"Wait," you blinked. "I have an idea."

Steven shifted and tried not to look too disappointed; "What is it?"

"Since both of us need to leave for our own good," you sat up, "let's spend the rest of our time in Beach City wisely. We can hit all the great things in this town, and see all the sights!"

Steven sat up excitedly; "that's a great idea! A goodbye tour!"

"Exactly!"

You looked at each other, excitement bouncing between the two of you, before hopping off of the Dondai.

"Here," Steven swung his keys around his finger before tossing them to you. You caught them clumsily. "You can drive," Steven said.

"What?" You were caught off guard. "No, no, that's okay, it's your car," you tossed the keys back to Steven, who deflected them with his shield and bounced them back to you.

"No, no I insist," the boy replied goofily, obviously amused by your game of catch. He ducked into the passenger seat and waited for you to get in the car. You reluctantly sat in the driver's seat, and it was just as you feared. Steven drove a standard.

"Steven, I..." you looked over to see him staring at you. Embarrassed, you looked away. "I can't drive a stick shift."

"Oh," Steven smiled gently. "I can... teach you," he offered, leaning on the shared armrest.

"You... what?" You looked at him in shock and couldn't help but blush.

"Here," he said, "just hold the clutch, start the car, and I'll show you how it's done."

You did as you were told while Steven hummed in approval. You could feel him watching your every move. To say you had butterflies in your stomach was the understatement of the century. You were so anxious at the combination of trying something new, and doing it in front of the guy you liked.

"Okay good," Steven smiled. "Now, to start- put your right foot on the brake, and push down the E-brake."

You looked down at your feet and made sure you knew which pedals were which. You pressed the brake and made brief eye contact with Steven as you gripped the E-brake. He flushed and darted his eyes away until you finished pushing the E-brake down.

"Okay!" Steven exclaimed. "Now for the fun part," he grinned. You grimaced, already imagining future-you getting both of you into an accident.

Steven saw your face and chuckled lightly; "You'll be fine, I promise."

His words eased your anxiety (well, most of it), so you took a deep breath and nodded to yourself; "Okay, let's do this."

You looked at Steven to see a huge grin split his face. He looked so goofy... you smiled.

"Okay, push down the clutch with your left foot- all the way to the floor," Steven started. "Then, shift into first gear."

"Uh..." your hand hovered over the stick and you tried to make sense of the web of lines and numbers on the top. You looked up at Steven, silently asking for help.

"Here," he smirked, placing his hand on top of yours, "like this." He subtly rubbed circles on your hand with his thumb, while he gently guided your hand on the stick, moving to first gear.

"Okay good," he spoke quietly. "Now, slowly accelerate and come off the clutch at the same time."

You never realized how much coordination was required to drive a stick. Nevertheless, you put your foot on the gas and came off the clutch. The car shook a bit, but once you were completely off the clutch it was smooth sailing. Until you had to shift again.

"Okay," Steven said, cool as a cucumber, "shifting while driving. It's pretty much the same, only now we're moving," he chuckled. You laughed nervously, a little too much.

"So, come off the gas, push the clutch, shift, then come off the clutch and press on the gas."

You froze, not absorbing a single thing he just said.

"Information overload?" Steven asked. You smiled awkwardly and nodded. "That's okay. We'll do it together- slowly."

You eased into a genuine smile at his words, and nodded to signal you were ready. Steven smiled and leaned closer to you so that he could see the pedals, his face dangerously close to your neck. You shivered.

"Okay, come off the gas," he muttered by your ear. You did as he spoke, lifting your right foot off of the gas pedal. "Good, good..." you could feel his breath on your neck, which was seriously distracting you. "Now press the clutch, all the way." Your left foot pushed the clutch to the floor. "Good job," Steven laughed lightly. "Now," he took your hand, guiding it to the stick, "we shift to second." With his hand on yours, the two of you moved the stick down.

"Last, but not least," Steven breathed, "very, very, slowly accelerate, and wait a bit before coming off the clutch- also very slowly. The slower the safer," he let out a small laugh.

You cautiously did what he instructed, slowly but surely, until you had completely come off the clutch- without making the car shake this time. You breathed a sigh of relief.

"You did it!" Steven said happily. "And you didn't even stall!"

"Yeah," you let out a laugh of relief, feeling your nerves dissipate. You put down the clutch and shifted into neutral before slowing the car to a stop. "You should drive, though."

"What?" Steven said, caught off guard. "Are you sure?"

You showed Steven your shaking hands and giggled; "Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure."