Archive of Our Own ^beta

It had been years since Steven's big meltdown in Beach City. He was 22 now. His mind was far healthier. He and Connie had found a nice house to settle into together. Connie was in her final year of college, and Steven had a lovely little flower shop that he ran. All in all, things were going great for the two.

Steven wanted to propose again. This made him incredibly nervous, as he didn't exactly have the best track record when it came to this. Last time, he had only been 16. Connie understandably told him no and then went back home. He couldn't even blame her for that reaction. He had just sprung it on her, they were so young, and it wasn't even 100% genuine on his part either. Of course, he loved her, but back then it had mainly been out of insecurity of being left behind.

Now, there was no ulterior motive. There was no other reason to propose besides love. He loved Connie, and he wanted to spend his life with her. Not as Stevonnie, and not to college. Sure, Stevonnie would still exist but they weren't Garnet. Plus, college was Connie's thing, and Steven understood that. He could help her with some assignments, as he always did, but that wasn't something he wanted to pursue.

First came purchasing a ring. A diamond felt weird to buy for obvious reasons. In fact, any gem sort of felt weird to purchase given the context of his life, and he had to constantly remind himself that the rings he was looking at weren't conscious beings. Thankfully though, he eventually found a good ring. Then, all he had to do was find a way to propose.

He considered doing another picnic and song, but Connie would probably see right through that. Besides, he wanted this proposal to be as detached from the previous attempt as possible, and doing a reprise of the first one was counterproductive. Needless to say, he was stumped. It had to be perfect for Connie to say yes, right?

But, then he remembered how Ruby proposed to Sapphire. The woman had disappeared for a full day only to return, give a small speech, and give an almost impromptu proposal. It wasn't like anything Steven had seen in the movies. Dogcopter had been planning his proposal for weeks before almost dying and actually going through with it. Ruby came up with it on the spot, and she still got a yes.

All this was running through Steven's mind as he heard Connie get home. He was already wearing a nice outfit, so he pocketed the ring as he heard her approach. "Connie, hey" he said with a small smile, hoping his nerves weren't too visible. "You look nice"

"You look nice too" Connie replied, taking in the oddly neat clothing he was wearing. "Are we going somewhere?" she asked. After all, that would explain the clothing choices. "Not exactly" Steven replied nervously before standing up and walking over to her. He was gonna do this. Impromptu. It was time.

"Connie, you're the most important person in my life and it would- I would like nothing more- Fuck..." he trailed off. Connie chuckled. She could tell where this was going, but she said nothing, instead just reassuringly holding onto his hands to help ease his nerves.

"Will you marry me?" he asked after a moment, pulling out the small ring box and opening it to reveal a very pretty emerald ring. "Yes, Steven" Connie replied, visibly amused. "Now that we aren't 16 anymore, I would love to" she added. "That was one time!" Steven replied in mock defense, but he was really just relieved. He had been expecting it to be a whole thing, probably ending in heartbreak, but it had not lasted more than that brief exchange.

Huh Steven thought to himself as he and Connie sat together on the couch and turned on the television. The latest Dogcopter movie was airing in 10 minutes, and they were both getting excited all week for the premiere. It wasn't one of the big-budget ones, just a TV movie, but that didn't really mean much to either of them.

Guess I was overthinking things