Disclaimer: Glen Murakami owns Teen Titans. I disclaim them!

Author's Note: Special thanks to Cyekitty, who was the first to let me know the name of the movie Raven and Beast Boy will watch in chapter fourteen. And many, many thanks to Change-Of-Heart2. I wrote the original poem that was in this chapter. It was horrendous. I went to her, and she took the time to write the poem that now appears here. It's so sweet and, happy as I am with the improvements I'm making to Closer, this poem is definitely my favorite change to the story.

Closer

Chapter Two: Dinner

"You ready?"

Beast Boy's head whipped around so quickly that there was a crack. He winced and rubbed his neck. "Ow. I mean, yeah. Ready!" He popped up from the couch, not quite registering Cyborg's cries of triumph as Beast Boy's abandoned car exploded somewhat spectacularly on the TV screen.

Raven eyed the television. "Nice fireworks. I hope you didn't have any money on that."

Beast Boy spun around. "Huh? Man, lost again? I was winning, too."

"Sure you were. Pay up."

Beast Boy groaned and began to dig through his pockets. He froze and narrowed his eyes. "Cy, you cheater, I didn't bet anything this time."

Cyborg heaved a sigh. "Hoped you'd forgotten." He winked at Raven. "I was trusting the pretty lady here would distract you."

Beast Boy scowled good-naturedly. "No flirting with my date, dude."

Starfire came barreling into the room, so enthused that she floated a good foot off the ground. An enormous Polaroid camera hung from her neck, its weight possibly the only thing keeping her from shooting through the ceiling. "Are you ready? Are you going now? Oh, let me take a photograph with the camera! Please?"

Beast Boy and Raven stared at her. "Uh, Star, it's just – going out, and stuff. It's not our, you know, wedding day." He gestured at the uniforms they still wore. "We aren't even dressed different."

"This is an important occasion. I insist!" There was no dissuading her, and the two were forced to pose for the camera. Beast Boy looked decidedly flustered, and then irritated – Cyborg was making faces at them from behind an oblivious Starfire – and Raven managed to look bored and annoyed in one go. She was talented like that, he mused absently.After several minutes of snapping pictures from various angles – and with a photographer who can fly, there are quite a few angles to choose from – it began to seem that Starfire wasn't planning on letting up. When Robin walked in and her head whipped around, both Raven and Beast Boy were immensely relieved. "Hey, Star, aren't you going to let them leave?"

Her mouth formed a perfect 'O' of realization. "Oh, I'm sorry! You must go, or you will never have time to both eat and watch the movie!"

Beast Boy shrugged. "Actually, we couldn't agree on a good restaurant, so we just decided to eat dinner here and stop at Raven's café for drinks."

Cyborg frowned. "Why are you guys leaving now? We haven't eaten yet."

"I ate twenty minutes ago."

Beast Boy grinned. "And I multi-tasked! Ate a sandwich while we were playing."

Cyborg blinked. "You did?"

"You didn't notice?"

"Are we ever going to go?" Raven asked impatiently.

"What kind of sandwich?" Cyborg asked dubiously.

Frustrated, she lifted Beast Boy with her powers and deposited him in the doorway next to her. He fell over. "Come on, before I change my mind."

He just grinned up at her. "You wouldn't. My charms have you captivated. You can't resist me."

At least, he hoped so.

She rolled her eyes one last time before sweeping out of the room. Beast Boy noted cheerfully that she didn't deny it.

"So, this is the place, huh? Cheery."

The café had no true doorway, instead simply opening up into the mall. Yet, defiant of the laws of nature and physics, daylight refused to cross its threshold. Only the guttering candles secured to the walls provided illumination. The resulting effect gave him the heebie-jeebies. He'd never seen this place before – he usually just went to the food court. A simple black and white sign read, "Shadows: Café and Poetry."

"Shush." Raven led Beast Boy through the slender marble columns of the entryway. He looked around uncertainly as she chose a table in view of the stage at the back of the café. In the center of the stage, a dim spotlight illuminated a lone wooden stool and a microphone.

He searched for words that could describe the feelings that this place elicited from him. "It's really...dark."

"Mhm." She was already heading for the counter, behind which a tall, pale boy stood. Raven stopped dead at the sight of him. "What are you doing here?"

The pale boy raised his eyebrows. "Working," he said blandly.

Beast Boy stepped up, eyes flicking back and forth between the two. The widening of Raven's eyes was barely perceptible, but he spotted it. Who was this guy?

Raven swiftly veiled her surprise. "Since when do you work here?"

"Day before yesterday. You want something to drink?" He looked at Beast Boy."Just a soda, I guess. Got any Mountain Mist?"

"Just Sierra Dew," replied the guy.

"Uh, that's fine." Beast Boy scrutinized the guy as he turned to Raven to ask her order. Black hair fell limply over one eye, and he had heavily lined the other with black eyeliner. Actually, save for his pallid face, the boy was covered from head to toe in black.

"Strawberry shake." Beast Boy snapped out of his inspection as Raven ordered her drink. He looked at her incredulously.

"Strawberry shake? Seriously?"

She gave him a dark look. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"Who's this?" The pale kid looked at him with what, on a normal person, might not have passed for a change of expression at all. For him, it was probably curiosity.

"I'm Beast Boy," he said uneasily.

"From the Teen Titans."

"You know other Beast Boys?" His impassive countenance was really starting to unnerve him. "Um. Who are you?"

And why is Raven so weirded out to see you?

He didn't ask the second part.

"Goth." Beast Boy resisted the immediate instinct to hold out a hand to shake. He had a feeling Goth wouldn't really be accommodating.

Raven looked disapproving. "I don't know why you keep telling everybody to call you that. It just encourages using labels. Everyone knows that's not your real name."
­­
"No one's ever finding out my real name." Any other person would have sounded or looked irritated, but Goth's expression and tone of voice didn't vary even once. Beast Boy couldn't decide if he was creepy or boring. He made even Raven look like a regular stand-up comic.

"Have it your way. Drinks, please." She set the money down on the counter.

"Here you go."

Beast Boy grabbed the drinks and Raven took her change. Making a beeline for the table, still fazed by Goth and hurrying a little more than he should have, he nearly bumped into a feral-looking tattooed lady. He wasn't sure, but he thought he heard her growl.

This place made him a little nervous.

Raven looked utterly relaxed as she stepped neatly around Beast Boy and the woman and sat easily in her chair.

"Heh. Sorry?" Beast Boy darted to their table. "Here." He slid the milkshake to her. "So, what's with the milkshake?"

"What is your problem with the milkshake?"

"You just don't seem like the type of person who drinks strawberry milkshakes, is all. I thought all you drank was tea."

She let out a small 'hmph' and stabbed her straw through the cover of the milkshake. She took a moment to sip from it. "Mm." Swallowing, she said, "That's the only thing I drink at the Tower. Here, I get strawberry milkshakes every time."

"But why?"

She sighed. "You can't expect me to drink the same thing every day and not get a little tired of it, can you?"

"Okay, I've gotta say, getting the same drink every time? Not exactly what I call variety, no offense. Traditions start somewhere! And, come on, strawberry milkshakes, that's just random. Spill."

She groaned and placed her hands on her face. "You are...so...annoying."

He couldn't help grinning. "I know that. What I don't know yet is the strawberry milkshake part."

"They taste good!" She muttered something else under her breath, but Beast Boy decided he'd be better off not asking what, exactly. He also determined that asking about strawberry milkshakes was probably hazardous to his health.

They sipped drinks in silence as Beast Boy envisioned possible death scenarios. It wasn't every person who was lucky enough to know ahead of time how they'd die. He already knew it was Death By Raven.

Somehow, he was still tempted to ask about the shake. It'd only be speeding the inevitable, anyway.

For her sake, he bit his tongue, and instead broke the silence with, "So, who was that guy?"

She smirked. "The guy with tattoos who was going to squash you for crashing into him?"

"Wait, that was a guy? But – the hair – I didn't knock into him! I just...almost knocked into him. Um. I meant the guy behind the counter. Goth."

He saw Raven tense. "Just a...person. That I...know," she finished lamely. It wasn't often he saw her at a loss for words.

He frowned at her. "Seriously, who? You looked a little edgy when you saw him."

She rolled her eyes. "No one." At his look, she exhaled noisily. "I hung out with him before." He continued to watch her expectantly. "I went on a date or two with him, that's all."

Beast Boy was floored. He'd expected the worst, but the worst wasn't this. She hadn't mentioned this. He and Raven weren't attached at the hip, but he thought they talked. Maybe the deep heart-to-hearts weren't an everyday thing, but maybe a "Hi, Beast Boy, nice weather, and did I mention I'm dating somebody?" as they passed in the hall, or over breakfast, would that have been so hard?

"When?"

"Remember when Blackfire came to 'visit'?"

He snorted. "Sorry, no. Crazy girls who try to off their own sister under our noses, they just aren't that memorable."

"I met Goth when we went to that party."

Beast Boy fiddled with his straw. Well, at least that explained why she hadn't bothered to tell him – it had been before they had been...well, before they'd been actual friends, really. But— "I never saw him there!" Crowded as it was, wouldn't he have noticed a guy like that?

"We were in a dark corner—"

Beast Boy paled.

"—talking about how pointless the party was.""Oh." He gave an inaudible sigh of relief. "Well, okay then."

"We went on a couple of dates later on."

"Uh. Why didn't it work out?"

"Show tunes. Don't ask."

"Heh, fine with me."

'Screee!' Both Titans jumped at the sound, and Beast Boy winced as the sound of the microphone hit his sensitive ears.

"Oh, God, ow..."

"Testing! Testing, one two three! Testing!"

"We can hear you fine! Stop shouting into that thing!" one of the customers yelled.

Oh, hey, it was tattoo lady...guy.

"Sorry, about that, everyone!" the emcee screamed into the mike.

Raven covered her eyes with one hand in a frustrated gesture. "They must have changed open mike night to Fridays. Do you want to leave?"

He shrugged. "Nah, it's no problem. Let's just finish our drinks."

"All right. I have to warn you, though, you might not like this type of poetry. And it's not like everyone's a professional here."

He watched dully as a smallish girl with more eyeliner on than Goth scrambled onto the stool. "My heart bleeds...bleeds...bleeds." He made a face behind his soda. Raven could— hell, he could probably write better poetry than this. He forced himself to watch the stage. At least it took his mind off...that guy.

Raven tilted her head. "Is the poetry that bad, or is something the matter?"

"Nothing," he said, wishing he weren't so transparent.

She just narrowed her eyes at him.

"It's nothing. I'm just thinking stuff, is all."

"Bull." She leaned in. "It's your turn to 'spill,' so spill."

He cocked his head, starting to smile. "Actually, you never actually did tell me—" His smile dropped at her glare, and he looked down. "You're here with me, when you could be out on a date with Goth, or somebody, uh, who basically doesn't annoy the hell out of you? I mean, show tunes or not, he just seems like more your...type." He gestured in the air vaguely.

Raven rolled her eyes at him, though he couldn't see why. "Please. That's what you're down about?"

"Well, yeah."

"Goth is...well, boring. And maybe you'll think this is weird coming from me, but he's depressing. He doesn't care about anything. I thought he was like me, but I have reasons for acting indifferent. It isn't like I don't care." Her straw squeaked against the plastic cover as she moved it back and forth. "I care about...you guys, anyway. The Titans. Him, though. Nothing. Except for his show tunes, maybe. He really likes the musical Annie, actually."

He had to spit his soda back in his cup. "Aw, gross."

She wrinkled her nose. "Annie, or the spitting?"

He grinned. "No way, the spitting. Annie's awesome."

"Should I be scared?"

"Probably, yeah." He leaned forward. "Why did you agree to come with me, though?"

Raven sat back. "You care. I like that." She closed her eyes and made a face as though her teeth had just been pulled out. "I like you."

Beast Boy only laughed, exhilaration streaking through him as if he'd just run a mile. "You said it. Finally."

She folded her arms on the table and promptly dropped her head in them. He didn't know if it was from embarrassment or from how stupid he was acting. Probably the latter.

"Subtlety is just beyond you, isn't it?" She raised her head a few inches. "Now, at least, are you satisfied? Or do I have to write an epic poem declaring my undying 'like' for you?"

"Hey." He considered this. "Hey, yeah. That'd be cool! You should totally do that. I can have it engraved on my tombstone."

"Dream on."

He shrugged and clasped his hands behind his head. "All right. It's okay if you can't."

"Excuse me?" Raven narrowed her eyes at him and her posture straightened defensively, but he only smirked.

"It takes a lot of work to write poems. If you're up to it, I completely understand." Beast Boy could have laughed aloud at the look on her face.

He knew she was too clever to not realize he was just egging her on, but he also knew she hated when he acted all superior, especially while also implying she couldn't do something that she clearly could. He could practically see the internal struggle going on inside her. Give in, or pass up a chance to prove him wrong?

Finally, she stood up and stalked to the counter. "Give me some paper and a pencil," she demanded. Goth unhurriedly fulfilled her request. Snatching the supplies from him, she returned to the table, obviously pissed off, much to Beast Boy's amusement. He didn't know what it was about infuriating her that was just so fun. Maybe this was what extreme sports felt like.

In fact, it was weirdly similar to the excitement he felt during a mission. Maybe he was a thrill junkie, he thought. He watched fondly as she sat down in a huff, and figured if that was the case then he'd found the right girl.

Sitting at the table, she went to work. After only about ten minutes, she slid the paper in front of him. "There. I refuse to write any more. And don't even think about somehow getting me to read it out loud, because I kind of hate you right now."

He sing-songed, "No, you don't," and barely ducked the pencil that flew at his head.

I always thought I was alone,
Unwanted, unloved,
One of the harshest realities I've ever known.
But then, there you were,
Wearing a smile truly of your own...
And all for me.
Thank you for helping me to see
I'm not as alone as I thought myself to be.

He swallowed, looked up. Her hood was up and she was staring intently at the now-empty stage. So he simply said, "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." She tugged her hood up a little higher. "Seriously. Don't mention it. Let's go, are you finished?"

"Yep."

They both stood, and Beast Boy looked over the poem a last time before thrusting it in his pocket, exhaling.

"So, what movie did you pick?"

Beast Boy smirked. "You'll see."

They stepped out of the café. "So. Why a strawberry milkshake?"

Man, that poem just embodies what I love about this ship. Change-of-Heart2's a poet that happens to be excellent at writing Raven's point of view. She has some TT poems on this site that you can see at her profile.

As I edit, it shocks me how much my writing has changed, and that despite this story's many flaws, everyone was nothing but kind to me when they reviewed. Man, what were they all thinking:) If you see something that seems off to you, be it grammar or plot, make sure to tell me! Reviews of any kind make me a happy gal.