Better Together

Storm In The Room

Steven POV

We finally got home from space, and it's a relief to be back on earth. Connie was over at my house while she was waiting for her mom to come home, who was particularly late. After a bit of worrying, she eventually arrived and I said goodbye. I went back inside and stared at the painting of my mom, sighing.

"Something the matter?" Y/n asked. "No, it's nothing." I replied, shifting my attention towards Y/n. He noticed I was glancing over at the painting but decided not to pressure me about it. Y/n and I took turns getting done in the shower, before then going to make dinner. He heated up some mac n' cheese for the both of us, while I kept getting distracted by the painting. "Alright, dinner's ready! Wanna eat outside?" Y/n said. "Y-yeah, let's go." I replied. We brought our food outside and sat under one of the little umbrellas on the table.

"Huh, it's pretty nice." I said, as it started to rain. "Yup, pretty calming-" Y/n said, as it started to thunder. This had startled the both of us. "Okay, back inside!" Y/n exclaimed. We hurried back inside and I just sat on the couch, soaking wet. I just couldn't get my focus off of the painting of my mom, and Y/n seemed to notice this. "Hey babe, is everything alright? You're staring at that painting more than usual." Y/n asked. "It's nothing, don't worry about it, sweetie." I replied. Y/n came over and sat down next to me.

"It doesn't seem like nothing, you know you can talk to me." Y/n said, putting his hand on mine. "Well, it's just...I wonder if it's really mom up there, just smiling all day and night. I wish I could know the real her, not the one everyone tells me about." I said, as my gem began to glow. "Well maybe now's your chance." Y/n said, pointing to mom's door. I stood up and looked at the door, realizing I could use the room to talk to her. "Go ahead, you might feel better. And learn a little more about her." Y/n said with a soft smile.

"Okay, but...can you come with me? I'm really nervous." I said, shaking. "I don't know, this seems pretty private between you 2. But if you feel more comfortable with me there, then I'll come with you." Y/n replied. I nodded and grabbed his hand as we walked inside the room. "Uh...hey room! It's been a bit, huh? I suppose you're wondering why we're here, and I know nothing in here is actually real but...I wanna see my mom." I said, watching a pink cloud transform. We looked up to see my mom standing above us, kneeling down before me. "Hello Steven." Rose said with an angelic voice.

"I-it's nice to m-meet you..." I said, shyly holding out my hand. "Nice to meet you too." Rose replied. "Sorry, this is a little weird for me." I said. "That's okay, so who's this?" She asked, looking over to Y/n. "Oh! This is Y/n, he's my boyfriend." I said, introducing him. "H-hi there. Nice to meet you." Y/n said, astonished by her. "So you're the Y/n I've heard about? It's nice to meet you as well. I hope you and my son are happy together." Rose smiled. "Why don't you 2 catch up, I'll sit over here and wait." Y/n said, sitting down next to the pink floating whale.

"So, Steven. What would you like to do?" Rose asked. "Oh...um, I haven't thought that far ahead yet. Do you like video games?" I said, while a video game console appeared. I handed mom a controller and we played some video games for a while. Eventually the game ended with me winning. "Yeah, I won!" I exclaimed. "Yay, you won." Rose replied, smiling. Y/n giggled at the both of us in the background. "Hmm...what else do kids do with their parents?" I asked, as a football appeared in front of me. Mom and I started playing a game of football where we would throw the ball back and forth between each other.

"Nice catch son!" Rose said. I threw the ball back to her and she gracefully dove in the air to catch it. "Woah..." I said in awe. "Hey, Steven!" Rose yelled, gesturing for me to kick the football in the air. I ran over full speed to kick it, but she pulled it away last minute and sent me right up in the air. "AHHH!" I shouted, landing on my butt. Mom and I broke out into a fit of laughter, as Y/n just smiled at the both of us in the distance. Mom patted the ground next to her, so I stood up and sat down next to her.

"Y'know...I've been thinking about you a lot. Like, more than usual." I said. "Is that so?" She asked. "Yeah...my whole life I've heard stories about you, about how amazing you were. Stuff like how you were so kind and loving, and every time I'd see the painting of you in the temple, it reminded me of how much I have to live up to. And uh...I've even thought about dying my hair pink, more than once." I chuckled, nervously. "There's nothing wrong with your hair, it's wonderful how it is. Wonderful in every way, just like you." Rose replied. I put my head on her lap and she wrapped her arms around me.

"Wow...this- I-it's really nice. I s-should've tried this a long time ago." I said, tearing up. "Don't you realize Steven? We've been together your whole life." Rose said. I realized that she was right and that the gem on my navel was my mom there all along. "Oh! Since this is the first time we've hung out, we should get a family picture. You should come join us in the picture, Y/n! You're my boyfriend, so I guess you're technically family too." I said, motioning for him to come over.

"If you say so." Y/n giggled, walking over. I held up my phone and snapped a picture of the 3 of us, but looked down to see only me and Y/n. "There's nothing here but me and Y/n...all I'm doing is talking to myself. You're not my mom." I said, standing up. "I'm not?" Rose asked. "This is what I want you to be, but I'm not sure if this is who you actually are." I said. "Steven...?" Y/n said, worried.

"I've learned some things about you, stuff you wanted to keep secret. You locked Bismuth inside of Lion because she wanted to shatter gems, but you didn't tell anyone. Then you shattered Pink Diamond, and now all of Homeworld has it out for the Crystal gems and me! You put everyone in danger and then DISAPPEARED!" I yelled. The room started filling with lightning and mom floated up in the air which caused a giant wave of air that knocked the both of us back. "I can't watch him like this..." Y/n thought to himself.

"I finally know the truth. You're a liar! I figured you'd never want to hurt anyone, but you hurt EVERYONE! How could you just leave the other gems, and dad?! Maybe they don't matter as much to you as hiding from every little mess you made, but that's why I'm here, isn't it?! Did you make me so you wouldn't have to deal with your mistakes? Is that all I'm here for..." I shouted, tearing up. Mom floated down to the ground to comfort me.

"You know that isn't true, Steven. In the tape that I had left for you, I told you how much I had wanted to have you. Do you think what I said was a lie?" Rose asked. "No...I'm sure you meant it." I said, looking away. Mom walked over and then embraced me in a hug. "I get it, you didn't make me just to escape your problems. You're a part of me, and I have to live with what you left behind." I said. I hugged her even tighter, but watched as she disappeared into clouds. I looked over to my right to see Y/n putting a hand on my shoulder.

"C'mon...let's go home." Y/n said, sympathetically. We walked out of the room and back into the temple, where he and I sat on the couch. I moved over onto his lap and leaned on his shoulder, almost crying myself to sleep. "I'm here for you, always. Just try to get some sleep, babe." Y/n said, rubbing my back as I sobbed. A brief moment later, dad and the other gems came inside the room with a pizza in their hands to find us sleeping on the couch, with me in Y/n's arms. "Well, there's pizza here for when they wake up." Greg said, putting the pizza down. "They're honestly pretty cute together." Pearl said. "Well said, Pearl." Garnet replied. Dad walked over to us and carried the both of us to bed in his arms.

"Sleep tight, you 2." Greg said, giving us a kiss on the head.