Steven Universe fic

Pt8 Chapter Seven: Close

Spinel stared at her friend as he finally stood up. He looked at the floor, she bent down to try and see his eyes.
He looked away, back at Pearl who's hand was rested on his shoulder.

"We have to find a way to get to the Diamonds." He muttered softly, wiping the tears from his face and putting on a forces smile. "We can stop them."

His words were hollow, he didn't know how to stop them, but he tried his hardest to be optimistic. It was all he could do at the moment to prevent himself from breaking down again. Spinel watched as he slowly made his way out of Peridot's makeshift lab. She followed shortly behind the rest of them, trailing a few feet away, confused and concerned.

The three of them warped back to the house, Steven went straight to his room.

"We should leave him alone for now." Pearl said softly. Spinel glanced up at the gem, opening her mouth to speak before closing it again in hesitance and resignation.
Pearl made her way downstairs, while the pink gem held back, lingering in the doorway to the warp room. She glanced at the warp pad, feeling as though she belonged elsewhere in the moment.
The gem hesitated, then made her way downstairs, stopping at Steven's door and listening for his movements. He was silent.
Spinel hung her head, making her way down the stairs and entering the living room.
She wanted to know, to understand what had happened what was said, why he was upset- was it the weapon?
Did he find out what it does?
She didn't even know its potential...she didn't know anything.

Amethyst walked through the door, munching on fries, she nodded at Spinel and sat on the couch next to her, looking her up and down, noticing how forlorn the gem seemed.

"Yo, what's wrong?" She asked through chews. Spinel sighed reaching over to grab a fry and eating it.

"No idea, Steven was happy- now he isn't." She replied. Amethyst swallowed her fries and nodded at her.

"Yeah, he's been like that, all this stuff going on...really took its toll on him." She answered. Spinel sunk further into the couch.

"You think it's my fault?" She whispered, unsure if her naggingind would let the guilt go. Amethyst looked at her, causing Spinel to avert her eyes in shame.

"Of course not! I mean- yeah he's stressed about the corruption but you didn't do anything wrong. You were crazy!" She laughed, slapping Spinel on the back, the pink gem raised her head in confusion.

"But he healed me." She murmured. Amethyst glanced away from the gem, unsure if she wanted to hear the truth.

"It takes more than just Steven to heal corruption." She replied, suddenly losing her appetite. "All four of the diamonds are the only way to heal corruption."

Spinel's eyes widened at her words, her breath caught in her throat at the thought of losing herself again. The noise, the screaming. She didn't want it. She didn't want it to be constant.

"But don't worry, as long as Steven is around to spit on you, you got time." Amethyst forced a laugh, though she knew it wouldn't comfort her sick friend. She had seen first hand what corruption did to gems. What it did to Jasper, to Centi.
Spinel was her friend, she was fun, and Amethyst didn't want to lose her.

"What if he can't make the Diamonds stop?" Spinel's words were so quiet that Amethyst barely heard her utter them.

"What if they don't stop and the hate me and they hurt him and he's gone?" The gem began to lose herself to her worries, "he could get reset, or corrupted, or destroyed or shattered- killed, what then?"

Amethyst stared at her friend as she pulled at her hair, clawing at her face.

"Hey, hey, it's gonna be okay." She raised her hand to rest it in the frazzled gem but Spinel slumped forward beginning to cry. "They wouldn't-"

"What if they do?! They tried to do it to me- they could do it to him, hurt him." Her voice cracked as she spoke. She attempted to stand but Amethyst quickly wrapped her arms around the gem, pulling her close and keeping her from moving.

"You're freaking out to much, you haven't done that in a while." She said softly, recalling the last time Spinel had lost herself to her wild thoughts.
It was shortly after she regained her memories, there had been a gem that came to New Homeworld, Yellow Diamonds Pearl.
Spinel caught sight of her and had a mental breakdown, under the impression that they had come to take her back.
The pearl was only there for a short vacation, apparently.
But Spinel was distraught, Amethyst managed to calm her down and convince her otherwise.
The two had been quite close since.

"You don't have to worry about Steven, he can handle this, he's got us," amethyst looked down at the now silent gem, Spinel's head rested on her chest. "He's got you too."

Spinel blinked the tears from her eyes and let out a sigh, sinking into her friend's embrace. Her hands wrapped around Amethyst's arms and she slowly calmed her breathing.