AN: Got back from camp today, sorry for the long period without update. They'll come reasonably regularly now, enjoy today's chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans

"If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference."

Abraham Lincoln

"Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall."

William Shakespeare

Chapter 25 – Right or Wrong?

Raven was sitting quietly at a brown wooden table in The Central Café, her eyes, fixed upon the door. After a casual chat with Simon the previous night, he had asked her to meet him at the Central Café, a place where Raven would normally not dare venture into. Raven and arrived at the café at dawn, hoping to avoid seeing Beast Boy, who still wandered painfully through her mind and heart. The café was lively, with brighter colours than Raven would normally tolerate, but she had to do this… for Beast Boy. She had to force him to move on somehow… and this was the only way. As long as she stayed with Simon, Beast Boy would be safe… and eventually happy. The only real task was sacrificing a life with Beast Boy for a life with Simon, a sacrifice she was willing to make. The doors to the café swung open, revealing a blond haired boy.

"Good morning Raven" greeted Simon, walking towards her table.

"Hello" replied Raven, trying to push down her thoughts of Beast Boy that always seemed to rise.

"May I take a seat?" asked Simon, his eyes questioning.

"Sure" muttered Raven.

"I'm glad that you agreed to come here" said Simon, taking a seat opposite Raven.

Raven remained silent.

"Thanks for calling me last night. It was… a nice conversation" piped up Simon.

"It was" muttered Raven. A waiter approached the table, looking at the pair.

"Anything that you'd like this morning?" asked the waiter.

Simon gestured to Raven, signalling her to order something first.

"I'll have water, thanks" said Raven, glancing at the waiter, who had an eyebrow raised.

"I'll have a macchiato please" said Simon, looking at the waiter, who nodded his head and walked away.

"You should try the cappuccino here next time you come" said Simon, looking cheerfully at Raven.

"I'll make sure I do" muttered Raven.

"You know, you got beautiful eyes" murmured Simon abruptly, gazing into Raven's violet eyes.

"Really?" replied Raven, looking into Simon's bright blue eyes.

"Yeah…" answered Simon.

"Thanks, I think you have nice eyes too" muttered Raven, suppressing an urge to roll her eyes. Simon was a nice guy but… she didn't feel he'd ever be her guy. Looking into his blue eyes reminded Raven of staring into the fiery, blazing eyes of Beast Boy, eyes that seemed to hold her soul captive. Raven sighed, she had to force her thoughts of Beast Boy out if she were to have any chance of her plan succeeding.

"Thanks" said Simon, interrupting Raven's thoughts. "You know, I wasn't lying when I said that I thought you were interesting" he continued.

"No way" replied Raven in a dead-pan voice.

"I'm serious, you're like a mystery or a puzzle that's impossible to solve" murmured Simon.

"And you know this… how?" muttered Raven.

"Oh you know, you just seem that way" replied Simon.

"Okay…" replied Raven, feeling awkward in a conversation. She never really did have any casual conversations, and the ones that she did have usually finished as arguments or something more. She had Beast Boy didn't have many casual conversations… that she could recall, just quick words between the two. They never had gone on dates either. They had only really had… moments. Timeless moments, that seemed to last forever in her memory. Raven blinked swiftly, suppressing a wave of memories and emotions that were urging to rise to the surface.

"Here's you're macchiato and you're… water" said a waiter, cutting into Raven's thoughts and placing a glass of water and a cup of coffee in front of her and Simon.

"Thanks" Raven said softly, but the waiter had already left.

"I've got a lot of things to talk to you about" exclaimed Simon, unable to contain his excitement at whatever he was going to talk about.

Raven sighed. Their conversation the night before had been… interesting, though tedious. She didn't hold up well with small talk, and chatter. They had talked for a long time on the phone, and she had barely been able to tolerate it. It looked like it was going to be a long day. Raven gulped down her entire glass of water. "Shoot".

Beast Boy was sitting glumly at the kitchen table in the common room of Titan's Tower. He held an uneaten tofu sandwich on his hands, staring blankly into space, not making any motions to eat or do anything whatsoever. He felt dead, worse than dead. The previous night he had felt such pain in his heart that he thought it would never ever go away. And now, as if forced into a pain-induced coma, he was an empty shell, numb, unfeeling, thoughtless and dead. He just couldn't do, feel nor think about anything at all. His mind was numb from losing Raven, one who was so close to him, one that meant the world to him. What was the point of living, if the object of his life had already slipped away from him?

Robin, Cyborg and Starfire sat concernedly on the common room couch, talking about Beast Boy's condition, knowing that in his current state no words would pass through his ears.

"Man, I've got no idea what's up with Beast Boy" exclaimed Cyborg.

"Perhaps Mad Mod has hypnotised him again?" suggested Starfire.

"No, something happened between him and Raven… and now he's like a ghost" murmured Robin.

"Well what do we do about it?" cried Cyborg.

"Nothing, there's nothing we can do about it. Beast Boy has to deal with whatever's troubling him" muttered Robin darkly.

"But Beast Boy requires our aid" exclaimed Starfire in protest.

"Only he can help himself now… It's none of our business away, everyone has to fight with their demons alone" replied Robin

"Doesn't look like he's winning" muttered Cyborg darkly.

"Beast Boy will be fine, it might take a couple of days to snap out of this, but we all know how resilient he is" said Robin, trying to comfort any worries.

"How can we be sure that he will be okay?" cried Starfire in concern.

"Trust me Star, he'll be fine" replied Robin. Robin wasn't sure at all what was troubling Beast Boy, he knew it was something to do with Raven but he had no idea. He wouldn't tell him, and neither would she. And right now he hardly looked in the state to tell him anything. Perhaps they had had a bad argument… or maybe Raven had broken it off with him. Robin sighed, this was why he was unsure about the pair getting together. If the relationship didn't work out the repercussions could affect their friendship and ultimately the team. Raven shook his head, trying to shake out the issue from his head, focusing his mind on the television screen in front of him.

It was verging upon night-time and Raven was still sitting in the Central Café, forcing her eyes to remain intent upon Simon. They had been talking for many hours now, well, she could hardly say it was they. He was doing the majority of the talking, she was merely replying with agreements or negations, mostly. The words seemed to have no real effect on her, they seemed to just wash over her rather than through her. This was why she hated small talk, chatter and conversation. The words meant nothing, not to her at least. Raven sighed, ready to put the conversation at an end. Glancing slightly surreptitiously at her watch, she spoke up.

"Sorry Simon, but I think I should be going now" muttered Raven, putting on a reluctant face.

"Oh… alright then, um… see you around sometime" replied Simon.

Raven nodded her head slightly, preparing herself to leave.

"Uh… before you go, there's a film out that's supposed to be really good. I was just wondering if you might want to go and see it… maybe tomorrow?" said Simon.

"Okay then, I don't see why not" muttered Raven.

"I'll pay the bill" piped up Simon.

Raven merely raised an eyebrow, before stalking out of the café. Oh god, she was glad to be out of there. The loud ambience, the lively music, the chatter, the colours, it was all horrible. She had survived the length session with Simon, and had been able to tolerate the pains of a casual conversation, to her credit. She felt a little guilty for feeling so negatively to Simon's talk. He was a nice person, and she may even like him as a friend, but she could never see herself falling for him. Not in the same way that she fell for Beast Boy. Was what she was doing wrong? Manipulating an innocent person just so Beast Boy would be able to be happy and safe? But she wouldn't break up with Simon, not unless he chose to, that way she wouldn't be hurting him. Would she? She wasn't sure at all. With a hefty sigh, Raven began walking along the streets of Jump City, waiting until night fell, in order to avoid the hurt emerald eyes that she was sure she would meet.

Beast Boy had been lying on his bed all day, his heart and head hollow. It was as if his heart had been overwhelmed by emotions, so much so that it didn't feel anything anymore. Just like how huge wounds seem to hurt less than smaller ones, because you go numb with pain. Perhaps it was the same with a broken heart, if it feels too much it'll stop feeling. If you break it too much then it'll never mend itself. The door to his room slid open, as Robin walked in.

"Beast Boy I need to talk to you" murmured Robin, sitting on his bed, facing Beast Boy.

"What about?" muttered Beast Boy in a dead-pan tone.

"About what happened between you and Raven" replied Robin.

"Nothing happened" muttered Beast Boy.

"Well why are you like this?" asked Robin.

"Like what?" replied Beast Boy expressionlessly.

"What do you mean 'like what'? You've been lying in bed all day long, most of the time you don't even hear what we're saying to you, and you look as if you've just been dug up from a grave" exclaimed Robin irritatedly.

"It's between me and Raven" stated Beast Boy.

"We're trying to help you Beast Boy" said Robin, trying to coax Beast Boy.

"You can't help me" muttered Beast Boy, turning over and lying face-down.

Robin sighed sadly, before whisking out of the room, none the wiser. He hadn't expected to get an answer but it was worth a try. Perhaps it would be best to leave the issue for the two to resolve… but he hated to see his team torn up and separated. He walked into his room, trying to keep the ghost-like face of Beast Boy from his head.

It was nearly midnight before Raven decided it was safe to return to the Tower. She feared, and dreaded the moment where she would have to confront Beast Boy. It would shatter her, she knew it, and she felt she wasn't ready for it. She would never be ready for the look that would be upon Beast Boy's face.

Raven stepped into the tower, hoping Robin wasn't awake to confront her once more. She headed for her bedroom, walking quietly in and slipping under her covers. She was glad that no one was awake, she was too weary to explain herself or come up with an excuse. Raven was still unsure whether she had done the right thing. She still had time to change her mind, but she couldn't. If she did Beast Boy would pursue her forever, and she would either fall to the temptation, or deny him and force him into sorrow. If she did fall to temptation, or return him then she would risk killing him, something that she refused to do whatsoever. This was her only choice, she had to go out with someone else. Surely that would force Beast Boy to give up pursuing her, and in the future grant him happiness. As long as she dedicated her life to Simon then no one would lose… except her.

Raven sighed, closing her eyes, hoping sleep would push the issue out of her mind. The question still remained unanswered for her… maybe it always would be. Had she done the right or wrong thing? Surely she had made the right decision… right?

AN: I wanted to call the cafe the Central Perk, after the cafe in Friends, but... Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter and have a great day.