-That next evening-

Lapis: I'll be there in 5 min

I stared down at my phone, and my hands felt shaky. I felt dirty. I hadn't even done the deed yet, and I still felt my stomach lurch. I changed into some fresh clothes, and threw on my dark green hoodie. I froze for a moment, and immediately took it off, realizing that it was the hoodie I normally went out doing my dirty work in. Lapis would've recognized it in a heartbeat.

I slipped on my green pullover sweatshirt, and adjusted my glasses. I walked into the bathroom, and peered into the mirror before me. I felt a small vibration in my pocket, and I automatically knew it was Lapis, probably letting me know that she was here. I took a deep breath, and closed my eyes. You can do this, Peridot. Do it for Amethyst. Do it for the team. I put on my best fake grin, and zipped down the stairs. I opened the front door and exited the house, feeling my heart skip a beat as I spotted Lapis's cop car. 

Jasper probably saw me leave the house, but I never heard her protest. I cleared my throat, and blinked a few times before approaching the vehicle. I felt a shiver shoot up and down my spine at the sight of the police car, but kept the grin plastered on my face. The driver's seat was facing toward the street, so she rolled down the passenger seat window. "Hey!~" she peeked out. The heavy weight on my shoulders lifted for a split second, and I genuinely giggled. 

I opened the car door, and hopped in quickly. I buckled up, and looked over at Lapis with a smile. Lapis looked right back at me with a beaming expression, and my heart fluttered. "So, where are we headin', m'lady?" she jokingly asked, putting the car back into drive. Fuck. I remained silent for a few seconds, and loudly cleared my throat. "O-oh! U-um, I was w-wondering if we could maybe...I-I dunno..." I stuttered, twiddling my fingers. The words weren't coming out. Lapis placed her hands on the steering wheel patiently. I looked down at my lap, and felt my face start to heat up. 

I was internally panicking, and it felt like I was physically unable to speak for a second. I felt like just spazzing out and leaving the car right then and there. Lapis then turned back to me once again, staring at me intently. I looked into her eyes, and felt my throat grow dry. Very dry. My nails dug into my thighs deeply. I can't do it. I can't. That kept repeating in my head over, and over, and over...and over again. I couldn't do it. "L-let's go to th-the movies?" I sputtered. 

"Alright. Movies it is." Lapis stated, slowly driving away from the curb. You fucking failure. I gave my everything to not scream in the car. Maybe there's time to go to the police department afterward? That could give me more time to formulate a solid plan. Yeah! I inhaled sharply, and looked out the window. Lapis put on the radio, and my hands remained perfectly still on my legs. "S-so I saw the news this morning...how was work last night?" I asked, slightly tilting my head.

The officer's face began to burn a light shade of red, and she pursed her lips for a moment. "Interesting nonetheless...I arrested someone." she replied quietly. "Really?" I hollowly asked, side-glancing her. "Yeah...in fact, it was a little unexpected. It ended up being Pearl's new thug girlfriend I told you about." she explained. "O-ohhh right. Well that is certainly unexpected." I replied shakily. "Yeah...and I may have made a small mistake." she murmured. I fully turned my head to face her. "Hm?" I squinted my eyes, remembering vividly how she rammed into Amethyst with the exact car we were driving in.

"Did the news mention anything about...a certain cop maybe hitting the criminal w-with their car by any chance?" she timidly asked, keeping her eyes glued to the road in front of her. I raised my eyebrows, and my eyes widened. I put my acting skills to the test, and gave my best 'surprised' reaction. "Wh-whaaaat?! You?! Hit Amethyst with your cop car?!" I squealed, and almost giggled at how amusing that actually sounded out loud. 

"I-I didn't see her! She literally ran right in front of my car! Luckily she wasn't really hurt and...it made things a bit easier to arrest her." Lapis chuckled nervously. You don't say. "W-well I'd imagine so!" I responded in a lively voice. "How long will she be serving?" I asked. "Well, I heard her sentence to imprisonment could be extended up to ten years since it was considered an armed robbery." Lapis explained, and my stomach dropped. "T-ten years?!" my voice grew cracky. "Yeah. We found a Desert Eagle on her." she flatly replied. "But it was closed! She didn't exactly endanger anyone, right?" I whimpered.

"Yeah, I'm not too sure if they'll count it or not. Wait, how'd you know it was closed?" Lapis turned to me, and my toes curled inside my shoes. FUCK. "W-well u-uhm, th-the news claimed the robbery w-was last night! A-and you know the bank closes toward the evening. I-I just assumed." I stammered anxiously, feeling my heart rate pick up. "You're a bit red, Peridot. Are you okay?" she suddenly asked, and my face probably burned hotter. "Y-yeah yeah! I'm fine! Perfectly fine! S-so what movie do you wanna see?!"

. . . . 

We had been about 10 minutes late to the movie, but we just rushed into the theater. "Was it really necessary to get this much popcorn? That line is the reason we're late." Lapis whispered, sitting down beside me with a freakishly large tub of popcorn - which I begged for. "sHhHhh tHe MoVie'S sTaRtiNg!" I shushed, reaching over and shoving my hand into the tub. "It already started." she corrected, but I said nothing. I shoveled popcorn into my mouth as I stared up at the large movie screen eagerly. 

I became more and more intrigued as the movie progressed, and I slowly stopped eating the popcorn. Though it seemed like Lapis hadn't even touched the popcorn since we arrived. Ah well. More for me. I'll take it home to stuff my face with later, I thought. I mindlessly set the popcorn tub down beside our feet, not once looking away from the screen. However, my previous deep attention toward the movie disappeared into thin air once I felt Lapis's hand touch mine. 

My eyebrows furrowed, and I tensed up slightly. Her hand remained placed on top of mine, and I looked at her out of the corner of my eye. She didn't even seem to  acknowledge it, continuing to watch the film. I blushed profusely, and swallowed the sudden lump in my throat. My chest felt all tingly inside. After a few minutes, I decided to shift my hand a little. My hand squirmed, and Lapis suddenly lifted it off, probably thinking I was getting uncomfortable.

However, I flipped my hand over to where the back of my hand was now resting on the chair arm. I lifted it slightly and took Lapis's hand back, intertwining my fingers with hers. I beamed brightly inside, feeling my heart lift. I side-glanced Lapis, and she had a small smile on her face. She then leaned over, and I suddenly tensed up again quickly. She planted a soft kiss on my cheek, and I grew embarrassed, realizing that she probably felt how hot my face was. My fingers around her hand tightened, and a smile crept onto my lips.

. . . .

"I don't know about you, but I thought that ending was fucking ridiculous!" I grumbled as we walked out the doors of the building. "How?" Lapis snorted. I tightened my grip on the leftover popcorn, and cocked my head to look at her. "How was it not?! It didn't make any sense! She shouldn't have died! She had three perfectly effective and simple ways to escape but of course he somehow knew where she was! It didn't make any sense at all. The directors need to work on better ways for the guy's conveniences to happen. Because that was terribly executed." I ranted, walking toward the car as Lapis unlocked it. 

"Interesting perspective. But maybe he could've had technology? You never know." Lapis replied, getting into the driver's seat. I entered the passenger's seat and set the popcorn down at my feet, grumbling lowly. My senses then started coming back to me, and I remembered the police department thing. My fists balled, and I grew nervous. I turned to Lapis, who put the keys into the ignition, getting ready to start it. "Lapis." I squeaked.

She halted, and looked over at me questioningly. "I um...why don't we go somewhere else?" I asked. "Well, I still a bit more time. Where do you wanna go?" she asked. "U-um...w-well...I was wondering if w-we could maybe...g-go to the p...pol..." my lips forced themselves shut, and I made a strange whimper noise. "...pool...?" she tilted her head in confusion. "N-no. Wait-yes! A-actually...n-no. No." I stuttered. "You've been actin' kinda strange, Peridot...are you alright?" she finally asked. 

I still couldn't do it. I'd just have to find another way...because I was not going to use Lapis. "Lapis...I..." I turned a little to face her more, and she looked a little more confused. "...I think I'm...I think I'm in..." sigh my mouth really was not cooperating. I couldn't muster up the courage to tell her I was in love with her...so I settled with "I really like you, I guess is what I'm trying to say. I love spending time with you..." I looked down. "...it's more than a minor infatuation. It's much more, actually..." I felt myself start to blush again. 

"A-and I can't really stop thinking about you, either..." I murmured. There was almost a whole minute of silence, and I awkwardly looked back up at the cop. Her cheeks were tinted pink, and her eyes almost seemed to sparkle. She raised her eyebrows and chuckled seemingly nervously. "W-well this conversation took a turn, heh..." she finally replied, and I cringed at myself. Too far. I shut my eyes tightly, and gritted my teeth behind my lips, probably scrunching them up strangely.  

My eyes shot back open as I felt lips gently press against mine. Lapis's head was slightly tilted, and my shoulders tensed up. I felt incredibly flustered, and lost all train of thought at that point. I then slightly pulled away, separating our lips. Her eyes slowly opened, and she looked confused with a bit of genuine concern mixed in. "W-wait..." I whispered, staring at her for a moment. I maintained eye contact with her for almost a whole ten seconds, before leaning forward. 

I kissed her again, and placed a hand on her cheek to deepen it. My eyelids fell closed, and Lapis soon kissed back.