Author's Note: Sorry for the wait. I'll explain below, first the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans, Hershey Kisses or anything else I may have forgotten.

Chapter 4

The longer a couple is together, the easier it becomes to embarrass each other in public

Ahhh… You know the feeling you get when you had a good night's rest, and by 'good night' I mean a full 8 maybe even 10 hours of sleep, that well rested, ready for a new day, able to face the challenges head on and all those horrid clichés. Yes, well that's the kind of feeling getting back from a good, albeit fake, date can give you. I woke up bright and early and padded my way to the kitchen to boil some water and have a little cup of tea before I got down to work.

Then right there, in between pouring the hot water into my cup and taking that first sip, I got a brainwave. That was it! Why hadn't thought about before? It was perfect. The front page Valentine's Day article was just sitting on my coffee table, gathering dust and festering until I finally got my act together and wrote it in full. And now I just got the inspiration I needed to write what may be the best thing I've ever written.

'Making Mr. Right – One woman's quest to find that special someone'

It was perfect, I would write about my experience with Gar. Right from conception to the final coup de grace when I 'break up' with him on Sunday, the readers would know every intimate detail. Names of my friends would of course be changed for their privacy and perhaps even Gar's. It was a great idea, a humorous Valentine's Day article without all the sugar coated crap, one hundred percent real. And an added bonus, if men were to pick this up and read it, they would only have to study Mark's behavior to see what women were looking for in men. It was a sort of two in one satire and self-help article. Excellent.

I got to writing quickly, right there on my laptop, in my PJ's on my sofa. I got so into it, recalling the first time and reason as to why Mark came up in the first place, that I bypassed lunch and didn't even notice. It was about 3 in the afternoon when I realized that I wouldn't be able to finish the article now, not with the weekend still to come. I couldn't just fabricate the break up, it wouldn't be real enough. It would have to be the real thing, public and in front of all my friends. Now it was a matter of calling the paper and asking them to make it into a two part article.

That did it; this was officially a very good day. I mean right up there with birth and grad. I had woken up to an excellent morning, wrote a very well done article and got the editor of the paper to make it a two part series. Although, the second part wasn't going to be the cover, just advertised on it. But that didn't matter, I would hook 'em with the first part, then reel 'em in with the conclusion.

Jumping off the couch with as much bounce as I'd allow myself, I made my way back to my room to get packing for tomorrow. I threw open my closet and sighed. Packing wasn't something I could get excited about. So I made a deal with myself, go out for a jog, drop off the article at the post office, express delivery only, and then get back home, take a shower, and then start packing. I looked at the clock, 4:15. Yep. It was a good plan.

I didn't even realize that as I was changing to go for a jog that I was humming 'One Fine Day' by the Chiffons in my head. I don't know what surprised me more, the fact that I was humming or that I was humming a song that my parents would have danced to. Either way it very out of character for me and if I were to be seen by any of my friends they would check my temperature. But what did I care? It was a good day. A good day in what has been a relatively bad year.

Did I mention how great a feeling coming back from a good date was?

Gar called later that evening. After the jog and during my shower. During. I was half way through shampooing when the phone annoyingly rang. I cursed it to the furthest end of the universe, that is until I realized I took out the tape in the answering machine and there would be nothing to catch the message. So I groggily got out of the shower, dripping wet and my hair still soapy, to go answer the goddamned phone.

"What!" I nearly screamed into the phone.

"He-hello? Raven?" O god it was him.

"Garfield?" I wasn't sure what it was, maybe it was the fact that I hadn't talked to man while I was only wearing a towel before, but the idea of talking to Gar naked brought a fierce blush to my cheeks. The ones on my face.

"Yeah, hi. Uh… sorry a-are you busy?"

"No." Why was I lying? Of course I was busy. I was standing in my living room, with a towel messily thrown around my wet body and I just told him I wasn't busy.

"Great! I, uh, was wondering if you'd eaten yet…" Dinner? I glanced at the clock, it was almost 6. Had I missed another meal?

"No I haven't actually."

"Cool, I was wondering then if you wanted to get a bite to eat. You know, us two…" An awkward silence filled airwaves.

He coughed, "Uh…y-y'know. To go, ahem, over the game plan for this weekend." I heard him swallow hard. What the heck was going on? Was there a practical joke behind this meeting?

"Ok, sure. But I might be a while, I still have to shower and pack for tomorrow."

"Y-yeah, sure. So how does 8-ish sound?"

"Sounds okay," I raised an eyebrow. He was acting odd.

"Good, okay. Do you know Red's? Down on Queen, by King?"

"I know the place."

"Alright then! I'll meet you there at 8!"

"Yeah, see you then." Then I hung up. Walking back to the shower, I found myself thinking whether I sounded too harsh.

3 minutes later I got out of the shower for the second time, this time actually ready to leave. I went over to my room to pack up my clothes, and stood in front of my closet staring for about an hour. It wasn't what I was going to pack that was hard chose. That was easy enough. I just took two jeans, two jogging pants, a skirt, you know just in case the situation called for it, three shirts, one big shirt to sleep in, booty shorts to go under the shirt, two sweaters and a pull over. It may seem like much for a three day week end, but when so much is at stake, I needed to be prepared.

No, what took me so long to decide was what I was going to wear to dinner. It was weird, I knew it was just Gar but for some reason I didn't want him to see me look like a slob. But I didn't want to dress to the nines either. I wanted to look casual but in such a way that said 'I look this good all the time.' I didn't know why I was being so picky; Lord knows I wouldn't dress up to go out with my friends. I wasn't even this picky going to a job interview. What the hell was wrong with me?

After a while, I decided on a black shirt with jeans and a corduroy beige blazer, the kind with a hood on it that gives the impression that there's a hoodie underneath. I quickly put my hair up into a messy bun and ran out the door, realizing that it was 7:55 and Red's wasn't exactly just down the street.

I don't go to Red's much. For one, it's on the other side of the city; it takes me about 20 minutes by car to get there. Also, it was one of those fancy business-cas (casual) dinner places where sales people took their clients to show that they were down to earth but at the same time still classy. I had to say though, it was a nice place. They had the theme of an old 50's style diner but set inside what was an old warehouse renovated into many smaller stores, so instead blinding white or nauseating yellow walls, there were dark brick walls. The lighting was also pretty toned down, no fluorescent bulbs, instead were small halogen lamps hanging from the ceiling, which was quite high up I must say.

I walked in the front door and immediately thanked God that there was no dress code. Though there could have been, all around me were women in dresses and nice pants. And here I was in jeans and a blazer, great job Raven. I walked right up to the hostess when I saw Gar waving at me behind a 50's style red booth. I smiled back and nodded to the hostess that someone was expecting me. She smiled and gave me a nod in return of approval.

I walked over to the booth and Gar got up, taking my hand and guiding into my side as if I were a 5 year old, all the while grinning hugely. Why did this feel so much like a date? Snap out of it Raven, it's not. It's a business meeting between partners.

"Hey, glad you could make it in such short notice. Sorry, I was just really busy all day and I wanted to go over the weekend plan with you. 'Cause, y'know, we probably won't have time to go over there and regroup because so many people are watching." He said, he leaned back and stretched an arm across the back of the bench. He was wearing a white long sleeved shirt that had a bark blue floral pattern on the left shoulder, not floral as in girly but… well yes, floral as in girly. But, he pulled it off quite… well, I suppose.

"Yeah, that's fine. I'm kinda glad you called, I hadn't even thought about eating before it." I noticed his eyes light up.

"Well, we don't have to be completely formal about this. We could order dinner first and then talk."

"If you don't mind, I think that the weekend will be big. And, O… it almost slipped my mind. I have something to ask of you…" I detailed him on the article and saw the liveliness in his eyes die down.

"Raven, I'm not sure if you should do that."

"Why not?"

"I already told you before, I'm not sure friends will appreciate being lied to let alone making it public gossip."

"I'm not using their real names. I'm not even using your real name." He shook his head.

"That's not the point. Do you even plan on telling them?"

"Well, I hadn't tho-"

"Well you better. Listen Raven, I'm all for boosting your self esteem and everything and I'm, I, am willing to play along with your article gig. I don't really care if you use my name or not. I'm worried about your relationship with your friends. These are people you've known forever and you're willing to exploit that? And for what?" There was a log pause. I tore my gaze away from his intense green eyes and played with the napkin in front of me. He was right, of course he was right. I had been going on about this for my own selfish needs and not once thought about my friends.

"I know what you're saying, but can't you understand? It's too late to go back on this now. I can't."

"Can't or won't." Not exactly sure what it was but there was something in his voice that pissed me off.

"Excuse me? What are you saying? Are you saying that I'm such a self-centered person that I would willingly continue this, 'cause that's what it sounds like," I was chewing him out now.

"Maybe that is what I'm saying."

"Don't act all high and mighty with me because in case you forgot, I am paying you to do this, Mr. Snooty-Actor. If it went against your moral grain so much then why take it?"

"Maybe because I need to," his voice rose a little, "Huh? Ever thought of that? Ever try to get an audition in this damned city? It doesn't matter if you have the talent or even the looks. You gottta be lucky, and unfortunately I haven't been so lucky. So if I didn't need this money to survive, then yes maybe I would back away from it."

But I kept arguing back, it was an awful story but I fought back, "Well maybe you shouldn't have tried to become an actor in the first place. It's too late to go back on this, the article was sent in two hours ago." I sat back on my chair in a huff, my arms crossed over my chest. I don't know how he got such a rise out of me. How he got me so angry, but he did. And I bit back, boy did I. Somewhere in the back of my head I was afraid I may have gone too far. Then I looked up to see his face, turned away from me hurt, and I knew I had gone too far.

The rest of the night was awful to say the least. Never again did he look me in the eye again and we just talked about the plan for the weekend. He didn't talk much either, I would get an occasional "mmhm" or "sure" but that was it. No long arguments about his character, no extended questions about the situation. Just a nod of the head and a shrug of the shoulders. It ended quickly and we didn't say good bye.

I decided with Gar the night before that I would pick him up at 9:30 then meet up with the gang at 10 at a gas station. I drove by his apartment building to find him standing at the lobby with a small black duffel bag. Wow, that's it? I had to bring an entire suit case, maybe it had something to do with him being a man. I know it's a little sexist but, hey, the truth is the truth. He stood there, one hand in his pocket the other holding his bag, looking absolutely beat. He still looked like Mark, still walked like Mark, but his eyes said Gar. I couldn't quite place my finger on it.

"Hey," he said as he stepped into the car after throwing his bag into the trunk. He looked at me and gave a weak smile. I smiled back and drove away to the agreed gas station. Not a word passing between us. I waited for him to start his breathing exercises but they never came. He just kept staring out the window, his chin against his fist. I wanted to ask what was wrong, but I already knew.

Twenty minutes later we showed up at the gas station at the outskirts of the city. It was a small station with two old fashioned pumps. Everyone was already there waiting.

"Come on girl, hurry your slow ass up," yelled Victor from his car. I could see Bee beside him on the phone.

"Nice to see you to Vic," I smiled at him and waved at Bee, They both waved back and I noticed Vic give Mark a wink and a thumbs up. He smiled back.

"Raven! I am glad to see you have arrived. May we proceed in the traveling now?" Kori had stuck her entire upper body out of the passenger side window of Dick's van. In the back I could see Jinx and Wally canoodling. Dick, cool as usual, was wearing his sunglasses, one arm hanging out of the window.

"Okay, okay. God it's like you haven't seen each other in years. Let's get a frikkin' move on!" yelled Tara from her car. She was wearing glasses and had a scarf around her neck at an attempt to look 50's glam. Keyword: attempt. In her back seat sat, or I should say lay, Wilson, who look like he was resting from a hangover. He was fast asleep, snoring no doubt, in the back.

Dick gave a military type signal with his hand to indicate we were leaving and I saw Kori reach over and honk the horn three times, dragging the third one out. Every one gave respective cheers from their cars and began the three hour drive to the cottage.

It was about 1 o' clock when we got there. I personally haven't seen the said cottage but have heard very much about it. Needless to say you can't believe what everyone says. It was twice as huge as I heard. It wasn't even a cottage anymore, it was a mansion.

"Alright guys, bedroom plans," called out Dick as we stepped into the foyer. Honestly, what kind of cottage has a foyer? "Kor has drafted out a floor plan for everyone showing each your designated rooms." Kori very happily gave every couple a sheet of paper then went back to Dick's side where he grabbed her waist and pulled her closer to him.

"Friends, of course, we shall have the master bedroom," giggled Kori. I looked down at the paper in my hands, Mark holding both my shoulders peeking over. It was huge, the bedroom we were assigned had a lake view, yes, and according to the floor plan was bigger than my apartment. Across from us were Bee and Vic; to our right were Wally and Jinx. Across from them were Wilson and Tara and beside them both, spanning the space of all of our four bedrooms combined was the master bedroom. Holy shit.

I looked up and found that everybody had gone. Apparently I was basking at the enormity of the cottage for so long that everyone decided to unpack.

"Let's go Rae," Mark called out from behind me. I saw him standing with a huge grin on his face carrying both his duffel bag and my suitcase, "I wanna go check out our room."

"Well… this is, quite… romantic," stated Gar as he walked into the room. I peered in and held back a gasp. Romantic was an understatement. The room looked like cupid's bedroom; pink and red hearts all over the place. The bed was a very large King adorned with what looked like a thousand rose petals and little Hershey Kisses. Gar walked in and set the bags by the dresser. I followed, a little lagging, and made my way over to the bed. Yep, they were rose petals.

Picking up a handful I turned to Gar, "Methinks she had a lot of time on her hands."

"Yeah, this looks like a honeymoon suite," I heard him open a door, "Oh Lord, we get our own bathroom." I turned around and ran over to where he was/ Lo and behold, there it was. The biggest washroom I had ever seen.

"This is bigger than my apartment," I heard him say. The bathtub looked more like a hot-tub that could fit five people. There was a shower at the corner with a removable head and sliding glass doors, and get this, two sinks. Two.

"Mine too," I whispered. He quickly turned around and I watched as he plopped on the bed backwards. He winced a little and I smirked as he pulled out a couple of pointy Kisses from underneath him. He laughed at himself, spread his arms out and stared up at the ceiling. I wasn't sure what it was, the bed or the setting or the rose petals all over the place, but I wanted to lie down right beside him. Then I mentally slapped myself.

"This is the greatest bed I have ever been on," he said closing his eyes, "Call the bed!"

My own eyes snapped wide open and stared at him, "What do you mean you 'call the bed'?"

He smirked and propped himself on his elbows, "I called it first, that means I get to sleep in it."

"What are you five?" I gave him a look of disbelief and noticed the shame flash across his face, giving him a smirk of my own, "And besides, she's my friend so I get the bed." I ran to the bed and pushed him off, lying down on it. He was right, the best bed ever.

He rose, dusting himself off, "Now how is it fair that you get to pull that? I called it first! Besides there's no couch for me to sleep on, I'll have to sleep on the floor."

I raised an eyebrow at him, "So you plan on putting me on the floor?" He gave me a little smile that said, 'why not?' and I chucked a pillow at him. There were Kisses and rose petals all over the floor. He caught it and chucked it back at me. At this point, I couldn't help but wonder why in the name of all that is good am I acting like a hormonal teenager? I thought I passed that stage years ago. Absolutely final about my decision not to have a pillow fight with my 'boyfriend', I grabbed the pillow and walked over to my luggage, clutching it underneath my arm like a teddy bear.

"Fine," I said, "You can sleep on the bed. I'm sure two mature adults can sleep in the same bed together." Ha!

He shrugged, "You're right, I mean the bed's big enough and there are enough pillows to create a border." I rolled my eyes, wondering whether he was serious or kidding. Maybe I didn't want to know. I continued to drag my bag over to the dresser.

"Uh, do you need help with that?" he asks. Do I look like I need help? I'm dragging a suitcase instead of carrying it, yeah, I think I may need help. But was I too damn stubborn to ask for it or even acknowledge that I did? Hell no. Damn sure did wish I bought the ones with wheels though. Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder and the load on my arms lift a bit. I turned to see him smiling and carrying the bag for me.

"I had it." He rolled his eyes and carried it over to the dresser and propped it on its side, bowing cordially, like an asshole. I stuck my tongue out and shoved him over, setting off to unpack my stuff and load it into the drawers. Somewhere behind me, I heard him unzip his own bag and begin to load stuff into drawers across the room.

Finishing up, I heard the shrilling sound of Kori's cheery voice, "Friends! We must commence in the merriment of Valentine's Day." I groaned aloud, should've known she's planned stuff. She probably had games and prizes too. I swear that girl never grew up. Sighing, I stood up and walked out the bedroom door, forgetting entirely that there was someone else in the room.

I wandered blindly into the living room of the cottage and found Kori sitting on Dick's lap, giggling and whispering sweet nothings into his ear. They were on an armchair while across from them were Wilson, Tara, Wally, and Jinx all squished on a sofa. There was one love seat left which was quickly occupied by Bee and Vic who raced from behind me and were now pushing and shoving each other on the love seat, complaining about room. I rolled my eyes and shook my head at their immaturity and leaned a hip against the back of their love seat.

"So, how you guys liking the rooms?" Dick asked.

"Rooms? You mean the suites? Yeah, they're great," replied Jinx.

"Did you enjoy the surprises I left in your rooms?" giggled Kori.

"They were really sweet of you Kori, it was a nice little surprise," came a voice behind me. I turned around before I realized it was Mark. He was smiling politely and came over where I was standing and leaned a hand against the loveseat behind me, his arm across my back.

Kori clapped her hands together in delight, "Excellent friends! Now we must commence in the Valentine's Day celebrations."

"Yeah, and afterwards, we're having a little sort of barbecue in the back," added Dick. He nodded to Mark, "Hey Marky-boy, have you seen the back?"

Mark smiled, "yeah, I caught a glimpse of it from the window at the room." Window? He was looking out the window? When?

"Twelve acres, twelve acres along with afive acre man made lake," boasted Dick with an air of confidence. Mark nodded politely and made a whistling sound.

"Yep, we should go take a hike, just us guys. You would know a lot about hiking right? What will all you experience in Bosnia, right?" Oh, shit. What was he going to say? I prayed right there and then that Gar had some experience in the woods or all of the guys would be screwed. None of the boys had even set foot in a forest let alone go hike in one, they were all city boys.

"Yeah, sure! I think that'd be great. The conditions I hiked in were different; probably more humidity and a different sort of ecosystem, but the basics are the same." Dick smiled and gave him a thumbs-up while Kori rose and signaled me to join her in the kitchen. Wow, he must've done his homework because that was pretty gutsy.

Kori brought me to the kitchen to ask me to carry boxes wrapped in V-Day wrapping paper. She gave me wink and brought them out to the living room again. Let the celebrations commence.

As in typical Kori fashion, we played games that you would in a five-year-old's party. The boxes she brought out were 'toys' in boxes which you had to shake and guess what was inside. Mark and I won 'love-cuffs' and both turned thoroughly red. After that Kori whipped out a board game called "Battle of the Sexes" which was actually fun in its own right. Needless to say, we kicked the men's butts and they sorely lost making appalling accusations that we were cheating. Us, cheat? No.

Following that was a snack break where Kori brought in heart-shaped, of course what other shapes would they be in, cookies and coffee. This is where the guys, and some of the girls, all started having a competition on who could stuff the most cookies down their throats in 30 seconds. I really didn't want to participate so I was the time keeper. Afterwards was the, dun dun dun, 'spin the bottle' game. No, not the typical hormonal teenage way, it was a sort of cross-breed between 'spin the bottle' and 'truth or dare' where you spun the bottle and who ever it landed on you got to dare, then they in turn would spin the bottle, yada yada. Thankfully I wasn't stuck with anything to bad, a couple of kiss the other guys and one kiss Jinx and bunch of none too embarrassing truths. As soon as all of the activities were done, it was about 4:30 and the sun began to set.

Dick quickly stood up and told everyone to get their jackets and asked Victor to help him set up the barbeque. Victor, being the savage wild meat eater that he is, complied and told everyone he didn't need a jacket and that all he needed was Bee's love to keep him warm. He got a smack in the back of the head and Mark and I went to get our jackets.

I was out before Mark again and chose to lean against the patio barrier instead of sitting around the campfire on logs with the rest of them. Dick and Vic were making hotdogs and burgers to the side, while Kori readied the marshmallows and skewers. Mark came along just as Dick and Vic were giving out the burgers and hotdogs, I myself had a hotdog and Mark had a veggie burger. Following dinner was Dick's big surprise. He had whispered to me beforehand that he had something special planned for Kori but didn't say what.

They were fireworks. Pink, red, orange and yellow fireworks. He didn't overdo them of course, no messages of 'I Love You' in the sky, so it was sweet. After that display, They both romantically danced a slow dance to Dick's humming while Wally and Jinx joined them. It was all so sweet and… nauseating.

And there I stood, leaning forward across the patio railing. At this time Vic and Bee were smiling at me and making faces towards Tara and Wilson who were just lying on the blankets Kori set out, her arm across his stomach. Suddenly, I saw Victor wink and give and okay sign when I felt two arms wrap around my middle. I quickly turned and came face to face with Mark who smiled and gave ma kiss on the nose. My face must've turned red when he turned me around, profile to everyone else, who by now had all stopped to stare, and held both my hands in his. Then he reached in to his back pocket and pulled out a long velvet box.

Oh. My. God. He opened it right there with the most adorably hopeful puppy-dog eyes I had ever seen on a grown man and revealed a silver necklace with half of a yin-yang symbol, with a small garnet stone as the dot. He beamed as he reached into his shirt and pulled out a similar necklace with the other half on it. Right then and there, I lost all control and threw away all reasoning, forgetting that he wasn't actually my boyfriend and gave him a huge hug. All the while saying, "Mark! Oh my God! Mark!" over and over again.

As I returned from my high, I heard the unexpected sound of applause. Turning beet red I subconsciously rested my head on Mark's shoulder, away from everyone.

"Kiss!" I heard Victor say. God I was going to kill him.

Then I felt warm hands grab my face and I found myself staring into two beautiful jade orbs. Next thing I knew my lips were on his and there was whistling coming from my friends. Now, I was just in a state of euphoria and complete disbelief that someone I had hired to pretend to be my boyfriend could do something so romantic. No one had ever done anything so sweet to me before, and then the thought that no one would unless I were paying them came to my head and the waterworks were set loose. I stood there, crying on Mark's shoulder. Looking like tears of unbridled joy, but they were actually of utmost depression.

"Listen," I said as I turned to him back at the room. I was at a complete loss for words, I was so damned shocked, "Uh… Thank you." He was coming out of the shower and was drying his hair with a towel with one hand. I gulped, hopefully not visibly, at how handsome he looked just doing something so simple like drying his hair.

He gave me a weak smile and shrugged, "You're welcome. I figured you deserve something nice for Valentine's Day, I mean this must be pretty depressing for you right?" he got it. Right on the ball, that this was more than depressing. It was borderline suicidal.

"Besides," he began again, "I was acting like such an asshole to you last night. I, kinda, felt like I needed to make it up to you."

"You? I was totally out of line when I said-"

He raised a hand to stop me, "It's ok. I get it all the time. But I'm not one to give up just because someone put me down. I mean, here I am right? Still here, still doing breathing exercises before coming out to see you." So that's what he has bee doing when he would disappear like that. He was breathing.

"No, but Gar. Really, I feel bad for what I said, and I'm sorry. I really didn't deserve what you did for me today… but I really needed it. Thank you." That all came out gentler than I expected it to. Was I softening up to him? I shudder at the thought of softening up to anybody. He gave me a weak smile again and walked towards me, lifting up my chin with his free hand.

"No problem, it was my pleasure… Every woman should be treated like that on Valentine's Day, especially you." I stood there like an idiot, staring up at the empty air where his head had been for God knows how long before I realized that he had gone to the bed and I was free to shower. I looked back and smiled as I saw him creating a barrier of pillows right down the middle of the bed.

As I slept all that night, I dreamt of yin-yangs, Kisses, rose petals and heart shaped cookies. I had enough lovey-dovey crap to last me a few more Valentine's Days. And Gar's final words kept running in my mind. What had he meant by, 'especially you'? Me?

A/N: Okay. This is where I apologize. I've been pretty out of it mostly because I'm the stage manager for my school's show and it's alot of responsibility. Thankfully shownight was on the 23rd and we broke plenty of legs. I've had this sitting on my computer for a while now and i was going to update this weekend but I forgot my pen drive at school. So no updating then. I plan on about 3 more chapters on this then that's it.

After that, or during, whatever i have time for, I'll update One Bird, Two Stones. It really needs to be updated. and after I update that, there will be a very important Author's Note to come.

CLUE: It's getting really hard to ignore those damned sparks