The warppad's light died down, revealing Steven, still a bit sad. Pearl walked up to him"Steven! You're back! How was your visit with Peridot? Do you want dinner?". "It was fine, I guess." he started, feeling a bit down again "Thanks, but I'm not hungry… I'm going to bed.". As Steven walked up to his bed, Garnet walked into the room, putting a hand on a confused Pearl "Steven just needs time to heal from the trauma, Pearl, It'll take some time, but for right now, we just need to support him.".
In his little section of the Beach House, Steven walked over to his dresser and took out his phone. He started looking through his picture gallery, tears coming to his face as he did. All of them were Sadie and Steven's selfies, 3 months before Sadie died… Sighing, Steven turned off his phone and laid in bed, his mind drifting off to several weeks ago, when Sadie told him the news.
3 weeks ago:
Steven walked into the Big Donut, happy as could be. He couldn't wait to show Peridot and Lapis what donuts are! Walking into the Big Donut, he saw Lars but, Sadie wasn't anywhere to be seen. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary though, Sadie had been gone from work for a few weeks now.
"3 donuts please!" He said, lying down 3 dollars. Lars was staring off into space, not listening to Steven. "Hey, Lars, I'd like 3 donuts!" That seemed to do the trick, as Lars snapped himself out of his trance and looked down at the small grinning boy. "Y-yeah, sure." He stuttered, trying to get 3 donuts into the bag, but still, he had a distant look on his face.
Lars gave Steven the bag and Steven started walking towards the exit. "Hey Steven w-wait up!" Steven turned to see Lars running towards him. "S-Sadie...wanted to talk to you…"He said, his voice getting lower and lower. "It's really important, come on". Steven had no idea why Sadie wanted to talk to him, but followed Lars anyways as they made their way to Sadie's House.
The walk to Sadie's House wasn't that long, but for some reason it felt like hours. Lars hardly said anything, and was mostly looking like he was looking off into space or something, which confused Steven. Usually Lars wasn't so...quiet. Sure, he wasn't exactly a talkative person, but the way he was acting got Steven worrying a bit.
Once they reached her house, Barb let them in without saying a word, which confused Steven even more. Barb was the most talkative human Steven had ever met, why was she so silent today? All of this was creeping Steven out.
Sadie was lying on the couch, and her condition looked horrible. She looked so weak and frail, it mentally hurt Steven. She looked like she lost a lot of weight, and well, she just looked awful! "Hey, Steven…"She hoarsely whispered, causing Steven to cringe a big. "Sadie, what happened?!" He asked, more scared than ever.
Sadie let out a weak sigh "Steven... I need to tell you that I'm sorry. I hid this from everyone but I have an illness, and I don't think I'll be here much longer.". When Steven heard those words, he dropped the bag of donuts onto the ground "No...Sadie! Why didn't you tell me earlier so I could heal you? Is it possible?".
Sadie let out another sigh, followed by a coughing fit "It's not possible. I don't think I can do anything.". Steven shook his head, tears swelling up in his eyes. He ran and gave Sadie a huge hug "What'll the Big Donut do without you?". Sadie looked up at his eyes and smiled "I'm sure Lars'll do just fine, running the shop by himself.". Lars looked surprised when she said that, but turned his head away.
Steven shook his head after reliving that nightmarish memory once again. Hearing footsteps, he saw Pearl climbing up the steps to his bed. "Is everything alright Steven?" Pearl sat next to Steven on his bed, looking at him, concern on her face. "Yeah, thanks for checking up on me Pearl, I guess I'm just upset, that my best friend is gone." Pearl then hugged Steven, making him jump a bit "I know how you feel.". Steven returned the hug, smiling and loving his wonderful family.