Looking back at the fight that had just been witnessed by all, Starfire couldn't help but feel to blame. It was, of course, nowhere near her fault, but she still felt it was. Had she not insisted in loud tones on a loud, Holly Jolly Christmas, Derek would not have joined in. Had Derek not joined in, Raven wouldn't have tried to make him be quiet and come join her at the couch. Had she not done that, he wouldn't have growled out how he was "Not a well trained puppy." At her, which wouldn't have prompted her to ask what he'd meant. Had Derek not had to answer Raven, she might not have started yelling at him, and it might not have come to blows. Derek, being Derek, could never hurt Raven, but he almost had. He had moved to claw her face after a particularly fierce slap and had only managed to just barely stop himself, longest claw actually touching her cheek before he regained his senses somewhat.
When Beastboy tried to intervene, Derek had turned around and slammed his fist into the changeling's face, sending him flying. It was then that Raven had told him to get out. Told him she never wanted to see his furry ass near her again (her words, not mine or Starfire's), which prompted Derek to let loose one of his Sonic howls at the wall and leave swearing that SHE'D be the one to come crawling back to him, not the other way around.
Well, the days passed. Thanksgiving came and went, and still there was no sign of Derek. Actually, I take that back. There were plenty of signs. A sharp decrease in sexual crimes; the utter disappearance of dog fighting rings in Jump- the dead Neo-Nazis pinned to walls with their own bones. Yes, the Titans all knew he was still around, but that was it.
Raven, on the other hand, wasn't taking his absence well at all. She was snapping at Beastboy more frequently, she refused to leave the tower with Starfire for ANY reason, Cyborg's beloved car was always in a terrible state of disrepair, and Robin- well, he was mostly ignored. It got worse as the days since Derek left increased, just as the violence of Derek's actions steadily increased. Anyone could see what was happening; Derek and Raven now needed each other to feel wholly themselves, but were too damned stubborn to admit it, even to themselves. If this went on, one or both would end up dead.
It came to a head on Christmas Eve. The Titans had left the tower to go to the city Christmas Party in the park, and as it turned out, it was one swinging party. The band was playing, the crowd was swayin', and Raven was off in a corner, away from everyone. Men tried to come up to her and get a dance- she rejected them with four red eyes and fangs (damn them things are awesome). From behind her, she heard a small cough, and by God she swore if it was another guy asking to dance she'd snap and kill someone.
Raven wheeled around only to come face to face with Derek.
She promptly nailed him in the face. His head popped back slightly from the blow and it left a nice shiner for all of two seconds before his healing abilities took care of it.
"Damn, Raven, you got a nice left hook."
Raven started ranting at him in hissed whispers, not really wanting to make a scene.
"Nice left hook? NICE LEFT HOOK? You disappear for over two Trigon damned months and all you can say is 'Nice left hook.'? You put Beastboy through a wall and then you left!"
"Well, you did say you never wanted to see me again…"
"Shut up, you, I'm not done talking yet! You blew a hole in the front room when you could have JUST as easily used the damned door; you killed people and left ME to clean up the mess. I had to pick up a man's' spleen, Derek. Do you have any idea what a spleen feels like?"
"I don't even know what spleen is…"
"Shut up!" Raven said, whacking him over the back of his head. "I'm not done! I had to pick up spleens and other assorted organs, I had to pull a man down off of a wall after removing his ribs from his throat and intestines; I had to untie people's hands from their intestinal tracts and pull a man's penis from his own ass. I don't even want to know how you managed that!"
Raven panted heavily for a moment before running her hands through her hair and breathing out deeply.
"Cliché though it is…" Derek began with hesitation, "I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry, Rae."
"Don't call me that."
"Rache?"
"Don't compare me to Batman's enemies, Derek."
The two stood in silence before, at the same moment, they asked the other "Forgiven?"
They enjoyed a good laugh and hugged each other, Derek, in a moment of insanity, kissed Raven square on; it must have been infectious, because when he broke it off she kissed him right back with twice the gusto.
"… Nous devrions le faire plus souvent…" Derek said breathlessly.
"Ne pressez pas votre chance, Fido."
The band began to do a cover of a Jim Brickman song, and Derek held his hand out to Raven to ask for a dance. She accepted, and he led her out to the dance floor. The lead singer began to sing, and Raven found herself singing along, for some odd reason.
"When the snow is falling down, children laughing all around; lights are turning on, like a fairy tale come true. Sittin' by the fire, we've made, you're the answer when I prayed I would find someone, and baby I found you… All I want is to hold you forever; all I need is you more every day. You saved my heart from being broken apart. You gave your love away, and I'm thankful every day, for the gift…"
And even more surprising was when Derek kept the lyrics going.
"Watching as you softly sleep, what I'd give if I could keep just this moment, if all of time stood still. But should the colors fade away, and the years may make us grey, baby in my eyes, you'll still be beautiful. All I want is to hold you forever, and all I need is you more every day. You gave your love away, and I'm thankful every day for the gift…"
A crowd had gathered by this point and cell-phones were out recording the moment, but the two were in the moment too much to notice, or care. Raven and Derek just continued to sing, and that's all that mattered.
"And all I want is to hold you forever; and all I need is you here every day. You saved my heart from being broken apart; you gave your love away…"
"I can't find the words to say…"
"That I'm thankful every day…"
"For the… Gift…"
The song ended, and the two kissed again. Beastboy could be heard cheering his little green lungs out as Cyborg groaned and handed his shorter friend twenty bucks- at the same time, Robin was giving Starfire sixty five and bowing his head in shame. And, as the video hit Youtube and Facebook, Nazi's the world over thanked god for keeping them alive a moment longer.
Ok, that last one was a pure exaggeration, but… you know what, fuck off! I'm telling this story, damnit!
One week later, and Christmas was long past. Derek and Raven had worked out a few things (she would tone down the dog jokes and treating him like a dog, and he would stop fighting with Beastboy so much) and the other Titans breathed a sigh of relief.
Until Raven found out about how they'd been betting on when she and Derek would get back together, that is…