"How can this even happen?" - The boy, not so little anymore yet not yet at the brink of adulthood paced himself throughout the room, shaking his cellphone in his hands almost as if he was trying to pass his rage and shock at the question to the little electronic device.
"I mean this just can't be." - He shook the device even harder, it was, after the call, turned off, yes, which was lucky on Steven's part because if it weren't, then it surely would be swinging through the options. Disadvantages of owning a touch screen...well, screen. - "Me, and her? Alone?" - He gestured wildly, still pacing, still walking.
He had to admit, it wasn't the first time he was mostly alone with the young woman that Connie had become. But this was different, never had the invitation been so open and the intent so clear to him. When he was left alone with Connie he knew that his dad was just a phone call away, and that the gems could return at any time, so they didn't do much more than watch those dramatic reenactments of medical dramas or play the outdated consoles Steven owned. But being invited to be at her place, alone, with Connie's dad working as an accountant, and her mother working at the hospital, doing a double shift?
Well this just couldn't end well.
Steven half had it in himself to call her and tell her that no, she absolutely couldn't see him that way, because he was sick...or he had sprained his ankle, or some other crazy excuse, the only problem? She had been with him just yesterday, and she'd be able to figure out that he was avoiding her. And childhood promises of past still held a lot of value, he had promised to never avoid her again, after a particular incident from their childhood he would rather forget. No, he couldn't exactly avoid her like the plague, or even like a bad relationship. Plus he couldn't exactly use snow as an excuse either, since it was summer in Beach City, as proven by the heat wave that was passing through the country. He had to go. And though he had plenty of options of how to go, he wasn't exactly eager.
He sighed. Guess he had no choice. Though the small beach sided city (which was, funnily enough, named after the beach it shared the coast with) was small, it had provided more than enough training ground for Steven to practice his driving. Not exactly legal, but Mayor Dewey wasn't exactly focusing much on the local police force, which seemed to be non-existent. Plus when you had a mother (one of four) that has been driving ever since automobiles were invented you tend to pick up a few tricks. Steven could just borrow the van from his dad and...well, drive over to Connie's place.
It helped that he had his driver's license, after years of training he had finally managed to get it, enough that he could drive without fear of getting pulled over. Steven started walking through the sand all the while contemplating just what he had gotten himself into.
What sort of trouble have I put myself into? - The whole situation reminded him of things he would rather forget. But it seemed his luck would grant him no such reprieval from the consequences of his actions. Who knew being a friend of someone for years and years. Enough that they tend to get attached, very, would eventually develop into...well that? He would have had to have been blind to not see where their relationship was headed. And now she wanted him near her, alone, for what would seem like hours. Wait not seem…those were definitively hours. Great.
Steven gulped as he approached his dad's place of residence, slash method of transport. Greg Universe was a lot of things, but nobody would accuse him of being very organised. Despite that he gave all he could to his son, Steven, and so was left with little to nothing for him. Not that it bothered him, despite the balding hair the man still held on to himself as a rock star. A failed rockstar, but still, a rockstar.
"What can I do for you buddy?" - Greg was in his usual attire, of a sleeveless shirt, some jeans, and sandals. His whole body had marks from where he had been sunburned, not like his son, who actually had protection from the sun, even if meager. He stopped moving around in his van, no doubt looking for something in the mess, to look at his son.
"Hey dad…" - He smiled at his dad, making his upper lip curl up and his few stray hairs that he liked to call a moustache stand out. - "I need the car."
Now most fathers would shudder at the idea of loaning their car to their 18 year old son, but Greg was different, call it what you like, coolness, trust, confidence and loyalty, but he had no qualms about letting his son borrow his van. He knew that Steven would be careful.
He twirled from his position, in a move that would rival Pearl's the Ballerina mother figure of Steven's, and his hair moved all over. Well except at the top, where he was missing it. Though, despite that, it was still an amazing move.
"Sure buddy, going to see Connie?"
Steven wordlessly nodded, there was no point in denying it, there weren't many other places where he would go that he would need the car for. Beach City was so self contained that he could walk pretty much everywhere, down the beach, the city or the hills.
"I see…" - Greg wandered over the jeans he owned, patting them, as if looking for something. As if on cue he found what he was looking for, his own wallet. He dug something out of it, finding the square package.
Steven didn't need much to understand just what his dad had dug out of his wallet, and the object embarrassed him to no end. He felt himself redden, getting to a tone that was almost as scarlet as his father's sunburned body.
"C'mon dad, is that really necessary?" - He didn't really want to pick the condom up, he knew that things could be heading out in that direction sure, he wasn't blind, but he was going to try to avoid to the extreme. He was just going to add a reason why he didn't need that package when his father put a hand over his mouth.
"Just in case, alright?" - Steven nodded, his eyes straying out of line while he tried to focus simultaneously on the finger over his lips and on his dad. He took the package and put it in his pocket.
Starting the van he waved back to his father as the ignition picked up, pushing the keys sideways and putting one of his dad's CD's on the radio he started moving.
Singing to himself he focused on the road. The mid afternoon heat was covering him in sweat but none of that was as glaring as the issue of the sun that was dead set on blinding him. Steven knew a few tricks to avoid getting sun-blinded, tricks like putting the sun visor and protection for the sun his dad's van had, but it still wasn't ideal. Connie just had to live on the outskirts of the next town over, didn't she?
As his whole body sweated he realised that by the time that he arrived to the stairs of Connie's house he wouldn't be in presentable shape, Steven groaned, great, he had taken steps to avoid just such an inconvenience only to be beaten by the worst of the human (and half-gem half-human) enemy, heat. He lifted his whole hand, as much as he dared while still holding the wheels of the car to curse his invisible enemy that was having such an effect on him. If there was something positive he could say it was that his ride was nearly over.
Said and done, he got himself out of the car, he felt like he was made of jelly and he had been melting. While age had definitively added height to the pudgy figure of his childhood, Steven was still, by no means, lean. So he took his time getting out of the car.
He got to the steps of her house and rung the bell, unsure of what to make of his whole sweaty figure. He stank! Connie probably wouldn't care though, and, indeed, when she opened the door she ran to hug him. He didn't even have time to tell her to not to do that before he was engulfed. As it was still hot, though nowhere near as hot as in the van, that wasn't very comfortable for him. Even if he liked the smell of her and the feeling of her soft skin. Connie definitively took care of herself.
As she stepped back to let him in he could get a look at her. She looked amazing as always, her dark skin and smooth skin just perfect for him to grab and spin her around, her bright eyes (and glasses without lenses, long story) staring right at him, her smile big all around.
"Come inside" - She said, inviting him to her house with one hand on the door handle the other pointing inside. She smiled, her teeth almost blinding him. - "You must be thirsty"
"Yeah!" - For a moment and excitement came back to levels present from whence he was just a child, they were so innocent at those times...Steven reminded himself of just why he was there, the rubber in his pocket weighing him with the guilt.
He went straight to the kitchen. He knew the layout of the house, since he had been there plenty of times. Of course that had been mostly with her parents around...at least one of them always, but he was sure that nothing bad would happen to him while he was alone...probably.
As he filled his cup with water and took it to his mouth he couldn't help but wonder. What now? What was he going to do now that he was here...alone, with Connie?
Well there was only one way to find out. One thing she always liked about the Maheswaran household (Maheswaran being the name of Connie's family) was that they always had the best tech and stuff. He could see, from his spot on the kitchen, the coffee machine, and he was eager to get some.
Sure the coffee at Big Donut, the local coffee and donut (who would have guessed) shop was delicious but it also had that slight taste of industrialism, the taste of a machine that had taken thousands of coffees across time, and was slightly spent and rusty. The machine at Connie's house? Not so much. He had dreams about the creamed coffee the machine made. Or about Connie, one of the two, the point was, he had dreams about this house.
"What are you doing?" - The voice that came from behind him almost scared him, if he were still holding his cup of water, or started pouring coffee in the Maheswaran machine to a glass, he'd surely have dropped it. Instead all he got was a jump scare, as Connie showed up.
"Oh I was just eyeing your coffee machine to be honest!" - Steven did sort of an awkward laugh, rubbing his head on the back, as he turned to address Connie.
"You can drink, you can do anything in this house!" - Connie stood there, unsure of what to say, just staring at Steven. Yes, she would like to say something to him, but what exactly? It was an awkward time for both of them.
"Awesome let's watch tv!" - Steven liked the big tv on the household of the Maheswaran's, it was definitely bigger than his old tube tv.
Connie nodded, she had invited him, so she was supposed to play the good and gracious host, but it was hard with Steven acting as clueless as he was acting.
As they both sat down to watch television, Connie flipping the channels at random, unsure of what to watch, and Steven just spread out enjoying the company she finally found the courage to speak up.
"You know...there's a reason I invited you here today" - Steven gulped again, not for the first time that afternoon. He knew there was a reason, he had just expected things to remain simple as friend and friend. Why did this always have to dwell into romantic situations? Not that he didn't like Connie, Connie was pretty, she was thoughtful, she was attentious, she was adorable, and she was his best friend since practically forever.
Heck, maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all. Connie was now millimeters from him, enough that he could see her nostrils flare up. She was really pumped up. A single fact stood out though.
"I can't see the tv, Connie"
Connie backed off, apologising for the trouble but still putting one of her slimmer hands against Steven's own. Steven's hands were big and strong and they felt oh so nice against hers.
"As I was saying I kind of…"
Why were things so awkward between them? It wasn't like her crush on him was of his real knowledge, right?
Steven felt his heart flutter, though it surely wasn't fluttering as hard as Connie's own heart. He couldn't help himself, he might seem a tad daft sometimes, but he wasn't exactly a moron. He knew where this was headed and just what Connie wanted.
"Huh?" - Connie was pushing her hand over his eyes moving them, he would have guessed that he had spaced out. But could he really be blamed? The thought of being committed to a relationship was scary. The only real examples of relationships he had were Ruby and Sapphire, which spent most of their time as one, or he could go further and go back to his mother and his father. The love in his dad's eyes was apparent every time he spoke of Rose, his mother. And Steven knew, from that look alone, that it was one thing that he would one day want.
As Steven lost himself in his thoughts once again Connie stood up, preparing the gaming device for hours of fun playing with Steven. She had asked already and she knew that Steven wasn't one to refuse a kart race, or maybe even a co-op adventure.
The thing Steven wanted though, love...
He just wasn't expecting it to be with Connie.
Not that she was bad or anything...she was pretty great and probably the first female person he'd ever pick to spend his life nearby (well in a romantic sense, there were other fighting partners that were better suited for him), it was just…
It was odd to be quite frank with himself, he had just never thought about it. Realising that Connie had those feelings, even if somehow he knew deep down, well it left him in quite a tight spot.
He didn't want to hurt her feelings, hurting anyone's feelings was quite a Un-Steven thing to do (he pondered if that was even a word), but what was he supposed to do, just blindly accept the relationship? He was reminded again of the weight in his pocket, it had been given to him by his dad, it was like everybody knew, and who was he to fight fate? He was Steven Universe, he'd fight for his planet and friends anytime. But fight for his best friend love? Just what exactly was he supposed to do?
He sighed, he guessed love didn't ever come simple. It was a pretty complicated thing, and if he wanted his fairy tale ending he would have to fight.
"So as I was saying….what do you say?" - What did Steven say? What was he supposed to say, he couldn't exactly get out of the situation without hurting Connie or himself. But he supposed he wouldn't be her best friend if he didn't try and help her with her relationship issues. Even if her relationship issues were with...him.
"Sure, I'll date you"
Blank stares, Connie looked at him like he had committed the biggest faux pas she could have ever imagined. The words had come out of his mouth in a sweet, fashion and he was smiling, but it was her time to blush.
"Steven!" - She half yelled, half screamed at him, her skin darkening even more as she blushed.
"What?" - He couldn't exactly see the problem, wasn't this what she wanted? To date him? He had to admit, he was apprehensive, but if this is what she wanted? Plus he liked her a lot as a friend, if she were to be his girlfriend, then surely their relationship would improve and become even stronger. Even if it came with kisses and stuff.
"I was asking you if you wanted to go wash and then we could play videogames!" - Connie looked at Steven like he had grown a second head. Telling her that he wanted to date her. Honestly, could he know?
"Oh" - Yeah Steven guessed he really did stink, and he could see the video game machine there, as if mocking him, ready to be played. Why he had ever thought Connie wanted anything else was beyond him. Still she really did seem to have been intensely staring at him, he wondered about that, was she just trying to intimidate him into defeat? They hadn't even started.
Connie stared at her chest, and brought her hands next to one another, at chest level. She pushed some of her fingers against one another, avoiding glancing up at Steven. She was disconcerted. How could she not be? Steven had basically asked her out and proposed.
"But I guess…" - She hesitated unsure of herself, was this really something she wanted to do? With a look inside of herself she realised that yes, this was exactly what she wanted to do.
"...I guess if you want to date, I'd be willing. Just wash yourself first!" - Steven reminded himself of the piece of protection he carried inside of his jeans, he wasn't so sure he wanted to ask Connie out on a date. But he had basically proposed to be her boyfriend anyway, so.
"Sure!" - It wasn't perfect, and in fact he wasn't exactly sure if he wanted to do this. But he had always had fun with Connie, and, if Connie was willing to give it a try, then why the heck wouldn't he be willing?
Steven smiled, they would try.