Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to the Teen Titans or any characters in the DC Universe.


Chapter 3 – Love.

Beast Boy chuckled, remembering that first kiss with Raven. If it hadn't been for Starfire's sloppy, wet "birthday present" Raven's kiss would have been his first. He also knew that Raven had struggled to kiss him that day. In fact she had to spend the entire afternoon meditating before the Mayor's banquet and she still seemed out of sorts that evening.

Truth be told, he had liked Star's kiss better that day. If she kissed like that all the time, well Robin was a lucky bastard. Of course he was now known as Nightwing and Starfire was now Starfire Grayson, Empress at Large of Tamaran and Dick was her prince consort.

Me? He thought to himself. I'm married to a demoness.

Of course it sounded worse than it was, in a way. In some ways it was as bad as it sounded. That was the funny thing about love. It can make you ignore all sorts of warning signs that normal people (who are not in love) can see from a mile away.

After the birthday and the impromptu kiss Raven withdrew herself from Beast Boy and had virtually no contact with him for almost two months, except during missions. Even their chats ceased, which caused him some distress at first but he recovered from it due to an unexpected event: Terra had returned to Jump City.

Terra had a difficult time at UCSD as she didn't seem to fit in with the student culture there. When some students learned who she really was, things went downhill quickly as she was reviled by just about every clique on campus. A great many of the professors also gave her a bad time, clearly unhappy that a former super villain was sitting in their classrooms. After 4 quarters she decided that she had had enough and transferred to Cal State Jump City, where she would continue working towards her geological engineering degree.

She also missed Beast Boy. She had hoped that she would meet some nice guys at UCSD, but the Fates had other plans for her. The first guy she dated tried to date-rape her, which was a big mistake as Slade had trained her well in unarmed combat. After sending "Phil" to the Emergency Room the word got out and the guys gave her a wide berth.

So early one January morning, as the Titans were sharing a pancake breakfast, the phone rang, which was unusual. When the police needed help they contacted them over a dedicated channel. The only thing the Titans ever seemed to use the phone for was to order takeout pizza. It was an unlisted number and it never rang. Except for today.

Robin answered it, expecting it to be a wrong number. The look of surprise on his face clearly indicated that it was anything but a wrong number. After speaking cryptically into the handset he turned to Beast Boy.

"It's for you." He told the changeling, who picked up the handset.

"Hello?"

He then broke out into a grin.

"Terra!" He shouted and began to chat with her.

Starfire and Cyborg took immediate notice, but Raven remained nonchalant until he hung up.

"Terra's coming back to Jump City." He announced.

"Can't say I blame her." Cyborg interrupted. "San Diego's OK, but Jump City is way better."

"Why is she coming back?" Starfire asked.

"She didn't like UCSD, so she's transferring to Cal State Jump City."

"Isn't that a big step down?" Raven remarked. "UCSD is one of the best public universities in the entire country. CSJC isn't even ranked in the top 200."

Beast Boy shrugged. "She didn't say why she didn't like it."

"Maybe it was too hard for her." Raven deadpanned.

"Whatever." Beast Boy continued. "She's arriving in town next week and will be living in the campus student apartments."

That evening Raven broke her months of isolation and invited Beast Boy to join her for dinner and a movie. She was adamant that it wasn't a date.


Beast Boy smiled, recalling their non-date date. It was funny to remember how awkward Raven had been that night at dinner. She seemed petrified and didn't know what to say. Beast Boy took the initiative and chatted with her about what she liked the most: books. During their many chats in her room he had focused on the many "normal" books she kept in her bookcase and researched who the authors were. Among them was one who stood out: William Blake. No one understood Blake, which meant that Raven did. So he asked her about Blake and Raven took off, as she was in her element. Before they knew what had happened they had missed the movie as Raven spent the entire evening explaining to Beast Boy how Blake was the greatest English author that no one had heard of, that he was the greatest writer of the Romantic Era and perhaps the most misunderstood. Most of what she was telling him went over his head, but he listened and actually learned a few things. It wasn't until they noticed that the restaurant was empty that they realized it was 10 PM and time to head home.

Once they returned to the Tower she invited him to her room. She seemed incredibly nervous as they entered her dark and foreboding room and the door slid shut. She sat on her bed and he sat next to her. He then lied back, which is what they always did when they chatted before his 19th birthday. This time though she stood up after less than a minute and began to pace nervously around her room.

"Is something wrong Rae?"

"No. Well kind of, but not really." She replied cryptically.

"What is it?"

She turned to face him, biting her lower lip.

"This isn't easy for me to say Garfield."

Garfield?

"Go ahead. I'm all ears."

She sighed. "Would you consider, you know, I mean, would you …"

She stopped.

"Go ahead Rae. Don't worry, we're best friends. You can ask me anything."

Raven pulled herself together.

"Would you like to be my boyfriend?" She deadpanned.


Beast Boy rolled over on the sunny rock, exposing his back to the sun's warmth. He smiled as he recalled that evening when Raven had surprised him, catching him completely off guard.

Of course he said yes, and he grinned as Raven looked relieved, as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She had been utterly terrified that he would turn her down. But the moment didn't last long, as she was now back in the driver's seat. As he leaned forward to kiss her she pushed him back.

"We need to go over a few rules Gar."

"Gar?" He replied.

"That's what I'm going to call you, since you always call me Rae. And that's the first rule, I can call you whatever I want."

He shrugged. "OK, 'Gar' doesn't sound so bad."

He placed his hands on her waist. She grabbed his wrists and pulled his hands away.

"Rule # 2. No groping. I'm not some floozy Gar."

"I never said you were. Does this mean I can't touch you at all?"

"Of course not, but no public displays of affection, understand?"

"Ok." He replied nervously. "So how will I know where the line is drawn?"

"Don't worry. You'll learn."

He cautiously took a step back.

"Don't be silly. You can put your hands on my waist, just … watch it."

Beast Boy stepped forward again and cautiously placed his gloved hands on her waist, just above her hips.

"You don't have to be that careful Gar, and you can take your gloves off when you caress me … respectfully."

Beast Boy sweat dropped. This was the worst case of mixed messages he had ever been on the receiving end of. He pulled his gloves off, tossing them on the bed, and placed his bare hands on Ravens hips.

He liked that.

He then decided to give her that kiss after all, but she stopped him, placing her fingers over his mouth.

"Rule #3. No French kissing. If your tongue wanders into my mouth, you might not get it back. Understand?"

He nodded and proceeded to give her a very chaste kiss while his hands remained glued to her waist and didn't wander anywhere. At first she simply placed her palms on his back while they kissed tenderly. The kisses became deeper. She then surprised him as she pushed her tongue into his mouth. It took all his willpower to not yelp from the surprise. Then he did yelp, as her hands had descended and she began to caress his behind. Something exploded in the room as he pulled away, his eyes wide with surprise.

"I thought you said no Frenching or groping."

"Rule #4, I can grope and French you to my heart's desire. And rule #5, with my permission you may do the same."

Beast Boy looked at her nervously.

"Gar, you now have my permission." She deadpanned. "And don't make wait."


Beast Boy chuckled, remembering how Raven had played him like a fiddle that day. She did have to meditate for hours after they completed their first and nearly hour long make out session.

What was amazing was how they had been able to keep their romance a secret from the other Titans for over a year. On occasion the others suspected something since the couple continued with their non-date dates and Beast Boy always volunteered to help Raven with shopping errands and such.

It wasn't until a month before Beast Boy's twenty-first birthday that she decided she was comfortable with the others knowing about their formal relationship, which at that point was almost 20 months old. Starfire was ecstatic and almost sang a 400 verse ode to love, that is until Raven and the others stopped her.

And then there was the actual 21st birthday party. Cyborg and Starfire organized it and invited all of the honorary Titans and the Titans East to the big bash. Terra was now a senior at the local college and Starfire invited her as well. All together there were going to be over 100 guests.

When the big day arrived Beast Boy was floored. Cyborg had hired caterers to handle all the food and the bar, since Beast Boy was now old enough to legally drink alcoholic beverages. There was also a DJ and Cyborg had convinced Robin to let him temporarily install a disco ball. Starfire had decorated the common room with balloons and banners proclaiming Beast Boy's 21st birthday.

At 5 PM the guests began to arrive and the party went into full swing. In a "ceremony" contrived by Cyborg Beast Boy had his first legal drink. Robin had always been extremely strict about forbidding underage drinking in the tower, so with much fanfare Cyborg handed Beast Boy a Screwdriver. The green changeling took a deep swig from the glass and then coughed violently, in response to which everyone laughed.

By this point everyone had arrived and Starfire began to scan the room, looking for a violet colored head that had been absent all evening. Raven was nowhere to be found.

"Richard." The princess whispered to her boyfriend. "Have you seen Raven?"

The Boy Wonder shook his head. "No and neither has Cyborg."

"Why isn't she here?" The alien fretted. "She should be here to celebrate with him. They are now officially the boyfriend and girlfriend."

Starfire worked her way through the crowd until she reached Beast Boy who was busy chatting with Hotspot and The Herald. She apologized for interrupting their conversation and grabbing him by the elbow she led him away to a quiet corner.

"Beast Boy, where is your girlfriend?" She asked him.

Terra was standing nearby and overheard Starfire.

"Yeah, where is Raven?" The collegiate geomancer asked.

"She's not coming." He replied, clearly unable to conceal his disappointment. "She said that she had to meditate."

"What?" Terra shrieked. "She's ditching you on your 21st birthday? To meditate?"

Beast Boy sighed. "She said she'd make it up to me."

"I'm sure she will BB. But since she's not here I volunteer to be your date tonight."

The changeling smiled. "Sure Terra, that'd be great. Thanks."

The party continued until the wee hours of the morning. The DJ and the caterers packed in around midnight and the guests slowly began to trickle away, congratulating Beast Boy as they left. Terra stuck to him like glue until Robin called a taxi for her to take her back to her campus apartment. She gave Beast Boy a very deep and passionate kiss before leaving, and promised to call him the next day.

She was the last guest to leave and once she was gone Cyborg told Beast Boy to go hit the sack and not to worry about helping to clean up. Beast Boy thanked his friends and after exchanging hugs with them and another delicious birthday kiss from Starfire he headed off to his room.

Beast Boy punched his code in and his door slid open. He walked into his now very tidy room, which he kept this way at Raven's insistence.

Raven. He was feeling heavy hearted over her absence at his party. He understood that when she needed to meditate that she couldn't put it off. What he was disappointed with was that he couldn't fathom why she needed to meditate since there had been no missions in days and why it had to be during his birthday party. His sensitive ears had overheard many remarks from his fellow Titans, remarks that were supposed to be private. He had not told anyone but he could now partially morph and he had cranked up the sensitivity of his ears to eavesdrop on what the honorary Titans were saying.

Much to his chagrin they were all pleased that Terra was his impromptu date for the party and there were many unkind and unflattering remarks made about Raven. Even though he was upset that she had ditched him it still bothered him to hear the others trash talk his girlfriend. As he began to undress in the dark he wondered what she would tell him the next time he saw her.

Stripped down to his boxers he turned towards his bunk beds. The curtains were open and it was a full moon that night and Luna was glowing brightly, shining on his bunks.

That was when he noticed that there was something on his bottom bunk. He turned to his desk and flipped on a small lamp on it. Its dim light illuminated the lower bed. There was someone asleep in his bed, someone with violet hair.

"Raven?" He asked cautiously. "What are you doing here?"

The sorceress was snuggled up in the bedding, only her head was exposed. She rolled over and opened her eyes. She smiled softly when she saw him.

"I was going to give you your birthday present." She squinted at the clock on the wall. It was almost 2 AM. "What took you so long?"

"Nothing. Just a bunch of stragglers who wouldn't leave. Anyway, you didn't have to get me a present. It was a no presents birthday, remember?"

She nodded. "I know, but I'm your girlfriend. I'll give you a present if I want to."

He chuckled at her remark. "I guess there's no telling you, huh? So, what did you get me?"

Raven threw the blanket back. Beast Boy's jaw almost hit the ground. Raven was as naked as the day she was born.

"Rae." He stammered as he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. "We can't, I mean not until we get married."

"I accept your marriage proposal. Now get into bed, I'm getting cold."

Stunned, Beast Boy obeyed his new fiancée's command and walked to the bed.

"And lose the boxers." She commanded. He complied and got into bed with her. Using her dark energy she switched the lamp off as he snuggled up with her.

"I'm sorry I didn't come to your party, but I had to prepare for this. This is why I had to meditate all day."

Beast Boy kissed her tenderly on the lips.

"Rae, I don't know what to say." He said in a still bewildered voice.

She silenced him with a deep kiss, and then replied.

"Happy Birthday, my love."


Ooh, this chapter was longer. I hope I didn't bore you. If you want some really heavy reading, try William Blake! He writes both prose and verse. If you saw Blade Runner, there is a scene where Roy Batty misquotes Blake, in the eyeball factory: "fiery the angels fall…."

And now, it's mail bag time:

Novus Ordo Seclorum – "I look forward to seeing what is to come. My belief is that Beast Boy is looking back on their relationship because something has happened to Raven."

Sorry, no spoilers this time!

Jose Ramiro Acosta Perez – "Luckily, Raven knows Star is deeply in love with Robin and that her kissing BB is just a sign of deep affection yet not romantic one."

But she wasn't happy about it. Did you ever want to ask a girl out, but didn't have the nerve, only to have someone else beat you to her?

The Mighty One – "I'm sure if you tried your lot at poetry, you'd probably nail it down really well too"

Perish the thought. It ain't gonna happen.

Titanfan45 – "For once Raven wasn't the one doing the eye rolls!"

I thought it would be fun to turn the tables on her.