A/N: I do not own the Teen Titans. Trust me, you'd know if I did.

Chapter 7: It's All in His Head

Just as he promised, the next day he spewed out joke after joke to Raven. The other three Titans thought he had gone insane. He hadn't done this in about three years, what could have compelled him to start up again? Not only that, but he was around Raven all day telling her all of these horrible, corny jokes. They actually feared for his safety.

"Beast Boy, why do you wish to become injured again?" asked Starfire quite seriously.

"What're you talking about?" asked a totally clueless Beast Boy.

"Man, you've been spewing jokes at Raven all day," said Cyborg. "What's wrong you?"

"Well, if you must know, she happens to like my telling her jokes," said Beast Boy quite smug.

"She likes your jokes?" asked a very surprised Robin.

"Well, no, she likes me telling her jokes," said Beast Boy.

"So, she likes that you tell her the jokes, but she doesn't like the jokes themselves?" asked Starfire a bit confused.

"Basically," said Beast Boy.

The three looked at each other and then back at Beast Boy. He was relaxing on the couch with his hands behind his head; his eyes closed and a smile on his face. He actually felt happy. He hadn't felt like this in what seemed forever. Sure, he had been content, but he had never actually felt happy. Now that he did he actual felt quite at peace with himself.

Raven entered and saw the four other Titans standing around the couch, with Beast Boy sitting of course. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she figured she probably didn't want to know. She went over to one of the large windows and got in a meditating position. She was about five feet off the ground with her legs crossed. She rested her upturned hands on her knees.

Cyborg decided to go work on the T-car and Robin and Starfire headed off to the movies. Beast Boy turned the television on and settled in for a nice, quiet afternoon. He still had a few jokes he had yet to unleash on Raven, but he figured he would wait until she was done meditating.

A few minutes into one of the shows he was watching he found himself paying less attention to the screen and more to the hovering Raven. She was completely still as she sat in the air. He could just hear her chanting her mantra. The sunlight made her appear more golden than pale and it was a brilliant look for her. He could see her profile by the way she was sitting and he slowly studied her. Her once round face was now more defined, a woman's face. Her violet eyes were covered by her hood, her pouting lips lightly touching each other. He watched her chest fall and rise in a slow rhythm as she breathed. She had a glorious chest, as far as chests went.

'You like her!' said his inner mind.

'What?' he asked himself shocked at the thought.

'You like her! You like her!'

'I do not! Well, I mean, of course I like her, she's my friend again.'

'You want to kiss her!'

'What?'

'You want to hug her and kiss her!'

'Now that would be just the hormones talkin'. God, when do stupid teenage hormones go away anyway?'

'Hold her!'

'Hormones.'

'Kiss her!'

'Enough!'

He snapped out of his argument and back into reality. He looked at Raven and saw that she hadn't moved at all. She was still meditating. He was relieved; he was sure that if she had looked over at him he would have blurted out some embarrassing. He watched how calm her face was when she was meditating.

An odd feeling was welling up in his stomach. He had to stop looking at her. He pried his eyes away and tried to keep them on the television screen. But just knowing that she was there was enough to keep his mind from focusing. He finally decided that the safest thing to do was leave. He jumped up and headed for the gym. Working out always cleared his mind.

Raven would never have told him that she could feel every feeling Beast Boy had felt. She was glad that her hood had been up and had covered her blushing cheeks. Her heart was racing at this point. What a strange feeling it was. She had never experienced such feelings before. 'So that's what boys feel during puberty,' she thought to herself feeling her cheeks grow redder. 'I've got to give credit to the guys for controlling themselves for all of these years.'

Beast Boy ran on the treadmill for a few minutes to warm up. He then moved onto the weight machines. Once he got a good sweat going he attacked the punching bag. The adrenaline was pumping through his veins and he felt invincible as he pummeled the bag. He had learned that working out in his human form was better for his muscle build than in an animal form. Once he had figured that out he saw his body became more muscular and less wiry.

He decided to wrap it up and walked a few minutes on the treadmill. This was the first time he had worked out in almost two weeks and he didn't want to push himself too hard. His plan to get Raven out of his mind had worked, but it came back as soon as his heart rate got back to normal and the adrenaline was diminishing.

After a good shower Beast Boy went back to the common room and was relieved to see that Raven had left. He went to the fridge and decided to make himself some lunch. He hummed to himself as he made himself a sandwich. He danced around and sang into a knife like a microphone. It was one of the few things he absolutely loved to do, but would die if anyone caught him doing it. And sure enough…

"I think a spoon would provide a better microphone."

Beast Boy let out a girly scream and dropped the knife, nearly striking his foot. He turned around and saw Raven standing behind him. "Jesus Christ!" he said grabbing his chest to make sure his heart didn't explode out of it. "Raven, what the hell?"

"What?" she asked plainly. "I didn't do anything wrong."

"You snuck up on me," he said half angrily.

"No, you just couldn't hear me over the chorus," she said smugly and made her way over to the couch with her book.

Beast Boy blushed and felt totally naked. He was so glad that she was no longer facing him. "You're not going to tell anyone, are you?"

"That you sing to yourself while cooking?" she asked opening her book. "No, I can't see any benefit to the team if I told them. Though it is a juicy bit of blackmail."

Beast Boy rarely saw the bloodthirsty side of Raven. Of course, there was a reason for it, what with her father's will and all. But once in a while she would show a little bit of a competitive side or an evil sense of humor. She sometimes got like this when they played stankball. And as she said her little "blackmail" comment he could see her face slightly contort into a wicked smile. He didn't know why, but he loved it when she got like that. It was so out of character for her. He couldn't help but get a shiver up his spine. But this wasn't a new feeling; it had been there whenever she showed this side.

The room was silent as Raven read her book and Beast Boy ate his lunch. He could see her from the table and he watched as she slowly took her hood down. She only did that when she was feeling comfortable in her surroundings. What a nice feeling to know she felt comfortable with him in the room. He could now study her from the back, even if it only was her head. Her pin straight violet hair that now brushed her shoulders slightly hung over the back of the couch. That meant she was leaning back, something else she never did unless she was really comfortable.

"Beast Boy, I might not be able to see you, but I can feel your eyes on me," she said casually turning the page of her book.

Beast Boy had been caught again. He had to start being more careful. "I was just, uh, glancing over," he said trying to cover up his lingering eyes.

"Well you've been "glancing over" at me a lot lately," she said in her normal tone. "And it's starting to make me feel uncomfortable."

'Uncomfortable?' he thought. 'You look like you're completely comfortable. Jeez, you are the queen of mixed signals.'

"I heard that," she said in his mind.

Caught again. He had to get out of there before this got serious. He quickly finished off his lunch and headed for his room. Raven didn't even budge as he exited.

"Okay, there's something very strange going on," he said to himself once he reached his room. "Let's break it down. First I'm Ravens friend. We don't really get along, but we're friends. Then a few years go by and we can't stand each other. Friendship is over. Then I nearly kill her and she comforts me. Then she has a nightmare about me and spills her feelings about my telling her jokes. We become friends again. But now I keep staring at her and she keeps catching me. What the hell does that mean?" He pondered this, but couldn't come up with any conclusions.

"She cares about you," said his inner mind.

"Not you again," he moaned.

"And you care about her."

"Like I said before, she's my friend."

"She sure is pretty."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Uh ha! So you do think she's pretty."

"Would you go away!"

"Sorry Dude, I'm here to stay."

"Fucking hormones."

"What the hell makes you think I'm your hormones? Haven't you ever felt an attraction to anyone without hormones being involved?"

"ATTRACTION!"

Beast Boy couldn't think anymore. His mind was betraying him. How the hell did that work? He had always trust his thoughts and his brain. Even if he didn't use it much, which he confessed openly. But at this point he just couldn't take anymore thinking. He was getting a headache.

Raven had enjoyed that chapter. She felt propelled to go onto the next. She turned the page and only got about five words in when she suddenly felt… odd. Like she was confused about something. Her mind began racing, but there was nothing to race. She got very dizzy and put the book down. Then she felt annoyed, as if she was on the other end of an argument. Then an explosion of shock that nearly made her jump. Slowly it all calmed down and she felt quite drained. She relaxed back into the couch and began to rub her temples.

"Beast Boy," she muttered to herself as her mind calmed down.