Chapter 5

It was Friday. Just two classes and then Raven could pack for the beach. Her friend, Kori, had stayed the night at Raven's to make things easier for when Garfield picked them up.

"Raven, did Garfield ever say what his friend looked like?" Kori asked.

"No, sorry," she replied packing the last of her things. It was just in about 20 minutes that the boys would be there to pick them up.

"Kori, I really appreciate you going with me. I have feelings for Garfield and it's quite obvious he has them for me. A tidal wave of emotion hits me every time I see him, but it's still nerve-wracking and scary..."

"Raven, it's love. It's supposed to be scary at first. Has he kissed you yet?"

Her cheeks turned red, "Well, on the cheek."

Kori squealed, "Aww! You know what that means!"

Raven was confused, "No? What does that means?"

"It means he's going to kiss you this weekend! I bet, he'll do it on a romantic sunset walk."

Raven's butterflies went wild.

A knock was at the door, her stomach dropped.

Kori went and answered it while she tried to snap Raven out of the trance she was frozen in.

"Hello," Kori warmly greeted.

"Hey," Garfield said, "You must be Kori."

"Yes," she smiled, "You're Garfield and..." She looked to his friend, who was quite handsome.

"Oh," Garfield spoke up, "This is Dick."

"Nice to meet you," she began flirting.

"Where's Raven?" Garfield asked.

"Uh, I think she went back to her room. The door should be open."

Kori allowed the two in and Garfield went in the direction Kori pointed to Raven's room. He knocked on the already open door hoping not to startle her.

"Hey, beautiful," he gently greeted. She got nervous again.

"Hey..." Her voice trailed. He walked in closer.

"Everything okay?" He asked. She shook her head and looked to the ground.

"Raven, I feel like there's something you're not telling me. You know you can tell me anything, I'm not one to judge."

She took a deep breath debating on whether or not to tell him the truth. She came up with a compromise.

"How many bedrooms does this beach house have?"

He chuckled, "It has four, Raven. I see what you were worried about. But yes, you get your own bed, your own room. I promise I wouldn't do or let anything hurt you."

She nodded. She felt better.

"You ready?" He asked.

"Yeah, I have this suitcase and then a shoulder bag."

"Okay, no worries. The Jeep's got plenty of room anyway."

The four young adults packed up the Jeep and hopped in. Garfield and Raven were upfront while Dick and Kori were in the back. It wasn't too long of a drive to the coast, just a mild two hours. Raven had never been to the beach before, another reason she was nervous. Once they got to the town, she saw all the lights illuminating the evening sky and she was astonished. It wasn't too long before they arrived to the house.

"Wow," Dick was amazed by the house, "Where did you find a sweet deal like this?"

"Uh.. actually," Garfield scratched the back of his neck, "This is actually mine. I come here a lot to get away. Or throw wild parties, whichever I feel like."

"THIS is yours?" Raven was shocked.

"Yeah... I don't like to brag about the nice things I own. That's why I've never mentioned anything."

He got out hoping that would end the conversation and began unpacking the back of the Jeep, the others following. They got up the front steps and into the house, got their bedrooms, and met downstairs.

"Hey guys, Kori and I were going to go check out the tiki bar down the strip. You guys gonna be good for a bit?" Dick asked.

Garfield looked to Raven and she nodded.

"Absolutely. And promise me if you guys need me to come pick you up, I'll do it."

"Yeah, yeah. We got it," Dick said walking out the door.

"Well, Raven. What would you like to do?" Garfield asked.

"Could we go sit on the porch? I really want to watch the sunset."

"Yeah! You'll love it," he guided her to the back and they sat down on the porch swing. He placed his arm on the back of the swing across her and pushed back and forth with his feet creating a nice rock.

"Garfield, can I tell you a secret?" She hesitantly asked.

"Of course, Raven."

She sighed, "I've never been to the beach before."

"Wow, really?" He asked.

"Yeah. I've never had a family to take vacations with and never really ventured out here on my own."

"Well, I lost my parents when I was three," he began, "I was adopted and had a wonderful family but still inherited a shit ton of money from my parents. I don't wildly spend it, but I do have quite a few things."

"What else have you bought?" She bluntly asked.

He sighed, "Well, there's this house, a mansion, couple expensive cars, a boat, and I like to travel."

"So, you don't like flaunting your money, do you?"

"No," he shook his head, "I mean don't get me wrong, it's so nice to have, but I want to earn my own money, you know? I've invested a lot of it into stocks and all that but it's not as satisfying having it all and not working for it."

"I can understand that," she said, "Is there something else I can ask you?"

"Sure," he replied.

"Whenever your parents get brought up in conversation, I sense a lot of pain associated with them. I was wondering..."

"What happened?" He finished her sentence.

She hesitantly nodded, "I just want to understand you better. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, it's fine," he began, "So, my parents were incredible researchers and we were in a jungle in Africa when I had gotten bit by a monkey and became terribly sick. What they had been studying was the cure for my illness and if they didn't inject me with it, I was going to die. Without knowing any side effects, I was given it anyway. I turned green and inherited the DNA of every animal in the kingdom. Well, we were floating down a big river and there was a waterfall coming up we didn't know about. They tried to steer out of the way and to the bank, but it was too late. We were going down and mom told me to fly. I had just gotten my powers so, I hadn't mastered shape-shifting yet. The only thing I could change into was a humming bird. Sometimes I think "What if I could have been something bigger? Something to save them with?" But in actuality I couldn't have done it. It was just bad timing in life."

"Wow, I'm really sorry..." She felt all the pain in his chest, she felt the tears he was holding back. She felt so bad for him, so she decided to take his pain away. Her hand glowed a light blue aura and his depression fizzed out.

"What did you just do?" He asked.

"I took your pain away. I felt bad for bringing it up, and I didn't want you to be in pain, so I took it away for the moment."

"You can do that?"

"Yes. I'm and empath with healing abilities. Not just physical wounds, but emotional as well," she explained.

"That's pretty cool," he smiled, "So, can I know about your parent's now?"

"You don't want to know. You won't like me anymore if I tell you," she trailed off.

"That's silly. You can tell me."

She took a deep breath, "Okay. I'll try to make it short. My mother's name was Angela Roth. At 18 she ran away from home and found shelter in this church. Well, little did the moron know that it was actually a cult for the devil. She was taken in by them and they were to preform a ritual using her as the sacrifice. She was promised a husband and family. Her man came out of the clouds and she went with him to you know... Anyway, during the middle, he transformed into Trigon."

Garfield's eyes became wide.

"Yeah, so nine cruel months later, I was born and ever since then Trigon was after me. The monks of Azarath took her in to try to keep the evil out, but he still found her and destroyed the entirety of Azarath and everyone there. Everyone but me. He needs me to come through the portal to take over the next planet or dimension. However, last time he tried that, I was able to stop him. He's now locked in an enchanted gem hidden in the fiery pits of Hell. That's my story. Please don't hate me."

"Raven, baby, I don't hate you." He took her into his arms and held her tight. She felt anxious, yet comfortable.

She wrapped her arms around him as well and looked up into his eyes.

"I want you to know," she began, "No one has ever made me feel as comfortable as I am with you."

He smiled, "Really?"

"Yeah, and this is really hard for me to say, but I think I have feelings for you. And I'm only telling you, because I know for a fact, you have them for me."

He laughed, "Only because you're an empath and you cheated."

She chuckled.

He looked deep into her eyes and she gazed back. He'd glance down at her lips and she parted her mouth. They leaned in closer together and connected in the salty breeze.

Her fingers slowly combed through the back of his hair sending chills all down his spine. His tongue slipped into her mouth and began to play with hers. She leaned in closer adding more pressure and intensity to the kiss. He gave her one last strong kiss before calming them down to mild pecks, ending with kissing the tip of her nose.

"Raven," he began, "No one has ever made me feel like this before. I don't want to let you go."

She nestled into his chest and he held her close until she dozed off.

Garfield became tired himself and gently picked her up and carried her to the room she had picked out. He placed her on the bed and she stirred, waking up.

"Hmm..." She quietly moaned.

"Shhh. Raven, just go back to sleep," he tried to soothe as he rubbed her head. She grabbed onto his waist and tried to pull him in closer until he was on the bed. She adjusted her head until she way laying on him. He took the hint.

"Alright, alright," he whispered, positioning himself to where they were cuddled up together and passed out holding her tight in his arms.

Debating on how I should end this... Any ideas? They'd be greatly appreciated! Thanks! You guys rock!