by: RioN VhEnTeUnO
A/N: Ohkei... Update time boys and girls. This is the latest chapter I came up with and I haven't written the next one yet. I have a lot of time today so I can actually postindividual review replies.. Hehe. Anyways, thanks for reviewing my piece here. Hope you stay with it till the end. As usual, review replies are down there. Hehe. Enjoy...
Chapter 18
Alone With You
(Raven)
"…I love you, with all my heart," the voice said. It sounded so familiar, and yet I couldn't quite place who it is. "Sweet dreams, Raven…"
Those lines went on, over and over. Echoing through the hallways of the tower and flowing into the living room. The whispering seemed to come from the walls, the couch, the windows, the figures on the TV… everywhere.
I still couldn't find its source, no matter where I look…
Slowly the living room dissolved, the mysterious voice fading away with it. No! Don't go! I need to know… Is that you… Robin?
"I love you… Raven…"
Consciousness slowly crept up on me. Still half asleep, I tried to grab the pillow instinctively before it fell to the floor. Realizing that I was already awake, I rubbed my eyes and gave my alarm clock a glance.
11:35 am!
I blinked. I think I remember falling asleep on the couch. Then how'd I get to my room? And why'd I wake up this late?
I slowly got up, noticing that my cloak was hanging on the stand near the door. Robin was with me last night. He probably carried me to my room. I felt my face go hot at the thought.
I grabbed a towel from the drawer and went to the bathroom. The voice. Who was it? I kept on thinking about it while taking a shower. Maybe it was Robin. It was a dream, wasn't it?
I stepped out of the bathroom, still drying my hair on a towel. This is practically the first time I woke up this late. It's actually quite surprising that nothing has come up yet. Since it was hot, I decided on putting on something else. I pulled open my drawer and scanned the contents. Finally, I grabbed a dark blue spaghetti strap top and pair of body hugging black shorts and put them on. After hastily putting on a pair of sandals, I opened the door…
…just in time to see Beast Boy creeping around in his civilian clothes.
I eyed at him, raising a questioning brow while still drying my hair. He was wearing a large purple shirt, with matching baggy cargo pants and a chain dangling on the side. The shirt had a black 'I'm with stupid' imprint on it with an arrow pointing left. He had a small backpack swung on him. He finally noticed me and gave me one of his infamous sheepish smiles.
"Oh! Hey Rae!" Beast Boy greeted, eyeing me while scratching the back of his head. "Nice outfit."
"Going somewhere?" I asked, ignoring his comment. His clothes clearly spoke that he's out for town with reasons other than a mission.
"I'm off to Murakami High!" He blurted out. "You know, that funky school near the outskirts of the city…"
"Since when did you go to school?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.
"I'm not! Well, I'm kinda… meeting someone there…" He replied, fidgeting uneasily.
"Ooh. A girlfriend huh?" I asked with a smirk.
Beast Boy blushed as much red as he can possibly get with his green skin. He started kicking on the ground nervously. It was really amusing to catch him off guard. Too bad it was so easy to do.
"G-gotta grab some drinks on the fridge," He stammered, turning on his heel. "Catch you later!"
"I was gonna get something there too, you know," I replied, still pretty pleased with myself.
"Oh."
It wasn't a long walk towards the living room. The unusually quiet scene that greeted me actually made me scratch my head. Aside from the two of us and Silkie crawling around, the room was practically deserted. At this hour of the day?
"Um… Where'd the others go?" I asked tentatively.
"Speedy was here a while ago," Beast Boy answered, rummaging for something in the fridge. "He said he entered Cy's T-car on some race thingy in Metropolis. Dude said he'll be back by nightfall."
"Somehow that doesn't surprise me," I remarked, rolling my eyes. "Where's Starfire?"
"She went with them," Beast Boy replied, still busy digging for something on the fridge. "Speedy had an extra ticket, and I had other plans so they took Star with them instead. A little forcefully if you ask me."
"And why is that?"
"Star hates Speedy," He answered. "Especially when he does this flirting thingy. Star only agreed to go because Cyborg asked her to."
"And Robin?" I asked automatically.
"I think he's in the gym," He answered without looking at me. He pulled a few more things out of the fridge and stuffed them in his bag before he finally got up. "Well dude, gotta run. Just tell Robin where I went. See ya!"
Beast Boy dashed out of the living room without another word. I sighed and looked around. For a moment I contented myself on watching Silkie wolf down one of Starfire's infamous puddings.
He's in the gym, huh, I silently mused.
I flung the fridge open. Robin tended to bring only one bottle of water with him when he works out. He always forgets to take extras even though he knows he needs it. I sighed and grabbed a bottle of water and a Gatorade before flinging it back shut.
I've been alone with Robin before, so it's no big deal now, right? I couldn't help but wonder why it felt different this time as I made my way to the gym.
Now this was unusual, I thought as I approached the gym door. It was really quiet. I was starting to think that even Robin wasn't home. It's not that I didn't like it if I'm in the tower by myself, but… I slid the gym door open.
Robin was there, but he wasn't doing what I was expecting him to do.
He silently sat there, cross legged in the center of the gym. I couldn't tell because of his mask, but it felt like he had his eyes closed. He was in his usual costume, only his shirt, gloves and cape weren't on. Sweat was trickling down his bare back.
The room was so quiet that the only sound one could hear was the faint creaking that the punching bag's chain produced. It was obvious that Robin had been working out, but is he… meditating?
"Good morning Raven," He suddenly greeted, looking up at me with a smile. "Wanna join in?"
"Didn't know meditation was your thing," I answered, walking up behind him. I knelt down and started wiping Robin's back with the towel I used to dry my hair, leaving the bottled drinks sprawled on the floor beside us.
"Thanks… but, uh… you really don't have to do that…" Robin stammered.
"Here," I shoved a bottle of Gatorade in his hands.
Robin was surprised, but opened it up all the same. He smiled at me again before he took a swig. A huge one. He finished it in a matter of moments, beaming at the empty bottle in his hand. I stared at him.
"Thanks," He said, turning to look at me. We both stood up. "That hit the spot. It's really thoughtful of you…"
"Are there social norms here that make it weird for me to give you a drink?" I asked sarcastically, my hands on my hips. "Besides, you always forget to bring extras."
I caught him surveying my choice of clothes. I raised an eyebrow at him.
"What?"
"Uh, nice… outfit Raven," Robin blurted out. It was eerily similar to Beast Boy's reaction a while ago.
"I didn't remember asking your opinion," I deadpanned, giving him a death glare.
He winced, waving his hands in mock surrender. Robin seems to be doing that quite a lot when I glare at him lately.
"Stop that already, I just think it's nice, that's all," He said truthfully, sporting a sheepish grin. "You are so gonna be the death of me…"
Silence sank between us. We just stood there, facing one another. I thought of a few things to say, but they seemed to escape my mind before I could even voice them out. I didn't realize that I was staring at his bare features. I shook my head, feeling the temperature in my face rise. Good thing he didn't notice.
"You feeling okay?" Robin asked. I gave him a glance and saw him looking at me. Although I could sense his concern, I've always wondered…
How would it feel to look him straight in the eye?
I don't know about the other Titans, but I've always wondered how Robin would look without the mask. I've had guesses on what eye color he has, and even though I've been in his mind, I respect him enough not to pry into all of his secrets. I only saw what he permitted me to. Robin did show me his true face inside my mind though, but it only flashed for a moment.
I'd really love to see the real you, I thought.
'You would?' He asked through my mind.
Robin smiled. Without another word, one hand reached behind his head and the other right above his ear, slowly pulling off his mask. He had his eyes closed for a moment after the mask came off. When he opened it, I felt my heart skip a beat…
His eyes were light blue. Almost the same color as mine…
I blinked. I didn't expect he'd do that. It really caught me off-guard. I absentmindedly took a step forward…
"Aaaa---oof!"
I tripped on something, making me lose my balance and fall. The realization of what happened hit me a split second after Robin caught me in his arms. I completely forgot that I left the extra bottle of water there…
"You should watch your step you know," Robin said with a cocky grin. I scowled at him.
"Whatever," I retorted, pulling myself together and straightening up.
Robin chuckled. I raised an eyebrow at him and he stopped, but that cocky grin didn't leave his face. Slowly, his grin turned into an amused smile. Oh, he's enjoying every second of this.
I sighed. "What now?"
"It's nothing, really," He said, a sparkle in his eyes. Or was that a glint? He moved closer to me. Too close. He ran a hand down my cheek without taking his eyes off mine. I felt a very strong sensation sweep over me as he did that. The gym suddenly felt as hot as a huge furnace. "I just noticed how cute you are when you blush…"
"Robin… What're you…?"
Robin gently scooped up my hands into his. He slowly lowered his face closer to me, making me gape wide-eyed at him. My stomach did a somersault…
I could feel the warmth of his breath on my face…
His lips were now just millimeters away from mine. They were so… inviting. I couldn't stop myself. Maybe I didn't want to. I just felt so strongly attracted to them. I slowly closed my eyes…
BANG!
Robin practically jumped. His jaw dropped as he located the source of the commotion. I bit my lip. The large punching bag in the center of the gym exploded. Pieces of cloth and rubber flew in every direction and the whole gym was momentarily covered in a thick cloud of sand.
"Um… Sorry?" Great. I could just imagine how red I am right now. Then again, he did try to… well…
"Don't worry Raven, I'll clean it up," He replied apologetically. "It's my fault, really…"
"This'll be over in a minute if we work together," I pointed out, summoning a rather large vacuum cleaner and a dumpster sized trash disposal unit from the living room. The vacuum cleaner zoomed and landed in front of Robin, while I made the sand swirl around. "Use this and don't complain."
"You really are a cheat," He accused, eyeing the swirling sand grains.
Robin smiled at me. We started to work in silence. He turned the vacuum on and a loud whirring noise filled the room. I made the grains of sand gracefully fly into the waiting trash disposal. Robin used the vacuum to suck in the rest.
I caught him stealing glances at me, but I decided not to react. I'd be a hypocrite if I did, because I stole some glances of him myself. Couldn't help it…
"By the way, I caught Beast Boy sneaking out of the tower," I said dryly, making the grains dance around me before I directed them towards the trash. They glinted beautifully in the sunlight. "He said he's gonna meet someone in some high school. Probably Terra again. Thought you ought to know…"
Robin sighed heavily then shook his head. Still, I thought I saw him smirk. "So that means it's just us here today?"
"Y-yeah…" I answered. My stomach did another somersault.
The last traces of sand were either sucked up by the vacuum or went zooming into the trash disposal unit. Robin switched the noisy vacuum off, wiping his brow.
"Well, that's the last of it," Robin said, dusting off specs of sand on his pants. Thanks to my powers, I didn't get dirty at all. "Time to hit the shower…"
Robin picked up the vacuum and swung the rest of his uniform on his shoulder. With the trash disposal unit in tow, he looked at me and smiled. I raised an eyebrow at him, making him smile even more.
"Watch your step Raven," He teased, winking at me. The strong, familiar sensation swept through me again. "I wouldn't want you to get hurt, you know."
Do you admit that you love him now? The familiar nagging voice of my subconscious mind challenged.
I found myself staring dumbly at Robin. I shook my head, then tried my best to give him another death glare. Unfortunately, it turned out to be nothing but a frown.
"You sure you're okay?" He asked, looking me straight in the eyes. This time, his concern was visible because he wasn't wearing his mask.
"I'm fine," I said in what I hoped was a monotonous voice, avoiding his eyes. "Just need to meditate…"
"You do that," Robin said, his face a shade of pink. "I'll just take a little shower. Let's just… um… eat lunch together. Since it's only the two of us here today."
Without another word from both of us, he turned and left the gym. I silently followed him moments after. My gaze never left him until he was out of sight.
Okay, I give up, I thought, a smile forming on my lips. I guess I really do love him…
Come to think of it, it feels… really good to be alone with him. I've always been comfortable in his company. Maybe this could work out, him and me.
It isn't gonna hurt to try, wouldn't it?
A/N: Well, that's it for this chapter. This one's really nice and long, the way it should be. Hope it didn't turn out too fluffy though. There are only a handful of chapters left until this fic ends. Well hope you enjoyed reading though. I'd make more fics, that is if I don't get too busy. And I'd like to thank all those generous reviewers out there. You guys rock!
Review Replies:
MutilatedBliss: Hehe. Hope you liked this new one. See ya next update.
Tecna: Thanks a million friend! -mimicks Starfire-Heh. Hope I didn't make you wait that long. I do plan to add a little more bickers in the next chapter.
paprika90: To tell you the truth, I really liked doing chapter 17 a lot because of that and the simple sweetness it had. The only disappointment it brought me was that it was rather, well, short compared to other chaps. Thanks for reviewing!
TheLon3Wolf8986: That's no biggie man. I'm having a pretty hard time accessing the net myself. Thanks for the compliments. And by the way, do you have chapter 5 up already? Can't seem to open it on my browser.
WiccanWitch14: Have mercy! -smiles- Don't worry I'll try to update faster. Nice to hear that I made you like cute things. Heh. Just joking. Thanks a lot for your reviews and for reading my work.
Anon. Guy: Hey thanks! I'm really... flattered by that. Hope you like the way I'm gonna end the fic!
Happy Mooing Octopus: Thanks for your continuous support! Hehe. It's really nice to know that you like my work a lot. I find yours really cool too. Heh. I'll continue to read your work. I find that it's getting interesting!
WaterBender101: I don't think I have writing powers, but thanks for the compliment. Heh. Hope you like this next chapter. You rock man!
Rinoa120: Yoh, thanks for the compliment. I'm kinda lost for words at the moment. Heh. See ya around.
