AN/ Is this really the fifth chapter to this thing? Holly wow. Well, might as well update it. Reading through this story, I can see how my writing style has developed as I've grown and learned how to work with FF. Net, yeah there are still some issues I have here and there as well as limitations, but this IS only my second story I've ever written and I'm glad you guys are actually still reading this old thing.

Thanks to those of you who have commented, I love all of your comments, reading them really warms my heart! you guys are something special! HURRR BULLIES ARE BULLIES BEING BULLIES but it's okay because Lapis tells them off. Like a pro.

Also. As always.

I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT FOR LAPIS'S MOM.

"You like that, punk?"

"Frankly, no."

"Good. I'm gonna make you wish you and your family never came into this country," everything felt heavy to Lapis as she laid out on her back, hard arms held her down as that hot, moist, rancid breath rolled over her face, making her gag and recline as far away from that stank as she could. This was just another nightmare that haunted the young woman sense forever. Back home there were bullies. Every school she'd ever attended, there were bullies. Here was no different.

But this time it WAS different.

It was different because she didn't WANT to leave. She was in line for the school's swim team captain. Her parents had a smooth income. She had friends here...

She had Peridot.

"Peri..."

"Hmm? You made a friend already? Well, looks like I'll have to hurt her too.."

"W- What?"

"Yesssss..." The voice hissed thickly like a snake with a poisonous toothy smile laced into the very fabric of it's gross being "I will make her suffer, and you... I will make you watch!"

"You're a monster..."

"Yes Lapis, and I'm YOUR monster~" Tight. Everything felt very tight, constricting, her breath coming shorter as the arms squeezed around her entire body, crushing her. The darkness was closing in and her mind was screaming at her to run.

So she did. Lapis pulled away from the dark by thrashing violently, gaining an upper hand and her footing before sprinting in any direction she could. Anywhere to get away.

BOOM.

"Lapis, what the fuck..?" Peridot stood in the doorway of her bedroom, having let her guest use her room for the night and allowed herself clearance of the couch. Blonde hair proving her obvious sleeping conditions to have been minimal and restless along with the tired scowl set into her face. Green eyes trained on the other girls prone figure laying sprawled out on the floor looking frightened and confused.

"I- I had a nightmare..." With a sigh, the tall nerd made her way over to the other girl, crouching beside her and helped her sit up.

"Must have been something awful to make you scream like you did and run in your sleep," blue looked to Peridot before looking back to the bed. She had slept-walked before, but nothing ever like this. Her shoulder also hurt pretty bad, had she ran into something? Probably. Lapis allowed her eyes to scan the room a before they landed on the closet door she had found herself sitting in-front of.

"-oh.. uh..." the door had a sizable dent in it now, the wood splintered and caved in where she assumed she had connected with the surface "I- I'm sorry about-"

"-Hey, don't worry about it," the nerd smiled a little, rubbing the other's back with gentle slow circles in means to comfort her "I'll hang a poster over it or something. Why don't we go make you a cup of tea, you are spooky tense right now."

Tea did sound pretty good.

So they made tea, or well.. Peridot made tea and Lapis sat herself at the dining table and watched. The kettle heating comfortably on the stove and two mugs sat at the ready, chamomile teabags present in each.

"Did I wake you?"

"A little."

"I'm sorry-"

"-Ey, you quit that. Nightmares are cruel and unusual not to mention unpredictable and unwanted. Don't apologize for something you can't control." She shut her mouth tightly after that, looking to her feet with a deep sigh. Such little sleep this week is turning her into quite a crabby individual. The taller came around the table and gently wrapped her arms around the seated girl's shoulders, Lapis nearly instantly relaxed against the other girl as Peridot rested her chin on the top of that mop of brown hair, "now that was uncalled for.. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you."

"No no, I get where you are coming from.. I just feel bad for waking you up, is all." Something in the way the girl said this warmed the nerd's insides and made her smile a little.

"Awe, don't worry about me Lapis. Mi-casa su-casa."

"You speak Spanish?"

"Like that one phrase and only because of YouTube-Poop," Lapis snorted a little with a laugh before moving to cover her face in embarrassment. Peridot pulled back enough to look at the goof of a girl with a grin and a raised eyebrow, "what's so funny?"

"You said 'poop'."

"You are five." That earned her a smile as those big blue eyes looked up at her. How easy would it be to just lean down and meet those sweet lips in a single simple kiss, the answer to that would be very easy, but everything going through Peridot's tired head at the moment conflicted every little thought and made her rethink think everything ten-fold.

Thankfully she didn't have to think hard for very long seeing as the teapot took this opportunity to screech with steaming heat.

They sat for a while, just enjoying some small conversation and tea. The sun had started to peak up over the town, signaling that a new dawn had begone. So much for getting back to sleep.

"Would it be cool if I used your shower?"

"Yeah sure, go for it." A thought floated behind her eyes for a moment, what did her bathroom look like again..? Did she leave anything out? Did she have cloths laying around that she should probably go pick up? Wait why is she worrying, Lapis had already been in there like three times sense she got here. Take a chill-pill Peri.

"Alright cool, thanks!" And with that, the shorter snagged up her bag and darted off to the bathroom. Leaving Peridot to finish her tea and put both their cups in the sink. She should use this time to work on schoolwork, but her eyelids were much too heavy at the moment, so she opted for laying back down on the couch and closing her eyes.

Half hour nap or so couldn't hurt, could it?

"Hey Peri, I need some help!"

"What?"

"I'm incompetent!"

"Okay?"

"I forgot to bring a towel in with me."

Had it already been thirty minutes? The blonde glanced at a clock on the wall before scowling at the time. She had napped for about twelve minutes. What the heck, It usually takes Peridot twenty minutes just to get in the shower, she couldn't see how it was physical possible for someone to take such a short shower.

Beside her body's desire to continue to lay there and let the girl fend for herself, she grumbled a little and stood up. Gathering a spare towel from the hall closet before coming to the bathroom door. Bringing her fist up, she knocked on the surface lightly to gain the attention of the rooms occupant.

"Peri?"

"Nah, It's the pizza delivery guy. Yes it's Peridot." Kicking herself a little as she caught herself snapping at the other again. Gosh she had to start growing a sarcasm filter soon or she was going to offend someone with her rudeness.

The door opened a little, allowing the brunette to poke her head out from behind it. Hair dripping and a comical and childish pout puffing out her slightly pink cheeks, ocean eyes looked up at the other through choppy wet bangs.

Cute.

"How was I supposed to know you weren't your mom or something?"

"Well for a start, mum is away on business and has been out for about two weeks, I am also an only child. No worries."

"Sounds lonely," Lapis snaked an arm out and took the towel, retreating back into the room with it but didn't close the door for the sake of conversation.

"Sounds lonely, sure, but it's not when I'm having attractive girls run amok in my house," with a yawn, the taller leaned against the wall beside the bathroom with a content air about her.

"What was that?"

"I said It's not so lonely when I got girls running amok in my house." What part was she getting hung-up on? The word "amok"? The shorter poked her head out of the door one more time, dark colored shirt adorning her shoulders this time and her hair looked like it had been through a towel tornado.

"You think I'm attractive?"

"Did I say that..?"

Blue eyes rolled with a smirk as she ducked behind the door once again as she chuckled at the flustered expression on the nerd's face.

"You're so gay, Peri."

"Yeah probably.. Hey are you dressed yet? I gotta brush my teeth!"

There were no answer as the door was pulled open by the occupant, a toothbrush already in her mouth. This was okay, right? I mean, they were friends now, they can brush their teeth together and have tea at like four in the morning. Nothing wrong with that.

They made their way out of the house an hour early and decided breakfast was a good idea, so they stopped off at the local Subway for sandwiches. Why was conversation so easy for them? They talked about nearly everything they could think of off the top of their heads, some of it really simple, like "what's your favorite color?" or "no, Pikachu was not the first Pokemon made, he's just one of the most popular because of anime and Pokemon Yellow version" sometimes it was really complex stuff, like "positive and negative ionic bonds can be stripped from nitrogen atoms with a great enough heat through an electrical current, correct? That stimulation usually heats air into plasma, so in nature that's like what... lightning, right?"

They were nerds.

And they were comfortable with each other but, this comfortable was so... different.

A good different.

School was a blast, all the teens were giddy for the weekend and the teachers were nearly relieved by the fact that they didn't have to get up and look at children tomorrow. Tests were had and school work was dished out, but no one seemed worried or bothered by having some work to do over the weekend, they'd all probably put it off until the very last minute anyway.

Pearl was the first to approach Peridot in the lunchroom, "so, big beef texted me, she said you can't come with us to the movies after school because why?"

"I'm going to the track after school."

"EW GROSS! You mean you actually exercise!?" Amethyst almost tripped over herself as she turned to face the blonde teen with an expression of disbelief as if Peridot had told her she was pregnant. Naturally the nerd in question rolled her eyes and put her tray down at the lunch table, the other three following suit in a similar fashion.

"Not that track, you clod. I'm going to the race track."

"Like.. cars?"

"Like NASCAR?!" Pearl choked on water as she put two and two together "You mean... Your date is LAPIS?"

"Uh.. yeah?"

"Dude that's so awesome! Did she score you guys like, VIP seats or some shit?"

"Yeah," Lapis, late as usual, shows up and sits beside Amethyst at her usual spot "we get a private viewing booth and garage access so we could go meet the drivers if we really wanted to."

"Holly crap man.. Your parent's are cool with that?"

"...Cool with what? I don't understand.."

"Like, you bringing a GIRL to the track. Just gonna watch cars drive in a circle for like, four hours. ALONE. In a PRIVATE room. With a GIRL."

"Um, yeah? They'd probably ship me back to Cuba if I brought a guy." Dark eyes watched Lapis for a moment before quirking an eyebrow at her. The attempts at trying to be subtle with this woman was proving to be a fruitless effort, so the stocky woman placed a thick palm onto the table and leaned closer to the brunette.

"How gay are y- OW! Shit Peri, did you just kick me?"

"Quit bein a jerk and eat your damn lunch, Ame."

Some time passed as the four dined on their equally nasty provided school lunches. The tension slowly dwindling up until Lapis put her plastic fork down, looking like she was bracing herself for someone to kick her in the ribs, head down and eyes hidden behind her bangs. This alone demanded the attention of every participant seated at the table.

"I am very gay, and... It's one of the reasons we moved to this town in the first place. This is the eighth school in this state that my parents had enrolled me into because the bullying became too much of a problem. Exactly eight times I've had to give up everything and start over in another unfamiliar place to deal with nameless, faceless people," her knuckles turning the tan skin of her hands white as she gripped the table like a vice, shoulders taught and back ridged as she continued "I'm getting really sick and tired of unpacking and repacking, tired of getting my hopes up, tired of pretending, and I'm especially tired of fucking running."

Other people at other tables were starting to turn and listen, whispering to one another with hushed voices. They would probably spread roomers later about that weird new kid being a psycho or something, but currently no one at the table with her was paying any of the onlookers any mind. Peridot stood and walked around the table, meeting Amethyst's eyes for a second as the short girl stood up and let the nerd have her seat beside the distressed Lazuli, herself taking Peri's old spot beside Pearl.

No one had words for the girl, millions of words spun in their heads, but nothing seemed to pass their logical barriers. Peridot gently placed her hand over the other's, watching as the color returned to it and seeing the girl visibly deflate. That once ridged back hunching and those shoulders dropping, the hand that wasn't occupied was brought up and under those choppy dyed bangs to wipe away tears that had threatened to fall.

Stars did Peridot hate to see her cry...

"I'm just... I'm really scared. I actually kinda like it here. I can laugh with you guys and the classes aren't half bad. Yeah, I'm still getting bullied, but I think I can get through it... but.."

"Your parents.."

"..Yeah.. they'll take one look at my face and the next day we'll be fucking packing again," a sniffle sounded from the smaller and it seemed to visibly break something behind the nerd's eyes.

"Don't say that Lapis-"

"-But it's true, Peri. You don't know them like I know them."

Pearl leaned forward and placed her hand on top of the blonde's whom was still resting over brunettes, "this is true, but we know you. Maybe we don't know you as well as some, but we are developing.."

Amethyst rolled her eyes at Pearl, her own smaller but larger hand engulfed the gingers, completing a tower of distinctively unique and quirky, yet not repulsive or inept hands. Almost like something a football group huddle would do just before the big game, "see here, L. My dork friends are trying to say, we know you are going through some shit... everything hurts right now and it's scary, but whatever happens at home or here at school, we are here for ya and we will stand beside you every step of the way."

"We want to help, Lapis... In any way we can. You aren't alone." Peridot gently leaned on the smaller woman, almost surprised at how close their proximity had grown. The brunette inhaled a deep shaken breath before relaxing against the others side, nodding a little. Letting her head come up to look the girls in the eyes. They were all holding genuine expressions that very well described their individual personalities in one single glance. Those personalities very much like their hands...

Long thin, confident and dainty.

Short and thick, but very warm and soft.

And then cold very overdressed.

"My stars I'm surrounded by homos," Amethyst nearly fell out of her seat backwards in laughter at Lapis's genus observation "regardless... thanks," the red-head gave a light chuckle before pulling her own hand away from the mass, Ame having removed hers to steady herself in her laughter.

"Dawe, look at us, getting all mushy and shit. Let's go dump our trays before we're late for class." They all shared their numbers with Lapis (aside from the one whom already had her number) after that lunch and texted each other all throughout the remaining classes that day, these antics landed oll responsible Pearl in detention for the first time in her life and made Peridot very late for History class. Overall it was a good time.

Swim practice had lasted a bit longer than it usually went, Lapis hadn't shown up at their usual spot yet. Perhaps she actually had some work to do, that wouldn't surprise the blonde in the slightest, that little scamp was good at stuff when she put her mind to things, but Peridot observed that the brunette often tended to become distracted by the little things and get hung up on stuff often or not even be able to bridge the gap between two things at all. She was also pretty stubborn and hard-headed at times, but knew when to stop pressing a situation.

Hm, mayby these are just more reasons why you like her so much, Peri.

"If only you saw what I could see-"

"-what the hell?"

"You'd understand why I want you so desperately-"

"Fucking stars, Ame! You changed my ringtone again, didn't you?!" The blonde having become thoroughly irritated at her phone, removed it from it's place in the front pocket of her trousers.

"Right now I'm lookin at you and I can't believe-"

"You don't kno-o-oh-"

"I swear, I'm so going to camp her spawn one of these days... Hello?"

"You don't know your beautiful." Peridot shrieked and nearly jumped a foot in the air as the voice sounded directly beside her. Eyes wide she whirled on the other person whom was leaning over the back of the bench lazily, eyeing her in return with a mischievous grin.

"Lapis what the heck! I almost chucked my phone at you, you gave me such a fright!"

"I couldn't help myself, the opportunity was right there. I was just gonna sneak up on you and say 'Boo' but that ringtone is priceless."

"Did you do this? Did you vandalize my phone with OneDirection?"

"Maybe."

"How dare you.."

Some apologies were said and hugs were had before the shorter handed over her VIP tag and lanyard pass for the track, digging herself her own out of her bag. They hung out at the school for a while, deciding what they were going to do for food and how they would eventually tell her parents about the busted nose and black eyes.

Peridot was quick to flick open her pizza delivery app during their walk to the biggest structure this city was known for.

"So... do you get a broken nose often?"

"Ha, no. This time though, It was pretty much my fault.."

"Your fault? what did you do?"

"I went out looking for the punks that egged my house."

"Oh?"

"I found one of them."

"And?"

"I said 'No te tengo miedo, hijo de puta' and that if she ever came around our property again I would call la policia." Peridot stopped in her tracks and looked to the other girl with a raised eyebrow, lips drawn into a fine line as her bright green eyes swam with curiosity. The shorter stopping a few paces ahead and turned to see what had made the other stop.

"..no tee- ten-go meido- what?"

"I told them I wasn't scared, then I called them a son of a whore." Why did this excite Peridot? Why is she smiling and patting the other girl on the back in congratulations? Why did she get this warm bubbly feeling in her guts when the other girl smiled back? So many questions...

Too many questions.

Eventually they were both pushing through the crowd, deciding that they should probably go find Lapis's parents and tell them that they made it here safe before they went up to their booth. A rather tall and imposing woman must have recognized the short brunette, seeing as she started waving wildly in the direction of the two girls. That must be mom. Her face was very angular and her eyes were dark, but she had some qualities that reminded the nerd a little of lapis, like the pointed nose and those slightly thick but nicely pronounced eyebrows as well as the chestnut hair color.

"Hola Mami, quiero que conozcas a mi nueva novia! Peridot, this is my mother; Mami, this is Peridot!"

"Ah, Peridot! Is so nice to you! I'm Ezmeralda Lazuli," She held out her hand to the blonde whom accepted the gesture in kind.

"Hello, It's a pleasure to meet you as well."

"Where is Papi?"

"He's parking, I was curious to see if the cars were out already or no- VAYA POR DEOS child! What have you done to your face?!" Lapis faltered a little, but Peridot gently leaned into her side, letting her know she was still there.

"I- I-"

"Was it the bullies again? Sucio..." They could see the muscles working in the woman's jaw, she looked livid, almost feral. Lapis stepped forward, toward the talons of the angry Cuban.

"Si, but-"

"-But what?"

"It was my fault, Mami! I found the comepinga who egged our house and I told them to step off!" That made the woman's brown eyes grow wide at her daughter, jaw falling slack "I'm done, mom. I'm done changing schools when something happens or when something goes wrong. I just can't do it anymore, It's tearing me apart!" Ezmeralda reached out and put her hand on the girl's shoulder before stooping and pulling the smaller into a hug.

"Oh Lapis... We had no idea.. we just wanted to protect you. Why didn't you say something sooner.." She let her daughter go after a few long seconds of embracing, holding her by the shoulders at arms length to look her in the eyes, "you really are your father's girl," with those words she dropped her hands to her sides and stood back up, letting Lapis return to her position beside Peridot, "we will talk about this more later, I want to hear all the details about my daughter being a bad-ass, but for now, you girls go have fun!"

"Thanks Mami, see you and Papi later!"

"And Peridot?"

"Yes Mrs. Lazuli?

"You take care of my daughter, be gentle!"

"UM. Alright sure!" They were waved off as the sea of people grew around them, everyone moving in the direction of the entrance. Once or twice they'd actually lost one another before they decided it was probably a good thing that they hold hands so one of them doesn't get abducted by crazed murderers.

With a flash of their passes to one of the guys standing on duty, they were escorted out of the crowd and up a flight some steps and into the stands. The guy pointed in the direction of the booths and let them be on their way before returning to his post.

"So uh... Lapis.."

"Huh?" They entered the second booth down, impressed by the loft space inside. Being presented with a very big couch facing a window that overlooked the whole track, behind the couch was a large table with two mini refrigerators stacked on top of it, a popcorn machine beside them. The pizza they ordered earlier also sat on the table along with a note from the delivery guy saying he paid for it and to have a good time. Speakers sat in the back corners of the room and between them sat an old record player so the rooms occupants could listen to the game and listen to some classy music when they wanted. The room was nicely lit and had a lot of memorabilia lining the walls proudly along with many trophies.

Spiffy.

"...Holly wow this is nice."

"Right though? I looked through them all when my parents bought the track, I personally liked this one best."

"Super homely."

"My thoughts exactly! So..." she sunk into couch, looking at the blonde expectantly "what were you going to say?"

"I have a question, but I want you to be honest with me.."

"Okay?"

"Is this an attempt at pursuing a possibly romantic relationship with me?"

END Chapter5

AN/ Fug guys, I messed up my finger trying to fix my truck last night, but I managed to put this out regardless. I warn you, I don't speak Spanish, I speak English French Polish and Chinese so if I messed up something and it offended someone I am very sorry. I also use Mami and Papi because I don't know, those just sound cuter in my head.

Thanks again guys for sticking around, I wish all of you a good day/night! Stay rad and read happy!