AN: I do not own Teen Titans

Chapter 5

Raven sat on the couch reading while Cyborg and Beast Boy were battling it out at their videogames. It had been a rather quiet day, which they were always thankful for. Robin and Starfire walked in, Starfire looking quite excited.

"Friends!" she announced. "I have most wonderful news!"

"What's up Star?" asked Cyborg as he continued to whoop Beast Boy's butt.

"Robin has agreed to letting us go to do the karaoke!" said Starfire, clapping.

"Cool," said Cyborg, smiling.

Beast Boy immediately turned to Raven, who didn't seem too phased. But he knew exactly what was going on in her head. She wasn't going to go, and he just had to hope that the others accepted that.

"B, you in?" asked Cyborg.

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah, course," he said with a smile.

"What about you, Raven?" asked Robin.

"Pass," she said in her usual, and only, tone.

"But, Raven, you must come!" said Starfire, flying over to her friend. "You shall have much more fun this time."

"That's alright," said Raven. "I don't like karaoke."

"Come, Raven, it's gonna be fun," said Cyborg.

"Hey, if she doesn't wanna go then leave her alone," said Beast Boy. The whole room went silent and all eyes fell on Beast Boy.

"But, Beast Boy, do you not think that Raven should come?" asked Starfire.

"Well, uh…" said Beast Boy, trying to think.

"Yeah, you're usually set on getting Raven to do activities with us," said Robin. "Why the change?"

"I… I just think that we should, you know, respect her wishes," he said, knowing his friends were seeing right through him.

"Thank you, Beast Boy," said Raven, hiding how truly appreciative he was being for trying to help her.

"Alright, what's goin on here?" asked Cyborg. "Since when does B respect Ravens wishes? And since when does Raven thank Beast Boy?"

"Don't you four have a karaoke bar to get to?" asked Raven, turning a page in her book.

"We'd like it better if you came with us," said Robin.

"I already said no," said Raven.

"Oh, please, Raven?" Starfire begged. "It would be most wonderful if you would come with us to do the karaoke. We do not care if you do not have the voice for singing."

Little did Starfire realize what she'd said. Ravens eyes went wide, as well as Beast Boy's. She bit her lip deeply and kept her gaze in her book. Beast Boy saw everyone staring at her; even they could feel the change in atmosphere as Starfire had said that. He knew he had to do something.

"Oh," he said dramatically and he fell over, attempting to fake a faint.

"Beast Boy, you okay?" asked Robin, looking down at Beast Boy who was sprawled out on the floor. He didn't move. They each crouched down next to him and stared at his unmoving body. "Beast Boy?"

Cyborg lightly slapped Beast Boy's cheek and he 'came to'. He looked up and saw all of his friends, save Raven who was staring at him from the couch, looking at him. He knew he had to really sell it now.

"Dude, what happened?" he moaned.

"You, uh, fainted, I think," said Robin.

"Friend, are you well?" asked Starfire in a worried tone.

"Uh… I'm not sure," said Beast Boy, making his eyes look dizzy. "Maybe I'm sick?"

Cyborg did a quick scan of him with his arm. "Hmm… your vitals are fine," said Cyborg. "You seem perfectly healthy."

"Well, uh, I still feel kinda dizzy," said Beast Boy. "Guess I'm not going to karaoke."

"Guess not," said Cyborg.

They helped him up and sat him on the couch. Raven had remained quiet, slowly figuring out what Beast Boy was doing. She couldn't believe he had faked a fainting spell just to get the attention off of her. That was very… kind of him.

"Maybe your blood sugar's low," said Robin.

"Yeah, maybe that's it," said Beast Boy. "Well, you guys better get going before all of the good songs are taken. I'll be fine here… alone." He made sure to stress alone.

"Oh, I do not believe we should leave Beast Boy alone," said Starfire, playing right into Beast Boy's hand. "What if he does the fainting again?"

"Fine, someone's going to have to stay here," said Robin.

"I'll do it," said Raven, raising her hand. Again, it all went quiet and they stared at her. "What?"

"You wanna stay here… alone… with Beast Boy?" asked Cyborg.

"I don't want to go to karaoke anyway and all I'll be doing is keeping an eye on him," said Raven. "I think I can survive."

The other three got ready and were soon off. As soon as Beast Boy was sure they were away from Titans Tower he started to laugh to himself, proud of his acting skills. He always knew he was a born actor.

"Bravo," said Raven, clapping once, and then picking her book back up. "You'd definitely be up for an academy award for that performance."

"Really?" he asked with bright eyes. Raven just stared at him. "Oh."

"You didn't have to do that," said Raven as she looked for the correct page in her book.

"Do what?" asked Beast Boy.

"You know, pretending to faint so that they would stop looking at me," said Raven.

"Hey, it worked, didn't it?" said Beast Boy. "Besides, they're gone, you're still home, and everyone's happy."

"What about you?" she asked. "I thought you wanted to go out to karaoke with them."

"Eh, I can go do karaoke anytime," said Beast Boy. "Besides, I have a funny feeling I won't get as good of a response here like I did in Tokyo."

"I agree," said Raven.

Beast Boy rolled his eyes, turned the videogames off, and turned the TV on. Now he had full control of the television, something he rarely had. Sure, he had wanted to go out and do some karaoke, but he was happy to help Raven. After all, it did have to do with the secret that she had only told him. He still felt rather proud about that.

For a while the two sat there, Raven reading and Beast Boy flipping through the channels. But Beast Boy was never one who could accept silence for too long, even if the television was on.

"So… heard any good jokes lately?" he asked, smiling.

"No," she said plainly, not looking up from her book.

"Do you want to?" he asked, scooting slightly closer to her.

"No," she said.

"Are you sure?" he asked, moving a bit more.

"Positive," she said, turning a page in her book.

"Cuz I've got some really good ones," he said, now sitting right next to her.

"Beast Boy, you've been telling me you have good jokes for years, and I have yet to hear a decent one," said Raven. "Face it, you're not funny."

"Yes I am!" he said firmly. "You said so yourself!"

"When?" she asked, actually looking up.

"Don't you remember?" he asked. "Right after we saved Starfire from those alien dudes and we'd all just met you said I was funny."

"Correction, I said you were 'kind of' funny," said Raven.

"But you still said that I was funny," said Beast Boy, grinning.

"Yes, well, that was before I knew you," she said, looking back into her book.

Beast Boy frowned. "And what's that supposed to mean?" he asked hotly. "Why are you always putting me down, Raven? Why do you want make me feel bad all of the time? Do you know how hurtful it is when you insult me or yell at me? Why do you do it?"

Raven just stared at him, shocked that he had said all of this. He was never one to really raise his voice unless he was truly upset, and he had basically yelled at her. She knew he could only be pushed so far. And it looked like she had gone over the limit of Beast Boy bashing.

"Beast Boy, I'm sorry," she said, sighing. "It's just… my natural response to you, I guess."

"And what does that mean?" he asked.

"I don't know," said Raven, feeling quite bad about everything. "It's just… complicated I suppose. When I can't handle what I'm feeling, what's going on around me, I lash out. And usually I lash out at you. I'm sorry."

Beast Boy's frown slowly went away and he sighed. "Well, just so you know, you hurt my feelings an awful lot," he said.

"I know," she said. "I feel emotions, remember? I always know when I hurt your feelings. It's just that sometimes I can't stop myself. I'm sorry."

"Well… I guess I can understand," he said. "I'd still like to know why you were really mean to me in Tokyo, though."

Raven tensed up a little. "I… I was just overwhelmed by the trip, I guess," she said.

"Come on, there's no way that was all because we were on a mission in China," said Beast Boy.

"Beast Boy, we were in Japan!" said Raven.

"Yeah, that's what I said," he said.

"No, you said China," said Raven.

"No I didn't," said Beast Boy.

Raven growled and closed her book. "I'm going to my room," she said, standing up. "Remind me to buy you a globe for Christmas."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" asked Beast Boy, looking confused.

"I could give it a wild guess," said Raven as she left the common room.

Beast Boy sighed and turned his attention back to the TV. He couldn't understand how a person could be as complicated as Raven was. She was like an endless jigsaw puzzle or something. But, he supposed that was why he liked spending time with her. As dull as Raven could be, if you pushed her far enough she could be quite exciting… and painful.