After tonight, Jasper believes in the concept of fate.
She believes this because ever since she had gotten Peridot's phone number, they have been strangely connected in more than one way. Jasper's sister was good friends with one of Peridot's roommates, Jasper has known Peridot's mother for at least five years, they were both good friends with Garnet, and they have lived in the same city for at least a year and in close proximity to one another. There had been other strange things about the situation that bothered Jasper even more such as the fact Peridot used to be a member of her gym before her anxiety became worse and she had stopped going, but at the same time Jasper knows they live in a relatively small place where everyone knew everyone. The issue was, Jasper had to meet Peridot here of all places and not after her heavy planning to make a great first meeting into a great first date.
But, Jasper tries to stop overthinking this situation because she is genuinely glad she was able to meet Peridot at all. She was the only person in the world—that wasn't a family member—who listened to her, who didn't take her shit when Jasper was acting irrationally or acting like the biggest flirt in the universe. It was also a relief that their entire relationship didn't revolve around the fact Jasper did porn, or cam work, or anything sexual at the end of the day. Jasper likes sex, and she likes being able to talk to Peridot about it and helping her with her own desires, but she also likes having conversations about anything else and specifically conversations with Peridot and Peridot alone.
Shit. Jasper thinks, trying to think things out on her own terms. She wonders if the way she was beginning to feel meant she was developing actual feelings for Peridot, and that finally seeing her in the flesh just made the feelings come to the surface. She mentally groans because Jasper had always been the type of person to get crushes on people and fall in love with them so easily that it always hurt her chances at the end of the day, but this is the first time she has felt a real connection outside of romance and lust with a person. However, Jasper is also known for ignoring how she feels out of fear she would lose the person. Unfortunately, Jasper was very complicated when it came to personal relationships, but it was the first time she felt it wouldn't be the case with someone.
But Jasper must try to focus on herself, on the dinner, and on her future career outside of her personal work. It was just very hard, especially at a dinner table where Peridot was sitting across from her with the dumb pout on her face because of how unhappy she was to be here. But she looked cute, her hair had been colored blonde again since the last time they video chatted, and the pastel yellow dress she was wearing—which was reminiscent of a mother dressing their twelve-year-old—was not the same outfit Peridot had been wearing earlier when she first spotted her. This dress was long and flowy, embellishing right underneath her breasts and a halter top which left her back bare. Outside of some old modeling photos on her page which had been sponsored by her mother's company, it was the first time she's ever seen Peridot looking so dressed up and out of her normal pajamas she lived in.
The dinner was quite boring just because a sudden storm spread through town and almost all the guests cut out before it became any worse. Yellow didn't want the food to go to waste and Pink didn't want Jasper to drive nearly two hours to get back home in a thunderstorm. One thing led to another and Jasper was being forced to stay in the guest room for the night. This led to Jasper having to rummage in her car for her gym bag which had extra clothes for her to wear just in case she ever ended somewhere overnight—more because of her late-night porn shoots than anything—and ruining her hair after getting very wet outside and having to wear it down which made it half curly but mostly frizzy. She tries to focus on the conversation at the dinner but manages to slip her phone into her lap and send Peridot a text which makes her phone buzz on the table and her mother roll her eyes.
"You didn't tell me I couldn't use my phone." She comments, noticing her mother's movements. She picks her phone up, reading over Jasper's text message before stifling a laugh at the stupid joke she sent her. She clears her throat, "can I be excused?"
"No."
"…May I be excused?" She asks again, and her mother shoots her a look. "Can we at least talk about something interesting? Your company is not stimulating conversation, even if you think it is." She groans, sending a cat emoticon to Jasper before putting her phone back down.
"Fine." She looks over to Jasper, the stern look in her eye should have made her nervous, but Jasper has been around worse people in her life. "What do you do for a living?"
"Porn." She says smoothly, making Pink choke on her wine and Peridot start laughing. "I used to think it was weird because I wanted to be a therapist, but I actually found a lot of people tend to trust me more when I tell them I do porn. I definitely understand the human body better than most people" She shrugs.
"Peridot, you may be excused." Yellow speaks, folding her arms across her chest.
Peridot nearly leaps from her chair to get out of there, grabbing her phone, her wine glass and one of the bottles of wine before retreating into the living room and away from the Hell that was about to ensue.
"I understand my daughter enjoys causing chaos at dinner, but please do not follow in her footsteps."
"I really—" She tries to speak and Yellow cuts her off.
"You may be excused. Go on."
Jasper raises an eyebrow before standing up from her chair and walking around the table. She mentally had to tell herself to not call the woman a bitch or any other insulting words that passed through her mind. She ends up in the kitchen which wraps around into the living room where she had seen Peridot run off to. She spots her sitting on the couch with her feet up on the coffee table as she nurses her empty cup of wine.
"Was that necessary?" Jasper asks, and Peridot looks up at her.
"One hundred percent." She drops her feet to sit up, grabbing the bottle that she had set on the table to refill her glass. "You can sit down…If you want to."
"You're not going to run away?" She asks as she takes a seat in the middle of the couch, realizing how close she is to Peridot and moving away just a little.
"Nope, I've got a new plan. I'm going to get drunk."
"You know drinking isn't going to solve your problems, right?"
"But I love wine." She frowns, looking at her full glass and putting it down to drink from the bottle itself. "Just this bottle and then I'll stop."
"What did your mom mean about causing chaos?"
"We don't get along. You'd understand if you didn't get along with your parents."
"Do you want to talk about it or do you want to talk about us?"
She leans her head back and groans loudly, "from an overall prepsective…" she stops speaking and carefully says the word to correct herself, "perspective, my mother thinks I hate her because she made me move here from Korea after her divorce."
"And you don't?"
"Of course not. I was mad for a while, rebelled a little by having friends like Amethyst, but I don't hate her. It sounds stupid saying that she doesn't understand me, but she doesn't."
"It doesn't sound stupid. Don't invalidate your feelings just because—" She stops herself when Peridot turns to her and shoots her a very frustrated look. "What?"
"Don't…Don't do that."
"Uh, do what?"
"Be all therapisty."
"Yeah, I'll do that if you never say that word again in your entire life." She chuckles, reaching over to grab Peridot's wine cup. "I'm drinking this."
Peridot shrugs in response. "Did you expect to meet like this?" She asks, setting the bottle down after she finishes drinking it."
Jasper hums, "I mean, I've always wanted to meet you out in public but for some reason we're at your parents' house. I'm honestly just glad I got to meet you because you kept avoiding me."
"…Yeah, sorry about that. You make me nervous."
"Do you want to tell me why?" Jasper asks immediately, feeling a little too desperate to know why. She takes a sip from the cup and tries to calm herself down.
"Pass."
"Ooh, I know what it is. You like me." She tries to tease Peridot, but it is only because she likes Peridot herself.
"Can I pass twice?"
"Nope. Admit it."
"What's there to like about you?" Peridot mumbles, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Well, you certainly like my pictures and videos. And didn't you whine to my sister when I didn't message you back one day?"
"I did no such thing. Your videos and pictures are also…Okay."
"Just okay? Hm, because I remember a video you sent to me."
"I told you not to mention it!" She calms down when she notices Pink coming into the room.
Pink and her wife were entirely different people and Peridot still to this day does not understand what pulled them together as a couple. Pink had such a naturally kind energy about her, was always so excited and rarely ever become mad unless she was arguing with her wife about something. She was well educated, purely focused on academics, and bettering the life of others and Peridot absolutely loved this woman. She was the best person to come into her life after she had moved back to the states as a child and was the only one who understood her problems and helped her with them.
"Your mother is going to bed and there is dessert in the dining room if—"
"What kind of dessert?" Jasper asks, cutting the woman off.
"We have cake! Ah, you'll love it. There's this amazing bakery and we always order from it when we have parties or just want something special. Let me just grab some for you before I start cleaning up." She leaves again, coming back a few minutes later with a plate and fork for Jasper. "Just leave the plate on the table and I'll grab it later." She hums as she leaves the living room and goes back into the dining room.
"Why is she so cheerful all the time?" Jasper asks.
"Sometimes she throws tantrums when she argues with my mom. It's…Weirdly cute. It's very hard to be mad at her for anything."
"So you say, if Pink murdered someone…"
"Yes. A cop would look at her for a second and then let her go." Peridot nods.
"Why didn't she give you any cake?" Jasper asks she sets the fork down and ends up using her hand to pick up the piece and take a bite of it.
"I'm allergic to peanuts and most people use chocolate that may contain nuts or was processed in a facility that uses nut products."
"That is very good to know." Jasper says, finishing her cake in another bite and setting the empty plate down.
"I also don't like sweets."
"I know, but I also you eat a box of cookies drunk. So, I don't really believe you." She picks up the wine glass to finish it just to get the chocolate off her teeth.
"You just ate that cake in like two seconds. That was disgusting. I'm going now."
"We still have to talk about us."
"But I don't want to."
"What if I talk and you listen to me?"
"Ugh, you get one question and one exposition. Anymore than that and I will leave."
Jasper doesn't even need to think about the question because it had been on her mind since a few hours ago. "Do you want to be my girlfriend?"
Peridot blinks, taking a moment to process what Jasper just asks. She wants to run out of the room and hide in her bedroom. She wants to risk driving home in the storm just so she doesn't have to answer the question. "Why?" She responds instead, trying to fight her urge to flee and at the same time not understanding why Jasper would even want to date someone like her.
"Wh-What do you mean why?" Jasper suddenly becomes nervous at the question.
"I'm a mess."
"So? I actually like you."
"…Why?"
"Because you are the first person in a long time to look at me as more than just a sexual object. Even if we do talk about sex…You actually want to know about me and my life beyond my videos."
"Nope. I don't care about your personal life. What was your name again?" Peridot speaks, trying to get out of the situation just because of how anxious she was becoming.
"Peridot, I'm serious about this. You can say no if you want to."
"I'm…Going to my bedroom now. I'll talk to you later."
Peridot is proud of herself for not automatically fleeing from the situation, but she was so uncertain of what to say in response to her. She liked Jasper, she thought about her far too much and wants to be part of her life, but it terrified her to be close with a person and to have an intimate relationship with someone. She was used to having sex with women she met and going on a date or two, but she has never dated someone seriously and the idea of her being with someone she likes and likes her back is terrifying. It always feels so immature to her, but she knows it was just her brain purposefully trying to catastrophize the situation before it even begun.
She makes it to her room, closing the door and locking it to give herself some time to think. She changes out of her dress and takes a quick shower to help her relax before putting on a pair of boy shorts and a plain graphic tee. She's surprised Jasper hasn't come up to talk to her, knowing the guest room is down the hall from her own bedroom and she wonders if she might have gone there to get changed or just go to bed so she didn't have to put up with her. She was an idiot, she was fully aware of this. She was letting this gorgeous, intelligent, headstrong woman slip out of her fingers because she was so afraid of everything.
Spending an hour going back and forth about going to Jasper's room and telling her yes or no, or she could be staying in her room and feeling sorry for herself were her two options. She decides to suck it up and at least give Jasper an answer before she decides if she wants to panic about the situation or not. She leaves her room, walks down the hallway, and notices the guest room door is open and Jasper is in fact inside.
"You shouldn't leave your door open." Peridot lectures, watching Jasper rummaging around her bag. She had changed into a pair of grey sweatpants with a matching crop top and Peridot cannot figure out how she looks so good in just about anything.
"I really want to make a sex joke, but I think I'm going to behave this time." She nods, obviously lying as she zips her bag shut and throws it onto the floor before sitting on her bed. "So, did you want to answer my question, or did you come to lecture me? If you came to lecture me…I mean, your outfit is pretty appropriate." She can't help but comment on the fact Peridot isn't exactly wearing pants right now.
"You're insufferable."
"You say that and yet, here you are half naked and you did it all on your own." She leans back on the bed.
"How did you ever become popular?"
"I'm hot." She smiles, and Peridot tries to keep her cool when she does. "And I'm a good fuck, or so I'm told."
"I swear, you're so narcissistic and annoying and half of the time I just want to…"
"Want to what?" She chuckles.
"Slap you for being so annoying and then make out with you?"
"I mean, I don't mind being smacked around so if that is what you're into." She sits up, "wait a second. I don't actually know what kinks you have and now I'm very interested."
"You'd only get to know that if we were dating…Or having sex." She crosses her arms and huffs. "I guess I could tell you."
"Are you going to tell me because you want to date me and have sex with me or am I just special?"
"Fine. Sure. Whatever. I'm your girlfriend now. Shut up and go to bed. I'll talk to you in the morning."
"Wait, I don't get a kiss?"
Peridot grumbles as she shuts Jasper door and walks back to her own room. Once in she slams the door, lays on her bed and covers her head with a pillow to pretend none of this had just happened.