AN: I do not own Teen Titans

Chapter 4

Raven sat in her room, meditating. Her headache was finally gone and she felt much better now. Sometimes the pressures of the outside world were too much for her. The others wanted her to come out of her room more often and do things with them. They didn't understand that when she left the sanctity of her room she felt as if she was under water and the further away she went the more the pressure built up. It wasn't that she didn't like being with them, it was just uncomfortable.

"Raven!" a muffled voice said excitedly from the other side of her door.

'She's home already?' Raven thought, confused. "Yes?" she answered.

"Please, may I come in?" asked Starfire. "I have a gift for you!"

"Starfire, you know I don't like gifts," said Raven.

"Oh please?" begged Starfire. "I promise you, you will like it very much."

Raven sighed and left her meditation. She stood up and went over to the door, opening it to reveal a glowing Starfire. "Alright, where is this gift I will like very much?" she asked in a plain voice.

"Here," said Starfire, holding a small bag out to her friend.

Raven looked at the bag and cocked an eyebrow. "Oh, Starfire, you shouldn't have," said Raven in a monotone voice.

"No, you must look inside," said Starfire, shaking with excitement.

Raven opened the bag and saw the necklace inside. "Wow, it's… nice," said Raven. It was a red little orb that hung on a golden chain. It actually matched her belt. "Uh, thanks Starfire. But why…"

"Please, may I put it on you?" asked Starfire grabbing the necklace and quickly wrapping it around Ravens neck. Once it was fastened, she got a good look at her friend and smiled happily. "It looks wonderful!"

"Uh, thanks," said Raven. "But, why did you get me a gift?"

"Oh, I wanted to say thank you and I'm sorry for all of the times I have brought you to the mall of shopping," said Starfire. "I was not aware that it made you feel sick."

"That's nice of you, but you didn't need to get me a present," said Raven.

"I know, but will you still accept it?" asked Starfire. "It is most pretty on you."

Raven sighed and said, "Alright, if it makes you happy, which I can feel it does, I'll keep it."

"And wear it?" asked Starfire, hopefully.

"And wear it," said Raven, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, thank you!" said Starfire, wrapping her arms around Raven.

"Too… close," said Raven through her crushed lungs.

"Oh, I am sorry," said Starfire. "I am just so happy you will keep my gift."

"Yes, well, if you'll excuse me, I have some more meditating to do," said Raven.

"Yes, of course," said Starfire with a smile and watched her friend retreat back into her room. Now that that was done she decided to go see what Robin was doing.

Raven sat back down on her bed and slowly levitated into the air. She felt the necklace around her neck and decided it wouldn't be very hard to remember to put it on every day. It was the least she could do for Starfire since she bought her it. She would just have to consider it as part of her uniform now.

Starfire entered the common room and saw the three young men sitting on the couch, playing videogames. They had finally gotten a third controller so all three could play instead of waiting for a turn. They weren't exactly the patient sort.

"Hello friends," said Starfire, flying over to them.

"Hey Star," all three said at once, their eyes never leaving the screen.

"I have returned from the mall of shopping," she announced, as she always did.

"Get anything nice?" asked Robin as he rammed Beast Boy's car off of the road.

"Dude!" Beast Boy protested.

"I did not get anything for myself, but I did get Raven a gift," said Starfire.

"What'd you get her?" asked Robin as he took the lead.

"A necklace," said Starfire. "And she is very happy with it."

"Wait a second," said Cyborg as he gained speed and caught up to Robin. "You bought Raven a gift and she accepted it?"

"Dude, that's like never happened ever," said Beast Boy as he did his best to catch back up to the others.

"Yes, but I gave it to her as a thank you for coming to the mall of the shopping with me so often," said Starfire. "Did you know that she is allergic to the mall of shopping?"

"Star, no one can be allergic to the mall," said Cyborg.

"Raven is," said Starfire.

"Are you sure you're not confusing what Raven said?" asked Robin. "Did she say she has allergies that the mall stirs up?"

"No, she is actually allergic to the mall," said Starfire. "When she goes because of her powers she gets physically ill from it."

"Whoa, that's weird," said Beast Boy as his fingers moved as fast as they could.

"Then why does she go if it makes her feel sick?" asked Robin.

"Because she knows how much I enjoy going with her," said Starfire. "That is why I bought her the necklace. I had not known that the mall of shopping made her feel so sickly."

"Well, it's nice that she accepted your gift," said Robin.

"Yeah, but will she ever wear it?" asked Beast Boy.

"Probably not," said Cyborg.

"No, she promised me she would," said Starfire. "And Raven has never broken a promise to me."

"Yeah, but Raven doesn't where jewelry," said Beast Boy. "Trust me, I got her this cool ring last Christmas and I saw it in the trash the next day."

"Beast Boy, it was a decoder ring from a cereal box," said Robin.

"So? I've been waiting to find one of those all of my life and when I did I decided to give it to her," said Beast Boy.

"Did you tell her that?" asked Cyborg.

"Well… no," said Beast Boy.

"Maybe if you had told Raven the significance of the ring of decoding then perhaps she would have kept it," said Starfire.

"I doubt it," said Beast Boy, lowly.

"Well, anyway, I hope Raven does wear the necklace," said Robin. "I'd like to see-YES! I win!"

"Awe man!" said Cyborg.

"Dude, no fair!" said Beast Boy.

The common room doors opened and Raven entered. She had decided that she wanted some tea before she meditated anymore. She entered to see the three young men fighting and Starfire standing to the side, apparently waiting for them to stop. Some things never changed.

Starfire watched as her three male friends argued over the fairness of the videogame, then turned to see Raven in the kitchen. "Raven!" she said excitedly. "Please, will you show off your necklace?"

"Just let me get my tea going," said Raven, putting her teakettle on the stove. Once she turned the heat on she walked over to the others. "Ta da," she said unenthusiastically, holding up the necklace that hung around her neck.

"Is it not pretty?" Starfire gushed.

"Yeah, very nice," said Robin.

"Definitely matches your outfit, Rae," said Cyborg.

"Please don't call me Rae," said Raven.

"Ooh, shiny," said Beast Boy smiling, mesmerized by the shiny little red orb. "Is it glass?" He tapped it, but Raven slapped his hand away. "Ow!"

"Don't touch it," said Raven. "Look with your eyes, not with your…"

"Hands, yeah I know," Beast Boy pouted.

"Remember, personal space," said Raven in a scolding voice and indicating to the area around her.

"Are you really gonna wear it?" asked Cyborg.

"Of course, I told Starfire I would," said Raven.

"I told you Raven would not break a promise," said Starfire, hugging Raven again.

"What did I just say about personal space!" she growled in a strained voice.

"Oh, sorry," said Starfire, releasing her.

Raven took a big breath in, refilling her squeezed lungs, and went back into the kitchen to attend to her tea making. She wasn't exactly comfortable with everyone staring at her, but she was glad for the compliments on the necklace. She had to admit, it was very nice.

Once her tea was made she took a seat on the couch next to all of her friend who were watching television. She knew if she spent time with them now they wouldn't be bugging her later on, which meant she could have a quiet evening in her room. She sipped her tea and tried to figure out what they were watching.

Starfire sat very close to Robin, who had his arm around her. Those two were always as close as humanly possible. She would sit on his lap if not for the fact that Cyborg would constantly comment on it. And whenever Cyborg brought up the two's relationship, Robin would blush and grow very embarrassed. They might have been going out, but that didn't mean Robin was any less awkward about the subject.

Beast Boy saw Raven sitting next to him, well not next to, more like a foot away from him. He slyly began to scoot a little closer to her, just to see how close he could get before she yelled at him. He got about three inches closer to her and she ever so subtly moved over three inches. He moved another three inches towards her and she, again, moved to remain a foot away from him.

And so the two scooted over and over and over. Beast Boy decided that he should make a big move and jumped over six inches. Unfortunately he had not noticed that he had been on the edge of the couch and he fell right off. He let out a yell of surprise and landed on the floor. He looked up and saw that Raven was hovering in the air.

"Hey, you cheated!" he said loudly.

"I didn't do anything," said Raven plainly as she sipped her tea. "I'm just sitting here."

"You knew I was trying to get close to you and you purposely moved off of the couch so I would fall," said Beast Boy, standing up.

"And just why would you want to get close to me?" she asked, her eyebrow rising.

Beast Boy opened his mouth to say something, but noticed that the whole room was staring at him. "Forget it," he said and quickly headed out of there before more questions could be asked, but he could hear them snickering.

Raven rolled her eyes and moved herself back onto the couch. He sure could be weird sometimes. He had started acting a little weirder around her since he found out about her voice's past, but she had expected that. And so far he had kept his promise and not told anyone about what she had shared with him. And every day he kept his promise she grew a little more tolerant of him.