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“Question. Can we have a dance studio?”
Steven can’t help but laugh at the face Connie pulls, a mix of confusion and amusement, and he spins the laptop round so that the screen is facing her. “This one has three bedrooms!”
“I don’t think that room is big enough to be a dance studio, Steven.”
“It could be.” He sticks his tongue out, pulling the laptop back round to face him. They’ve been searching for apartments for weeks, and still haven’t found one that they like. Everything seems right, but just a little wrong; good bedrooms, bad view. Good view, kitchen so small they could barely breathe. Good kitchen, a million pieces of work to be done.
Nothing’s quite right.
Nothing except for the fact that they have each other.
“You make that into a dance studio, you’re going to slam into a wall every time you spin,” Connie says, and Steven looks up at her with an exaggerated pout as she takes a seat next to him, sliding a glass of apple juice along the table to rest in front of him. “Though I would like to see that.”
Steven’s pout shifts into a mock gasp of offence, a hand slapping to his heart over his jacket. “Just for that, you’re not getting a library.”
“Agree to disagree.”
“Disagree to agree.”
Connie’s laugh makes Steven’s heart skip a beat, and he looks over at her with a warm feeling swelling up in his chest. Her eyes are closed, a smile stretched across her face but covered by her hand, locks of her hair slipping from its bun and coming to rest on her shoulders, and he thinks that she’s never looked prettier. He thinks that every single time he looks at her; every time he sees her he’s overcome by emotion, an overwhelming urge to kiss her, hold her, tell her everything that he loves about her. “You’re pretty,” is all that comes out of his mouth, and he winces at the bluntness of it, wishing desperately that he knew how to say everything that he wants to. She deserves it. She deserves so much, the whole world, to be told exactly how amazing she is.
The blush that spreads across her cheeks makes him feel a little better though, and he grins as she elbows his side, rolling her eyes. “Shut up.”
“It’s true!”
“Oh, I know,” she says, a hand flicking the loose hair over her shoulder, and Steven swears he has literal hearts in his eyes.
“Then let me say it.” He stretches out on the sofa to lean against her, dragging his words out, grinning when she stifles a smile. “Connie, you’re so pr-”
“Stop,” she says, a half-hearted push at his shoulders punctuating her words, but her defence doesn’t last long when she flops down next to him, landing on his stomach in a tangled mess of limbs. “Now look what you’ve done, Steven. We’re both dead.”
“Tragic,” Steven deadpans, and he grins wider when Connie giggles as he wraps his arms around her, positioning her face above his. “At least I can die happy.”
“What, because you have apple juice?” She sends a nod to the glass on the table, and Steven pokes her cheek with a snort, laughing as she ducks under his arm and rolls away from him.
“Definitely the apple juice. Not at all because my girlfriend and best friend is sat next to me. I don’t even know who you are.”
“I’m the apple juice waitress,” Connie replies, and Steven snorts and bats her away as her hand reaches out to ruffle his hair. “Alright, serious time. We need to keep looking at apartments!”
He nods, pulling his hair over his face a little. “Serious Steven, activate.”
Connie hums, crossing her legs and pulling the laptop towards her. “What does serious Steven think of this one?” she says, spinning the screen around to face him.
“Nice view. Is it big enough?”
“We’re only two people, Steven.”
“Lion demanded his own room, and I was physically incapable of arguing with that.”
“You make a good point,” Connie grins, and they both cast glances to Lion, stretched out and asleep on the stairs. “He deserves the whole house.”
Steven nods, taking a sip of his juice as he shifts closer. “Plus, you’re right, we need a library.”
“Another fantastic point.” Two more clicks takes her to the page of another apartment, and she groans before even scrolling through the photos. “Empire City apartments are so expensive. Maybe we should just live in the temple forever.”
Steven pulls a face, setting his juice down. “Sure, but when Pearl organises your clothes by thread count, that’s on you.”
“She’s done that?”
“I have lost no less than ten shirts that way.”
“You wear the same shirt everyday anyway.”
“...Touché.”
Connie laughs again, stealing a sip of Steven’s juice, and she pushes the laptop over to him as she drinks. “See if you can find anything.”
“You know, if we find a place we like, I’m sure my dad would help pay for it.”
“I’m counting on it, because right now all we can afford is a cardboard box.”
“A fancy cardboard box?”
“Just the regular kind of box,” she says sadly, flicking droplets of juice at him, and she leans in to kiss his hand when he throws it up as an attempt at shielding himself. “But I’m sure we could find some sharpies and draw on it a little.”
“I’ll draw Lion!”
“Do you think I could recreate Starry Night with sharpies?”
“You definitely could. You can do anything,” and suddenly the laptop is discarded as Connie leans in to hug him, wrapping her arms around him tightly and smiling.
“I would live anywhere if it meant I got to live with you.”
“Even in a cardboard box?”
“Even in a cardboard box.”
“Even in a cardboard box on the moon?” Steven says, and Connie lets out a laugh.
“Don’t you have a base on the moon? Let’s just live there.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Really though, Steven. I don’t care where we live, as long as I’m there with you.”
“Me neither,” and he kisses her gently, a hand reaching up to hold the back of her neck. “Wherever we go, if I’m with you, I’m already home.”