When the Night Comes

Jason spun her around once more, and she turned so gracefully, arching her feet up to stand on her toes before dropping back down to her heels. Her other hand found her place in his, and together they moved along in the open space in his living room, the only witness to this moment the pale eye of the moon.

As the dance slowed even more, Raven rested her head up against his shoulder, wrapping her arms around his lower back and letting them rest there. Jason did the same, resting his hands on her hips as the two of them slowly moved to the quiet hum of a song they couldn't make out.

Neither of them cared for the music, though. They had all the music they needed simply by the beating of their hearts; especially with Raven's ear so close to his pulse.

Eventually the dance stopped, and they were left simply holding each other in the dark room. The occasional sway of their hips let them know they still had the rhythmic feeling inside of them.

"Why me?" Raven whispered to him. Her breath was like thunder in the surrounding quiet.

"Because," Jason said, his voice just as low as hers, "there's something about you that I'm drawn to. We relate to each other. You and I are so alike, that I don't think that we could live without complimenting each other. There's something about you that I see in myself, and I can never leave it."

"You have a way with words," Raven breathed out, and smiled as her grip around his body tightened slightly.

"The night does that to me," he whispered back, a smile of his own crossing his face. "And what about you?"

"That same attraction," Raven whispered. "I couldn't leave it. There is something in you, something that I just know. I don't think I could let go of this feeling." She blushed then. "Oh damn, I'm gushing."

"Nah," he breathed, a single hand lifting to stroke her hair. "You're pretty amazing with words yourself."

Raven indulged in the feeling of his fingers running through her hair, and the slight tickle as it brushed up against her neck, ghosted across her cheek. She hummed a little, far too happy to remain completely silent for long. Jason's hand stroked her hair again and again, and Raven let her eyes drift closed.

"But why do you smile?" Jason asked, and for the first time in a long while, Raven thought that he sounded close to breaking.

She looked up at him, her indigo eyes meeting his green ones.

"Why do you ask that?" she whispered her question. "Because I'm happy being with you. We've done the 'I love you,' thing. You should know how I feel." Raven let her hands travel up to his face, where she cupped his cheeks.

"Why do you smile at me? I know I'm not the best person in the world…"

"You're concerned about that?" Raven asked, almost too stunned to believe it. She let a small chuckle fill the air between them, before she leaned in to kiss him. Soft and slow before they broke apart, the space between their lips begging to be closed.

"No one's the best. But you're all I need…"

Jason smiled and blushed.

"Please kiss me," Raven said to him, and Jason obliged. He leaned forward and captured her lips with his own. He felt her body move up against his as the kiss filled her with a steady flame that held her desires.

"You know, sometimes I think you're the only person who still smiles at me," Jason confessed. His head dropped down and his eyes closed. Raven slid her thumb across his cheek, trying to comfort him.

Raven was about to respond to him, but he spoke before she could.

"You're enough though. Even if you're the only one who still smiles at me, it's enough. It'll keep me happy." He paused. Raven didn't break the silence that had laid down upon them once more. She enjoyed it, just the same way she enjoyed his body and his words.

"Why would they smile?" Jason thought aloud, murmuring under his breath. "I've been missing for years…"

"Sshhh," Raven hushed him, bringing him back to the present. "Thoughts like that aren't good. Believe me, I know from experience." She leaned in close to him, letting their foreheads touch and their noses brush up against each other. Jason's eyes drifted closed as he leaned forward to kiss her.

"I feel as if I'm in heaven," Jason thought aloud again.

Raven smiled and blushed even more. She turned her head away from him, making eye contact with only the pale moon just outside the window.

"As do I," Raven said, though she hadn't any idea what heaven was, or could be. She'd only heard theories and rumors and stories. But, maybe, according to how the legends went, this was how it felt.

"I've been missing for years," Jason repeated, a crack forming in his voice.

Raven held him tighter.

"Would they even recognize me?"

Raven let herself feel for him; let his emotions fully consume her and breath into her body, filling her like her very blood. She didn't really mind being an empath around him, and tonight was no different. She felt his nightmares, his doubts, his fears. She'd shared his bed countless times; she should know such things.

"They would," Raven reassured him.

"How do you know?" Jason asked, his voice turning raspy.

"I just do," Raven said. "Trust me. I know you better than anyone else, Jason. Trust me when I say they would recognize you."

"I've been missing for years," he repeated. Raven could see the gleam of tears in his eyes.

"Jason…"

Back into the present. Come back into the present with me, she thought.

Jason did, and the two of them finished their dance just before falling asleep on the couch, their fatigue finally triumphing against them.