A nice little chapter for all of you. :) I would have made it longer but I don't wanna ruin the simplicity of this one.

Steven opened his eyes. The sun was shining on his body. He tried sitting up, but he couldn't move any of his muscles. "H-huh?" He tried moving again, but the most he could do was flail his arms and legs about. The problem seemed to be with his back. He tried twisting around by his torso, trying to get those muscles working again, only to feel a sharp pain ring through him. "O-ow!" He winced in pain. He looked down at his body. Everything seemed to look normal.

"Steven! Are you alright?" He had forgotten that Lapis was on the sofa right under the foyer.

"U-um, a little? I... can't move my back..." His cheeks let out a little blush, he had to admit it was a little embarrassing.

"Wh-what? Why?!"

"I don't-" Then he realized. "Oh... it's because of that monster yesterday... it must have really done a number on my back, heh heh... ow..." He winced again as his back pinged in pain again. Lapis ran up to him, not knowing at all what to do. "Um... can ya help me up, Lapis?"

"Now, w-wait, isn't that going to... hurt?" He was half human, she didn't know how fragile humans were.

"Well… yes, but I still need to get up, heh heh." He blushed again in embarrassment.

"Umm… yeah, I'm not going to do that. I'm gonna go get someone to help."

Steven sighed. "Well… ok."

-{}-

She came back with Garnet and Amethyst (she tried her best to stay far far away from the Pearl's room), with Amethyst not even attempting to hide her snickering.

"Amethyst, there is nothing to be laughing about." Garnet admonished.

"Aw, c'mom, G! He doesn't look that hurt!"

"Yeah, Amethyst's right!" Steven tried to assure them, "Everything's just fine- ow!" Another pain rushed through his body.

"Steven?!" They heard Pearl coming from the temple door. Lapis looked away and even stepped away from the bed. "Steven, are you okay?! Why didn't anyone tell me about this?!"

"P-Pearl, its ok, really! My back is just in a tiny bit of pai-"

"Pain?! I-I can't- I just- what do you mean it's ok?! You're hurt!"

"Pearl, you need to calm down. We just need to call a human doctor." Garnet advised.

"Nonsense." They heard Peridot call from downstairs, they hadn't even realized she was there, "there's no way these primitive humans could possibly understand and comprehend a wound such as this. There's no need to worry though, for your great and lovable Peridot is here to help!"

"Pfft, you'd probably just hurt him more," Amethyst teased.

Peridot puffed her cheeks and ran up the stairs. "Ha! I don't think so! I think a gem such as myself will surely be able to understand the simple and primitive structure of the human body. Now then… what seems to be the problem?" Peridot put her hands together in a desperate attempt to make herself look like she knew what she was doing.

"Guuyyysss, there is no problem, I'm fine, really! Just a little back pain is all! You don't need to make such a fuss about it, heh heh- ow… maybe all I need is just a little rest! I mean, it's not that bad… and if not, we can just call Connie's mom, you guys don't need to worry so much!"

"Well… I wouldn't like to be calling those human doctors and their primitive tools along to our house and to your body…" Pearl audibly thought. "Fine, a few days of rest, and we'll see if you get better, alright?" She lovingly put her hand out to his head.

"Aww, thanks Pearl. And really, there's nothing to worry about!"

"And meanwhile, can we please get around to rebuilding the barn?" Peridot wailed impatiently. "I must say that there isn't much to do in this temple…"

"Yes, of course, but we're going to need all the help we can get," Pearl agreed. "and I think that we could use Lapi-"

"W-wait!" Steven interrupted her before Lapis even had the chance to. He looked at Lapis, and she looked back, noticeably alarmed at the near mention of her name. "U-um… I think Lapis should just stay here with me! I want someone's company while I rest!"

"Awww, I wanted to hang with you…" Amethyst griped.

"Don't be lazy." Garnet ordered. "Let's go gather the materials. Get well soon, Steven." She scruffled up his hair and the rest of the gems followed suit by gently giving him a hug while being careful not to hurt him.

"Thanks, guys. I love you..." he embraced them all for a few more seconds, then they were released from the group hug and he gave a wave as they continued on with their duties.

When they were all gone, he looked back to Lapis, who still hung back during the hug. She was still looking down. "Hey, Lapis, I-"

"It's ok…" she slowly looked up. "Thanks for saving me back there." She gave a subtle grin.

Steven let out a small laugh. "Heh, it's no problem…" a silence swept through the whole room. "Hey… ya still owe me a hug…" he stretched out his arms despite not being able to move. Lapis hesitated, but then eagerly stepped towards him and gave him a semi-restrained but still loving hug. She still didn't want to hurt him.

"And… I'm sorry about what Pearl did…" he muttered.

She looked down. "And… I'm sorry about what your breeder did."

He paused in confusion. "You mean… my mom…?" He began to tear up.

"…yeah…"

Tears started falling from her eyes and she accidentally tightened her hug on him. It slightly hurt him, but he didn't care. "You…" he sniffled. He couldn't think of the words. "You acknowledged it… you didn't try to… push it under the rug. Thank you..." He started laughing and crying simultaneously, making his back hurt even more, and even started to tighten his hold on Lapis, giving her a slight pain.

She didn't know why, but she started cry-laughing too. "I feel like… you're the only one that understands me..." she said, still holding him in the hug.

"…heh, I think I feel the same about you…" they remained in the hug, staying still for a few more minutes. Over the duration of the hug, two groups of clouds outside started clumping up together and it started raining again. The plitter-platter of the raindrops hitting against the window was the only sound in the room. The natural light in the room dimmed, and there were shadows created by the raindrops adhering to the surface of the window and racing down to the bottom. They listened to the rain as they hugged for a few minutes. They then released their hug and they watched together as the rain fell.

Ok… you may have seen that as Lapiven, and that's totally fine, but I don't. I just like affection like that. I don't really see it as romantic. I just see it as two really good friends being there for each other and growing closer. Feel free to see it as that, or don't, just know that that isn't what I intended with it.

Oh and speaking of that scene, I'm actually really quite proud of it. The symbolisms of the rain and Steven's back pain… ooh that's some good metaphors right there. I'm not gonna say what they are (tbh I think it's pretty obvious), feel free to put your analysis in the reviews, I'd love to see your interpretations. Not saying this is like Leonardo da Vinci or Stanley Kubrick levels of avant-garde art, but… for my level I think that was pretty dang good. But looking back at it it really wasn't as impressive as I'm making it out to be lol.

Also, AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH I'M SO HYPED FOR WANTED AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH