Shattered Roses | A Steven Universe Corruption Story

Chapter 49

Connie turned to face Steven, but refusing to meet his eyes. He felt a little sad. Whatever had happened, must of been bad. At least he was going to find out. She took another breath, and sat up. "I.. I know it might unnecessary, but.. I don't think differently of you. You'll always be my friend, ok?"

Steven nodded. He was growing slightly impatient, but also anxious. He wanted to run away and out of the house, but he stayed on the couch, gripping it just in case he did get up. It would be better if he heard what happened, and why he had these scars.

"So.. uh.. I just.. need to figure out where to start. It's a long story." She said, rubbing the back of her neck. Steven nodded. "That's fine. I don't mind how long it takes." She gave him a thankful glance, before looking back to the floor. She seemed to ponder for a moment, before softly nodding to herself.

"I.. I think I know. I'll tell you what I know, then the gems can fill in the rest." Connie said. "Alright." Steven said. "And thank you." She leaned back onto the the couch. "So.. you showed up to my house, wearing this weird hat. And you were acting rather strange-"

A sudden knock on the door cut her off. They met each other's eyes for a moment. "I should hide, just in case." Steven said, quickly standing up. "Why? There's only a few people that could be at the door. My parents, the gems, your dad.." "That exactly why I need to hide." Steven said, cutting Connie off.

She gave him a confused look. "I- I may have came here without telling them.." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. Connie's eyes widened, and then she quickly said "In the kitchen, there's an empty cupboard. Hide in there while I see who it is."

He nodded, then bolted into the kitchen. He rapidly threw open cupboards and quietly shut them, until he came across the empty one and squeezed inside. He calmed his breathing and listened. He could hear faint voices, and he still recognised Connie's.

And.. He strained to listen, and accidentally bumped one of his horns against the top of the cupboard. "Ow.." he mumbled, then realised how weird it was to think that.. His horns... He shook his head slightly and turned his attention back to listening to the voices.

It sounded like.. Uhh.. he couldn't figure it out, so he shifted into a more comfortable position to wait. And then suddenly he heard loud footsteps walking into the kitchen. "Alright, I'll get you the water!" Connie said, a bit more loudly than needed.

She then walked up to where Steven was hiding and opened the door. He looked up to her. "Who is it?" She crouched down. "It's your father. He says he was looking for the gems but couldn't find them, so went back and couldn't find you in bed, so panicked and came here." Connie explained.

"Oh.." Steven sighed, looking down. Should he go out? "You should probably go see him. He seemed pretty worried." Connie said, as if she was reading his mind. He looked up and nodded. "I'll go out with you.. if you want, you can say I snuck in here to he doesn't get mad at you." Steven offered.

Connie shook her head. "We can go out together, but I don't think he'll get mad if we tell him the truth." She quickly grabbed a cup then filled it with water. "You ready?" She asked. Steven nodded, and took a deep breath. He would properly confront his father now, especially since he know what he looked like.

The two walked out, and Steven saw his dad sitting on the couch, looking sad. "Uh.." Steven wasn't sure what to say, but the noise made Greg's head shoot up. "Steven!" He cried, rushing up and grabbing his son, sounding relieved. "I'm so sorry for leaving you! I just.. I wasn't sure what to do.." "It's ok, dad." Steven said with a small smile.

Greg hugged him, and Steven gladly hugged back. "I'm sorry for running away. I guess I didn't know what to do either." He said with a small chuckle. His dad let go of him. "I'm guessing you're here.. to find out what happened..?" He asked. Steven nodded. "I'm hoping you'll tell me what you know as well, and maybe I'll eventually get the gems to tell."

Greg crossed his arms. "It might be hard to get it out of them. They're.. pretty upset." Steven sighed. "They used to do this all the time when I was younger. Hiding things from me- I mean. I'm older. And if it happened to me, hopefully they'll tell me."

Steven sat down in the middle of the couch, with his dad and Connie also sitting on either side of them. "So.. will you guys tell me what happened? Or should we find the gems?" He asked. Connie and his dad both stared at him. "The gems." "We'll tell you." They both said at the same time.

There was silence. "Alright, should I decide?" Steven asked. "You might as well. I mean, either way, we'll end up having to do one." Steven thought for a moment. Would he rather know a part of the truth now, then the rest later, or find out everything all at once? He took a deep breath, and then answered.

"I'd like to.."

"Find the gems."

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Hello! I just want to say, I'm so, so sorry for disappearing! My family and I went away camping a bunch for Christmas. And speaking of Christmas, I hope you all had amazing ones! (And if you don't celebrate it, then I hope you just had an amazing month!) I'll try to update more now that it's over and things should be more normal. Again, I thank you all for your patience.

- Salty

Whispering in the dark

Learning about the past

Staring at you, behind the glass

Falling down, behind a mask

Hoping to find

something

new.