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It had been a year since Steven had left Beach City.
While, of course, the Gems had spoken to him over video call as much as they could, they also were sure to finally respect his space, and so they hadn't seen him in person since the day he left.
This made them worried. Sure, they spoke to the man fairly regularly, but they couldn't tangibly, truly see that he was alright. What if it was all just an illusion? He wasn't exactly a stranger to pretending that he was fine.
But, finally, he was scheduled to return for a visit, much to the relief of his family back at home.
As the car approached the familiar town, Steven felt a tightness in his chest and promptly pulled over so as to not endanger himself, Connie, or anyone else.
He parked on the shoulder and put a hand over his chest. Connie looked at him carefully from the passenger seat, careful not to touch him until he indicated that it was okay. She'd sat with him through countless fits of anxiety before, but she could tell this was a bit more serious.
"It's safe" she reassured. Logically, he knew that. This was the town he'd grown up in and, sure, he held countless horrifying memories, but he held just as many positive ones. For every possessed fry costume hunting him down or giant injector poisoning the town with bright pink acid, he was laughing on the beach with Amethyst or meditating with Garnet.
His anxious pink glow began to leave, and the two agreed to switch spots for Connie to drive the rest of the way, since Steven wasn't exactly the best driver whenever he was upset.
He was excited to see his family and friends again, of course. But, that didn't necessarily make his condition any easier to deal with. He was just glad that Connie was coming with him. He wasn't sure he'd be able to get through the trip without her.
"Are you sure you're gonna be alright?" she asked as she turned the keys to start up the car once again, concern evident in her voice and facial expression. Steven nodded.
"Yeah" he confirmed.
And he truly meant it.
Wanting to get the easier visits out of the way before he went back to his childhood home, Steven started off by visiting Sadie and Shep, who happened to be stopped in the town during the same time to do a home concert.
The two had found much success since he last saw them, a fact which he only knew from their social media profiles, and he was happy for them.
It had been hard for him, initially, to grapple with the fact that Sadie, who he'd always considered a close friend, had found happiness and a life outside of him, but he had since worked through that in therapy and was now at a point where he simply couldn't be prouder.
He wasn't sure he'd ever seen her so truly happy before meeting Shep. Working at the Big Donut, she was always stuck between trying and failing to please her mother, and trying and failing to please Lars. Even after she left to form Sadie Killer and the Suspects, she was more angry than anything.
It was nice, after all this time, to finally see her at peace.
Connie was the one to make the move of knocking on the back of the pair's van, which he appreciated. It was a bit ironic that she was now the more outgoing of the two of them. It was like the roles had flipped between them, with Steven now being the shy and sort-of standoffish figure Connie was when they'd first met, but the two still managed to fit together perfectly. Perhaps that's just how love worked. Or maybe they were special. Steven didn't mind either way.
The back door opened to reveal a confused Sadie, whose puzzled expression shifted to a big smile when she saw who had knocked.
"Hey, Steven!" she said gladly. Behind her, Shep sat up to attention and crawled into the back as well. They got out and held out a hand to help the shorter of them out as well, so that they could both stand at-level with their visitors. "How've you been? Is a hug okay?"
"Yeah, of course" he smiled, the pit of anxiety in his stomach beginning to dissipate as he hugged the blonde for what felt like the first time in forever. Connie smiled and waved as well, accepting a handshake from both of them.
"Let's catch up!" Sadie said excitedly. Shep smiled at their girlfriend's happy demeanor. "Donuts?"
"That sounds perfect"
After saying their goodbyes to Sadie and Shep, Connie and Steven made their way to the beach to take a bit of a breather. As nice as it was to see old friends again, everything about returning was still a bit overwhelming for Steven, so a break was quite necessary.
"How are you holding up?" Connie asked. Steven thought for a moment before answering, wanting to be honest with her but still getting used to articulating his feelings in an honest way.
"I'm okay" he answered. "It's just... A lot" he gestured vaguely. She nodded in understanding. "How about you?"
"I'm alright" she sighed and sat back, looking out at the ocean. Living around it, one gets used to the beauty of the water, but distance tends to make the heart grow fonder, and she couldn't help but appreciate what a lovely view the town had of the ocean. "I miss my parents"
"Do you want to visit them while I see Lapis, Peridot, and Bismuth?" Steven suggested. She looked over at him in surprise.
"Are you sure you're okay doing that on your own?" she asked. She didn't mean it in a patronizing way, of course. She just also knew that this whole trip was kind of a lot for him, and she wanted to make sure she was by his side when he wanted her to be. He nodded in response to her question.
"Yeah" he breathed in the salty air of the sea and looked at her contentedly. "Go see your parents"
"Alright" she agreed. "Meet back here?"
"Sounds like a plan, man"
"You're such a dork" she laughed. He smiled.
"You love it"
"I do"
It was Peridot who spotted him first, walking through the courtyard of Little Homeworld.
The place had changed a lot since he left, and he was glad to see the community was still thriving.
"STEVEN!!" the tiny gem yelled, running towards him so quickly he was worried she would trip. And, sure enough, she did trip, but she recovered quickly. When she got to him, she nearly wrapped him in a hug, but stalled before making contact. "Is a hug okay?"
"Of course" he smiled. A small part of him felt irritated that people seemed to be treating him like he was made of glass, but he also knew he was overthinking things. They just cared about him, nothing more and nothing less. She excitedly hugged him for a few moments before letting him go.
"So, how have you been?" she asked. Before he could respond, though, she kept going. "How's your place with Connie? Are the drivers in your area worse than the ones here? Do people even drive there or is it one of those taxi towns? Wait, have you ever ridden in a taxi?"
"I've been doing okay" Steven chuckled. She beamed up at him, glad to see that her friend was doing okay. She'd be lying if she said she hadn't been worried sick over him the entire time he was out of town. She wondered if she'd always feel so worried over him.
"Hi, Steven!" a lower voice from above called out. Steven looked up to see Lapis smiling down at him. She flew away for a moment, then returned with Bismuth hanging down by her hands. How she was so strong, Steven would never understand.
Bismuth let out a startled yelp as Lapis dropped her down to the ground- A safe distance but startling nonetheless- And this earned a hearty laugh from the water gem, who subsequently joined the rest of them on the ground level.
"I didn't know you were visiting" Bismuth said, giving him a small fist-bump. He laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. Due to...obvious reasons, he didn't stay as in-touch with her as he did the rest of the Gems.
"Well, here I am" he laughed, which she echoed, far more boisterously than he could ever manage. Lapis grinned, which was still a bit of an uncanny sight to him.
"Come on" she gestured for him and the other Gems to follow her. "A lot has changed since you left. Plus, I'm sure Nephrite and Little Larimar would be thrilled to see you"
"Oh, right, yes"
"Hey" Connie said awkwardly as she opened the door to her parents' residence. For how long she'd been away from it, not a thing had changed.
For a moment, she wasn't even sure either of her parents were home, until Priyanka stuck her head out of her home office. The woman's eyes widened as she saw her daughter, and she immediately walked over to her.
"Connie, hi" she greeted, a bit unsure of how to approach the interaction. She was starting to regret never making an effort to be too close to the young woman, but she figured there was no time to get hung up about that. "I forgot you were visiting today"
"You forgot..?"
"Sorry" he mom sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "It's just been a busy week, with work and all" she explained. Connie swallowed her feelings and nodded. "Your dad's at work, but, um, if you're still here tomorrow, I'd love to have you over for dinner"
"Right" Connie nodded. "Dinner..."
"I've missed you"
"Yeah" Connie sighed. She didn't remember the last time she felt so insignificant. "I missed you too, mom"
Steven sat contentedly on the beach, waiting for Connie to return before they made their final trip to his childhood home, where the pair would be staying for the next few days.
Eventually, she returned next to him, though she didn't say anything. He looked over at her and could immediately tell something was off. Her knees were pulled to her chest and she looked sad.
"What happened?" he asked, concerned. She didn't respond for a moment, gathering her thoughts.
"My mom forgot I was visiting" she replied. She didn't cry. No, she'd cried countless tears for that woman over the years. Still, she figured that after an entire year, maybe her mom would pay attention to when she was visiting.
"I'm sorry" Steven said sympathetically. Connie shook her head.
"It's okay" she dismissed. She loved Steven and she knew he cared and she knew he had more demons than she'd ever even know of, but this was the sort of thing she didn't think he would get, and she didn't have the energy to try to explain it to him in that moment. Maybe one day she would. "Let's go see your parents"
That evening was spent with Steven, Connie, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl sitting around in the living room, laughing over a cheesy old board game that Greg had unearthed from storage.
It was perhaps a simple, corny way to spend an evening, but they were all happy and, for the first time in a while, Steven and Connie both felt like they had a family again.
And that was all they could ever ask for.