Melvin's in this chapter!! I loved Melvin in Hide and Seek so much that I just had to include her! She's Jinx's little sister. And Raven doesn't have to kiss Gar as the dare. Sorry to disappoint you, but no. BUT…this is my personal favorite chapter. You'll see why at the end. And I did write Raven's song.

And, as usual, I do not own Teen Titans and I never will. But I really want to! Because then Lightspeed would be showing every single day! Because I missed the beginning when I saw it and I have to wait until Sunday to see it! grr... I love Kid Flash! And I need to see that episode again! (Oh yeah, Kid Flash may be making an appearance in here later...hint hint)

"I am not doing that!" Raven said loudly. "No way!"

"Come on, Raven!" Jinx pouted and made puppy eyes. "I didn't dare you to kiss anyone!"

"What did you dare her to do?" Roy asked.

"I dared her to sing a song," Jinx said, smiling.

"What song?" Leo and Robin asked together.

"It's a song I wrote," Raven said quickly before Jinx could say anything more. "I don't really like it that much, but Jinx thinks it's good."

"Please sing it, Raven," Star made puppy eyes like Jinx. "I'm sure it's lovely!"

"Come on, Rae," Jinx pleaded. "We have a piano. You play along if you want. I'll even sing it with you!"

"No," Raven said quietly.

"Please?" everyone asked at the same time.

"No," Raven said shortly. "I am not singing and nothing anyone says can make me!" (Of course you are Raven, geez…)

…Five Minutes Later…

When someone has a sleepover/And can only invite five/I'm always number six/And when someone throws a party/And can invite fifteen friends/I'm number sixteen/And when we partner up in class/I'm the one who's odd/And I ask/Do I fit in here?

Raven had her eyes tightly shut as she sang the song that she had written. Jinx was right, as long as her eyes were closed, it wasn't as bad.

I'm a cartoon freak/I'm a poetry nut/I'm weird/And abnormal/You call me these things/But is that/What I really am?

I'm the one who says hi to you/In the hallway/But you didn't hear/I'm the one who has the friends that change/In ways that I cannot/They never say hello/And I try to make new friends/But that doesn't always work/And I end up getting ignored

I am a dork/I'm a crazy writer/I'm strange/And I'm different/You call me these things/But is that/What I really am?

As I walk around the neighborhood/Each and every day/I wonder who I am/Who am I supposed to be?/Am I who I should be?/What should I do with my life?/Then the answer comes to me/It's plain for all to see/To succeed I need to be me

I am a friend/I am a daughter/And I'm a Christian/I call myself these things/And soon you will too

I am a person/I am a human being/I exist too/I now know who I am/And so do you

Raven opened her eyes as she finished the song. Everyone, including Jinx, had their mouths hanging open, their eyes wide with shock. Then, almost numbly, they began to clap.

"That was amazing!" a voice from the door said. Raven turned to see Jinx's whole family standing there, clapping just like everyone else. Jinx's mother came over to Raven and hugged her.

"That was beautiful, sweetie," she said.

"Thanks, Mom," Raven smiled for the first time since she had started singing.

"Raven?" Jinx's little sister, Melvin, had come over and was pulling on the leg of Raven's pajamas. "Did you make that up?"

"Yeah, I did," Raven said, bending down so she was eye-to-eye with the little girl.

"That was really good," Melvin wrapped her short arms around Raven's neck. "Bobby thinks so too."

"Well tell Bobby thank you from me," Raven said, smiling as Melvin released her. Melvin nodded, and skipped back over to where Jinx's mother and father stood.

"Now it's time for you to get to bed, young lady," Jinx's father picked Melvin up and placed her neatly on his shoulders. Raven couldn't help watching them with a look of what was close to longing on her face.

Her father never had been the family man. She had never been carried on a shoulder ride like Melvin was being carried. Her father had never even bothered to check and make sure she went to bed on time.

"Raven?" Garfield's voice brought her out of her thinking. She noticed that Jinx's family was no longer standing at the door. She hastily turned back to face everyone else.

"Yeah?" she asked, feeling flustered.

"Great song," Gar pulled her into a hug. Feeling her face turn red, Raven hugged him as well.

"Hugging time!" Kori and Bea shouted, and the whole group bounded together in one gigantic group hug, with Raven and Gar, who were still hugging each other, in the middle.

"Well, this is interesting," Vic said after a few seconds. Everyone broke apart soon after this, except for (guess who!) Gar and Raven. Both had their heads resting on the other's shoulder, and were holding each other quite close.

"Shh," Jinx put a finger to her lips. She motioned for the rest of the group to leave the portion of the basement they were in and return to the other one. They did so, and after Raven, Gar, and Jinx were the last ones in that part, Jinx turned on some slow-paced music. Then she dashed out of the part of the basement, closed the door that separated the two parts, and locked it. (No, this is not the seven minutes of heaven thing. They're just being weird. Or nice. It depends how you look at it.)

Raven and Gar started swaying to the music almost automatically. They didn't notice that they were the only ones left in the room. Both had their eyes closed and were off in their own little world.

..::Gar's Thoughts::..

Vic was right. I do like Raven. Wow, this is so cool. There's music playing, we're dancing and hugging each other, and no one else is making any weird noises at us or anything. I would open my eyes, but if I did, I would see them laughing silently behind their hands, and I wouldn't be able to keep dancing with Raven.

Nah, I'm not just dancing with Raven. Dude, I'm practically holding her! We both have our heads resting on each other's shoulders for crying out loud. I'm not just practically holding her, I am holding her.

Why are these thoughts of Terra coming back to me now? Why? I'm holding someone I really care about, and I'm thinking about her? Why am I remembering what it was like to dance with Terra? Why do I keep thinking I am dancing with Terra? Why is it that when I dance with Raven, all I can think of is Terra? What's wrong with me?

I guess this is what Vic was talking about. How it doesn't really sink in for a while. I guess I still haven't realized that Terra actually did do that.

Snap out of it Gar! Terra never liked you. You are dancing with Raven, and you will think about Raven, not Terra. Got it?

That's better. Remember how you and Raven danced earlier today? It was a slow song, remember that? Yeah, there you go. That was the one where the two of you were looking into each other's eyes.

Raven's eyes are so beautiful! I've never seen anyone whose eyes were that color purple before. They sparkle with happiness at the smallest things, and when they do, they seem to light up her whole face. So do her smiles. They do that too. Just the way she curves her mouth up and peals of laughter come out when she's very happy is enough to make anyone smile. And it's not like she has a beautiful laugh either. Her laugh is anything but beautiful. It sounds like she's choking over the laughs each time she's laughing…

..::Raven's Thoughts::..

To think that the whole night of the dance would lead up to this! I never thought I would so much as have a conversation with Gar, let alone a dance with him. And now here we are, holding each other in Jinx's basement, swaying in time to some music.

Oh my gosh, what are the others doing? They're probably gloating right now as we dance here. That whole group hug and turning on the music thing must have been a set up. But I have to admit, if that's the type of set up Jinx wants to pull on me, I'm fine with that.

Don't think about them Raven. Just forget they're there. Pretend it's just you and Gar, alone in the basement. Think about this moment, and what's happening here and now. Think about Gar.

Garfield Logan. The one guy I never hoped to ever speak to in my life has now become the one guy I'm sharing the most romantic moment of my life with. I feel comfortable around him. Even though my face still turns red, I can talk to him without making a fool of myself. I guess all I needed was one night to get to know him.

No one has ever held me like this; tight against their chest, holding me close as if letting me go would be the challenge of their life. I've hugged my mom plenty of times, but never has any man or boy hugged me like this.

It makes me feel protected. Like as long as his arms are around me, nothing bad will ever happen. I feel as if I could sing in front of the whole school. As if I could walk around the entire neighborhood in a princess dress. As if I could yell at my father that I'm running away to join the circus. I could do any of those things, as long as Gar's still holding me.

..::Back to Raven's POV::..

Raven suppressed a gasp as Garfield moved one of his hands up her back to rest on her head. He stroked her hair as if it was made of the finest material known to man before carefully placing his hand back on her back.

Raven opened her eyes to look up into his green ones.

"Sorry," Gar muttered.

"For what?" Raven asked.

"You mean, you didn't mind?" Gar asked, surprised.

"Not a bit," Raven smiled as she felt herself fall under the spell of those magical green eyes again.

"Raven?"

"Yes?"

"Your eyes, they're just," Gar paused, searching for the right word, "entrancing. They're so beautiful and when I look into them, I never want to look away."

"Same with me," Raven said, noticing that Gar seemed taken aback.

"Really?" he asked.

"Really," Raven answered.

The two of them ceased talking and simply looked into each other's eyes. Then, almost as if he could not help himself, Gar leaned down and kissed her. He abruptly pulled away a second later.

"Sorry," he said hastily. "I don't know why I did that. You probably didn't want to and now I made this awkward and when I do that I can't stop talking and now I can't stop even though I know I'm talking way too fast and not breaking off the sentence and –"

"Gar," Raven said softly, breaking his long sentence. "I didn't mind." She smiled shyly as a look of surprise crossed over his face.

"Oh," Gar looked taken aback. "Well, uh…"

He stopped talking, and slowly began moving his face closer to hers. Raven straightened up, standing as tall as she could without raising herself to her toes, and he kissed her again.

Raven closed her eyes and returned his kiss. Gar had his arms around her, they were kissing in the basement, and nothing could bother her now, except…

"Oh my gosh!" The two of them exclaimed as they broke apart. They began frantically looking around the room, trying to see where the others were hiding.

"Where are they?" Gar asked, bending down so he could look under the desk.

"I don't know," Raven walked over to the door and pressed her ear against it. She heard voices, so she motioned to Gar to come over. He did, and the two listened through the door to the conversation going on outside.

"They've been in there for a while," Raven heard Robin saying.

"Do you think they've noticed we're gone?" Bea asked.

"Well, if they have, they're certainly not acting like it," It was Jinx who was speaking now. "I expected them to start hammering the door down when they found out we were gone and left them locked in the room together."

"We're locked in?" Raven asked as the both drew away from the door.

"I guess so," Gar shrugged.

"And we're all alone?" Raven asked.

"Yeah," Gar shrugged again.

"I feel pretty stupid right now," Raven said, smiling and letting out a small laugh. "I was so worried about them all watching that I ruined the best moment of my life."

"Well," Gar said slowly, walking over to her and taking her into his arms again, "who says it ended right there?"