While Raven preferred to keep her emotions to herself, she found, paradoxically, that she could easily comprehend the subtleties of human emotion even without the assistance of her powers. She never invaded their privacy, but she considered herself intelligent enough to 'get' her teammates without needing to probe them. That being the case, one thing that consistently got under her skin during her tenure with the Titans was her inability to 'get' Beast Boy. Early during their time together, she quickly came to realize that while Beast Boy was extremely outgoing and sociable, he was actually quite reserved in certain respects. He even gave Robin and herself a challenge when it came to hiding secrets. She knew of his past, at least major portions of it, but even in spite of the fact that the two had been dating for around a year, she still got the sense that Beast Boy didn't tell her everything. Not that she was incapable of understanding the desire to keep secrets, but she thought, or, at least, hoped, that Beast Boy felt comfortable enough with her to reveal those parts of himself without fear of judgement. Her worries had been confirmed several hours ago when she discovered that Beast Boy had a talent he had somehow kept from her the entire time the two had know each other: he could sing. Rather well, in fact.
"Takkkke meee ooon, take on me."
Raven played Beast Boy's rendition of the song in her head over and over again. Even by her lofty standards, she freely admitted that he had a genuinely fantastic voice. She was privy to Beast Boy performing karaoke in the past, but in those instances he would just use it as an avenue for unsuccessful attempts to get a bit of laughter from his audience. As she was making her way to the kitchen earlier in the day, she found that Beast Boy had gotten up early to make her breakfast. In an effort to frighten him, one of her personal pastimes, she opted to not alert Beast Boy to her presence. Before she could conclude her attempt at subterfuge, she discovered him singing. Her initial reaction was to wait several seconds and 'accidentally' walk in on him before dispensing one of her trademark snarky quips about his self-evident dearth of talent, but the pleasant nature of his voice was enough to halt her in her tracks. After her plan had been foiled, she returned to the hallway in an attempt to make her entrance more apparent since she didn't want Beast Boy to know that she actually liked his singing voice.
But why wouldn't he tell me?
As was often the case, Raven struggled to fall asleep, and Beast Boy was to blame. Her body craved sleep and nearly called out to her to rest, but her anxiety refused to leave her in peace. What exactly was it that Beast Boy was so petrified by if he knew he had a penchant for singing? They had been dating for year, but they had been intrinsically bound friends years before that point. That meant Beast Boy could tell her things, right? She later casually inquired to Cyborg regarding Beast Boy's secret proclivity and discovered to her horror that he was aware of her boyfriend's ability.
"Not gonna lie, kids got a decent set of pipes on him." That was what he said. She should've been fuming. How could he tell Cyborg and not her?
I don't have to stand for this. Beast Boy has no right to cause this amount of trouble.
Raven thought it was ridiculous that Beast Boy still had the ability to drive her wild even in spite of the depth of her feelings for him. She was going to draw the line and find out exactly what Beast Boy had been so afraid of tha-
Me.
Raven stopped herself in her tracks. Something inside of her informed her of the truth as to why Beast Boy had been so cagey.
Because he was afraid. Afraid of being rejected by her.
Raven had initially taken this journey with a righteous indignation that all but vanished as she approached Beast Boy's room. It became apparent that he was as terrified of being rejected by her as she was of being rejected by him. As talented as he was, he was still too insecure in his relationship with her to present himself without a disguise.
Because I'm just the best girlfriend ever.
Raven was not unaware of how she treated Beast Boy. In her defense, it was her way of deflecting her 'crush' on Beast Boy from herself and her comrades. If any of them ever discovered that she actually liked Beast Boy's attention to the point where it frequently became the highlight of her day, she would almost certainly lose a degree of control over her emotions. However, it was true that she hadn't made it easy for him, and only now could she truly comprehend the toll it must've take on Beast Boy. Even though she admitted to Beast Boy that she had spent the better part of their friendship secretly pining for him, he never could fully remove the memory of his past experiences with her. What could she do? What could she say? She knew something had to be done. Beast Boy deserved it. With assured finality and a hefty sigh, she knocked on the exterior of his bedroom door. After a few seconds, her boyfriend emerged from his slumber. Despite his obvious grogginess, he immediately perked up upon seeing Raven at his doorstep.
"Hey." Unsurprisingly, Beast Boy was as chipper as ever despite being woken up at two in the morning.
"Hey."
After a bit of silence, Beast Boy interjected. "Is everything alright?"
Raven rubbed the back of her neck, unsure of how to continue. She wasn't the most expressive person in the world, but her desire to assuage Beast Boy's mind was enough to give her the requisite strength to continue.
"Beast Boy," She began, proud of the steadiness of her voice. "I want you to know that…" She faltered slightly as she met his intoxicating green eyes. "That I really, really like you," Immediately regretting the hollow nature of her words, she searched for a change in Beast Boy's expression to no avail. "And I know that I haven't been the nicest or most transparent friend, but you can always come to me. About anything. I'm aware of my habit of deriding your behavior, and while you can sometimes drive me up a wall, I accept you fully and completely."
Raven appreciated the cathartic thrill that came with expressing herself, particularly to Beast Boy. The only problem now was that it was entirely in Beast Boy's hands. She hoped that the darkness precluded Beast Boy from witnessing the blush she could feel developing on her cheeks. The wait was interminable.
"Thanks, Rae," He gave her a tiny smile. "I know emotions aren't exactly easy for you to deal with, and I really appreciate what you just said," He flashed his toothy grin. "And I tell you stuff. Well, most stuff. A lot of stuff," He put his index finger and thumb on his chin. "I'd call it, like, ninety nine percent of stu-"
To stop Beast Boy's rambling, Raven cupped Beast Boy's cheeks in her palms and silenced him with a passionate kiss. Something about the energy and intensity of it made her recall the first time the two had kissed. Unlike the present moment, the two were timid and nervous, but time had strengthened their bond. Now, Raven felt the strength to convey just how much Beast Boy meant to her. Even still, there was something about kissing Beast Boy on a purely physical level that she enjoyed quite a bit, as Raven admitted to herself years ago that she found him extremely attractive. After several blissful seconds, Raven released Beast Boy from her kiss. With her forehead still pressed against his and her hands on his face, she gave him a knowing grin.
"And you have a lovely singing voice."
With that, she made her way back to her room for a well-deserved night of rest, assured in the stability of her love for Beast Boy. The image of a stunned, blushing Beast Boy was more than enough to help her go right to sleep.