Unwanted Attraction (The Sequel to Shattered Hearts)

Chapter 3

Author's note: Hello again! This chapter is very, very lengthy, so I'd be ready for that. It incorporates the newest episode with Peridot in it, too, so be warned that tears may be shed (mostly by me) :3 ~ awesomeri14

Ben paced back and forth beside the Crystal Gem's temple. Since Steven's friend Connie couldn't come, the little boy had invited Ben for a sleepover at his house. Naturally, Ben had agreed. He could never say no to him. However, the Gems had been a bit nervous about having him there, as he was a human and didn't exactly belong in the place. Steven had reassured them that everything would be fine, but the Gems still chose to keep a close eye on their hideout, especially Garnet.

Ben shivered as he thought of her. To distract himself from the fearsome red gem, he looked up at the gems' temple. One of the giant hands attached to the structure blocked out the light of the sun, Steven's t-shirts hanging out to dry on its gray fingertips. He squinted to look at it better. It was probably a fusion of all of them together, though he couldn't imagine for the life of him how Steven could make someone or something so...frightening.

The front door of the temple opened, leading to the part of the temple that looked more like a traditional shore house. It opened with a rather loud bang, drawing Ben's attention. Pearl stood in the doorway with Steven beside her. Although they didn't notice, the boy had let out an inaudible, relieved breath. "Ben!" Steven ran over to him, looking up at the teen with big, happy brown eyes. "Hi!" "Hey, little buddy!" Ben ruffled the kid's curly hair, causing him to laugh. He felt a pair of eyes on him and looked up to see Pearl staring him down. Her blue eyes could be rather cold at times. He took his hand off of Steven and shoved it into his front pants pocket, feeling rather uneasy all of a sudden. "Um...hey." "Hello..." Pearl tapped her slender fingers against the side of her opposing arm, clearly deep in thought. "Let's see here...your snacks are out on the counter, you two, along with popcorn and some soda. I suppose that's all you need." Steven was quick to correct her. "No, we need blankets!" "Blankets? Oh, uh, certainly." She eyed Ben again, causing him to jump. Now that he thought about it, the human boy had been rather on edge when he was near the entire team lately, not just Garnet. "Do you need anything, Ben? No food or anything like that?" He put on a look of contentment for Steven. "No," he told her, his voice shaking slightly. "No, I-I'm good." Pearl clasped her hands together. "Oh, good! I'll be here if you ever need anything, but I might be busy in the other half of the temple for a bit. You be careful now, okay?" "Okay!" Steven gave her a hearty thumbs up. "O...kay?" Ben made a less enthusiastic one. "Alright, that settles it, then!" The white gem smiled with a certain sincerity. She studied Steven for a moment, then shook her head. "Never mind. I'll...go." Pearl took her leave, looking back over her shoulder before disappearing inside. Steven beamed. "Come on, Ben! The real fun's inside!" The boy opened the door and went in, then held it open as the older teen entered.

Pearl had outdone herself. The motherly gem had made sure to lay out all of the food where they could easily access it on a fold up table close to the screen door that led inside. Ben grabbed a soda from it and popped the cap off, sipping it as he sat down on the couch. Steven grabbed some popcorn and was chewing rather loudly as he came over. Ben didn't mind it, though. The kid was just happy that he was here. Steven sat down on the couch beside him and started to talk. "So, what do you wanna do first?" Ben thought about this, rather excited despite the fact that there was a large age difference between the two friends. "Do you...have any board games?" Steven's eyes brightened. "I sure do!"

The game was called Citchen Calamity. It was a breakfast themed board game that Steven enjoyed profusely. Ben didn't know much about it, but he did know that he would like playing it with Steven. Once the kid explained the rules, Ben rolled the dice, which had various kitchen themed icons on it. Once he moved forward a few spaces on the orange, yellow, and white game board, he had an early lead. Steven, however, was an expert at the game, quickly beating Ben's lead and getting the golden skillet in a matter of minutes. Ben was dumbfounded. The boy was really good at this game. "Nice job, dude," Ben said, shaking his hand. "Yeah! Good game!" Steven exclaimed as he accepted the gesture. "Wanna do something else?" Ben nodded, his mood significantly improved. Steven was so kind and generous, it was hard to not just go along with whatever he said. He had no idea how the Gems dealt with it. "Sure thing!"