korrin(ne)!!

“Oh, my God, have you heard?”

“No way… they did that?”

“Hah! I knew {NAME} was shady since they showed up here!”

You hear whispers as you walk through the town, feel the eyes of friends and strangers alike as your footsteps on the pavement below are drowned out by your intensifying heartbeat. They were whispering. Even worse, your name was being uttered what felt like more than it ever had been in your entire life, and you can tell by the snarls and glares being shot your way by even Onion of all people that it isn’t in any good context.

Have you done something wrong? You can’t think of anything that happened recently that could have possibly been that bad. Yeah, you and the gems had some particularly rough missions as of late, but nothing that would make the normally friendly townspeople move to the other side of the road to avoid getting too close to you, treating you like a disease instead of a neighbor. No, it couldn’t have been because of any Gem-related stuff! They’re long used to it by now, given the Crystal Gems have been here far longer than your 5 years living in Beach CIty.

You try not to think too much of it. After all, overthinking was a bad habit of yours, always has been, and you weren’t trying to be some middle-schooler having a panic attack just because a few people didn’t like you. No longer wanting to be the people pleaser scared of tiny mistakes. So what if it seems a rumor is going around? You’ll just ask a friend about what’s going on and sort it out. Surely it can’t be that bad, right?

You stroll up to the big donut, see it’s still open, and walk inside. There, at the counter like always, is your good friend Sadie. She was the first person you met when you moved here, showed you around, introduced you to the Crystal Gems and, your now boyfriend, Steven Universe. You have a lot to thank her for, and she is one of your most trusted friends.

“What are you doing here?”

She asks, voice cold and uninviting. That was weird, she never used that tone with you. Not even during the few arguments the two of you had.

“Um… just dropping in, I guess…?” Hesitantly, you walk up to the counter. Sadie averts her gaze. “Everyone’s been acting a bit… weird. Have you, like, heard anything? Maybe rumors or just things people have been saying about-”

“You?” She cuts you off. “How could I not? How could you not? You knew what would happen.”

“What? Sadie, what are you talking about?” You laugh nervously, trying to keep your cool.

“I think it’s best you leave, {NAME}.” Sadie narrows her gaze at you and walks over to the corner of the room to grab the broom. “We’re closing soon.”

You blink, perplexed. “Sadie, it’s only 4 o’clock.”

“Short shift. There’s the door.” She points with the broom handle and turns her back to you, starting to sweep the floor.

Too confused to question, you walk out without another word. Even Sadie is giving you the cold shoulder? What has been going on? What dirt is this mystery person rubbing all over your name that is making Sadie not want to even look you in the eye? You pick up your pace, trying to hurry back home. Maybe the Gems know something about it? They always know what’s going on in Beach City, they have to know at least a little bit about this rumor.

-

Oh, boy, they knew. You can feel it through the door. Feel the tension growing as you turn the handle to enter the familiar house you strangely feel unwelcome in at the moment. “I’m back.” You call out, trying to keep your composure as you shut the door behind you and look up into the living room.

All four of them are there. Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and your beloved Steven looking at you like they don’t even recognize you. A mix of disgust, anger, and disappointment can be felt by their gazes alone, and Garnet’s voice breaking the tense silence doesn’t ease the lump in your throat.

“{NAME},” It’s said without the usual care her tone carried towards you. “We need to talk.”

Panic begins to rise in your body. Talk? About what? You don’t have a lick of an idea what’s been going on all day. Your confusion must have been evident on your face, because Pearl starts to speak after. “We’ve heard some… things from someone who knew you before you moved here. An ex partner, specifically.”

…Jex?! Your insane ex? You two had just broken up before you moved to Beach City. It was a messy relationship, to put it plainly. They were toxic, you both were for each other, but Jex was the root of it. They did a lot of crazy things, but the tipping point for you was when they tried to convince you that it was apparently normal to kiss other people at a party then insisted they go to alone, one of the people being your past best friend. You had to end it, and thought that you thought you could leave that part of your life in the past by getting a fresh start in a new city. Apparently, you were gravely mistaken thinking that they would ever let you have peace without them getting involved.

“They sent me some screenshots of chat logs between the two of you. Some pictures, too.” Steven says, pulling out his phone to show you. You walk up to him hurriedly, your blood beginning to boil as you scan the content held in shaky hands.

Logs of you begging Jex to not leave you, even after admitting you were seeing someone else behind their back. Pictures of what was supposed to be you doing various substances, making out with people who were certainly not Jex, screenshots of you bragging about assaults, cheating, stealing, deceiving. Bruises, cuts, and bite marks on Jex's body were included, assumed to be from you.

“What the hell is this?” You ask, brows furrowed in anger in frustration. All of this was certainly not true. None of this happened, you knew this. This was all stuff that Jex did. These were altered, you remember each and every text and photo being sent to you throughout the course of your relationship instead of the other way around. “Guys, these aren’t real, I promise. Really, I’ve told you about how crazy Jex is.”

They don’t look convinced, Not even Steven, who looks like his heart had been torn in half right in front of him. Your breath begins to quicken. Your palms start to sweat.

“Dude.. it’s kind of, like… right there.” Amethyst says, voice strained, like she wanted to hide the amount of disbelief she has towards you. “Jex sounded pretty serious about it all on the phone.”

“The phone? You spoke to them?” You turn to Steven, pleading. “Steven, please, you know more about them than they do. Surely you can’t really believe this is real? Jex had to have altered these, I swear, they aren’t real. You can’t believe them, right?”

Steven’s expression changes from aversion to guilt and pain. He looks down at the floor, wide eyed with his eyes glossed over in heartbreak. He looks like his reality just got altered, that the love of his life turned out to be the most selfish liar this entire time. What were they doing behind his back? Were they really this irresponsible every time they left his house? They were always so loving, so caring, he’d have known if they were trying to get something out of him.

Pearl, feeling the tension and your now also glazed eyes, began to speak, but you couldn’t hear. Your ears were ringing, your body was shaking and sweaty and it felt like you were going to puke. You can’t believe that the people who treated you like family since you got here were treated like they barely recognized you. The tension and anger got to you, and you turn away, tears stinging your eyes as you leave with Pearl and Amethyst calling out in a weak attempt to get you to stay and resolve this.

-

You went to the one place you knew and were certain hadn’t caught wind of the drama, the Barn. The walk was long and lonely, your body not feeling real and the world blurry through your tears the entire time. All you needed was someone who would believe you and knew would be there for you.

Lucky for you, you had two Gems at the barn who met that criteria.

Sobbing into a pillow, you try and get your words out. As soon as Lapis and Peridot asked you what was wrong, it all just spilled out. The confusion and hurt had been building up since you left the house.

“I don’t know what to do. No one in Beach City is going to believe me, Jex somehow knows the area I live in, my own boyfriend thinks I’m a cheating, selfish addict- I have no way to prove the evidence isn’t fake!” You sob, Lapis wrapping a blanket around you as you curl yourself into an awkward Periodt’s side. The green Gem wasn’t good with comfort, but that didn't mean she wouldn’t try and help. “I don’t know what I even can do…”

“{NAME}, that’s horrible. Why wouldn't the Gems let you try and explain?” Lapis voices, sounding slightly angered for you and your situation.

Peridot nods, feeling the same. “Jex isn’t nearly as trustworthy as you are. You’ve known the Gems since you got here. The worst I’ve seen you do is knock over one of my meep morps.”

She hands you a clean, not snot-soaked pillow for you to continue to cry in. “Really, I think Lapis and I have done worse than you did combined.”

“‘Gem’ bad things and ‘Human’ bad things are a bit different, especially in relationships. As far as Steven knows, his and I’s relationship has amounted to absolutely nothing because Jex made me look like I’m cheating on him and have no problem abusing my partners and hard drugs like them!” Sniffling, you sit up straight, rubbing your eyes to soothe your growing headache. “I not only lost every friend I ever made in Beach City, but also my lover. The one I value more than anything. How could he trust me after this…? It’s impossible to prove those images were altered, Jex knows how to fake things.”

Lapis sighs softly, resting a comforting hand on your shoulder as she thinks for a moment. “Maybe it would help to get some rest before we try and find a way to fix this. Really, you’re shriveling up.” She wasn’t wrong, you’ve rightfully soaked four pillows total and look like you excreted every trace of water in your body between anxiety attacks and sobbing uncontrollably. “You can sleep in the loft, we have some snacks and water stored away you can have. You look like you need it.”

“Yeah! And we can bring the TV up there so we can distract you from your now doomed life!” Peri adds, her excitement fading when her words make you whimper and begin to cry again. “Er… I mean, try to stop you from crying! Really, please stop.”

After coughing and blowing your nose, you nod, muttering a weak agreement before taking your first deep breath in a good few hours. “Okay… Thank you, guys, for sticking with me. I know it’s probably not easy to do.”

“Puh-lease. You’re our friend, we know you’re better than Jex.” Lapis gives you a smile, helping your trembling frame off the floor. “The Gems and the others know that, too. They’ll be reminded of that soon.”

-

Steven’s heart sank as he looked at Ronaldo’s screen.

He knew deep down that something wasn’t totally right. Even so, he couldn’t hide his newfound sitrust towards you after seeing those pictures. A day or so after you walked out, he knew he had to be sure of the amount of truth the pictures held. Who would know how to trace the origins of an image better than someone who does nothing but do exactly that all day?

He went to Ronaldo, who had already been scheming over the images, and found that every single one had been photoshopped, staged, or both, none of them actually made by or contained you in them. The original pictures revealed Jex in your place in every single scenario shown. How Ronaldo got the raw images so quickly, Steven had no idea, but he was so thankful he did.

“They were telling the truth…” Steven mutters, eyes gaping at the new images in front of him on his phone. “I… I need to find {NAME}. Thank you Ronaldo- I gotta go tell the Gems!” He rushes out, mind racing as he sprints to the beach house. How hadn’t he seen it before?Did he really just lose his best friend, his love, his {NAME} over a stupid rumor? Of course Jex was lying, {NAME} was never like that! They were never like that, and he was stupid to ever believe for a moment that they ever could have been.

He needed to find {NAME} and sort this out.

-

You lay on your side, curled up in a blanket on the floor, eyes looking so red and puffy one would think you rubbed the freshest pollen right into them. Peridot is going on and on about something related to Camp Pining hearts, but you aren’t paying any attention. All you can think of is Steven, how you believe that you just ruined your entire relationship with him. You know you really shouldn’t feel guilty. After all, the entire situation is fabricated, you literally did nothing wrong. That’s not what the others think, however. You feel almost as bad as the scumbag that you were wrongfully made out to be. Before your heart clenches too tightly and you begin yet another round of crying, you hear a voice.

“{NAME}!!”

Steven?

You shoot up, throwing the blanket off you and pushing past Peridot to rush out of the barn, watching Steven rushing up to the barn. “Steven…?”

“{NAME}!” He stops in front of you, the hand holding his phone stretched out towards you while the other rests on his knee, his panting breaking up his sentence. “{NAME}... it’s fake… they’re all fabricated- you were right.”

You look closer. In front of you on his phone, you see the raw photos that Jex had before they altered them to frame you. You can’t believe it, you were almost starting to believe you really did do all of that and just forgot, or even worse, made yourself believe it was Jex in your place.

Steven stands upright, pocketing his phone before taking your hands in his. “{NAME}, I am so sorry I didn’t believe you.” He starts, and his eyes meet yours this time. “I can’t believe I let myself think you would ever do those things, especially after what you told me about Jex before… I was wrong, the Gems were wrong, the City was wrong. Could you ever forgive me…?”

You stare into his eyes for a moment, the pain in your heart fading now that you were proven right. The evidence you thought could never not be believed got proven wrong. You didn't just lose everyone you thought you trusted. “Yeah…” You wrap your arms around your lover. “I can forgive you…”

“OH, thank the stars!” He sighs, pulling you close and tight, nuzzling his face into your shoulder. “I need to make this up to you. Hm. Oh! Empire City is hosting a huge event with dinner and live music this weekend! We can do that and catch a movie- your pick, anything you want. I’m gonna get you so many flowers- I know your favorites, don’t worry- we can have that pillow fort date night you mentioned wanting-”

You giggle amongst his rambling, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “I think that and a few hours-long cuddle session may make up for it.” You pull away from his embrace a bit to look him in the eye again. “I’m just glad I have my best friend again.”

“I’m sorry I almost took him away over some dumb rumor…” He closes his eyes, leaning in to press his forehead to yours. “I love you, my Star.”