Love Bites! Chapter 5

Mixed Feelings

Remain cool…Just like Garnet told me…Remain cool. Steven repeated to himself multiple times. The warm touch he felt from Connie's hand as she dragged him inside the building made him blush. Even more sweat poured down his neck and he was starting to shake from his uncomfortable nerves. However, his brown eyes widened as he saw the scene of the place. He even gripped onto his gift for stress relief.

"This looks fun. There are games here, a restaurant, and even small little rides." Connie positively stated. "Oh, and a dance floor."

Their eyes wandered around the big play area and in seconds their confused faces turned into faces of excitement. Steven's mouth instantly dropped as soon as his eyes were met with a ride that made him cringe; Love Room. But to his relief, they didn't make their way to that nerve wrecking ride.

"Don't we need coins in order to play games or go on those rides?" Steven asked but was hushed when his friend took out a twenty dollar bill from her pocket.

"No worries. I got this for the both of us." She claimed with a smile. Connie dashed to the coin machine, leaving a burst of wind behind her.

To be honest, Steven never saw Connie this excited before. After all their times and jokes spent together, this is by far the happiest she has been until he realized that the shy girl never really had a friend. She would be often lonely with only a book by her side. Connie never even experienced the joy of parties and being with other kids her age. Steven grinned to himself as he knew that he made the right decision of making her his friend and asked her out to their 'date.' It was something he knew that Connie will treasure in her memories.

"I bought us fifty coins. We'll share them. Honestly, I can't show you how happy I am from you asking me here...even if we're on like a date…" Connie's words awkwardly slipped from her tongue and her eyes avoided Steven's stare.

To her surprise, she felt him hug her. A little shiver ran down her spine, making her twitch. Connie could even fell blood rush through her cheeks which were blushing. Heart pounding and shortness of breath; was this what it feels like having a crush?

"We're going to be friends to the end, Connie. No matter what destiny we have, we'll be together." Steven muttered, his eyes completely open. He never noticed that he made an act of hugging her.

Behind Connie's strands of brown hair, Steven's arm glowed with a small pink light. His bite mark was slowly disappearing away, but being more absorbed into his skin. The venom the spiders left in his body was slowly taking him over. It made him more lightheaded and for some reason love sick.

"Steven? You're hugging me for much too long now. It's getting awkward…"

"Oh, sorry."

The gem smiled as he released his friend and scratched the back of his head. He needed to change the subject right away.

"Want to grab something to eat? I'm starving and I'll pay...like a gentleman." As much fun as he wanted to have, he knew that his rumbling stomach would disturb him.

"Sure. Want to grab a burger, for you. I'll have a salad because I can't really have a burger and my parents really don't want me eating it." Connie said, patting her stomach that was in the same state as Steven's.

"What? You need to try one. They're delicious! We'll share mine!" Steven offered as he took her hand and ran to the small restaurant. Luckily, it was empty due to everyone paying attention to the games and rides.

…

"Drake! We're totally killing it on the dance floor, boyfriend!" Amethyst exclaimed through the loud music, dancing seductively to her 'boyfriend.' It hasn't even been an hour since the gem met him, yet she was instantly taken away by his charms. Being cute, hot, and even as outgoing as her, he was everything she ever wanted.

"Not as much as you babe!"

"Aww…"

This was perfect. Everything went according to his plan. Drake managed to get Amethyst since she assumes that they're together. From the corner of his eyes he can see Garnet, searching around the dance floor for someone; most likely him. Then in the corner, he saw Pearl trying to catch a man's attention at the bar's counter by talking to him. The man however wasn't paying any attention to her except to his phone. Drake was lustful as he saw the three girls he wanted to have each night for the rest of the week. Tonight, he craved for Amethyst's body, but he still needed to gain the other two gems' love.

"I'm going to get a drink. You want any?" He lied to Amethyst who shook her head. She still wanted to remain dancing. "I'll be right back, babe."

Drake pushed his way through the crowd, trying to find Garnet. He eventually made his way, but was surprised to see her gone from her spot. Dumbfounded, he moved his eyes through the crowd trying to find Garnet's identifying afro.

"Drake?"

The player turned around to see the red gem with her hand on her hip. Her lips were smiling as she nudged his shoulder with her elbow. It seemed as if she was happy to see him. Drake knew that this was a good sign.

"Garnet. Where were we?"

"We were dancing. There, you told me that you're a master in Taekwondo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I wanted to ask you if one day we can train together and show me moves from those styles." Garnet managed to speak through her normal, yet shaky tone.

The stoic leader of the gems lightly laughed as she rubbed her neck. Somehow, she knew she was feeling a warm feeling for Drake. She never felt the feeling of actual love for another person of the opposite gender. Even for her past ex, this wasn't normal for her. She actually found Drake quite attractive. What she didn't noticed that he was too good to be true and was nothing but lies.

"Are you sure? I don't want to brag, but-"

"Show me. I doubt that any human being can be stronger than me." She formed her hands into fists and punched into the air.

"We'll see about that." Drake lied, gulping. He knew that if Garnet found out what he wanted to mostly do to her, she would kill him instantly. Especially if she found out he was lying.

"I suppose this can be a date then." He foolishly stated. There he noticed a pause with their conversation. He couldn't tell if Garnet was shocked from joy or in disgust. Unexpectedly, her smile turned into a wider smile and she took his hand.

"Yes. It can." Her heart pounded faster along her bite mark glowing even more.

"Perfect. When do you want to meet? This Saturday morn-" Drake deviously smiled.

"Saturday morning is fine. I'll be on the shore waiting for you."

Drake chuckled as trapped Garnet under his trap. Due to his twisted mind, he already prepared himself for a harsh break-up with the leader. Fear still ran inside him, but he was still glad with his plan.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're beautiful, Garnet? Behind that stony personality and that tough skin, I see an innocent angel. Sure you killed lots of things and can lift cars and big rocks, but you still are a beauty." He said with a rich voice.

Drake passionately looked at the gem and reached to her face. His hands reached to her shades, wanting to see her eyes. Garnet didn't do anything as she stood frozen on the ground, allowing him to see her freaky feature. She even puckered her lips, thinking Drake will then kiss her.

What...am...I...doing? This is completely unlike me. Snap out of it! But, I think I'm in...love… Garnet then gave in. Never had she heard anyone talk to her that way. She couldn't fight it, but she knew this wasn't her.

"Garnet…" The man whispered to her, until they were shaken by a yell.

"DRAKE! GARNET! WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY BOYFRIEND?!" The voice loudly yelled behind Drake's back. The two instantly broke apart from each other as they met face to face with Amethyst.

The youngest gem's brows were furrowed down with anger as she growled. "Thanks for being a backstabber, Garnet as you're trying to smooch my boyfriend. Drake is mine. Go find yourself another man."

"You never told me that you already have a boyfriend." Garnet argued back, completely disappointed.

"I didn't felt like it, but then I realized that I made a mistake. And, since when did you like boys, huh?" Amethyst spat at her companion, forcefully taking Drake's arm.

"Why can't I? You cannot command me, Amethyst. Drake never told me that he has you." The two gem's eyes then suddenly popped open then directed their attention to the man who was slightly trembling.

"Babes. I can't date the both of you. I can only be-"

"Mine! You're mine, hottie." The shorter girl laughed as she walked away with Drake by her side. "Bye Garnet, you backstabber!"

Leaving behind them was a furious Garnet. She gritted her teeth as she could feel her gems glow along with her. She didn't enjoy the feeling of a broken heart. To her this was declared war. War for the love and attention of a human man. Garnet stomped towards the two that left her and grabbed her crush's shoulder. The gem knew that something wasn't right with their relationship.

"Garnet, leave us alone!" Amethyst said with anger.

"I am your boss, Amethyst. Never treat me this way or you're going to regret it. Has Drake confirmed that you two are together?" The gem asked with arms crossed.

"I don't know, but we're together. You can't tell me what to do!"

"I can if it's not right!"

The two gems glared at each other with desires to finish each other off. Garnet was ready for her to punch and kick some sense into the younger gem while Amethyst was ready to grab her whip. They were both blinded as the desire for love was taking them over. They even had their friendship and trust at risk. All those precious memories together, disappear all because of a man.

"Ladies. Please don't fight and ruin this perfect night." Drake tried to calm them down, but received a cold shoulder from both of them then continued to argue. "I'll just leave…"

At the bar's counter sat a lonely gem. Her head rested on her hand as she stared out into the dance floor. Pearl sighed as she saw so many young men, but it was impossible for her to find the perfect companion. Deep inside, she wanted to go home and call it a day while the other was going to take a risky way of finding her mate by enchanting the men on the dance floor with her dancing. That could lead her down a road she wouldn't enjoy, but at least she would receive the attention and love of a man.

"Why does love have to be so complicated?" Pearl complained to herself. "I just want to find my knight in shining armor."

On the other side of the bar's counter was Drake. Next on his list was Pearl. She was alone and sad, making him feel bad for her. Drake even thought that she looked cute. Getting up from his seat and ordering two drinks, he made his way to the slim woman.

"Excuse me…"

…

"So, we're going to the pinball machine after this. Then we'll go to the dance floor and try to win those prizes." Steven said with a mouthful of fries.

Connie laughed as she sipped her milkshake and took a giant bite of Steven's burger. "Yes. I heard a prize was a little goldfish."

Never has she thought that the food her parents forbid her to eat would be so delicious. It was even Steven's treat so she had to accept it in order to be polite. The detail that made her blush though was that they were sharing a food and drink, but Steven didn't seem to mind.

"The best game that gives us tons of tickets is Gut Crusher. It's hard though…and scary." The gem boy paused as he shivered at the horror of the mentioned game.

"Don't worry. We'll play together. We have to fight zombies and aliens in that one right?" Connie replied with happiness.

"Y-yea."

"Yup, we'll win."

The two friends continued to finish their meals. They would laugh at little jokes and Steven would talk with his hands as he talked about his past missions with the Crystal Gems. The two children completely forgot that they were on a date. It felt like an average day of their time hanging out with each other. Once they finished their meal and paid for it, they were off.

"Pinball machine here we come!" Steven exclaimed until he was hushed by the big line it had.

Another child with long black hair was beating the game as it gave her many tickets which were piling over each other. She didn't even show signs that she would stop, but there were kids who were waiting in line to play games. Beaten, Steven sighed as he looked back to Connie. There she was pointing to Gut Crusher which was filled with older kids. She knew they had to go somewhere else.

"We can come back later. Want to go to the dance floor to try and see if they're giving away prizes now."

Steven nodded as he walked away with Connie by his side. Most of all he wanted to play games with his friend, or'girlfriend' which he isn't sure about calling her. Walking past many games and rides that were filled with little or older kids, they saw the dance floor and its DJ. The floor mostly consisted of dancing couples which made the boy's heart jump to his throat. The last thing he wanted was an awkward close dance with Connie. There were times when Pearl would teach him the art of dance, but he knew no matter how many times he practiced, he would fail his dance with Connie.

"Alright, Valentine couples. This song goes out to all you lovers. So take this time to slowly dance with them and tell them how much they mean to you. After, we'll be having a contest filled with prizes." The DJ announced through their microphone.

The two friends stared at each other. Neither one of them knew whether to make the first move or not. More sweat began to drip from Steven's neck as he trembled until his hand grabbed onto Connie's shoulder and the other hand was gripped into hers, making their presents drop onto the floor.

What am I doing? Help me… Steven mentally cried out loud to himself.

"Want to dance with me, Connie?"

Connie sweetly smiled as she took the next step in dancing. Steven then followed her step, looking down to his feet. He gulped and showed his tooth filled grin, making his friend giggle. Step after step and twirl after twirl, the two were lost into the soft music. It wasn't as bad as Steven thought it would be. Instead, he quite enjoyed it. Another little detail that made him enjoy it was seeing Connie under the lights. Her glasses shined, yet her eyes were brought out. She looked cute and beautiful. Steven then noticed that his hands were bringing her closer to her which made the both of them madly blush.

Is this what a date is? Steven asked himself, smiling from ear to ear as Connie leaned her head against his I falling in love?

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-Gem Goddess (GG)