Burning Conscious

Chapter 3 - Them again

Two hours.

That's how long the walk took from the highway back to the Temple.

He felt so conflicted, so tired, so .... Wrong. He knew he couldn't win in the end. Jasper wouldn't be his mentor if he left the Diamond's, Connie wont talk to him till he does. 

He wanted to fall asleep and never wake up. Not die, just not wake up. 

Of course, the only person he could blame was himself for even trying to learn about his mom, the infamous Rose Quarts.

Maybe this was her fault. If he didn't exist he wouldn't have to go through this.

He walked up the steps, feeling sluggish. Of course him and Jasper ran for hours, and for far more time than he had walked, but it still made his legs hurt and his lungs swell a bit. 

God could he use a smoke.

Opening the door brings out loud noises of people shouting surprise and lights flashing. When if finally cleared he could hear Ruby's aw of disappointment. "Aw we thought you was Rose!" She was with a sigh.

"I told you she wouldn't be here before Steven." Sapphire says calmly as she writes in a notebook placed on her lap as she sat on Garnets lap.

"So? He shouldda just shape shifted into her!" Amethyst jokes, joining Ruby as she sat and waited.

The two love birds were always cute in Steven's eyes. One, short tempered, quirky, and from a overly large family. The other blind in her left eye, cool headed and from a small family of psychics.

They were the yin to the others yang, so Steven thought. It was funny how much of those two he saw in Garnet, who despite her height was actually the twos adopted daughter. It seemed that Garnet had Sapphires psychic powers, and Ruby's unrivaled strength. And she was probably smarter too.

And Amethyst, the true sister of the group. She's been around since Steven was 7. With her being 15. They grew up like siblings, but it felt more like she was there more for everyone else.

"Hey Steven." Garnet says as she puts her blue haired mother, who didn't seem to mind.

Steven forces a smile, not wanting their rare happy and excited mood. "H-hey guys. Totally forgot she was coming back today." He chuckles and scratches the back of his head, taking a step towards the stairs as per Amethyst's hand gesture. "I'm just gonna head to my room ...."

"Pearl's up there cleaning. Try not to get in her way." Sapphire says without looking up.

His false smile shook. He hated it when Pearl cleaned his room. She always got rid of his knife collections and cleaned under the bed, the place he purposely made dirty with junk so he wouldn't be forced to go under when he got stressed. He always left scars from when he was depressed. At least she started leaving his aspirin drawer alone. "Thanks ...."

As he walked up the stairs he head her mumbling as she cleaned. He opened the door slowly, peaking in to see her bent over, picking up some of the clothes he had forgotten to put in the laundry bin.

"H-hey Pearl. Why aren't you downstairs waiting with everyone else?" He says stepping in as she stood up straight, fixing her posture. 

"I- um .... Just ....." She stutters. Her face lights up slightly as she comes up with a comeback. "Why aren't you downstairs?"

Steven Shrugs. "I'm not in the mood to see mom right now. You?" He says as he walks over to his desk, taking his jacket off as he does.

The pain on Pearls face makes Steven cock a smile. "I don't want to see her either ... Hah. I'm still not sure how to feel about all of this." She uses her free hand to rub her shoulder, her eyes looking down at the clothes she held. "Does she even remember me ....?"