I'm working on putting together the art contest, so it will be ready soon!

I think this is the longest chapter I've written. Almost 2,000 words. Maybe I should make it my goal to have a 2,000 word chapter sometime. 0o0

(Steven's prospective)
(mild trigger warning)

"Pink!?" Steven shot up, even though it made him dizzy "Like the infection?" He rubbed his eyes.

"No, like…" Connie trailed off, "Here." She handed him her phone and he looked at himself in the camera. He wrinkled his nose in disgust. He didn't like them like this.

He looked at Connie and Wendy and rubbed his temple. I have a splitting headache. I wish it would go away.

"So, how did you find me?" Steven asked, pulling the IV out of his arm and the sticky things off his chest. He looked at the makeshift hospital supplies and cringed. Lion crawled onto the couch, nearly crushing Steven.

"Lion tracked you!" Connie ruffled the fur on Lion's head, "Didn't you good boy?" Steven laughed.

"So uhm," Wendy spoke up uncertainly, "Have your eyes done this before? Cause you seem pretty chill about it." Lion flicked her nose with his tail and exhaled loudly.

"Kinda, I guess. Not like this though. It's just my iris's though." He kept looking at his eyes in the camera. He winced as he felt a sudden surge of pain splitting through his skull.

Steven touched his gem, just to make sure it was there. It was a habit he had formed a couple years ago. Now, whenever he got hurt or something awful happened he would feel his gem. It was there now, but he felt a buzz in the back of his head when he touched it.

There was a knock on the door and Mabel peeked her head in.

"You're awake!" She walked in and sat down on the floor between Wendy and Connie, "YOU'RE EYES ARE SO PRETTY!" Steven leaned back and looked at her nervously. Lion slid half off the couch and let out a soft roar. He lay his head by Mabel's feet, but his half was still on the couch. Mabel pet Lion's soft fur and his tail thumped against the couch as he purred.

Steven had missed Lion's purring. He was loud and the vibrations nearly shook the room.

"Steven…" Mabel started and glanced at Connie before continuing, "Are you… Going home now?"

"Well." Steven paused for a moment. I can't just go crawling back home. I've only been independent for a couple weeks! Plus I think I should stay and help them with Bill.

"No, if your family will still have me I'd like to stay. I want to help you with Bill, and I really like it here." He looked at Connie, worried that she might be upset, but she smiled at him.

"Of course we'll let you stay!" Mabel shot up, "I was worried you were gonna take a bus home and leave!" She flopped over dramatically, her hand on her forehead.

"Before you stay, maybe you should run home and grab a few things. Like a new phone, and maybe a couple shirts." Connie suggested.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. I can take Lion home to grab a few things. Also where did my shirt go?" He looked around the room confused.

"We threw it away cause it was all ripped up." Mabel laughed awkwardly.

"While we're in town, you should probably explain what's going on to your dad and the gems."

"Yeah you're right, Let's go now. I'd like to be back here before night." He looked at Mabel, "No offence, but this place gives me the willies at night."

"PFFFT. None taken." Mabel laughed "This place is totally haunted and creepy, so I understand." Lion stood up and Connie hauled herself onto his back.

"Haunted?!" Steven gaped as Connie pulled him onto Lion's back.

"OoOoh Yeah!" Wendy stood up and brushed off her pants, "We'll have to tell some spooky stories tonight." Wendy looked down at Mabel.

"It was nice meeting you by the way!" Connie reached out her hand for a shake.

"Yeah! I hope you stop by again soon!" Wendy gave Connie a high five instead of a shake. Connie beamed and patted Lion's shoulder.

"Ok buddy, back to the beach!" Lion roared and leapt through his portal. Steven looked all around and the glimmering abis. Lion roared again and landed outside the beach house. It was pouring rain and Lion growled. Steven and Connie ran up stairs to the house while Lion curled up happily under the porch.

They burst through the front door, and entered the empty living room. Steven shook out his hair, which was getting long.

"Ah! You're getting me wet!" Connie laughed. She rang out her hair over the kitchen sink. Steven walked upstairs and opened the closet. He found a box of spare clothes near the back and put on a bright blue star t-shirt.

"Do you know where the gems are?" Steven asked walking down the stairs

"No clue, but your dad isn't here either, so they're probably in town." She shrugged, "Wanna go look for them?"

"Naw, they'll come back soon. And I'm really tired." Steven said flopping down onto the couch.

"You were just sleeping for 2 days!" Connie laughed sitting next to him. She curled her legs up and rested her head on Steven's shoulder.

"Yeah, but it wasn't restful sleep." Steven leaned over slightly and rested his cheek on Connie's hair. He sighed peacefully, and fell asleep to the sound of rain on the roof. He fell asleep easily and didn't dream about anything, he slept restfully for the first time in a while.

A few hours later, they jolted awake when the warp pad activated. It set off a bright light that made Steven's face scrunch up. Connie sat up and rubbed her eyes and Steven stood up and walked around the corner. The gems were talking casually about Little Homeschool and didn't notice Steven right away.

Amethyst stepped off the warp pad and turned her head. She gasped and barrelled into Steven before anyone could say anything.

"Steven you're ok!" Amethyst hugged him tightly. Pearl and Garnet quickly ran over and hugged him too.

"Where were you Steven?" Garnet pulled away, took off her glasses and wiped her eyes with her arm. She looked tired but relieved.

"I uh, ended up in a city called Gravity Falls, and this really nice family helped me out." Steven reassured. He looked over to Pearl and noticed that her arms were suspended and she looked startled. "Pearl what's wrong?"

"Your eyes?" Pearl asked, "How are they- Why are they pink?" Steven touched his face self consciously.

"I dunno, I woke up like this." he fiddled with his hands.

"They changed pink overnight!?" Amethyst grabbed Steven's face so she could see his eyes better, "That's so cool!"

"No, I woke up from a quick coma like this." He said in a joking tone with a weak laugh, but he realized that was probably the wrong thing to say.

"COMA!? What happened?!" Pearl shook Steven's shoulders and he winced, his bones still kind of ached. Connie stepped forward and placed her hand onto Pearl's hand.

"He fused with someone that drained a lot of his energy." Connie explained, she knew Steven couldn't form words.

"Who did you fuse with?" Garnet asked, looking down at Steven's eyes.

"A demon thing named Bill Cipher. He took my body away so I agreed to fuse with him, but I pulled us apart." Steven glanced over the gems, "It was extremely exhausting. Although the family had a lot of medical supplies. I think one of them is either a doctor or scientist." Wait, now I'm not sure. Did Ford say he was a doctor? No. I'm pretty sure he's a scientist. Why does he have so much medical equipment?

"What are you going to do now?" Amethyst asked Steven.

"I'm going back tonight." He looked at the clock on the stove. It read "4:24"

"Tonight?" Pearl glanced back at the clock and back at Steven.

"Yeah, I came back to grab a few things and tell you guys I was alright. But I said I would be back before it got dark out." Steven explained, hoping they would understand.

"Alright Steven. What do you need? We can help you." Garnet placed a hand on the other gems shoulders and drew them close.

"I need a phone or some way to reach you guys when I'm in Oregon. None of the phones I used reached out here. That's why I didn't call." Steven's head began to throb again, but he tried to ignore it.

"Peridot has been working on communication devices that are compatible with human and gem tech!" Amethyst pointed out, "We could see if she has one that works yet."

"And I think Peridot would like to see you." Connie smiled.

"Great idea!" Steven was excited to see Peridot, Lapis, and Bismuth, "Do you guys know where my dad is? I should stop by and see him too." Pearl and Garnet looked at each other and back at Steven.

"He's on tour with Sadie and Shep right now." Pearl said uncertainty, hoping not to upset Steven. It didn't really bother him though. Dad would just freak out too much. I'll call him when I get a phone.

"That's alright. I don't have much time right now." Steven and Connie decided they would walk to Little Homeschool and come back to the house to get Lion and say bye. Steven waved as he walked down the stairs. His heart fluttered, he was excited to see the boardwalk again.

As the two walked past The Big Donut, Steven grabbed Connie's hand and smiled.

"Thanks for finding me." His voice was sincere and Steven looked at Connie.

"I would have come sooner, but I had no idea what to do…" Connie looked guilty.

"I'm glad you came when you did." Steven stated, "Now I know what I'll do over the summer!" They passed Fish Stew Pizza.

"Oh hey, Peedee's working his food truck!" Connie waved to the blond boy in the truck. They walked up to the truck and Steven beamed.

"Hey Peedee! How've you been?" Steven hadn't talked to Pee Dee in a while.

"Pretty good actually! Summer is prime tot selling time." Peedee leaned on the counter, resting his chin on his hand, "How about you? I thought you left Beach City."

"Oh I did, I'm just visiting for a minute to grab a new phone." Steven laughed.

"Did you break your phone already?" Peedee looked surprised.

"Yeah," Steven chuckled awkwardly, "I crashed my car and my phone got destroyed along with it."

"Geez are you ok?" Peedee sat up. He glanced from Steven to Connie.

"I'm fine now." He reassured, "We should probably get going though, I'm trying to make it back before it gets dark out."

"Alright, safe travels!" He turned around for a second, "Here's some tots to go." Peedee smiled and waved good-bye. Steven and Connie continued walking and Steven let out a sigh.

"It was nice to talk to Peedee again." He popped a tot in his mouth.

"Yeah, sounds like his truck is doing well too. I suppose he can probably drive it now." Connie reached for a tot. They continued on their way to Little Homeschool.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Also, apparently Netflix is making their own live action remake of ATLA. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but I guess I'll have to wait and see!