Garfield sat at the dinner table, taking a break from his usual spot at the island. He stared at his phone, it was still beeping with notifications from potential matches that he no longer showed any interest in.

Frustrated with the months of time and energy he had put into the stupid app he concluded he was done with the Dating App. With a defeated expression he went to his account settings, and without hesitation deleted his profile.

He let out a heavy sigh, placing his phone on the table before resting his head on his crossed arms on the surface.

He paid no mind to his friends around him as they went on with their daily routine, eventually leaving the common room. But as he continued to drape over the table, he was unaware that one of his friends had stayed behind, watching him from across the room.

Raven watched Garfield, seeing his hopeless expression and despairing posture. If anyone else was in the room she wouldn't have chosen this moment to talk to him, but being that they were now alone, she found herself walking over and sitting down across from him.

Getting his attention, he raised his head, watching as she pressed her hands together in thought. She was trying to appear calm and relaxed, but her tense posture showed otherwise.

She opened her mouth, only letting out a quiet sigh before closing it again. She was never one to not know what to say, yet he has continuously left her perplexed over the past events.

"I'm not saying this is going to work." She finally spoke up, and a smile immediately appeared on his face. "In fact, I am fairly certain that it won't. But... I am intrigued nonetheless, and genuinely curious to see if you can prove me wrong."

His lips curved into a smirk. "I like a challenge."

"Let's set some boundaries." She said sternly.

"Okay." He agreed, the smirk still on his lips.

"No pet names." She said firmly.

"No promises."

"No titles. I am not your girlfriend, and this isn't a relationship."

"Yet..." He added and she closed her eyes, letting out a heavy breath, trying to prevent herself from lashing out.

"I don't want you hitting on me."

"What about flirting?" He asked and she glared at him.

"Just because I'm not objecting to this, doesn't mean you have the right to touch me."

"What if you want me to?" He asked, his smirk turning mischievous.

She glared at him again. "I will allow hand holding."

"Kissing?"

"Possibly." She answered with hesitation.

"Sex?"

She immediately scowled at him. "Don't push it." She warned.

He held in a chuckle at her hostility. "Anything else?" He asked.

She briefly paused before answering. "Not at the moment."

He stared at her, humored at her obvious agitation over the matter.

"Are you going to hit me if I kiss you?" He asked with a smirk.

She huffed, humored by the question. "We'll see." She answered.

He stood up and leaned over the table, reaching forward, and caressing the side of her face as he closed his eyes and kissed her gently.

And for some forsaken reason she couldn't wrap her head around, she let him.

Because she liked it, and she hated admitting to that.

He gently moved his hand from the side of her face to the back of her neck, holding her contently as he pushed himself as close to her as he could. He couldn't get too close, considering there was a table in-between them.

Enthusiastically, he pulled her closer to him, kissing her harder.

Quickly reacting, she made a noise of protest as the tv screen cracked and turned to static, forcing her to quickly pushed him away.

"Pace yourself!" She scolded. "I'm not one of your fangirls. We have to approach this carefully."

"Sorry." He said, sheepishly raising his hands. "I got carried away."

"Clearly." She huffed, wiping her mouth with her thumb.

He turned to the broken tv, trying to not laugh at how upset he knew Victor was going to be.

He then turned back to her, resting his head on his arms on the table as he smiled at her.

"So..." He began, his smirk once again appearing on his face. "What are you doing later?"

...

Eight months had passed.

This was all very new to Raven, and she made sure to take things slow. Garfield often got ahead of himself, and she didn't hesitate to remind him about keeping a steady pace.

The thing she refused to call a relationship lasted longer than she had expected. She predicted calling it quits after a week. A month tops. But yet here they were, eight months later and she had yet to call it off.

He had exceeded expectations, surprising her in more ways than one. He was surprisingly patient considering his history.

And despite frequently pushing her limits, he respected her boundaries... most of the time.

He knew she liked it, though she would never admit it. He could see it in that minuscule smile he loved so much. She liked being around him, she liked him holding her hand, she liked when he kissed her, and she liked being with him.

And this relationship she refused to acknowledge, wasn't that much different than the friendship they already had.

He just sat a little closer to her on the couch, and grabbed her hand when they walked down the street.

And she honestly enjoyed those little things. They were in her comfort zone, and she was easily able to keep her emotions calm during it.

But he was always one to test her threshold.

Kissing is a safe way of showing affection. It's so innocent that teenagers do it on their first date, and yet it can be so passionate that couples do it on their honeymoon.

From a light brush against the lips, to dancing of tongues. The range is considerable.

She made sure they maintained their steady pace, never hesitating to stop him when he was getting too excited. But while maintaining her boundaries, she was fully aware she was decreasing them faster then she originally thought she would.

At first, she wouldn't let him kiss her outside of her room. She refused to be put in any situation where their friends might catch them in a provocative position.

But the more kisses he stole out in the open, the more lenient she became.

...

On the large couch in the common room, the pair sat. They were watching a movie, because she refused to let him take her out to see one in the theatre.

And she fully intended on watching the movie, making it clear to him from the start that was what they were going to do.

So why was she letting him kiss her?

Because it was easy to get carried away in the moment, and despite thinking she was stronger than that, she easily lost herself like every other normal person.

She let him kiss her, and she hated that she liked it so much, and even more knowing he knew that she liked it.

He kissed her deeply, never one to not show the passion he was feeling. He held her, keeping her as close as he could before she would push him away. He leaned himself closer to her, but she put her hand on his chest to keep him at bay.

He should have taken it as a warning to slow down, and keep a steady pace. But he was always one to test the limits.

She could tell by the change in pace his lips moved that he was once again getting carried away. He often got ahead of himself, forcing her to remind him about maintaining a steady pace.

Situations like this could easily get carried away and she couldn't allow herself to get too excited. She had to maintain control.

She liked him being close to her on the couch. She even liked him kissing her, despite being against it when the movie first started. She liked the feel of his touch as his warm hand gently cupped the side of her face.

She didn't mind his other hand on her waist, but she made sure not to disregard it, and was fully aware as he picked it up and placed it on her leg.

And despite being hesitant and moving very slow, she was not okay with him sliding it up her thigh.

She quickly grabbed his hand, stopping him, as she pushed him away with her other. "Boundaries..." She told him harshly.

"Boundaries were made to be broken." He said with a playful smirk.

She rolled her eyes, noticeably distancing herself away from him.

"Boundaries are a safe way of going into this without my powers hosteling out." She reminded him.

"But if we don't test the boundaries then you will never know what you've been missing." He said informatively.

"Don't pull the inexperience card on me." She shot back.

"I'm just saying, If I never kissed you, you would have never known that you liked it." He said, raising his hands.

"With that logic we should jump in bed right now." She stated, getting up from the couch.

He couldn't help but stare blankly at her as she stood in front of him.

"I mean, if you want to..." He said rubbing the back of his head

She glared at him. "No, Gar. I don't want to."

"And I wasn't saying we should." He defended, raising his hands again and getting up as well.

She rolled her eyes. "No, you're just sliding your hand up my thigh."

"Because you might like it." He defended.

"And what if I don't?" She shot back.

"Then you stop me. Jeez, Rae, I'm not gonna get upset because you didn't let me feel you up."

"You sound upset now." She said, crossing her arms.

"Only because you are acting like every move I make is me trying to get you into bed." He argued.

"Oh, so you feeling me up has nothing to do with sex?".

Arguing happened a lot.

"You said we have to introduce things gradually." He reminded.

"I also said we need to go slow and proceed with caution."

"And that was what I was doing."

She pinched the bridge of her nose. "And you wonder why I refuse to go out with you. What if this happened in the theatre?"

"Oh please, it's dark, no one would have even noticed me touching you."

She glared at him. "I was referring to us arguing. But of course you would know about touching girls at the movies."

He groaned, letting his head fall back. "Not this again. Yes, I went on more dates than I can count, but that doesn't mean I was touching all of them."

She rolled her eyes before stomping away from him, but before she could reach the common doors to leave, he spoke up.

"Tell me again why you won't let me take you out on a date?"

She stopped her harsh exit, letting out a tired sigh at the question before turning around to face him. "People go on dates to get to know each other. I already know you, and you already know me. So going on a date would be pointless." She informed him, crossing her arms. "I would think you would know that already, being that you went on so many."

"Going on a date isn't just so you can get to know someone. It's also a fun way to spend time with someone you like."

"Or show them off." She countered, suspecting his ulterior motive.

"Okay fine, but so what if I want to show you off." He said innocently walking up to her. "Why is that a bad thing?"

His voice was calm and sweet as he opened his arms, ready to end their argument with an embrace.

"Because I refuse to be like all the other girls you dated. I'm not some prize you get to flaunt." She told him harshly.

His arms abruptly fell, along with the hope of reconciling.

"And this again. Why do you always hold that over my head? Why do you care so much?" He demanded. But as he stared at her glaring face the realization suddenly came to him.

"Unless you're jealous?"

She immediately rolled her eyes as she harshly turned away from him.

"Don't be ridiculous."

His eyes widened. "You are! You are jealous! Wow, Raven is actually jealous!"

A large crack suddenly formed across the common room window as she whipped her head back, scowling angrily at him.

"Why would I be jealous?"

An arrogant smirk appeared on his face. "Your jealous that you aren't the only girl that has kissed these lips." He said pointed at himself.

"Augh!" She yelled as the window shattered and she angrily stormed out of the room.

Garfield turned to the broken window, watching as the outside breeze blew the curtains. He then turned back to the door she had stormed out of before sighing heavily, knowing he went too far.

"Raven, wait." He called, running after her.

He rushed through the common doors and quickly sprinted down the hall, following the trail of broken picture frames that hung on the walls.

"Raven!" He said, catching up to her.

"No! I'm not going to do this." She said, whipping around and pointing her finger at his chest.

"I'm not going to stand here while you talk about all the dates you've been on, all the girls you kissed! May I remind you that I didn't want this! I was perfectly fine without you following me around like a lovesick puppy!"

Despite her hostility, he had made sure to keep himself composed.

"I didn't kiss that many." He informed her calmly, raising his hands.

She immediately crossed her arms and glared at him with a knowing look.

"I may have gone out with half of Jump City, but I didn't kiss that many girls. Girls don't want to kiss on the first date. And the only ones that did were frisky fangirls. And if you can recall, the whole point in me asking for your help was to get away from them."

"But you took your time getting sick of them. You took full advantage of their infatuation with you. You encouraged their lustful kinks, because it made your insincere self feel desired. So while you claim you didn't kiss that many, how many did you sleep with?" She asked harshly.

He paused... "I'm not proud of that."

She swiftly turned away and continued down the hall.

"Come on, Raven." He objected. "Raven, wait!" He hollered.

He quickly ran in front of her, grabbing her shoulders and forcing her to reluctantly stop.

"I have a past. I'm not denying that, and I know by the fact you care so much shows just how much you care about me, and us."

He smiled softly at her and despite rolling her eyes at him, she had to accept that he was correct.

"Now if I promise to keep my hands to myself, will you please come back to the common room so we can finish watching the movie?"

She let out an annoyed sigh before finally facing him. And despite her anger, her agitated features softened.

"Do you even know where we left off?" She asked calmly.

He released his hold on her as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "Um... honestly, I don't even remember what movie we were watching."

She shook her head, but her minuscule smile appeared on her lips, showing she was no longer upset.

He smiled, holding out his hand for her to take and as she took it, he was happily ready to walk her back to the common room.

But she didn't walk with him, causing him to turn back to face her.

"Gar." She began. "While I dislike the idea of being like all the others, that isn't the reason why I won't go out with you." She began as she lifted her head up to look at him.

"I don't want to lose control. The others are used to things cracking and glass shattering. They see a broken window and think nothing of it. But that won't be the case at a restaurant or movie theatre. If you touch me, or do anything that gets my heart racing, then all eyes will go to me... The Titan with uncontrollable powers."

He opened his mouth to respond, but paused as he stared at her. He could hear the hesitation in her voice and see the insecurity she was feeling when she talked about it. And despite often pushing her, he knew this wasn't the thing to force.

"Okay." He said in understanding.

She looked at him confused. "Okay, what?"

"Okay, I will stop asking."

...