Sometimes, he'd still think about her. Sometimes, he imagined he was speaking to her, as if somehow he would come to an understanding as to why she decided to leave. It was a horrible habit and it had been going away, but in certain circumstances, the habit came back, unwelcome and uninvited. Those times were shrinking, admittedly becoming less frequent and scarce. Beast Boy was moving on.
The Teen Titans had taken a stroll downtown and stopped at a pizza shop. Everyone was enjoying their delicious slices of heaven, including Beast Boy. Hungry like a beast, Beast Boy shoved the pizza into his mouth when a familiar sound came to him. His eyes wandered off to a table across from theirs, several feet away. There, a group of teenagers sat, giggling and laughing the way teenagers do. But it wasn't all a normal picture. Terra sat there with them. And when Beast Boy's eyes subconsciously wandered to the sound of a familiar laugh, they were drawn immediately to the blonde-headed girl.
She had her back turned to him, and he stood there, waiting. "I'm sorry for everything I did to you, Beast Boy." She turned to face him, head down. Half her face covered by her golden hair.
She felt his eyes fixed on her and looked up at him, caught by surprise and yet void of emotion. He knew this moment was inevitable. They lived in the same city, they shared the same streets, the same mundane people. He knew that in the big city of his, they would find each other again.
"Terra!" She looked up at him, shame tainting her blue eyes.
Not knowing what else to do, he smiled at her courteously, hoping to not show the pain on his face. She returned the gesture.
"I can't ask for you to forgive me. I tried to make up for everything I did."
"Terra, you saved us. You helped us out in the end," he was trying to reason with her. One more time.
"There's too much guilt."
"You were a true friend."
The pain in their faces was noticeable, and yet nobody did notice. Nobody but them, in their invisible bubble where time stopped.
"You can come back! They all miss you, I know they do!"
"I can't go back-."
"Even Raven misses you!"
"Beast Boy." She silenced his pleading, just for a moment.
"Right Beast Boy?" Robin asked, suddenly bursting the invisible, time-stopping bubble.
"Huh?" Beast Boy looked around the table at the smiling faces of his friends.
"Hey, are you alright?" Robin asked, sensing the change in his usually cheerful friend.
"I tried to fix everything, but I couldn't. I wanted to come back."
"Everyone would've loved you back!"
"But I couldn't. I did horrible things. I didn't deserve a family like the Teen Titans." She turned her head downward, hiding the shame in her face. He took a step toward her.
"Terra." His voice was breaking. "I miss you."
"Oh... yeah," Beast Boy tried mustering up a chuckle.
"Are you sure, friend? There is nothing wrong?" Starfire asked. Everyone in the table turned their attention to him.
"I needed a normal life. That's why I chose to go to school. I hate my powers-."
"I love your powers," Beast Boy said. He was searching for anything to make her realize she needed them. To realize she needed him.
"No, Beast Boy. I've cause too much trouble. Especially for you. I'm really sorry. I wish I never ran to this city."
"What are you saying?"
"Things would have been better if we'd never met."
He gave another try at a fake smile.
"Yeah, of course I'm fine! I think it's just this pizza hurting my stomach." His stomach grumbled on cue. He sheepishly laughed while scratching the back of his head.
"I don't regret it," he said, his heart sinking again. She stayed silent. "We had a lot of fun, right?" She smiled up at him.
"I had a lot of fun with you, Beast Boy." He smiled back at her.
"I miss those times. They were easy."
"Yeah... I didn't have to think about Slade being on my back." She chuckled. "It was just us."
"Don't you want that again?"
"It's not right." His face dropped. "This is best. Trust me."
"What?"
Everyone had turned back to their conversation. Beast Boy, however, reverted his gaze back to the other table, searching for her. She wasn't looking anymore. She was talking with her friends and laughing. She looked like any other ordinary teenage girl. But Beast Boy knew she wasn't. He couldn't hear her voice anymore. Feeling his gaze again, she glanced back.
"Terra." She waited. "I love you."
"... I love you, too, Beast Boy. I'm sorry."
She looked away and her and her friends started to get up from their seats. They threw away their trash and began to walk away. Terra didn't look back.
"This is best. I need to live a normal life."
"But I need you!" Beast Boy pleaded again. "Stop running away!" He held onto her hands, afraid of letting go.
"It's best if I forget any of this happened."
"No."
"It's best if you forget about me."
Beast Boy was beginning to lose hope. He didn't want to watch her go again and yet his body refused to go after her. She turned, finally, and met his eyes for a brief moment while walking away.
"Goodbye, Beast Boy."
She looked away and didn't turn back to look at him again. Beast Boy looked around at his table filled with friends.
He let go of her hands, in defeat. "Goodbye, Terra."
Suddenly his friend's conversation came into focus and the world became right again. Terra walked away to some other part of the city, accompanied by friends, careless and free. She was lost in the big city of his and, somehow, would never meet him again, living so close and yet so distant from one another. It still hurt it him, the few times he would remember. Despite it being for the best.