A/N: Aight, this chapter is pretty damn LONG but I wanted to give yall this before I close the book :)

When I had been fired from my previous job, my mother still didn't seem to realize that I was the root of all of this to begin with. It was explicitly announced that I was in fact the primary inventor of the robonoids currently sold in that business - at least it was announced when I was still working that job. Now that I look at the current status of the business, my mother has taken off my title for that. She seriously intended to completely erase me from the business, and make the footprint I made known - but she wanted to conceal the fact that the footprint was mine.

However, in Empire City there were in fact several old clients that did business with my mother's workplace when I still had the job. This meant they recalled that I was in fact titled the primary creator of these robonoids. Word got out pretty fast about this, and I ended up bombarded with job opportunities across the city. However, I caught a particularly large business's attention, and they definitely caught mine. Not only does this job pump out nearly more cash for me than my mother's business did, but the independence was refreshing.

I have so much more independence and flexibility with this job, and the risk of burn out was nearly nonexistent. I was still working hard due to my usual work ethic, but I really did not need to. So if something had come up, it most certainly wouldn't be the end of the world like it was when I worked for my mom. My mother's Homeworld Inc. was now only a pesky memory to me - Crystal Gem Inc. was my top priority now, and it was also my entire future (but certainly not in a bad way).

While mentoring Spinel was one of the only upsides of my old job, I'm sure the girl can manage herself just fine. Despite how jumpy or anxious she seemed to be, she's definitely strong in different ways - I'm still not exactly sure what she went through when she was younger, but the fact that she seemed just as optimistic as a typical child to begin with even after all of that, I have no doubt that she'll be okay. Though Lapis didn't care because they never really got along, Steven updated her on Spinel's status, saying that she still has her birthday clown job, and her work still resides with my mother. I just hope my mother won't be too hard on her - if she happens to decide it's too much for her, I could probably recommend her to come work where I currently work - and maybe I could even be her mentor again if she wants.

So anyways, thankfully, I got to keep my wealthy lifestyle, which meant I could effectively pay for Lapis to go to art school in Empire City, while still having a damn good amount for myself. Lapis of course didn't like the idea of me alone paying for her school, but I absolutely insisted. I don't recall ever being in such a great mood in such a long time. Though I told her it was not needed in the slightest, Lazuli insisted she pay me back in full when she becomes a successful art director. We're currently roommates in a roomy apartment in the city, and this all had an unbelievably well turn out. I felt so much freer and happier outside of my old job, and I feel half apologetic still for snapping at Lapis when all she was talking about...was something like this.

The feeling of freedom like this...the life outside of work.

I quietly cursed to myself as I accidentally dropped a tiny screw that I had been wedging into my newest robonoid model. Pumpkin had slightly flinched after she was fast asleep on her dog bed in the corner. I had been working on this for about an hour and a half now, with Lapis's phone noises in the background. She was slumped on her bed, resting her eyes while listening to music quietly. She currently has a job at - you guessed it - a local coffee shop in the city. Except this one had a better pay, due to it being much more popular, and the tips being much larger. However, rewards like these don't come for free; she has quite the long shift all day, and she normally comes home in the evening very tired.

"Peridot, why don't you take a break already...that's the eighth time I've heard you drop something in the past hour." Lapis commented in a low voice. "I just h-have shaky fingers at the moment! I might have drank too much coffee today..." I replied, not taking my eyes off of the robot. "Come onnn...lay with me for five minutes!" I could hear her patting her bed. "Lapis." I grunted, rolling my eyes. "I'll come lay on yours if you don't wanna touch mine, germaphobe." she added with a chuckle. Lapis and I have separate twin beds on either side of the room at this point - no, we're not exactly together. We in fact haven't kissed since that day at my old apartment.

Neither of us had really...talked about the kiss after that. I think both of us were too nervous about the discussion, so neither of us brought it up - which is probably something that should be fixed. I only grunted in response, saying nothing else. "FIVE MINUTES!" she then yelled, which scared the living shit out of me. "OH MY STARS FINE!" I shouted back, standing straight up. "You've never asked me to lay with you before...what's with this sudden urge now?" I arched an eyebrow, approaching Lapis's bed. Her chin was resting in her hand, and she was laying on her stomach, her blue eyes never leaving me. Her legs very slowly kicked back and forth.

She gave a cheeky grin as she patted the spot beside her on the particularly small bed, and I groaned, tangling my fingers into my hair. I reluctantly climbed into bed next to her, and laid down on my side, facing away from her. My eyelids fell shut for a few seconds, and there was complete silence. "Pssst." that silence was short-lived. I only hummed in response, not even opening my eyes. "Peridot." she whispered in my ear, which sent a shiver down my spine. "G-gAh wh-WHAT." I whisper-shouted angrily as I whipped around to face her.

I was extremely taken aback as I realized how close she was to my face when I turned around - so my face began to inevitably heat up. "Sorry. I just wanted you to face this way." she then giggled quietly, and I rolled my eyes. "You are very close, Lapis." I whispered, gritting my teeth. "Oh? Want me to get c l o s e r ?" she replied jokingly, and I almost screeched. "Okay, okay I'll stop, I'll be serious now." Lapis snorted, and I couldn't help but watch her beaming smile intently. It was one of my favorite things to see.

"I do have a question, though." she then said in a quieter tone, and I looked at her in confusion. She looked a little reluctant to say the least.

"Hm?"

"Why...haven't we kissed?" I immediately tensed up, and my face was most likely ten times hotter at this point.

"...a-and more so...why haven't we talked about...when we kissed...?" she sounded hesitant with every single word that came out, and I clenched the sheets beneath me tightly. Fuck. So that talk is happening NOW.

"I-I uh...wh-what is there to talk about? B-besides...it hasn't b-been that long..."

"It's been 2 and a half months, Peridot." WHAT THE FUCK? ALREADY?!

"A-already? A-are you s-sure?! I-"

"We hadn't really talked about anything that happened that day, Peridot..." she then said, and I swallowed dryly.

"I mean, you flirt with me sometimes...but you had brought up some type of feelings. But then never elaborated on that. It feels like we've jus' been...open-ended this entire time. Up for debate." she chuckled at the last part, but her slight smile left as soon as it came. "Pending?" I added on, and she chuckled again - I said that just to see her smile one more time. "Yeah..." she murmured in reply as it grew silent once again. "I-I understand that you've probably had questions for a while...a-and I'm sorry I di-didn't really address anything since then. I'm just not great...at dealing with these kinds of things. I never have been." I explained, my apologetic tone most likely not matching my clueless shrug.

Lapis said nothing in response, and only stared at me for what felt like hours. I hadn't even realized how much time went by, because her eyes trapped me once again. There was a slight sparkle in them again, and I was just...wondering what she was thinking right at that moment.

"I still love you. In case you forgot, heh." she quickly averted her gaze, and her fingers seemed to clench the sheets tighter. "I could never forget that." I stated, furrowing my eyebrows. "Then...what're we even doing?" she asked in a sadder tone, and I immediately softened my expression. "Why...haven't we kissed?" her question from earlier had returned into my mind, and I bit the inside of my cheek trying to think. Hm...

I decided to raise my head off of the pillow, and rest on my elbow now. Even though we were both basically in the same position, her head still managed to reach higher than mine. So I reached forward with my free hand, and took her chin into it. She looked surprised by this, and I gently pulled it down to my level. Our noses were basically touching at this point, and I gazed into her eyes. "I'm not sure. But I could make the first move this time." I whispered, and her cheeks quickly became a deep shade of red at a very rapid pace.

With that, I kissed Lapis, swiftly taking away any verbal response from her. Her eyes still appeared to be open when my eyelids began to fall closed, but it didn't matter to me. I actually had admittedly been wanting to kiss her again, but it almost felt too inappropriate for some reason. But the way Lapis had suddenly brought all of this up...I would only stop if she bluntly told me to stop at this point - and it didn't seem like she was planning on it. I then felt her place both of her hands on either side of my face, and slowly begin to push my face away. HUH.

I immediately separated from her, confused and a bit afraid that I overstepped a boundary - even though she asked me why I haven't kissed her? She only stared at me in a daze, and my puzzled expression began to fade fast. Her cheeks were a bright shade of red, and her chest was visibly rising and falling from her slightly heavy breathing. She slowly wiped drool off the side of her lips with her thumb, and she slightly tilted her head. Everything was based on her cue now, and I was waiting for her response.

She then gently reached forward, and I almost flinched as she carefully took the glasses off of my face. "H-hey..." I whined, watching as she reached over and placed them on the side table. "I-I um..." I looked away for a moment, blushing profusely. "You what?" she whispered, and I could see she was staring at me intensely from my peripheral vision. "I w-want to be able to see you better...I can't if you do that..." I shrugged, scratching the back of my neck. Lapis only giggled in response, then reached over to the side table again. "You don't have to either way." she stated. "Wh-what do you mean?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.

Click.

She switched off the lamp, and it was now a lot darker. Though our curtains were closed, they were slightly transparent to the unbelievably bright lights from the glowing buildings in Empire City - those were the only lights illuminating the room at this point. Lapis then snaked her arms around my neck, and I yelped as she laid flat on her back, quickly taking me with her. I was now on top of her at this point, and our flushed faces were mere inches away from each other. "That's better." she then whispered very quietly. Before I could say anything in response, she captured my lips in another passionate kiss.

I groaned quietly, attempting to hold my breath effectively so this kiss could last a lot longer. I then almost whimpered when I felt her two legs wrap snugly around my waist, crossing at my back. Her fingers tangled into my hair, and she gripped it tighter, pulling my head further down. I had to painfully resist the urge to pull away from her momentarily to tell her to grip it harder. I felt her buck her hips upward, causing the friction to grow much stronger between us. A surge of tingling sent through my entire body, and I shakily exhaled.

I pulled away from the kiss, only to trail my kisses across her jaw. She tilted her head back even further, sending a cue to go for her neck - I quickly obliged. I softly peppered the side of her neck up and down with kisses. With every second that passed, all I could keep repeating in my mind was I still love her, I still love her, I still love her...ugh, I still love her...I want to give her everything again. She once again...deserves the world in my eyes. Despite everything that happened...I still want to give her everything once again.

I was startled by the sudden sound of a soft moan, and I hadn't even realized what I did in my deep train of thought. I had already given her two large hickeys, and I was in the works of another one, and I wondered if I should stop. She's not telling you to stop...but that doesn't mean she completely WANTS it...Peridot where are your manners? My manners and classiness had been completely thrown out the window at this point, and I was more so leaning towards not stopping. Her voice...agh, everything. Her skin is so soft...it's just a blank canvas for you to leave all these marks on - and she's encouraging it.

Another moan.

Except this time, my right hand was shakily riding up her shirt. PERIDOT, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?! THIS ISN'T YOU! "Mmmn~" except that erotic hum only pushed me to do more. "You're not wearing a bra." I lightly chuckled in her ear, and she grunted in response. "I just got home from worrrkk...do you not do that when you get home?" she asked in a hushed but whiny voice. My hand crept up and down her chest, and she seemed to quickly bite her lip to contain another noise.

I missed her...I missed this. I missed when her voice would sound like this...

Lapis's voice was always music to my ears, and everything about her just captivated me in general. Since the day I met her, she always seemed to draw me in effortlessly. I've always been drawn to her subconsciously...it was just the fact that I didn't let myself give into those urges physically. However, after all of those years of resisting everything, it absolutely couldn't be stopped when I actually let loose. There were too many emotions...there were too many things I wanted to tell her...there were too many sweet nothings I wanted to whisper into her ear...

"I love you."

"Mm~"

"...so much..."

"Hhhnm~"

"You're so beautiful."

Her blush only seemed to burn much hotter the more I whispered into her ear. Her nails slightly sank into my shirt, and she tugged on it. It felt like a fever dream, our clothes seemingly disappearing without either of us taking much notice.

"I'm sorry for holding back." I whispered, followed by another soft moan from Lapis.

Her breathing only grew heavier and faster, and I buried my face deep into the crook of her neck. The temperature was nearly to a boil in here at this point, and I grunted.

"Peridot," Lapis suddenly whispered, and I halted my movements for a moment. "You better have energy after this." she finished, and I arched an eyebrow. "H-huh?"

"I still have something that we haven't used in a long time..." she added, and I was taking a moment to think about what she was referring to. The realization then began to set in, and my face began to heat up to an unbearable temperature at this point. "L-LAPIS!" I growled, now blushing profusely. "Why didn't you g-get rid of that thing already?!" I whisper-shouted. "One, 'cus it was damn expensive. Two, 'cus I figured it'd be used again." Lapis giggled, and I groaned.

"God dammit, I hate you." I grunted, though not moving an inch away from her.

I could say all the angry shit I want to her...but none of it was ever true. If Lapis were here to stay...I'd never leave her side again. No matter how much we'd bicker, or how annoying either of us could be...I couldn't ever leave her side again. I needed this bitch in my life. I didn't care to admit it anymore, either. She expressed how desperately she needed me a couple months back...it's about time she knew how desperately I needed her too. We've been through so much...and have been so far away from each other for so long, yet here we are.

"The chance of us running into each other after all of these years so suddenly was so slim...but it fucking happened, Peridot...it happened."

I never stopped thinking about those words from the moment Lapis spoke them.

There were no jealous abusive boyfriends...

...disapproving parents...

...rushed marriage proposals...

...bitchy sisters...

...nothing.

There was nothing in our way now...it was just her and I.

The End.

A/N: hiiiii so this story was started on November 2nd, 2017. Today is March 28th, 2020. That's almost three years I've been working on this book - and it's only lasted this long because of all the support!! Thank you SO much for sticking with this story until its very end, aha I know how LONG it is.

I really hope y'all enjoyed this story and I could never say thank you enough for all of the weird ass comment chains (YES, I read them) and the positive feedback!

Steven Universe has finally come to a full end, which means my account will probably fade eventually as well. This'll probably be my very last work on here, but I haven't decided.

Anywho, I LOVE YALL SO MUCH YOU GUYS ARE SO FUN AND SUPPORTIVE <3 lemme know what you guys thought of the entire story :)

-Baggy