Thank you again for all of your support! And yes, I know I'm posting twice in one day, but I have this chapter ready to go! Also quick heads up, this chapter is kinda long, lol.

(This chapter takes place with Steven)

Steven had been driving for three days now, and had formed a daily routine; Every Tuesday morning he would video call his therapist, and every night he would chat with Connie. That was it, otherwise he drove and stopped when he needed to rest or he needed food.

He had stopped at a few small cafes and diners, each one better than the last. He had just picked up a meal at a small dinner in Idaho, right outside of Oregon. He didn't like to eat in the restaurants by himself, he thought it was rather awkward. So Steven would order takeout and find a scenic overlook to park his car, and eat there.

Steven took a deep breath in and watched the bright red and orange sky. The clouds seemed to glow yellow and the setting sun glittering off of the tree tops. Steven's phone started vibrating and he answered the call. Connie's face appeared on the screen and she smiled.

"Hey Steven! Where did you decide to set up camp for the night?"

"Well I picked up food from this cute little restaurant, and now I'm watching the sunset. It's really pretty." Steven flipped his camera so that Connie could see the sunset.

"That IS really pretty!" Connie said softly. After a couple seconds of silence she resumed talking "What was the restaurant called? Also what did you get?"

"Well, It's a little place called Williams, and inside they have this little train track running along the wall of the place at table height, I think they deliver your food to you on the train, cause I saw it going around with a plate with food on it." Steven took a bite from his veggie burger, "They had some breakfast stuff on their menu that looked really good, but they only serve that stuff from 9:30-11." Steven took a bite from the veggie burger he got.

"They sound so fun! I want to go there sometime!" Connie paused and so did Steven, they both smiled.

"What if you rode Lion here and we got breakfast?" Steven said enthusiastically.

"Yeah! I should! What time should we meet up?" Connie's eyes were glittering with excitement.

"How about when it opens? 9:30, I'll text you the address." Steven had finished his food and walked over to a trash can on the other side of the parking lot.

"Sounds good!" Connie said in her bubbly voice. The two talked for another hour, before deciding they should probably get some sleep before they met up. Steven fell asleep quickly and didn't remember what he dreamed about. He woke up the next morning refreshed and excited. He walked over to the restroom building at the rest stop and took a quick shower.

After drying his hair and putting on his clothes he got in the Dundi. He decided to wear his sneakers for the first time. They felt weird on his feet, but he had worn his sandals in the shower.

At 9:25 he parked his car across the street from William's. He stood outside, leaning against the car door. The morning sun shone down and the rays felt warm on his face.

He jumped when he heard Lion's roar piercing the quiet morning air. He opened his eyes and let out a yelp. Lion barreled towards him and started licking his face with his sandpaper-like tongue. Steven could hear Connie's laugh and pushed Lion away from his face.

"Lion that kinda hurts, and also, gross." He patted Lion's head and wiped his face off. Connie got off Lion's back and walked over to Steven. She gave him a hug.

"The Gem's wanted me to give this to you." Connie held out a letter, "I know they haven't called the whole time, but they wanted you to have it." Steven put it in his back pocket.

"I'll read it inside." Steven smiled weakly. He wondered what the Gem's had to say, was there an emergency? Has something happened? His mind raced. Him and Connie had a pleasant chat, and ordered their food.

"I'm going to read it now, so I don't get syrup on it." Steven said, thinking of the waffle he ordered. Connie reached out and held his hand as he began to read the letter.. It read; "Dear Steven,

We miss you everyday, but only become more and more proud of you. I have all your things in storage boxes that I put under the stairs. I know you said I should just donate or throw away whatever you left, I can't bring myself to do it, I'm sorry. I did donate some things though! I gave your little toys to Onion in hopes that he would stop coming over to the temple every day, but that only worked for about two days. Also I think Lion misses you, he kept trying to sleep in Greg's bed, but has now taken to sleeping in his bed in the greenhouse. He keeps watch over your plants, and when Peridot first tried to come over to water the plants, he nearly poofed her!"

Steven turned and looked out the window where Lion was napping,

"He tried to poof Peridot?" Steven looked up with a laugh.

"What?" Connie looked out the window and tapped on the glass "Bad Kitty!" Lion gave them an offended look before returning to his slumber. Steven read on, "I suppose that is all for now, -Pearl."

The writing style changed from neat, perfect letters, to wonky writing that he knew was Amethyst's writing style. "Sup Dude! I'm not sure where you are in the country right now, but I bet you're having a good time! I've been playing your video games for three straight and I STILL haven't beat your highest scores! Uhg! I only stopped playing to write this. How are you so good?! You'll have to tell me the game secrets some time! -Amethyst." The writing changed again to cursive letter, written with a maroon pen,

"Steven, I know that you're upset that we haven't called, but we decided it would be best to write you a letter instead, this way you can read it when you're ready, without feeling obligated to respond. Steven, you can always call us if you need to talk, we miss you and are so proud of the adult you are becoming. -Garnet… P.S We love you."

He looked at Connie and smiled, "I really needed this."

"I knew you would like to hear from the gems." Connie rubbed her thumb along his knuckles.

"Not just the letter, I needed this…" He lifted up her hand and kissed it gently "I needed a bit of home." He looked into her eyes. Connie grinned at him and they sat in silence for several minutes.

"So where are you headed now?" Connie asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

"I'm supposed to reach Oregon today! I read online that there's a lot of tourist traps there, so I might check out a few of those. But what about you Connie? Aren't you on Summer break now?"

"I'm not sure, I know I'm going to be visiting a few colleges and I have some family in Arizona that wants me to stay for a week or so, I haven't seen them since I was 8."

The two continued to talk and when they both finished they paid and waled and Steven hugged before Lion strode over and Connie got on his back. Steven reached up and squeezed her hand, smiling up at her.

"I'll see you soon Steven, we should meet up for breakfast more." She began to pull her hand away, but Steven squeezed it again and floated up to kiss her before she left. Connie's face turned red and she grinned, Steven landed back on the ground and waved good-bye as Lion leapt through a portal. He was alone again, but he didn't feel alone. Steven felt loved.

When he got in the Dundi, he put the letter from the Gem's in the glove box before heading to Oregon.

Thanks for reading! Sorry that this chapter was long. uwu