Steven woke up with a fresh start. He got out of bed quickly and ran down to the bathroom to get ready for the day. After using the bathroom, brushing his teeth, and changing out of his pajamas, he quickly ate breakfast and ran upstairs to the base. There, he saw Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl waiting for him. "Good morning, Steven," Garnet greeted. Steven smiled and greeted back "good morning". Pearl was cleaning up some of the dead leaves from the rose and hibiscus bushes that were laying around the floor. She saw Steven and greeted, "hello." "Hi, Pearl." He answered back, "are you excited that Spinel is coming over from Homeworld to stay with us for a month? I know I am!"
Pearl nodded, "I hope she's doing well, after all the stress she went through." Steven agreed, "Yeah, she's probably made a bunch of new friends on Homeworld! I'm really happy to see her again..."
After a few minutes of waiting, Amethyst got bored and whined, "when is Spinel coming, anyway? It's taking her ages!" Garnet answered, "she might be getting ready, since she's going to stay with us for a whole month." Amethyst groaned and continued, "okay, I'm gonna get some food. Tell Spinel I said 'hi' if she gets here once I'm gone." "Alright, bye Amethyst!" Steven waved to Amethyst as she was making her way out of the base.
After a few more minutes, there was beam of light from the warp. Once the light faded, a wide smile formed on Steven's face.
There she was, Spinel.
Steven ran up to the noodle-armed, pink pig-tailed gem saying, "Spinel!" He hugged her tightly, surprising her a bit. "Oh, hello Steven!" She greeted and hugged him back. Steven broke the hug and held her hand, "it's so nice to see you again. I hope you were doing well on Homeworld." Spinel blushed, "uh, y-yeah. Everything's really great on Homeworld. White, Yellow, and Blue have been showering me with affection since I got there. I even got a new room and new clothes!" She smiled and showed off what she was wearing. Spinel was wearing a magenta cropped top, a pair of black leggings and black ankle boots. Steven also noticed that she wasn't wearing her gloves that he saw her wear the last time she was on Earth.
"Wow, Spinel. You look really pretty. I thought the Diamonds were gonna make you wear something fancy schmancy, " he chuckled. Spinel's blush deepened and giggled, "yeah. I thought that, too." "To be honest, you looked like a jester before you changed. No offense," Steven laughed. Spinel lightly punched him on his shoulder, "Steven! You're so mean!" She laughed along. He grinned and remarked, "what? I'm just saying..." Spinel giggled once more and snorted. She put both her hands on her nose, embarrassed. There was a silence for a seconds before they busted out laughing.
Near them, Garnet was smiling. Pearl saw this and asked her, "what's making you smile, Garnet?" Garnet turned to Pearl and explained, "you see, they look perfect for each other." Pearl gasped and looked over to Spinel and Steven, who were still laughing. "Oh my Stars! I see it!" Pearl whispered, but another thought came to her mind. "What about Connie?" Garnet fixed her visor, "don't worry, she'll understand. We're talking about Connie after all, "she whispered back. Pearl agreed and they both stared at Steven and Spinel.
Steven and Spinel's laughing died down when he asked her, "wanna see a tour of Little Homeworld?" Spinel's eyes widened, "I thought we were going to stay here on Earth!" Steven chuckled once more, "no, Spinel. I'm talking about the place for the new gems that live here on Earth." "Oh," she twirled her arm and smacked her head. "Let's go, but I have put my bags somewhere," she pointed to the pile of bags laying next to her. Steven was confused to as to why he didn't notice them before, but he shrugged it off. "Since you're going to stay here for a while, you could put your stuff in my room," Steven replied while getting all her bags. He started walking to his room with all her bags as she followed behind him. Steven put the bags down next to his bed before Spinel asked, "wait. Where am I going to stay?" He smiled, "oh. You could stay wherever you like." She thought for a moment before continuing, "can I stay with you?" "Well, of course you can!" Steven announced, Spinel blushed again. "Oh, okay. Yay!" She exclaimed. "Now, on with the tour!" Steven held onto Spinel's hand and led her downstairs.
As Steven was holding her hand, she felt warm and giddy.
What's wrong with me? What the heck?
Spinel thought. She smiled a little, feeling safe from everything wrong that could happen. Being next to Steven made her feel... different. It was unlike how she felt when spending time with the Diamonds, or Pink Diamond before she left her in the garden. It was something new.
She felt her face go hot when Steven tightened his grip on her hand.
"Ummm... Steven?" She began. "Yes?" He answered as they stopped at the beach, "can we visit Little Homeworld later? I want to get to know you better first." She explained awkwardly, "what do you mean?" Steven questioned. "Its just, I don't know you as much as I would like to know you. Ya know what I mean?" She replied. He shook his head, Spinel sighed and sat on the sand. Steven sat down next to her, genuinely confused. "Your relationship with the Crystal gems seems so... whole. I want to have a relationship with you that's whole. You barely know much about me, why don't we just spend some time to get to know each other. I mean, we have a month. Don't we?" Steven understood and nodded his head. "Alright then, how about we get some donuts and hang by the beach the rest of the afternoon?" Steven verified. Spinel nodded; the two got up and walked to the Big Donut, hand in hand.
As the two entered the Big Donut, Spinel's heart began to beat faster. She wasn't used to meeting new people face to face, since she'd spent most of her time on Homeworld in her room or at the Diamonds's palace. So, she wrapped her hands around Steven's arm like she did when she was rebooted with the rejuvenator. He realized how frightened she was and comforted her, "it's going to be fine, Spinel. You've got this." Steven's words put a smile to her face and she whispered, "thanks."
Still, Spinel didn't take her hands off of Steven's arm.
Steven walked over to the counter where Lars and Mr. Dewey were standing. "Oh hi, Steven," Mr. Dewey greeted. "Hello, Mr. Dewey. Oh, and hi Lars!" Steven replied, enthusiastically. "Hey, Steven. And-uh... who's this fine lady you've brought to the Big Donut today?" Lars asked. Steven's smile got even wider as he happily introduced his new best friend to Lars, "oh this fine lady here is Spinel. She may seem shy, but she's very entertaining once you get to meet her!" "That sounds good. It's really nice to meet you, Spinel," Lars invited as he held out a hand.
Spinel looked at Lars's hand before questioning Steven, "why is he sticking his hand out like that?" Lars had a sweat drip from his forehead, "oh you don't like handshakes?" Steven turned to Spinel and explained, "its just a handshake, Spinel. He's not going to hurt you. Some people on Earth shake their hands with other people to greet them." Steven continued to demonstrate by shaking Lars's hand, "see? No harm done." Spinel was still very weary of this handshake thing so she still held onto Steven's arm.
"Ummm..." Steven blushed, "she's not used to meeting new people."
"Oh, that's fine by me," Lars replied, "anyways, what would you like to order today?"
Steven looked up at the menu for a moment before turning back to ask Spinel what she would like to eat. "Would you like to eat something? I mean, gems don't eat food but I saw you eat a doughnut last time you were on Earth." She shrugged, "sure why not." Spinel looked up to examine the menu above her and Steven, "hmm..." An item on the menu caught her attention, it was highlighted in pink. Spinel tugged Steven's jacket and pointed to the highlighted menu item, "can I have the Strawberry Deluxe Doughnut with Pink Sprinkles, please?" She whispered. "Sure," Steven answered happily. "One Strawberry Deluxe Doughnut with Pink Sprinkles and one glazed doughnut for us, Lars." He ordered with a bright smile. "Coming right up!" Lars got the two donuts and put them in a paper bag, then he gave it to him, "here you go, Steven."
Before the two left, Lars tapped Steven on the shoulder and whispered, "she's a keeper" and waved goodbye. Steven's face warmed up and he embarrassingly whined, "Laars!" Lars chuckled and said, "bye."
Steven and Spinel walked back to the boardwalk and sat down on a bench. He opened the bag of donuts and gave her what she ordered; a cute, pink doughnut with pink heart-shaped sprinkles. Spinel's eyes glimmered with excitement as she grabbed the doughnut from Steven's hands. She quickly took a bite of the doughnut and her pupils turned into stars, "its so good!" She mumbled with a chunk of it in her mouth. Steven went ahead and took a bite of his glazed doughnut before replying "glad you liked it."
As they were finishing eating their doughnuts, Steven noticed that Spinel had some pink frosting on her nose. "Spinel," he tittered.
"What?"
"You've got something on your nose."
"What's on my nose?"
"Hold on, lemme help you wipe it off."
Steven took a napkin out of the paper bag and moved closer to Spinel to wipe the frosting off her nose. Spinel's face reddened and she touched her nose. After putting the napkin back in the bag and placing it next to him, Steven noticed her become rosy which also made him blush. "I-uh... thanks?" Spinel stammered fumblingly while quickly putting her hands on her lap. "Your welcome," Steven responded, scratching his neck. Then, there was a moment of silence.
In that moment of silence, all that could be heard were the seagulls gawking in the distance and the faraway voices of the citizens that dwelled in the outskirts of Beach City. It wasn't until Steven coughed that the silence was broken. "Steven," Spinel started, twirling her thumbs around in circles. "Yeah, Spinel?" He answered, turning to look at her. She began to have sweat drip down her forehead, "I've felt... so alone these few months while staying at Homeworld." Steven was truly concerned now, "what? why?"
"It's just," her face reddened again, "I think I m-m-missed you," Spinel confessed. Tears started to form on the corners of her eyes, "I-I missed y-you a lot. I-I missed staying with you, y-y-you made me feel safe a-and helped me f-feel better." Now, there were tears drooping down from her already mascara stained cheeks. Spinel continued her lament, "I-It's not the same when I'm with the Diamonds, they're l-like moms! A-a-and I don't want to make them upset. If I told them I don't want to stay on Homeworld anymore, they'd be so depressed! They'd probably even kick me out!" She put her face in hands and wept, "I-I-I was abandoned because-because I wasn't worth being a friend... I w-was a horrible friend. M-maybe that's w-why Pink left me there... b-because... BECAUSE I WAS A STUPID NOBODY!"
She continued bawling her eyes out; her eyes becoming redder and redder. Steven grabbed Spinel and pulled her into a tight hug, "shh, shh. It's gonna be alright, Spinel. I'm here," he empathized while rubbing her back softly. Spinel tightened her grip on his jacket and cried onto his shoulder, all the while Steven was holding her. After fifteen minutes of sobbing, Spinel's cries lowered down until they became faint sounds of hiccups. Steven, still holding onto her, quietly asked, "done?" Spinel mumbled, "yeah." "Okay then," Steven broke away from the hug and held both of Spinel's hands. He sighed and continued to speak, "I wish you could understand how wonderful you truly are. You're not a nobody, you're an amazing person, Spinel. Nobody could change how brilliant you are. Mom left you at the Garden because she was horribly selfish jerk, you know that. Plus, you're the bestest friend anyone could ever ask for!" Spinel smiled a little, "you really think so?" Without hesitation, Steven answered, "yes, of course!" He rubbed his thumbs on the back of her hands and reassure her, "The Diamonds aren't going to kick you out, I made sure of that. You should've told me earlier that you wanted to stay here on Earth so I could've told the Diamonds."
"Well... I didn't want to be a pain in the tush, so I didn't ask," Spinel mumbled, still getting over her hiccups. Steven removed his hands from hers and moved closer to her, "Spinel, I really care about you. I know you care about me, too. But, you have to care about yourself first before you could care about anyone else," Steven advised.
Spinel nodded. The two of them stared into the distance, watching the sparkling waves crash along the grainy sand. Steven put his hand down onto the surface of the bench and noted, "the beach is so beautiful, isn't it?" Spinel remarked, "it really does." She awkwardly reached for Steven's hand before placing her hand on top of his, which startled him. Nonetheless, he didn't mind it.
What's happening to me right now?! Why do I feel so... skittish? what?
Steven thought, his cheeks getting redder by the minute. He wanted this moment to last forever. He was sitting next to the most angelic woman he had ever met.
Wait? Angelic?
Steven shook his head. Spinel saw this and questioned him curiously, "why are you shaking your head?" Steven quickly came up with an excuse, "I was just- just trying to get a bug of my hair."
Really?! Get a bug off your hair Steven?!
He internally screamed.
"Oh, okay." Spinel turned back to continue looking at the ocean. Steven gave a sigh of relief and went back to his thoughts.
He began to have this weird feeling burn up inside him again. Steven didn't realize but he felt like he wanted to jump around and scream just because he and Spinel were holding each other's hands. Though, this wasn't like the other times when they held each other's hands. This time it felt like she actually became a part of his universe. In the meantime, Steven kept having this strange feeling throughout the time they held their hands.
She's so... beautiful... Oh my gosh, why didn't I realize this before? I guess it's your lucky day, Steven. You get to spend quality time with this heavenly being. I can't even think of anything else besides her, she's truly gorgeous. Snap out of it, Steven! Why am I so entranced to this gem?! I barely know her! But... she's so... stunning! I guess Lars was right about her being a "fair lady" and that she was a "keeper". She really is a "keeper".
He didn't notice it, but Steven was staring at Spinel the whole time they were holding each other's hands. On the other side of the bench, Spinel was in her own flirty trance.
Oh Stars... he's so adorable. I can't believe he didn't swipe his hand away... Wait, what am I even saying? You've known him for only a few days, and yet you're already kittenish, Spinel! Oh, who gives a dang. I want what I want, and I want him to be mine. Let's give it some time, though. I don't want to ruin our friendship in the process...
Spinel pondered, still infatuated with the thought of loving someone again.
After an hour of just sitting on that same bench, Steven removed his hand from Spinel's. This surprised Spinel, but she didn't show any sign of it. "Wanna go elsewhere? We've been sitting here for over an hour and my back's starting to hurt," Steven asked, standing up while grabbing the paper bag that previously held their doughnuts. "Alright, where are we gonna go Mr. Universe?" She questioned while standing up. "Hmmm," he put a finger underneath his chin, "Oh I know!" He removed his finger and held Spinel's hand again, making her faintly blush. "Let's go back to my room at the temple and play some videogames." He optioned. Spinel frowned, "we're not gonna play a game where I just stand still while you leave me, are you?" Steven's eyes widened and he violently shook his hands, "no, no, no! I wouldn't ever do that to you!" Spinel smiled a little and intertwined her hand with his, "thanks Steven. What would've I done without you?" She thanked. They started walking back to the temple, "you don't have to thank me, Spinel. I just help those I love and care about." He explained, while walking.
He... he really does care...
Spinel thought as she walked with Steven back to the temple.