AN: Nope, no ownership yet… deal with it

The Best Gift Ever

Raven had been excited from the moment she woke up. She cleaned her room up nice, even though she knew her grandparents wouldn't allow her to take him in there, and went food shopping for him. She would have to cook all of his meals for him, since her grandmother refused to cook tofu. But, she didn't mind. Besides, he always said that she cooked it the best.

And the day went on and on and he still hadn't shown up. It was getting very cold out and she could smell snow in the air. And, as happy as she was for that, she was still becoming impatient and nervous about how late Beast Boy was. She hoped he wasn't stuck in battle, but in a way she did because that would give him a good excuse for being late. Finally, around sunset, he arrived.

"Where have you been?" asked Raven as she stood in the doorway with her arms crossed.

"Sorry, Red X made a reappearance and we almost had a xinothium doomsday thing and… well… here I am!" he said, with a nervous smile. Raven stared at him for a few moments. He grabbed his arms and said, "Jeez it's cold!"

Raven rolled her eyes, smiled, and said, "Get in here."

He smiled and quickly stepped into the warm house with his bags. "Ooh, it smells good in here," he said, sniffing the air. "Are you cooking?"

"My grandmother and I made dinner," said Raven. "Yours is waiting for you in the oven. Come on, I'll show you to your room first."

She led him up the stairs and to the room that lay across from his. It was the guest bedroom and hadn't been used in years. She had made sure it had clean linens and had been aired out.

"I noticed your grandparents didn't come to say hello to me," said Beast Boy as he put his bags on his bed.

"Don't mind them," said Raven. "As long as you follow the rules, they'll tolerate you."

"Rules? What rules?" asked Beast Boy.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," said Raven. "They're nothing major, just silly little things to make them feel in control of the situation. You have to go by your first name, you can't go in my room, your curfew is ten o'clock, you have to be polite, you can't say anything bad about God, you know, things like that."

"The curfew is ten?" he asked, shocked. "Come on! I don't go to bed until like one in the morning, and since my body is still in Jump City time."

"Relax, you just have to be in your room, you don't have to go to bed," said Raven, rolling her eyes.

"So how are we gonna have our goodnight talk if I can't leave my room?" he asked.

"We've still got our communicators," said Raven. "And, they don't know that I talk to you every night, so we have to be really careful. Luckily, though, they're usually asleep by nine."

"That's good," said Beast Boy. He unzipped his bag and pulled out a small gift. "This is for you, merry Christmas," he said, smiling sweetly.

She smiled and took it. She slowly unwrapped it and found a leather box. She opened it up and gasped. "Where did you get this?" she asked, taking a necklace out of the box. It was made of a silver and gold chain with a platinum pendant that weaved into the shape of a raven, with diamonds speckled about it.

"I read your favorite book, you know, the one that you based your Halloween costume on," said Beast Boy. "And when I read it I saw that the girl you dressed up as wore this necklace. So I went to a jeweler place and had them make it. Do you like it?"

She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "This was the most thoughtful gift I've ever gotten," said Raven. "I love it." Beast Boy felt himself smile dreamily as she hugged him close. He was saddened when she let him go. "Help me put it on."

She handed him the necklace, turned around, and moved her hair out of the way. He wrapped it around her neck and clasped it in the back. She turned back towards him, smiling widely.

"How does it look?" she asked.

"Beautiful," he said, smiling.

She felt herself blush in front of him and she bit her bottom lip. Then she snapped out of it and said, "Your gifts are under the tree."

"Gifts?" he asked. "You got me more than one?"

"Of course," said Raven as she made her way downstairs with Beast Boy following her.

"Awe, now I feel bad," said Beast Boy, his ears drooping.

"Why?" asked Raven.

"Cuz I only got you one," said Beast Boy.

"I don't care," said Raven. "You got me the best gift I've ever gotten. If you'd have gotten me any more I would have refused them."

They went downstairs to the parlor where the Christmas tree was. She reached under and pulled out the remaining four gifts. He couldn't believe she had gotten him four presents. They both sat down and Beast Boy excitedly began tearing the wrapping paper off.

"Awe, no way!" Beast Boy cried out as he held up the newest edition of Mega Monkeys; Mega Monkeys Revolution! He then unwrapped the newest installment of his favorite comic book series. After that he unwrapped a little coupon book Raven had made that included little coupons for when he wanted her to cook. As long as he used a coupon, she couldn't complain and she had to cook him what he wanted. Lastly, he received a CD of his favorite band.

"Do you like your gifts?" asked Raven.

"You're the best!" he said, wrapping his arms around her.

"Hey! None of that here," said Peter, entering the room. Beast Boy and Raven jumped apart quickly, and blushed. "Raven, have you gone over the rules with him?"

"Yes," said Raven.

"Good," said Peter.

Beast Boy quickly stood up and put his hand out to him. "Uh, nice to see you again, sir," he said, nervously, feeling quite embarrassed that her grandfather had seen the two of them hug. Peter looked at Beast Boy for a second then shook his hand. "I can't thank you enough for letting me stay for a few days. And I promise I'll behave myself."

"Well, as long as you do, we should have no problems," said Peter.

Beast Boy smiled, even though on the inside he wanted to put this man in his place. He may have a hold on Raven, but he wasn't going to control him. And, speaking of which, he was planning on observing how Raven and her grandparents interacted. He wanted to see if they were really controlling her, or if everything she was doing now was really her choice. He still had his doubts.

Raven couldn't stop smiling, not as long as she felt that necklace draped around her neck. She couldn't wait to show it off to everyone. She never would have thought in her wildest dreams of having this necklace. She only hoped her gifts to him made as big of an impact as his gift to her.

After Beast Boy ate his late dinner, with her grandparents staring at him the whole time for they couldn't understand how he could eat a meat-free meal, they were sent up to bed. They left their doors open so they could talk to each other without breaking any of 'the rules'.

"You know, your grandparents aren't that old," said Beast Boy. "I would've thought they'd heard of tofu."

"They're old fashioned," said Raven. "Just like their parents and their parents before them."

"So, what're we gonna do tomorrow?" asked Beast Boy.

Raven shrugged. "Whatever you want," said Raven. "But, we better get out of the house. Unless you want my grandparents to glare at you all day."

"Naw, that's okay," Beast Boy chuckled. "We should do something out of the house. Maybe we can go into the city again. You can go to that café and I can really check out that arcade place."

"That sounds like a plan," said Raven. "I really hope it snows tonight."

"Yeah, me too," said Beast Boy. "You were right about the snow being all splotchy. Hopefully it'll snow and cover all the bald spots."

"Did you bring any snow clothes?" asked Raven. "Or anything to cover your bare arms?"

"I found an old jacket, but I don't think it'll fit," Beast Boy laughed.

"Then we'll have to pick you up some clothes tomorrow, too," said Raven. "My grandparents have a thing about spandex."

"They want me to go by Garfield, they want me to wear normal clothes," said Beast Boy. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say they had a thing against superheroes."

"No, just smart mouthed ones," said Peter stepping into view from the hall. "And I don't appreciate people going behind my back and calling me prejudice."

"Oh, uh, sorry," said Beast Boy, feeling very embarrassed.

"He didn't mean anything by it," said Raven. "We're just talking."

"Well your curfew is passed and that means the door is closed," said Peter. He grabbed ravens doorknob, said, "Goodnight," and closed it. Then he looked right at Beast Boy and walked into his room. "Listen here, young man, you are to stay in your room all night. You are not to leave until Raven has left hers tomorrow morning. Is that understood."

"Uh, yeah," said Beast Boy. Peter gave him a stern look. "I mean, yes sir. I'll stay in here."

"Good," said Peter. "And if I catch you outside of this room and anywhere near her, you will be out of this house. Clear?"

"Transparently," said Beast Boy with a smile, but it quickly went away as Peter continued to remain serious. "But, what if I have to go to the bathroom?"

"You hold it," said Peter. "Go before you go to bed or when you get up."

"Then, can I go really quickly?" asked Beast Boy.

Peter sighed and said, "Yes."

"Great, thanks," said Beast Boy and he quickly ran to the bathroom.

Raven listened intently through the door. She couldn't believe how strict her grandfather was being towards Beast Boy. He certainly had no problem leaving her and Paul alone. But Beast Boy scared him, she could tell. Why, she wasn't sure. She was very impressed at how well Beast Boy was handling all of these rules and her grandfather. She would have to tell him how proud she was of him.

She crawled into her bed and rested for a little while. She would wait until it was safe to talk to Beast Boy. She looked out the window and couldn't see any stars. The sky was covered by clouds. She felt the glass of her window and the glass was ice cold, and it radiated off of it. She snuggled into her blankets and rested her eyes for a while. Before she knew it, sleep had taken her.

A hand gently shook her. "Raven?" said a familiar voice. She lazily opened her eyes and saw a figure looming over her. She gasped and sat up quickly. "Whoa, calm down!"

"Beast Boy?" she asked in a loud whisper. "What are you doing in here? If my grandparents find you…"

"I know, I know," he said. "But I had to wake you up."

"Why?" asked Raven.

"Look outside," said Beast Boy, pointing to her window.

She turned her head and was stunned to see that it was not as dark out as it had been when she went to sleep. It was odd, almost as if it was deep gray outside. She looked closed and saw that snow was falling and had been for a little while.

"Come on, get up," he said, taking her hands and pulling her out of the bed.

"Why do I have to get up?" she asked.

"We're gonna have a little fun outside," he said with an evil grin.

"Beast Boy, I can't," said Raven. "If my grandparents find out that we're up and together they'll get very upset."

"Well, you just broke their rule about you calling me Garfield," said Beast Boy. "Why can't you break their rule about staying in after dark? Come on, it'll be fun."

Raven thought for a moment then smiled. "Let me change into something else," she said, going to her draw and grabbing some clothes.

"Oh, that's right, it's gonna be cold outside," said Beast Boy, realizing this at last.

"Don't worry," said Raven. "I'll grab some clothes from my grandfather."

"Isn't that stealing?" asked Beast Boy.

"Hey, if we're going to break the rules tonight, let's go all out," said Raven with a smirk.