A/N: Sorry for the delay! What with homework and video games, I've had little time to actually put my brain to some use. I have to warn that this chapter gets a little racy, but nothing too bad happens.

Chapter 3

"Are we sure we want to do this?" Raven mumbled.

"Of course, challenges are what makes us stronger," Cyborg announced, carefully putting the last piece in place.

"I wouldn't call this a challenge as much as torture," Raven mumbled to herself. Robin gave her a cute smirk and she blushed slightly.

"Alright ya'll, huddle up!" Cyborg whispered, beckoning Robin and Raven forward.

"Okay, he knows this is coming, but he doesn't know when or where. We gotta make it subtle and smooth. Catch him off guard."

"I didn't know a surprise party could be so… militaristic."

"We don't need that attitude young lady!" Cyborg glared at Raven. Robin rolled his eyes out of Cyborg's view and Raven smiled.

Cyborg cleared his throat. "As I was saying… Rae, you're gonna take the left flank, Robin the right. I'll be center. On my count we gotta ram him with all we got. Yell surprise and let him have it with the confetti! He won't know what hit –"

"Hey guys, what's going on? And why is it so dark in here?"

The three other Titans screamed as Beast Boy suddenly appeared in the center of their huddle. For a moment they paused with their mouths wide open as BB surveyed the room.

"Hey, we're having a party, aren't we? Is it a party for me? Awesome! I love parties!" Beast Boy bounced around, completely unaware of his friends' exasperated expressions.

"Did you… just… appear?"

"Fly. Very handy animal, I must say. Small but not too small," Beast Boy grinned, grabbing a party hat from a pile on the floor. Robin moved to turn on the lights and disco ball (which Cyborg had insisted they install, and after much whining and complaining, Robin had agreed on).

Cyborg was still in the center of the room, gaping at the other Titans.

"But… you… this was suppose to be… ah-man! All that work for nothing," Cyborg threw up his hands, grumpily heading for the punch table.

"Hey, no big. It's not like I know exactly what ya'll got me or anything," BB grinned, raising his eyebrows expectantly.

"Hey, presents are for after cake and ice cream," Raven said, pointing out the carefully designed desserts. The team had put extra care in the food, which they knew BB would enjoy. They had made a 4 foot tall ice cream statue filled with sprinkles and cherries, which could only be dwarfed by the 5 foot green cake next to it.

"I even used those nasty tofu eggs for the cake!" Cyborg said, forgetting his spoiled surprise and smiling from ear to ear.

"Is that why it's green?" BB asked suspiciously.

"No, we dyed the icing. Food coloring," Robin laughed, slapping Beast Boy upside the head. "It's like you. Only taller." Beast Boy glared while the others fell on the floor laughing.

"Wanna do something a little more… fun?" Robin whispered in Raven's ear, sending gentle shivers down her spine. After the gang had figured out four people just wasn't enough for a party, Cyborg had called up some old friends to drop by. The main room was now a sea of people, each of them quickly moving to the techno beat around them.

In the center of the room, however, remained the Blorthog beads Starfire had left behind. Raven had produced a spell that constructed an invisible barrier around them. The beads seemed to provide a hope for some unreachable future…

Raven nodded her head at Robin's suggestion and allowed herself to be pushed through the crowd. They quickly dashed through the door and into the hallway to avoid any unnecessary comments from their friends. Raven wanted to giggle with excitement, no matter how unlike her it was. Robin's arm around her waist and tight muscles against her side made her feel dizzy. He gently pushed her into the study.

"So, what do you –"

"Shh," Robin hushed her, gently placing his finger to her lips. With his other hand he carefully traced her arm and neck, finally concluding his exploration at her cheek. "You're beautiful, you know?"

Raven turned away from him. Of all the things she was, she knew she wasn't beautiful. Her white porcelain skin, her awkward purple hair. She felt as far from beautiful as physically possible. Lost in her own thoughts momentarily, she hardly noticed Robin's smirk as he gingerly pulled her chin up to face him.

"I'm in love with you. I decide how gorgeous my girlfriend is. So don't tell me otherwise."

With that Robin aggressively pulled Raven toward him. At first the kisses were slow and reassuring. Gradually he became more forceful, his tongue tracing over hers with hot precision. Before either of them knew it, they were lying on the deep purple sofa, Robin carefully straddling Raven's slender body, enveloped in their own existence.

He hadn't meant to snoop. Perhaps it was merely in his nature to be where he wasn't suppose to be at exactly the wrong time. He had just been walking through the hallway, carefully avoiding Cyborg's rowdy friends who had come to his birthday party. You can only dance surrounded by drunk people for so long, Beast Boy had concluded.

It was then that he noticed the open door. The heavy breathing coming from within. Curiosity killed the cat, Beast Boy contemplated, quickly changing into a green kitten and carefully walking into the room.

Looking back on the situation, he couldn't understand why he had decided to venture closer. But of all the things he could have seen, the two bodies colliding against each other could have possibly been the worst of his expectations. He was fortunate to not be able to speak while in a different form, for when he saw her porcelain skin against his slightly tan back, he let out a sharp screech that could only be translated to Raven if it were in English. The two on the couch quickly halted their endeavors and looked around the completely empty room.

Shit, shit, shit! BB screamed in his fly brain.

What the hell are you doing, Beast Boy? Pull yourself together. What was that? You know that Raven and Robin have been going out. Those two have been more than birds of a feather lately…

But the authoritative way his hand traced her neck. The deep sighs this produced. Her quiet whispers of I love you in his ear…

Shut up! This isn't getting you anywhere. Useless thoughts are just useless. Nothing more.

By this time Beast Boy had successfully flown into his room and had changed to normal on his bed. He couldn't exactly explain the tears running down his cheeks or the heaviness in his stomach. All he knew was that he didn't want tolive at that moment. He didn't want to see her in his arms. He didn't want to hear those three words from her lips. He didn't want to admit to himself the naked truth in front of his eyes.

You're in love with her. You're in love with Raven.

A/N: Yay! I got the next chapter out! I'm really sorry it took me forever, hopefully the next chapter will be up a lot sooner. Sorry for leading so slowly into the drama, I have 20 years I need to cover and I'm trying to span it out as best as possible. And I kinda already gave away the ending of this chap in the last chap's AN, but I'm hoping that's okay. Also, I just wanna make sure everyone knows that I'm gonna keep with the episode's ending. Meaning, if you haven't seen "How Long Is Forever?" you might be disappointed how it ends up. It's gonna be kinda depressing. Kinda really depressing. Just a warning!

raeandrob4eva – You rock! Lol, yeah, I'm hoping all people's favorite pairings will be happy, but I just hope everyone remembers the end of HLIF and how everyone is gonna end up. But it'll be the way they all get there that'll be fun!

Tigerfly57 – Well, in a way this is an alternate universe where Star never came back, but she still does come back… so, technically, this never happened, but at the same time it did. In a very odd way, the actual TV show is an alternate universe to the original universe when Starfire left. In a way. A very confusing astrophysics way.

Nevermoreinmymind – Lol! You have 97 favorites? That's awesome! You should go yell at the fanfic people about your lost 3 favorites, hehehe... ;)

Rochelleteentitan – Yeah, I'm really hoping to please everyone with this fic. I actually really like the rob/star pairing, too, so I might end up writing one of those fics later on. I think I basically like all pairings… except anyone with Cyborg… and BB/Star… that'd just be odd.

dark16angel – Runs and hides from rabid mice. Lol, alright, I hope that this will have been the longest span of time between chapters. My goal is gonna be a chapter a week at the least. School is evil, however, and might prevent that. And the ending is gonna be really depressing, unfortunately, since I really wanna keep with the actual episode…

Majestical – Hehehe, everyone seems to really like Rob/Rae. I hope everyone who does really liked the Rob/Rae moment in this chapter! Too much, too little? I didn't wanna write a full out lemon or something along those lines which would force me to raise the rating to R. Maybe in another fic…