STEVENS POV

A party? A Kevin party? The last one I went to was when Connie didn't talk to me for a week and I went over to connect with her and Kevin seemed pretty pissed when we didn't fuse as soon as we made up, why would he invite me to another 'grand Kevin celebration' as he said, well he added another thing "stevonnie may be cooler but since the last time I've dropped it, I'd rather take the cooler half, but you can bring her too."Thats what he said, and it pissed me off 'the cooler half?' So he's saying I'm cooler than Connie?

But I was curious of what he had in mind so why not go? Except when I tell the gem they'll probably give me a talk about 'how murder is bad and how it doesn't solve anything' assuming that I'm going just to kill him. But when I think about it, it's not that crazy of an assumption.

"Listen I'm not going over just to kill him, and besides what harm could he do to me?" I told pearl for the hundredth time "but he's the only person you hate, and that's saying something, something big." Amethyst butted in "okay so maybe that might mean something but really I'm not gunna kill him, who knows, I might be a normal teenager for a few hours." I said in a exhausted tone "but teenagers are awful!" Pearl squawked "okay wow, I'm hurt."

"So you gunna drive there?" Amethyst asked, I nodded "I'll pick up Connie then I take her." I explained "Connie's going too? She hates Kevin too, what's going on?" Amethyst responded, clearly confused "it's fine, anyways imma go pick up some ' sugar shot shutdown' and then get going "dude what's wrong with you, you never drink that." Amethyst asked, no longer confused, just worried.

I chuckled before opening the door to the porch and exiting. I walked down the steps and went to my car. Got in and stared it up, then drove off to the big donut.

As soon as I walked through the door, mr Dewey greeted me warmly, then I raided the fridge, grabbing a handfuls of the red sugary drink the paying the clerk who had a very confused expression.

Then I drove to Connie's house, I pulled up, got out, knocked on her door and waited. The door shot open to reveal said girl and she wrapped her arms around me "Steven! It's so good to see you!" She exclaimed "likewise m'lady." I replied then smiled at her blush.

We got in the car and she smiled warmly "this car brings back memories eh?" She asked and I nodded as I remembered the race with Kevin as stevonnie "so where did you say we were going?" She asked after a few seconds of reminiscing, I smirked and turned on the car and prepared to put the petal to the metal "Let me just say this..." I waited for suspense "it's Kevin time." I slammed down on the petal.

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We pulled into the driveway to Kevin's large house. Connie's hair was wild and she looked like her entire brain was lagging several minutes behind "earth to Connie?" I said, barely containing laughter. She shook her head then lightly slapped my arm "you're crazy, universe!" She replied in a joking tone.

I smiled as I grabbed the drinks and held a hand out to her, she took it and a hauled her up, shut the doors and locked the car as we walked further up the driveway, thankfully this time I didn't get lost.

As soon as we opened the door to the backyard I saw Kevin and he saw me "Universe!" He greeted I waved and smiled, Connie grumbled. We walked towards each other, he was still a bit taller but I was close at the age of 18.

We fist bumped and then he handed me a cup of punch, I took a sip then handed him the bag full of my drinks "yesss." He said as he grabbed the bag "I like your style universe, the jacket suits you, you definitely look cooler." He stated in an almost proud tone.

"You've already met connie, so yeah." I told him and for the first time he acknowledged her "oh..... wassup?" He asked "I'm good." She answered unenthusiastically. "This might be where we split paths Connie." I told her "huh? Why?" She asked "we have different party styles, I wouldn't want to drag you around to do things I like but you don't." I explained, she glared at Kevin before nodding and walking towards the snack table.

Kevin and I both grabbed a soda then walked towards his group of friends "this is universe!" Kevin introduced me "universe?" One asked "my last name." I answered and they all shared thoughtful looks "what's so cool about a 14 year old?" One asked quietly "maybe it's because I'm 18 and magic." I responded with a tired tone "oh really? Make my can disappear." One teases while offering an empty can.

I grabbed it and tossed it far far far behind me, the had surprised and slightly shocked expressions "anything else you need?" I asked "okay summon something, make something appear." Another asked, I obliged and summoned my shield, it's transparent pink glow illuminating their shocked faces. "Alright is the ki- guy is magic." One corrected himself.

I took a quick sip of my soda "so we gunna party or are we gunna sit around like sad sacks?" My own words kinda shocked me but Kevin smiled like a proud father, he slapped my back and signaled for his friends to follow, they stood up and followed as ordered.

We got to the dance floor, I took another sip before stepping unto the floor, Kevin came over and we did the same thing as last time perfectly in sync. Shared laughs, emptied can after can. It really was fun.

I was drinking my sixth can of soda when Kevin came over and placed a hand on my shoulder "so I know it's a bit off topic but are you and Connie dating?" I spit out my drink a little, I quickly rubbed off the soda on my mouth with my forearm and turned to him "what?" I asked a bit shocked "you seem to like her, I can tell, you've been checking her out every now and then." He told me as I blushed "knew it." He stated victoriously.

"Soo what's your point?" I asked "go flirt with her." He told me and I laughed a bit to hard, before realizing he wasn't joking, I shot up "wait you're serious?!" I proclaimed, he nodded. He gave me a shove "do it your way, mine doesn't seem to work." He told me, I nodded. So just be myself I guess.

Connie saw me approach m "oh hey Steven!" She said as her features brightened with joy "hey Connie! How's your party style going?" I asked as I hugged her, being careful to not spill my soda on her, she let go "it's been good, made some new friends, caught up with some old ones, been funny watching you party hard across the pool." She informed me as I blushed a little.

I took a nervous sip of my dr.pepper and she snorted "how many have you had?!" She laughed "........ six." I hesitated to answer and she laughed even harder. "And hanging with Kevin?" She asked with a bit of an edge "He's warming up, we're getting closer to being friends, he's actually a decent guy." I answered "whaaaaat?" She dragged out "nooo he's awful." She finished "he's not that bad..... anymore....... less." I said as I looked down a bit .

She laughed "you're a dork, too kind and sweet for your own good." She laughed "your sweeter." I blurted out, immediately realizing what I said and blushing. She looked at me while blushing. "Uhhhh... well... want a soda or something, I bet I can run across the pool." I knew I couldn't but I was stumbling for an excuse "if you make it across the pool I will drink the soda." She chuckled and I stood up, filled with determination.

I stood a bit back from the pool turning and meeting her gaze before preparing to run. I quickly took off my flip flops and threw them off to the side.

I dashed off preparing to met my watery grave, took a few steps on water before falling through the surface, I shot up and my heart skipped a beat when I saw Connie laughing so hard while clutching her stomach. I quickly joined in the laughter and clambered up the side of the pool.

"So no soda I guess, not even a diamond can ran across water." I laughed, she helped me up and I looked down at my soaked cloths "what do I do with these." I asked myself "you could take them off." Connie said very quickly, then blushed furiously, I guess she didn't mean to say what she was thinking. "You'd like that wouldn't you?" I asked "hold on." I continued as I turned away and walked towards Kevin "so that was a show." He said and I rubbed my neck in embarrassment.

"Well if being myself means trying to run on water then you shouldn't be surprised." I informed him and he chuckled lightly "did it work?" He asked "she apparently wants me to take off my clothes." I told him as a looked at Connie from the other side of the pool. He laughed "so do it! Well keep the pants on obviously!" He laughed, I looked at him "what?! Noo she'd freak out!" I chuckled at his insane response "her freaking out could be a very good thing, hows your workout life?" I knew what he meant "good." I answered while looking at Connie.

"Well if your ripped then she might fall head over heels, but Don't only use that to win her over, just a bonus feature in the universe package." He advised "when did you get smarter?" I joked "a lot can change in two years." He answered. I slid my soaked jacket off and laid it out on a chair. Then the shirt, laid that out.

"Surprising, I thought you were joking." He laughed "were you checking me out?" I asked "gotta check if the item is not broken before selling it." He answered I laughed as I left and went towards Connie, the I grabbed the soda on the table next to her which caught her attention, as soon as she saw me her face turned tomato red.

"You asked for this." I told her before sipping on the soda. "I THOUGHT THAT YOU WEREN'T GUNNA TAKE ME SERIOUSLY!" She blabbered as she hid her face in her eyes "you like it, admit it." I teased "mmmmmm.... maybe." She admitted "no one can resist the universe." I said, taking another sip of my soda "you're insane." She joked "I'm not denying that I'm insane, I just think there's more to it than insane." I responded "and what are the other parts?" She asked.

"50% gem, 50% human, 10% funny, 100% stupid." I joked "the math doesn't add up" she laughed "i said I was 100% stupid." I responded "you're not stupid you're just a big warm dork." She blushed a little.

I put an arm over her shoulder, her face turned so red I thought she'd explode "y'know I'm not the brightest but I was thinking I could also be 100% your boyfriend." I stated, her eyes widened "are you kidding? You better not be!" She stammered "not joking." I replied "YES!" She shot up at me, her arms wrapping around the back of my neck with such force I nearly fell backwards.

She kissed my cheek and I blushed, but I wasn't going to leave it at that, I pulled my head back a bit and looked at her, DO IT DAMMIT DONT FREEZE!! I kissed her.

It's like time froze, no one was there except us. This moment was all that mattered and I loved every second. I held her waist against mine and titled my head to deepen the kiss. She had one had in my hair and the other on my shoulder, I could almost hear her heartbeat as if it was my own, Maybe it is.

We separated, staring into each other's eyes, searching for evidence of what was already obvious. "I love you, y'know that right." I sighed, she hugged me "I never want to forget it." She answered contently.

I laid an arm over her shoulders and she placed her head on my shoulder, placing a hand over my heart. I looked up to see Kevin smile, giving a thumbs up, I smiled a little "maybe we should go see Kevin." Her eyes opened abruptly "why?" She asked me "you could say that he helped me with this."
I answered "did he help with kissing practice?" She joked "uggh noo! Don't say that!" I laughed.

We walked over and Kevin fist bumped my free hand "nice catch bro." He said proudly, I smirked and looked at Connie who was blushing while looking down at the concrete. "I know we got a rocky start but I'm thinking we could be cool, hows that sound?" Kevin offered connie while holding out a hand. She looked at it then smiled and accepted the hand.

"I'd love that."