Chapter 6-Returning
He hesitated before ringing the Titans' doorbell—what if they wouldn't accept him? What if they thought he killed Raven? (…had he killed her?) He would just have to take that chance, he decided, but for now he would leave her by the back door. He could bring her inside sometime that night, so that no one would have to know—even though he'd have to tell them sooner or later.
The semi-black sky above him was shifting to twilight, and Beast Boy took a deep breath, and rang the doorbell. He heard noises of someone moving around inside, and the sound of an access code being punched in, so that the door could be opened. He wondered who would answer. Robin and Cyborg were the two main possibilities. The door opened, and a sleepy Robin appeared in front of him, yawning as the door had opened. Robin took a moment for the scene before him to sink in.
"…Beast Boy!" Robin's tiredness seemed to vanish. It seemed as though he had not yet noticed Raven had even left the Tower. "Beast Boy, come on in! Glad to have you back."
Beast Boy nodded slightly with a weak smile and walked in. Cyborg was standing in the corner of the hallway, peeking into the room. At the sight of Beast Boy, he immediately ran into the room.
"BB! What's up?" he said gleefully.
Beast Boy yawned in response. "Nothing…"
"Beast Boy, why don't you go ahead to sleep? We can talk in the morning. That goes for you too, Cyborg."
Both of them yawned in agreement and went their separate ways. Robin ran to catch up with Beast Boy, who was heading toward the back door where he had left the cold, limp Raven.
"Beast Boy, what happened?" Robin asked, falling into step in front of him, walking backwards so he could face him.
"Huh? Oh, you mean—Raven…" Beast Boy stared at the ground.
"Raven? What about Raven? What happened? What are you—?"
"Nothing," he responded quickly, then added, "Nothing happened. Look, I'm going to try and get some sleep, okay?" Beast Boy didn't wait for a response but instead rushed past Robin and into his room.
(Note to Self: Sometime that night he brought Raven in, but…yeah I didn't feel like typing all that out :))
Beast Boy pulled the covers away from his head to reveal the foreign light of morning shining in his eyes. It bounced gleefully off every corner of his wall it could touch, and its laughter made the grimness haunting him from the night before perish for a moment. Then it was back, and it burdened him like an anvil tied upon his stiff, numb back. He stood sorely, pain searing through every muscle of his body and mind.
He walked with an awkward limp to the bathroom and showered and changed. Then he entered the main room, where the other Titans had been lounging without even a small hint of a smile. For a while they hung around, not really doing much of anything. Cyborg and Robin thumbed madly at game controllers while Starfire flipped like a maniac through radio stations. Beast Boy plopped tiredly across the couch, his feet slightly knocking Robin's knee. Robin, however, was too wrapped up in his game to hardly notice him, much less deserving of an apology.
After moments of lingering there where he had landed in his apathetic plunk, he spoke sarcastically to the friends that mingled about the room. "Good morning, everyone. Aren't we so energetic today?"
The Titans looked at him, raising eyebrows, and turned back to their activities.
"I'm going to go eat breakfast." Beast Boy stood, wondering if his so-called friends even noticed he had stood. Then, Robin spoke.
"Actually, we were going to go out for breakfast—if you're up to it, that is. Wanna go down and check out the new Breakfast Pizzas down at the Pizza Parlor?"
"Whatever."
"Well, we gotta wait on Raven to get up," Cyborg pointed out.
"I'll get her." Robin stood, but Beast Boy nervously sprang to his feet and stood between Robin and the door.
"Maybe we should just let her sleep. She'll be fine," he said in an anxious tone.
"Ookay," Robin said confusedly, "let's go then." At that, the four Titans departed their activities and crammed into the T-Car. Beast Boy climbed into the back seat beside Starfire and slammed the door. Starfire stared in wonder as Beast Boy looked over at her.
"What?" Beast Boy snapped. He turned to the window and rested his head against it, the uneven glass Raven had broken only the night before pinching and scratching at his cheek.
"Um…BB, you okay?" Cyborg asked as he looked at him from his rearview mirror.
"I'm fine," he retorted sharply, his gaze unmoving from the scenery outside. Cyborg and Robin looked at each other and shrugged. No one spoke the rest of the way to the Pizza Parlor, and, once there, they still hardly spoke the entire time.
They ordered three Meaty-Egg-and-Cheese pizzas and one Breakfast-Veggie pizza. Once the pizzas arrived, they quickly vanished—except for the Veggie, which Beast Boy merely twiddled with as he slouched in the chair, almost sick with boredom. And guilt.
Robin, Cyborg, and Starfire chatted randomly as they waited for Beast Boy. Finally, Beast Boy said to them blandly, "Can we please go now?" The Titans didn't argue but merely agreed, and they crowded into the car and rode back to Titans Tower. No one spoke.
Author's Note: This chapter was hard to write. I kept putting Raven in here, but…yeah she's dead! I've decided to go ahead and make Paranormal sequel to September Tears (look on my profile for the summary). Don't worry, those of you confused about the BB and Slade—I'm getting there! Sorry for the wait—having major writer's block, not to mention my computer crashed so…I can't really put it up (I have another computer that has no internet, though).