Chapter 11: Lies

Rating: T

Date: Tuesday, January 29, 2019

A/N: This is a really long chapter, and I think you guys will enjoy it! Also, if you haven't seen my profile picture, it's the cover to my next story which I think you guys will really enjoy! There's a small teaser on my profile. It's BBRAE-based, of course. There might be a little surprise for those who choose to check out the teaser too ;)

Lies

"Raven!" Garfield called out as he jogged towards the petite girl during their first passing period. Her dark hair shrouded most of her expression, but even though he couldn't see most of her face, he recognized her scowl.

"What do you need?" she sighed as he caught up to her.

Garfield bit his lip and buried his hands inside his pockets as he strolled down the hallway next to her, "Can we talk?"

"Aren't we already talking?" Raven asked, her tone sounding more annoyed than usual.

"I think you know what I mean," Garfield latched onto her hand and stopped her. Raven turned on her heel and scrutinized him with a sharp glare. He let out a deep breath before elaborating, "That man you were with yesterday… He was the one we heard at the carnival," he stated without a single ounce of doubt.

Raven observed him with a blank stare, and he tried desperately to read her expression, but it didn't seem to work. "Perhaps," she replied after a few seconds of intense staring. "But that's none of your business, Garfield. You don't have the right to eavesdrop on my private conversations nor do you have the right to question me."

Garfield sighed, "Okay. I know it was wrong for me to listen in, but is it so wrong for me to be worried about you?" he posed, frowning at her.

She let out an amused huff, and she crossed her arms, going back to intently glaring at him. "There's nothing to be worried about," she told him.

"Raven…" Garfield bit his lip, his eyes searching her own. "Don't tell me there's nothing to worry about. I saw the way you were acting when we were at the carnival listening to those men talk. You weren't okay then. And now I find out that you actually know this dude? Can you please tell me what's going on? I thought you told me you could confide in me."

Raven regarded him with an unreadable expression. For a moment, he thought she wasn't going to answer, that she was going to run away and never talk to him again. But she didn't, and the words she uttered next undoubtedly shocked him.

"Okay," she sighed. "But not here," she looked around as if she were paranoid that the walls were listening in on them. She strolled down the hallway towards the girl's abandoned bathroom, and Garfield followed behind her, struggling to keep up with her fast pace. For such a small girl, she was incredibly swift on her feet.

When they entered the bathrooms, Raven let her backpack fall to the floor, and she checked through all of the stalls to make sure they were empty. Meanwhile, Garfield leaned against the wall and curiously observed her, unsure if he should be worried about what she was going to tell him. She walked to the door and locked it before turning towards him.

Garfield chuckled nervously, his defense mechanism kicking in, "You're not going to murder me for questioning you?" he lamely joked.

"Are you going to act serious for once?" Raven crossed her arms and glared.

He raised his hands up in defense. "Sorry, sorry. It's instinct," he stuttered. Then he made a zipping motion in front of his lips. "My lips are sealed."

Raven rolled her eyes and breathed in. She was silent for a few moments, and Garfield was afraid that if he said anything, she'd back away again. She was finally going to confide in him about something important, and he didn't want to mess it up like he usually did.

"My father's the CEO of an entertainment company," she started, her tone calm and decisive. "You've probably heard of it. It's called Skath Entertainment."

Garfield's jaw dropped, "Your father's the boss of Skath Entertainment!? One of the top global entertainment companies? What!? I didn't even know he had a daughter! I've never heard of you or seen you on the news!"

"That's because he doesn't let the news crews near me as to give me a 'normal life' is what he calls it, and that's probably why you've never heard of me," Raven explained. "I'd appreciate it if you kept this under the rug. As you can see, there's a reason to why I'm very secretive about my personal life," she gave him a look. Garfield nodded and signaled for her to continue. "Anyhow, Malchior is the son of one of my father's business partners. He runs a smaller entertainment company which I won't disclose the name of considering you probably won't recognize it since it's widely known mostly in Europe. His father has been letting him run several of the company's sectors considering he acquired his college degree early. He's been fairly assertive with his ownership, and he's been planning for new incorporations for the company—one of which you heard of during the carnival, which is managing an international circus. To other people, his mannerisms and the way he speaks might sound somewhat malicious, but it's really one of his acts to assert his dominance among his employees and people he considers potential threats. Overall, he's fairly harmless considering his father has only ever given him the illusion of power. What you heard back at the carnival was just him attempting to act like a successful businessman. And that's the end of the story, really. As I said, there's nothing to worry about. You seem to like to make a big deal out of meaningless details in your head," she told him. "Probably because this country seems to drill the idea of chivalry into little kid's heads," she muttered.

"Hold on a second!" he raised a suspicious finger, his brain attempting to process everything she'd just disclosed. "I still have a few more questions. One of the things that stood out when he was talking back at the carnival was that he implied he was going to force a girl into a marriage, which to me sounds like a malicious thing. I recall hearing something about "Trenton's daughter" or whatever, but it didn't really come to mind that he was talking about Skath Entertainment's CEO. Does that mean he's trying to force you into marrying him!?" he questioned, though it sounded more like an accusation.

Raven huffed, "Malchior seems to be convinced that we'll end up together in the future, an idea both our fathers are very fond of. He can't force me into anything, however. As for the way he speaks, he's just a dick—the main reason to which I won't marry him."

Garfield let out a relieved breath, though he chuckled awkwardly when he noticed Raven's raised eyebrow. He cleared his throat, "My other question is… From the way he was talking about merchandise or whatever, it sounded like he was planning on…" his words trailed off as he was afraid to continue the sentence considering he might be totally incorrect in his assumption, and it wasn't a nice one.

"As I said before, Malchior has a tendency to speak with a sort of malevolent tone. I think he believes it makes him sound assertive or whatever. Merchandise refers to their importation of alcohol. Like a typical greedy businessman, he wants to find ways to smuggle it in to avoid the tariffs set in place," Raven clarified, her voice devoid of any sort of uncertainty and concern. "It's most definitely illegal, but he's convinced he'll get through with his plan successfully."

Garfield gawked at her, his mouth repeatedly opening and closing, unsure of what to say. "Oh," he simply stammered. "That's… not as bad as what I was thinking."

"It's illegal, nevertheless, but Malchior doesn't have that kind of power just yet," Raven retorted. "Now are you finally going to eliminate those blatantly ridiculous ideas of me being some sort of damsel in distress from your head?"

"Uh, heh," he scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Sorry, Raven… For mistrusting you, I was just really worried. I thought he might've, I don't know, threatened you or something, and I really just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Raven simply nodded. "It's fine. But if I find out that someone else knows about all of the things I've just told you, you'll be in for it," she threatened, and Garfield gulped down his sense of apprehension as she glared daggers at him.

"I promise I won't tell anyone," Garfield squeaked, his eyes wide with terror.

She rolled her eyes again. She grabbed her backpack from the ground and unlocked the door, "Well, you've made us both miss class with your ridiculous assumptions. I assume that you won't be making any more of those?" she glanced at him.

Garfield quickly nodded and followed behind her as she exited the restrooms. He ambled beside her as they headed towards their classrooms. "I'm guessing I'll see you in detention this afternoon?" he asked as he stopped next to his classroom's entrance.

"I told you to stop making assumptions," she let out before continuing down the hallway to her Homeroom period. Garfield chuckled to himself and walked inside, readying himself for the lesson from Mrs. Andrews about skipping class that he was inevitably going to have to sit through.

Much to his surprise that afternoon, he was stuck in detention by himself, and he suddenly understood what Raven had meant with her words. He spent his time looking out the window, both curiously wondering how Raven seemed to get out of trouble so easily and contented with the fact that she'd finally trusted him with something important.

And alas, he also found himself falling deeper into her enchantress-like charm.

Days turned into weeks which turned into months spent in their usual routines. Steve and Garfield were still on somewhat bad terms after his reconciliation with Tara. On the other hand, Rita and Garfield were now closer than ever. Rita was slowly beginning to stand up for herself during Steve's arguments, and Garfield felt prouder for his adoptive mother than he ever had. He and Tara were also on great terms. They were gradually beginning to return to their original status of best friends. Awkwardness after such an intimate relationship following by a harsh breakup was only natural, but it was a surprisingly smooth transition for Garfield. He found himself looking at Tara with a new set of eyes, and he discovered a new type of affection for her. One that made him realize that he'd never truly been in love with her. It had all just been an intense form of platonic devotion, one that could only develop between two best friends who understood each other.

Tara was now attending a private art school a few miles from Jump City High where she declared herself a proud single lady until a guy managed to swoop her off her feet. Garfield was fairly fond of the guy. He was charismatic, clever, funny, and sweet, and he sometimes had joke-offs with him during their nights out with Tara's artsy friends.

Garfield also went out often with his own friends. Kory and Dick had barely started dated only a few weeks into their spring semester after Dick had finally gotten the balls to ask her out (even though they were practically already dating despite them not realizing it). Victor had spent about two months dating the red-head he'd met at the carnival until they realized they weren't very compatible with each other. After that, he'd abruptly told Sarah he still loved her, and both of them had gone back to being a happy couple. Jinx and Wally were still caught up inside their on-and-off relationship, seemingly dating for a few weeks (though they really just appeared like make-out buddies) and fighting for another few weeks. The whole squad, including Toni, Karen, Roy, and his new girlfriend Jade, went out every other weekend, often to the bowling alley, to play laser tag, or sometimes to just hang out at Karen's place. More often than not, however, it was only Garfield, Kory, Dick, Victor and Raven (she didn't like to join them during their larger squad meetings) going out to the pizza parlor, the arcade, or the carnival.

Everything dealing with his condition had been going well so far as Lucy had predicted. He was still attending his monthly checkups. Tara joined him every time as she had usually done back then. Besides Victor, she was the only one who knew the logistics of his illness—everybody else was just aware he had some sort of condition, which could've been asthma for all they knew. Overall, Garfield felt better than ever before.

Then there was the situation with Raven. The dark beauty was still acting as mysterious as ever, though Garfield no longer felt as worried about her ever since he had found out the truth. She was a lot more comfortable with everyone, and she even sometimes joined their discussions during lunch. She smiled more often (even though they were almost microscopic), and on rare occasions, he had heard what sounded like a small laugh from her, though he could have also been hallucinating. He found that his feelings for her were only intensifying, and he desperately wanted to come clean with her, but he wasn't sure that she felt the same way. He also found that they were a lot more open with each other. He loved to tease her, and sometimes he even dared to put his arm around her shoulder, which she would promptly smack away. She sometimes forgot to call him out on his nicknames for her, and he, of course, always failed to mention it. Most fortunately of all, she had started calling him Gar (besides the moments when he acted like an idiot or got in trouble). The first time, it had shocked him to the core, but he avoided mentioning it in fear that she'd stop. Every time she uttered his name, it managed to provoke a heap of butterflies inside his stomach.

For Garfield, life was perfect.

On the contrary, though she didn't outwardly show it, Raven was seemingly falling apart on the inside.

Things at home were growing increasingly complicated for her. Malchior had left after his two week time period had expired. And though she was glad that he was finally back in Europe, Trenton was starting to become a more difficult strain on her. His underground business wasn't going so smoothly. Several of his operations had fallen apart after undercover cops had infiltrated his lower ranks. It was proving to be more difficult to hide his true identity. Despite being mostly disguised behind his alter ego as Trigon, the risk of discovery was greater than ever. For Raven, it meant bad news. A single and meaningless comment could earn her a beating, and though she had a pretty good pain tolerance, bruising was becoming harder and harder to hide, especially as the weather was beginning to warm up. The only good news of the matter was that after the convincing lie she'd managed to fool Garfield with, he was no longer prying into her matters at home. For all he knew, she was only secretive about her home life because of her status as Trenton's daughter.

The other complication involved her friends—as she dared to call them. She was becoming increasingly more reliant on them, often going out during the weekends to evade her father. However, what worried her most was her emotional reliance on them. She was becoming too close, especially to Garfield. She found herself enjoying their company, and sometimes, a sort of warm sensation developed inside her stomach and enveloped her whole body (often involving him).

It felt nice. It felt safe. It worried her to no end. She couldn't grow so attached to them. God forbid if her father found out about her attachment. He could use them as a tool to threaten her, and Raven didn't want to put them in any danger.

For Raven, life seemed to be closing in on her.

"Dick, I have been wondering," Kory questioned randomly during one of their lunch periods and otherwise snapped Raven out of her worrisome thoughts. "How do you get Dick from Richard?"

Before Dick could even open his mouth to answer, Garfield intervened. "You ask nicely!" he joked before letting out a hearty chuckle. Victor snorted, though he pretended he didn't hear once Dick directed his glare towards the both of them.

"I am sorry, Gar, but I am not understanding," Kory furrowed her eyebrows. "Did Richard's parents ask the doctors nicely before they could name him?"

At that, Victor and Garfield burst out laughing, nearly falling out of their seats. Dick's face was crimson, his mouth gaped open as he wasn't sure how to answer her.

"It was one of Garfield's immature and crass jokes, Kory," Raven explained.

Kory still appeared confused, however, "I am not understanding the punchline of the joke. Could you please explain?"

"I'm sure Dick will help you find out what I mean very soon, Kory," Garfield sent her a playful wink.

Kory stared at him with confused eyes. Dick finally managed to speak, "Just ignore him, Kor. He loves being a child sometimes," he sent a piercing glare towards Garfield, who was smiling mischievously.

"Oh, but will you please help me find out as Garfield said?" Kory posed with puppy-like eyes. Victor and Garfield both managed to contain their snickering this time.

Dick's face turned impossibly red at the innuendo, "Uh… I'm sure we can find out later, Kor... Not right now."

"Glorious!" Kory cheered. She turned back to her plate and took a bite of her mustard-covered sandwich (Garfield was still unsure of how she could swallow something as disgusting as that).

The rest of lunch went by smoothly, and as they were headed out towards Pre-Calculus, Garfield caught up with Raven.

"Hey, Rae!" he grinned. "I have a question for you."

"What do you want now, Gar?" Raven stopped by their classroom and crossed her arms, staring at him expectantly.

"Well…" he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "I was planning on going to the community library today after school," Raven raised both eyebrows in surprise. "And I was wondering if you could come with."

"Since when do you go to the library?" Raven posed suspiciously.

Garfield chuckled, "I'm not as much of a dork as you consider me to be…"

"That's arguable."

"... And I need to get some books on marine wildlife for my English project. Our library doesn't have the specific kind that I need though," he replied.

"Have you checked the online catalog?" she questioned.

"The what now?" he furrowed his eyebrows.

"The online catalog," Raven reiterated. When he still stared at her like she had two heads, she sighed. Of course, he wouldn't know about that. "Every school has an online catalog you can visit on the website to borrow books from other schools. Our school is no exception to the rule. You can probably find something there," she turned on her heel to head inside, but Garfield quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

"But I need the book today, Rae!" Garfield insisted.

"Okay, first of all, let go of my hand. Your palms are sweaty," she frowned, and he let her go, his cheeks slightly flushed at her comment. "Second, the book won't take long to arrive. The most would be a week."

"But my project's due tomorrow!" he blurted out.

Raven rolled her eyes, "Of course you'd wait 'till the last minute…" she muttered. "Why can't you just go alone?"

"Uh, because I've never been inside a library besides our school one," he uttered like it was obvious. "Besides, you're kind of the expert at it, aren't you?"

Raven huffed. She massaged the bridge of her nose gently to soothe the headache he always seemed to cause her. "Fine," she muttered. "How about we flip a coin on it?"

"Okay, if I win, you go with me?" he asked, his bright green eyes shining with hope. Why was he so insistent on it?

"Sure, whatever," she murmured. "Heads," she said before flipping a quarter that she acquired from her pocket in the air.

Before she could care to grab it, however, Garfield snatched it from the air and grinned cockily at her. "Guess I win," he told her.

Raven gaped at him, her face twisting in a mix between aggravation and confusion, "What?"

"You went for heads, which defaulted me to tails. Considering the fact that neither you won nor I lost since I caught the coin before we could look at it, I'm the default winner," he proudly asserted.

Raven blinked. "Gar, that makes no sense whatsoever," she stated.

"I'm not going to force you, but I will be waiting for you in the parking lot after school," he sent her his signature goofy grin.

He didn't leave immediately, however. He stood there looking at her with an odd expression. Raven was about to ask what was so interesting about her face when he reached out and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. His hand grazed her cheek as he took it back, and his smile widened. "Sorry, it bothers me sometimes," he uttered before heading inside the classroom (mostly to make sure there was witnesses in case she tried to murder him for pulling a move like that) and leaving Raven standing at the door staring off into the distance like an idiot. What the hell was that?

Before she could even think about overthinking it, the bell rung, signifying that she was late to class unsurprisingly because of him. She let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding in and headed inside to her seat.

Garfield felt like his intestines were twisting and tangling inside his stomach as he waited. He was leaning against the wall outside the school by the parking lot watching the door intently hoping that she'd come out. Alright, so perhaps he'd been a little commanding with her, but to his defense, she was coming up with so many excuses to avoid going with him, so he had been forced to improvise and trick her into going.

He hadn't been completely forceful though. He had technically given her a way out. Here's to hoping she didn't take it, however.

"Gar," her raspy voice sounded like music to his ears.

He turned around with a smile that could rival the Chesire cat's. "Rae! You came!" he brought her into a side hug.

"I can still walk away, you realize that," she grumbled as she pushed him back. She sighed and crossed her arms, "Well? Are we going to stand here all day?"

"Oh, no, of course not!" Garfield perked up. He grasped her wrist and pulled her towards his car. He opened the passenger door for her like the gentleman he was. Raven only rolled her eyes at him and jumped inside. Then he went around and got into the driver's seat himself. "Alright, ladies and gentlemen," he imitated a pilot's voice. "We're all buckled up and ready for take-off. Library, here we come!" he announced loudly, only earning a glare from Raven.

"God, you're insufferable," she muttered under her breath.

"Aw, come on Rae. You know you love me," he teased as he pulled out of the parking lot.

"In your dreams," she retorted, her gaze directed out the window.

As he came to a red light, Garfield swiped through the radio channels in search of a decent song to play. "So tell me what you want, what you really, really-" "-are the champions, my friends-" "Mama, just killed a man, put a gun against-" "Hit me baby-" "And I wish you joy and happiness-"

His grin turned impossibly wide, and he glanced at Raven who's features twisted into a horrified expression.

"But above all this, I wish you love…"

There was a pregnant pause in which Garfield inhaled a deep breath, and Raven's hearing readied itself for purgatory. The feeling of apprehension that arose in her stomach as Garfield opened his mouth was inevitable, and she braced herself for impact. Three, two, one…

"Aaand IIIIIIIIIeeIII will always looovee yoouuuu!" he sang, his hands making dramatic motions as he directed his gaze at Raven with playful eyes and his voice resonating throughout the vehicle and probably startling the old lady in the car next to them.

"I will aalways love youu-I will always loove youu-I will aaaalways love youuuuuuuuuu!" he continued, his voice blaring into Raven's ears and practically making them bleed.

The light turned green and he drove forward, though much to Raven's dismay, he didn't stop serenading her. His voice sounded worse than a dying cow who was also giving birth to twins at the same time while being brutally murdered by Michael Myers with a chainsaw.

When the chorus finally ceased and Raven was convinced her ears were no longer functional, she directed him a glare, "Are you done?"

"Yup," he let out, making sure to pop the 'p' to irritate her further. "Did you enjoy my performance?"

"I was seriously considering jumping out of the car," she deadpanned.

"Aw, come on Rae, I wasn't that bad," he grinned like an idiot. He gripped the steering wheel with his left hand and reached out to place his right hand over hers. When his palm made contact with the top of her hand, she tensed up, and he instantly regretted his actions. He hurriedly removed his hand and placed it back on the steering wheel. "Sorry, sorry. I got carried away…" he murmured, his face crimson and his tone skittish.

"Don't worry about it," she simply murmured and moved her hand away from the armrest. The awkward silence was filled by Michael Jackson's Beat It coming through the radio.

When they finally got to the library, they exited the car in silence and headed inside. Raven took a few moments to ask the librarian at the front desk about the book section on marine wildlife while Garfield awkward shifted his feet impatiently, his eyes exploring the quiet atmosphere. The community library was a building of tremendous size with three floors all full to the brim with countless bookshelves on anything and everything. There were only a handful of people sitting on the couches and tables either reading or typing away on their laptops. Garfield imagined that they were either working, playing MMORPG games, or writing fanfiction on online forums.

"Gar," Raven's voice snapped him out of his trance. He turned to look at her with a bemused expression. "Your books are this way," she signaled towards an empty area in the back.

"Oh! My books! Right..." he chuckled and awkwardly shuffled his feet to follow her.

He spent a few minutes swiping through the shelves cluelessly searching for something convincing. Truth was, he didn't really have a project on marine wildlife. Well, he did, but he had already finished it. He'd only come up with the excuse to spend some alone time with Raven and maybe even trick her into having a drink with him or something. So far, his plan was coming together quite nicely, and he only needed to take a few more steps until their outing was practically a date.

He found a convincing encyclopedia on Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises and quickly snatched it from the shelf. He headed towards Raven who was sitting on one of the couches reading a book that he had no idea where she'd gotten from (though the myriad of bookshelves around them was probably a helpful hint to the mystery).

"Found it," he declared as he stepped by her, raising the book so she could glance at the cover.

Raven closed her book and stood up. "Do you have your library card?" she asked.

"My what now?" he furrowed his eyebrows.

She arched an eyebrow at him, "Your library card. The one you use to check out books."

"Oh…" Garfield chuckled and scratched the back of his neck. "My library card."

Raven sighed and massaged the bridge of her nose gently, as she usually did with him, "You don't have a library card, do you?"

"Nope…" he confessed with a red face.

"Fine, I'll just check it out under my account," she muttered as she snatched the book from his hand. She speed-walked towards the counter, and Garfield struggled to keep up with her. "Grant it if you lose it, you'll be in charge of paying for it."

Once the encyclopedia, along with some others books he had no idea where she'd managed to snatch so quickly from, were all checked out, they exited the library. They ambled back to Garfield's car, and once inside, he set about initiating phase two of the plan.

"So, it's about time for dinner… Rita and Steve are probably already eating without me," he started as he switched on the ignition. "You want to just head out to eat at a cafe or something?" he asked, making sure to keep his voice smooth.

Raven stayed quiet as he pulled out of the parking lot. He was about to take back his offer when she uttered the word that made him want to scream out in bliss, "Fine."

Garfield kept it in, however, as to not scare her away. "Awesome," he grinned, acting as if he was expecting her to agree.

They both decided on a small, quiet cafe on the east side of town, only a few miles from his house. Garfield made sure to hold the door open for her as they walked in, which only generated an odd stare from her part. They sat at a comfortably silent booth at the back next to the music machine.

"Hi, there!" the perky blonde waitress greeted them with a cheerful smile. "I'm Stephanie. Anything you'd like, I'm here for, just call me over. What would you like to drink?"

"Strawberry lemonade for me!" Garfield exclaimed with a toothy grin. Sure, it wasn't the manliest drink, but he really loved strawberry lemonade.

"And for your lady friend?" she asked as she turned to Raven.

"Herbal tea," she stated.

"Alright, strawberry lemonade and a herbal tea coming right up! Feel free to look at the menu and choose what you'd like to eat while I go fetch your drinks!" she told them before scurrying away.

After deciding on his order, Garfield tapped his fingers impatiently on the table, unsure of what to say. "So…" he started.

"Yes?" Raven arched an eyebrow, her eyes lifting up from the menu.

"How's everything at home?" he asked as he couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Alright," Raven assured. "What about you?"

"Ah, well, I think it's okay so far," Garfield shrugged. "Rita and I have been spending a lot of time together. Then there's Steve. He's still acting as stern as usual, but he's acting like less of a jerk."

"That's fortunate," she nodded.

Garfield opened his mouth to say something else, but the blonde waitress seemingly popped into existence next to them. "One strawberry lemonade and herbal tea for the happy couple!" she squealed.

His face heat up, and he glanced at Raven who appeared to be unaffected by the comment. She simply grabbed her herbal tea and gently blew on it.

"What would you like to order?" she asked.

"A tofu delight, please."

"A small potato salad will suffice."

"Alright, I'll be right back with your orders!"

Garfield took a sip of his lemonade before glancing at Raven. Her eyes were fixated on the teacup in front of her. "A salad, really?" he commented. "You should really eat more, y'know."

Raven gazed at him with emotionless eyes. "I believe my eating habits are perfectly fine as they are."

"But you barely eat at lunch! I only see you eating fruit or maybe taking teensy bites of your food. That can't be healthy, Rae!" he insisted. "You should eat more."

She rolled her eyes at him, "You rarely see me eating outside of school."

"Exactly! Even when we go out, you don't eat too much!" he retaliated.

"My eating habits should be none of your concerns," she narrowed her eyes. "Why do you care so much?"

"Because!" he exclaimed, though he wasn't sure what to say after that. "You're my friend!" he blurted out. "Of course I'd care. I'll always care about you, Rae," he smirked.

"Well, you shouldn't rely on that thought so much. You don't even know if we'll remain friends after high school," she muttered, her finger tracing the hem of her cup.

The waitress returned with their orders and said something like "enjoy," but Garfield wasn't really listening. His mind was too fixated on her words, "What do you mean we won't remain friends? I'd never stop being your friend," he proclaimed, slightly offended at the thought of it.

"You can't assure the future, Gar," Raven replied before taking a sip of her tea. "Just as you can't change the past."

"Well, I'm sure we'll still be friends!" Garfield grinned. He dug into his plate eagerly, his appetite suddenly refurbished. "You're too important to me," he assured her.

His words would've been incredibly sweet if it wasn't for the fact that he said them with a mouth full of tofu. "Right," she murmured. She took a bite of her salad, her thoughts swirling about contemplating his assertion. Would they really remain friends? A twinge of hope emerged at the back of her head, but she quickly pushed it away. No. Even if she wanted to, she would just prove to be a burden to him. He'd move away into a small college, earn his degree, work his dream job, and get married to a wonderful girl. Meanwhile, she'd be stuck here, tied to Malchior's marriage arrangement and her father's nefarious operations.

They chatted a bit more about ephemeral topics with Garfield attempting to encourage her to share more but to no avail. After they finished their food, Raven reluctantly let him pay for the bill, and they headed out, making sure to leave a substantial tip to the perky waitress.

"So, it's pretty late. I think it'd be best if I took you home, no?" Garfield proposed as he pulled out of the parking lot.

"That won't be necessary. You can drop me off at the bus station by Danny Street. I can walk from there," she assured him.

"Raven…" Garfield began. "I don't think you should be walking alone out so late. You're already in my car. I might as well give you a ride to your house."

"Garfield, I'll be fine," Raven rolled her eyes, her tone a bit frustrated with him.

"Raven, I'm not going to drop you off at a bus station so you can walk home alone…" he frowned at her.

"God, I don't know why you keep insisting with your whole act of chivalry," she muttered while massaging her temple.

"It's not an act of chivalry," it was his turn to roll his eyes. "It's called being a decent human being and friend."

"Right…" she crossed her arms.

Garfield sighed, "Look, Rae. I just want you to get home safely. Are you worried that me knowing your address will mean that I'll tell everyone at school who your dad is and where you live? You know me well enough to realize I'm not that kind of guy."

"I know," she replied. "And I have a feeling I'm not going to win this fight, so you might as well drive me…"

Garfield grinned, feeling his ego inflate at his success in the argument, "Just tell me where to go."

Raven guided him through the city streets until they arrived at an extremely affluent neighborhood with houses that appeared to look more like castles. Though Garfield was pretty well-off himself, he was nowhere near as rich as these people.

"It's the house of the end of the street," she muttered.

Just when Garfield believed he couldn't be more shocked, he spotted her house. It was a building of tremendous size with a concrete wall surrounding it. It practically towered over the other houses on the block.

"This is your house!?" his jaw dropped.

Raven sighed, unsurprised by his response, "Yes."

Then, in an abrupt moment, her expression seemed to shift from irritation to confusion to terror. "Pull back," she commanded.

"What, why!?"

"Just pull back!"

Garfield glanced at the front and noticed the gate opening in front of them. He spotted a figure walking towards them, and he couldn't discern the individual until he spotted his pale blonde hair. "Is that Malchior?" he asked.

Raven breathed out, aggravated that he couldn't just listen to her directions. "It appears to be," she gritted her teeth, feeling her blood boil inside her veins. What was he doing here?

Malchior approached the car, his hands inside his pant's pockets and his men following behind like knights guarding the king.

"I got this, just get out of here," Raven muttered as she reached for the doorhandle.

Garfield locked the doors before she could open it, however. "I thought you said he'd gone back to Europe a few months ago?" he stated, his tone rather suspicious.

"He had…" she muttered. "Now open the door," she regarded him with a piercing glare.

"No," he simply told her.

Raven's eyes widened, unbelievable of the fact that he had just negated her. Malchior approached the driver's seat, and Garfield lowered the window.

He observed Garfield with a raised eyebrow, and his eyes took a second to trace Raven's profile. "Garfield, was it?" he asked him, his tone rather sharp.

"Yeah," Garfield replied. "Malchior?"

"That is correct," Malchior glanced at Raven, and his eyes told her everything she needed to know. He was not pleased with her, not that Garfield could see that. "Oh forgive me. I don't know where my manners have gone. Why don't you come inside?"

"No!" Raven abruptly blurted out.

Garfield glanced at her with surprised eyes. Why did she suddenly look so… panicked? Raven rarely, if ever, panicked, which had to mean something was wrong. Very wrong. He looked back at Malchior, and for some reason, a feeling in his gut told him not to trust the dude. Despite his instincts calling for him to take flight, he didn't really feel comfortable leaving Raven there. He could at least walk her inside and make sure everything looked alright. It was also his chance to find out more about her because even after months of knowing her, he found that he didn't really know her. He grinned at him, "Why not?"

Malchior smirked. He locked eyes with Raven—those cold, soulless blue eyes. There wasn't a hint of hesitation in his response to Garfield, and he didn't unlock his gaze from Raven's.

"Excellent. I think Trenton would be pleased to meet one of his daughter's dear friends."

A/N: Heh, I love cliffhangers. It's about to get real intense y'all... I can't assure the next time I'll be updating, but I don't think it'll take as long as last time. The Dick joke at the beginning and the scene with Gar tricking Raven into going with him to the library were both inspired by Jean Carter. Thanks!

.Bean - Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying the story! And I think Garfield is about to find out the truth very soon.