Rainbow's Pov

In hindsight, agreeing to drive three hours to see my nephew with the girl I've been in love with for years but horribly hurt was probably not the best idea.

Opal came out to my car when I picked her up with two iced coffees and a bag from Dunkin Donuts in addition to her overnight bag. Which reminded me that spending two nights in a town with her probably wasn't the best idea.

"What's the occasion?" I asked.

"I was hungry and tired, and it would've been rude not to get you something." She handed me one of the coffees and the bag while she climbed in. "Vanilla bean? Two creams two sugars." I took a sip of the coffee.

"Great."

"There's also two strawberry frosted donuts in there. One of them's mine." I grinned.

"This ride just got three times better." We made polite chit-chat for the first half hour or so, but we were quiet for the most part. We listened to the radio. Until about an hour later the only station we could pick up was country. Opal grabbed the dial and turned it off.

"God, thank you," I said. Then I realized that the car was silent. "How's Sugilite?"

"Hm?" She asked, sounding genuinely surprised. "She's good I guess. She's upset because her sister got sent to live with their mother."

"I didn't realize their parents were separated. I guess I've never really met either of them."

"Trust me, you don't want to..." She was quiet for a moment. "You know, at one point Sugi told me that she felt like Amethyst and I were the only people who loved her." I thought for a minute.

"Do you mind if I ask a really weird question?" Opal chuckled.

"Go for it."

"How did you realize you were gay?" She was quiet. "I'm sorry if I offended you, I just-"

"No, it's fine." She smiled. "I don't think I ever actually found out. I was so jealous because Pearl knew right from the get-go that she only had eyes for women. But I didn't really feel anything towards anyone." She started grinned like a madman. "Did you know I had a boyfriend in eighth grade?"

"Really?" I asked. She started snickering.

"I didn't really like him that way. But I figured that since all of the other girls had boyfriends, they felt that way." She stopped laughing. "It didn't work out. We decided we were better off as just friends and he actually came out as gay that year."

"That's actually kind of sweet," I remarked.

"Sugilite's always known. She said that the first day we met she knew she was in love with me. And I only recently realized I was in love with her. I realized that for the first time in my life, I wanted to do relationshippy things." She smiled. "What about you?"

"What about me?" I asked.

"You came out to me as Pansexual last year. How did you find out?" I blushed.

"I'm still really sorry." Opal smiled.

"Water under the bridge." I smiled, then sighed.

"I guess I really don't have that grand of a story to tell. I realized that I thought boys were cute. And girls. And people who I could tell were neither. Of course, I only told Rose..." I trailed off. Opal put a hand on my shoulder.

"It's okay. You can cry if you need to." I blinked away the tears.

"No, I'm fine." I turned onto an exit. "Let's get some gas. And lunch."

"Agreed."

About half an hour and one meal later, we were back on the road.

"You know, I'm getting used to this." We only had about forty-five minutes left until we got back to Beach City, and we were both excited to be home.

"Me too. Are you going to see your..." Opal trailed off, looking for the right parent.

"Mom. My mom's still living in the house." She nodded.

"Are you excited to see her?"

"Eh..."

"Eh?" She asked.

"I mean, she's my mom, right? But... I'm not looking forward to spending the night at home. Not yet." Opal tilted her head.

"What do you mean?"

"Last time I visited her was to pack up Rose's room. But... we didn't end up doing that. We ended up just sitting there in silence the whole time." We'd tried to make conversation, but at the time I found myself empty.

 Over the summer I'd been spending as much time as possible out of the house, just driving around for hours at a time with no real destination. Home was just my mother sipping cold coffee and staring at the same spot on the rug where Rose would sit to open her birthday and Christmas presents. I couldn't go back there. I couldn't take another day of sitting at a table with two empty seats that my mother's set out plates for. I couldn't spend another night in that bd knowing that just a wall away was an empty room. I couldn't take the silence.

"Rainbow?" Opal asked, shaking me out of my trance. Her tone told me that she'd said something before.

"Yeah?"

"You don't have to go back. You can spend the weekend with us." She offered.

"Really?"

"Of course. Unless you think your mother would be upset." She didn't know I was coming.

"No, I'd like that." I glanced over at her and smiled. Suddenly, my phone started to ring, and I grimaced. "Ugh. Can you put it on speaker? It's not going to be pretty." I was glad Opal was in the car. Before I would've just answered it, but ever since Rose died I'd been pulling over to answer the phone.

"Rainbow? Where the hell are you?" Morgan demanded.

"I'm pretty sure I told you this morning that I was going home. Did it really take you until five o'clock to realize I was gone and get worried?" Silence.

"At first I thought... Nevermind. You need to get here." I sighed.

"Why?"

"Does it really matter? Listen, I'm over my hangover so let's go out." I groaned.

"Opal, can you hang up?"

"Wait, are you with that chick-" Opal pressed the button and ended the call.

"Thanks."

"Who was that?" She asked.

"My roommate, Morganite. She's insane." I explained.

"How so?" Opal asked. I stretched.

"When we first met, she said she didn't know who I was. Then she said that she thought she might follow me on social media." I explained.

"So? That's not weird." Opal said.

"That's not where it ends. I looked it up, she's literally following every account I have. It's all the same username. And she also runs a shitton of creepy fan accounts about me." Opal took a minute to process it.

"So why would she lie? And how creepy are they?"

"Well, I looked through her phone while she was drunk one night. That's how I found out about the accounts. And I recognize them. I've gotten some weird messages from them."

"Like what?" I shook my head.

"Mostly stuff like 'I wish I could be you' or 'I just know we'd be best friends'. I've never replied though. They've always creeped me out." Opal shuddered.

"That's probably my biggest fear. Having someone like that for a roommate..." I knew that was a lie. I knew what her biggest fear was. I'd experienced it. "Are you going to confront her?"

"No. Not yet." I nodded. "We're home." Opal perked up. We weren't in Beach City yet, but we were only a town or two over.

"Yes! This is great!" She cheered, throwing her arms up. "Where to first? My house, or It's A Wash?" I yawned. I was too tired to deal with Greg.

"Let's go to Casa Del Baroque." I suggested. Opal nodded.

"You remember which house it is?"

"Yeah." I took a few turns and pulled down her street. "Wait, which one?" She laughed. It's white, but the panels on the porch are brown." I nodded and pulled into the driveway.

"In we go." She led me inside.

"Mom?" SHe called out. "I'm home!" Her mom stepped into the living room.

"Sweetheart!" She took a moment to recognize me. "Hey Rainbow. How are you?" She asked. SHe came over and hugged both of us.

"I'm good, thanks." Opal quickly explained why we were in town and that I would be staying with them. Her mom smiled.

"Great. Two more sets of hands in the kitchen!" She went to the bottom of the staircase. "If you girls wanna help, you'd better get down here before there's no more work!" Pearl and Peridot Diamond came rushing down the stairs, pausing at the bottom. Pearl recoiled a bit, and Peridot grabbed her arm defensively.

"Why is Rainbow here?" Pearl asked. I looked to the ground in shame.

"Hey, knock it off and come love me!" Opal exclaimed. She rushed to Pearl and they hugged. I had to look away.

"This is great! One home from a class trip, one home from College, I have both of my girls back!" Their mom exclaimed. She started back towards the kitchen. "Come on, helpers!"

I had to admit that I'd never cooked as a family before. Sure I'd cooked for myself or for others, but this was the most fun I'd ever had cooking. Opal helped her mom prepare the chicken tenders while I made mashed potatoes, and Pearl made a salad while Peridot washed the dishes. Music blared through a radio on the counter and everyone was laughing.

"This is amazing!" I complimented as we ate. "Do you cook like this every night?"

"Well, sometimes the meal is more glamorous than other nights, but we try to cook together when we can." Opal's mom smiled. It felt weird calling her 'Opal's mom', but calling her Miss made her sound young and she wasn't married, so I was left to awkwardness for all of dinner.

"So you guys wanna do something after this?" She asked while we were cleaning up. "Pearl plays a mean game of Scrabble." I laughed.

"That sounds like fun, but Scrabble isn't really my forte. Any other board games?" We ended up choosing Sorry, and we played that until about nine, when Peridot yawned.

"Under ordinary circumstances, I wouldn't be tired until nearly eleven o'clock, however I've just spent a week sleeping in a bag on the ground and would appreciate the amenities of a soft surface to sleep on."

"You know, that reminds me," Pearl started. "We only have one air mattress. How are we going to split ourselves up?"

"It's okay, I can just sleep on the couch." Opal shook her head.

"Nonsense. You should sleep on a mattress. We just gotta figure out a way for two people to share."

"Peridot could sleep in my bed." Pearl offered. Her mom shook her head.

"Nope. Girlfriends don't get to share beds."

"What about when Amethyst and Sugilite were staying with us?" Opal teased. Her mom sighed and shook her head.

"If you don't mind, I'd prefer to just sleep on the floor if it's a matter of sharing beds," Peridot growled.

"No, you take the air mattress Peridot. Rainbow can bunk with me." Opal decided. "I'm not afraid to take the couch if need be." Her mom nodded.

"If everyone's okay with these arrangements?" I was a little wary of Opal's decision, and I could tell that Pearl was too. "Okay then."

"Hey, Opal?" I asked once we were both comfortable in her bed.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for bringing me here." She squeezed my hand.

"No problem."

(A/N) 1885 words. You're welcome.