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“Okay, Mr. Universe, where to first?” Connie nudged Steven’s shoulder, both standing in the entrance of the park. They had decided to take a trip for a week out of Beach City and day 3 of the trip had brought them to an amusement park. Their trip was to test Steven being somewhat out on his own away from Beach City. He and his therapist had talked it through a few months after his breakdown and decided this would be a good test run, just him and Connie.
What he had failed to mention was his massive crush on his best friend, and the disaster attempted proposal. But there was no way the trip would be awkward or weird. The past 2 days had been fine and they’d been on their own together many times before. What could go wrong?
“Steven?” Connie snapped him out of his thoughts and turned to her.
“Uh, I’m not sure..” The park was big, much bigger than the Funland he was used to, it was a little bit daunting.
“There’s a map over here, c’mon.” Connie grabbed his hand and dragged them to the giant map nearby. He willed the blush to leave his face. It’s just Connie, it’s just Connie, we always hold hands.
They reached the map and Connie looked it over. Steven knew she was taking everything into account, and that later he could ask her where something was and she would remember exactly where. It was one of the many things he loved about her. “Wanna check out some of the games first?” She asked, smiling at him.
“Yeah! Sounds good!” He smiled back. Her smile was CONTAGIOUS. Connie led the way to the games, Steven following behind with a little bounce in his steps.
“Okay, that was rigged.” Steven frowned, him and Connie walking away from yet another failed game. They’d been to a few games and neither had won a single one.
“Well, yeah, most games like that are rigged. And claw machines, they just want to make money.” Connie stated, patting his shoulder reassuringly.
“Not fairrr.” Steven whined, earning a giggle from her. They continued through the games, looking for another to inevitably lose at. Steven spotted a red fluff from the corner of his eye and turned to look. They rested on a red panda plush hanging from the wall of one of the many game booths. He grabbed Connie’s arm to stop her.
“Steven? What’s wrong?” She turned to him, her brows furrowing in concern.
“LOOK.” He squealed, turning her in the direction of the booth. She knew he LOVED red pandas and she also knew he desperately wanted the plush he had found.
“C’mon, dork, let’s go try to get it.” She sighed lovingly, once again dragging him with her. They reached the game, it was a classic toss the ball and knock over the cans game. Steven never understood how they rigged these, but regardless he didn’t like it.
“10 balls, please.” He handed money to the game attendant, who told him a quick good luck and handed over the basket. He threw the first, aiming it straight for the middle. He opened his mouth to celebrate his victory, but the ball just bounced off and fell to the ground. He huffed, grabbing the next ball. He threw one after the other, eventually running out after all had not budged the stack.
“Tough luck!” The game attendant turned to pick up the balls on the ground, expecting the two to leave.
“10 more.” Steven pulled out more money. He was going to get his panda.
9 throws later, and the stack was still standing. He huffed again in frustration, he just wanted a stupid red panda plush.
He felt Connie poke his shoulder as he raised his arm to throw the last ball. “Can I try?” She asked, holding her hand out.
“Be my guest.” He shrugged and handed her the ball, not expecting her to have any better luck. He reached down to grab his wallet again, sorting through it to find another dollar when he heard Connie cheer. He looked up to find all the cans knocked down, littering the ground. “How did you do that!” He was in shock, considering the losing streak they had had all day.
“Well, while I was watching you throw I figured out the exact spot I had to aim for that would cause it all to fall apart.” She explained, sounding incredibly smart as Steven barely registered her explanation.
They were interrupted by the man behind the booth. “What prize would you like?” Connie smiled and pointed at the red panda. He grabbed it from the wall, handing it to her as Connie said a quick thank you. He turned to Steven, “so much for winning your girlfriend a prize, eh?” The man chuckled, turning away from them to clean up once again.
Steven’s face flushed and he opened his mouth to speak, but he was left with nothing. Did we just get mistaken as a couple? He gawked at the thought. They were just friends! Best friends who wanted to spend a day at the park together. Best friends who were on a week long trip, just the two of them. Best friends who spent most if not all of their time together regardless.
“Steven?” Connie poked him, holding his panda under her arm.
“Connie, did you hear what he said?” He asked her, fumbling with his wallet to properly put it away.
“No, what was it?” She grew worried, hoping the attendant hadn’t said something rude to them.
“He.. he thought we were dating!” Steven blurted, maybe a bit too loud. He watched Connie’s face grow red, and he wondered if he shouldn’t have told her.
“Pffttt, that’s crazy. Just a couple of besties! I’m sure that happens to others all the time! No need to worry about it.” She rambled, shoving the plush into Steven’s arms. They stood in silence, for the first time in their lives it was awkward silence and not the comfy silence they shared. Steven’s heart was pounding in his ears. He had no idea if that meant she was very against anything romantic between them or if she was flustered too. It should’ve been obvious, but all his mental things added up made it really hard for him to tell him own feelings apart, let alone someone else’s.
“Hey, let’s go check out some rides!” Steven broke the silence, gesturing to the bumper cars nearby.
“Yes! I will destroy you.” Connie playfully threatened. The moment was over and they were back to normal, Steven breathed a sigh of relief. This time, he dragged her along in the direction of the rides as she giggled behind him.
“Will this line ever end?” Steven groaned, leaning against the cold wall. After many rides, they had decided to go for the extreme adrenaline rush, the roller coaster. The problem though, was that the line was incredibly long. They’d been waiting an hour in the very hot sun.
“We’re almost there, I think we’ll be in the next group.” Connie sighed, joining him on the wall. “So, ready for this roller coaster?” She teased.
“Yeah? I’ve been on them before.” He said, confused and turning his head to her.
“Funland is tame compared to this one. I’ve never been on any besides Funland either, but I’ve seen videos.” She warned, tapping her feet. She lifted her finger in time with the shrieking of the current riders and looked at him.
“I’ll be fine, some bigger roller coaster won’t scare me.” He puffed out his chest, despite the bit of nerves that had risen.
“We’re next!” Connie exclaimed and began to follow the people ahead of them. Steven went with her, scanning the track. She was right, it was much bigger and intense than the Funland coaster. He swallowed his nerves and climbed into the car next to Connie.
It slowly began to move, inching its way to the top of the ramp. They reached the top, and immediately sped down. Steven shrieked, clinging to Connie’s arm instinctively while she screamed happily next to him. He planted his feet to the floor of the car and clung onto Connie for dear life, still screaming as they sped around the track. He was beginning to heavily regret this decision and shut his eyes tight.
He felt himself slowing to a stop and opened one eye cautiously. They were back at the beginning where they boarded, slowing to a stop. Connie climbed out her side, Steven following.
“Oh my GOD, Steven, that was so much fun th-” she abruptly stopped. “Steven, you okay? She smiled at him reassuringly. He was clinging to her arm and staring ahead, extremely frazzled.
“Yep, fine!” Steven assured, forcing a smile. Connie pulled him a long to a booth next to the coaster.
“You’re okay, silly. Let’s go get our picture!” She pointed excitedly to the booth, which he now realized was a photo booth.
“I forgot they took a photo..” Steven slapped his free hand over his face in embarrassment. He was screaming the whole ride, he was going to look so stupid. They reached the booth and he watched the pictures scroll by on the screens. Him and Connie’s photo appeared and internally cringed. He was in the midst of a scream, holding onto an excited Connie.
She bought two small photos, one for each of them. She thanked the woman at the counter, turning to go elsewhere with Steven, but turned back when she continued speaking to her. “That one’s a keeper,” she laughed, “you two are very cute, have a good day.” She smiled and turned away from Connie.
Steven heard and turned to Connie, both red as tomatoes and stunned to silence again. That was the second time they’d been mistaken as a couple that day and it was flustering him even more than it had last time. He only grabbed onto Connie because he knew she was safe.. Definitely no other reason. Steven grasped for something to distract them and he landed on the ferris wheel. The sun was going to set soon and it was the only ride they hadn’t touched yet.
“Ferris wheel! We haven’t done the ferris wheel yet.” He nudged Connie to bring her out of her thoughts, both still incredibly flustered. “Easy way to end off the day?”
“Yeah, that sounds good.” Connie breathed, relaxing and moving in that direction. Steven followed, ignoring the romantic implications behind a ferris wheel ride together. It was a cliche, in many movies and shows. He had picked that much up from the things he had been able to watch. He took a deep breath to calm himself and carried on.
Steven was once again regretting decisions. They were standing in the short line, even more flustered than they’d been before. The walk to the ride was filled with comments from strangers about how cute they looked together and questions of how long they’d been dating. They had quietly shrugged these comments off or corrected the questions, but both were nervous and on edge by the time they arrived. Steven was fidgeting with his hands and ends of his jacket, trying to think of something to break the silence. He decided on a casual question, one that Connie would know the answer to because she was so incredibly smart. “Um, do you think we’ll get to see the sunset while we’re up there?”
“Hm..” She thought for a moment. “No, I don’t think so. We won’t be up there long enough.” She decided, looking up at the sky.
“Dang, that would've been nice.” He ignored the slight tremor in his voice as they moved up the line. They were the next to board. He glanced at Connie, confused as to how she could keep her composure after the events of the day.
The gate swung open and the operator pointed to a car. The two climbed in, sitting next to each other. Steven squished his panda (who he had decidedly named Puzzle) between them and Connie let out a short laugh, causing Steven to smile. Their car slowly inched its way to the top, other riders boarding below them. They stopped at the top for a moment and Steven took in the view of the park and the surrounding land.
“The view is beautiful,” Connie spoke, breaking the silence. She, too, was looking out over the ferris wheel around the area. He lightly turned his gaze to her, enough so she wouldn’t notice. Not as beautiful as you. The curls and fluff in her hair perfectly framed her face, and the strand that always stood up from the top always made him smile. The slight breeze gently blew her hair and Steven watched, starstruck at the beautiful girl in front of him. Maybe the ferris wheel hadn’t been such a bad idea after all-
“Attention riders!” A voice sound from below, from a megaphone or loud speaker he assumed, that interrupted his thoughts. Steven and Connie gave each other a confused look before directing their attention to the voice. “Our ferris wheel is having some difficulties and we need to do quick maintenance on it. We will have it fixed soon! Please stay seated and still in your cars until we are complete, and we apologize for the inconvenience.” Whoever was speaking went silent and Steven stiffened. The two were going to be stuck up there for who knows how long, with nothing to do and extreme tension because of the awkward events that lead them here.
“Ahh I’m sorry, Connie.” He began to apologize, feeling guilty for getting them into this mess. “If I hadn’t suggested this we wouldn’t be stuck up here-”
“No, Steven, it’s not your fault.” Connie interrupted him, “neither of us would’ve known this would happen.” She looked out at the surrounding area again. “Besides.. Not the worst place to be stuck, right?” She lightly grabbed his hand and they both, almost in sync, turned their heads the opposite direction to hide their blushing faces.
Steven’s thoughts were racing. Maybe it was that they were left up here with nothing but their thoughts, maybe it was because of the multiple times they were assumed dating. Maybe it was both. It was taking everything in Steven not to spill his mushy feelings to Connie.
He loved her so much, everything about her. She was incredibly smart, strong and brave and very skilled with a sword, she knew everything about him and how to make him feel the safest. He felt like he could do anything if Connie was with him. His heart pounded. And he decided to take a risk.
“Um.. Connie?” He asked cautiously, still holding her hand. Connie looked at him, signaling him to continue. “I just, um..” He swallowed and took a deep breath. “I really like you, like a lot and I know today has been weird and awkward. But it also reminded me how much I want that.. To be your boyfriend.” He gently rubbed the side of her hand with his thumb, his other hand fidgeting with his jacket. “So I was wondering.. Maybe you wanted it too? That is if I didn’t ruin it a few months ago-” He was interrupted by Connie gently grabbing his face and turning him towards her.
“Connie?” Suddenly, she was kissing him and Steven couldn’t breathe. He panicked for a moment, before closing his eyes and returning it. He felt like he was floating (not really though, he was keeping himself attached to the car) and about to throw up at the same time. He felt the sun’s heat slowly disappearing. We did catch the sunset after all. They both finally pulled away, faces very red and smiling like idiots.
“Oh my gosh..” Steven whined, hiding his face in his hands. He was incredibly flustered and overwhelmed, in a good way. He saw Connie pump her fist in the air and whisper a small “yes!” and had to stifle a laugh.
After a moment, Connie leaned against him. “I don’t know, does that answer your question?” She teased, poking his cheek and he gently swatted her hand away.
“Yeah.. yeah it does.” He grabbed her hand to hold it again, and they turned to the beautiful sunset surrounding them. Suddenly, the ferris wheel jerked and started moving again and they both laughed. “I swear you planned that.” He pointed a finger accusingly at Connie and she had a mischievous look on her face.
“Maybe I did.” She raised an eyebrow and Steven looked surprised.
“Wait, really?” He asked in shock, not thinking Connie would have made a plan like that.
“No, unfortunately not. It was just our luck.” She shrugged. The ferris wheel went around a few times, both of them giggling the whole time. It stopped at the bottom and they climbed off, grabbing Puzzle and walking hand in hand towards the exit of the park. When another person said they looked cute, they just smiled and nodded. Everyone was right, they are a cute couple.
They reached the exit and Steven pointed to the Tunnel of Love ride nearby. “We gotta do that next.” Connie laughed and nodded at the cheesy suggestion. They were both too cheesy for their own good. They exited the park, still hand in hand to the Dondai. They still had 4 more days together and they were ready for their first (half) trip as a couple.