Spirits of the Past

Chapter 4

Overnight, Pearl gave Connie a call and told her what happened. She quickly came over the next morning. She arrived at 9am to talk with the gems. Steven was still passed out in bed, which gave them this opportunity 

When Connie walked in, the gems were all sitting on the couch. She grabbed a chair and sat across from them. "I've been thinking about this all night. I think the only other option is to get him a therapist. My mom can give me a list of recommendations. The hard part is convincing Steven to go."

They all thought for a minute when Pearl got an idea. "I can try talking to him. He seems to listen to me." They all agreed that Pearl would be the one to break the ice

About 2 hours later, Steven finally got up. But he didn't even bother to change. He was still in his pajamas with his hair a complete mess. He was surprised to say the least to see Connie there. "Heyy Connie, wh-what are you doing here this early?"

Amethyst interjected. "Dude it's 11 o clock."

"What?!"

Connie grabbed his hand and pulled him towards her. "Steven it's okay, don't worry about that right now. We've all been talking and....we think you should see a therapist." In that moment, Steven's heart sunk and his entire body turned pink. He was terrified to see any kind of doctor after what happened last time

"What? No way. Guys, I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me." Connie let out a deep sigh

"Steven we're already worried. Why don't you come sit down and-" She tried to hold his hand but he immediately pulled away 

"No! I-I'm not going." Steven was about to head for the door when Amethyst and Garnet blocked him

"Don't even think about it dude. Chill out, it's gonna be okay."

Steven held his head and started groaning. His face swelled and then shrank back to normal size. Something deep rose up inside him and he bursted into tears

"You have no idea what it's like! How it feels for people to depend on you for every little problem! You all think I'm so perfect and always know what to do! But I don't! I'm so sick of it! I'm. Not. My. Mom!! I'M NOT PINK DIAMOND!!!!!!" He looked like he was about to punch something.. As he clenched his fist Pearl grabbed his wrist from behind, turned him around, and pulled him into a tight embrace

She calmly stroked the back of his head. His face immediately softened a little bit. "Steven, please listen to me. We know you're not Pink. We're so sorry for putting all that pressure on you. It wasn't fair. But we're here now and we want to help you. We love you Steven."

He whimpered a little before sobbing into her shoulder. The pink slowly faded from his body. She continued to stroke his head to soothe him. "Shhh it's okay honey, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. Why don't we relax on the couch." He nodded his head as he took a deep breath in between cries

Connie, Amethyst, and Garnet decided to give the two some privacy. Pearl and Steven walked to the couch together. She patted her lap inticing Steven to rest his head on her. His eyes were bloodshot red after all that crying. "Thank you for being here for me."

"Of course Steven. You can tell me anything."

Steven let out a huge yawn. "I'm so tired now."

"You can rest if you want. I'll be here when you wake up. If it'll help, I can sing something."

"Yes please."

And so she did. She hummed a melody as she rubbed the boy's head. After 2 minutes, he was out. Pearl looked up at the ceiling as she listened to the sound of Steven's snoring

She thought maybe she should get some rest too. She slouched a little and closed her eyes

When Connie peered around the corner, she saw the two asleep. She grabbed a nearby blanket and placed it on Steven. She gave him a kiss on the forehead and headed out to the balcony

She reached for her phone and dialed a number. "Hey mom, Steven really needs your help."