Ch. 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans in Universe A, but maybe in others.

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Friday (Night):

"So about this girl that has your eye…" Raven started, a smile on her face, looking up at him.

The two were heading down the path towards the undiscovered cliff right above a shore of rocks and ocean water. They were arm and arm and shoulder to shoulder, comfortable with each other's presence and trying to keep warm. But mostly because they were in the middle of a small forest and neither wanted to get lost, even though Gar knew his way around. And both had a small smile on their lips, really enjoying themselves.

Gar's cheeks tinted pink a bit and he let out a breathy chuckle. "What—what do you wanna know?"

"Does she know that you like her?" She inquired.

He scratched the back of his neck and then shoved his hand in his leather pocket. "Um, no. And it's killing the hell out of me," he said, a tinge of sadness.

Raven studied his facial features and noticed the distress in his eyes. It was really bothering him, wasn't it? And acknowledging that statement did something to her stomach. Making it feel full of feathers.

"You love her, don't you?" She asked softly.

"You have no freaking idea."

Raven's smile turned crooked. As if she didn't like the very idea of him being in love with another woman. And on top of that, pangs of jealousy made its presence known. To her, the reason was unknown. Or maybe it's just that she liked the attention she's been getting from him and she doesn't want it to stop. Or maybe she was just plain mental.

"So about this family problem…" Gar drifted from the previous topic.

Raven shook her head marginally and clutched his arm tighter.

"Something just… went wrong. Nothing for you to worry about," she said, a twist of sorrow in her character.

"But of course I have to worry about it. If it affects you, I should be concerned. 'Cause I'm your damn friend. And real friends are like that," his mind shuddered at the word 'friend'.

She looked up at him and had a grimace of pain on her expression. It hurt him to see her like that. As much as to have a desire to hug her until she spills her guts. But he resisted and only waited until she spoke her troubles to him.

"My mother passed on yesterday."

All of the sudden, all of the air was vacuumed from his lungs and the tension was blown right in once again. More like an awkward tension. But he was sure that he was the only one feeling the change of atmosphere because she didn't drift away from him. And instead, what he felt was awkwardness, she acknowledged her feelings as pain and grief.

"Oh," he finally put his vocal cords to use, "I'm sorry that happened to you. And I know that you didn't deserve that in any way. But… if it is not intruding your privacy, may I ask what happened?"

"My poor excuse for a father murdered her in the sanctuary known as my home. Stabbed her several times with a kitchen knife." The hurt evident in her voice.

"Wow, jeez. Why'd he do it? Do you know?" Gar dropped the arm on her shoulder, jabbing it in his pocket.

"Because he's a greedy jackass. You know how when your parents have life insurance so that when or if they pass, the money that gets left behind goes to you?" She asked.

He only nodded and refrained from being bothered by her bringing this kind of topic up. Besides, it wasn't like she was talking about his parents in general.

"Well, my mother had the same thing and all of the money was going straight to me. And when my father found out, he secretly changed it, don't ask me how, so that the money would go to him. So, eager to get what he wanted, he killed her and "earned" half a million dollars," she explained, almost letting tears spill out of her glossy eyes.

"That's terrible! Are you going to hold a funeral for her? If you want, I'll attend. I may not have known her, but I still want to pay my respects," Gar offered sweetly.

She sneered at nothing. But it was probably gestured towards her father because of what he did, even if he wasn't there with her. "We're not. No one knows where the body is except for my father."

"Then how do you know how she died?" He questioned, baffled.

"I heard him talking on the phone with someone in the kitchen when I got home from school. And I assumed, even though I know it is true, that he had killed her. With no regrets," she snarled, but not at Gar.

"Damn. I'm sorry, Raven. I wish I could've been there to comfort you."

Once again, they stopped walking and Gar turned his body around and embraced her in a warm hug. He leaned his head down and nuzzled his face in her hair, breathing in her scent for the first time. It was an aroma consisted of a mixture of tea and old book pages. And even though those two particular odors didn't smell quite good when separate to him, they were astonishingly inebriating when blended together. But in a good sense.

Raven just stood there, stunned and hesitant. But after a few seconds, now comprehending what was happening, she too corded her arms around his back and pulled him close. She settled her eyes and sighed in content. Gar's heartbeat quickened and he felt exhilarated with her fastened in his arms, pleased and placid. He lifted his head up from her shoulder and altered his head to the side, eyeing their destination a block away from them.

Gar leaned back down and brushed his lips slightly over her ear before speaking softly into it. "I know that you'd just rather stay here and cuddle, but I think we've reached our destination."

A wave of heat passed down her posterior and her ear rose in temperature, turning a faint shade of red. Both raised their heads at the exact same moment and looked up, or in Gar's case, down, into each others eyes, the duo blushing to an extent. The young man then smiled at her, fondling her chin with his finger and rotated her direction towards the erected landscape above the ocean. She inhaled deeply in wonder and separated from Gar's grasp. She walked out of the small forest and stared at her bare surroundings.

"Isn't it neat?" He trailed behind her, hands behind his back.

"It's gorgeous. I never knew a place like Jump City could have such a thing like this," Raven spoke in genuine amazement.

How ironic. "Yeah, I used to come here a lot. Back when I was sorta depressed because of… that blond bitch," he walked, taking it slow.

"Then, you were sad because of yourself?" She twirled to face him and smirked.

"Hey! I am not a bitch! I am 'the' bitch." He proclaimed the title with dignity.

"Funny. Now lie down with me."

She gestured to the space beside her and sat down, lying down on her back with her knees up and her hands on her abdomen. Her head settled on a patch of fuzzy grass and she gazed at the stars above. Gar, however, didn't lie down. He instead sat in lotus position and surveyed the familiar night sky.

The sound of the waves crashing onto the boulders below made a relaxing background and Gar almost found himself dozing off a bit. He snapped his head up and turned to see Raven's now broad eyes exploring the millions of light orbs up above. But he had to look away from her because he felt the impulse to kiss her escalate and strengthen.

"How'd you even find this cliff?" Raven questioned after a few silent moments.

"Well, after a long day at school, I decided to get a drink at the café. And I spotted this huge bundle of trees and grass in the distance, and being the curious monkey that I was, I went to go check it out. I observed the trees and ventured further down the "forest". And voila! I found this place!" He explained, waving his hands.

"You were once a customer at your own job before you started to work there?" She arched an eyebrow.

"Hey, lots of people eat at a fast food joint before working there themselves." He said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah. So why haven't you told anyone about this? Especially Kori or Dick. Haven't you known them for a while?" Raven asked, sitting up and sitting in the same position as him.

"I do. But, I only let people I can trust know my secrets. And if I told Dick about this place, he'd bring Kori here and try to make his move on her. And I don't want a baby Kori running around in our apartment any time soon," he laughed.

"You trust me more than your best friends?" She inquired in disbelief.

"Of course! I trust my instincts that you're not gonna tell anyone. Or bring a guy here. Or a girl, you might go both ways." Gar shrugged his shoulders.

Raven growled and glowered at him. "How many times do I have to say it? I favor men and only men."

'Then why are you dating Matthew?' He retorted in his head.

"Okay, okay, you don't go that way, I understand," he held his hands up in surrender.

"Thank you," she folded her arms.

"But can I trust you with this?" He asked, mocking a business tone.

"Do vegans eat plants?"

"Yeah," he looked at her weirdly.

"Then yes. You may trust me with this."

"Good. 'Cause do you know how hard it would be to find a memory-erasing pen from 'Men In Black'?" He joked.

Raven snickered and lied back down, once again observing the sky. But this time, Gar also reclined on the grassy ground, shoulder to shoulder with her but legs spread apart, and hands almost brushing. Raven sighed and suddenly had a thought cross her mind.

"Gar?" She called, her voice low and calm.

"Yeah?" He said.

"Please don't think of me as rude but, how did your parents… give up the ghost?" She turned to him, eyes soft and careful.

Gar exhaled and propped himself up on his elbow, head leaning on the palm of his hand, facing her.

"I'm guessing that means 'die'?"

She nodded.

"Well, they perished in a boating accident during an intermission in their studies. They were both biologists," said Gar.

"But where were you?"

"On the boat as well. I survived by hanging onto a cooler full of water bottles. So I was hydrated during the whole thing."

"How'd you reach the shore?" She asked, practically feeling his grief.

"Now that's a tale. It was an unfortunate day for me. Since I had to leave my parents behind, I left a couple of water bottles there just in case they'd wake up later. But unknown to me, it was already too late for them anyways. The only thing afloat was an ice cooler and I held onto that. And on my way to land, to make matters worse, a throng of jellyfish floated underwater and on the surface, stinging me at my weakest moment. But I survived. Soon enough, after drinking a couple of bottles, I had to choose whether to abandon the cooler or stay with it. I reached a decision and left the cooler, floating in starfish formation, heading towards these big rocks. Lucky for me, a beach was right next to the rocks, so I climbed my way there by the boulders. I collapsed on the sand and was spotted by a life guard, taking me to a hospital. The end."

Gar finished his story and peered down at Raven. Her eyes were enlarged and her mouth was slightly open in surprise.

"And what makes this cliff extra special, is that those rocks in my story are the exact same ones down there," he smiled, remembering that day.

"Wow, that must be… excruciating pain for you. My problem seems like a pebble compared to yours. I'm sorry, Gar," she spoke in a caring attitude.

Gar once again had that daring feeling in his gut. It burned in his stomach and then spread to his mind. All logical and doubtful thoughts disappeared along with the cowardly side of his personality.

"No, Raven. Pain is not when you're suffering from a death or a serious wound," he leaned in an inch closer to her face, his expression amiable and affectionate, yet bold and daring.

Raven stared back into his eyes and her cheeks immediately bloomed a faint red at their proximity. Sounds around them quickly faded and the only thing they heard was the piercing tone of silence. And the colors of the world around them tinted into black and white, almost disappearing completely.

"Pain is when you can't express the emotion you feel the most."

Gar bowed his head and placed his lips onto hers, settling his eyes and exhaling through his nose. Raven's eyes blossomed and her already flushed cheeks darkened considerably. Gar slithered his hand behind her neck and pulled her in, uniting them even further. He slid his other hand to the bottom of her back and slowly pulled away from her mouth.

He unsealed his eyes and peered into her wide ones. Raven propped herself up with an arm and inclined her head up to his face, locking her mouth with his. Now it was his turn to be surprised at the others action and Gar wasted no time and kissed her back, more passionately and vehemently. Their breathing became ragged and shortened, considering they were only breathing through their noses. Gar then retracted his hands from under her and pushed her down completely and gently. And without parting, he climbed on top of her on all fours and she roped her arms around his neck.

Gar then straightened his neck and breathed in deeply through his mouth, still gazing into her eyes.

"I'm taking it that… I'm the girl… you—you like?" She spoke after several long inhales of air.

"No," he pecked her lips once more. And then whispered, "You have it all wrong. You're the girl I'm insanely and irreversibly in love with."

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Greetings, readers. It finally happened! Raven and Gar (Beast Boy) kissed! But what's going to happen to Raven and Matthew? What's Raven and Gar going to do after this night under the stars? Well, that'll be all for now.

Until the sun sets and the moon sets, readers, goodbye.