Hey, it's still the weekend, so here's another chapter. I found time to write earlier this morning, so here you go, my gift to you:
The next day had started out like always, Beast Boy and Cyborg playing video games, Starfire reading up on earth fairytales, and Robin sat reading the newspaper.
Raven entered the room and walked over to the pantry in the kitchen to get some bread for making toast. She was kind of hungry and felt like having more than her usual morning tea. She made her toast without being disturbed and walked over to a chair near where Starfire was and sat down to eat.
"Raven, might I ask you a question?"
"Sure Star, what's on your mind?"
"Please, what exactly is a 'dwarf'?"
Raven let out a brief laugh from the surprise that the question had brought her. She wasn't expecting that to be Starfire's question, although knowing Starfire you could never predict what she was going to say.
This was just a typical morning in the tower, and no one had bothered Raven until almost noon, a new record. This time it was Cyborg who came up to her.
"Hey Raven, I wanted to talk to you."
Raven closed her book and looked up at him suspiciously. This almost never went well for her.
"What did you want to talk about?"
Cyborg looked around the room, and realizing that Beast Boy and Robin were still there, motioned for her to follow him. They walked out of the room and turned a few corners, stopping in a quiet hallway. Cyborg folded his arms and looked at Raven expectantly.
"What?"
"You know what I want to talk about. What's going on with you Raven? You've been acting… different for a while now." He was very careful to avoid words like 'strange' and 'weird'. Robin had obviously told him about their conversation in the hospital room that night.
"I don't want to talk about it Cyborg."
"Rae, come on, I know something's wrong. If you tell us we can try to help."
"No offense, but I don't think any of you could help me."
"How can say that if you've never even given us the chance to help you?"
"Believe me Cyborg, it's complicated. Even I'm not really sure what's going on. But if you'll excuse me now, I'm going to go back and read, it calms my nerves."
Raven turned around and started to walk away when she heard Cyborg speak behind her.
"Raven, just promise me that you'll find someone to talk to."
She turned around, thinking about what he said. Would that really be the best thing to do? That is what Happiness had wanted her to do before, but she almost never made the best decisions. Maybe it was worth a shot.
Raven began walking again, and just before she turned the corner, she glanced back at Cyborg over her shoulder. "I'll think about it."
Cyborg watched as she disappeared around the corner.
Raven walked down the hallway in the direction of her room, the whole time thinking about what Cyborg had said to her. Should she really tell someone? How would they be able to help her, when she didn't even know what was wrong?
After a minute Raven found herself standing in front of her door. She was about to enter when she got the overwhelming feeling of not wanting to be alone. Instead of going through the doors, she kept walking, which eventually led her back to the living room where her friends were. Walking back over to the chair that she was sitting in earlier, she picked up her book and sat back down. She opened the book to the page where she had left off, but found that no matter how hard she tried, she just wasn't able to concentrate on what she was reading. Now she desperately wanted to tell someone what was worrying her… but who could she tell?
Raven looked around the room. Beast Boy was still playing video games on the couch, but she doubted that he would be a big help. He'd probably just say something stupid anyway. He was playing alone, so Raven assumed that Cyborg had gone downstairs to go work on the T-Car, that's normally where he went during his free time. But she didn't feel very comfortable telling him, so she continued searching the room. Robin was in the kitchen making a sandwich. She could always tell him, he'd understand, and he wouldn't blab her secret to the first person he saw. He would genuinely be concerned for her, and help her in any way that he could. But she couldn't put that much pressure on him, he had been through too much already with her. So the only one left was-
"Starfire?"
The redhead looked up from her book of fairytales with a smile on her face. "Yes friend?"
"Um… could I talk to you about something?"
"Oh, of course! Whatever is on your mind Raven?"
Starfire closed her book and set it down on the table, then leaned forward to give Raven her full attention.
"Hold on, I want to go somewhere private for this. Would you come with me to my room?"
"Certainly."
The two girls stood up and walked out of the room, Starfire bouncing up and down from the excitement of having 'girl talk' with Raven. It was so rare that they shared things with one another, especially Raven.
Raven opened her door and waited for Starfire to enter before she closed it. Starfire took a moment to look around the dark room, wondering how anyone could live in such a manner. But it was Raven, and she was 'special'.
Raven walked over to her bed and sat down, then motioned for Starfire to do the same. When Starfire sat down next to her, Raven sighed.
"What is it Raven? Is something bothering you?"
"Ya Star, something is bothering me…"
Raven paused, looking like she wasn't sure if she could bring herself to speak again.
"Raven, whatever it is, you can tell me. Do not be scared or nervous."
Starfire put an arm around Raven, leaning closer trying to reassure her. Normally Raven would have pulled back or cringed at such an action, but she could tell how sincere her friend was being, and that was exactly what she needed… a friend.
"Thanks Star."
Starfire once again gave Raven a huge, reassuring smile. Maybe this wasn't so hard after all.
It took Raven a minute, but once she started telling Starfire about her problems it got easier to speak, and without even realizing it she had opened herself up to the Tamaranian girl. Raven felt a huge weight being lifted off of her shoulders. Sure, the problem itself was still there, whatever it was, but now she wasn't alone. Someone was there to help her, and comfort her, and be concerned for her.
Raven spoke for half an hour with Starfire listening patiently, letting Raven relieve all of her troubles and fear without interruption. Finally, Raven was nearing the end.
"And then Cyborg asked me to tell someone, and after a while I decided that I should. Then I found you in the living room, and… well, here we are."
Raven let out a huge breath at the end of her sentence, as if she hadn't exhaled the entire time. She looked anxiously at Starfire, wanting to know how she would react.
Starfire thought for a moment, then did the first thing to came to mind. She reached forward and wrapped Raven up in a hug. "I'm truly sorry that you've had to deal with this alone. I am very pleased that you told me, Raven."
"Thanks for listening Star."
The alien girl released Raven and stood up to leave. "Are you sure that you do not wish to tell the others as well? I know that they are also very concerned about you."
Raven thought for a moment, then looked up at Starfire. "I'm not ready to tell them all yet, but I will soon."
"All right. I will go now and leave you to your thoughts. But you will still join us for our viewing of the Young Frankenstein, yes?"
"I wouldn't miss it for the world."
Starfire couldn't help but smile at Raven's monotonous comment. That sounded like the old Raven.
Yep, another whole chapter for you guys. Are you glad that Raven finally told someone? It sure took long enough. Anyway, as usual I'll update as soon as possible, but I don't know when that will be... high school stinks, they just keep giving you homework. So, please review and tell me what you think.