Lost

Chapter 2

Steven ran, sand flying beneath his feet, his heartbeat pounding in his ears. He barely registers his burst of pink superspeed and when it wears off he just keeps running. Gasping for breath, he makes it to the temple and stumbles up the stairs. He practically falls through the door, expecting someone to come running from the temple with all the noise he's making. Then again, maybe he isn't being as loud as he thinks. It was becoming difficult to hear anything, the ringing in his ears has returned, coupled with his pounding heart, and gasping breaths, maybe he isn't actually being as loud as everything around him seems to be. He's struggling to maintain focus enough to call for his family.

"Amethyst! Pearl! Garnet!" He cries, voice like that of a frightened child, "Anyone! Please." No one is home. Steven stumbles over to a nearby corner and curls up on the floor crying. His mind bombards him with images of his past, especially moments with Lars. Nearly being suffocated by alien moss at the top of a hill, stuck in a bubble with Connie while Lars mocks him from the outside, and more. All followed by one particularly vivid replay of Lars' death. Over and over again his mind torments him with thoughts and images from his worst moments in his past. Eventually Steven runs out of tears. He's so exhausted he doesn't have the energy to keep crying. The flashbacks slowly stop, and his breathing evens out, but he can't bring himself to get up from his corner. Steven simply falls asleep where he is, regardless of the cold hard ground beneath him.

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Lars trudges up the slope to the stairs leading to Stevens home. He wants to apologize, but he's never been very good at them, so he's not looking forward to it. From the bottom of the stairs he glances up at the house, noting the lights are off, the entire house dark. Climbing the stairs he walks up to the front door, and knocks lightly. No answer so he tries again, louder this time. Still nothing. Steven has to be home, he saw him running this way and there's nothing else on this end of the beach to go to. Worried now, Lars tests the door, and finds that it's unlocked. Letting himself in, Lars looks around at the small but cozy, cottage-like space.

He calls out, "Steven? Hey man, you here?" but receives no answer. He stays near the doorway, not comfortable invading Stevens home more than he already has, without permission. He continues glancing around from where he stands. He sees the stairs that lead to Stevens bedroom, the door that leads to the bathroom, the open space for the glittering warp pad and the small kitchen space. A bit of bright pink catches his eye. It's a small portion of Stevens jacket sticking out from behind the counter.

"Steven!?" Lars runs toward the warp pad area. There, on the floor, he finds Steven curled up behind the counter, passed out with tear stains on his cheeks. He sighs, feeling even more guilty for his behavior and carefully picks Steven up. To most people Steven would be fairly heavy, but not for Lars. "At least there's some benefits to being a resurrected Pink person." He carefully lays Steven on the couch, taking his pink jacket off, and draping it over him in lieu of a blanket. Lars sits in one of the nearby chairs, deciding to wait until Steven wakes up. He doesn't really need much sleep himself, so he doesn't mind waiting. Hopefully the gems won't be angry with him if they come home and see Steven passed out like this.

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Steven wakes slowly, groaning and feeling like garbage. Everything hurts, especially his head, which is pounding in time with his heartbeat. Slowly he sits up, groaning, he looks around himself. The last thing he remembers is curling up on the stone floor of the warp pad area, so he wonders why he's on the couch.

"Hey, you're awake!" Lars states, startling Steven. He jumps and, like a fish out of water, he gapes at Lars, unsure of what to say.

Lars looks down, sheepishly, "I came to apologize for my comment earlier. When I got here, I found you passed out on the floor. So I moved you to the couch where you'd be more comfortable." Steven closes his mouth but continues to stare at Lars, wondering why he's being so nice after nearly being crushed by his uncontrolled powers. "Dark humor is how I cope with stress, and that was definitely a stressful situation. It was uncalled for, though, and I know that. So... I'm sorry."

"What?" Steven's taken aback, he never expected Lars to apologize! Why was he apologizing anyway? Steven was the one who ruined everyone's night!

He shakes his head, "You don't need to apologize Lars! If anything, I should be the one doing it! If I had better control over my powers and emotions that wouldn't have happened in the first place. Plus if it wasn't for you, I don't know how I'd have gotten the dome to go away. We might've all been crushed!" He ducks his head down, "So really, when you think about it, I should be thanking you. I'm sorry."

Lars doesn't know what to say. He feels awful for Steven, but also relieved that he doesn't blame him. He decides to say, "Hey man, we could probably go back and forth all night over who has to apologize, so how about we both just agree we both messed up, and move on? Sound good? Besides I think it's kind of cute seeing just how much you'll miss me" He holds out his hand for Steven to shake.

Steven stares at Lars' hand for a moment. It's obvious Lars feels bad for what happened. Steven does as well and the last thing he wants is his friend to feel bad because of him. So he plasters on the best smile he can muster, and shakes Lars' hand. "Deal"

Lars spends a little time making sure Steven is okay, that he didn't hurt himself when he passed out. After lots of assurances from Steven that he's fine, a big hug and Steven telling Lars how much he'll miss him, Lars heads home for the night, and Steven gets himself ready for bed. His head is still aching, and for some reason his mouth hurts. He must've been clenching his teeth earlier. He gently brushes his teeth, changes clothes and climbs into bed. He falls asleep the moment his head hits his pillow.