Living It Up

Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans.

Chapter four: Explaining

In the morning, Kori woke up before Gar and took a shower. When she entered Gar's room in only a towel, Gar was awake.

"Hey." Kori took her duffel bag and rummaged through it.

"Hey. Go somewhere else with that." Gar shielded his eyes with his hands.

"Shut up, Gar!" Kori took an outfit out of her duffel. "Where should I go?" She rummaged for a bra and panties.

"To my mom's room, now!" Gar pointed with the hand that wasn't shielding his eyes.

"Ok, ok." Kori smiled and went out into the hall until she realized that she didn't know what room was his mom's. She went back into Gar's room. "Where's your mom's… Ah!" Gar was getting ready to take a shower. He hand his shirt off and was only in his boxers. "Gosh, Gar, cover why don't you." Kori laughed.

"Shut up! You're one to talk, Kor." Gar blushed and grabbed a towel off the floor.

"Whatever. Now, show me where your mom's room is." Kori followed Gar into the master bedroom.

"Voila." Gar closed the door and headed to the bathroom.

Kori but on her bra and panties and looked at the clothes she randomly picked. She had grabbed a dark red plain t-shirt and a light blue skirt. She frowned and sighed. She opened the door and walked out. The sound of a shower could be heard in the bathroom.

Kori opened up her duffel bag and found a black skirt to match the red t-shirt. She slipped on the skirt and shirt and rushed out of the room just as the shower was turning off. She darted down the steps in red flats.

Her book bag was on the floor. She picked it up and rested it on her back. She looked up the stairs. Gar was just now descending. He looked at her and whistled.

"Dude, you clean up good."

"I would say the same thing, but…" Kori trailed off then laughed. Gar was wearing a dark green shirt and some baggy black pants. "I wouldn't say that's my kind of outfit." Kori giggled.

"Whatever, Kor." Gar went into the kitchen and grabbed some butter. "Do you want some toast?" Gar looked at Kori from the toaster.

"Sure, whatever." Kori shrugged and plopped down on the couch.

Gar put two pieces of toast in the toaster and plopped down next to Kori. He sat to face her and she looked at him. "So… How was your sleep?"

"Uneventful." Kori sighed and sank down in the couch.

"Did you have a bad dream?" A look of worry crossed Gar's features.

"You could call it that." Kori looked at her feet and wiggled her toes inside her shoes.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Kori shook her head no. "Well, if you want to, you can." Gar walked to the toaster where the toast was finished. He turned around and looked at Kori who was still looking at her feet. "And, next time you have a bad dream you could always…" Gar thought a minute. "You know, crawl into bed with me." Kori looked at Gar. "Like if I was a parent or something. Haven't you ever crawled into bed with your parents?"

Kori nodded and smiled at Gar. "Thank you," She whispered loud enough to be heard.

"Ok, Kor." Gar looked at the clock on the microwave. "Oh shit! We're almost late for school."

Kori took up her book bag and ran out the door with Gar. They ran down the street and down three blocks to get to school. Gar threw open the doors and they parted ways. Kori burst into homeroom like she did the other day. The bell rang before she got in.

"I'm so sorry, sir." Kori was flushed from running. "I didn't know how to get to school." She smiled sheepishly and took her seat next to Richard.

"Excuses, excuses, Ms. Anders." The teacher shook his head in disappointment.

Kori put her head down on her desk and sighed. "How could you not know how to get to school?" Richard asked.

Kori looked at Richard and scowled. "Shut up, Grayson." She put her head back on her desk.

"Hey, why didn't you sit with me at lunch yesterday?" Richard poked her in the shoulder.

"Because you're a jerk, jeez," Kori mumbled with her head still on her desk.

Richard lifted her chin with his index finger so she was looking at him. "I'm not a jerk." Richard frowned. "Who told you that?"

"My friend Gar, that's who." Kori pouted.

"Gar?" Richard tapped his chin in thought. "Why?"

"I don't want to talk to you." The bell rang and Kori gathered her stuff and smiled. "And I won't have to. Hah!" She fled to her next class.

When she got into class she saw Gar. She walked over to him and sat down next to him. "Did you get in trouble for being late?" She asked. Gar held up a detention slip. "Ouch."

"Did you." Kori shook her head. "I bet it's 'cause you're hot." Kori smiled and Gar blushed.

"Yeah, maybe the teacher has a thing for me." Kori giggled. "Eew!"

Gar laughed. "I wouldn't be surprised." Kori gave him a horrified look. "I'm kidding, Kor! Gosh, don't give me that look!" Kori pouted.

The bell rang and out came Gar's notebook. "Do you doodle in that everyday?"

Gar looked at his notebook and flipped through all the pages he had filled. "Yeah, pretty much."

"Has she seen it yet?" Kori raised her eyebrows.

"No, and she's never going to. Not until I'm six feet under." Gar scribbled in the notebook and they became quiet.

"I talked to Richard this morning," Kori said slowly.

"Oh, really? What did he say?" Gar didn't look up from his notebook.

"He was all like, 'Why didn't you sit with me at lunch?' and I was all like, 'Because you're a jerk.' Then he said, 'Who said I was a jerk?' then I said, 'Gar that's who.'"

Gar looked at Kori. "Did you seriously say that?" Kori nodded. "Kori!" Gar whined. "I don't want him to know I think he's a jerk."

"Well, now maybe he'll be nicer to you." Kori crossed her arms over her chest and smiled.

"Like that's ever gonna happen," Gar mumbled as he resumed doodling.

Kori smiled and looked at the board. There were letters and numbers written on it. Apparently this is math. Kori thought as she drifted off into sleep.

It seemed like a second had gone by when Kori was being nudged by Gar. "Wake up, Kor." Kori opened her eyes and lifted her head. "That's my little angel. I guess you had a really bad dream last night. Either that or my bed's uncomfortable." Gar chuckled.

Kori picked up her book bag and followed Gar out of the classroom. "How long was I out?" Kori rubbed her eyes and yawned.

"Oh, for about two class periods."

"What!"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. It was only for math."

Kori punched Gar playfully in the arm. "Ha ha, very funny. I'm glad I amuse you Gar."

"What are friends for?" Gar laughed.

It was lunch time, but Kori didn't pack a lunch. She sat down next to Gar and poked him in the ribs. He giggled and looked at her. "What?"

"I didn't get to pack a lunch, thanks to you."

"Why is it my fault?" Gar feigned a look of hurt.

"You're the one without an alarm clock."

"Why would Gar not having an alarm clock stop you from having lunch?" Raven had joined them at the table.

Kori looked at Gar who was looking at her. "Well, I kind of slept over at his house last night." Kori shrugged. "No big deal or anything. It was like a sleepover."

Gar shrugged too but avoided Raven's gaze. "So, I wasn't invited?"

"It was a sudden thing. Too complicated to talk about," Gar said.

Kori looked at Gar. He was fidgeting with his book bag but eventually looked back at her. "Well, I'll tell you later." Kori put her hand over Raven's.

Raven snatched her hand away. "Don't bother. I know you two have this super duper friendship. I don't want to get in the way of it." Raven gathered her stuff and turned to leave.

"Raven, no! Wait!" Kori grabbed Raven's wrist.

Raven struggled to get free; nit Kori was too strong for her. "Let me go Kori," Raven said slowly, staring daggers into her hand.

"Raven, I swear I'll tell you later." Kori looked around the cafeteria. "This isn't the kind of place I would want to talk about something like what I'm going to tell, but I am going to tell you. It has nothing to do about Gar and me. There is no Gar and me." Kori looked back at Gar who was staring at her. "It's something personal that I can only tell to my real friends."

"Speaking of 'real friends,' here comes Richard and his posse." Gar pointed at Richard who was approaching their table.