Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. All rights go to Warner Bros., Cartoon Network and the almighty DC Comics. They did a splendid job of it as well. And in no way do I affiliate myself with any songs I use in this fictional piece.

Author's Note: Hello, and thank you for the reviews that I received on the first chapter. I loved every single one of them. I will do my best to please you with this story.

Dilemmas

Chapter 2

-Ups and Downs-

SLAM!! Kori Anders stormed though the front door, shutting the door so hard that she could hear that she had roused her baby brother from his daily afternoon nap. Walking under the archway, she marched into the kitchen, her hand instinctively reaching across the marble counter-top for an apple out of the hand-woven basket. As she took a bite of the ripe red apple, she decided that she wanted a drink. Opening the refrigerator she pulled out a bottle of Evian water. Screwing the lid off of the bottle, she nudged the fridge door so it would close and took a swig of water. When she finally looked down from the bottle she nearly jumped out of her own skin. Her mother was staring intently at her.

"Missy if you continue slamming that door when you get home, I'm going to make you watch your brother. Actually here take him; I have to get some work done in the nursery," Mrs. Anders spoke to her daughter. Kori was placing the bottle of water on the counter-top as her mother transferred the baby boy to her.

Kori let out a sigh as her mother walked away, and listened as her mother's footfalls were indeed heading towards the nursery. Tilting her head, strands of her auburn hair fell over her shoulder; she looked down to her brother. "Looks like it's going to be you and me squirt." Kori jiggled the kid up and down gently. He gurgled up to her and his tiny hand reached for the 'shiny' red apple. "No, this isn't for you. You can't have any." Just as she was about the throw away the fruit, the doorbell sounded from the front hall. She looked down to her brother. "Who could that be?" With Kori's index finger in her brother grasp, she awkwardly tried opening the front door… to come face to face, with the running-back of the football team, Richard Grayson a.k.a. Dick. "uh… Dick, um… Why are you here?" Kori stammered out.

"I guess you were in such a hurry to get out of class that you forgot your book." Looking down to Richard's hands she didn't see any books.

"Um… you don't have any books." Kori pointed out to him, and with a gurgle from her baby brother, she rocked him lightly in her arms. Richard's surprised gaze was brought down to the infant.

"Is… he yours?" Richard's gaze was now transfixed on the green eyed baby.

"Oh god, no! H-He's my little brother." Kori faltered, and then remembered that Richard Grayson was standing in front of her. "Why are you really here?"

"Oh," Richard paused as his hand had reached up and she watched him brush his dark locks out of his eyes. "I was going to ask you out, tonight." He didn't stutter, he didn't stumble, and Kori was the one to blush.

"Uh, I can't." She rocked the infant to give Richard the hint. All of a sudden she heard her mother call over her shoulder to her.

"Hunny, why don't you invite your friend in? You should have more friends, besides Karen and Rachel." Kori winced; she didn't need her mother to be the one to telling anything to anyone about her meetings with her friends.

Forgetting that she was at the door, she tilted her head back and stared up to her mother. "Mom, didn't you have something to do up in that nursery?" She asked.

"I heard the doorbell…" Mrs. Anders started but Dick had cut in.

"I'm sorry for the disturbance ma'am. Kori I'll see ya at school." Dick turned and walked down the cobble-stone pathway to the lengthy driveway to his dark green Cougar. Kori stared out at him as he clambered inside of his car and gunned the engine. With shaky hands, Kori managed to close the front door. She didn't even notice that her mother was still standing at the top of the stairs looking down to her daughter.

"Kori Lyn Anders. What was that all about?" Kori looked up, when her mother used her full name. Kori let out a disgruntled sigh.

"Mother, please, don't. I don't need this right now. Just take Ryan." Walking up the flight of stairs, Kori passed Ryan over to her mother and trudged down the hall to the second door on the right and went into her room… but not without closing the door behind her.

Closing her eyes, Rachel Arella Roth clenched her fists. She couldn't take it anymore. Her parents had been having numerous fights. It was beginning to be regularity and it was getting on her nerves. It was now programmed in Rachel to take refuge in her room that was always pitch-black. The purple numbers on her alarm clock was the only light that shone in the darkness. With the door closed, the voices of her parents were now low muted tones. Her father's slurring words aimed at her mother.

As Rachel was finally slowly drifting to sleep, it was disrupted with a loud CRASH!! Rachel bolted up into a sitting position, her legs both folding over top of the other. Her infamous lotus style that she always sat when she tried to center herself, it was a way of meditation for her. But she didn't remain in that position for long, within a mere second, she was racing for the door to the hall way. Walking out, she went further down the hall so that she could look into the living room. Her mother was lying on the ground, her legs bent in a position as if she fell at first on her knees and then down to the floor. She bustled over to her mother, and just as she was trained in health class, she checked her mother's heart-beat. It was still a steady rhythmic pulse. She exhaled one long breath before actually looking around the room. Her father wasn't there, which meant quite a couple things but Rachel didn't want to think on that.