A.N. Kay.

SO, I'm inspired (incase you haven't noticed, that happens quite a lot), and I wanna write.

SO I shall.

We Are Young

But tonight…We are young…. So let's set the world on fire…we can glow brighter… than the sun…

Starfire sighed as the fireworks erupted, showering the sky in a sea of lights in every color.

It was beautiful, amazing. It was Starfire's favorite kind of night- cool, with the wind promising rain the next day, the trees gently waving in the fall air.

Except, usually, she had Robin sitting next to her, gently moving his feet and laughing from where they sat on the edge of the roof. Smiling as his hand 'accidentally' brushed hers, pausing to give her shoulders a quick, gentle squeeze.

But Robin was obsessed with finding the last few members of the Brotherhood, far too obsessed to sit and talk with her.

Far too obsessed to do anything with her.

Starfire was not the naturally clingy type. She knew perfectly well that Robin was a male, and as such, needed time alone and apart from her, and she needed time away from him as well.

That wasn't the problem.

The problem was that, unfamiliar with Earth's customs as she was, she'd thought…after they'd had to talk about everything so many times, after all of the flirting and catching and…falling, she'd assumed that maybe they could be something.

That maybe they already were something.

She loved him, she knew that. And that's why it killed her when he shut himself away in his office and pretended the rest of the world didn't exist.

"He doesn't do it on purpose," A voice said behind her.

Whirling around, starbolts at the ready, she relaxed when she saw Raven, squinting in the bright light the fireworks cast.

"I can see into both your minds, you realize that?" Raven continued. "So I know that he doesn't shut himself away and basket all of his emotions from you on purpose."

"Then why, Friend Raven?" Starfire said quietly. "Why will he not let me love him, as I want to?"

"Star, Robin's….Robin. He doesn't do love or affection because he thinks their wastes of time." A small smile danced on Raven's lips. "I used to think the same thing, before Beast Boy."

"How can he change his mind?" Starfire asked desperately. "I know that I am new on this planet, but surely there is someway for him to see how beautiful life is,"

Raven gave Star a smile again, except this one was sad. "There is a way, Star. Robin has to find someone who shows him that. Someone who is so amazing, so full of vitality that being away from her is like dying to him."

"And I am not that girl?"

Raven gave her a long, even look. "He loves you, Star." Her cloak swished on her legs as she walked back down.

Starfire sighed, and walked down after Raven, gazing over her shoulder at the last few pops of color lighting the sky.

She didn't really understand where her feet were taking her, not until she stopped outside Robin's office door, twiddling her thumbs and taking deep breaths.

Just open the door, she told herself. Robin will not mind.

And then, through the varnished wood, she heard him say, "Whoever you are, go away!"

And, smiling, she pushed open the door.

"Didn't I just tell you to go awa- oh, it's you, Star," Robin said, relaxing when he recognized her.

"It is I," She agreed, shyly hiding her face.

One of Robin's eyebrows rose as he looked at her, noticing how she hid her face with her long red-gold hair and refused to look at him.

"What's up?"

"There…there are fireworks tonight," She stammered.

"Yeah, I've been listening to them from my window," Robin grinned.

She nodded, but didn't say anything, and slowly began to back away.

"Hey, wait. What's wrong? Where are you going?" He asked surprised. Normally, when he'd been in his office this long, she refused to leave unless he came with her.

"I…I…"

Getting up, he crossed the room so that he was right in front of the doorway, and cupped her face in his hand.

Not for the first time did he realize how tiny and fragile she was. With one hand, he could hold her small chin and have her entire face in his hand.

Granted, his hands were big.

As he held her face, the hair slipped away, the light from the doorway leaving beams of light on her huge green eyes, and slender, tanned body. She looked up at him in the same way she looked at Raven whenever she was nice and social.

A look that said 'I am not sure whether to be happy, confused, or wary by this strange turn of events'

He hated that she looked at him like that.

That she was ever wary or confused when he was near. He didn't want her to ever have anything to worry about again, but to put that into words…it would be like in the middle of battle, leaving his stomach unguarded.

A crucial part of him would be out on the table, ready to be picked at by vultures.

"Robin?" she said quietly, startling him out of her thoughts.

"Yes, Star?"

"Why do you stay here, in your office? Why do you not wish to join us?"

Robin sighed. He knew the question was fair, and he felt obligated to answer it.

"It's….that, well, we're teenagers, right?"

Star nodded. Cyborg, the oldest, would be turning nineteen in October.

"And….we act like it?"

"How do teenagers 'act'?" Star said, slightly tilting her head to the right.

"Teenagers are hormone –ridden, lustful, love-stricken emotional basket cases," Robin laughed, but strangely, Starfire did not join in. "And sometimes, you guys act like it. And that's fine, because you are teenagers. But for me…"

"You are seventeen," Starfire said gently. "Does that not make you one of the 'teenager'?"

"Yeah, Star, but…I've been through too much, lost too much to act like one."

"You still have me,"

The room became suddenly airless as Starfire's head leaned forward, just a little. "Yeah," he whispered, leaning forward as well. "Yeah, I guess I do."

It was the faintest whisper of a kiss, but so full of energy and unspoken feelings, it satisfied him more than an intense make out session ever could.

When she pulled away, ever so slightly, he felt like grabbing her head and never letting go.

"Robin, when did you stop being young?"

Inwardly, he sighed. "Star…watching my parents die…it changed me. It took away my childhood. I guess…then."

"Tonight, I wish for you to be young again," She whispered, leaning her forehead against his.

"Star, I dunno…"

"No, Robin," She said, leaning harder into him. "Tonight, we are young. Let us…be young."

"I don't think you get it, Star-"

"No, Robin, It is you who does not get it. When I was thirteen, my own sister sold me into slavery! I have not told you this before," her tone darkened. "But during my time as a captive, certain…physical actions were forced upon me. And you talk as if I do not know how losing your childhood feels? As if you were laying underneath a warm blanket, and suddenly, it had been ripped off of you, exposing you to the cold truth?"

Pulling back, she looked him square in the eye. "So, Robin, tonight, I am going to try to be young again. And I encourage you to join me."

Before he was even aware of his actions, he'd grabbed her face and pulled it to his, locking their lips in a heated, passionate kiss.

And after, Starfire whispered, "See? Being young…it is a beautiful thing."

So if by the time…the bar closes…and you feel like falling down…I'll carry you home…Tonight.