Steven blinks at her, still a little bit surprised by that opinion even though it does basically align with everything Peridot had become over the last few years. He can't help but smile - small but genuine - he can guess why she's particular upset about that at the moment.

Amethyst has always been pretty much the worst at that kind of thing. Though, she's gotten better... at least he thought so.

"Yeah... I guess they do, huh?" He ruffles his own hair, feeling a bit sheepish about saying that. There's a lot of things he can be upfront about, but...

"...I was really different in Portland. I know we didn't actually see each other a lot while we were there, but... I was just scared and sad all the time. Now that we're back here..."

He tries to think of how to phrase it, and then shrugs a shoulder, helplessly.

"...I don't want to keep feeling like that."