I took a seat on the chair next to Echo. I looked over at Raven and Shaw who seem engrossed in their conversation.

"Hey, what's Shaw like?" I asked Echo, very curious about who this guy who seemed to have charmed Raven is.

"I don't know, I've spoken to him like twice." She replied.

"That's still two more times than I've spoken to him."

"Well you aren't missing out on much," Echo responded.

"I'm just curious," I said.

"Why do you even care Murphy? It's not like other human beings ever interest you."

"Maybe I've taken a liking to getting to know people." I responded.

"Oh, ohhh!" Echo exclaimed.

"What?" I asked, very confused by what she was going on about.

"You like Raven like, like her. How did I not see this. Especially when you and Emori broke up." Echo said mainly to herself.

"What? No! I do not like Raven." I said as seriously as I could muster. Though I don't know if that's completely true.

"Come on Murphy. You do, why else would you want to know anything about Shaw." She replied, looking straight at me.

"Maybe I want to make friends, Echo."

"I don't even know why we are still arguing. It's painfully obvious. But a terrible time to realize it Murphy. I mean, I think she likes Shaw." Echo said.

"That's great, she can like Shaw all she wants. Since we are just friends." I said, emphasizing the last part.

"You keep denying it. Ugh, now I want you guys to be together. I'm supposed to be neutral." Echo said smacking herself on the head lightly. I stood up and decided to take a bit of a walk. Echo talking to me like this was weird. She was wrong, right?

Later on I was sitting on the floor not doing much and Echo came to join me.

"Hey, so I guess I apologize for being so adamant earlier." Echo said.

"Thank you for realizing that you are wrong," I said.

"I never said that. I'm still completely correct. You're in love with Raven and you know it even if you don't want to admit it." She said. I just shook my head. Why in the world would I like Raven, of all people.

"What is this I hear about you liking Raven John?" Emori asked sitting with us.

"Sorry you had to hear that." Echo said to her.

"It's fine. John and I are over as a couple. How did I not notice you liking Raven?"

"Emori, Echo, I do not like Raven," I said.

"Oh really?" Emori teased.

"It just sucks that he didn't notice until Raven found someone else to like." Echo said sadly to Emori.

"You two are ridiculous, honestly," I said.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Raven asked joining us on the floor.

"Nothing," I responded curtly.

"So Raven, how's Shaw?" Emori asked looking at me. I glared at her and she looked away.

"He's fine…" she replied. I looked up and saw Shaw walking over to us.

"Raven, you left your paper." Shaw said handing her the map she had drawn up earlier with us

"Oh, I haven't met you guys yet. I'm Shaw." He said motioning to Emori and I. We stood up and Emori shook his hand first and introduced herself.

"I'm John Murphy." I said while quickly shaking Shaw's outstretched hand. We stood awkwardly for a second before Echo got up and sparked a conversation with Shaw about something that happened the other day. He left a few minutes later.

The next day I woke up fairly early to people talking. Everyone seemed busy for this early in the morning. I pushed myself off the uncomfortable 'bed'. Echo was still asleep and Emori was in the corner talking to some girl. But what was kind of concerning was that Raven was sitting on Shaw's 'bed' which was basically a plank of wood like all the others.

It sucked that Raven was spending so much time with a guy she just met over the people she was in space with for 6 years. Yeah, that was it. Not that I liked her it was just that she was being unfair. My relationship with Raven is so platonic, it would win an award.

"Morning John!" Emori basically sung as she walked over to me.

"I liked you better when we weren't on speaking terms." I said which was followed by a chuckle from Emori. Without thinking I looked over at Raven and Shaw.

"Maybe you should tell her.." Emori said quietly.

"There's nothing to tell." I stated and walked away quickly. I sat down on my bed and stared at the ceiling. Raven came and sat down next to me a little while later.

"What's up with you?" She asked making herself as comfortable as possible.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You just seem kind of off. And you keep looking over at me." She said.

"Well I just realized we haven't gotten to talk much since we 'reunited'. Since you have been busy with Shaw." I practically whispered the last part but I knew that she heard me.

"Oh, I'm sorry. It's just that I didn't really know what to talk to you about. Things have changed lately." She responded looking almost sad.

"Yeah, I'm not one of your only 6 options of people to talk to anymore. You don't have to sugarcoat it. Just say that you don't want to speak to me, it's fine."

"What, no! Murphy that's definitely not what I meant. We were apart for like a week and the only person I really had to talk to was Shaw. I'm really sorry that I haven't made an effort to talk to you since you came here." She said.

"It's crystal clear that you only became 'friends' with me because you had barely anyone else to talk to." I said, sounding pretty mean.

"Okay, that's enough. Murphy, you are the person I have been closest to for the past six years." Raven said and she looked like she was about to cry. My intentions were never to make her cry. I almost wanted to cry myself seeing her that upset. And I had of course caused it yet again.

"Sorry." I said quickly before standing up. I didn't want to make her any more upset. Before I could walk away she pulled my arm to sit back down so I did.

"Don't just walk away." She said quietly. I looked at her and she had tears in her eyes, I looked away. I really didn't want to see her cry. She leaned towards me and put her head on my shoulder. I was confused on what I should do so I put my arm around her. She moved after a few seconds and wiped her eyes.

"I'm really sorry that I made you feel like I don't care because I do." She said.

"Thanks. And I'm sorry I made you cry." I responded. She laughed slightly.

"I probably deserved it for not being a good enough friend."

"You never deserve to cry." I told her. She smiled at me.

"I promise that I'll make an effort to spend more time with you." She said.

"And I promise I'll make a huge effort not to make you cry since that's what you deserve." I responded. She got up smiled at me one last time and walked over to do something else. I need to sort out my feelings, so I don't hurt her again I care too much about her to do that.

Authors' Note-

Sorry it's been a little while. But I only post on this one when I post on ao3 (which is 3 chapters ahead, in case you want to read other stories). I wrote this particular story months ago, so it's not very good. But I felt like posting it anyway. Thanks for reading, suggestions for new stories are always welcome

-mfandom61