[A/N: Once again, thank you to everyone who left reviews! I appreciate every single one of them, and will take critique in mind when I'm writing, so thank you.]

There was something nice, Lapis reflected as she went around collecting empty coffee cups that customers had left on the table, about knowing someone cared about her. She hadn't ever had anyone who cared, because she had lost her father at a young age and couldn't remember him, and her mom was really distant. The only person who could maybe have been counted as someone who cared was the child she babysat occasionally, the kind-hearted twelve-year-old with an overprotective father and a mother who died in childbirth: Steven Universe. And maybe, only recently... Peridot.

It was four days now since Peridot had first arrived at her door. It was hard to believe; it felt like so much longer. By now, they had a routine of sorts. Thankfully, Lapis hadn't had any more flashbacks, not since that second night – but nightmares were common. Once or twice she thought she remembered a cool, comforting presence at the edges of her consciousness. Mysteriously (although probably not so much so for Peridot), Lapis's alarm had stopped ringing. Lapis found herself waking up on time without it; she very much suspected that Peridot had something to do with that, but if the angel knew anything, she wasn't telling.

So far, Peridot's existence had pretty much been a secret. Lapis had offered to introduce her to some friends, but the blonde had refused, and Lapis had humored her. So Lapis got ready and left for work early in the morning, knowing that Peridot was following somewhere behind her. She had a quick breakfast with Amethyst, as usual, and then opened up shop. All day, she knew that her angel was somewhere nearby. At first she had feared that she would feel as if she were being stalked, but instead, there was something comforting about knowing that an angel was protecting her. Peridot had wandered into the shop in human form a few times now, always during the emptiest hours, but she never ordered anything.

Now it was Friday afternoon, a bit after lunch, and Lapis couldn't help but wonder what would happen over the weekend. Normally, she would hang out with Jasper or Amethyst, or take Steven to the beach or the park. But with Peridot... well, she wasn't sure. Should she go about life normally, like Peridot recommended? Or should she try and make Peridot feel more included, like her manners were telling her to? She figured she would probably choose the second option (partly because she didn't like people telling her what to do), but then there was the issue of how to go about doing that. Should she just take a break from everything to spend time with Peridot? To be honest, that actually sounded like a good idea. She wasn't sure what it was about the teasing angel, but her company was... well, enjoyable. And it wasn't as if she weren't nice to look at, either. No, she was...

Lapis's mind reigned up her thoughts quickly; she had long learned to be cautious about thinking of others in... that way. Although honestly, she wasn't sure if what she felt for Peridot was a crush. It was strange. Was it allowed for a human to be attracted to an angel? Was it even possible? Peridot hadn't told her anything about it, even though Lapis had asked her to look it up. All the same, Lapis figured, she might as well assume it wasn't allowed, and refrain from thinking about Peridot in any way other than as a platonic friend (and maybe a therapist). Teasing was okay, but actually meaning what she said was to be avoided at all costs. It was a thin line to tread, but Lapis thought she could handle it.

Sighing, Lapis dumped the contents of her waitress tray into the trash bin and tossed the tray onto a shelf. So I guess I should just get used to living with Peridot around for the next while. As a friend. She made her way to the kitchen, thinking, I should also introduce her to the others – or at least Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst. Maybe Jasper. It's not as if I know many other people anyway, and honestly, the sooner the better.

With that decided, Lapis ran her hands under the tap water for a moment, getting ready to get to the counter for her afternoon's work, when everyone came in for tea. It was going to be a boring afternoon, she could already tell–

"Don't forget the soap," a voice said from directly behind her. She yelped and spun, almost falling over, and startled blue eyes met amused green. Peridot crossed her arms and smirked at her, hovering a few inches above the ground (she tended to do that; evidently she enjoyed being taller than Lapis).

"Oh, hi Peridot," Lapis deadpanned, trying to pretend she hadn't just been scared out of her wits. She turned around again, squirting some soap onto her hands.

"How's everything going?" There was quiet laughter hidden in Peridot's voice.

"It's whatever." Lapis washed off her hands and dried them off on her shorts. Then she turned to look at Peridot. "Can I introduce you to the others now? Amethyst's not here today, but Pearl and Garnet–"

"No," Peridot interrupted, her smile fading. "I don't want to meet anyone."

"But–"

"I said, no," repeated Peridot, frowning now. "And I meant no. Just drop it."

"I think–"

"Drop it." The angel's expression was stone-cold.

"I was going to say," Lapis retorted, "That I think you should, but if you really don't want to, you don't have to. Now I need to go to the counter, the customers are arriving, excuse me–" she pushed past Peridot, who was blocking her way. Once again she was surprised at how cold the floating figure was. Like, really, did she have her own personal air-conditioning or something? Peridot's fingers brushed Lapis's neck, and she felt a strange jolt go through her, but brushed it off and ignored the angel as she hovered along behind her.

Lapis arrived at the counter and donned an apron and a smile, greeting the customers with her usual friendly air despite the presence of Peridot directly beside her – so close that there was a colder temperature in the air next to her, but not close enough to touch. Obviously the angel was invisible to everyone else, but Lapis had to be careful for fear of bumping into her, and all in all Peridot was just being a nuisance. Couldn't she just, like, fly up towards the ceiling or something? Lapis complained to herself. And NOT be in my way all the time? Honestly. She's usually a reasonable and intelligent being but right now she's totally acting like a kid.

Time passed excruciatingly slowly. Lapis tried to pass the time by trying to take in every detail about every person she saw, just for something to do, but her concentration was dissolved every time she made accidental contact with Peridot. Small touches; a hand brushing Peridot's wing as she turned to call orders to Pearl, or Peridot's fingers ghosting over her arm as she reached for a straw for a little kid. Part of Lapis suspected that the angel was doing it on purpose, but then again, why would she do that? To be annoying, obviously, she rolled her eyes internally. Yeah, but why in this way? Because she knows it mixes me up to be so close to her, for reasons... I'm not going to think about those, but anyway, for reasons? Because she just likes it this way? Oh, I don't know, but it's awfully annoying.

At long, long last the evening arrived and at nine thirty, the café closed. Lapis ushered the last customers out (an old lady and her son, who had been very slow to leave) and wiped off the tables, yawning. Pearl was busting about behind the counter, so Lapis still couldn't confront the hovering angel. Cleaning up didn't take too long, though, and soon enough Lapis picked up her back and left for home.

"Okaaay," she began once she arrived, turning towards the half-visible Peridot. "What was that about?"

The angel, becoming more opaque by the moment, lay backwards in the air at Lapis's chest-level. "What was what about?" She questioned innocently.

"Oh, you know what I'm talking about," Lapis retorted, not giving in so easily. "Your being within a meter of me all afternoon, that's what I'm talking about."

"I have no idea what you mean," Peridot replied still more innocently, putting her hands behind her head and floating calmly in the air. Lapis wasn't fooled, and she was getting annoyed. Teasing was alright some of the time, but really, Peridot was doing way too much of it! There had to be seriousness some of the time.

"Come on," Lapis said, trying to convey the seriousness of the matter through her tone. "Peridot, I mean it. Why were you doing that? I mean, look at it from my point of view–," she pulled her shoes off as she spoke–, "I'm a regular human with some problems and at one point I find out that I now have a sort of guardian angel. Pretty cool. But if that angel doesn't seem to match what I think of as an angel, then I have to readjust my thinking - which I did, and it's all good, except for that now the angel is suddenly acting weirdly and invading my personal space. What do you think I should do?"

Peridot sighed, apparently accepting the topic and its importance. "Talk to me and ask me to stop," she offered.

"Exactly. And that's what I'm doing."

"Right, right," Peridot nodded. "I... yeah. Right. Okay. By the way, I found out the policies for angels who fall in love with humans."

Seeing that Peridot wasn't planning on elaborating, Lapis pressed her. "...yes?"

"It's... forbidden," Peridot replied uncomfortably.

"Figures," Lapis replied slowly. "What about humans who fall in love with angels?"

"I," Peridot's eyes darted around, "didn't look it up?"

"Could you?"

"...guess I could," the angel muttered. Why so reluctant? Wondered Lapis.

"Alright. Well, I'm gonna take a shower now because I feel all icky. I'll be out in a while."

Lapis tossed her bag onto her bed and slipped into the bathroom, closing the door. She locked it (locks wouldn't work against angels, but it still made her feel more private) and then took a deep breath, thinking. What was going on? Peridot was acting weirdly. She couldn't put her finger on what it was, but she could think about it while she took her shower. Like a detective, reading the evidence...