/In which a 'cute lil SU fic' turns into a full fic with an actual plot. Dang. Didn't mean for this to happen. Hello, new readers! I update this fic nearly on the daily, but reviews help get more fic out faster! Thank you for reading and if you enjoy, make sure to fave/follow the fic. I love recommendations (as in plot recs or things I can include!) because although I have the plot figured out, I'd love to know what you guys want to see. Hope you enjoy, and thank you for reading!
Steven never went to school. He didn't have to worry about classes and grades and getting things done – getting things related to school done, anyways. All he knew about school was that it meant that for eight hours every day, he couldn't call Connie and ask her about violin lessons or how tennis was going or about his theories on what the next Dogcopter movie was going to be like. So when summer came and the beach grew crowded with tourists, he invited Connie to his house nearly every single day.
Steven woke up on a morning in June, shoving back the covers from his bed and nearly stepping on Lion as he ran down the stairs to the kitchen. He shoved two waffles into the toaster, changed into his t-shirt and jeans, and then pulled the waffles out. He loaded them up with sweets; some candies Pearl told him not to have too much of, whipped cream, peanut butter. He ate the waffles quickly and grabbed the phone, dialing Connie's number.
"Connie!" He yelled, grinning into the phone as soon as the line picked up.
"Hello? Oh, oh – Connie! Steven on the phone!" Dr. Maheswaran yelled, covering the receiver with her palm. Steven paused until he heard the line pick up once more.
"Connie!" He yelled again, and this time, he heard the familiar laughter spring through the receiver. His grin grew, and on the other line, Connie was grinning as well.
"Hey, Steven! What are you up to today?" She asked, shoving a book into her bookshelf. At home she had woken up early to reorganize her books – she'd left one out to bring Steven when he invited her over.
"I'm going to hang out with you! And on the TV last night –"
"Aren't you grounded from TV for a thousand years?"
"The ban got lifted!"
"What?! Congratulations!"
"Thank you, thank you. It only took many good deeds –"
"Steven, what were you saying before?"
"Oh! Oh, right!" Steven quickly continued on with what he was saying before, "On the TV last night I saw a documentary about sharks, and I wanted to go shark spotting today!"
"Shark spotting?" Connie asked, narrowing her eyes slightly, shoving her empty glasses frames up her nose, "Really? I didn't think they had sharks in Beach City."
"What? No sharks in Beach City? There has to be at least – at least one, you know! If not, we can always get Amethyst to go in the water and pretend to be one…", Steven trailed off, scratching his head and wiping the extra whipped cream off his chin.
"So you're inviting me over?" Connie asked, smiling and standing up, grabbing the book she'd picked out for him, "I need to know if this is an official invitation. It would be rude to show up uninvited."
"You've showed up uninvited before! Besides, you're always welcome at the Universe home."
"I have shown up uninvited before, and it was rude of me. So?" She asked, already trying to tug her tennis shoes onto her feet.
"You're invited!" Steven yelled, throwing his arms into the air, the phone nearly went flying, and he quickly tightened his hold on it, "Connie?"
"On my way!" She chirped, and the line cut out. Steven climbed up the stairs, back to his loft, and flicked on the TV.
Connie arrived a near half-hour later, toting the book and a small backpack with her. She knocked on the Universe door softly, glancing back at her father's car. She could see him through the windshield, hands tight on the steering wheel, watching her closely. Embarrassing, she thought to herself, gritting her teeth and turning back to the door. When she raised her hand to knock again, the door swung open and Steven grinned at her, "Connie! Is that your dad? Hi, Connie's dad!" Steven yelled, running to the bannister on the porch and leaning over it, waving at the car. Her dad raised his hand in a polite wave before turning the car around and driving over the sand, back to the road and away from Beach City.
"I brought you something." Connie smiled, and Steven turned around and looked at her expectantly.
"A present? You brought me a present?" He asked, and she nodded and held the book out to him. He took it and smiled, flicking through it and then looking at the cover, "A Wrinkle in Time?"
"It's one of my favorites, and since you liked those other books I recommended to you, I thought you might like this one as well! It's got adventure and magic and –" Steven held up a hand quickly, silencing her.
"I've heard enough! Don't spoil it for me, Connie, geez." He said, eyes already scanning the first page. Connie blushed and followed Steven into the house, over to the couch. He sat and flipped through the first few pages of the book before looking back up at her, "It's really good, Connie! Thank you."
"Of course. So – shark hunting, huh?" She asked, arching her eyebrow upward at him. He shook his head quickly, setting the book down on the couch.
"Not hunting. I wouldn't want to hurt the sharks! They're just – harmless little scary slimy whales."
"Actually, Steven, sharks are fish, not whales." Connie corrected him, reaching down to tighten the laces on one of her shoes, "I have a book on them –"
"You have a book on sharks?! And you didn't bring it?!" Steven questioned and then groaned, slumping down on the couch.
"I didn't know you wanted me to – why didn't you ask? You know I have tons of important books." Connie mumbled, but Steven was already standing, hands on his hips.
"I didn't think about it. We'll just have to use your brain as our book then – come on!" Steven waved his arm, walking toward the door, "Before we go shark searching, we've got to get fuel –"
"Does fuel mean going to the Big Donut?" Connie asked, and Steven laughed, holding his hand out to her.
"You know me so well."
"Hey, BFF!" Steven grinned, walking into the Big Donut and patting Lars on the back. Lars jumped slightly and narrowed his eyes at Steven, rolling them and glancing at Sadie.
"What are you doing here, Steven?" Lars asked, glancing at Connie briefly before focusing back on Steven, who was preoccupied with pressing his face up to the glass shielding the donut display.
"We're here to get fuel! Sustainable fuel. I've done my research – donuts from the Big Donut are the best source of energy for a boy like me when I have adventures to have and lives to save." He pulled back from the display, looking at his nails, "You know me, saving lives, on the daily –"
"And what lives are you going to save today, Steven?" Sadie asked curiously, smiling kindly at him and turning around to the donuts, already beginning to sort and place the ones she knew were his favorites into a bag.
"Shark lives! We're going shark searching!" Connie piped up, and Lars immediately began to laugh, pressing his hand to his stomach and bending over.
"Shark searching? There aren't any sharks in Beach City!" He snorted, laughing even harder. Sadie sighed and rolled her eyes at Lars, pursing her lips as she handed the bag over to Steven.
"I think it's really nice of you two to go out and – save any sharks that happen to be in – er, danger. It's brave!" Sadie replied, eyeing Lars as he immediately stopped laughing, blushing and rubbing the back of his neck when he sensed Sadie's disapproval. Steven slid a few dollars across the counter, and Sadie stuck them in the register.
Connie took the bag and put it into her backpack. "Thanks, Sadie! Did you know that sharks –"
"Sharks are a type of fish!" Steven grinned, and Connie elbowed him playfully.
"That was my line." Connie giggled, and Steven laughed and pushed her away.
"Well if you two actually see any sharks out there, make sure to come back and tell me about it. Or even if you don't see any sharks. It's so boring here." Sadie mumbled, and Steven and Connie turned and headed out the door. Lars pouted, organizing the straws in a small silver tin by the drinks.
"Am I not interesting enough, Player 2?" He asked, and Sadie blushed slightly, slouching over the register and biting down on the inside of her cheek.
Steven and Connie walked down the sidewalk toward the boardwalk – but halfway there, Steven could already see how crowded the beach was. Connie noticed, too, cringing at the amount of people. "That's – that's a lot of people. Maybe we should go back to your beach." She said, glancing at Steven. He stared at all the people for a moment.
"No, I think it's okay. It's not too bad, is it?" He asked, glancing at Connie. She was nervous, fumbling with her hands and pushing her glasses up her nose even when they weren't sliding down. "Okay, okay. Let's go back to my beach. I bet there'll be more sharks over there, anyways! Less people, more sharks." Steven grinned. Connie released a sigh of relief, turning and walking with Steven back to the beach.
They settled into a shaded spot near the cliff, their backs pressed to the damp, cold stone. Connie pulled the bag of slightly melted donuts out of her bag and they shared them, getting the sticky icing all over the fingers. Steven got it all over his face and Connie got a bit in her hair, but they laughed and she told him about her violin lessons and he asked her about tennis. It was hot, and Connie took off her shoes to dig her feet into the sand. Steven did the same, and as they were talking, they found their hands pressed against each other and their pinkies overlapping.
For a bit they forgot about their adventure they were supposed to be having and thought about how it was sweltering outside. Steven thought about how worried the Gems were, with the fear of war and danger and he thought about how he had to keep Connie safe. Connie thought about how they wouldn't be friends if it weren't for his Gem powers and how she didn't want to go back to school because Steven was her only friend and he lived far away in Beach City. And somewhere in the afternoon they started holding hands, talking about the things they weren't thinking about.
It was all chaste, they both swore, but when Connie's phone started ringing because her Dad had come back to pick her up and she realized they never even looked for sharks at all, she realized it might be a little more.
Steven didn't even think about it, but he felt a small absence in him, a small hole, when Connie left. And that night he stayed up, balancing his feet on Lion and reading A Wrinkle in Time, thinking all about how he was going to talk to her about it tomorrow.