Tension | Garnet x Reader

Chairs don't appear randomly

"Psst, Steven. You awake?" You whispered through the dark room, finding the barn's beds surprisingly more comfortable than the couch back in the temple.

"Yeah," he answered softly. "Can't sleep either?"

"Nope," you replied, glad that Steven was awake.

He sat down on his bed, and you could hear its slight creaking. "Any bad nightmares?"

"How did you know?" You gasped, imitating the same movement.

"You were sleep-talking. Well... sleep-shouting." Steven's voice was full of worry, and the volume gradually increased.

"Oh," you sighed. "Can I ask you a favor then?"

"Sure," he said, sitting up straighter. "What do you need?"

"Can you sleep with me tonight?" Your voice was forward, your tone was embarrassed. You stood still in the darkness, waiting for a response.

"If it helps." He answered sincerely, not weirded out, not disgusted, just glad you had that trust between you both.

He got off his mattress and walked to yours, which was on the other end of the room, then sat next to you. "Better?" He asked as he got inside the blanket.

"Perfect," you replied, wrapping your arms around him, his back against your stomach.

The atmosphere was perfect. It was dark, but not scary dark, a calming dark. It was quiet, not unsettling, but relaxing, and you weren't hot or cold; you were warm, just the right temperature. Seconds went by, and your heartbeats relaxed with your eyelids, which felt glued shut.

"Can I ask you something?" It wasn't until everything felt right that Steven raised his voice again, not too much though, his voice was pretty much a whisper.

"Sure," you replied, right next to his ear; he wouldn't have heard you otherwise.

"How did you know it was Garnet who saved you before we told you?" He asked, and by the volume in his voice, you could tell he wouldn't stop whispering anytime soon. He was probably too tired to.

"You mean at the beach?" You inquired, curious about his choice of words.

"You know I don't mean the beach," and the thought sank in. He actually did realize after all.

"Wh-what do you mean? O-of course you guys told me." Even the most gullible person would've realized you weren't telling the truth.

"Don't lie to me. You were shouting 'Garnet!' for help during the whole nightmare. You were dreaming about it, weren't you?" Everything was perfect just a few moments ago, why did it have to change?

"Okay, what if I was?" You responded annoyed, retrieving your arms from his waist.

"You know you can talk to us, right? We're here for you and we'll help y-"

"We already had this conversation, Steven," you interrupted him aggressively. "Nothing's wrong, okay? And I knew it was Garnet who saved me because she had bloodstains when I woke up, and gems don't bleed."

He processed your words for a moment. "Oh," he sighed. It was time to change the subject, or even better, just go to sleep.

You most definitely didn't like surprises. Sure, you did like nice details or thoughtful unexpected acts. But when people told you 'I've got a surprise I cannot tell you,' you hated it to the very core of your soul.

You couldn't even begin with secrets. If there's a secret, then the best thing people can do is NOT tell you there's a secret. Well, the thing is, gems seemed to love hiding things from you, like, constantly. Practically any single piece of information was something you couldn't know. It really was really, really disturbing. Why? Just because? You couldn't even know that!