Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Teen Titans.
Xavier's POV
Xavier sat at the massive mahogany dining table gawking at the luscious breakfast laid before him. Hunger didn't faze him for he was lost in thought. His troubles were never far away. Almost like a recurring dream that never allowed him to forget. He had made many mistakes in his life, some he would never be able to live down. But now the only person he'd come to depend on would no longer be there.
So much had happened in so little time. His world collapsed in a mere distressful weekend. Yes maybe he was somewhat of a control freak. Yes he had everything he wanted within his grasp. But what good was that when he lost the only person whom he had trusted. It was her trust he had indeed shattered with his ornery and reckless ways. But thinking back to it, he never expected this to happen. It wasn't supposed to happen. He never intended to fall for her.
She was supposed to be a conquest, like all the others. After countless days of pursuing and pestering her, she finally gave in. It was only going to last a month he would tell himself, just like all the others. But little by little he would notice all the mesmerizing things she would do. When she'd fall asleep on his chest after watching a movie and he'd try to get up, she'd wrap her slim arms around him almost afraid he would leave. He felt needed. When they laid together in bed he could feel the softness of her pounding heart. He felt at peace. When they ate together, she was willing to try anything once. He felt happiness. When he was angry for one reason or another, she would always make these playful expressions on her face just to make him laugh. He felt like a child again. After having another argument with his father, he'd never call his friends only her, she'd always make him feel worthy. He felt cared for. Then she told him he was the greatest thing to come into her life in a long time. He felt proud.
He warned himself not to care too much. He would scold himself and insist she was just like all the other girls he dated who knew nothing but vanity along with self-importance. He should have ran when he knew she was extraordinary. He battled with new emotions he had never faced before and finally came to realize that he was truly in love with her.
Except all that was gone now. He couldn't deal with it. In truth with her in his life she helped him battle all the demons that ripped him apart. She was always there for him when he had fallen. And in his current situation he couldn't have fallen any deeper.
No one knew of his real life. The façade he portrayed was what everyone wanted and expected to see. Everyone being mainly his father.
Cambridge Redd, was a well-known magnate of Gotham City. True to his malicious nature he was known for his merciless work ethics and would step on any and every toe to get what he sought after. His need for command and control didn't help stabilize his relationship with his son. Xavier was an unexpected part of his life. To Cambridge he was just a detour he took, a wrong path. Xavier's mother was a fling he had at an early age. To him she was a wench who was after his money along with his name. After learning of her pregnancy and through countless testing, he had to accept that he was Xavier's true father. Deciding it'd be best for Xavier to be raised by his family which held respect and nobility, he would in turn make his only son lose any contact with that woman. He felt the only way for his son to succeed was without a doubt to be just like him, whatever the cost.
Footsteps were heard entering the dining room where a kitchen servant had pulled out a chair for the man of the house. The fine china was placed in front of him, his wine was poured into a goblet. Although it was morning, it was all he ever drank.
"Isn't it customary for a son to greet his father in the morning?" his father directed his scorning towards Xavier.
"Sorry dad. How are you?" he asked. He was not in the mood to deal with his father's arrogance right before school.
"Dad? No one in our family has ever been called 'dad'. And I don't intend for it to start with you." he looked at his son with a strict face.
"I'm sorry, father." he said through gritted teeth stressing the last word.
"You would think after seventeen years you would have learned some form of etiquette by now. Your mother must have branded you with these mediocre ideals." Xavier just continued to ignore him. He learned it was a better effort than just debating him.
Cambridge took out a piece of paper that was hidden inside the pocket of his business jacket. "The servants delivered the mail to me this morning. Imagine my astonishment when you received a rather interesting letter." Xavier looked to his father questioning what he was talking about. "It's from that dismal college you keep rambling about. Now what I'd like to know is why you have bothered applying to this university." he raged.
"You opened my mail? Can't I get any damn privacy!" he narrowed his eyes at his father.
"Don't you dare speak to me in that tone! Do you understand!" Cambridge leaped from his seat with the letter in hand. "We have discussed this already. You will not be attending this joke of a college. You will go to the same university I went to. I have already pulled all the necessary strings to get you there. There will be no further discussion on this subject matter!" he slammed the paper along with his hand on the table causing the porcelain to shake.
"I don't want to go there. I told you it's my life." he declared. Although he was never one to argue defiantly with his father he was sick and tired of his overbearing attitude.
"You're life? It's my money! You will go where I say DO YOU UNDERSTAND!" He went to Xavier's side and flipped his plate into the air causing the food along with the plate to shatter onto the floor.
Xavier stared at the ground then to his father. Too tired to argue, his father won once again. He sighed… "Ok…Ok…I'll go to your university." he was crestfallen. His father leered at the blatant defeat. He took the letter, shredded it into little pieces and let the bits fall onto the floor.
"Good now get out of my sight. You've angered me and I don't want to see you right now." he seethed. Xavier threw his napkin on the table and retreated to his room before leaving for school. The last he heard of his father was ordering the maids to clean up the mess.
Xavier now in his room, locked the door. He went to his dresser and pulled out a bottle of aspirin. He always kept an ample supply handy since his father had this effect on him. He stared at the painting above his headboard and decided against removing it. He went to his bathroom to wash down the aspirins he just took. Looking at the alarm clock he went to grab his car keys knowing he'd probably be late for school. Before he left he observed the picture frame he had placed on his nightstand. It was of Kori smiling like always. He grabbed the frame tracing her dazzling face with his strong finger. Where are you when I need you?
Kori's POV
Kori viewed her reflection off her bathroom mirror. She had been struggling for five minutes trying her best to perfect her ponytail. She let her dangling bangs hover over her eyes making a mental note it was time for a haircut. She was wearing her black with dark red and white trim cheerleading uniform due to the pep rally they will be having at the end of the school day. The sleeveless top with the letters GWA printed diagonally in dark red and white letters stopped just below her navel. Her skirt, which she always believed was just a little too short, hung loosely around her thighs. One of the only things she liked were the new arm gloves decorated to match her uniform. They were holes at the front for her fingers which were the only things visible and went all through her arm then ended at her biceps. Of course the letters GWA were adorned on the front of the gloves in the front palm area. Good enough, I guess.
She finished putting on her white tennis shoes and headed down the stairs. She popped a bagel into the toaster waiting to smother it with some cream cheese. She thought back to yesterday when she had seen Ryan off. He had to be back to college by Monday. He promised to be back in two weeks. Then she remembered about Koma, who drove home with Ryan. She and her had not spoken to each other all that day. That was partly due to the fact that Kori spent almost the whole day drowning in her depression. She hated the fact that Koma was pregnant by Xavier, her ex-boyfriend. She knew she still cared for him, maybe even still had deep feelings for him. But what could she do now. However she still couldn't get the notion out of her head that maybe, just maybe this wasn't Xavier's child. Koma was never the innocent angel she liked to portray. Hardly!
She headed out to her car and turned the engine. She drove over to Terra's house having promised to pick her up for school. Almost immediately Terra appeared coming out from behind her door in her cheerleading uniform as well. With her blonde hair shining in the sunshine, she smiled as she ran to her car. "Hey Kor, Kor." she joked as she entered. "Hey!" Kori tried putting on her best smile.
"Ok…what's wrong?" Terra frowned.
"What are you talking about? Nothing's wrong."
"Kor, I'm not stupid. You don't show up at Bee's party, you didn't answer my calls yesterday. Spill it." she crossed her arms looking intently at Kori.
"Geez Terra, why do you have to know me so well?" she asked bothered.
"Remember me, your best friend. It's a requirement." she pointed at herself.
"Ok if you must know…Xavier and I…well we broke up." she mumbled.
Silence was all Kori heard. She looked over to Terra to see her hung with her mouth wide open in shock.
"Why?" she whispered.
"Because he was a cheating jerk, that's why." she glared at the road ahead gripping the steering wheel tighter.
"Who?" she whispered once again eyes wide open.
"I don't know with who, but he did." telling Terra her own sister was 'the other woman' was not something she wanted to blab right now.
"That asshole! I'm gonna stone his sorry ass when I see him. Believe it!" she roared.
"NO! No one is going to do anything Terra. Not you, or Vic, or Bee or the twins. Or anyone else. I'm a big girl and I'll handle this like one Ok?" she explained.
"I don't believe you Kori, you act as if this is nothing."
"This is the way I deal with it alright. It helps me. If he didn't care enough about me to be faithful, then why should I spend my days crying for him. It's not worth it, right?" she asked. She wanted encouragement, something from her friend.
"If you say so…I guess that makes sense." she shrugged not satisfied with Kori's answer.
Richard's POV
Richard pulled up to the student parking lot in his ninja bike. He got off then began putting his helmet in the storage area of his bike. He went to meet his friends at their usual bench. He looked around thinking if he would see Kori anywhere. He wondered if she would acknowledge him or wondered if maybe she wished that their 'gathering' had never happened. For some reason he didn't believe that she would ignore him completely. She just didn't seem like that kind of person. He finally arrived to see Gar and Rachel sitting a little too close to each other. Then he saw Gar reach to Rachel's hair to pull back a strand that had flown to her face. She didn't kill him…that's new.
"Uh…hi guys." he said in an uneasy tone feeling as if he was interrupting something.
"Hi Richard." Rachel smiled. "Gar and I were just talking."
"Yeeeaahhh." Richard stretched his word. "Gar why are you grinning like the cheshire cat?" he looked to both Rachel then Gar again. "What did you guys do?" he raised an eyebrow.
"I guess it'd be better if I showed you." Gar got up and raised his shirt to reveal a green three inch raven in mid flight on his chest.
"Holy shit!" Richard went to touch it but Rachel slapped his hand gently.
"No it's still sore." she warned. Richard nodded but still in disbelief. The bell rang throughout the schoolyard so students could begin rushing to their classes. Richard vowed not to be late for first period. He didn't want Mr. Wilson's embarrassing speech to be heard again. He arrived only to find that Kori and her friends were already seated. He went to his desk and sat while the last bell chimed allowing the instructors to begin their lesson. Mr. Wilson appeared from behind the class ordering for quietness in his classroom.
"Well Mr. Grayson, you finally decided to make it in time for class. I am quite flabbergasted." he chuckled.
"Sorry teach but all I heard was 'you' and 'gas'." Richard looked around the classroom unsure why there were cheers and snickers since he didn't consider his remark to be that funny. He saw Kori laughing hysterically. She did a little wave when she saw him look directly at her. He simply smiled back.
"Enough!" hollered Mr. Wilson. "One more outburst like that and you'll be spending the rest of the semester in detention." he scowled at Richard as if though he were his nemesis.
The class had since quieted down fearing they themselves would be caught with a detention sentence. Mr. Wilson began his lesson on the movement of the Roman Empire. The rest of the time Richard forced himself to stay awake. The forty minutes of complete boredom came and went quickly. Hearing the bell ring summoned the students out of class and to their next remaining courses.
Richard gathered his belongings and headed for the door. He felt a soft tap on his shoulder and turned around to see the face he'd grown so fond of.
"Hey. So where are you headed to next?" Kori asked looking up at him.
"Oh…uh…just P.E." Richard said slinging his backpack over his shoulder.
"Oh I hate P.E." she made a disliking face.
"Nah I love it. Nothing like a good workout to clear your mind." he smiled at her.
All of a sudden Kori jumped when she felt hands tickling her on her sides. "Hey Kor you said to give you a minute, not a millennia." Terra joked as Bee joined up beside her.
"Who's your friend, Kori?" Bee questioned looking at Richard. She felt her blonde friend slap her shoulder playfully.
"Bee this is Richard…right?" she said her blue eyes motioning over to Richard wondering if she was correct. He only nodded looking at the two nervously.
Bee thought it over and snapped her fingers, "Oh this is the guy Kitten is psycho over, huh?" she realized. "My condolences." she added tapping his arm softly then teasingly laughed.
"I thought Kitten hated me. Or is it that I just hate her." Richard grimaced. Kitten always made it known how much of a loser he was in public, but did always give him loving hints toward her interest in him. But only when no one was around, of course.
The girls laughed at his comment. "Oh yeah, I like you already." Terra patted his back.
The second bell had rung once again. "Shit Kori, we're gonna be late for bio. Come on!" Bee intertwined arms with Kori and started pulling her away.
"I'll see you later, Rich-" Kori said unfinished. He continued on to his locker but not without turning back to see Kori at hers chatting away with the other girls.
Kori's POV
Kori began searching for her book for her next class when she heard her name being called out. She closed her locker and saw Xavier with his entourage of jocks and friends following behind. Xavier walked in front of them as if he was their commander.
"Wait here." he ordered the boys.
He walked up to Kori still at her locker. "What do you want Xavier?" she scowled at him. He stared at her solemnly and whispered…
"Look Kori I'm sorry about what happened this weekend. You have every right to be hate me. I would of explained all this to you but you wouldn't take my calls. I don't want to lose you. I never ever meant to hurt you. You have to believe me."
Kori looked away avoiding his smoky gray eyes. She bit into her lip pondering, then she stared back to Xavier and started to walk away.
"Damn it Kori! I just want to talk to you!" he grabbed her arm pulling her back to face him. Kori glared at him and went up close to his face.
"You want to talk? Fine! Let me start off by saying, congratulations. You don't know how ecstatic you've made me to know that I'm going to be an aunt!" she whispered loud enough only for his ears. She then yanked her arm away from his grasp and stormed down the hallway.
Xavier stood there shocked. He couldn't believe Koma had told her. He looked at Kori's retreating back knowing there was nothing he could do. Never would she be his again. Never would she be his confidante, or there to care for him. Wrath swelled up in his body, anger was all he knew now. He, without thinking, slammed his hand into the nearby locker not caring of the huge dent he made into it. The echo of the clattering sound made Kori look back to see the mutilated locker. Once again she realized Xavier was having one of his habitual livid fits. She looked intently at Xavier and held a frightened stare before she rounded the corner no longer in sight.
"Shit X, what the fuck are you doin'?" Fang looked on surprised at his friend.
"Come on X, lets go!" Billy shouted. Xavier rounded to his friends and walked past them, mad as hell. All the guys just looked at each other speculating what was wrong with their comrade and followed close behind their leader.
Kori's POV
It was the last class period of the day. The classroom was buzzing and hectic. It was usually like this when there was a pep rally about to happen. The joy of class being released early left the students giddy. The intercom blared through the whole school…
"Teachers and faculty please release all cheerleaders and basketball players in ten minutes. Thank You."
It was customary for the people participating in the pep rally to be released early due to the time needed to prepare and get all the props ready. Kori started gathering her things just to be ready. A knock at the door beckoned silence in the classroom. Then a student walked in with a note in hand then offered it to the teacher behind the desk. After reading the note the teacher informed Kori she was needed in the office.
She traveled with her handbag to the office doubting why she was needed there. She entered to find the secretary on the phone. Kori handed her the note and the lady motioned for her to enter the principal's office. Great what did I do now. She knocked twice on the door and entered. Then she spotted a person she least expected to see.
"Galfore? What are you doing here?" she was worried. Galfore was the house caretaker and close friend of the family. But why he would be here now was the question at hand.
"Kori. I have some very unfortunate news." he looked down and shook his head. It was hard to see this robust man so easily hurt.
"What? What's wrong?" she whispered grabbing his hand so delicately.
"You're parents decided to come home earlier than expected. As you know they were traveling by plane and…well there were some complications. They…they found…" he couldn't finish.
"They found what?" her voice breaking and her eyes glassy with tears.
"They found remnants of their plane in the Indian Ocean."
Well I hope this chapter was up to par. I'm trying to update faster, I really would like to end this story before the summer. But again I'd like to thank all the reviewers who did so in the last chapter, thanks! I know things are going downhill for Kori, but they'll get better soon. Well maybe...until next chapter.