Chapter 13

Beast Boy groaned out loud, then looked up, seeing an empty hospital room. What was he doing in one of these? He died didn't he?

'Apparently not, dumbass.'

Even still, why a hospital? Titans Tower had a more efficient recovery room. He looked down at himself. Not even a scratch. He thought for sure he was literal toast after that Demon Diva fried him (A/N: fry…toast…haha, food humor.) But the fact that he wasn't wounded left room for more confusion as to why he was in a hospital. How did he escape anyway? Maybe Raven used her healing touch. The thought pleased him. That he meant enough to her that she would take the time to heal him, but he dashed it away. Raven was unselfish in every sense of the word. Of course she would heal him it was in her nature to help others, no matter how stupid or insignificant she thought them.

Grunting, he got up on his elbows, and smiled with satisfaction when he discovered that he was in perfect health. Happy that everything was okay, he figured if he found out where the hospital staff took his clothes, then maybe he could go back to the Tower. His trained eyes traveled the luxurious celebrity hospital quarters, until he saw his uniform and communicator on a dresser. Beast Boy let a grin loose, and slipped out of bed, and made his way to the dresser.

"And you thought mine could bounce quarters."

At the sly voice, Beast Boy instinctively turned, and slapped the back of his gown shut. He forgot he was wearing one of those stupid backless hospital gowns! He HATED those things! The first face he saw, was Raven standing in the open doorway, her arms crossed, hood down, and a smirk that was cruel, smug, and totally Raven. Beast Boy refused to let the blush that was threatening rise come into his cheeks. Instead, he tried humor. "You wear black and purple spandex every day you gotta learn to look good in tight clothes."

Her attitude a little uncharacteristic, Raven walked over to the dresser, and started folding his clothes. "You've clearly made the effort."

A pink blush stained Raven's face, and Beast Boy watched in an almost perverse fascination as she tried to cover up her appreciation of his body. "It's a super hero's job to make an effort." A bright smile lit his face, not just because of the humorous comment he made, but also because how rare it was to see Raven blush. But when she did, it was such an oh-so-gratifying experience.

He knew what he could do to make it better. With Raven still facing the window, he slipped his arms around her. A slow gasp emerged from her lips, and a primal, male satisfaction rose inside Beast Boy at her reaction to him. He wanted the move to be a little flirtatious, but his mind flashed into a new possibility. "Thank you for saving me Raven."

She stiffened, and a tiny hand landed on the wrist resting on her stomach. "How'd you know?"

He shrugged, and he felt her robe rise and fall at the movement. "I don't have a mark on me, and I know that she hit me with the fire, how else could I escape so well put-together?"

Raven gave an answering shrug, and in a move that surprised him a little, leaned back against him. "Well, she blasted you, I knocked her into the ice cream cart, healed you, the paramedics took you to the hospital anyway, I came with you, got you some replacement clothes, called the others to tell them what happened, then came back in here, saw your ass, and that's about it."

He laughed a little, and because she couldn't see his face, let the blush swamp his face. "Nice update."

"Thank you," she said. Not moving out of his arms, she turned around, and put her hands on his chest to steady herself. He tilted his head in waiting, knowing she had something to say. "You shoved me out of the way to save me remember?"

He nodded. "Of course. That thing was huge, it would have scorched both of us," he quipped, trying to be funny, but as usual, she didn't respond to it. So, he tried to be a little bit more serious. "And besides, you saved me, so we're even."

As Raven looked up at him, he was attacked with surprise, not only was she again shorter than him, but because he saw tears in her eyes. "Raven…"

"Are you really okay?" She asked, as if pleading him to be alright.

He gave her a large grin. "Fit as I've ever been, Rave."

Suddenly, the tears threatening her eyes fell to her cheeks. She threw her arms around him, and cried against his gown. Beast Boy was appalled. She was actually worried about him, and he was making jokes. But she was crying…Raven never cried, never showed signs of anything but sarcasm, except lately. Maybe the Feminine Side was making her more vulnerable to feelings. He looked around, and noticed that the bed was shaking. He had to calm her down.

Stroking her hair didn't appear to help. It only made her let out more violent shudders. The bed suddenly crashed to the floor on the other side of the room. Beast Boy had to stop this now!

He put a hand under her chin, and delicately lifted her face. Her eyes were shining in relief, her lips were plump from the trembling, and she was shaking. She was stunning.

Caught in a web of wanting Raven and comforting her, he kissed her again. And he was worried about Raven's feelings getting out of control? He tightened his grip around her until she squealed against his mouth, and without regards to if he was going too far too fast, he pressed his tongue into her mouth. The animal within released.

Raven didn't know what was happening. Emotions were clouding over her, first gloom, then relief, now raw excitement. Something inside her was coming apart, and she was almost afraid to admit: her control. A fire of yearning lit inside her, first at a soft glow, then a blazing inferno. It scared her to think of what she craved. So she stopped thinking. Her hands dug into his hair, combing through the thick grass-green of his hair.

His mouth was plowing, almost bruising; fueling her own need to take every inch of his mouth. She moved closer, closer still, until every inch of their bodies were touching through their clothes. But even that wasn't much: a spandex leotard, and a three-dollar hospital gown. The wicked change in her musings charged an electric shock of desire to flow through her veins. 'Whoa! Now we're going too far.'

Sucking up some air for her starved lungs, Raven backed away, staring at him. His eyes were dilated and bright, his breath heaving as much as hers. "Okay…um…I thought we agreed to a last one and that was it?"

"You're the one who started crying. I tried to calm you down."

It didn't work. If anything, her body was more rocking with life and energy than it was when she first saw him at the dresser. Swallowing, Raven took his laid-out clothes, and handed them to him. "You better put these on, Robin wants us back at the Tower to make sure everything's okay. You're healthy enough that you can change by yourself, so I'll go outside."

As she left, Raven heard his pitiful voice mewing out something. "I don't know…"

Raven turned to face him, but his back was to her, thankfully the gown was closed. "What? You don't know what?"

He turned to her, a devilish smile perked up the corners of his lips. "I'm feeling pretty weak. I might need help." He held up his clothes, an obvious indication of his innuendo.

Suddenly, his communicator whacked the side of his head. "Ow!" He looked at the communicator on the floor, then back at Rave, who was blushing while giving him the devil's-glare.

(Later.)

Beast Boy heaved out some air, and held his throat in relief. Someone would really have to teach Starfire that not all hugs had to be crushing embraces. "I'm glad to be back Star."

"You are certain that you are alright Beast Boy?"

"I might have a crushed spine, but other than that…"

"Hey BB!"

"Ahhh!"

"Come on dawg! Gimme some love!"

"Enough love! En—ou—gh loVE!" Beast Boy choked out.

"Glad to see you're okay Beast Boy."

"Ow! Robin don't shake so hard, you're breaking my hand!"

"Ease up on him guys, he's still feelings a little weak."

Suddenly afraid they might hurt their friend the others backed off. Beast Boy cast a grateful glance Raven's way. "Dibs on the first game against our little grass-stain!" Cyborg said excitedly.

A large grin broke out on Beast Boy's face. "Oh yeah! And you're so going down!"

Raven looked at the two of them, and she smiled a little at the eager way they attacked the Gamestation. The previous incident between her and Beast Boy didn't really factor with her right now, mostly for the reason that she was trying to put it out of her mind. She slowly made her way back to her room.

Not that it was bad. 'Hell no.' In fact, the knowledge that she enjoyed his kiss that had her avoiding the subject. Whenever something truly scared her, she always ran away from it. It was in her nature. She was afraid of her anger, she ran away from it. She was afraid of her father, she ran away from him. And now…she was afraid of Beast Boy. Before they started kissing their bond as friends had increased greatly. But now…the atmosphere between them was uncomfortable.

As Raven shut her door behind her, she slid down to hug her knees. She was so confused. Never before had she been uncertain about her own feelings. With Malchior, she knew exactly when she started and when stopped liking him. But with Beast Boy…what the hell was wrong with her? Perhaps she was looking too hard into how she felt. Maybe it was all just ridiculous leftover hormone trips.

She then remembered the moment they shared under the tree in the park. No. There were feelings there. And they some of the strongest feelings she ever had about anyone. Could it be…? "No!"

Furious, Raven stomped over to her stereo, flipped on the RANDOM setting, and put her head phones on, then got in a meditative stance, waiting for the first song to come on. The first two seconds she heard an unfamiliar beginning. She knew all her CD's by heart, and nothing sounded like this at the beginning. Someone must have used her stereo again. It wasn't Cyborg, he like his T-Car stereo too much. Robin liked using the one in the Main room, but that didn't eliminate the possibility. She heard the brush of a harp, then a voice. "If there's a prize for rotten judgement…"

"Starfire." Raven said, and quickly took off the headphones. Although, the rest of the song echoed in her head, each note, each sound. Since Starfire watched the movie so much, she usually ignored it. But now that she was taking her time to think about, Raven was actually beginning to consider it a very relatable song. At least in her current position. Sighing, she took Starfire's CD out of the stereo and left to give it back.

Could she be in love with Beast Boy?

(Main Room.)

Beast Boy twirled his thumb over the joystick, and tapped the three buttons he needed for the rocket-booster, and a triumph laugh emerged from his mouth as he shot in front of Cyborg. "Aw yeah! In your face Cyborg!"

"It ain't over yet green bean!"

"Looks pretty over to me!"

"Hey, move over ya little shrimp!"

"AHH! Back off, you're bumping my car!"

"Suck it up!"

"Oh yeah, every time you hit my car, I'll hit the T-Car!"

"YOU LAY ONE OF YOUR GREASY LITTLE PAWS ON MY---"

"HA! OH, YEAH!"

"Noooo!"

"Oh yeah! Whoop-whoop! Go Beast Boy, Go Beast Boy, you beat him! You kicked butt! Go Beast Boy!"

"Yeah, yeah! Two outta three."

"No way dude! I'm quitting while I'm ahead!"

"Msh-frm-pmh-neba-vnm-bmf," Cyborg muttered to his controller.

As Beast Boy proudly strutted out of the Main room, he kept his cool as he contemplated the horrors that awaited him in Raven's mind. He kissed her again, so the Feminine Side would probably get really pissed at him again. But maybe if he was there, then he could keep her in control.

He went into Raven's room, not even bothering to knock this time, and pulled out the book. He popped in, and as soon as he entered her mind, he was standing right in front of Rude. "WAHH! Jeez! Don't scare me like that!"

A private grin slithered over her mouth. "You know."

It took him a second to figure out what she was saying, then a smile of his own brightened his face. "Yeah."

Rude nodded. "Cool. Now can you get rid of that Feminine Side?"

He shrugged. "I don't know how to do that." She shoved him into the bedroom, a.k.a. Timid's territory. "What was that for?"

"Ssh!" She hissed, and put her finger to his lips. Instead of talking, she communicated telepathically. 'The Feminine Side is hot on your trail. All you've got to do is tell Raven that she exists, and I'm sure the two of you could find a way to get rid of her.'

Beast Boy's brow rose, and he tried to relay his thoughts into telepathic words. 'But what if Raven doesn't know one?'

She remained quiet, for both of them heard footsteps outside the door. Once they were gone, she removed her finger. "At least it would be better than getting stuck with that over-revealing psycho out there?"

He laughed a little. "I guess. But I can't afford to avoid her. I kissed Raven again."

"She knows. And so did I. That stupid I-was-wishing-it-was-you excuse isn't likely to work twice, so use something like you wanted to be able to go farther with this Raven, and in order to do that, you had to kiss the real one."

Beast Boy shuddered. "This is so gross. I don't like kissing the Feminine Side. She's too aggressive, she likes me too much, and she…well, I admit I kinda like the part where she shows a little more skin."

"You brought it all on yourself when you first invaded Raven's privacy."

He flapped his hand, ignoring the fact that Rude was completely right. "Yeah, yeah. Alright, I'll tell this Raven why I kissed the real one, and I'll tell the real one that what's been happening with this one…JEEZ! THIS IS ALL SO CONFUSING!" Poor Beast Boy's eyes started rolling like they did when Mad Mod hypnotized him.

They both froze as the bedroom door opened. As Rude stealthily backed into the wall, she said, "Handle this with care Beast Boy. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."

As she disappeared into the woodwork, Beast Boy said, "Yeah. Woman scorned. Got it."

A big grin plastered on his face, Beast Boy awaited the fury.

(In reality.)

Raven returned to her room, humming that ridiculous song. What did she have to worry about? Perhaps if Beast Boy knew how she felt, then maybe they would stop kissing, since he would surely have enough sense to understand that she shouldn't really express her feelings. But shouldn't she herself know her own feelings before Beast Boy?

Raven glanced at a photo on the wall. Beast Boy had snuck up on her one day when all the Titans went to the fair on a holiday. She was standing still, enough of a pose for her. She was waiting for Cyborg to take a picture with the digital camera installed in his eye. Suddenly, Beast Boy threw his arms around her, and the momentum caused her to fall to her stomach. Cyborg's eye caught a picture of Beast Boy helping her back up and apologizing.

It was amazing…He was compassionate, selfless, and the forever gentleman. And as she examined the picture a little more, it began to show just how attractive he was. Maybe he wasn't funny, but he was everything else.

And she loved him.

That revelation bursting through her like lava in a volcano, Raven smiled brightly, and spun around, dying to tell him. Suddenly, the book that somehow found its way to the floor again opened up on its own, and Beast Boy popped out. He had just come from her book, and the first words out of her mouth: "Garfield! I have something to tell you!" Her voice was breathless in excitement.

He whipped around, and he was a little surprised to see Raven. To see Raven…happy. But that didn't matter! The sooner he told her, the sooner he could get away from that…THING that lived in her book! He had just barely managed to escape her with his lips still on his face. But not before experiencing the most vulgar, wet, smearing kiss of his life. He shuddered at the mere memory. He gripped her shoulders, and led her to the bed, where he sat down with her, and held her hand to support her. "I have something I really need to tell you first."

She looked reluctant, but she nodded…jeez, she was probably bursting with emotion.

He opened his mouth, took a deep breath, and began speaking. And at about a mile-a-minute. "Okay. I've been going in your mind every day for say…a week or two. But that's not my fault! There's a thing in there called the Feminine Side. I have no choice but to visit her every day, or else she gets reeeeaaaallllyy mad! Anyway, the problem is, she's got a HUGE crush on me…actually…Ithinkshelovesme, but the only way I could think of to get rid of her was to tell you. And I don't know if you can help, but I'll be honest with you, I can't keep kissing that…THING! I mean I will if I have to, but I really don't want to, so what do you say?"

She was stiff, her hand was cold, and her eyes were wide. "Huh?"

"Friends?"

"Guys, what's happening?"

"MY BIG SCREEN TV JUST SPLIT IN HALF."

Beast Boy hung his head. The rest of this day, was going to be looooong.