(Pearl's POV)
I smiled as Steven had his head rested on my shoulder. He seemed too tired to drive, so him and I sat in the back while Greg drove us back home. I kissed his forehead as he slept, a small smile appearing on his face. My thoughts of happiness sooned turned to worry as I sighed. I still didn't know what was going on with him. Even now with him asleep on my shoulder and as close as we may seem, I feel like we've become more distant than ever before. And I hate it so much. I miss my bond with Steven. No matter how old he gets, he is and always will be my baby.
"Something on your mind, Pearl?" Greg asked as I sighed and placed my hand in Steven's hair, stroking it as he slept.
"*sighs* It should be pretty obvious. Greg, be honest with me: Where have you been? You haven't been around much and you honestly couldn't had picked a worse time NOT to be here." I said with a bit of annoyance as I could here Greg sigh. But it sounded more like a sigh of guilt rather than frustration. It was as if he was agreeing with me that he hasn't been there as much as he should.
"I know, OK? I know I need to be there more than I am. And I honestly have no excuse for it. But I do have a semi-good reason and it's in regards to what I've been doing." He replied.
"Go ahead. I would like to know what you could possibly be doing that could be more important than your son who needs you now more than ever. I knew we'd have to be ready for when Steven reached this point in his life. But we never prepared. We were never ready to be there for him if he needed help and now he's suffering for it. So please tell me, Greg: What's your excuse?" I asked, the annoyance towards him now clear in my tone.
"*sighs* I didn't want to tell you or anyone else about this yet. But I have been trying to find a way to get Steven away from all of this. Away from Beach City and away from all of this Gem stuff beacuse all it has brought him is hurt. But I haven't had much luck in doing so." He replied as I shook my head.
"That's what you've been doing? You've been trying to find a way to help Steven run away from his problems instead of facing them? That's horrible, Greg. If he wasn't sleeping right now, I'd give you an earful." I said, anger in my voice but I was trying to control it so I wouldn't wake Steven up.
"At least I'm trying, Pearl. But let's not argue here. I'll talk more about this with you and the others at another time." He said in annoyance as we arrived at the Temple.
*Meanwhile*
(Steven's POV)
*Huh? Where am I? I must be asleep.* I said to myself as I walked around the area. It was a forest. A nice and peaceful place with a stream similar to where me and Jasper....wait....is that her?
I walked up to her as she stood against a tree, an upset look on her face as I approached her, catching her off guard as she saw me.
"What? Steven? How are you...oh of course. One of Pink's powers. Now I remember. You did this when that Lazuli trapped me in that fusion, if I recall correctly. Though you were there more for her than me, in that situation." She said as I felt guilty. At the time, I didn't know Lapis was the way she was until she outright admitted that she was the one who trapped Jasper and even said she ENJOYED doing it.
Since them, I haven't exactly seen Lapis as the best person. I still care about her and see her as one of my closest friends. But what she did to Jasper really changed my view of her, especially since it led to Jasper becoming scarred and somewhat of a masochist because of what Lapis did.
I changed the subject. "So what's going on? You seem upset." I asked as she sighed and looked at me.
"Steven. How is your relationship with that Lazuli and that Peridot?" She asked as I didn't know how to answer that. But I decided to just be as subtle as I could about Lapis.
"Well, I know Lapis isn't the best Gem. I understand that now. We're still friends, but I'm more careful around her than I was before. And Peridot and I are friends. We're pretty close. But why do you ask?" I asked her.
"Because...*sighs* I've been having these feelings about you, Steven. And that Amethyst you're close with called it "love". She confronted me and thought I was manipulating you and it led to a fight between us. But in the end, I didn't want to hurt her beacuse I know you care for her. But then she told me that I needed to talk to that fu...er Garnet. So I did...and things didn't go so well." She explained as I was in shock a bit. Jasper...actually loves me?
"Well, what did Garnet say? Nothing bad, I hope since she's a fusion of love herself." I said as Jasper scoffed, indicating that it didn't go as well as I may have thought.
"Fusion of love, hardly! She's nothing but a hypocrite! She allows that Lazuli and Peridot to be around you and has no issue with it! They were just as much responsible as I was when we captured you all! Stars, that Lazuli was the one who informed us of your location! Yet she's seen as trustworthy?!? And that Peridot was my assistant and even attacked you! She even gave that Aquamanrine that list of human names that allowed her to invade! So how are either of them more trustworthy than me?!?" Jasper yelled. But I saw something in her eyes I never saw before:
Tears. She just wanted to be accepted like Lapis and Peridot were. And thinking about it, she deserved it more than Lapis did. It wasn't fair that Lapis and Peridot were easily forgiven and accepted while Jasper got left in the cold. I knew what I wanted to do. Knowing I would no doubt wake up soon, I kissed Jasper on the cheek. And as I felt myself waking up, I smiled at her and said:
"I love you too, Jasper."
*Back in the real world*
I felt someone shaking me and trying to wake me up. I groggily woke up and saw Amethyst looking at me.
"Dude, come inside. You've been asleep in the van and everyone is getting worried. Well, I am at least since your Dad is in there in a full blown argument with Garnet and Pearl. You mind coming in and helping me defuse this before it blows up in your old man's face?" She asked as I quickly got up and followed her inside to see what was up.
See ya next chapter!
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Teacher and Student(StevenXJasper)
FanfictionAfter Jasper agrees to train Steven, she begins to gain new feelings for him. How will the Gems and others react?
