Chapter…uhhh…-goes to check what chapter it is- ELEVEN! (God I'm SUCH a retard…hehehe) I hafta type this fast, but first a disclaimer and dedication:

Disclaimer: Yeah I wish…

Dedication: To Sarena. Merry Christmas!

Continuing…

Jump City Mall. 4:30 PM. Saturday.

More commonly know as pure, unadulterated hell.

Raven winced as she was jostled to the side for the third time in ten minutes. Sweaty arms and shoulders bumped her own, making her gag. Disgusting.

"No powers." Robin had instructed as they had climbed out of the cab. "People might take it the wrong way and thing that there's a fight going on."

Judging by the annoyed grunts emitting from him now, as obsessed fan girls purposely pushed themselves against his side and their angry boyfriends gave the Boy Wonder dirty looks, Raven had to wonder if Robin was reconsidering his original orders.

Starfire bit her lip as people shoved her left and right, attempting to get closer to the Boy Wonder. Though she smiled, her eyes held sadness.

Pathetic.

"Guys! Over here!" Beast Boy jumped up, waving his arms franticly before diving rather unceremoniously into a tux shop to his left.

"Right behind ya…" Robin vaulted into the store behind his green friend, grabbing Starfire by the hand as he passed and pulling her in as well. Thankfully, no one followed.

"You're quite the playboy, aren't you Robbie-Poo?" Beast Boy grinned maliciously and poked the Boy Wonder with a laugh.

"Yeah, yeah…" Robin glared.

"Ahh…friend Robin?"

"What?"

"You may release my hand now. I believe that we are safe." The Boy Wonder dropped Starfire's delicate fingers instantly, reddening with embarrassment.

"Player…" Beast Boy laughed to himself and went deeper into the store.

"Why is it that Beast Boy calls you 'one that participates in a game'?" Starfire's curious green eyes bored holes into Robin as he flashed an uneasy smile.

"It's nothing Star. Just a nickname."

"But who is Nick? Why must he have another name? Is he unsatisfied with his own? And if this is "Nick's Name" then why has friend Beast Boy bestowed it upon you? You are most defiantly NOT Nick!" Robin groaned to stifle the laugh that threatened to escape.

"Forget it Star."

"Are you guys gonna flirt all day or-" Beast Boy's head appeared from behind a rack.

"Friend Robin, how is it that one 'flirts'?"

"Ahh…"

"Hey…" Beast Boy stopped prowling through the black suits for only a second. "Where's Rae?"

Raven stood on her toes, scanning the sea of heads for some sign of green hair, tanned skin, or a long black and yellow cape.

Nothing.

Muttering to herself as she sunk onto a nearby bench, Raven's eyes began to wander. A small child cried as his mother dragged him away from a candy vendor. Four punks slouched out of Hot Topic, grinning and inserting thicker barbells into their several piercings. A few buff jocks emerged from Foot Locker, all sporting brand new million-dollar basketball shoes. Suddenly, a huge wave of pink near Claire's caught her eye.

"Oh my GOD did you hear?"

"Totally!"

"Bobby and Sue broke up!"

"So not!"

"So yeah."

"As IF!"

"Oooh, lipgloss!"

"Oh my GOD that color SO goes with your hair!"

"Yeah! And my shoelaces!"

"Whatever Mindy."

"I'm fat."

"Yeah right!"

"You're a twig!"

"Sure, whatever."
"Oh! Nailpolish!"

"My cell phone's ringing! What do I do?"

"Pick it UP you…you sorry excuse for a pink lover!"

A collective gasp filled the air.

Raven winced in horror as the band of preps paraded forwards. There had to be at least thirty of them. They were all so…shiny…

The empath watched as the preps stampeded ahead…and right past her. Thank God. Suddenly, the air of their passing hit her, and Raven found herself overcome with a horrible coughing fit. The preps turned at the sound and-of all things-returned to see what was wrong.

If only they knew…

"Friends…I see no gowns to ball with in this emporium of male apparel!" Starfire flipped through a large rack of black tuxes, puzzled.

"Oh…right…" Robin pulled a map of the mall from the counter at his left and pointed. "This is where we are right now." He traced a path with his finger to the nearest dress shop and tapped it lightly. "This is where you want to be. Raven'll probably join you…one B finds her…"

A green bird hovered near the ceiling, flying in circles and searching the floor. Beast Boy had transformed in secret, Superman style. Then again, he doubted that Superman had ever changed in a bathroom stall. Phone booths were obsolete in Jump City, though, and even so, they didn't exactly offer much protection. Scanning the masses of people, an odd sight caught his eye. A crowd of shiny pink…life forms…surrounded a tiny dark blue mound. Wait a second…

Uh oh.

"Omigod, is she dead?"

"Quick! One of you, like, call 911!"

"'Kay, got my cell phone. What's the number for 911?"

"Hold on…it's like, in my purse somewhere…OH! Got it! Okay!" The prep squinted as she examined and, in turn, read the numbers carefully printed on the card. "It's…1...1...6! Call! Quick!"

Raven groaned from her crouching position on the floor. If only they would just go AWAY…a string of coughs and hacks emerged from her mouth.

That…smell…

Beast Boy soared to the ground and transformed instantly. This was way to important to care about what a few stupid people thought. Though a couple of spectators gasped and fled, the Changeling ignored them and fought his way through the ring of pink and slid to Raven's side. Putting one arm around her shaking shoulders, he used the other to ward off the preps.

"Back up! She'll be fine! Just…just LEAVE!" Beast Boy's eyes flashed dangerously and the group thinned. Raven continued to hack, but her breathing was a little more normal. "There. You feeling better?" The psychic nodded, not looking up.

"They…their…"

"Don't talk." The Changeling helped her to the bench. "Not if it hurts." This time Raven shook her head, finding the arm around her shoulder strangely comforting.

"I…I'm…fine…" Her cheeks were splotchy and flushed; her eyes half shut. "That perfume…I'm allergic to it…they all had it on and when they surrounded me…" She wheezed a few more words before falling into another fit. Beast Boy bit his lip and took a chance, wrapping his other arm around Raven and hugging her.

"I was worried."

The psychic turned redder, not from allergies but from embarrassment.

You can't have him.

A glass display window slowly turned black and shattered, sending pieces flying. The Changeling withdrew quickly.

"Right…sorry." Raven shook her head, not daring to look into his eyes, and allowed him to silently guide her to the dress shop.

"Friend!" Starfire squealed in delight and practically leapt across the room to greet her telekinetic companion, holding up a pink dress. "It seems absolutely marvelous on you! Perhaps this should be your selection?" Raven shuddered.

"Of…all…the…colors…" The empath pushed it away darkly and made her way to a rack of black and gray dresses. Frowning slightly, Starfire returned the gown she held to it's proper place and wondered what she had said that had annoyed Raven so much.

Robin turned slowly before the mirror on the dressing room door. The black tux on him fit well enough…

"Hoping to impress your lady with that fancy suit of yours?" The Boy Wonder jumped as the door swung open reveling a grinning Beast Boy.

"Kitten is in NO WAY my 'lady'" Robin reared on his friend, eyes narrowed.

"I…was…talkin' bout Star."

"…oh…STILL…"

"Come ON dude. If you can't tell me, who can you tell?"

No one.

"…It's stupid. It's always been stupid."

"It's not stupid." Robin rolled his eyes.

"You are in NO position to be giving me advice on my love life." He sighed. "Besides, I'm not really made for love. I'm a solitary guy. Oh, right, and there's that little issue of how she sees me as nothing more than her best friend."

"You have GOT to be kidding me."

"What?"

"Dude, I thought you wee supposed to be smart." The Changeling sighed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Robin was annoyed enough as it was without a little green elf mouthing off at him.

"It means that, even though you're too much of a block head to see it, she likes you."

Robin blinked.

"A lot."

Robin blinked again.

"More than a lot."

Another blink.

"Do you get it?"

Blink.

"Hello?"

Blink.

"Calling Robin…!"

Blink.

"Robin looks like a chunky monkey."

Bli-

"…HEY!"

Beast Boy grinned.

"Welcome back to earth."

Robin suddenly grabbed the Changeling by the shoulders.

"Were you serious?"

"…about…?"

"When you said that Starfire liked me…like that…were you serious?"

"As if it weren't obvious enough already…"

"I…I'll be right back." Shedding off the tux to reveal his uniform and reattaching his cape, Robin ran off. "Buy the tux for me will ya B?"

"Uh…sure?"

OKAY I've decided to split what was originally this chapter into TWO PARTS! Otherwise, It'd be way too long...well, my mom's kicking me off the computer too, so yeah…Well, I hope you liked it!

I know there've been a lot of RaeBB moments lately, but this IS a RobStar fic so their time to shine is coming soon, I promise.

I love u guyz! Merry Christmas! Don't kill anyone while I'm away! I should be posting again next week. Promise. Kinda. Lol.

Love,
SushiChica

Edited 6/23/05