The bowling alley was nothing special. Jump didn't have a huge bowling community, so there were only ten lanes, but they were all in use. A small cafe was set into the front of the building, separated from the main alley by a thin strip of arcade games. Beast Boy liked it well enough, but it was nowhere near as good as Keystone City's, or even Steel's.
Yet Terra's eyes still glistened in amazement. He couldn't understand why, but he wasn't complaining. "So, what do you think?"
"It's awesome," she breathed. "I've never been to a bowling alley before!"
Suddenly sheepish, Beast Boy rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, it's not the best one - like, they're usually bigger - but it's still kinda cool, and-"
"Dude." Terra gripped his arm. "It's great."
He smiled at her. She smiled back. His heart fluttered. Cyborg, ever the third wheel, jumped between them then, clapping them both on the shoulders. "Alright, let's get to bowlin' already!"
Neither of them fought the half-robot as he seized their arms and dragged them up to the desk, though they wouldn't have stood a chance if they tried. A very bored looking teenager started back to the present as Cyborg clanged against the desk, unable to stop his own momentum in time. Used to this, Beast Boy dug his heels into the carpet; Terra crashed and fell back, caught off-guard. Beast Boy offered a hand to her as Cyborg grinned sheepishly.
"Sorry about that," he chuckled, possibly to all of them. Then his remorse was forgotten, and he pointed eagerly at the racks of identical shoes. "But we're gonna be needing two pairs of those!"
"Sizes?" The poor teen was still rattled, though he hurriedly pulled himself together.
Cyborg turned back to his friends expectantly. Easily, Beast Boy answered, "Size 9, dude." He too faced Terra with an anticipatory grin.
Only, she wasn't answering. Actually, she didn't look as if she was doing much at all, as her eyes had glazed over and she had become entirely still. Just as he was about to ask if she was okay, she gave a fearsome shiver and slouched in on herself. "I-I, uhm... You know never mind, I don't think I'm gonna go bowling after all, I'll see you guys later."
And she was off.
For a second, Beast Boy and Cyborg could only stare at each-other, then the door still sliding shut where Terra had fled. Then, his brain clicked back into action, and the changeling raced to follow her. She was almost halfway down the street when he got outside, but he was fast and her blonde hair kept her visible as she wove through civilians. So when the blonde head ducked into an alleyway, Beast Boy followed with ease.
She was leaning against the side of the building, ignorant of the rough edges of the brick, doubled over as she tried to calm her breathing. Her long locks had fallen over her face, but he knew she was crying without seeing the tears. He stepped forwards cautiously, setting a gentle hand on her shoulder. Her head snapped up sharply, as if surprised that he had followed her.
"Hey, what's the matter?" He squeezed her shoulder tighter, feeling the bones through her thin shirt. "You're worrying me, dude."
Terra sighed heavily. She shook his hand off and he conceded, but stayed in close proximity. "I just don't… get it."
"Bowling?" Beast Boy's brow furrowed. "We can explain the rules, it's not that complicated. If you knock them all down, that's a strike, and that's maximum points, but if you only knock some down the first time-"
"No, that's not what I meant," she interrupted. "I mean, I don't know the rules either, but that isn't it."
"Then…" He chanced touching her shoulder again, and this time she didn't pull away. "Then what is?"
She gazed out at the people on the street, watching them walk and chat and laugh, a wistful glaze in her eyes. "I don't know how to do that, Beast Boy. Live normally. Go out and have fun and not risk taking the whole city down." When she turned back to him, she was crying again. "I don't know how to be normal."
He raised an eyebrow. "And you think any of us do?"
Taken aback, she faltered. "Well, y-yeah. Don't you?"
Beast Boy held out his arm and rolled up his sleeve, staring very pointedly at his green skin. "No," he said meaningfully, "we really don't. We know how to be heroes, and save people, and we know how to be each-other's friends, but we don't know how to be normal."
"I don't know how to do any of that though!" Terra shouted in frustration.
"Neither did we, at the start!" Beast Boy's voice was raising too, but he hastily calmed it. "We all had pretty screwed-up childhoods, Terra, except for Cyborg – and he's still not exactly got it 'normal'. But we learned together."
She shifted uncomfortably for a moment, biting her lip. "Do you think I can learn, too?"
Feeling particularly confident, he pulled her into a hug, holding her tight. "I know you can."
Terra's arms wrapped around him in return, and he smiled. Maybe they still had a while to go before he would gather the nerve to ask her out on the best date ever, but at least he knew they had a solid connection to build on. Briefly, he considered kissing her, but he decided against it; he didn't want to cheapen his words with selfish actions, because he needed her to know they were honest. When they finally broke apart, he watched her push back her long blonde hair and smile up at him, and his heart skipped a beat. Thank goodness she came back to the team.
"Thanks, Beast Boy, it… it really means a lot." She sniffed, scrubbing the last of the tears from her eyes.
He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "No problem, dude. Ready to get back to the game?"
Terra nodded firmly. "Yeah. Let's go kick Cyborg's butt!"
"That's more like it!" He high-fived her, then broke into a sprint, hearing her do the same behind him.
Of course, they didn't kick Cyborg's butt. He beat them both by miles, and took great joy in rubbing it in their faces in the most annoying way possible. Beast Boy didn't really care though, because Terra was shouting comebacks to the front of the T-Car the whole way home, and when she got her first strike, she had broken into the most ridiculously cheesy victory dance he had ever seen. Naturally, he had joined her; there would probably be some videos of that surfacing on the internet soon, judging by all the teens that had been holding up phones. That was okay, it just meant the moment would be documented for other people to share, and for him to look back at. He didn't know it yet, but he would look back at those videos an awful lot in years to come.
For now, though, there was nothing wrong. The only minor slip-up had been when Terra accidentally threw the ball backwards and started frantically apologising to civilians, but even then she'd only hit Cyborg, and he found it hilarious. It had been a fantastic night, and he told her so, as they stood outside her room.
"Thanks, BB. I had a great night too."
She leaned in for another hug, and he gladly accepted, treasuring her closeness and warmth and giggles. Her hair brushed his face as she pulled away, her hands trailing a little longer than necessary down his arms.
"Goodnight, Beast Boy," she said softly.
He smiled. "Night Terra, sleep well."
"You too."
The door slid open, and she stepped slowly inside, almost as if she was delaying herself. He wondered if he should make his move now, if that was what she was waiting for. Was he supposed to kiss her now or something? Knowing his luck, Cyborg would walk around the corner any second, so maybe he should do it right now.
He didn't get a chance to, though, because she gave him a shy little wave and the door slid shut again. A little pang of disappointment rang through his heart, but it was quickly drowned out by hope. So what? This was only one moment, and there would be plenty more. If anything, he would just take her bowling again. Or maybe to the arcade?
Grinning stupidly to himself, Beast Boy set off to his room to go to bed (and maybe make a list of future days out – preferably without Cyborg the third wheel), unaware that he was being watched through the crack of the door.
Terra smiled to herself. "You really are something, aren't you."
Disclaimer: Don't own Teen Titans, just really like the characters. Also, I started writing this a year ago, and it was supposed to be cute and fluffy but somehow feels happened, so I'm very sorry :')