Takes place a little after "Steven's Birthday" (such a precious episode). There's throwing up in this, so if you are a bit icky with that stuff (like me – Emetophobia up in here!) don't read? IDK, but if there's vomiting in a story, I usually skim over it a bit, or I don't imagine that part as vividly. I did feel a bit funny while writing, but it was probably because I had to keep replaying the visual action in my head so I could describe it with words. Well, yeah, anyway I hope it doesn't affect you in a negative way so you can enjoy it, okay? Okay.

The distinct, sickening sound of vomiting was heard from the barn truck, inside the barn itself.

"You shouldn't have drunken that 3 year old carton of milk!" scolded Pearl, who was standing over Amethyst, the sick person in question.

"Ugh…..I thought-"Amethyst paused, releasing the contents of her stomach into a waiting bucket in her hands. "…..that it wouldn't affect me…."

The taller gem looked at her sick friend, her nagging demeanour softening slightly. Pearl patted her back gently and considered what Amethyst was saying. The purple gem was like a living garbage disposal, with what she ate. She regularly consumed items that were lethal to humans and usually didn't feel a thing. Pearl supposed what Amethyst was saying was a valid excuse. At least she hadn't gone overboard with other foods in combination with the rotten milk.

"I guess it was those tacos, doughnuts and some'a Steven's b'day cake that did this-"she burped "-to me."

Oh. Never mind.

Pearl stopped smoothing her hair that cascaded down her back and just stared down at Amethyst with a death glare. She looked like she really wanted to explode at Amethyst, as the purple gem saw her grind her teeth. She lifted a shaking finger, and jabbed it at Amethyst. "YOU WHAT?!" she yelled angrily. "Stop acting so immature, and ignoring the consequences, Amethyst!" she shut her mouth firmly. She breathed through her nose, a soft snort escaping. Pearl then rigidly turned around and trudged away from the truck Amethyst was resting in, and out of the barn, back towards the nearly-completed drill - where she had come from.

"Whatever" the purple gem grunted.

Peridot and Steven had seen what happened, from a distance. They knew Pearl was mad, so they quickly returned to work – Peridot wielding a welder and wearing a metal visor, and Steven standing a safe distance away, still organising parts he now had learnt the names of.

Pearl re-joined them. Steven approached her as she adjusted a welding mask to her head again.

"Pearl, is Amethyst doing okay?" he asked with concern, tugging on her bow gently. He had seen the purple quartz drink the rotten milk. He tried to warn her, but she didn't listen.

Earlier….

Greg was over at the barn, still helping take birthday decorations down. The gems didn't have the time to do it themselves, so they just left the streamers up after Steven's birth anniversary had concluded.

"Whoa, a mini fridge! Awesome!" Amethyst shouted from inside the barn. descended the ladder he was on to see what she was talking about. He saw Steven and Amethyst inside the barn, gawking over a small, white, smooth box object that they had pulled out. He came closer and indeed, it was a mini fridge. It was familiar to him.

"Oh! That's my old mini fridge from ages ago!" he explained to them, reminiscing on his solo band career – and what he had stored in there.

"So it really is a "mini fridge" Steven awed at the size of the powered-down container. "It's so cute!" he squished his cheeks with his hands.

Amethyst pulled at the small handle, having a hard time since it hadn't been used for a while. She yanked it open and the door swung very wide very fast. The movement nearly toppled the tiny fridge over, but Amethyst quickly leaned over and stopped it from falling. "Whoa".

Everybody breathed a sigh of relief.

The purple gem curiously peered in to see if there was anything still inside, blocking the human and his hybrid son from also having a look with her poofy mane.

She spotted a metal can opener, engraved in the shape of a nude lady. "Oooo Greg, what's this?" she teased, pulling it out to show him - and Steven.

The man blushed and quickly took it from her grasp, faster than Steven could see. "Uh, it's, uhh, an…..artistic can opener." He stuttered, hiding it in his pocket. He wasn't lying, it was artistic. He just didn't want Steven to see THAT sort of art yet.

"Okaaaayyy" Amethyst knew the man was embarrassed and took pleasure from it, but she had had her fun. She resumed her search for items in the old mini fridge.

There was a carton of milk sitting in the corner of the dusty fridge. It smelled. Steven saw it and wondered why he had not smelt it earlier, when Amethyst had opened the fridge. It reeked.

"Ewww!" Amethyst said nasally as she held her nose with her fingers. She picked it up with her free hand and held it away from her body, towards everyone else.

"Gross!" Steven covered his nose, but giggled. "Amethyst, that's gross! Throw it out!" he said, still giggling. Then, a question formed. How long had that been in there for?

He looked to his dad "Dad, how long has that been in there?"

"Well, the mini fridge lived with me in my van when I was with your mother." He avoided the topic of her passing "Then, it didn't fit into my storage shed. I came out here with you to relax when you were younger a lot, and I guess it found a home here. I used to store your bottles in here, and my drinks" he paused, remembering the can opener. He saw Amethyst's face and knew she remembered it too. He ignored her.

"Now, I'm guessing the last time I used that thing was about three years ago" he stopped, staring at the milk carton in Amethysts outstretched hand. "So it's safe to say that milk carton is three years old" The weathered man suddenly perked up.

"Amethyst" Greg approached, a hand on his nose as well. He looked serious. "I dare you to drink the whole thing"

Steven looked horrified at his dad. Greg grinned at Amethyst, who grinned back with just as much enthusiasm.

They were hanging out again.

"Challenge accepted!" Said Amethyst as she squeezed, gluggy, mouldy chunks out of the carton into her mouth.

"Amethyst, wait! Don't do that! You'll get si-" but Steven's words weren't heeded.

Le Present…

"She'll be fine" Pearl answered with a growl, not even trying to sound reassuring.

Steven knew for a fact that gems couldn't die from eating mouldy milk, but they sure would feel sick. Pearl was right, even if she was grouchy. But Steven still felt sorry for Amethyst. She did do this to herself, but he was Steven. He had empathy for everyone.

He trudged away from Pearl, who seemed to be cooling off now. The two weren't fighting as much anymore, and this was probably the worst it got. So it was pretty good.

Steven was walking toward the barn when he heard soft footsteps and a squeaky voice "Steven, wait up" Peridot jogged up to him. She wasn't wearing her welding visor. Steven guessed she left it with Pearl.

"Hey Peridot" he greeted as she now walked alongside him. She looked at him.

"What's wrong with Amethyst? I mean, I know she is in your "bed"" she pronounced bed like it was a foreign word, waving her arms slightly. "But why is she in your bed? Why isn't she working?"

"Oh, you didn't know? Amethyst glugged down" he imitated Amethyst's mouldy milk consuming "an old carton of milk"

They reached the barn door, and saw where Amethyst was in Steven's makeshift bed truck.

"But she consumes human food all the time." Peridot stated, going on her toes, peering over the truck's sides to see a blanket with someone (Amethyst) in it. She turned back to Steven "What's the difference now?"

Steven tilted his head, then remembered it was not common sense to her "This milk was WAAAAYY past its expiration date" he explained, and a sound like liquid hitting a tin bucket was heard, as well as a cough. He flinched. "W-When food is past its expiry date, it makes you sick and you throw it back up"

"You said "expiry" and "expiration date". So, after a while, food just….dies? And if you consume the dead food, you feel ill and try to expel it from your system, correct?" Peridot tried her best.

"U-um, yes?" Steven said hesitantly. He supposed she was on the right track. "Close enough"

The young hybrid walked up to the truck where his occupied bed was. He grabbed the edge and hauled himself up. Peridot followed him, but didn't climb up.

The mattress was bare on the truck, save for the part where Amethyst was, with the blankets being scrunched up with her under it. Steven crawled over to the mound and poked it gently. "How are you doing, Amethyst?"

She groaned, and slowly unravelled the blankets, revealing her round face and dull gem on her chest. She held a silver tin bucket like a pillow to her chest. "Augh, I feel like crap" she croaked. Peridot looked over the rim of the truck at the sick gem. Steven rubbed her shoulder, but Amethyst warned him "Don't get too close, I don't want you to get my sick germs, bud."

"O-Oh yeah.." the boy pulled back. He folded his knees under him and rested his hands on his knees. It seemed pretty nasty, and he didn't want to feel that way, despite wanting to help his purple caretaker. He also wasn't exposed to sickness much, so his human immune system might not be able to take it too well.

Amethyst scanned the truck and saw Peridot peeking over. "Hey Peri" she greeted lazily, and gestured for her to climb up. The green gem hesitated "You can't get sick, Peri-snot" she teased ironically. Peridot growled and began hauling her petite torso over the rim. Steven had to help pull her up a bit; she didn't thank him.

"Urgh, Pearl's nagging has got me thinkin" Amethyst said, seemingly random. She snuggled into the blanket more, as if to protect herself. "I shouldn't a' done any of that stuff. Drinking the milk, eating that food after. It was fun at the time, but now its not….." she closed her eyes and shuddered.

"Amethyst?" Steven said quietly, wanting to know if she was okay.

"I'm good" she said, reopening her eyes. "Most of its gone" she stated. "But yeah, I feel like a massive idiot, and now P's P'd off, heh"

"Oh, I see" Steven said. He liked getting to know people's problems so he could help them with them.

"Can you explain to me why you ate the dead food? You are aware that this is what happens to you, so why did you do it?" Peridot spoke up, watching the two.

Amethyst stared at Peridot "D-Dead food? Pffft" She laughed loudly, her whole body shaking from the action. Steven put a hand over his face to conceal his laughter. He sort of felt bad because he had let Peridot think that she was speaking correctly.

"W-What?! What did I say?! Th-That's how you say it, right?" Peridot panicked. Her face heated up and her hands flailed.

"D-Dot, I'm sorry" Steven tried to apologize, now laughing openly. "Expired DOES mean dead, but when it comes to food-"Amethyst turned away and threw up into her bucket.

"Ew" Peridot and Steven said in unison.

"-it means the food isn't edible anymore. It makes you sick if you eat it" he finished.

"I get that part" Peridot grumbled, still embarrassed at being laughed at because of her lack of understanding double-meanings. "But back to my question; WHY did you consume it?" she asked, a little rougher than before.

Amethyst turned back towards them, her hair ruffling and flailing at the movement. "Okay, its gone now. I still feel sick, but that stuff is outta me now" she said, relieved. She looked at Peridot to answer her persistent question "I did it for fun. I didn't think of the consequences though"

Everything on Earth has no point, it's all just for "fun" Peridot thought to herself. Nobody cares about anything, everything has no major consequence, and punishment for ignoring duties seems to be non-existent. Amethyst isn't helping with the drill, and the Cluster could emerge and destroy us all at any moment. But nobody seems to care. I really hate this aloofness…..

"Oh, there you two are." Pearl's voice came from behind. Peridot turned and saw Pearl meekly standing at the barn door. Amethyst arose out of the comfort of her blanket and left her bucket behind. Pearl saw the purple gem and took long strides forward.

"Pearl, I'm sorry for-"

"Amethyst, I shouldn't have-"

They spoke at the same time. Steven and Peridot looked between them curiously.

"Oh, sorry, you go first" Pearl apologized and prompted Amethyst to speak.

"Er, thanks. I-I'm sorry that I ate all that food…I thought it would be-"

"Why are you apologizing to me? I wasn't even there to see you eat it, and it doesn't affect me" Pearl suddenly interrupted. She stomped up to the truck and gripped the sides, pretty much face to face with the sick Amethyst. The purple gem recoiled a little from shock, but resumed her position.

"I, uh"

"I'm sorry for getting upset with you. You were feeling unwell already and I probably made you feel worse." Said Pearl. She suddenly hugged the younger gem close, urgently, like she had nearly lost her to a corrupted gem.

"W-Whoa P, it's not like I'm gonna die, hah" Amethyst said nervously, but returned the embrace gently. Steven looked happy enough to cry, and Peridot just looked plain confused.

"I'm sorry, I just, I hate fighting with you, even if it's small" Pearl said sincerely. It nearly made Amethyst's heart melt.

"W-W-Well I don't like it either, P. Thanks for being honest and stuff, I guess" Amethyst sunk into the embrace. It hadn't been like this since before Steven was born. She felt a lot better.

Pearl was about to reply when she felt a pair of arms around her waist. She looked down to see Steven smiling back up at her. He sensed love and he wanted in on it. Pearl wrapped an arm around him, not putting him near Amethyst for health reasons. Pearl pushed her gem onto Amethyst's forehead and held her close, a careless and happy grin on her face.

Peridot watched the scene with a strange awe and admiration. She sat on the bed next to Amethyst. They don't care She thought. She watched Pearl grip onto the others, showering them with love. They were very content with each other, and content with the world. That could crumble at any minute. Suddenly, a purple arm reached out and grabbed her small waist, dragging her into the cuddle. "Wha?" she squeaked as she felt Pearl put an arm around her shoulder too. Now she was stuck in a tangle of loving limbs and wide smiles. The green gem strangely appreciated the warmth and comfort. There was a slight attempt of getting more comfortable by snuggling in more.

This aloofness, this-lack of care…It's actually…..quite appealing, if it means you are happy.

Well this was gonna be Amedot lol. Got some in at the end. Actually, it turned into Pearlithyst, if that's a thing. Steven doesn't count cause hes a bebe. My friend on Wattpad got into SU through Pearlmethyst recently so I guess it turned into it halfway through because of them? Whatever…Just….Hiatus stahp argh