I hate you because...

1. Only you can make paperwork cool.

2. Only you can make dancing seem like a good option.

3. Only you would be a kickass superhero who can take on a guy ten times your size without flinching, and afraid of thunder.

4. Only you could turn something like training into… something else entirely.

5. Only you could make something like dancing in the rain seem like a good idea.

6. Only you can make me wonder.

7. Only you can make me completely forget about work, obligations, and planning.

8. Only you can make me do things that go against my better judgement/ things I do not want to do under any circumstances

9. You're the only one I dream about.

Robin spent a lot of time thinking about that one double date.

He spent a lot of time thinking about what he had thought for one brief second at that end, because the facts remained, Robin had wanted to kiss Starfire.

So what? Wanting to kiss your best friend who was a girl on occasion didn't have to mean anything. Especially when everyone was jamming the idea down your throat already. And she was, from an impartial observer, attractive, and spent a significant amount of the night pressed up against you on a motorcycle.

It was just one of those things that happened occasionally when people of the opposite gender were best friends.

It didn't mean anything.

Robin knew all that. He could explain all that. But how could he explain the dreams?

Robin rolls over to see the sunrise and lets out a sigh.

He had dreamed about her. Again. She's the only person he ever seems to dream about nowadays.

OK, she isn't literally the only person he dreams about… but for all intents and purposes she might as well be.

She's the only one he wakes up about, still thinking about.

It's not that dreaming about her is entirely unexpected… he dreams about all the Titans, sometimes. They're his friends, and he sees them every day.

And, well, and when you're in a line of duty which includes many very fit, attractive, confident women, occasionally wearing skin tight clothing… dreams of that nature aren't entirely unexpected either. On occasion.

And in all honesty, if the dreams were just that… it'd be easier, Robin thinks, to just shrug them off.

But they're not.

Just verbalizing it—even to himself, feels like he's crossing a line.

They're practically boring dreams. They almost seem like they could be snapshots from life… except for when they concurrently seem like they're entirely so far from what constitutes Robin's life. Like Starfire and him will be eating breakfast together, by themselves—something that happens frequently since Raven seems to subsist entirely on herbal tea, which she'd rather enjoy in her room, and Beast Boy and Cyborg like to pretend the day doesn't begin until after noon—laughing and talking, and Robin will be pointing out some story in the paper, or Starfire will be asking some question about a headline, and then all the sudden, she'll lean over and give him a peck on the cheek, or the lips, and then they'll continue on joking and talking like usual, like it's the most normal thing in the world.

It seems, Robin decides, most definitely like girlfriend behavior.

Robin isn't sure what's more disturbing, that he always seems to wake up with a smile on his face and a bounce in his steps after these dreams… or that they're really not that different from reality.

Sure, Robin would never kiss Starfire at the breakfast table now… but everything else? Feels pretty close to real life.

He puts his hands behind his head and studies his ceiling intently. What does it all mean?

Well, Robin has known for some time he found Starfire… visually pleasing. But you'd have to be blind not to notice her long legs, or crimson hair, or the way her smile lights up a whole room. And even if you were blind, well, you'd have to be deaf, dumb, blind and completely ignorant to miss her… well, for lack of a better term, inner-beauty.

For some time, it has come to Robin's attention that he may find Starfire more attractive than just some long-legged teenager. Certainly, there was no shortage of long-legged or otherwise attractive women that Robin had met in his time, but there was none that registered quite like Starfire did.

Sure, Cyborg and Beast Boy seemed to be aware they lived with two very attractive teenagers… but neither one of them seemed to have the constant conniptions that Robin gave himself practically every time Starfire appeared lately.

So he was attracted to her, Robin reasoned. He knew about hormones and adrenaline and all the effects. Surely it would pass. And so what if he had been attracted to her for the last three years and counting, and it only seemed to grow? They were teenagers who fought crime. The whole idea was so ludicrous already, who needed to throw in the matter of attractions?

Robin frowned again, except, if it was just attraction—what did that say about the dreams? If all his dreams were was attraction to Starfire… then why did they feel so mundane? Robin had certainly had dreams relating specifically to his… attraction to Starfire before, and he woke up with a strange mix of euphoria and shame after the fact, but if anything, those dreams were less frequent now.

Now his dreams seemed to be…Robin felt his frown deepening even as he thought it, more about emotional closeness.

So what did that mean? We dreamed to work through things. We dreamed about things we desired…

So Robin desired Starfire… and not just for her body, but for her.

Well, he supposed that was to be expected. Obviously he liked her, they were best friends. And obviously he liked being close to her.

But… they were already best friends. They were already as close as two best friends could be. Starfire knew everything that Robin never told anyone—she knew his full name, she knew about his parents, she knew his fears, she knew his dreams… she knew it all. She knew his history. She even knew the color of his eyes.

So what did it mean that Robin dreamt about more? That he kept dreaming about more?

Robin's eyes popped open in surprise with the realization: he wanted more from Starfire. Which could only mean…

Oh no…

Robin couldn't go back to sleep now. He couldn't do anything. He felt jittery all the time now, like he always had just had five cups of coffee—which had been factually true as of late, since Robin now avoided sleep as much as he could. Because he couldn't dream anymore now that he knew what it meant… what it could mean.

He jumped at shadows.

And possibly worst of all, he was avoiding Starfire as much as he could.

He wasn't sure if he was doing himself a favor, or just torturing himself.

Just being around her now felt…more confusing than ever. And being sleep-deprived, Robin just wasn't sure if he could control himself around her… he just didn't know what he'd do—yell at her irrationally or, even more irrationally, just… kiss her.

Robin had never felt more miserable in his life. Not even that time Slade had tried to make an apprentice out of him.

Robin was pacing around his room, trying to avoid looking at his bed. He couldn't do anymore paperwork—he had done it all three times, checked for errors, and re-organized the entire system twice. The only thing he could do in his room was… sleep.

And Robin couldn't sleep.

He rubbed his eyes and tried to think.

He could watch TV in his room, but that would involved laying down to see the TV… which was too risky because Robin was sure as soon as he was horizontal he would fall asleep. Even vertical he was fighting the urge to just collapse into slumber. But, if he went down to the kitchen and got himself a dose of some much needed caffeine, he could probably watch at least an hour of TV without worrying about the possibility of passing out.

Clearly, this was the best option.

Running his hands through his hair a final time, Robin grabbed his robe from hanging out off his closet door (although Beast Boy made fun of Robin's robe every time he saw it, calling him Ward Cleaver or Donna Reed, the halls were drafty at night and besides, some habits he learned from Bruce were harder to break than others, everyone who had any class at all knew that robes were distinguished), and threw it over his PJs.

He'd go find himself a case of coke or some Red Bulls or something. Maybe if he was so tired he just passed out, he wouldn't dream tonight.

Robin frowned as he made his way down to the Ops room, lost in thought. This couldn't go on. He knew it. For so many reasons. Being this sleep deprived was only going to hamper his abilities to fight crime—something where only one small misstep could spell Robin's own death—or worse, a teammate's. This was something he couldn't risk. And besides, they were a team, he couldn't keep throwing off team dynamics like this, not only could that risk his own well-being, but one of his teammates.

If another Titan got hurt because Robin was dealing with his feelings about Starfire, Robin didn't know if he would be able to live with himself.

But what could he do?

It was as Robin was asking himself this question, that he walked through the Ops Doors… and then he saw her. The bane of his current existence… and quite possibly the only good reason he had left for his existence.

Robin shook his head, here he was doing everything to avoid even thoughts of her, and he happens to walk in on her in her nightclothes.

Perfect.

Well, he supposed he'd have to deal with her sooner or later.

Starfire closed the fridge as she heard the doors close with a swoosh, "Robin? Is that you?" she sounded timid, and unsure, and he just wanted to put his arms around her to comfort her, but of course he knew what a colossally bad idea that was.

Robin smiled, he couldn't help it, it had been over three days since he had heard Starfire's voice, "Yeah, Star, it's me."

"I am surprised to see you," she said in a tone he couldn't quite decipher.

He shrugged, not really sure how to proceed, and too tired to overthink it, "I…well, I'm not usually up this late."

"That is not what I mean," Starfire said in clipped tones.

Robin felt himself deflate, "What did you mean?"

"Robin… tell me honestly…" Starfire pleaded, looking down and studying her hands on the countertop before continuing, resolutely refusing to look at him, standing on the Ops room stairs, several yards away, "Have I done something to offend you?"

"What? No I…" Robin wondered if he had passed out in his room, and woke up in some sort of quasi-nightmare that was forcing him into some sort of quasi-confrontation with Starfire, he walked down the steps toward the kitchen so he was only a few feet away from Starfire, "Star… why would you think that?"

"Robin, I am not so stupid to not notice how you have been avoiding me. Why else could you be avoiding me unless I did something to hurt you in some manner?" Starfire said, and the worst part of all of this, was she looked sad. She looked sad because she thought she had offended him.

Which of course was exactly what he didn't want.

"No, Star of course not…" Robin said, trying to swallow the lump forming in his throat, but feeling like he was fighting a losing battle all the while, "I…"

"Robin…" Starfire said with a sigh, before meeting his eyes and asking him softly, "Have you not been avoiding me?"

"I…I…" Robin sighed, feeling all the fight, all the will to lie, to cover up, just leave his system, "Starfire, I can promise you, that nothing you're doing or have done has… hurt me. Don't stop what you're doing. OK?"

She frowned, "Then what is it? Robin, you are my best friend, I cannot stand to have you… ignore me in this manner. This is not how friends should behave—it is not how I expect for my friends to treat me."

He sighed again, and sat down in the bar stool, regarding Starfire from across the island, where she stood with her arms crossed, and was currently refusing to meet his gaze, "You're right, you don't deserve to be treated like… I've been treating you. And I promise, I'll… I'll stop treating you like that real soon, I just… need to sort some things out and I'm running on about two hours of sleep for the last two days and I… I'm not where I should be for us to have this discussion."

Starfire's eyebrows shot up, "We need to have a discussion?"

"I'd like to."

"Robin…" she said warily, "I do not understand… what has triggered your want for this discussion of mystery. I do not like it—and did you say you have only gotten two hours of sleep?"

"In the last three days," Robin said miserably.

"And does this have something to do with me?" she asked, blinking at him.

Robin scratched the back of his neck, unsure of how to answer, "Yeah. It does. Kind of. Mostly with me."

She narrowed her eyes, but not cruelly, as if she was trying to study him, figure him out, "And you will not tell me anything else regarding this reason for your avoidance?"

"I…I can't. Now. I…," Robin looked at her imploringly, "Please, Starfire, will you trust me?"

She regarded him carefully for a few moments, "Very well. I would want my best friend to give me the necessary time—but," she said, wagging a finger playfully, and wearing what can only be described as a smirk, "Do not think this means you get out of this discussion, Mister."

"I know," Robin said with a smile in return.

She put her hands on her hips, "Now tell me, what are you doing out in the kitchen when you should be sleeping?"

"I was just coming to get a cup of coffee," Robin answered honestly as he rubbed some sleep from his eyes.

She gasped, "I think not! Coffee is what you do not need, you need a good night to sleep! Here, I will make you some cocoa. That should help you for a good night of rest."

She turned to start bustling around the kitchen, and either Robin was too tired to argue, or he knew that he'd have to face Starfire soon anyway, so why not give into it… or just maybe, the idea of Starfire taking care of him, worried about if he was getting enough sleep, made him want to smile.

"Star… you don't have to," he said drowsily as he watched her movements carefully, drinking in the sight of her—a sight he had been missing these last several days so much—as she went through the motions of making the beverage, "Especially after how I haven't been a very good friend lately."

She turned to shoot him a smile over her shoulder, "It is all right, friend. Most of the time, you are a very good friend indeed. I suppose I can forgive you of a small transgression now and then, and put my trust in that your friendship has always done well by me, and you will continue to do so."

Robin watched her with sleepy eyes and a soft smile on his face, "You know, you're incredible, Starfire."

She blushed lightly, "Oh, I do not know about that, Robin," she said quietly, "But I thank you for the compliment."

"No, really," he insisted, "I have never met… you're just… you're you and you're the only you, and you're amazing and I don't tell you that enough."

Starfire looked bemused as she stirred his cocoa, "Is that why you have been avoiding me?"

"What? Why would I be avoiding you because of… you?" Robin sputtered out, surprised at the line of questioning.

"Are you intimidated by my 'me-ness'?" she asked lightly, the only clue she was joking the twinkle her eyes as she handed him his cup.

"I wouldn't say intimidated…" Robin muttered as he took the cup from her, and tried to ignore the electric pulses that traveled throughout his system when their fingers made the lightest of contact.

"What did you say?" she asked blithely.

"Just… thanks for… making the cup of cocoa."

She shrugged, peering into his cup and tutting at whatever she found there. She turned to the fridge to get something, "I am rather fond of cocoa myself, it is no trouble to make two cups." She turned again to shoot him a questioning look, but she did look most amused, "You are rather funny when you do not have sleep, Robin."

"Am I different?"

She bit her lip, "You are… looser. Less constrained… less rigid with yourself. It is a different side of you, friend."

"I know it can be hard to be my friend with me being so… rigid," Robin made a face, and Starfire giggled, "It must be a nice break for you."

"Robin, do not say such things. I love you for you, as my friend." Starfire said as she leaned over to pour some milk into his cup, and began to stir his drink for him.

And Robin thought his heart would actually stop. Between the close contact as she stirred and the word 'love'… if he didn't know Starfire better, he would think she was planning it all just in the hopes of giving him a heart attack.

Starfire was a person who threw around verbs like love as often as she gave out hugs (which was a lot). She just radiated warmth. He was sure she had told him she loved him before (as my friend…) but… in the light of recent realizations Robin could only manage to stutter out a simple "thanks" in response.

Starfire finished stirring, and smiled kindly up at him. She used the spoon to tap lightly on the mug, "Drink this, and then proceed directly to bed," she wagged her finger at him again, "I will not tolerate you being so cruel as to deny your sleep any longer. The thing that is keeping you up, it can wait for sleep, friend."

Robin couldn't take his eyes off Starfire as she released the spoon and gave his hand a warm… well, what can only be described as a caress, and he thought he might explode at it all—at the cocoa, at Starfire's kind smile, at the fact their skin had just touched for no small period of time.

She shot him a quizzical look, "Are you all right, Robin? Do you need me to ensure you make it to your own door… you look… most strange."

He shook his head, "No… no… I think… I mean, I know I'm good." He stood up taking the cup with him, "I'll… see you tomorrow?"

She smiled, "I would like that."

Robin smiled in return, and headed up the steps to Ops Room Door.

"Oh and Robin?" Starfire called out at his retreating form, "Sweet dreams."

Okay guys… one more chapter and we're done.

It's been a long journey, and I hope this chapter makes you excited for the next one. Must admit, find myself getting a bit teary-eyed thinking it will be all over soon.

On another note, it's come to my attention that my documents aren't uploading completely in the proper format (I have breaks on my Word Document, and reasons are to be numbered), so I plan to go back through and fix that in the next couple of days and re-upload chapters. Sorry you guys have had to put up with that!

As always, read and review and I'll give you a special treat of a sneak peek. Maybe even an extra big tease since next chapter is the last one and it's Thanksgiving and all…

Oh and Happy Holidays to all!