Aqualad's POV

Why did they decide to separate us? Was it because a relationship in a team could jeopardize our lives while we're fighting villains? I would think that it would be the exact opposite. I know I'd be more protective of him and would make sure no one would get hurt. My team was my family, and now they broke us just by taking him away to their team. Robin said it was for the best, but Speedy and I didn't think so. It was probably one of the worst things anyone could ever do to us. Mas and Menos miss him, but they don't seem as affected as me. Bee just hovers around, and she trains us harder than ever. The Titans West decided to send Raven over to take the place of Speedy, but no one could ever replace him. Speedy was Speedy. Nothing could change that.

I pushed my plate of food away from me, the ceramic glass scraping across the table top. I wasn't hungry. However, my stomach told me otherwise. It was grumbling so much now that it hurt every now and then to just stand up. Bee looked up from her plate, her eyes filled with worry. Of course she'd be worried about me. It was probably the seventh day since Speedy's removal from the team, and I haven't been eating much. I'd snack on a few things here and there like a granola bar or an apple, but it would probably be about twelve hours before I'd try to eat again. Even then, I probably wouldn't eat. I just didn't feel like doing anything. Bee noticed this during our first training day without Speedy. I wasn't even trying, and I knew I wasn't. It didn't feel the same not having Speedy there. It felt weird not having him call out my name when I needed to duck so he could shoot an arrow. It felt weird not having him there to hug me after a good day's work, and it felt weird to not have him there to kiss me when I'd tell him he did a great job.

I stood up, slightly light headed from starving myself the entire day, and excused myself. Bee looked like she wanted to tell me everything was going to be alright, but she stopped herself. She knew what I was going to say. Nothing will ever be alright again if Speedy isn't here by my side…I lifted my head to look over at Raven, and she seemed hypnotized by the peas on her plate as she pushed them around, but the twins chowed down on their food like there was no tomorrow. I was jealous of them. They could eat without any guilt, without any worry in the world.

The door to the main room shut, and I was all alone. A stray tear crawled down my cheek, and I didn't even attempt to brush it away. It wouldn't be long before I was drowning in my own tears. It was highly impossible because it's just not possible, and I can breathe underwater, but hypothetically speaking, I would. It was just too painful to be away from him. He was truly the one and only one for me. Sure, it sounds too serious and like cliché romance crap, but I'm not lying. There was something different about him. At first glance, he's this gorgeous, arrogant playboy. That was my first impression when I met him. Actually, it was the second time I met him. The first time I wasn't able to think anything of him since he was my opponent in the Master of Game's tournament. The second time was when the team was first assembled. He seemed to only care about himself and his hair, and he was just this conceited jerk who didn't care about the people he hurt.

I have a whole new outlook on him now though. After several days of talking, that is when we weren't screaming and yelling at each other, we learned a lot more about each other to a point that we weren't afraid to hide anything from one another. I told him everything about how I was a prince, and how I was exiled just because of my eyes. He told me about how his dad died in a fire, and how he was raised by a Navajo medicine chief named Brave Bow. It took awhile before he actually started talking about his life with Green Arrow, and I was slightly horror stricken when he said he used to do heroin and other drugs, but I wasn't one to judge. Everyone has times in their lives that they just want to forget, so that's what we did. As soon as we finished talking about it, it was the last time we ever mentioned it.

What I have concluded is that Speedy was only so rude and harsh because he didn't want to have to get too close to people. If he did, he was more likely to have to talk about his past, and that's one thing he never ever wanted to do. Apparently, when he ever told someone about his life and how he did heroin, they would leave him. That'd be the end of it. No more talking, no more visits to see each other. There'd be absolutely no more contact. He was alone for a long time, and he hated it. It was what fueled his need for heroin. The pain, the loneliness…it was too much for him to bear. That night was the night that I watched Speedy do something that I thought I'd never see him do. He cried, and I held him that entire night. Something changed in those few moments we spent holding one another, and it just seemed to fall in place from there.

The fighting stopped, and he stopped buying all those damn fish tacos. By the way, I'm considering writing a very strongly worded letter to the jerk who thought up seafood. He's probably dead, but I don't care! Anyways, all the teasing we did turned into harmless flirting, that's what Bee called it, and we'd both deny it with heated faces. She'd always smirk and walk away after that. We'd brush shoulders or hands here and there, and we'd always turn to look at each other before quickly looking away, and even though he refused to admit that he was, I knew he was blushing just as furiously as me. Soon, light brushes turned into more noticeable attempts to hold the others hand, and before long, we were. It felt so right to have his hand intertwined with mine, his fingers fitting perfectly between the spaces between my own fingers.

I can still remember the first time he kissed me. It wasn't on the lips though, that didn't happen until a few weeks later. It was just a gentle peck to the side of my head. We were sitting on the couch in the main room, and the lights were off because we were watching a movie. I had my head leant against his side, and his arm was around my shoulders. It felt so right to have him so close. The feint scent of Axe cologne lingered on his body, and he was just so warm to that I couldn't help myself when I snuggled closer to his side, the arm that I had placed on his chest grasping onto his t-shirt. I could feel his gaze on me, and I prayed that I wasn't doing something wrong. When he leant away, I had a feeling I did, but then he kissed my head. It was sweet, gentle, and I could feel the love behind it even if it was just a short kiss. I smiled up at him, and he pressed his hand to my shoulder, pulling me in closer.

A tear broke away from the stream that had formed on my face as it fell to the floor. I couldn't bear being away from Speedy. There wasn't going to be a day that I wouldn't miss him. I loved him, and nobody was going to change that. I held up my hands in front of my face, and they were trembling. I could see him standing in front me, holding my hands in his as he lightly kissed each knuckle. I shook my head, the tears flying off my face. I couldn't break down here; I'd never be able to get back up. I fast walked back to my room, my feet sliding against the carpeted hallway before I stopped outside my bedroom door. Reaching out for the keypad, I typed in my password, but I could feel him near me. Like most nights, after we officially "got past third base", he would come with me to my room and whisper into my ear. I had to repeatedly type in the code to unlock my door because I couldn't concentrate when the boy I loved was kissing my neck and had his hands under my shirt as he gently ran his fingers across my chest, abdomen, and sides. I almost let out a moan as I imagined his chest against my back as he did this, my eyes slowly closing, but when I reopened them, he was gone. No one was there; it was just me and an empty hallway. I was alone…

I didn't even attempt to turn the lights on after the door behind me had closed. Darkness is what I prefer. It allows me more chance to sleep as long as I want, and that's all I ever wanted to do. I wanted to just sleep until I died, and considering the way I've been mistreating my body, it wouldn't be long before it would be completely impossible for me to move anymore because I'd be too weak. I walked over to my waterbed, collapsing on the comforter as I rode the gentle waves. Speedy always hated my bed because it was so hard to keep any balance, that's why the nights we did spend in my room had me on top instead of him. He wasn't one to complain about our positions; as long as we were together, he was happy. I buried my face into the pillow, wishing it was the soft, red shirt he loved to wear. Whenever I was upset, he would always be there for me and let me rest my head on his chest, and he'd just hold me, rubbing my back gently as he comforted me.

How could I not miss him? How could I not hurt every time I thought about him? I couldn't live without him; it was just a known fact. Why was it only Robin that had a problem with us being a couple? Everyone else was fine with it, but then that boy wonder, the original Titan, decided that our relationship was a huge mistake. I think he's just another homophobe who was too afraid to tell anyone, so the only way to fix it was by separating me and Speedy. Now, he's probably sitting in his bedroom, feeling better than ever while I'm sulking, crying my eyes out into a pillow that smells a lot like Speedy. I inhaled deeply, savoring the last remnants I had of him. However, it was short-lived as something started vibrating on my night stand. I lifted my head off the pillow, squinting as my vision slowly returned. It was my communicator.

Reaching out my hand, I grabbed the small, black and yellow device, pulling it closer to my face to check whose signal it was. I let out a cry and quickly clicked one of the many buttons on the top of the communicator. I didn't care that my eyes were still puffy and red from all my crying, and I didn't care that my hair was a tattered mess. It was him, and I just wanted to see his face.

"Garth?" His voice…how I missed his voice. "Are you okay? Is everything alright?" Like he didn't know.

"I just miss you Roy…" I whispered, "…I can't…why haven't you called? Do you know how hard it's been for me to not to see your face?" Speedy slightly flinched, his face falling in sadness. I instantly regretted ever yelling at him. "I'm so sorry…I didn't mean to snap at you. Please don't be mad at me…"

"I could never be mad at you. I love you too much to let anything like that destroy us." I nodded my head, wiping at my eyes with the back of my hand. "Baby, please stop crying…" he begged, "I hate to see you like this. It just breaks my heart…" I didn't want to do that to him, but I couldn't help it. Looking closer, I could see the misery in his eyes.

"I-I'm s-sorry," I hiccupped, "I-I just wish t-that you c-could b-be here with m-me!" I lowered my head as the dam officially broke. There was nothing holding back my tears any longer, and I just let them fall. Seeing his face, listening to his voice, hearing him try to comfort me, it was just too much. I could tell he wanted so badly to just wrap his arms around me because of the way his arms were moving uncontrollably.

"I know baby…I wish I could too," his voice lowered before his gaze shifted from his communicator, returning a few moments later, "I'm sorry…I have to be careful. Robin told me that I was to never contact you anymore, but fuck him…he can't tell me what to do. He may be my leader now, but he can't control me like he's my dad." He stopped. I knew what he was thinking about.

"Sweety…it's okay…I'm right here-"

"No you're not, and that's what killing me!" he shouted before he quickly lowered his voice once more, "Why did they have to take us away from each other? ...Why?" His head tilted downwards, and I could barely make out the small water droplets that dripped from his eyes. It hurt because I just wanted to brush his tears away. I hated to see him cry just as much as he hated to see my own tears slip down my cheeks. We were always there for one another, and now that we were so far away, it was killing us.

"Roy," He looked back up, the river of water pouring from his eyes glistening under the feint light in his room, "shouldn't we be happy that we'll be able to talk to each other again, that we'll be able to see each other even if it is for a few minutes?"

"We should, but I need more than just a few minutes of talking time," Speedy said, brushing his hand across his eyes, "I need to be able to hold you and kiss you…do you know how hard it's been? All I see is you around here, and when I do see you, all I want to do is pull you close to me and never let you go…I can't live like this. I need you…" These words…I had gone too long without hearing these words from him. These words were the only thing that could cause my heart to soar beneath my chest, to make my breathing hasten, to make a serious case of blush break out across my cheeks.

"I know how you feel," I murmured, "It's even gotten to a point where I not only see you, but I can feel you too." Speedy's seemed to perk up as his signature smirk formed on his face, but it didn't have the same seriousness like usual. I knew what he was thinking.

"What exactly could you…feel?" He quirked an eyebrow up, and my blush deepened further. At least he was feeling better enough to make comments like that. I could feel my tears slowing as I chuckled. Leave it to Speedy to know exactly how to bring my spirits back up.

"Well," If he was going to "cheer me up", I was going to do the same for him, "I can feel you pressing kisses to my face, neck…basically every place you used to kiss me." He knew the exact places I was talking about because a light blush tinted his cheeks, "I can feel your hands holding me and running up and down my chest." By the way the light blush on Speedy's face had turned to a dark, crimson color, I knew I was doing good. He cleared his throat, and I stopped. Maybe I wasn't…

"Garth baby…I can't bear hearing you talk like that because now all I want to do is-"

"Make sweet love to me?" I finished, knowing all too well that what he was going to say was probably a little dirtier. He nodded,

"Took the words right out of my mouth babe." I rolled my eyes, Sure… "Gah…Garth, I wish I could be with you right now…"

"I know…I wish I could too…" I whispered, "…I miss my handsome archer…"

"And I miss my gorgeous fishboy…" I ran a hand through my long, black hair as I tried to occupy myself to not allow the true embarrassment I was feeling at hearing that nickname show, but he could tell, "Baby…you don't need to be shy. I can tell…you always touch your hair when you are." He knew me so well. Only he would notice something like that.

"C-can I suggest something?" I murmured. He nodded, "B-Bee told me one time awhile back that she had this one boyfriend who she really liked, and one day, he had to go on a trip with his parents. She was really upset, and she suggested that they…send songs back and forth to each other every night, that way he would have to think about her to find the songs." My gaze had officially drifted away from the communicator screen, and I was furiously brushing through my hair, wincing whenever my fingers got caught, pulling hard against the knots.

"You want to do that?" I nodded, still doing my best to avoid his gaze. "Garth…" I looked up, locking eyes with his masked ones. That pissed me off… "It's sweet, and I'd love to do it. It's an amazing idea. We can tell each other the songs at night…well, nighttime for you…then we'll look them up together." Knock, knock, knock. My head shot around to look towards the door, but it wasn't my door that was being knocked on. I looked back at my computer and saw the panicked look on Speedy's face. He had to go. He gazed back at me, his face practically saying, "I'm sorry." I nodded my head and mouthed,

"I love you…"

"Love ya too…" The screen went blank, the only sound coming from the fish tanks in my room, the bubbling water soothing to hear. I held my communicator close my chest, falling backwards onto my bed. The waves moved me up and down, and I finally found myself at peace. I had just talked to him, and this one conversation made me feel whole again. It wasn't the same fullness that I felt when he was right next to me, but it was all I got. I turned over, resting my head against the same pillow I had cried into only moments before. It was still soaked in tears, but I pulled the water from the fabric and pushed it over to one of the tanks before releasing it into the glass container. Warm and dry, I rested my head onto the pillow, and somehow it still smelt of him. I didn't mind though. The light scent, the peaceful silence, and the face of my Speedy lulled me into sleep, pure happiness rushing through every ounce of my body. I loved him, and he loved me…nothing was going to change that.

I hoped you enjoyed this story! My sister gave me this wonderful story idea when she told me about how her and her boyfriend started sending each other love songs when he had to leave to travel, so she came up with this idea, and their still sending songs to one another! When she told me this, i was like, "AWW!" Then i came up with this, and i'm actually very proud of it! Shall i continue it or no? Tell me in a review if you want me to! Thank you! (Bows)