CAN I JUST. O MAI GAWD. I can't deal with Keeping It Together. This is why I wrote this one shot.

SPOILERS BY THE WAAAAAY.

Steven stared out his bedroom window, unable to get his mind off of today's earlier events. Those poor Gems... they never deserved such a thing. No one did. And Garnet...

Steven clenched his fists angrily. Peridot. This was her fault. She was the one who gave his friend such torture! He decided that all Homeworld Gems didn't deserve second chances. Lapis, she had. But when he found Peridot again... she would pay.

The warp pad activated, and Pearl came back from wherever she had gone. She looked at him, and he looked back.

"Garnet. Have you... seen her after she disappeared into the Temple?"

Steven shook his head sadly. "No. Pearl, I'm really worried for her. And for them. It hurt to see what I had."

Steven had quietly explained what Pearl and Amethyst had missed when they were chasing Peridot. They had shared the horror Garnet had.

Pearl looked worried. "Well... if you see her... be understanding."

Steven nodded. "Will you look for her in the Temple?"

She shook her head after a minute of thought. "I can't predict the outcome of that. It may be best to give her some space."

She opened her door, and disappeared without another word.

Steven turned back to the window, sighing. The air was thick with negative emotions. He didn't like it.

"What have they done to you? To them? How could they produce such a horror?" Steven quietly sang to himself, needing to vent if it fell to no one.

"In a single moment, they reduced you to that... and them to a monster. How could they do this to you? To them? To us... Where will this go...?" He continued, not noticing the sound of the Temple door opening yet again. Garnet's door.

"It hurts to see you like this... It hurts to see them in pain..." He paused, sighing a shaky breath.

"No one deserves such a fate that I saw, and you shouldn't have seen it either! The pain I heard in your voice..." He slumped to the floor, head lowered.

"It was too much to bear." He finished, crawling onto his bed and burying his head in the pillows.

Without warning, he felt an uncontrollable surge of anger pass through him. "PERIDOOOOOOOOOOT!" He shouted into his pillow in fury.

"S-steven?" He heard a shaky voice come from the bottom of the stairs.

Steven whipped his head up and glared at the figure below, only to hide his rage when he recognized Garnet. Her shades were off, and her expression was worried and pained.

He blinked at her. "Can... can I do anything for you, Garnet?"

She didn't say anything. Instead, she climbed up the stairs, and crouched beside his bed. Then she grabbed him and pulled him into a tight hug, and cried.

Steven yelped, startled by her actions, but understood. She wanted, needed a someone to be there while she went through this.

"I'm here for you, Garnet." He vowed, hugging her back as she continued to let it all out.

Slowly, her sobs and tears began to slow down, but Steven still held tight to her. He was scared too, and he needed his fill of comfort as well.

She became silent soon after, and her hold on the boy softened until her arms pulled away. She watched Steven as he still clinged to her, the smallest of smiles coming to her lips. He looked up at her bloodshot eyes with tears in them, and carefully brushed them away with a frown.

"Don't cry anymore, Garnet. You've suffered enough today." He pleaded.

She nodded. "I promise, Steven." She readjusted her position to be sitting against the wall, legs stretched out across the floor. She let Steven hug her still, and she slowly returned her arms to lie around him.

"Are... you going to be alright for now?" Steven asked carefully.

She rested her head on top of his, staying silent for a moment before picking a response. "For now. Something like that isn't something I can get over so quickly. They can't either."

Steven nodded. "Well, if you ever need a shoulder to cry on, I'm here for as long as you need. I promise."

She smiled at him. "Thank You."

JESUS CHRIST THE EPISODE MADE ME CRY. Review if you wanna just vent to me. I'll read it all xD

-Peridot