1.
"Steven!"
That shout was the only warning Steven got as he was rammed into by a pink blur, sending him tumbling to the ground. He ended up having a surprisingly soft landing, though, thanks to the soft stretchy arms now wrapped around him.
"Spinel!"
Steven had talked to Spinel a few times before in the two years that she'd lived with the Diamonds, and she always seemed rather happy there, so he was quite surprised by this sudden visit.
"What's going on? Why are you here on Earth?"
Spinel's smile seemed to deflate at that.
"Am- Am I bothering you? Do you not want to see me?"
"No! No, that's not it at all! I just didn't expect to see you. Is everything alright with the Diamonds?"
Spinel tilted her head in a way that signified her lack of understanding.
'Cute.'
"Everything's great! Why wouldn't it be?"
"Oh, er- no reason. So why are you on Earth?"
"To see you silly."
"Oh, well then do you wanna hang out?"
Spinel's neck extended, allowing her to more easily see him.
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Really really?"
"Yeah."
"Yes!"
Just like that her head snapped back to where it should be and she started nuzzling his face affectionately.
"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! This is gonna be the best day ever!"
Steven fought off the blush that was working its way to his face, and smiled at her.
"Yeah, it is."
-
2.
"And there's the Big Donut, that's where I get donuts at. And that over there's the t-shirt shop, it's where I get most of my shirts made. I still haven't figured out what that is, but there's Fish Stew Pizza and there's Beach Citywalk Fries! OH! There's Funland Arcade! You'll love Funland, c'mon!"
Steven went to jog forwards, but he was suddenly yanked back by something pulling on his right arm. When he looked down to see what it was he realized that Spinel had laced her fingers between his without him noticing.
"Spinel, why are you holding my hand?"
"Huh? Oh that! I saw other people doing it, so I thought it was something friends did!"
"Well- I mean it is, or it can be, but usually it's mostly couples who do that."
"What're couples?"
Steven scratched the back of his neck as he pondered how to put it.
"Couples are kinda like friends, but closer. Does that make sense?"
"Yep!"
Steven allowed him to sigh in relief.
"Great! So can you let go of my hand?"
Spinel looked at him as if he were stupid then giggled.
"But holding hands is what couples are supposed to do right? So why would I let go of your hand?"
"I thought you said you understood?"
"I did! Couples are really good friends right? That makes us a couple doesn't it?"
Steven, as much as he wanted to argue that logic, found that he couldn't for fear of seeing Spinel sad again, so instead decided to go along with it. After all what's the worst that could happen?
"Yeah, sure."
"Yay!"
"Alright, now let's go to Funland!"
3.
Steven and Spinel were now sitting at Fish Stew's pizza after playing different games in Funland Arcade for a couple of hours. Steven was chewing on his second slice of cheese pizza while Spinel refused to let go of the plush snake that Steven had bought for her after winning enough tickets.
Just when he had finished his pizza, and started to work on the crust, did the bell ring. Steven looked up to find Jenny Pizza, Sour Cream and Buck Dewey enter. They continued talking for a few seconds before Jenny's eyes landed on him.
"Steven! Oh my god, it's sooo good to see you again!"
"Hey Jenny, Buck, Sour Cream. How's the tour been going?"
"It's been going great! And who's this with you?"
"Oh, guys this is Spinel! Spinel this is Jenny, Buck, and Sour Cream."
"Hi! I'm Spinel! Steven's girl friend!"
Steven almost choked on his crust when he heard that.
"Girlfriend huh? Well we're Steven's regular friends. It's nice to meet you. So what's up with that cute snake you got there?"
"Oh, this? Steven won this for me at that Funland place!"
"Aww. I wish these two-," At that she elbowed Buck and Sour Cream, causing them to grimace and rub their sides, "Would do that for me. So, you two here on a date?"
Spinel cocked her head to the side again.
"Date? What do you mean?"
"You know, a date! Whenever two, or more-" She glared at Sour Cream and Buck again as she said this, "People go out and have fun together!"
"Oooooh. Yeah! Me and Steven are on a date!"
Steven was furiously shaking his head 'no' at them, but they obviously didn't get the message because Jenny grabbed the other two by the arms.
"C'mon Buck," As she said this she gave him a peck on the cheek, "Sour Cream," She gave him a peck as well, "Let's go somewhere else. Have fun on your date Steven!"
"We will!" Spinel called out, waving goodbye to them.
Steven simply stared at her in disbelief.
4.
"Why did you tell them you were my girlfriend?" Steven demanded, causing Spinel to shrink back in fear.
"B-Because I'm a girl and I'm your friend. I-I am your friend right?"
"That's not what it- Ugh! You know what? Never mind. It's fine, it's cool."
"So, am I still your friend?" She pleaded quietly.
Steven certainly couldn't stay mad at her when she was like that.
"Yeah, we are. Please don't go around telling people your my girl friend though."
"What? Why?" Tears were flowing back into her eyes and Steven wiped them off with the sleeve of his jacket.
"Just tell them we're friends, they don't need to be told you're a girl, okay?"
"Yeah, okay, I can do that."
"Great, now let's go enjoy Funland Amusement Park! You'll love it even more than the arcade!"
"Yeah! And Steven?"
Steven turned to look at her only to realize that she was right on him planting a wet kiss on his cheek. He blushed fiercely and would have likely said something if he hadn't remembered that they had just seen Jenny kissing her boyfriends and that Spinel probably thought of it as just another sign of affection.
"Thanks… For being my friend."
Steven gave her his best charming smile.
"No prob Bob."
For some reason that seemed to send Spinel into another giggle fit.
"My name's Spinel silly!"
And as Steven stood there, watching her smile and laugh, he wouldn't have it any other way.
"Yeah. Yeah, it is."
5.
After Spending the rest of the day at the amusement park he and Spinel started heading home. The two walked slowly, however, simply taking in the beautiful sight of the sea bathed in warm golden hues.
Spinel had, once again, intertwined their hands, still none the wiser about what level of affection that gesture really implied. Nevertheless Steven was happy to simply enjoy the soft feeling of her hand as they strolled through the boardwalk.
Finally they reached the temple and they made their way inside, before stopping in front of the warp pad.
"So… I guess you'll be heading back to Homeworld now, huh?"
"Yeah. I had fun and all, but I probably shouldn't spend too long here otherwise the Diamonds might get worried."
"Yeah."
Steven didn't know why he felt so bad about that. He'd gone almost two years without physically seeing her. But, for some reason, after today he felt sad at the notion of parting with her again. It apparently must have showed on his face. Either that or Spinel was just unnaturally good at reading him.
"Hey, cheer up Stevie," She said, giving him a somewhat bittersweet smile, "I had a fun time today, and I'll make sure to come back again real soon."
That did actually make him feel somewhat better. Still, he felt the need to ask.
"Really?"
"Yeah, really."
"Pinkie Promise?"
Steven almost cringed at his own words. Pinkie Promise? He hadn't done those in a good five or so years. It was surprisingly childish for him.
"Pinkie Promise? What's that?"
Seeing no way to get out of this he simply decided to explain.
"It's a promise we make by hooking our pinkie fingers together. It's, like, supposed to be an unbreakable promise for kids or something? I don't know. It was stupid, and I'm stupid for bringing it up."
Steven was flush with embarrassment, and looked down, unable and unwilling to look at Spinel's reaction.
"Let's do it!"
Steven, surprised by those words did look up to find Spinel already holding her pinkie out, stars in her eyes.
"Really?" Steven didn't know why he was being so shy about this.
"Yeah! You said it's an unbreakable promise so let's do it!"
"Heh, alright."
With that Steven hesitated no longer, and wrapped his own pinkie around Spinel's.
"It's a pinkie promise then."
"It's a pinkie promise," She agreed, "And I'll never break a pinkie promise."
Steven found himself legitimately smiling at that, unable to do anything but believe in her words.
"Oh, and Steven?"
"Yeah?"
All of a sudden she grabbed his jacket and pulled him in, jamming her lips to his. Steven's eyes widened in shock, and was unable to do anything but stand stock still. Once he regained his senses he went to push her away, but then noticed something. Her lips were surprisingly warm and soft. Instinctively he felt himself deepening the kiss, pushing back against her. They both stayed like that for a good minute until the need for oxygen forced Steven to pull away from her.
"W-What was that for?" He panted, out of breath.
"Weeeeell, I saw some people outside do it, and it looked waaay more fun than one on the cheek, and I was right!"
"Spinel- That- I-" Steven was unable to find the right words to speak.
"Anyways, I had fun today. See you later Stevie!"
With that she bounced onto the warp pad and activated it, zooming her off to Homeworld before Steven could get his thoughts in order.
6.
Steven was sitting on the beach, watching the sun rise. He had gotten up early today and decided to spend that extra time just enjoying the beauty of nature. Unfortunately that also left him alone with his thoughts, and whenever that happened in the past two weeks he ended up thinking about that kiss. The one Spinel had given him.
He knew it was wrong, knew that he had been taking advantage of her when she didn't know what it really meant, but it had felt so good. Of course that wasn't an excuse, and he was going to explain things properly to Spinel the next time he saw her.
At that moment Steven let out a soft sigh that nearly drowned out the sound of sand being kicked up. He guessed one of the gems must have come to check on him. He stood up, dusting the sand off his pants, and turned around to face…
"Spinel!"
Spinel was marching towards him with a fierce expression on her face, which made him worried that someone had already explained things to her and she was mad at him for taking advantage of her. So he did what came naturally to him, he closed his eyes and opened his arms in a display of acceptance of what was to come.
Only what was to come wasn't to come because she once again grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and mashed her lips against his once again. This time his reaction was immediate, his eyes shot open and he pushed Spinel away from himself.
Spinel's eyes also shot wide open, giving him a look of what he might be able to interpret as hurt.
"Wait! Spinel! I need to explain something to you! Kissing isn't something that just friends do!"
"I know."
"I'm sorry for taking advantage of you and- Wait what? You know?"
"Yes! Garnet explained it to me after last time."
"If you knew then why did you kiss me again?!"
"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!"
"You- You what?"
"I said I love you okay? I didn't realize that's what it was until Garnet explained the feeling to me, but I've been feeling like this for a while, and I thought you did too since you kissed me back last time. I guess I was wrong though, I'm an idiot for thinking you could ever love someone like me."
Steven's eyes were wide open in shock at the confession, unable to believe that the bubbling feelings that had grown inside him for the past two weeks were reciprocated.
"I- I do love you."
Spinel's face, which had been scrunched up and on the verge of crying, relaxed into a more hopeful expression.
"R-Really?"
And so, instead of simply telling her it, he showed it to her by being the one to grab her and push their lips together this time.
And so all was right with the world.