Teen Titans Fan Fiction ❯ A Previous Engagement ❯ Secrets ( Chapter 2 )

A Previous Engagement

Chapter 2: Secrets

It had been a long day.

Raven smiled as she pulled on the oversized black shirt she slept in. They'd started a celebration when Starfire returned. They'd even allowed the alien to cook up a jelly-like blob with small purple things sticking out of it. They'd eaten it (forcefully) then gone out for pizza.

And now they were tired.

Raven picked up the book resting on her nightstand. It was a thick hand-written volume that she'd read many times over, but each time it thrilled her even more.

There was a soft hiss as the door opened. Her smile deepened, and she thought back to six months ago.

It had been two days… Two days since Starfire left them.

And Raven was depressed.

Raven had been depressed many times in her life. But she'd never felt it like this. Since she'd beaten her father, since she'd gained control of her emotions, feelings had come in much sharper, sometimes so much that she pretended to be back where she couldn't feel, where it didn't hurt so much.

Then again, since she'd won the battle, it was mostly happy emotions coming in.

But depression was something else. It was sharper and harder and colder.

The empath had realized something with Starfire gone:

Days were much harder, much longer without the naïve alien. There was no mistake to correct, no new thirty-thousand verse song to listen to, no new creation to avoid.

And this depressed her.

Raven was curled up in one of the rooms they had because they needed to fill their tower with something. Her room was too depressing, and any other room was too public, so she hid in a room that no one would look in.

And as her luck would have it, someone was looking in it.

There was a soft hiss as the door opened.

Raven leaned back, too lazy to turn herself, to see who it was.

“Hey,” she said to the green elf across the room. The sound resonated across the room, empty and hollow.

“Hey,” he answered, sitting down next to her, “How you holding up?”

“Not well,” she hugged her knees, “But I'm still here, so it can't be that bad.”

“Same here.”

They sat in silence for a minute. Seconds ticked by before Raven lifted her head and stared at Beast Boy. He was staring back at her.

“What?” she asked, self-consciously putting a hand to her face.

“Nothing. I was just thinking.”

“That's new.”

He narrowed his eyes but smiled. “Yeah, well you could try being anything besides depressing.”

“I could, but that would go against the laws of nature.”

He chuckled. “Wouldn't be the first time we bended reality.”

She smiled. “So what are you doing up here?”

“Bored. Decided I'd find you and annoy you.”

“I feel loved, you know that?”

He watched her shiver. “You cold?”

“Cyborg won't turn on the damn heater. Or maybe I'm just paranoid.”

“Probably the last one.”

She shivered again. Sighing, he placed his arm around her, ignoring her glare.

“What are you doing?”

“You're cold. I'm doing something nice.”

“No you're not.” Despite herself, she rested her head on his shoulder. When did she get so sleepy? And why was he so warm?

“You know,” he said slyly, “You can't use your emotions as an excuse anymore.”

“What's your point?” she murmured.

He lifted her head with his finger and leaned in. She blinked at the closeness.

“What are you doing?”

He kissed her. Softly and tenderly, brushing his lips against hers.

And she kissed him back.

For six months they'd been together. For six months no one had known.

It was their little secret.

Raven set down the book as Beast Boy plopped down next to her. When she turned to face him, she was caught in a kiss. Not that she protested.

“Happy?” she said as they pulled away.

“If she'd been any longer I think the team might've broken up,” he answered, wrapping his arms around her.

“Nah, Robin wouldn't have allowed it. We'd all be sitting around hating each other, forced together `for the good of the people.'”

“So what do you want to do tonight?” He nuzzled her neck.

“Read. And sleep.”

“You're no fun.”

She kissed him again. “We're both tired. Sleep.”

They curled up together…

…And slept…

><><><><><><><><& gt;<

Fire burning…

Fire everywhere…

The world's coming to an end…

Hatred shall rule…

Raven gasped as her eyes shot open. She was out of breath and sweating. She ripped the blankets off and stood quickly, catching her breath.

`A dream…' she told herself, `That's all it was. A dream.'

If only she could believe that.

“Herbal tea,” she breathed, “It will calm me down.”

><><><><><><><><& gt;<><

Someone was already in the kitchen when Raven entered.

“Starfire?” the empath said, “What are you doing up?”

“Oh,” the alien looked up, flustered, “Hello, Raven. I was unable to sleep, so I decided to make the traditional Tamaranian sleep serum. Why are you awake?”

“Uh…” No real reason to have her friends worry. “Same. Guess it's the excitement with you back and all.”

“I am very happy to be back.” She nodded enthusiastically.

“Yeah… Starfire, is anything… wrong? You seem a little bit… off.”

It was true. The alien had seemed almost too enthusiastic, even for her.

“Nothing is wrong. Everything is wonderful!”

Raven raised an eyebrow.

The alien hung her head. “I am sorry, Raven. Everything is not wonderful. I cannot stay on Earth for too long. I must return to Tamaran. I have an obligation.”

“Why? I thought you were done with Tamaran. At least with all the fighting.”

“It is not the war that I am worried about. I do not quite know how to say this but… I am promised to be married.”

Author(ess) Notes:

Yep, I'm gonna leave you there. Didn't take me quite as long to write this as the first chapter, and this is longer.

I love non-flame-y Hot Spot. He ish cute. And a Madame Rouge possibly means a Gemini. I hope there's a Gemini.