A/N: Chapter three, coming up!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans.

Bad to the Bone

Chapter 3: Getting Together

After the whole Mr. Tlaski fiasco, Raven was constantly in the company of Rich. She didn't mind it all that much because he was her best friend and she kind of liked him, but she wouldn't let any body know that. But the whole thing wasn't laid to rest. The girls who were jealous that the only girl Rich had ever paid attention to was Raven started that rumor that Raven let Mr. Tlaski feel her up and that Raven got completely naked for him and that's why she had a perfect grade before he left. Even though this rumor was proved wrong by Raven when she yelled that she had a C+ at that point in time, others popped up and some people who were easily influenced now considered Raven a slut.

Three weeks after Mr. Tlaski was fired, Raven was climbing into the front seat of Rich's car and she wasn't feeling very good. She chose to ignore the feeling and just buckled up. Rich pulled out of the drive way and they were on their way to school so Raven couldn't change her mind and decide that she was sick.

When they pulled into school and got out of the car, Rich and Raven walked straight into the building. Unfortunately they had to walk by a group of girls who called out to Raven.

"Slept with anyone good lately?"

"Wow, she wore a shirt today!"

"I wonder how long she and Richie have been sleeping together."

Raven had had enough at this point so she turned around and stalked over to the group of girls.

"Sorry Raven, we don't want to see what you've got."

"I've had enough of you guys! I have never slept with anybody! Especially not that sick pervert who used to be our teacher!" Raven shouted. Then she drew back her arm and clocked the leader of the group of girls.

"By the way, Rich, not Richie, is my best friend and he's the only one in this world who doesn't think of me as a pair of boobs!" Raven shouted.

"Miss Roth! Did I just see you punch that girl?" The vice principal asked.

"Yes you did! But did you not hear what she said to me?" Raven exclaimed.

"No, actually, but I highly doubt it constitutes punching her!" The vice principal cried.

"Excuse me sir, but this entire group of girls has been harassing Raven for the last two weeks on the basis that she's a slut and you know perfectly well what the real story is. Raven has been very good at controlling her temper but this scene is very similar to the one that got Raven thrown out of her old school," Rich said.

"Thank you Mr. Grayson, next time I'll ask you if I want to know what you've got to say," The vice principal said, "Now come with me Raven."

Raven followed him to his office where she was given three days suspension. The vice principal gave Rich permission to drive Raven back home and when Rich got back to school he had a pass written for him to excuse him being late.

That day when Rich went to pick Tommy and Damian up from soccer practice, there was almost a mini fight.

"Why isn't my sister here?" Damian asked angrily at seeing only Rich in the car.

"She got suspended," Rich replied.

"What did she do this time?" Damian inquired.

"We were walking into school and as we passed this group of girls they were yelling stupid things at Raven about her being a slut and then they said something about her and I sleeping together and Raven turned around and clocked the leader of the group," Rich explained.

"Oh, so it's your fault," Damian said.

"No it's not my fault, it was that other girl's fault," Rich retorted.

"No it's not, if that other girl hadn't been jealous that you were only paying attention to Raven she wouldn't have said anything about you, but she did and Raven got suspended because of it," Damian commented.

"I'm supposed to be paying attention to Raven so that nothing will happen to her," Rich answered, trying to stay calm and not shout at the kid.

"But it's still you're fault," Damian persisted.

"Whatever," Rich said, having to try harder now to keep his cool.

"Do you like my sister?" Damian asked.

"Of course I like her! She's my best friend, and only friend," Rich said.

"No, do you like her?" Damian asked again.

"If I did I wouldn't tell you," Rich said.

"So you only like her because she's got a nice rack," Damian concluded.

"I never said that," Rich replied.

"Well, if you don't like her then the only reason why you'd still be hanging out with her is because you like how she looks," Damian said.

"That's not true!" Rich shouted.

"So you think she's ugly," Damian decided.

"No, she's very beautiful," Rich informed the kid in the back seat.

"So you are shallow and only like her for her looks! I knew it!" Damian exclaimed in victory.

"Just get out of the car!" Rich commanded as he pulled into Raven's driveway. Damian jumped out and Tommy was right behind him.

As Rich drove back to his house he was thinking about what he really felt for Raven. He knew that he didn't just like her for her looks that was for sure. But Rich couldn't decide if he only cared for her like you would for a best friend, or if he liked her more than that.

At dinner that night a very interesting conversation popped up. Raven was telling her dad how she had gotten suspended and when she finished and Trenton had given Raven her punishment, Damian spoke up.

"I don't see why you still hang out with Rich."

"I hang out with him because he's my best and only friend," Raven said calmly, she knew that this conversation or something similar to it would happen eventually because Damian definitely couldn't stand Rich.

"I don't think so, during the drive home today Rich admitted that he only liked you for your looks," Damian said.

"Did he say it or did you jump to that conclusion?" Raven asked knowingly, Damian had never liked it when Raven was friends with guys.

"He out right admitted it, I asked him and he gave me a straight answer," Damian lied, "Besides, I can't believe you haven't caught him staring yet!"

"He probably looks away when ever I look at him," Raven said, playing along.

"I doubt it, he's always staring at either your boobs or you butt contently, I'd be surprised if he noticed that someone came and hit him on the head," Damian said.

"I can't believe you just said that! I have never seen Rich stare at me. He's very respectable; you've probably seen his twin brother doing that. Every time I'm over there he doesn't do anything but stare at me, it's really creepy," Raven said.

"Raven, if you're not careful you're going to end up pregnant because of him!" Damian said.

"Shut up, Rich would never do that! You don't even know him! Unlike the other guys in our school, Rich doesn't even have sex on his mind!" Raven shouted.

"That's what you'd like to think. I'm willing to bet he spends all of his time thinking of ways to get you to sleep with him," Damian said.

"That's enough!" Trenton shouted. But Raven had run out of the room crying. She grabbed her car keys and then took off towards the Grayson's house. "Raven wait! Don't go off alone!" But it was too late; she had already gotten halfway down their street.

Raven knocked on the Grayson's door and Ryan answered. He just stood there staring at her because usually Rich went to Raven's house just so this wouldn't happen.

"Ryan, go back and watch your TV show, you're creeping Raven out! He's up in his room Raven," Darcy said, shooing Ryan away from the front door because he was letting cold air in.

"Thank you," Raven choked out before running up the two flights of steps to Rich's room at the end of the hallway.

Raven knocked on his door. "Go away Ryan! I already told you I don't want to watch… Raven what's the matter?" He asked his crying best friend.

"Do you only like me because I have big boobs?" Raven asked.

"Of course not! I like you because of who you are! You could be flat as a bored and I wouldn't care. But they're very nice too, don't feel bad," Rich stumbled over his words trying to fix everything he said that seemed somewhat negative. He knew better then the further upset a crying girl.

"Do you mean it?" Raven questioned.

"Of course I mean it, would I ever lie to you? What made you think this anyway?" Rich asked.

"Damian said that you said that while driving him home today. I figured he was probably lying, but then he said that if I wasn't careful you were going to get me pregnant and he said a whole bunch of other things…" Raven trailed off.

"Listen, I know you brother hates me, and after today I'm not particularly fond of him either, but I would never even think of that as an option. I have to be honest, the reason why I came over to see you at the end of the summer was because I saw you driving by I guess the day you got expelled, and I thought that you were really hot. When I went to talk to you, I still thought that, but I got over that fact pretty soon because I realized you are really an awesome person," Rich said.

"Thank you," Raven said, and then she stood on her tiptoes so that she could reach and she tried to kiss him, but he pulled back.

"Raven, if you do that, it could completely ruin our friendship," Rich said.

"Our whole friendship is based on attraction, so it's ok," Raven said.

"Are you sure you're willing to risk all we have? It could make our classes this school year really awkward," Rich reminded her. Instead of giving Rich a verbal reply, Raven caught him off guard and kissed him them. "Okay, we'll do it, as long as you promise me that this isn't a dream and you won't stomp on my heart."

"I promise, Wonder Boy," Raven said.

"Wonder Boy?" Rich asked.

"Yes, I wonder why I like this boy," Raven joked. And then in retaliation, Rich started tickling her. He chased her down the hallway and then grabbed Raven and carried her down the stairs. He put her when they reached the bottom. She tried to turn around and run away, but Rich was holding her close to him. A couple seconds passed, and then he kissed her. It was a sweet embrace until they were interrupted.

"I knew this would happen," Darcy exclaimed gleefully. Richard and Raven broke apart blushing. "Oh, sorry, I'll leave."

"Dude, that's not cool, she was definitely going to be mine!" Ryan exclaimed.

"First of all little bro, never say dude again, you're too preppy looking. Second of all, you creep Raven out," Rich said. Ryan just sulked off.

"I'm so glad that the whole Ryan thing is over," Raven said.

"Don't be, if he can't have it, he'll try even harder to get it. So he's not just going to stare at you, whom he's convinced makes girls attracted to him, he's probably going to start getting you things, so I'd suggest not coming here unannounced any more," Rich said.

"Thank you Captain Obvious!" Raven exclaimed.

"Well, why don't I take you home and someone can come get me later," Rich said.

"Sounds good, but we can't tell Damian about us going out," Raven said.

"Alright, I don't think I'd want to argue with him at all, it would ruin my perfectly happy mood," Rich said as they climbed into Raven's car. When they got back to the Roth's mansion Damian was waiting for Raven.

"Raven I'm sorry I was such a jerk to you before," Damian said.

"Apology accepted," Raven said, and then Damian went up stairs because he had been sent to his room for the night.

Rich spent the next hour and a half at Raven's house just hanging around and talking with Nanu, her father, and of course, Raven. When Darcy came and picked Rich up Raven walked out the front door with him. They didn't want to be caught kissing by Nanu or Trenton because they didn't want Damian to know yet. Richard bent down and kissed Raven good bye before leaving. He promised to come in and visit when he brought Tommy and Damian home from soccer because Raven was suspended. When Rich finally left and Raven came into the house she found Damian standing on the stairs.

"I thought that you were supposed to be in your room," Raven reminded him, still bitter from his remarks earlier.

"I am, but I just had to ask you one thing," Damian said.

"Ask away," Raven said.

"How long have you and Richard been going out for? It must be a pretty long time for you two to be kissing," Damian asked.

"We've been going out for about," Raven check her watch, "Two hours."

Disgusted at the fact that his sister was now dating a guy he couldn't stand, Damian went back to his room before Raven could tell her father that he was out of his room.

"So, how long have you been going out with Mr. Grayson?" Nanu asked as she wiped down the counter.

"How do you know about us?" Raven asked, absolutely astounded that Nanu found out. She and Damian could barely hear each other so there was no way that Nanu could have found out.

"It's really easy, you were so much happier when you came back with him. And nothing he said could have cheered you up that much. Also, you and Mr. Grayson were sitting very close, before you sat at a friendly distance. Reading your body language is very easy. Your father doesn't know yet and you know how he hates being left in the dark, you should probably tell him," Nanu suggested.

"I guess I should, do you know where he is?" Raven asked.

"He's in his study," Nanu replied. Raven took off towards the stairs and then went to the far right end of the mansion. When she reached the closed door of her father's study Raven knocked on it.

"Who is it?" Trenton asked.

"It's Raven, Dad," Raven replied.

"Come in," Trenton said. "What's up?"

"Umm, there's something I've got to tell you," Raven started.

"Is this bad news?" Trenton asked.

"No, it's good news. At least for me," Raven said.

"Alright, what's new in your life?" Trenton questioned.

"Rich and I are going out," Raven spit out.

"Oh, so you finally got together?" Trenton inquired.

"Has everyone been playing match maker with Rich and me?" Raven exclaimed.

"No, your brother hasn't," Trenton joked.

"Very funny Dad, so you're not mad?" Raven asked.

"Why would I be mad? I'm really happy for you. About six months ago you didn't have any friends and you had been kicked out of your high school. Now you've got a boy friend and you're going to public school where the kids don't all try to get you expelled," Trenton said.

"Thank you Daddy!" Raven exclaimed, hugging her dad and then leaving her dad to finish the work that he had brought home.

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A/N: How did you like this chapter? I've got to apologize to Mr. Evil; you're probably having a heart attack from not having any heart break yet. I promise I'm going to put some in eventually. Maybe even next chapter if I get enough reviews. I know I broke the rule about not mentioning people, but shhhh. I actually haven't ever seen this rule. If someone can tell me where it is…