Nothing but Lies and Stories (Steven Universe AU)

Connie waited for her mother out back from The Big Donut building. While waiting, Sadie and Lars bid their farewells, leaving and walking home together. Connie remained standing underneath a slight slit of cement that covered her head, avoiding her getting completely soaked by the water that poured from the sky. Connie's mother pulled up in her black car no more than 5 minutes of her waiting. 

Connie's tiny hands scrunched up the sleeves of Steven's jacket, gripping them and pulling the coat closer to her body avoiding any warmth to escape from her body. She opened the car door, slipping inside the car with ease. 

"Thanks mom, how was work today?" Connie asked, eyeing her mother, hoping she didn't notice the jacket she had around her shoulders. Knowing her mother, explaining she got a jacket from a male would absolutely set her off. Connie's mother sighed, shaking her head slightly. 

"Long day, hope yours was a bit more productive" she mumbled, driving away as soon as Connie clipped her seatbelt. Connie adjusted herself in the seat, relaxing back. "It was a bit, nothing too extreme" she answered. 

"That's great, I hope you're able to at least put in some slight studying. Remember, it's pretty important to keep up on your studies" Connie let out a breath through her nose. Studying, sometimes it gets to be a little too much. All she ever did was study and it was getting pretty boring and tiresome. She felt like it was time to add something interesting in her life besides school and homework. So far her job was the only thing that seemed to bring color  in her life. 

It was a great escape.

"Yes ma'am" was all Connie could mutter. The two arrived at the home, Connie's mother put the car in park and the two went inside the home. "Alright, dinner is ready. I'll give you time to change and meet you down- where did you get that jacket from?" 

Once Connie's mother was talking, she tended to tune it out as she knew what she was already going to say but at the mention of the jacket, her heart raced, adrenaline spiking in her bloodstream.

Her mother stared her down, poker face and arms crossed, waiting for an explanation from her teenage daughter. Her father had heard his two favorite girls walk in and decided to greet them in the living room, also seemingly surprised, seeing the jacket. 

"I- uhh" Connie stuttered. "Steven, a friend from school came in and spilled coffee on me, He only gave me his jacket because he felt bad about it" Her mother's gaze hardened as she narrowed her eyes. 

"I'm hoping he was just a regular customer then and not just there to flirt with you" This time, her father spoke, glaring at his daughter. Connie rolled her eyes at her parents. 

"Of course he was, I happen to know him because he goes to my school dad. He was just being nice"

Priyanka hummed and turned her back, heading to the kitchen. 

"Right well, it would be a good idea to return it to him. You have plenty of jackets yourself" Priyanka stated coldly. Connie's adrenaline died down within her but she still felt tense. "Yes ma'am i'll return it after dinner" 

Returning it after dinner, Connie wanted to laugh. I don't even know where this boy lives. She thought. 

Doug took a long look at his daughter and before she let her go back upstairs to freshen up, he called out to her for a quiet conversation between the two. 

"Connie, real quick?" 

Connie simply stood still, waiting for her father to speak up again. 

"Yes?" she chewed on her bottom lip in anticipation of what he would say next.

"I know this may be a nice gesture, but just be careful okay hun? Boyfriends can be a bit distracting. You should keep in mind what's really important and focus on that then boys right now okay?" Doug mumbled gently. Connie was starting to get annoyed. Of course, being just friends with a boy was never an option that's commonly seen is it. Everyone just goes straight to that boyfriend part. Connie didn't see Steven that way anyways. He was just being nice…

...Right? 

Connie shook her head and put on a smile to her father. 

"Yes sir"

Dinner was quiet, her mother and father occasionally talking among themselves about things that happened during their jobs. Anything funny, talking about their frustrations. Connie stayed quiet throughout the conversation, she ate her food in peace as her mind wandered how she was going to return Steven's jacket. Maybe she could just wait until tomorrow at school to return it instead of after dinner. 

She finished her food and went back up stairs, taking the jacket she had placed on her chair in front of her desk. She dug around the big pockets from the jacket, looking for anything that might help her find the location of the owner. Digging in one of the pockets on the inside of the fabric, there was a phone. 

Steven's phone 

The thin, black colored phone with nothing but a screen protector. Pacing around her room, took a breath, getting the courage to unlock his phone. Something in her did not settle right with looking around someone else's phone. She had to remind herself that it was for a good cause. She turned it on, first glancing at the battery percentage which sat at 54%. Her finger flicked upward to unlock the screen, a passcode. 

Great, maybe an emergency contact? She thought.

She took a glance at the wallpaper for a brief second. A picture of a cat, coat colored white with what seemed like a light tint of a pink/ peach tone was his lock screen. Connie smiled at the feline. She thought it was cute that this somewhat tough looking guy had a picture of his pet as his lock screen. She was more surprised by it, thinking it might be some sort of picture of a car or some girl. 

This was so much better. 

Luckily Steven had an emergency contact she could access without unlocking his phone. She dialed. 

"Hello? Steven, If this is another joke, i am not going to fall for it" A woman's voice snapped on the other end. Connie swallowed the lump in her throat before she stuttered out a response. 

"Hi, this isn't Steven. He lent me his jacket a-and i was just trying to figure out how to return his belongings" Connie's voice was quiet when she spoke. "He left his phone in one of the pockets" she finished and twirled a piece of hair as she spoke and paced awkwardly after hearing a silence. 

The woman on the other side then spoke. 

"Oh my, a girl? Steven didn't tell me he had a girlfriend. Well I might say, how polite of him to lend you his jacket, thank you for being so kind to returning his belongings" 

Connie blushed at the woman's rambling. Playing with her hair awkwardly as she listened to her talk on the other end of the phone. She wondered how to address the woman. Was she Steven's mother? 

"Pardon Mrs Universe, am i able to pass by and drop it off?" 

There was a slight laugh on the other end. 

"Oh you can call me Pearl. Steven's probably got his phone locked, so ill jot down your phone number and send you our address. Is that acceptable?" 

Connie nodded even if she couldn't be seen by Pearl. The conversation ended and just as promised, a text message was sent seconds later. Connie's mother walked up the stairs to which Connie cut her off from asking any further questions. She gripped the jacket in her hands tightly heading out of the room. 

"I have the address, we can go return the jacket" Connie stated quickly. Dr. Maheswaran said nothing except giving her daughter a smile and trailing behind her. Connie pulled on another sweater apart from Steven's as she left the house and re-adjusted herself in the passenger's seat. Her mother, taking her time, adjusted herself in the driver's seat and she drove off without another word. 

XXXxxxxXXXxxXXX

Steven walked out of the cafe, a slight blush covering his face while his thoughts swirled in his head about his fellow classmate. It was so embarrassing spacing out like that and then causing Connie to be drenched in hot coffee. Steven sighed, ruffling up his curls out of his face. 

How can I be so stupid

The rain continued to pour from the sky as he walked in the direction of the beach house he lived in. Climbing up the stairs to his household, he noticed the three cars parked just underneath the house by the rocks. All three of his guardian's were home. The 16 year old entered, seeing the three women standing around in the kitchen. Hearing the door open, the three greeted him with warm smiles. 

"Steven! Just in time for dinner" Pearl waved at him before looking at him in concern. "Why are you soaking wet? You should get dry before you get sick" Steven laughed awkwardly, avoiding meeting the older woman's eyes. He didn't feel like explaining the full situation, he much rather do something to take his mind off of it. 

"Pearl is right, this happened last time" Garnet answered plainly, crossing her arms "I'll be more than glad to escort you to-" 

Steven let out a snort. "No! No, I know where the bathroom is, thank you Garnet" 

A faint smile appeared on her face. 

Once he took his time to change, he came back down stairs and began to eat dinner. Amethyst began stuffing her face with food and so did the others. Once he returned, he joined in and had begun a casual talk. 

 "Hey man, Beachapalooza is coming up. You gonna participate this year?"

Steven perked up hearing the mention of the event. 

"Yeah, I might. Sadie asked for some help on her routine." he responded

"Cool, I might just stick around this time. Heard they're getting some cool special singers from Empire City" Amethyst exclaimed excitedly 

"That reminds me, I'm staying over at Peedee's this weekend, we're having a small party at his house" Steven stated, picking at his food. Garnet and Pearl shrugged and nodded. "Right well, be home before going to school the next morning" Pearl smiled. Steven finished his dinner, cleared the table and set his place to do his homework. 

Taking out all his books and setting them on the table, his mind seemed to forget that his mother journals were among his set of books and it was noticed by Amethyst. She froze, seeing the familiar cover of the journal. She hesitated on speaking, but she had to know. 

"Steven?" she spoked. 

Steven looked up, and hummed. 

"Where did you get that journal" Steven's eyes widened, as well as catching everyone else's attention at the table. Steven glanced at it briefly, then meeting Pearl's eyes. Her face remained expressionless, but he could tell that she wasn't pleased. Garnet on the other hand seemed to remain calm, folding her hands together and setting them on top of the table. 

Steven thought long and hard about his response. This could go two ways, he lies and gets in trouble resulting in screaming and feeling the disappointment or he could tell the truth, there would be some screaming and he would ultimately get in trouble. Either way, neither ended in a great result. 

"I found it…" Not a lie, he did. 

"That was Rose's… I mean your mother's" Amethyst stopped to ponder before looking at Pearl. "I thought we didn't have any of Rose's things here anymore. Greg took all of it didn't he?" 

"H-he did yes-"

"But there was stuff in the attic" Steven intervened. Amethyst frowned and crossed her arms. "Pearl we all agreed you got help and did not keep anything of hers. It's not healthy" Pearl looked irritated. 

"It was only a few keepsakes, just memorable items she wanted me to keep" she argued back. "Which is why I stored them in the attic, i haven't gone through any of that stuff in years" 

"Right." Amethyst mumbled.

"Steven I hope you could just return it back to me-"

"Why? I just want to know about mom. I read some of these pages you know, and I seemed to learn more about her than you three telling me combined" Steven shot back, holding his mothers diary in his hands, avoiding the others to grab it. "What aren't you telling me about mom"

"Nothing, You're mother was a great person. It's just a little hard-" Garnet sighed, stopping herself before continuing. "It's a little hard to bring her up," she finished. Steven frowned. He was starting to feel frustrated. Just as he brings her up, the conversation begins to be shut down by everyone else. He understood it hurt to bring his dead mother, but it's been years since she died. He wanted to know so much about her, he wanted to just understand . But how could he when everyone just shuts him out and dismisses him. 

"Okay, yeah I get it, it's hard to bring her up and I'm just a constant reminder that she's not here, but i'm only trying to understand but everyone just shuts me out. Having this diary is my only connection to mom, i think it's fair for me to get to know her this way at least" he frowned. 

Steven stood up collecting his things again and headed up the stairs to his room. 

Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst sat there in silence, none of them looking at each other, only distracted with their own thoughts. The room wanting to scream: 

He's right you know

It wasn't said of course, but those exact words were implanted in their heads.