Beauty and the Beast (A Series of Teen Titan Stories)
Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans, and I never will. So please don't sue me. I'm only a fan. -_-

Story One: I Always Have

She had forgotten what pain felt like; had kept everything locked inside of her, the many walls she had built always protecting. She hadn't planned on having the walls knocked down.

You think you're alone, Raven, but you're not.

She cringes when she hears his voice, knowing that it will not leave her mind; none of her spells can ever make her forget. She pulls her cloak off and lets it fall to the floor, not bothering to move it to its rack. Raven closes her eyes and sighs, lifting from the ground. She drifts to her bed and crashes down on it hard, making the soft mattress seem like a bed of stone.

"I am alone!" she cries to the nothingness, listening as the echoes travel down the void. The tears come now; the first tears she has cried in a long time. She buries her face into her pillow, tasting the salt from her tears.

She had thought that she was safe from pain, because long ago she had discarded feelings altogether. Raven had been just fine all along; she didn't need feelings, they only caused confusion and pain. When the walls had crashed down, she realized she was wrong. She was helpless.

Raven, why don't you come out and join the rest of us?

"There isn't any reason to join," she sobs, "Not anymore."

Rae…

"Don't call me that! Go away!"

She turns her head so that she can watch the door, her lavender eyes filled to the brim with tears. The silence around her is deafening; the once never afraid is now attacked by fear. Her fingers dig into the sheets as she thinks about her last words, now ghosts haunting her unprotected mind. Beast Boy did go away. Unexpectedly, she had been betrayed; the one she had trusted the most in the world had left her in shambles.

She continues to watch the door, even though she is tired and should probably sleep. But then she remembers that she can't close her eyes, no matter what. If she did sleep, she would be visited by the memory, the feeling, and the emptiness.

"Don't go away…" she finally whimpers to the dark, "Please come back…Gar."
Only, Gar would not be coming back. She already knows, saw him; the way his body lay twisted, his eyes holding no life. And she had tried; the rest knew that she had. But after trying there was nothing ore she could do. Raven looks down at her fingers and frowns slightly. Just an hour ago she had touched him. Only an hour ago he had smiled and said to Starfire, "Yea, she digs me."

You think you're alone…

"I am…"

Suddenly a knock on her door causes Raven to sit up, rather startled, but she eagerly hopes; her hopes are always shatter.

"My friend, Raven, why don't you come to join us in the playing of the games?"

"Games, Starfire? Gar…I mean Beast Boy is dead, and all you and the others can do is play games?" Raven asks in a flat voice. How could they play games when he was not there to play with them? Am I the only one who misses him?

"But Raven, I think you have been…"
"Shh, Star, let me handle this."

Raven stills, staring at the door with misbelieving eyes. She quickly shakes her head and turns away. She's hearing things now; her mind is trying to comfort her. This is only causing her more agony. He was not standing out there, because Beast Boy would never stand there again. A light tap on her door makes her shudder.

"Rae…"

"Whoever you are, go away!" she cries, "Go away…"

"Rae…I can…"

She places the pillow over her head, trying to block out the sound of this imposter; trying to forget the sound of his voice.

"You aren't real," she whispers, "My mind only wants me to believe you're real, because my mind doesn't like this….the pain."

Another soft tap drifts from the door. "Don't be in pain anymore, Raven. You don't always have to pretend that you're strong."

She lifts from the bed and hovers toward the door, sticking her arm out and pointing at the cold metal surface. Murmuring under her breath the familiar spell, she turns her head away when the door begins to creak open. She's afraid to see the truth, that it's only Starfire standing there, hoping. Beast Boy was dead…he could not be there.

"Hey Raven," his voice says, and she turns her head slightly. Beast Boy is standing in the doorway, his arms bandaged and his leg in a splint. "Do you believe me now? Or are you going to say that now you're seeing things, too?"

"Gar…"
"The one and only," he says, smirking, "Thanks to Cyborg, I wa—"

Raven quickly hovers to him and hugs him; gently at first, to make sure that he is really there, not just an illusion, and then her arms tighten around him. "You were…"

"Yeah, I know. Pretty cool, huh?"

"No," she squeaks, "Not cool at all."

"Oh?" he frowns.

"I thought I was alone."

"You think you're alone," he tells her quietly, "but you're not."

"Not anymore," she agrees softly.

Beast Boy grins and hugs her to him. "I won't leave you alone, so trust me, okay?"

"I always have."

A/N: If you review this, I'll give you a cookie, and another chapter. ^.^