AN: It is my duty to inform you that I in no way, shape, or form own the Teen Titans.
Chapter 8: Getting to Know You
Raven was sitting up in the bed, staring off into space. Beast Boy had successfully combed her hair out without any problems arising. Now he was having dinner with the other Titans, and would be bringing her some back. She was positively sick of being in bed. She wanted her strength to be back, but she wasn't sure when that would happen. Her powers had virtually left her for the time being, so she really was helpless. But, the odd thing was that, other than the fact that she was bored, she was kind of enjoying being powerless.
The door opened and in walked Beast Boy with a tray of food for her. He smiled at her and she smiled back. She saw him stumble a little bit, but he quickly caught himself, gave a nervous smile, and went over to her.
'Damn that smile of hers!' Beast Boy thought to himself. As soon as she had smiled at him he had gone weak in the knees. He wasn't sure why, but he had. "I hope you're in the mood for Chinese," he said with a smile as he put the tray down on her lap.
"Sounds good to me," she said. Her stomach was growling and anything looked good at this point. All of this sleeping she was doing was preventing her from eating. But that wasn't the only thing keeping her from eating. She was very embarrassed that Beast Boy had to feed her. But, at the same time, she kind of liked it. She really wasn't sure why.
Beast Boy began to feed her and it grew very quiet between them. Raven couldn't really say anything since she was eating, so Beast Boy took it upon himself to talk, so it wouldn't grow so quiet and awkward between them.
"So how bored are you?" he asked with a chuckle.
"Very," she said with a mouthful of food.
"Do you want me to go get you one of your books?" he asked. "I'm sure there's one or two I could find and clean up."
"I'm not in a reading mood," said Raven after she swallowed. "I mean, I just don't feel like having you stand in front of me with a book."
Beast Boy smiled and fed her another bite of food. "Well, I don't know if you're interested, but there's a funny movie marathon on tonight," he said. "I'm gonna watch it. I figured you would want to be left alone so you could fall asleep. But you can watch a few movies with me, if you want. And, if you're wondering, Cyborg rented us a TV until the new one is built."
Raven thought as she chewed. "Well, it does sound better than staying in here for the rest of the night," she said, trying to sound not all that interested, but a small smirk was on her face. Beast Boy smiled back and gave her a sip of her drink.
He wrapped her up in a blanket and carried her out to the common room. This time he chose to do it bridal style, since he was tired and wasn't sure he could keep her on his back for very long. Raven didn't really mind it all that much, since the other Titans had gone to their rooms for the rest of the evening and night.
He set her down and made sure she was comfortable before he sat down himself. He grabbed the remote and put the right channel on. Raven was lying on her side with her head on the armrest. Beast Boy sat at the opposite end of the couch. The movie marathon began and both settled in.
Three hours passed and Beast Boy was growing tired. He had been laughing up a storm and was enjoying himself. But Raven had stopped laughing about an hour into the first movie. Beast Boy finally looked over to her and saw that she was fast asleep. He smiled to himself and went back to watching his movie.
No sooner had he set his attention back on the film he could hear an odd whimpering sound. He found this strange and he looked to Raven. He saw her slightly shaking. He leaned closer to her and could see tears sliding down her cheeks. "Raven?" he said quietly. She didn't respond and he knew she was dreaming. He crawled over to her and hovered above her, shaking her shoulder. "Raven, wake up."
Raven gave a small jump and gasped. She looked around and saw Beast Boy practically on top of her. Her little jump and movement immediately drained her and her head fell back onto the armrest. She was shaking and her heart was racing.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yeah," she said sniffing. "I'm fine."
"You had a bad dream again, didn't you," he said. Raven closed her eyes and tried not to think about it. It had been the same dream she had had a few nights before. It was the dream that she hadn't told Beast Boy about and caused him to make her lose control. "Can you tell me about it?"
Raven sighed. "It's nothing you need to be concerned about," she said, her voice shaky.
"How can you say that?" he asked, crawling off of the couch so he could be level with her face. "After all of this, how can you say that it's nothing for me to be concerned about? For God's sake, you're crying." He placed his thumbs up to her cheeks and wiped her leftover tears away.
"It was just a stupid dream," she said. "And if I tell you it you'll tell me the same thing."
"Let me be the judge of that," he said in a calm and soothing voice. "Please, tell me." He brushed her violet hair back and secured it behind her ear. Then he placed his hand on hers. "I won't to know what makes you cry, Raven."
Raven stared at him and absorbed every touch he gave her. His warm hand on her own was comforting and his beautiful jade eyes were gazing into her soul. "I'm… I'm walking down the street…"
Raven told him her entire dream, which she had had twice now. She told him how she saw nothing but couples in love around her and how they gave her dirty looks. She told him how she went to the tower, but they wouldn't let her in. She even told him how he had pushed her onto her back after telling her that she was a demon that couldn't be loved. She told him everything.
"… and then I start crying and I wake up," she finished.
Beast Boy had listened intently to every word she said. He had probably never been quiet for so long. When she was finished he heard her let out a sigh and wait for his reaction. He squeezed her hand and said, "It's not a stupid dream."
"It's not?" she asked.
"No," he said, scooting even closer to the couch. "If I had had a dream like that I would be upset, too. And I want you to know that I would never ever say or do anything that I did in your dream."
"I know," said Raven. "It's just… they really affect me, these dreams. I feel so weak and stupid for getting upset about them."
"You're not weak and you're totally not stupid," he said smiling. "I've had nightmares when I've woken up in mid-scream. It's normal."
"It is?" she asked softly.
"Yeah," he said convincingly. They stared at each other for a few silent seconds. "Do you want me to take you to bed? So you can sleep?"
"Yes, please," she said nodding.
"Okay," he said in a hushed voice and stood up. He turned the television off, since he planned on going to bed too. He scooped her up, blanket and all, and began walking to his room. Raven had her arms loosely around his neck and her head was against his chest. She listened to his heart beat and closed her eyes. She wished the walk to his room took an hour. She was very comfortable this way and didn't want him to put her down.
He pushed the door open with his foot and walked inside his room. The light was off and he figured he didn't need to turn it on since they were both going to bed. He carefully made his way to the bed and gently lay her down; she was already half asleep. As soon as her body hit the bed her arms dropped off of his shoulders limply. She had actually fought to keep them on him.
He carefully moved her into a comfortable position and covered her up with the blanket. As his hands let go of the blanket, Raven weakly grabbed one. "Beast Boy," she said.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Thank you," she said in a voice Beast Boy had never heard before. It was pure and genuine. "You really are a great friend."
Beast Boy could feel his face stretch with the largest smile he had ever felt. "Thanks," was all he was able to say. He saw Raven smile softly and then her hand let go of his and her eyes closed.
Beast Boy climbed up into his bed and crawled under his tangled sheets. He felt warm all over and he fell asleep with a grin on his face. She finally knew that he was her friend. It wasn't just a fact anymore. It was a feeling.
The next morning Beast Boy was hanging half way over the side of his bed; his legs and arms dangling over the edge. Raven slowly opened her eyes and looked around. She noticed two green limbs hanging almost above her head. She smiled and let out a small giggle. Then she saw they were creeping more and more towards the floor. She suddenly realized that he was going to fall out!
"Beast Boy!" she said, trying to raise her voice. She cleared her voice and said his name again. "Beast Boy wake up!"
Beast Boy groaned and lifted his head out of sleep. Suddenly he felt himself being pulled over the side of the bed by gravity. He wasn't sure what was happening, but he did the first thing that came to his mind. He screamed. And then fell onto the floor with a hard thud. Raven gasped and closed her eyes as he landed.
Beast Boy lay on the floor for a minute, confused and his heart racing. He let out a moan and whined with pain. He was on his back and looking up at the ceiling. Raven summed up all of her strength and lifted her head so she could see him.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"No," he groaned.
Raven did her best not to smile, but felt a few giggles creeping up into her throat. She quickly tried to silence them the best she could, but her smile still crept onto her face. Beast Boy sat up and rubbed his back. He looked at his alarm clock and saw that it was a decent time to get up. He stretched and looked at Raven, seeing her smiling.
"Yeah, laugh it up," he said with his own smile.
Raven closed her eyes and pursed her lips, trying not to laugh. But she really couldn't help it now. She started to quake with laughter. "I'm sorry," she said through her laughs.
"Oh, so that's all it takes to make you laugh?" he asked with a grin. "I have to hurt myself?"
"No, you just have to be yourself," she said, trying to stop her chuckles.
Beast Boy was smiling, but then he thought about what she said. "I just have to be myself?" he asked. "So, you think I'm funny?"
Raven stopped her giggling and realized that she had better tell him the truth. "Only when you're not trying," she said.
"So, you think I'm funny because I'm accident prone?" he asked, his ears dropping.
"No, you're funny when you don't try so hard," she said with a slight smile. "When you just relax, the stuff you say naturally is funny. You're always trying so hard to be funny that you're not. Just be yourself and you'll bring the house down."
"Really?" he asked, his ears perking back up.
"Really," she said with a smile. Suddenly Beast Boy felt his knees go out and he nearly fell to the floor again.
