Ch 14

It had been a tough night for Raven after her visit with her aunt and uncle. Her emotions were all over the place, and she was surprised the hotel room had stayed intact. Nothing was out of place. At some point she felt tired and felt herself drift off to sleep. When she woke up, she felt something warm by her torso, so she carefully looked down to see a sleeping green cat curled up by her side. She was touched by this act as she smiled. Careful not to wake him, she used her powers to get off the bed and land near the bathroom. Gathering her clothes, she took one last look at her sleeping boyfriend, lightly kissed his green, furry head and disappeared into the bathroom.

The warm water felt good on her body as she began to relax, letting everything from yesterday drop from her shoulders but it didn't last long. She wasn't sure where she went from here. She had left things out when telling Maiden and Bedford about her and her mother. It seemed like the right thing to do after finding out what her relatives were, God fearing people. She sighed. 'Would they even accept me, knowing what I am? she thought.

'You won't know if you never find out,' said Knowledge.

'No! They can burn in hell for what they said about our mother,' said Rage.

'I say we reveal who we really are,' said Brave. 'They can take it or leave it.'

'Brave has a point. If they can't accept us, then they never cared about us in the first place,' said Love. 'We know who really cares about us at the end of the day, Garfield.'

'Speaking of taking care of us—said Lust.

'Lust, that's out of the question,' said Raven.

'Why? He belongs to us now, so I'm sure he won't min—

'I mind,' said Raven. 'It's too soon in the relationship to be thinking about sex.'

'It doesn't mean you don't want sex,' said Lust. 'You want him, and I know this because I'm a part of you.'

'I—she blushed. 'Of course I want him to the point that it's overwhelming, even painful but it's not the right time.'

'It's ok to be scared Raven,' said Love.

Raven came out of her mind, stepped out of the shower, turned off the water, and wrapped herself in a towel. Wiping the condensation off the mirror, she saw a young woman with pale grey skin, dark blue eyes and hair to match. Her chakra is what stood out to her. It is a part of who she is, and it was then that she knew what she had to do. By no means would it be easy but she didn't want to hide who she was. She didn't want to be ashamed of who she was and even though she knew she wasn't all the way there yet, this felt like the first step.

Looking at the clothes she brought with her in the bathroom, she realized it had been her uniform. She smiled. 'I guess I knew all along what I needed to do. I just needed to think it through inside my mind,' she smiled as she pulled her leotard on over her underwear and her bra, zipping up the back with her powers. Wrapping her cloak around her, she felt she could face anything now as she put her belt around her waist.

Raven came out of the bathroom to see Gar stretching his body in nothing but boxers by the closed curtain window. She blushed as she could feel some of her emotions raging. 'Calm down!' she thought. 'It's like he does this on purpose.'

"Hey Rae," he smiled as she turned around to face her. "Are you doing all right? I—Before he knew it, his girlfriend was holding him to her. He smiled and held her close, leaning his nose into her hair, taking in her scent.

"I'm better then I was last night. Thank you for being there for me Garfield," she said as she rested in his embrace. "Are you smelling me?"

Gar blushed. "Well you smell really good. I love your scent Rae."

"Just like I love that you seem to be comfortable with me, walking around half naked around me."

"I promise that's the only reason Rae. I'm not trying to show off or anything."

"Oh but aren't you Gar?" she said as she came to face him with a smirk on her lips.

Gar sighed. "Maybe a little bit Rae I mean I like to see you riled up sometimes. I'm sorry. I—

"It's all right. I—I—she blushed. "I don't mind the view."

"Really?" he wiggled his eyebrows.

"Please don't ever do that again," said Raven as he stopped. "Anyway I've been thinking a lot about yesterday and I've made a decision."

"What is it Rae?"

"I want to confront them with who I really am. If they can't accept me, then it's time to move on."

"I kind of figured that out when I saw you wearing your uniform," he smiled, "I'm right there with you Raven. You know that."

"I do," she smiled. "I know it leaves you open to ridicule, and I'm—

"I have no regrets about this Rae. I love you. I'd do anything for you. They can say what they want, but I know who I am inside. They can't take that from me."

"I love you to Garfield, and I'd do anything for you in return. If they cross a line, we leave and never look back."

"I'm with you on that," said Gar as he leaned in and captured her lips with his.

Raven returned the kiss, holding tightly to her boyfriend as he held her as tight as he could without hurting her. Before he knew it, Raven had him pinned against the wall, making out with him with such passion that he began to feel deliriously happy and dizzy at the same time. Ignoring his vertigo, he returned her passionate kisses with some of his own, causing Raven to almost fall to the ground until he wrapped her legs around his torso. Then he pinned her to the wall and moved his lips from her mouth down to her neck leaving hickey all along the skin. When she moaned in pleasure, he knew it was time to stop and she understood.

They were meeting Bedford and Maiden at their home disguised in their holo rings. Rachel not once let go of Gar's hand as they entered their home. Sitting in the living room with her relatives, she felt nervous but her mind was not changed. She needed to rip off the bandaid, no matter how much it hurt. She needed to know if she would be accepted.

"You sounded nervous on the phone dear. What's wrong?" asked Maiden as Rachel could feel the compassion pouring off of her aunt.

"There's some things I left out yesterday about my life," said Raven. "I didn't know how you two would react, but I need to tell the truth now."

"The truth about what exactly?" asked Bedford.

"I—I'm half demon. My mother wasn't violated by a human man, but a demon named Trigon. He was my father. I was a part of a crime fighting team called the Teen Titans for years. My boyfriend is a shapeshifter who can change into any animal," said Raven as she and Gar removed their holo rings.

"Oh my god," said Maiden. "You're a Teen Titan."

"Who cares about that Maiden? She's a demon, an abomination like her monster of a boyfriend," said Bedford. "Get out of my house!" he exclaimed.

"Bedford, no!" exclaimed Maiden.

"You're mother should have killed herself then given birth to a sinful creature," said Bedford.

Raven had to hold back Gar with her powers as he growled at Bedford. "I've heard it all before so nothing you can say is worse then what I've said about myself. I may be a demon, but I'm nothing like one. I destroyed my father from taking over the planet. I've saved many lives as a Titan but all you see is evil when you look at me. I could have attacked you, and I could have killed you but that's not who I am."

"And who is your boyfriend? What do you think he would of done if you hadn't stopped him?" asked Bedford.

"I don't know. What I do know is that he loves me and would do anything to protect me. He feels like you are hurting me, and he feels he's protecting me the only way he knows right now in his rage."

"Raven," said Maiden.

"I'm sorry I lied to you aunt Maiden, but this is the reaction I feared. I think it's best if we go now."

"Wait! I know my husband can't accept this, but I can. Maybe you feel like you can't stay but—She took her cellphone out. "If you ever feel like you want to talk, I'll be there," she smiled as Raven put her number in the cell phone Cyborg had gotten all the Titans before separating.

Raven smiled. "Thank you," she said as she hugged her aunt and left with her suspended boyfriend out the door. She knew it would take a while for Gar to calm down, so she teleported them back to their hotel room. Lying him down on the bed, she curled up right into his body and held him. "It's all right Gar. I'm all right," she said as she felt his arm draw her body to his before kissing her forehead.