AN: Sorry for the late update! Things have been crazy busy for me.
The beach house was silent. The gems were in their rooms, relaxing after a busy day, and Greg, Twoie, and Steven were asleep. Or at least, Greg and Steven were asleep. The lit desk lamp and the sound of a pencil on paper were the only indicators someone was still awake in the middle of the night. Twoie sat hunched over his desk, writing furiously in a notebook. He'd closed the door to his bedroom, so Steven wouldn't be able to see the light from his room. The elder brother had been wracking his mind for a long time, to the point that he had no concept of time. With an annoyed huff, Twoie stopped and slammed his notebook shut, wincing at the loud thud that followed. It had been a few weeks after the incident on the beach, and Jasper was nowhere to be found. Garnet's future vision was working again, but the gem could only predict that Jasper would eventually return to the kindergarten. Frustrated, the time traveler brushed his hands through his hair, propping his elbows against his desk. He had elected to write out the events that occurred in his timeline to see if he could predict Jasper's location, but nothing worked. The timeline had deviated too much for him to predict the angry gem's next move. He wouldn't be able to get anything else done tonight, so Twoie stood and snuck out of his room.
The glittering stars in the sky failed to calm him. Anxiety clawed at his mind as he cautiously made his way to the forest on the outskirts of town. Even though he'd gotten stronger, he wasn't strong enough to fight Jasper. To make it worse, he wasn't even strong enough to beat younger Jasper. He knew he couldn't beat Jasper in his time, but he'd hoped to at least stop her here. But, no. His weakness had gotten Amethyst hurt and encouraged her insecurities, just like it had in his timeline. The only difference was that he could help her without getting into an insecurity-fueled battle at the Sky Arena. And maybe that made him a hypocrite. That he was doing what he had stopped Amethyst from doing, but it didn't matter as long as he was able to protect his family from Jasper.
It wasn't too hard to sneak through the town, and Twoie was relieved once he was deep in the forest. It was unlikely for anyone to find him there since only himself and Steven knew where he was headed. A sense of irony lingered as he entered the little clearing at the edge of the cliff. This used to be Jasper's spot, but now it was his. Twoie wondered what she'd think of that. He brushed the thought away as he looked around. The crevice from his outburst had been filled in when he first started training there a few weeks ago. However, the damaged trees and gouge in the dirt had remained.
Twoie knew it wasn't healthy to dwell on his past actions. His therapist had insisted that he accept his issues and move forward, resolving to learn from his mistakes. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to fix the damage from when he accidentally hurt Steven. Steven never talked about it. His family never talked about it. Did they even know? Twoie's fists clenched tightly. No. Fixing up the clearing felt like he was pretending it had never happened. Steven may have forgiven him for it, but the guilt and horror of that moment would always linger in the back of Twoie's mind. Twoie shook the thought away. He needed to focus on his training.
Several hours later, Twoie returned to his bedroom. His cookie cat alarm clock showed that it was just about the time he'd usually wake up. Perfect. Now, it wouldn't look suspicious if he took a shower. The young man quietly climbed downstairs, careful not to wake his brother, and bid good morning to Pearl when he noticed her standing in the kitchen.
"Good morning, Twoie! I hope you slept well." Pearl enthusiastically called out while she flipped a pancake on the stove.
"Yeah, I did." Twoie made a show of sniffing the air, "Are you making Pearlcakes?"
Pearl smiled and made a shooing motion. "Yes, so you better finish getting ready. I'll wake up Steven." At her dismissal, Twoie continued on his way to the shower. Pearl smiled as she gently transferred the pancake to a small stack of pancakes beside her. Ever since she started learning more about humans, cooking was something she had taken to with gusto. It didn't matter that the prim gem didn't like eating. She had fun cooking, and it was relaxing. Pearl knew she could get high-strung and anxious when things went wrong or seemed like they could go wrong. Her studies on humans included how humans generally coped with stress. That had led down a pathway about stress-relieving hobbies, like stress-cooking and stress-baking. Not only did they help her calm down, but she was also able to bring her family together with a good meal. It felt amazing when Pearl cooked with Twoie or Steven, and then everyone sat together to talk about their day. The happy smiles all around filled her with a warmth she never could've imagined. Footsteps coming down the stairs broke her out of her reverie. Pearl peered over her shoulder and smiled at Steven as he drowsily walked over to the kitchen. "Morning, Steven!"
Steven shuffled over and hugged her before he tiredly made his way to the counter. "Morning, Pearl." He yawned while pulling himself up on the barstool. The kid blinked as Pearl set a plate of hot pancakes down in front of him. "Yum, Pearlcakes?" Steven brightened up immediately and dug in. Pearl chuckled and headed over to the basement stairway.
"Greg! Breakfast!" That task complete, the prim gem headed back to the kitchen and grabbed her phone. She texted Amethyst and Garnet that breakfast was ready and began setting more plates out. "Steven, could you set these plates on the coffee table, please?" Steven nodded and did as she asked. Just as he was about to return to his seat, the bathroom door opened, and Twoie stepped out.
"Twoie!" Steven rushed over and hugged his brother. "Good morning! Pearl made Pearlcakes!"
The elder ruffled Steven's hair as he returned the hug. "Morning. Yeah, I saw her cooking when I came down." The two made their way to the counter, where Pearl set the final plate beside Steven's plate. "Thanks, Pearl."
Pearl nodded happily at him, then waved to Amethyst and Garnet as they walked into the room and watched as the morning conversation started. She couldn't imagine a better life than this. Yet, something was bothering her. She felt it the moment Twoie had walked downstairs. As everyone ate, the prim gem's eyes covertly shifted to Twoie. He was smiling as the group talked about some event that happened at the car wash, but she could see the bags under Twoie's eyes. He looked exhausted, but her mind could not come up with a reason for it. There were few missions that week, and even though Twoie was teaching Steven again, the workload had been light. Pearl subtly turned her focus to Garnet. Their leader was also secretly staring at Twoie. Seems they had both caught on to Twoie's exhaustion. Pearl minutely nodded and tuned back into the conversation. There would be a meeting about this later.
"This meeting of the Universe household is now called to order." Garnet stood up from the barstool and addressed the group assembled on the couch. After breakfast, Twoie had informed them that he would be investigating the kindergarten again. When Steven and Amethyst offered to tag along, the young man had declined and promptly warped away. It was the perfect time to call a family meeting. "I've noticed that Twoie is starting to act more nervous and secretive again. He had bags under his eyes but played off his exhaustion as going to bed late. However, his exhaustion is more indicative of long-term sleep deprivation, and not of a bad night of sleep."
Pearl nodded in agreement. She could see the gears turning in everyone else's heads. Hopefully, they could figure out what was causing this. "I'd like to add that I've noticed coffee more frequently on the grocery list on the fridge. We shouldn't be running out this quickly as Twoie and Greg are the only ones in this house that drink coffee."
Greg frowned as he nodded at Pearl. "That's true. I don't drink more than two cups a day. If we're running out that quickly, it has to be Twoie."
Amethyst and Steven exchanged a look of concern. They had an idea about why Twoie was acting like this but hoped they'd be wrong. After hearing the information that Twoie had shared, it seemed like that wasn't the case. The short gem sighed and brushed her hands through her hair. "I might know why." All eyes turned to Amethyst. "I've noticed that he's been really anxious lately. I brushed it off because we've all been worried about Jasper, but now that I know of his lack of sleep, I think he's been pushing himself." Amethyst looked away from the others as she took a deep breath. It was hard to admit this, but she could do it. For Twoie. "After that whole mess with Bismuth not trusting Twoie, I blamed myself for Twoie getting hurt. I thought that I was too weak to stop Bismuth, and that was why Twoie had to relive a traumatizing event." Amethyst flinched slightly when she felt a hand on her arm. She turned and saw Steven's concerned gaze. The purple gem smiled softly at him, thankful for the support and comfort that her younger brother was giving her. "I spent all of my free time training. I thought, 'if I could just get stronger, I'd be able to prevent you guys from getting hurt like that again.' I'm pretty sure Twoie is doing something similar."
Greg pulled Amethyst into a hug, which quickly morphed into a group hug with everyone present. Amethyst could feel how much her family loved her. It made her feel like she could take on the world. "Okay, okay!" Amethyst laughed as she playfully pushed at everyone. "You guys are so sappy! I'm fine now." She looked at everyone around her. "I feel like he's been beating himself up after our fight with Jasper on the beach. I felt a little worse about myself that day, and he and Steven cheered me up. But we all know how Twoie is."
Steven hummed in agreement. "He'd feel like it was his fault and then get stressed out about doing better." The kid pushed himself off of the couch and walked towards the warp.
"Steven? Where are you going?" Greg looked at his son curiously. He figured Steven had some kind of idea to help Twoie, but he still wanted to know where his son was headed.
Steven smiled as he looked back at the rest of his family. "We've tried telling him before, and it helped a little, but I think he needs to hear it from the others, too."
Amethyst grinned and walked over to him. "You mean Bismuth, Peri, and Lapis? I'm game! Twoie could definitely do with Bismuth's chill vibe, and you know Lapis and Peri won't let Twoie go until he's feeling better." Everyone else chuckled fondly. Even though the B-team were split between the forge and the barn, the group was always together. Peridot and Lapis had inaugurated Bismuth as an official member of the Camp Pining Hearts fandom and the world of meep morps. The trio was inseparable. And they always loved spending time with Steven and Twoie. If anyone would be able to cheer Twoie up, it'd be them.
"Sounds like a plan, Schtu-ball! Let us know if you need our help!" Greg called out as he stood and stretched. He still had to go to work, but he'd drop everything if Twoie and Steven needed him. Garnet and Pearl nodded as well. Steven had gotten much better at asking for help. They knew he'd be okay with the others. Happy that the others agreed, Steven and Amethyst stepped onto the warp and disappeared in a flash of light.