“The third book in The Spirit Morph Saga was by far superior. I mean, when Lisa had to decide between the fate of her father and Archimicarus reflects on how deep the bonds of friendship versus family can truly go,” Connie spoke with passion, her eyes alight. Steven nodded in agreement, carefully guiding Connie around some of the fragments of Peridot’s ship that still littered the beaches. When his best friend went off on a tangent about her favorite book series, she would often lose sight of anything else around her.

Personally, the fourth book was Steven’s favorite, but he did not want to interrupt Connie. It was so rare to see her so free and unbridled about all the “rules” she felt she must stick to. When Connie got to talking about The Spirit Morph Saga, her hands would flutter about, and her face would flush. Honestly, Steven could not think of a time when Connie looked more beautiful. Steven felt as if he should compare Connie to a rainbow or the sunrise, but in that moment, there was nothing lovelier on planet Earth.

Lost in thought, neither Connie nor Steven noticed when they wandered upon an untraveled part of the beach. Instead of smooth sand, jagged rocks littered the ground, and broken bottles and empty wrappers were cemented into the landscape through time. The pair finally halted when Connie took sight of a rotting fence that seemed to lead nowhere.

Clutching Steven’s arm, Connie exclaimed, “Wow, Steven, look at that fence!”

The boy squinted, hardly seeing any sort of marvel. “It sure is fence-like.”

“No, don’t you see,” Connie was holding on to Steven with both of her hands, practically enveloping him. “It looks just like the fence that laid around Lisa’s old house.”

“I thought Lisa lived in a castle.”

“No, before that, Steven. Remember, before she left for the castle, her family lived in a little shack in the middle of nowhere, and they had a broken-down fence just like this one! She used to practice her flips from that very fence, and that was how she got so good at fighting.”

Steven’s face lit up in a beaming smile, “Let’s do it!”

“Uh, do what, exactly?” Connie asked hesitantly.

“Let’s practice flips, just like Lisa!”

Connie eyed the fence wearily, “I’m not sure if my parents want me playing on broken carpentry.”

Pulling out his best puppy-dog pout, Steven turned his watery eyes on his friend, “Please? It would really help me with all this gem stuff.”

“Well, learning some acrobatics COULD benefit you on your missions,” Connie nodded in finality. “Alright, let’s do this!”

Steven let out a victorious giggle, before launching himself on the fence. Pinwheeling his arms to maintain balance, the boy beamed at Connie. “Check me out! King Steven of the fence!”

“Careful, Steven,” Connie called from the ground, her hands clenched at her heart nervously.

Steven held out a hand, his grin turned soft as he gazed upon Connie. “Come on, Connie. I’ll keep you safe.”

Connie could not hold back her blush as she took Steven’s hand. “Okay.”

The pair played, oblivious to the world around them. Steven couldn’t help but watch Connie as she swung precariously side-to-side, trying to hold her balance, her dark locks blowing gently in the breeze. He could not believe how lucky he was to have Connie in his life. She was his everything; from the first thing that he thought of in the morning, to the last in the night, but most importantly, she was his best friend. Even if Steven could only ever have her as his friend, he could die happy. All he needed was Connie, and Steven hoped, that Connie also needed him.

Steven knew he lived an abnormal life. Some may even call it weird. Even though Steven loved Sadie and Lars, they still faced his world with trepidation. Steven found himself censoring his stories to his friends at the Big Donut. No matter how awesome and amazing his friends were, sometimes, they couldn’t accept his life as a crystal gem. It was through no fault of their own, even Greg, a man who devoted his life to a crystal gem and raising their gem son, could be overwhelmed. But not Connie, though.

Connie was something special. Under her parents’ strict guidelines, Connie appeared to be a nervous girl, afraid of the outside world. But once Steven broke apart her shell, he found she was anything but. She was adventurous, wanting to see and know all the universe had to offer. She was understanding and accepting at how different the world of the crystal gems could truly be. She did not fear them, but embraced them. Connie wanted to be a part of Steven’s universe, but she did not realize that she was Steven’s universe.

Steven was ripped from his musings when he heard a pained cry from Connie.

“Connie!” The boy cried, running to her side from where she had fallen from the fence. “Are you okay.”

“Steven,” Connie whimpered, tears welling up from behind her lens-less glasses. A chunk of the rotted wood was sticking out of her shin, with a thin stream of crimson blood trickling down her leg.

“Hold still, Connie,” Steven demanded, putting on his serious face. “I’m going to fix you.”

Cupping the bottom of her calf with one hand to steady himself, Steven plucked the piece of wood out of her shin as gently as possible. As much as Steven tried, Connie could not hold back a pained hiss.

“It’s okay,” Steven spoke, examining her now-open wound. “The cut look shallow. I can heal it.”

Slathering his hand with as much spit as possible, Steven raised his arm, ready to smack his palm into her leg, when he was interrupted by Connie shouting, “Wait!”

Steven looked up at Connie, an eyebrow raised in confusion.

“Please,” Connie whispered, tears trickling down her cheeks. “Be careful. It really hurts.”

Steven paused, and without even thinking, licked his lips, and laid a soft kiss against her brown skin. Both froze, neither daring to breathe as the skin knitted back together under Steven’s lips. Steven did not want to move, not sure where he could move to, as this was uncharted territory for the two of them. Where was he supposed to go with this? Where they supposed to act like none of this had happened?

Regardless of what the right choice was, Steven knew he had been sitting with his lips pressed against Connie’s leg for too long. He had to move. He needed to move, if only he could remember how.

Just as Steven was pulling away, his lips tingling, Connie spoke, her voice just above a murmur, “My hand.”

“What?”

Connie blushed, her eyes downcast, “My hand hurts, too.”

Without making a sound, Steven clasped her thin hand in his, and lowered his lips to the back, reminiscent of a knight meeting a princess. Steven gazed up to find Connie’s chocolate eyes looking directly at him, her tears long forgotten.

“Anywhere else?”

“Huh?” Connie started, so breathless that it sounded like she just ran a marathon.

“Did you hurt yourself anywhere else?”

“My-my shoulder,” Connie stuttered. Steven silently prayed to whomever was out there that Connie chose to wear a tank-top that day.

Steven pressed another kiss against her soft shoulders, not even noticing that his healing spit had completely dried up.

“My cheek,” Connie listed next, and Steven wasted no time pressing his lips to her cheek. Her skin was warm, flushed in a way that Steven could only hope was good.

This could be the end of their game. They could their go separate ways, and return to their friendship status quo, but Steven didn’t want that. He loved their friendship, but now that he had a taste of what could be, Steven wanted more.

Deciding it was now or never, Steven gathered all of his courage before he spoke up, “Your lips?”

“What?”

“Your lips, do they hurt?”

“Oh, y-yeah.”

Steven slowly leaned in, silently thanking the rotting, old fence.