Work Text:
It’s a surprise, when she first turns up.
He hadn’t been expecting it, for her to arrive at the motel he’s staying at without any explanation. But she’s always been full of surprises, so maybe he should have been. Should have known she’d turn up with a burst of pink light and a smile so bright it makes his heart skip a beat.
He can’t help but smile back.
“Hey, stranger,” Connie says, and Steven takes her hand as she jumps from Lion’s back and lands perfectly steady beside him, already drawing him in for a hug. “I’ve missed you.”
Her hands press hard against his back, pulling him in and refusing to let go, and he wraps his arms around her and breathes softly, letting himself take in her presence. “I’ve missed you too.”
He really has.
He hadn’t realised just how much until now.
He can’t help but hold her a little tighter, willing back the tears that threaten to spill. He won’t cry. He won’t, it’s sappy and romantic and the tears are already racing down his cheeks and he doesn’t bother to hold them back. He feels her laugh a little, shaking in his arms, and then the sound of a sniff, and he realises with a small smile that she’s crying too.
Maybe it’s been too long for both of them.
His hands stroke through her hair a little as they both pull away, and he presses quick little kisses to her cheek as they make their way into Steven’s room. The door clicks shut behind them and then suddenly they’re together, Connie’s lips pressed against his, whispered words of “I’ve missed you, I’ve missed you, I need you.”
He returns it happily. It’s an incredible feeling, having Connie in his arms, and he melts into each kiss that she gives him, tilting his head back when her lips move down to his jaw.
“Can I just... hold you?” She murmurs against his skin, and his whisper of please, yes gets caught in his throat. Words aren’t easy to speak when she’s pressed against his neck like that, he can’t think straight, and it’s all he can do to nod a little and comply when Connie drags him over to the bed.
The next thing she says is a quiet “thank you,” and Steven lays himself beside her with a sigh of contentment. Her arms around him are always a comforting feeling, her body pressed perfectly behind his, her lips against the back of his neck. It’s a constant reassurance that she’s there, and that she loves him, and he settles into it immediately.
One last kiss, and then it’s quiet.
Too quiet.
He changes that.
“Bed’s comfy,” he whispers, and he grins when he hears her burst into giggles behind him.
“We haven’t seen each other for weeks, and that’s your main topic of conversation?” Her voice is soft in the otherwise silent room, and Steven squirms as he feels her breath against the back of his neck. “You’re a dork.”
“You love it.”
“Mm,” Connie sighs. She shifts in a little closer, and Steven relaxes his hand over hers where it rests on his stomach. “I do. I really do.”
“Now who’s the dork?”
There’s a pause, and though he can’t see her face, he knows the face that Connie’s making; amused, challenging, playful. “Still you,” he hears her say, and he scrunches his shoulders up with a laugh when she blows against his neck. “Don’t sass me.”
“I’m not!” He shifts in her arms, turning to face her, and he sticks his tongue out in protest. “I’m just telling the truth.”
Her tongue sticks out to match, and another laugh escapes him. “You are not.”
He sits up at that, fake pout already covering his face. “You callin’ me a liar?”
Connie snorts. “I ain’t calling you a truther.” She pats the pillow beside her, one hand already reaching out to grip the hem of Steven’s jacket. “Come here.”
He falls down next to her, pulling the covers over them both, and he blinks as he realises their faces are only a few inches apart. “Hey.”
She smiles. “Hey.”
He doesn’t know what to say after that. It’s strange, this silence that surrounds them both. It’s never really been there before (or maybe he’s just never really noticed it before) and he isn’t sure how to fill it.
Then again, maybe he doesn’t need to.
It’s silence, sure, but it’s not uncomfortable. It’s not suffocating. It’s oddly nice, and he finds himself using the time to study each and every part of Connie’s face as she gazes back at him. The way her hair is slipping out of its ponytail and falling over her shoulder, the way her eyelashes curl, the way she shifts slightly with each breath. The way her mouth shifts into a smile every time their eyes meet, the way her hands rest gently on the bed in between them, pressed close to her chest. It’s beautiful. She’s beautiful.
He kisses her. He needs her, wants her, wants contact with her and to tell her how much he loves her, and he mumbles it against her lips in between short breaths. “Connie, I love you.”
Something inside him brightens when she says it back. “Steven, I love you,” and her hand slips into his and holds it tight. The contact grounds him a little, fills his head with infinite thoughts of her, fills his mind with nothing but Connie, Connie, she’s here, I love her.
Connie.
She’s here.
She loves me.
He can still barely believe it.
They pull apart eventually, each touching a hand gently to their lips before falling into simultaneous laughter. She reaches out to hold him again, and he’s never been happier, he’s never been more in love. Her arms are around his waist and her forehead is pressed gently against hers, and he sighs happily.
“I love you,” Connie says again.
“I love you,” he whispers back, and his eyes flutter shut as he feels her hold him tight. “I love you, Connie.”