Pearl pulled out her phone for the tenth time to look at the most recent text she'd received.

Amethyst: have a great flight! i know you won't touch airplane food so save me the peanuts or whatever. can't wait to meet you in person, pierogi

Her heart jumped in her chest every time she looked at it, a mix of anxiety and excitement. She and Amethyst had been talking for ages now, had officially dated for six months, and this was the first time she would get to see her in person and not through a screen. Pearl had managed to gather enough money to fly out to meet Amethyst and stay with her for a week, and she could hardly believe it was happening. It seemed like yesterday she had ordered the tickets and called Amethyst to tell her the good news. Since then, she'd gone through her daily routine in a daze, counting down the time left and thinking of anything and everything that could happen in that one week. Her mind was scattered, constantly bringing up you're seeing Amethyst soon! and what if something goes wrong? and she could barely get any sleep the night before.

But now she was here, her plane was landing, and Amethyst would be waiting for her.

Finally.

Pearl lifted her small carry-on over her shoulder, one hand clutching the strap as she made her way out of the plane and into the airport. She followed the signs down to the luggage area and her eyes immediately found a fluffy-haired woman at the end of one row of seats with her phone in hand, glancing up every few seconds to watch the people coming down.

Heart leaping, she hurried down the last few steps of the escalator. "Amethyst?" she called.

She looked up and froze as her eyes locked onto Pearl's for a split second before she leapt up. "Pearl!" She laughed and ran to close the last little distance between them, grabbing her in a tight hug. "You're here!"

Pearl laughed breathlessly, holding on just as tightly. "I am!"

"I can't believe you're here!" Amethyst pulled away, hands traveling over Pearl's shoulders and down her arms, catching her hands and swinging them back and forth. "Look at you!" she laughed delightedly.

"I look the same as I always do," Pearl protested, face going red from the attention.

"It's different in person!" She squeezed Pearl's hands tightly. "How are you? How was the flight?"

"Long," she replied with a smile. "I brought the snacks for you like you asked."

"You're the best, P."

They stood there for a long moment, taking each other in, before Pearl realized she was staring and quickly broke eye contact. "I-I should get my luggage."

"Oh yeah," Amethyst laughed. She let one of Pearl's hands go and led the way over to the right conveyor belt. "I hope you're ready for the best week ever."

Pearl was pretty sure she wasn't ready at all, but she couldn't wait.

The two of them stood at the baggage claim area lost in conversation for so long that Pearl almost didn't notice they ended up being the last ones left waiting. She shifted her carry-on on her shoulder and frowned.

"Do you think they lost my suitcase?"

"Huh?" Amethyst peered down the conveyor belt. "Oh, yeah, guess it's been a while. Want to go ask somebody what's up?"

"Yes, I'll go. Can you wait here, just in case it comes around? It has a blue ribbon tied on the handle."

"Gotcha." Amethyst saluted playfully. "Good luck."

Pearl hurried over to a nearby employee and inquired as to her suitcase's whereabouts, only to wind up with a disappointing explanation about it being transferred to the wrong plane, an apology, and a promise that she would have it within a few days' time. She sighed and headed back over to where Amethyst was waiting.

"No luck?"

"They said they would have it in a few days."

"Aww, sorry, P." Amethyst nudged her in the ribs. "You can borrow some of my stuff to wear in the meantime."

Pearl looked down at herself and then at Amethyst, eyebrow lifting skeptically and hand automatically reaching to fix the strap that was slipping off Amethyst's shoulder. "I can just go buy a few things. I'll need to get toiletries anyway."

"Fiiine. Come on, my car's out this way."

The two of them headed out of the airport and Amethyst drove her over to a nearby superstore to pick up some cheap clothes and a toothbrush. Pearl was pleasantly overwhelmed with the small touches Amethyst seemed to lavish her with—holding hands, brushing shoulders as they walked, tapping her arm to show her some silly t-shirt she would never dream of wearing, leaning on her comfortably as they browsed through racks of clothes. It felt entirely natural, like they had always existed in the same physical space and she'd just forgotten what it felt like.

When they were done, they drove back to Amethyst's apartment, which was a small but cozy one-bedroom.

"This looks…clean?" Pearl commented as she walked in, trying to match up what she was seeing with the mess Amethyst always described and that usually showed up in the background on Skype.

"Heh, yeah, I kinda had some friends help me clean it up for you," Amethyst said sheepishly.

"Thank you," she said, pleasantly surprised. "You didn't have to do that."

"Just wanted you to have a good time." Her girlfriend cleared her throat importantly. "This way for the tour, m'lady."

Pearl laughed and took the hand Amethyst offered her, leaving her bags by the door.

"Here we have the living room, complete with TV, Netflix, and lots of blankets. To your left you see the kitchen, with only the best food for my lovely guest. Over here, you will find the bedroom. I'm afraid there's not much space at Hotel Amethyst, so it looks like you'll have to share the bed with yours truly. I hope that's acceptable?"

"I think I'll manage," she replied, smiling.

"I'll grab your stuff," Amethyst said with a grin, dropping her act. "What do you want for dinner?"

"Oh, anything is fine." Pearl followed her back to the door to help, though Amethyst carried everything easily.

"We can go out if you want," she offered, dumping the shopping bags onto her bed. "There's a nice place that's, like, twenty minutes away? I asked Garnet, and she said it was probably something you'd like."

"Maybe another night," she said, gesturing to her clothes. "Once my suitcase is here?"

"Oh, yeah. Somewhere less fancy then…" Amethyst mused, absentmindedly gathering her hair into a ponytail. "Do you want to go somewhere or order takeout?"

"Um, takeout?" Pearl replied hesitantly. "I'm sorry, I'm a little tired." She was suddenly very, very overwhelmed with the reality of the situation. She was staying here. For a week. With Amethyst.

"No, don't worry about it. Do you wanna change into something more comfortable?"

"I suppose." She stared down at the floor, wondering why her previous excitement had abandoned her and was quickly getting replaced with anxiety.

"Alright," Amethyst said, rifling through the bags and pulling out the pajamas Pearl had bought. "You feeling okay?" she asked after a moment, taking a closer look at her girlfriend.

"Oh! Yes, I'm fine." Pearl sat down on the edge of the bed. "Sorry," she said in a small voice.

"It's okay." Amethyst sat down next to her. "Do you wanna talk?"

"I…I don't know." She curled her hands around the ends of her dress. "It's just a lot. Being here, I mean."

Amethyst bit her lip. "…Am I making you uncomfortable?"

Her eyes flew wide. "No! Of course not, Amethyst, you're wonderful!" She hesitated. "It's just that I'm seeing you for the first time and I want this to be special. But I'm not sure what I'm doing and I feel like you're…not going to find me very interesting in real life?"

"What? No way, that's not going to happen," Amethyst told her, putting a comforting hand on her knee. "I mean, what we were doing before was just as real as this is; you don't turn into a different person just because we're in the same room."

Pearl laughed weakly. "You're right, I'm sorry. I've just been so wound up over this trip…"

"Hey, I've been freaking out about this for ages too," she admitted. "I wanted everything to be perfect for you. Which is why my apartment looks like some creepy model home."

Pearl's hand found Amethyst's and she rubbed a thumb across her knuckles. "You didn't have to do anything to make it special."

Amethyst blushed. "Yeah, ditto." Her lips tilted up in a soft smile. "Just be you, P. That's the person I love."

Pearl's fingers clenched around Amethyst's tightly. "I love you too."

She leaned up to kiss her on the cheek. "Okay. What do you say we change into something comfy and make some dinner together?"

"I think that sounds perfect." Pearl looked at her for a long moment, appreciating how Amethyst looked—all the little things she hadn't noticed via Skype. "Can I kiss you first?"

"Can't say no to a request like that," Amethyst replied softly, drawing her closer.

Their first kiss was a gentle, cautious thing, with both of them leaning in at slightly uncomfortable angles, but neither of them really minded. They shared several small kisses following it, on the lips and cheeks and eyes and nose, until Amethyst flashed a particularly devious smile and dug her fingers into Pearl's sides.

"A-Amethyst!" she gasped, laughter bubbling out of her throat. "Stop, stop, that's not fair!"

"Hey, I only get a week to exploit how ticklish you are and I'm not going to waste any of it." She grinned, nearly getting an elbow to the face as Pearl tried to squirm away, watching for a few seconds longer before stopping to kiss her once more.

Pearl pulled her in close and they fit together more comfortably this time, even as she was still trying to catch her breath. "I should never have mentioned that," she laughed as they separated.

"Nah, I like having a surefire way to make you smile." Amethyst bumped her nose against Pearl's. "We good?"

She nodded, darting in for another kiss. "Thank you."

It took them another hour to actually make it to the kitchen for dinner and, once it was made, the food ended up sitting on their plates for the better part of the next while they were caught up in excited conversation. Amethyst scarfed hers down cold and then offered to heat Pearl's up again, bringing the plate into the living room so they could be more comfortable. Pearl laughed as Amethyst lay down across her lap and told Pearl to use her back as a table, complying only after taking care to move Amethyst's hair aside so it wouldn't end up in the food.

"Thank you for dinner," Pearl said when she finished, waiting until the end of the story Amethyst had been recounting for her as she ate.

"Oh, no problem." She reached around behind her, grabbed the plate, and lazily set it down on the floor before twisting around. "What do you wanna do now? I've got movies and stuff."

"I think I'd just like to stay here?" she answered, smiling down at her girlfriend.

Amethyst blushed. "Guess that works too."

The two of them settled into a more comfortable position and Pearl began to hum softly as Amethyst curled up next to her, warm and safe and tangible. Honestly, she would have been happy enough with only this one day together, and the thought of having more on the horizon seemed amazing. She knew time would fly by—it already was—but it was worth every penny spent and every bit of anticipation and worry. Everything felt right, and she wanted this to last. She wanted more stolen weeks together, more of the simple everyday things, and Amethyst existing next to her. More of all of this.

But their texts and emails and video calls meant just as much, and she was happy to have them too. As long as it was Amethyst, she'd be happy with nearly anything.

Pearl finished the melody and brushed her lips over Amethyst's temple. "I love you."

"Love you too, Pierogi."