1Disclaimer: I do not own anything but the plot.

Chapter One

It all started one rainy afternoon. There wasn't a thing to do. Everyone moped around like the tiny water droplets falling from the sky were some kind of barrier. Personally, I like the rain. It's soothing, cleansing, so pure. It's misunderstood, like me.
I've been in the Teen Titans for many years now. I just turned 19 a few weeks ago. I am the youngest of everyone here. Starfire is only a few months older than me, but the boys range from Beastboy and Robin's two years older, to Cyborg's whopping four years older. Used to, I felt oldest. I was most mature, I managed to get through my teenage years without really going through them. For that, I considered myself lucky. Not everyone gets to fly through the awful and embarrassing years of adolescence.

We've done a lot of changing, some more than others. I stand at a mere 5'3", with a narrow waist and cursedly wide hips. I grew my hair out recently and it now reached just past my shoulders.

Starfire completed growing before she even came to earth. She looks very much the same, only changing her hair a bit by adding a few layers. Though her appearance hasn't changed all that much, her vocabulary has improved dramatically. She hardly ever had to answer any questions and sounds like an earthling.

Robin has changed a lot, ranking second in my 'Most Changed' list of our home. He grew about half a foot, now standing at 5'11", about three or four inches taller than Star. His muscles grew with an even larger amount of training. He let his hair grow out just a little more, but still puts a colossal amount of hair products in it.

Cyborg didn't change much, as he is a cyborg. The only thing that's truly different about our robotic friend is that his love interest has changed him into a gentleman. He's very respectful and responsible, at least, while she's around and he's not playing any video games with Beastboy.

Beastboy. He ranks number one on my 'Most Changed' list. He grew over a foot in height! He now stands at 6'1", being only two inches shorter Cyborg. He towers over most, and his muscles seemed to just appear overnight. The ropey, string-ish muscles he had before are absolutely nothing compared to what he has now. They're not the disgusting muscles with veins bulging out, but they definitely catch the attention of girls. His imaginary fan club from our early days is now a reality. The mayor had to pass a law that kept fans away from fights because the idiots would stand right in the way just to get a look at him. But he's still the same fun loving Beastboy, only there seems to now be a deeper meaning in is jokes and comments. There's a mysterious side of him, a certain glint in his eye that will drive anyone crazy, though, according to Starfire, I'm the only one who seems to notice it.

Our story begins that stormy night when all hell broke loose in my head.

A loud crack followed by a deafening rumble of thunder broke my meditation. I sighed, placing my feet on the ground and opened my door. On the carpet in front of my room was a piece of paper folded in half, so I bent down to pick it up. On the front, in an elegant script was my name, so I opened it.

"One fairer than my love? The all-seeing sun
Ne'er saw her match since first the world begun."
- William Shakespeare

I instantly felt heat flood my cheeks. I pulled my hood up, put the letter in my room, and sealed the door to my chamber. Not having the faintest idea who had left the anonymous note, I tried my best to put it in the back of my mind.

I entered the common room, greeted by the commotion inside. Beastboy and Cyborg battled each other with some video game. Both muttering and screaming profanities whenever possible. To my left in the kitchen, Robin stood making goo-goo eyes at Star as she prepared ready-to-bake cookies. When she completed her task, she returned the stare as they talked and giggled. The sight would have made me sick to my stomach if I hadn't grown an immunity from all the years of watching it.

I walked over to the couch where Beastboy and Cyborg battled and sat down a good three feet away, not wanting to get hit by any brawl that may follow.

I sighed and stared out the window, staring at the sheets of rain hitting the glass.

"Something wrong, Rae?" Beastboy asked, not taking his eyes off the television. He clicked away at the controller, a loud explosion, followed by a mutter curse word from Cyborg, caused his to smirk.

I shook my head, "I'm fine, Beastboy." I sat there a moment. "And stop calling me Rae."

He chuckled a low pitch chuckle under his breath, then screamed a curse word when Cyborg's character appeared out of nowhere at tackled his own.

I rolled my eyes and tried to scowl at the boy. But after a failed attempt, I just grabbed one of my books from the end table and started to read.

"It is a proof of your own attachment to Hertfordshire. Any thing beyond the very neighbourhood of Longbourn, I suppose, would appear far."

As he spoke there was a sort of smile, which Elizabeth fancied she understood; he must he supposing her to be thinking of Jane and Netherfield, and she blushed as she answered,

"I do not mean to say that a woman may not be settled too near her family. The far and the near must be relative, and depend on many varying circumstances. Where there is fortune to make the expence of travelling unimportant, distance becomes no evil. But that is not the case here. Mr and Mrs Collins have a comfortable income, but not such a one as will allow of frequent journeys—and I am persuaded my friend would not call herself near her family under less than half the present distance."

Mr Darcy drew his chair a little towards her, and said, "You cannot have a right to such very strong local attachment. You cannot have been always at Longbourn."

Elizabeth looked surprised. The gentleman experienced some change of feeling; he drew back his chair, took a newspaper from the table, and, glancing over it, said, in a colder voice,

"Are you pleased with Kent?"

A short dialogue on the subject of the country ensued, on either side calm and concise—and soon put an end to by the entrance of Charlotte and her sister, just returned from their walk. The tête a tête surprised them. Mr Darcy related the mistake which had occasioned his intruding on Miss Bennet, and after sitting a few minutes longer without saying much to any body, went away.

"What can be the meaning of this!" said Charlotte, as soon as he was gone. "My dear Eliza he must be in love with you, or he would never have called on us in this familiar way."

"How can you read this?" Beastboy slouched closer to me.

"It's a classic." I told him.

"I have no idea how. I tried reading it and I thought I was going to die of boredom."

I glared at him, "You're welcome to have your own opinions but I personally think it's one of the best books ever composed."

He rolled his eyes. "Please. You want a good book, go read Harry Potter or something."

I sighed, "It's nice to read something that's not super-natural. It's something different from everyday life."

He groaned and got up, stretching. "I just think you spend too much time cooped up, reading. You should have some fun. Go experience life. What's the point of reading all those books telling you about places to see and things to feel if you don't plan on doing them?"

I sat there, a bit dumbfounded to be quite honest. I never expected something so logical to come out of his mouth. I just placed my bookmark back where it had been before and went to the kitchen to see what everyone was doing.

I woke up the next morning to a quick tap at my door. I sighed at glanced over at my clock, which read 4:13 am. I took a deep breath and sat up out of the bed. I rubbed my eyes and opened the door. On the floor, the same as a few hours earlier, lay a piece of paper folded in half with the same beautiful writing. Only this time, it came with a single violet rose. I looked down the hall both ways, over and over. I didn't see nor sense anyone there. I took both items into my room, shut the door, and carefully opened the letter.

Love is no hot-house flower, but a wild plant, born of a wet night, born of an hour of sunshine; sprung from wild seed, blown along the road by a wild wind. A wild plant that, when it blooms by chance within the hedge of our gardens, we call a flower; and when it blooms outside we call a weed; but, flower or weed, whose scent and colour are always, wild!

~John Galsworthy

I smiled, then quickly regained my composure before anything could explode. I set both

down next to the first letter, climbed back into my bed, and fell back to sleep with a soaring feeling in my heart.

In my dream, everything was bright. The team has decided to go the beach. The sun beat down on us, feeling like the warmth was trying to hug us. Robin had picked up Starfire and tossed her over his shoulder, heading out to the ocean. Cyborg was flirting with his girlfriend, Bee. I laid back, ignoring the aching feeling in my chest. I pulled out a book from my bag and started reading it. About three word into it, someone yanked it out of my hand.

"Tsk tsk, Rae. The beach is for fun people." Beastboy looked down at me with a crooked grin covering his face.

My eyes ignored the commands from my mind and took their time scanning his perfectly toned body. His skin had a hint of shine from the sun, causing each muscle to look even more defined. My eyes raked over his body until it reached his waist and I forced my eyes to look back up, refusing to degrade myself any further.

He laughed and kneeled down, "Enjoy the show?"

Flames shot up my neck and all over my face. "I... uhh..."

He smirked, "You don't need to explain anything, Rae." He leaned his head over to whisper in my ear, "I sneak peaks at you too."

Before I could say anything, he put both of his strong hands on either side of my face and pressed his lips to mine.

I melted into the kiss, wrapping my arms around him, forgetting the world.

He pushed me away, "Raven?" He whispered.

"Yes?" I asked, dazed.

"Raven?" He said again, a little more impatient.

"What, Beastboy?"

"Raven!" He screamed, grabbing my shoulders, "Wake up!"

I shot up out of bed, my head colliding with someone else's. Both of us yelled out in pain.

"Jesus, Rae!" Beastboy complained.

I just held my head, my heart was beating away like a humming bird. Whether it was from being startled or from my dream, I wasn't sure. A moment later, I regained my composure. "What are you doing in my room?"

He scoffed and shook his head, "It's one in the afternoon. I was just making sure you still had a pulse." He rubbed his forehead and winced. "Damn, that's not gonna look pretty in a few hours."

"Come here." I patted my bed for him to sit next to me.

His eyes widened a moment, then he stood tall and sat stiffly to my left.

I placed a hand on his head and felt around until I found where our craniums collided. "Hold still." I told him in a hushed tone. My hand glowed a light blue and the bruise that had already started to form went away.

"Thanks." he whispered.

"No problem." I looked at my hands which were now resting in my lap. I was still very embarrassed about the dream.

"So," He started, "Sleep well?"