Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Three friends.

Peridot was a blond French girl with big green eyes. She was a nerd, a teacher’s pet, annoying sometimes. But she still had a big heart and was always there for her friends.

Lapis Lazuli, a Polynesian girl with brown hair and dark skin. One thing weird about her was that her eyes were dark blue. You could easily get lost into these eyes. She was an artist. Drawing during all her free time. She was also a ballet dancer and practiced swimming whenever she could. She was a bad influence, dragging her friends into dumb ideas that could get them into trouble. However, she was still a great friend, and even if it was rare, she knew how to be serious when needed to.

The last one Jasper, a tall latina with platinum blond hair and vitiligo. She did a lot of different sports. She had big muscles that could be described as attractive. Yes, Jasper had a lot of success with girls. She was the exact opposite of Peridot, constantly fighting with teachers and other students. But still she was a nice person.

They all met in 6th grade. First Lapis and Peridot started talking and hanging out. Jasper then began hanging out with them. Since then, they were inseparable. Always together. Peridot was just happy to have such strong relationship with two persons. She never really had any friends before.

However, during middle school, Peridot also figured out her sexuality, and Lapis Lazuli suddenly became even prettier than when they first met.

Of course, Peridot kept this silly little crush hidden. She was sure Lapis was straight, and she did not want to ruin their perfect friendship.

When high school started, Peridot learned that Lapis was also a lesbian. But the way she learned it left her heartbroken.

“I’m dating Jasper. I hope it won’t make things between the three of us weird and that way we can still hangout as best friends !”

Peridot cried a lot that night.

And as expected things were really weird.

Peridot was always feeling left out. When they would hang out all three, Jasper was always flirting with Lapis. Sometimes even forgetting that the blond was there.

Peridot acted as if everything was fine, but it was not. She was losing her friends and her crush at the same time.

Something even weirder happened one day. Lapis would usually hang out at Peridot’s house because their parents knew each other, so one day they were hanging out and took some pictures to post on social media. Jasper suddenly started calling Lapis. She didn’t answer because they were playing video games. But after they stopped, they saw that Jasper had tried to call her ten times.

Jasper became more violent with Peridot. Yelling at her or insulting her when they were hanging out.

“I’m sorry. I talked to her last night, telling her to stop insulting you. And you’ll never guess what she told me. She thinks I’m cheating on her with you.”

Jasper was jealous of Peridot.

At first, Peridot thought that it was funny. But then it became really annoying.

One day, everything became even more violent. Lapis and Jasper were constantly fighting. It went so far that Lapis would come to school with bruises and Jasper with scars. Peridot could not take it anymore and stopped hanging out with them. Instead, she stayed with Amesthyst, a friend she met in 10th grade.

But still, Peridot could witness Jasper and Lapis destroying each other. She could not sleep at night, thinking only about her two friends fighting. It was making her sick.

Lapis and Jasper broke up some weeks before graduation. After graduation, Peridot never saw them again.

Five years later, she was now an accountant for a company called Crystal Gems. Weird name for a company. Peridot got the job easily because Amethyst is dating the boss’s assistant. The boss, Rose Quartz, is a very tall but kind woman with big long pink hair.

Peridot always worked hard. Doing everything her boss asked her right and fast to never disappoint her. So when Rose asked her a favor. She said yes without hesitation. Big mistake.

Peridot was now babysitting her 14 year old son named Steven.

He wasn’t so bad. He was very polite and kind, just like his mother. But still, Peridot didn’t want to spend her whole weekend babysitting a child.

They were sitting on Peridot’s couch while watching TV until Steven asked something weird.

“Can we go to the park today. Every Saturday I go meet up with a friend so I don’t want to leave her alone..”

“Pfft your friend or your girlfriend you can tell me I won’t tell your parents.” She laughed a bit until Steven answered, and almost choked.

“Oh no she’s at least ten years older than me so”

“What ?? You cannot hang out with an adult ! What if she’s a pedophile or something ???” Peridot could not let Steven get kidnapped while she was supposed to watch him. She would lose Rose Quartz’s trust. And her job.

“I promise she’s not like that. She’s just really lonely. And sad I think. She paint in the park the whole Saturday afternoon so I help her”

Peridot kept on saying no until Steven said he’d help her get a raise “okay deal”

So now, they were on their way to the park. It was a nice park, she understood why this stranger would paint here. There were not many people, and it was beautiful.

Steven took Peridot to a tall girl with blue hair, painting. Peridot squinted her eyes to understand why the girl reminded her of someone. Until deep blue eyes were staring at her back.

“Lapis..?” The blue-haired girl bites her lips and looks away.

“You guys know each other ?”

Lapis looked at Steven, she seemed upset “why did you bring someone with you..?”

“She’s babysitting me, I couldn’t leave her alone.”

Lapis looked again at Peridot. After a long silence “I’m glad to see you again.”

“Well it doesn’t seem like it.” Peridot raised an eyebrow. If she was really glad, why was she looking so upset?

“I just wasn’t expecting to see you again after all those years” Lapis looked down. Now she seemed sad.

Nothing about her was very different. Except that now she had blue hair and large dark circles under her eyes.

They sat with Steven and talked. After a while, Steven left them to go buy an ice cream. So they began catching up. Apparently now Lapis was a danse teacher and still did art during her free time. She blocked Jasper’s number after graduation, and even when Jasper tried to return, she did not take her back.

“I’m really sorry.. for leaving you behind in high school. Even if it was because Jasper was super jealous. You were my best friend. I should’ve been there for you.” Lapis put a hand on Peridot’s shoulder smiling sadly.

“I forgive you. After all, we all make mistakes”

They ensured that they still had each other’s numbers. And when Steven came back Peridot just watched Lapis paint with Steven. She is still super-talented.

When they walked back home with Steven. He just looked at Peridot with a mischievous smile and said “do you perhaps have a crush on her ?” Peridot felt her cheeks burn. How could he know ? Peridot made sure to hide all of her feelings, so how could he know ? “It’s the way you look at her. It’s the same way my parents look at each other.” Of course.

But Peridot no longer had a crush on Lapis. Well, at least that’s what she thought. However, the whole night, she just could not sleep. Only thinking about her ex-best friend. About how even prettier she became. About how nice her voice still sounded. Okay yeah maybe Peridot still had a crush on her. But still, Peridot didn’t have any chances with her in high school. She’s not gonna have any now.

She talked about this with Amethyst over the phone. And what Amethyst said was right “if you keep thinking about her like that she’ll broke your heart again” she did not want to spend more nights crying like some baby.

So Peridot tried to stop thinking about Lapis. And it almost worked. Until she received a text from her.

𝐋𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐬 𝐋𝐚𝐳𝐮𝐥𝐢 : are you free Monday afternoon at 4 pm? I want to see you again.

It was going to be hard to stop thinking about Lapis.

Chapter Text

Monday. The whole day, Peridot was feeling nervous. All she could think about was the fact that after work, she had a "date" with Lapis. She did not know why Lapis suddenly wanted to do something with her. They hadn’t talk in five years, so why now ?

If Peridot was surprised to see Lapis last Saturday. She was even more surprised to see Jasper at her workplace. She was talking to Rose’s assistant, Pearl.

“Come on, you have to let me in. I know that she works here. I just want to talk with her”

“She told me to not let you come back so just go.”

Jasper frowned, her gaze turned to Peridot, and she smiled. “If it isn’t my favorite nerd !” She hugged Peridot tightly who cringes at that “what are you doing here ?”

“I work here. What are you doing here ?”

“I just came to see a girl I’m trying to date. She’s playing hard but I know she likes me back.”

“No she doesn’t.” Pearl seemed angry.

“Yeah right. I’ll come back another day I guess. See you later nerd” and with that. Jasper left.

“You know this brute ?” Pearl was surprised. She didn’t think Peridot was the type of person to be friends with that.

“Yeah… we were kind of friends in high school… but we stopped talking after graduation.” She frowns “who did she want to see ?”

“Garnet, the vice president. She saw her once and since then she keeps on coming back to ask her on a date even if Garnet doesn’t want to.”

Well Jasper seemed to be completely moved on from Lapis at least. After that, she left work and made her way toward the coffee shop Lapis asked her to come to. The coffee shop was known to be a place where many artists would come to draw. So Peridot wasn’t surprised when Lapis asked to meet here.

As far as Peridot knew her. Art was Lapis’s biggest passion. She even remembered a conversation that they had once about their future jobs. Lapis wanted to draw comics, or at least to be able to sell her art. Peridot wanted to become an astronomer. None of them achieved their dreams.

After a 10 minutes walk, Peridot reached the coffee shop. As she enters, she spots blue hair. She was already drinking coffee and drawing. Peridot sat nervously in front of her. Lapis looked at her and blushed, hiding her drawing.

A long silence. Then Lapis finally decided to talk “I almost thought you wouldn’t come..”

“Yeah… I’m sorry I.. I met someone at work and it made me late” Lapis raised an eyebrow “Jasper was at my work”

“You… you guys still talk..?”

“She wasn’t here for me. Apparently she’s trying to flirt with my vice president. So she comes back every time even though she tells her she’s not interested”

“Yeah that sound like Jasper”

Peridot was feeling nervous. She didn’t know what to tell her. It was such a weird situation. She wished that she had stayed home with Steven last Saturday.

“You became really pretty”

Peridot blushed hard. Lapis believed that she was pretty ? That was weird. Quick say something before it becomes too weird “pfft what does that mean ? I wasn’t pretty before ?” She laughed a bit.

“No of course not ! You were pretty, but I mean you became. Ummm… kinda hot”

Peridot was really confused. She didn’t think she would ever heard the word "hot" when someone was talking about her. “Why ?”

“I don’t know !! I don’t even know why I’m saying all this to you… I missed you. I wanted to talk to you beforehand. But I didn’t know if you changed numbers or if you even wanted to talk to me.. that’s why I have invited you now. And not before. I was scared let’s just say that.” She pause. Trying to think of what to say next. “Being with Jasper, but without you. It wasn’t the same. Jasper was a brute. And you were always such a kind person…”

Peridot did not know what to answer. No of course, she did not think she was an angel. Hell, she did many bad things. And why was Lapis suddenly telling her all this ? That was just weird all of this was weird “..and..?”

“And I want to be friends again. Best friends. I missed having sleepovers with you.. watching CPH or reading dumb fanfics at 3 am. I miss all that. I miss you.”

Peridot laughed a bit “don’t you think we’re a bit old to read CPH fanfictions ?”

“Heh your right. But you understand what I mean ?”

Peridot thought about it for a while. She missed Lapis a lot. But if she kept hanging out with her, she would not stop thinking about this dumb crush. But she really missed Lapis… “alright. I want to be your best friend too again.”

Lapis’s smile widened and she hugged Peridot happily “thanks you ! I promise I won’t leave you again ! Especially not for Jasper..”

“Lapis. I can’t breathe.”

“Oh yeah right sorry.”

After that, they talked for a while about many stuffs. Mostly about what they did after high school. Lapis applied to an art school but was rejected. And since she was a top student in her ballet classes they offered her to start teaching there. She also works on a graphic novel whenever she can “maybe one day I’ll be able to publish it” she promised Peridot that she’ll show her some pages the next time they saw each other. Peridot felt like nothing had happened. Like they never split. She was glad Jasper wasn’t there.

Peridot can’t stop thinking about what would’ve happened if maybe they never met Jasper. Of course she had some great times with her. But perhaps she would’ve been with Lapis.. and they would probably have been married by now.

“Heh what are you thinking ?”

“Huh ? Nothing !” Peridot blushed when she realized that she was staring at Lapis and that Lapis was staring back. “I just.. I haven’t felt so good in years…”

“It’s good. I’m glad you feel good.”

The next day, Peridot was at Amethyst’s house, like every Tuesday night. They were playing video games, it was kind of a ritual. Amethyst knew that Peridot had the habit of never taking care of herself. She spent hours working without even eating sometimes. So Amethyst forced her to come see her every Tuesday night to play video games with her and get her mind away from work. That’s when Peridot brought up Lapis.

“I can’t believe you just forgave her like that. Are you dumb ??!” For some reason, Amethyst was really upset that she forgave Lapis.

“Hey don’t call me dumb ! And she seemed really sorry.. and I missed her”

“She left you ! For fucking Jasper ! Who the fuck leaves someone for Jasper ! And don’t forget that she’s not mentally stable”

“Wait what did you say ?”

Amethyst blushed and her eyes widened “nothing. Forget I said anything.”

That was weird. What did she meant by "she’s not mentally stable" as far as Peridot was aware Lapis was the most stable person she knew. She felt that Amethyst was hiding something from her. And she really didn’t like that.

Amethyst at least achieved her goal. Peridot couldn’t even think about her job anymore, because all she could think about was the fact that Amethyst was hiding something.

Peridot later sent a text to Lapis to ensure that she was okay. She juste answered « I’m feeling even better knowing that you were thinking of me ;) » Lapis had the habit to answer to everything non seriously.

Lapis was the happiest person she knew. There was no way that she wasn’t mentally stable.

Chapter Text

A whole week had passed. And all Peridot could think about was Lapis. She kept texting her to make sure she was okay, they saw each others after work sometimes. But she couldn’t stop thinking about the whole "she’s not mentally stable" thingy.

It was too much. Peridot needed to know the truth. So she asked the only person that could know the answer.

Jasper.

On Monday Jasper came back to see Garnet again. But instead of kicking her out, Peridot asked Pearl to make her come into her small office.

When she arrived, Jasper made observations about how Peridot was still a nerd. They talked and after a while Peridot couldn’t take it anymore and asked Jasper the question.

“Did you ever find Lapis not stable mentally ?”

Jasper became pale and her eyes widened “why do you ask ?”

“It’s dumb I shouldn’t think about it too much but… Amethyst- you remember Amethyst right ?”

“Of course I do. Annoying as fuck.”

“Yeah well.. we were hanging out last week and.. I told her I started talking to Lapis again.”

“Oh.. how is she ?”

“Umm great. But anyway, Amethyst said she wasn’t mentally stable and then she asked me to forget about it.. I don’t understand.. I never heard that she wasn’t stable mentally ?” Jasper just sighed and stared at Peridot with a sad look on her face. That was weird of her. Peridot was sure she had never seen her sad before.

“Listen. I shouldn’t be the one telling you this. Especially since she made me promise that I wouldn’t say anything to you.” She looked away and bite her lips “She didn’t want you to worry about her. After we- I broke up with her.” Jasper locked eye contact with Peridot “She tried to kill herself.” Peridot’s eyes widened, she couldn’t believe what she had just heard. Lapis was strong, she would’ve never tried to kill herself especially not for Jasper. “I know what you’re thinking and, I wasn’t expecting her to do that either. At first I wanted to tell you but she didn’t want you to know and I didn’t want to make her even more upset. She had to stay in the hospital for a week. Her application for her art school was rejected and.. she started self harming herself.” Jasper sighed “After graduation we didn’t stop talking right away. We continued talking but I saw that the more we talked the more she would hurt herself. So I.. I’m not proud but I told her parents. And I blocked her number. That’s it. That’s what happened. I didn’t want you to learn it like that”

“That’s.. not what she told me..” Jasper raised an eyebrow “she told me that after graduation she blocked your number right away..” Peridot slap herself and growl “I can’t believe she lied to me and I trusted her !”

“Peridot. She didn’t want you to worry. And I’m sure she had a good reason to lie to you. Besides, I’m just glad she’s doing ok now.”

“Maybe we should all three go eat lunch together or so-”

“No. I’m sorry Peridot, I don’t want to see Lapis again.” Peridot looked down.

After Jasper left, Peridot felt even more overwhelmed now. She couldn’t concentrate on her work. Miss Quartz saw it and sent her home kindly telling her that she probably needed a break. And it was true, Peridot really needed a break to think about all of this. She felt selfish, leaving both her ex best friends in a destructive relationship without doing anything to help. She felt like those kids that witness bullying and don’t say anything but worse. She betrayed them. And both of them went through horrible stuffs.

She needed to see her. To at least make sure she was ok. Peridot sent a text to Lapis asking her if she could come to her house. Lapis agreed happily.

And there she was, in front of Lapis’s apartment, feeling more anxious than she ever felt before. She knocked waiting for the blue haired girl to open the door. After a few minutes that felt like hours to Peridot, Lapis finally opened the door with a bright smile.

“I’m so happy to see you !!” Lapis let Peridot enter “I’m sorry it’s not very clean” Lapis seemed as nervous as Peridot but clearly not for the same reasons.

“It’s ok, my house is a big mess. Trust me I really can’t judge you.” Peridot took Lapis’s hands “I’m really happy to see you.” Lapis blushed “..are you feeling ok..?”

Lapis raised an eyebrow confused “..yes..? I mean I did hurt my leg this morning but nothing to worry about. Why do you ask ? Do I look this horrible?” She laughed. Her laugh was always such an amazing melody to Peridot’s ears. It was Peridot’s turn to blush “no but seriously. Is there something wrong ?”

“..not at all.” Peridot decided not to talk about it. Lapis seemed happy. She didn’t need to know that Peridot knew about everything. No it was a good day for Lapis so let’s not ruin it. Peridot didn’t want to ruin such a pretty smile “How about you show me those comic pages you worked on ?”

And that’s what she did. Lapis showed Peridot the few pages she drew. She then gave her the whole scenario idea. Peridot loved this type of stories, aliens invading earth was her favorite trope. Especially since the aliens in Lapis’s story were all women and really pretty.

They had a great afternoon together. It’s been such a long time since Peridot felt so relaxed. And when she saw that Lapis was having lots of fun too, she felt so relieved.

When it was time to leave, Lapis did something that left Peridot wordless. Lapis kissed Peridot’s cheek. Sure they kissed a lot when they were teenagers, with the whole « let’s kiss as a training that’s going to be fun ». But now they were adults. She just froze and blushed. Lapis chuckled at that.

On her way back, Peridot got a call from someone she wasn’t expecting. Her mom..

She answered and the first thing she heard was her mom’s French accent. Even after years of living in the USA her mom still had it. It’s probably because when she was a child her mom would only speak French at home. And if her or her sister didn’t understand what she was trying to say, she refused to translate. That way it would make them learn French more easily she said. Yeah right. “Hii sweetheart how’s work ?”

“Why are you suddenly calling me ? I know you don’t just call me like that without a reason” Peridot wasn’t dumb. If her mom really wanted to know how was work she would’ve just send her a text.

“Oh you’re smart. Anyway you remember that friend of mine in France who has a big company?” She paused before saying “even bigger than the company you work in.”

“What ? Does she has a son that you want me to marry ?”

“No I understood a long time ago that you’re gonna die alone with lots of cats.” Her mom laughed “No, her vice president quit her job. She can take care of the company alone for the rest of the year but. You know.. taking care of a company is hard..” a long silence “she asked me if you would be ok with coming to France and working as the vice president in her company.”

Peridot almost choked with her saliva. A job as a vice president. The only thing that didn’t please her was the fact that the job was in France. She hated France. “I don’t want to leave the USA.”

“I knew you would be hard to convince because of that. So I have to tell you what your salary could be.”

The number was big. Really big. The salary there was higher then her salary here. She thought about it for a while. Maybe that would be a good thing. But what if she didn’t like to work there ? What if she missed her old job ? “Do I have time to think about it..?”

“The rest of the year” we were in April. Which meant Peridot had until December. 8 whole months to think about it.

“Alright. I’ll call you back then.” She hangs up on her mother.

That was a lot to think about. It was a good opportunity. But Peridot clearly wasn’t ready to leave everything behind just like that. And she just started talking with Lapis again..

She sighed and walked back home feeling less relaxed.

Chapter Text

“This one is actually inspired by you.”

Peridot raised an eyebrow looking at a small green alien with triangle hair. “..are you serious right now..? I can’t believe you made lots of hot aliens and mine looks like that !”

“Aww I personally find her attractive” Lapis giggles looking at Peridot’s red face.

The two girls are on Lapis’s bed, looking at her characters. Peridot was glad to be able to spend time with Lapis that way. She still hadn’t find the courage to talk to her about the whole not mentally stable thing. She knows that she will eventually have to talk to her about it. But Peridot’s scared of Lapis’s reaction. It’s such a personal story, Peridot feels already super guilty about knowing this. What if Lapis react badly ? What if she never want to see her again ? She was clearly overthinking this whole thing. Peridot turn her gaze on Lapis and blush realising the blue haired girl was staring at her with a small smile. She was so fucking attractive.

“Peridot are you dating anyone ?”

The question was so random that Peridot choked with her own spit. “N-no.. I mean I was kind of flirting with a girl some months ago but we stopped talking when she said camp pining hearts was trash..” Lapis giggles “and since then nothing. But why ?” Peridot was really hoping that Lapis would ask to date her or something like that.

“Just wanted to see if you were still a loser” Lapis laughs and Peridot stick her tongue out. She was disappointed.

They went back to looking at Lapis’s characters. Lapis asked Peridot to stay for dinner and Peridot was glad she asked. All she wants now is spending time with her. It’s dumb really, all this time she thought she was completely over Lapis but she was wrong.

Lapis has always been an amazing cook. When they had pyjama parties (with or without Jasper) Lapis would always cook. Mostly because Lapis’s parents were never there, and when they were there, they would just order expansive food. She confessed to Peridot years ago that she was really embarrassed to only eat leftovers when Jasper and her were at her house. So she started learning how to cook. It’s then that Lapis decided to become vegan. Her parents weren’t happy when Lapis told them. But she was the one cooking food for herself, if they wanted her to eat products made by animals they should cook for once -that’s what Lapis told them- when Lapis told Peridot and Jasper that she started eating vegan, she was so happy it made Peridot’s heart melt.

Peridot was staring at Lapis with a little smile while the blue haired girl was cooking. When Lapis caught her staring a grin appeared on her face “I know I’m pretty you don’t have to stare like that”

Peridot blushed hard “I’m sorry !! I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.. I’ll stop staring I swear.”

Lapis came close to Peridot, stroking her cheeks with her thumbs “you don’t make me uncomfortable” Lapis’s smile widened and she kissed Peridot’s forehead making the smaller girl almost faint “dinner is ready !” She then sit at the kitchen table with Peridot.

Peridot was frozen. When she realised Lapis was staring at her waiting for her to taste it, she took a bite of her pastas “I-It’s really good !” Lapis smiled, glad to hear that.

The rest of the diner was really silent. Peridot still couldn’t believe that Lapis kissed her on the forehead. Her heart’s beating fast and she’s sweating.

Lapis’s phone started ringing “I’ll be right back it’s my therapist, I can’t hang up..” Lapis went to the other room to answer her phone.

That’s it, the perfect way to talk about the subject. When Lapis came back, Peridot cleared her throat and then asked “why.. do you need a therapist..?”

Lapis suddenly looked uncomfortable, now she was the one sweating “I.. I had some problems after high school.. nothing to worry about” Liar

“..you can talk to me if you want..”

“I’m fine” Lapis said that so dryly that Peridot didn’t dare to ask her more questions. Maybe it wasn’t the right time.

The rest of the diner was really awkward. Peridot hugged Lapis before leaving “I’m sorry.. I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable..”

Lapis sighed “it’s ok.. you’re just curious that’s all. I would’ve asked too at your place. But.. maybe we can talk about it another time..?”

Peridot nodded and then left. Lapis just needed some time.

A week after, Amethyst invited her friends to a bar to "relax", yeah Amethyst just saw how Peridot seemed really preoccupied recently. So she invited Peridot of course, Pearl and Garnet (yes Peridot still can’t believe how Amethyst is friend with the vice president). She was gonna invite more people but she remembered how Peridot is uncomfortable with people she don’t know. Amethyst told Peridot that if she wanted to she could invite someone else. And she did, she invited Lapis. Amethyst really wasn’t happy to learn that she invited her.

So here they were in the bar drinking all together. Everyone tried not to drink too much -except Amethyst-. And Lapis actually got along pretty well with Pearl and Garnet. But Amethyst kept glaring at Lapis. It was making Peridot uncomfortable, she hoped Lapis didn’t notice it. The night was going well.

And of course something had to ruin this perfect night.

Lapis’s face turned pale while she was looking at the entrance of the bar. When Peridot turned to see what she saw she also turned pale. Jasper was there, with another muscular woman. Peridot was glad that no one really liked her in the group so no one would ask her to come.

“Oh no not- hey I know the woman she’s with..” Pearl squinted her eyes trying to recognise the woman.

“You do ?” Amethyst looked at the woman too.

“But of course ! It’s Bismuth !”

“Please don’t call them.” Garnet looked like she regretted coming here tonight.

“Hey Bismuth !!” Pearl yelled waving her arms. When the woman called Bismuth turned and saw Pearl a big grin formed on her face. She then came, of course with Jasper. Peridot noticed that the closer Jasper was to their table, the more Lapis looked horrified.

Bismuth gave a big hug to Pearl, Peridot could see the jealous look on Amethyst’s face. So apparently Bismuth and Pearl were close friends during high school. And Bismuth and Jasper go to the gym together.

Everything was so uncomfortable. Jasper acted like Lapis wasn’t there, talking with the others. Peridot couldn’t stop looking at the horrified look on Lapis’s face. She didn’t know if she was horrified that Jasper was there, that Jasper was ignoring her. Lapis looked like she was gonna explode. Peridot took her hand which made her gasp. “We can go out if you want..”

And that’s what they did. Peridot told the others that they were going to the bathroom. When they arrived outside, Lapis was trying hard not to hyperventilate.

“I’m so sorry Peridot.. I’m ruining your night and all..”

Peridot bite her lips. It was time to tell her. To comfort her “Lapis.. I know everything..”

Lapis stared at Peridot for a very long time until “i know”

“You do ?!”

Lapis sighed and nodded “you acted weird around me.. so I suspected that you knew something..” she looked down “I just.. didn’t want you to worry.. or to see me differently because of all that..” she was now shaking “I actually wanted to talk to Jasper again.. Since I was able to talk to you.. I thought that maybe I would’ve healed enough to be able to talk to Jasper again.. When she came I tried hard to be calm.. but then she ignored me and..” tears fell down her cheeks.

Peridot hugged Lapis tightly “I’ll stay with you for the night if you want..”

“Yes please..” Lapis wiped her tears and took Peridot’s hand “let’s go to my apartment..”

They spent the night together. In Lapis’s bed, hugging each other. It took a while for Lapis to fall asleep. She couldn’t stop crying. When Peridot heard small snores she understood that Lapis was asleep and she finally let herself fall asleep after that.

She will have to explain to the others why they suddenly left, tomorrow. She will also have to talk to Jasper about why she ignored Lapis. It’s going to be a long day..

Chapter Text

“If we start talking, I’m afraid she’ll start hurting herself again.”

Peridot and Jasper were at a park near Peridot’s work place. They started talking about Lapis, and of course Peridot asked Jasper to talk to her again. Or to at least give her another chance.

“It’s ignoring Lapis that hurt her the most. She was so horrified when she saw you acting like she wasn’t there !”

“Yeah ok it hurts Lapis. But what about me ? What about how I feel ? What if talking to Lapis would hurt me ?” Peridot bite her lips. Of course, she was so preoccupied with how Lapis felt that she didn’t even thought about how Jasper felt. “I might’ve healed but just thinking about talking to her makes me feel anxious”

She slaps her forehead “i’m sorry Jasper..”

A long silence, Jasper was glaring at Peridot and the smaller girl felt like she could kill her just by staring at her.

“You’re in love with her aren’t you ?”

Peridot’s eyes widened “how did you..?”

“I kind of know it since high school. Why did you think I was jealous of you ? Lapis would constantly talk about you and how amazing you were. And I knew you had a crush on her.” She sighed “it was stupid to treat you badly because of that. I’m sorry Peridot.”

“Hey it’s ok..” Peridot hesitated before asking ”But really she would talk about me ?”

Jasper laughed “yeah. She would often lecture me about how I wasn’t nice like you and stuff like that.”

Peridot was as red as a strawberry. This meant that she might have a chance with Lapis.

“Once, I was so mad. We were fighting and she said that she wished she dated you instead of me.”

“Oh.. oh no Jasper I’m sorry..”

Jasper laughed a bit and ruffled Peridot’s hair “don’t worry shorty” she sighed “I don’t mind you dating her. But still, be careful. It’s just that I don’t want you hurting her. And I also don’t want her to hurt you.”

Peridot nodded. All of that was a lot to take in. She was over the moon that Lapis was probably still into her. But Jasper was right, Lapis is still weak. She needs more time to heal completely.

The next week, Lapis seemed to be feeling much better. After the night where Lapis saw Jasper again, she stayed inside her room refusing to go out for a few days. And today she finally started teaching danse again. Peridot came to see Lapis after her danse class and they spent the night together. Lapis had trouble sleeping so Peridot would stay with her during the night sometimes. Everything was great and fine.

But Peridot seemed to have forgotten something important.

The job in France waiting for her.

Imagining what working in France was like was actually hilarious to Peridot. Her very own assistant coming to her office asking "Madame Olivine voudriez-vous un café ?" Or when it was time for an appointment "Madame Olivine votre rendez-vous de 9h00 est arrivé" haha being a vice president in France would be hilarious.

If she didn’t hated this country.

Peridot used to live in France until she turned 11 and her mother got married to an American man. Her biological father still lives there. She hate her father. He never touched her but he was violent with her big sister, Emerald. That’s one of the many reasons why Emerald hated Peridot. She tried many times to reconnect with her sister. But as soon as she turned 18, Emerald left the house. They sometimes see each other on "family dinners" organised by her mother. But Emerald would refuse to talk to her.

But now that she thought about it. She couldn’t end up with Lapis if she accepted the job. There was no way Lapis would agree to come in France with her. She just couldn’t agree to the job if she started dating Lapis. After all working for Crystal gems wasn’t that bad.

She was overthinking all of this. On one hand she would disappoint her mother and lose the opportunity to have a great work and more money. On the other hand, she would lose the love of her life, and her friends.

This whole situation was really starting to freak her out.

She needed to talk to someone about this whole situation. Someone who will be able to help her.

Miss Quartz.

Peridot’s boss not only was a great listener but she give the best advices.

So the next day, Peridot was in front of Rose’s office. Hesitating before knocking and waiting for an answer. A silvery voice told her to come in and Peridot opened the door, sitting on the chair in front of Miss Quartz’s desk. “Is there anything you wanted to ask me Peridot ?” Her voice was reassuring and nice. No wonder everyone loved Rose.

Peridot told Rose about her whole problem. About how she didn’t know if she wanted to go to France or to stay with everyone here. And Rose listened to everything until finally Peridot stoped talking.

“You still have time until you have to give your final answer to your mother. Why do you want to know what you want now ?” Rose gave her a reassuring smile “what you want now, probably won’t be the same as what you’ll want in December. Don’t overthink all of this now. You have all the time you need to think about it.” She waited a bit before adding “no matter what your choice will be. I know you’ll make the right one.”

Peridot felt a bit lighter after this. Rose was right, she still had time. Peridot went back to work. After all if these were her last months in this company. She was going to make sure that her work will be perfect. As always.

She really didn’t want to leave.

Chapter Text

—Middle school, 6th grade—

“Hey what’s your name ?”

Being in a new city and a new school, it’s never easy. But moving from a country to another, it’s a really hard experience. And Peridot was trying hard to stay strong and not break down. But it was hard. She knew something was wrong when last year her mother asked her to start learning English perfectly. Her step father was nice. The house was really, really big. But she was in a foreign territory and the only other person who could understand what she was going through -her sister- refused to talk to her.

Her English wasn’t perfect at all. You could tell she wasn’t American and it made her a bit insecure. She didn’t want others to ask her question about France. So she decided to talk to no one. Being alone was the safest option in her opinion. So when a taller girl with long brown hair sat next to her, Peridot started feeling anxious. « What if she tries to talk with me ? I don’t want to talk to her. »

The taller girl seemed suddenly embarrassed after a long silence “oh sorry I should’ve introduced myself first. My name’s Lapis Lazuli Kahale ! So now, what’s your name ?”

Peridot blushed a bit, she seemed nice but she said she wouldn’t talk to anyone. And she decided not to answer first, until she saw two big dark blue eyes staring at her waiting for her answer “..Peridot.. Olivine..”

“Hey you’re named after a stone too !!”

“Well I was born on August. My sister’s born in May so they named her Emerald” she remembered her sister a year or two ago saying how she hated her name and would’ve loved it if their parents named her Emma or Léa instead.

“You’re not from around here are you ?”

Peridot sighed “is it that obvious ?”

“..yes… but because you have a funny accent. European I’m thinking. But you speak English very well !”

Praises. Peridot loved praises.

They continued talking during the class, Peridot told Lapis how life in France was. And Lapis told her that she wasn’t really from there either. She was from Tahiti and most of her family lives there so they go there during summer vacation.

Peridot really liked Lapis.

—Middle school, 8th grade—

“Now Peridot, truth or dare ?”

The three girls were at Lapis’s house, her parents were going out for the night so they were alone in the living room playing truth or dare while an horror movie played in the background. It was Peridot’s turn and she was a bit afraid of whatever Jasper would ask her if she said truth, but she was also scared of what she would tell her to do if she said dare.

“Um truth ?”

“Is your sister single ?”

“What the hell Jasper !!” Peridot was embarrassed. For some reasons the tallest of the three swears she’s straight but keep telling Peridot how hot her big sister is. “And anyway I’m pretty sure she’s taken. And straight.”

Lapis laughed while Jasper was looking very disappointed.

It was Peridot’s turn to ask Lapis the question “truth or dare Lapis ?”

“Dare Dotty” she said with a silly smile. Peridot hated that nickname. But she loved it whenever Lapis would call her that.

Peridot dared her to do something stupid. Like going in front of her window in her underwear. Well it was mostly so she could take a little look at Lapis’s body. But she didn’t want to admit it.

They continued playing until Jasper dared Peridot something that caught her off guard.

“I dare you to kiss Lazuli.”

“W-what why ?” Peridot was entirely red now.

“Well I wanted to know if you were a great kisser or not. And I want to keep my first kiss for your sister. So Lazuli will have to sacrifice herself” Jasper snickered watching Peridot’s face turning red.

“Well I don’t mind” Lapis said giving a sweet smile to Peridot.

Oh stars, she really wasn’t ready for that. She wanted her first kiss to be special. Not because Jasper was really nosey. But she couldn’t just chicken out like that. So she leaned in close to Lapis slowly. When Lapis saw that it was taking too much time, she took Peridot’s face in her hand and pressed their lips together. Peridot felt like she was dying and going to heaven. Lapis pulled away after what felt like an eternity.

“Well she is a great kisser”

“Well I don’t know if I can even trust you Laz, it’s not like you have good taste.”

Lapis rolled her eyes while Peridot tried to calm her heart beat that was going way too fast.

Her first kiss was Lapis Lazuli.

And she really really enjoyed it.

—High school, 11th grade—

“It’s like I’m talking to a wall you know. I keep trying to tell her that I hate it when she acts like this but she just won’t listen.”

Peridot was in Lapis’s room and was listening to the taller of the two complaining about Jasper. Peridot was half listening, too busy staring at Lapis. Dating Jasper changed her physically. Her hair was still growing back from her emo phase in the 9th and 10th grade. Dark circles were under her eyes, showing signs that she wasn’t sleeping well. She was now wearing baggy clothes to hide her body. She said it was because she was feeling insecure but Peridot knew it was to hide bruises. She didn’t look happy. Peridot didn’t even remember the last time she saw her genuinely happy. Lapis wasn’t the only one changing. Jasper was too, but since Jasper would keep her distances from Peridot, it was harder to notice the changes.

Peridot wished the two never started dating.

Her two best friends were constantly fighting. And she didn’t know what to do to help. It was just so frustrating.

“I’m so glad I have you Peridot. Without you I don’t know if I could’ve survived dating Jasper.”

“Have you ever thought about.. you know.. breaking up with her…?”

Lapis’s eyes widened and she looked, angry. “Hell no ! Hey she might be a little bitch but I still love her !”

“All I’m saying is.. that you two are hurting each other and… I just, I can’t just see you guys like that and do nothing ! It’s painful !”

“Listen. I won’t break up with her. I love her too much. I need her. I just.. I will make an effort to be a better girlfriend. Will that make you happy ?”

Peridot hesitated before nodding. She didn’t understand why Lapis "needed" Jasper. But if that’s what her best friend wanted, she couldn’t say anything.

“Can we just.. talk about something else than Jasper please ?”

Lapis looked down “yes of course. I’m sorry Peridot. Hey how about we play that video game you love so much ! Under.. under.. whatever ! I want to kill monsters !”

“Pffft you know this isn’t how you’re supposed to play the game right ?”

“I knowww ! But it’s funny !!” Lapis giggled and looked through Peridot’s bag to find the video games Peridot always bring with her because Lapis "don’t have enough cool video games".

They spent the night playing. But Peridot could still notice, that something was wrong with Lapis. She couldn’t tell what. But Lapis had a problem.

And that problem was getting worse day by day.

—High school, 12th grade, April—

“Did I do something wrong ? You can tell me if I did !”

Lapis followed Peridot into the toilets wanting to talk to her alone. Peridot stopped spending time with Lapis or Jasper. Instead she would hang out with Amethyst. And Lapis didn’t seem really happy about it.

“It’s not you Lapis. It’s just. I can’t do this anymore. The whole "I love Jasper but I hurt her for some reasons" it’s getting worse and worse ! It’s putting me through too much stress and as much as I love both of you. I can’t do this anymore”

It broke Peridot’s heart to see tears rolling down Lapis’s cheek. “B-but I’ll make an effort ! I’ll be a better girlfriend ! Please don’t leave me Peridot..”

“I’m not leaving you Lapis.. I’m still there ! I’m just taking my distances..” Peridot wiped Lapis’s tears trying not to cry herself.

“I’m so scared Peridot.. I don’t want you to leave..”

Peridot looked away. “I’ll still be there. Just, not hanging out with you. I’ll keep an eye on you from afar. Please don’t cry. It was the best decision I could take.”

Lapis’s sad expression disappeared and now she just looked so angry that she could explode “all right. Yeah whatever you want Peridot.”

Lapis then left. When finally she was alone Peridot burst into tears.

She really regretted this decision.

—Back to today—

Peridot was in her bathroom brushing her teeth when she received a weird text from Lapis "I’m not feeling well at all please can you come ? If you’re busy I’ll understand"

After a little while, Peridot was in her car on her way to Lapis’s apartment. When she came inside her heart broke at the sight of a sobbing Lapis.

It took Lapis at least 30 minutes to calm down. The blue haired woman showed Peridot a paper saying that Lapis hadn’t pay her two last rent and that if she didn’t pay it soon she would be expelled from the apartment.

“Do you have money problems Lapis..?”

“No I don’t..!” Lapis bite her nails nervously “the rent got raised and.. I guess my salary as a danse teacher can’t cover it..” lapis was now shaking “I don’t know what to do… I can’t go back to my parents’s place we haven’t spoken in so long…”

Peridot took Lapis in her arms thinking. And the most logical solution came to her mind.

“How about you come live with me?”

Chapter Text

Two months had passed, summer just started and Peridot already had enough of these high temperatures. Everyday after she gets home she take a very cold shower to feel better.

Things at home were a bit weird. Lapis was now living with her. And a week ago Lapis found a little orange cat on the street that she wanted to keep. She named her, Pumpkin, because the cat is orange.

When after a week she finished her room, Lapis started decorating the house, and cleaning since Peridot was really messy. She took more hours of teaching so she could pay half of the rent. And Peridot saw that Lapis seemed way more happy.

Things were great, but Peridot find it harder to hide her feelings for the taller girl. Every time they were talking Peridot would stutter, when they were watching the TV together Peridot had to restrain herself from trying to cuddle with her.

Even after everything Jasper told her, she didn’t want to get too close to Lapis, at least for now, Lapis still needed to heal. And even if she seemed to be getting better, Peridot knew she wasn’t totally healed.

Peridot tried hard to convince Jasper to just go talk to lapis but the muscular woman was even more stubborn than Peridot. She tried everything to convince her, but Jasper didn’t want to talk to Lapis, scared of hurting her more. Peridot was a hundred percent sure that Lapis would get better if they just talked again but Jasper disagreed “it’s for her own good” yeah right. At this point Peridot started suspecting that Jasper was afraid of the whole situation.

Peridot came home after work, ready to eat, take a shower, watch a movie with Lapis and fall asleep. But the whole thing never happened since when Peridot opened the door she found a dancing Lapis in the living room. She recognised Electro World by Perfume playing in the background. Oh no Lapis had found the pirated cd where she had put lots of J-pop songs. She thought she had hidden it well. When Lapis spotted Peridot she started giggling seeing how Peridot seemed horrified.

“You didn’t tell me you had cd’s at home !” Lapis came toward Peridot still giggling.

“..it’s from middle school you have no right to judge me”

“I’m not judging you ! Some of the songs on the cd are actually super cool. You had great tastes”

“Had ?” Peridot raised an eyebrow “I still have !” She crossed her arms over her chest “but thanks.. for not making fun of me.. but please stop the cd before Hatsune Miku start playing”

Lapis laughed and stopped the cd. “Hey you know what I was thinking about this morning ?” Lapis turned to face Peridot “there’s this place I like to go to. How about I take you there tonight ?”

“As long as you don’t take me somewhere dangerous..”

They walked together for a long time, Peridot’s feet started to hurt but she didn’t say anything about it. Instead she ranted about her day to Lapis. About how the coffee machine broke again, and how some of her coworkers were just lazy clods.

Once they arrive at their destination, Peridot was surprised to see a large lake. The stars were reflecting on the lake making it shine. They were surrounded by big trees and flowers “Lapis.. this place is amazing..”

“I know right ! No one comes here. It’s just.. the perfect place”

Peridot touched the shiny water curiously, it was cold as expected. “Is it where you go swim ?”

“Well, no. I mean it would be a great place to swim but I just like to chill next to the lake.” Lapis lay down on the grass, near the lake “just hearing the sweet melody of the lake makes me happy.” She sighed turning her gaze toward the short blond “when I’m not feeling well I just come here. It’s my safe place”

“If it’s your safe place then why did you show it to me ?”

Lapis just smiled staring at the sky, and after around 10 minutes she finally answered “my safe place can’t be complete without my safe person.”

Peridot blushed, surprised to hear that “m-me ?”

“No Steven“ she snorted “of course you, you idiot ! You make me feel safe.”

Peridot smiled and lay down next to Lapis. She sighed and stared at the sky. It was true that this place was relaxing. Peridot hadn’t felt this good in so much time. And she was so happy to share this with Lapis. It was almost as if all of her problems had disappeared. It was just her, Lapis, and the lake. She looked at Lapis when she felt fingers poking her arm.

“Don’t fall asleep here Pfft”

“I wasn’t gonna fall asleep !!”

Lapis raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything else.

After an hour they returned home. But when Peridot was heading toward her room a hand stopped her.

“How about we hum.. you.. you want to sleep with me ?”

Peridot felt like dying “w-what..?!”

Lapis seemed to have realised what she had just asked because she became as red as Peridot “n-no not sex !! I-I meant like.. really sleeping.”

Peridot sighed but was still red “why do you suddenly want to..?”

Lapis scratched the back of her neck feeling nervous “I have trouble sleeping recently. And I was feeling so peaceful next to you… so maybe I thought you could help me by sleeping with me..”

Peridot nodded, it made sense. That was why Lapis looked terrible every mornings. So they went to sleep in Lapis’s bedroom. At first it was a bit awkward. They kept their distances. But eventually Lapis had enough of the situation and came closer to Peridot taking the smaller girl in her arms. Peridot felt her cheeks burning.

“Sorry.. if you’re uncomfortable i..-”

“No that’s fine. I like that.” Peridot closed her eyes “hey Lapis ?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re my favourite person too.”

Chapter Text

—Two months ago—

“And how are you feeling today ? Did you make any progress ?”

Every Wednesday afternoon, being stuck in a small office with an old woman, forced to open up about her feelings and the way things affected her. It was like that since high school, and Lapis hated therapy even more everyday. She would’ve stopped those sessions but her parents -even if they were absent- were the ones paying for her therapist. Her parents were a difficult subject to talk about. She never had a good relationship with them. She was closer to the rest of their family than with them. They were never there during her childhood, leaving her with babysitters. And when she started middle school they didn’t even bother paying babysitters anymore since in their opinion Lapis was old enough to take care of herself. She wasn’t. Multiple times she almost set their house on fire. After what happened with Jasper, their parents had a talk with her. Apparently they couldn’t handle taking care of a mentally ill daughter (as if they even took care of her once) so they promised to pay for her therapy sessions, and then when she will finally get better, she could come back to live with them. Lapis didn’t plan on coming back to living with her parents even when she’ll finally get better.

It was hard knowing that even her parents didn’t want to stay with her.

“No, I did it again.”

The real reason she couldn’t leave her apartment for some days after seeing Jasper again was because the whole thing triggered her enough that she started self harming again. She wasn’t proud of it, the fresh scars on her thighs covering the old healed ones. She didn’t say anything to Peridot, she didn’t want her to worry about it. It was no big deal after all.

After leaving her therapist’s office she felt a bit better. Yes she hated therapy but at least it was helpful. And at least she wouldn’t break down in front of Peridot. Hopefully.

She really was surprised when she asked her to come live with her. And at first she was gonna say no. She couldn’t risk Peridot seeing her in a vulnerable state. But she couldn’t resist those big green eyes.

So here she was now. Living with Peridot.

—Today—

Lapis was on the bathroom floor, applying body lotion on her thighs. The scars were still very visible and she was glad that most of her skirts were ankle length. After finishing applying the lotion she went back in the living room. Peridot wasn’t supposed to be back before late in the afternoon, so she had the house to herself. She could just watch cartoons on the TV, call one of her colleagues and see if they want to hang out, or even finish some of the work she had to do.

None of these suggestions seemed appealing enough for Lapis, so she did something that seemed more fun.

Looking through Peridot’s work paper.

Lapis didn’t really understand the type of job Peridot had anyway. But she knew for sure that Peridot earned a lot of money. She would come home and almost pass out on the couch sometimes.

Lapis looked through the papers with a bored expression on her face. Nothing really interesting. Until her eyes laid on a pile of yellow paper. She looked through them and her eyes went wide. It was a work contract for a company in France. Only the first paper was written in English, the rest was in French so she didn’t understand much. Was Peridot planning on leaving..? Her heart was hurting and her vision became blurry. She was almost gonna have a panic attack if she didn’t suddenly shook her head and slap herself hard enough to make her come back to reality. Come Lapis pull it together, of course Peridot wasn’t gonna stay forever. And maybe it’s a good thing for Peridot to get a new job as uhh.. vice president ?! Lapis wasn’t that smart but she was smart enough to know that vice president was a very important job. She felt happy for Peridot, trying to stop thinking about the pain in her chest. Maybe they could stay in contact.

She was confused when water drops fell on the paper and then she realised that she was crying.  Come on Lapis you should be happy for Peridot. But what if she forgot about me ? Of course she wouldn’t, she didn’t after all those year. But what if Peridot met a new best friend ?

What if Peridot got a girlfriend?

That last thought confused her even more. Wouldn’t it be a good thing if Peridot found a girlfriend ? Of course it wouldn’t be, Peridot didn’t need a girlfriend when she had Lapis.

Lapis almost choked on her own saliva when réalisation hit her.

She was in love with Peridot.

No of course she wasn’t. It was just infatuation because after all those years of being alone, someone was finally taking care of her.

It couldn’t be infatuation. Because Lapis was feeling like that toward Peridot since they met.

It didn’t make any sens. Lapis fell in love with Jasper back in middle school, not Peridot. But she couldn’t ignore the fact that every time a girl or even a boy would get too close to Peridot in middle school she would get very angry.

She couldn’t ignore the time she almost beat up a boy in front of the whole class because he was trying to flirt with Peridot.

At that time she told herself that it was because Peridot was like a little sister to her and she wanted to protect her from jerks like that guy. But maybe it wasn’t the sibling type of love. Maybe she was actually in love with her but she didn’t want to admit it back then.

Oh my stars it was so embarrassing.

How could she have never realised her feeling for the blond ?

She was confused, sad, angry at herself. All these emotions were starting to make her head hurt. And by reflex she started scratching her thighs. She took her wrist hard and made sure it was far enough from her thighs. Music, she needed to listen to some music and maybe after it would get better.

She laid on her back and played the first music that she saw on her playlist. Willow tree ? Great.

You and me hanging from the willow tree

Maybe she could try asking Peridot out. Maybe Peridot would be okay with dating her.

Quietly drifting in the open breeze

But what if Lapis hurt her ? What if after that Peridot never wanted to see her again ?

Suddenly, the wind blows you away from me

And this job opportunity in France. Peridot just couldn’t miss an opportunity like that. And Lapis couldn’t force Peridot to stay here with her.

Now I see we were never meant to be.

Lapis growled and stopped the music. Maybe music wasn’t really helpful in these type of situations.

She just stared at the ceiling in silence for a whole hour until she heard the front door opening. She rushed to greet the blond.

“Hey Lap- oh wow you look like shit” peridot took Lapis’s hand worriedly “are you okay..?”

Lapis bite her lips “I uh.. I watched the episode five of season 2 of CPH again..” Lapis chuckled nervously. Peridot raised an eyebrow and after a minute of thinking she smiled a little and didn’t ask more questions.

They spent the night watching cartoons on the TV and eventually Peridot fell asleep on the couch. This night was amazing, but all Lapis could think about was Peridot leaving her.

Tears fell down her face as she also fell asleep on the couch.

Chapter Text

Peridot really isn't the type of gal to talk about her feelings. She had the habit ever since she was a child to bottle up everything. This wasn't healthy she knew it. But it was safer than to talk about her feelings. And even if she wanted to, she didn't have anyone to talk to. Her mother was always too busy, there was no way she would talk to her step father, and her big sister hated her. She couldn't talk about it with Lapis and Jasper, back in middle school they both had so many family problems that she didn't want to annoy them with her own problems. Yes Peridot hated talking about her problems.

But yet here she was in her boss's office. Rose would act like a therapist with her for some reasons and Peridot wasn't sure if she was thankful or uncomfortable. Everytime she would call her in her office it was to discuss about the blond's feelings and eventually how were things with Lapis. Yes Peridot hated talking about her problems, but here she was breaking out in front of her boss. Letting out years of sadness and it didn't seem to annoy Rose. 

However today was different.

"Did you know that Rose Quartz wasn't my real name ?"

Peridot was a bit confused, did she meant that her real last name was Universe since she's married but she still uses the last name Quartz for some reasons ? "i'm not sure to understand your question..."

Rose stared at Peridot with a cold look on her face "Peridot you've been telling me about your whole life the last few days" She looked down "I feel bad that you know so little about me..."

"oh but I don't mind ! Really.. You don't have to tell me anything, especially if it makes you uncomfortable...

Rose took some time to think. But then she smiled a bit "thanks Peridot. What do you know about the Diamond Corporation ?"

"That it's a corporation situated in England.. And that it's one of Europe's most succesful corporation.. But what does that have to do with anything?"

"My name isn't Rose Quartz. My name is Pink Diamond."

Peridot stared at Rose in silence for what felt like a whole year. From what her mother told her when she was still a child, Yellow Diamond's only daughter went missing. They all thought of an abduction first. But she's been missing for 16 years now. The Diamond Corporation was created by White Diamond -who's birth name was Wendy- in 1963. She then had a daughter that she named Yellow. And when Yellow married her wife, Azura, she had to get her named changed from Azura to Blue. And then they both had a daughter named Pink. But there just was no way Rose was Pink Diamond "..are you making fun of me..?"

"What makes you think i'm making fun of you ? I have papers to prove it if you want-"

"You don't have a British accent !!"

"Yes Peridot, after some years you lose your accent. We can't hear your French accent either."

Peridot felt a bit embarassed "Yeah.. You're right, i'm sorry. Does someone else know about this..?"

"Only Pearl. We escaped together."

"..Wait how old is Pearl?"

"34 like me."

"WHAAAAAT" Peridot hide her mouth with her hands, ashamed of her reaction "she's so much older than Amethyst..." Peridot shook her hand. I mean everyone knew Amethyst liked older women but Peridot still found it super weird. She had to have a conversation with Amethyst about it "b-but why are you telling me all this ?!! I don't know how to keep a secret !!" 

"Peridot. All your life you kept secrets."

"Oh yeah you're right... But still.. Why me.."

"My son likes you. And.. Let me tell you everything from the begining.."

My childhood really wasn't the best. Yes I had everything I wanted. But I didn't have my parents's love.

My mother, Yellow, was always busy with buisness. Sometimes she would take me with her, but only to leave me in a corner and forget about me until it was time to go back home. She was really mean with me. Always yelling at me whenever I would do a small mistake like breaking a plate.

My other mother, she would always tell me how much she loved me and how much she cared about me. But she wouldn't show me. She was the meanest. Instead of yelling at me she would lock me in a room for some hours to "give me a reason to cry".

I don't hate them. It's not their fault. 

They were like that because of my grandmother. White.

She's the one who constantly told them to punish me. So that I would finally behave like she wanted me to.

I knew she did the same to Yellow during her childhood.

And I know they were both forced to do that.

I had two playmates when I was a child. While playing I hurt one by accident and her parents took her away. The other one I think her parents took her too I don't really remember to be honest. When I turned 15, a couple of migrants from the Philipines came one day and the husband asked for a job in the company. He had every qualification for the job. But when White saw that they had a daughter, they accepted to give him the job. And in exchange, their daughter had to be my new Playmate. That's when I met Pearl. We didn't get along well at first. To me my two other playmates were the only ones. But eventually we became closer. 

And when we turned 17. Pearl had an Idea.

We both escaped the night of my 18th birthday. We stole some money and we made our way to America. 

And then I met Greg. And a year later I was Pregnant with Steven. 

Yes I miss my family sometimes. But I've never regretted escaping. 

I'm telling you all this because you had trouble in France and you came to America and life wasn't perfect but it was clearly better.

And yes of course our stories aren't the same but if I had a job opportunity in England I wouldn't personally go back.

I know I said at first it was your choice, and it still is. But ever since you started telling me about your childhood, the whold thing kept me up at night, just thinking about you making the wrong choice. 

Ang I'm not telling you all this as miss Quartz your boss.

I'm telling you all this as your friend, Rose. 

When Peridot left Rose's office she really didn't know how to feel. When she saw Pearl in the corridors and the oldest girl greeted her the only thing she could say was "you're so old what are you doing with Amethyst ?"

"wow hello to you too Peridot. And I don't know... I fell in love with her."

"I talked with Rose. I know."

Pearl bit her lips "oh.."

Peridot hugged her. Pearl was suprised but eventually hugged the younger girl back. "sooo.. What was your birth name ?"

Pearl chuckled a bit "maybe I'll tell you another day but I don't think I'm personally ready to talk about it. Sorry."

Peridot was starting to think that the universe wanted her to stay in America.

Maybe she would stay after all.

Chapter Text

Alcohol can make you do dumb things.

Everyone knew that, but it didn't keep them from drinking until they couldn't remember who they are.

Lapis wasn't that much into alcohol. She liked to drink once in a while but that was all. She really wasn't a fan of the whole waking up with a headache thingy, so whenever she had to drink she would make sure to not drink a lot.

Tonight was different. Lapis tried at first to ignore the fact that Peridot would probably leave at the end of the year. She even searched a way to learn French -she did speak a few words but clearly wasn't fluent- so that way maybe she could leave with her. But the more she think about it, the more the situation was frustrating, and making her angry and anxious. And in the end she didn't even know what to feel anymore.

Yes Lapis felt like she deserved a break. And what more better ways to take a break than to drink alcohol.

One, two, three.. She forgot how many drinks she had. But she defintely felt better, or worse, she wasn't really sure. Peridot wouldn't be happy to see her in this state, so she planned on coming home very late so that Peridot would already be asleep. But now that she's drunk, suddenly the alcohol started to have a taste of "I should ask Peridot about the job in France". And after a few more drinks, she left the bar and came back home.

Peridot was working in the living room when Lapis opened the door. She was going to greet her, happy to see her. But the moment she got closer to Lapis, all she could smell was alcohol "Lapis are you drunk..?-"

Lapis cut her between two hiccups "Peri. Peri my friend. I believe we need to talk."

Peridot raised an eyebrow "about.. what..?"

Lapis giggled but then stared at Peridot emotionlessly. She just kept staring at her in silence for almost 5 minute until she grabbed her elbows tightly "I know everything"

"You do...?" Peridot started to feel uncomfortable. Lapis was now staring at her like she was trying to read her mind. "Lapis.. you're scaring me.. did I do something wrong..?" Peridot hesitated before adding "does it have something to do with Jasper..?"

Lapis raised an eyebrow, confused but suddenly came back to her emotionless state "yes. Yes it have."

"Listen.. I still talk with her yes ! But she was also my friend ! And I tried so hard to convince her to talk to you again.. but she refused to see you again ! I tried to do everything ! So now I'm trying to set hum.. a plan.. without any of you.. knowing....hey you okay...? Um.. by the way.. who told you about it...?"

Lapis went through so many emotions while Peridot was talking : confusion, sadness, anger, and finally disapointment. Lapis wasn't disapointed about the fact that Peridot was talking with Jasper, she didn't care. But knowing that Peridot was trying to force Jasper into talking to her again AND she tried to hide it from both of them ?! Normally Lapis would've tried to put her anger aside and to understand Peridot's point of view. But normally Lapis ain't drunk. And let's just say that Lapis isn't the happy type of drunk " are you fucking kidding me ?! I didn't want to talk to you about that but I guess now we have something else to talk about huh ?!" Lapis came dangerously closer to Peridot and it made the shorter one sweat and tremble "what was your plan huh? Lock us in a room and wait for any results ? Do you know how destructive I was with her ?! Do you know how much I made her surfer ?! You know all that ! You witnessed all of that !!"

"I-I thought you wanted to see her again..! You looked so sad when she ignored you... I just wanted to make you happy !!"

Lapis growled " I don't fucking know what I want !! I thought I wanted to talk to her again ! But just the night after that happened I started cutting myself again !!"

Peridot looked at her in shock "y-you did what..? Lapis.. Why didn't you tell me anything...?"

Lapis put her hands on her face realising she was crying. She wiped her eyes "I didn't want to worry you.. And so what. You didn't tell me you had a job proposition in France so we both keep secrets you see."

Peridot frowned "you know about it ?? How ??"

Lapis laughed dryly "I looked into your papers and I found one written in French. I had troubles translate it but I'm not dumb I know what ”travail en tant que vice-président” mean."

"you rummaged through my things and you think that's ok !?"

"Oh no you don't get to yell at me. Not after everything you've hide from me. You don't get to !"

"You know what ? With how you take alcohol I'm starting to feel sorry for Jasper."

"Don't bring her into this."

"Oh what are you gonna do ? Hurt me like you've hurt her ??"

The loud sound of a slap echoed in the air.

Lapis had slapped Peridot.

Her eyes widened and she hide her mouth with her hands "P-Peridot... I'm so sorry I..-"

Peridot didn't answer. She just rubbed her cheek and avoided looking into Lapis's eyes "I'm going to sleep"

Lapis looked horrified and just ran away out of the house. Peridot wanted to run and chase after her. But she didn't have the strenght to do anything at the moment. She wasn't mad at Lapis, Well she was a little since she hated it when people -Amethyst- looked into her stuffs. But she was also mad at herself for hiding stuffs from her. But at the same time, she had the right to have secrets. She didn't know how to feel. And her cheeks hurt and her heart hurt she wanted to die.

Sleep was probably the solution to her problem.

The sound of knocking on the door woke her up. She checked the time on her phone, 10 am. She sat up on her bed rubbing her eyes and memories of last night slowly came back to her. Lapis. Maybe it was her ? Peridot smiled a bit and went to answer the door. And she was pretty disapointed when instead of Lapis, an Asian woman with pinkish hair was standing in the hallway. "Hello Peridot hum... I'm sorry to disturb you. Rose called me last night. She said Lapis came to her completely drunk and a sobbing mess asking for a place to stay for the night. So she asked me to check on you.."

Peridot sighed. Of cours Lapis stayed at Rose's place "Come in Pearl, I'll make you some tea."

Pearl sat on Peridot's couch "Rose said she had never seen the girl like this before" Pearl paused and looked at Peridot who was pouring hot water into Pearl's cup with a sad expression on her face "she.. told Rose.. about slaping you..." Peridot didn't answer and avoided Pearl's eyes "she's really sorry about doing it. Are you mad at her ?"

Peridot sighed, sitting next to Pearl "of course I'm not. I'm the one who started talking about Jasper and I'm the one who hid stuffs from her" she bite her lips anxiously "If anything she should be the one mad."

Pearl looked away "you know. I constantly Say it to everyone who comes to me for love advices, and you would be surprised by how many people does, communication is the only key you need for a succesful relationship."

Peridot thought about it for a moment. Lapis maybe needed space. But she wanted to see her... To apologise... "I'm heading to Rose's house."

Pearl smiled glad to hear that.

Peridot made her way to Rose's house. And just when she arrived, Lapis was leaving the house at the same time. They made eye contacts. They stayed in silence for a while before Lapis broke the silence by tightly hugging the shorter woman "I'm so sorry Peridot please forgive me.. I didn't want to hurt you... And I should've never looked into your stuffs.."

Peridot hugged her back feeling her cheeks getting wet "it's ok Lapis... I shouldn't have hid stuffs from you... I'm glad you're ok... I was afraid you would sleep outside..."

Lapis snorted "hell no, I might be constantly walking around barefoot but I wouldn't sleep outside"

They stayed like that, hugging each other. Until Steven came outside running to join the hug.

Chapter Text

"How about another tear drop ?"

"Yeah... but no. The one on my back is enough." Lapis and Peridot had been talking about Lapis's problems and Peridot eventually came up with a solution. Since it was always on her thighs that she would cut herself, maybe a tattoo would prevent her from doing so. Not only it would cover her old scars but that way she won't be able to do it again. Not only because the tattoo would be pretty but also because they were expensive as fuck. Lapis didn't have the money for a tattoo so Peridot insisted on paying it for her. Now let's just hope Lapis won't be tempted to do it somewhere else..

Obviously they also talked about Jasper as well. And Lapis ended up agreeing with Peridot, maybe making up with Jasper would help her. Peridot asked her if she still had feelings for the muscular woman, but Lapis wasn't even sure if she ever had feelings for her. She was sure that she felt infatuation, obsession for Jasper. But love ? She wasn't even sure what love was. 

Lapis loved drawing, she loved walking barefoot on the sand, she loved dancing, she loved teaching, she loved the ocean. Lapis also loved spending time with Peridot and Jasper back when they were younger. They would spend afternoon at the beach. Sometimes disobeying their parents and staying later than what they told them.

The beach, the ocean...

"I think I know what I want Peridot."

(https://pin.it/4Y5UjRi

After her dance class, a little girl came to see Lapis. The girl was super excited and Lapis had a little Idea why "sorry to disturb you miss Kahale, but I was so curious about your tattoo !!" Lapis laughed and lifted her skirt a bit so that the little girl could see the whole tattoo "It's so pretty !!! May I ask why butterflies ??"

"It's me and my old friends. We were always together, and at one point they both flew away. Not me, I stayed. But maybe it's finally time to fly away too.." the little girl just stood there staring at Lapis with a confused look on her face that made Lapis laughed a bit. Yes, Lapis really loved teaching and taking care of children. 

When Lapis left work she spotted Jasper with another woman, clearly taller than Lapis, not far from her work place. Come on Lapis it's now or never. She bite her lips, Peridot did say that she should be there with Lapis when she would talk to Jasper. But Lapis could only think about how Peridot would be proud to see that she did it on her own. Her heart pounded so hard in her chest that she found it hard to breath. 

Lapis closed her eyes and stood in front of Jasper. She was gonna say something, but when she opened her eyes, suddenly she was frozen and nothing came out of her mouth. Jasper was frozen too, she wasn't expecting to see Lapis and didn't know how to react. The other woman seeing how they both stare at each other without moving, finally broke the silence "Do.. do you guys know each other ??" 

Jasper was gonna finally say something but Lapis cut her off "NoSorryThisWasAMistakeGoodbye" and she ran off feeling super embarassed, Peridot was right, she should've waited to be with her before going to talk to Jasper. Now Jasper was gonna think Lapis was stalking her. 

Peridot was working in her office when Pearl came saying that Jasper wanted to see her. Peridot thought that was super weird since she hadn't come in a long time. When Jasper came she had a weird look on her face and Peridot found it hard to try to read her. Jasper sat in front of Peridot, her hand on her lap and her leg was shaking nervously "dude... I think Lapis might be stalking me..." 

Peridot's eyes widened. The Lapis that didn't want to see Jasper anymore just a month ago ??? "WHAT???"

"I know right !! Look I was on a date with a girl and all -and by the way I think I might give a chance to this girl she seems nice and all- and suddenly Lapis came out of nowhere, just stared at me and then she just ran away !!" Peridot was thinking for a bit and then started giggling "why are you laughing ???"

"Dude she's not stalking you !! A few days ago she agreed that maybe you two should talk again so that she can get better and all. We had agreed that we would do it together but you know how she is, she probably just saw you and thought it would be a good Idea to come see you alone." 

Jasper sighed "well at least I'm glad that she isn't stalking me..." She looked at Peridot and bite her lips "so.. she wants to talk again..?"

"Yeah, don't worry. I'm sure you'll both be okay. That way you two can just leave all of this behind !" 

Peridot seemed so optimistic it made Jasper smile "how about a double date?" Peridot just raised an eyebrow visibly confused "You, Lapis, the girl I was on a date with and I. That way you can maybe try to make your first move with Lapis" Jasper gave Peridot a wink and the smaller girl became a blushing mess.

Maybe it was a bad idea, maybe not, but Peridot agreed anyway. This could be Lapis and Jasper's chance to finally be friends again. 

Lapis had agreed to the double date, everything would go great. But yet once Peridot and Lapis got in front of the restaurant doors, Peridot started feeling very nervous. Lapis was shaking a bit and took Peridot's hand. They entered the restaurant. They spotted Jasper with the woman she was with the other day. Once they arrived at the table, Peridot felt Lapis tightening her grip on her hand. Peridot stroke her hand with her thumb. The woman introduced her as Holly Blue Agate but she asked Lapis and Peridot to call her Holly. 

Everything was great. Holly did most of the talking and Peridot seemed to be the only one to answer. Lapis was focused on her meal and Jasper would look everywhere but Lapis. At one point they were eating in silence and suddenly Peridot received a little kick in her legs. She looked up to see Holly gesturing to the toilet with her eyes "I'm going to the bathroom" and with that she left. It took Peridot a while but she ended up understanding and she also left for the bathroom. 

"Oh good, I almost thought you would never come." Holly joked 

"Yeah... I'm not sure about leaving them alone... Aren't you a bit jealous ?"

"Not at all" Holly smiled "We had a talk with Jasper. I wasn't too happy when she asked to go on a double date with her ex. But then she told me about their past together. She didn't say everything, but she said she wasn't ready."

"You seem so nice.. What did you say your job was again ?"

"I'm the school principal of the middle school in beach city."

"It weirdly fits you..."

Peridot and Holly continued to talk. But eventually after a while Peridot grew curious and peeked outside to see what was happening. And she was surprised to see Lapis and Jasper talking. She even saw a small smile on Lapis's face. Little tears of joy formed on Peridot's eyes.

"So...? What's happening ?" Holly asked a bit worried.

"They're talking. It's the first time in a while that I've seen them interact without fighting.." 

Chapter Text

-Lapis's point of view, last night-

I just can't believe she left me alone with Jasper to "go to the toilet" come on I'm not dumb enough to believe that she really wanted to use the bathroom. This is so awkward... She's looking away so I took the opportunity to analyse what she looks like now.

She still had her long wild bleached mane. I guess she's been working out more, I mean she already had lots of muscles when we were younger but she got... More toned... Which I had to admit, was attractive, sort of. 

She looked back at me and we locked eye contact "listen, I'm gonna be honest I don't think I'm ready to talk to you again" I looked down feeling shameful "but I wanna make an effort. For Peridot because it'll break her heart. And also because I want you to get better. And if Peridot believes it would help you. Then I trust her." I had a small smile on my face. I was gonna say something but she stopped me before any sound could come out of my mouth "But you have to promise me something" oh I hate promising stuffs... "You have to stay sober. No more alcohol and no more self harming. Not for me, but for Peridot. She cares about you a lot and I don't want you hurting her." Me ? Hurting Peridot ??? She's the one who tried to lift me out of the deep hole I'm in while everyone else had given up. I would never do anything to hurt. But Jasper's right... Last time I was drunk I slapped her... 

"I won't hurt her and I promise you," I looked at her dead serious "I'm gonna stay sober" 

"Good, so anyway tell me about your life" she smiled "what do you do now ?"

-back to Peridot- 

Peridot had never been so happy in her life. 

On their way home Lapis told her everything, and everything went well. They had a conversation, a normal one. And Peridot could tell Lapis was feeling amazing already.

For a moment Peridot felt like maybe life was getting better. 

But not for everyone.

A few days later she got a call from Pearl. Rose, her boss and sometimes therapist, was now in the hospital. Apparently she got badly sick and the doctors can't find what she has. Everyone at Peridot's job were in a big panic. Even Garnet, who had to become the actual boss until Rose gets better, was feeling anxious. Some rummors says that Garnet can see the future and that she saw Rose's death. Which made the employes panic even more. 

Peridot went to see Rose in the hospital. She actually had never seen her boss in such a vulnerable state. It was horrible. But what was worse for her was probably seeing how sad Steven looked whenever he was looking at his mother. 

After a month the doctors came to the conclusion that it was nothing too bad and that they shouldn't worry about it too much.

It was now the end of july, and just in a few days it was Peridot's birthday. She would finally turn 23. She wanted to do nothing during the whole day. Just forget that it was her birthday and maybe play some video games.

But Lapis had other plans "tuning 23 is very important !!! Wish people had done something for me on my 23rd birthday... So I'm gonna throw you a big suprise that you will remember your whole life !" If Amethyst had done this type of promises she wouldn't be too much worried since the lavender haired woman would constantly forgot about it and ended up buying a small gift. But Lapis wasn't like Amethyst. Back in middle school she would do crazy stuffs for people's birthdays. Especially Peridot's. One time Lapis got Peridot a very expensive video game and organized a big party for her. Yes Lapis wasn't as wealthy as when they were in middle school but still. She would be capable of working extra hours just for the suprise -which is very bad for her mental health- and Peridot knew that she couldn't convince Lapis to do nothing to crazy because she wouldn't listen.

Life was pretty good for Peridot. Her boss was recovering and getting better. Lapis and Jasper were talking again -once in a while and they would exchange only a few words but it's still better rhan before-. She had all of her friends with her. The only thing missing would probably be dating Lapis. 

In her mind there was no way she was going to France now. Everything was perfect.

Or was it..?

On her birthday, Peridot came home and was surprised to see birthday decorations, all her friends -even Jasper and Holly were there- and Lapis with a huge smile yelling Happy birthday.

Yeah life couldn't be any better.

The night went perfectly well. Everyone was having fun even if Peridot swore that she saw Amethyst's jealous gaze on Bismuth everytime the woman would come near Pearl to talk. Jasper, Holly and Lapis were all three talking which made Peridot's heart all warm and fuzzy.

Peridot was surprised to see Rose come near her with a very serious expression "Peridot, can we please go talk outside ?"

Life couldn't get any better most likely because it would get worse.

"I won't make it."

Peridot looked at Rose with a confused look "what do you mean...?"

Rose sighed "I lied. To everyone. The doctors diagnosed me with a heart disease." She looked away "I didn't tell Pearl yet but.." she looked back at Peridot who was now crying "I need you to do something for me when i'll be gone."

"A-anything, i'll do everything you want..." Peridot rubbed her eyes, trying hard to not look ridiculous.

"I was gonna ask Pearl to do it. But she can't go back alone.. " she sighed "I want you to accompagny Pearl in Britain. I want... I want my mothers to know where I've been."

Peridot nodded "but why me...? Why not Garnet..???"

"Garnet doesn't know about all of this... And besides. You remind me of myself in some ways..." Rose kissed Peridot's forehead "please make sure Steven is okay when I'm gone." Rose smiled sadly one last time before going back inside, leaving Peridot a crying mess.

Chapter Text

A month later, Rose had to go back to the hospital after a stroke. The doctors were able to keep her alive for a while. But eventually after a few hours, her heart stopped beating.

Pearl was there with her during her last moments alive in the hospital with Greg and her son, Steven. When the news that the beloved Rose Quartz was deceased reached the medias, the city was hit by a wave of sadness. 

Everyone loved Rose Quartz. She donated to charities, she would help people in need, and she was nice with everyone. Even if her compagny was very succesful, she still treated everyone equally. She was a wonderful friend, a wonderful wife, and a wonderful mother. 

When Pearl had to reveal to everyone else who really was Rose, -where she came from, her real name etc...- it made things worse. Amethyst refuses to talk to Pearl, Greg needed some Time alone to think about all of this, and Garnet had litteraly disapeared since then leaving the compagny to Pearl -who has no experience with all of that- she had no other choice but to send everyone on vacation for a while. It was the perfect time to leave for England. Lapis was fine with Peridot leaving, it was only for a week after all. What could exactly go wrong ?

And that's how Peridot ended up in a plane with a sleeping Steven and a very nervous Pearl "are you sure you want to do this ? I know it's what Rose wanted but I can clearly tell tha-"

"It's okay Peridot" Pearl sighed "it's a good thing that Steven finally meet his family anyway.."

Peridot looked at her worriedly "I didn't think that Amethyst would take it so badly... I mean she wasn't that close with Rose"

"It's not about Rose... She's mad because I kept my past a secret. Because I didn't tell her that my name wasn't really Pearl" Pearl looked down feeling ashamed "she said that maybe I also lied about being in love with her..." She bite her lips trying not to cry.

"It's okay don't worry... I know Amethyst, she's not gonna stay mad very long. She just need some time to... think." Pearl smiled sadly and Peridot hesitated before asking "what's your real name anyway ? I mean I know that Rose was named Pink, but you ?"

"Oh well I didn't search really far trying to find a new name. I just translated it in english. My real name's Perlah. It's Filipino but it has Spanish roots. It brings wisdom and health to name your baby like that, or at least that's what I read on the internet." Pearl chuckled.

"That's way cooler than Peridot that's for sure.." 

"You didn't change your name ?"

"What do you mean ?" Peridot was confused.

"Well isn't it Péridot in French ? You know you don't pronounce the "t" at the end ?"

"Well yeah but in the end I guess I got used to say it in English" Peridot smiled "you know if you lived in France you most likely would've been called Perle" 

"Wow that's so coquette" she said it sarcastically with a dumb smile on her face, like she just said the funniest joke on earth. Peridot had to admit, sometimes Pearl was funny. Sometimes.

When they arrived in front of the Big building, Pearl was sweating like prey in front of a wolf pack. Steven hold Pearl's hand trying to reassure her but Peridot could tell that he was as scared as her.

Pearl pressed the button of an intercom and a high pitched voice answered asking who it was "Perlah Flores, I need to talk to the Diamonds." A long silence left Peridot wondering if the person didn't just hang up on them. That is until the front door opened. Pearl entered but she quickly felt like she should've not when she met the furious gaze of Blue Diamond and Yellow Diamond "hum please before you kill me please let me exp-"

"This is all your fault !!" The woman with the longest hair yelled, Yellow was keeping her from jumping on Pearl "she never behaved like that !! She was a good girl !! You took away my baby !!" 

"She was suffocating ! She didn't want to do all that stuff ! She wanted a normal childhood and a normal life !" Pearl felt like exploding.

"Why are you here now ? Where is she ?" Asked Yellow in a cold way.

Pearl looked down so Peridot answered in her place "She's no longer with us.. So her last wish was for Steven to meet the rest of his family.."

The two Diamonds turned their head toward the little boy and the Blue started sobbing "this is all our fault Yellow... I know you love your mother but we should've never agreed to-..."

Yellow quickly put a hand on Blue's mouth "shut up !!" She whisper shouted "she could be listening." Yellow then looked at the others and gestured to another room. Once they entered the room Yellow sighed "of course it's our fault.. I thought she would be okay growing up like that I mean that's the way I grew up !" She rubbed her eyes and took her wife in her arms "and now she's dead and we'll never get the opportunity to apologise to her.."

Blue wiped her eyes and turned her gaze back toward Steven, a small smile appearing on her lips as she approached the little boy "hi.. you look just like her.." Pearl flinched seeing her approach Steven and almost jumped between them but she didn't. Steven didn't seem scared or anything.

"We're gonna stay here for the week. That way you two can spend some time with him and if everything goes well, we'll probably come back for holidays or something like that..."

Blue turned around now looking at Yellow "Should we tell..-"

"No. Absolutly not." Blue was surprised by her answer "If she finds out... She's gonna try to take the kid with her... And we can't do that to him. We already lost Pink because of her..."

After that, the two Diamonds were talking with Steven and Peridot took the opportunity to check on Pearl "how are you feeling..?"

"They're different from last time I saw them. I think losing Pink really changed them..."  

"That's a good thing I guess... What about Rose's grandma..?"

Pearl looked sad suddenly at the mention of the woman "I don't think she'll ever change to be honest... If Blue and Yellow both thinks that it's best if we don't tell her anything then..."

"What about your parents ?" Pearl bite her lips "I mean.. where are they ?"

"Probably back home.. I wasn't very important to them, they liked my sisters better. As far as I'm aware contrary to Rose, there was no missing report for me." That was a bit sad to hear that. Peridot could tell Pearl was trying hard not to show that it hurts. Peridot hugged Pearl tightly, not saying anything else.

Back at the hotel, Steven was more than happy to meet new family members. Pearl and Peridot were watching TV with him when Peridot got a call from Jasper, which was weird because Jasper didn't really like being on a call with someone. She answered a bit annoyed "Jasper it's super late here, why are you calling me now ?-"

"Listen, Lapis came at my appartement not so long ago, she was a crying mess. Now she's locked in my bathroom she doesn't want to come out.. I thought maybe you could help me out..?"

Peridot sighed, it was supposed to be for just a week why can't things just go right "are you sure you can't at least try to help her ?"

"... I'll try my best but..."

"Alright tomorow morning I take the first flight to America. See you soon."

Chapter Text

Peridot came running as fast as she could to Jasper's house. Of course the plane had to be late making Peridot even more anxious. On her way she tried to call Jasper and then Lapis but none of them answered. Once she arrived she started banging on Jasper's door waiting nervously for the buff girl to open it. Jasper opened it and cringed seeing how Peridot looked terrible "what happened ??? I came as fast as I could !!" 

Jasper rubbed her eyes visibly very tired -of this whole situation probably- "She's in my room, I was able to calm her down for a bit but..." Jasper bite her lips "she wants you not me, so please go check on her. And I'm sorry I shouldn't have disturbed you during your trip.." 

Peridot runned toward Jasper's room and barged into the room like a crazy muderer making the Polynesian woman inside of the room scream a little. "LAPISWHAT'SGOINGONAREYOUOKAYISEVERYTHINGALRIGHT ??????"

"Oh my stars Peridot calm down !! I'm okay !!" Peridot sighed of relief hearing that "you didn't have to leave England for me..." 

"Come on Lapis you were crying and all.. I couldn't just leave you like that. So, what happened ?" 

Lapis bite her lips and looked down, she seemed uncomfortable. "It's about my parents..." Ah yes, Lapis's parents. You know the ones who would constantly leave Lapis alone in their house for days. You know.. the ones who refused to be there for their daughter when she needed it the most. Peridot didn't like Lapis's parents. "I was supposed to join my family this summer. Like every year since my childhood ! You know how I couldn't go there since I left my parents's house because of money and all.. well the past few years I've raised some money to go visit you know and this year I had actually enough !" Lapis sighed trying hard to not cry "I called one of my cousins and told him that I would come this year.. Turns out that my parents actually told them after I left that I was an embarrassment to the family, They all talked about how they all knew that me being a lesbian would only lead to bad things.. and that I couldn't come back to the family before I started behaving «normally» again.. Which is code for marrying a man. And eventually have a better mental health but it's mostly about my sexuality." Lapis frowned "I got mad because when I came out they all acted like they supported me ! And then I learn that they would gossip about my sexuality behind my back !! So I started arguing with my cousin. Then.." tears formed on the corners of her eyes "I got a call from my parents. They disowned me, they're gonna stop paying for my therapist, and then they said..." Peridot took her in her arms and Lapis was now crying on her shoulder "..they said that I wasn't worthy of having the same last name as them and that I better not try to call any of them anymore..." Lapis couldn't stop crying. 

"They don't deserve to have someone like you in their family Lapis. You're an amazing person."

"I'm gonna end up alone... No one will ever love me..." Lapis looked miserable.

"It's not true... I do love you.." Peridot didn't even realise what she had just said until Lapis left her shoulder to look her in the eyes with a blush on her face. Oh oh.. "I- I- oh stars I can't believe I just said that...-"

"Y-you do..?" Lapis had wide eyes trying to process everything "b-but since when ???"

"..middle school.."

"Oh stars Peridot... Why did you never tell me anything...??"

"Because I thought you were straight ! I didn't know you were a lesbian so I tried to hide those feelings from you.. and then you started dating Jasper.. and then I wanted to tell you after we saw each other again.. but I don't think you're ready for a new relationship..." Peridot looked away feeling dumb, now that Lapis knows everything it feels... Weird. 

Lapis sighed "you're right. I'm not ready... Yet." Lapis smiled seeing how Peridot's cheeks turned bright red "I love you back Peridot. You're nice with me even if I don't deserve it..." Lapis kissed Peridot's hand "but give me some time please...?"

Peridot smiled "of course Lapis, all the time in the world..." She brushed Lapis's cheek with her thumb "how are you gonna do without your therapist now...?"

"It's not a problem. After all I still have the money that I didn't use to go see my family..." Lapis smiled and kiss Peridot's cheek "i'll get better Peri, I promise.. and then we'll be happy together..." 

They stayed in silence hugging in Jasper's room. Jasper didn't feel like disturbing them. 

After they got home, Lapis was in the shower when Peridot got a call from her mother. Weird. 

“Hello ma chérie comment vas-tu ??” her mother's voice sounded weirdly sweet for once which was even weirder.

"Mom speak english please."

"I'm only training you for your job in France !! If no one speaks French with you, you're gonna lose your first language...." She said it with a dramatic tone that made Peridot angry.

"About that. I don't think i'll accept the job."

"WHAT ??! What do you mean !??? This is the job everyone dreams of getting !!"

"Not me ! I don't care about the job ! I'm happy there, I have a cool job, and I have Lapis... Maybe we'll finally be together.. I can't leave for France !"

"Oh gosh not that Polynesian girl you used to always hang out with ! Not only was she a bad influence she also wasn't that pretty to be honest. Look I don't care that you're gay and that you like your friend, you could find your soulmate there, a not-ugly French girl ! Come on Peridot you can't do this to me !!"

"Yes I can !"

"Peridot. If I have to force you, I will. And you know what ? I got tired of your attitude. You're leaving for France next month." Peridot was gonna say something but got interrupted by her mother "and I know you don't care about any threat towards you, but I won't hesitate to take care of your little girlfriend if you still refuses to leave." Peridot gasped "so ?"

"...i'll leave for France in a month."

"Wonderful ! I knew I could count on you !!" Peridot felt sick "I love you sweetheart bye !!" Her mother hung up and Peridot felt like breaking everything in the room. Life just started feeling good again and now her mother was ruining it again... 

"Are you okay ?" Lapis asked coming into the room.

"...yeah... Don't worry about it..." Peridot frowned "actually no. I have to leave for France next month." Lapis looked horrified "my mother threatened to hurt you if I didn't.." she looked down "I'm sorry Lapis... But I love you too much to risk you getting hurt..."

Lapis frowned "no." Peridot looked at her confused "you're gonna call her back. Tell her you're not gonna do it. But you will record the call. And if she tries anything I swear i'll call the cops on her, showing the recording of her threatening me."

"But Lapis.. I can't risk you getting hurt..-"

"I don't care !! I love you Peridot I can't lose you because your mom's a bitch !" Lapis hugged Peridot tightly "I can't risk losing you..." 

"It's not gonna work she can bribe the police easily.."

"Don't worry about it. I know a cop. She's gonna help us." Lapis smiled "And I know how to fight ! Come on Peridot... You can't give up to your mother like that !"

Peridot smiled "alright. We're doing this."

Chapter Text

Lapis was walking home from work. For a few days she came back home and nothing happened. She had to admit that she was scared and didn't really know what was gonna happen to her. She acted confident in front of Peridot, but in reality she was horribly scared. Peridot's mother had always intimidated her. 

She remembered, one time when they were still in middle school, Lapis had convince Peridot to steal money from her mother's wallet. When Peridot's mother found out Lapis got worried that Peridot would be punished by her fault, but surprisingly her mother just nodded and left. But when Lapis came back home she was yelled at by her parents. Turns out Peridot's mother had called them, told them how Lapis was a bad influence on Peridot, but what had hurt Lapis the most was that Peridot's mom also said that Lapis was a little pest and a brat and that her parents should've raised her better. 

Lapis had been grounded for a month after that.

And it wasn't the only time Peridot's mother had shown any type of hatred toward Lapis. The woman had scared her throughout her teenage years. And even today Lapis was still scared of her. But there was just no way she would lose Peridot because her mother was scary. No Lapis was gonna fight to keep the woman she love free. 

While she was walking near a dark alley, she heard rummagings in it. She looked at the alley with a bit of curiosity. She approached it, maybe it was just a stray cat, nothing to worry too much about. And she was right, a small cat came out of the trash cans. Lapis got on her knees to pet the cat. But suddenly the cat ran away looking scared "rude" she was gonna stand up when she felt a hand pressing a napkin on her nose and mouth. And before she could even defend herself, she blacked out.

Lapis woke up tied to a chair, she looked around and realised that she was in an office. A very expensive one Lapis could tell. She wondered who's office it was until she saw the huge painting on one of the walls, with Peridot, her sister and Peridot's mother on it. Oh oh...

Lapis also noticed that Emerald's face was ripped off the painting, she didn't know why, Peridot didn't really like to talk about her sister so Lapis never knew what happened to the mysterious girl that would never come out of her room. Lapis had even tried to talk to her once and the only answer she got was a low growl. 

Lapis's thought were interrupted when Peridot's mother entered the room, her high heels echoing in the room. She sat behind her office and just stared at Lapis for what felt like a whole hour making the Blue haired woman extremly uncomfortable. She then pulled out money from her desk "how much do you want ?"

"Excuse me ?" Lapis was confused.

"How much for you to leave my daughter alone ?" She asked with a neutral expression on her face.

"I don't want your money ! I love your daughter and she loves me so just leave us alone !" Peridot's mom started laughing at that "Miss please.. Don't you want your daughter's happiness ???"

"Come on Lapis, we've know each others for a long time now" she smirked "you can call me Morgane you know" she carresses Lapis's cheek making the bleunette cringe "between you and I, you could get so much better than Peridot"

"Why do you want Peridot to leave for France so badly ?" 

Morgane smiled and stand up searching for something. She found what she was searching for and showed it to Lapis "how many people do you recognise on this picture ?" 

Lapis frowned, there was Peridot of course, she was probably around 7 or 8, next to her there was Emerald who really seemed unhappy, then of course Morgane, but the man next to Morgane, she had never seen this man in her entire life "is that Peridot's father ?"

"Yes. His name is Arthur." Morgane took back the picture looking at it sadly "did Peridot ever told you why did we leave France?" 

"I think it has something to do with you leaving for another man or something like that" Lapis answered trying to remember what Peridot had told her about this. 

"This isn't the real reason. This man, Arthur, he was the love of my life. I was actually suposed to go live in the USA when I was way younger. But then I met him. We fell in love quickly, way too fast, so fast that I didn't see any signs that he was a bad person. We had our first child, Emerald, he hated her. He took everything out on her. And me, I had to witness all of it without saying anything. The girl was miserable, every night I could hear her sobing in her room. And it didn't help that Arthur actually liked Peridot, Peridot was quiet and did everything right unlike Emerald, which you have guessed enraged her. After a few years I had enough. I gave up on everything for him, because I thought he was my soulmate. Do you think I love my current husband ? No. I only married him because this way I could stay in the United States and that's the best decision I ever took." Morgane sighed "Peridot has to go to France. If she doesn't because she thinks you're her soulmate, she's gonna regret it in a few years."

"Are you comparing me to her shitty father ??" Lapis was clearly offended.

"Of course I am. You even speak like him. That's actually terrifying" Morgane laughed "I already lost Emerald I'm not gonna lose Peridot. She's the only one of my daughters who was smart enough to become succesful anyway"

"You say Arthur didn't like Emerald, but did you ? By the way you're talking about her it doesn't seem like it." Lapis stared at Peridot's mom angrily. Morgane just frowned.

"Very well, this conversation is going nowhere. Goodbye Lapis."

And blackout. 

Peridot wasn't too worried about Lapis not coming home, after all she got a text from her in which she said that she was visiting old friends. So Peridot was home alone rewatching Camp Pining Hearts. 

Suddenly the door bell rang making Peridot a bit confused, Lapis had her keys so it couldn't be her coming back early. Who was it ??? 

Peridot grabbed Lapis's old baseball bat and came slowly closer to the door. She opened the door and raised her bat but who she saw at the door surprised her so much that she almost dropped the baseball bat on her face. At the door was a taller woman with short blond hair. She looked similar to Peridot except the woman didn't have glasses. Peridot felt like crying "Emerald- w-what are you doing here..???"

"I got a call from our step-dad. Apparently you refused to go work in France and you stood up to mom, wow I'm impressed." Emerald had a smile on her face, one that Peridot swore she had never seen

before.

"Well come in !! I'm so glad to see you again.."

Chapter Text

Peridot had never imagined that being in a room alone with her sister would be so awkward. It's been almost an hour since Emerald entered the house, and none of them had said anything yet. Peridot eventually found the courage to ask her sister what she wanted to ask her all those years "why do you hate me Emerald ?"

Emerald just stared at the mug of coffee in her hands. After 5 minutes she bit her lips and answered "I never hated you Peridot. But that's what our parents wanted."

"What do you mean ?" Peridot frowned, her parents wanted Emerald to hate her ? But why ?

"When you were born, I saw how mother and father were just so happy to see you. And I understand why, you were just so pretty with your bright green eyes, and your perfect blond hair. I was jealous but, I had to admit that I was happy to have a sister. Before your birth father was mean to me, but he wasn't violent. After a few years I realised that they just loved you more than me. I felt mad, I felt mad because father wasn't mean to you and wasn't hitting you, I felt mad because mother always gave you compliments." Emerald pinched the bridge of her nose "when I was 9 I heard a conversation between mom and her assistant, she said that you were smarter than an average child of your age, and that if you keep it this way she could turn you into the boss of a succesful company. That's what she wanted for you. I felt so mad, I was the oldest ! Didn't I deserve to get my own company too ?"

Peridot felt bad. It wasn't her fault, it was her parents, but she still felt guilty "Okay yeah but when we grew up it was different.. so why did you continue hating me..?"

"Because you were even more little miss perfect growing up." Emerald sighed, brushing her forehead "it was even worse, my grades were still bad while yours were just perfect ! And I guess it was also my fault. At the time I just wanted to piss mother off. And so I started doing the opposite of what she wanted. And when I turned 18 I left the house. But I regret ignoring you all those years, you're my little sister.. I should've been there for you.. but I realised it too late. And when I learned how you talked back to mother I thought it might be an occasion to talk to you again !" Emerald takes Peridot in her arms, the smaller woman feels a little weird but ends up hugging her sister back anyway.

Their cute little moment was sadly interrupted by Peridot's phone ringing, it was Amethyst, weird "hey what's- what ?! What do you mean !?? Is she okay ???! I'm coming !!" Peridot hangs up with a horrified look on her face.

"Did something happen ? Are you okay ?" Emerald asks worried that her sister might have a heart attack.

"I-it's Lapis, y-you remember her right ??" Emerald nods, memories of a small emo girl knocking on her door years ago flowing back to her mind "Amethyst was walking home with Pearl and they found Lapis unconscious in a small alley I have to go to the hospital quickly !!!"

"Wait. You can't drive in that state, i'll drive you to the hospital don't worry.

After what felt like a whole hour of Peridot screaming at Emerald to go faster, they finally reached the hospital. Peridot rushed inside with a tired Emerald following her. When Peridot spotted Amethyst and Pearl she ran toward them almost jumping on them "where is she !!??? Why aren't you with her ??!!"

Pearl bit her lips looking at Amethyst with a nervous look on her face, weird "Peridot we have something to tell you-"

"I don't have time for this !! Just tell me where she is !! Also I'm glad that you guys finally talks again, but fuck where is she ???!!"

"Peridot. Lapis doesn't want to see any of us, especially you." Amethyst said looking down.

Peridot looked horrified, her heart started hurting just as if someone had stabbed her in the chest "what are you saying...? What do you mean !??"

"Lapis woke up just after we called you. We went to see her and she told us to go away. She refused to tell us what had happened to her. And she said to tell you.." Pearl sqeezed her eyes shut and bit her lips feeling horrible for telling Peridot this "..that she never actually loved you.. the only person she ever loved was Jasper.. that you were a loser back in school and that you still are.. and that she never wants to see you again.. she's moving out and she's gonna send someone to pick her stuffs into your house.." Pearl takes Peridot in her arms "I'm so sorry Peridot.. you don't deserve this.."

Peridot didn't answer. Everything became a blur around her, she couldn't even understand what was saying Pearl anymore. She felt like crying, throwing up, beating up someone. Her heart was hurting so much, she wasn't even sure if it was even beating and she didn't care. There was no way Lapis would say something like that. Lapis loved her.

Right ?

But it was true.

A month had passed.

Lapis never came back home, one of her colleagues came to collect some of Lapis's stuffs. And that was the last time she heard about Lapis. Jasper couldn't contact her either anymore. Pearl had tried to find where she live so that she could go see her but she found nothing. It was like Lapis had just disapeared. And no one just disappears like that. Not without any explanations. Not after crushing Peridot's hurt like that.

Without Lapis, Peridot had no reasons to stay here. The house felt so empty without the blue haired girl. So Peridot called her mother. Telling her that she changed her mind and that she would take the job. All her friends took the news well -except Amethyst who started sobbing like crazy-. Garnet came back, she took some time to think about the whole situation, she went to her mothers' farm for a while and she felt much better now. Everyone was doing better, everyone except Peridot.

The only thing she could think about was Lapis. And it was hurting.

Peridot took care of Steven for some days to help Greg, since Steven was homeschooled by Rose, and Greg can't teach him, Peridot volunteered to teach Steven. It would help her think about something else.

She was teaching maths to Steven when the boy looked at her with tears in his eyes "I miss Lapis so much.." he then started sobbing which made Peridot feel horrible, she had the choice between joining him and start sobbing or comfort him the best she could. The second option seemed more logical to her. She took the boy in her arms and let him cry on her shoulders. Steven was close to Lapis, based on what Lapis had told her, Steven was like a little brother to her.

Suddenly the door rang. It couldn't be Greg here to pick up Steven, it was way too early. Who was it then ? Peridot wanted to bring Lapis's baseball bat with her -one of the many things Lapis left in her house for no reasons- but she didn't want to scare Steven so she just opened the door normally. On the doorway, stood a cop. Much taller than Peridot which was intimidating her "hi, how can I help you ?"

"I'm here to ask some questions about your mother, Morgane Dubois. Can I come in ?" Asked the woman.

"S-sure !!" Peridot let the woman enter. Oh what did her mother do again..

Chapter Text

The whole situation was becoming completely weird. Nothing made sense anymore. Especially the officer in front of her that was asking such personal questions about her mother. The cop had introduced herself as Nephrite. She was asking strange questions like "did your mother ever hit you?", "did she ever had any mental illness?", "Do you think she's an honest person?". But the weirdest question was most likely "do you think your mother could get rid of someone to get what she wants?"

Could her mother do that ? Yeah she's a very cruel person but would she do that far...? She did threatened Lapis "yes I guess she could... All those questions are weird can I at least know why are you asking me all this ?"

Nephrite sighed "I can't tell you. This is a private investigation." Now Peridot was frustrated.

In all of her carrer Morgane never had any trouble with cops or anyone related to the government, she knew how to look clean in front of everyone. So why now ?

Nephrite's phone rang and when she saw who was calling her she suddenly seemed nervous "could you excuse me for a moment ?" Without having the time to hear Peridot's answer, Nephrite left to go to the bathroom. Peridot's curiosity got the better of her and she ends up following Nephrite to eavesdrop on her conversation. Nothing seemed that bad it looked like a normal conversation a cop would have with probably another cop, until something caught her attention "no I can't just ask her to give me her pho- no I told her it was private don't worry" Peridot couldn't hear what the other person was saying "she looks miserable and everything's a mess here..." Peridot looked embarassed, who did she think she was to judge her house like that "i'll come back maybe tomorrow to ask for her phone. Once everything's finished you guys will finally be able to see each other I promise" do they knew each other ?? It was making Peridot very frustrated that she didn't know who it was on the phone "i'll talk to you later-" Peridot ran back to the living room not wanting Nephrite to know she was eavesdroping on her conversation. Nephrite came back to the living room "I have to go now. It was a pleasure to meet you Miss Olivine. I'll probably come back, I have more questions that I want you to answer"

"Okay no problem don't worry, have a nice day" and with that Nephrite was gone.

Peridot took her phone and composed Amethyst's phone number.

"Yeah Amethyst ? Remember that one time you told me that you would help me with anything ? Well it's time, meet me in front of my mom's workplace."

"This is useless dude your mom's too good at hiding stuffs"

They've been searching for a whole hour, Peridot's mother was supposed to be busy the whole week in another state so she gave her keys to Peridot, a big mistake. Peridot would've called Pearl to help her with all of this but she was apparently busy with the company today. So far they've found nothing "We can't juste give up now !!" Peridot noticed a drawer they haven't checked yet with a lock on it. Peridot searched for a key that would eventually open it but none of them could. It meant that whatever her mom was hiding, it was inside "Can you pass me the hammer ?" Amethyst raised an eyebrow but gave Peridot the hammer. Peridot could've just break the lock but with how frustrated she was, she started hitting the drawer violently multiple times until a big hole was formed.

"Wow, when this is all over please go see a therapist" Peridot just growled and took the papers inside of the drawer.

"Project numéro 34 : entreprise Girard, I think this is it !" Peridot was glad that she finally found what she was looking for.

"Please translate I don't understand French"

"Oh yeah sorry.." Peridot started looking through all the papers. It was at first only papers describing the company, nothing too important. Then something caught Peridot's attention "Miss Girard, which is 70 years old, is thinking of retiring but since she has no children she has no one to give the company to... What ? I thought she was like I don't know 40 ??"

"Well if she has no children can't she just give the company to someone else ?" Amethyst didn't know much about stuff like that but she had a point.

"Wait. 'There is no vice president in her company, so I talked to her about my daughter Peridot. If Peridot gain her trust, Miss Girard would without hesitation give her the company. First step, convincing Peridot to become the vice president, it won't be a problem since she.. she can easily.. be manipulated.'" Peridot felt like crying. Is that really what her mother think of her ?

"Oh fuck Peridot I'm sorry to say that but you're mom's a bitch"

"I know." Peridot continues to look through the papers until she found one with Lapis's name on it "Lapis Lazuli, age 23, yeah basics information abo- oh."

"What ?? What did you see ??" Amethyst came closer to Peridot to see what was on the papers.

"..'Lapis is probably the worst person Peridot ever brought home. She's loud, dumb, and very egocentrical. In one word, a brat. Her parents were never able to control her and she ended up becoming some sort of junkie -she looks like she does drugs-'" Peridot tried to control her anger as she continued to read " 'Apparently she recently started hanging out with my daughter again. She's the reason Peridot doesn't want to leave America and I'm not just gonna stand there and see my daughter missing on something that could bring me so much money. So I'm gonna bring miss Kahale to my office to my office and I will offer her money to leave my daughter'- do you think Lapis took the money ???!"

"Continue to read !!!"

" 'Miss Kahale refused to take the money. She claims that she loves my daughter and she refuses to leave her. So I took care of her, well someone else did since I didn't want to get dirty while beating her up.'" Peridot growled " 'She finally agreed to leave the city with the money'..."

"So now we know why Lapis didn't want to see us." Peridot started sobbing "oh Fuck Peridot please don't, you know I'm not good with these types of stuffs" Amethyst awkwardly took Peridot in her arms trying to comfort her.

"T-there's an adress.. I think it's where Lapis is.."

"Do you want to go see her ?" Amethyst gently rubbed Peridot's cheek with her thumb.

"Yes.. I want to see Lapis..."

And now they both were in front of a house with disguises, 2 hours away from where they live. Amethyst insisted on them dressing up so that if Peridot's mother had sent people to spy on Lapis they wouldn't recognise them. Peridot was feeling super anxious, what if Lapis didn't want to see her ? What if she forgot about her ? What if she actually hated her ???

All those questions made her head hurt. But Amethyst wouldn't let her give up after they drove two hours to get there "Come on Peri !! Go see your princess !!" Amethyst pushed Peridot until she was in front of the big house.

Peridot took a deep breath and knocked on the door. If Peridot didn't know it was Lapis who lived there she would've never recognised her. The woman in front of her looked like Lapis, except she had longer black hair, her skin was very pale like if she hadn't been outside for a long time, she had deep eyebags under her eyes. She looked miserable. When the woman recognised Peridot, her eyes went wide and she gasped before pulling Peridot inside and pushing her on the ground, getting on top of Peridot to keep her on the ground "what are you doing here ????!"

"Lapis !! Oh gosh I'm so happy to see you !!" Peridot started tearing up which made Lapis feel bad for yelling at her "don't worry I know everything about my mom and stuff..."

"We can't be seen together, at least not now..." Lapis bit her lips "my friend.. the cop.. she started a case on your mother and we're gathering proofs.."

"Was your friend Nephrite..?" Lapis nodded.

"I sent her to get the recorded phone call you had with your mom before all of this.." Lapis sighed "do you perhaps have it with you...?"

Peridot thought about it for a moment until she got an amazing idea "I have more than that !! My mother had a whole drawer filled with papers about that !! Amethyst is outside she has the papers with her !!"

Lapis's smile widened before she suddenly kissed Peridot "go get her i'll wait inside"

Chapter Text

"Dubois, someone came to see you, come with us." 

The woman looked at the two guards trying to process what they were saying. Someone came to see her ? No one came to see her ever since she was there. How long was she going to be there ? Why was she there ? What happened ? She could feel her father's disappointed gaze on her. He didn't raise his daughter like that. He didn't raise her at all but it's just a small insignificant detail. Who would come see her ? Can't be her father, he's dead. Can't be her ex husband, probably in prison too. Can't be her current husband, when she went to jail he asked for a divorce. Can't be Emerald, she actually had no reasons for that since she felt like she had been a perfect mom to her, but it couldn't be Emerald. She felt like she forgot someone but couldn't remember who. Well, who cares, if she couldn't remember then it wasn't that important.

Why did she end up in jail ? That's a good question. Ah yes, she forgot Peridot. Well can't be her anyway. So she got charged with kidnapping, aggravated assault, bribery, and fraud (they had digged deep enough to find papers that showed proofs of that.) So now she was stuck here for the rest of her life. Kinda sad. And all that because her daughter had to be in love with that fucking blue haired bitch. Oh how Morgane hated that girl so much. 

How long has it been already ? A year ? Ten years ? She had lost track of time. But what she was sure of was that ever since she was in jail, no one came to see her. She wasn't surprised, after what she did to everyone of course no one would want to visit her. 

She arrived in the room that she assumed was for visits. It was her first time being in this room, and it was exactly like the rest of the jail, old and dirty. 

Her eyes landed on the only person in the room, short and blond hair with green eyes. It took her a moment before realising that it was her daughter Peridot. She sat in front of her staying silent. Peridot was the one who started the conversation anyway.

"How's jail ?" Morgane would have sworn that she saw a smirk on her daughter's face for a second.

"Amazing actually I really enjoy being here." She was going to tell the guards to bring her back to her cell but she still had some questions "how long have I been here ?"

"It's been five years."

"What happened ? How were you able to find enough proofs to send me here ? I was always careful !"

Peridot raised an eyebrow "they didn't told you ?"

"I didn't want to hear about my daughter betraying me. But now that you're here I suddenly got curious to know how you betrayed me."

Peridot snickerd "You just don't know how to properly hide your stuffs. Seriously a locked drawer ?? You didn't seriously think that I wouldn't get curious to know what was inside ??" Morgane just rolled her eyes "I went to see Lapis after discovering the proof. We then collected enough proofs to send you to jail." 

"You betrayed me for some emo girl wow." 

"I'm not here today to hear you complain about me." Peridot suddenly seemed a bit nervous "Me and Lapis got married 3 years ago. We bought a house together and we've been living happily since then. After that I got a job opportunity, Pearl was working as the vice president in the company I work in, but it was just too much work for her. So she asked Garnet to make me the vice president instead." 

"So you're here to just rub in my face how succesful you are now. Greaaaat." 

Peridot sighed "no. You're gonna be a grandma." 

Morgane's eyes widened "w-what but ??? Lapis is-?? What ????!"

Peridot just laughed at her mother's reaction "mom we're in the process of adopting a child, none of us wanted to carry a child so Lapis thought that adopting would be much better." Peridot showed a picture of a little girl to her mother "Her name's Turquoise. We thought that she looked a bit like us and most importantly, she is a very nice girl." 

Morgane genuienly smiled "do you think you could bring her here one day so that I could meet her ?"

Peridot looked down "she's a bit young to learn that her grandma's a criminal. We'll wait until she gets older but, yes. It was Lapis's Idea. Since her parents don't want anything to do with us she thought that maybe it would be good for Turquoise to meet you one day." 

"Good, is that all you had to tell me ?" Peridot nodded and Morgane made her way toward the guards. But before she reached them she turned back and told her daughter "Je suis fière de toi Peridot. Tu es devenue une femme formidable." Then she left.

"So how was it with your mom ?"

Peridot got greeted by her cat pumpkin and her wife "very well actually. She wants to see Turquoise one day."

Lapis smiled "I was sure that it would be a great Idea. I want our daughter to at least know a part of her family." Peridot hugged Lapis tightly.

"You know. She said something that actually surprised me." Lapis raised an eyebrow "she said that she was proud of me and that I became a wonderful woman." 

Lapis smiled and kissed her wife "she's right. You are a wonderful woman."

Peridot giggled. Her wife, she's married to the most wonderful woman in the world. Peridot would trade that for nothing in the whole wide world. Soon she'll have a daughter and they'll all live happily ever after. As for the others, Steven is now 17 and is learning with Garnet everything about his mother's company. Pearl and Amethyst moved out of town to live near the beach -they have a big house where they invite everyone during summer- and as far as Peridot know, Amethyst is thinking about proposing to Pearl. It didn't work out between Jasper and Holly but they are on good terms, Jasper is now travelling around the world with Bismuth. Emerald got pregnant and had her first child a year ago, now she lives with her husband and her daughter in another city not so far from where Peridot lives.

Everyone should be here for the small party Lapis and Peridot both prepared to welcome their daughter into their family. Their family, Peridot realised soon enough that family did not mean being blood related. Family means people that are there for you in bad moments and in good moments. And Peridot was glad that she had found her family. 

Two months later, when Turquoise arrived at her new home she met so many new people that her parents told her were a part of her family. Everyone was nice to her and she was glad to be there with all of them. 

Lapis and Peridot were both talking in the kitchen when Jasper joined them. It was nice to be all three of them together without fighting or yelling at each other. It was as if nothing had ever happened. Like they were still middle schoolers and their only worry was what movie were they gonna watch during the sleepover. It was nice. Peridot got the good ending she deserved.

Happily ever after never ends