"I can talk to Rose if this upsets you this much," Lapis offered as she pulled her car into a stop along the curb. Peridot grumbled something unintelligible under her breath in the seat next to her, and the teacher shot her a guilty look, "Really, it's kind of my fault you got into this mess, it won't be a problem talking to her about it."

Peridot gave a tired, somewhat angry sigh as she shook her head, "No… no…" she answered, slumping in the soft seat in defeat. "I just know that my mom will catch wind of this some way or how. It'll be less painful to just go along with it, she won't be happy about it, but she's going to be even less happy if I drop out."

"Really?" Her mother sounded less and less pleasant every time Peridot brought her up. Then again, she was enough of a source of stress to have caused Lapis to find Peridot drunk in the rain one night, so… well, it wasn't too surprising that she'd react that way to an art contest.

Holding back her own sigh, Lapis turned her car off and turned in her seat to face Peridot.

She really, really did feel bad about causing Peridot to get into this position. She'd started something she shouldn't have in the middle of their damn classroom after all. They were lucky there weren't cameras in her room. Still, she should have at the very least have locked the door. No, she shouldn't have started that at all, she should have just kept it in her pants. It was like she was a hormonal teenager who had no control over herself all over again. Lapis wasn't like that, at least, she liked to think she wasn't like that. But the fact was, when Peridot was involved, she might as well be a hormonal teenager again.

Peridot just, she did funny things to Lapis.

A part of her, a very big part of her, wished that Rose hadn't interrupted them during their time together in the art room. Peridot had been making such wonderful and adorable noises. Lapis had wanted to continue, hear what other noises Peridot would have made as she brought her to the very brink.

But, no, it had been far too early for them to do that. Lapis and her had gotten carried away.

An even bigger part of Lapis wanted to take things slow with Peridot. She didn't want to rush into things and screw everything up. She wanted this relationship to be something good, something that would last.

Lapis offered Peridot a smile, "Well, if you change your mind," she said, "otherwise, I'm here to help if you want it for the contest."

Peridot quirked a brow at her, her expression softening a bit now, "Isn't it against the rules or something to have a teacher help me during this contest?" she asked somewhat playfully.

"Hey, it's not a school contest and I'm not part of the ones judging and running the show, so I can help you out as much as you want," Lapis replied with a little laugh.

It was some kind of city wide contest. People of all ages were going to be entering, that's what made it interesting, at least as far as Lapis thought. Of course, there were different divisions that they'd be participating in, and there were still plenty of months until the pieces were all due. If Lapis remembered the dates right, the art contest wouldn't take place until February, so there were still a few months to go before any pieces were actually due, what with it only being late November currently.

Peridot was smiling now, it was soft and small, but it was a smile, and that was enough for Lapis. She'd been worried that she may have ruined the rest of Peridot's day by what had happened in the art room, but it seemed that she'd been able to improve her mood somewhat during the car ride as she drove the blonde home.

"Well, in that case… I'll take you up on that offer when I start realizing that I don't have the slightest idea what I'm going to do for this contest," Peridot assured her as fiddled with the seatbelt, letting it snap back into place and give herself more freedom in the car. "Look, I know it's not what I want, but, it might not be that bad, I guess. Hell, it could give me an excuse to stay after school to spend time with you, right?" Her cheeks were tinted a pale red and she adverted her gaze as she said that, clearly embarrassed by the notion.

Lapis felt her heart do a little pitter-patter in her chest. Damn, did Peridot even know how cute she looked right now? Probably not.

"I'll be more than happy to help you out," Lapis said and leaned over to give Peridot a quick kiss to the cheek. "Now, go on and get out of here, or your babysitter might throw a fit," she added with a quick laugh.

She could see Peridot's cheeks turn darker in pure embarrassment over being reminded of the current resident of her home, Mari-something-or-other. Honestly, Lapis didn't really remember what the girls name was, other than she was something of an annoying woman from what she got from Peridot's complaints.

Hopefully Lapis wouldn't have to meet her any time soon.

"See you later, Lapis," Peridot murmured as she grabbed her bag and slipped out of the car, "Try not to get into any trouble before school, okay?"

"I make no promises," Lapis replied.

She waited where she parked to watched Lapis head home the rest of the way, just to make sure she got there in one piece. It wasn't really needed, she'd dropped her off at the corner of her block, Peridot not wanting to be dropped off right at her house in case Marigold saw them, but Lapis wanted to make sure that Peridot did make it home the rest of the way. So she waited until Peridot turned and disappeared inside of her house before she started up the car and made her drive back home.

It was quiet the rest of the way, with only the soft hum of the radio to keep her company as she drove home. When she went through her door she was greeted by a happy Malachite. Lapis let her out into the back yard to do her business as she prepared some tea for herself.

She might as well send Peridot some texts later that night. Maybe some goofy photos of Malachite. She could ask for some cat pictures in return, like an animal photo trade.

With a cup of tea ready and Malachite brought back inside, she rested herself onto the couch and leaned back. Christmas was coming up, just a month away and then there would be a few weeks before the second semester. Even though they were so close to the winter season, not a single drop of snow had fallen from the sky yet. Though, it was Beach City and it rarely snowed in this town. When it did, it was bad enough to close school down and block roads. So Lapis could enjoy the warm weather if it meant she wasn't barricaded under feet of snow.

Still, she wanted to do something special for Peridot for the day. Maybe she could find her a present of sort. Well, she had a month to figure out what to do for her girlfriend for the holidays, no need to rush it.

Her phone buzzed and Lapis lazily glanced down at it. It was a text from an unknown number, so Lapis opened it up and skimmed through the text. Lapis' eyes widened and her cup of tea clattered to the ground startling Malachite.

Aquamarine.