Hard choices 4 (The Longest Time)

“Steven!” Connie yells out, waving to the distraught and silent couple.

“Oh… uh, hey! Hey, Connie!” Steven says back lamely, his cheeks red.

Matt is paying attention to everything. The way Steven stops holding his hand, the way he’s blushing deeply, his pupils big.

Connie runs over and smiles, but it turns into a confused expression.

“It’s… been forever. When did you get in?” She asks.

“We got here about fifteen minutes ago, huh, babe?” Matt says, and Steven nods nervously.

Connie bites her lip.

Steven can’t breathe.

“Uh, thi-this is Matt,” Steven looks over at him and then Connie. “Connie, meet Matt.”

Matt looked disappointed and sighs, but extends his hand to Connie.

“Nice to meet you,” Matt says dutifully.

Connie nods and shakes his hand, “Yes, it’s nice to meet you, too.”

There’s a huge silence.

“Where did you guys drive from?” Connie asks, trying to be polite.

“New York…. Well…. No, that’s where I met Matt,” Steven fumbles over, looking down. “We actually went to California first, then we came back here.”

“Whoa. That’s a long drive. Isn’t it like.. thirty hours away? From here to California, I meant,” Connie asks.

Matt looks at her a bit condescendingly. “No. More like forty two hours.”

Steven realizes he didn’t introduce them properly when Matt meets his eye.

“Uh, Connie….?” Steven starts.

“Yes?” She says.

“I’m, uh… Matt is my boyfriend, we met in New York. He was in this play. Jagged Little Pill. He was really good in it. We talked after the show. Yeah. That’s how we met,” Steven jumbled out too fast, too nervously—and Connie tried her best not to look upset.

Matt looked away, feeling embarrassed.

“Oh, that’s great! We should have a lunch together to catch up. I’ll tell you guys about college and stuff. If you’d like to,” Connie says, smiling at Matt.

Matt felt a bit bad for Connie just then, and decided to give her the same courtesy she was giving to him.

“We’d love to, thank you,” Matt says in a much more friendly manner, and smiles back.

Steven nods. “Sounds great.”

“Well, I’ll let you guys go. I just wanted to see the sun set… it’s always so pretty here,” Connie says, and Matt is in awe of how similar Steven sounds to Connie.

Steven nods. “Yeah. It is. I missed it here.”

Matt leans in close to Steven, and takes his hand, “Sunsets are nature’s way of taking the perfect snapshot of a day’s end.”

Steven looks at Matt in a passionate glance, impressed by the sentiment.

Connie notices it, and sighs quietly, saying, “That’s a wonderful way to look at it.”

“Yeah, hon. That’s lovely,” Steven says to Matt.

They say their goodbyes and Steven finally feels like he can breathe.

Matt looks at him with a bit of frustration and a questioning glance.

“Steven, what is going on between you and her? I have never seen you that nervous.”

Steven sighs. “I didn’t expect to see her yet.”

“But… you were red faced. And… acting like…” Matt can’t finish the sentence.

“Look, Matt… I only want to be with you. If you can’t believe me… I don’t know what to say. But…” he leans in close. “I only want you.”

Matt nods. “Look…. I’m sorry… I’m also nervous. About meeting your fam.”

Steven smiles, and Matt starts to feel a bit more relaxed. “As I said…. They’ll love you.”

They kiss and start walking back to the car.

“I hope so,” Matt says.

**********

Steven tells Matt to wait in the car for a moment, as he wants to explain everything to his family first.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“Yeah, hon. My family is diverse. They don’t judge.”

Matt nods. “Okay. Good luck.”

Steven leans in and kisses Matt’s lips. “I don’t need luck. I have you.”

Steven heads to the familiar house and walls up to the porch.

He sees his dad first.

“Hey, Stu-ball!” Greg says with tears welling on his eyes.

Steven laughs, as tears stream down, running toward his dad, they embrace.

“Dad!”

“Oh, I missed you so much, Steven, how are you? Have you been eating well? You know anytime I could’ve wired you more money. Did you get to sleep on a bed every night as you were driving all over the country?”

Steven grins, holding his dad tighter.

“I’m doing really well. I missed you too, dad. I was fine… don’t worry. How are you?”

Greg sighs. “Good. Let’s go in for a spell.”

Steven nods, and they walk into the house.

“Dude! You’re here!” Amethyst almost screams, jumping into Steven’s arms.

Garnet hears the commotion and tries not to run into the living room where Steven is.

Amethyst and Steven hug closely, and she’s crying a bit.

“Oh, man! I missed you. We should wrestle. Like the old days. Purple Puma’s big return, am I right, Tiger Millionaire?!” Amethyst says loudly, and Steven laughs happily.

“Yes, we should. I’d love that. I missed you, too—-especially our old wrestling days together.”

Amethyst hugs him a bit longer, and suddenly he sees Garnet.

“Garnet!” Steven says, his voice wavering and tears streaming down more clearly.

Garnet puts her hand over her mouth, and gasps. “Oh, you’ve grown so much!!”

Steven walks over to Garnet and suddenly, she picks him up and holds him close, spinning him around, making them both laugh.

“Oh, Steven, you grew up… you are such a wonderfully handsome gentleman. What have you been up to? We must know everything.” She puts him down.

“I will tell y’all everything, don’t worry.” He looks around. “Where’s Pearl?”

“She’s… she went to get some things at the store for you,” Greg explains.

“Oh. Okay.” Steven sighs. “Hopefully she’ll be here soo—”

“Oh, my goodness!” Pearl barely opens the front door, almost dropping her bags of groceries and other treats. “Steven! My baby!” She puts down the bags on the floor, carefully, and then runs over to the taller person just a few feet away from her—-the newly grown up man she knew as an infant, and helped raised until he left Beach City.

She’s crying a river as she embraces him deeply.

“Pearl, I missed you,” he says gently, hugging her back.

“Steven… you grew a foot or more since last year.”

“It’s been crazy. But good. I’ve been doing well.”

“You are just… I’m so proud of you, and happy for you…. Oh, dear, I love you, Steven.”

“I love you, too, Pearl.”

They got out of the embrace.

“Well, do you want anything to eat? Drink? You need a shower? Anything? Laundry done?” Pearl lists off, and Amethyst frowns.

“Wow, dude. You said not to baby him! And look at you, first two seconds and you wanna fold his clothes!” She laughs.

Garnet smiles, “I’m just happy he’s here.”

Greg goes over and hugs Steven again, kissing the top of his head. “Yeah, me too. Love you, Stu-ball.”

Steven grins, “I love you, too, dad.” He sighs and looks at everyone. “I got my stuff in my car. But… first… I need to talk to you all.”

“Yeah? What’s up?” Amethyst says.

Everyone looks attentively at Steven.

“Okay. Can we all sit down first?” He asks.

Everyone nods, and sits on the couch and chairs in the living room.

“Okay.” Steven takes a deep breath. “Over the last year, I had taken time to travel, to get a sense of who I truly am. I appreciate your support, all of your support for me to do this,” Steven says softly. “And I truly had a very reflective and interesting year out on the road.”

Steven pauses, looking down.

“Go on, Steven, it’s okay,” Garnet says gently, and Steven looks at her and smiles.

“Okay, guys… I need to tell you that… I’m bisexual.” He let out a deep breath and closed his eyes. Suddenly, he felt a warmth and arms and hands around him.

His eyes opened and he saw his family surrounding him.

“Steven, we’re so proud of you for telling us!” Garnet says.

“So proud!” Greg says. “And we all love you so much.”

“We think you are marvelous the way you are!” Pearl adds.

“It’s totally cool for you to just be yourself, bro!” Amethyst says with a huge hug. “You taught me that. Remember?”

Steven is crying again, but now it’s happy tears.

“Anything else, son?” Greg asks.

“I met someone. In New York. He’s been traveling with me, and we… are together. He’s in the car.”

“What??!” Pearl yells. “Go get him! Humans can get heat exhaustion from sitting in a car too long! They are fragile!” Pearl starts running to the door. “Amethyst, go get some water. I’ll go and get him out! Garnet, come on! I need you to rip open the car door!”

“Pearl, calm down,” Garnet says to her, and then grins, calmly winking at Steven, “Steven, go bring him up.”

Steven goes to Pearl, taking her by the hand gently. “Pearl, he’s okay. We have air conditioning.”

Pearl noticeably calms down.

“Jeez Louise! Sound the alarms, why don’t you?” Amethyst says with a eye roll.

“Shush, Amethyst!” Pearl whispers.

“I’ll go with you, Steven,” Greg says.

Steven nods. “Thanks. We’ll be back.”

They leave the house and Greg says, “Oh my Goodness gracious… I needed a moment to breathe! They are so… intense.”

Steven laughs. “I can see that.”

“Okay; Steven, what’s the name of this guy?” Greg says softly.

“Matt.”

Greg nods, smiling in approval. “How long have you been together?”

“About three months.”

“Is he treating you okay?”

“Yes. He’s been very supportive and kind.”

Greg breathes deeply in relief, “Good.”

Steven waved to Matt to come out and he did.

Greg’s eyes widened, slightly wrinkled with age, and saw a tall man(six foot one) with big, wavy brown hair, bright green and blue eyes, and this smile that had a slight gap to it. He immediately liked him, Greg thought he looked serene and nice.

“Hello, are you Mr. Universe?” Matt asks politely, walking over to him.

Greg smiles, laughing. “Ah, yes, but you can call me Greg. And your name is Matt? Right?”

They shook hands.

“Yes. Matt Goldberg. Nice to finally meet you, sir.”

Greg laughs again. “You are so polite. You don’t have to call me sir.”

Matt smiled charmingly, “It’s a force of habit. My folks taught me this way.”

Greg nodded. “That’s an awesome habit. Most kids these days don’t have any manners.”

“I was raised in rather strict conditions. It didn’t leave room for disrespect.”

Greg smiled knowingly. “I think I know all about that.” He stood up a bit straighter. “So Matt…. You two met in New York?”

Matt nods. “I was born and raised in Greenburgh, sir… I mean, Greg. Not too far from Manhattan… the Heart of the Big Apple, we call it,” Matt laughs, and Greg laughs too. “My family lives… about twenty miles north of midtown Manhattan. A little place called Hastings-on-Hudson.” He pauses a moment, and continues, “When I turned seventeen, I moved from Greenburgh and started settling closer to where I wanted to continue my career with my theater troupe. I got recognized by an agent… and since Broadway is located on Greenburgh’s pathways through U.S. Route 9, it wasn’t too long before I started working on my dream roles. I met your son whilst performing in a role for Jagged Little pill on Broadway. We talked after the show… and, we hit it off. The rest, how they say, is history.”

Greg was speechless for a moment, looked at his son, and cleared his throat. “You sure are an eloquent speaker. Boy, does my son know how to pick ‘em or what?!” Greg moved in and hugged Matt, making Matt chuckle, yet a bit surprised by the sudden warmth.

“You are the nicest man I have ever met, well, besides Steven,” Matt said softly.

“Aww, thanks. He gets his good looks from me, too.” He shook his head. “But, mainly, that’s from his mother.”

“Yes, your wife was lovely. Steven showed me a picture of her. I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you, Matt.” Greg looks over at his son. “Steven, I sure hope you invited your polite and wonderful boyfriend for dinner tonight? And I’m sure an extended stay at the house?”

Steven beams and nods. “Yeah. Matt, you cool with staying at the house?”

Matt nods, “I would appreciate that. We’ve been on the road far too long. We had a stay in Napa for awhile. Such a gorgeous place.”

They talk a bit longer, and Steven was extremely happy that they were getting along from the start.

Then, Greg asks this before they walk in, Greg and Matt carrying most of their luggage and belongings:

“You looking to be committed to my son for the long run, Matt?”

Steven laughs nervously. “Dad! Please…. Don’t ask him that!”

Matt touchs Steven’s shoulder gently, “It’s okay. I can answer it, dear.”

Steven nods, but is bright red.

“If I may be so bold, and of course, I only speak for myself… but I do intend on it. Your son is brilliant, smart, funny, so empathetic and just the most amazing person I have ever known. Your welcome to have your own perspective, Steven. I think relationships are important, and need to be treated seriously. I take them seriously. And your son is very important to me. His safety, happiness and future are all paramount to my goals and plans.”

Greg looks impressed. “That’s a great answer. I like him, Steven.”

Steven breathes in relief. “I knew you would.”

They went inside the house, and Matt sees the three people in the living room, the famous Crystal Gems, that Steven told him about.

To Matt, the very tall one looked stoic, the short one with long white, purple hued hair looked blasé, and the skinny one looked worried. Their personalities clashed, but they were welcoming enough—at least to Steven and Matt.

The trio made their questions apparent, and were friendly and matter of fact.

Amethyst liked Matt the most, and Garnet reserved her judgment for when she would talk to Steven, privately. Overall, Garnet saw Matt as a good person, maybe a little clingy. Pearl was happy for Steven, and also liked Matt from the start. She worried anyway, because she wanted to be one hundred percent sure everything was in order for Steven.

Pearl gets Matt alone and they start making dinner, and get along famously as they start chopping up vegetables and herbs. Amethyst watches them in fascination to get the scraps of the vegetable leavings, to eat.

Garnet pulls Steven to the side, and asks if he needs to talk.

Steven nods, and they go into her room for privacy. Immediately, Steven says his problem to her.

“Garnet, I tried to fuse with Matt. It was… the most horrible thing happened, we couldn’t. I felt horrible. Matt… I don’t want him to think I don’t want to do that… with him. What should I do?”

“How do you feel for him?”

“I love him. He’s great. He’s so supportive and sweet.”

“Did you try and overcompensate for this lapse? Like… to close that gap and gain that intimacy somewhere else?”

Steven was pale and silent. He was shocked by how perceptive Garnet was.

“Did… did you read my mind?”

Garnet laughs, “No, silly. I just… I’ve been on earth a long time. I see the dynamics of relationships relatively soon. Matt is very… he seems very fond of you. I think he doesn’t want to lose you. So… he is eager to please you. You, on the other hand, have a dilemma, and I’m not sure why. I think it has to do with Connie.” She sighs. “I feel that with fusion, the pair that want to fuse… must be on the same wavelength. If not, the stability of that relationship will collapse, thus, so will the fusion.”

Steven nods. “I see. And… how can I fix this?”

Garnet sighs and shakes her head. “There’s no easy fix. You’ll need to talk and work it out. Trust and love take effort and work. So, fusion needs that trust and cooperation to achieve something that is stable and workable.”

“Okay.”

“Steven, tell me what you want.”

“I want… I want.. to be happy with Matt. But… honest.”

“Honest?”

“Honest about my… feelings.”

“About?”

“Connie.”

“You still like her?”

Steven nods, feeling guilty for finally admitting it.

“That’s a great amount of stress on your shoulders. I suggest trying to focus on your current situation. Matt. Make it work, if you can. If not, try something else. You don’t have to be with someone you’re not sure about. Don’t lead him on, either. That’s not the Steven-y way to do things.”

Steven nods, smiling, but it felt a bit sad. “Thank you. I think you’re right.”

“Follow your heart. I know for a fact it’s the most wonderful part of who you are.”

Steven nods, crying a bit more. They embrace, and Steven feels better.

******

Later, after dinner, Amethyst shows Matt her room, and they go exploring for awhile.

Steven go outside on the porch, and tries to think.

He listens to his music, and finally inspiration hits.

This song really reminds him of Matt. He decides to try it again, the fusion thing. He goes to a store nearby and buys some flowers. Lilacs and roses.

And some gummy bears.

Matt loves them. He sets up a little thing on the beach(no one is there now as it’s dark,) and some candles.

When he finds Matt, he’s talking to Pearl in the kitchen.

“Oh, hey babe! What you up to?” Matt asks.

Pearl looks at him and waves. “Steven! You want some dessert? Matt and I made some.”

“What did you two make?”

Matt grins, “Apple pie.”

“With homemade vanilla ice cream,” Pearl adds.

“That sounds lovely. Thank you both for making dinner and dessert, it was so good so far.”

Matt nods, “No problem, Pearl taught me about some techniques for the kitchen.”

“Matt has a talent for chopping and mincing,” Pearl adds.

He grins, “Aww, thanks, Pearl. You’re not too bad yourself!”

Steven sighs happily. “Matt, I gotta show you something… uh, really quick. Pearl, we’ll be back.”

Matt nods, intrigued.

Pearl gives them the thumbs up, “I’ll go set up the guest room for Matt while you’re out!”

Steven looks at Matt questioningly, and they take each other’s hand.

“What’s up, babe?”

Steven smiles mysteriously. “You’ll see..” He leads Matt to the beach, and they are happily silent.

Then, Matt sees it, the wonderful beach set up with the lit candles, and is dazzled.

*****