After two long months of nothing… I have at last returned to this story! Yayness and other such rejoicings! You guys missed me, right? This chapter was hard, and the story just keeps getting harder, so I work harder. Here is the long awaited chapter five, so enjoy!

Warnings: Brief language. That's why this is rated "T", after all.

I do not own the Teen Titans.

---Chapter Five: Physicality---

Gar sat on his moped outside Raven's apartment building, waiting. A petite figure, their face shrouded by their sweatshirt hood, emerged and climbed behind him onto the moped without a word. Gar didn't say anything either as they rode off. He knew what they were doing was stupid. They both knew it. Neither of them cared anymore.

--------

Starfire dropped the curtain she'd been holding aside once Gar and Raven were out of sight. She listened carefully. Raven's mother had been kind enough to allow her to stay with them, and Starfire felt guilty for assisting in deceiving her. At the moment, however, Angela Roth was too deeply involved in Desperate Housewives to have any idea that her daughter had left the house. What with working two jobs just to support them both and barely getting five hours of sleep on a good night, the woman took her pleasures where she could. With a deep sigh, she opened the window and, after checking that she was not being watched by any people below, flew out.

--------

"Why don't we just run away, Raven? Get out of Jump City and never look back." Gar knew even as he said it what the answer would be. It felt like their lives now only consisted of asking questions they already knew the answers to, simply to avoid the questions they didn't want answered. It was strangely fitting how Raven and Gar were currently sitting at a small table in the middle of Jump City's hottest teen club, surrounded by people dancing and shouting and innocently enjoying their lives, yet they felt and acted as though they were completely alone. They didn't have to yell to hear each other. Raven sipped at her drink (a Sprite, continuing her denial of all things Tara) before responding, exactly as Gar knew she would. "We can't do that, Gar. We're in too deep now."

Gar sighed. "I know."

"Well isn't this cute. Dorky and the Geek."

Raven didn't bother to turn. Gar glared at Tara.

She only smiled and raised her glass, filled with some fruity concoction of the sort that Raven used to gag down when they were friends. "A toast. To the nerds!"

Raven's eyes flashed, and for a moment Gar expected the two girls to erupt into a fight of black and gold energy. Wait, where had that idea even come from? Suddenly Raven visibly paled, and her hands clenched on the table edge. "Gar, take me home please. Now."

Gar slid off his seat and caught Raven just as she fell off hers. She hadn't lost consciousness yet, but she could barely stand and it was only a matter of time.

Tara smirked. "Have a little too much to drink, there, Rae-Rae? Who knows, maybe if she's drunk enough you'll get lucky tonight, Garfield."

Gar didn't reply. He just held Raven close, keeping his green eyes locked on her blue-violet ones. Tara became annoyed at his lack of response and moved on without another insult. Gar and Raven slowly made their way outside. When they got to his moped, Raven leaned against the wall of the building. "I saw Tara in the other reality. She and I didn't get along," she whispered.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Gar asked. Raven nodded vaguely. Gar smiled slightly in relief. "Good, 'cause I-" She kissed him, cutting off whatever he was about to say and completely wiping it from his mind.

Some kisses are simple. Even if it's more than just a peck on the lips, it's a simple thing. For two normal people, the first kiss is important but generally simple. You kiss, and if it was good then you part and blush. Maybe you kiss again, but it's still pretty basic. Raven and Gar's first kiss was incredibly, intensely complicated by everything that had happened to them in the past week and by the things they feared were coming in the future. They knew that the way things were going, love and relationships were incidental and practically pointless. Neither of them cared. So they somehow ended up practically making out next to his moped in front of Jump City's most popular teen hangout.

--------

Dick held a hand up in front of his face, stopping Starfire's movement toward him. "Star, we can't do this."

The green-eyed alien sat back, confused. "We cannot do what?"

Dick ran a hand through his unruly black hair. "This… this kissing-hugging-boyfriend-and-girlfriend thing. We have a world to save, and that's what we have to focus on right now."

"There's no point anymore, man," Vic said as he entered the Graysons' living room. Dick and Starfire both stared at him. "Your mom let me in… Am I interrupting something?"

The pair on the couch blushed. "No," Dick said firmly. Starfire's face fell. Vic raised an eyebrow. "Okay, then…"

"What do you mean 'there's no point anymore'?" Dick asked.

Vic shrugged. "What I said. There's no point in dwelling on all the shit that's going on, because it's just going to end too soon for any of it to matter. So, you two up for the mall or something?"

Dick stood up instantly. "Anything. Just let me tell my parents we're leaving."

--------

They ended up not browsing in any of the stores or wandering the mall itself but in the food court, crowded around a table with a large pizza. Garfield and Raven showed up holding hands. No one asked how they knew they were there, though it seemed too significant to be mere coincidence. No one asked what was going on between the two. The five just sat around the table, eating the pizza and laughing at everything. When the first pizza was gone, it was suggested that they get another. That sparked an argument between Gar and Vic about toppings. It was a playful argument, the sort that served to enhance rather than destroy their friendship. While they went at it, the other three just ordered a cheese pizza, solving the problem through compromise. It was fun for all of them, and blissfully normal. After all, if the world was going to end, shouldn't they at least take a few short hours to just be teenagers? It was too good to last, and they all knew it. They just didn't know how soon their brief peace would end.

"Hello, little sister. I never pictured finding you in a place like this."

All five of the friends became silent at the sound of the voice. Something about it wiped the joy from them, and only one knew why. Starfire was pale, but calm, as she turned around. "I could say the same of you, Komand'r."

The others looked at the newcomer. She had the same skin tone as Starfire and somewhat similar features, but her hair and eyes were dark.

"Blackfire," Dick, Victor, Raven, and Gar whispered. They remembered Raven's visions about Starfire's sister.

"What do you want with Starfire?" Dick asked, his blue eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Blackfire looked the acrobat over appreciatively. "So you go by Starfire now, do you?" she asked her sister, the black eyes still on Dick. "How amusing. To answer your question, though, I don't want anything from my dear little sister beyond cooperation."

Starfire blinked. "Cooperation in what, sister?"

Blackfire laughed. "In the destruction of Earth, of course."

---End Chapter Five---

I know, I know, I finally update and I leave you with a cliffhanger. But BB and Rae got their moment at last! Isn't it great? I can almost guarantee that Chapter Six will not take as long. Thank you for reading, and please review!