I parted my lips and muttered, "This isn't right, is it?".

Stevonnie wearily glanced at me with concern in the eyes, "What do you mean? This is fine". They looked back at the road, noticing Kevin was leaving them in the dust. They chewed the inside of their mouth, resting a hand on their head as if they were getting a migraine, "We have to beat him! He doesn't deserve to win!".

"Guys?", I murmured, "Stop the car".

We were idled in the middle of the road with Steven and Connie unfused and sitting shoulder-to-shoulder on the driver seat in bracing positions. Steven had his hands gripped tightly on the belt across his body that was restraining him. Connie was slightly hunched over with her hands on her knees. I hadn't realised it up till now, but my nails had clawed their way into the cushioning of the car seat.

Steven's brows were furrowed and he turned to look at me and Connie, "Is everyone ok?", he panted.

I examined myself, not seeing any injuries. At least, not physically.

"I think so".

In unison, we all let out a sigh in relief as I reclined back against the seat. I leaned against the window, looking out at the road as I just came to the realisation about how far we'd driven up the mountain just to rub a first place ribbon in some jerk's face. "Why are we doing this?", I asked in a sigh.

Steven knitted his brows and unbuckled his seatbelt, "We're getting back at Kevin. We were about to beat him at his own game!", he spoke brusquely. He grunted, frustrated at himself as if he regretted stopping the car.

"I think...", Connie muttered in reflection, still continuing to keep her eyes on the road ahead. "We are obsessed with him".

Steven shook his head, stubbornly, "What? No, we're not!", he turned his head downwards so I couldn't see his face. After a moment, his eyes rose back up to face Connie with a softer glance, "Are we?".

I leaned forward, "I really hate to admit this, but Connie has a point. He's the reason you two fused".

A seed of nausea was planted in my stomach, growing roots in my body. I struggled to keep a level gaze, swallowing uneasily. "That doesn't sit right with me", I groaned.

Steven's face was a little deadpanned, to begin with. Fusion was such a complex thing. He remembered Pearl describing it as 'The Ultimate Connection'. It was something really special, a way of stating that you care about someone. And yet, for some reason, he wasted that bond on Kevin. He didn't fuse because of friendship. He fused because of hate. He fused because of his hate for Kevin.

A soft gasp escaped his lips upon realizing what he had done. He abused his power to fuse, and for what? To win some stupid race he didn't even want to be a part of in the first place? He felt so dumb and flustered at himself that he let himself stoop down to Kevin's level.

Suddenly, Steven felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to face me. "Steven, sometimes you'll encounter really bad people or really bad experiences. If you let them get to you, you'll suffocate in your problems", I explained, "I want to finish this race... but not for him", I spoke, sending him a tender smile that sent flutters in his stomach. He tried not to show, he really did try. The grip hardened with a fierce intensity that made Steven wince, but strangely, in a good way, "Let's win this for us!".

Steven's eyes narrowed and he huffed in distress and irritation. Not at Kevin, or Connie, or me, but at himself. How did he let his hatred get him this far? Connie nodded in agreement, "Yeah! Forget Kevin. This is for the three of us". We both looked at Steven, waiting for a confirmation from him.

Steven's mind had been wandering elsewhere as he heard Kevin's childish screams from behind him, ringing incessantly and almost pleasantly in his ears. Even though Connie had muttered to him not to, Steven couldn't help but sneak a surreptitious glance at Kevin through the rearview mirror. He stood in the middle road, his fists shaking sharply in the air while he barked the word, "Obsessed!", over and over again. The desperation in his eyes made Steven - STEVONNIE - let out a chuckle in pity. They couldn't believe the irony gazing them down through the reflection.

I had my back to the front, sticking out a taunting tongue at Kevin as he disappeared out of view. I couldn't help it! Seeing him so worked up about us made me think that he was obsessed with us.

I sat forward again, "Sucks we didn't win the race", I pouted, looking down at the messily wrapped PROTES protein bar we had won for second place from Ronaldo. I peeled at the orange wrapper, revealing a dark brown bar. I took a petite bite out of it, not too large in case I didn't like it but small enough to not taste anything at all. It didn't taste horrible and I didn't want to spit it out.

"Yeah. But, we got a protein bar out of it!", Stevonnie grinned in the rearview mirror, catching a glimpse of a radiant star shimmering. But not the ones in the night sky. Steven knew that once they have unfused, Connie would tease him non-stop when they got home, but honestly, he was prepared to deal with it. "We should probably get you back home. I can only imagine how worked up your mother must be".