Rock on

Chapter 23

Lapis' POV:

I woke up on the couch, my eyes half-lidded. I could barely see above the couch pillow that my face rested on, but I could make out a few of the band members that were still asleep. Jasper and Amethyst lay on top of one another on the hard flooring, Garnet and Pearl were seen making breakfast in the kitchen across the room, and Peridot was nowhere to be seen. As the only one now on the couch, I took advantage of that and stretched out my limbs, groaning lazily. "Morning Lapis," I heard Garnet say from the kitchen as she saw me stretch. I lifted my head quickly but calmed down when I saw that it was only Garnet. I smiled and returned, "Good morning," I said sleepily as I rubbed my eyes. I gave a sharp yawn, sitting on the edge of the couch. I stood up, being careful not to trip over Jasper's and Amethyst's sleeping bodies. "How are they even sleeping like that?" I mumbled to myself as I gave a questioning look.

I walked over to join Pearl and Garnet in the kitchen; it smelled like pancakes and syrup. "Smells good," I said softly, hoping to catch the two members' attention. "Oh yeah! Homemade!" Pearl said excited and full of pride as she held the spatula that was unused to flip the pancakes against her chest tightly. "Oh, can you be a dear and go get Peridot? She should be in her room," Pearl said with an eye roll as she paid attention to her perfect pancakes. I blinked, processing what Pearl had asked of me. I was still waking up, so excuse me if I'm a little slow. I finally nodded and walked up the stairs towards Peridot's bedroom door. I hesitated but knocked on the door softly. "Peridot?" I called once I heard no answer from the other side of the door. Again, there was nothing, only silence. I invited myself in without permission, closing the door behind me. "Peridot?" I called out again, hoping for an answer. "Huh? Oh, Lapis," I heard someone say. Peridot was sitting on the edge of the bed, holding her head in her palms. "Are you okay?" I asked, concerned, but not daring to step closer. I'm not quite sure if I was still a little bit rattled from last night.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just thinking," Peridot said as she looked up at me with a dull smile. "About what?" I dared to ask, now walking towards Peridot and sitting next to her. "Uh, well..." Peridot was silent for a moment before speaking. "Listen... I apologize about last night, I didn't mean to invade your... er, personal space," Peridot said, hiding her face from mine. My eyes were slightly wide; I didn't expect Peridot to bring this up right now. "It's fine. No need to say sorry," I said, also looking away and holding one side of my arm. There was an awkward silence. "Pearl asked me to get you for breakfast," I said softly as I stood up and turned my back. Peridot nodded in response. "I'll be down in a second," she said quickly before I closed the door behind me as I walked out of the room and down the stairs. I felt empty at that moment. She didn't have to say sorry. I just... I wanted her to tell me that she felt the same way I did towards her. Guess that's not the case.

As I got to the bottom of the stairs, I looked up to see Jasper and Amethyst finally awake. Amethyst seemed to be in a moody state, and Jasper was just giving loud yawns. Once Jasper spotted me, she gave me an evil, enticing smirk. It made me feel really uncomfortable. I don't know how I feel about Jasper; I hate her for the fact that she hurt Peridot the other day. But not remembering what happened back at the bar... there's not much I can say about her anyway. I shook off the thought of her and walked towards the kitchen table. Plates of pancakes were placed in front of us. I took the empty chair and sat down. "Dig in!" Pearl said cheerfully as she held her hands together in front of her face, as if she was waiting for compliments to surround her because of her well-made pancakes. I have to admit, Pearl's pancakes were very different from the ones we serve back at the restaurant, but I'd say hers are much better.

As we were halfway through our breakfast, we heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Peridot had joined us around the table, taking her fair share of the pancakes. She said nothing, only ate. "No 'good morning'?" Pearl asked, her hands on her hips as she stared at Peridot in a questioning manner. Peridot rolled her eyes at Pearl before she took another bite of her pancake. Huh, guess Peridot is the moody type in the morning. Noted... "So disrespectful," Pearl said with a scoff as she turned to clean the dishes left in the sink. As we all finished eating, we decided to get ready to prepare for the concert this evening. The rest of the band members would go and dress in their dressing rooms next to the stage. But because I wasn't in the band, I couldn't. "Hey, um, Peridot?" I said as I turned towards her. She was busy picking up her guitar that she got from the basement. "Yeah?" Peridot said in a bit of a better mood. "Can I, uhm, lend some clothes?" I said with an innocent chuckle. Peridot looked me up and down before speaking. "Sure, the closet is yours," she said with a better smile as she turned her attention to packing the instruments in the bag they were supposed to go in. I nodded in appreciation, trotting up the stairs and entering Peridot's room.