It had been a few weeks since Terra, or Mariah, or whoever she was, split up with Garfield. Only Raven and Vic knew about it while Robin and Starfire remained blissfully unaware. The source of there bliss being the vacation they went on last week, without their friends. They were stopping by in Gotham to visit Bruce and the new Robin, Tim Drake. But the team knew why they were really leaving for Gotham. The only time they ever got any 'one on one time' was for a few hours on dates. Now that they were staying in a hotel in Gotham they had all the time they wanted.

As for Garfield, now that Victor knew about what had happened things got easier for him. Vic helped him keep his mind off of Terra and onto more important things- like Stankball. His cybernetic friend helped keep him out of the dumps and was always there to cheer him up. Gar also had Raven to go to whenever he needed someone who would listen to him, no matter what it was. She was good at it too. She never interrupted him or said anything abusive when he spoke and always had good advice to give afterward. It was surprising how good she was at helping others with emotions after she struggled with them her whole life. But despite the help his friends gave him, he couldn't get over one thing: being called an animal.

Gar had hated the word animal ever since he turned green. For as long as he could remember being green, people had viewed him as less than human for his appearance or his powers. The worst part was that the ones he depended on and treasured in his life always seemed to view him as inferior in the end, just like Terra had. Being with the Titans and the Doom Patrol had helped, but nothing could undo what had been done. He thought maybe Terra could, but that only made matters worse.

"Hey B!" Gar's thoughts were interrupted by Victor. They were in the Ops room, Gar in the kitchen. "Wanna play?" He called, holding up a game console.

"Yeah, in a sec!" He called back. He took another sip of his smoothie then went over to the couch.

He took the console and Vic started the game. As Gar kept playing, game by game, his smile became more genuine. Not because of the blood and guns on the screen, but because he was just enjoying the moment. He was with his best friend, playing a video game; it was fun. Simple, enjoyable, fun. He wished he had done more of this when Terra was around.

-/-/-/-/-/-

"Azarath...Metrion...Zinthos..." Raven chanted the accent words on her lips then only in her mind. The darkness of her eyelids faded into what looked like a night sky. Nevermore.

Raven, in her mind, opened her eyes to see she was in Happy's domain. Why do I always end up in here? She grimaced. No matter if she embraced Happy or not, her emotion clone would always be extremely annoying in person.

"Hiya Rae!" Speak of the devil. Raven turned to see her pink self skipping over to her, a big smile on her face, as usual. What took Raven off guard was when Happy least onto her and squeezed her into a big hug.

"Happy. What are you doing?" She insisted as she was held close by herself.

"Nothin'! I'm just happy to see you!" She said, releasing Raven.

"Of course you are." Raven grumbled. She scanned over the fields of cherry blossoms. "Think Wisdom's around?" She asked.

"Who, Four-Eyes? In her library, where else?" She replied.

"Thanks." Raven mumbled. She muttered her mantra under her breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them she was in front of a zen garden; Several yards away was what looked like a tiny house. Wisdom's domain. Raven knew that on the inside, though, that house was far from tiny. Wisdom explained that it was a metaphor. The brain looks small but the information it holds is a vast, unending plain. Her sage side had a lot of riddles and metaphors up her sleeve whenever Raven visited her. She knew she'd be nothing with Wisdom, but sometimes her similes got more confusing than informative.

Raven hovered to the tiny house and opened the door. Inside was a giant library, filled to the brim with statues and books. Raven looked around the golden room in search of her yellow cloaked clone. "Um...Wisdom?" She called after looking around for a few minutes.

"Hello, Raven." Raven jumped slightly. She turned around to see Wisdom looking back at her, book in hand.

"Hi..." She said.

"Is there something that requires my assistance?" Wisdom asked, adjusting her glasses.

"Well...it's about...Gar...Beast Boy..." She corrected herself. She was nervous about taking about this even if it was with herself. But Wisdom knew all, so she was in good hands, she hoped.

"No matter what name you call him by I know who your refer to." Wisdom stated. "What about him? When it comes to things like emotions for others I am not the one to-"

"No! No, it's not...that... Listen..." Raven stammered, her face flushed. "This...doesn't have to do with what I feel about...y'know... well, not really." She cleared her throat. "It's about his feelings, rather."

"And you go to me about this, why?" Wisdom asked.

"Because I already went to affection but all she gave me was some don't worry just go for it speech, and, well, that's just not my style." She said, reminiscing her time with her lavender clone. "I want to help him, is what I'm trying to say. I don't want to replace her, but I still want him to be happy. I need to know what's the right way to do that without trying to take her place."

"And why, Raven, would taking her place be a bad thing? He has to move on at some point." Wisdom pointed out.

"Because he's not over her nor is he ready to be with someone else. I can tell that with or without my senses. Besides, it's not like anyone could really take her place. She was his first love. And if someone could that someone couldn't be me." Raven said shamefully.

"Care to elaborate?"

"I'm impure, introverted, and his worst bully. Why would I compare to her?" She said. She wasn't just beating herself up, she was stating the facts. A blind man could see why she wasn't suitable for him, especially given what she was and what she'd done.

"To you, those statements may be true, but to him they may not be." Wisdom replied. "You are right about one thing. Garfield does need time. But once he is ready to move on you may see that, after all, you may be able to fill the hole this Terra girl left in his heart." She said sagely. Raven absorbed what she said. She was right; he needed time to recuperate from his loss and she would be there to help him. And maybe by the time he did, just maybe, she could take Terra's place.

"Thank you, Wisdom. You've helped me much more than Affection did." She said, smiling a little.

"You're welcome, Raven." Wisdom said, nodding to her.

Raven closed her eyes and whispered her mantra once again. This time she opened her eyes to her bedroom. Outside she heard Victor snd Gar running up and down the halls, most liking playing Stankball. She smirked at the thought. A 17 year old and a 21 year old playing a children's game. What a time to be alive.

She opened the door and entered the hallway. She was cut short when she was met with a face full of dirty socks wrapped into a ball. Yep. They were definately playing Stankball. "Oooohh...shit..." She heard Vic say. Gar froze and said nothing. Her powers wrapped around the ball and her eyes turned black. She slowly turned to face Victor, a smirk creeping up on her face.

"Aw no, Raven. Don't be like that..." He said, holding his hands up and backing away. Her grin grew more menacing. She held her index finger up, the ball levitating above it. Everything was silent. Then Raven pointed her finger at Victor, and so did the ball.

"Wahhh!" Vic hollered as he attempted to move away from the stank ball. Too bad he wasn't fast enough. The stank ball hit him at force force and speed, knocking him to the ground.

"Ohhhhhh!" Gar cheered, one hand over his mouth, the other in the air. "She got you good, man!" He exclaimed to Victor. Victor grumbled to himself and tore of the dirty socks that had broken from their ball formation.

"Now that, Victor, is how you properly play Stankball." She said coyly. She turned around on her heal and walked away.

Beast Boy watched her as she left the scene. He took note she wasn't wearing her cloak so she was left in her snug leotard and her legs exposed. He also noticed how her hips seemed to sway as she walked, something he found mesmerizing. Not to mention her backside was distracting enough on its own. Damn. When did Rae get so... He couldn't think of the word without sounding like a pervert. He hadn't really noticed her figure until now. There was the occasional time she didn't wear her cloak but he hadn't bothered to look. But now on the other hand...

"BB! B!" Vic's voice knocked him out of his trance. He whipped his head around to see his metallic friend smirking at him. "You checking out Rae's butt?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Wha'? No, no! I was just..." He stammered, his face turning red.

Victor laughed. "Oh, man! You so were. You looked like you were 'bout to start drooling!" He cackled.

"Shut up." He grumbled, his face still heated up. "It's not like you're much different." He shot back, but it was a low blow and he knew it.

"Hey. I'm not saying I blame you for it. But you make it way too obvious." He chuckled. "C'mon. I'm gonna get some lunch." He said, ruffling Gar's hair as he walked by.

"Yeah. I'll be right there." Gar said, his voice trailing off. He needed a second to think. Had he really just looked at Raven like that? Not only in an erotic way, but in a way that made his heart skip and his face flushed. He had looked at other girls that way before, except they were usually on his computer screen, and though they turned him on, they never got the same reaction out of him as Raven just did. Not only in the way she exited but the way she gave that hooded eye look and her almost seductive smirk. And throwing that ball? That was hot too.

Oh good God, what was he thinking? He couldn't be harboring feelings for someone else! He just split up with his first real girlfriend and besides, this was Raven! She'd never go for him. Who in there right mind would?

He shook his head. Don't think like that now. You have to act happy for their sakes. Just act like you normally do. He thought. He didn't want Victor and Raven worrying about him. This was his problem and his friends shouldn't have to suffer because of it. He forced a smile on his face and started walking to the kitchen for lunch.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-

"Here, guys." Vic said as he put a hotdog and a tofu dog on the table for Gar and Raven to eat. He had, as he said, made lunch as usual. Gar finally realized how hungry he was when he saw the food before him and gobbled the whole thing down almost instantly. The whole thing with Raven had stressed him out, so what better way to relax than with food?

Raven rolled her eyes when Gar stuffed the tofu dog down his throat. She, on the contrary, ate her's slowly and evenly to make a point. She hadn't intended for Gar to react the way he did nor did she really notice. If she had, though, Gar knew he'd be dead.

Gar watched intently as Raven as she took a bite of her hot dog, fascinated with the movements her mouth was making. He felt his heart speed up when she licked her full lips to wipe ketchup off her mouth. He stared at her throat when she swallowed then watched the process again. Gar gulped himself and felt his face flush with embarrassment when he realized what he was doing. Gar shook his head rapidly. What was he doing? All she was doing was eating and even that he found distracting. What had gotten into him?

"You okay, Gar?" Raven asked him, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Huh- wha'?" He asked.

She arched her eye brow. "I asked are you okay? You seem...distant." She said.

He tried to think of the right words to say. He knew he couldn't tell her the truth since replying "I was being hypnotized by the way you eat that hot dog", was a bad way to put it. "Uh...no, I'm fine...I just...gotta go to the bathroom!" He excused himself and ran out of the kitchen.

He had lied, of course. Once he was in his room he locked the door so no one could come in. He needed to think. This had to stop and he knew it. He knew Raven probably couldn't and wouldn't be able to have feelings for him with her powers and mistrust for people. He couldn't either; he didnt want to risk getting his heart torn again. He knew Raven was a good person and all, but would she really stay with him? He knew she had a fear of strong emotions and of them getting out of control, so would it even work? She seemed fine, almost normal when it came to daily events that involved emotion, but would she be able to do that in a relationship? And if she could how was he supposed to get her? And if not her, would any girl like him?

Who would wanna be with me? He asked himself. Terra only did because she was different too and was desperate for a friend. Besides, she never really liked me that much. He thought. He leaned against the wall and slid down it till he reached the floor. "Who am I kidding? No one's ever gonna want me again." He whispered, his voice shaking. "Raven...she'd never trust me...not after what she's been through... She'd never love me...can she even?" He wondered out loud, tears forming in his eyes. Once again he was growing feelings for a girl who could never feel the same no matter what. And if she did, it wouldn't be with him. She wouldn't even if he was the last guy on earth.

So this chapter is kind of short and uneventful, but it's more of a bridge chapter than anything. Next chapter, I promise you, will be longer and way better than this.

Adieu,

Themadzlove