A/N: I hope this extra long chapter will partially make up for the long wait. I hope you all enjoy!
Steven and Garnet warped back to the house. They barely talked during the journey but Steven was glad that Garnet had taken him out of the house to tell him the whole story.
"Thanks," Steven said quietly as he floated next to Garnet.
"Your welcome," Garnet replied stoically, but Steven thought he heard a hint of relief in her voice.
When the ground returned beneath their feet they looked up to find Amethyst and Pearl sitting next to each other talking. While Greg was sitting on a wooden bar stool with a very angry look on his face. Greg's head snapped up, while Pearl and Amethyst looked up more slowly.
Greg got up and stomped over to Garnet,"What were you thinking! You can't just steal my kid like that! If you weren't an all powerful gem warrior I would-"
Greg was interrupted by Steven who was yelling at him to stop. "If she hadn't done what she did I'd still be tucked in a ball on the floor." He gestured to the place in front of the couch where he'd laid a mere thirty minutes before. "She helped-" Steven looked over to Garnet and smiled-"a lot."
"If you say so Shtoo-ball." Greg said, ruffling Steven's already messy hair. Greg knelt down to Steven's level and spoke quietly so that only the two of them could here. "Hey listen, I came here in such a hurry that I forgot to get someone to take care of the wash so I bet there are some angry customers. Anyways, Pearl and Amethyst are really scared for you, almost as much as me, but I think you or Garnet should talk to them. I want to figure out what's happening too but I would rather talk to you in private and with all of this"- Greg gestured to the gems- "I don't think that's going to happen."
"Yeah." Steven agreed with what his dad was saying."You better get to those angry customers. I'll talk to you later, in private."
Greg stood up and said goodbye to Pearl and Amethyst. He obviously avoided talking to Garnet, he was probably still mad at her. After Greg had left Pearl and Amethyst almost materialized in front of Steven and Garnet.
"Are you alright?" Pearl said, reaching for Steven.
Steven backed away and pushed her hands down. "I'm alright."
"What I told you about Steven didn't completely explain what's happening to his gem." Garnet told her fellow Crystal Gems. "His situation is more complicated-"
"I'm gonna step outside." Steven said, interrupting Garnet. " I need some… fresh air."
"Okay." Garnet responded.
Steven was a little surprised with her mellow response, but then again, she probably knew what he was really gonna do. He ran outside onto the porch, pulled his phone out of his pocket, and texted Connie 'EMERGENCY: meet me outside your house.' Steven walked down the steps onto the beach and called to Lion, who came to him quicker than usual, which Steven was grateful for. He hopped onto Lion's back and teleported to Connie's house. Steven and Lion rushed behind a van roughly the size of Greg's.
Steven looked through the passenger and driver side windows to see Connie waiting outside of her house. 'Wow, that was fast' he thought to himself . He could tell she hurried because her hair was frizzy, she was pretty jumpy, and she clumsily dropped her phone. Steven smiled 'she was so cute and she was completely unaware of it.' No, stop it Steven, he told himself. That's very wishful thinking, and not to mention the fact that you're going to tell her that you might die. Steven slid off of Lion's back and walked around the van towards Connie. When she saw him he saw the worried looked on her face. A twinge of guilt attacked his stomach. 'Maybe I should've been more subtle with the text.' But when she spoke he realized it wasn't the text causing her worried expression.
"What happened to your forehead? Are you alright?" Connie put her four fingers over Steven's temple and gently stroked his forehead with her thumb.
Steven reached up and pushed on his forehead."Ow." Steven said as he took a deep breath in through his teeth. He raked his brain to remember how he got this painful bruise. 'I hit my head on the coffee table!' Steven said to himself. He touched Connie's shoulder. "It's nothing, I just fell." Connie looked slightly more at ease.
"I've got something very important to tell you." Steven said, changing the subject abruptly. Connie looked a bit taken aback by Steven's very serious tone. "But I want to take you to a place a bit more… secret."
"Alright." Connie said, making no attempt to hide the confusion painted all over her face.
They walked over to Lion and climbed on his back. Steven hopped on first and offered a hand to Connie, who happily took it. He helped pull her up and she slid comfortably behind him. She placed her hands around his waist. It happened so smoothly it looked like a routine that they'd practiced. Lion roared one of his pink portals into existence and leapt into it. Steven heard Connie gasp when they came out of Lion's portal.
"It's beautiful," Connie said, looking around at the amazing scenery.
"This is the Sky Spire. Remember, I told about the story with Pearl, Amethyst, and Opal."
"Yeah, I remember," Connie was still looking at the beautiful greenery around them when Steven hopped off of Lion.
He reached up and helped Connie down. "What's the occasion?" Connie asked Steve when they were off of Lion.
"What do you mean?" Steven replied.
"Well, if you just want to talk why did you take me to this awe-inspiring place?"
"You'll know why in a little bit." Steven was still trying to find a way to tell Connie that he might die.
"Oh," Connie replied disappointingly.
Steven reached out and gently grasped Connie's hand.
"Come on," He said.
Steven didn't want to have to climb all the way to the top, although there would be the perfect place to tell her. They walked about halfway up the winding path until Connie saw an opening to their right. They walked in.
"This is good," Steven said, half in his thoughts. It was a small grassy opening littered with rocks of various sizes. Trees lined the outside edge.
Connie looked at him with a confused look. She was about to ask him why he brought her here again when he turned to face her.
"You should sit down. This'll be a lot to understand," Steven had a sad look on his face.
"Um… okay," Connie lowered herself onto a rock near by.
"Remember the dreams I told you about?"
"Yeah."
"I found out what they mean."
There was a long pause as Steven was debating whether or not to tell her everything.
"My mom is coming back." Steven said, looking Connie dead in the eye.
"Isn't that a good thing?" Connie asked. If Steven's mom was coming back he would get to meet her.
"No. If she comes back I'll…" He didn't cut himself off nor did he drift off. He could say that word. It wouldn't come out. He could say it in his head to himself, die, but he couldn't say it to Connie.
Connie filled in the blank. "You guys would need the same gem," she mumbled. She cupped her hands over her nose and mouth as a tear formed in her beautiful black eyes.
Steven immediately noticed her sudden change of emotion and rushed to her side. She was sitting on a medium sized gray, moldy rock. He knelt next to her and put his left hand on her knees with his right hand on her shoulder. "No, no ,no. Don't cry. It'll be okay." Steven tried his best to form comforting words. "I'm right here for you. Please don't cry."
"Why do you even care!" Connie yelled. It came out more forcefully than she wanted it to. She felt a twinge of guilt when she saw Steven's hurt expression.
"Wh-what do you mean?" Steven asked, he tried to understand what she meant but he wasn't successful.
"You must be going through ten times the pain I'm feeling right now. Why even bother with me?" Connie replied tearfully.
Steven sighed thinking of how to reply without blatantly admitting his true feelings. "Because I care about you, Connie. You are so important to me. I don't care what's happening in my life, if you're feeling hurt, it goes on pause. You mean so much to me and I can't even begin to form a word that would describe how I feel."
There was a silent pause. Steven let what he said soak in.
"Love?" Connie asked quietly.
"What?" Steven was again immersed in a pool of confusion.
"The word to describe how you feel, love." Connie was now looking him directly in the eyes.
Steven's jaw dropped and he stood up. She's right, he thought. He turned to face Connie.
"Yes." He said. For the first time in days he felt true happiness.
Connie smiled and replied, "Me too."
She leapt up from the stone and hugged him tightly. Steven felt his heart thump in his chest. He reached out and returned the hug happily. Connie reached between them and set her hands on Steven's chest. Steven released his hug and set his hands on her shoulders. She looked at him and he returned the gaze. Steven began to lean in and their lips met. Steven fell into instant nirvana and Connie felt complete bliss. Theirs lips only stayed together for about three seconds when they both mutually pulled away.
"Wow," Connie said.
"Yeah," Steven replied.
"I...uh… I should head home. The gems will be wondering where I am," Steven stuttered. He was wondering if she liked it as much as he did. He was trying not to be awkward but, so far, was failing.
"You're my ride home," Connie replied, bringing up the fact that she couldn't get home without him and Lion.
"Oh-" Steven let out a nervous laugh "-yeah."
They made their way back to Lion in silence. Steven had reached over to hold Connie's hand and she'd accepted. When they found Lion they did their seemingly practiced routine and leapt through one of Lion's signature pink portals.
A/N: Thanks for reading. I will gladly accept any help with ideas because I have the worst writer's block. That's why it took so long to release this new chapter :( Anyways, stay fabulous. Until the next chapter, bye!