Who Matters to Me
It shouldn't have happened. She should have just accepted the way he was and learned to roll with it. Now he was gone forever. Here sat Raven, dark sorcerer of the Teen Titans, in her room contemplating the events of today. It turned out to be a bad day, for her. It all started at morning.
"Hey, everyone," BEastboy said cheerfully as he entered the Common room. Starfire was getting food from the fridge, Cyborg and Robin were playing video games, and Raven was in the corner reading a book. No one acknowledged Beastboy's presence but he didn't care. He strolled over to Raven. "Hey watchcha' doing?" he asked. Raven peaked over the top of her book to look at the green Titan.
"Something that you'll never do," she replied.
"What's that?" he asked.
"Read," she remarked. Beastboy crossed his arms and pouted. Raven smirked, but she looked at him again. He seemed to be pondering something very important. "What is it?" she asked. Beastboy's eyes soften. He looked around the room to make sure no one was too close to them. He looked straight at Raven and asked in a whisper.
"What is it about me that makes you so annoyed?" At first, Raven thought that he was just being rhetorical, but the frown on his face and the steady look in his eyes told her that he was serious. Raven thought for a moment. Interesting! For now, she couldn't find anything except the basics.
"Well, you're just immature, childish, get into meaningless fights with Cyborg, and you're a bad joker. Other than that, nothing bad," she explained. Beastboy chuckled.
"You make it sound like it's a little thing," He replied. Raven just shrugged, but this made Raven ask a question.
"Why does it matter to you what annoys me?" she asked curious. Beastboy rubbed his hand through this hair and chuckled nervously. He kept quiet for a long time. "Well?" she egged on.
"I was… just…. curious," he said with a shaking smile. Raven glared at him. Beastboy sighed. "I was just wondering why you don't really like me as much as I would hope to. I mean, I know that I'm very very hard to live with, but I just wanted to be better friends," he said sadly. Raven grabbed Beastboy by the arm and dragged him out the Common Room and outside to the barren rocks.
"Did you hear something?" asked Cyborg. Robin shook his head as they continued to play video games.
"What makes you think that we aren't already friends?" Raven asked more angry than curious. Beastboy chose his words carefully. One slip, and he would be swimming.
"I know that we are friends, but not friend friends. I mean, you and I have lived in the same area for four years and we still don't know each other like the back of our hands," Beastboy explained. Raven finally understood and sighed.
"Beastboy, you know that I can't show my emotions all that well because of my powers. I can feel but not in the way you do. If my emotions were to get out of hand, I would harm everyone around me," she said. especially you she thought to herself.
"Besides, it's not like we're in a relationship," she ended. Beastboy…just smiled. Raven studied his smile for a moment. It looked…forced. It wasn't natural. Beastboy walked back inside the Tower with Raven following. Then the alarm went off.
"Titans, trouble!" shouted Robin. It was Mumbo, the criminal magician. He was robbing a bank and was just about to get away with it when he stopped on the steps. "Let's see if you can make that money disappear back into the bank." Robin said.
"Well, if it isn't my famed audience. Wish I had time to perform but I must hurry," Mumbo said as he pulled out a big pogo stick and bounced away. The Titans chased him around the town. "I must say you are a picky bunch. Well, I guess I should leave with a big bang." He pulled out a Mumbo shaped bomb and threw it at Raven.
"Raven look out," Beastboy said as he pushed her out of the way.
Boom!
The explosion was bigger than expected. The gang looked around for Beastboy, but the only thing that Raven found was a glove.
"No," She said quietly. Her eyes glowed red and she grabbed hold of Mumbo with her powers. She squeezed him tight. "Bring him back!" she shouted. Mumbo was choking.
"I can't! That was just an ordinary bomb! He's probably blown to smithereens," he managed to get out of his mouth. Raven squeezed him harder until Robin stopped her.
"Raven, doing that won't make Beastboy come back," he said. Raven slowly let go and her eyes stopped glowing. She hugged Robin and started to cry.
"I know. I know," she cried in a whisper.
So now she was here with only a glove to remember Beastboy by. She remembered all the times he helped her. She remembered the last talk they had, too. What was he really trying to figure out? Raven thought about that question for a long time until it finally dawned on her. She remembered when she said that she and Beastboy weren't in a relationship, his smile was forced. "Was he trying to-"
"Trying to what?" asked a voice from the door. Raven sighed and looked angrily at the person.
"Beastboy how many times have I told you to not enter my room?!" she said as she pushed Beastboy outside and closed the door. Beastboy just stood there waiting.
"Three, two, one."
"Beastboy?" Raven asked as she opened the door again. Beastboy smiled with opened arms. Raven actually ran up to him and hugged him overjoyed. Beastboy hugged back. "How..?Why…? Where…?".
"Let me explain. Mumbo's bomb blew me away further than I expected. I was unconscious for a period of time. Then some people saw me, showed me where I was, and here I am. So did you miss me?" he asked already knowing. Raven pulled away from Beastboy and turned around embarrassed.
"It's…regular for people to have emotions about someone who they thought was dead," she replied.
"So…what was I trying to do?" asked Beastboy.
"That still leaves the question to you. What were you trying to say?" she asked trying to shift the embarrassment. It didn't work. Beastboy took her hands and looked her in the eyes.
"Raven, you said that your emotions are dangerous because of your powers, right?" she nodded. "Wrong! You felt sadness when I was blown away, you felt anger when you nearly squeezed Mumbo to death, you felt joy when I came back, and embarrassment when I asked you the question. All without blowing up anything, I might add. You can show emotions, you just can't lie. You can laugh, cry, smile, and love." he said with a smile. Raven was blushing furiously.
"I don't do 'love' like those romances," she fibbed. Then a light bulb busted over head.
"Liar," Beastboy said smiling. He took a deep breath and sighed. "Look, Raven. I know that you probably don't like this but I have to say what I wanted to say ever since I've met you. I…I" he couldn't say it. This was Raven he was telling. What would she say?
Raven on the other hand realized that she was in the same boat as Beastboy. She had the same thing ever since the whole 'Beast' incident. It was then that she realized...
"I love you," Beastboy said interrupting her thoughts. Raven was truly shocked. She just stood there still and motionless. "Raven, you okay?" he asked waving a hand in front of her. Suddenly, she kissed Beastboy on the lips. Beastboy was shocked out of his mind. He slowly eased into the kiss, wrapping his arms around her waist. Raven's hands gently caressed his cheeks as she pulled his head as close as possible. After 20 seconds, they slowly parted looking into each other's eyes.
"I love you, too." She said as they hugged again, but then a question came into mind. "How did you know all that stuff about what I did to Mumbo?"
"Robin told me when I came back into the Tower. Sorry I made you worry." Beastboy replied.
"That's okay. As long as you're here, I'll be okay." Raven said as she rested her head on his chest.
Pop Quiz: what is the name of Raven's mother?