Chapter twenty six – A big surprise
The chauffer exited the car, pulling open the door beside him.
Everyone gasped.
A handsome, dark-skinned man climbed out, extending a hand behind him to help Bumblebee. A smile twitched at the corners of the woman's mouth at her friends and family's complete surprise, as she took the hand of this stranger and lead him down the carpet.
"But – but what happened to Cyborg?!" Beast Boy blurted out. Bumblebee giggled and the man holding her hand turned to the green changeling.
"Honestly, BB, I thought you'd be the first to recognise me." He replied, smirking. Realisation dawned on Beast Boy and his mouth dropped open.
"Cy? But…how?"
Laughing, Bee reached forward and turned the wedding band on the man's hand. His metal counterparts returned and the guests clapped and chuckled in amusement as the two newlyweds carried on to the reception.
"Oh, it was simple. Just remove the combustion exrecte from the smaldsing counterpart, give it a revolving mechanism and voila! Easy!" Bumblebee explained the 'simple' workings of the ring to Raven, who looked completely blank.
"Uh…I'm gonna go get some more punch. Want some?" she asked, quickly changing the subject. Bee smiled.
"Yeah, thanks." Raven took her glass and hurried over to the refreshments table. Terra was standing next to it and… less than discretely, shall we say, eying the tall, dark and handsome telepath dancing nimbly with his partner. She sighed dreamily as her friend approached. Raven smirked.
"Having fun?" she asked. Terra squeaked in surprise and spun around, blushing.
"Raven! Don't do that!" she snapped. As Terra turned back to watch, the dance ended and the girl Aqualad was dancing with stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. Terra growled and balled her fists, busying herself with pouring a drink. Raven merely chuckled at her jealously. The telepath noticed Raven and Terra and advanced towards them, still holding his partner's hand.
"Terra…" Raven murmured in her ear. "You might wanna snap out of your mood now…"
"What?" Terra growled angrily.
"Hey Raven! Who's your friend?"
Terra felt her cheeks glow a violent crimson and sweat beaded on her forehead.
"Hi Aqualad. This is Terra." Raven motioned towards her embarrassed friend, fighting the smirk off her face.
"Oh. Hey Terra!" Aqualad smiled.
But Terra couldn't reply. Her legs felt like jelly and her stomach was writhing around with butterflies. Her face felt like it was on fire.
"Hi…" she finally managed to croak, in a stupidly squeaky voice. A pile of rocks outside the window exploded in midair.
You IDIOT! You sounded so STUPID!! And you can't even control your powers! He's going to think of you as Raven's weird little friend who blows up rocks and gets tongue tied!! Plus he already has a girlfriend – a hot one at that!
As if to torture herself even more, she turned to look at the girl standing next to Aqualad. She had long silky black hair and a perfect figure. She was wearing a long blue velvet dress and her smile-
Why would he ever want YOU? She's perfect. And they look just like each other, probably knew each other from birth and have been secretly betrothed when they were babies and-
"Hello? Introduce me please!!" the girl begged Aqualad, shaking his arm impatiently. He laughed.
"Okay, okay. Raven, Terra, this is Aura. She's my baby sister."
Baby sister?
Baby sister?!
Okay, maybe he wasn't a lost cause. Terra smiled and shook Aura's hand. The music started up again. It was a slow dance and Bee and Cyborg were leading it. Aqualad grinned.
"Dance with me, Terra?" he asked, holding out a hand. Terra's mouth dropped open and she felt like she was going to faint.
"Oh - of course!" She replied in her tiny mouse voice.
Raven smiled and went to find her husband. It was going to be a fun night…