Notes: I just got the idea to write this when I was listening to an old CD of mine. It was one of those moments where one line from the lyrics just pops out at you and you just go with it. I'm proud of this. I haven't posted a new TT story in a while, so I hope that everyone likes this. I think the last line of this is my favorite. Just the mental image coming from it makes me smile.
Dedicated to my boyfriend, whom I've learned to love even more with the distance.
Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans.
I love you.
The words rang through Raven's mind endlessly. Part of her just wanted to believe that she had never heard the words, but another part begged her to say them back. Part of her knew that she had needed to hear them. But what did they mean, coming from him?
It had nothing to do with him, she had decided after an hour of pondering the meaning of the three cursed words. He was just trying to be nice or he thought that she wanted to hear it. Maybe it was that he had misunderstood where they were going and he was testing her.
But why Beast Boy? Her mind threw this question right into the middle of the discussion going on inside her head. Beast Boy was a prankster, a joker, he didn't know when to be serious. How could she possibly believe that he was being sincere this time?
He wouldn't joke about something like this.
The timid emotion's voice rang clear in her mind. Timid rarely ever voiced her thoughts on anything, especially when it came to the subject of Beast Boy. She preferred that the other emotions take control of those details as she stood warily by, trying her best to go unnoticed. It never worked. Raven was all too aware of her.
It's not April Fool's Day already, is it?
This time it was Rude who spoke up, laughing bitterly as she said the words. Raven scowled at the emotion. It was no wonder she rarely let Rude speak up in public conversations. That was Humor's job.
Beast Boy's not that cruel, Rude.
Reason glared at the emotion in question, already tired of her inconsiderate remarks.
Or that smart.
Now that was Humor speaking. Raven sighed at the arguments taking place, though she knew that Humor was only trying to lighten up the situation.
"Shut up," Raven yelled out, "I don't want to hear your arguing. I just want to know what's going on in my head and that's all." She turned to her gray-clad emotion, "Why do you say that Timid?"
"Well…" the emotion glanced at the circle around her, "Beast Boy does like pulling pranks and all, but he wouldn't ever pull one on you. He never has."
Timid was right, Raven realized. As much as Cyborg, Starfire or even Robin became victims of Beast Boy's pranks, he'd never attempted one on her. Still, that didn't prove anything. Anybody knew that it was hard to prank Raven.
"He looked really hurt when you walked away," Timid continued after Raven returned her attention to the emotion, "He even gave you flowers."
"Flowers don't mean anything," Rage finally yelled, "He probably cut them from some rosebush in granny's garden. He's a cheapskate." Raven once again questioned why she had allowed Rage to attend the meeting.
"He was being sweet," Happy argued right back. It was no wonder that they clashed on opinions.
"It was romantic," Love told her, "Right, Raven?"
"I suppose," she replied, "if I think about it." The emotions all made a move to speak, "Not a word." The few emotions that were about to speak closed their mouths. The rest simply took their seats once again, "Okay, let's talk this out."
A few rooms away, one certain green changeling thudded his head into the wall, muttering words such as 'stupid' and 'idiot' repeatedly. One thud too many and he groaned, clutching his head and turning so that his back rested against the wall. He sighed, pushing his green hair back with one hand while the other clenched into a fist at his side.
"Why did you tell her that," he muttered, eyes traveling to the destroyed remains of a bouquet of white roses. He sighed once again, tearing his gaze away from the flowers to a small picture sitting unharmed on his desk. Only one girl occupied the picture, violet hair framing her face and the slightest of smiles gracing her lips. He automatically had the answer, "Because you meant it."
The words played across his lips before he even realized that he had said them. It was true. He meant to say the words for that very reason. He didn't know how it had happened, whether by some miracle or perhaps he had even gone a little crazy, but he loved Raven.
It was as simple as that. For the past couple of weeks, he had looked at her in a way that he never had before. When she made tea one morning, he couldn't help but notice the way she blew across the top of the cup to cool it, bringing the mug up to her pale lips. Or the way she looked on the battlefield, dodging laser beams and the like, moving so gracefully. Or how her face tensed in concentration when she played against him in a game of chess once. He had been learning, almost to the point where he could have beaten her…almost. Or the way she looked at him in annoyance when he interrupted her reading. It was anything and everything at once.
What he hadn't liked though was how she turned away from him or how her radiant eyes had widened in shock. He hated to think that he could scare Raven with just a few simple words.
But they weren't simple. As small as they were, words like that would scare Raven, just like he knew it would, but hoped it wouldn't.
He had tried to make a nice evening out of it, taking Raven to her favorite diner and bringing her a bouquet of white roses. He had left the conversation to the end of the night. The second that the word 'love' exited his mouth, the flowers that Raven had just accepted popped.
When the petals had settled to the floor and he saw the look on her face, part of him wished that he could take it back, but he would be lying if he did.
Not saying a word, she had stood and backed away from the table, still looking at him, before vanishing into nothingness with her black magic, leaving only crackling energy in her wake.
Beast Boy had merely paid for the check and left, flying back to the tower as a mournful hawk, taking his time and circling the skies, slow and steadily, weaving in and out of currents.
He had immediately headed to his room once he arrived there, not offering his usual greetings to his teammates. Now here he was ten minutes later with a splitting headache and not even a single smile to show for his effort.
(A few hours later)
Raven slipped down the hallway, listening for the sounds of people but hearing none. Her feet barely hovered over the ground as she made her way to a door with a very familiar name etched into it.
She had had a serious conversation with her emotions. Every one of them had something to say in the matter, but it was Humor that made the point, which stopped Raven in her tracks.
"Yeah, you don't love him," Humor had stated, "I mean, think about it. The guy is green, has fangs and has those stupid pointy ears. What's to love?" It wasn't until Raven actually looked at Humor that she saw the smirk aimed in her direction. She had hit a soft spot.
It was true that those were some of the qualities about Beast Boy that she liked. In fact, she had once listed them off as reasons why no girl would ever like Beast Boy, and that was exactly the point.
Since when did she find that fang that jutted out to be so adorable? Or found it cute how Beast Boy's ears moved depending on his emotions? You could tell what he was feeling just by looking at them and he constantly tried to cover them to annoy her. In wintertime, he wore earmuffs, though he truly didn't need them, just so she could try to snatch them off. And the fact that he was green was starting to grow on her. His skin, hair and eyes were all different shades of green from forest green to emerald and it actually looked good on him.
Her hand floated in front of his door for a moment before she knocked, wincing at the hollow sound that it created.
"Beast Boy?" Her voice seemed unnaturally loud in the quiet of the tower, "Gar?"
"Hey Raven," he greeted her nervously, opening his door to allow her inside.
"About tonight-"
"I wish I could take it back Rae, but I can't," Beast Boy instantly cut her off, "I'm sorry."
"I love you too," Raven told him. The words came too slowly coming from her mouth, but there, she had said it.
Beast Boy simply gaped at her, but she didn't chastise him for staring with his mouth hanging open. She just reached over and pushed it shut for him, reveling in one of the many things that she loved about him…that stupid, glazed look on his face when he was astounded beyond words.