Steven's chest was hurting, how long was he running? And how far had he been running? Frankly, he didn't care, right now, his sights were set on the female that was running from him. "CONNIE STOP RUNNING!" Steven shouted after Connie, his eyes widened when he saw her look back briefly before looking forward yet again to continue her quickened pace. Steven knew that Connie was faster, but he was stronger, if he could just get close enough or somehow corner her then he could possibly, just maybe, receive the answers he desired. The male attempted to cut Connie off several times during the chase, which proved uneventful since he soon realized that the streets were becoming unrecognizable. Connie was just trying to shake Steven, get him off her trail so she could go tell Pearl and the others about what she witnessed, and how she believed that Steven was in great danger as she took a sharp turn to the right, only to find herself at a sudden dead end. Steven panted as he stopped right behind Connie, grabbing her arm tightly as he forced her to look into his brown colored eyes "Connie! Stop running and let me explain!" he stated in a somewhat panicked manner. Connie winced a bit since she was suddenly yanked towards the male, "S-Steven you don't have to explain what I saw! J-Just, I never thought that the two of you would be doing s-something like...." Connie exclaimed, however her words trailed off when she looked away while blushing, making Steven realize that he forgot the fact that his shirt was cut open from Spinels knife. Steven let go of Connie's arm to frantically button up his pink bomber jacket, "Connie no! It wasn't like that! I had to restrain her from breaking anything else!" He explained quickly. Connie only shook her head in response "Steven I know what I saw! Your apartment was partily trashed, the two of you half naked on the ground in such a provocative position makes me think something sexual would've taken place if I hadn't walked in like that! Don't you know what you're getting yourself into?!" Connie yelled her question at the male, completely concerned for the males safety. Steven shook his head "Connie I've gotten myself into this mess ever since I was born! It was bound to happen, my mom's past coming back to bite me in the butt because of the fact I'm just HER SON! Now here I am! Entangled in this twisted world that has ensnared me in everyone's web of lies! The only one that hasn't completely lied to me about her life is Spinel, sure she hasn't told me everything but it's because I asked her not to talk about what she does!" Steven retaliated rather aggressively, which made Connie take a step back. She then shook her head and sighed heavily"Steven do you know what Spinel is capable of? She could-". "Kill me if I anger her in the wrong way, yea I know. But the fact that she hasn't done that proves there is some good in her, I just need to show her it's ok to play nice!"Steven interrupted Connie's sentence with his own opinion, "she's not a psychopathic killing machine Connie! She has feelings, emotions just like me and you!". "Steven you're still in danger, what if she does snap? What if she comes after your dad?! Or your friends?! What if the Diamonds find out?...." Connie asked softly, her words trailing off in the end as she crossed her arms in front of her chest while looking down at the pavement. "I'm not scared of a couple goons coming to rough me up" Steven calmly stated, although deep down his brain was slapping him repeatedly for his stupid sentence. "I'm not talking about the gang, I'm talking about THE Diamonds Steven....you know...." Connie whispered softly, hinting about a certain group of dangerous women. Stevens eyes widen as fear flashed through his brown colored irises. The matriarchs of misery, the unholy Trinity,  the terrifying Trio.... The male thought to himself, Blue, Yellow, and White Diamond is exactly what Connie was afraid of. "Then I'll just deal with it when it comes to that point" he firmly answered, however his words made Connie feel dejected.

   The pair stood in silence for a couple minutes, "Steven, I have to go tell the others... " Connie explained softly before taking a few steps to pass the still Steven, only to have her wrist grabbed gently by him. "Connie wait, that's not the only reason I chased you.....Spinel mentioned something that you do, and hinted that it may be gang related...." He explained softly, noticing that the female had tensed up greatly. "Steven you know i'm only an accountant..." Connie chuckled awkwardly, and as she scratched lightly on her cheek, she felt Steven's grip on her wrists tighten a bit. "Please tell me the truth, I'm tired of the lies, I'm tired of being deceived, and I'm tired of the secrets...." Steven begged, which came out more like a whimper as his brown colored eyes looked into Connie's equally brown eyes, pleading for some type of closure. She sighed before looking back down at the pavement, "I uh.....sell information.... usually I steal that information beforehand...." she admitted out of defeat. Steven's mouth slowly became agape, his hand slowly fell from Connie's wrist as shock settled in, his brown colored orbs begining to glass over. "I can't believe it..... Connie.....how long?..." He whispered softly. Connie sighed softly, rubbing her wrist gently, to ashamed to look her best friend in the eye, "after I moved out from my parents, I had trouble finding a steady job and.... Was desperate....  I know I promised to not get involved when I grew up but, desperate times call for desperate measures Steven, and once I became involved, I couldn't escape...." She explained softly. Steven stayed quiet, his eyes fixated on Connie, but distant  at the same time, as if he was becoming a husk of himself due to feeling his trust between him and Connie being broken. Connie gulped and attempted to reach for Stevens hand, only to watch him slowly retract his hand away before she could even grab it, "Steven I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier...." she tried to apologize, to no avail. "You promised.....and you've been lying for the past two years. Why didn't you just tell me that you were desperate for money? I could've helped you find a job, or you could've told me that you were doing something dangerous and I would've understand...." Steven spoke, his voice shaky as a tear slowly developed from the corner of his right eye, which then trailed down his cheek. Connie opened her mouth to speak, but was swiftly shushed by Steven, "don't....don't talk to me, don't contact me, I.....need space. From you, Pearl and the others, just leave me alone. I don't care who you tell, but my life is my business, and I'm the only one responsible for my actions and decisions. You or the others don't decide what I get to do, or who I get to be so just leave me alone!" Steven shouted that last part before shoving his hands into his jackets pockets, another tear fell from his eyes and splattered onto the pavement. Connie looked down, her eyes not really focused on anything specific except for an ant that crawled in between the two, "sorry...." she apologized once again, pushing past the male's body as she walked in the direction where she knew The Crystal Gems would be located. Steven watched her walk away, her figure slowly becoming smaller and smaller until he couldn't see her anymore, I need a break before I break down, I don't know how much more I can take.... He thought before deciding to take a walk, not even caring that the sun was about to set.

   Currently, Spinel was making that long trek back to her home, her flat cap rested on her head as her fuchsia hair hung past her shoulders. Her mind was still clouded from earlier, hoping a walk would help clear her cluttered brain, but in reality, it just made her think deeply about many things. "Fuck....damn it he was so close to me, not as close as those other times but still, and most of those times it was from me acting out. But this was different....he took control just like when I lead him out to the lighthouse....no no he didn't want to do that, he probably was tired. Yeah that's it, rolling around with me probably made him a bit tired, and he just wanted to rest....SUPER close to my body. Yeah that's it, he definitely didn't want to do anything else besides talk...." Spinel told herself, well, more like lied than anything. Her heart ached as she fiddled with her pocket knife in her sweatshirts pocket, everytime her mind wandered and created these degrading thoughts, her heart continued to ache greatly. Spinel couldn't understand why she felt like this, sure she knew that she was lusting after Steven, but this felt..... different. Everytime Steven touched her, usually out of a friendly gesture like a hug, she felt jolts of electricity prickle her skin. Spinel's heart fluttered everytime she witnessed his signature smile, and felt extremely lonely when she had to leave him for an undetermined amount of time. When did this all start? When did this strange desire fester and form into this type of feeling? Spinel didn't know when, or how, but it continued to grow the more she hung out with Steven. She sighed when the sunlight around her begin to dim, she didn't mind that, but it bugged her that the day was over so quickly. Spinel began to pass a small walkway area that could be classified as a cement playground even though there was nothing to play on, and her pink colored eyes scanned the area, only to land on a familiar curly brown haired figure that was sulking in his spot on an old bench. "The hell?...." She whispered to herself, wondering why Steven was so far from his apartment, looking, well, extremely hollow. Now there are two choices that could play out, either Spinel can just look away and keep on walking, or she can go see what was wrong with the male, and she grumbled obscenities to herself as she chose the later. The crunching of the gravel was audible as she made her way towards Steven, noticing that his eyes were red and puffy, as if he had been crying earlier. "Hey, what're you doing so far from home?" Spinel asked gently as she sat down, only to have Steven lean against her figure and rest his head on her left shoulder. "Steven?....." Spinel called his name softly, only to earn a sigh from the male, "I'm tired....." he answered. "What made you so tired?" Spinel asked, her heart thumping against her chest from how close Steven was, but she had to push her emotions aside to focus on the more important factor at hand. Steven then went into a bit of a rant, how he learned that Connie became an informant when she was desperate for money, how she kept that secret from him for two years, and how he was just tired. Tired of the lies, tired of being deceived, tired of the everlasting pressure to become what his mother was, which wasn't what he wanted at all. During his calm tirade, Steven found that he was laying on the bench, the back of his head resting ever so gently on Spinels lap, and he could feel her fingers gently running through his curly brown locks. Spinel was frowning, her heart hung heavy from having heard his words, however that didn't stop her from running her pale fingers through his brown hair, "you definitely need a break one day.... Do.....do you want to walk me home? It's not far and....if you want....you can spend the night Suga' and you can have that break you desperately want for the night" she suggested while lightly blushing at her offer. Steven could only blink in response, but he sighed as he shook his head, "I wish, but after I walk you home I'll have to call a cab and go back to my apartment. I called Bismuth earlier to fix my doorframe, and I have a feeling everyone else knows about us so I'll have to go confront them about the fact that I'm an adult and can do what I want" he explained before sitting up slowly. Spinel felt dissapointed when Steven declined her offer, she decided to just let him follow through with his plan, even though she knew she could convince him to stay for the night, it was probably best he'd go home. The pair were then walking down the street, just talking about small things like how Steven's first instrument was a ukelele, and that he still has the instrument after all these years, and how Spinel used to have buns that looked like hearts instead of ponytails.  Along the way, Steven had called for a cab to come at the address that Spinel had listed, in which the driver would be there in a few minutes. "Well here we are...." Spinel sighed as she stopped in front of a very tall building, which made Steven angle his head to look upwards, stars in his eyes as he stared up in awe until he felt a tap on his right shoulder. He turned his head to the right, now facing Spinel, and she was smirking while holding up his wallet, "you may need this Doll~" she chuckled before handing over the wallet. Steven smiled softly, while chuckling awkwardly as he grabbed his wallet, his fingertips brushed against hers ever so gently. Jolts of electricity prickled Spinels skin once again, energy coursed through Steven's body when he felt their fingers connect, and this feeling was so addicting to him. Steven blushed from this sensation, for the past few months he's found himself slowly becoming addicted to her touch, and he's found himself wanting more as his brown eyes eyes locked onto her pink colored eyes. Sadly, their moment was ruined by the sound of a car honking, indicating that the cab just pulled up and was waiting for Steven, which made both of them sigh out of dissapointment. "You should get going, and if your friends do know about us then....I'm going to not come over for a while, it's the best for both of us and Probably safer to..." Spinel stated, even though it hurt to speak those words, it was only until things have settled down. Steven's heart felt heavy when he heard her speak, he wanted to stand his ground and say that "no, I don't care what the others say, I still want to see you!" Instead, he decided it would be safer to do just that, "you're probably right...." he answered. Spinel nodded in response, "bye..." she waved softly before her grip from his wallet fell, she then jogged a couple steps up the small cement staircase that lead to the entrance of her apartment complex. Steven bit his lip and made a decision, he then held up his left index finger at the cab driver to show that he needed a quick second, then the male bounded towards Spinel; his right foot thudded onto the second step, his right hand clasping on top of her right hand that was gripping the metal railing, which made Spinel turn her head just enough for him to plant a sweet and loving kiss on her cheek. After a couple seconds, Steven pulled away while smiling that big ol shiny grin of his, "see ya later~" he chuckled before rushing to the cab and getting in, but not before waving goodbye at the blushing Spinel. As she watched the cab driver off, Spinel couldn't help but slowly bring her right hand up to her cheek, and a grin began develop on her face, and that grin remained as she excitedly ran into the gigantic building. Steven sighed as he settled into the gray, slightly smelling, upholstery in the cab, his smile remained as he leaned his head back on the seat. He didn't even question what he did, he'd known for a long time, he had known since Spinel needed his help that night, where she let her guard down and trusted him with helping her out with her wound. At first, he didn't notice, but after she began to open up more to him, Steven found himself falling hard for the sexy, dangerous, sweet, funny, badass Spinel.