Here it is, finally. Enjoy.

Part 3: The Start of Us

We both headed off after that, arranging for Connie to meet me the next day at my place. No plans, we'd just see where the day would take us. Something we'd do often.

And she had left me with something invalueable: space. Connie had agreed to stay back a little and let me pursue a relationship with Peridot. Whatever may happen between me and Peri, she'd give her full support the whole way. In return, I gave her my promise, that in the end, I'd always be her's.

But now, I wasn't, I was my own with my heart given back to me. And I could give that heart to someone else.

Practically, it was a mutual break-up.

After I was done watching Connie walk off and disappearing behind a corner, giving a wave of her hand as she rounded it, I started off to the barn.

###

It was full on night when I reached my destination. The sun had fully dropped below the ocean and the stars single-handedly lit everything in view. I looked around, seeking the lime-green color that was deeply imbedded in my memory, and couldn't find the one I was looking for. Not by the hay bales, on top of the barn, which I still don't know how she got there, nor by the creek that ran by.

I tried the barn next, giving a glance around as I walked in through the doorway.

The wooden pillars of the barn were pitch black at night, like they've just been charred by a fire. Junk, useful junk, laid around in massive piles and, even though we had used a great amount of it, looked as quantifyingly large as ever. The last thing my eyes were brought to was the painting up on the wall, showing who this all belonged to.

"Peridot?" I asked the darkness, "You in here?" No answer was given. The silence seemed unusual, strange. I guess I'm used to constantly hearingmy own voice.

I tried one more time. "PERI, YOU IN HERE!" I shouted.

A startled scream came from my left, as if someone had just woke up to a fire alarm. And I wasn't too far off on that guess.

Directly after, I hear a "Woah-woah-woaaaah!" with Peridot came down crashing from the second floor, arms wailing uncontrollably. Her landing produced a thud as she hit the ground on her back. Also, she had just missed the pile of sharp metal a few inches from where she landed.

Peridot turned her head around frantically when she had regained her senses. A sigh of releif left her when her gaze went onto me.

"Oh, just you," she mumbled, reassuring herself.

Reassuring my own self put a hand to my chest. The suddenness of her scream and fall, from the dead silence, kinda scared me.

I reach out a hand to pick her up, which she accepts. Back on her feet, she dusted herself off before acknowledging me with her eyes.

I wanted to get straight to what I wanted to say, but I was a little curious on something else. "Hey, what were you doing up there? And why didn't your respond the first time?" I passively asked, looking up to where she had fallen from.

"Yeah, about that," she responded, "You see, Amethyst was teaching me thing called sleeping. And I kinda got carried away with it."

Yeah, of course Amethyst would teach her how to sleep before learning to summon a weapon. Because 'Priorties.' I smiled softly as I thought this sarcastically.

Peridot paused to straighten her hair out which had gotten tangled, back to that triangle shape I admired. Then, she added, "I was only planning to do so for about an hour. Obviously, it's been quite a bit longer. And I was laying a little too close to the edge."

Her attention goes back to me. "So, you wanted to converse?" she asked, reminding me why I was here.

"Oh, yeah, I did," I say with a good space between each syllable, as if each word was a different thought. "I did," I repeated back softly to myself.

Nervously, I ran my tongue along the ridges of my teeth. Where were my words? Once again, Steven: never good at expressing emotion. All I paid attention to was the gem that was right in front of me. I just stared while my mind wandered off. The last time we had our faces this close was-

Many thoughts raced through my head, some of them memories.

The next thing I notice was a tugging on my arm. Peridot was pulling on it, beckoning me to sit next to her. She was laying down on the wooden floor, a hand behind her head.

Wait, wasn't she just standing a second ago, looking straight at me? Did I zone out?

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. Then, I drop myself down next to her. Okay, back to what I was doing.

"Sorry 'bout that. Zoned out," I briefly explained. "So, about that kiss we had." I trail off, leaving my thoughts complete as that.

My words caused her to feel uneasy as well as she found her neck and rubbed the back of it. She gives a shy smile.

"Look, I just kinda...like you," Peridot said, "I know you may not feel the same way and I'm sorry for making things weird between us." She brought her hand away from her neck and quietly rapped her fingers on her knee. "I just-"

I grapped her uneasy hand with my own, stopping her words and bringing her stare back to me. "Don't be sorry," I say softly. "I have feelings for you, too. And I want there to be something between us, more than just a friendship."

I give a smile, one which she eventually returns.

After a silence, she spoke first. "Are-are you sure? I mean, a friendship is more that I could ever ask for already."

The answer was certain. "Yes."

I decided to stay there for the rest of the night, with Peridot. On the ground of the barn and the stars above my head, I fall to sleep with Peridot beside me. And just before I drifted off completely, I felt her head rest on my stomach. A warm smile spreads across my face.

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Short? Yes. And I'm very sorry for that, but how long can this really be? Not all chapters have to be a long one.

The sequel to this will probably be called 'A Bonding Mission.' I'm setting up for two stories as this focused on the drama aspect, the the next will focus more on the action and actual events rather to the large amount of dialogue I like to write.

But I NEED to know you guys want it. I'm really going outside my domain with writing this and I'll continue if I know I have your support. So I'm asking for five comments, from guest or anyone, simple telling me you'd like me to go on. I get that, then I'll write one with Steven, Peridot, Connie, and Garnet going on a mission to one of Rose's temples.

In other news, I'll be drawing my own covers soon. They will suck, like, really suck. I can't draw but I'd rather have something of my own than a picture I found off the internet be on my stories.

Okay, cya guys later, stay a Connversal.