She wasn't quite sure what it was that woke her up, but from the sounds outside her window it could have only been the thunder and lightning. It had been storming for three days straight in Jump City, and while it was nice to not have to go out and fight criminals, it was also a tad…boring.

Beating up criminals was a terribly convenient route to deal with excess anger, afterall.

And why was she angry? Because she was bored. But why was she bored?

That, dear readers, is a very complicated answer. You see, on a normal day, this young sorceress would have done her best to go about her day without any interruptions. She would wake up early, bathe, go down to the common room for a cup of tea and two waffles, return to her room for an hour of meditation, then go socialize for a few hours with her teammates. During this part of the morning, she was usually bombarded with dozens of lame jokes, attempts to eat tofu, and generally well-meant teasing about getting her to smile, all courtesy of a certain green skinned boy.

But for the past two weeks, he had been anything but friendly to people. He had become distant and quiet and it seemed that he wasn't getting much sleep. It was morally disturbing to Raven, who could feel the emotions of her friends. Starfire was always bright and bubbly with a tinge of homesickness. Robin was always cool and ready to defend his friends, a taint of self-doubt echoing within his soul. Cyborg was always headstrong and calculating with a bit of nostalgia for his old life. Beast Boy was always emotionally unrestrained, living with his heart on his sleeve and his head in the clouds. It was an endearing trait in the boy, not that Raven would ever tell anyone that.

Sure, he annoyed the unholy hell out of her eight days out of the week. Sure, he played pranks that left her seething with rage. And yes, he told some of the lamest jokes on the planet. But he was just as sweet as he was annoying, just as quietly serious as he was joking, just as much of a kind soul as he was a mischievous prankster.

He was, in Raven's book, a paradox.

She rolled over in bed and looked at her clock.

2:07 a.m.? Bloody hell, what am I doing awake this early? She sighed and rolled back over on her satin sheets and got comfortable. Closing her eyes, she waited for a while. It was an attempt to use the trick of clearing your mind while in a comfortable position to go to sleep.

2:39

No such luck tonight.

She sighed and got up from bed, thinking a cup of tea might help. Glancing at her mirror, she noticed her hair was a bit disheveled and grabbed her brush. It only took moments to straighten out her shoulder length purple hair. She sat there looking at the mirror, trying to remember why she wanted to grow it out a bit. The reason was escaping her line of thought at this moment, though, so she shook her head and moved towards the door. She paused only for a moment, wondering if it would matter that she was wearing light purple boys' shirts and a purple tank top with no bra. She had actually had the shirt for years, so it was a bit form fitting on her. After another moment, she shrugged.

Not like anyone else is awake, she thought.

She could hear the sound of the rain echoing throughout the tower, courtesy of the hundreds of windows that Robin had insisted be a prime part of the structure. Why he had wanted that, no one would ever know. They were more annoying than anything, in Raven's opinion. She and Starfire regularly went out and cleaned them, since they were the only ones that could fly and still use their hands. The boys, in exchange, did all the landscaping of the island.

As the door to the common room slid quietly open, Raven realized there was something off tonight. She peered around the room, not seeing anything amiss. Shaking the odd sensation off, she set about making her tea quietly. It wasn't long before the kettle went off and she had a steaming mug of Earl Grey in her hands. She inhaled deeply, the scent of her tea instantly setting her at ease. She just happened to glance out the front windows as a bolt of lightning flashed. It illuminated something in the living room part of the large multi-purpose room. Raven squinted in the dark, trying to make out the shape she saw. Another bolt flashed.

Someone was sitting on a loveseat that had been turned to look out over the bay.

A green someone.

She eyed him cautiously, not believing that her usually late sleeping companion was up this early. Against her better judgement, she approached his still form slowly, trying to ascertain what he was doing. If he was having some…shall we say, "alone time", she most certainly didn't want to see or even know.

To her surprise, he was just sitting there looking out at the storm. The waves were beating the shoreline fiercely as the rain poured down, undeterred by the whipping wind. Thunder rolled in the clouds, a symphony of Mother Earths fury as the rumble grew louder and louder. Lightning would illuminate the room every few minutes as Raven stood quietly by the loveseat, pondering her friends' state of mind.

He was, for the lack of a better word, numb. It was disturbing, to say the least. She could feel little from him, but she knew that it was this weird numbness that she felt when she entered the room. The look on his face was distant, a curious mixture of nostalgia, sadness, and grief. His features lit with every flash of lightning, but the light never reached his eyes. He was far away, mentally, and it seemed as if nothing would bring him from this odd reverie he was in.

Raven bit her lip, wondering if it was wise to disturb him. Admittedly, she was curious and worried about his state of being. To see him in such a way…it left her feeling a little hollow and sad inside, not that she knew why. Against her better judgement, she sat down on the loveseat next to him and sipped her tea.

After a few minutes, he stirred and looked at her confusedly. "Raven?"

"Mmhmm." She murmured as she sipped some more.

"What are you doing up this early?"

"Couldn't sleep."

"Another nightmare about him or was it the storm?" He asked gently, looking back out at the bay.

Raven froze for a split second, then turned to him, her eyebrow quirked. "The second, but how did you know I have nightmares about him?"

"I've passed your room a few times when you're having them." He gave a small chuckle. "To be honest with ya Rae, whenever I hear you having one, I kinda sneak into yer room and pull the chicken from your closet and give it to you. You always seem to calm down after that."

Raven stared open mouthed at him for a long moment, caught off guard by his admission to not only sneaking into her room, but doing something to help her as well. She was flustered, but it was nice to know why she occasionally woke up with said stuffed chicken in her arms.

"That's…" She cleared her throat softly, "…very sweet of you, Beast Boy. Thank you."

"Anything for a friend, Rae." He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes at all.

She sipped her tea again, pondering her reaction. She should technically be angry with him for intruding on her personal space. But since his reasons were undoubtedly benign, she couldn't find a shred of anger towards him at all. Instead, she felt a sense of comfort with his presence. It was a strange, almost foreign, feeling since the last guy she had been comfortable around was a lying dragon named Malichor.

That thrice damned liar, who had manipulated her feelings just enough to make her infatuated with him so that she would release him from the cursed book in which he was bound.

Yes, she still had nightmares about that. Nightmares that always whispered things about forever being alone. Nightmares that showed her that her future was dark and empty, with no one caring. Nightmares that told her that she would never find love.

Raven shook her head, not wanting to dwell on those thoughts. Her abnormally silent friend needed her right now; she could sort out her own issues later.

"So…" She said quietly, "Why are you up this early?"

He gave a small shrug. "Couldn't sleep."

"Nightmare or storm?"

He hesitated and she knew it was the first option. Several minutes passed before Raven spoke again.

"You know, Beast Boy…you can talk to me. We've all noticed something wrong with you lately and it's worrying us. Even me."

He turned to her, his eyebrow quirked. "Even you?"

"Of course. You're my friend, no matter how annoying you are." Raven gave him a very small smile, to which he chuckled.

"I guess have been a bit out of it lately, eh?"

Raven shook her head a little. "I haven't yelled at you for two weeks, so a bit is an understatement."

"Two weeks?" Beast Boy's brow furrowed. "I thought it's only been a couple of days."

Raven shook her head and he sighed.

"I'm not really sure where to begin. I just…I dunno." He scratched the back of his head, as he always did when he had something on his mind. "I keep having these dreams. Dreams that tell me I'm…well, a failure. That I can't do anything right. That I keep screwing up. That I won't ever get what I want because of those things."

"Well, I won't deny that you do screw stuff up." Raven nodded slightly, then shook her head. "But you, out of all of us, are not a failure. There isn't anyone on the team with more heart and willpower than you, you know."

"Oh great and powerful Raven, share with me your words of wisdom." The changeling teased, a small smile gracing his face. Raven rolled her eyes.

"Shush, you know I'm not good with this stuff."

"You don't have to be good, Rae. Just showing that you care helps."

They were quiet for a while as they watched the relentless rain continue it tirade against all that is dry. Raven was contemplating returning to bed when Beast Boy suddenly grasped his head in one hand and sighed.

"These dreams…they make it hard to sleep at night. At the end of every one, all I can't hear anything. I can't see anything. I can't feel anything. I'm completely and utterly alone. It's…scary, Rae. Really scary. I hate being alone. I hate it so much."

Although she couldn't see it, she smelt a bit of salt in the air and knew he was hiding the fact that he was crying. Awkwardly, she reached out and gave him a little hug.

"Don't you remember what you told me?" She chided softly. "You think you're alone, but you're not."

He snorted. "My god, I never thought I'd see the day when I was rubbing off on you. I want to laugh so much but I don't have the heart for it right now."

"I appreciate that you didn't laugh." She released him from the hug and looked at him. "So why do you feel alone? You've got dozens of friends, an adoring fanclub, and us, your family. Heck, you even have the Doom Patrol. How could you feel lonely?"

Beast Boy shook his head a little as he wiped away his tears. "It's not a mental or physical thing, Rae. It's more like…"

He hesitated for a moment before tapping himself on the heart. She raised an eyebrow.

"A lonely heart?" She frowned. "But I thought you've been going on dates with girls from your fan club?"

"I was lying." He said softly. "It's hard to find someone that cares when all they see is a green skinned freak."

Raven couldn't help but feeling a little irritated. "You are not a green skinned freak. You're a superhero that's saved the world I don't know how many times. You've beat down dozens of villains, saved thousands of civilians, been across the globe, and brought the Titans back to from the brink of annihilation to beat the Brotherhood of Evil. You are not going to tell me that all the girls you've asked out turned you down just because you're green!"

"Terra was the only one who didn't and we both know how that ended."

Raven visibly flinched then shook her head. "Do you see why I don't associate with many people? They're too judgmental."

Beast Boy nodded slightly. "I know Rae. But while you're an introvert, I'm a bit of a social butterfly. I like people and I like being around people. I just…"

Raven peered down into her empty cup for a minute before speaking softly. "Does it really bother you so much to be alone?"

"Yeah." His tone was just as soft as hers. "I know it sounds stupid, but I want someone to be happy to see me every morning, someone for me to be happy to see every morning. I want someone who I say 'good morning beautiful' to, someone that I can say 'goodnight, I love you' to every day. Someone who cares, not because I'm a superhero, not because I have superpowers, but because I care about her too. Warm hugs, soft kisses, sweet laughter, tears of joy, rapid heartbeats, soothing words…I want all of it."

Raven was staring at him, her mouth slightly open. He glanced up and saw this, making him shrug and look away.

"Yeah , I know, I'm stupid." He sighed once more and lay back against the seat, his hands on either side of him. "Just a stupid and lonely little boy looking for something impossible."

"I don't think you're stupid for wanting that."

If he didn't have sensitive hearing, Beast Boy wouldn't have even noticed her say that softly. He turned his gaze to her, but her eyes were locked on the window.

"I don't think that's stupid at all." She said in a barely audible tone. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to be loved. It's a very normal thing."

"At least you can pass for a normal person." Beast Boy said with just a touch of bitterness in his voice. "I could get a holoring like Cy has, but it'll only last so long and if I slip up, there goes my chances."

"It's not much easier for me." Raven chided him softly. "I have to be careful with my powers, remember?"

"Oh yeah." The green boy scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Sorry, I forgot."

She quirked an eyebrow at him. "How could you forget that?"

"You were being so normal that I kinda forgot for a few minutes." He laughed lightly.

The violent haired girl snorted. "I only wish I could be normal."

"We're just two peas in a pod, eh?"

Raven stared at him curiously for a moment before something dawned in her eyes. Beast Boy raised an eyebrow at her, but it was a long time before she spoke. He had almost dozed off, truthfully speaking.

"Beast Boy…I was thinking…"

"You do enough of that for ten of me, you know." He grinned. She rolled her eyes.

"Yes, that I do. But I just had a crazy thought."

He gave her a false frown. "Those are my gigs, dude."

"Yes, I know that too." She said patiently. When he didn't respond, she continued. "I was thinking…well…you said you hate being alone…and I might as well be honest and say that I hate it too…so…"

Beast Boy froze as new warmth enveloped his hand. He looked down and saw that Raven had intertwined her fingers into his, making his heart leap into his throat. Completely dumbstruck, his gaze drifted up towards the violet haired girl at his side. Her eyes were set on the storm outside.

"Raven…?" He said breathlessly.

"I was thinking." Her voice could just barely be heard through the rain. "That perhaps we can kill this loneliness…together."

His mouthed opened and closed several times but he dared not speak until his thoughts cleared a bit. "I-I thought you hated me?"

"I've never hated you, Beast Boy. You've annoyed me to hell and back so many times that I should hate you. But you've always tried so hard for my forgiveness that I've never been able to shut you out completely. You're an annoying little pest with a terrible sense of humor, not-much-better hygiene, and a tendency for the worst of pranks." Raven took her head on one hand and shook it. "I don't know why, but this really sweet and gentle side of you that I'm seeing right now is affecting me. I didn't know you had it in you, figuratively or literally."

His brow furrowed once more. "So…yer saying that…I'm not such a bad guy after all?"

"Something like that." Raven glanced at his confused face before giving him a small smile. "Look…I think this sweet side of you has potential, okay?"

A smile like no other lit up Beast Boy's face. "Really Rae?"

She rolled her eyes, but playfully so. "Yes really. I'm willing to give you a shot. I suggest you don't screw it up."

He closed his eyes for a moment, a few tears coursing down his cheek. The green boy struggled to keep the flow in check and wiped the escapee's away. "This is so hilariously awesome. I've had a little bit of a crush on you for a while now and now this happens. I'm beyond the luckiest guy in the world."

Raven's head snapped to him, a flush creeping up her face as she stammered. "W-what? A crush on m-me?"

"Of course!" He laughed, a few more tears escaping. "You're beautiful, intelligent, and the most caring person I know. How could I not end up falling for you?"

Her blushed deepened as she turned away, still stammering. "I-I think you have me confused with someone that's…just like you described."

"Nope." He yawned suddenly and shook his head as drowsiness washed over him like the stormy tide onto the shore outside. "Only one violet eyed girl in the whole world and now she's mine."

Even though she was now looking at him shyly, she was wondering just how this conversation went from nightmares to them being a couple. It should have been perplexing, but in truth it was his words of wanting to care and be cared for that had affected her the most. He had sounded just like her, but instead of keeping the feelings bottled up inside, he had spoken them. To have heard that someone was in the same situation as her had been unsettling at first, but the passion in his voice had persuaded her to think about him in a different way. She would give him this chance and she would give it her all as well.

It was an impulsive decision, really, but maybe…just maybe…

A flash of lightning drew Raven from her thoughts, bringing to her attention that her view was tilted now. It left her confused for a moment, but then she realized that her head was lying on his shoulder. She glanced up and saw his head resting against hers.

When did this happen? She thought.

It was an odd sensation, laying on him. He was warm and it seemed that his shoulder was perfect for resting her head on. His fingers were still intertwined with hers and the sound of his breathing seemed to muffle the sounds of the raging storm outside. All in all, it was very…

Raven opened her eyes, then shut them as the harsh sunlight flooded her vision. Yawning, she blinked rapidly as three figures in front of her came into a slightly better focus. It was her friends Cyborg, Robin, and Starfire.

"G'morning." She said groggily, exhaustion still permeating her every bone.

Cyborg licked his lips nervously. "Ah…good morning Raven. How are you feeling?"

"I want to go back to sleep." Raven paused after seeing his expression. Her eyes slid over to her other friends, who wore a similar look. "What?"

Wordlessly, they pointed at the spot next to her. The girl turned her heard and came face to face with a sleeping Beast Boy. In his sleep deprived state, he seemed to be dead to the world.

Raven stared at him for a long moment, feeling the warmth of his body against hers and the comfort of being so close to him brought her. She then turned her vision back to the bay windows, where small magical gesture activated the darkening tint on them. She looked to her far left and waved at the light switches on the wall. The light density lowered to only a couple of remaining bulbs, which glowed with a soft and gentle light in the kitchen. Lastly, Raven made a 'come here' gesture at the blanket that was always draped across a recliner on the opposite side of the room. It rose and floated over to her, encased in black magic. Gently and wordlessly, she nudged her sleeping companion over so that his head was laying on the arm of the love seat. She pushed him against the back of the seat, and then pulled the blanket up and over them as she snuggled against his chest.

"Friend Raven…are you and Beast Boy 'the couple' now?" Starfire asked softly.

"I'm not sure what we are, Star." Raven too spoke softly, as she had some hours before to an emotionally distraught changeling. "But if this is what it feels like to care and be cared for, then I don't want it to ever end."

Raven could feel Starfire's barely contained joy, along with Robin and Cyborg's unvoiced shock. Turning her head slightly, she looked at them. "We're taking the day off to rest. Please turn off the alarms for the common room, Robin. And Cyborg, no jokes or blackmail, please?"

The boys both nodded dumbly and were dragged off by the alien princess. Raven buried her face in Beast Boys' shoulder, savoring the warmth of his body and soul. In that warmth, she found many things.

Comfort. Want. Relaxation. Desire. Companionship. Adoration. Affection. Devotion. Loyalty. Kindness. Gentleness. Peace.

And something that she had been craving for far too long.

Love.