Chapter Text
It had been a long day of driving. If he was honest, Steven wasn’t quite sure where he was going. His road trip was going well so far and he had gone to all the recommended places; New York, LA, Washington, The Grand Canyon, and so on and so on, so much so that he had sort of run out of places to go. It had been fun, exploring the country in which he grew up and yet knew basically nothing about, even if he did struggle immensely with getting used to the outside world - who knew that hotels didn’t have laundry rooms and you had to use laundromats?
Of course, he’d kept up to date with his friends and family back in Beach City, not to mention his therapist who he video called once a week for their regular session. The Gems were still missing him and they had only recently stopped crying whenever they had to end the video call, and he saw Connie around once a month when Steven told her where he was and she portaled there on lion. Despite being busy with college, they both still video called most nights. The pair had arranged a call for that night after the long, aimless day of just driving until he found himself in a possibly quaint, although it could also be described as dingy, little town, just as the sun was beginning to set.
Parking on the edge of the road, Steven pulled up the map on his phone and found that he was in a small town named Gravity Falls. There was a vague familiarity to the name that Steven couldn’t quite put his finger on, as though he’d heard of it before but only in passing. He supposed it didn’t quite matter as if he couldn’t remember it all that well then it probably wasn’t important; it sounded like one of those strange unheard-of places that Ronaldo would mention when rambling on about weirdness. In fact, that was probably where he’d heard it before. Once again, he returned to the point that it didn’t quite matter given that most of Ronaldo’s stories, if not about Beach City, were purely speculation and a misrepresentation of the facts. Dismissing that with a shrug, he then went on to look up any places to stay in Gravity Falls, finding that there was a motel about a mile down the road where he could stay for a couple of nights whilst he figured out what he wanted to do.
The town seemed quite enjoyable anyway. Even if it was a little small, Steven wasn’t sure he’d seen so many trees in his life. Perhaps he could go on an early morning hike the next day, or do a little exploring. There was a stark contrast to the openness of Beach City and the bustling noise of the big cities that he kind of...liked. It was nice.
It was as he was pondering that and looking out of the window at the wonderful scenery that his phone began to ring and Connie’s name appeared on his screen.
“Hi!” Steven began excitedly as he picked up the call, positioning his phone on the dashboard of his Dondai so he could wave at the camera.
“Hey Steven! How are you? Where are you? You weren’t exactly specific about where you were going last time I called.” Came an equally as excited although slightly more tired reply from Connie who was laid across her bed with her phone propped up against one of the pillows.
Chuckling softly, Steven shrugged “I’m not that sure. I sort of just...drove. It’s this place called Gravity Falls which I think Ronaldo mentioned once, but I’m not certain. It’s nice here though, definitely nice.” He was rambling a bit, but he always enjoyed telling Connie as much as he could, not to mention, he’d been feeling much better recently so speaking was becoming easier. “How’s college been the past few days?”
“Oh, you know. Same old, same old. Not that it’s boring, I’m really enjoying my classes, but they’re just classes y’know? Nothing interesting to report.” Connie replied, before adding before Steven could say anything, “How’s money? I know last time you said that you were running low. Did you ask your dad for more like we discussed?”
There was a moment of silence as Steven awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, looking down at his lap in both shame but also nervousness. “Umm...speaking about that…” He began, not quite sure how to say what he wanted to say. “I was thinking about picking up a job somewhere. Nothing big, just for the summer. But...I want to know how to live on my own without depending on dad and I feel really guilty asking him for more money when I know I should have just been more careful with it rather than splurging on all those four-star hotels instead of cheaper places-...”
“Steven.” The excess of an explanation was cut off by Connie who gave him a look with a raised eyebrow. “You know you don’t have to feel guilty about asking your dad for things. He has a lot of money and he’s more than happy to share it with you.”
“I know, I know. But it’s not just that. I want to have more...uh...agency over myself. Other kids my age know how to earn a living and if I don’t at least get some experience in the human world then I’ll have to devote my life to Gem stuff. Not that Gem stuff is bad, but, that’s not what I want to do for the rest of my life, I’ve already embraced and explored the gem side of me, can’t I just do something human?”
Connie gave him a sympathetic smile and then a nod. “You don’t have to explain yourself to me. You’re allowed to do what you want Steven. I just want to make sure that you’re doing that for yourself and not because you feel guilty about asking for money. Okay?”
There was another soft laugh from Steven followed by a nod in return. “Yeah, okay.”
“At least speak to your therapist about this or something. And, if the job gets too much then remember that you’re under no obligation to stay. You can just quit and leave, you always have your family to fall back on, alright?”
He smiled wide at his ever-wise girlfriend and nodded once more. “Alright. Thank you, Connie. It means a lot.
“It’s no issue.” Connie smiled back at him before glancing over at her clock. “It’s getting late here so I’ll head to bed. You look after yourself Steven and have a good night…” A pause, “Love you.”
That one had Steven grinning “Love you too. Night!”
With that, Connie ended the call, leaving Steven sat on his own on the side of the road in what was now a rather deep darkness. Still smiling from the aftermath of speaking to Connie, Steven pulled out his wallet to see how much money he actually had left. There was about enough for one night at a motel, maybe two if the place was really cheap but he needed to eat too. Sighing, he shoved the wallet into his pocket and started up the car once more, driving off down the road. Maybe Connie was right and he should ask his dad for a little more money, at least until he found a steady job. Just enough for the week, that was all. There was nothing to feel guilty about and no shame in asking for help - he had to remember that, it was important. Maybe he’d ask him in the morning before he went out looking for a place to work. Yeah, that sounded like a good plan.
Checking into the surprisingly nice motel down the road, Steven settled in for the night, not bothering unpacking since he was pretty tired from a long day of driving. Connie was worried about stress but he doubted anything would happen. Gravity Falls seemed like a nice, normal town and the perfect place for him to relax and continue to find himself. Certainly, nothing strange would happen.