Chapter twelve 'Lets Try Something New'

"Rachel, I am so, so, so sorry," Gar sputtered once they had crossed the block.

Rachel looked at him with a slightly worried expression crossing her face. "Garfield, why did you do that?" She asked. Gar couldn't put his finger on her mood but she didn't seem too pissed off.

Gar let out a nervous chuckle as his hand found its way to the back of his head. "I'm not sure," he answered truthfully. "I just didn't think that he had a right to talk to you like that ya know? You deserve so much better than that Rachel."

"I…um thank you," she answered feeling a small blush creep up on her cheeks.

"So…do you want to go get something to eat?" Gar asked looking around the town. "We still have a little more than two hours and I just kind of figured that you didn't want to head back right away."

Rachel bit her lip thoughtfully as if she was taking time to consider his offer. "That sounds nice, but I don't know much about food in the city, I haven't gone out in a long time in case you've forgotten." She said it in a joking tone but for some reason this comment made Gar sad.

"Don't worry about it Rae!" Gar chirped keeping his happy tone. "I know a great vegetarian place a few blocks from here! I know it might sound bad but don't worry you're going to love it!"

"Alright I guess we could…"

"Yes! What are we waiting for?" Gar yelled quickly grabbing hold of Rachel's hand and practically dragging her down the street. Gar didn't know why but he had a very strange feeling that Rachel didn't even mind being drug down the street by him and it was funny because last week she would have punched him for even touching her hand.

"Mal…Mal wake up!" Terra shouted at the unconscious young man on the floor of the bookstore. "God, I'm going to call the police…"

"No, no…Terra wait," Malchior murmured. He pushed himself up so he was sitting on the floor. "I will be okay."

Terra let out a sigh of relief and quickly stooped down to him. "What was that all about?" She asked in a worried tone.

Malchior shook his head. "Do not worry Terra dear, I will take care of everything."

The blonde girl squinted at her boyfriend before standing back up so she was staring down at him. "Fine, whatever, but don't do anything to drastic Mal I'm sure Gar didn't mean anything by…"

"Terra, he knocked me unconscious!" Malchior exclaimed standing up from the floor. "I could have a concussion by now!" He exclaimed. "Look, darling, I know Rachel and she brings nothing but bad news. I will take care of everything. You don't need to worry your pretty little head about anything."

Terra huffed and swished her blonde hair behind her shoulders. "Yeah, and I know Gar and I don't think he would have hit you if he didn't have a legitimate reason. You were pretty mean to Rachel after all."

Malchior's eyes narrowed at this comment. "Of course dear, as I have said before I will take care of everything."

Terra rolled her eyes and let out a long sigh. "Okay, I trust you to do the right thing. I guess I'll just see you tomorrow? Same time alright?" Terra asked before spinning on her heel and heading towards the door.

"See you then Terra dear and do not fear, I will have this mess fixed by tomorrow, I promise," Malchior bid as he watched the door swing shut leaving a trail on jingling bells behind.

"I guess I'll just have a…salad?" Rachel answered as she raised an eyebrow at the menu. "Truthfully Gar I don't know what half of this stuff is."

Gar chuckled and plopped his menu down on the table. "You do know that they have like…a gazillion salads right? And tofu is not that bad…I bet you've never even tried it."

"You're right I haven't, nor do I want to attempt to try it," Rachel quipped back at him staring back down at the menu.

Gar sighed and propped his elbows up on the table. "You never know what you're missing until you try something new," he taunted.

Rachel pulled her eyes away from her menu and glanced up at him a small smile forming on her lips. "Fine," she answered in a slightly challenging voice. She turned towards the waiter who was briskly walking towards their table. "I'll have the garden salad and a side of tofu."

Gar's mouth seemed to drop slightly open at this comment. "Alright! That's what I'm talking about. And I will have the tofu burger with a side of fried potatoes!" He ordered smiling brightly at Rachel from across the table as he handed the waiter his menu and watched the man trot off to retrieve their orders.

"Don't think that this means I'm going to always listen to you. I just thought you had a point, after all you can't judge something by the way it looks, right?" She asked. Gar wasn't entirely sure but he thought there was a subtle message for him lying somewhere in that sentence.

"Exactly, I'm glad you finally understand that about…food," said Gar smiling lightly hoping she would smile back. He couldn't help it, he was entranced by her rare smiles and he was practically dedicated to working to put a grin on her lips.

Rachel rolled her eyes, but still no smile. "You can be very dense sometimes can't you?" She asked. Gar assumed she was joking by the tone in her voice.

"Not always, I just clam up sometimes when I'm around pretty girls," Gar answered, his eyes slowly widened as he came to realize what he had just said. "I mean I…uh…"

"Did you just call me…pretty?" Rachel asked arching an eyebrow at him.

"I just…well, yeah I kind of did but you're more than that really I just…couldn't think right," Gar sputtered. He didn't understand why it had suddenly gotten so hot inside of the restaurant but he had the sudden urge to ask for a bucket of ice that he could hide inside of until his embarrassment cooled off.

"Um, Garfield I have no idea what you're trying to say," Rachel answered.

He laughed nervously as he pulled on his shirt color. "Oh, I was uh, I mean I would definitely call you more than pretty. You're more like…beautiful."

Rachel seemed taken back by this comment and Gar could tell she was slightly uncomfortable with his compliment. "Garfield, why would you…"

"Don't deny it Rachel that only makes it worse. I mean come on! Ask any dude here and they'd agree with me. You're beautiful just accept it," he said feeling slightly more confident about telling her this.

"I…thank you," she answered as a small blush crept onto her pale cheeks. Gar enjoyed the sight of this until she reached behind her head and pulled her hood up over head to cover up her embarrassment.

"Ya know…I don't know why you always do that," Gar began reaching for his glass of water and taking a long sip of it.

Rachel reached up and touched her hood tentatively. "What do you mean?" She asked.

"You're covering up what you're feeling with that hood. I can't read your expression. Why do you always do that?" He asked.

"It's just a habit I guess," she answered in her typical monotone.

"Well, I don't think they allow hats to be on in this place so I'm pretty sure that goes the same for hoods," Gar challenged smirking at the dark girl from across the table.

She reluctantly pulled her hood back down and rolled her eyes at her friend from her side of the table. "Fine whatever, sometimes I swear Garfield you try to annoy me to the point that I…"

"Would send me into another dimension if you could?" Gar answered for her laughing a bit.

"Yeah, something like that," Rachel agreed as their waiter returned to the table and laid out the food they had ordered in front of the two teens. She had to admit the tofu of the side of the plate looked pretty unappetizing and she was considering giving Gar a diversion to look at so she could stuff it inside of his tofu burger.

Apparently gar could read her mind because as soon as the thought crossed her mind he quickly pulled his plate back and stared her down. "Come on…just one little taste. You know you wanna try it!" He chorused in a sing-song voice.

Rachel glared up at him as she poked the white blob with her fork. "Really gar I don't know how you even…"

"Come on Rachel…"

"I really don't want too…"

"You don't even know what you're missing…"

"It looks like…"

"One taste…"

"Fine!" Rachel snapped as she stabbed the tofu blob with her fork and stuffed it in her mouth. She had to admit…if she didn't concentrate on what she was chewing and the texture of the blob, it wasn't that bad. But it still had no flavor or any appealing texture. Gar was lucky she decided to choke it down for his sake. "Happy?" She mumbled when she had swallowed.

"So…you liked it?" Gar asked looking eager.

"Not…exactly," Rachel began. She could feel her eye twitching at just the thought of another bite of it. "But it wasn't as awful as I had expected it to be."

Gar shrugged. "It's a start!" He chirped as he took a large bite of his veggie burger.

Rachel couldn't have agreed more.

Malchior scratched the last three words of the letter on paper and smiled down at his finished product. This was exactly what would fix Rachel, send her off the deep end and then continuously send her back for more.

"Rachel, Rachel," he whispered in a tone of voice that would be found by a mother chastising a small child. "This is for the best. The girl you are now…that's not who you really are and I think Garfield needs to see that for himself don't you?"

The young man pushed himself up off of his desk chair he had been seated on and carefully folded the letter into three folds before closing it up in an envelope and scribbling down the mailing address on the front.

"Perfect!" Malchior exclaimed taping the envelope shut and hurriedly walking to the door of the little bookshop. "All I have to do now is get a return address and then off you go…goodbye Garfield, hello old Rachel."

If anyone would have been passing by on the street at that time they would have seen the blue eyed teen practically cackling at his brilliant scheme. And if these people would have known anything about Malchior's plan they probably would have questioned whether or not he belonged in the psycho ward with Rachel.

"I had a lot of fun today Gar," Rachel said in a barely audible tone of voice. She had kept her eyes focused on the ground the whole time they had walked back to her room and it was only now that she looked up to meet his eyes.

Gar smiled back at her, practically feeling the excitement running through his veins shoot through his body. "Really? So you didn't mind that I hit Malchior?" Gar asked beaming.

Rachel rolled her eyes at this comment. "While I still don't think that you should have hit him…what you did for me was…sweet," she answered smiling slightly. "But I don't recommend that you hit anyone else in the future."

"Trust me, I'm not planning to," Said Gar laughing to himself. "But I'm really happy that you had fun…and uh…Rachel I was just wondering…"

Rachel's eyes seemed to grow softer with this words, it was like she was expecting something from him, but Gar had no idea what she wanted to hear. "Yes?" She asked noticing him pause.

"Oh…would you like to…um…do this again sometime?" Gar asked feeling his cheeks reddening.

"I…yes of course. That is if you can manage to get Nurse Bee to allow it," Rachel answered turning towards her door and pulling it open. "So I'll see you tomorrow then?" She asked.

"Yeah, definitely!" Gar chirped feeling his palms beginning to sweat. It's just Rachel, why are you so nervous? He practically yelled at himself. "I don't know what time yet but I'll be here, you can count on me!" His pitch seemed to become an octave higher with his last few words and he practically wanted to smack himself for sounding so nervous.

"Alright," Rachel began beginning to step inside of her room. "Then I'll see you tomorrow Gar." She sent him a small smile before beginning to close the door.

And just as it snapped shut Gar lost complete control of his body. Because before he knew what he was doing unknown words seemed to spill out of his mouth. Literally he had no control over what he said. He was pretty sure he couldn't even think that fast so whatever happened Gar figured it was being left up to a higher being.

"Rachel wait!" He yelled before he could stop himself.

The door opened quickly and the dark girl quickly raised an eyebrow at her friend who seemed to grow more and more confusing by the second. "What is it Gar?" She asked.

"I just…I can't really…" Gar stuttered trying to find the right words to say to her, but nothing seemed to come to mind. This is exactly why he did what he had no control over.

And before either of the teens knew what was happening Gar found himself grabbing hold of Rachel's waist and pulling her towards him. She tried to pull away for a brief second before she gazed up into his eyes and felt her breathing slow down. Both teens could feel how close their bodies were in proximity to each other, yet neither of them were making any movement to pull away.

"Garfield," Rachel said in a warning tone. "What are you doing?"

Gar sent her a toothy grin and tried to relax himself, which was a bit difficult considering he was practically shaking. "I'm shutting you up," he answered keeping his grin plastered on his face.

Rachel looked at him confused for a moment before smiling slightly as if she was getting his joke. "And how are you going to-mmph." And just like that Gar quickly put his mouth to hers, enveloping her in a kiss that sent chills up and down her spine. She was a little stiff at first, like she wasn't sure if she was actually supposed to kiss him back. Was that even allowed here? She had no idea but Rachel couldn't deny that she loved the feeling of Gar's arms wrapped around her and the tingling feeling she was getting from his touch, it was all just so magical she had the urge to pinch herself to wake up from this realistic dream she was in. Ever so slowly she reached her arms up and glided them along and around his neck pulling him tighter to her and deepening the kiss till she thought she was going to burst with feeling.

They pulled away only because they heard footsteps clacking down the hallway and Gar figured it wouldn't be very smart to be caught by one of the nurses making out with the patient he was supposed to be visiting for community service. Could he be fired for that? He figured he could.

"Wow…um…Gar I don't know what to say…"

Gar chuckled nervously as he quickly let go of her and watched one of the nurses walk by eyeing the two suspiciously before turning around the corner. "Well, you could say that you kind of sort of like me too because I do. I mean, heh, I really like you Rachel I just wasn't sure how to tell you and…"

Rachel quickly held up her hand indicating that she wanted him to stop talking. "I do really like you Gar but I don't know how this can work. I mean I'm here and you're normal so…"

"I'm so not normal Rachel," Gar protected trying to add a bit of humor to the conversation.

Rachel rolled her eyes and quickly continued before she lost track of where she was going. "I just don't know how it would work…"

"Well, I'm willing to try are you?" He asked.

The violet haired girl quickly glanced up and into his eyes. "I'm…I think so, yes," she answered nodding.

Gar beamed. "Great! So, do you want to talk about this or…?"

Rachel allowed a small ghost smile to play upon her lips and she shook her head. "I should be getting back to reading and whatnot, but I'll see you tomorrow Gar."

"Can we pick up where we left off?" Gar asked goofily grinning at her.

"Goodbye Garfield," Rachel replied her smile still gracing her lips.

"See ya tomorrow Rae," Gar answered just as the door snapped shut. The teen cocked his head to the side and quickly let out a 'whooping' noise. "Go Garfield it's your birthday, got the girl you want, you know she digs you…"

"I can still hear you Gar," Rachel's voice echoed through the door and quickly caused the boy to stop dancing.

"Eh heh…I totally knew that!" Gar retorted. "I'm just…gonna go visit Vic now…bye!" He yelled before quickly zooming down the hallway. Gar was almost positive that Vic's face was going to be priceless when he told him about this.

YES! I know this chapter started slow but I hope the end made up for it. Anyway I also hope I didn't take too long to update for you guys. Gimmie your opinions and I'll read them.

I also give TrinityTepes major props for actually noticing that I never once seemed to mention what Gar looked like. I only do that because I try to make all of my viewers happy. And I know I rarely read any fanfics that are AU because I like keeping the Titans the way they look in the cartoon and what not. Therefore I let my audience imagine Gar the way they want him to look. Some people want him to be completely human but if you're anything like me I have a hard time really seeing the Beast Boy in him when he's blonde and blue eyed. So I leave it up to you to decide what he looks like in this story.

I'll write more later and thank you to everyone who has followed me thus far.

Xoxo-Megz