Disclaimer: I don't own the Titans and the song lyrics to "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" and the title belongs to The Smiths. Also I really like Catcher in the Rye and no, I'm not a serial killer.

Lady Pyrefly: thanks so much, I was trying hard to be a little different in the third chapter, so I'm glad it worked out.

Loaned: thanks, there will be rae/bb in it, but…part of the reason I wanted to do this series of one-shots is to show that their relationship is multi-dimensional, not just romance or friendship or rivalry, but a combination of all of those things.

Iuz the Old: thanks

RoseMage: thanks

WicketWitchoftheSE: totally understand, thanks for your review.

RyokoJesseandFiend: always good to see a review from you, I hope you're continuing to write as I always love your style. You're definitely an inspiration.

Jin Flows: Thanks for all the props on this story and the previous stories I've written. I'm glad you're enjoying it. I've had the first copy of this story done for a while, just took me a bit of time to actually sit down and edit. Hope it's up to standards, please feel free to criticize

Thanks to everyone else who just read.

I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour
but heaven knows I'm miserable now
I was looking for a job, and then I found a job
and heaven knows I'm miserable now

"Well this is interesting," she said as she entered the bookstore. She never admitted it to anyone, but she liked the look of surprise on his face when she found him doing something he didn't normally do or, in most cases, wasn't supposed to be doing. It always started with his eyebrows arching up, his eyes bulging just a little and his mouth opening a bit wider than normal before exhaling. Then came the best part, the part when his face clearly said, "I'm thinking of an excuse, just pretend you didn't see what you saw and be patient with me."

He didn't disappoint her, the eyebrows, the bulging of the eyes, the brief exhale, followed by an expression that was a mixture of panic, embarrassment and craft that appeared on his face within a few seconds. "Uh hey Raven, what brings you here," he asked, obviously making time so as to think up an excuse for himself. He briefly looked down at himself and saw that his work apron clearly said 'Walter's Book Emporium'. Aliens might have been a good route, possibly even a believable one, but he just didn't feel like it right now.

She noticed he was somewhat late with his excuse. "Robin told me I needed to pick you up from work at the mall since you can't drive, he had a date with Starfire and Victor is currently fixing the T-Car." He simply nodded, an opening for a light verbal jab if she'd ever seen one. "So I never thought I'd see you in an apron," she said with her usual sarcasm, hoping he would give her one of his patented excuses, one that would most likely involve badly drawn diagrams and a host of aliens.

"Yeah, it's uh, the new style," he said as he began to pull some books out of the box and place them on their respective shelves.

Something was wrong here she decided. The joke was dead on delivery, even his cheesiest jokes had some bit of bravado, this one just hung there, begging to be killed. He hadn't even given her a smile, something he was known for by all of his friends. She decided she would try again, "So I didn't think that Harlequin romances were really your style. Are you more of a Western loner meeting the town beauty with a past type of reader or something boring like a medieval knight rescuing a damsel in distress?" When she didn't receive an answer she looked for him among the racks of books and saw him sitting down in front of the science fiction section filing the books away alphabetically.

"Hey Raven I'll meet you out in the mall I just gotta finish putting these last few books up, ok," he asked without even looking up at her.

"Alright Beast Boy, but hurry please," she said, somewhat dejected at the lack of conversation from him.

"OK."

Raven walked back into the main area of the mall and sat down on a bench not too far from the bookstore that Beast Boy worked in. As she waited she simply watched the cleaning people go about their business, either too tired to notice her or to apathetic about her role as a titan to give her a second glance. Her friend emerged from the bookstore shortly after and wordlessly sat beside her, laying his head on the wall behind them.

After a few moments of silence she began to get uncomfortable as she was unused to a silent Beast Boy. "Are you read-"

"I hate my job," he said, interrupting her.

"Oh." This was odd as Beast Boy rarely used the word hate. He disliked people's eating of meat. He abhorred silence. He despised dog jokes for some weird reason that seemed to only make sense to him. But he had never outright said he hated something. Raven would later tell friends that it was because of this once in a lifetime moment that she felt she should somehow comfort him in some way or another in the most friendly manner she could muster. "Why?"

"It's just…like people are all happy when I'm a titan and I get fan mail, but when I'm at this job it sucks because people treat us like crap Raven. They just walk all over us. This woman came in today and was shocked that we didn't have any copies of Catcher in the Rye and then started giving me this big lecture on how the youth are going to hell in a handbasket and bookstores are the reason why because we don't carry classics. Also, I don't like books or reading so it's really weird that I'm working in a book store."

"I will admit that its' rather ironic."

"It's what?"

"Weird," she said with a sigh.

"Yeah and it's like there's no appreciation at all. Like minimum wage is supposed to make it all better. I'm not trying to complain cuz I know it's a job, but still…"

"So if you don't like it why are you still working here? The city pays for all of our basic needs."

"Yeah, but I wanted to work here for a few months so I could get the money to buy a moped and then quit. I'm not sure if I can hang in much longer though."

"Beast Boy you realize you'd have to work this job forever if buying a moped was your primary goal. You'd have to pay for gas and upkeep on the moped."

"Oh man you're right," he said getting up. Already Raven could sense he was about to go into full on rant mode, complete with chalkboard and conspiracy theories so she quickly decided to change topic.

"What about you though? You can't expect people to always treat you like a hero or a star. This is how normal people live. They have jobs and some of them like their jobs and others don't. They get complimented and criticized and in the end they're working to get what they want or need. So it's not as if you're really being treated unfairly here."

"Yeah I guess, but I still think I need to find another job. Me and books just don't mix."

"Agreed," she said, "but doing what?" When he didn't respond she decided to try being helpful again. "There's a paper back at the tower with some want ads in it if you want to look and get an idea."

"Cool, can you help?"

"I suppose," she said as she stood and slowly began to walk towards the mall exit. "So a woman asked about Catcher in the Rye?"

"Yeah," he said as he caught up with her, easily matching her stride despite the fact that she was a few inches taller than him.

"Odd."

"Why is it odd? Isn't it like a famous book or something?"

"Well yes, but part of its popularity is due to the fact that many serial killers have had an interest in that book."

"Oh, so maybe I should stay at the bookstore and maybe catch people buying-"

"Beast Boy."

"Yeah?"

"Don't," she said, hoping he wouldn't think too much of the arm she placed around his shoulder as they exited the mall.