It was well past noon before the Gems left their rooms. Steven was making a sandwich in the kitchen when Pearl came through the Gate. The two briefly made eye contact before quickly jerking their gazes away. Steven's cheeks seared bright red, while Pearl blushed deep blue.
"Hello, Steven," Pearl said, staring out a window to Steven's right.
"Hey, Pearl," Steven mumbled back, chin tucked into his chest. He slowly laid a slice of lunchmeat on the bread in front of him, forcing back the urge to bubble himself. The Temple Gate opened again, and Amethyst swaggered out into the living room.
"Yo, Steven! How'd ya sleep last night?" she snickered, leaping onto the kitchen counter.
"Leave him alone, Amethyst," said Garnet as she stepped through the Temple Gate. "Steven, we're going out for a while," she said, stepping toward the front door of the house. "Crystal Gems, let's go." Pearl and Amethyst muttered their goodbyes and left, letting the screen door fall shut behind them.
Steven let out a sigh, sinking into a kitchen chair. He grabbed his lunch and stood back up, and then moved into the living room. He flopped down onto the couch, took a bite of his sandwich, and looked around the beach house that he called home.
He had lived here for as long as he could remember. Well, that wasn't entirely true; he had lived in the Mr. Universe van with his dad when he was younger, but so much had happened in this house that his life here occupied a disproportionately large section of his memory. He moved into the beach house when he was ten years old, and in those eight years he had grown to call this his home, here with the Crystal Gems.
The Crystal Gems, he mused, wincing at the memory from the night before. It certainly wasn't the first time he had satisfied that particular urge in the house, but it was the first time one of them had walked in on him. Steven wondered how long they were going to avoid talking about it. The Crystal Gems weren't the most discreet about human functions. Pearl and Garnet didn't even eat or sleep, and while Amethyst did both with great gusto, she also loved to tease Steven. They were going to bring it up eventually, and Steven sighed with dread at the thought.
He finished his lunch and leaned back in the couch. He absently played with a lock of his hair which, much to his satisfaction now fell past his shoulders. He had decided to grow it out a few months before, and was very pleased with his thick mane of tight, black curls. Steven swept it back, squeezed it into a bushy ponytail and smiled, recalling how Connie loved to brush and play with his hair. He didn't see her as much during her school year, but he made a mental note text her when she got home at the end of the day. He paused for a second; it would probably be best not to tell her what happened the night before, he thought, blushing.
As he glanced around his home once more, a peculiar idea crept unbidden into Steven's mind: If he had a place of his own, this wouldn't have happened. Steven was taken aback by his own thoughts. He had always imagined himself living with the Crystal Gems in the Temple, where he could help them defend the city from Gem monsters. But now, new visions of the future flooded his imagination, fantasies of independence and control over his own destiny.
Steven frowned and stood up, then turned and climbed the stairs to his loft. He flopped onto his bed, brow still wrinkled in thought. Sighing, he fished his phone out of the pocket of his shorts and stuffed his headphones into his ears. The day wasn't even halfway over and the weather was beautiful, but Steven didn't dare leave the house for fear of running into the Crystal Gems on the boardwalk. He flipped onto his stomach with a groan, then scrolled aimlessly through his usual online haunts. He glanced through his window at the sun, still high in the sky over Beach City, and sighed once more. It was going to be a long day.