A/N: CONTENT WARNING: Steven wishing he hadn't been born.

"Steven, seriously, chill out, dude," Lucas urged. Steven continued pacing; kept wearing away the carpet of Mike's basement. Steven sighed. "I can't, Lucas; this is, like, my whole life! He called me a Diamond! He said my Gem was a Diamond! This is nuts!"

Lucas sighed exhaustedly. "Remind me why these Diamonds are so important again?"

Steven paused his pacing to stare incredulously at Lucas. So this was how Peridot had felt. It felt different to be on the receiving end of such questions; such innocent questions. Ah, how blissful his ignorance was.

"They're the rulers of Gemkind! Some of the most powerful people out there! They're the people my mom, who's apparently one of them, was fighting against; because they wanted to hollow out the planet! This is crazy, guys! She started a war! Humans and Gems died and the shards Homeworld got their hands on got force-fused into these awful creatures. They put a giant one made of who knows how many poor Gems in the planet's core so that it could form and destroy it! If my mom was a Diamond, then... that changes everything!It was all pointless!"

Steven was gripping his curls now, arms shaking with the force as tears trailed down from the corners of his eyes. "Whoa, whoa, calm down, bud," Mike urged, getting up from the couch Steven was pacing in front of, which seated the others, and walking toward Steven.

Bud. Steven was so tired of these kids treating him like he was actually eight. Like, mentally and emotionally, rather than just physically. It was crazy. They'd been through a lot, sure, but none of it compared to what he'd been through. He was caught up in an intergalactic war with an alien race that wanted to suck the universe dry and who thought he was his mom-who he might actually be and her identity was a neon sign that screamed from his stomach to all of Homeworld saying "Yeah! It's me!" And she's a war criminal by the way and also apparently one of them-and these people, what, got raised in a lab? Went missing for a while? And they were the ones treating him like a kid?

Steven registered Mike's hands on his shoulders and snapped back to reality. Great, he'd just had a panic attack in front of everybody. Hyperventilation and everything. Awesome.

"C'mon, dude. Let's sit down. You've gotta calm down."

Steven calmed his breathing slightly and let Mike guide him by the shoulder toward the couch with everyone else. "I know, man. It sucks having someone tell you you need to calm down when you feel like your world's ending. I've been there."

Steven's breathing completely calmed as he turned to Mike in shock. Mike just chuckled. Steven's angered, panicked heart softened. He suddenly felt guilty for diminishing their trauma. Even if it didn't seem like a lot to him, it was only because he was thinking from the intergalactic scale he was used to; while these kids dealt with world-ending scenarios that were (relatively) a lot more down-to-Earth. Stars, what Steven wouldn't give for a more down-to-Earth life. He loved the Gems, but he knew they hadn't always loved him. And there'd always be that wedge there. He'd always be the one Rose (from their perspective, anyway) died for. He'd always be the Human who stole their leader's Gem and pretended to be one of them. He'd always be Steven and not Rose. To Connie and his dad, he was too Gem. To the Gems, he was too Human. He didn't fit in anywhere and he was so tired of it. And just when he was starting to have an identity crisis on top of it all, not even knowing who he was in addition to what he was, he finds out even his mom-who's already controversial enough, being, y'know, a galactic war criminal and all, the one everyone wishes were here instead of him, the one Steven resents for leaving him to deal with her garbage-she might well be one of the very villains she'd started this whole mess to oppose in the first place. If she really was a Diamond, then it was all pointless. And if she was a Diamond, and he was her, what did that make him?

Steven clutched his head and whimpered, breathing picking up ever so slightly. He was dealing with two separate identity crises at the same time; both with wildly different, yet still interconnected implications. The pounding in his head was too much. The thrumming of energy in his Quartz (Diamond?) was too much. It was all too much. He agreed with the Gems. He agreed with his father. He wished his mom were here instead of him.

Mike's large, lanky arm wrapping protectively around him helped to ground him; helped calm him down. He almost gave into the urge to lean into it and sob his heart out at the unfairness of it all, but he was scared that if he started he'd never stop. So he sat there in misery instead; wishing Mom were here. Wishing he wasn't anywhere.

When he finally managed to calm down and the painful lump in his throat disappeared; when the imminent threat of crying subsided for the time being, Lucas guiltily, softly said, "I'm sorry, man. I didn't mean to shit on your problems or anything. I can't imagine how all this crap must feel; how much it's gotta suck ass dealing with this."

Steven shook his head. "It's alright. You didn't know. Humans don't understand. They never do."

"What?" Lucas asked. Steven sighed; leaning a bit more into Mike's side-hug. "I'm not fully Human; but I'm also not fully Gem. I don't fit in anywhere and I'm the only person like this. I'm too weird for my Human friends but too normal for my Gem ones. I just..." He sniffled. "Feel so lonely..."

Steven felt Mike's grip tighten in response to his near-crying. Steven could have turned his head to see Max's pity, El's sorrow, or Lucas' guilt.

Steven didn't turn.

"I...know what it feels like."

"Huh?" Steven asked through the first little tears, turning his head to look at El. "I know how lonely it feels. To be...different from everyone else. To be special even though you don't want to be. I never got to meet any of my brothers and sisters besides Kali; Eight."

"When I first met Mike, Lucas, and Dustin... I didn't belong."

Steven saw Lucas cringe slightly as El mentioned that.

"A lot of the time I still don't feel like a belong. Around people-around normal people. There's so many things I don't know or understand that everybody else does. But I'm getting better. One day...you will, too."

Steven couldn't quite explain the sudden camaraderie he felt. He still didn't feel like El could fully relate to what he was going through, but he'd never met anyone who could so accurately put into words how it felt to be one-of-a-kind.

"Thanks, El," Steven smiled gratefully. El managed a small, shy smile in return. Max spoke up next. "Y'know, when I first moved here and met Mike, Lucas, Will and Dustin, I felt pretty out of place, too."

Max smirked. "I'll be honest. My home life was-and still is, mind you-pretty shitty. The people I live with? Even shittier. Billy's, like, the only one there with an ounce of redeeming quality and he's still a massive dick; who is now a massive dick possessed by a primordial rock alien god from another universe. When I first met the guys, we were in this weird thing where I was their kinda friend but I also wasn't. They kept secrets from me-for good reason, as I later found out, but still. Mike couldn't stand me, and El was jealous because she saw us standing next to each other one time."

The rest of the Party collectively cringed (and El blushed) at the reminders of how they'd treated Max in the past. Max quickly waved them off, though, saying, "No hard feelings, guys."

"What I'm trying to say, though, is that I get it; a little bit. I know what it's like to-on a smaller scale, but still-not be completely accepted by either of your only two options."

"I'm not really normal, either," Will began. "I'm already different enough than most kids, and I've been called names because of it for about as long as I can remember; but it got way worse when I first got back from the Upside Down."

Will looked Steven earnestly in the eye. "I know what it's like to be...caught between two worlds, Steven; and I know what it's like to feel like you don't belong to either. That-that no matter where you are or who you go to, you're a freak no matter what. But that's not true. And if people can't except you-both sides of you-than they aren't really your friends."

Steven felt Mike try to hide a flinch at this; and he looked meaningfully at Will. If Will was aware Mike was looking at him, he didn't show it; and he continued speaking. "Just know that even if none of us are part-alien, we're all not normal; and we all know how lonely it is to feel like you can't belong anywhere. But you can belong here. With us."

Steven stopped trying to hide the tears welling up in his eyes and just let them bubble over and fall. "Thanks, guys. Thanks Will."

Will smiled warmly. "Anytime."

Will, to Steven's surprise, got up, walked over to him, and hugged him. Shocked but pleased by this development; Steven let the emotion fully take hold as he clutched tightly onto the person in this group; maybe even in his life, who understood him the most.

And then pink light exploded from them.

A/N: Greg isn't a bad parent (he's not necessarily the greatest but he's not bad as far as dads go by any means) and the Gems aren't bad guardians. They're just having a hard time with Rose gone and the Gems used to resent Steven quite a bit for her death. I headcanon it mostly went away post-season 1. Greg never felt any resentment toward his son but still doesn't really attempt to hide the fact that he misses Rose; which is kinda awkward for Steven considering he has her corpse as his belly button and source of life. Steven's own self-loathing may be coloring the way he perceives how others feel about him; though. He's definitely not wrong about the Gems being resentful, but he is about Greg. He's a bit of an unreliable narrator. Do me a favor and go rewatch Bubbled. Remember how disturbingly...okay Steven was the idea of dying in outer space? Yeah, our boy is a little messed up.

If Steven actually met the Stranger Things kids they would relate so much; especially Steven and Will; you cannot change my mind. They have so much-trauma aside-in common and it's so weird to me that no one's written a real crossover yet. (Someone please do that). Also, Big Brother Mike! Yeah, he and Steven are the same (chronological) age but Mike is such a supportive and compassionate dude honestly.

WARNING RANT INCOMING

I ignore his bologna characterization in season 4. At least he wasn't a total douche in season 3 but in 4 the excuses he made about not making more of an effort to talk to his best friend that he spent all of season 2 being so protective over (looking at "Maybe you should have called more or something, I don't know) were all just such douchy low blows. Especially after literally treating Will almost the exact same way in season 3 and then feeling awful about it and having this whole thing about being better; only to immediately get Aesop Amnesia and act both that way and worse in season 4? AFTER first ignoring Will literally the same way as before? And then he one-upped himself by blaming Will for it. What the hell...? Literally over El? I'm a Mileven shipper through and through, but gosh dude I can see why the Bylers always get so pissed about how Mike and El's relationship affects Will. It used to be so wholesome and then Mike gets so obsessive and douchy over her to his literal best friend. Damn, the writing for this show went so downhill. Started with season 3 (still my favorite season though) and then completely went kerbloosh with season 4. It's the reason I'm not really invested in the show anymore and am only gonna tune back in for the final season because I owe a series I'm so nostalgic for that much at least. I made it this far. Sat through the horror (writing-wise lol. Didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of actually being scary like season 1) of season 4. Might as well see the conclusion, right?

RANT END

Yeah. Anyway. We stan season 2 Mike (aka peak of his character) in this household and I love making him that supportive figure for the characters I cross-over into Stranger Things.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and, as Steven would say (and for once it actually applies at the time of this writing!)

Have a great weekend!