I'm a horrible person, I'm updating my new story before any of my old ones that people are probably annoyed waiting on... welp, what's done is done...

I don't own the Teen Titans.

In honor of his 16th birthday and consequent passing of his drivers exam, Cyborg and Raven had put some work and money into restoring a 1969 Mustang for the changeling. It was difficult work but it was all worth it because she and Cyborg were given a reason to spend time together on a car without being barked at by Robin for wasting time. That, and Beast Boy's reaction made it even better.

It was all the better because he wasn't expecting a gift. They hadn't been able to finish by the time his birthday came around or even by the time he got his license since they had spent extra time adding special features and fun perks to the already gorgeous car. So when the green 16 year old came down to the garage a month after he had gotten his license to help out with a bird that had flown in, he suspected nothing.

What he found was a grinning and oil covered Cyborg and Raven standing proudly next to a sparkling, poppy green 1969 Mustang sitting in the middle of the garage among scattered tools and dirty rags. He was in complete and utter shock.

"Whoaaaaaaaaa! Dude, where'd you get that?!"

"Just a little something me and Rae've been working on. You like?"

"Like?! This is the coolest car I've ever seen! Did you restore this for a car show or something?" Beast Boy looked up at Cyborg, but switched his gaze to Raven as she walked towards him with her closed hand extended.

"Whatcha got there Rae?"

She smirked and opened her hand to reveal a key with a green T Rex keychain attached. "I believe this is yours," she said plainly.

Beast Boy was speechless. He took the key and turned it over in his hand with wide eyes.

"Y-you're kidding right? Cy, this is the meanest prank you've ever pulled on me!"

Cyborg ruffled the shorter boy's hair. "Not this time. Happy belated birthday Grass Stain."

Beast Boy looked over to the stairwell, finally noticing that Robin and Starfire had followed him down. Robin had a wide grin on his face and held a video camera out in front of him while Starfire finally let loose on the giggles she had been restraining. His shocked face turned to one of pure joy. He turned back to Raven and Cyborg.

"You guys are seriously the best!" Beast Boy yelled, grabbing Cyborg around the waist and bear hugging him tightly.

"No big deal, buddy. I think you're forgetting someone…" the cybernetic teen said suggestively.

Beast Boy blushed a little and turned to Raven. "I didn't forget, don't worry."

"Happy Birthday, Beast Boy," she said softly, with one of her rare, small smiles.

He immediately pulled her into a soft hug, making sure not to hold on too tightly in order to respect her discomfort with physical contact.

"Thank you," he whispered in her ear as he pulled away. They stood facing each other, both feeling slightly awkward until Beast Boy returned his attention to his new car, which he was intent on exploring every bit of. As Cyborg led Beast Boy through all the features of his car, Robin recorded the moment on his camera and Starfire hugged the Boy Wonder gleefully, Raven watched the whole moment unravelling on her own from her spot near the right mirror. It was a moment she knew she would never forget, especially when Beast Boy insisted on taking her on a test drive around the island at a speed that would have been illegal anywhere else.

This memory ran through her head as she climbed into the poppy green car. It felt good to be able to use something that she had made rather than walk through the ashes of something she had destroyed for a change. She faintly smiled, an expression that Beast Boy noticed from his spot in the driver's seat but decided not to comment on. She might return to her blank face and deny it if he mentioned it at all. Instead, he just gave his own lopsided grin for a reason unknown to the demoness and turned the key in the ignition, the green T Rex swaying back and forth in rhythm with the purr of the engine. They stayed in comfortable silence together as Beast Boy drove through the underground tunnel that led from Titan's island to the mainland of Jump City. Cyborg had commissioned it some time around the time he began working on the T Car so that he could show off his car rather than just driving it around the island. The silence continued on even through town a little ways, but quiet like this had long since lost the discomfort it used to have. They felt comfortable enough around each other now that they didn't need words, much like how sitting in silence with a family member is not weird at all, it feels natural. As the changeling parked his car in the mall parking lot, as far away from any other cars as he could to save his "baby" from any irresponsible drivers, he finally broke the silence.

"So, I was thinking that we should start with the Mug Emporium, and then maybe some of the more general stores. We can find a really cool one!" Beast Boy said enthusiastically as he opened Raven's door for her.

"Sure, why not."

They walked the long distance to the entrance of the mall in relative silence, both noticing the weird looks they got from passersby. Both were unaware that the other was noticing the same thing and just assumed that they were seeing things.

In the first store, the one dedicated to mugs and mugs alone, they looked through the whole store, still receiving odd looks from the other patrons, but paying no attention. Beast Boy kept finding green mugs, or ones with funny phrases on them, but of course, Raven refused all of them. She on the other hand, would only look at the blank, single color mugs, all in purple, blue or black. Beast Boy would not allow her to even think about those options. So, they moved on to the next place.

After searching through all the general stores in the mall, they had had no luck. They had only spent money on a purple cat that Beast Boy had insisted on getting for her in a claw game in the arcade and two vanilla ice cream cones they had bought to cool down. At that point, the two sat on a cement bench in the middle of the mall, licking their ice cream cones and watching the people, who they still noticed watching them.

"Man, this sucks. Finding the perfect mug is impossible!" Beast Boy said, flailing his free arm in the air. The movement startled Raven as the arm barely missed her head, and she jerked her ice cream cone lightly into her nose as she was taking a taste. Moving the ice cream cone back, she looked down at her nose cross eyed and brow furrowed, now with a glob of vanilla ice cream on the end of her nose. Beast Boy looked over at her and laughed. She frowned at him.

"It's not that funny. Now I need to go back to the store and get napkins, and I'm going to be walking around a mall looking ridiculous," She said, getting up.

"No need, I got it," Beast Boy said, reaching over. Before she could protest, he had wiped the ice cream off of her nose with his finger and licked the ice cream off his finger. The both blushed brightly, looking each other in the eye as they both thought about what had just occurred and how close they still were. Beast Boy moved away quickly to the other side of the bench.

"Heh, sorry, Rae… I'm not sure why I did that…" Beast Boy said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Its Raven…"

"Oh, yeah… sorry RaVEN…" A truly awkward silence followed as they both tried to look anywhere but at each other and were both positive that people were indeed looking at them now. As Beast Boy's eyes wandered he noticed a Paint-a-Cup studio a little ways away.

"Hey! Raven, look over there! We can make our own perfect mug! Lets go!" Beast Boy said excitedly. He grabbed her wrist and began dragging her towards the shop. She ran along as fast as she could manage to keep up with her eager friend, tossing the rest of her ice cream into a garbage can as she went. What had she got herself into allowing him to drag her here?

Beast Boy opened the door for her, and she walked in. The sound of the bell attached to the door tinkled quietly and the girl at the desk looked up from her magazine disinterestedly. She was a year or two younger than them and her body language showed it. The teenage girl looked Raven up and down with one eyebrow raised before quickly moving onto Beast Boy with a much more interested gaze.

Raven didn't exactly know why, but she was annoyed with how the cashier girl was looking at Beast Boy. He of course, was looking at the wall of shelves holding the un-painted ceramics with his brows furrowed and his tongue sticking out in concentration on finding the right mug, completely oblivious of the attention he was getting. Raven narrowed her eyes as the girl brightened significantly when Beast Boy came over to the sales desk. He set to different mugs on the desk.

"We'd like to paint these two please!" He said cheerfully. The sales girl rung up the purchase on the register, all the while batting her eyelashes and twirling her ponytail. Raven looked down at the two mugs and then up at Beast Boy quizzically.

"Two?"

"Yeah, I couldn't choose between the two, and I figured we can both make one and see which one you like better after they're finished!" he said, picking up both and carrying them to a table. She followed him but stopped on the way to pick up some paints. Beast Boy had grabbed some paints as well and sat down at the table with his paintbrush, holding the brush out towards his mug with one eye closed in what he probably though was an artist's pose.

She looked down at the white ceramic mug, holding her paintbrush pensively. This mug had endless possibilities. She was almost afraid to start and mess the pure mug. She looked over to see what Beast Boy was doing and saw him staring at her. He looked away quickly, his cheeks dusted with pink.

"Uh, can I help you?"

"I, uh, was just trying to figure out how to paint it. I wanted… to see what you were doing?" he ended unconvincingly. She raised an eyebrow. She didn't quite believe him, but she would let it slide just this—

"AHA!" Beast Boy declared. He looked at her eagerly. Raven wasn't quite sure what to think and looked back at him, eyes wide. The changeling got some dark blue, green and lavender paint on his pallet and began painting green, vertical stripes.

Of course, he would make his green. She looked at the colors he was using. Those others look kind of like… me?

Then he started painting the spaces between the green the dark blue he had picked and she saw what he was doing. He was mixing her favorite colors with his to compromise. She knew what to do.

Starting with coating the whole outside of the cup with the black of her leotard. Beast Boy looked over at her mug.

"No way! You can't just have a single colored mug like that, I thought I told you that!?"

She simply smiled and kept painting. "Just wait."

After an hour of painting in silence, Raven looked up at Beast Boy's mug, which was just about done. He had done a rather good job despite some blotchy paint in places. The mug was dark blue and green striped with lavender coating the inside. It actually looked quite nice in her opinion. She looked down at her own mug. She had painted it black with a yellow belt that had round red gems like her uniform had. The inside of the mug was green to mimic Beast Boy's idea of combining their colors. She smiled.

"Whoa, yours is like, perfect!" Beast Boy said ogling at the mug with awe.

"I think I like yours better," she replied. He looked at her like she was crazy.

"WHY?! This one is so cool!" he practically yelled, his voice cracking at his outburst. He snorted a little and she put a hand over her mouth to hide her giggles.

"Heh, wow, that hasn't happened in a while…" he said, looking down at the table sheepishly.

"No, it hasn't, has it?" Raven said, still chuckling a little. She was so glad that she had become more free with her emotions so that chuckling was not an uncommon occurrence. It felt good to be able to express herself without having to justify it to her friends.

Beast Boy carefully picked up both mugs so not to smudge the paint.

"Well, to make up for that awkward moment there, I'm just going to take these and give them to the lady. Be right back!" He called over his shoulder.

Raven watched him maneuver through the tables, careful not to mess up the mugs. She realized how much he had grown. And then a little sing-song voice in her head began murmuring something about love and pink dusted her cheeks.

Is this what love is? Does he love me? He spent the whole day with me just looking for "the perfect mug"… I'm sure he had more he wanted to do with his day, I mean, its him. Of course he had something better to do than go on a pointless shopping trip with creepy demoness… No, he probably just feels bad for me, I can't read too much into this. I can't put myself out there again, I can't handle something like that again… I can't get my heart broken again…

Beast Boy came back to Raven with only a bit of paint on his finger tips, successful enough in his mind, and was shocked to see her deep in thought. He stayed back a bit longer to watch her. She was subconsciously nibbling on her lower lip. He swallowed a little and then walked up behind her. She was leaning slightly on her hand with her elbow on the table and she looked up when he approached.

"When will they be done?" she asked. Beast Boy looked at the paper he was given.

"Looks like a week. We can pick them up on Tuesday," He replied. She nodded and stood up.

"Well, it looks like we can go now. Shall we?" Raven said, motioning to the door. Beast Boy opened it for her.

"After you."

It was probably just because it was on her mind, but every little thing he did made her question whether or not he felt the same as she did. She was becoming paranoid.

Relax Rae, its just a crush. It'll go away soon. It's just a crush… right? Wait… did I just refer to myself as Rae?

At the car, Beast Boy opened the passenger door for her and then tried to run around the front to get to his seat. Try is the key word. On the way, he happened to trip on the curb, making Raven snicker and Beast Boy blush with embarrassment. But even as he was tripping and panic was crossing his face before he caught himself, she couldn't help but think about how grown up he had become, how attractive his face really was despite the green skin and hair which only made him cuter to her.

Oh Azar, I've really fallen haven't I? This is more than a crush…

Beast Boy made it to the drivers seat and he was still laughing nervously when he got in the car.

"Heh, I don't know whats wrong with me today, I've been acting as awkward as I did as a kid…"

"I don't think you'll ever grow up too much in my mind," Raven replied, smirking.

"Hey! I have too grown up! I've stopped making horrible jokes, I haven't played nearly as many video games, I'm taller than you, AND I've got some pretty sweet muscle if I do say so myself," Beast Boy said, flexing as many muscles as he could when he listed off the last bit.

Raven snorted. "Pffft, no you haven't, you play just as much as you used to, I guess you got me on third thing, and…" she looked over at him fleetingly before quickly looking away, embarrassed. "Yeah… I guess you got me on the last one too…"

It was Beast Boy's turn to be embarrassed. He had said that just to mess with her, he hadn't expected her to actually respond to it. He tried to look her in the face, but she had turned to the window to avoid his gaze. He bit the inside of his cheek in frustration.

Why do I keep doing this? Why can't I just stop being so awkward; I'm 18 for crying out loud! Well, almost. It's still three weeks away… but still… Maybe my birthday with make me less awkward…? That's at least somewhat logical right?

Beast Boy coughed and started the car. As they pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road, Raven gained the courage to start looking around the car. He had kept it relatively clean to her amazement, but there were a few receipts, some napkins and a t shirt that seemed to have been tossed into the back seat.

As they made a turn, Raven squinted into the sun and decided to put down the sun shade on the roof. When her vision had cleared, she saw that there was a photograph stuck to the inside of the sunshade with gum. She tugged on the corner of the picture and it came off. The gum was still reasonably fresh so it came off with relative ease. She looked at the photo and smiled.

The Titans had taken many photos over the years, and until two years ago, Beast Boy had never gotten Raven to smile while taking one with him. However, on the fateful day of March 19th as shown by they date written on the bottom of the photo, they were both smiling in a picture together.

Cyborg had gotten a new camera attachment and was testing it out on Beast Boy to see if he could snap a photo of the changeling in an in-between stage between human and animal. Raven had been reading and was becoming annoyed with the volume of their task so she was about to snap at them when she looked up to see Beast Boy directly in front of her as a bug eyed pug, panting heavily and cross eyed. Her emotions had been difficult to control that day and this was too much for her. Starting with a giggle bubbling up from her lips, her laugh became a full on, out of control laugh which shocked both of her male companions. Beast Boy shape shifted back into a human and began laughing as well while begging Cyborg to take a picture.

And this was the photo she held in her hands now.

Raven smiled as she looked down at the picture; she was almost doubled over with her uncontrolled laughter and Beast Boy was smiling from ear to ear, giggling as well. There were tears in the corners of her eyes which were almost closed. She couldn't remember ever laughing so hard.

Beast Boy had been tense ever since they had left the parking lot. It was impossible for him to know what Raven was thinking and he was afraid of what she thought of him. When he finally built up the courage to look at her again, he relaxed to see her gazing at the photo of them he had stuck to the sun shade. She had a faint smile on her face and he wondered if she was remembering when the photo was taken. He relaxed his shoulders and glanced at the clock. It was almost 9pm. He smiled. He couldn't believe he had spent the whole day with Raven without her snapping at him once.

Does that mean she likes me? Gah, stop reading into this so much, I've probably just matured enough that I don't make her hate every moment she spends with me…

They reached the tower garage and Beast Boy killed the ignition.

"Okie dokie, looks like we're home," Beast Boy said slowly.

"Looks like it," Raven said plainly, getting out of the car.

Beast Boy tapped the steering wheel with his fingers as he watched Raven walk past the hood of the car. He hopped out of the car when she reached the stairwell and trotted after her retreating figure.

"Hey! So, Rae—"

"Raven."

"Hehe, right. Raven. So, do you wanna come to movie night tonight? You can pick the movie this time if you come!" Beast Boy said after catching up with her.

"I think I'll pass, I need to meditate some more. I missed my usual times when we went to the mall so…" Raven began fidgeting a little. Beast Boy raised an eyebrow. Raven didn't fidget. Maybe he shouldn't push it, it seemed like it had taken a lot out of her going to the mall with him for as long as she did. But the romantic inside of him was still hoping for her to fall asleep on his shoulder in the middle of the movie so he continued to plead.

"Come on, Raven! You haven't been to a movie night in so long!" Beast Boy reasoned. After a short pause he continued. "You can sit next to me," the changeling said suggestively, waggling his eyebrows, which elicited a quiet giggle from Raven.

"I don't know…" Raven looked down, weighing her options. On one hand, she really did need to meditate. Her emotions had been going haywire since she left that morning. On the other, she really did miss movie nights, and here was her crush pleading with her to go and to sit next to him no less. Beast Boy seemed to notice her hesitation and he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Its not the same without you, Rae. Please? For me?" He said with puppy dog eyes. This was all he had left in his reserves, his logic and flirty joking had already been used. If this didn't work, he had failed.

She looked up at his face and laughed a little at his begging puppy face. He always knew how to get to her in the end. She decided to let the nickname slide, just this once.

"Okay, Beast Boy."

He grinned and held out his hand, which she took tentatively, and he eagerly rushed up the stairs with her in tow to announce that he had finally returned the demoness to the Titan's sacred movie nights.

Shweet. R&R and have a nice day!