Here I was, with Lapis again at Steven Universe's house. I almost didn't come all the way over here, because seeing Lapis in general made me very reluctant. But I figured I owed her a visit since I had been so abruptly distant with her with no explanation. I came straight from a meeting, and as I felt the cold AC blast in the house, I pulled my blazer closer to myself. "Why is it so cold in here?" I said, slightly shivering. "Trust me, it gets hot in here when the AC isn't on." Lapis replied. 

"How hot?" I asked, believing this low temperature was completely unnecessary. "Hot." she emphasized, raising her eyebrows. I was looking at her for a little too long, so I turned away and changed the subject. "Where's Steven?" I asked, looking around to see the room empty. "Oh, he's with Connie tonight." she said, shrugging her shoulders. "Wow, he is always with that girl, huh." I commented, sitting down on the couch. "And Greg is at the car wash working, so we basically got the house to ourselves." she explained, walking into the kitchen. 

"Hm. Convenient." I muttered, looking down at the floor. "So why don't we have a few drinks since no one is here to tell us otherwise?" Lapis suggested, peeking over at me with a grin. "I tensed up, and bit the inside of my cheek harshly for a brief moment. "Oh no no I couldn't. I've stayed sober for an entire year now." I said quickly, shaking my head. Lapis walked into the living room and approached the couch, leaning the arm. "That is an impressive streak I must say. But one little drink won't hurt you, Peridot." she argued, tilting her head.

"Are you peer pressuring me into drinking?" I asked, arching an eyebrow. "Oh yes, I am. C'mon, Peridot, just one beer. I know you gotta get home by 9, but we can pass the bottle back and forth under the table. Maybe we can even sip half the entire bottle if we don't get caught by my mom." she jokingly explained in a mocking voice. I rolled my eyes and huffed at her teasing, pursing my lips to hide my smile. "Peridot, we're not 13. I'm not pEeR pResSuriNg you into anything. If you don't want to I'm not forcing you." she laughed, shaking her head. 

"I think I'll continue my streak, thank you very much." I said, inevitably chuckling. "Suit yourself." she stated, reaching her hand into a bucket. The bucket was seemingly filled with ice and the bottle was resting in it...upside down? "Why do you have champagne? This some birthday celebration?" I teased, walking up to the counter watching her. "Nah this is the only fancy alcohol in the house. It's from New Years." she explained, and I cringed. "That must be old." I said, scrunching up my nose. "Hush up, it's not old. It hasn't been opened. I don't have all the money in the world to go buy fancy champagne like this like no problem." she giggled, removing the cage off the cork.

"You could've asked, I could've bought you all the fancy alcohol you wanted." I replied, shrugging my shoulders. "You're too posh to even walk into a wine store." she shot back, rummaging through her drawers for something. "What're you looking for?" I asked, leaning forward a little. She then pulled out a knife, and waved it around to show me. I was taken aback, and furrowed my eyebrows. "You didn't invite me here just to kill me, did you?" I asked. "Yes, that's exactly why I invited you here. Nerd." she murmured the last part, picking up the wine bottle. 

"What do you need that for?" I asked, tilting my head in confusion. "Wanna see something cool?" she asked, holding the bottle from the bottom and tilting it slightly upwards in roughly a 40 degree angle. "I'm a bit scared." I muttered, taking two steps back. She looked determined, and raised her knife up to the champagne bottle slowly. She slowly slid it across the bottle slow at first, and this was immensely confusing me. What is she doing? She then pulled back all the way, and quickly swiped her knife across the bottle, slicing the tip of the bottle clean off. It made a weird pop noise and bubbles began to spill over rapidly. 

"What the hell was that?!" I asked, walking a lot closer to the counter now. "I opened the bottle." she simply stated, smiling at me. I stared at her in complete silence for a few moments. "You're fucking weird." I said finally. "Wanna come try?" she asked, holding out the knife. "I said I didn't want to drink." I reminded her. "You don't need to drink to open a damn bottle." she argued, setting the now open bottle down and briefly licking her finger. 

"You made a mess. How am I supposed to do that? I have no idea how to." I said, walking into the kitchen now. She then pulled the other bottle of champagne out from the ice bucket, and set it down on the counter. "I'll show you." she said, then picking up the open bottle. She then took about two chugs from the bottle. "Classy." I said sarcastically. "C'mon, I gotta loosen up sooner. I'll save my classiness for a time where it actually matters." she smirked at me, and I grunted. She then handed me the unopened bottle, as well as the knife. 

"Uhhm..." I tried holding the bottle the same position Lapis did, but I felt completely uncertain. I scratched the knife against the bottle, and groaned as I didn't feel as precise as Lapis appeared to be. Lapis then snorted, and I felt my face heat up rapidly. "Would you s-stop laughing at me and actually help me figure this out?" I asked irritated. "Okay, okay." she giggled, walking up behind me. "Which hand is your dominant hand?" she asked, and I waved my right hand. She then took my right hand (with the bottle in it) and tilted it up the same angle she held it in. "It's like this. Then you gotta hold your knife like this." she explained, taking my other hand and positioning the knife against the bottle. 

I felt her warm breath on my neck, and she was incredibly close. I felt a need to escape and run away, but that would be very abrupt and embarrassing - so I was stuck. I tried not to let my entire body trembling, and I just kept shifting from foot to foot. "Did you hear me?" she asked, and I shook my head. "S-sorry what did you say?" I asked, blushing profusely now. "I said now just swipe it fast and hard. But not recklessly or sloppily, y'know?" Lapis explained, releasing my hands. It suddenly felt much colder now, and I took a deep breath. 

The bluenette walked over to the counter and took another swig from the open champagne bottle. "You're gonna be drunk off your ass." I stated. "Don't worry about it, I'm a heavyweight. I'll just get buzzed." she protested. I rolled my eyes and relocated my focus back onto the bottle. One...two...THREE! I slid it fast towards the tip and I closed my eyes, flinching harshly. A loud pop noise followed by an obnoxious crash noise echoed kitchen, startling me. I screeched loudly as I opened my eyes back up and saw that the entire top of the bottle had exploded. The liquid was spilling everywhere, and I immediately jumped back. 

Lapis burst into hysterical laughter as I frantically looked around for towels or napkins or anything. "LAPIS HELP ME!" I screeched, throwing the broken bottle into the sink and grabbing several paper towels. "Peridot, calm your tits! It won't be that hard to clean up! Just leave it!" she said, putting her hands up. "You idiot it's gonna be all sticky and reek of alcohol in here! How would Steven and his dad react?!" I asked, tangling my fingers into my hair. "It was probably on your hands too." she added, looking at my hands in my hair. I screamed again and immediately retracted my hands away from my head. I felt so flushed that I couldn't even think straight anymore. I hadn't lost my cool this badly in front Lapis since I've been back in Beach City. 

I attempted to regain my composure and I groaned loudly. "Lapis, we can't just walk around on a sticky wine-covered floor." I stated. "That's why we'll just go into the living room." she said, nodding her head towards the living room. I furrowed my eyebrows, and huffed. "You're going to get a horrific ant infestation and you will not blame me for it." I said, gritting my teeth. She then grabbed the intact bottle of wine and stepped over the puddle of champagne on the tile floor. She then grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the living room. I kept looking back at the mess we made in the kitchen, and I felt extremely anxious about it.

"Are you sure we can't just clean it now?" I asked, tugging my arm away from her grip. She looked at me with an annoyed expression on her face, and just rolled her eyes. "Can you just enjoy yourself for once?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "I do enjoy myself. I enjoy cleaning." I insisted. "you're constantly worried about things, and constantly criticizing everything. Is there ever a time where you're just...truly happy where you are and just enjoying what you're doing?" she asked sincerely. My skeptical expression then softened into a sad one, and I scrunched my eyebrows up. "Of course. I like my job. I do it all the time." I said dryly. 

"Working all the time doesn't sound too fun." she said, tilting her head. "Sometimes it isn't, b-but a majority of the time it is! Just quit questioning it, Lapis. I'm fine as I am. I've been fine." I said, subtly referring to the entire time I'd been gone from Beach City altogether. She looked a bit hurt by my harsh tone, so I cleared my throat nervously. "U-uhm, h-have you got music? You played some good songs the other night outside." I changed the subject, scratching the back of my neck. "O-oh, um yeah I got some music. Hang on." she said quietly. She turned around and left for what I assumed was the speaker.

I cringed at myself for being so snappy, but I couldn't let her question so much. I didn't like when people tried to change my mind and ethics. I wasn't gonna let it happen. I took a deep breath, and shook my head, attempting to shake off the tense mood. She looked hurt.