I have an idea for a drinking game! Take a shot every time I add an unnecessary disclaimer to one of my stories! Actually, on second thought... don't do that. You would die. Please don't die.

Wiping the excess toothpaste off of his mouth, Beast Boy gave his reflection a hard look.

Objectively, he looked normal. Maybe a bit tired, but it was pretty early. His hair was disheveled, as usual, and his wayward fang poked out of his mouth as he smiled. He still looked like Beast Boy.

He just didn't feel like it.

Raven was unknowingly (or, at least, so he hoped) turning his world upside down - and not in the fun, amusement park kind of way. It was in the chaotic, nothing-is-right way. The way that makes someone feel really, really shitty.

But, what made him feel even worse was the fact that he was letting it happen. He was letting her destroy him.

It needed to stop.

The changeling looked himself in the eyes, determination etched across his face. It was going to end today. It had to.

Turning away from the mirror, Beast Boy exited his bathroom and made his way down the dark corridor. And though it was a relatively short walk to his room, he felt he had all the time he needed to come up with what he was going to say.

Raven, I love you.

Okay, that probably wasn't the best idea. Shaking away that thought, he tried to think of something else.

Raven, I can't help you anymore... Yeah, that was better, wasn't it? ...because I love you.

Cringing again, Beast Boy stopped a few feet in front of his door. Maybe he needed a little more time to think on this.

He wasn't sure if he actually loved her - he just knew his feelings were no longer platonic. In fact, they hadn't been platonic in a long time. But love seemed too strong of a word. Interested, maybe? He was interested in her; in becoming more. He wanted to explore his new feelings, if she maybe felt the same?

But that was a big 'if', and he wasn't sure if he wanted to know how she felt. Maybe his feelings shouldn't be his excuse.

He could claim that he was worried about the long-term effects their arrangement could have on their friendship. Or that his animal instincts were making his role nearly impossible. Or he could even lie, and say he was interested in someone else.

But all those excuse were sure to warrant questions.

Letting out a defeated sigh, Beast Boy took the last few steps towards his door. It seemed that he would have to wing it - something he was occasionally good at doing.

As his door hissed open and he stepped into his room, he felt the start of his excuse rise in his throat, only to die there as he caught the look on her face.

Raven was sitting on the end of his bed, her eyes wide and staring off at nothing. What appeared to have been her communicator was strewn across her lap in several pieces, the circuits still sparking.

Beast Boy's stomach dropped.

"Rae?"

"It..." she began after several moments, her voice barely above a whisper. "It was..."

Feeling his concern outweigh his better judgement, Beast Boy slowly approached the half-demon. "What's happened, Rae?"

She was still looking past him, her amethyst eyes seeing nothing as he neared her. Ignoring the shrills of protest in his mind, the changeling sat himself beside his teammate, gently brushing the destroyed device off of her lap and onto the floor, before taking the empath's hand.

At his touch, she seemed to have snapped out of her trance as her head whipped towards his, her face contorted into a look of horror.

"Starfire..." she whispered, tears threatening to spill from the corner of her eyes.

Beast Boy froze at the alien's name, his thoughts bouncing in his head as he imagined the worst. What could cause Raven to look so shocked?

"W-what about her?" Beast Boy gulped, feeling the color drain from his face as he looked into Raven's eyes.

"It was... my fault."

Her words doing nothing to comfort him, nor making the situation make any sense, Beast Boy found himself squeezing the empath's hand.

"What was your fault?" he asked shakily, his mind still racing. "What are you talking about? Is she okay?"

"She's... fine."

Beast Boy allowed himself a moment of relief, almost laughing out loud during the process. "Holy shit, Rae - you can't be all ominous like that!"

But the half-demon obviously did not share his relief as she continued to stare at him.

"It was my fault, Beast Boy," she repeated, giving the green titan a somewhat incredulous look.

Still not following along, Beast Boy cocked his head to the side in confusion. "Uh, what was?"

It looked as if the vein in Raven's forehead was about to burst.

"Everything!" she exclaimed, pulling her hand out of his as she stood from the bed. Beast Boy followed suit, grabbing her shoulders and turning her around to face him.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Shooting him one of the fiercest glares he had even seen, Raven attempted to rip herself out of his hold.

"Starfire's sickness!" she growled, unable to escape his embrace as he held on tighter. "It was my fault!"

Beast Boy hoped his bewildered look would be cause for her to elaborate.

"I must not have healed her properly," she began, either reading his mind or his expression. "And... and something got infected. My guess is that huge cut she got on her leg - you know, the one from that last battle with Plasmus?"

Racking his brain, Beast Boy was barely able to recall what Raven was talking about. Plasmus had been wreaking havoc downtown, and in their combined attempt to knock the villain out, Starfire had somehow gotten caught up in the blast and was thrown through an office window. It had happened months ago, and the alien didn't seem all too fazed by it. In fact, Raven had been the one to insist on healing it, as there had been quite a bit of blood.

"I thought you healed that?" Beast Boy replied, his grip on her loosening as she calmed down.

"I-I thought so, too..." she breathed, her voice catching in her throat. "B-but apparently, we hadn't properly cleaned the wound. I mean, it was in the middle of battle, and Starfire insisted on returning to the fight, and I didn't know where Cyborg was, and she just kept bleeding, so I... I..."

Raven seemed to gasp for air as a single tear slipped down her cheek, before she fell into Beast Boy.

"I just closed the wound," she whimpered, burying her face into the crook of Beast Boy's neck. As if on instinct, Beast Boy wrapped his arms around her as her body softly shook. He had never seen Raven so distraught.

Ignoring the fluttering in his stomach as Raven's arms slipped around him, he attempted to sort out what she had just told him.

Starfire was fine - which was awesome. Raven hadn't elaborated much on that, but he figured that Robin had called her with an update. Which, apparently, consisted of the news that Starfire's illness was due to some kind of... infection? A treatable one, most likely. But the cause of the infection stemmed from an improperly healed wound - the one Raven was referring to. And, judging by the destroyed communicator scattered across the floor, Beast Boy guessed that Robin alluded to the same thing.

Meaning, Raven now saw herself as the one responsible.

"This isn't your fault, Rae," Beast Boy cooed, gently running his fingers through her hair as he attempted to soothe her. "We're super heroes - and that comes with some hazards."

He wasn't sure if his words were helping, but it seemed the empath was calming down. She was no longer shaking with silent sobs, and nothing else had exploded, though a few of his things were encased in dark energy.

"And Starfire's going to be okay," he continued hesitantly. "I mean, otherwise a lot more than just your communicator would have exploded..."

At that, Raven pulled away from him enough to lightly smack his chest. "Shut up."

Her voice had returned to its usual monotone - a good sign.

Feeling exceptionally proud at successfully comforting his teammate, Beast Boy sent her his signature grin.

"See, Rae? Everything's fi-"

But his words were cut off as Raven pressed her lips against his, pulling herself flush against him.

Beast Boy's eyes widened in surprise, though it seemed the rest of his body went into autopilot. He soon found himself moving backwards, towards his bed, his brain screaming at him to stop as his eyes slowly fluttered shut.

He fell onto his mattress, barely able to appreciate its softness as his teammate shifted her weight on top of him, her lips moving with urgency against his. He could hardly think straight as she tugged on his hair, until she suddenly pulled away, her legs still straddling him as her eyes stared blankly at the wall behind him.

Their breathing was in sync, despite both their hearts beating sporadically. Beast Boy watched in confusion as Raven's eyes began watering again, though her face remained as blank as ever. But before he could even remember how to speak, she had captured his mouth once more, the tears in her eyes landing on his face as she kissed him.

Ignoring the part of him that wanted to continue, Beast Boy found the strength to remove his hands from her waist and towards her shoulders, before gently pushing her away.

Their eyes locked immediately - his filled with confusion, hers full of tears.

"W-what's wrong?"

He didn't mean for his voice to crack, but seeing her like this scared him.

"Too many emotions to filter through," she deadpanned, as if her crying on him was the most normal thing in the world. "Just multitasking, I guess."

Beast Boy was more than slightly taken aback. "Multitasking?" he repeated, his brows furrowing.

She didn't even have the decency to look guilty - just angry. "It's oddly effective. Can't you just let it be?" she snapped, finally breaking the spell.

Feeling his stomach boil with rage, Beast Boy pushed Raven back as he sat himself up. "No, Raven. I can't," he growled, his face only inches from hers as she sat on his lap.

She quirked an eyebrow at his tone, which only made him angrier. He wasn't sure where it all was coming from, but it seemed like he was the one about to explode.

"I've been a good friend. Hell, I've been a great friend! I've put up with your mood swings and conditions and haven't asked for anything in return!" he began, doing his best not to shout.

Her placid demeanor wavered slightly, though she didn't make a move to interrupt him. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing.

"And yet, you still treat me like shit!" he continued, his voice rising. "Just because you're not allowing yourself feelings doesn't mean I'm doing the same! News-flash, Rae - I can't just turn off my emotions at will! I'm not some cold-hearted, stone-faced bitch like you!"

He yelled that last part, despite their close proximity. But he couldn't help it - it had felt so good. And even though a part of him felt horrible for what he said, the adrenaline of it all kept him focused on his anger.

Raven's blank expression was replaced by a slightly shocked version, though he was hoping for a bigger reaction. A full minute of silence passed between them, unless you counted Beast Boy's heavy breathing as he attempted to regain his composure. As the weight of what he said fell onto him, he began to feel a twinge of regret; he hadn't meant to resort to insults. He began to hope she'd say something, for the urge to apologize was beginning to overcome him.

That is, until her signature smirk began to tug at her lips.

"Are you finished?" she deadpanned, before crashing her lips against his once more.

And in that moment, Beast Boy realized how much he hated her as he kissed her back, before flipping himself on top of her and pushing her onto his bed. Her legs wrapped around his waist, and she began to awkwardly tug at his shirt. He took the hint, and quickly pulled it off of him before throwing it to the ground, their mouths only separating for a moment.

He tried to remember his anger as her fingers danced across his back, but the chills she sent down his spine proved to be far too distracting, and his lips were better suited to kissing hers than they were to talking. In fact, he only allowed them to part as she pulled her shirt over her head, before tossing it to the floor beside his.

And he knew that they were moving too fast as he tugged at the waistline of her pajama pants. He knew that he shouldn't have ran his fingers along the curve of her back; he knew he shouldn't have purred at the sound of his name leaving her lips as he kissed her neck.

And he knew he shouldn't have said it; that he should have kept his mouth busy against her skin. But he couldn't stop himself as the words slipped through his lips.

"I-I think I love you, Raven."

He knew he shouldn't have said it - that was an undisputed fact. What he didn't know, however, was that she would teleport out from under him without so much as a warning.

Kind of a short chapter again, I know! And I took a while to update again - so sorry! I'll try to be more consistent, seeing how this story is coming to an end. And in regards to my other stories, I plan on finishing them... eventually lol

Anywhoo, obviously quite a bit happened in this chapter! The apparent source of Starfire's illness, Raven's weird emotional roller coaster, and Beast Boy's accidental confession! So many things to maybe leave a review over? ;P