AN: I do not own the Teen Titans, for if I did I would never let it go off the air!
Chapter 3: On and Off the Rebound
So Beast Boy sat outside of Ravens door for four days apologizing. He went on and on telling her how sorry he was and that she shouldn't punish herself because he made a stupid slip of the tongue. He didn't do anything else other than sit on the floor, his back against her door, and apologize.
"…so as you can see, it's really selfish of you to stay in your room. You're putting your friends through hell when you do this. We all love you and hate it when we see you hurt yourself. I can understand if you don't want to talk to me for a few weeks, but it's unfair to put Cyborg, Robin, and Starfire through this. I can't tell you how horrible I feel about making you feel bad. I would never do that to you on purpose. Please come out."
He shifted his body, for his bottom was feeling quite numb. His throat was dry and he was growing quite bored with all of this. He hadn't realized what he was getting himself into when he promised to keep apologizing until she came out. He just couldn't understand why she would feel this way about herself. He thought she was pretty, they all thought that. She seemed to be the only one who didn't know. Sure, he had never said it to her face, but he never really thought he had to. And if he did, he thought she might take it the wrong way. He decided to take the chance.
"You know Raven, I've always found you very attractive," said Beast Boy in a quiet voice. He wasn't even sure if she could hear him. "I know that I've never said it, but, well, you know. We haven't exactly been the best of friends. And it's kinda hard for me to compliment you when all you do is insult me and put me down. But that's just an excuse. I'm sorry that no one ever tells you how pretty you are."
Suddenly Ravens door slid open and Beast Boy fell backwards into her room. He felt a black aura surround him and pull him into the room. The door closed and locked. Beast Boy quickly sprang to his feet and turned to see Raven staring at him furiously.
"There are a lot of things I can take Beast Boy," she said, her mouth practically foaming with rage. She was encased in her own dark powers and black tentacles were twitching under her cloak. "I can take your incessant talking outside of my door, I can take your stupid pointless apologies, and I can even take your refusal to take a hint and leave me alone. But I can not take lying!"
Beast Boy was terrified and backed up against her closed, locked door. "What lying? I didn't lie!"
"Yes you did!" she seethed. "You said that I was attractive and that I was pretty. I know that I'm ugly, Beast Boy! So don't try to trick me into thinking I'm not. I hate being lied to and I hate being tricked!" By this point she was screeching and hurt Beast Boy's poor sensitive ears.
"But I didn't lie to you and I'm not trying to trick you," said Beast Boy, uncovering his ears. "You're not ugly, Raven. You're one of the most beautiful girls I've ever met, and that's the truth!"
Ravens tentacles retreated and she turned back to normal, but her eyes were streaming with tears. She placed her face in her hands and peeped, "Why are you doing this me?"
"I'm not doing anything to you," said Beast Boy. "I'm trying to make you feel better."
"By lying to me?" she yelled.
"I'm not lying to you!" he yelled back. "Why the hell would you think I would lie to you? You know how hard it is for me to talk to you seriously, and trust me I'm talking to you as seriously as I can."
Raven stared at him a few silent seconds. Tears were dripping down her pale cheeks. Beast Boy had never seen Raven cry like this. "There has only been one person in my life that said that I was beautiful. And it turned out that every word that came out of his mouth was a lie."
"Raven, he was an evil dragon from a book! What does it matter what he said? He's not the one telling you you're beautiful now, I am."
"It doesn't matter what you say," she said turning away. "He said it first and he was a liar."
Her door reopened and Beast Boy felt himself being pushed out of it. But he grabbed the doorframe and pulled himself back in. "Wait a second! I'm not leaving you like this."
"Can't you just leave me alone?" she cried.
"Not in this condition," said Beast Boy closing her door. "Okay, it's obvious that you still haven't gotten over Malchior."
"That's none of your business!" yelled Raven.
"Raven, I know how hard it is to get over your first love," he said softly. "Especially when they really break your heart and make you feel like a fool. But you should use that experience to make you stronger. That's what I did."
"How the hell can having my heart shattered make me stronger?" she screamed, tears filling her eyes once more. "I thought he liked me, I thought he understood me. But he was just using me. He used me!" Everything in her room shook and a few things even fell off of her shelves and smashed on the floor. Raven fell to her knees and wept into her hands. She had never been so upset in her entire life. The truth was that she had never really dealt with all of these emotions she had felt when Malchior had broken her heart. She had done what she always did with her feelings, put them aside and never think about them again. Now she was overcome with all of these built up emotions and she wasn't sure what to do. Having a nervous breakdown had never been an option for her.
As scared as Beast Boy was, he knew that this was a good thing. Raven needed to deal with her feelings, as much as she didn't want to. He went over to her, bent down, placed his hand on her back, and said, "It's okay, Raven." Before he knew what had happened, Raven had turned around and wrapped her arms around him. She began to cry into his chest. At first he was shocked. She had only done this once before and it was under similar circumstances. He slowly wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Raven hugged him tighter and cried even harder. She needed to feel safe, that everything was going to be alright, and she didn't care that Beast Boy was the one comforting her.
Beast Boy rubbed her back and kept saying that everything was okay and that this was a good thing. He barely noticed that almost everything in her room was moving around and/or exploding. All he knew was that Raven was letting him help her, and that was something.
Then she did something extremely unexpected. She lifted her face to his, grabbed his face, and started to kiss him. Beast Boy would have yelled with shear surprise if his mouth had not been covered with Ravens. He stared at her with wide, shocked eyes, unsure of what was going on. Her eyes were closed and he could feel her wet cheeks pressed up against his. He didn't know why, but he closed his eyes and kissed her right back. At this point Raven wrapped one of her arms around his neck and Beast Boy really held her close.
Raven suddenly pushed Beast Boy over, still kissing him of course, and then rolled over so that he was on top of her. He had no idea what was going on, but he really didn't care. Then he remembered, as Ravens tongue danced with his own, that this was not right. Raven was just upset and she wasn't thinking straight. He remembered feeling that way when Terra had turned to stone. He had wanted someone there to comfort him and make him forget about her. It had taken Raven a couple years, but she was now going through the same thing.
He pried her lips off of hers and said, quite out of breath, "Raven, this isn't right."
Raven looked up at him and realized what she was doing. She let go of him and let him sit up. She remained on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. She felt very confused, very strange, and she was shaking.
Beast Boy stood up and then extended a hand out to Raven. She took it and he pulled her up. She could barely stand up she was so dazed. "Hey, you okay?" asked Beast Boy soothingly. He knew that the last thing she needed was to feel awkward about what she had done.
"Uh… I don't know," said Raven rubbing her arm nervously. "Listen, um, about what I just did…"
"Don't worry about," said Beast Boy sweetly. "I'm not gonna tell anyone. We're just gonna pretend that this never happened."
Raven felt immediately relieved. She gave him a small smiled and nodded. She was very very glad that Beast Boy was not going to go around spreading the news that she had made out with him. "Thanks, I would really appreciate it."
"No problem," said Beast Boy with a smile. "Do you think you'll be alright?"
"I'm not sure," said Raven sitting down on her bed. She ran her fingers through her hair and took a deep breath in. Her cheeks were dry and salty from her tears and her eyes itched. Her stomach was going all over the place and her heart was definitely not beating regularly. "I'm not sure what to think right now."
"Well, let me help you," said Beast Boy sitting down next to her. "You helped me with my dream, so I'll help you with… this. What just happened is called a 'nervous breakdown'. It's when you totally lose control of yourself when you are overwhelmed."
"I know what a nervous breakdown is, Beast Boy," said Raven as she itched her eyes.
"Okay, fair enough," said Beast Boy, who was happy she had not said it to him meanly or coldly. "But it's pretty clear that you've never had one before."
"No," said Raven almost laughing, but still not. "I've tried my best to not lose control of myself."
"Well you wouldn't have had one if you had dealt with your broken heart right when it happened," said Beast Boy. "Because you kept it all pent up inside it grew and hurt you even more, kinda like a pimple. Then, when I started poking and prodding you about Malchior, I, well, popped it."
"Very nice analogy," said Raven a bit disgusted. "But, as much as I hate to admit it, it does make sense. But can you tell me why I suddenly lunged at you and we started kissing?"
"It's called being on the rebound," said Beast Boy laughing.
"Oh," said Raven understanding. She had never thought that she would end up being one of those desperate girls who would grab anyone and make out with them for revenge. She felt very shallow at that moment.
"Everyone goes through it at least once," said Beast Boy reassuringly.
"You didn't," said Raven.
"Of course I did," said Beast Boy. "I just didn't pounce on anyone. I would have, but there was really no one around that I felt would make me feel any better by kissing. It took a while, but I got over her and felt better about myself."
"How long did it take you, exactly?" asked Raven hesitantly.
"About a year," said Beast Boy thinking back.
Raven whined and fell backwards onto her bed. "I don't think I can feel this way for a year."
"Well, you don't have to," said Beast Boy lying back as well. "You kissed me, so that means you can really get over Malchior. Now all you have to do is get over me, and… done! See, so you're all set."
"I am?" asked Raven, not sure if she should believe him.
"Yup, all done," said Beast Boy smiling. He sat up and hopped off of her bed. He felt very energetic for some reason. "Ya think you can come out of your room, now?"
Raven slowly sat up and thought for a moment. She wanted to believe everything Beast Boy was saying, so she did. She felt as if a great weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. She stood up and went to the door. "Yes, I think I can come out now."