Hey folks! Here i am again with another chapter.

I'm want to thank everybody thats been reading this fic. I know the starts a little slow, but we are close to the ending of part one! Part two is a bit more plot driven, so if that's what you like to get into, you'll get it soon.

For now, enjoy this chapter!


"Yeah, life was good in Rio. Or at least for me it was. I don't think I ever did anything wrong. So you can imagine my surprise when my dad barges into my room one day and tells me to pack my stuff. He said I was a lazy bum, that I made him look bad… Guess that part was true. I never really cared about business, which is all he cared about. So he put a plane ticket into my hand and sent me here, to attend a boarding school in New York for a year."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that. And obviously the school was lame. A bunch of square kids, with square parents, whose only dream in life was to be CEO of some megacorp. But New York… It was amazing! The music and the street art and all the people; it really blew my mind! A-and it's because, in Brazil, I never went anywhere, my dad made sure of that. I would take the car to school, and then back home. I try to escape a few times but it was useless; there was always someone watching over my shoulder. But here? I was out of my dad's sight for the first time in my life. It felt… it was great. So I called him and say I wanted nothing to do with the boarding school or with business. I want to be an artist. Obviously, he took it personal. He said that if I left the school, I might as well be dead to him… So I said, 'fucking fine'. I escaped that day and left the city. I walked and walked and eventually I fainted at Rain's door."

"And here you have me, one year later I am still here. I would have kept going, but I still have, you know, unfinished business in here."

Peeps glanced at Rain, sitting at his left. The woman suppressed a smile and gave him a soft shoulder shove.

Steven was enthralled, both by Peeps' tale, as by the astounding beauty of the man. It looked like a bear had turned human with the full moon, put on the biggest glasses he could find and decided to sit and have a beer. His voice had the roughness of someone who isn't using his birth language, but his diction was fluid with practice. His long curls moved back and forth whenever he laughed.

It's uncertain what prompted Peeps to talk about his life. Steven had asked him a few question about his country —for Steven, Brazil was as much different planet as Homeworld was— and suddenly Peeps was spilling the beans about his life. It made Steven think maybe he didn't have many friends outside Rain and, possibly, Soledad.

It also made him think about what sort of standards Peep's father could have, to think his polyglot son is a 'lazy bum'.

The four of them were sitting in one of the camping tables, under one of the Christmas lights-covered lamppost. After a rigorous wash in the truck, Steven and Soledad had set the table; put on a tripped tablecloth, glasses and plates. Rain and Peeps joined them five minutes later, carrying a tray with sandwiches in pita bread. Steven picked the simplest one, with cheese, ham and lettuce, Soledad ate a similar one with extra onion, Peeps devoured one with extra ham and egg, and Rain slowly ate one with just vegetables. Steven had sort of forgotten about his vegetarianism. Too much in his head to worry about what he was gonna put in his stomach —especially since he'd have ending threw it up.

After his 'incident', his stomach became like a dishwasher, and he couldn't keep any food inside for too long. This lasted for the first few months of therapy, but he was mostly alright now —still, he take notice of ate slowly.

Rain also brought a plate to the brim with the fries Peeps had ruined. These ranged from 'just a bit overcooked' to 'it could be mistaken as coal'. Steven liked his fries well done, so the other three people were fine with him eating them.

"That's rough," said Steven, picking a handful of black fries from the tray. "And you never talked with your dad again?"

"Nope. Never again," Peeps played with the big glasses on his face. "But that's his lost. And you know what? He was right about something; I was a lazy bum back there. I never planned ahead or thought about the future." He drily laughed. His curls swaying back and forth. "Imagine that. I had to leave my country to figure out who I am."

Steven nodded solemnly, but the girls were as bored as possible. Rain had taken to feed leftover crumbs to a flock of birds that gathered at her feet, while Soledad was busy doing something in her phone. She lifted her eyes from it to glance at Peeps.

"You need to stop telling strangers you were a boring kid, man," she said. "It's super sad. It makes you look bad —worse, it makes us look bad."

To this, Peeps raised one hand, and then lowered all fingers but one.

Soledad gasped. "To do that to a lady! The nerve."

"Well forgive me if my mom didn't take me to Paris and Japan and…" Peeps hesitated. "What was that other place again?"

"Milan."

"Ah, forgive me. Milan," Peeps said the last word as if it were a made-up place.

Rain scoffed at their banter. Steven on the other hand was listening attentively.

"Wow, you really went to all those places? You must love to travel," said Steven, like someone who hasn't traveled across the whole galaxy and beyond.

"Yeah, I guess so," said Soledad awkwardly. "Imeanitsnotlikeitwas my choice. My mom's in the food business so she would go everywhere she thought she could open up a factory or exploit a new market. And she always dragged me with her." Soledad scoffed and kept her eyes on her phone. "I don't know why. As soon as we got into the hotel, she would leave to work all day."

She laughed and lifted her gaze to look at Steven. "There was this one time, when she was so distracted, I snuck out of the hotel and …" She snickered like a little kid telling of her shenanigans. "And took a bus!"

Steven nodded wisely. "I get it. Buses are quite an experience for the first-timer."

"It was!"Shouted an amazed Soledad. "It dropped me in some what-its-name countryside-rural-town in the middle of nowhere. I'd to wait two whole hours for another bus and some jerk tried to mug me —but I tasered him good, so it was alright."

Soledad interrupted the tale to take a drink of her beer. Steven did so too out of solidarity. Plus, the fries were really salty.

Steven asked if she was scared. He knew he was terrified all those times he got lost; on the other hand, those times he faced the possibility of lethal danger —on the other, other hand, the same could be said about Soledad.

"It was kinda scary. But it was also cool. I mean, for the first time I didn't have my mom looking over my shoulder, questioning everything I did, judging me, actinglikeiwasadissapointment. It was amazing!"

"Cheers for that," said Peeps and clashed his glass with Soledad's.

"Plus I bought myself a nice pair of boots." She lifted her feet, almost shoving the fur covered boots in Steven's face. "Real Angus leather, what do you think?"

Steven complimented them, if only to stop looking at the gum stuck on the boot sole. He felt swarmed by this feeling of, if not understanding, at least solidarity. Logically, he knew he wasn't the only person in the world with parental issues; he didn't need to look further than his own dad or Connie. But there was something in hearing a bunch of strangers talking about how much their parents messed them up that made Steven's shoulders feel a little bit lighter.

"Enough childhood traumas for the night, guys," said Rain. The flock of bird had started to disperse, now that she was out of bread. But one single crow stayed at her feet. "What about you Steven? Sol said you are a cowboy or something."

And just like that all the weight was dropped over Steven again, like an anvil over a coyote's head.

"I wouldn't say it like that," said Steven, clapping his hands to get the salt out of the gloves. "But I guess I'm kind of wanderer. I'm on a cross-country road. In fact, I was just in New York last week."

With all the attention on him, Steven laid down most of his travel plan. Static ran through his body; he was getting just as excited as the first time he voiced his idea to Connie. The cities he was gonna visit, the tourist attractions he'd swear to immortalize in pictures. The beer had loosened him up and he was rambling at such a speed it would make Soledad jealous. He was halfway into his plan —somewhere in the middle of Nevada— when Rain spoke:

"Wait, so you're really gonna hit all the states?" she said and lifted a finger at the Dondai. "In that?"

Steven answered positively. He tried not to take Rain's comment personal. Sure, through a commoner's eyes, the Dondai Supremo looked like a metal box on wheels, but it was like a second home to Steven. Or his main one, actually. Besides, Rain cooked in a rusted tuna can; she'd no moral high ground to stand upon.

"Man, that's crazy," said Soledad. "Notthatyouarecrazy, but… Dude, I came all the way from California, three whole months on the road, and I'm SICK of it."

"Three months?" Steven shouted then lowered his voice. "Sorry but, wow, that's a lot. You must've had a great time."

A brief, asphyxiating silence fell over the table. It was broken by Soledad.

"I wasn't doing tourism, exactly." She grabbed her glass and drank all the beer in one go. "But forget about me! What about you, Mr. Cowboy, what brought you to the Mother Road? You running away from some misdeed? Maybe from some missus you left back home?" Soledad used a sultry tone that was nothing but laughable.

"No, no it's nothing like that. I'm not running from any misdeed." The words felt bitter in Steven's mouth. "I do have a girlfriend, tho."

For those fortunate enough who have never seen anyone choke on their own drink, you must know the sound Soledad made was like a waterfall going suddenly upstream, followed by several long, dry coughs. It was accompanied by the hysterical laughter of Peeps and Rain. Steven felt compassion and patted Soledad's back as the girl sat hunched over, coughing spit and beer over the floor.

"Do you need anything?" he ran circles over the girl's back. "Maybe some water or something to eat?"

"Yeah, give her some fries. That'll finish her off," said Rain and Peeps grumbled a protest, making Rain laugh even more.

Soledad went through another fit of coughing and, once it stopped, she sat upright and cleared her throat. "I'm fine," she said, shaking. "You were telling us about your girlfriend?"

It took a moment for the train of the past conversation to catch up to Steven.

"Oh. Yeah, she is great. We have known each other since… I don't know, a few years, but it felt like forever. She's really smart; not like me, I am like a rock." Steven had a good laugh at everyone's confused expense.

When you are a gem, you always have a limitless supply of rock-puns at hand. They just came naturally.

"Anyway she is in cram school; she's gonna get early into college. How cool is that?"

Steven's proceeded to ramble for a while. This was a topic he was comfortable about. He'd an endless list of good things to say about Connie, while his own list was more lackluster.

"She sounds… great." Soledad's voice lacked its natural momentum. Steven attributed it to the beer. "I've got to ask tho, why isn't she here with you?" she asked, trying to pretend it wasn't important. "I mean, if I had a boyfriend, I would go where he is going –especially if he's road tripping across the country all alone-"

"Soledad," said Rain, voice like a brick falling over concrete. "Cut it out, won't you?

Steven recoiled involuntarily. Rain didn't yell, but her voice felt as if she had. Silence felt over them all —except the crow, which was now sitting over the table, pick-pocketing fries like nobody's business. Soledad was deep red.

"I-I'm sorry," she said to Steven, "Ididntmeantoimply-"

"No, no, its fine. I guess it's a reasonable question," said Steven, although they were steeping into muddy territory. "She is fine with me doing this. She knew I needed some time for myself. Not because of her! And it's not my family's fault either. In any case they've been nothing but supportive."

Steven's voice lost volume until it banished. Frankly, he'd considered the idea of inviting Connie along a thousand times, but every time he tried to do it, he just couldn't.

Now he was starting to regret it. Ever since Connie visited him in New York, he's been falling into this spiral. Everyone was so happy for him for making this trip, but he felt lonelier than ever. He knew he should open up about this with anyone at home, but so far, only Dr. A. was aware of his feelings.

"I guess it's kind of what Peeps said," Steven mumbled, more talking to himself than anyone else. "I wanted to find myself, and I'd to left my home to do it. I need to be alone for a while, even if it hurts."

He looked up at the other three people —and crow— around. "Not that I'm not having fun here!"

"No no, I get it," said Peeps. "That's what the road was made for, man! The cities, the tourist traps, all of that is secondary. It's when you are alone by yourself when you figure out who you are!"

Rain gave him a dubious look. "How would you know? You traveled from New York to here, and you have been crashing at my home since then," she said.

"And you know better than me? You've lived here your whole life," Peeps replied.

"I've travelled," said Rain, with excessive confidence. "A bit. You are right though; I've lived here for most —not all— of my life. It's where I'm happy and I am fortunate. Most people despise the place they were born into and they need to get out to really be themselves."

She gave everyone a nod as she said this —and a wink, in Steven's case. If he'd done something to worn out Rain's defenses, or if she'd warmed up to him for some other reason, Steven couldn't say, but he was glad anyway. Rain and Peeps proceeded to talk about the places Rain has been to; she knew all the East Coast personally, it seemed.

All of this brought to Steven another conversation he'd with Dr. A.

"It's OK if I talk about my stuff?" he'd asked her, one day he was feeling particularly… not good looking.

"What 'stuff' exactly?" Dr. A. asked. "The half-gem stuff or the personal stuff?"

"Uh, both? I mean, I don't feel like I need to disclose everything. I feel listened now, with my dad and the gems, but I know people like to be nosy. And let's not even mention this," Steven made a circle around his pink-patched face and horns. "How am I gonna explain this?"

Dr. A. was quiet for a moment, playing with the glasses hanging from a blue cord from her neck. She'd never worn them in front of Steven.

"I think, concerning your traumatic experiences, it's entirely up to you. If the situation calls for it, and you are with someone you feel comfortable, I'd say go for it." She shook her head slightly. "But if we are talking about being part gem, I wouldn't recommend it. Not because it's bad. It's just that, while some people have had a troubled childhood, not many have had encounters with the supernatural."

Steven suppressed a laugh —she made it all sound so easy. He'd taken Dr. A. advice at heart. He'd tried to appear casual, to make small talk. He'd sworn to never mention the magic stuff, and to skedaddle out of the heavy experiences. And whenever the subject about his skin came up —more often than he wanted— he have given the excuse Dr. A. invented: 'non-contagious skin disease'.

The results have been a total flunk. The small moments he'd shared with other people had been weird at best. And it wasn't just him being awkward. Most people didn't even bat an eye at him, it's true. But some stared, and that stung. These moments here at Death River's abandoned Camping Site were the first meaningful experience Steven had since he left Beach City (not counting Connie's visits).

Now, Steven was daring to believe that, awkward as it might seem, he can actually pass as a normal, boring human. All he had to do was to be himself.

The human part of himself, not the magical part. For all Steven cared, all the magic in the World could stay in Beach City buried with most of his childhood.

He reached for his glass and finished his beer. It was the fourth one of the night and he was feeling fuzzy already. The rest of the group chatted amicably; their auras going up and down, manifesting in spectacular ways. A picture of light, painted with emotions. Steven was glad to be there, basking into that light.

Only when Peeps stood up Steven paid attention to the physical world again.

"I'm bored with all this silence. Gonna put some music," said Peeps.

"Good to know my talk is silence to you," said Rain.

Peeps gave an offhand comment and walked towards the 'truck'. A few seconds later, the sound of a man going through all the songs on his playlist was heard.

"So where are you staying, Steven? Need a place to crash? Cause the hostel has space," said Rain, obviously intended to book Steven at her place and charge him the night.

Which was respectable, but Steven already had a place to sleep in.

"'Sleep-tight Motel', outside Jacobsville," he said, in a tone that implied that it was a shame he couldn't stay. "It's just for the night, I'm leaving tomorrow."

"So soon?" asked Soledad.

"I'm supposed to be in Richmond by tomorrow. Then I'm heading to Virginia Beach and-"

"Yeah yeah, you have a whole plan ahead. I get it. And it's a good plan, ifyouareintoplanning," said Soledad, mumbling at the end. "I was just hoping, maybe, you would want to come here by lunch tomorrow?"

Soledad showed her hands, as if apologizing before hand. "Only ff you want, obvy! You could have one of Rain's sfijas, and we could hang a little more. It could be fun." Her face turned sour, and so did her voice. "So long as the Sheriff doesn't close us down."

Steven's attention was dragged from the realms of dizziness. "What's wrong with the Sheriff?"

"What's not wrong with him, more like," said Rain. "He doesn't like us hanging in this place, since it's a 'construction site'," she added, in a way you could hear the quotations marks in her tone. "He's a pest but is harmless. He hasn't come here in a while. So if you wanted to drop by, you wouldn't find any trouble."

Rain's 'too cool for school' tone was adorable, in Steven's opinion. Soledad was too, in the way she was pleading with her not-quite puppy eyes —they were more like a cat's dilated pupils. Steven's rational side tried to drive his thoughts back to his travel plan. But Steven's mind was happy where it was.

"I'll come," he announced. "I've got to have lunch after all, right?"

The fire from Soledad's aura shined, warm and gentle. Homey. Peeps came back soon after, with his phone in one hand and four beers under his arms. The song he'd picked up existed in a puddle in the middle of Rock and Swing.

The four of them filled their glasses and had a cheer.

"For having messed up parents," cheered Peeps.

"For being messed up together," cheered Soledad.

"For being messed up at home," cheered Rain.

Steven thought deeply about his cheer. After a few seconds, he raised his glass and said:

"For the road."

They emptied their glasses in one go, feeling their problems going down with the drink. Soledad extended her hand at him and he grabbed it, letting himself be grabbed by the girl. Everything after that was fuzzy laughing and dancing.


There you have it.

This chapter was hard to write... It's hard to write from just Steven's perspective and trying to get him (and the audience at teh same time!) to know these people and to see the invisible connections between them. I hope i did a good show and you guys found my OCs interesting at least.

OH, and please dont miss next chapter, cause a lot of BIG bombs are coming. Remember, we only have two chapters left of part 1!

Anyway, gotta go. Please comment if you liked it!