By Your Side: Steven Universe x Reader

?Episode 3: Part 2?

The silence gave me a chance to listen in on snippets of the Crystal Gems' conversation. Steven was talking about how they shouldn't have ditched the Rose Quartzes. His voice eased the tension building within me from H.R.Q.'s questions.

"If you're curious about human behavior, you should try it yourself," I told the Rose Quartzes. "Don't make it Steven's job to hold your hand into your new lives."

"We were made for a purpose, and we never even got a chance live up to that. What are we supposed to in a place that doesn't need or want us?" S.R.Q. murmured, and the others joined her in staring down at the table.

I crossed my arms and closed my eyes against the flashbacks threatening to overtake my senses. "Having no purpose is a lot better than you think. You won't fail to meet people's expectations on who you are because all you have to do is live the way you want," I said. Steven's voice through the door cleared away the past and replaced it with the warm and fuzzy sense of security of the present. A small smile tugged at my lips when I dared to imagine a future beside Steven.

H.R.Q. beamed. "Wow! I–"

I lifted up a kitchen towel to silence her. "If you don't stop annoying me, I will gag you," I warned.

Just then, I heard Steven say from the other side of the door, "–I'm going back out there–"

I quickly stuffed the towel back into my pocket and tried to move away from the bathroom door to hide my eavesdropping. I didn't make it too far when the door opened. I whirled to face Steven before he bumped into me.

"Woah!" Steven exclaimed, eyes wide. We were going to fall– I almost wanted us to fall– but I knew Steven too well. He wrapped his arms around me as we started to teeter, ready to cushion my fall, but I slid my arms to hug his neck and took half a step back to steady the both of us. It was a weird position with Steven fully leaning against me, his arms at my lower back and mine around his neck, and our faces so close that our noses were a mere inch apart. Out of context, it looked like he was dipping me.

My face was completely red, and my brain shut down, unable to process the fact that Steven had yet to move away as he was still recovering from the fall. If I looked closer, I might've seen his blush, but my rose-colored vision only saw his eyes. They took in my embarrassment and stripped me bare of all the emotions that hid the one that mattered to me the most. Steven looked into my (e/c) eyes, and surprise flickered in his gaze at what secrets he found.

Then, Steven was yanked out of my arms. My body started to drift after him, yearning to return to the moment when it was just the two of us and our feelings, but I stopped myself from chasing that desire.

"Whahaha!" H.Q.R. laughed, spinning a startled Steven around. "I want to dance with Steven, too!"

He didn't look so good after H.R.Q. released him. "Sorry haha. You surprised me. But, uh, it's fine haha," Steven said, his voice sounding choked. He looked a lot like how Mr. Universe did when he ran away earlier. Except Steven doesn't run away– at least not physically.

Maybe that family discussion did more harm than good, I thought.

He backed up into S.R.Q. and instantly recoiled away from her. He was acting more and more like a caged animal. S.R.Q. looked between Steven and the Rose Quartz painting on the wall. "Maybe we should go. We don't want to overstay our welcome," she said.

"That would be wonderful," I blurted out.

"But we're having so much fun~," C.R.Q. said.

"Do...you not want us here?" H.R.Q. asked Steven dejectedly.