AN: Warning for self harm, please comment what you guys are thinking, reviews are a big motivation factor! I'm sorry this is so short, but the next chapter will be awesome! The date is still October 9th.

Lapis backed up a few steps, staring at her crush in horror. She knew she would eventually have had to tell the blonde, but not like this... The blue haired girl felt her back hit the bathroom wall and she slid down it. Peridot took a hesitant step towards her. "C-can I sit with you?" She asked softly, Lapis nodded and after a few moments that seemed to last for hours, held out her arm.

She hated it, every day regretting her choice to do that, even if the voice in the back of her mind told her she deserved it. Peridot's small arms wrapped around her. "I haven't done it in months, and I don't want to do it again... I need help Peri, I don't want to slip again..." She cursed herself hearing her own voice break, and Peridot's hug tightened. "I was alone for so long, no friends or anything..."

"I'll stay with you. You're my best friend, Lapis. I wouldn't judge you over this, but PLEASE tell me of you need help, I'll be here for you, I promise I will." She could hear the blonde's gentle words, and tears pricked in her eyes. Lapis started to shake, a sob came up from her chest as she let herself be held in Peridot's arms. "Shh, it's okay, I've got you. You matter to me, I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to, you're not alone anymore, I'll always be your friend. I promise."

The blue haired girl gave a soft, dry laugh. "I'm so fucked up... How would you actually want to be friends with a piece of shit like me?" Immediately after she said it she heard Peridot gasp slightly.

"Hey! You're my best friend!"

"I do so many bad things... I drink, I lie to people, I've hurt people... For god's sake I lied on my own resume just for money!" She explained, and Peridot tilted her head.

"Have you ever lied to me?" She asked, Lapis waved her hand a bit.

"Kinda, there's some things I'm just... Not ready to talk about yet. I'm sorry. You're the person I'm most honest with though." She told her, tears starting to finally dry, she felt bad for getting the tiny girl's shirt wet. "In case you wondered what I lied about on my resume... I said I'm happy, and outgoing, stuff like that."

"You're a waitress right?" She asked, ever so slightly amused. "Does your boss know?"

Now the blue haired girl was smiling, Peridot always had that effect on her. "She figured it out after a while, she overheard me saying that if I had to hear the words 'I'd like to speak to the manager' one more time I was gonna lose it. The big reason I kept my job is because she knew my financial situation, and took pity on me."

Peridot nodded. The two girls stood up, Lapis dusted off her clothes and combed out her hair with the tiny comb in her pocket. "You know Lapis, if you need help, I might be able to sneak some money to you, or at least buy food for you at school so you don't have to spend money there. Anything for you."

The blue haired teen smiled at her, and ruffled her messy hair. "You're the best, you know that?"

She watched Peridot's face turn a nice shade of pink. "I um, I try!" She chirped. Lapis hugged her tightly. "Oh, thank you." She heard Peridot murmur, the younger teen loved any and all forms of affection, it was like she was starved of it.

The two teens walked out of the bathroom, tiny beds had been moved into Mala's room, many of their friends already in them. Pearl and Amethyst had cuddled together, Rose and Greg, Centi and Smoky, Ruby and Sapphire, all of them had squeezed into beds together. Lapis crawled into the last one, and after coaxing the blonde from shyness she had joined her, curled up in the older girl's arms. Lapis was so grateful for Peridot, her absolute best friend.

The Hawaiian girl smiled as a soft warm feeling spread through her chest. "Thanks... Koʻu aloha."

The blonde's eyes clouded with confusion, her brows furrowed. "What's that mean?"

Lapis didn't like lying to her crush... "It means... Best friend."

She lied.

TIME SKIP- 6:30am

POV SHIFT- Rose Quartz

She sat on the bed, being as quiet as possible. A plate of fruit in the pink haired teen's hands served as a breakfast. The hospital staff were quite kind to her, and had given her breakfast. The others were fast asleep, most cuddling together, Greg had been with her through the night, she was trying REALLY hard not to wake him.

The two had been chatting a little through notes in class (Rose sat right in front of a teacher, phones were a no-go), telling awful puns, sharing funny stories, and for some reason, talking about all the weird things people did.

Rose was just about to start eating when Greg suddenly moved, spooking the Italian and making her jump a little. "Oh, sorry, didn't mean to scare you Rose." He said politely, the taller of the two frowned a little bit.

"No, it's fine. Did I wake you up? I'm sorry if I did." She told him, but the brunette shook his head.

"No, I'm a really light sleeper, sometimes I wake up for no reason." he explained and looked around at their sleeping friends. "What time is it?"

Quickly, Rose checked her phone. "About 6:40." She answered, and Greg seemed to wince. "I know, early..."

"That's about the time I have to get up to get ready for school." He told her, and she nodded, it was around the time she got up too, Rose liked to make breakfast for her dorm-mates as a way to show she loved them.

"You know, if you want any of the fruit I have, you can have some. I'm never too hungry in the mornings, but I really can't go back to sleep." She admitted, Greg reached out and grabbed an orange slice. "It's so... Quiet." Rose whispered, and smiled at the sight of her sleeping friends, all of them looking so peaceful, from the normally chaotic Malachite, to the hyper Nephrite, to the ever anxious Aqua. All of them now breathing slowly, curled up with eyes gently shut.

Rose loved them all so much.

A soft groan came from the other side of the room, Rainbow must have moved in her sleep and pushed her blanket away by accident. She was probably a bit chilly, Rose knew that the tall teen couldn't sleep well when she was cold.

Greg got up from his spot, half-eaten orange slice still in one hand, and pulled Rainbow's blanket back over her. "There you go." He muttered, and the Canadian girl settled once again. "Y'know Rose, we're kinda like the Mom Friend and Dad Friend of the group."

"Yeah, I mean who else is going to keep these guys from running around like headless chickens?" She joked along with him and they laughed silently. "Speaking of watching over... I have babysitting tonight, and... I was wondering if you could help me? The parents are fine with me having a friend over, I just need someone my age to talk to while the kids sleep."

Greg scratched under his chin for a moment. "Well, if you promise to help me with a little bit of history homework I'm all yours." The brunette said with a smile.

Rose suppressed the urge to laugh. "Oh come on, history isn't that hard when you actually pay attention. Or are you just looking for more ways to talk to me?" The tall girl said half-jokingly, and her friend blushed.

"I... I like seeing my friends. It's always nice talking to you." He told her. "Hey uh, Rose?"

She glanced up at him, his smile had faded, warm brown gaze filling with worry. "Are you okay? You want to make everyone else happy, but... Do you remember to do good things for YOU?"

Okay, that... Caught her off guard. Rose stuttered a bit, unsure of what to say. "I... I do. It's hard sometimes but... I guess." She said softly, listening to the peaceful little snores of her friends. The truth was... Rose hadn't been happy in years.

TIME SKIP- 4 days later, October 13th.

POV SHIFT- Bismuth Burkhart

"Psst."

She looked up, Jasper was watching her. Bismuth sat behind the white haired girl for their science class, it was so nice to be able to sit with her closest friend. Well, one of her closest, Amethyst sat beside her. "What's wrong Jas?"

She looked a bit awkward. "I uh... Just wanted to ask, after class since school's out do you want to come to my place? I could use some help since my sister's outta commission." She explained before adding "And... Well it's been a while since last time you've come over. I've got some new movies we can watch too, or we can play games."

Bismuth smiled brightly, "Sure, sounds like a plan. I'll tell my parents I'm going to Centi's. They like her, and never question anything." She said casually, but her smile fell when she saw Jasper frown. "I know, I know, I hate them too. That's why I can't wait to move out."

The rainbow haired girl's parents couldn't STAND Jasper. They didn't give a damn about their daughter's sexuality, but they hated her best friend with a burning passion. Bismuth didn't know if it was because Jasper was pansexual, or had a slight attitude, or maybe it was the white marks on her skin from her vitiligo, but they didn't like her at all.

They never allowed Jasper over to her house, they didn't let Bismuth go to Jasper's house either. In her youth, Bismuth could go so long without seeing Malachite that they had a little inside joke, since often it had been so long since she'd seen the younger girl she could look totally different. Dyed hair, tattoos, keeping her glasses off...

'Hey there! So you're Malachite huh? Don't you have babies to be scaring or something?'

That was their joke, Mala liked it, she thought it was funny.

In a way... Bismuth didn't.

She sighed, Jasper had gone back to work. The tall girl looked over at Amethyst, who was looking through pictures of dogs on her phone. She smiled, Amethyst liked dogs, well... All animals really, she wanted a pet badly, even though she lacked money. Amethyst had dreams.

'BANG!'

They all jumped, in the back of the class two kids had been blowing up a balloon and let it burst. Bismuth glared at them, at least only for a second. Nearby, behind Bismuth was where Peridot sat. The tiny blonde had screamed in fear, her eyes wide as she shook with a hand over her mouth. Kids were staring at her, snickering and whispering to each other... The teacher was scolding the kids in the back... No one was paying any attention to the now crying teenager.

Bismuth watched in shock as Peridot ran out of class.