Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans. Or any circuses.

Dedication: RobinxStarfireLuvr, reviewer 350.


Adjusting to friendship with Kori over the next few weeks was frustrating. Every once in a while I would forget that we were only at friend status, and would almost go to kiss her. She'd just look at me strangely and push my face away, giggling nervously. She knew I still liked her. I could tell. She'd continuously tease me about it. Through her actions I could tell she still liked me, too. Whenever I'd mention it, she'd try to cover it up.

She swung beside me, her legs moving along with her. She was high in the air, where I was barely above the ground. My feet dug into the sand as I slowly kicked my dangling legs. "Richard, why are you not swinging?" Kori questioned. I just shrugged. "Swing!" I sighed and pumped my legs, causing the swing to move.

The swing continued to get higher until I was at the same height as Kori. "Happy now?" I questioned, turning towards my ruby haired friend. She nodded at me, smiling. I smiled back at her before jumping off the swing. My feet landed on the grass and I turned around, looking back at Kori. "Jump!"

"Uhm…I do not think—"

"Kori, just jump." I rolled my eyes. "You're not scared…are you?" I grinned.

"No! Of course not! I just—"

"Just jump!" Kori sighed. She loosened her grip from the chains and flew off the swing, heading towards me. She fell into me and we hit the ground with a thud, rolling so I was on top of her. "You weren't supposed to land on me." Kori laughed nervously as she let her arms around me fall down to the ground.

"Sorry...about that," Kori muttered, turning her head to the side slightly. Our faces were extremely close. I brought one of my hands to her face and turned her head back so she was looking at me. She bit her bottom lip. "Richard…don't…"

"Kori…you can't just forget everything that has happened between us. I know that you still love me. You can't hide it. And I…still love you, too." Kori's eyes began to water and she shook her head. "It's not like…you wouldn't feel anything…if I did this…" I kissed her. And she kissed back.

She pushed me off after she realized what she was doing. "Richard, no," she whispered. I sighed and closed my eyes, opening them up again after a moment.

"Sorry Kor…" I muttered, getting up to my feet. Kori sighed and got up, putting her hands on my shoulders.

"Do not be sorry. It is just…I know that it is hard for you. I do not like the…friendship either. I just…am afraid. The closer we get…the more it hurts when we get torn apart." Tears rolled down her cheeks, her mascara running from her eyes. I pulled her into a tight hug, and felt like I could stay like that forever.

"I know Kori…but…why can't you take the risk?" She didn't answer. She just stayed in my arms, her fingers digging into my back, and her tears soaking my sleeve.


"Richard Jonathan Grayson, you open this door!" Fists made contact with the wooden door, the sound echoing through the room. I winced at the mention of my full name. After rolling off of my bed, I crossed the room and flung open the door. Raven and Kori stood there, in uniform, Raven's arms crossed and Kori's hands on her hips. They looked annoyed. "Took ya' long enough," Raven muttered.

"You," I pointed to the amethyst haired girl. "Raven Natalie Roth, go to school." Raven rolled her eyes. "And you," I grabbed my ex-girlfriend's arm. "Come with me." I dragged her in after with me, while Raven shrugged and left.

"Richard! We must be getting to school!" Kori complained as I released her arm and walked over towards my dresser. "The last time we were late we got a detention!" I opened up the top drawer and pulled out a photograph, slamming the drawer shut.

"This is more important," I informed Kori, walking back over towards her. Kori sighed.

"What is more—"

"This." I shoved the photograph at her, and she took it into her hands. Her eyes went wide as she scanned the slightly torn picture. It was the picture of my parents that she dropped when we broke up a few weeks ago. "Kori…meet my…parents." She gasped and turned towards me, enveloping me in a huge hug. I placed my hands on her shoulders and lightly pushed her off. "I…want to tell you…about them."

"Richard, you do not have to. I know it is not a subject you like to—"

"No Kori, I…I want to tell you," I cut her off again. She smiled at me and crossed her legs. "Please…don't tell anyone. It's for you to know only." Her face turned a light shade of pink. "Not even…Raven knows…the whole story."

"You are positive that you do not want to keep it to yourself?" Kori questioned, fiddling with the picture in her hands. I placed my own on top of hers, stopping her from accidentally tearing it any more.

"Positive," I replied, smiling. I took a deep breath and begun to tell Kori my story. "This…is Mary, my…mother…and this is John, my father. I'm in the middle." I pointed to the appropriate people in the photograph.

"Your mother is very beautiful," Kori whispered. She brought a hand up to my face and looked into my eyes. "It seems that…good looks run in the family." I blushed and she let her hand slide off my face, resting it in her lap.

"My mom would say thanks, but…" I trailed off and heaved a deep sigh, before continuing my tale. Kori gave me a concerned look but I once again persuaded her that I wanted to talk about this, and I went on. "We were…in the…circus, and we were called the Flying Graysons. One night…"

A young boy walked around the circus grounds, kicking a can in front of him while he went. In a little while he'd have to get ready for his performance. His parents were busy practicing already, but they decided to give him a break.

The aluminum can he had been kicking rolled under a circus tent and the boy sighed, stuffing his hands into his pockets. He continued to walk around until his foot made contact with a large, protruding rock and he fell to the ground. "Ow," he muttered. "Stupid rock." A group of girls about his age giggled at him as they walked past, his face turning red in embarrassment.

"Haha, smooth Rich," a female voice teased. The boy looked up at the speaker, a young girl whose father was a lion tamer. Her long, blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail, pulling it away from her face and showing off her sparkling violet eyes. The boy blushed even more at the sight of the girl. He had a bit of a crush on her. "Here, let me help you."

The boy took her hand and got to his feet, blushing a bit. "Thanks…Alyssa," he thanked her. "Uhh…" He looked down at his hand, still held in hers, immediately snatching it away. "I uh…better…go see my parents…they uh…probably want me to…start getting ready…for tonight's performance." He began to back away as he said that, accidentally falling into a circus tent in the process.

"You got the money?" an unfamiliar voice asked. The boy observed the scene inside the tent. Two men were talking, one of them hr recognized as the ringmaster. The other he had never seen before.

"I-I'm sorry, sir, but I—"

"If you don't pay up now, you'll regret it later," the unfamiliar voice threatened as he cut off the ringmaster. The strange man got up from where he was sitting to leave, and the boy immediately got up and hastily ran away.

"It's too bad that…the ringmaster didn't take his threat…seriously," I muttered. I wiped a tear away with the back of my hand and sighed, dropping my head. Kori placed one of her hands on my shoulder.

"Richard, you do not have to finish if—"

"No. I'm gonna tell you everything…"

"Richard, why are you late?" a tall, brunette woman questioned the boy as he ran back to the tent where he was performing. "You are lucky you did not miss any performance. Now go get ready, you're on soon. I gotta go!"

"Mommy, wait!" the boy shouted. His mother stopped and turned around to look at him.

"It'll have to wait, Robin…" He never heard her say anything else…

"It's my fault…" I muttered. Kori pulled me into a hug and shook her head.

"Richard…do not blame yourself. There is nothing that you could have done," she tried to persuade me. It didn't work.

"I could have ran faster and gotten there earlier so I could've—" Kori placed her finger to my mouth, silencing me.

"Shh…calm down." I sighed and decided to finish the story.

The boy watched in shock as they fell. The trapeze wires trailed after them, stretching no where near the entire distance of the fall. As they hit the ground, the boy ran over to their bodies. "NO!" he screamed as he reached them, tears streaming down his face. "…no…"

Kori held me tighter as I broke down, crying into her shoulder. "It's ok Richard…I…I know it's hard to lose somebody you love, to lose the only people who ever cared about you…" She began to cry herself. "But…you cannot dwell on the past. It's not what they would want. They want you to try and live your life and be happy…and maybe find…someone else that will…love you."

I looked up at her and sniffled. "…Kori…"

"…Robin…" She brought a finger up to my face and wiped away a tear. I smiled.

Then she kissed me.

A small, ebony haired girl whimpered as she backed away from the group of boys, their laughs ringing through her ears. "Leave me alone!" she screamed at them, her navy eyes filled with fear. The boys just laughed more and pushed her down to the ground. She let out a yelp as she fell back, her eyes watering as she made contact with the hard ground.

"Stop it!" Richard yelled, running over towards the students. "What did she ever do to you?!" The boys just laughed even louder

"The new kid's standing up for the witch!" one of the boys exclaimed. Another one shoved Richard in the chest, knocking him down. He gritted his teeth as he got back on his feet.

"You really shouldn't—" the pale girl tried to warn him, but it was too late. Richard punched one of the bullies in the face, blood spurting from his nose. He screamed in pain and ran off, his buddies following him. Richard turned around to face the girl, who was now standing up. "You are so dead, you know that right…" she trailed off, not remembering his name. The teacher had told them this morning, but…

"Richard," he replied.

"Right. Um…thank you…Richard." The girl turned around and went to leave, but stopped as a voice called out to her.

"Wait!" The dark haired girl sighed as she turned around. This boy was annoying. "Um…you never told me your name."

"It's Raven. Raven Roth."


Not the longest chapter but...whatever. Delayed because...I'm lazy... Anyways. Yeah. Richard and Kori are back together. For one because, she's the ONLY person he ever told that all to (he didn't tell her the last segment with Raven, but that was like, to show that things were gonna be ok, since he met Raven who..eventually, would be his friend)

And...I was bored but...not in a writing mood at one point this week and made up full names for everyone (some aren't made up) And some certain things (Like the Anders family tree) will be cleared up soon..

Next Update: Chapter 30 (I've really gotta finish up soon xD We are getting pretty close. The last non-epilogue chapter will take place in June '06) November 20th.

Here's those character names:
-Richard Jonathan Grayson –Age 17 (3-11-89)
-Korinne (Kori) Leona Gilchrist/Anders –Age 17 (1-21-89)
-Raven Natalie Orman/Roth –Age 16 (5-30-89)
-Garfield (Gar) Matthew Logan –Age 14 (9-15-92)
-Tara Renée Markov/Wilson –Deceased (11-26-90)
-Victor (Vic) Nicholas Stone –Age 18 (8-7-88)
-Katherine (Kitten) Melissa Moth –Age 17 (10-31-89)
-Kimberly (Kimi) Jade Rodriguez/Anders –Age 19 (7-8-87)
-Ryan Antonio Rodriguez/Anders –Age 10 (4-19-97)
-Ivy Gilchrist –Deceased-Cecelia Rodriguez/Anders –Age 40
-Angela Orman/Roth –Age 41