AN: I do not own Teen Titans.
Chapter 11
Night had fallen and it was dark out. This meant it was very late, considering it was summer and it didn't get dark until around nine. By now Gar had cooled off and was out of the attic. As for Raven, she still hadn't returned. And they were all growing more and more worried.
"I hope she didn't really take me seriously when I told her not to come back," said Gar. He already felt guilty about the fight and was nervous as hell that she wasn't back yet. He was the sort who felt guilty very easily.
"I doubt she wouldn't come back just because you told her not to," said Vic.
"That's true," said Gar.
"Oh, should we not go look for her?" asked Kori. "I am very concerned that she is not well."
"She's probably on her way home right now," said Dick.
"But what if she is not?" asked Kori.
"Kori, you're getting me even more nervous!" said Gar.
"Okay if she's not back in fifteen minutes then we'll go look for her," said Dick.
Suddenly there came a knock at the front door. They each looked at each other with a questioning look. They were pretty sure Raven wouldn't knock to enter her own home, so who could it be? They didn't really know anyone yet. They all made their way to the door and Vic opened it.
"Good evening," said a police officer.
"Oh, she is dead!" Kori exclaimed and fell to her knees. The three men had similar thoughts rushing through their heads.
"No, no, don't worry!" said the officer quickly. "No one's dead."
"Oh thank God," said Gar.
"I was just giving your roommate a ride home from the hospital," said the officer.
"Hospital?" all four said. The officer stepped aside and revealed Raven coming up to the house on a pair of crutches, her ankle in a cast.
"Thanks for the ride," Raven said. As she came closer they could also see that she was a bit scratched and bruised up.
"No problem, just be careful with that ankle," said the officer who then left.
"What happened?" asked Vic, opening the door wider so she could come inside.
"I was hit at a stop sign," she said, hopping inside with her crutches. "Some inexperienced teen was busy looking through his CDs and failed to notice the sign and myself all together."
"How's your bike?" asked Dick.
"A ball of metal," said Raven. "He ran into me from behind then pushed me into a telephone pole. I ended up falling off and getting tangled in my bicycle. They needed to cut part of it up just to get my leg out."
"Oh, how injured are you?" asked Kori.
"I snapped my ankle," said Raven. "I'll be in this cast for a few weeks."
"That sucks," said Dick. "Do you need any help?"
"No, I'll be fine," said Raven, slowly but surely going through the house towards the stairs. "And if anyone says anything along the lines of 'karma' I'll kill them with my good leg." It was quite clear that this statement was directed at Gar. She made it to the stairs and put her crutches up against the wall. She figured she could leave them down here and hop around upstairs. She grabbed onto the handrails on either side of the stairway and began to hop up the stairs one by one.
Knowing that Raven was safe and at home, everyone felt much better. And now Gar felt even guiltier than he had before. Yes, Raven was alive, but his ill wishes upon her had caused her to get in an accident and break her ankle. He had to apologize. He knew he shouldn't expect one from her in return, but if he didn't say that he was sorry he wouldn't feel right.
He headed up the stairs and went to her room. He knew she wasn't going to be in the best of moods, but he was used to that. He took in a big breath and knocked on her door.
"Unless you're a time machine that can take me back to a few hours ago when I could still walk and had a bike, go away!" she said.
"Raven, it's Gar," he said. "Look, I know you're probably still really mad at me and blame me for your broken ankle, so I just wanted to say I'm sorry for fighting with you. I think I really blew it out of proportion and that just made you even angrier." He paused for a moment and tried to think of how he could wrap this up without repeating himself.
"Get in here," her voice suddenly said.
He jumped at the sound of her voice and wondered if this was a trick of some sort. "You sure?" he asked, his hand hovering over the doorknob.
"Yes," she said, her voice short.
He said a silent prayer and entered her room. She was sitting on her bed, her broken ankle elevated on a pillow. It was clear that she'd just settled down and didn't plan on doing much.
"Uh, hi," he said, his voice slightly cracking.
"Thank you for your apology," she said. "I accept it. And I think you should know that after some thought I've come to the conclusion that the fight was my doing and it was over nothing. I apologize."
"Oh," said Gar, quite surprised. "Well, uh, apology accepted." The air grew quiet and he tried to figure out what he should do with himself now. "So, um, are you okay? Do you need anything?"
"I'm fine," she said simply.
"Hey it's just you and me," said Gar. "If you need something I won't tell the others that you asked for help."
"If I truly needed help I'd ask for it," she said, though they both knew this to be a lie. "I told you, I'm fine."
"Well if you do need anything just call out cuz I'll be up in the attic," said Gar. "I should be able to hear you."
"Thank you for the offer," she said. "But I think I can manage. It's just my ankle, after all."
"Yeah, but you'd be surprised how much stuff you need your ankle for," said Gar.
"Again, thanks, but I'll be fine," said Raven, growing agitated that he was still there.
"Okay, nice talking to you then," he said with a smile, knowing that he should get out of there.
Once he was gone, Raven sighed and relaxed into her bed for a moment. What a rotten day it had been. She'd gotten into a fight over nothing, was hit by a car, totaled her bike, and broke her ankle. She knew that having a broken ankle wouldn't stop her from writing, it was actually a good excuse to stay in her room all the time, but she was rather upset about her bike. She had enjoyed taking a ride around the town when she needed a break. Now what was she going to do?
After she rested for a moment she got up and slowly began the process of changing into her pajamas. She really wanted to shower but she was far too tired to figure out how that was going to work. Her ankle hurt terribly so she took a few painkillers the doctor in the emergency room had given her. She usually had no problem with pain but, then again, she wasn't used to having a bone snapped.
She crawled back onto her bed and gently placed her ankle upon the pillow again. She didn't mind sleeping without any covers that night; it was very warm out. She rested her head upon her one remaining pillow and sighed, allowing herself to melt into the bed. She hadn't felt this tired in a very long time. So when she heard a knock upon her door she groaned and wondered what she'd done to deserve all of this bad luck.
"What?" she snapped.
"It is Kori, may I speak with you?" asked Kori.
Raven sighed and said, "I'm really tired, can't it wait?"
"It will not take very long," said Kori.
"Fine," Raven grumbled.
Kori entered the dark room and turned the light on. She saw her friend lying in her bed with her injured ankle elevated. "How are you feeling?" she asked.
"Not very patient," Raven said in all honesty. "So what is it?"
"I just want you to know that we were all very worried today," said Kori. "And Garfield feels very guilty."
"I already spoke with him," said Raven. "He apologized and so did I. The matter's closed."
"Are you not happy that we were all worried?" asked Kori. "Can you not see that we all care about you?"
"What are you getting at?" asked Raven.
"I just…I wish that you would attempt to be a little friendlier," said Kori. "We used to be friends, correct? Why do you not talk to me anymore?"
"Kori, I've made it very clear that I don't need nor want any friends," said Raven. "And, yes, at one point I would've called you something close to a friend. But I no longer look at you that way."
"Why?" asked Kori. "Why am I not your friend anymore?"
"Because friends don't go behind friends' backs," said Raven. "They don't make important decisions without their consent."
"I do not think I follow," said Kori.
"I told you that I didn't want these men staying here," said Raven, trying to make this as clear as she could. "I told you how strongly I was against the whole thing. But then you went behind my back and invited them to spend the summer with us. Didn't it occur to you that there was a very good reason that I didn't want them here?"
"I know that you were nervous that they would cause us harm, but they are decent men," said Kori. "If you had a little more faith in people then you would not be fearful of them."
"I'm not scared of people," said Raven. "I'm scared of what they'll do to someone like you who has too much faith in them. Your kindness may get you into a lot of trouble someday."
"And do you suppose you will not get into trouble because you do not show the same amount of kindness towards others as I do?" asked Kori.
"In a way, yes," said Raven.
"But do you really like being so mean to everyone?" asked Kori.
"I'm not being mean, I'm being cautious," said Raven. "And you'd do well to be a little more cautious."
"If I were as cautious as you I would not have a life," said Kori, crossing her arms.
"No, you wouldn't have the life you'd prefer," said Raven. "Sometimes we have to make sacrifices to ensure our survival."
"You make far too many sacrifices, Raven," said Kori. "What are you so afraid of?"
Raven went quiet and looked away from the redhead. "Are you done?" she said at last. "You said this wasn't going to take long and you've surpassed that mark quite some time ago."
Kori sighed and said, "Yes, I am finished. I will let you rest." She went towards the door and turned the overhead light off. "Goodnight my friend." Raven did not respond to this so after a moment Kori decided to just leave.
Raven found herself to be in a slightly fouler mood now. Kori just didn't understand. She came from a whole other world. She hadn't experienced the things Raven had. She didn't know what it was really like out there. Raven knew all of this far too well. She knew too much for her own good.