A/N: Thank you to all readers, silent or otherwise. Chapter seven now.
You're the One
7. be mine
By the time she'd mostly gotten the hang of balancing on her skates, the rink was sparse of other couples.
Many hours and sore spots later, she still needed him to help keep her steady.
It was now night out, and the stars twinkled overhead in a clear, crisp, midnight blue sky, like tiny, glittering diamonds. The temperature had dipped drastically since the sun had disappeared beyond the horizon, and despite all her layers, Raven was starting to feel the chill of it biting into her bones. Little puffs of steam clouds escaped both of their mouths upon exhalation, and drifted up into the brisk air. The moon, a silver sliver of a crescent illuminating the otherwise dark sky, hung above them all, looking like a distant jewel, just out of reach.
She'd fallen forward and was clutching at the thick sleeves of his sweater jacket with a vice like grip, her knees shaking from both the cold and her horrible balance. She couldn't tell how hard her nails might have dug into him through the material of her thin gloves, mostly due in part to having lost the feeling in her hands long ago. Beast Boy, it seemed, was as chill as a cucumber, the weather doing little to actually perturb him or dissuade him from finding her predicament amusing.
"This isn't funny, Beast Boy," she snapped at him with chattering teeth when she felt his chest rumble with mirth.
"It is a little," he confessed with a shrug and a casual smile.
He liked having her pull up so close to him, even if they were both dressed in multiple, thick layers for an especially frigid winter's night out. He could still feel her body heat emanating beneath his own, and could smell her heady aroma, totally pure and undisturbed by any other scent in such crisp, outdoor conditions. Although he'd never admit it out loud, he rather enjoyed having her rely on him for a change. In this one scenario, he was the expert and she the unwilling pupil.
Raven grumbled audibly beneath him, and he could feel the sound reverberate against him. He couldn't help but laugh some more at her blatant misery.
"Aw, come on, Rae. You had a good time. Besides, you totally stopped falling on your butt about an hour ago, and I saw you skate all by yourself for a whole five seconds!" He hadn't meant for it to come out sounding so condescending, but it did anyways.
"Remind me to never let you take me out on a date ever again," she seethed in retaliation, still very much clinging to him as her skates slid haphazardly beneath her.
She was having trouble maintaining her balance, and every so often, she'd lose her footing and he'd have to catch her. Then, when she was too busy trying to calm her beating heart, he'd sneak in a rare opportunity to study and admire her without her knowledge. Beast Boy took in every detail of her unconventional beauty, glowing from beneath the faint lighting that encircled the outdoor ice rink. The tip of her nose was a rosy red, as were the tops of her ears, and most of her cheeks. The colour was a stark contrast against the porcelain white of her skin and the dark violet shade of her hair and eyes. She wore winter well, he decided, and all he really wanted to do in that moment was smother her warm, pink mouth with his own.
After all, one quick look around them and it was obviously a running theme amongst the other couples still out enjoying the winter festivity. Beast Boy would find an embarrassing heat colouring his cheeks every time he'd accidentally catch the others nearby intimately making out. He'd force himself to look away, feeling suddenly flustered and self conscious around his empath girlfriend.
"You don't mean that," he replied, holding her steady with his strong hands placed on her small waist. "It's Valentine's day, Rae, and you didn't get me anything. Coming out on a date was the least you could do."
He saw her eyes widen in terror when she nearly lost her footing again and almost went tumbling down to the cold, treacherous ice beneath.
He caught her, of course, and kept her aloof when she thought she'd earned yet another nasty bruise. Once she was certain that the danger had passed, Raven looked up at him and, with a heavy sigh, admitted; "The hot chocolate was a nice touch..."
He grinned toothily at her, his white teeth sparkling against the green of his skin. "You really ought to listen to the playlist I burned you, too. I spent all week picking out the right songs. Cy and Star both thought I had an alien parasite leeching my brain the entire time, and that I was being mind controlled or something," he added, chuckling lightly at the memory.
"Well, you did lock yourself away in your room for nearly a week, and you turned down Cyborg's videogames numerous times. Not to mention, when Starfire came to check in on you, you told her you were too busy 'cleaning'..." Raven reminded him.
"Yeah, and what?" Beast Boy appeared genuinely perplexed by her explanation. "I'll have you know, I do clean occasionally! Besides, are you forgetting the part where I did all that for you? Sort of the important thing to notice here, Rae." He raised his brows at her a few times suggestively.
Since Raven's cheeks were rose tinted already, he had a harder time discerning if his flirtatiousness was actually causing her to blush. He did catch her averting her gaze from him, however.
When she had finally worked up the courage to answer him, her voice came out as a soft whisper caught betwixt the two of them, obviously meant for his ears only; "I know that, and I'm...grateful, Garfield."
It was true that he'd at least earned that much from her; he'd slaved away in his room planning the perfect Valentine's date for his girlfriend, along with a gift both appropriate and sentimental.
Beast Boy had always loved celebrating Valentine's Day, even when he'd been a younger kid. He liked giving out cheesy candy grams and cards to all those he knew, and that tradition had continued on even as he'd gotten older. He'd hand deliver the ones for Robin, Starfire, Cyborg and Raven on the day of, and mail out the rest a few days in advance so that they would arrive on time. He signed each and every one of them with a unique message for the individual, and made sure that they came with candy hearts, chocolate, or heart shaped lollipops. It didn't even matter if he got nothing in return.
Except, the more that time went on, the more Beast Boy had started to notice how very much alone he always was every year. Eventually, his beloved Valentine 's Day served as a nagging reminder that, although he had plenty of friends, he'd never have a person to call his own, for who could ever learn to love a green beast?
Of course, he would never let that sort of thinking get in the way of his annual traditions, but some years, his heart just wasn't in it. Most particularly, the year that Terra had died had been the absolute worst. He'd been so excited to know that finally, someone might be around in the cold, short, dreary month of February for him to spoil, share with, and love, only to have it snatched away from him just as quickly. It had left him feeling pathetic, alone, and shattered. Valentine 's Day that year had felt jaded and wrong.
But all that had been before Raven. She may have forgotten about cupid's day, but it wasn't going to stop Beast Boy from taking advantage of the fact that this year, he didn't have to be all alone.
"I thought about getting you a book first, but I didn't really know what you liked to read. Not to mention, I've got no idea what makes a good book, so I was pretty lost in those giant stores, too. Then I thought maybe a gift card to a bookstore might be a better idea. That way, you could get what you like instead, but then that just sounded like a cheap and easy cop out, so that was out, too," he rambled on in explanation.
"I know I didn't spend a lot of money," he sheepishly admitted, "but I like to listen to a lot of music, and lately, I've been finding songs that remind me of you. I wanted you to listen to them, too." Beast Boy felt the tips of his ears go hot and he couldn't meet her eyes.
"I'll listen to it when we get back to the tower, I promise," she told him softly, a little smile gracing her lips. "But first, please explain to me what in the name of Azerath had you thinking that I would know how to ice skate?"
As if on cue, Raven nearly lost her footing for the umpteenth time that night, and let out a high pitched yelp that echoed sharply around them; "Eep!"
He held onto her fast before she could take another nasty tumble, and they stood alone in the middle of the rink with Raven burying her mortified face into his chest. Beast Boy was more than happy to stand still if it meant having her nestled in so close to him.
"As a matter of fact, I was kind of betting on the fact that you didn't," he replied, wearing a smug little smile while patting her back affectionately.
She glared up at him, her pale face flushed from her earlier public humiliation.
"I wanted to be the one to teach you something for once," he explained.
Her expression softened at his bluntness, but she remained silent, not really knowing what to say.
He scratched the back of his head nervously. "Turns out I'm a pretty bad teacher, huh?" He chuckled a bit at his own little, self depreciating joke.
Suddenly upset and wishing to challenge his statement, Raven stood up straight on wobbly legs, and slowly loosened her tight grip on his arms, steadily drifting away from his warm body. She wore a look of determination as she balanced herself on the white pair of skates he'd rented for her, all the while he watched her with apprehension and worry in his green gaze.
He kept his arms outstretched towards her, in the event that he had to act quick, but Raven glided on backwards gradually with perfect discipline. As she stood there without his help and watched the shock that registered on his face, she smirked triumphantly.
"You were saying?"
He took to skating around her in slow, deliberate circles, critically admiring her bundled up form while also gearing up to catch her should she fall. Her slight frame appeared to be swimming in her massive outdoor gear, her dainty chin disappearing beneath the sierra coloured, wool scarf wrapped about her neck and shoulders. Her faded black skinny jeans clung to the muscles of her legs as she maintained her posture expertly. The sleeves of her puffy black winter coat hung past her hands as she stuffed them inside to help avoid the numbing cold. Bits of frost and ice shavings clung to her hair and clothes as glimmering white shards; remnants of her previous battle with the rink.
"Very nice," he commented, although at that point, neither of them knew if he was referring to her newfound skills or her appearance.
He then came to a halt before her like the master of skating that he was, beaming proudly at her while trying not to lose himself in her eyes. "But you know, I'm thinking I've spoiled you rotten today. I mean, I even made you non soy hot chocolate, which basically goes against everything I stand for! Don't you think that maybe I should get something in return?"
Raven pouted and folded her arms over her chest. "I thought I already told you that I was sorry about that," she kindly recalled for him.
He started skating backwards then, showing off his abilities while also appearing to be lost in contemplation. Raven followed his every move with her dark violet stare, watching him tentatively.
After what felt like days, he finally chose to address her; "Yeah, I'm aware. Still," he paused for dramatic effect and looked on at her with a familiar, mischievous glint in his eyes, "there is something that could make this day even better."
She lifted a cautious eyebrow.
Beast Boy then closed the distance between them in a single stride, causing her to stumble at his inexplicable nearness. He caught her by the arms and helped to steady her before she even knew she'd been falling. Then, he leaned in slowly, until the tip of his cold nose brushed against hers, and he could feel the soft puffs of air leaving her mouth and melting on his skin. His hand came up to gingerly brush away a few strands of dark purple hair from her luminous, pale face. She could make the moon jealous if she wished it.
"Beast Boy...," she breathed his name in a haze.
He then cupped her chin with gloved fingers, and lifted her parted, anticipating lips to his own. Her eyes fluttered closed and she moaned softly when his warm mouth met hers in a tender kiss.
He held her like that for some time, oblivious to their surroundings and everything else. He held her until the cold, biting air didn't matter anymore, and in their little bubble of space, they would somehow manage to keep warm for the night...
A/N: I probably rewrote this a good ten times, each one vastly different from the other. I had the prompt I wanted (which was actually supposed to be based on Beast Boy burning a soundtrack for Raven), and somehow ended up with this. It's not exactly what I had envisioned, and it ended up being a lot more fluffy than the others, but I think I'll be content for now. Besides, I've got enough angst built up for future stories that I can probably get away with this. Thanks for reading. You know what to do. :)
