Well think about the lonely people
Or think about the day she found you.
Or lie to yourself.
And watch it all dissolve around you.

She says she has no time, for you now.
She says she has no time, for you now.
She says she has no time.

The sound of the door unlocking woke Garfield up with a jump, and he inadvertently slammed his knee into the kitchen table. Moaning in pain, he leapt up and started hopping on his opposite leg, but in the process he snagged his foot on the leg of the chair and toppled over, hitting his head on the marble floor. He groaned in agony and decided it was in his best intention to not move anymore.

Terra waltzed barefoot into the kitchen, her high heels hanging awkwardly from one hand. She dropped her keys on the countertop, letting them skid a little before coming to a halt just behind the bowl of wax fruit. She began twisting her hair up into a messy bun and glanced down at her husband, tilting her head to one side and smirking to herself.

"Comfortable?"

He glared. "Shut up." With a giggle, she crouched down in a squatting position and ran a hand through his hair.

"My poor baby." she patronized, and quickly honked his nose and stood, extending a hand to help him rise. He accepted it, rubbing his throbbing noggin, and sat back down at the table as Terra milled about the rest of the apartment. "What were you doing up this late, Bubby? It's a little past your bed time."

"I was waiting for you." he admitted just as she entered the room. She had ditched her business attire for a much more comfortable pair of flannel pants and an oversized shirt of Garfield's that enveloped her petite form. "I thought we could spend some time together, you could tell me about your day or something. I guess I fell asleep or something." He shifted his feet sheepishly and indicated a few cartons, some empty, of Dim Sum which had now grown cold. "I...uh...got dinner."

Terra laughed and began preparing herself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich as Garfield swept up the Chinese remains and sauntered to the garbage can. He brushed past the slim blonde, giving her a small smile, but suddenly paused. He glanced over his shoulder, sniffing at the air suspiciously. Terra caught this and eyed him self consciously. "What?" she asked, licking the swirls of creamy peanut butter off of the dull knife. Garfield shook his head, dropped the abandoned dinner into the trash can, and threw Terra another grin.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." She raised an eyebrow suspiciously as he circled the island counter and sat at the stool opposite of her. She blinked and popped her pinky into her mouth, savoring the drop of jelly that slithered down it.

"So." Terra asked as she expertly cut the crusts off of her sandwich. "What did you do today, Bubby?" Garfield lit up in excitement and nearly toppled over in his chair once again.

"You'll never guess it! You'll never guess who I saw today! Not in a hundred, million years will you ever-"

"Ok! Ok! If I'll never guess it why don't you just tell me?" she interrupted with a giggle, taking a bite out of her impromptu dinner and rolling it around in her mouth for a moment. Garfield beamed.

"Raven!" Terra stopped chewing her food and froze. "Remember Raven? From the Teen Titans? She walked right into the coffee shop I was in today! Like, totally by chance! What's the word for that? Serendipity?" Terra cautiously swallowed the remains in her mouth and slowly set the sandwich back on the table, an unknown glint in her deep azure eyes. She charily laced her fingers together and leaned across the countertop, balancing her weight on her forearms.

"Raven? Really? That's interesting." Her tone was cold and practiced but, ever the oblivious one, Garfield didn't catch it.

"You do remember her!" She shrugged carelessly, closing her eyes.

"It's hard to forget someone who can't blink without causing half of Detroit to blow up. And she said I was unstable."

"Ter, that's not cool." Garfield replied with a frown. "Rae's an old friend. I know you two didn't really ever see eye to eye, but really, don't be childish." Terra sighed and glanced down, feigning shame.

"I know, I'm sorry. I guess it's just that spike of leftover teenage hormones. "She flashed a grin dazzling enough to blind a Seeing Eye dog. "So, what else did you do today, honey?" Her voice was dripping with manufactured perkiness and her husband nervously began drawing circles on the marble countertop with the tip of his finger.

"Actually...I spent the whole day with her..." He didn't want to look up for fear of being torn to ribbons by the daggers being fired by her eyes. Terra tensed, her smile suddenly extremely forced and taking on a creepy quality, like the cardboard clown at the entrance of a house of mirrors indicating how tall you had to be in order to enter.

"The...whole day? With Raven? What did you do exactly? Discuss how the world would inevitably meet its end in a torrent of fire and brimstone as you slit your wrists?" She wasn't even trying to mask the calculated malice that darkened her voice. Garfield was shocked by this behavior and actually glared, but feeling it was too cruel, he drew back.

"Terra, that's totally unfair. You're acting like a jealous ex girlfriend, and it's not becoming. What's up with you?" She subconsciously began fiddling with the knife on the table, not looking up at him.

"Oh, excuse me. Heaven forbid I'm a bit perturbed by the fact that my husband spent an entire afternoon cavorting with his old flame. My bad." She was bubbling with sarcasm, and started cutting her sandwich into small pieces. Garfield's eyes went wide, partially from the precision Terra's angry swipes on the white bread, but mostly from disbelief of what she said.

"Old flame? What are you talking about! Raven and I were never involved! I already told you, she's just a friend!"

"Oh sure, you say that now." Her voice was gradually increasing in pitch and her stabs at her meal were becoming more frenzied. "You say that now, because you know that I will never know whatever happened between you two before I joined the team!" She grunted ferociously and speared the knife into the center of the largest piece of her dinner, and the utensil shivered with the force.

Garfield stared at her for a long time, his bright emerald eyes narrowed in fury. After a pause, he took a slow, deep breath through his nose. "I'm going to leave before this gets any uglier. Good night." With that he turned and strolled briskly out of the kitchen and into the bedroom, letting the door slam shut behind him.

Terra watched the door for an eternity, and then sighed, combing her fingers through the roots of her hair. That probably was a little over the top, she admitted, maybe a bit overdone. Then again, her performance wasn't entirely acted. Partially she was a little peeved by the sudden resurgence of the lilac haired empath. It was true Terra had always harbored a distinct distain for the woman, and the thought of Garfield spending any amount of time with her made her skin crawl.

Still, she was a bit pleased in how well this played in her favor. She could keep up the charade of the jealous, over-protective wife to steer him off the path. Raven's appearance couldn't have come at a better time. The blonde had been using the "board meeting" line one time too many. So that's what she would do, pretend to care that her husband was meeting with this "old friend" when in actuality she really didn't give a damn. She nodded and smirked, impressed by her own plan.

Terra glanced down at the massacre of purple and brown splotched haphazardly around the plate and the smears of dyed bread now stuck to the countertop. She groaned, thinking of having to clean it up, and decided it would be wise to invest in a punching bag.

-

The next morning Garfield woke up twisted in an awkward position after a fitful night. He'd only slept in spurts, and so he was still exhausted when he finally awoke. He attempted sitting up, but his back was knotted in at least six different places. He groaned, realizing he was going to be sore for a good chunk of the day, and rolled onto his stomach. He wearily stole a glance to the side at the blaring neon green alarm clock. 10:45. Splendid. He'd slept in.

Yawning, he tilted his body to face the direction of the clock when a small folded piece of white paper caught his eye. With much effort, he slung his arm out to the side, let his hand land on top of it, and slowly dragged it back to him. It was only folded over once, so he opened it to find the loopy, neat handwriting of his wife. She always did have great penmanship.

Garfield,

I really hope that we're ok after last night. The last thing I'd ever want to do is upset you. I would have loved to have spent today with you, but unfortunately I got called to a conference last minute. I won't be staying the whole time, but it's a possibility that I'll stay overnight. If not I'll be in by ten the latest. I'll call you with an update.

I love you.

Terra.

She had sealed the letter with a kiss and her deep scarlet lipstick had left an impression of her lips on the paper. He smiled slightly out of the corner of his mouth and dropped the sheet to the floor. At least it was considerate of her to apologize. He moaned a little and finally sat up, scratched the back of his neck and shaking out his unruly green hair. Feeling too chilly to stand in the apartment clad only in his boxer shorts, yet feeling too lazy to cross to room and pick up his robe, he wrapped the warm cover around his body and approached the window. It was much cloudier than the day before, but so far it showed no signs of rain or snow. This was good, he didn't feel like sitting around doing nothing all day.

"But what is there TO do?" he asked an invisible apparition outside the window. When he spoke his breath fogged up the glass, but it quickly dissipated and left a few wet streaking patterns. He growled and turned, running a few activities through his head, when he tripped over something on the floor. He cursed loudly at whatever had the audacity to make him stumble and flung the blanket off in a fit of anger. He quickly realized this was a bad idea, considering it was freezing, and he crotched to the floor to retrieve it. As he sat crouched over on the frigid wooden floor, muttering empty threats to inanimate objects, he recovered what had knocked him over. It was his jeans, which had been carelessly tossed to the side last night in his blind frenzy to get them off and get to bed.

"I guess I should pick these up...or something." Garfield thought, and he snatched one of the legs and stood up. As he walked towards the hamper on the opposite side of the room to drop off his dirty pants, he noticed a small piece of paper flutter out of one of the pockets. Curious, he abandoned the clothes and picked it up.

It was Raven's number and address from the night before. Garfield sighed in relief that Terra did not find this herself, lest she have another meltdown. He bit the inside of his cheek, flipping the card around thoughtfully between his fingers. Was it too soon to call? Would he sound too desperate? Well...he did say he wanted something to do...

"...And she DID say to call anytime..." Before he could change his mind, Garfield flew to the phone and carefully punched in the numbers on the paper. He nervously twirled the curly cord, and when the other end picked up the receiver he gasped in excitement.

"Hello? Raven? It's Gar."

-

"I still can't BELIEVE you did that! Even after all these years, it's still a huge shock!"

It was the afternoon. The sky had cleared up considerably, but the temperature had since dropped so far that it was a shock to see anyone outdoors. The pair walking along the pier either didn't notice or didn't mind and continued laughing, their breaths creating giant balls of white icy frost before them.

Raven's hair was swept back in a loose braid and the two stray strands that framed her face kept flickering into her bright amethyst eyes. She pulled a gloved hand out of her coat pocket to brush it back into place and smiled.

"You did want me to be referee. And I thought playing would be a good way to take out my aggression, considering what I had just been through."

Garfield beamed underneath his childish furry red hat. "Even still, the thought of Raven, the princess of darkness, playing Stankball is pretty funny. Especially since you kicked our asses! Man, Victor cried for a week." He rubbed his bare fingers together inside the front pocket of his hooded sweatshirt, hunching his shoulders reflexively. They had reached the end of the dock and the wind was drastically whipping back and forth over the choppy bay water. Raven leaned against the guardrail, squinting as she stared out across the vicious waves to the old carnival grounds. Since it wasn't the appropriate season, all of the rides had been disassembled and stored away until the lazy days of summer returned, but all of the game booths remained in tact.

"Hey, do you remember when you won me the prize chicken at the fair?" Garfield beamed and hopped up onto the railing to sit, now facing her and holding his hands on the steel bar on either side of him to keep his balance.

"Of course. That was the night Kory's sister made an appearance. What did you ever do with that thing anyway?"

"...You don't wanna know."

He laughed, suddenly losing his balance and swaying dangerously on the rail, an inch away from tumbling backwards into the frigid water beneath him. Without thinking, Raven hurled her arms around his neck and pulled him tightly to her own body. His arms instinctively slung around her slender waist as he slipped off the rail and back onto the plywood dock. Forehead to forehead, they stood panting in exhilaration, from the excitement of near death and with the subconscious knowledge that they were doing something that they knew was very wrong.

After several long moments of simply staring at each other, Garfield composed himself and cleared his throat awkwardly. Raven seemed to snap back and instantly released him as he released her, both blushing like mad for the sheer embarrassment. (Or so they both claimed.)

"I...Uh...thanks. For that." Garfield mumbled, toying with the string of his sweatshirt.

His gratefulness had nothing to do with saving him.

Raven was staring at her feet, shifting her weight back and forth. "Don't mention it." she meekly replied. They stood there in uncomfortable silence refusing to look at each other for nearly an eternity, before Garfield finally clapped his hands together and grinned.

"You know what? I think I have the perfect way to make this little trip down memory lane even better. As the Spanish say, suivre moi!"

Raven shook her head at his air headedness, but smiled slightly and followed him excitedly to the wharf and into a small, abandoned row boat.

-

Not much had changed about Titan Tower since they left it.

Of course some local kids found it amusing to throw rocks at the forsaken home and because of that several windows were cracked or missing all together. And of course said kids' older siblings found it amusing to spray paint dirty, gritty lingo in bright extravagant colors all long the sides, ranging from the simple "MR LOVES TH" to an elaborate picture of a topless woman.

This didn't matter though, because despite the broken down appearance, Titan Tower was still, and always would be, home.

Raven stepped onto shore, staring upward at the enormous T in awe. "Wow. I...can't believe it." she said breathily. Garfield pulled the boat onto the beach and joined her in admiring their former house, mouth agape.

"Yeah. I know. Heh, even after all this time...I can't believe its still standing."

"You'd think the city would have torn it down by now." Garfield shrugged.

"Maybe it's some weird, twisted homage to us. Or maybe they just didn't have the heart."

"Or the funding." Raven, still gazing up at the old building, started to follow the rocky, weather beaten path that led to the front door. About halfway up she turned to face her companion, watching him expectantly. "Coming?"

Garfield, shaken out of his revelries, gasped and nodded violently and clambered up hastily to join her. They reached the door at the same time and Garfield, panting slightly, placed a hand to his chin pensively, his brow knitted as he thought.

"If my memory serves me, Vic left the security systems up on the ground level entrances to keep trespassers out. I can probably hot wire it and pull down the shield, but it'd only last for a second or two, so we'd have to move quick..." At that point, Raven tilted her shoulder down and slammed it into the door with a loud grunt, causing it to fly off the hinges and slide out of sight into the living room. Garfield stared wide eyed at the empty door frame as his pointed index finger withered back into his hand. "Or that. We can do that too."

Raven giggled and walked inside, removing her coat and folding it over her arm once the warmth of the room washed over her. Garfield followed suit, stuffing his hat into the pocket of his jeans and rubbing together his frozen fingers. "I'm surprised the heat works in here. You'd think they'd shut it down." he stated half to himself and half to Raven, but the girl was not listening. She was standing in the middle of the living room, eyes sparkling with wonder as she gazed at everything and anything that crossed her path. She slowly ambled to the bookcase, which still loomed over her tiny form. She delicately ran her finger over the bindings, smiling to herself as she recalled each of their individual tales. This provoked a small cloud of dust that fluttered in the air for a moment before dissipating completely. She haphazardly pulled one out and began leafing through the pages.

"I was the only one who ever read any of these." Her voice was sweet and tender, like she was placating a young child. Garfield strolled over to where she stood, propping his chin on her shoulder to peer over.

"I dunno, I think Kory may have read the encyclopedias a couple of times." Raven's back stiffened, and her leg tensed again. Garfield raised an eyebrow, confused, before he realized he was causing this frightened behavior. He leapt off of her, nearly stumbling over the coffee table, and awkwardly grabbed his elbow. "Sorry. I'm really sorry."

Raven's head was down, but he could see the tips of her cheeks flaring bright red like wild fire. "It's fine. You...forgot." He cocked his head quizzically. Exactly what had he forgotten?

She glanced up with only her eyes, a stray strand of lilac hair falling into view. "Let's see what else is around." She disappeared down the main corridor with Garfield in tow.

-

The pair had already seen the kitchen, the training room, and the old garage where Victor's unfinished gadgets still laid lonely. Currently they were walking upstairs, when Garfield stopped abruptly and snagged Raven's arm.

"Rae! Check it out!" He pointed beaming at the door, which still bore the dusty inscription of his former name. "My old room! Oh man, we gotta go in here!" Before she could agree or disagree, the door flew open and she found herself dragged inside. The room was in shambles; the bunk beds had toppled over and the sheets were spilling off onto the floor. The closet was pouring out items of all varieties and several empty pizza boxes still remained stacked in the corner. Raven blinked, taking it in.

"Looks like someone broke in here."

"Nah, it's exactly how I left it! Perfect!" Raven hid a smile as Garfield eagerly began sifting through things. "Man, the memories in here are crazy! And everything is in the exact spot where I left it! Like...like time froze here or something." The goofy, boyish grin hadn't fled his face once. "Just like old times." He suddenly paused, squinting at something behind the empath. His head leaned to one side as an eyebrow lifted. "Wait." he said, slowly walking towards her. "I don't remember that light switch ever being there. Raven, can you hit that for me?"

She did as she was instructed, and the moment the switch flipped up an immense disco ball dropped from the ceiling, spinning majestically as its rays of colorful light danced around the room. The sounds of Al Green's classic "Let's Get it On." wafted through the air. Garfield's jaw dropped, and then he folded his arms firmly across his chest, miffed. "Great. Just great. My room has become the make-out central for the youth of Jump City. That's just great, way to honor me, kids! Defile my room!"

Raven clamped a pale hand to her mouth to repress a laugh and turned the switch off, stepping towards the door and out of the room. "C'mon. There's still one more place we have to see." Garfield had not fully gotten over the fact that out of 30 rooms the tower held, HIS had specifically become the one to have sex in, but he followed the woman, intrigued.

"Why? Where are we going?" Raven halted unexpectedly and glanced over her shoulder at her green friend with a sly grin.

"MY room."

And the door opened with a gust of air and dust, the room still crawling with darkness. Raven entered without a second thought, but Garfield hesitated, lingering in the doorframe.

"I...er...am I allowed in? Like, nothing will eat me, right?" A scoff from within voiced his answer, and he reluctantly stepped inside. Unlike his room, there was very little left in Raven's, save for a few empty bookshelves and the forlorn naked bed pushed into the corner. There was a trunk underneath the window, the lock broken and deteriorating on the floor. Garfield eyed everything one last time, before waltzing to the chest and, with a great heave, pushed it open. As Raven played with a crystal mobile in the corner, Garfield started to pilfer whatever he could.

"Hey Rae, how come you left this here?" She turned, her braid swinging with her, and lifted her eyebrows questioningly. She brought a hand to her mouth pensively and let her head gradually slide into her open palm.

"I don't know. I thought I would have taken that. What's in it?" She replied as she approached him, squatting beside him and peeking inside the box. Garfield showed her each item as he found it.

"Oh you know, some generic stuff...couple of spell books, few sticks of burnt out incense, some ripped pieces of your old uniform-hey! Check this out!" He leaned in and blew a might breath of air, stirring the musty stench up and causing the two to start coughing furiously. When the dust settled (and Raven stopped glaring) Garfield held up a single photograph, faded with time and crinkled along the edges. It was taken a very long time ago, long before any of them even knew who Terra was. Victor was in the center, grinning stupidly and flashing a peace sign. He had hoisted a much smaller Richard up onto his shoulders, and Kory had platonically flung her arms around the leader's neck as she floated above him. His cheeks beneath his trademark mask were scarlet as she adorably held a hand to her mouth, giggling.

Raven and Garfield were another story. They were on the opposite side of Victor and seemed to have forgotten the camera was there. Raven was dead set against the photo and had defiantly crossed her arms, refusing to look at the lens. Garfield wouldn't have that, and so he snuck up behind the goth and had yanked down her hood in one swift motion and snaked other arm around her slender waist to keep her in place. The picture captured that perfect moment of Raven's look of complete and total shock and Garfield's mischievous smirk as he reveled in his accomplishment.

Raven couldn't help but smile as she tenderly took the photograph from him. "Oh, wow..." she murmured, smoothing out one of the bent corners with her thumb. Garfield inched in to look, aware of how close he was allowed to get.

"We look so young." He paused. "I can't believe you had this. I thought you didn't care about us then." She glimpsed up, her mystifying violet eyes shimmering.

"Just because I didn't talk to you never meant I didn't care." He returned her soft smile and gentle gaze for a moment before slapping his knees and rising.

"We should go soon...But hey! We can't leave here without seeing the view from the roof! It'll be gorgeous at this time of day! Let's go!" He whipped his fuzzy winter hat out from his pocket and excitedly scrambled for the staircase on the other end of the hall.

Raven remained for a moment, holding the precious photograph like a prized jewel. The whole time she had been staring at it, her eyes had not torn away from the image of herself and Garfield. Not once.

"RAVEN! YOU COMING!"

She shouted a reply and glanced down again. Stealing a furtive peep backwards, she delicately slid the picture into the back pocket of her jeans and raced outside, pulling her coat on as she went.

-

Walking onto the roof was like walking through the arctic in a Speedo. The temperature had significantly dropped since they had been outside, and being at such a high altitude with the furious island winds hurling every which way didn't help either. Raven cautiously approached the edge, where Garfield was peering down at the rocky shore hundreds of feet below, his hands stuffed deep within his pockets. His ears perked up slightly when she was about a foot or so away from him and he spoke to her without glancing back.

"I was hoping it would have been clearer, maybe we could have watched the sunset." She walked up and stood beside him, her arms holding in as much warmth as they could.

"I never saw the purpose of watching sunsets. It's just a sky, the thing is there every day. I like his better. It's more realistic." Garfield tore his eyes away from the tumbling grey clouds above and shifted his gaze over to her.

"What do you mean?" The pale beauty gathered her coattails beneath her and sat down, her arms wrapped around her shapely legs and her chin perched pensively on her knees.

"Well...sunsets are always bright and beautiful...and for a while they make people forget about everything ugly about what's coming next- the darkness of night. They make people ignore that the light is only temporary and soon enough they'll be blinded by the blackness. Darkness is a very powerful thing; people can be consumed by it before anyone, even themselves, can recognize it. But once it's gotten a hold of you, you can never get away, and it's only a matter of time before you embrace it...and you're not the same person you once were. So you put up a glittering front and hope no one sees you dying slowly from within."

He was silent for a long time, completely captivated by her. She sighed and brushed a wisp of hair out of her face. "My ramblings. Sorry."

"Don't be." he replied softly, sitting beside her while still gazing at her, spellbound. "That was...fascinating. I've never though of it like that." He smiled. "I've always found you fascinating, Rae. You were always so...so...what's that word when you talk really good?"

"Articulate?" she asked with a slight laugh.

"Yeah! That's it! You always knew exactly what you wanted to say and you said it so well. I've always admired that about you." She blushed modestly and Garfield chucked a little to himself and leaned back, casting his eyes up to the melancholy sky. "You know Raven, it's kinda funny-" He paused when he realized what he was about to say and bit his tongue, but he was too late. He had already caught Raven's attention and she was eager to hear the rest of his tale.

"What's funny?" Garfield fiddled with the zipper on his jeans, refusing to look at her.

"Nothing. Forget I said anything."

"No, now I need to know." He could feel her eyes slicing through him and he sheepishly chewed on his lower lip.

"You'll think I'm dumb."

"Garfield." Her tone commanded him to glance up, but her eyes were soft and caring and seemed to radiate with a tender glow of reassurance. "I promise I won't make fun of you. Now can you please tell me?"

He sighed, defeated, and rolled his head around his shoulders. "Alright, you win." He shot her a goofy, idiotic grin. "I was just thinking...I mean, since we're taking this walk down memory lane...I thought I should tell you..."

"Yes?" He heard the slight tinge of vexation in her voice and thought it best not to taunt her anymore.

"Heh, I was just gonna say, when we were kids, I had the biggest crush on you."

Her eyes seemed to explode with happiness and bewilderment and shock and delight all in the same moment.

"Really?" she asked, thinly veiling the amusement in her voice. He nodded.

"Yeah. You never knew?" She shook her head, trying in vain to mask her smile.

"No, not a clue. When was this?" Garfield scooted in closer, comforted in the fact that this conversation hadn't murdered their lovely day.

"Er...I first though you were insanely hot when I first met you. I think I realized I liked you a year of so later." She hadn't stopped glowing this entire time. "You NEVER knew? No? Man, I thought I was so obvious; all the attention I gave you, I was fawning over everything you did." The sheen she seemed to possess suddenly flickered and died.

"Well...I always thought you were just being annoying. Besides, you never gave me the attention you gave Terra. THAT was obvious." Her eyes looked distant and her tone was nearly silent. Garfield blinked with the sudden realization that the woman's name had not gone through his mind in hours.

"Yeah...then Terra came along and..."

"And you forgot about me." He raised an eyebrow at her curious behavior.

"I never forgot about you Rae. I just...forgot about those feelings because...because..."

"Because Terra was able to love you back."

He breathed in deeply, staring down at the waves crashing on the rocks below. "Yeah. Yeah that's why." He noticed Raven's breathing had suddenly become irregular and he shifted in closer. "I didn't mean to make you upset, Raven. I-I just thought you'd think that was funny...please don't be upset."

"I'm not upset." She was lying and he knew it. He hated seeing her like this, and what was worse that he made her feel that way. He'd always felt protective over Raven for some reason, and seeing her sad made him sad too. He thought he wouldn't breathe until she laughed again. She offered a small false smile. "Why would I be upset about something as trivial as this? All it was was a silly childhood infatuation, nothing more."

"Yeah...but the thing about that is..." What? Wait, what? He was talking? Why was he talking? Where were the words coming from? Despite his own shock he continued. "It wasn't just an infatuation, Raven. I was crazy about you." Shut up. Shut up now, you idiot. "I was willing to do anything for you." You're still TALKING. How hard is it to shut your mouth! She was mesmerized now, anxious to see where he was going with this. To be honest, he was curious too.

"And also...I...I think..." The words were spilling out of him unwillingly, and in spite of his brain's loud protests his heart refused to release the reigns. "I...I don't think it ended when I stopped being a child."

Oh. Shit.

What the hell had he just said! Did he just do what he thought he did? Though inside he was a torrent of fear and embarrassment, he held his serious expression and hadn't moved from his spot beside her. Raven's eyes were wide in bewilderment and her eyebrows had practically crashed into her hairline, her mouth agape.

"Garfield..."

"Wait, let me finish." He knew what was going on. The reasonable thing to do would be to apologize and walk away or move to another topic.

But he didn't want to be reasonable.

He WANTED to do this.

He NEEDED to do this.

"Raven...spending all this time with you has only made me realize that I've never forgotten. What it's done is heighten the fact that I'm still head over heals and completely in lo-"

"No." Her voice was quivering and her lower lip trembled. Confused, Garfield opened his mouth to object but all she did was hold a hand to it. "Stop it. Stop it right now. I don't want to hear another word." She lowered her hand and he narrowed his eyes slightly, dazzled by the entire situation.

"But-"

"No. Garfield, stop this right now." She sounded angry, yet just as scared as he was. She began to inch away from him but that only made him pursue her.

"Why can't I say it?"

"Because you don't mean it."

"Yes I do."

"NO. You DON'T." She had drawn her knees up closer and cupped her arms around her ears, locking her fingers behind her neck. Her eyes were squeezed shut as if trying to block out the entire world.

"But Raven please...I have to say it..."

"NO you can't say it! You can never say it!" She was practically shrieking but still remained in her huddled ball of shelter.

"Why not!" He screamed back, suddenly just as angry as she was.

"Because all it will make me do is remember how I have been hopelessly in love with you since I was fourteen!"

There was silence between them. Only the howling whistles of the wind and Raven's shaking, shallow breathing were the sounds that were heard. As abundant and willing to appear his words were before they all seemed to flee from him and he couldn't say a thing. He watched her heave for air with unbelieving eyes as she subconsciously gripped the edge for balance. After an excruciatingly long pause, he cautiously drew a breath and braved a statement.

"...Have been?"

It was almost amusing how fast her eyes shot open.

"That's not what I said."

"As in, still are?"

"That's not what I said!"

She flung herself up and tried to run away from him, her head buried in the palms of her hands. He only rose just as quickly and went after her.

"Yes you did! You said have!"

"I said had!"

"You said have been! That means you still-"

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I SAID!" She whirled on him and her voice boomed from her small body, causing Garfield to stumble backwards. The entire tower suddenly glowed an eerie shade of black and lurched dangerously to one side. Garfield screamed and fought to gain balance as Raven whimpered and muttered her mantra methodically to herself, fighting to gain control. After the darkness had slinked its way back into the jewel on her forehead, she still continued to mumble to herself.

Cautiously, Garfield moved towards her and after a moment's hesitation, he slinked his arms around her slender form. She didn't object and instead dropped her own arms to the side, nuzzling her head into his chest. She was shivering, and he was certain it was not longer from the cold.

"Raven." He whispered, so softly it was almost unheard. "Why didn't you ever tell me?" She whimpered meekly and reluctantly slid her hands up his back until she held him in a tight embrace.

"I-I couldn't be your silver medal. You never lit up for me the way you did for her. There was no point. And then when she was resurrected...I knew I had to stop. But I couldn't. I never stopped. There hasn't been a day since then that I haven't thought of you."

He affectionately stroked her hair and smiled into the top of her head. "So...we're young...and still in love. Now what?" He thought he heard her half laugh as she rubbed her cheek deeper into his shoulder.

"I don't know. Do you?"

He sighed and began twisting the ends of her braid around his finger. Her hair was so much nicer than Terra's.

Then it hit him.

He couldn't do this. It was wrong. It was against everything he stood for. An enormous wave of guilt flooded over him and all he could do was stare forward blankly as his grip on Raven gradually grew looser. She looked up at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Garfield?" He held her out at arms length, though it killed him to see her eyes flash with sadness as he did.

"Raven, we can't. We can't do this. I-I made a vow to love, honor, and cherish Terra. I...I have to keep that vow."

It's an interesting thing to watch when a person's entire world demolishes right before your eyes.

Her pupils were so small he could barely recognize them and they both seemed to be trembling. Her lip quivered, and she greatly swallowed several time. She closed her eyes, still shaking, and let her chin drop to her neck. Despite how much it hurt her, he had to press on.

"I know...but...I can't be unfaithful to Terra. I-I love her." He wasn't entirely sure why he had hesitated when he said that, but he was certain it wasn't for fear of hurting her more.

"But...But you said..."

"I know, I know." He absolutely hated her voice when it was like that; she sounded like a wounded dog limping weakly through the rain. He released her and she compensated by hugging herself tightly. The inundation of words returned to him, though this time they were utterly meaningless.

"I know what I said, Raven. But...But it wasn't..." He couldn't stop himself from pausing, and he couldn't bring himself to gaze into her broken, tear-stained eyes. "It wasn't...true, Raven."

You're killing her. Do you realize that? Please, just stop talking. Stop hurting her.

His heart was speaking that time, but now his brain refused to obey.

"You were...right. It was just a childhood infatuation. I guess I confused the feelings and I only thought that I...you know. We're just very, very good friends, and nothing else." She released a soft, pained mew and dug her nails into her arms. He hated doing this, he was tearing her to shreds but he couldn't stop. Why wouldn't his mouth stop moving?

"I-I don't love you, Raven. I love Terra."

Lies. All lies.

The silence was deafening. Even the wind had ceased its lamentation to listen to the girl's.

"But...But you said...you loved me."

He could feel his heart break at those words. How selfish he was. How cruel, how deceitful to be telling her these fabrications to convince himself they were all true.

He looked up finally, and immediately regretted it. She had drawn her shoulders up like a frightened turtle and attempted to shroud her face with the two strands of hair that grazed her cheeks. Serene, silver streaks caressed her delicate pale skin and mournfully dripped off her chin to the ground as she gasped for air.

Oh God.

She was crying.

Her indigo eyes shot open, now dull and drained of all their electricity. They were like two lilac mirrors that had fallen from the top of the bureau and shattered into thousands of unfixable pieces. All the glue in the world couldn't repair those broken shards of eyes. He'd done the worst thing he could do. He took her hope away. All those years of wishing on that weak but glimmering star were gone. He had only proved that the majority of her intuition was correct, and she would never be with him.

"Raven..." He whispered, taking a step towards her.

"I should go." Her voice had broken too, and she had to speak in a hushed whimper to hide the cracks. Before he could think, the jewel on her forehead blazed bright red and she unfurled graceful, elegant black wings from her huddled, devastated body. The head of a bird with four eerie crimson eyes appeared over her, and it shrieked frighteningly before enveloping her small form in its shining ebony feathers. Garfield realized too late what she was doing, and he screamed, diving at her feet. He wasn't fast enough, and the bird opened its wings to reveal that Raven had vanished in its power, and with another shriek it flapped furiously into the distance, trailed only by the sounds of weeping.

Garfield knew even if he transformed, he could never catch her. She would dissipate into the air itself, so he uselessly watched after her with his hand vainly trying to capture her escaping silhouette in its grasp. Long after she disappeared, he stood there, arms stretched out towards the horizon, hoping for something beautiful to emerge from the foreboding charcoal ice of the night.

-

Garfield spent a long time gawking at the key to his apartment. He had stuck it into the keyhole and had even used it to unlock the door, but he could not bring himself to move past the threshold. This was his home, wasn't it? He checked the number for the eighteenth time. Yes, this was his room. So why was he unable to enter? Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he sensed something wrong behind that pristine white door. Maybe he was just too tired.

Or maybe it was because that he had finally admitted that in the past five years, he had never felt more at home than when he was crouched over that old chest with Raven at his side.

He mentally slapped himself. This was stupid. The day was exhausting, it was late, and he just wanted to sleep. Yet no matter how hard he wanted to go inside, he simply couldn't do it.

Garfield bit his lower lip and kicked the door, letting it swing open. Before he could run away back to the Tower, he stepped inside and locked the door behind him. He haphazardly dropped his keys on the coffee table and made his way to the kitchen. Repressing a yawn and rubbing his eyes, he reached blindly for the wall in search of the light switch. He found it and light flooded into the room, exposing everything the room had to offer.

Including one very pissed off blonde sitting at the table.

He was taken aback by her sudden resurgence and nearly tripped over his own two feet. Her sapphire eyes were narrow and livid, and she eerily drummed her nails on the table top as a large section of her lusterless hair fell across the side of her face.

Drrrrrr. Drrrrrr. Drrrrrr.

"Where the HELL were you?" He was actually scared by her tone; it thirsted for blood and flesh. Preferably his.

"I...I thought you were staying overnight." he bumbled awkwardly through conversation. She remained unfazed and gradually rose from her seat and advanced on him.

"Well, my conference was shorter than I expected, and so I returned with the thought that I could spend some time with my caring husband, only to find he was not here. So I said to myself, 'Well, I guess he's out running some errands. He'll be back soon enough.' Of course what errand takes 5 fucking hours to do!"

They were toe to toe now and he shrunk back to her threats, holding up his hands for innocence. "What, you expected me to stay home all day waiting for you? Believe it or not, Terra, I tend to get very restless very easily. So I went OUT. Since when is that a problem?" His voice surprised him; it was brave and challenged her even more. Her eyes were reduced to slim slits of blue.

"You were with Raven again, weren't you?" She was drawling mockingly and voiced the empath's name like an obscenity. Garfield felt something within him snap. How dare she use Raven's name that way, like something evil. He found himself shouting, his nose pressed to hers.

"Why are you acting this way! Are you threatened by her! Are you jealous! Tell me what the hell is up your goddamn ass! Is this some double-standard I wasn't aware of where you can hang all over corporate executives but I can't SPEAK to anyone of the opposite sex!"

"That's different! That's business!"

"And this is friendship! In case your head was too far up your own ass to notice, I've known Raven a hell of a lot long than I have known you!"

Oh, that one stung. He could see his words pierce through her as her expression melded to one of pure pain. But a funny thing happened; he didn't regret it the way he had with Raven. He almost felt...satisfied.

Not wanting the conversation to carry out any further, Garfield turned curtly away from her and stomped angrily towards his room. All he wanted was sleep. Sleep would cure all his problems. He'd go to sleep and wake up without Terra nagging him and without a longing for Raven. He nearly made it to the door, when he heard the growl of vengeance.

"Are you having an affair with her?"

He stopped dead in his tracks. All he had given up, everything he had done for her today and yet she still accused him of being unfaithful. He whirled upon her with lightening speed, his lips curled and bearing his sharp razor fangs.

"How could you possibly say that? Where do you get off? You have no idea what I've done to stay committed to you, Terra. I wouldn't cheat on you anymore than you would cheat on me." He thought he saw a sadistic smile graze her lips, and he clenched his fists. He bellowed an unearthly animal cry and viciously punched the adjacent wall. In a flash he had vanished into his room, ignoring the plaster falling from the enormous hole he had left in the wall.

That night, despite how weary he was, Garfield couldn't bring himself to sleep. He watched the ceiling for a long time in hopes of something magical happening, but no such luck. Terra snored softly beside him. How they were even under the same roof, let alone in the same bed, was beyond him. He stole a glance sideways, eyeing her sleeping form up and down. He then held up his hand, analyzing every inch of the gold ring strangling his finger. This was what he wanted, this was his destiny. He loved Terra more than anything and he always would.

Right?

Garfield held out an arm to draw her into his chest, but before he even touched her she moaned quietly and rolled tersely onto her side and out of his reach. He bit his lip, slightly startled by this supposedly subconscious act. He sighed, and though he knew she didn't want it, he pushed his hand into the mattress to support his weight and gently came down, letting his lips plant a soft, innocent kiss on her cheek.

And he pretended she was Raven.

Pff, yeah. Like I can make this chapter any long. Well I commend you all for getting this far, a cookie for you all! TUN, if you are reading this, I'm really sorry for putting it up before you got to beta it. I was just so anxious, and I know that's not really an excuse, but I hope you're not mad.

Well y'all know the schtick. Please leave reviews, I really, really appreciate them. Thanks a bunch!