Chapter Ten :: Worry

The next few days were awkward for everyone. Beast Boy couldn't look Raven or Robin in the eye without blushing, Cyborg had trouble talking about anything without wanting to talk about the new couple in the tower. Starfire was having trouble understanding why it couldn't be made known that everyone knew they were a couple. She wanted to congratulate them so badly and make them a large bowl of Pudding of the Lovers. Robin and Raven began to spend a little less time together. Robin had caught wind of a new Slade lead and was working round the clock to try to decode it.

Raven on the other hand had begun to exercise with a passion. Normally she hated to sweat, but she was gaining weight. She couldn't figure out why she was gaining weight. She felt odd. She had never felt the way she did before, and it was confusing her. She had meditated with her emotions, asking if they could give insight, but none of them seemed to have a clue what was going on. An old emotion had returned, Worry, and she wouldn't give anyone any news at all as to why she was around. All she could do was worry about what she thought was wrong with Raven. The fact that Raven couldn't get any help out of Worry was disturbing to her, and she was upset that she couldn't figure out what was going on.

Saturday morning, she had had enough. She was sick of exercising and was thinking she needed to change her diet. She was constantly hungry. She had tried on 6 pairs of pants and was currently laying on her back wearing her seventh pair trying her hardest to get them to zip up. They finally zipped up and Raven made a sound that resembled a frustrated growl. 'Why the hell cant I fit into my clothes?! I've been working out so much, I should be getting thinner, not gaining weight!' Frustrated and a bit pissed off she reached into the drawer of her bedside table and pulled out a book with a plain black cover, no writing. She opened it up and after page 5, the centers of the pages were cut out. She had bought the book at a gothic shop in town and thought it would be a great place to hide her money so she didn't lose it. She withdrew a few hundred dollars from it, placed the money in her back pocket and then put the book back in its drawer.

She went out to the living area to find Beast Boy losing badly to Cyborg in a videogame and Starfire sitting on the sofa watching them.

"Hey Starfire. Want to go with me to the mall?" She asked her friend in her simple monotone voice.

"Oh I would love to join you to the mall friend Raven!" Starfire said happily as she flew over to her. "Will you wish to leave now?"

"Not yet Star. Let me have some tea first and then we will go, alright?" Raven replied. Starfire shook her head in agreement and flew off to her bedroom to get some money for the shopping trip.

While Star was in her bedroom retrieving her money from the top drawer of her dressing table she looked up into her vanity, to see her own reflection. She had an idea. She didn't enjoy waiting for Robin and Raven to tell everyone about their relationship, so she would try her best during the shopping trip to get Raven to talk about it so that she could possibly bring it into the open. She pushed her money into the pocket of a small purse and then tossed the strap over her shoulder and flew back to the common room to meet with Raven.

Raven had finished her tea and was leaning against the counter waiting for Starfire. Star came into the room and they told the guys goodbye and headed off to the mall.

The two girls walked around the mall window shopping. They stopped into an antique shop for Star and walked out with a wonderful wooden jewelry cabinet. Then they went into the gothic shop so Raven could buy some more incense, a new leotard, and two new cloaks. Then they went off through the mall looking at clothing. Raven tried on countless pairs of pants before settling on one brand and buying three pairs of them in her new size.

"Raven, I thought you wore a smaller size than this" Starfire said to her friend after they left the store.

"I did Star, but I've been gaining weight... I'm not really sure why" Raven replied.

Starfire thought it would be a good chance to 'girl talk' and see if she could get anything out of Raven about her relationship with Robin.

"So Raven. I have been spending much time with Beast Boy. I feel like a terrible friend to have not spent the girl time with you. What have you been up to these past weeks?" Starfire asked her hopefully.

"Not too much. Trying to figure out why I'm gaining weight mostly" Raven replied.

"Cyborg said that you and Robin have spent much time together lately. Has anything happened with you two?" She dared to ask.

"What are you getting at Star?" Raven kept her monotone voice the best she could.

"Well, I guess I am curious as to if you and Robin are spending time together the same as my time has been spent with Beast Boy" Starfire bit her bottom lip. She knew her purple haired friend could be temperamental and that you had to ask everything with caution. She just prayed she hadn't overstepped her line of friendship.

"We're friends Star. He's just decided to get to know me a little more and I've felt more open to allowing it" Raven replied tactfully. She knew Robin wanted to keep it a secret for now.

"Oh. I see" Star replied.

They walked in silence for a while and eventually left the mall. They walked past a drug store as they were about to fly off for home.

"Oh Raven! Please. May we go into this store? I need to pick up some of the.." she lowered her voice a bit, embarrassed to say it aloud "tampons"

"Yeah, let's go in Star" Raven replied, trying not to smile at her friend.

They went inside the store and over to the tampon aisle. While Starfire was busy looking for the brand and absorbency she wanted Raven let her mind wander to the condoms. They were running low, but she didn't want Star to see her buy them. Her eyes traveled over to another section, next to the condoms and the intimacy lube. Her heart skipped a beat. She found herself staring right into the front of a box containing a pregnancy test. 'No! It... couldn't be! It just couldn't!' Her face turned red. 'It would explain things though.. The weight gain, the excessive eating, the...! Oh my gosh...' She glanced down at her watch, 'September 6th?!' She was over a month late for her period. She had been enjoying her relationship with Robin that she had completely forgotten about her period and what day she was due to start.

"I'm ready to go Raven" Starfire broke Raven's thought.

"Oh! Ok, you go on and pay for it Star, Ill be right up, I need to get something real fast" Raven replied.

As soon as Starfire was out of sight she grabbed a pregnancy test and went to a register in the back of the store to pay for it where Star wouldn't see. She put her purchase at the bottom of one of her shopping bags and went outside to where Starfire was waiting for her.

"Are you ready to go home friend Raven?" Starfire asked with her usual smile.

"Yeah Star, lets go home" Raven replied.

They flew off for the tower and Raven went straight to her room to put her purchases up. Starfire sat down on the couch with a sigh. She had so hoped to get Raven to admit her relationship with Robin.

Back in Raven's room she was turning the box containing the pregnancy test in her hands. She knew what she needed to do. She needed to go and take the test. She just didn't want to see the results. She was pretty certain she knew what they would be.

She gave up and tucked the test under her shirt. She looked out down the hall to make sure no one was around before dashing over to the bathroom. She went inside, locked the door and opened the box. 'Ok, so if there is one line, its positive, two it is negative. Three minutes?! I have to wait three minutes for this thing to get done?!' she looked over at the test sitting on the counter. The colors were swirling around in the window. Two and a half minutes and then she would know if she was pregnant.

The timer on her watch beeped. It had been three minutes. She closed her eyes and picked up the test.