Okay, so here's the reason for the freakishly long update. About a month ago, my laptop totally crashed, but thank goodness I'd had everything backed up on my flash drive. But, it took like three weeks for it to be repaired, but even then, it still wasn't fully functional, so, it took about another couple of weeks for it to be fixed. And then, there was issue with the place I got my laptop from, so, I totally had to go to a different place and get a new, different, and better one. And thank goodness for my flash drive. So, there you have it.

And another heads up, I'm rewriting Jump City High and Challenge Day, so keep a lookout for that, and on top of everything else, I have two plot bunnies, one of which I've already put into action with a partially finished plot and first chapter.

Alrighty, now, thank you guys for the reviews, and please enjoy the rest of this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans

Summary: AU Love, like war, is easy to begin, but hard to stop. Raven's life had never been easy, but things take an unexpected twist when she meets the arrogant new kid, Richard Grayson.

For you see, each day I love you more today,
more than yesterday, and less than tomorrow.

~Rosemonde Gerard

Chapter ten: The Day To Remember Part Two: Revelation

Previously: Richard slammed his hand on the stop button, and he came to an abrupt halt on the machine. He clutched onto the bars and stared straight ahead, his deep, sharp breaths the only sound in the room. What has happening?

Vic entered the room alone, "Come on bro, it's almost time," he spoke.

Richard looked up at him, and Vic had a questioning look on his face, "You alright, Rich?"

Rich cleared his throat, "Uh, yeah," he climbed off the treadmill and began gathering his things.

"You got something on your mind?" Vic inquired, tossing Rich his soccer ball.

"Yeah," Rich replied, stuffing everything in his soccer bag, "It needs a condom."

Vic raised a brow quizzically, "Care to elaborate?"

"I'm being mind fucked," Rich wiped his face again.

"Mind fucked?"

"She's fucking with my mind," Rich gave him a knowing look.

"And by "She" you mean Raven," Vic added.

"I can't stop thinking about her, bro, she just, won't get out of my head," Rich explained, "I don't know what's happening."

"Just admit it, dude, you've been stuck with Cupid's arrow right in the ass," Vic pointed out.

"Don't kid yourself. I've known Raven for what, a few weeks? There's no way," Rich denied.

"Well, there's such a thing as infatuation," Vic offered, "Don't worry, dude, your mind will be back in it's dry spell pretty soon, Raven won't stick around too long."

"What do you mean?"

"I've known Rae going on five years, and she's had one boyfriend," Vic explained.

"What are you getting at? Raven's gorgeous and she's got a great personality, she can get a guy just as easily as I can get a girl."

"Yes, she has all of that, but Raven isn't the type to make a commitment," Vic explicated.

"Neither am I," Rich admitted, glancing up at the clock, "We'd better hurry, just let me shower and I'll meet you guys there."

"Alright, dude, don't be late," Vic warned before leaving the room.

Kori plopped down on Raven's bed beside her, "So," she began, "What would you like for your seventeenth birthday?"

"Nothing," Raven replied, delving deeper into her book, Cryers Cross, "To watch Phoebe trick-or-treat and see her smiling face. That's all."

"No party, no dancing, no alcohol, no kinky birthday sex?" Kori inquired, dripping with sarcasm.

"I don't party, dancing is overrated, I don't drink, and I'm practicing abstinence," Raven replied, not even looking up from her book.

"You're not the type to let loose, are you?" Kori stated, rather that asked, and Raven mutely nodded.

Kori sighed, stood up, and went over to the vanity, primping herself.

"Are you going somewhere?" Raven asked, not even glancing up.

Kori chuckled, "Nope, why would I leave when everything I want is here?"

Raven rolled her eyes and the doorbell sounded, "That will be Vic, he left his lucky shoelaces here yesterday," she stated, shutting her book and hopping down from the bed, "I'll give them to him, I need to ask him about a quiz in English."

She walked out into the hallway, "I've got it," she said loudly enough for her brothers and sister to hear, and she trudged down the stairs, and grabbed Vic's laces before heading over to the door.

"What lesson is the quiz over..." she began as she opened the door, but trailed off when she saw that it wasn't Vic standing there on the stoop.

She froze solid and the shoelaces fell from her hand. Her heart stopped as did time.

It was like she was dreaming, but soon she would wake and find that her imagination was just taking on a mind of its own, but, even in her wildest dreams, she could never imagine what was standing right in front of her. Before her own eyes, it was there, and even with the proof, she couldn't believe it.

She studied the man. His features were upturned in a genuine smile of straight white teeth. His eyes gleamed with true happiness over the most gorgeous jade green eyes that not even Phoenix's could compare to. His hair, thin, short, perfectly trimmed, and jet black was slightly receding with age. And his skin was pale, but not nearly as pale as the Roth children.

He stood well over six feet and his shoulders were broad and the rest of his body was toned and hefty, just as she remembered. And he wore navy blue slacks with a white collared shirt and a white naval hat sat proudly atop his head.

Raven blinked a few times, but the heavenly figure still stood before her. And finally, she had to accept it. It was really happening.

"D..Dad?..." she asked unsure, "Daddy?" The man's smile grew wide as he opened his arms to her.

Her face turned into a teeth flashing smile and she ran and literally jumped in his arms, hugging his neck.

He held her tight as he spun her around, lifting her off of her feet, "Oh how you've grown," he said, his voice muffled because his face was buried in her hair.

"That's what happens when you don't see someone in two years, Dad," Raven was on the verge of tears as he put her back onto her own feet, but contained them.

His smile never faded as he took a step back and looked at his once little girl, "You look so much like your mother," he stroked his hand over her cheek.

"I missed you, Dad," she shut her eyes, soaking up the situation.

"I've missed you too, Raven," he pulled her into his embrace once more in a warm, loving, and heart-filled hug.

"Let's get out of this weather, Dad," Raven mumbled into his chest, even though she'd rather stay in his arms for the rest of her life, but she pulled away and they went inside.

"Where are my boys?" Trevor spoke loud enough so that his voice carried upstairs, and Phoenix and Eagle came parading down the stairs, Phoenix with a truly authentic smile about his face, and Eagle with a tinge of happiness that not even he could hide.

"Dad," Phoenix said before wrapping his arms around his father, "Good to see you." He pulled away and Eagle shook his father's hand, and his father pulled him into a hug, "Welcome back, Commander," Eagle managed to say with only a slight hint of joyfulness.

"No, Admiral," Trevor corrected, "I moved up a few months ago."

"Congratulations."

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" Phoebe came bouncing down the stairs and her father knelt down at the bottom of the staircase and she collided with him, wrapping her arms around his neck. A picture perfect moment.

Raven looked up at her brothers, they didn't seem as surprised as she and Phoebe were, but then again, they were older and apart of the "I'm male and can't show too much emotion" species.

Raven folded her arms, as if she couldn't stand without grasping onto something, and Phoenix rubbed her back, "Feebs, why are you crying?"

Trevor stood with Phoebe in his arms, she, with her hands clasped over her face, sobbing, "Because I'm happy," she cried.

Trevor smiled and patted her back, and a gorgeous redhead came waltzing down the stairs, not even she seemed to be surprised to Raven.

"Mr. Roth," she held out her hand to the man, "I'm..."

"You must be Kori," he finished, taking her hand and shaking it, "Phoenix told me all about you in a letter," he turned with Phoebe resting on his chest and gestured towards his second eldest son.

"He did?" Kori inquired, glowing with a little too much excitement, and cleared her throat when she received suspicious looks, "I mean, that was nice of him," she laughed nervously, her cheeks growing crimson, and playfully nudged his shoulder.

"I almost forgot," Trevor voiced, passing Phoebe to Eagle, "I brought you all presents."

"From Coronado?" Raven inquired, her stomach becoming butterflies.

"I've been well outside Coronado, Benz," her father answered, smiling his signature smile that they always saw before something good happened. He opened up his suitcase on the floor and began rummaging around in it.

Raven smiled at the sound of that name; the name her father and only her father called her. And him using that name to address her brought back so many good memories.

"Here you are," Trevor distributed four black velvet jewelry boxes to his children, "Matching necklaces from Greece."

They each opened their own box and revealed a chained necklace with a single, silver, pendant in the shape of a right bird wing.

"Thanks," they all said simultaneously.

"And for my birthday girl," Trevor continued, "A rare jeweled belt from Italy."

"Thank you," Raven smiled when he placed the belt into her hands. The reddest rubies the earth could produce were outlined and linked together with gold to make a stunning belt.

"Her birthday isn't until tomorrow, Admiral," Eagle pointed out.

"I know," Trevor replied, "It's an early birthday present, Eagle. But on the other hand, I also have something for Kori, who is, as Phoenix said, the newest addition to this family."

He placed a jewelry box in her hand, and she opened it to reveal a pair of diamond studs, "Thank you, Mr. Roth."

"You're welcome, Kori, now come, gather around, I have many things to tell you all."

Raven sat back in the recliner, listening to the soothing sound of her father's voice telling one of his many suspenseful stories about the field. Her brothers sat on the couch across from him, listening with great interest while Phoebe sat on his lap, her head laying on his chest, and Kori sat next to him, heeding with the same occupied look on her face as Raven's brothers.

Raven watched her father, just as she had since he stepped through the door. He told his story with so much thought; the way only he could.

Before she had a chance to fall into remembrance of her father's stories prior to this one, there was another knock at the door.

No one even looked up, so she got up to answer it, not minding, while her father continued telling his story. She opened the door, smiling her incredible smile, and she was met by a bright camera flash followed by the faces of Rich, Vic, and Gar.

"What the?" she let go of the door and rubbed her eyes and then looked up at them. Each of them with a grin of anticipation and mischief.

"You know," she stated, rather than asked, and shifted her weight to her left side.

"Yep," Rich shoved his camera into his pocket, "And now we have the most bona fide and world's rarest smile on camera," he grinned, "Happy early birthday, Raven."

Vic and Gar looked back and forth at each other, "Surprise!" they shouted.

Raven smirked at them and crossed her arms over her chest, shifting her eyes from each of their innocent faces.

She sighed and smiled, "I love you guys," she walked into the middle of the much taller teens and they engaged in a group hug.

Vic and Gar ran passed her and piled on top of Trevor as if he was their father, while Richard stepped forward and Raven put her hand in front of him, stopping him. She stepped out on the stoop and closed the door behind her.

"Explain to me, because, honestly, I don't understand," she admitted, leading him a little distance from the door.

"You see, when you make a few phone calls and send a few e-mails from Wayne Enterprises, you tend to get more than pleasing replies," he shrugged, leaning back on the guardrail.

"No, not that," she replied, walking over and resting on the rail beside him, "Why do you do things like this for me?"

"Well," he thought about it, "Because you're special. And I'd do anything just to make you smile," He looked over at her and she was blushing.

"Thanks," she said, tucking her hair behind her ear, smiling, and looking down at her feet, "You say that to a lot of girls. But that's fine; I get it. You can't help yourself." She ran her hand over her arm, and glanced his way, but went back to staring at the ground.

Richard chuckled, "No, I don't. Before I moved here, before I met you, I was too proud to do things like I do for you for other girls. They meant nothing more than a voice to hear during times of loneliness or boredom. And to be honest, I haven't noticed a single girl since I met you," he sighed, "I'll admit it; I'm whipped."

Raven looked up at him, his eyes were filled with humorous sincerity. She smiled, "Would you like to come inside and meet my father?"

"I've already met him. Vic, Gar, and I picked him up from the airport," Rich replied, "And I need to go, my game starts in ten minutes." He looked at his wristwatch and then back down at Raven, who was a lot shorter than he was.

Raven looked up at him, realizing how much she loved those stormy blue eyes. Her eyes then trailed downward; he was wearing cleats and black sweats over his soccer uniform. He looked very attractive in black, especially with his tan skin and toned body.

"Well, good luck," she tore her eyes upward and met his, "And...you look good."

"Thanks," he chuckled, "Have fun with your father."

"I will," she stood from the rail, "And, thanks, Robin, this really means a lot to me."

"You're welcome, Raven," she gave him a smile, and he gave her one to keep in her heart. He pushed off of the rail and she reached for the doorknob, but stopped.

"Hey, Robin," she removed her hand from the knob and went over to him and he leaned against the rail again.

"Yes, Raven."

She cleared her throat, nervous, "Um..." she sighed, "You made today the best day of my life," she looked up at him, and his brilliant eyes made her lose her mind. She didn't have to think of what to say, her heart told her mouth, "And, I can honestly say, that turning around and giving you a chance that day in the hall, was the best thing I ever could have done. I will never regret being friends with you, Richard Grayson."

He didn't smile, he couldn't, he just watched her with a cloud of lust over his eyes.

She moved closer to him and placed a gentle, warm kiss on his cheek, burning it with passion.

He slowly stood from the guardrail and tardily wrapped his arms around the fragile girl. She lay her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat; it was in sync with hers. A small, meaningful smile spread on her lips, "Thank you, Richard."

"Happy birthday, Raven," he slowly released her and watched as she went back inside.

"Happy b-day, Little Rae," Vic hugged her before running from the room to leave with Rich.

"Happy seventeenth, Ravester," Gar also hugged her, "Don't have too much fun you crazy kid," he called over his shoulder, leaving the house as well.

Raven sighed and Kori stood from the couch, "I've got to take a shower," she said, "Excuse me."

Raven took her seat and she and her siblings continued listening to their father's everlasting words.

Kori waltzed back down the stairs after showering, expecting to be able to hear yet another exciting story, but sadly, she wouldn't be hearing another story after all. Trevor Roth lay asleep on the couch, Phoebe cuddled up on his right shoulder, with Eagle peacefully sleeping behind her. And Raven lay on his left side, her head falling on his chest, with Phoenix snuggled up behind her.

Kori smiled and she just placed her hand over her heart and turned and disappeared upstairs. Leaving the salvaged Roth children with their long awaited father, whom had finally arrived.

End chapter

So, my dear readers, how did you like this chapter? Was it as good as you hoped? Okay, major event in this chapter. Rich brought Raven's father home to her, but only for a little while. But still, that's like amazing right there.

Okay, so I know everybody is like c'mon, where's the action. Well here you go, the next chapter is the most anticipated chapter yet, I've been itching to right it since I thought of this story. So hold on and be patient, I promise it will be worth it.

And another thing, I totally had to split this chapter in half because, well, I didn't want people fainting and having aneurisms when they saw the length, so you're welcome.

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~GothicPrincess

Love is a symbol of eternity. It wipes out all sense of time,
destroying all memory of a beginning and all fear of an end.

~Unknown