Disclaimer TEEN TITANS and all other related characters and material are the property of DC comics and Cartoon Network, I claim no ownership.

Chapter 14: Aching Hearts

By: Ansa

Beast Boy quietly opened the door to the living room, peeking through the crack to see if Starfire was still asleep, which she was. She had been her for a while now, roughly a week, and having her here started to feel like normal. They both loved having her here, but it took some adjusting at first. Shower schedules needed to be re-arranged after a rather embarrassing walk-in. It soon became evident that Starfire tended to wake up in a daze, almost sleepwalking for the first few minutes of the day. Beast Boy found this out the hard way when his weekend morning shower was quite suddenly interrupted. Food was also an issue, but fortunately for them Raven had helped Star find a job working at the college library. It wasn't the most suitable job for her, considering the concept of the Dewey decimal system was completely foreign to her, and it didn't pay much, but it was still money which she gladly used to help out her friends.

Slowly he crept his way out into the kitchen, Raven taking her turn in the shower after healing his lip and the bruise on the cheek. The black eye she decided to leave, as a reminder to him to not try anything stupid like that again. It seemed that she still hadn't completely let the issue go, he supposed last night she was just tired and would much rather give him a proper chewing out later. Looking at the clock on the wall he groaned slightly, the party wasn't until four but he still had a lot of cooking to do. The best he could do was get in a good breakfast and work straight through the rest of the day.

As quietly as he got out the frying pan and eggs from the fridge, he couldn't do anything to stop the noise they made together. That sharp sizzling noise that gently woke Starfire from her slumber. She sat up and stretched, her eyes not fully open yet but that didn't seem to stop her from pulling the covers off and standing. It never did. Beast Boy decided to greet her when she was fully awake, which would usually take a minute or so, but his plans changed when he noticed her slowly trudging towards the bathroom grabbing a set of clothes for the day from her bag.

"Um Star, Raven's in there, you might want to wait…" His voice trailed off slowly. She gave little to no response from his warnings and kept on moving, disappearing from sight. The only evidence to him that she actually made it into the bathroom was the surprised shriek that sounded soon after.

"Hun, what are you doing, I'm…ACK! STAR!" Beast Boy frowned slightly, why did she just assume it was him?

"Hmmmm? Oh! I'm so sorry!"

"It's ok, just get out of here!" Very soon Starfire made her way back into the living room, closing the bedroom door behind her, her face beet red. Beast Boy couldn't help but laugh, at least now things were somewhat even. Although…having yet to see his own fiancé naked himself made him slightly jealous. He shook it off, she had her rules for a reason, and he had to respect them…no matter how hard it was. Besides, he had breakfast to make, and a much more cooking ahead of him.

"Want your eggs scrambled today, Star?"

"Hmm? Oh yes, thank you." Starfire smiled despite herself and finally noticed she was just wearing the button up t-shirt on top of her undies. Her face blushed again, even though Beast Boy's attention was on his work, and quickly she slipped on a pair of shorts before sitting down at the table. When she sat down and looked around the empty table she realized that very soon every inch of it would be occupied, once again she would be with her friends. While this did make her unbelievably happy, she also felt her heart started to beat heavily in her chest, butterflies fluttering wildly in her stomach. Not only would she be reunited with her friends…but she would be reunited with him as well. This, scared her so.

"You ok?"

"I'm sorry?"

"I said are you ok? You look a bit feverish."

"Oh…yes, I'm fine." She couldn't bring herself to put on a false smile; she did feel a bit nauseous. The thought of seeing him again filled her with uncertainty. Would she be able to handle it? What would she say to him? What do you say to someone who already once broke your heart? There was only one person she knew who could answer that question, but she would rather not ask him. Bringing up such painful memories…would be horrible of her.

"You don't look fine." Beast Boy tapped neck of the spatula on the edge of the skillet, forcing stray bits of egg to fall back in and setting it down on the counter. Concerned, he headed over to the table and stood behind her, placing his palm flat against her forehead. He frowned, Raven never used her palm to check his temperature, and now he knew why. With his hand he couldn't get a decent indication of temperature, especially when it was just holding the handle of a hot skillet through an oven mitt.

"Hang on a sec." Once again he moved, only now he stood by the edge of the table, turning her slightly so he could get a better reach. Casually, he leaned down and put his lips on her forehead, just how his fiancé had done with him many times before. He was quite surprised at how much better this worked and wondered how he had never thought of it before, but shrugged it off and returned to the matter at hand.

Starfire blushed slightly, not sure what to think, but very soon she felt the anxiety in her diminish. She forgot one important thing…that no matter what may happen, she always had her friends for help. How could she forget such a thing? She shouldn't be afraid to ask for help, even if it did bring up such a tender subject. Beast Boy was so kind, she knew he would gladly give her any help she would ask for. That's all she had to do was ask.

"Huh…you don't have a fever or anything."

"I suppose…I am nervous."

"Nervous?" Beast Boy had to think for a moment before any reason could come to mind, all he needed was the one. "Oh…you mean…seeing Dick again?"

"Yes…I suppose I am afraid."

"Afraid?" Beast Boy turned down the burner under the eggs and sat down next to her. "Star, there's nothing to be afraid of. I mean, I know how you are feeling."

"Yes…that is why I must ask you something."

"Anything."

"What…"She stumbled, her hand fumbling in her lap. At the same moment she was asking the same question in her own mind. Was there even an answer? She was so unsure of herself and she didn't know why. She needed help, desperately. "What would you do if you saw Terra again?"

Beast Boy was taken aback by the question, taking a long moment of silence for it to sink in. This was a question he had, up until recently, asked himself. He had found no answer, only a sore heart. When he saw Terra that night, the very first thing that happened was his mind replayed her act of betrayal and the indescribable pain that caused him. He did have an answer for her, but he didn't want to give it to her. How could he tell her that she would relive all the heartbreak again the moment Dick stepped through the door?

"Well…Star…" The ringing of the phone brought through his stumbling for a response. He was saved; this would buy him time to think. He had to think of something, anything else to tell her. Standing up, he headed over to the wall phone and rested it between his shoulder and his ear, taking the spatula and returning to work on breakfast for a moment.

"Hello? …This is he…oh…um, right now?...yes, I understand…uh-huh…I'll be right there…thank you…bye." Beast Boy hung up the phone with a confused look on his face, Raven peeking her head out from the bedroom door as she dried her hair with a towel.

"Who was it?"

"It was Mr. Wayne's secretary…he wants to see me."

"Now?" Raven pushed open the door the rest of the way, her body covered with a second towel. She found herself surprised, and a bit worried. Mr. Wayne was known to be a kind man and nothing like the traditional boss, but still, being called in on a day off to talk to your boss…wasn't something you took lightly.

"Yeah…um, you guys start breakfast without me."

"How long do you think you're going to be?"

"I dunno, I need to pick up some things while I'm out anyways." Beast Boy scrambled to the bedroom and slipped out of his pajama bottoms, pulling on a pair of painter's jeans and a black t-shirt before coming back out for his jacket. He could only imagine what Mr. Wayne wanted. It was most likely about the attempt break-in last night, but still…he was nervous.

"Good luck hun." Raven caught him at the door and kissed him gently on the lips, she could feel the goose bumps on his arms as she held his arm and ran her fingers through his hair. "Just take it easy ok? You didn't do anything wrong…did you?"

"No…"

"Then there is nothing to worry about." She smiled and kissed him again before letting him go. "Just hurry back, I'm sure at least one of them will come early." Beast Boy nodded and took a deep breath, getting control of himself. After reminding himself that it was most likely about last night, he finally made his way out the door.

Two hours went by and still no sign of Beast Boy. Raven was starting to get worried, still tidying up a few things around the apartment before company came. Starfire was also showing concern, even though she wasn't fully aware of the situation. The place had fallen silent, Raven was quiet anxious to see how things had turned out. It was moments like these she wished they had the money for cell phones; it would make this so much easier. Just as she thought this she heard footsteps on coming up the stairs and stopped dead in her tracks. Starfire too heard it and turned to watch the door with her. A few moments went by, which felt like hours before the doorknob turned, clicked and was pushed out.

Beast Boy pushed the door open with his back, his arms carrying a number of grocery bags and two decent-sized bouquets of flowers. The bags were stuffed to the brim with food and as he turned to walk normally, Raven was quite surprised to see a large grin on his face and happy tune humming in his throat. She could only watch in a amazement, Beast Boy only humming louder and smiling wider at them as he sit down the large grocery bags, keeping the flowers in arm.

"These are for the table…" Beast Boy held out one of the bouquets, showing them off a moment before setting them down on the counter, moving on to the much grander looking bundle. "And these are for you." He smiled, handing the flowers over to Raven and leaning in for a tender kiss. Raven blushed, the heavenly scent of the flowers overcoming her. It had been a while since he surprised her with something like this, and it never ceased to make her heart flutter. She never was too crazy about flowers, but it didn't matter, it was such a sweet gift that it didn't really matter much.

"Th-thanks…" She held them close to her and took a moment to admire the gift, almost forgetting entirely why he had left in the first place. After a few moments, taking the flowers to the counter and retrieving a large vase, it all came back to her, and she found his current mood as a good sign. "I take it the meeting went well?"

Beast Boy could only smile at her, taking out a number of different vegetables, most of which Raven had never even seen before. He continued to do this, humming quite happily at the counter. The fact of not knowing was starting to pick away at Raven's patience, especially with the way he was acting. Something good happened, and it wasn't just that the meeting wasn't to chew him out. She was quite sure there was something more, something she knew he wouldn't tell her until he was ready…she would make him ready, if need to.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"Nothing happened; he just wanted to thank me for stopping those goons last night, that's all."

"Noooo, that's not it. Something happened, I can tell."

"Really now?" Beast Boy grinned, he was enjoying this immensely. The truth was that something did in fact happen, something unbelievable. But, he decided to wait for a couple of reasons. Firstly…he enjoyed tormenting her with this, and secondly…well, there really was no second reason, he just liked having his fun with her.

"Yes now tell me…"

"Where's Star?" His memory suddenly kicked back in, everything else that he had on his mind taking the sidelines to this line of thought. Starfire…how could he have forgotten? On his was home he had all the time in the world to think of what to tell her…but the meeting with Mr. Wayne had consumed him. He couldn't leave her hanging, she deserved much better than that.

"She's taking her shower…now stop stalling."

"I'm not stalling…when did she go in?"

"…She should be out by now but…"

He didn't let her finish, instead he gave her a concerned look, as if he were trying to let her read his thoughts. Of course, she couldn't, but let him go anyways. The look on his face made her only more curious, but she also knew that whatever it was, it was important. She could wait, especially if it was for Starfire...but not for too long. Beast Boy met up with the closed bathroom door, the sounds of dripping water absent, so it was safe to assume she was no longer in the shower. Still, he knocked first.

"Star?"

"I will be out in a minute." The knock had stirred a sharp gasp from inside, obviously the sudden noise had startled her, whether the sniffling that followed was related…was doubtful. Inside the bathroom Starfire was sitting on the toilet, tissues in hand that desperately tried to soak up the flood of tears that was pouring out of her. She was so scared, and she didn't know why. Why would seeing him again incite so much fear in her? Was she afraid he would have forgotten her? Or was it that she was afraid of him remembering her…and having no more feelings for her at all? When this thought crossed her mind, she could only think that she would prefer being forgotten over the latter.

"You ok?" She didn't answer; they'd been through this once already today so she knew there was no way to convince him otherwise. Slowly the door began to open and Beast Boy edged his way in, keeping his eyes closed at first, unsure of what he might find. "Are you decent?"

"Yes…" Beast Boy cautiously opened his eyes, in seeing her fully dressed in a rather nice outfit of pink, made his way in entirely and leaned up against the wall quietly. He was still unsure of what he was going to tell her, but he knew he had to say something. He took a deep breath, debating in the last moments on telling her the truth or not…such a horrible decision to have to make, especially when a friend's heart is in the balance.

"Star…about Dick…" He stumbled, watching helplessly as Starfire looked at him with her saddened eyes, red from the tears that had almost bled her dry of her strength that was always so apparent about her. The very strength that made everyone around her love her so much, making them feel happier just from being with her. It gave them the feeling that no matter what, even if they couldn't handle something, she would. But now…that strength seemed to be gone, leaving a sad shell of a woman behind.

"Do you think…he has forgotten me?"

"No…no of course not, how could he?" Beast Boy kneeled down before her, putting a hand on hers for comfort and setting aside the now empty box of tissues. "What makes you even think that?"

"He…he…he never tried to contact me…not even once."

"Star…he never contacted us either. I was the one who had to track him down."

"But…I loved-…" She started to break down again, the tears she had managed to keep at bay for the past few minutes pushing forward, falling into her lap as her head hung with this pain in her heart. Beast Boy sat up and held her tight, turning his head to the door to see Raven standing quietly in the corner. Although she didn't want to give it away, it hurt her as well to see her friend like this. She only wished she could heal a broken heart.

"I know you did…"

Oh man, was this chapter a pain in the ass to finish. Ugh…oh well, it's done now. I guess one of the reasons I was having trouble had to do with me doing some artwork. Speaking of which, I have just finished and posted a little something for all of you that have stuck with me throughout and given me so much support. You guys really make a guy feel good with your comments and reviews, so if you visit here >> (http/ you will find my gift to you Hope you like it, Later Days!

ANSA