Title: The Gem Within
Main Character(s): Steven(13), Connie(13)
Setting: Crystal Gem Temple
Warning: Language, violence, and suggestive theme

Chapter 1: A Friend In Need

It has been a while since Beach City was invaded by Jasper and Peridot after the event of Gem Homeworld discovering existence of life forms at Earth. Luckily, three Crystal Gems and one heroic boy changed all that when stopping them from taking over. But the mission was a close one when Steven thought that Garnet was dead; but soon known that she was the fusion of Ruby and Sapphire. In the end, Garnet was back and took down Jasper with style and help the others to safety.

But in a shocking twist, Lapis was the one to save everyone from Jasper after her and the warrior fused into Malachite and taking over by going under the ocean. With that, Steven and the Gems were victorious and plan on what to do next if Gem Homeworld might invade next time.

But for now, it has been five months since the invasion and Steven finally got the rest he deserved after finding the parts of the ship and Peridot's escape pod. Steven even helped out in fixing the Beach City Boardwalk after him and the others saved the town from destruction. It was late and he had Lion to be there to watch over him. Amethyst and Pearl were out and Garnet rested herself since she was still searching for Malachite.

It was a peaceful night and Steven was enjoying his relaxing sleep as he was deep in thought of seeing his mother again. But as Lion was doing his personal thing, something made some tapping noises on the window. Lion softly growled and went up to shake Steven.

"Ugh, Lion. Just five more minutes." Steven groaned as he turned the other side. But then, he was wishing he would wake up as Lion did something that got him up the last time: sat on his head. Steven was mumbling and struggling underneath the Gem animal. While trying to break free, the young Gem slid under and escaped Lion's grasp. "Lion! What on Earth were you thinking?!"

Lion grumbled softly and moved his head towards the window as small pebbles were hitting the glass. Steven sees this and went up close to see what was going on. And before he knew, he opens the window and dodged a few pebbles; hitting Lion in the process.

"Hey! Watch it!" Steven shouted.

"Oh! I-I'm sorry, Steven."

Upon hearing that, Steven recognized that voice as he looks down and sees someone on the patio. It was his best friend and secret crush Connie. Her dark brown hair blowing freely from the wind like her small white dress. And by the way she looks, Connie was looking a little different as if she was hurt.

"Connie? What are you doing here so late?" Steven said with a loud yawn.

"Well...it's been some time since we've seen each other. I t-thought...maybe you feel like having a walk with me?" Connie answered while looking down with a soft blush.

Steven might be tired, but he could've sworn he heard a hint of pain inside her voice. "Um...s-sure."

At that point, Steven got up and changed into his clothes. He quickly went outside the door and quietly shut it so he won't alert the other Gems. Chances are they might be still searching for Malachite and may not be back until morning.

"So, Connie, what makes you-" But Steven stopped and gasped in horror as he sees something that made his heart sink. He sees a huge bruise mark that was imprinted on Connie's cheek. "Connie, what happened?!"

The girl didn't say anything as she lowered her head down to not look directly into his eyes. Connie was hurt inside as a small tear escaped her eyes. "Steven...please. I-I just want to walk with y-you."

Upon hearing this, Steven felt sad to see her like this. Instead of just walking, Steven shouted, "LION!"

Lion suddenly appeared in front of the kids and growled softly. He sees Connie to see how she was as he licked her on the cheek.

"Hehe, stop it. It's nice to see you, too." Connie said with a soft smile, but can still feel the sting on her cheek.

Steven got on top of Lion and offered Connie a hand. "Come on, Connie. Let's just take a little ride on Lion. I hate to see you like this."

Connie couldn't help but blush to see how her best friend is concerned for her. So, she hopped on Lion and the Gem beast started to run towards the beach. As Lion was still going, Steven was curious to why Connie was feeling so down tonight and why she came to see him with a huge mark on her face. As Steven was in his thoughts, he felt a pair of arms wrapped around him and could hear sobbing. Steven can tell it was Connie and she hid herself to not let him sees her in a depressed state. It broke his heart to see his best friend crying like this and wished to see what he can do to help.

'Connie...' Steven thought silently.

The three were away from the Crystal Temple and were close by the ocean to see it shining from the moonlight. Lion halted and got the kids to go down on the sand. Steven helped Connie off Lion as he lays down for rest. The two kids were sitting on the sand to look out at the ocean. The night air was giving a gentle breeze as Steven couldn't imagine how beautiful the scene looks. He can hardly believe that he had to sleep through all of this.

"Steven?" He lost track of thought when he heard Connie speaking. He turns to her and sees tears flowing down her cheeks. "Can I ask you something?"

"Connie," said Steven as he placed his hand on her shoulder, "of course you can ask me anything. But just tell me why you are crying."

Connie looks at Steven with sadness as her eyes were puffy red with her tears drying up. Without any thought, she held his hand and said, "Steven...d-d-do you...like...m-me?"

Steven was stunned by this and blushed a bit. Through the times they've been together, Steven often find her a very beautiful girl to talk to. But hearing this from her was surprising. "Um...y-yeah. I do like you, Connie. Why did you asked that?"

"Because...I-I thought...you might not like me anymore." Connie said as she looks down.

"What?!" Steven shouted. "I like you, Connie! I would never plan on leaving you alone in a lifetime! I was just wondering why you haven't been coming over recently."

Connie grasped her hand tightly around Steven's and looked away. Her heart was beating hard and she couldn't bear to lose someone important to her. "My parents..."

Steven said, "Your parents? What happened to them?"

"It's not what happened, Steven." Connie replied as more tears came down. "My parents...they forbid me to ever see you again."

"WWWHHHAAAATTT?!" Steven shouted. "But why?!"

Connie wiped her tears and continued. "They knew about the adventures that I'd be going onto ever since I've met you. My dad was furious and told me to never mention or see you again. After I was punished, so did my chances of making new friends. School was much harder for me as my parents put me in advanced classes and had me practice on every activity; twice the pressure to have on me. One month later, these girls were coming up to me and kept throwing my stuff in the trash. I was then bullied and called the worst names possible. My mother was worried for me after seeing the marks and I told her not to talk about it. But then...tonight, it was when my father crossed the line..."

Flashback

"What do you mean we're leaving Beach City?!"

Inside the Maheswaran residence, Connie was shocked and horrified by her dad's words. The news of her not doing well in school and kept on getting into trouble, Mr. Maheswaran had enough after hearing more.

"You have been constantly failing and you never made one improvement once! And not to mention that you are excused from all your lessons! Care to explain why?!" Her father demanded.

"I was failing because I never got any rest and kept on having so much homework that I slept for two hours! Also the fact that I haven't made any friends since I've been away from the one person that I consider a friend!" Connie shouted back.

"Oh, that Universe boy." Mr. Maheswaran sneered coldly at that name. "I highly doubt that he's the reason you were getting your grades up and everything! What's so special about him?! He constantly goes everywhere with those guardians of his and have a father who rarely have time to even send him off to school like you! Why can't you have friends at any school you ever go to?!"

"Because all of them are jerks and monsters! You know I can never make a single friend after they keep humiliate me every time I stay to myself! And these advanced classes I'm in is too much for me and I couldn't get a decent break without having to deal with practice! I got sent to the hospital numerous of times!" Connie replied.

Dr. Maheswaran felt guilty at that part and didn't know that Connie was under too much stress and injuries like this. "Dear, maybe we are pushing her a bit too far."

"NONSENSE!" Mr. Maheswaran exclaimed. "If it wasn't for that stupid boy Steven boy, Connie would have shown much more improvement in her social life with safety!"

Upon hearing that, Connie looked at her dad with rage and jumped off the couch. "Excuse me?! How dare you speak to my best friend?! The only friend I ever met since he saved me from my anxiety problems! Ever since I met Steven, he was the only person to truly accept me for who I am and not an outcast! He means so much to me and I loved every minute of it. We play, sing, dance, and watch our favorite shows and movies together! He's the one who changed people's lives just by being him!"

"Hmph! I see nothing but a troublemaker who needs to end up in foster care." Mr. Maheswaran.

"Leave him alone!" Connie screamed. "You know nothing about him and Steven is better than anyone in this world! I want to be part of his universe and help him go through the pain he's in! But I can't because you had to be such an...an...AN ASSHOLE!"

[SFX: SLAP!]

The room was silent as Connie hit the floor. She never thought she would have the language to speak like that, but that soon changed when her own father slapped her right across the face. That was a horrific scene as Dr. Maheswaran was speechless to see her husband do that to their daughter. Connie was on her knees and hands after that hit. Connie's mother came up to check on her as she looks at her husband with anger.

"Are you mad?! What the hell is wrong with you?!" She shouted as her husband went to the door.

"By the time I get back in the afternoon, we are packing everything!" Mr. Maheswaran said as he shut the door with force.

Before Dr. Maheswaran would say anything, she heard sobbing noises from her daughter. Connie was in true sorrow as she hid her face to hide the mark from the slap. "Connie? Connie, I-" She didn't get a chance to finish as Connie took one last look and ran up the stairs and heading to her room.

Once inside her room, Connie was curled up and sobbing miserably after what went down. How could he? Her own father to slap and neglect her like she was nothing to him. Connie's heart was shattered and couldn't tell what to do now. And the fact that she never get to see Steven again, she probably thought that he moved on and found a new best friend. Maybe a girl. Just thinking about it just made her cry more and gripped herself tightly.

Without knowing, Connie's door was opened and it was Dr. Maheswaran coming in quietly to see how her daughter was doing. She felt terrible for letting this go for so long that Connie suffered too much. Deep down, she wanted to help her. To ease her pain and comfort her. Dr. Maheswaran moves up to her and quietly sat on her bed. She could tell her daughter was in pain right now and went ahead to rub her back.

Dr. Maheswaran soon had her phone ringing as she sighs sadly. She wanted to be there for her daughter, but her job needed her for the operation right now. "I'll be back soon, honey." She said as she gave Connie a kiss on the head.

Connie was still in depression after hearing her mom said that and looks at the window. All she could do was just look outside and stare at the moon as it was getting late. It was a couple of hours and Connie couldn't get any sleep. All she could think about is the only person that made her feel special in every other way: Steven. Connie missed him and wanted to be there for him after what he has been through. She never wants him to think they can never be friends again and speaking no more with him. She loves spending time with him and always be there for him no matter what.

And with that, Connie made up her mind...

End Flashback

"So you ran away from home?" Steven asked.

Connie nodded. "I did. I didn't want to be there anymore, so I decided to leave it all. I was scared and alone that I had no one to be there for me. That house was quiet and I have no one there for me."

Steven felt bad for Connie. For all this time, he thought she didn't want to see him again. But it turns out wrong as her father was very abusive to her and school was making it worse. He looks at her closely and notices that she was looking pale and her body was looking like she haven't ate or slept in days. And the bruises on her hands were no different. Steven was horrified by this and couldn't believe how much she dealt with over the few months.

'Poor Connie. What happened to you?' Steven thought sadly as he felt the cool breeze blowing in front of them. Although Steven was wearing a hoodie, Connie was not doing so well while she was shivering cold.

"Come on. Let's go back to the Temple. We need to get you somewhere warm." Steven said as he got up. He offered his hand out and Connie accepted as she got up.

"Okay." Connie replied. But then, she sees Steven taking off his hoodie and wrapped it around her so she wouldn't freeze to death. "Oh, Steven, y-y-you didn't have to."

"I wanted to. I don't want you to get sick out here. I'll be fine." Steven replied politely.

Connie blushed and feels her heartbeat racing. This was nicest thing Steven has ever done for her. "Thank you, Steven."

"No problem, Connie. I will always be there for you." Steven said honestly, making Connie smile.

Steven and Connie started to walk back to the Temple as Lion follows them in case something goes wrong. While they were walking, Connie soon had her hand entwined to Steven's and closed it tightly. This soon made Steven blush bright red and knowing that it was from his crush. But his face was getting hotter when Connie kissed his cheek and laying her head down on his shoulder.

"Thank you, Steven." She said softly. "You're my hero."

Steven didn't do anything but smile as they were now reaching the beach house.

-Steven's Bedroom-

Steven was making up his bed as he needed to get thing ready for Connie to sleep on it. She was taking a quick shower and Steven was waiting on the couch for her to come out. The door opened and Steven turns to see her. He blushed red to see his crush wearing his star shirt to wear like a nightgown.

"Hey. I always wanted to wear these." Connie blushed. "Thanks."

"You're welcome, Connie." Steven said. "I made the bed just for you. I hope you like it."

"Thank you." Connie said as she heads for the bed, but stopped for the moment.

"Connie?" Steven questioned.

Connie turned around and asked, "Steven, can you join me for tonight? I...I-I just feel safe with you after not seeing you again."

Steven didn't know why but he understood the situation. He nodded his head and both of them were under the sheets together. Connie then wrapped her arms around Steven and silently went to sleep peacefully. Steven didn't mind it and silently told her goodnight before he went to sleep himself.

But unbeknownst to the two teens, Garnet was watching from another room in silence. She couldn't help but feeling proud of Steven for being there for his friend.

"Goodnight, Steven. Rose would be very proud." Garnet said as she head off to search for Malachite again.

To Be Continued...

First time writing a Steven Universe fanfic and I couldn't help but write about my two favorite characters. Next chapter coming soon and hopefully there might be some action. Later!