Connie's POV
BEEP BEEP BEEP sounds my alarm. I'm already awake, though. I don't think I slept all night, except for maybe a few minutes here and there, when I got so tired that my brain couldn't process actual thoughts. It's Sunday now, so I'm hoping that maybe I can see Steven for a little before the school week starts. I would hate to go through an entire week without being able to work things out, or at least make some progress. Feeling a little more optimistic than yesterday, I head downstairs and make myself some breakfast. My mom had to go in to the hospital early today, and my dad doesn't really cook, other than maybe a grilled cheese or something like that. I find a box of cereal in the fridge and pour it into a bowl, then open the fridge to get some milk. As soon as I open the fridge, I realize that we don't have any milk. Great. Being too mentally drained to put the cereal back and find something else to eat, I just grab a spoon and eat my cereal dry. After I finish my "breakfast," I put the bowl in the sink and go back upstairs to grab my phone. I send Steven a text to see how he's doing, but I doubt he'll be up now after the day he had yesterday. It reads: Hey, Steven! Just wondering how you are feeling today, and if you feel up to it, do you want to hang out sometime today? I try to keep it lighthearted, but I think he knows that I really just want to talk to him about yesterday. To my surprise, he actually responds right away. His reply is just a simple sure. What time is good for you? I ask. Any time, but I'm not allowed to leave the house. I'm grounded. He replies. I go to ask my dad, who is sitting on the couch in the living room sipping a cup of black coffee, when I can go over to Steven's house. "Didn't you just go over there yesterday? And didn't that end up... not so good?" he asks. "Well, yes, but I really need to talk to him. Like in person" I say. He stops to think for a bit. "I can take you at around noon, if you'd like" he finally says. "Yeah, that sounds great!" I say as I head upstairs to my room, where I'll hopefully be able to take a nap for a little while now that my head's a little clearer. I set an alarm for an hour from now, just to be safe, dive onto my bed, and fall asleep.
Steven's POV
I wake up at around 11:00, and regret fills my mind. I'm pretty sure that after everything that just happened yesterday, my relationship with Connie is going to be permanently damaged. And I'm not just talking about romance, I'm talking about our friendship. While I do have a huge crush on her, our friendship will always come first to me. And I just ruined it. The very thing I was trying not to do. After sitting on my bed and trying to fully wake up for a few minutes, I head over to the bathroom. I still have my beat-up clothes from yesterday on, so I change out of those first. Then I take a cold shower and put on a fresh set of clothes. Then I go and grab myself some breakfast. Just some cereal, nothing much. As I'm about to take a bite the warp pad activates and Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl step out. Pearl's eyes widen when she sees me. "STEVEN!" she shouts, "YOU HAD US WORRIED SICK! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!" "Uh, yeah, I'm fine" I say, slightly annoyed that I'm going to have to answer a bunch of questions instead of eating my cereal. Pearl is about to speak, but Garnet puts a finger to her lips to shush her. "We were on a mission, but the warp pad malfunctioned on the way back" she says, with little emotion. "I told them not to get on, but someone wouldn't listen." She turns to look at Amethyst. "Ugh, I didn't hear you! I was distracted!" she replies. "So, anyway," Garnet continues, "Amethyst ended up getting stuck, so we had to fix it to get her out. That's why we couldn't visit you at the hospital" "Hey, it's okay, I'm fine now." I'm starting to wonder if they know exactly what happened. Well, I'm sure Garnet could figure it out, but the rest of them probably don't know. "So, Steven, do mind telling us exactly how you ended up getting so hurt?" Pearl asks. I'm about to give them all a summary of what happened when Garnet grabs Amethyst and Pearl and starts walking in the other direction. Pearl looks slightly annoyed at her for doing this "Garnet wha-" "It's okay. You'll find out soon enough" Garnet interrupts. She walks back to the warp pad with Amethyst and Pearl and activates it, and right after they leave Connie knocks on the door. Suddenly it clicks why Garnet just did that. I'll have to thank her later, that is, depending on how this goes. I walk over to answer the door. "Hey Connie, come on in" I say trying to be as normal as possible. "Hey, Steven" she replies. "Listen, can we... talk?" she asks. "Yeah, I was hoping you'd ask. I mean, that's what you came over here to do." I go over and sit on the couch, still holding my cereal, and pat a spot for her to sit down next to me. I try to shove a spoonful of cereal in my mouth before we start talking. She sits down next to me, but doesn't say a word. Then she looks up at me, and... starts hugging me. "Steven, I know you probably feel really bad about what happened, but it's okay. I just want you to know that it's okay. And I'm really sorry for anything that I did that made you feel like you weren't good enough. You're my best friend, and friends should never made each other feel like they're not good enough" she says. That's exactly what I needed to hear, and I feel a weight lifted off my shoulders. "Thanks Connie, you always know what to say. But you didn't do anything to make me feel bad, I did. I..." I pause to gather my strength for what I'm about to say, "I... kinda... l-like you, Connie, and I think that's why my powers weren't working. I wanted to train so my powers wouldn't malfunction again, and I guess it just got out of hand. I'm sorry" I say, looking down at my hands and blushing madly. She looks kind of shocked, but then she smiles. "Oh, Steven, I thought that was my fault. I thought I messed up the fusion practice, and I thought that might have messed up your bubble or something, too. I was just nervous cause, well, I like you, too." she says while giggling and blushing slightly. I start to giggle with her. Maybe we'll be okay after all.
