1:15 am

Lightening illuminated my room.

My eyes flashed opened under the covers.

No matter how old I am, I will always be afraid of these storms.

We had storms on Tamaran but not like this. Gotham is much different and on this side of the country, we receive all four seasons. Rain is by far my least favorite. I have been here for two years now and I still have not gotten used to it.

A crack of thunder and another flash of lightening.

I shook under my covers and whimpered. Just breath Kori. It will all be gone soon. Or maybe it will not go away. The city has been experiencing rain and storms for five days now.

The summer had ended and fall has begun.

I jumped but not at the sound of thunder or lightening but at the sound of something tapping against my window. I removed my head from under the covers and looked over at my window. Something tapped against it again.

I grabbed Snowflake, my stuffed polar bear since I have had at age five and quickly made my way over to the window. I opened it and looked down.

My eyes widened at the sight. That idiot!

I couldn't yell or else my parents would hear but I motioned for him to come up. I jumped and stepped a few feet back from another clap of thunder.

He made his way up and I immediately went over to help him.

"Are you stupid?" I quietly yelled. Seriously! He could have gotten struck by lightening.

"That's my middle name" he said flashing me a smile and closing the window.

It was dark but I walked over to my bathroom and grabbed a towel for him. I tossed it at him and crossed my arms.

"You are drenching wet!" I exclaimed. "What are you even doing here?"

He placed a hand on his chest. "Ouch. I thought you'd be glad to see me?"

I rolled my eyes and walked over to my bed. I sat on it with the covers partially over me and Snowflake in my hands. I didn't say anything to him, only watched him remove all his clothing and leaving him in his boxers only.

He dried himself and his wet hair from the rain.

The thunder grew louder.

"Kor, please give me a smile" he said walking over.

He sat beside me and grabbed me to pull me closer to him. I won't give in.

Kissing the side of my head he whispered, "I'm sorry about everything. Please just smile for me."

I shook my head but I didn't remove myself from him. I've known him since I started Gotham High and he is the only one that can comfort me like this during storms.

"I'm sorry for being absent these last two weeks, I've-

"No excuses!" I yelled, not intending for my voice to get that loud.

He blinked at me, waiting for me to continue.

"You are leaving tomorrow morning" my voice cracked. Don't cry Kori. Don't let him see you like this. Don't cry. Don't cry. Crap here comes the tears. "We were supposed to have a good summer before college."

He sighed and looked down. "We had a good summer. I had a great summer with you. But Kor, admit it. We should never have kissed."

I let out a laugh and wiped my tears. "Kissed?" I asked looking at him. "We did a lot more than that."

He turned red and let out a cough. "Um, yea we did."

I looked at him as he looked away from and started to fidget. My eyes widened and more tears came. "You regret it!"

"No!" he yelled.

If my parents weren't awake before then they sure as hell are now.

He sighed and pulled me closer him. "Beautiful I'll never regret what we did but look at us now. We're too emotionally attached now and I'm leaving for college, all the way on the West side of the country. I can't start a romantic relationship right now."

I refused to look at him. "Why not? A lot of couples do long distance."

"And look at how many of those don't work out" he said.

"They say distance makes the heart grow fonder" I snapped.

I was annoyed and angry at him. All summer I expected him to finally give me a title. To finally be called boyfriend and girlfriend.

Dick and I have been best friends for three years. I've been in love with him probably since the first day we met. It was an amazing friendship and I was so thankful for him. He taught me everything I had to know when I moved to America. He sat with me during lunch, showed me around Gotham, exposed me to a social life, and was there for me when I needed him. We tell each other everything. He is my best friend and always will be but I grew tired of just being friends. So this summer, I was determined to grow closer with him.

I knew he has feelings for me. He always treated me differently than the girls he would hook up with or his other female friends. Also, Wally told me Dick's secret.

So we were sitting on his couch one summer day, watching a movie on Netflix and when I turned to him, he made the move and kissed me. It felt so good and it felt so right. The kiss was passionate and long over due but he finally did it. We talked about our feelings, more me than him. Dick doesn't open up easily. He has a lot of issues from past experiences.

For the rest of the summer, we never put on a title on things. We hooked up. A lot but I never slept with him. It didn't feel right. He pushed himself away when we got too close and almost to that point so I never initiated sex.

Towards the end of the summer, he got more distant. Yes we've graduated high school and we're going to different colleges but I thought we would make this work.

"Can you honestly tell me that you think this would work out?" he asked. "What if I can't be there for you when you need me? What if I'm too busy or out with friends? Can you honestly handle me being states away and having a good time without you?"

I shook my head and let my tears fall. I placed my head against his bare chest and listened to his heart beat, tuning out the thunder.

"I want to be the perfect boyfriend for you" he said and I could hear the sadness. "I want to give you all you want but I can't right now." He wrapped his arms tightly around me. "I love you so much but we can't do this. Not right now."

"I love you too" I whispered.

He leaned back and brought me with him so that he was on his back and I was by his side. He never let me go.

"I don't know what to feel" I told him.

I felt him grab my chin and angle my face up towards him. His lips touched mine and I melted in them. I couldn't let him go.

Removing his lips from mine and grabbing the blankets to cover us, he said "You've been my best friend for three years. I need you to be my best friend for a few more years."

I glanced over at my clock. It was almost two in the morning.

"Your plane leaves at seven" I told him.

"I know" he replied.

I blinked away new tears forming. "Richard" I whispered. "Please promise me something."

"Anything" he said tiredly.

Sighing, I kissed his chest. "Promise me you'll keep in contact with me. Promise me that we'll always be best friends."

"I promise you" he said before drifting off to sleep.

Its been a while, I know. Took a long break to re-evaluate my life and my goals. I'm in my last year of college and am working on finishing two degrees by the end of next spring.

This story is just a side hobby of mine. I've not written in so long and I need to work on this skill again. I plan to write a book one day and this is just practice for me.

I'm not even sure how many people still read Teen Titans fanfics. So I'm going to write a few more chapters but if I don't have an audience large enough for me to continue then I will pull the plug.

Please review and chapters will be longer. This is just a starter chapter.

-Stefanotis