BIG THANKS to BerryDrops for helping me out on this one! If it wasn't for her, this chapter would have never gone up...

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans


The others had come home not long after, but Kori had already fallen asleep. She woke up early in the morning, ready to watch the sunrise with Richard as was her normal morning routine, but realized she was no longer at Wayne Manor. Careful not to disturb Rachel and Karen, she crept out the door and knocked lightly at Richard's, right across the hall. If he was awake...

The door opened, and Richard stumbled out, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "Kori? What happened?" She giggled.

"We always get up this early, remember?" she asked. Richard groaned playfully.

"But we're on vacation!"

"Fine. Then I'll just go back to--" She turned and started to walk back to her room, but Richard grabbed her around the waist and spun her around, kissing her softly.

"Well, I'm awake now." He swept Kori into another kiss. "Wanna go to the beach? We never got to that yesterday." Kori nodded, leaning into him as he led her down into the lobby and out on to the sand.

The sun was just rising, and it was amazing to watch on the water. Richard and Kori took off their shoes and left them far away from the ocean as they ran up to the waves, laughing and yelling with surprise as a cold wave wased up on to their bare feet, numbing their toes. Ignoring the freezing water, Richard waded in and splashed Kori, who shrieked and retaliated.

The sun rose completely, and the two teens climbed out of the waves, exhausted and shivering. "C-cold?" asked Richard.

"W-what k-k-kind of ques-stion is that?" she answered. He grinned, pulling her into his arms. Even through the layers of soaked clothing, she could feel the warmth radiating off of him. Kori cuddled in, kissing him breifly. The action warmed them both up immediately, as the fire spread through their veins. Richard pulled her in again, and they stood, making out on the beach, not caring as the tourists began to arrive only to drive away again in disgust.

"We should probably head back," murmured Richard against her lips.

"We probably should," Kori agreed, kissing him harder, hoping they'd never have to leave here. If only their entire vacation could be like this...

She shrieked as the ground beneath her feet disappeared, and instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck. Richard laughed, carrying her over to the waves and dropping her in.

"That was for waking me up at the crack of dawn."

Their fighting resumed, and it was well after the sun was high in the sky that either of them made a comment about going back to the hotel. It wasn't exactly the romantic walk Kori had planned, but definitely more fun.

"There they are! Geez, we all thought you'd been kidnapped!" exclaimed Vic as the couple stumbled into the lobby. "Did you have to swim back from the bad guy's hideout or something?" he added, eyeing their wet, sandy clothes. Kori giggled.

"No! I need a shower...and breakfast. Good morning!" she answered cheerily, kissing Richard and darting off. Today was going to be a wonderful day.

How wrong she was.

When she got back down to breakfast, Richard was already there, dressed and ready talking to...Babs. Kori frowned, making her way over to them. Didn't Richard know to stay away from this girl? She'd kissed him last night, for goodness sake, and he already had a girlfriend he cared about. At least, Kori thought he cared about her. She shook her head. Only two days with this Babs girl and she was starting to have her doubts.

On closer inspection, she saw that Richard's face was absolutely expressionless. She had no idea what he was thinking. Then Babs pecked him on the cheek, slipped something in his hand, and hurried off. Kori gasped, not able to believe she could hate a girl she barely knew this much. Stalking up to Richard, she frowned again, tapping her foot. Richard held up his hands in surrender.

"Kori, I didn't ask for her to kiss me, just like you didn't ask for Steven to kiss you. People do crazy things, it's not my fault." Kori sighed, glancing at the piece of paper in his hands. He opened it up. "It's her cell phone number. As if I haven't already got it." Kori raised an eyebrow. "That came out wrong. It was from a year ago, Kori, seriously!"

She smiled softly. "I know. I'm just joking around with you, Richard. I already know how much you hate her." He grinned, pulling her into a hug.

"I'm glad you have so much faith in me. Sorry about the over-protectiveness with Steven."

"It's okay. Now come on, I'm going to die of hunger!"

After they met up with the gang and had breakfast, Xavier came over and joined them, sitting too close to Kori for comfort. She scooted on to Richard's lap while he started talking. "Listen, the manager of this place let us have the pool for tonight. We wanted to know if you guys wanted to come with us, a little pool party type thing. A few more of my friends are gonna be there, too." Everyone shrugged. Last night hadn't gone too badly, so they didn't see why tonight should be a problem either.

"Okay," said Vic evenly. Xavier grinned.

"See you there, people." He was gone.

Kori, Richard, Vic, Karen, Rachel, Gar, Alan, Toni, Roy, Nicole, Jenny, and Wally all walked around downtown for the majority of the day; shopping, buying lunch and unecessary snacks, and exploring the mall. They got bored and tired after a few hours, and decided that it was about time to go back, have dinner, and change for the party. Kori grabbed a purple tanktini, trying not to laugh her head off as Karen explained that she'd 'accidentally' removed Rachel's one-piece and replaced it with a navy blue bikini. Rachel's horror-struck look was priceless.

They went downstairs to the pool, where about thirty people, including them, had gathered. Xavier greeted them jovially.

"Lemme introduce the people you don't know. This is Johnny, Billy, Steven, Babs, Malchior, Kitten, Terra, and Donna, whom you've already met, they were with me the first day you guys came here. Then there's Sarah Simms, Sam Morin, and Pam Thompson." He finished all the introductions, and waved everyone over. Kori hung back, somehow managing to glare and smile at Babs at the same time and pulling it off.

Babs stalked off after a while, and Kori slowly dipped her legs into the pool. She felt a huge tug on her feet before she was pulled in completely. When she surfaced, Richard was doubled over in laughter, but he quickly got the idea to start swimming away. He swept by Toni, who was 'oohing' and 'aahing' over Alan's swimming expertise, and Kori followed, accidentally splashing the redhead when she flip-turned to avoid crashing into Alan. "Sorry!" she called over her shoulder, not wanting to stop. Richard was only a few feet away...she had him!

Kori dunked his head under the water, beaming triumphantly. "Mercy!" Richard gasped as se let him up to breathe. Satisfied, Kori let him go. He kissed her quickly and got out of the pool, claiming he had to use the bathroom. Kori splashed around for a little bit, giggling at Rachel's attempts to get Gar to stop staring at her bikini-clad form. She looked a little ways away to see Malchior also eyeing Rachel, and an uncomfortable prickling feeling crawled up her spine. She didn't like Malchior any more than Xavier. The two were best friends, and almost personality twins. She should warn Rachel before something happened.

Richard came back, looking a little bit agitated about something, but he didn't tell Kori what was wrong. He began to tread water, deep in thought, and Kori couldn't get him to do much else. Bored and starting to get wrinkly around her fingertips, she got out of the pool and headed to the bathrooms.

"Kori!" cried a voice. She spun around to see Xavier, looking wild-eyed and shocked about something.

"W-what?" she asked, looking for the nearest exit. She'd rather not be alone with Xavier. Goodness knows she wouldn't make that mistake again.

"This is Babs' cell phone," he said, holding it out to her. Kori was about to ask why she should care, when she saw the message displayed on the screen. It was from Richard. Her eyes widened in horror as she read:

hey babs. i'm thnkng bout brkng up w/ Anders. Wud u b my GF if i did?


Richard was woken by a knocking on his door. Truthfully, he'd been up practically all night, thinking about what Babs had said to him. It didn't mean anything to him, but Richard was the kind of guy who didn't trust himself at all. What if Babs was right? He'd have to do something about it.

Kori was outside his room door, dressed and ready to go. After a minute of playful flirting, he escorted her to the beach, knowing she'd been dying to go there. He'd wanted to try surfing, but Kori quickly shot down the idea, saying it was far too early and no one would be around to help if he drowned. The beach was only about a five minute walk from the hotel, and the sun was still rising by the time they reached.

After their eyes were stinging from the salt and their clothes so completely soaked it seemed like they'd never be dry again, Kori made an attempt to get out and have Richard follow her. A few attempts later, Richard had finally consented, and they laughed and talked the whole way back.

"Remember when you went on that cruise with Kitten, and I got so jealous?"

Richard made a face. "Don't remind me. That girl's lips are like leeches. They'd never let go. And she's probably a blood-sucking insect, anyway. Remember when I made Gar set up that water-balloon trap and you walked right into it?"

"I completely forgot about that. That was at the beginning of the year, when I had no idea why you hated me."

"Good times...not that they're worse now, they're better, way better!" Richard added hastily, shrinking under his girlfriend's stare.

Showering and changing, he decided to wait for Kori down in the lobby. A very familiar and very unwelcome redhead walked up to him. "Hey, Dick."

"Babs," he answered shortly. "What do you want?"

"You, of course. Oh, come on, cheer up a bit. What's with the long face?"

"Babs, you can't honestly be that stupid. I. Don't. Like. You. You. Shouldn't. Kiss. Guys. That. Aren't. Single. Can I make it any clearer? You nearly gave Kori a heart attack!" Babs rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Dick. Don't be so overdramatic. I know you don't like me, and it was because of that mistake I made last year. Don't you think I've seen the error of my ways? I want to be with you, Dick, and I know you don't think you feel that way right now, but it's just because you're hurt. I promise it won't ever happen again, so can't you give me another chance?" She kissed his cheek and slid a paper in his hand. "Call me when you've really thought about it." Richard had to resist the urge to wipe his cheek off with the back of his hand as Babs hurried away.

"Ahem." Kori had showed up, and she did not look happy. Richard shrugged, no exactly sure what to say that would make her less mad.

"Kori, I didn't ask for her to kiss me, just like you didn't ask for Steven to kiss you. People do crazy things, it's not my fault," he said soothingly. He opened up the piece of paper Babs had given him. "It's her cell phone number. As if I haven't already got it." Kori raised an eyebrow. "That came out wrong. It was from a year ago, Kori, seriously!"

She smiled softly. "I know. I'm just joking around with you, Richard. I already know how much you hate her." He grinned, pulling her into a hug. Thank goodness Kori knew he was never very good at voicing what he was thinking. Babs would have blown her top in that situation.

Did he really need to list the reasons why Kori was so much better than Babs? He should already know.

"I'm glad you have so much faith in me. Sorry about the over-protectiveness with Steven."

"It's okay. Now come on, I'm going to die of hunger!"

After eating lunch and accepting an invitation from Xavier for a small pool party that night, the gang headed out to explore downtown. Kori, Karen, Toni, and sometimes Nicole (in her own, quiet way) pulled along the rest of the group to tons of shopping places, trying on things they knew they would never buy while the rest stood and groaned. Gar and Rachel separated for a little while, going on their own little 'date' and coming back with a giant stuffed chicken in Rachel's hands.

"Kori?" said Richard softly. She turned to face him, grinning widely after listening to one of Gar's ridiculous jokes.

"Yes?"

"Close your eyes." Kori looked a bit confused, but did as she was told. Richard swept her hair over her shoulder and was pleased to see her shiver slightly as his fingers brushed her bare neck. He drew a newly bought necklace around it, clasping the two ends and brushing her hair back. "Okay." Kori looked down and gasped.

"Richard..." He grinned.

"You like it?"

"I love it." It was very simple, a silver chain with an emerald pendant, but it had cought Richard's eye immediately. He hugged her, kissing her temple.

"Break it up, you two. No PDA!" scolded Wally. Jenny slapped his arm.

"Way to ruin their moment, carrot-top."

"That's my job, honey-bun," he replied cheekily. Jenny blushed horribly, muttering and turning away, while Kori giggled and gave Richard one last, fleeting hug.

"Thank you," she whispered in his ear.

They went back to the hotel a while later, to get ready for the party. The pool wasn't too crowded, but it wasn't exactly that 'small' either. Richard tried to keep his jaw from falling as Kori stepped into the room, looking around for him. It wasn't often that he saw her in anything other than clothes ten sizes too big for her, and even he had to admit, this was a nice change. She caught his eye at last, and he walked up and kissed her.

"Hey."

"Hi."

Out of the corner of his eye, Richard saw Xavier staring over at them, looking disgruntled about something. His focus was lost slightly as Kori kissed his jaw, but he had enough sense left to get her away from Xavier. Putting his cell phone and shirt on a chair, he jumped in the pool and noticed Kori slowly getting on on the other side. Smirking, he swam towards her and pulled her all the way under, laughing as she shrieked. He used to love playing those kinds of pranks on her. Some things never changed.

Kori surfaced, spitting out water and glaring through her now damp fiery locks. Richard swam as fast as he could away, but was stopped by Alan, so Kori caught up and dunked him under.

After she let go, he got out of the pool and headed towards the bathroom so he could wash the chlorine-ish taste out of his mouth. He hated that stuff. However, he noticed his shirt on the floor, and the chair otherwise completely empty.

"Where's my cell phone?"


PDA: public display of affection

The text Babs got: Hey Babs. I'm thinking about breaking up with Anders (Kori). Would you be my girlfriend if I did?

You guys probably already know that, but just in case :)

Thanks again to BerryDrops, and CERTiFiED02 for helping me out with the next chapter!