Her eyes had never betrayed her before, but this time ... this time she knew they were going to tell him exactly how she was feeling. So what does she do? She pulls the hood of her cloak over her head and turns away.
She sighs, as long as he doesn't look into my eyes, I can hide how badly I'm hurting.
"Raven," a soft, child like voice calls out, "Raven, please look at me," he pleads.
The dark sorceress does not answer his plea. She remains quiet, hoping that if she remains still he will grow bored and walk away. Deep, deep inside she was breaking ... falling apart. That soft voice drowns her ears once again.
"Look, I don't know why you've been acting more distant towards me since that date I went on two days ago, but please talk to me. What did I do wrong? Was she an old rivalry you had? Is she evil? Please, Raven; tell me why are you avoiding me?" The green changeling asked with both concern and worry enlacing his voice.
Date, she mentally spat at the word and at the same time, it cut deeper than any knife could.
As she thought of something ... anything ... to save her from this uncomfortable situation, she felt his hand take hold of hers. Half of her wanted to scream, 'don't touch me', while the other half wanted to beg him not to let go. How did he get in front of me? She asked herself.
Beast Boy had made no noise when walking to stand before her, but he was surprised at the way she jumped when she realized he was holding her hand. Her eyes had shut closed, like she was afraid of something.
Pull your hand away, her mind shouted. No, open your eyes, something within her shouted back. Say something, another voice called out.
In any other circumstance, Beast Boy would be trying non-stop to make one of his team mate's smile. Raven had only laughed once or twice at his attempts, but otherwise was immune to it. Instead, he was quiet; she could feel that he was concerned. Not just because she was an empath, but because of the way he held her hand.
On Beast Boy's end, he was getting a little anxious. He had never seen Raven like this before, and he honestly didn't know what to do. It didn't help that he was holding her hand either. "Raven," he said softly as he pulled her hood back.
Raven was fighting to keep her eyes shut by this time. Keep them closed, her thoughts reminded her. Tears were forming within her eyes.
With the same hand, his right, he cupped her chin and gently lifted her face. "Raven, I'm sorry."
Her eyes shot open and she immediately regretted it. Beast Boy looked into her eyes, something she was hoping to avoid at all costs. His glance never wavered, he didn't even blink.
"Say something," Raven said as she tried to sound uncaring.
"Why do you look like you're in pain?" He asked gently.
Anger began to show herself, "I am not in pain!" She said through clenched teeth; however she did not make any attempt to move Beast Boy's hands. Blast him away! Her anger demanded.
"Don't lie to me," Beast Boy said simply. "Why have you been avoiding me? What did I do wrong this time?"
The anger within her subsided; she could not stay mad at the green changeling for very long. Her eyes returned to a downward glance, despite the fact that Beast Boy still had her face towards him. "You ... did nothing wrong," she paused, "I did."
Yes, Beast Boy was caught off guard by this. "You did something wrong? How?" A few tears slid down her cheeks. Beast Boy let go of her hand and her chin as he delicately brought them up and brushed them away. It amazed him that she had barely moved at all. She didn't even blast or teleport him elsewhere, which was extremely rare. "Raven, what did you think you did wrong?"
Her eyes shut tighter and in the quietest voice, in hopes of him not hearing, she whispered, "I fell in love."
Had it been anyone else they would have missed it, they would see her lips move, but not a single sound would have been heard. But no, it was Beast Boy, his ears picked up damn near everything, and here he was, standing ... shocked.
"How is that doing something wrong, Rae?" He asked.
All she wanted to do was turn around and wake away. The funny thing was, she tried, but her body just wouldn't allow it. So here she was, attempting to pour her heart out to the one person she always secretly knew would understand. "Because," she started, "I fell in love with you," she sniffled. She opened her eyes to look at him, expecting him to start laughing and claiming that this was a practical joke. To her surprise, he wasn't. "Go ahead,"
Beast Boy looked at her, confused, "Go ahead what?" He asked.
She mockingly laughed, "Make fun of me."
Shaking his head he smiled warmly, "Why would I do that?"
She looked away, "Because I'm a demon, and raised in Azarath. Emotions were taken from me."
The smile he had never wavered, it was a soft smile, a comforting smile. "Raven, you're half demon. You're half human too. Your emotions weren't taken from you, they were divided and suppressed. You have emotions and you are allowed to feel them. You're not in Azarath anymore. You're here, on Earth, in this," he waved one of his hands, "dimension."
A small smile found its way to her face, despite her attempts at hiding it.
Naturally, Beast Boy noticed it. "Raven, I know this is really ... bad timing, but I want to tell you something serious. I mean, for once in my life, I'm going to be serious," he paused.
She nodded, sensing that this was ... indeed ... important.
"Raven, I love you," he paused, looking away and continued, "I do, and I didn't say anything because I felt you didn't want to deal with that emotion, or that you didn't feel the same way. I was scared, so I went on dates to try and move on. I mean, it worked for a little while, but in the end," he paused again, "Everything I did, everything I saw, every girl I looked at, I saw you. I find myself outside of your room, staring at the door, wishing that I could just knock and tell you. Raven, I love you. I really do."
That was the last straw. Tears poured out of Raven's indigo eyes. Some how, her body gave her mind control over it. She lunged forward and wrapped her arms around him. Beast Boy, in turn, wrapped his arms around her. There they stood. Holding each other outside on the ruff top.
Beast Boy looked down, and at the same time Raven looked up. He smiled as he leaned down and kissed her.
Shocking as it may seem, nothing was zapped or broken by Raven's powers and for once in her life, she enjoyed the moment ... enjoying her first kiss.