Shattered Hearts (Steven Universe)

Chapter 3

The next day, Peridot had found some refuge beneath some trees. It had been very cold, and she was surprised that she hadn't frozen to death overnight. The suit must've activated itself again at some point. Standing up, she brushed pine needles from the trees off of her and stood up. Peridot saw that her gem was still cracked, but luckily hadn't become any worse. A voice broke into her thoughts. "Hey!" Ben had returned, but his abrupt appearance caused the green gem to jump in fright and back away. The moment she calmed down, she frowned. "Oh, it's you. Could you stop sneaking up on me?" Ben laughed. "Sorry. I didn't mean to." The boy wore a brown short sleeved t-shirt  and caramel colored shoes-boots, perhaps?-that made it easy for him to move soundlessly. He was holding something in his arms, and Peridot stepped forward timidly to get a closer look. It was a pale green and folded uo with little strings near the top that hung down loosely. It was similar to the garment that he had worn the day before. She gave him a look of confusion. "What's that?" she asked him. Ben gazed back at her with a confused expression. "It's a...hoodie. You've never heard of that before?" Peridot sighed. "I haven't heard of a lot of things." "Well, it's something you wear, and it's a present for you." He held it out to her, and she gingerly took it, holding it with the tips of her fingers as if it were some of gross insect. Peridot gave the hoodie a full examination, then, seemingly satisfied, she lifted it upwards to put it on. It fit right over her suit, and it offered some protection against the cold wind. "Do you like it?" Ben asked her. "It's...interesting, and...quite comfortable," Peridot remarked. The boy beamed. "I thought you would like it." Peridot felt the back of her hoodie, feeling something there behind her head. "What's this?" "A hood. That's why it's called a hoodie. You put it up over your head, and the drawstrings in front tighten or loosen it." The gem cast the hood up over her head, and gave a thoughtful glance to the drawstrings. She tugged at them, and the hood tightened around her face in a way that was highly unlikable. Peridot struggled to get the hood up off of her head, and when she finally did, she could hear Ben laughing at her. "Why did you give me this?" she cried. "I wanted to help you stay warm outside," he told her. "You didn't tell me that it was a death trap!" Ben smirked. "It's not. You just used it wrong. Here." Ben moved the hood of the hoodie to its proper position instead of it being half on and half off of her head from her struggles. "That's better," he stated. "Cool hair, by the way." Peridot blushed and faintly smiled. "Although this...gift of yours is life threatening, it is a nice color. Thank you." Ben nodded. "You're welcome. That looks good on you. Green is really your color." He picked lint off of his pant legs, and looked shy all of a sudden. "So...Peridot, was it? Can I call you Peri, for short?" Peridot considered this, then nodded. "I suppose so." Suddenly she was wracked with intense pain, and stumbled. Darkness wreathed around her and covered her vision, and the last thing she saw before blacking out was Ben's shocked expression and his arms reaching out to catch her before she could hit the ground.