Steven and the Gems have opened up Little Homeschool, a place where Gems can learn to integrate into Earth society. Meanwhile, Jasper, still bitter about having lost her purpose, is living in self-imposed exile in the woods. Steven's attempt to reason with her escalates into a fight, during which he develops new powerful abilities.

Amethyst has started a new program wherein Gems choose jobs in Beach City. While happy with the effort, Steven is unhappy that most have chosen jobs that resemble what they did on Homeworld. He attempts to open them up to new experiences by assigning them different occupations, but this results in panic and destruction as the Gems work at jobs they are unsuited for.

The Rose Quartzes that Pink Diamond created to resemble her Rose Quartz persona travel to Beach City to visit Steven. He, Greg, and the Crystal Gems are uncomfortable around the Rose Quartzes due to their similarity to Steven's mother; but Steven doesn't have the heart to ask them to leave.

Pink Diamond's original Pearl, nicknamed Volleyball, has a crack on her face that is impossible to heal, even after Steven and Pearl take her to the Reef, a Pearl repair station. At the Reef, a new conflict ensues when Volleyball explains how Pink Diamond caused the crack.

Aquamarine and Eyeball Ruby seek revenge on Steven for ruining their careers. This leads them to fuse into Bluebird Azurite, who arrives in Beach City and pulls a series of pranks against Steven; the others warm up to her, but Steven has difficulty trusting her, and his suspicions are proven correct when Bluebird takes Greg hostage.

Steven has fused with Pearl to babysit Onion on the same day that he is scheduled to fuse with Garnet to teach a safety seminar. Steven rushes between fusions to try to fulfill both obligations, becoming stressed that he cannot do both activities at the same time. The episode is ultimately revealed to be a safety video hosted by Sunstone herself about the dangers of poor time management.

Steven is becoming overworked running Little Homeschool and is spending less time with Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl; their attempts to hang out with him fall flat as they keep planning activities he has outgrown. When an overnight snowstorm forces Steven to close Little Homeschool for the day, the Gems try to use this as a bonding opportunity by playing a game of "Steven Tag" against his will.

Steven and Lapis visit an alien planet being terraformed by a pair of other Lapis Lazulis and try to convince them to find other ways of expressing themselves. Their efforts prove difficult, and Lapis soon becomes agitated at how much they remind her of her former disregard for life.

As the Off-Colors graduate from Little Homeschool, Steven learns that Sadiehuger and the Suspects have broken up to pursue their own interests; Sadie is now dating a new partner, Shep; and Lars has decided to leave his bakery in Beach City and return to space. Worried that his friends are drifting away from him, Steven literally tries to keep everyone together.

Steven resigns from Little Homeschool, and unhealthily takes up gardening as a hobby. He accidentally brings a cactus to life, which soon begins to look like and imitate him by repeating his innermost feelings. Things get out of control when "Cactus Steven" grows into a monster while acting out Steven's aggression.

Steven and Peridot watch a reboot of their favorite show, Camp Pining Hearts, and are dismayed by the new characters and plotlines. When they discover that Steven is capable of projecting his dreams onto the television screen, they try to use this as an opportunity to create new episodes of Camp Pining Hearts more to their liking; but Steven's anxiety prevents his subconscious from following the script.

Steven, Connie, Pearl, and Bismuth head to the skating rink together. Steven is introduced to Connie's friends from cram school, but finds himself awkwardly detached from humans. Pearl tries to get Bismuth to socialize with humans, but Bismuth confides in Steven that she only came to spend time with Pearl while convincing Steven to assert his friendship with Connie.

When Steven learns that Connie is going to be leaving Beach City for college, he realizes he can't visualize his future without her. He asks Ruby and Sapphire for advice, and becomes convinced that their kind of marriage is the only way to keep Connie close to him.

After Connie rejects his proposal, Steven's body begins deforming and swelling up to massive size. Connie's mother, a physician, examines Steven and concludes that he is suffering physical consequences of the emotional trauma he experienced as a child.

Greg takes Steven on a road trip in an attempt to help him figure out what he wants out of life. They end up at Greg's childhood home, where Steven learns that Greg rebelled against his restrictive parents. While Greg encourages Steven to find his own path, Steven envies Greg for having grown up with structure and supervision.

With Steven's condition worsening, he runs away from home and turns to Jasper for help in taking control of his powers. Jasper's training methods prove to be too effective, however, and her rematch with Steven leads to her being shattered. Steven uses the essences of the Diamonds to repair her, and when she reforms, she bows to him as her Diamond.

Steven flees to Homeworld to ask the Diamonds for advice about his condition. He finds them doing the opposite of what they used to do: Yellow Diamond fixes broken Gems, Blue Diamond makes people happy, and White Diamond lets other beings control her. After Steven attempts to hurt White Diamond while controlling her body, his condition worsens and he flees again.

After coming back from Homeworld unsettled, Steven insists that everything is fine. Things prove otherwise, however, as he attempts to be helpful around Little Homeschool; his denial of his problems and lack of control over his powers causes havoc. When finally confronted at home by his concerned loved ones, it's the last straw, and Steven hits an all-time low.

In his emotional meltdown, Steven has transformed into a giant monster and is threatening to destroy Beach City. Everyone scrambles to help him and protect the town, including Spinel, the Diamonds, and even the Cluster. Ultimately, Connie convinces them that they need to be there for Steven and emotionally support him as he always has for them.

A few months following his meltdown, Steven, now back to normal, is preparing to leave Beach City and start a new journey in life. He is disappointed that Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst are taking his departure in stride and acting like they won't miss him. Just as he is about to leave, he finally confronts the three and they admit that they have been holding their emotions back so as not to dissuade him from leaving. Steven finally moves on, knowing they will always remain a part of his life.