Knock, knock, knock. The sound echoed through the van, and Vidalia stepped back at the sound of somebody fumbling their way to the back.

"Hello? Who's there?"

"Hey, Greg, it's me."

"Vidalia?" The van opened, revealing Greg. He looked awful; his hair was wild and matted, his eyes were bloodshot and moist, but he still managed a beaming grin at the sight of an old friend. "Vidalia! It's so nice to see you! What brings you here?"

Vidalia offered him a gift bag. "Well, I heard about what happened. I'm really sorry to hear about Steven; I dunno if this helps, but I thought I'd stop by and give you something."

"That's so sweet! Thank you!" He sat down on the van and opened the gift bag. "Hey, these are some great books! And some awesome music, too... huh, I haven't heard of this one. I'll have to listen to this later."

She sat down next to him, grinning. "That's the plan."

"This is really kind of you, Vi. You didn't have to do this."

"It's no problem. If anything, it gave me an excuse to clean up all the stuff lying around our house, hah! Yeah..." She looked over to Greg, her smile fading as she saw him looking up at the sky. "Hey. How're you holding up?"

"Honestly?" He sighed. "This has been the hardest week of my life, Vidalia. Steven... my son... he's gone. He's gone, and the Gems have no idea how to get him back. I feel like this is my fault, too; Steven, he had this idea in his head that Rose had him as part of some magical destiny or-or some grand scheme to, fix all her problems, and that's not true at all! I should've been clearer, I should've said... I don't know! I should have done something!"

Vidalia put a hand on his shoulder in silent sympathy.

"But now it's too late, and I don't know if I'm ever going to see him again." He wiped his eyes, looking over to Vidalia. "I'm sorry, this probably wasn't what you wanted to see."

"No, no. Don't apologise, Greg. After what happened? You've got to be going through hell."

"Yeah... Uh, how's Onion doing? I heard he also got mixed up in this."

"Onion? Yeah, he's alright. A little shaken, vows never to go to Funland again, but he's safe, thank god." She nodded. "It's been a crazy week."

"Yeah." Greg looked up at the sky again, as if to see the stars beyond. "I wonder what he's doing right now."

Vidalia didn't know what to say, so they watched the sky in silence for a little while. Eventually, she cleared her throat.

"Hey, Greg. You, uh, talk to the Gems, much?"

"The Gems?" Greg shrugged. "A little, but they say they want to be left alone right now. Must be making a plan, or something. It's okay, though; I got some new tunes to listen to! Thanks again!"

She stood up. "No problem, really. Anyway, if you ever feel like talking, you can always swing by my place, okay? Don't be a stranger."

Greg smiled. "I won't. You're a good friend, Vidalia."

"Same goes to you, Greg. Seeya around!"

Knock, knock, knock.

"Hey, Sour Cream!" Vidalia called from the kitchen. "Can you get the door for me?"

The only answer was the house-rattling sound of music. She rolled her eyes.

"Onion? Hey, Onion, could you please get the door?"

Onion, sitting on the dinner table, took one look at the door and hid inside a counter.

"Okay, is there anyone in this house who can get the door? Anyone?" She sighed, and put a lid on her pot. "Fine, I'll get it."

She marched over the door and opened it. "Okay, whaddya- Greg?"

Greg had started walking away, but came back at the sound of her voice. "Hey, Vidalia! Is this a bad time?"

"No, no. Come in, we're just about to have dinner!"

"Oh, really?" He came inside, and looked around. "Man, this place has changed a bit."

"Yeah, two kids and a fisherman will do that to a house." She grinned. "You should be glad you didn't come a few days ago. Yellowtail left some fish out on the table and it stank like, well, dead fish."

"Haha, that sounds like a bother! Least in the van, you just open all the doors if anything smells. It's a good system."

Vidalia laughed, but then heard the sound of a pot boiling over. "Oh, crap! One second Greg, I gotta take care of this!"

She dashed off, leaving Greg to wander into the living room. He sat there, tapping his fingers to the tune of that music Vidalia gave him. It was nice, but like everything else, it could only distract him so long from the thought of Steven.

Was he safe? Was he hurt? Was he... no, he couldn't be. Sure he was being taken to Homeworld, to the Diamonds themselves, and they think he's Rose, but... well, he just had to hope that something, anything would happen. It was all he could do.

"Mr Universe?" Greg blinked and looked up to see Sour Cream looking down at him, hands in his pockets. Behind him was a woman wearing a purple doughnut shirt... one of Steven's friends, but he couldn't remember her name.

He stood up. "Sour Cream, it's good to see you! You've grown so tall!"

"Uh, hey," The doughnut lady gave a short wave. "I'm Sadie. You're, um, Ste- I mean, the guy from the carwash, right?"

"Yep, that's me. Been working there for years." He rubbed the back of his head. "You're Steven's friend, right?"

Sadie looked visibly uncomfortable. "Um, yeah. I-I heard about what happened to him."

"We're really sorry, Mr Universe. He's a really cool kid."

Greg nodded. "Yeah, he really is."

"I hope he's okay, wherever he is." Sadie sighed. "I mean, he's got Lars. The two of them can put their heads together and think of a way out of... whatever that thing was. What was that thing, anyway?"

"It was one of those Gems."

She frowned. "Wait, aren't Gems the people Steven lives with? I thought they were all about saving the world."

"Uh, it's... a little more complicated than that." He left it at that, unsure of how much information the Crystal Gems would want him revealing, and an awkward silence settled between them.

"Hey, Greg!" Vidalia stuck her head through the door. "I was gonna ask you- oh, hey Sadie! I didn't know you were up there with Sour Cream."

"We were just doing some recording, Mom."

"Yeah. Is-is that a problem? I could just-"

"No, no, don't worry about it." Vidalia waved a hand. "I'll just cook something else to go with dinner. Hey Greg, you wanna help me in the kitchen?"

"Oh, sure!" Greg moved towards the kitchen. "It was nice to see you two. I'm sorry to hear about your friend, Sadie."

"And I'm sorry to hear about Steven. I can't imagine what that feels like." She looked down. "But, I mean, he goes on these Gem missions all the time, right? Lars and him, they'll be back, right?"

Greg put on a smile. "Um... don't worry about it. They'll be fine."

Then he followed Vidalia into the kitchen.