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Since neither of you were in the mood for the limited lunch options in Beach City, Connie drove the two of you to a diner on the outskirts of the neighboring Ocean Town- "No Longer On Fire."

Surprisingly, Connie didn't seem at all apprehensive for a girl with a complete stranger in her passenger seat. You introduced yourself and made small talk for most of the ride, not wanting to scare her by bringing up her ex right out the gate.

Once at the diner, you made normal get-to-know-you conversation to stall for time until your food came. You didn't want to get into a deep conversation just to be interrupted by your server checking in.

Connie must've had the same thought process, since it wasn't until the two of you had gotten your food and drinks that she decided to say something; "So, if you don't mind me asking, what is this really about?"

"Oh," you said, surprised. "Well... I don't wanna freak you out..."

"What?" Connie raised her eyebrows, "Well now you have to tell me."

You hesitated; "I just... don't want to bring up a sore subject, you know?"

"Well, yeah, but... you invited me to lunch, so... we're in it now," Connie laughed nervously. "Just go ahead," she smiled.

"Okay, well... it's more what I want you to tell me."

Connie furrowed her brows.

You let out a deep exhale. "I was just wondering... what happened between you and... Steven?"

"Oh!" Connie seemed... relieved? Which was not the reaction you were expecting by a long shot.

"I'm only asking because I thought him and I were going to become a thing, but then he said he couldn't be with me because he didn't want to get his heart broken again, and then Kevin told me that you two dated for a while, and-"

"Wha- Kevin??"

"...yes?"

"You know him??"

"Yeah, I... dated him."

"Oh, God," Connie laughed, "I'm so sorry."

You were so caught off-guard that you nearly spat out your drink from laughing.

"Well, anyway..." Connie composed herself, "Steven and I- we were best friends for... 5, maybe 6 years? He was the first real friend I ever made in Beach City, or... anywhere," she sighed and turned to look out the window, lost in thought.

"We had a sort of thing going on... and I guess we never talked about it- like we never decided; 'let's be boyfriend and girlfriend,' you know? We sort of just... gradually became something more than friends," she explained. "Every once in a while, I'd give him a kiss on the cheek, or we'd hold hands, and sometimes we would fuse. It was really great for a while- he was so sweet, and everything just felt so... easy."

Connie turned back to you; "But then... one day he came by my house and picked me up at the start of my study break and brought me to the beach. He had set up this whole picnic- with jam snacks, sparkling cider, cake, and roses everywhere," she smiled. "It was so romantic- he even wrote a song about how he wanted to be with me before he..." Connie hesitated.

"Before he...?"

"Proposed."

"Wh... pro... proposed..."

"Yeah..." Connie grimaced, "he had this idea... that he would come with me to college, and we'd live together as Stevonnie all the time."

"Wh..." you couldn't believe what you were hearing. "What did you say?"

"Of course, I said no! I was 16! And I really did lov- like him, but I wasn't ready to get married."

You nodded sympathetically.

"I thought I let him down easy, I told him- it's not a 'never', it's a 'not now.' And I thought he took it well until..." Connie trailed off. She looked at you and decided not to finish the thought. "We don't really talk anymore. I... I think I was just making things worse by being around him," Connie smiled sadly, "...I was just trying to give him space, but we never really reconnected after that."

"So that was it?" You finished her sentence and she nodded sadly.

"So... how is he doing?" Connie asked.

"Good, I think," you said. "I mean, he generally seems like a really happy person."

Connie sighed in relief; "good. As long as he isn't turning pink or broadcasting his subconscious," Connie laughed to herself.

"Oh..."

"Oh?"

"Well, he did turn pink once... and he had a nightmare... on the TV?"

Connie closed her eyes, "oh, Steven..."she looked back at you. "What did it? Turned him pink, I mean."

"Kevin, actually. Shocker, right?"

"Oh, man. That tracks. Steven hates Kevin."

"He... does?" You thought back to the day you met Steven.

"(Y/N)," he started, "I am so sorry that happened... I can't believe that he-" Steven took his hand back and formed a tight fist. "Kevin..." Steven seemed to disappear in his mind for a moment.

"Are you kidding?" Connie squinted. "Since the day he met Kevin, he's hated him."

"I had no idea," you frowned.

"I mean, I did too. He sort of... hit on us while we were fused as Stevonnie," Connie explained. "Even when we told him to stop, he kept trying to get us to dance with him. He didn't bother us too much after that, but I think that experience was enough for Steven."

"Oh god," you breathed, "I'm so sorry. That's awful."

"It's okay, it's not your fault," Connie brushed it off. "Besides, he must've improved since then, for a self-respecting woman like you to go out with him," she laughed.

"Yeah... he did," you smiled.