Summary: She still loves him. She still needs him. But if she doesn't go now, she'll never leave him. AU RobRae fic. Sequel of sorts to my fic Sun. You don't really need to read "Sun" to understand this, but it would help.

A/N: This is the related Raven fic I was talking about in my last A/N for Sun. This was originally a songfic to White Horse by Taylor Swift, but I took out the lyrics since they aren't allowed. Read, enjoy, and review, please! :)

Disclaimer: (to the tune of the You Belong With Me chorus, also by Taylor Swift- which I also don't own)

Can't you see that I don't own the Teen Titans?

Not Rob nor Rae nor anyone else, you see

They don't belong to me...

They don't belong to me.

Charming

By guardyanangel

Rachel Roth was packing her things when suddenly she stumbled upon a picture of her and her ex-husband, Richard Grayson. Sitting on her bed, she sighed. The picture was of the two of them smiling, taken a few days before their wedding. Before all of the lying, the pain, and the cheating.

Looking back, she realized that she had always forgiven him for any misdeed. Whenever he apologized, he always managed to look so completely remorseful, she just had to give in. But this time, after she found out, when he had apologized that night and over and over again, through the night, the day after, and the remainder of the time she had stayed with him, it hadn't worked. The apology changed nothing, in her eyes. She realized that this wasn't what she wanted.

"All I ever wanted was you," he had said. Then why was had he gone out with his ex-girlfriend?

Rachel shook her head, standing and putting the picture into a box. She couldn't believe the man that her ex-husband was. She thought she knew him, she thought she loved him, and thought that the feelings were mutual, but now she wasn't so sure. If he had really loved her, she wouldn't have found him eating dinner with his ex-girlfriend. She had called him, several times, but he hadn't answered. God, how worried she was! She had paced the length of their bedroom several times, calling him and crying, finally going out to find him. Only to see him with her.

She berated herself when she found out. She should have known. How could she not have known? The excuses, the arguments, avoiding her. How many lies had he told her? How could she not have seen right through it? She had been lied to all her life, and known it. So why hadn't she now?

Maybe it was because she had actually trusted him, more than anyone she had ever known. Maybe it was because she loved him and had (so she thought) been loved by him in return. Maybe it was because she had lived such a life of pain for so long, she had actually believed that there was a Prince Charming out there to save her. She always had been a sucker for fairytales. Always dreaming that someone would come and sweep her away from the darkness of her past.

Along he had come, seeming to be everything she ever wanted anyone to be, at least on the outside. She couldn't believe she had been so stupid, falling for someone so obviously selfish. But then, she had never really known love, so how was she to know when it wasn't really love at all, but need?

Lord, how she had planned their future! Every "castle in the air" that she made had him in it. Every situation had a happy ending.

Except for the real one.

She thought that she would have been more jaded than others, considering her difficult past, but if anything that past had caused her to retreat even more into fairytales- which is why this moment came as such a shock. After she discovered her "Prince Charming" cheating on her, all the dreams she had ever had, all the plans she had ever made, with him or without him, seemed to fade away. She lost the heart of the dreamer, and she wasn't sure she'd be able to get it back after this.

And this time, he wasn't there to save her.

How many times had he called, and begged for her to take him back? How many times had he told her he loved her, wanted only her? How many times had he lied?

She wonder if he had ever told her the truth. She didn't know if she'd believe his answer if she asked. She knew she wouldn't be able to trust him again, after this, so, when he asked her if he could have another chance she knew what she had to do.

She had told him a firm no, hung up the phone, and began crying.

But that had been over two months ago, she reflected, putting aside the picture. She had slowly begun to heal, until the day she saw him in the grocery store and every feeling she had every felt, every feeling she had ever buried, came kicking and screaming back to the surface. It was then that she had realized that if she wanted to avoid the kind of life her mother had, she had to get out of Jump City, get away from him, and start all over. That was why she was packing now, after all.

Placing the picture into a box, she finished packing her things.

The sun was setting as she drove farther and farther away from Jump City. She watched that city of pain and memories fade in her rearview mirror, finally disappearing from view. When it first disappeared, the tears had flown, but as she got farther away, her eyes became dry and she started to smile. She was leaving all the pain, all the memories, and yes, him, behind, and it pained her to the core.

But without those tying her down, she was, finally, going to ride free. This time, she didn't need a Prince Charming.

She was going to save herself.

A/N: Thank you for reading! Please review! Sorry if Raven seems a bit OOC, but this is an AU. I tried to keep her as close to form as possible. :)

Regards,

Guardy