Yeah your right. But I feel like looking nice because I feel like it." That truly was my only reason. "Moving on, I'm wearing a blue short-dress. Got anything to match?"
He made quite some noise looking through his clothes. He suddenly stopped and said, "Okay, I've finally found it. How 'bout I wear an all red long-sleeve with a striped blue jacket? Wait don't answer that, I'm not gonna wear anything else anyways."
"Wow thanks for considering my opinion," I said sarcastically. "But seriously that's perfect. I'll be over there around noon for our weekly get together."
"Okay, I'll be here waiting." He made his voice very low, "Waiting for you, my love."
I cracked up laughing at that. My hand instinctively went to my mouth to silence it. As I caught my breath, I breathed into the phone, "I'm done. Goodbye."
He gave a small laugh as well. "See you in a few," and he hung up.
Still smiling, I put my phone down and got ready for the day. I pulled on my blue dress and threw on my purse. After looking into the mirror, I put my phone, mirror, mints, and multi-tool into it. Looking at my clock on the way out, which read 10:05, I went into my bathroom just down the hall from my room. I brushed my teeth and washed my face. Although I didn't shower as I do that every two days and I had done so yesterday. Afterward, I ran down stair to a find note left by my mom.
It read 'Have fun at the dance with Steven, Sweetheart. Sorry but me and your father have errands to take care of. Your breakfast is the bag on the counter. And, yes, we know you're going with Steven. It's obvious.' I could imagine Mom's voice and blushed at how predictable I am.
As I planned on having to do some chores my mom would assign me to do around the house, I guess I'd be getting to Steven's a little early.
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The clouds blocked the sun so it wasn't too hot as I walked across town. There weren't many things happening besides people readying up their businesses for the day. I ran into a kid from my school. And even though it wasn't purposeful, he thought this was a good time to try and get under my skin. He tailed me, asking about where I was going and things like that. At school, people always tried to unhinge me as they knew about my adventures with the Gems and also because, well, it's school. Schools always have bullies and self-proclaimed 'cool kids' in them. This one just happened to live in the same neighborhood I do.
But we weren't in school and I got fed up with him. So I ran a fist across his face and knocked him to the ground. I would never have done this if my parents were around or if I was at school. But I wasn't and I had a date with Steven, and nothing's gonna ruin it.
After reaching the beach side around eleven o' clock, I turned the corner of the temple and the beach house comes into view. But more catching to my eye was Pearl and Amethyst, sitting on a log by the water. They didn't seem to notice me.
"I know it's my first Valentine's Day that I'm celebrating, but couldn't we celebrate with something...else?" asked Pearl. She sounded nervous.
Amethyst held out a piece of chocolate in the shape of heart. "Aww come one, P," started Amethyst, "It's chocolate. It tastes good. Just trust me."
"I know it must taste 'good,'" she said 'good' in an uneasy tone, "But this is my first time eating anything. And although you've somehow convinced me to, I feel like we should with something that's...ummm..."
Amethyst finished her sentence, "Healthy?" Pearl nodded slowly. "Pearl, being healthy doesn't mean it tastes good. Just do this and I'll never bring it up again if you hate it in any way."
Pearl seem to reconsider. She lifted her head up and looked as if she had an idea, "I have another thing I'd like in return." Her voice had a cynical edge to it.
"Fine, your always getting what you want anyways," Amethyst muttered. "What could you possibly want that will get you to eat this?" Amethyst sounded slightly annoyed. She lifted the chocolate strawberry a little higher as she referred to it.
Pearl's grin went so wide that I could even see it facing them from their backs.
Pearl took the strawberry into her hands and put it into Amethyst's mouth. Then she tilted her head to the side, leaned forward, and pushed an open mouth onto Amethyst's.
Amethyst's eyes were wide open and her body was completely still for the few seconds the kiss took place. After a long while, Pearl pulled back with her smile still on her face. She spoke smoothly, "Not bad for a first taste."
Amethyst just kept staring forward, then started to say something. "Did, did you just...?"
She didn't finish the question.
As quietly as I could, I ran up to the beach house door. My cheeks were burning at the thought of what I just saw. Of what I just heard for that matter!
I caught my breath and was about to knock, until I realized that the door was slightly opened. I looked back to confirm that the two didn't notice me and were still staring at each other, holding hands.
Stepping into the house, Steven's voice caught me off-guard, "Holy heck! Connie what in the world was that!" I look over to my right. Steven had his knees on the the cushion by the window. His hands were pressed against the glass.
I spoke just as loudly as him. "I know right! They just, just, KISSED!" My eyes were wide and I looked towards the floor as I said it. My fingers were curled up and held almost to my face. But after a little silence, we calmed down.
He turned to me and asked why was so early. Closing the door and hopping up to sit next to him, I told him that my mom and dad didn't give me any chores.
"Back to the subject, though," our excitement had calmed to a simple conversation voice and he had laid down next to me, head facing up towards mine. "It's not that surprising once you think about it. They just keep anything too explicit very well hidden."
"Yep, they do that well. I started staring out the window when I was eating a sandwich. That was a few minutes ago. I had noticed Pearl and Amethyst there talking about something. Then you came around. And you know the rest." He appeared to have stopped but added, "What were they talking about anyways?"
The next few minutes were spent with me giving him the details. How Pearl was willing to try eating something and that Amethyst was trying to get her to eat a chocolate strawberry.
After I finished he commented, "Valentine's Day, am I right? Oh, speaking of which-" He got up and threw his arms in the air, showing off his jacket and shirt. I didn't notice due the the conversation, but he looked very presentable. It was the casual equivalent to a suit and tie. I gave him a complement.
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Afterwards, we decided to have some fun until the dance. First, we went into Rose's room and had some fun with the clouds. We faced off in some super-human duels and went in to see what it was like to be in a tsunami but being able to breath underwater. The last one was my idea as I've always wondered what that would be like. That room is pretty much virtual reality. We laughed coming out of the room because Steven had gotten a starfish stuck to his face.
A little while later, Steven decided to show me his cool telekinetic shield powers. I had always wondered why his shield floated a little above his arm. And with it, he bounced it off the walls about twenty times and then returned it back to his hand. He also put me and him on it together, enlarging it so it could fit the two of us, and gave us a ride around the beach. It was like a hoverboard but so much cooler than anything to be found at a store. We only went as fast as a skateboard but it would've been just as fun going at light speed. Anything is fun when Steven's around.
During our last run, we passed by Pearl and Amethyst swimming in the ocean and I yelled, "You finally ate something, Pearl!" and laughed as we rode away.
They might as well have painted their faces red to cover the blush both of them had.
Finally, the time had come. Six o' clock. We took the shield to the dance as it's apparently a mode of transportation now. While rounding a building, I slipped a little and my dress caught the side of a jagged wall. It tore with the sound of ripping paper. The part of the dress just below the waist had a gash running down the side of it.
"To be honest, you look a little better like that," Steven told me.
"You'd think I'd look good no matter what I wear," I retorted. And the same goes from me to him.
"Yeah, but now you look better. Kinda..." he searched for something," Like you've just taken a blow and can still give one back." I don't know how, but I felt like I knew what he meant.
When we got to dance, I saw that it was more beautiful than what I saw when decorating. It was on the repaired boardwalk that a corrupted worm destroyed when I first met Steven. One of the best days of my life.
Pink lights were strewn in between metal poles put into the ground. The dance floor was marked out only by red and blue flower petals. Everyone who wore white, red, blue, or pink seemed to blend in perfectly. I say that blue blended lightly as we were the only ones who wore it. The concessions table was filled with volunteers at one end, who occasionally switched to dance themselves, and people getting food and drinks on the other end. Luckily, there was almost no lines at all.
Even the sun, which is setting behind the horizon, sent magnificent colors through the sky and lit everything in a fire of orange and pink light.
Peedee was apparently assigned the 'music master' as he sat in an elevated booth. He had a computer at his side which controlled what music was played. The speakers were below our feet, under the dock.
Every person there I either knew or have seen before at my school. And everyone was either talking and having a great time or dancing. Not much could make this better.
"This looks amazing, Connie. What part did you do?" Steven asked. We both stood there side-by-side, taking it all in.
I put on a one-sided smile to no one. "See those lights? I painted them lightly with a pink spray paint. We couldn't find any lights that weren't already and color but white."
"Nice," was the response.
We hadn't ate any type of food since I had gotten to his house, there was too much fun ti be had. So we each loaded a plastic plate full of edibles from mini sandwiches to heart-shaped cookies. There was a patch of folding chair set off to the side and we sat at the front.
As simple and unromantic, and possibly even pathetic, as it was, all we did was sit there and watch the crowd. We ate without talking and with our fingers. Occasionally we would take a long stare at each other, like there wasn't anything else worth looking at. It wasn't the most romantic, but I'd say it was all I could ask for. The light rock music wasn't too loud nor too soft, drowning out the noise from the crowd to where it's just a murmur.
After eating our food, we threw our trash away and heard Peedee's voice from beneath. "Okay, everyone. Grab who you came with and get ready to take it slow," he said. And with that, a slow song came on. I flashed a one-sided smile and grabbed Steven's hand, pulling him to the flower petal dance floor.
Our movements were less of a dance and more of a sway, as if a gentle wind was pushing us about. Our arms were bent towards our chests and both of my hands interlaced with his.
It was like we were in a bubble. The entire rest of the world was zoned out. And all the commotion outside of our bubble was not to be considered. Just me and him, the two of us. As timelessness overcame us, a force pushed us towards each other, closer. Ours arms wrapped each other. Then our breaths mixed. Although I can't remember who, one of us led in leaning forward and the other followed. Then our foreheads touched. Then our noses. Our lips were going to meet.
BRRRNNNGG! BRRRNNNGG!
My phone went off as someone was texting me.
Both of us were startled as we were suddenly broken from our trance and back to reality. We fell back and landed hard onto the wood. He stared at me and I did the same, feeling my cheeks go hot.
He suddenly laughed softly. "It's official, cell phones ruin everything."
How much of an amateur was I! We were having a moment and were about to... When my phone went off. My PHONE! Isn't it supposed to be common knowledge to turn your phone off when something like that comes? This is probably why we don't go on dates too often.
Shaking it off like nothing, I reach into my purse and pulled out my cell. Mom had texted me asking 'Can you come home now? You don't need to but it's 7:30 and it's gonna get dark fairly soon.' Dang it, Mom.
After an awkward moment and telling Steven that my mom was asking me to go home, we got up and simply walked out. As much as I hate to admit, Mom's right. The colorful light of the horizon had begun to drift away and darkness was about to consume the city, minus streetlights and the light from inside buildings.
Steven asked me if I wanted to ride the shield home or walk. It reminded me of my torn dress, which Steven still loved the tear, and how it was going to be a little rough telling my mom about. But I said that I'd rather walk but with him.
"All the more time I get to spend with you," I reason. No objections were given and we started the one and a half mile walk to my neighborhood.
On the way, we had made talk and I found out that he had a mission tomorrow and asked me to go. I knew it was a day off school tomorrow but I would've gone anyways, even if I had to postpone homework and chores and skip dinner. Heck, I'd do it if it meant giving up an arm for a day.
"It's gonna be pretty weird meeting up with Pearl and Amethyst, though," I reminded. He agreed and said that it was going to be very awkward when he gets home. I could only imagine.
After entering the neighborhood, it was one turn to make before my house was to come into view. We were about to round it when I pulled Steven to the side.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Steven," I say softly.
"You too, Connie." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Do you wanna finish what we were doing? You know, that-" I placed a finger to cover his mouth.
"I was about to ask you the same thing." Steven smiled, then grabbed my purse and eased it off my arm. He set it to the side and formed a bubble around us. "Just you and me now," he stated. I interlaced my fingers with his, just like at the dance.
We were in a bubble. The entire rest of the world was zoned out. And all the commotion outside our bubble was not to be considered. Just me and him, the two of us. As timelessness over came us, a force pushed us towards each other, closer. Our arms wrapped around each other. Then our breaths mixed. I led and leaned in first, then he followed. Out foreheads touched. Then our noses.
Then our mouths.