It was almost midnight, and Steven was still wide awake in his bedroom. Connie was with him, having spent the entire day together playing with swords, drawing, and binge watching TV with unhealthy snacks and soda. Empty cans and sweet wrappers covered the floor and the bed, which they were laying on and watching a scary movie. Steven blushed every time Connie buried her face into his when a particular frightening scene came on, but she didn't seem to notice.

Garnet was absent from the Beach House. Steven recalled her telling him that she was doing some training of some sort in the temple. It was a quick conversation, and she bolted off this morning without saying much else. Amethyst was about in the temple somewhere too since Steven made it clear to her that he wanted to be alone with Connie tonight. Amethyst agreed to leave the two alone, but only after making some suggestive comments and sounds (something which Steven was nothing short of embarrassed about).

Steven knew that Pearl was out on a date tonight with Sugar, the girl whom she had met at that concert, but he was surprised they weren't back yet. It wasn't like Pearl to be out for this long without letting him or any of the Crystal Gems know where she was or what she was up to. She hadn't been in touch with any of them to his knowledge anyway, but maybe he was wrong and she was on her way back very soon.

She had gushed about how excited she was to Steven and to Connie this morning. That excitement quickly turned to nervousness and then to fear as she then realised she had no idea what she had gotten herself into.

"What do humans do on these "dates?" she had asked them desperately. "Is there some sort of routine? Rules to follow?"

"No, it's just about you two having fun together!" said Connie.

"Yeah, you pick an activity, or a few, and then you take part in it together." explained Steven. "It's a way of breaking the ice and getting to know each other more."

"Did she say what she wanted to do tonight?" asked Connie.

"She wanted to go roller skating…" Pearl sounded dubious. "Is that difficult?"

Steven and Connie looked at each other.

"Uh, she'll show you how it's done." laughed Steven, but it was good natured.

"The important thing is you enjoy each other's company!" said Connie happily. "Don't worry, the first date is always the most nerve wracking."

"Is that what it was like when you and Steven spent time together for the first time?"

And by the red, sheepish look on their faces, Pearl could tell they weren't going to answer. So she had quickly changed the subject and the two teenagers were later trying to calm her down as she hyperventilated into a bag and panicked over how on earth she was going to move on wheels.

Steven wondered how Pearl and Sugar had gotten along. They had been talking on the phone for weeks, and Sugar had even been around to the Beach House a few times so it wasn't as if they didn't know each other at all. In fact, Sugar had gotten on great with him, Connie, Garnet and (strangely enough) especially Amethyst. The two bonded over rock concerts and Amethyst was in awe over her tattoos and piercings, going so far as to ask her to show her all the ones she had.

They all really liked her. And they were all so happy for Pearl, who despite her anxiousness, had not been this happy herself for a long time. Steven wouldn't tell anyone, but he really hoped everything worked out for them both; he was secretly really worried that something had gone wrong tonight and that was why they weren't back yet.

He decided to voice his concerns to his friend, who hadn't expressed her opinion to him about it much.

"Do you think Pearl and Sugar will be back soon?"

"I dunno," answered Connie, eyes still glued to the TV screen. It didn't look like she was paying much attention. "Why?"

"It's not like Pearl to stay out this late without telling me." said Steven. "I'm wondering if something's happened."

"Don't worry about it, Steven," Connie comforted him, sounding more supportive than before. "They've probably just lost track of time, that's all."

There was a long pause, before Steven asked,

"What time does that roller skating place close?"

"Oh… I'm not sure actually." Connie frowned.

Steven checked his phone. He entered the name of the arena they were at into the search bar and scanned the results.

"Um… Connie, it says they closed two hours ago."

This time, Connie was quiet. She wasn't sure what to say.

"That's it," announced Steven, pressing Pearl's contact number. "I'm calling her."

As he held the phone to his ear, he heard a loud bang that made both him and Connie jump. They leaned over the floorboards of Steven's room upstairs to get a look at what had created the sudden noise.

Pearl and Sugar were back. Pearl was still wearing roller skates, and Sugar was trying to help her keep her balance by holding on to both her hands and holding them evenly outwards from her body.

"Pearl," she laughed. "It's okay, you don't need to prove to me that you can do this anymore!"

"But I made a complete embarrassment of myself at the arena," Pearl complained, still struggling to stay on her feet. "I need to master this if we're going to go again."

"Look, I shouldn't have suggested roller skating as a first date," said Sugar. This time, when Pearl wobbled again, she grabbed onto Pearl's torso and held her close to her own. "Next time, we'll do what you want, okay?"

"… okay…" Pearl responded meekly. She could feel the warmth of Sugar's body radiating against her own. It made her heart race.

"Anything you have in mind?" Sugar's lip curled into a suggestive smirk, which made Pearl gulp nervously.

"Oh… well… um…"

Before Pearl could respond, Sugar planted a kiss onto Pearl's lips. It wasn't a quick peck either; Sugar's arms were wrapped around Pearl's waist, and after a few seconds Pearl had returned the sudden surprise by placing her arms around the pink haired woman's neck and kissing her back with full force. They were both breathing heavily, heavily enough for Steven and Connie to hear everything and stifle their grasps.

"Should we really be watching this?" Steven whispered uneasily.

"Well, what are we supposed to do?" said Connie. "We can't go down there. They'll know we've been here this whole time."

Steven considered this. Pearl and Sugar were heavily making out beneath them, and it had escalated into Sugar pinning her dominantly against the wall with her body and vigorously brushing her fingers through Pearl's hair and caressing her body. He definitely didn't want them to know they were witnessing this.

"Oh my God, surely they know we're inside the house, don't they!?" exclaimed Connie, but quietly enough not to catch their attention. "What the hell are they doing when we're here?"

"They must think we're asleep," said Steven.

"Steven, we're over 16. Of course we're not going to be asleep at midnight." Said Connie obviously. "And did they really think they weren't going to wake us up with the noises they're making?"

"We can't think about that now," Steven shook his head. "We just need to sneak out of here without them noticing."

"How do we do that?"

Steven looked around. Pearl and Sugar had moved from the wall to the couch right beneath Steven's room. Beside Steven and Connie was a staircase that they could use to quietly walk down and exit through the door right next to it.

"Follow me," he whispered. He got down on all fours and began to crawl, and Connie did the same. They then stood up and gently made their way down the small amount of stairs, making slow, snail like movements so not to make any creaking noises. But judging by the sounds the Gem and her girlfriend were making (and the fact that Sugar was lying directly on top of Pearl on the couch), it didn't appear that they would acknowledge the teenagers' presence. Still, Steven wasn't taking any chances.

As they reached the bottom of the staircase, they looked over at the couple, who were still heavily invested in each other and had not moved from their previous spot. Steven gestured for Connie to exit through the door near them, but suddenly they heard,

"Ah, ah! Wait! I don't know where Steven is," gasped Pearl, who was moaning between each nibble Sugar gave her on her neck.

"I thought he was out with his girlfriend tonight?" said Sugar between each breath.

Connie made a funny noise, and Steven reviewed the blush on her cheeks, which he didn't realise he had too.

"I don't know where they are," said Pearl, who had momentarily regained her composure but was still lying down on her back. "They could still be in here."

Sugar scanned her surroundings. She looked in front of her, under the table, under the couch, in Steven's bedroom, and she saw no one so eagerly asked,

"Where's your room?"

"I don't have one. We have just the bathroom, Steven's bedroom and the spare bedroom where Connie should be sleeping tonight."

"Where's that?"

Pearl pointed to a nearby door, and Sugar got up from the couch to slowly open the door and check inside. When she saw it was empty, she returned to grab Pearl's hand and drag her into the room.

"This'll do," she purred.

Little did they know, inside the closet, Steven and Connie were hiding and trying to make as little noise as possible by staying completely still. It wasn't easy.

"Spare bedroom?" Connie whispered to him suspiciously. "You told me you hadn't finished renovating it and that's why I had to sleep in your bed with you."

"Yeah, I know…" Steven trailed, unsure on how to get out of this one. He decided to tell the truth. "Look, Connie. I'm sorry I lied. I just… I wanted to be closer to you."

"Closer to me how?" Connie interrogated, but it didn't sound like she was mad, more confused. "Sex?"

"No!" exclaimed Steven, but he was careful to still stay quiet since he wasn't sure where Pearl and Sugar were. "Not sex… I wanted to hold you. To be near you."

Connie looked at him, her face unrecognisable to him in the dark but showing deep emotion.

"I've liked you for ages. Not just as my best friend." Steven confessed, sighing. "I thought if we could just spend one night together, you'd feel the same way about me, too."

Connie was speechless. An awkward silence befell them, and neither said anything for several seconds. Steven regretted lying to her, but regretted even more telling the truth.

"You honestly don't think I feel the same way?" whispered Connie. Steven's head shot up, and he stared at her figure in the darkness. The fact that he couldn't see her made her words all the more deep. "Steven, I really like you."

"Really?"

"Yes." she said. "You didn't need to lie to me. You need to tell me how you feel."

"Connie…" Steven paused, as if he was thinking about whether he should say what he was about to say. He took a deep breath. "Connie, I'm in lo-"

"AHHHHHHHH, SUGAR-"

Once again, Connie and Steven were stopped mid-conversation as they heard more, R-rated noises coming from Pearl and Sugar. They couldn't help themselves – Steven ever so slightly pushed the door of the closet open and peeked outside. His eyes widened, and he quickly retracted.

"What did you see?" questioned Connie.

Pearl was, once again, pinned down by Sugar onto the bed. Only this time, Pearl had completely removed her clothes, leaving her stark nude (luckily for Steven, he could not see her private parts since they were covered by the lower half of Sugar's body). Sugar had removed just her top, exposing her bra to Steven and, more importantly, to the Gem that lay beneath her who was watching her with eagerness and arousal. Sugar held onto Pearl's wrists and held her in place, right where she wanted her, on the bed as she kissed her forcibly all over the top part of her body, favouring her neck and what Steven assumed were Pearl's tiny breasts.

"Nothing." Steven said quickly. Connie saw the traumatised look on his face since light had entered the closet now, so she decided not to pry.

"What are we gonna do now?" she asked him in distress.

"We're going to have to go out there." Steven stated painfully.

"WHAT? They're having sex, aren't they?" cried Connie. "There is no way in hell I am going out there and seeing that."

"Would you rather go out there and risk seeing it for a few seconds while we sneak out, or stay in here and listen to it for what could possibly be hours?" Steven angrily pressed.

…

"Connie?"

"I'm thinking." she hissed.

"Come on, let's just go!" he ordered.

The moans of the two had increased in volume, so Steven took this opportunity to push the closet door open even more, just enough for him to fit through and crawl again. Connie followed, and they slid across the floor on their stomachs, hoping to get close enough to the door, which thankfully they had left ajar.

Between the pleasured moans and heavy breathing, Sugar sat up and undid the clasps of her bra (which Pearl had been having trouble with). She slid it off with ease and threw it carelessly onto the floor, where it landed right in front of Steven. Without thinking, the boy looked up and got a full view of Sugar's assets in all their glory. His jaw dropped and he swiftly looked down in embarrassment, unlike Pearl, who gazed longingly and then back up to Sugar, who smirked superiorly and collapsed back on top of her with a deafening groan.

Steven and Connie managed to escape, and as soon as they got out of the spare room, they leapt to their feet and released their breaths, which they had been holding in.

"Oh, wow…" Steven managed to utter after regaining himself. "So that's what a huge pair looks like…"

WHACK!

"Ouch, I didn't say I liked them, Connie!"

"Good," Connie spat angrily. She stepped closer towards him and in a much softer voice, whispered, "Because you're only supposed to like mine."

"Oh, boy…" choked Steven, who had frozen up. Connie smiled and took his hand in hers.

"Come on, let's leave these two to it. Looks like I have no choice but to sleep in your bed." She winked at him, and the two teens eagerly made their way back to Steven's bedroom.