I present the semi-explicit sexual content.

I do not own Teen Titans.


At three on the dot, Raven entered the gym and found Gar waiting in the area where the team usually sparred. She thought there was something oddly appropriate about that.

"Are you ready to experience the wonders of ballroom dance?" Gar asked with mock enthusiasm.

Raven couldn't help glaring at him, and he grinned at her.

"I appreciate your excitement," he said.

"So, what are we doing?" Raven asked, ignoring his attempts at humor.

"Explanation time!" he replied, straightening so quickly he actually jumped a little. "Standard ballroom includes Waltz, Viennese waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, Quickstep, Samba, Cha-Cha-Cha, Rumba, Paso Doble, and Jive."

Raven gaped at him. "You made at least half of those up."

Gar laughed. "I wish. And that's just the international standard. They could stick to all-American."

"Does that...style have a lot of different ones?" Raven asked, dreading the answer.

Gar shook his head. "Not really. It's about the same except American swaps out the last three dances I said for the East Coast Swing, Rumba, and Bolero."

"How do you even remember all of this?" Raven wondered aloud. Even though Gar was far more focused now that he'd been when she met him, he still had a fairly short attention span.

At this, Gar dropped his overenthusiastic instructor persona. "Dude, I don't even know. I thought it was all gone, but when I started thinking about it again, I started remembering. Rita made me spend a lot of time on the dance floor."

"We're not going to have to learn all of them, are we?" Raven asked, hoping he would say 'no.'

"Nah," Gar replied. "East Coast Swing is probably blasphemy out here in Cali, and since this shindig wants to be all fancy, they'll probably stick to international stuff. We're gonna focus on the first five I said, 'cause those are, like, the most common, and if we still have time when you get those down, we'll do the basics for the rest."

Overwhelmed, Raven didn't speak for a moment, and Gar gave her a sympathetic smile.

"Hey, Raven? It's just waltz today. That's it."

Cautiously, she nodded.

"Okay," said Gar. He moved over to the stereo, took his iPod from his pocket, and plugged it in. Classical music began to pour from the speakers, but to Raven's surprise, Gar simply sat down. She walked over to the stereo and looked down at him, hands on her hips.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

He took her arm and gently tugged her to sit on the floor with him.

"The thing about the waltz," he explained once she was settled. "the thing about all the ballroom dances, really, is that they all got their own time signature. Waltz is in three-four time. It's important to know that, because if you know how to count, you can always find your way back if you get lost. We'll listen to the music first, count, and then move onto steps. Listen."

They were both silent for a moment, paying attention to the music, and then Gar started to count, tapping his hand against his leg. "One, two, three. One, two, three. Can, you, hear? It, Ra, ven? One, two, three..."

She listened to the music and focused on his tapping fingers. Eventually, she could hear the beats in the song landing at the same time his fingers did. After watching for another moment, she too began to count and tap her fingers against her leg. All the while, it didn't escape her notice that he still held her arm.


"Hey, Rae?" Beast Boy asked far too innocently.

Raven let out a frustrated huff and looked up from his freshly healed leg. "I told you not to—"

His lips were on hers before she could finish.

Her eyes went wide, and she froze, too shocked to move. When her brain started functioning again, she was surprised to realize that she hadn't pushed him away yet. She thought that would have been instinctive for her.

The bigger surprise however, was that she wasn't sure she wanted to push him away. The kiss actually felt...nice. He didn't thoughtlessly crush his mouth against hers, and he wasn't trying to force his tongue in her mouth. Instead, he was slow and gentle, his lips moving softly over hers. If she didn't think the word was so far removed from anything she associated with Beast Boy, she would have called it sensual. He ran his the tip of his tongue over the crease between her lips, but before she could open her mouth, he pulled away, mischievous expression still on his face.

Well, that wouldn't do at all. Raven found she was still curious about all a kiss could entail. She pressed her mouth back to his before he could speak, and this time he was the one who froze, mouth gaping. Raven had no problem with this. She had...experimenting to do.

She kissed his top lip first, catching it between her own for a moment before letting go, and then she moved to the bottom one. Confidence growing, she flicked it with her tongue and then gently bit down. She moved back a little, dragging his lip with her, and he made a strange, whimpering sound. She let go and gave his lip a critical look. It didn't look like she'd hurt him. Deciding he was fine, she pressed her mouth back to his and tentatively slid her tongue in, exploring. It was interesting, but she felt like there was something missing.

That feeling disappeared when the tip of her tongue touched Beast Boy's. He startled a little, and then he reacted. His tongue met and began to move with hers, and Raven felt his hands tangle in her hair. He started stroking the hair at the nape of her neck, and she shuddered a little. That felt really nice.

This kiss started out as slow and gentle as the first, one-sided ones, but the two of them moving together sent chills down her spine. She felt like her blood itself was buzzing. The kiss quickly escalated into a completely different one, something hotter and hungrier with a lot of biting and licking and sucking. When Raven broke away for a quick breath of air, she was surprised to find she was in Beast Boy's lap.

Uncomfortable with how far this had gone, she quickly pushed herself off of him, seating herself several inches away.

"What...was that?" Beast Boy panted.

Raven, who'd been looking away, whirled to look at him. What did he mean? Was she bad? But—

"You started it," she finally sputtered.

"I didn't think you'd finish it!" he exclaimed. His expression turned sheepish. "I thought you'd hit me or something."

"Did you want me to hit you?" Raven's voice was flat.

"It was less about you hitting me and more about me seeing you get all flustered," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "But then you ruined my plans." He tried to tease.

"Sorry," she said stiffly. She got up, but he took her arm.

"Uh...why did you kiss me back, Raven?"

"I was...curious," she admitted after she thought about it for a minute.

"Really?" Beast Boy looked amazed at the very idea.

"Yes," Raven replied. "It felt kind of nice, so I wanted to see what would happen. Best case scenario: it would be enjoyable for both of us. Worst case scenario: the emotions from the kiss would stir up my powers, and you'd be destroyed. Which you would have deserved anyway for kissing me without my permission just to 'fluster' me. I thought it was a win-win."

Beast Boy laughed, and Raven almost smiled.

"Hey, Raven?" he asked once he'd gotten control of himself.

"Yes, Beast Boy?"

"Do you, uh...wanna do it again sometime?"

"You want to?" Raven asked, surprised.

"Well..." Beast Boy shrugged. "Yeah. It was fun. I really liked it."

Raven thought about it for a moment. She'd never thought about Beast Boy this way before. Never thought about anyone this way before, brief infatuations with Aqualad and Malchior excluded. She wasn't sure if she thought of Beast Boy romantically now, but she had really enjoyed kissing him, as surprising as that was. And she would like to do it again. After a moment, she realized that they really didn't need to be a couple. They could just be friends who...fooled around? Whatever the term was. She didn't think he was looking for a relationship from her either, so this could be fun.

"Okay," she said.

"Really?" he asked, once again looking amazed.

"No," Raven replied, rolling her eyes. "I actually want to kiss Cyborg."

"Uh...really?" Beast Boy looked somewhere between crestfallen and confused, and she wanted to roll her eyes again.

"I was being sarcastic. Yes, I actually want to kiss you again," Raven replied. God knew why.

"Oh, okay," Beast Boy said happily, and Raven almost smiled again.


When the song ended, Gar stood up and offered her his hand. She stood up without taking it, and he shrugged. He turned off the music, and she gave him a quizzical look.

"We gotta learn steps first," he said. "Then, we'll put them to music. Remember the counting though. Okay?"

Raven nodded and turned to face him. He took her hands, placing one on his shoulder and holding the other in the air with his own. He moved his free hand to her waist and pulled her close—much closer than she would have expected for such a formal dance. She shot him a look, and he smiled sheepishly at her.

"We actually do have to get this close, for a lot of the dances actually. Sorry in advance for getting up in your personal space."


The ops center was blissfully empty. Raven wasn't sure where the rest of her teammates were, but she was too appreciative of the quiet to wonder about it too much. She started boiling water for her tea and took a yogurt from the refrigerator to eat while she waited. When she finished it, she idly reached into the pocket of her cloak for a book, but then she realized she wasn't wearing it. She was wearing civvies, a tank top and shorts. They were easier to get into than her regular uniform. And easier to get out of. She blushed slightly.

It had been a month since Beast Boy had kissed in the med bay and she'd agreed to let him keep doing it. She had also agreed to try...other things with him over the last few weeks. This new physical aspect to their relationship developed much faster than Raven thought it would. Actually, she'd never considered going as far as she had with Beast Boy, and yet she didn't want to stop. It was like an addiction. One kiss and she was swept away on a high and then demanding more. Kisses led to touches and then somehow they were naked. And this was by the second week. They hadn't had sex then—she didn't feel like she was ready—but Beast Boy showed her a lot of other things they could do. Her favorite thing involved the use of his prehensile tongue.

Soon, she was initiating their contact, yanking him into her room when he was passing by and tugging his uniform off as quickly as she could. He was just as bold, which would have annoyed her in any other situation, but only served to arouse her when it came to this. Being wanted was as intoxicating as the sensations he invoked in her. It had gotten so that they couldn't go a day wouldn't without getting each other off at least once, usually more.

They finally did have sex a couple of nights ago, and though it had been a bit awkward for her at first, he'd had been good to her, and she'd enjoyed it. She had definitely enjoyed it since. She'd never tell Beast Boy—his ego didn't need the feeding—but she couldn't get enough of him.

She was pulled from her thoughts when she felt something touching her hips. She stiffened when she realized they were hands and then relaxed when she looked down and saw they were green. It seemed that thinking of him made him appear, she thought idly as she felt him start to press kisses against the back of her neck.

"Someone...could come in," she said, even as she tilted her head to give him better access. She focused on the knobs on the stove and turned off the burner under her water. Once that was done, her eyes closed, and she relaxed against him, focusing on the feel of his lips on her neck. She sighed when she felt teeth scrape the sensitive skin.

His mouth moved to her ear, lips brushing the shell. "Starfire's out shopping. Cyborg's out getting car parts, and Robin's in the middle of his morning workout. You know he won't be out of there until like 9:30. At the earliest." He kissed the shell of her ear and started nibbling on the lobe.

"My tea..." She gestured vaguely to the stove. Raven knew she already going to do anything Beast Boy wanted, but she had to make at least a token protest.

"I'll make you tea," he said, yanking her against him. A thrill jolted through her when she felt his hardness against her ass. His hands moved under shirt and up towards her chest.

"You don't know how to make my tea." She gasped when hands closed over her breasts and squeezed.

"Boil water..." He kissed her neck. "Pour in cup..." Bite. "Empty cup..." His left hand moved to her right breast and began to tease and pluck at her nipple. "Pour more...so it stays hot" He pinched her nipple hard, and she whimpered at the shard of sensation it sent through her. "Add tea leaves..." She felt his other hand sliding down her stomach. "Wait a bit..." He stopped at the waistband of her shorts, tantalizingly stroking the place where skin met fabric. She let out a needy whine and arched her back, making him laugh softly. "Add honey..." His hand slipped under the fabric, and she let out a relieved moan. "Easy enough," he joked as his fingers began to move teasingly over her outer lips.

"How?" She tried to get her brain working properly again. "How could you possibly know that?" she challenged, trying to tease.

If possible, he pulled her even closer, and when two fingers slid inside her, she let out a choked gasp. "Do you think," he asked, his breath hot in her ear. "now that I've seen all of you that I'll ever be able to stop looking at you?"


Gar got Raven through about half the steps of the waltz, and then he started over again, leading her through the steps until they got to where they left off.

"One, two, three. One, two, three," he chanted. "You, are, way. Too, stiff, now. It's, like, dan. Cing with wood. One, two, three. One, two, three."

"I don't know what I'm doing!" Raven snapped.

"It'll get better if you just relax," Gar replied patiently.

"I can't relax if I don't know what I'm doing."

Or with you so close, she thought.

"But you're learning, so relax."

Raven huffed and continued to follow him through the steps.

Gar let out an exasperated sigh and stopped. He took Raven by the shoulders and started to shake her gently. "You need to relax..." His voice trembled from the shaking he was giving Raven. "Dancing involves movement, not standing like a board..."

She smacked his hands away. "Quit it. And I'm trying to relax. It's just...not happening." She let out another annoyed huff.

Gar looked at her for a moment and then shrugged. "Okay, so I guess that's it for today."

"Really?" Raven asked, surprised and a little...disappointed.

"Yep. You can take some time to let what you've already learned sink in, and then maybe you'll be more relaxed tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

"It took us..." Gar looked at the clock on the wall. "…about two hours to learn half a dance. There's still another four and a half dances to learn completely and maybe another five to learn the basics for. We got eight weeks." He raised an eyebrow at her, and she sighed.

"Point taken. Thanks for doing this. I'll see you, Gar."


"Beast Boy!" she cried, and he stopped moving. She let out a whine and tried to lift her hips, but he held her in place.

"Gar," he panted.

"What?" she asked, only wanting him to start moving again.

"My real name. It's Gar. When we're doing this…" He gave a sharp thrust, and Raven let out a guttural moan. "…call me that. Please?"

"'Kay," she panted, pulling his mouth back to hers. She let out another whine when he started moving again.


The next day, she met Gar at the same place and time. The first thing they did was go through the first half of the waltz several times, speeding up a little more each time, and Raven was pleased to realize that he'd been right yesterday. The steps had sunk in, and it was a little bit easier to relax. That changed when he started teaching her the second half though.

"You're getting stiff again, Raven."

"No idea what I'm doing," she reminded him. She was never sure where she was supposed to step, and it felt like Gar kept crowding her. His hand moved from her waist to the middle of her back and started to pull her closer, and she quickly took a step back. He did as well and looked away. After a second, he spoke.

"Let's go back to the last position you know and try it again. You'll get this." He offered her his hand, and she hesitantly reached out and took it. He placed his other hand at her waist and stepped close to her. She resisted the urge to move back.


"There's this book fair thing coming up," commented Gar.

Curious, Raven turned to look at him. In the six months since this all started, this was the first time he'd mentioned something like this when he was in her bed. Usually when they talked, it was about sex or their friends. She sat up, unmindful of her nakedness, and gave Gar a quizzical look. "A book fair?"

"It sounds kinda like a Con thing to me. A bunch of authors getting together and doing, like, panels to talk about their books and stuff they're planning. There's also signings and merch and junk," he explained.

"Merch?" Raven asked.

"Merchandise," Gar replied, emphasizing the first syllable.

Admittedly, Raven thought it sounded like something she might want to go to. She was confused as to why Beast Boy—Gar, she reminded herself—was talking to her about it though.

"Okay...?" she asked slowly.

"So, you wanna go with me?" he asked.

"With you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. That was a surprise. "Why would you be interested in a book fair?"

"Nathan Fowler's gonna be there!" he said excitedly.

"Who?"

He gave her a disappointed look. "Hello? Nathan Fowler? Coolest graphic novelist in recent years? Hell yeah, I'm going. But I thought it might be something you'd be into, so I invited you. You wanna go?"

"I don't know," she said. "Maybe. If I know any of the authors there."

He reached out and tapped the book on her nightstand. "This author's going to be there."

"What?" she asked, trying not to let excitement creep into her tone. That was her favorite modern author.

Gar propped himself up on his elbows to get a better look at her book. "Yeah, Aaron...Milton. Sounds right. Pretty sure he's on the list."

"Okay, then I think I'll go," said Raven.

"Cool," Gar replied, laying back down. He was quiet for a moment, and then he said, "I want to have sex again."

Raven gave him a look. "Really?"

"Hey, I was just sayin.'"

"Uh-huh." Raven rolled her eyes, but she threw a leg over his hips anyway.


It was awkward, but towards the end of the lesson, she and Gar had managed to work their way through the second half of the waltz. They went back to the halfway point and repeated the steps several times until Raven actually started to feel comfortable. Now that she knew where to step and how to keep an appropriate distance between her and Gar, she was more relaxed.

"Think you handle going way back to the first half?" Gar asked, smiling at her. He appeared to be pleased with her progress.

Raven gave him a look. "Yes. I can handle the first half of the waltz," she drawled. "I can probably do the entire thing now."

"Okay..." Gar replied, sounding like he knew something she didn't.

She was instantly suspicious, but she didn't ask about his tone. Instead, she simply moved back to the very first position. Or what she thought was the first position. Gar adjusted her slightly after she settled, but it didn't worry her too much. She was inexperienced after all, so it was logical that she would make mistakes.

They started to dance, and to Raven's chagrin, it seemed like she'd forgotten the first half entirely. She kept mixing steps from the second half into the first. Gar didn't rub it in, only corrected her gently, which served to annoy her further, but she tried not to snap at him about it. It wasn't his fault after all. Technically.

He stopped her when they got to the halfway point and started them over again, and Raven didn't protest. She did much better the second time, and when they got to the halfway point the third time, he led her through the second half of the waltz. She stumbled a little through the second part, but she didn't feel too bad about it. When they were finished, Gar stopped and smiled at her.

"And you just did the waltz. How does it feel?"

"Stupid," she grumbled, but inside, she was kind of pleased.

Gar seemed to realize this, because he didn't appear unhappy with her reply. "You want to run through it all again?"

Wanting to make sure it wasn't a fluke, she agreed, and they moved back to their starting position. He led her through the entire waltz, and Raven was pleased to note that her steps were much smoother than they were the first time. She really was getting better at this. When they got close to the end of the dance, she gave Gar a meaningful look. He seemed to get it, because when they made it to the last step, they started over again. This time, she tried not to look at her feet, so of course, she stumbled. She glared down between them, ignoring Gar's assurances that it was fine. They did the dance one more time, this time with her watching her feet, and it went fine.

"That seem like a good stopping point?" Gar asked when they finished.

"I think so," Raven replied. She took her hands off him and took a step back.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Raven."

"It seems like we're progressing quickly," Raven commented. She was beginning to wonder if it was necessary for them to meet every day.

Gar smirked at her, and Raven's guard was instantly up. She could tell the look wasn't mean-spirited, but it was obviously at her expense.

"We'll see how you feel about it tomorrow," he said.

Raven narrowed her eyes at him. "What are you implying?"

He raised his hands in a placating gesture. "I'm not implying anything! I'm just saying we'll see how you feel about it tomorrow. If you think the waltz is solid, we'll add music."

"Okay then," Raven replied. "I'll see you tomorrow."

As she left, she wondered how much difference music could make.


Once they were back from working on the youth home, Raven and Gar made their way down the hall, neither of them speaking. When they got to Raven's room, she grabbed his wrist and pulled him inside. As the door slid shut, she grabbed him by the collar and shoved him back against the door, crushing her mouth to his. Today was the first time they were able to be alone in nearly two weeks, and Raven was definitely going to take advantage of that. If everything went her way, they would both be walking funny tomorrow.

He returned the kiss fiercely, one hand tangling in her hair and the other gripping her ass, pulling her body against his and grinding.

Her hands snaked down his chest, slid under his shirt, and started pushing the annoying garment up. She wanted it off. He helped her along by lifting his arms long enough for her to pull the shirt off, and then his hands moved to her back. They slipped under her shirt and started to take it off. She was busy undoing his jeans, but when her shirt was bunched up under her arms, she reluctantly moved her hands so he could yank the shirt over her head. She immediately went back to his pants, making quick work of his belt, button, and zipper. She pushed the jeans down over his hips and gave her hand a quick lick before wrapping it around his cock. She gave it a firm squeeze, and without loosening her grip, she pulled up—slowly.

He let out a needy moan, and she looked up, smirking, before something near his shoulder caught her eye. Puzzled, she let go of his erection, making him whine in disappointment, and moved her hand up his chest until it reached his shoulder. She ran a finger over the strange design and then looked up at him. "What is this?"

"Tattoo," was his eloquent reply, and she rolled her eyes.

"I can see that," she replied. "Why did you get a tattoo?"

He shrugged, and she was momentarily distracted by the way the ink moved with the play of muscle in his shoulder and arm. "I wanted one, and this place was having, like, a special last week, so I got one."

She gave him a flat look. "You got a bargain tattoo?"

"I think it turned out pretty good," he said, sounding just a little bit defensive. Then, he grinned. "Besides, I think it makes me look manly and tough," he added, deepening his voice on the last word.

When she went more than a few seconds without replying, he started to look unsure. "You don't like it, do you?"

Raven stared at it for a moment, considering. She took in the black swirls of ink that wrapped around the upper part of his arm and trailed over his shoulder. Part of it even reached his chest. She wanted to lick it.

So, she did.

"I think I do," she said, once she'd finished running her tongue over the parts of the design that she could reach. His mouth hung open, and his breath came out in pants.

Over the next couple of months, he got three more tattoos on his back, arm, and chest. She wasn't sure why, but she found herself particularly fascinated with the crow in flight on his left pectoral. After he got it, she always made sure to pay particular attention to it when they were in bed.


Music made a lot of difference. Music made all the difference in the world. Music turned kind of decent dancing into a train wreck.

Their third lesson started out well enough. She stumbled a little the first time they ran through the waltz, but they managed to make it through all the steps. The second time, she didn't make a single mistake. By their fifth run of the dance, she was able to get through most of it without looking at her feet. She was starting to feel pretty good about this.

"Are you ready to try it with music?" Gar asked.

"Yes," she replied, feeling fairly sure of herself.

"Okay." He moved to the stereo and plugged in his iPod.

When the song began to play, Raven gave him a look. "That seems a little fast."

Gar shrugged. "It's the same song I played a couple of days ago. It's about the speed waltzes usually are. Don't worry about dancing to it yet though. We're going to listen to it first and count, like we did before, and then we'll try dancing to it."

"Alright," she replied dubiously.

He started the song over and immediately began to count, tapping his fingers against his thigh. Raven tapped her foot and tried to count silently, listening intently for when the beats landed. When the song ended, they assumed their starting positions.

And that was when it all went wrong.

The song was fast, pushing her dancing to a much higher speed than she was used to. By the third step, she was stumbling, and when they got to the halfway point, she wasn't even trying anymore. Gar was all but dragging her along as he danced. Frustrated, she shoved away from him, and he backed off, hands up. He went back to the stereo and paused the music.

"I'm never going to get this!" she seethed.

"You will," Gar tried to soothe her. "You've only been working on this for three days."

"Three useless days."

"Hey! They have not been useless. You can get all the way through the dance without messing up or looking at your feet too much. Even if you have to do it slowly, that's great for only three days of practice! When I was learning, it probably took me a week or two to get where you are!"

"Fantastic," Raven said sarcastically. "I can dance better than a ten year old who's had two weeks of lessons."

He walked back to her, gripped her shoulders, and looked into her eyes.

She resisted the urge to step away.

"You'll be fine, Raven," he said firmly. "You just need to keep practicing. You'll be able to speed it up. It'll just take time."

"I don't have an abundance of time," she gritted. Now, she did step back.

"I bet you'll be able to keep up with that song by the end of the week."

Raven huffed. "I doubt that very much."

"It definitely won't happen if we don't practice," Gar retorted. He held out a hand. "Come on. Let's run through it again. No music this time."


"Hey, Rae?" he said one night.

They'd just finished having sex, the kind that was almost painfully slow and incredibly deliberate. Raven had come twice, so hard she didn't think she would ever get out of bed. She could just stay there forever with Gar. It wasn't an unappealing thought.

"Yes, Gar?" she asked after a moment.

"I love you."

She shot upright, her breath starting to come out faster. Trying to calm herself down, she stared down at him, wide-eyed.

He looked almost completely unconcerned about the bomb he'd just dropped. Instead, he reached out and touched her arm, running his hand up and down in what he probably thought was a soothing manner.

It took all her willpower not to flinch violently away from him.

"You don't have to say it back or anything—" he started.

Raven spoke without thinking. "I think we should stop doing this."

The hand on her arm stopped moving.

"What do you mean?" he asked cautiously. He removed his hand, and part of her was relieved he was no longer touching her. She couldn't think when he was touching her; she never could.

Another part of her didn't want to explain what she'd just said, but it was out now, and she had to follow through.

"I think," she said slowly, "we should stop doing this. The sex, everything."

He sat up. "What?! Why?"

"Because I don't think this is working anymore."

"Is it because of what I said?" he asked desperately. "You don't have to say it back right now, Raven! I'm not trying to pressure you or anything! Why do you want to break up?"

"Of course there's pressure!" Raven retorted, panic making her snap at him. She stood up, pulling the sheet around her. She needed the distance.

"Saying 'I love you' implies you want the other person to say it back! And what do you mean 'break up?' We were never together!"

For a moment, Gar looked like he'd just been slapped. He took a deep, shuddering breath, and the pain on his face tore at Raven's heart.

"What do you mean, 'not together?'" he asked with forced calm.

"It..." She looked around helplessly. "It was just sex, Gar."

That pained expression was back on his face, breaking her heart anew. She didn't like hurting her friend, but that was all he was to her. They had never talked about being in a relationship, and she wasn't about to let him guilt her into one.

Suddenly, Gar's hurt expression was replaced with anger, and he shot of bed, apparently indifferent to his own nakedness.

Raven quickly looked up at the ceiling.

"We've been doing this for over a year, Raven!" he yelled at her.

"Can you..." She took a breath, still not looking at him. "Can you just put some pants on, please?"

Beneath her lashes, she saw Gar give her an incredulous look before muttering, "Fine." and snatching his jeans off the floor. He yanked them on and zipped them up.

"We gonna talk now?!" he demanded.

She turned her attention back to him, and she regretted it immediately. Anger and pain rolled off him in waves, and it made her feel like her insides were being shredded.

"We've been together for over a year, Raven!" he yelled at her.

"And it was just sex!" she yelled back at him.

"It was sex! And dates! This fucking tattoo!" He gestured to the crow on his chest. "It's a relationship! We. Are. A. Couple!"

"What dates?!" Raven demanded. "We never went out on any dates!"

"We go to the movies! We go out to dinner! We went to that big book fair thing! Those are things couples do, Rae! They were dates!"

Raven's mouth dropped open, and she gaped at him for a moment. It had never occurred to her to think of their...outings as dates. She did things with just Cyborg or Starfire all the time. It made sense that she would do something with only Gar once in a while. He was her friend too. The sex and hanging out with him had always been mutually exclusive in her mind.

Apparently, they hadn't been to him. With a sinking feeling, she spoke again.

"What did you mean about the tattoo?" Now that she was thinking differently about their interactions, that crow suddenly looked less like a crow and more like...

"A raven over my heart? You really have to ask what that means?" Gar asked incredulously.

No. She really didn't.

"I never asked you to get that!" She was almost shrill.

"Of course you didn't," Gar scoffed. "I wanted to get it. I thought of it as like an anniversary thing. And you seemed to like it, so—"

"Wait a minute," she interrupted. "What do you mean 'an anniversary thing'?"

"I got it exactly one year after we started seeing each other, Rae! It was to, I don't know, mark that!"

"Why didn't you talk about an anniversary if you thought this was a relationship!?" Raven demanded, grasping at straws.

"Because I didn't think you'd be into celebrating anniversaries!" he shot back.

Raven knew he was right. She wouldn't have been interested in celebrating an anniversary even if she had thought of this as a committed relationship. She'd never seen the point in it. The realization that he knew her that well made another piece of her heart break.

"So," Gar continued. "I didn't do anything special that day except get this tattoo. Excuse me for thinking it'd be a great way to mark the best year of my life! And you know what else?!" By now, he was yelling.

Raven didn't answer, and he didn't wait for her to.

"I thought you got it! Every time we had sex after, you couldn't stop touching it!"

"You...we never actually talked about us being a relationship," Raven said. It was a feeble defense, and she knew it.

And just like that, most of the rage left Gar's expression. Now, it was pretty much all pain, and Raven almost wished for the anger to come back. For a second, he simply stared at her, hurt and disbelieving.

"I thought it was obvious, Rae," he finally said.

And then he left.


The rest of the lesson, they practiced the waltz without music. Each time they started over, Gar would go a slightly faster speed. When they reached a pace she couldn't follow without stumbling or looking at her feet a lot, they did it at that speed over and over again until she was able to do the steps and look at him the whole time. By the end of the lesson, she knew she was able to do it faster than before, but she was sure she wasn't up to the music's level yet. She no longer doubted her need for daily practice.

That was how their lessons went for the next few days. First, they'd run through the waltz a few times without music to refresh her memory, and then they would add music. They'd play the song once to listen and count, and then they tried dancing to it. Raven got a little bit further into the song each time before she got lost, but she thought her progress was infuriatingly slow. Invariably, Gar had to turn off the music and dance with her without it. They'd go through the dance over and over again, trying to speed it up. Eventually, he started humming the song at a slower tempo to try to get her used to dancing to music, but she didn't think it helped her much. However, it apparently did. By the end of their seventh lesson, she was able to make it all the way through the song, just as Gar promised. She stumbled repeatedly, but she didn't get irredeemably lost.

It was progress.


"Partition"- Beyoncé

"It Will Rain"- Bruno Mars

"The End of the World"- Brenda Lee


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