Steven's P.O.V

Amethyst sighed, looking down with a worried look in her eyes. "I swear, you and Peridot are like twins right about now..."

While I would've laughed at the slight joke in her tone, honestly all I did was sigh as I leaned against the tub in my bathroom, Peridot laying inside of it with Pumpkin in her lap. It felt best to be around Peridot at this point, though Pearl and the others thought against it. Both me and her are going through a similar heartbreak right now, and so the two of us have become closer with wanting to sulk around and just let the days pass by.

It's been about two weeks since Kevin's Party and when Connie stopped being my friend. Even though everyone was telling me to move on, the pain of it still hurt a bit. The gems and my dad had trouble contacting her at this point, but they made sure to leave her mother a message that she wasn't welcomed in the Temple anymore. It felt nice to know how much they cared about me, but it still felt awful that she wasn't even going to come back any way. Pearl was a bit upset now that she had lost her student, but she stated that she would soon teach me how to sword fight once she was ready. Garnet has gotten a bit upset, but honestly she looked more angry at Connie half of the time when she was in the temple, other than that she just grew a bit more attached to me. Amethyst had been trying the past two weeks for me to forget her and be me again I guess, as well as try to get Peridot to help out. Even today she might mark as another failure on her clipboard.

It's not that I don't want to get better, it's just that Connie was something special to me. She was my best friend and have been there for me when I needed her. My partner in crime, the jelly to my biscuit, and my best friend. The fact that I lost her to a dumb argument as saving her life, putting the blame completely on me. I know I shouldn't blame myself but it was harder to not put it on my own shoulders, knowing that the whole thing with Topaz and Aquamarine was my fault in the first place. What hurts even more is that staying with Peridot puts even more blame on me, seeing her hurt cause of Lapis running away from us again. So far everything was just weighed down on me as my fault, and now I didn't even have my best friend to help me like I use to have beside me.

With another groan of sadness, echoed by Peridot's own groan, I continue to lean against the tub while trying not to look at Amethyst's face. I could feel her puma fire eyes glaring in annoyance at me, but I tried to ignore it till she left. It takes about an hour until she gets the idea and leaves for another five hours, then tries again the next day. I don't mean to make Amethyst so upset, but I just don't feel like doing anything for the rest of my life. Maybe I can just end up falling into the floor and never coming out.

Another sigh was about to come out of my mouth, but instead of that I get a full bucket of water put inside instead. The shock of the ice cold water hitting me and Peridot caused us both to look up to see Amethyst smirking at us in victory in her eyes. Her head being a bucket before she shifted it back into her normal head.

"Come on now you drowned depressed rats," She grinned, grabbing both of our arms as she pulled us by force from the floor.

I try to fight out of her hold while Peridot looked more like was just about to bite her arm off. I frown and give the purple quartz a glare. "Let us go Amethyst. We aren't in the mood."

"Then get into the mood," She snapped a bit back, somehow pulling us into the couch and sitting both of us down. I just wiped the water from my eyes while Amethyst just crossed her arms before us. "I'm done watching you guys mope like kicked puppies over Lapis and Connie leaving. It's their lost!"

"Why can't you just let us drown in our own despair," Peridot growled in annoyance, a sound I got use to as she leaned against me and frown once more. I follow and just sigh.

Didn't look like Amethyst was having though by the way she placed her hands on her hips. "Ain't gonna happen captain. Now come on," She said boldly as she pulled out my cheeseburger backpack and Peridot's tablet from behind her back. Where she put those I will never know or even ask. "We're going to do some cleaning and hanging out."

I roll my eyes and just place my head in my hands, giving her an unappealing look. "And what are we going to do?"

"Well first," She stated to say while pulling something out of back backpack. I tip my head in confusion before gasping when she pulled out three books, glasses, and buffalo bobble head from that restaurant me and Connie went to. Wait... "We'll be getting rid of these things and throwing into a volcano!"

"What!?" I sat fully up, looking at Amethyst like she may have been cracked or just lost her freaking mind. "Are you mad Amethyst!? Why would I get rid of tho-"

"Cause the thought of Connie is beating you up and these won't help," Amethyst cut me off, her voice surprisingly calm and even a bit sad. "I've seen breakups Steven, and trust me, getting rid of the past is what you need to move on. She left you, so now all you can do is just push forward and leave her behind."

In her hands was the Spirit Morph Saga that Connie had gotten into. It was the first time in my whole life that I really starting to enjoy reading fantasy and books in general. I always reread the books when I was bored or feeling down, but I purchase these books with my own money. I didn't want to give them up, nor throw them in a volcano. The glasses were just a little gift from Connie for fixing her eyes and making her see in twenty-twenty vision again. They meant a lot to her and she gave them to show how much she cared for what i did for her. The Buffalo bobble head was back when Connie and I went to our first restaurant together just by ourselves. It was for lunch, but it was one of her favorite places to go to in Ocean Town. Even though the massive buffalo head scared the crap out of me, I loved making her happy and making sure she had a great time.

These items were all of the memories of how much of a good time we had together as friends. I didn't want to part with them, even if looking at them all hurt my heart to the core. Breaking them, throwing them out, means that I lose her forever and that I would never get her friendship back. I didn't want to lose that hope that she might come back, but those words she said at the party were still fresh in my mind. Even if I dare to hope, it was clear that she was through with us being friends. She hated me and that was enough to tell me she was done with my crazy life and adventures. All the time we spent together, all the time we played, laugh, sung, and danced together were always going to be special to me deep inside. I didn't want to be in this slump forever, but parting away from her will be hard. Walking away and moving on will just hurt so much. She would always be one of my first and closest friends, even if she doesn't think so of me.

With a deep and shaky breath, I close my eyes to hold back the tears trying to come back up. I opened my eyes again and give a very sad and shaky smile back at Amethyst. "Okay, I-I'll... I'll do it," I say as best as I could, her small frown must be cause I most likely look like I'm about to cry. "B-But we're going to donate those to the Library. I won't throw them away Amethyst, they're still good books."

Amethyst didn't seem to like that idea all to much, but sighed when I saw her place the books back into the backpack. She tosses the bag to me which I caught and stood as she said, "Fine, but at least we're making progress. You coming Peridot," She asked the green gem who took her tablet back. "I bet you would like to read. Seems like something your nerdy butt would do."

Peridot shrugged, keeping a frown still on her face as she tapped a few times on the black screen of her tablet. "I'm going to need to. My device is out of juice and I have heard that a library has a place to charge these."

"Alright! Finally let's go!"

Both Peridot and I just sighed but followed the happy quartz out of the temple to go to the Library. I heard it changed a few since I was last there so I didn't know what to expect once we make it there. Amethyst was trying to start up a conversation with the green nacho gem, which made me smile and let out a tiny giggle at the thought. The noise just made the purple gem next to me smile and try tickle Peridot a bit more.

Yeah I was still bummed out and upset about Connie, but I guess hanging out with these two will help block that feeling for a little while. I mean we are the short squad, and what we do is just help each other when we're down. I guess that's why Amethyst was trying so hard to cheer me and Peridot up. We did just lose someone close to us, and all she knew how to fix it was bug us to go and hang out. I've been mourning over my jam bud for over two weeks now, so maybe a days of feeling a bit of freedom wouldn't be so bad. Pretty soon I was chatting a bit with the two as well, and when I started to speak up so did Peridot even though she sounded more sad with her responses.

The Library was better much deeper into town and a long walk, but it was fine because the three talked and looked around the town a bit more. We all said hey to a few citizens who walked back. For a while, I really did feel a bit better chatting with Amethyst and Peridot. She talked to me about the next big match we have later this week, talked to Peridot about a new social media and stream she can get into to talk to others like her online. She even helped set up the account on this new app called 'Quiver', and I never even heard of it before. It was cool to see Peri all bubbly and grinning again like she use to, seeing her start her first video with how me and Amethyst beside her. I was really laughing and having a great time. Connie was still in the back of my mind, but I felt really fresh and happy for once these past two weeks. Somehow i just knew that these two gems would always be by my side and cheer me up, they feel like the sisters or cousins I never had. Though Uncle Andy is really my cousin I guess, so I guess these two are more like sisters to me.

It took about forty minutes, but we finally made it to the Library which seemed to be more packed than normal or at least since the last time I have been here. There were people here i honestly have never seen before, even a few teenagers and kids I knew didn't live here in Beach City. I turn to see Peridot slightly shivering at the amount of people, and Amethyst just tapped her chin as if she was thinking of something.

After a second or two, Amethyst snapped her fingers as if she remembered something. "Oh yeah," she exclaimed. "Pearl mentioned that Ocean Town's Library was flooded in a storm, so these must be the people from that town using this Library till the other one is fixed."

"How come Pearl knew that," I asked, pretty shocked that Pearl would even keep up on 'meaningless human problems'.

"Well she mistakenly turned on her news function on her new cell phone," She shrugged with her answer. "She asked me to turn it off, but soon got hooked on the news pretty fast."

Peridot frowned, leaning more into the purple gem. "I hope these humans are friendly..."

"I'm sure they are Peri. They probably just want to turn in their books and get new ones," I smiled at her as it seemed to calm her down slightly. Amethyst though just smirked at me which through me in a bit of confusion. "What?"

"You know some libraries now do more than just give out books right Steven. Things have changed once Beach City got up with the times."

Okay that vague stuff wasn't helping me one bit. "What do you mean?"

Amethyst chuckled before saying, "You'll see," and then pulled both me and Peridot into the Library.

Once we got inside, I can see what Amethyst was saying now at this point. The place was packed with people, but it also looked liked this place got slightly bigger too since the last time I was here. There was almost three sections of the whole place and everyone was everywhere. There was a tiny kid place on the far right filled with a few toys and trains for the kids to place with as well as mini kid books and colorful art on the walls. I could see the kids hanging out, laughing, and even chewing on a few of the toys which was kind of gross. I then turned to see that the main center of the library was just filled with books, a few chairs and tables to relax on, and even some shelves filled with movies. The big difference was a few computers on the far side of the library for the adults only section, seeing a few working on things I hope i never learn about. On the far left though spark some interest in me since there was a light up sign called the Teen section which I could see was closed off like a massive glass room. They sounded a bit louder in there so I guess it would make sense to have the section closed off. I saw that there were rows of books, games, and even comics inside as well as a big round circle of computers being used by a couple of teens. What shocked me was the nicer lounge chairs and TV inside which others were playing games on it and grinning.

This place seemed so much more lively since I last been here. It was... pretty cool!

"This is amazing," I said rather loudly, my eyes shining at the many people inside and awesome new things. "This place was so much more different when me and Connie were here."

"Yeah, but you really have to thank Ocean Town for it. Their library I heard is about four stores high and filled with even more cool things," Amethyst smirked, looking more at the awesome gaming section. "I might even grow use to this."

Peridot still looked a bit scared but clutched her tablet a bit tighter to calm down. "What do you we do now...?"

Oh right, I forgot. "I.. Well I got to find the front desk and see if they want these books I guess," I say a bit sadly, pulling out the Spirit Morph Saga from my bag. I didn't want to give them up just yet, but this was most likely for the best.

Amethyst gave me an encouraging smile and nodded. "Alright, you do that while me and Peridot have a look around."

I nodded and the three of us separated, with me trying to find the front desk and the two gems heading right off to the teen section of the building. Honestly, I had no idea where I was going. This place was so much bigger and different from the last time I was here, and the front desk wasn't in its normal spot. I just walked around a bit and watched a few people just enjoying their time until I could find some help. There were so many different people, and honestly the shock of it all made me feel really small. Out of all the towns I've been to, even Korena, I have never been in Ocean Town before. I remember Lars saying how boring the place was, even Sadie stating how dangerous it could get there to. Meeting new faces is nice, but it was even harder to see how was guest and how really worked here in my opinion.

I think it was around ten minutes and I still was having trouble finding the front desk in such a crowded place. I bumped into a few people to which I said sorry to, till I bumped into another in the aisle way and felt them touch my shoulder.

"Whoa there little guy," The person behind me chuckled, his voice for some reason bring a heated feeling down my spine. "Need any help. I saw you looking a bit lost up here."

I started to remember that I bumped into him and turned to quickly say sorry. "Y-Yeah, sorry about that it's just so..." I don't know why I stopped talking, but when I turned to look up at the man I felt my body freeze and my mouth clog.

It was the eyes, the same ones in my dreams and I remember back at Kevin's party. Blue and red, light crystal blue and deep ruby red. They were exactly the same from the ones I saw in the party, I knew they were. They were even more hypnotic and clearer up close. I couldn't stop my mouth to speak the only thing on my mind when seeing them again.

"Pretty eyes." Before i could even try to take back my words, the man before me gasped and looked just as shocked as I was. Why did I say that!?

Ethan's P.O.V

Why did he say that!? No one ever called my eyes pretty before. No one but that kid I saved from getting raped at Kevin's party, but that was over two weeks ago.

There was no where this was the same boy. I started to look down at him a bit more to make sure I was right. Brown curly hair looked to be in a shape of a rose, even soft to the touch: Check. Those dark chocolate eyes that looked to be filled with stars like the last time I saw him drugged out of his mind, but clearer and prettier: Check. Short but looking to be a bit older than he looked: Check. Even his voice sounded the same, soft and happy no matter what his mood might be. He even said how my eyes were pretty just like from the boy at the party. I blushed a bit, or at least I think I did feel how my cheeks grew a bit hot.

It was him, the boy from the party. Steven if I recalled back when Kevin told me his name. I honestly couldn't believe it was him. I was thinking we weren't going to meet again since it has been two weeks, but I guess I was wrong. I mean this is his Town after all, but he just didn;t seem like the book kind of boy. It looked like he remembered me too cause his eyes widened and his cheeks looked to have grown a bit pinker. What was that? Was he embarrassed or something? I guess anyone would be if you keep staring and not saying anything. Wait i was doing the same thing. Oh man I must be blushing just as pink as he was. Think you fool! Say something to him goddamn it or else your friends will never let you live it down. I remembered that Steven was lost and from the books in his hand, he looked like he was searching for the front desk. Right the front desk! I can just ask that, try and act like I didn't hear him call my eyes pretty. Yeah that will work! This was a piece of cheesecak-

"Thanks, you're eyes are pretty nice too," I say out of the blew, my eyes widened in shock. Why the fuck did I just say that!?

"H-Huh, oh t-thanks," Steven started to blush a bit harder, his face mixing in what looked to even more embarrassment. Great now i made him nervous. Change the subject!

I clear my throat and try to play it cool. "So you're looking for the first desk to return your due books?"

Steven gasped, the blue dying down as he shook his head. A small frown came on his face which made me wonder what might be wrong. "Oh no... I..." He shuffled his fee a bit, looking at the books in his hands. I remember seeing those before. "I... I just wanted to donate these books. I got them for a friend... but i guess we aren't friends anymore."

For a friend. Just then my head clicked on what that friend might have been. That little girl who yelled at him at the party. Looks like they never made up and she ended the friendship. No wonder I didn't see him around, the kid has been most likely moping around his house all depressed. Just great Ethan, you just met the boy and all you seem to care about is how cute he is. For peat sake he just lost a friend and most likely girlfriend too. I shook my head and tried to shake off the thoughts in my head, now was not the time to try and hit on Steven. It looked more like he just needed a friend, but it looks like he didn';t even want to give the books up. I guess he had gotten into the Saga when he was friends with that girl. Those books must mean a lot to him. I frown a bit sadly, not really knowing what to do to make him feel better.

After about another second of thinking, I decided that it was best just to talk to him about the books. Maybe even get him into a new saga and get his mind off of things a bit and of that girl. Looking around at the cart I was pulling just minutes ago, I smile and saw the perfect series to pick him up off of his funk.

"Hey, I get it," Steven looked up at me as I place my hands on his books to bring his attention to me. I gave him a smile and said, "It's hard to part ways of an awesome book, and who would. I even read the Spirit Morph Saga a few times myself."

That seem to bring a small spark in his eyes as he tipped his head at me. Gods did not looked so cute to do that. "Really," He then asked me.

I just nodded. "Yeah. I read about the awesome stories of Lisa and her talking Falcon being rebels and fighting against the tribal traditions of Magic laws of the land. I found the whole series quite amazing all on its own."

Steven just seem to smile a bit more, though I did see the shin in his eyes stay pretty dim. "Wow you know so much about Lisa too. I didn't know others liked the book so much."

"I enjoyed it yeah, even more so by the last book where Lisa's Falcon became human and they finally were able to be together." I know not many enjoyed the last book, but to me it was pretty sweet. I was shocked to see Steven's eyes light up quickly by my comment.

"You liked that ending too! I thought I was the only one." Wow, I never thought hearing him so happy like that would send a shiver down my spine. My stomach was doing flips.

I chuckled and nodded happily, "Yeah, I know how many don't like it, but I enjoyed the sweet ending. Even the pages of that awesome cake!"

Steven just seem to grin more. "So did I! My friend Connie didn't like it at al..." His grin dropped, saying the name of his ex-friend bring down his mood again.

Damn it! I thought I would bring up his mood, not wanting to push him down again. Whoever this Connie was, she messed him up big time. I just smile a bit more softly and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey now, no sad faces. We are in a library you know," I stated as I give him an even bigger smile. "If you want, I bet I can get you into more awesome series even better than Spirit Morph."

Steven's eyes seemed to widen at that, but he still looked a bit sad. "There are more stories like the Spirit Morph."

"Maybe not just like that Saga, but here. This one is one of my favorites."

I hand him the book called The Nil. It was an older cover of the book, but I thought it was better than the movie versions anyhow. It was a bit more gory and more end of the world like than the Spirit Morph Saga, but for some reason I felt like Steven would enjoy it a whole lot. I hand him the book as he took it in one of his hands. I gently took the other books from his hand as I guided us to a table to sit so I can explain the book a bit to him.

The moment we sat down, Steven opened the first page and quickly got lost in the story before I could even explain it. I was amazed to see how quick he was to read it, guessing that he was just shocked to see a different book this time than just the Spirit Morph. After the second page he did started asking questions which I was quick to answer. It was my job to explain books to others who didn't get the story right away. I mostly do it with little kids or people who are just starting to pick up a book for enjoyment than just business. Now I never read all of the books in the world, but I did read a few from each genre I can think of. This book though I had the whole three book trilogy at home and read it so many times I even knew the book line for line. Explaining a bit of it was easy for me, and I still got lost in the story just the same. Still the first one was always my favorite.

I don't know how long we had talked for, but pretty soon I was reading with Steven the first chapter. We didn't even notice a few of the people listening in and staring at us. A kid listen in and smiled at hearing the story, most likely just me speaking with more emotion than most readers do with kids. Steven was sitting closer to me and seem to be enjoying the book so much that he didn't even see me place the Saga he came down on my left side. It is amazing, seeing his eyes sparkle and so glued to the book. I never seen someone so deep into a story before. It honestly looked like he rarely even reads books like this, but when he does there was nothing stopping him from getting so lost in the book. It was so surreal and amazing. I swear I might have been looking at him more than reading. He would have to poke me a few times to keep going.

We got around the third chapter before I heard a loud slam hit the table we were on. We both jumped and looked up from the other world we were in to see two females before us. One I knew right away to be my temporary supervisor with her red hair and terrible skin complexion. I swear she makes grumpy even ten times more cuter with the face she got going on. Too much pink and blue makeup, giant eyelashes and too much lipstick. I think I even saw steven flinched at the sight of her heated face and glare. The one next to her though I didn't know. Well... she kind of reminds me of the female who was at Steven's house, laughing when he was drugged out of his mind. She was around his height and had long flowy silver purplish hair and had a dark purple skin which was weird but pretty cool. She was smirking at us, I guess she noticed how i was right away though. Who couldn't with how my eyes look anyhow.

"Mr. Bussiere," The mutant rat spat out. I didn't even bother to remember her name. She even said my last name wrong, the bitch. "Why are you having your break early? You should be putting up those books and head to the back!"

I saw Steven next to me flinch and look a bit guilty, maybe thinking that he might have kept me back from working. Not a chance, I was just going to have to help make the guilt go away. "So sorry Ma'am, but I was just helping this nice boy here get back into reading. I didn't mean to lose track of time."

"Now is not the time to be flirting with children!"

"I'm fourteen," Steven snapped back, blushing a bit in what looked to be embarrassment. Wow, he looked so cute for a fourteen year old. Is there anything this wonderful boy isn't prefect in?

The red rat just gave a look of in-amusement to the brunette. "Like I care, Mr. Bussiere needs to get back to work."

Okay this rat needs to cool it, or at least not make Steven look about ready to yell at her. Anger doesn't sit well with his cute face. I stood up and smirked playfully, making the young teen blush slightly in what I hope was bashfulness as I bow to him. "My apologies Steven," He gasped when I said his name, but I just took his hand and gave it a kiss. "But I must go back to my slave work. Let's faith meet us again cutie~"

With that I stood up and winked at him, happy to see him blush an even redder color. I quickly grabbed his old Spirit Morph Saga and pointed at the book in his hands. "Take that home with you, need any help understanding it and just come on back. I'm here every weekday."

I start walking away and I hear steven call out to me. "W-Wait. Can I at least have your name?"

Yes! Yes he wanted to know my name. Wait... Why didn't give it out before? Damn it! I turn back and answer back. "Ethan. See you around Steven."

With that I walk off to completely my work, blushing deeply at what had just happened. I look down at the books he was planning to give away in my hands, heading to the front desk to give them up. My smile wouldn't go away all day, yeah maybe the whole week if I'm lucky. I do hope Steven comes back again. There's just something about him that makes me smile. Maybe I get to learn more about him some later date.

I wish it was tomorrow though.