Part 15
"When he is best, he is a little worse than a man; and when he is worst, he is little better than a beast." – William Shakespeare
"Are you feeling better?" Beast Boy awoke to a feminine voice he looked over to see Raven laying a wet rag atop his head.
He looked around some more to notice that he was on the couch in the living room. "Where are the others?" He asked.
"They're in bed," She took the rag from his head duck it in a bucket of water she had on the floor, rung it out and then placed it back onto his forehead.
He offered her a small smile, "I think I need to be locked up."
"No you don't," she replied in a stoic tone.
"I'm becoming more beast than man," he lightly chuckled.
She rolled her eyes, "No, I'm afraid you're the same annoying pest you've always been."
He gave a light laugh, "Ya know I'm afraid of falling back to sleep."
"How come?"
"I am afraid that I'll change in my sleep. I don't want to end up hurting anyone," he looked into her eyes, "Especially you Rae."
"It's Raven," she said coldly.
"I love her too," Beast Boy gave her a little grin.
She stopped what she was doing and just stared at him, a million thoughts poured into her head, the most obtrusive being that he just said he loved her. This was what she had wanted to hear? Right? This is what she wanted? He was what she wanted? This little green annoying twerp? He wasn't a twerp though, yes he was annoying but he was light hearted and jovial, and he is selfless. And most of all he loves her. "Beast Boy?"
He raised his eyebrows and looked at her, "yeah?"
She gave him a light kiss on his cheek and then laid her head atop his chest, "Thank you," she whispered.
He smiled, "Thank you Rae," he let out a small yawn, and fought slumber but he wasn't strong enough to.
--
"Beast Boy you need to stop! Garfield please stop!" Raven pleaded but she stared upward as the once small boy turned into a furious monster.
He bent his head downward, his vicious dark mysterious eyes peering into her face, and in a foul stench and raspy voice utters, "I'm going to love eating your skin."
His monstrous hands swat at her, pushing her back hard against the wall. She could feel herself losing consciousness, she tried to focus her powers but suddenly one of her feelings got the best of her, and it was fear. "Beast Boy please you need to change back! Please!"
He shot out an arm and with his huge claws he thrashed her arm and gave her a large cut along her bicep, she screamed in pain, but he silenced her by clutching her throat with his other hand and pinning her back against the wall. He could hear her gasping for air, he could feel her frantic movements below him, her legs kicking back against the wall, her hips swaying trying to be released from his vicious grasp. He licked his lips, opened his mouth wide and lunged his head at her stomach.
"NO!" Garfield bolted upright his wide. His head was wet, cold sweat?
"Would you stop it with the weird dreams? You're keeping me up!" Raven grumbled.
He just took several deep breaths and stared at her. "How do you know what my dreams are like?"
She wiped her face with her hand, "Because I'm an empathy dummy I can feel your emotions, at least when there as prominent as yours are at the moment."
"I can't be held responsible for what I dream," he said defensively.
"Yes you can. We just have to get you thinking differently that's all."
"What do you mean?"
She let out a small breath, "Well for starters you stated that when you're the beast you think of hurting others. We have to find someway to stop that negative thought. It's those thoughts that are controlling you, and you're thinking that way because you think negatively about yourself. We need your thinking to do a complete one eighty, we need you thinking differently then how you are thinking now."
"And how do you propose to do that?" He questioned.
"Well for starters you can think of yourself positively. You're not a wimp, you're not weak, and I hate to admit it, but you are sometimes you're even funny."
He grinned.
"I stress, sometimes," she let out a yawn.
"Rae?"
"Yeah?"
"There's been something I've been wanting to do, but I've been afraid, so if I'm going to change the way I think and feel, I think I need to do this…" He leaned towards her face and kissed her gingerly on the lips.
Her face became red, her outfit became paler, she pulled away and gulped.
He looked downward at the couch and blanket, "I love you Rae, I've loved you since the first day we've met, I've loved you since the first joke I've tried to make to try to cause you to laugh. My emotions may be all over the place at the moment, and my mind may be tired of trying to keep up with all the thoughts I'm having, but one is really obvious, that I care about you… a lot, and that's why I think I have to leave the team."
For a long moment neither said anything, she just stared at him trying to process everything, "Stop, first I can't love. Second you can't leave. Third you're completely wrong."
"You can love you proved that with Malachoir, second I can leave I can make my own decisions and third I'm only completely wrong half the time and this half I'm right!"
She crossed her arms, "Fine then. If you love me then why are you going to leave?"
"Because I can't imagine hurting you or the rest of the team. The only way to guarantee that I won't hurt anyone is to leave."
"I used to think like you," she said in a low tone.
His ears perked up, "What do you mean?"
"You know of my difficulty of controlling my powers. I've always been afraid that I may one day hurt the team, but I realized something one day."
"What was that?"
"That you guys would never quit on me, so there's no reason why I should quit on all of you."
Beast Boy laid his head back down and thought about all of this, "But you're stronger than me Rae, you know how to control what's going on inside of you. I feel so lost."
She took his hand, "Then let me guide you."
"How?" He turned towards her.
"By first trusting me, and second you must stop doubting yourself. If you always think that you can't control this then you never will. You have to believe that you are able to change. It's not impossible Beast Boy, nothing in life is impossible, sure some things are easier than other things but nothing is impossible. We've taken down the worst bad guys around; we've done the impossible plenty of times. This is easy compared to what we've done," she gave him a rare smile.
"I've never seen this side of you before Rae," he smiled back at her.
"Let's just say I've learned a few things by being around you more recently."
"Breakfast time!" They both turned around to see Cyborg in the kitchen putting on oven mitts.
Raven looked up at the clock, it was eight am, "herbal tea please."
Cyborg looked over the counter and just noticed Raven and Beastboy, "Why you two out here?"
"Bad night," Raven simply replied.
Beast Boy raised his hand from the couch, "Just toast please."
Cyborg raised an eyebrow, "Just toast?"
"Yeah you rusted piece of bolts, just toast."
"I'm gonna put meat on your toast you keep talking like that!" Cyborg threatened.
"I'm gonna put a lump on your head if you do!" Beast Boy retaliated now standing up and staring at him from the couch, his arms perched atop the cushions.
"Friends there is no reason to fight!" They all turned to see Starfire enter the room. She flew over to Cyborg and looked over his shoulder, "What are you making?"
Cyborg grinned,"Waffles!"
Starfire cheered and clapped, and then flew over towards Raven and Beast Boy. "Raven, Beast Boy will you two be joining us in the delicious meal of maple syrup and flat dough?"
"We're really not that hungry Star," Beast Boy replied.
The teakettle sounded off and Raven raised herself off the floor and made her way over to the kitchen. Starfire sat down next to a know sitting Beast Boy, "You and Raven are getting extremely close, yes?" Starfire said in a low tone.
Beast Boy shrugged.
Robin stretched as he came into the room, "Man I'm hungry," he held his stomach.
Raven sipped her tea, "Cyborg is making waffles."
"Sounds great," Robin smiled looking around the room. He sat down at the counter and laid his head down and yawned.
Raven grabbed Beast Boy's toast and with her powers placed it on a plate and with her powers carried the plate over to Beast Boy. He grabbed it out of mid-air, "Thank you!"
And another day started as every other one did for the Titans, none of them knowing of the chaos Raven and Beast Boy have been struggling through the entire night.
-end of part 15