A/N: So, I'm back! A little. I guess. I easily lose interst in things so this story kind of got forgotten. For over a year... Yeah.. Sorry about that. I think, I will leave the story like this. Two chapters, not much action but I got to say what I wanted to say about these two.
If I ever find some inspiration, there will be new stories. But I can't promise anything.

Anyway: Enjoy!

Beast Boy finally began to talk, although still avoiding Raven's gaze by looking at his feet.

"Well, I've been thinking.. Yeah, I know. Shocking, huh?", he added, presumably in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Ironic enough since he was the one distributing this atmosphere in the first place.

Still, Raven could not help but smirk.

Even at his worst he would always try to make his friends laugh; take some pressure off of them.

"Thinking about what..?", she asked after he'd been silent for a good ten seconds, apparently unsure of how to proceed. This didn't seem like him at all; Normally, the green teen would blurt out the first thing that came to his mind. And even though that habit had gotten him into some stupid and potentially dangerous situations (not few of those involving an unnerved Raven), it was still one of the traits she liked about him the most. He dared to say the truth, as he saw it, even if it put him at a disadvantage.

With an unusual feeling of eagerness, Raven did not take her eyes from Beast Boy, trying to figure out his feelings from his profile.

"So... Well.. I-I mean..", he stammered. Then, he apparently took all the courage he could muster and turned to face her. Their faces were now so close that Raven, taken aback by this sudden movement, leaned back a few inches.

Beast Boy's eyes were a deep shade of green. Raven noticed that they were not a solitary color, like she had always thought, but rather a delicate structure of different nuances that seemed quite... mesmerizing.

For a split-second, Raven wondered about this weird feeling that was so unlike her. To find someone, especially this annoying, immature boy, mesmerizing made her uncomfortable.

But before she could explore this recent change in her emotions, the green hero spoke and wiped the incident off her mind.

"I like you. I mean, you know I like you; But I really like you."

Ravens mind was blank. She had definitely not expected this. She had thought that maybe he had seen Terra again in the city and that this had opened up old wounds; Or maybe Cyborg had crossed him worse than he liked to admit. Also, she had suspected that the dawning Christmas season might have had an effect on his mood, winter was prone to bringing up depressing thoughts. Hell, she had even considered that his 'beastly' side had been acting up again and made him seclude to his room.

But this? No, she had never thought of this.

Neither of them broke their gaze. Raven kept staring into those mesmerizing, green eyes and desperately tried to bring an order to the wild thoughts now rushing through her mind.

He had just told her that he loved her. No. That's wrong. He had just said that he liked her. Well, he had emphasized the word 'like' in a way that could only mean one thing. Or not?

Maybe she had not understood the real meaning of his statement. Maybe he had really meant that he liked her, nothing more, and her brain had just made the connection on its own.

Maybe he had just come here after moping in his room over a lost video game to tell her that he still considered her a friend.

Well, that didn't really make sense.

Raven furrowed her brow. As if on cue, the green teen blinked a few times and then hung his head again. His right hand, which had only a moment ago been next to her hip on the bed, was now back by his side. He had turned his shoulder to her once again and now pinched at the seam of his shorts.

Raven snapped out of her rigidity to clear the situation up. Her own thoughts on the matter were obviously no real help. "You... like me?"

Beast Boy, still staring at his shorts, answered silently, "Yeah. That's what I said, isn't it?"

His voice was no longer a feigned happiness but had a seriousness to it that Raven had never heard from him before.

"I heard what you said. But.. what did you mean by it? You like me, how?"

She wanted to ask him as directly as possible. No loopholes or hideouts. She wanted to reassure herself that he had not meant what she had understood. This would make too many things too difficult..

She leaned forward again and took her hands that had steadied herself on the bed back in her lap.

He murmured something, too faint for her to hear. She moved her head forward again, slanting it to one side, "Excuse me?"

And then, all at once, the earth stood still.

The light from the candles on the floor did not flicker anymore. No sound could be heard. The snow outside the large window panels was no longer falling. Everything stopped.

For the moment she had leaned forward, he had once again turned his head towards her and, in one swift movement, pressed his lips on hers.

Raven could not think. And, admittedly, she did not want to. Her body reacted naturally to the sensation that was so unfamiliar to her. She closed her eyes and gave in.

His right hand was at the back of her head, holding her in a light embrace and securing the kiss. He did not want her to break it. And neither did she.

After what seemed like an eternity, Beast Boy moved his left hand onto her thigh and traced the skin with feather-like touches. Raven shivered at this new sensation and opened her eyes again, breaking away from the kiss.

Again, she looked into those hypnotizing eyes of his and again, she was overcome by a sudden surge of what felt like.. affection? She was not sure. It was something she had never felt before. It felt like affection, but strangely 'hot' and 'soft'. Hotter and softer than the affection she had felt for Malchior. And definitely hotter and softer than the affection she normally felt for her friends.

Beast Boy took a strand of her hair between his right thumb and forefinger and gently tucked it back behind her ear. Then he looked back into her eyes and smiled what, for the first time in weeks, seemed like a genuine smile.

In that moment the alarm of the tower sounded, bringing both teens back to reality. The dark room was periodically engulfed in red light, a shrill siren sounded through it and the snow outside was falling again.

Time had begun once more.

Raven's heart was racing, having skipped a beat when the alarm had started, and was desperately trying to regain its normal pace.

Looking back, her heart had been racing well before the alarm, but she paid that thought no attention.

For a moment, she kept the eye contact with the green man sitting next to her, then she reluctantly lowered her gaze and stood up. He copied her motions and both of them rushed out of the door in the general direction of the living room where the team gathered in situations like these, not taking another glance each other.

They would hopefully resume this interesting 'conversation' when they were back, Raven thought.

But it seemed she had been right. He really liked her.