AN: I do not own Teen Titans and Please Do Not Review Until End of Fic

Chapter 9: A Game and Goodbyes

"What's the point of this game?" asked Raven who was getting quite frustrated.

"I think the point of any game is to have fun," said Gar with a smile.

"Well I'm certainly not having fun," said Raven.

"Just roll the dice you sore loser," Gar chuckled.

Raven growled and rolled the dice onto the Monopoly board. She moved her little piece, the thimble, around the board. And, for the fifth time that evening, she was sent to jail.

"Damn it," she grumbled and put her piece in the jail.

"I can't believe you've had this game and you've never played it," said Gar as he rolled the dice.

"I bought it for my child," said Raven. "It looked like a good educational game dealing with money and property and what not. But I'll be damned if any of my offspring ever play this infernal game."

"Come on, you're just saying that cuz you're losing," said Gar as he bought yet another piece of property.

"No, I'm saying it because it's true," said Raven.

"Whatever," he chuckled. "So, you gonna try to roll doubles or pay the fine?"

"I'll just pay the damn fine," she said, throwing the money into the center of the board. "How much longer is this game going to take? We've already wasted an hour and a half on it."

"Well, the shortest game I've ever played lasted about three and a half hours," said Gar.

"What?!" said Raven. "I don't want to be stuck playing this goddamn game for another two hours!"

"Relax, Rae," he laughed. "We don't have to finish it, you know. We can stop any time we want. Of course, that'll mean you forfeit and I win automatically."

"But what if you forfeit?" asked Raven. "Then I'll win."

"Yeah, like I'm gonna forfeit," he laughed. "This is the first time in my life I'm actually winning at a board game!"

"So, no matter what I'm going to lose?" asked Raven.

"Basically," he said smugly. "You can either forfeit now and go to bed on time or we can keep playing until you lose officially."

"You really are enjoying yourself, aren't you?" said Raven.

"You better believe it," he said, all smiles.

Raven couldn't help smiling a little bit as well. Never in her life had anyone treated her like she was a normal person. Even when she was little everyone was afraid of her because they knew who her father was. She never got to hang out with other children and play. She was trained to be a little adult; mature and to the point. This was all new to her. And she couldn't help liking it.

"Hey! You got Free Parking!" said Gar.

"What does that mean?" asked Raven.

"It means you get all of the money in the middle of the board," he said and pushed all of the money over to her.

"Wait a second, you mean something good's actually happened?" she asked, a bit confused.

"That's right," said Gar. "See? It's fun when you're doing good, huh?"

"I suppose," said Raven as she neatly counted up her money and put them in their organized little stacks. "But I still don't see how one could find enjoyment in this game."

"Okay, no more Monopoly for Rae," he chuckled. "You wanna quit?"

"Only if you say that you're forfeiting," said Raven.

"Oh, yeah, like that's gonna happen," said Gar, sarcastically. "I'm not forfeiting during my best game ever. Unless, that is, if you're a sore loser or something." He gave her a sly look that made her growl at him.

"I'm not a sore loser," said Raven.

"Then quit," he said.

"You quit," she said.

"Not gonna happen," he said.

"Well I'm not going to quit either then," said Raven stubbornly.

"Fine, but I should also let you know that the longest game of Monopoly I've ever played lasted ten hours," said Gar. "No breaks. And that was just three of us playing."

Raven paled, though it was hard to notice thanks to her fair skin. "Are you serious?" she asked.

"Would these lips lie?" he asked, pointing to his mouth. "Come on, now, Rae. Just forfeit, there's no shame in it."

"I don't care if there's shame in it or not," she snapped, feeling like she was being cornered. "I just think you should be the gentleman and graciously bow out of the game."

"And who said I was a gentleman?" he laughed.

"I was hoping you would be, but it's quite clear that you're not," said Raven. "Pity; the thought of you being a gentleman was quite intriguing. But, oh well. If you're not then I guess I'll just push those thoughts out of my mind."

"Thoughts? What a second, what thoughts?" he asked, growing quite interested in what she was saying. "You mean, like, thoughts of us maybe, like, you know, becoming more than… friends?"

"I don't know," said Raven, shrugging. "But… maybe if you forfeit the game I'll tell you."

"Tell me what?" he asked, his heart racing.

"Whether the thoughts were about our friendship blooming into something more or not," she said, her eyes sly looking at him.

"Are… are you serious?" he asked.

"Forfeit and find out," she said.

Now he had quite a hard decision to make. He could forfeit and find out that Raven wanted to be more than friends, or he could forfeit and find out that she didn't. Or he could not forfeit and win his first game of Monopoly, but risk Raven not wanting him as more than a friend. Or he could win and she wouldn't feel any different about him. What was he to do?

He sighed and said, "Fine."

"Fine what?" asked Raven.

"Fine, I forfeit," he said. "You win."

"Thank God," said Raven, throwing her thimble into the box and beginning to clean up. "I never want to play this again. I'd rather read a book any day."

"Hey!" said Gar.

"Hey what?" she asked as she folded the board.

"You didn't tell me what your thoughts were about," he said.

"What thoughts?" she asked, innocently.

"The thoughts you had in your head about us!" he said.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, smiling smugly to herself as she stood up and went to put the game back in the closet. "All I know is that I just won my first board game ever. It's true; they are all about strategy."

Gar stared at her blankly. "So… you said all of that just to get me to forfeit?" he asked.

"It worked, didn't it?" she said.

Gar's jaw dropped as the realization hit him. Then he began to smile. "Why you sly little witch!" he laughed. "I can't believe you did that to me!"

"Believe it, you pompous jackass," she said with a smirk.

"Wow, I never took you for the sly conniving sort," he said. "You sure are full of surprises. But, I gotta say, that was mean."

"Sorry," said Raven. "I just really wanted that game to be done and I wasn't about to put my pride on the line."

"Ah ha!" he exclaimed. "I knew it! I knew you didn't want to forfeit cuz it'd make you look bad!"

"Believe what you want," she shrugged. "The point is that I won, you lost, and I got to make you look like a fool while doing it."

"Awe, why you gotta hurt me?" he asked. "What'd I ever do to you?"

"Other than disrupt my life and make me rethink all of my principles?" she said. "Nothing much."

"Come on," he laughed. "I haven't disrupted your life."

"Oh, you most certainly have," she said. "Now come on, it's time for you to go."

"You're kicking me out?" he said as he followed her towards her door. "But I thought we were having fun!"

"We were," said Raven. "But it's my bedtime and you've been here for hours. I asked you here for dinner, not the night."

Gar sighed and said, "Okay, fine."

Raven walked him to the door and handed him the left over pizza, wrapped in plastic wrap. He was happy to take it home; it would distract Vic so he could go to bed without being badgered with questions about the evening. They came to the door and paused.

"Well, thanks for having me over," said Gar with a smile.

"Thank you for coming over and proving me wrong," said Raven.

"Proving you wrong?" asked Gar.

"Yes," said Raven, nodding. "I thought that if I let you in my home you'd break or steal something or laugh at me. But, you didn't. Thank you."

"Hey, no problem," he said. "Do I really come off as that kind of guy?"

"Probably not, but my people skills aren't exactly phenomenal," said Raven. "I used to think I was good at reading people, but after… well, I was very nervous about having you over. I'm so glad my instincts were right about you."

"And, just what do your instincts say about me?" he asked, curiously.

"That… you really are as kind and sweet as you appear to be," she said, a small blush painting her cheeks.

Gar couldn't help the feeling of his own cheeks blushing as well, not to mention the smile he couldn't control. He watched her bite her lip embarrassedly and continually look from the floor to his eyes to the floor. She was so cute. He knew that this was probably the first time someone had ever seen the cute side of Raven Roth.

And then their eyes connected and she didn't look away. And he couldn't look away from her. Their pulses began to race, their skin tingling with adrenaline and excitement. Their breath quickened as their eyes finally pulled away from each other and stared at the others lips. The air around them seemed to contract, to bring them closer together. And then, when he was sure she wasn't going to reject him, Gar took the initiative and reached for her lips with his own.

The connection of their lips sent shivers of fire throughout their bodies. He massaged her soft, supple lips with his own to his utter delight. Raven felt as if she was no longer connected to her body as his lips danced with hers. She couldn't help but notice the gentleness of his kisses as well as the slight stubble of his upper lip. She hadn't been touched in so long, kissed in even longer. She couldn't help but melt.

After a few seconds of sheer bliss Gar released her lips from his and they stood frozen for a few more seconds, their lips now only millimeters from still touching. Slowly they pulled back and their eyes met again. Raven finally felt herself coming back and her insecurities swarmed her mind once more. She looked nervously into Gar's eyes, but only saw him look at her sweetly and then he smiled.

"I'll see ya later, Rae," he said softly and opened her door, exiting soon after.

He walked out to his car and calmly got in. He turned it on and once his radio was blasting let out a scream of victory and joy. He did a little jig in his seat and then proceeded to pull out of her long driveway. It had been a very good night.