The sun was still below the ocean and outside the temple, a cold blanket of snow laid blue in the dim before dawn. The great stitched white sheets untouched, with small cold flakes drifting dreamily down to reinforce the frigid fabric. The cold crystals growing spare after the storm. It had rocked the temple when it was at its worst around midnight and howled high in the rafters above their heads, but the storm's worst was through and Beach City had survived the harmless terror. The snow must've been a foot deep. Pearl thought about all those perfect sheets, what awaited their magnificence in a few hours. Car tires turning them to slush, the open mouths of shovels scooping them up and spitting them out, making small unwanted snow mounds each wanting waiting to become things they'll never become. Like snowmen or forts. Steven used to love making those.
Pearl was cradling her foot and cross-legged looking out the window at the grey horizon where the sun would rise in twelve or so minutes, glancing sometimes down at the blue blankets onshore, looking for some hint of something, or someone.
It was quiet this early in the morning and Pearl could only hear Steven's soft breathing while sleeping. She hadn't been really tempted to watch him in a long time so instead, she rested on the one seat in the house without a back or went to her room to keep herself busy, distracted from lingering thoughts of the deceased.
And Rose was hurting her heart at the moment but she didn't do that as often. These were mostly the dull stabs remaining and she was never left alone with those thoughts for too long. Steven was becoming a young man and it could be hectic.
Steven developed a crush on a girl that Pearl hadn't even got the name of yet. That made her nervous, what was her Steven doing? Steven didn't like girls. Well not like that, not yet, but she was now she was smiling as she stared at open fields the wind slowly swept, he was becoming a fuller person, a smart boy to an intelligent young man. Pearl was proud, it was scary to think what could come but the first light was showing its face, a golden ray over the water as the sun was coming up. Whitecaps on the sea with streaks of rich light stretching to shore and over it.
It was time to begin the day
Pearl rose with the sun and grabbed an old forgotten red and white scarf. Pearl recalled it was Connie's but every time the young lady would come to visit it would always escape Pearl to give it back to her, the charming fluffy thing. Connie didn't come by enough anymore. Pearl draped her maroon winter jacket over her shoulders and threaded her arms through, zipping up to her neck.
The screen door swept the snow top off the blanket as Pearl pushed it open. Leaning on the wall of the porch was two snow shovels with red rubber scoops. She could already feel the motion in her arm. She grabbed up the shovel and began to push the mouth down to the wood of the porch pushing forward to sweep it off the side of the house then moving on to shovel the stairs.
After pushing the pure white off the stairs easy she reached the sandy slope down to the beach, she plunged the shovel in but took more than she wanted, hurling sand and snow into the morning winter winds, it clapped back pushing sand into her nostrils and almost taking the gem off her feet. "Ahh…" She steadied herself and looked back at the snow menacingly, but letting it drop to a more pleasant smile.
She cleared the rest with speed but making sure the wind didn't punch her anymore. It was tough to get through the heavy blanket but she did it a few frigid feet at a time. It was tough but the light of the sun over the sea was growing every time she found a moment to look for it. She reached the beach before a slope, looking at the length of snow she still had to shovel to reach the cliff stairs. She grimaced but knew she had to shovel.
So she did and she was standing at the top of the stairs, in the parking lot before the road. She looked over, Steven's cozy little red hatchback rested in its spot, she had got as much as she could. Greg helped him pick it out online it was from someone a town or two over. Steven had paid for half and Greg helped him with the other half. Pearl had enough to buy the car two times over with the green in her gem but Steven wanted to earn it for himself. Even if his curls nearly touched the roof if he tried to sit up straight, it was his beautiful little thing. Pearl exhaled and could see her breath in the air, small white cloud wisping to nothing, it was cold, negative, but the exertion and how closed in her jacket was and how hot made her headache and there was something off. During the night the gem's trash barrel had rolled down a slope next to the parking lot, a tough little incline. Amethyst always took pleasure in a quick trip as a helicopter over to the barrel to drop off garbage if for nothing but to pick through the trash after she delivered it. Pearl went down and pushed it back. It wasn't hard, it was only half-filled anyway. Then Pearl was back at the top of the hill once more.
She was sweating beneath the jacket and needed to shed Connie's scarf but she was cutting it close, so she panted and sweat her way back to the temple. She stepped in, tossed her coat off and onto the couch, and unraveled the scarf from her neck, draping it on a little helpful arm of their coat rack. She tried to still her breath. Steven was still snoring softly above and she didn't want to be loud.
The gem popped open the fridge for some milk, cheese, and also to slide a loaf of bread off the top. Picking out a slice and popping it into the toaster in a single motion. Pearl turned on a burner and leaned the white and red carton over a cup, filling it halfway with milk. Then she stopped and tapped her foot a few times. When Steven was younger she would always make him as much as he could eat with the time they had, but now he wouldn't touch any more than a few pieces of bacon for breakfast or toast. He stayed awake later now, up into the night chatting away with friends, playing games, practicing guitar. The few times they let Steven when he was younger he'd stay up a little extra and pass out by 10. To wake up for a big breakfast.
The toast popped and Pearl caught, placing it on top of the paper towel and applying only a bit of butter as he requested. He didn't want to be 'the chubby kid' no matter how many times Pearl told him he was a healthy enough human. She could never understand. She put the buttered toast on the counter next to the milk and gently stepped up the stairs to Steven's bedroll. He still insisted on the thing. Greg offered to get his son a bed but of course Steven held onto his decision while being sorry about doing so. Maybe he did really prefer the old thing. She sat a few steps from the top, on the same level as him. She watched him only a moment, his hair was a mess. She smiled and gently rocked him. "Steven."
He turned over. "Hmm?"
"It's time to wake up. You have school in an hour."
"Five more minutes, Pearl." He waved his hand above the bed half submerged in sleep.
"I'll hold you to that." Pearl snickered softly and stepped down the stairs. Walking towards the butter container on the counter, but something shook in the pocket of her jeans. She fished her phone out and placed the butter on the counter. She tapped the screen and heard Amethyst grumble and leaving her room.
"This is Pearl."
Greg's voice came through the device. "Hey, Pearl, how are you doing this morning? That was a killer storm last night."
Pearl took more bread out and buttered it. "Oh, good morning, Greg. I still have to make Steven his lunch. Plus go shopping after he leaves." She got a black metal pan out and put it on the red hot burner.
"Oh I can swing by in a bit to help, maybe go shopping if you'd like? I gotta pick up stuff for myself anyway."
She gave a nervous fake chuckle, but she did have a lot to do... "Oh, that's alright, Greg, I got it under control." Pearl wedged the phone between her shoulder and her ear, tossing the buttered bread on the pan and sliding cheese between the pieces.
"Are ya sure? It's no bother ya know, I'm just gonna bumming around the car wash all day. I'd be happy to come over and help you."
"Really, Greg, I've got it in hand." She put the bread back on the fridge and the cheese and milk in it. "Are you-" The phone nearly slipped away. "Are you still up for a movie with us tonight?"
"You bet! I'll be there at five sharp."
"Good, see you then." She hit the end button and exhaled, burying the cold plastic thing back in her jean pocket.
"Hey, P, I'm heading out." Amethyst was standing behind her and pointing her thumb towards the window.
"Are you serious? In this weather?"
"Looks clear to me." She walked over to the portal and rested her short purple arms on the sill and looking outside at the finally fully bright sky, the white snow surface pushing the light brighter into the temple.
"Well, alright." Pearl went over to a hamper and plucked clothes from it to toss in the laundry machine. "What do you have planned?"
"To help get rid of some of Vidalia's junk laying around her garage."
Pearl stopped with one of Steven's star shirts in hand and threw eyes at Amethyst. "You're not going to bring any of it back here are you?"
Amethyst shrunk under her gaze but relaxed as if it was nothing. "Of course not, P, I got enough junk, fill to the tippity top. It's too cold to haul back anyway." She said that but looked at the ceiling as if actually thinking about the logistics of hauling tons of junk in below zero temperatures.
"When do you think you'll be back?"
"Idunno." Amethyst got a dark purple hat out of the rubber bin beside the temple's door and pulled it over the top of her light purple mane, top of her head snug in the fabric. "But I'll be back for the movie, alright?"
Pearl tossed some bright blue detergent in and pushed the washer's door closed."Don't be gone too long, we need to go grocery shopping and I know you'll complain if we don't get what you want."
"I'll be back, I promise" Amethyst put on her jacket and pushed open the two doors out, before pushing it closed with a dull thud that moved through the walls.
The butter on the toast was well melted by now. The milk waiting in its cup. Steven hadn't stirred and Pearl watched him a minute as he was peacefully sleep- She wasn't supposed to do that. Pearl spoke gently up to him. "Steven?"
"I'm getting up, I'm getting up." Steven mumbled as he brought his head of curls up from the pillow, eyes half-closed and bleary.
Pearl put on a small smile and went back to the washer.
Steven stood on the roll and then stepped down the stairs shuffling to the counter where the milk and toast lay. He took a few bites of the toast but put it down, concentrating trying to remember something. Steven's face dropped, and he turned around and rushed over to a small cubby in the wall, got a pair of pants and a shirt out before running into the temple's bathroom.
Pearl watched it happen and put a hand under her chin. She spoke softly through the door. "Are you alright, Steven?"
"I'm fine." The door opened and Steven stepped out in the jeans but was just now getting the shirt down. He ran and grabbed up his school bag, and a coat.
"What about your breakfast?"
"Sorry." He grabbed something outside of his bag. A red card he stuffed into his backpack's front pocket as quick as he could, before throwing a strap over his shoulder, before giving Pearl one last look. "See you later, okay?"
Pearl smirked. "Of course." Steven's blushed but he shook his head and left. The door almost closing with his departure but it was not quite shut. Pearl stepped up and gave it a slight push for the last few inches.
She breathed out all her tension and let herself fall back on the backless seat. Toothpick thin limbs falling down the side. She closed her eyes and sunk into the fabric. Reinforcing it with hardlight. Smelling the butter on the toast Steven hadn't eaten. Thinking about the girl he had a crush on, about the long day ahead, that he's coming home in a bit over 7 hours. That his father coming over to view something Steven would pick out. Greg asking questions while they were watching which Steven would continually tell him not to do, while Steven would explain things anyway that didn't really need much explaining and pop popcorn into his mouth, share with Connie, and then he'd make Pearl have a piece, and she'd have one. Pearl smiled.
Pearl thought she'd be sweaty now but it was chilly in the temple, a cold draft wafting from the glass. She hoped Steven didn't wake up in this cold. She had taken care of enough sick Stevens to last her a lifetime, but… maybe one more wouldn't hurt… For old time's sake. She chuckled to nobody and put pressed palms into her tired eyes. The refrigerator was breathing softly as she laid there.
Pearl's next order of business was…
was?
All the things she had to do for the day seemed to be fleeing from her, tucking themselves slowly away in their hiding places. Only a gentle hand on her back seemed to get her attention, but even that was fleeting, the fabric hand was soothing her gently to something, with subtle circuitous motions. Lulling her to that thing humans and Amethyst did.
That's when she knew she had to sit up, her eyes still closed and heavy, but Pearl was at least vertical. She opened her eyes. Her heart jumped. More shadow, she was in more shadow than she had been when she first sat down. Her white skin looked grey in the lowlight. She looked out the window, the bright morning had been obscured by white-grey clouds. The sky wasn't quite dark but it wasn't bright either. The flakes falling were growing a bit more fervent as well. She had let herself drift off.
Her eyes fall back down to the blankets. And she found a dot a bit far away. A red dot moving through the fields of snow onshore. They hadn't bothered to use the stairs. There was only one girl who did that. Connie was hauling herself towards the temple, pulling her shoes up from the snow just to spear them back in and then have to pull them back up again.
Pearl watched quietly as the Connie dot slowly grew larger. The young lady had been coming around the temple less and less, now she only came by for a movie occasionally. She missed her determined knight's company. She thought maybe Steven did too.
Connie was now such a large dot she'd be called a blot. Moving towards the path Pearl shoveled and then up the incline towards the temple. She had her backpack and a bright red coat, and a beanie on, but something felt missing. Pearl mean mugged the scarf draped on the coat rack, but stopped to go greet Connie. Pearl opened the doors, the wind outside shaking the screen one as she kept it open. Connie crested the final step. "Pearl!" She smiled and ran towards the door.
"Hey, Connie!" Pearl sheltered her eyes as the searing cold wind hit her cheeks. "Get inside, it's getting bad out there."
"Yes, ma'am!" Connie pushed past Pearl and brought in a trail of little flat clumps of snowy white. Pearl got the screen door closed and then the wooden one. Connie came to a stop and almost tipped off her boots but stopped herself. Then she looked around, and up towards Steven's bedroll. "Hey, Pearl, where's Steven?" Connie tugged down on her coat's zipper.
"He's not here, he went to school. Shouldn't you be there, Connie?"
"They canceled school. There's going to be a lot more snow, as you can tell." Connie looked back through the window at the looming clouds. "I just wanted to come over and see if, uh, Steven wanted to hang out maybe."
"I'm sure he would. I wish I knew, he just left. Let me-" Pearl dug for her phone again and unlocked it. She wasn't really sure how long she had been resting on the seat. She hit his name in her contacts.
Connie kept her hat on but untied her boots, shedding them, sitting on the couch below the window. Shivering as a draft from the window hit her neck.
It was still ringing in Pearl's ear. "C'mon, Steven." One of Pearl's fingers rested on the border to her mouth, she wanted to nibble on her nail but resisted.
"Hey, it's Steven! Leave your message after the beep and I'll get back to ya."
"You have the day off today. Give me a call back." Pearl hit the red button and put her phone back in her pocket. Connie rested back on the sofa. Cheeks red, she panted. "I could fix you some hot cocoa, Connie?"
"That'd be great." Connie smiled. She was getting older, she'd sprouted tall, now rising above Steven. Her grades as good as ever. Of the few times she still came over it was often to study. Steven was caught up with the other kids his age but a little extra help now and then didn't hurt. Sometimes though Pearl would catch her staring at Steven while he wasn't paying attention. On a movie night getting closer to his side. Draping her arm around his shoulder, but Steven was distant when she did that, took her arm away.
"Would you like some marshmallows?"
"Sure, thank you." Connie looked around as Pearl got out a pan and filled it full of spring water, emptying their last jug. She'd have to go get some more. "Where's the rest of the gems?"
"Oh, Amethyst is out getting some junk out Vidalia's garage. Garnet? I don't know. As if she'd tell me where she disappears to."
"You should talk to her about that."
"I would, but the winter season has been busy. I was out shopping a lot last week. Amethyst made me pick up all the gift ideas she had jotted down." Pearl didn't get a response, so she stole a look over. The girl was playing with her fingers impatiently, looking at her phone knowing there'd be no new text on the screen. She exhaled emotion. "When was the last time you were by this early?"
"Oh, hmmm…." Connie put a finger on her chin. "A few years back, me and Steven'd go and jam together, me and you would train while Steven watched, but... we don't do that now. And it's fucking lame." Connie sighed, bags under her eyes, looking at the ceiling. "Sorry for swearing."
"There's no need to apologize, you're nearly eighteen." Pearl finished setting the burner and looked towards Connie. The girl's hands shook in her pockets and her eyes were half lidded. But the way those orbs in her head moved, Connie had a look Pearl had before. A look Pearl had for her Diamond. "You didn't get any sleep last night, did you?"
She sighed and buried her face in the soft couch. "No, ma'am."
Pearl drifted over and took a seat on the arm. "Do you wanna talk about it?"
"I think it'd be…" She looked at Pearl. "Kinda awkward."
"It's about Steven, isn't it?"
Connie's face was burning up and she couldn't bear to look Pearl in the eye. "Uh, yeah."
"I promise I won't embarrass you. There's no reason to hide. You know you're my little knight."
Connie face was a bit redder than before. "You're breaking your promise already."
Pearl covered a laugh with her hand. "Sorry, but please Connie, you can talk to me."
"Ok." She closed her mouth and then opened it again. "I like Steven." The words were fast so full of emotion for a meager word like 'like'.
Pearl's brow went funny, she looked gently at the young woman trying to put her love into the air before them.
"I mean really like Steven."
"How long?"
"Like t-two years now." Connie's eyes teared up and she almost closed them, grinding her teeth. "I thought at some point he'd return the feelings. If I just stayed around like I had always. Maybe he'd feel the same way. Like what was in my mind would get in his head magically somehow."
Pearl sat next to Connie. Taking the girl's head against her chest. "You've been holding it in so long. I know what it's like to love someone who doesn't look at you the same way." Pearl looked past her. She saw a pearl staring at her diamond with the largest love she might ever feel, but all she received was a look of understanding and affection, but never love.
"I, uh, came here today to tell h-him how I feel." She chuckled looking at the wooden ceiling. "Knowing me I would've just chickened out."
"You are braver than that and I know it."
"This is weird saying this to you." Connie chuckled. "You're like Steven's mom."
"I've known about your feelings, Connie. It's nothing new to me and I care for you as I care for him, I've seen a girl grow into a beautiful young woman and the last thing I'd want to see is you locking your feelings away. Like I've done. It's awful to have a desire for someone hidden, eating at you. To look at your love and see a bright future with them you're just so unsure of. I had always wondered if she looked at me the same way. You need to tell Steven soon."
"I will I promise." Connie checked her phone again. Pearl left the couch for a moment and took the water off the burner and funneling it into two cups, then taking two packets of cocoa mix and pouring one into each, then she swirled them with a spoon. She brought the cups over and placed them on the coffee table in front of the sofa.
"I have to tell you, I think Steven's might be interested in a girl at school."
Connie's stomach dropped. No way, she searched her mind quickly for the possible culprit. "Jenny Ainsley? I've seen him trying to talk to her during lunch."
"Steven didn't give me her name but he danced around the idea of having a crush. I think that's why he was in a rush this morning."
"It's probably her." Connie grimaced at the ceiling. "She's nice but…" Connie tried and couldn't think of a real reason Steven shouldn't pursue her. Jen got decent grades, was a little wild but not crazy like some other girls in their senior class. She was way cooler, prettier, and more fun than Connie could ever hope to be. Connie fell to silence. Her hands quivering.
"Maybe you should wait till you know what's going to happen between him and this 'Jen' before you tell him. No matter what though, you have to."
Connie nuzzled against Pearl slowly, speaking between tears. "It hurts."
She caressed Connie's head, Pearl's mouth settling into a frown. "It always hurts, but we'll keep on going."
Connie sniffled. "I really should get going before the storm gets bad. Thank you, Pearl. For so much. For being there." The girl gave the gem an embrace, and the gem gave it back. Sharing warmth before Connie had to withstand the weather.
"I'm glad to help."
"Can you text me if the uh 'situation' changes." She leaned down to tie her boots and grabbed her coat. "It's supposed to snow like a whole nother foot."
"Oh jeez." Steven was still out there. "Tell him to text me if you see Steven, please."
"I will." Connie took a final gulp of the cocoa. "See you again soon, Pearl."
And Connie was gone. Pearl looked at the rack and saw the red and white scarf still sitting there grinning at her. Pearl grabbed the cocoa Connie had only gingerly nursed and tipped into the sink. Pearl tapped Steven's name again in her contacts, watching Connie round the beach towards home. Ring, ring, ring. "Hey, it's Steven! Leave your message after the beep and I'll get back to ya."
"Please give me a callback, Steven. We're supposed to get more snow, and I need to know you're alright." She hit the red button and looked out the window at the sky, it was growing darker in the heavens, but a remaining light still teemed at its edges. Trying to survive the dark.
I don't think I've seen one completed story of the GregPearl pairing and I'd like to correct that. The story will be pretty long. I'm sitting on 10k that I just have to edit. The next chapter should be up in a few days.