Promise.
Summary: AU High school to adulthood. Rachel Roth and Richard Grayson shared a series of unforgettable events as friends. Promises can be broken easily... When Richard Grayson found himself a girlfriend, their friendship began to slowly drift apart, leading to almost nothing and hurt on Rachel's side. Friendship over relationship? Or is it the other way?
Intro, for those who don't know. (Characters at the moment, might have more in the future chapters.)
Raven- Rachel Roth
Robin- Richard Grayson
Starfire- Koriand'r (Kori in short)
Beast Boy- Garfield Logan
Cyborg- Victor Stone
Terra- Tara Markov
Argent- Antonia Monetti (Toni in short)
Aqualad- Garth
Forever friends. Nothing can separate them. He promised her, but promises can be broken easily.
That day when he promised, the both of them were young at age. A simple promise "Nothing would ever come in between us forever," was adorable for their age. But for Rachel, she took it for real. She trusted him as he was her only best friend.
But when Rachel started to grow up, she decided to not trust upon that promise, but remembering it. She knew friendship could not last forever, not when there is relationship in between. Also by judging the way he is now. It's a lie, she knew that when she found a new emotion while she was growing up. 'Love'.
She knew that he would not be able to stay by her side forever because in the end, he will be together with someone else, having a family. Relationship will be over friendship, no doubt in that.
Who will be the first one who comes to you when you have trouble in the future when you have a family?
High school graduation prom night (29th December)
Dresses and suits are compulsory for the event, and Rachel did not appreciate it. Richard had to use force by pulling her, tempting her to come. But he failed, there was nothing that she would like to see, or at least use one of her senses. Pulling her by force worked though, but she looked like she is going to kill him anytime.
Rachel is always quiet, but not shy. Other people used to make use of this advantage to bully her, but she could easily handle it good. Well, in fact, all of them now knew she's not to be messed with; at all.
Richard is her best friend ever since they went to the same school. They have been best friends for over 13 years. Nothing have came in between them yet, and the both of them will never forget their friendship.
No one has ever dared to tease in front of them because Rachel can be really scary at times. However, there are rumors about their closeness. A lot of gossiping, but that did not affect their friendship.
"Yo, Richard!"
The both of them turned to look behind, seeing Richard's group of friends. Rachel was not involved with them, but she was closest to Victor in that particular group.
"Hey, Vic." Richard grinned and walked up to them.
"I'll just go in and hang around first..." Rachel muttered and left her original spot.
Richard nodded his head, and turned back to the rest of them. The group consists of Victor, Garfield, Kori, Tara, and himself. He also clearly knew that Garfield had a secret crush on Tara where she is still clueless about it, while Kori had a crush on him.
Richard ever took her out for several dates, but they never became a pair yet.
It is normal to be crushing at their age, and there are already so many crushes here and there that they know of. Teenage hormones...
"Richard! It is very very nice to see you! You are dressed well!" Kori complimented.
"Thanks Kori, you look nice. Pretty outfit you've got there." He smiled.
She is a sweet, and not-so-naïve-anymore girl. When the both of them met for the first time, he was a little confused on what she was speaking at first. But her English grew even more powerful, and she understood more, and now most of the stuff. Her learning experience these past few years increased a lot.
"Well, let's go in then!" Richard said, pulling Kori's arm and leading the rest.
They were greeted by a few neon-colored lights that flashed their face in a second, loud music boomed in their ears, and all of their eyes diverted their attention away from the neon-colored lights, and to the stage with a few people dancing on it.
"Let's rock this dudes!" Garfield cheered, dancing while he walked in.
"Well, I'm going to the food station to see what they have! I'm starving already!" Victor informed and rushed over.
"Uh, well, I guess I'll just hang around you two, I hope I am not disturbing anything?" Tara asked.
"That's fine, but Gar would definitely wish to have you hanging around him." Richard smirked, but he did not plan on revealing Garfield's tiny secret.
"O-kay...? I guess? But hey, if you two wish to be alone, you have to use another method of getting rid of me!" Tara assumed, and punched playfully on Richard's arm.
"Ow, but hey, your assumption is wrong. There are so many people here, how can we be alone?" He grinned.
"Whatever, suit yourself. I shall not be the third wheel or something," Tara smiled, and winked at the both of them before heading off to some other place.
"Well... What shall we do first?"
Rachel's POV
Alone again, I did not mind. I obviously did not stay stagnant in the hall all by myself, instead, I went to the rooftop. So much quieter here with no one to bother me.
I stared at the moon, the stars, the night sky that overwhelmed them. They looked so... free... So happy... As if they were really happy all together.
I would prefer to hang out with some friends instead of being alone... But I like to be quiet. That was also a reason why people did not really like to hang out with me. They did not really like quietness, they love to be outgoing, hyper, which did not suit me at all.
Richard was my only best friend at the moment, one best friend is good enough for me. But never did I thought that our friendship is beginning to fade away.
I know that he is having lots of fun in the hall right now, maybe dancing and partying with the rest. Or he might even be doing some cha-cha with Kori.
I obviously knew about the crush Kori had on Richard, Richard told me everything; or that was what I thought at least. I'm sure that everyone has at least a secret that they won't even reveal.
End of Raven's POV
"Alright! Since you can dance so well, I shall take up the challenge in challenging you in a dance battle!" Garfield announced, challenging Richard.
"You'll definitely loose, Gar." Victor said, and the rest laughed.
"Well, what if I win instead? What will I get?" Garfield debated.
"Well, I'll let you eat meat if you win." Victor grinned at the rest for his idea, knowing that he is a vegetarian.
"No way!"
"It's a deal anyway, I fully accept your challenge." Richard cut in, hoping that they would not quarrel at this moment on a prom night.
"YES! Now what will I get if I win, Richie?" Garfield asked.
"You will get a pair of Tara boxers, printed just for you." Richard whispered into his ear.
"SWEET!" Garfield cheered. "Wait, BOXERS?"
The rest laughed, but they did not hear the comment that Richard said to him.
"Hold up, how about me? What will I get if I win?" Richard asked.
"You will get Kori, 24 hours!" Garfield teased while Kori blushed furiously.
Richard flushed, embarrassed at what he had just said. But the both of them knew that they were just joking, since they knew each other very well.
"Alright, y'all, LET THE BATTLE COMMERCE!" Victor announced and brought the both of them up on stage while he explained the procedure of voting the both of them.
Meanwhile...
Rachel is done staring at the night sky and also arranging her thoughts so that she is good in place, but she did not wish to go down to the hall, knowing that she would be out-of-place and would be a little awkward for her just staying there.
Besides, the loud music below was too much for her to handle.
When she is about to stand up to stretch herself, the rooftop door suddenly got knocked down, revealing a girl almost the same height as her.
"Please, you have to let him know that I am not here!" She pleaded worriedly.
Rachel looked at her for a moment, but then nodded her head. However, with the rooftop door got knocked down, how is she going to explain?
The girl ran and hide behind a nearby dustbin, small enough, but managed to fit her size.
Suddenly, a guy ran up, almost knocking into Rachel, but thankfully he stopped in time.
"Hey... Um, have you seen this girl, almost as tall as you, wearing a black dress?" He asked.
"Well, it's just me and my space. Besides, I was practicing my taekwondo skills." She replied.
"Uh, well, sorry about that... But you can practice taekwondo in a dress?" He asked again.
Now she was embarrassed, she forgot that she was wearing a dress!
"Yes I can," She answered with her monotone voice.
"Well, if you'd like, I can practice with you since you are alone." He offered.
"No thank you, besides, I have better things to do. I suggest you to leave me and my peaceful space before I hurt you with my taekwondo skills." She deadpanned, almost saying it sarcastically. Since she did not know anything about taekwondo, she decided to threatened him anyway.
"Alright, alright. Anyway, the name's Garth here. Nice to meet you anyway." Garth introduced, still not leaving.
"The name's Go-Away-Before-I-Hurt-You-With-My-Taekwondo-Skills, now leave." She said sarcastically and almost rolled her eyes.
He chuckled, "You have a very... good sense of humor, but I guess I'll take my leave now. Hope to see you again, bye." He waved and left.
Rachel waited until he was completely gone, then gestured the girl who was hiding behind the dustbin to come out.
"My bro's right! You do have a great sense of humor!" She giggled.
"Your brother?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, yeah. Not entirely my brother though. He's adopted by my parents." She explained.
"Oh."
"So, you don't want to know why he was chasing after me?"
"Not interested. I'm barely interested in anything."
"I see, well, can I ask you something?"
"You already did, so why not?"
"Why are you alone up here by yourself? Are you really practicing taekwondo up here?"
"... That's two questions, but anyway, I'm up here alone because I just feel like it. And I did not know a single thing about taekwondo, that was just a made-up story that I thought of." She explained and sat down on her original sit.
"I see, well, you are awesome anyway!" She beamed.
"Uh, well, thanks?"
"So, wanna go down and join me? But I am still going to avoid my brother though! Oh and by the way, my name's Antonia, you can call me Toni in short."
"Well, nice to meet you, but no thanks, I don't wish to go down now." Rachel said.
"Aw! Come on!"
"If you plan to continue staying here because you want to find out my name, well, my name's Rachel. Now you can go in peace and I assure you that I will keep my mouth shut about this. If I break my promise, you can come after me by my name."
"I wasn't planning on anything like that. But hey girl, you really got me interested in you." Toni gave a light smile, but suddenly frowned, realizing what she had just said. "Interested to know you, not in you. Sorry my mistake."
Rachel gave a light smile, "Guess I could use a little company right now."
The two of them conversed until almost the prom ended and in the end, she was now her first girl friend. None of the girls ever conversed with Rachel, except for Toni, which she surprisingly found interesting.
And that is how they met, together with Garth...
Back at the hall...
"Darn it dude! I lost to you! I can't believe I lost to you!" Garfield cried.
"Aww... Now don't feel so bad about it, I mean, it's just a dance battle, for fun." Victor comforted.
"Yes, cheer up Garfield! Do not feel so bad about it," Kori added on.
Almost everyone in the hall cleared out to head home for the night. It was getting really late too.
"Ah wells, big deal, I can always come back for revenge! Anyway, do you guys wanna head back home?" Garfield asked.
Suddenly, Richard thought of Rachel. He totally ditched her in the prom! And he even said he would be back for her.
"Uh, guys, gotta search for Rachel," Richard informed and immediately ran to the rooftop, knowing that she would be there since that is her usual hanging out spot.
"Is he going to be alright? Will he get killed by Rachel for dumping her throughout this prom night?" Garfield asked.
"It's more like will Rachel be alright, I mean, she will be all alone the entire time when we were having tons of fun..." Victor said. "Aw man, I can't believe we forgot about her!"
"Well, we're not so close to her anyway, Richard can handle it." Tara said and yawned. "Come on, I'm dead beat tired, I'm going home. Kori, you coming?"
Kori nodded her head, she looked as tired as the rest, but there was also another emotion added onto her face. Sadness. Because Richard diverted his attention to Rachel now, and she hoped for him to actually spend more time with her instead.
Courage is needed.
Meanwhile at the rooftop...
"No wonder you ran for your life. Though I must say, that is really mean of you to do that." Rachel said. This was one of her happiest moments in her life, getting to converse with another person who did not find her creepy at all.
The both of them were tired, and thirsty. But they were happy to be able to bond together in such a quick time.
"Rachel!" A voice called out from behind their backs. They turned, almost startled by the voice.
"Richard? What are you doing here?" Rachel asked.
"Looking for you so that I can send you home?"
"Really? I thought you were too busy to even accompany me for a second." She answered, raising an eyebrow, clearly knowing what he has been doing all this while.
"Look, I'm sorry that I neglect you for this. I'll... make it up for you some day, alright?" Richard apologized.
"Hell-o! Am I like invisible here?" Toni asked, wanting Rachel to do the introduction.
"Ah, yes. Okay, this is Richard, my best friend, and Richard, this is Toni, my another new best friend." Rachel introduced.
… And Richard and Toni had a glaring competition, but Rachel was on Toni's side since Richard had totally forgotten about her.
"So... How was the night?" He asked.
"Fun." She answered sarcastically.
The both of them strolled until they reached her doorstep. Neither of them made a sound, even their footsteps were silent.
"Well, I guess this is it." Rachel spoke up.
"Yeah, goodnight." Richard said.
"Night."
When she was about to close the door, Richard stopped her.
"Rachel... I'm really sorry about neglecting you today..." Richard apologized again. He did not want her to feel lonely at all. "I promise, I will make it up for you some day."
"No worries, Richard. Toni accompanied me enough for today. We'll talk tomorrow on phone, alright?" She said.
"Yeah sure, bye then, and good night." He smiled, and walked away, leaving Rachel with her own thoughts.
Will our friendship last forever?
A/N: Another plot! I hope it is not pointless... Criticism will be awesome for me to improve! Reviews will always be loved. I hope none of the characters are OOC, and also, there will be some RichKori/ GarTara. I don't know if Victor will be paired up in the later chapters, but maybe.
Anyway, have a nice day!