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Chapter twenty-one! I feel special! Enjoy yet another chapter from the pathetic Moonchild's writing-obsessed brain.

I am bothered by the song 'Only One' by Yellowcard. The song speaks to me. It says 'Ha ha, Danie. You will never be anyone's Only One.' But I'm probably going to use it for a BBRae or RobStar songfic eventually anyway, because it works. I'll shut up now.

Mulan 2 is a good movie.

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle."

-Plato

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Beast Boy walked slowly back into the living room. He could only take so much time eating tofu and chatting with Robin and Starfire before he had to go back and face Cyborg. He slowly dragged himself over to the sofa and sat down.

"Hey BB," Cyborg said with a tone of someone who had not seen the scene earlier.

"Uh…hey Cyborg," Beast Boy said suspiciously. There was a long pause. Beast Boy kept glancing sideways at Cyborg with a very suspicious look on his face. "Oh, just say it already!" he exclaimed finally.

"Say what?" Cyborg asked.

"Just make fun of me for what happened earlier! I can't stand the suspense anymore!" Beast Boy said, grabbing several handfuls of his green hair.

"Why would I make fun of you guys? You're my friend, BB. I already knew, anyway," Cyborg said.

"Knew what?"

"That you two have a thing for each other," Cyborg said, his eyebrow going up and down.

"It's not a thing. I love Raven and she doesn't know I exist. That's all that's going on," Beast Boy said with a sigh.

"What do you mean she doesn't know you exist? I've never seen her talk to anyone more than she's been talking to you lately. Come on, this is Raven we're talking about, and she actually hangs around you by choice. Usually she just sits and meditates or talks to you. You hadn't noticed that you're the only person she talks to?" Cyborg asked.

"Uh…no," Beast Boy said with a shrug.

"Well, my point is, you're kidding yourself if you think she doesn't notice you," Cyborg said knowingly.

"Suuuuuuuure," Beast Boy said.

"Come on BB just tell her how you feel," Cyborg said.

"I can't do that!" Beast Boy protested. "She'll never feel the same way about me!" he stood up. "I'm gonna go listen to music ridiculously loud now," he said, walking out of the room. Cyborg sighed.

XXX

Beast Boy could barely think because of the sheer volume of the music. Simple Plan blared out of the stereo so loudly that even an explosion couldn't have disturbed him. He was alone with his furious thoughts.

"I can't take this anymore!" he said to himself. "I'm so tired of feeling this and keeping it inside! Why won't it just go away?" he sighed and lay back on his floor. "You are a stupid Beast Boy for even letting yourself feel like this about Raven. You should just give it up already! She's never going to like you!" he lay there in silence for a moment. "What am I going to do?" he asked aloud.

XXX

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…Azarath, Metrion, Zin-"

Bam, bam, bam.

The sound of a knocking on the door pulled Raven out of her relative calm. She had been sitting here since morning focused on meditation, and she could only hope that it was helping. It was late in the evening now and she had done nothing else all day. She opened her eyes and just sat there silently for a moment before getting up and heading for the door. It slid open and she saw the eager face of Beast Boy staring at her. Her stomach did a strange flip and she strangled herself mentally. All the balance that she had worked for hours to regain slipped away almost instantly.

"Yes?" she asked, carefully keeping her voice at its normal level of boredom.

"Uh…can I talk to you for a minute?" Beast Boy asked, twisting his gloved fingers together. Raven nodded and stepped back to let him into the room. He walked in slowly as Raven sat down on her bed. He stood there without moving.

"You can sit down," Raven told him.

"Uh…thanks," Beast Boy said, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. There was a pause.

"Well, what do you want to talk about?" Raven asked. Beast Boy gulped.

"Well, first of all, I wanted to thank you for being there for me when I felt like I couldn't take living anymore. You stayed with me no matter how nuts I got or how annoying it might have been that I was so depressed all the time. No one's ever been that loyal to me before. I don't think anyone else could have put up with me for so long. Thanks for having my back. I think you're the best friend I could ever ask for."

"You're welcome," Raven said, giving him a slight smile. "You're a very good friend too."

Beast Boy grinned at her. "Oh yeah, there's…something else I needed to talk to you about."

"What is it?" Raven asked.

"Uh…well….I want you to promise not to hit me….or blow me up with your powers…or kick me…or bite me," he said nervously.

"What did you break?" Raven asked in disgust.

"Nothing, nothing. It's not like that. I just want you to promise you won't hurt me, OK?" Beast Boy said, holding up his hands in defense.

"Alright, I promise," Raven told him. Beast Boy nodded.

"OK," he said. "Um…well, ya see Raven…I know we don't have all that much in common, and I know you kinda hate me…but I need to get this off my chest or I'm going to lose my mind. Lately, I've been getting to know you a lot better, and I like that. And getting to know you, I got to know myself a little bit and I realized that I…remember, you promised not to hurt me…" he coughed several times. Beast Boy had never been very good at saying what was on his mind, so Raven waited patiently. "The thing is…I realized that…for a while now I've been…"he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, then opened them and continued. "Raven…I…I LOVE YOU!" he shouted finally, looking her straight in the eye.

Raven just stared at him in wide-eyed shock for a moment. Something glowing black fell from the ceiling and crashed into the floor loudly, but neither of them paid any attention.

"Yeah, it's true, I love you! I love you more than anything else in the world!" Beast Boy said, grabbing Raven by the shoulders and shaking her gently. " I don't care if you hate me because of it, I don't care what anyone thinks, I love you!" he said loudly. He was sweating a bit, and then he shut up and looked slightly embarrassed. He was blushing more than Raven had thought it was possible for someone to blush. He let go of her shoulders. "Um…sorry I shook you," he mumbled.

He had to be joking. He just had to be. He couldn't love her. It just…wasn't possible. But when Raven looked into those eyes she saw absolute sincerity.

"Are you….sure….I mean are you serious?" she asked, eyes still bulging.

"Yeah. I've never been so serious about anything in my life. I love you, Raven," Beast Boy said, a bit calmer now.

"Beast Boy…I love you too," Raven said, her voice shaking. "But I'm afraid to."

"Afraid? Why?" Beast Boy asked.

"I can't explain it. It's just…love is a really new concept for me, and I…I've always had trouble trusting people, but after the whole Malchior incident it's even worse. I'm just…so afraid of getting hurt again," Raven explained, trying to avoid his eyes. But he found hers and their gaze locked.

"Raven, I would never, ever hurt you in any way. Never. I'd give anything to protect you. I always have, and I always will. I would never break your heart."

Raven couldn't help but believe him. She stared into the bottomless jade eyes for a moment and she could feel tears slowly building in her own. His words were enough to kill her fear, enough to make her sure of what she was feeling, and enough to seal her devotion.

"Oh Beast Boy," she said softly as her tears began to fall. Beast Boy crawled over to where she was sitting and wrapped his arms around her. Raven clung to him, crying soundlessly for a moment. She squeezed him tightly. For the first time that she could remember, she didn't feel alone. "I love you," she said quietly, running her fingers through his hair. She pulled back a bit so she could look him in the eye. "And I'm not afraid anymore."

Beast Boy smiled nervously. He placed his hands gently on either side of her face. Raven smiled back, her heart pounding deafeningly in her chest. She was almost sure Beast Boy would hear it and wonder what the hell was wrong with her. Raven was trembling slightly as she looked into his eyes. She knew what was going to happen next.

Slowly, agonizingly slowly, Beast Boy leaned forward and pressed his lips gently against hers. Raven jumped very slightly and then closed her eyes, kissing him back and wrapping her arms around his neck. Beast Boy pulled back after a moment as though he were afraid she was going to be angry at him for kissing her.

"Sorry, Raven. Should I have asked or something?" he asked nervously. Raven gave a small laugh. "I'll take that to mean it was OK?" Beast Boy asked, grinning. Raven grinned back. She had never felt such intense emotion before, and it surprised her. She pulled him back to her and started kissing him again. The kiss started to get less shy and more intense, stopping every now and then for proper breaths and then continuing even more zealously than the moment before. Raven's tongue darted against his slightly parted lips and he gladly gave her entrance to his mouth. She ran her tongue along his four pointed fangs and then searched for his, and their tongues began a wild dance. Raven pulled him forward and the two fell backward onto the bed in a frenzy of passion. Beast Boy could feel every inch of her body pressed against his beneath him. He pulled back for a moment and stared at her, and she stared back. They were both breathing heavily. Raven lifted her head and kissed him once more. He was starting to have difficulty thinking and kissed her more passionately. He was starting to wonder if this could be dangerous. He allowed this to go on for a few more minutes before he finally broke the kiss. The two of them stared at each other for a moment. They were both very much aroused, but they both had the sense to know that this was about where they had to stop for now. Raven reluctantly allowed Beast Boy to roll off of her, and she was surprised at her reluctance.

"Where did you learn to kiss like that?" Raven asked him.

"Was it bad?" he asked.

"Bad? Of course not. I mean…that was fantastic. Not that I have much to go by, but I thought it was amazing," Raven said.

"You were incredible yourself," he said with a smile. "Who would have thought Raven would be so good at anything that involved physical contact?"

Raven smiled shyly at him. "You never do know about people, do you?" she asked.

"Nope, you never do," Beast Boy said. There was a pause. "God, Raven, you're beautiful," he said, reaching out his hand and stoking her cheek.

Raven was slightly surprised. "You think I'm…beautiful?" she asked unsurely.

"Of course I do," Beast Boy said.

"Since when am I beautiful?" Raven wondered out loud.

"I've always thought you were beautiful. Ever since we first met," Beast Boy answered.

"Really?" Raven asked.

"Really. People notice you a lot more than you think, Raven."

Beast Boy's hand was still on her cheek, and she placed her hand on top of his.

"I'm just glad you noticed me," she said. Beast Boy smiled.

"And I'm glad you noticed me," he said, snuggling a little closer to her. There was a silence.

"It's nice…not to be alone," Raven said after a while.

"Yeah. It is," Beast Boy said, closing his eyes. "Is it OK if I stay tonight?"

"Yes," Raven said, reaching for his hand and wrapping hers around it. "You can stay forever."

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Aww. Next chapter soon.