Rising Stars

by iggychan89

As he watched the sweet summer rain drizzle outside the window, Lars reflected on the past few months of his ever changing life.

A/N: Right, so, originally this was going to be a long one-shot, but it was going to take me forever to finish, so I decided to just chop it up into chapters. However, the chapters will begin right where they ended so that eventually I will be able to post it as the one-shot it was meant to be. I will leave the chapter version up, however.

Anyway! Steven and Lars, definitely not enough fanfics or artwork for this cute ship. There's a few over on AO3, where I will also be posting this, but that's about it. This story will eventually contain sexual situations, but not for some time. They will be cut from the FFN version and the story will keep its T rating here. The AO3 version will be completely unedited with an Explicit rating, once I get to the sexual situations.

This story switches between Lars' and Steven's perspectives in the "memories", just to give them equal weight. The current day part of the story will remain in Lars' perspective only.

I have plans for a prequel to this story and several stories that take place after this one, though all of those will be shorter.

On to the story!

-Rising Stars-

It was a peaceful day in Beach City as a light drizzle fell from the sky, blanketing the small town in the scent of a light summer rain. A perfect day for kids to play outside in their raincoats, jumping from puddle to puddle as their laughter fills the air. Or, like two of the town's more colorful teenage residents, stay inside the comfort of a home watching movies.

Well, one of them was watching the movie in front of them, anyway.

Lars shifted his eyes to the left, looking out of Steven's window and staring at the light rain coming down while in thought. Steven was currently sitting in his lap, leaning comfortably against his chest and tossing some popcorn into his mouth in intervals as his eyes were glued to the television screen.

The slightly younger teen was completely invested in the movie, a new Lonely Blade sequel, he thinks, but Lars was miles away in his thoughts as he absentmindedly combed his fingers through Steven's curly hair, one arm gently wrapped around his middle.

It had been a few months since both he and Steven had started dating, and he still could not wrap his mind around it. Him, dating the very same kid who used to annoy him to no end? The same one of whom he used to be secretly jealous of, but would never admit? The same teen who had brought him back to life all those months ago?

Well, okay, that last one he could believe. It had created some deep bond between the two that neither of them understood very well, and still do not in fact. They were just rolling with the punches at this point, trying to figure things out slowly. That was fine with him, though, as he still had a few insecurities that he needed to work through.

Hell, he still had not gotten used to being pink.

Steven had been helping him with them, inadvertently. He honestly did not know what he would do without the younger teen, especially after his "break-up" with Sadie.

His eyes hardened a bit at that thought. While they had made up afterwards, with her apologizing profusely, and were still friends, she had hurt him deeply with her rejection. He had come out to her with almost everything and she had turned away from him. She was not cruel about it, but it was too much for Sadie, apparently.

He did not blame her for feeling uncomfortable about everything, but it still hurt.

It was days later when Steven came looking for him. The hybrid had not seen him in days and had been worried. The worry was not unwarranted, as he had holed himself up in his room, crying and feeling depressed beyond belief.

When the younger teen had walked into his room and saw the sorry state he was in, the shock, worry, and sadness on Steven's face had made Lars start crying anew. It was incredibly embarrassing, with his emotions so out of whack, but he could not help it. Steven instantly running up to him and embracing him certainly did not help either.

The hybrid had positioned them both on his bed against the headboard, ignoring the messy state of said bed, where his head laid comfortably on Steven's chest as he slowly rocked him back and forth slowly and stroked his cotton candy pink hair, never activating the portal in his hair somehow.

Back then, it had been rather embarrassing, but Lars just smiled at it nowadays when he thought about it. But it was not as embarrassing as what happened afterwards, even though it was the catalyst for their relationship. Lars' cheeks turned a darker pink as he thought about it.

He had fallen asleep at some point, and noticed that Steven also had, but the younger teen instantly woke up when he shifted a bit away from his embrace. Steven had blinked rapidly and yawned, wiping the sleep from his eyes. Lars had acted on impulse at that point, when the young hybrid had opened his mouth to speak. He had not gotten a chance to say anything as Lars attached his lips to Steven's. To say the younger teen was shocked was an understatement. Lars had not seen his face, but he could feel Steven tense up, giving the pink teenager a good indication.

He had come to his senses rather abruptly and ripped himself away from Steven so fast and hard that he had fallen off of his bed. It had certainly hurt, but the pain had been the last thing on his mind as he scrambled as far away from the younger teen as possible. He had curled up against the front wall, face completely flushed in embarrassment and humiliation as he looked everywhere but at Steven.

He had refused to say a word after that, but Steven was not so reserved. It was certainly a conversation Lars would never forget.

-RS-

Steven blinked as he came down from the shock of the sudden kiss and looked over at the pitiful form of Lars, who was huddled against the front wall not looking at him.

"Lars?" No answer. Steven was not surprised at this, so he tried again, but louder. "Lars!"

The older teen's eyes slightly shifted in his direction at that, but quickly darted away again when he saw Steven looking at him.

Sighing deeply, Steven hopped off of Lars' bed and slowly made his way over to the pink teen. He gently sat himself down in front of Lars and tried to reassure him as best as possible.

"Lars, I don't know what's been going on with you lately, but I'm not upset at you for kissing me. You know I never would be. Besides, you probably didn't mean to, right? Things happen."

Lars finally, but slowly, turned his head in his direction, but still refused to meet his eyes.

"The problem is, Steven, I think I did mean it, and I don't understand why," Lars uttered quietly. "Things have been so messed up lately that I just, argh, I don't know! I don't understand anything anymore!"

Steven observed Lars as he gripped his hair in frustration, and reached over, grabbing one hand and gently holding it in his.

"Lars, take a few deep breaths and calm down for me, okay?"

Lars did as instructed and managed to calm down quite a bit, but he still kept the pink teen's hand in his for comfort.

"Good! Can you tell me what's been happening lately? I-if you want to, that is."

Lars scrunched up his face at the idea, and Steven felt instantly bad for asking. He was about to rescind the idea, but Lars beat him to the punch.

"I don't know if I want to," he muttered, "but, I, I trust you Steven, so I'll tell you."

"You don't have to, Lars!"

"No, I want to. Besides, if I've learned anything, it's that I'll never feel better until I tell someone. And if I've going to tell anyone, it will be you."

"Lars..."

"It's all Sadie's fault anyway," Lars said with venom in his voice.

Steven was shocked at this. Sadie? He always thought the two of them would get together. It was her that has caused Lars' depression and isolation? That was certainly unexpected.

"Sadie?!"

"Yeah. I decided to open up to her with just about everything. Biggest mistake of my life!" Lars gritted his teeth in frustration, but took a deep breath to calm down. "I thought we could be together once I told her, since, you know, I've always hidden myself behind a mask, and I thought she deserved to know the truth. I should have just kept it on..."

Steven looked down in sadness at this, but kept quiet. Still, Sadie? Just when you think you know a person. He swiftly looked back up when he heard a quiet sniffle.

"She turned me away, Steven! Just because I came back home a different person, among many other things."

Steven felt Lars was hiding something, but the young hybrid would not press him. Besides, he felt he would find out in the future.

"But, she did bring up one good point."

Steven scrunched up his eyebrows in confusion at that statement. He flinched back though as Lars ripped his hand from his gentle grip and formed fists at his sides.

"What if I'm immortal now? What if I'm stuck like this for the rest of eternity?!"

Steven blinked at that. It was something he honestly had not thought about. It would make sense though. After all, Lion had to be at least a couple of centuries old, give or take a few decades. Yet, the "cotton candy of the jungle" was still young looking and as spry as a young lion, when he was not being lazy that was.

"Everyone I know will leave me when they die, and I will still be alive, stuck in the body of a seventeen year old teenager! I'll be alone forever..."

Tears started pouring down Lars' face at the thought, and Steven knew he had to say something at this point. He shuffled closer to the upset teen and, tenderly, cupped his hands on Lars' face and forced him to look straight into his eyes, wiping away his tears as he did so.

"You won't be alone Lars, you'll always have me, and even the gems. We'll make sure you'll always have someone there for you."

Lars let out a bitter laugh at his proclamation, and looked down away from the younger teen's eyes, pulling his head out of Steven's comforting hands.

"You'll die too, Steven, you can't promise me that."

Steven lifted an eyebrow and swiftly pulled up his coral pink shirt to expose the Rose Quartz gem beneath.

"Did you forget that I'm part gem? I can also change my age, something I haven't perfected yet, but I can. You remember that, right? If I have to, I'll stay this way forever so I can be by your side to make sure you'll never be alone. Ever."

"But, Steven, you'll never get to live a normal life if you do that! A-and everyone you know will leave you, too! I don't want to be a burden on your life..."

Steven chuckled a bit at that, startling Lars.

"My life's never been normal, Lars. That's one thing I envied about you, before all this Homeworld stuff happened, is that you got to live a normal life. Sure, I loved all the gem stuff in the past and I enjoyed the excitement of the missions and liked the strange life I had, and I still do, in a way, but... deep down I wanted a normal life too, and that's something you had that I would never have. Now I've ruined that too..."

Taking his own advice, Steven took a deep breath and calmed down, looking at the shocked look on Lars' scarred face.

"The point is, you won't be a burden on me, not ever. I promise."

Lips trembling, Lars snatched Steven in a tight, but not uncomfortable, hug. The hybrid automatically wrapped his arms around Lars in response.

They stayed like that for several quiet minutes, just soaking in each other's presence and seeking the comfort from it.

Lars eventually whispered in Steven's ear after staying silent for so long.

"You'll stay with me?"

"Yes," Steven whispered back.

"You won't ever leave me?"

"Of course not."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

The pink teenager pulled back from the hug slowly and cupped Steven's face in his hands, smiling softly as he stared into the younger teen's eyes with an emotion Steven had never seen before in Lars' eyes: Love. Homeworld had definitely changed the older teen, that was for sure. But, it was a good change. He just wished Lars did not have to die and be revived for such a change to occur.

Lars suddenly started to lean in slowly, and this time, Steven met him half way.

The kiss sent electric sparks down both of their spines and they shuddered at the wonderful sensation. Steven had never been kissed before, let alone by another boy, but by the diamonds was it amazing.

Unfortunately, they both needed some air, but the break did not last long as Lars pulled Steven on to his lap and held him close, going in for round two. Not that the young hybrid was complaining, mind you.

Sadly, their impromptu make-out session, which started involving tongue and small whimpers of pleasure, was interrupted. By, as Lars would later describe them, the "unholy cockblockers of mother nature"; also known as: Parents.

Hastily breaking apart, Steven noted the panic on Lars' face as they heard his parents come through the front door.

"Steven, you're going to have to go. My parents are nice, but they're really funny about uninvited guests in their house," Lars whispered, as he put his hands on Steven's shoulders.

"But..."

"Just go! We'll meet up tomorrow at the old park with the swings at three and talk then, alright? Now go!"

Sighing, Steven nodded, stood up and quickly walked over to the window that lead outside, and opened it. Just before he was about to jump and float down to the ground, Lars grabbed him and turned him around, placing a quick, chaste kiss on his lips.

"That one's for the road."

Smiling, the young teen gave Lars a short hug before turning back around and leaping out the window.

-RS-

Lars smiled as he let out a quiet sigh through his nose and wrapped the arm that had been running his hands through his boyfriend's hair around his middle as well. He felt Steven reach up and grasp one of his arms in a gentle hold as Lars rested his head on top of Steven's.

He never did understand why he had them meet at that old swing park. The city had left it to rot in the woods after they built a brand new park closer to the center of town a few years back. Those old swings were so ancient and rusty that they made the Titanic jealous. They also creaked worse than one of his nanay's knees. He had not seen the one on his dad's side in some time, not that he would tell her anything about himself, anyway. He loved her and all, but she was an old biddy who was stuck in her ways and in the past. She would probably die from a heart attack if she found out about himself and that he was dating another boy. One who looked way younger than him, at that.

His nanay on his mother's side, however, was a sweet old lady, of whom he could tell anything to and who he kept in touch with. She would probably try and adopt Steven the moment she laid eyes on him, which would be hilarious to see. In fact, it was her who had given him his love of baking as she had him help her all the time when he was little.

Lars chuckled quietly at his comparisons, but they were true nonetheless. He winced at what his crazy nanay would do to him though, if she found out about his life. Probably beat him senseless over the head with one of her many cooking instruments. She definitely would not be above doing that, the crazy old bat that she was. It was part of the reason his parents had moved him and themselves out of her house.

Well, he knew one day he would have to introduce Steven to her and see her face-to-face for the first time in years. She was going to freak out, but as long as Steven was with him, he would feel safe enough to tell her everything.

But he would be damned if he was not going to keep putting that off for as long as possible. It would be inevitable, though, as his parents were making him come to this year's All Saint's Day celebration, which he had been avoiding for years.

He was definitely bringing Steven along, even if his parent's did not like it. Besides, what was the harm in introducing the younger teen to some Filipino culture? They were dating after all, and Steven might enjoy the holiday, especially with meeting more of his family. Both dead and alive.

Lars shifted his mind back to the day with the swings, to keep his mind away from his crazy grandmother and the impending holiday in a few months.

-RS-

Steven decided to arrive about thirty minutes early to the old swing park, just to collect his thoughts before Lars arrived.

Looking around, he gave a sad smile and thought of the fun he used to have here when he was little. Before it became overgrown with plant life, before the swings rusted, some of them having collapsed due to lack of upkeep.

Before it was part of the forest. Completely abandoned. The whole place was beautiful, in an eerie haunted sort of way.

Looking around, the hybrid spotted the one swing set that was still standing and walked towards it. Carefully testing one of the two swings on it, and deeming it safe enough to sit on, Steven slowly sat down on it, tensing his body as he did so. He expected the whole thing to collapse under him, but it stayed steady. For now anyway.

Letting out the breath he did not know he was holding, Steven swung his legs back and forth to generate a minute amount of movement from the old swing, cringing as it creaked and groaned. A bit of rust fell down on top of his hair and he frantically tried to get it out with his hands.

He knew he was definitely going to need a shower once he got home.

Steven sat there alone for the thirty minutes, lost in his own thoughts. Well, what he thought was thirty minutes anyway. It was in fact an hour before he finally heard running footsteps making their way through the foliage.

Steven saw a blur of pink as Lars suddenly burst through a bush, panting rather heavily as he tried to gasp for breath.

He looked up as he spotted Steven, and just as Steven was about to greet him, he was beaten to the punch.

"Steven! I'm so sorry for being late! When I went to leave the house, my parents caught me and decided to play twenty questions with me, I swear. They had been so worried about me that I guess seeing me out of my room and ready to leave the house with a smile on my face really shocked them and I-"

Steven just stared as Lars continued to ramble on about what happened.

"- and I hope you weren't waiting long." He finished, completely out of breath again. Steven just blinked at him when the pink teen finished his rant.

"Lars, it's okay. I don't even know how long I've been waiting anyway."

"You don't... Wait, when did you get here?"

"Uh... About 2:30 I think?"

Lars groaned when he heard that and Steven just titled his head.

"You've been here for an hour waiting on me, then! I can't believe this..."

Steven sighed as Lars started beating up on himself. Again.

"It's fine, Lars. Really. I was just lost in my thoughts, so I didn't even know how long I was waiting. And even if I did know, I wouldn't have minded waiting a bit because I knew you would show up."

"But still..."

"Lars, come here and sit down, please, and let's talk, just like you said we would yesterday."

With guilt still written on his face, Lars did as he was asked and came over to the swing next to Steven, eyeing it with mistrust.

"Steven, are you sure this thing is stable enough to let us both sit on it?"

"Barely. Just sit down carefully on it and don't move, otherwise you'll get rust in your hair," he said, grimacing as he ran his hand through his curls once again. More rust had come out and fallen to the ground.

Lars still eyed the swing with suspicion.

"Right...," Lars said, but did as Steven said to and carefully planted his butt on the swing, folding his hands in his lap as he looked around the area.

It was quiet for a few moments before Steven decided to start up the conversation.

"Did you ever play here when you were little, Lars?"

"No, I moved here shortly after the new playground park was built, so I went there to play instead. I only knew about this place because all the other kids talked about it."

"Oh... I used to play here all the time. I never had any other kids my age to play with, so I always came here alone or with my dad. After they built the new park, I continued to come here until the place started to fall apart. I never went to the new one, but I kind of wish I had now."

"Why's that?"

"I would have met you."

Lars blushed a dark pink and looked away at Steven's statement.

"I was different back then Steven, I'm not sure you would have stuck around me."

"Lars, I stuck around you even when you were a big jerk, so I'm pretty sure I would have stayed with you when you were younger."

Lars grimaced at that. Steven knew he hated being reminded of how much of an ass he was to people, especially to Steven, but it had to be said.

"I guess so, but I would have tried to push you away when I started... changing."

Steven knew there was more to that word then was said, but he would not ask.

"Then I would have stubbornly stayed by your side, no matter how hard you tried to push me away," he stated, smiling. Lars let out a short laugh at that.

"That I can believe!"

They were quiet again for a few seconds, before Lars spoke up.

"You said you didn't have any friends your age back then, what about what's her name? Connie?"

Steven lowered his eyes at the mention of her name.

"She moved here when I was twelve."

"Oh."

Connie was a complicated subject right now. He used to have that childish crush on her, but as he got older and more mature, that crush just faded away with the sands of time. He still loved her deeply, as a great friend and somewhat of a sister, and that was it. The problem was, he knew she had a heavy crush on him, and he just did not know how to let her down without breaking her heart. Steven knew she was young and would get over it in time, but the initial heartbreak he would inevitably cause her would kill him.

Oh dear sweet diamonds he was starting to sound like his dad, or worse, Pearl!

But anyway...

"I thought you two were dating?"

Steven was brought out of his reverie by Lars' question and he snapped his head in the other teen's direction.

"Oh, no, we were never dating, even though her parents liked to think we were," Steven stated, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Don't you have a..." Lars gulped. "Crush on her?" He asked quietly, looking away.

Steven decided to assuage him of that notion.

"No. Well, I used to a couple of years ago, but not anymore."

Lars let out a breath of relief at hearing that and Steven decided to tease him a bit.

"But, I did get a crush on someone else after that."

Lars turned his head in the younger teen's direction with wide eyes, the scar over his right eye scrunching up.

"What?! Who?!"

Steven smirked at his desperation to know who.

"Just take a wild guess, Lars."

It was pretty obvious who he was talking about, though when he gained said crush on the older teen Steven could not say. If he had to take a wild guess, it was probably around the time that Lars had tried to first hang out with the Cool Kids. He had started feeling something for the grouchy teen back then, but what it was he could not identify. At least not until he got trapped on Homeworld with him.

By then the crush had turned into love, but Steven did not act on it, not even after Lars got back home, along with the Off Colors. It certainly hurt not to, but he thought the older teen and Sadie still had something, and they used to, but that recently changed it seemed. Though he was uncertain of where Lars' sudden love and affection for him had come from. He knew it stemmed from the Homeworld escapade, but that was about it.

That's why they were here, though; to talk about all of this.

"Ugh, I don't know! Do I even want to?"

Steven laughed and Lars looked completely offended.

"Lars, I'm talking to him right now."

"Wait, whuh, me?! You can't be serious! You've had a crush on me for that long?!"

"Well, it's more than a crush now," Steven admitted, blushing deeply and twiddling his thumbs, "but yes."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Lars asked, looking confused.

"Because I didn't understand it until a few months ago myself, and because I didn't want to get in the way of you and Sadie."

Lars flinched at her name.

"Aaaannnddd because you would have laughed in my face and made fun of me, probably telling me to never talk to you again."

Lars flinched again and bit his lip.

"Yeah, that's true... Listen, I never apologized for the way I treated you in the past. You didn't deserve it, and still don't deserve it. I was too much of an asshole and stuck in my teenage "woe-is-me" phase to understand how my behavior affected everyone else. Especially with how I treated you and... Sadie. I'm sorry, I'm so s-sorry!"

Lars had started sobbing his heart out, covering his face with his hands as tears poured down his face. Steven's felt a twinge of pain in his heart at hearing Lars cry like that and quickly got off of his swing and stepped over to the weeping teen, embracing him. Lars wrapped his arms around him tightly and cried into his shoulder, soaking his shirt with tears and snot. Not that Steven cared one bit, he had way too many copies of this same shirt as it was, after all. It did not feel nice in the slightest, but he could ignore it.

The young hybrid caressed Lars' back until he calmed down after a couple of minutes. Sniffling and hiccuping, Lars tried to wiped his face off with his arm, but was stopped by Steven who handed him a pink handkerchief with a yellow star in the middle of it. His dad had had it made for him a couple of weeks ago and he never left without it anymore. It certainly came in handy for times like this.

Lars handed the now soaked cloth back to him, and he cringed at how disgusting it was. He swiftly bubbled it and sent it back to the temple, where he would retrieve and wash it later.

"Sorry, my emotions have been all out of whack lately, and I can't seem to stop crying," Lars said, feeling completely drained.

"It's okay Lars, you can cry all you want until you feel better," Steven said, holding on to his hand and rubbing soothing circles on the back of it with his thumb.

Lars gave a wet chuckle at that.

"I hate crying though, it makes me feel weird."

"It's just your emotions being drained out after being pent up for so long. It's healthy."

"I still hate it."

Steven just shrugged with a smile, and keeping a hold of Lars' hand, went back over to sit on his swing. The swings were not far apart, so their arms were hanging limply between them, hands connected.

Silence reigned over the both of them again as Lars collected himself. After a couple of minutes, Steven decided to ask Lars the thing that had been on his mind for a while.

"Lars, when did you, you know..."

"Know what?"

Rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand, Steven decided to just spit it out.

"You know, fall in love with me?" Okay, Steven would admit it, he squeaked that last bit out. But he knew Lars loved him, he saw it in his eyes yesterday.

"Oh, right." Lars' face contorted in thought. He was not going to deny it? Steven was kind of expecting him to, to be honest, but he was incredibly happy to know that Lars' loved him back, with proof.

"I'm pretty sure it was on that alien planet, though I can't exactly pinpoint the moment, sorry. I kept denying it hard, though the bond we had formed made it almost impossible to."

Steven grinned at that. So he had felt the bond, too, huh?

"Every time you left, I felt empty inside, but I did my best to hide it. The gems helped when they could, but they could never fill the void in me like you did when you were around."

Steven nodded in agreement.

"I felt it too. You were always on my mind when I wasn't around you. I was always distracted because of it, and everyone noticed. I couldn't tell them why, though..."

Lars let out a sudden laugh.

"We're both a big mess!"

They both started cracking up, laughing so hard they let go of each other's hand to hold on to themselves. Steven knew the both of them had not had a good laugh like this in ages, and it felt amazing, even if, in the end, he was out of breath and his lungs hurt from laughing so hard.

Breathing hard and letting out a few chuckles in between breaths, Lars spread his arms open in an invitation, and Steven accepted. He carefully climbed into Lars' lap, knowing this was not a good idea, but not caring at the moment in the slightest.

They held on to each other tightly, Steven resting his head against Lars' chest, listening to the slow beat of the other boy's heart, feeling content.

His head was lifted by one of Lars' hands and they stared deeply into one another's eyes, love shining through. Steven raised a hand and lightly traced the scar over Lars' right eye before cupping the side of his face and leaning in. This time Lars met him halfway as they kissed for the second time in two days.

Unfortunately, this one was to be cut even shorter as the swing set gave a loud groan and collapsed, sending both boys to the ground with a shout of surprise. Steven landed on top of Lars, knocking the wind out of him. They stared at each other in shock before bursting out laughing, resting their foreheads together.

The final swing set had finally fallen, and Steven would later see it as a metaphor for his childhood. He would always remember it fondly, but it was gone for good from this point on.

-RS-

Lars remembered that day fondly as it was after that day that he and Steven started dating. Of course they both wanted to keep it a secret for a while, at least from close friends and family. That did not work out as well as they had hoped as all of them, one by one, all figured it out eventually.

Sadie being the first one, Lars grimaced. She did not so much as "figure it out", but rather she had snooped in on them. The same day he and Steven had their conversation in the old park, actually.

He knew he felt someone's eyes on them, but Lars figured it was just a wild animal. Oh how wrong he was.

-RS-

Grumbling at having to be up at the ass crack of dawn, Lars fumbled with the keys to The Big Donut trying to find the one that unlocked the back door. Sure, he did not have to sleep much anymore, but he still enjoyed doing so, and having to be up at this hour sucked big time.

Lars was finally coming back to work after a week. He had to use the vacation he had saved up for his week of depression, but he did not have any other choice. The teen would not have been able to work, let alone work with Sadie, but now he had no other choice unless he wanted to be fired. As much as he bemoaned working at this place, he did enjoy making money to spend on himself (and eventually Steven). Plus, it was not the worst job he could have, even if it was just minimum wage.

Finally finding the right key, he opened the back door and entered, turning on the lights and hanging up his jacket on the coat rack that was behind the door. It was a cool morning, so he had no choice but to bring a jacket unless he wanted to freeze his butt off on his way to work.

He clocked in and went to the front part of the store and started preparing for the day long before Sadie even arrived. Usually they prepared for the day together, but Lars did not feel like spending any time with her at the moment, even though he knew he would once she came in for their shift.

Lars sighed as he finished wiping down the counters, knowing that the only bright moment of today would be when Steven came in. He knew the younger teen would, he always did, and now that they were... dating, Steven would definitely come in, even multiple times a day if he had nothing else to do while Lars was working. It used to always annoy him, but now he could not wait.

Humming, he opened the register and counted the starting money to make sure it was all there and accounted for. Seeing that it was, he shut the drawer just as the back door opened and closed. Lars tensed as Sadie came through the backroom door and looked around in confusion and wariness. As she spotted Lars behind the counter, she relaxed a bit, realizing it was not some burglar who had broken in.

"Wow Lars, you're um, here, awfully early," she said nervously.

"Y-yeah, couldn't sleep much, ya know." He shrugged halfheartedly.

"Yeah..."

They went silent after that, the tension steadily rising between them. Lars noticed Sadie looking around.

"You got everything ready on your own?"

"Yep."

"The donuts put out?"

"Uh-huh."

"Fresh coffee made?"

"Yes, Sadie."

"Did you-"

"Yes, I got everything! Yeesh! I've been working this job for two years, I know how to get everything ready, alright?"

"Geez, I was just trying to make sure!"

"I'm not invalid or stupid, Sadie, I know how to do my job!"

Lars glared at her heatedly and she reciprocated the look before they both turned away in a huff. Seriously, what was with her? He was not incompetent. Not at his job, anyway. He had ran this place alone perfectly fine when Sadie had been sick in the past, so he had no idea where this new mentality of hers came from.

"What's your problem, anyway? One day you're turning me away and now you're patronizing me? What gives?!"

"You want to know? Fine! I saw you and Steven yesterday, that's my problem!"

Lars froze up hearing that, his expression of fear quickly turning back into anger.

"You were spying on us?!" His voice cracked, tears of anger and embarrassment pooling in his eyes. Neither of them had been ready to tell anyone they were dating yet!

"Not intentionally! I saw you running frantically yesterday and thought something was wrong since I hadn't seen you in a week, so I followed. I never expected you to be meeting up with Steven in some abandoned old park! I know the two of you had grown closer over the past few months, but to see the two of you meeting in a secret hiding spot? I'll admit it, I was curious, so I stayed several feet away from the two of you. I didn't hear a word of what was said, but the actions were clear enough!"

Lars growled and balled his fists up as Sadie threw her hands up in exasperation.

"How could you kiss Steven, Lars?!"

"It's a free country, I can kiss whoever I want," he snarled.

"Steven's a child, Lars, it's wrong! I don't want you to get in trouble!"

Lars was taken aback by that. Did she seriously-?

"Sadie, do you honestly not know how old Steven is?"

"Younger than you!"

"Yeah, by two years! Steven is fifteen, Sadie."

This time it was Sadie who was thrown for a loop.

"He is? How did you know?"

"He told me a few months ago, that's how!"

"Well he certainly doesn't look or act like any teenager I've seen before!"

"That's because he doesn't age, not naturally, and because he's been through enough shit that he's had to mature fast," Lars growled out in irritation. He was starting to get sick of this conversation. "And for your information, we were going to keep this a secret for a while, but you had to go and ruin it!"

"It doesn't feel right, Lars."

"I never asked for your damn opinion, now back off!" He was nearly shouting at this point as his ire was constantly rising, his face a deep magenta color at this point. Taking a few deep breaths, he calmed down somewhat. Though Sadie seemed to be relentless today, his irritation rising once again.

"Don't you care about what the others will think?"

He closed his eyes and remembered what Steven had taught and told him all those months ago, long before they were dating.

"I don't care what others think of me anymore, as long as I'm happy and comfortable with who I am. Steven sure as hell doesn't care what people think of him, either. So the answer to your question is N-O."

"Then why are you hiding this, thing, you have with him?"

"Gee, I dunno... Maybe because we want some peace and quiet, and maybe a little privacy before then?" The sarcasm just rolled off his tongue there. "Just leave us be, Sadie, please."

It was quiet for some time as they avoided looking at each other. Lars looked at the clock and realized they still had fifteen minutes before opening and let out a huge sigh. Today was going to be a long day. At least the morning rush would help pass the time quickly.

"I thought we had something..." Said uttered quietly, causing Lars to groan. Why oh why could she not keep quiet today?

"We could have had something, but you decided to throw me away like yesterday's trash! And for what reason? I'm pink? Have this scar on my face? Will probably live forever? Or is it because I'm-" He stopped and took a breath so he would not finish that sentence.

"I know, I'm sorry, I did a lot a thinking over the week you were gone and-" Here Lars decided to interrupt her before she continued.

"Look, it's over, alright? It's time for us to move on from the past. And it's going to take more than a "sorry" to make up for how you hurt me, Sadie. I literally told you everything about me and got rejected for it, I don't think we're going to work out. Ever. Not when you took my trust and ripped it to shreds!"

"Oh don't act like you never hurt me before!"

"Okay I admit it, I did hurt you, but not to this degree! This was a whole other level of hurt, and you won't understand until you have it happen to you!" Sighing, Lars turned away and crossed his arms. He was sick of talking about all of this. At least what he said shut her up, though she did have tears running down her face.

"Look, I'll eventually forgive you and we can be friends again, but it's going to take some time. Just... Don't bring it up anymore, alright?" He stole a quick glance at the shorter woman and noticed she had nodded and was wiping her face of tears with a napkin.

After that, the day went as normal with the morning and afternoon rushes coming and going. Though the day did lack their friendly banter they used to have, which was a bit depressing, but they both kept themselves busy to avoid thinking about it.

By one o' clock the store was dead, and Lars was expecting Steven to walk in soon, before their shift for the day was done. Not that they had not been talking to each other, far from it. During the downtime he would text Steven, smiling and chuckling as they chatted. Sadie was giving him dirty looks each time he texted his new boyfriend, but he completely ignored them.

It was a quarter past one when Steven finally walked through the door, breaking Lars' boredom. He had been leaning on the counter, eyes half-lidded, and resting his head on his left hand when he saw Steven run up to the door. The shorter teen nearly broke the glass flinging it open so hard in his excitement.

"Laaarrrs!"

Lars' eyes lit up at seeing his boyfriend.

"Steven!" He called out happily, leaping over the counter with an ease and grace he never had before he was revived. He picked the shorter boy up and held him to his chest in a tight hug, reaffirming their bond. Even though he had seen him just yesterday, it seemed like he had not seen Steven in days.

"I missed you," he whispered in Steven's ear. It was true that he missed him, especially after having to deal with annoying customers and Sadie all day. Steven exuded calm, quiet, happiness, and a sense of peace and tranquility when he was around him, something that Lars did not get to feel very often, so he would soak it up for all it was worth.

"I missed you too," Steven whispered back. "I would have been here sooner, but the gems needed my help with something all morning."

"It's alright, I knew you would show up eventually." Lars shifted them both a bit so that their foreheads rested against each other as they stared into each other's eyes. He had no clue why he liked doing this, Steven seeming to like it too, but it felt right.

Of course he would not pass up the chance to kiss his new boyfriend after not seeing him all day, so that is what he did. He was glad the company was too cheap to install security cameras around the place, otherwise Lars knew he would be in big trouble for this. It would be worth it though, that he knew.

Sadie decided to walk in from the back room after they had been making out for a full minute or so. She had terrible timing, Lars thought.

"Hey Lars, have you seen- oh," she started, but stopped as she spotted Lars and Steven kissing in the middle of the store. One of Lars' hands was tangled in Steven's curls at this point.

The pink teen accidentally let go of Steven, Sadie startling him so bad that the arm holding the younger teen loosened, and he dropped to the ground with a thwump and an expression of pain.

"I'll just, uh, try and find it myself then, sorry to interrupt you," she said hastily and ran back into the other room.

"Ugh, she's had the worst timing today," Lars mumbled to himself and he leaned down to pick Steven up and set him on his feet.

"Are you alright, Steven? I didn't mean to drop you like that," he said, dusting Steven off, causing the other boy to giggle.

"I'm fine, Lars, I've taken worse falls than that. I'm more concerned that Sadie saw us," Steven stated, wringing his hands together nervously. Lars made a sound in the back of his throat at that.

"She saw us yesterday in the park."

"Oh. I thought I saw something in the distance, but I thought it was just a wild animal." Lars gave a short laugh at Steven's words.

"That's what I thought too!"

"She won't say anything, will she?" Steven asked, a little worried.

"I'll make sure she won't say anything, promise. I'm not ready for everyone else to know about us, either," he said and went back to stand behind the counter, Steven taking a seat in the stool he had pulled up to said counter.

Neither one noticed Sadie had decided to spy on them again, having cracked the back door open silently.

"So, how'd your day go?" Steven asked him. "You didn't tell me in your texts." Lars sighed and put his head in his hands.

"Stressful! I got here early and got everything ready for the morning rush, but Sadie and I got into an argument. It was so tense and awkward between us all day. Then I had idiot customers trying to argue with me over the prices of some of our products, some others trying to get things for cheap, and one old lady who thought she could get a return on some donuts she didn't even buy from here! And they were half eaten! When I outright refused her, she decided to insult me and make fun of my... pink condition. Then some guy thought he could actually steal a Lion Licker, and trying to get him to hand it over was a job and a half. I'm ready to rip my hair out!" Lars shouted, slamming his head into the counter from frustration. He felt Steven running his hand through his pink hair, trying to sooth his frazzled nerves. It worked though as his aggravation died down to nothing.

"It's almost over, Lars," Steven said, reassuring him.

"Thank the stars! At least the last couple hours are almost always dead, customer-wise." His voice a bit muffled against the counter, but he did not want to move and have Steven stop his soothing movements. He never got much physical affection as he was uncomfortable with it, unless it came from Steven nowadays, of course. So he was going to soak up as much as he could.

He heard Steven chuckle a bit.

"Why do you think I always stop in around this time, rather than earlier? I got to hang around the two of you without having to worry about other people coming in." Lars snorted at that.

"Yeah, I kind of figured it out after like, the tenth time you came in." He was not going to mention how it used to annoy him to no end, Steven knew it anyway. The younger teen was just persistent, not stupid. Lars was glad he was persistent in trying to make him his friend and open up more, though. He would not be the person he was today if not for his boyfriend.

Eventually Steven stopped his soothing strokes, causing Lars to look up at him and lift his head from the counter. He looked a bit guilty.

"Sorry, I have to go. Connie wants me to meet up with her at the library, and we have fusion training afterward with Pearl. The diamonds are still a huge threat and Pearl has us training harder."

Lars' eyes narrowed and he felt a furious growl rise up in his throat, but he held it back. Whoa, where the hell had that come from? Regardless, the idea of that girl hanging around Steven, alone nonetheless, pissed him off. Friends or not, he learned yesterday that she had a crush on Steven, his Steven, and he was not about to let that stand.

Suddenly, he had a bright idea.

"Hey, what if I came to train with you guys? After I get off work?" Stars appeared in Steven's eyes at his idea and the younger boy let out a gasp of surprise.

"You want to come train with us?!"

"Yeah, sure, how hard could it be?" Lars said confidently. Oh how he was going to eat his words later.

Steven suddenly grabbed the front of his work shirt and pulled him closer, Lars letting out a short yelp that was cut off as Steven planted a short, but fierce kiss on his lips. It was over too quickly in Lars' opinion. He was left dazed after that, managing to hear what Steven said on his way out of the store, but not understand it.

"Come to my house at four, and be sure to wear something comfortable! Love you, bye!"

His brain eventually caught up with him and registered Steven's words, causing him to grin like an idiot and sigh deeply. Man, he sure had fallen, and fallen hard for the slightly younger teen. Not that he was going to complain, he was the happiest he had been in years. He knew he loved Steven, but it would be a while before he would be able to say it out loud.

Steven seemed to have no reservations about saying it out loud though, and he was a bit envious of it, if Lars was being honest with himself. He may have changed a lot as a person, but saying things like that out loud still made him quite uncomfortable. Oh well, that would change eventually as he got older and more comfortable with himself. Or so the therapist he had for about month a few years ago had told him. She was a nice lady and tried her best, but she had pretty much given up on him after a month when he absolutely refused to open up about anything.

Hm, maybe he should go and see her again to apologize. Yeah, maybe next week or something, that would work. Perhaps he should start seeing her again, there were things on his mind and whatnot that he still needed some help with. He would be more cooperative this time around, he promised himself.

The back door opened slowly, snapping Lars out of his thoughts, to see Sadie walk in with a box in her hands.

"O-oh look, I found it! Heh..." Lars grunted, but did not say anything. In fact, neither said a word to each other the rest of the shift. As three o' clock rolled around, they had finished up their shift duties. Lars had just finished counting down the register for the closing shift people as Sadie finished sweeping the floor when the other two employees came in.

Marissa and Sean. They were nice enough people, Lars supposed, but he never took the time to get to know them. He was always eager to get the heck out of work. Still was, in fact. Quickly clocking out, Lars fast-walked to the back to get his jacket and was about to leave the store when Sadie stopped him with a shout.

"Lars, wait! Please!" Stopping in his tracks, he turned to look at Sadie with an annoyed expression. He had someplace to be in an hour, dammit!

"What?" Wow, that sounded more harsh than he wanted it to. He could tell it was pretty harsh by the way Sadie flinched back a bit, but she took a deep breath and ignored it.

"Look, I... You wouldn't listen to me earlier, so please, just listen now." She was practically begging by this point.

"Fine, but make it quick, I have somewhere to be," he said, crossing his arms. She surprisingly did not say anything to that. Huh.

"Let's step outside first." Well, she had a good point. No need for the other two to hear their conversation after all. Stepping outside the back door to the Big Donut, Lars shut it tight and looked expectantly at Sadie with a raised eyebrow. She rubbed her right arm with her left hand in a nervous manner, not meeting Lars' eyes.

"I'm sorry. No, let me say what I have to say before you speak." Closing his mouth with an audible click, Lars glared at Sadie and huffed, telling her to get on with it. The shorter woman knew him too well sometimes, she had not even been looking at him when she said that.

"I'm sorry," she repeated. "I thought I was protecting you when I turned you away, even though I didn't want to." Lars narrowed his eyes at that. Protect him? From what?

"From what I didn't know." Oh that's just great. "It wasn't until later in the week when I had time to think, that I realized it wasn't you I was trying to protect. It was me." Say what now? "I.. Ugh! When you came home from being stuck in space, I didn't know what to expect! But to see you a completely different color with a scar, and to learn that you had died, it just made me... I dunno, upset, for some reason. The fact that you died was upsetting enough, but to learn that Steven brought you back to life? That was jarring. Then seeing how you've changed internally, it shocked me. You were the same Lars, but you weren't!"

Here Lars blinked. He could understand where she was coming from, but still...

"I guess my point is, I was afraid, afraid of this change you've gone through and how it would affect us. It didn't help how close you were to Steven, either." Oh she did not just go there. "I mean, I'm glad you were finally friends with him, and I know how affectionate Steven is with people, but to see you being affectionate back was startling." Well, Lars did not blame her there. A lot of people had been startled by their closeness to one another. It would definitely help in hiding their relationship for the time being, at any rate.

"I suppose I was a bit jealous and feeling petty, so when you finally decided to make your move and tell me everything about you, I turned you down out of a misguided attempt to protect my own feelings, telling myself it was for your own good when it was actually for mine. I'm so sorry Lars! I never meant to hurt you like that! I didn't turn you away for the reasons you think! It was all me, all my fault! I don't deserve your forgiveness!" She started sobbing, her hands covering her face as tears streamed down her cheeks. Lars took a step back out of shock for a mere moment before sighing deeply and getting down on his knees, drawing the older woman into his arms for a hug. The action caused her to start crying harder.

"You do deserve forgiveness, Sadie."

"No I don't!"

"Yes you do! Look, you made a mistake, you admitted to it, and you gave a heartfelt apology. You're only human, Sadie, and you had a lapse in judgement because your own feelings were confusing you. I was hurt, and mad, but I'm not going to rake you over the coals for it." Sadie let out a wet chuckle at his words of wisdom and pulled back only slightly from the hug.

"When did you get so mature?" She asked, unknowingly echoing his own words to Steven he made last year.

"I dunno, somewhere between getting kidnapped and being brought back to life I guess." He laughed at his words, mimicking Steven's words this time. His face turned serious though as he looked at Sadie.

"I'm not gonna lie, it's going to take some time for me to completely forgive you. My head already has, but my heart is still catching up. Just give it time." Sadie stepped back from him with a nod, wiping her eyes on her sleeves.

Lars stood back up and looked down on her with soft eyes.

"Look, even though I'm with Steven now, I'll never forget what we used to have before all of this happened. What could have been. But you're right, I've changed too much and have been through a lot that I just won't ever be able to relate to you anymore. That doesn't mean we can't still be friends, like we used to be. After all, even if we'll never date now, you'll always be my Player 2," he said with a smile. Man, when had he gotten so cheesy? Must have been from hanging around Steven so much.

Sadie suddenly launched herself at his legs, causing him to let out an "oomph" as she hugged him tightly. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders as best he could to return it, closing his eyes.

It was a few moments later when his eyes popped open comically when they finally released from the hug.

"Wait, what time is it?!" He asked frantically. Sadie looked down at her watch that she had gotten recently.

"Uh, 3:30?" Lars let out a long, distressed humming sound at that news.

"Oh no, I'm gonna be late! I still have to change and get ready! SeeyouSadietalktoyoulaterbye!" Lars shouted as he ran towards his house as fast as he could. No way was he going to be late on his first day of training with Steven!

-RS-

Well, the day may have started like shit, but it ended just fine. Just as he promised Sadie, though, he did forgive her, slowly, over time. And while he did forgive her in his heart and mind, he would never forget.

Much like he would never forget that agonizing first day of training. It was pretty embarrassing as well.

-RS-

TO BE CONTINUED.