Dia duit peoples! Okay, so like it's been forever! I've been really busy since I started high school last week. I'm going to warn you guys, I'm not going to be able to update as fast, but I'll try. From honor classes to sports to clubs to tv to fanfiction, I'm pretty much killing myself here. But don't worry I won't stop in the midst of such amazing writing :p. I want this story to be a distraction from school or work or whatever. Btw I hope all of you still in school had a good first week or two. Remember to review, follow, and favorite my story, or the fanfic monster will get you (I'm such a dork).

-Shay

Chapter 10: It's Friday Night

Robin's P.O.V

Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick. Round and round the hands of the clock went. Time elapsed with each passing second. Robin lay across his bed, with only the sound of his clock keeping him from total silence. He savored the tranquility of the moment. God knows in his line of duty there is only few of these moments. No lingering tension camped in Robin's muscles; his whole body was in full relaxation. Along with the reduction of stress came a clear mindset. He closed his eyes beneath the mask and a smile rested upon his face. The smile abruptly vanished as Robin moved his arm to lie underneath his head. Pain throbbed in his bruised, beaten arm.

'Nice one, Grayson," Robin scolded himself. After a failed run in with Slade-bots a couple of days ago, Robin had been pushing the team and himself harder during training. He made certain everyone worked past their limits; each member having to execute training sessions specifically designed for their weaknesses. Beast Boy was pushed through a strenuous combative exercise, so he wouldn't need to rely on his transformative powers all the time. Cyborg had to construct a plan to take down a villain in an intricate examination to test their leadership abilities. Starfire battled through an elaborate obstacle course built to assess her flying skills, along with target practice in the middle of it. Raven underwent a series of trials to establish the boundaries of her soul-self. Finally, Robin made sure to combat the source of his obsession head on. He battled a holographic projection of Slade to his full extent more than a reasonable number of times. Needless to say, they were all feeling the effects of the harsh drills, even Raven.

"Raven..."Robin softly whispered. Thoughts of the reserved, mysterious Titan ran rampant in his mind. She had always displayed a calm disposition around the Titans even after her emotions were freed. Despite that he had seen past the monotone voice and neutral expression. He had seen a girl who was strong, brave, and intelligent.

But that night at Royals was different-Raven was different. This time he had seen a woman who carried herself with a certain grace, had a beauty like no other, and possessed a fire within. Raven Roth. A person with many sides to her, a woman who should never be underestimated, and a puzzle Robin didn't have the pieces to solve.

'My oh my, dark girl, you're killing me here,' Robin thought. A soft knock at his door pulled him away from his thoughts. He leapt from his comfortable position on the bed and opened the door. Starfire, the girl he should be thinking of, stood opposite his threshold.

"Hey, Star," Robin grinned, masking the slight guilt he felt.

"Hello, Robin. May I enter?" Starfire asked.

"Yeah, of course," Robin allowed her to enter his room. She turned to look back at him as she sat down on his bed, folding her hands into her lap.

"My presence is welcomed, yes?" Starfire questioned.

"Yeah it is, I wasn't actually doing anything," Robin assured her, taking a seat next to her.

"That is good then since I have a question to ask you," she smiled. Robin nodded his head for her to continue.

"For the past few Earth days we have been training fiercely, in order to apprehend Slade. I believe a cease of training should be called for since today is what you call Friday," Starfire looked at him expectantly.

"I don't know, Star..." he started.

"Is it not customary to do the partying on a Friday?" The alien was suddenly doubtful.

"Well in most cases, yes, but we're different. We have a city to protect, so we really don't have that luxury," Robin explained.

"Yes, I understand your reasoning, but based on Earth years we are still young. Should we not have that luxury?" Starfire continued. "Besides we always defend our city no matter what."

"Alright, you got me, we'll go out tonight," Robin relented.

"Thank you, it will be a pleasurable experience, I'm sure of it," Starfire squealed, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Robin shook his head at her as she bounced out of his room.

'Guess it's up to me to let the rest of the team know,' he thought, exiting his room. Entering the living room, Robin noticed a multitude of things gone wrong. A wailing Beast Boy dangled in midair as he struggled with the metallic fingers gripping his neck. Unaware of another presence in the room, Cyborg continued to restrain the green boy against his will. Beast Boy's name flashed in bold red letters across the television screen under the word 'Winner'.

"I'm not even going to ask," Robin caught the attention of both Titans. Cyborg sheepishly sat down a gasping Beast Boy on the floor.

"Well you see..." Cyborg was interrupted when Robin held up his hand to stop him from continuing.

"As long as he's here to do the dishes tonight, I don't care. I just wanted to know if you guys wanted to go out tonight?" Robin asked.

"Hell yeah we do, where are we going?" Beast Boy recovered from his near death experience in record time.

"I haven't really thought about that but..." Robin stopped in mid-speech when Beast Boy raised both his hands.

"Hold up, let me call some of my connections to see what we can do," Beast Boy retreated back towards his room.

"So he has connections now?" Robin smirked.

"Apparently. Anyways, you ask Raven if she wanted to come?" Cyborg asked.

"On my way to do that now," Robin replied, heading in the direction of Raven's room.

"Good boy," Cyborg called after him. Approaching Raven's door caused tremors of anxiety to course through Robin. He no longer had any idea what to expect from her. After a few unsuccessful knocks, he punched in the overriding code to enter. Once again the dark room was vacate, not a single soul in sight.

'This is becoming a new pattern,' Robin reflected. He couldn't understand why he was feeling so dejected in that moment. Was it because he felt he was losing his best friend? Or something more?

Raven's P.O.V

"He hasn't called me back. What does it mean when he doesn't call me?" Aria whimpered.

"I don't know, maybe he's just busy," Raven reassured her. There they were once again sitting at a booth in Carrie-oke. A petite brunette softly sang a rendition of Lana Del Ray's 'Young and Beautiful'. Her melodic voice filled the bar as dozens of couples gently swayed together.

"Look at all those couples, all happy and stuff. How dare they flaunt their cheesy 'I'm so in love'crap?" Aria spat, taking another swig of vodka.

"Aria, it was your idea to come here on Couples' Night," Raven reminded her.

"Well excuse me for forgetting it was Couples' Night. I apologize for being human and forgetting things," Aria retorted.

"Calm down, Aria," Hale warned.

"No, it's not fair. It's not fair they get to have their little happily ever after's and I'm still waiting for some tool to call me," Aria pouted. Raven rested her hand on Aria's, unsure of what to say about a certain Victor Stone. Despite liking Aria so much, Raven knew how insecure Cyborg was about his appearance. He didn't want to scare her away because of the way he looked. Cyborg especially did not want to deal with the heartbreak that came after. In his mind it was better to not have loved at all than to have loved and lost. In regards to Aria's outlook on the happy couples, Raven had to agree somewhat as she stared at the nearest couple. The young woman gazed into the eyes of her lover and a smile spread across her face. He returned her gaze with a look of longing and joy. Their arms wrapped around each other symbolizing their love. Raven let out a quiet sigh, wishing that one day that could be her.

"Look at us, sitting here like a bunch of hob knockers," Aria continued.

"Come on, Aria, it is not that bad," Hale said.

"Oh your one to talk. Your girl friend-zoned you so bad you can't find your way out, my boy just forgot I even exist, and Rae's...what do you have, Rae?" Aria demanded.

"If only you knew," Raven thought.

"Here's to us, the complicated, the unrequited, and the nonexistent," Aria gestured to each of them with her glass. "May we all die alone."

"Okay, that's enough," Raven moved the glass of alcohol out of her reach.

"Maybe she's got a point," Hale looked down. Suddenly, Aria jumped from her seat and bounced on her heels.

"Do you know what we should do? We should sing a song," Aria proposed.

"What?" Raven sputtered.

"You know if we sing a song we'll release all these pent up emotions," she clarified.

"Yeah, you go do that," Raven said.

"Come on, Rae, I can't do this without you," Aria whined.

"I'm pretty sure you can," Raven replied. The last thing she wanted to do that night was get back on that stage.

"Didn't you have fun last time?" Aria asked.

"Yeah, but..."Raven trailed off.

"But nothing, we are getting on that stage. We are a dynamic duo," she stated.

'Oh, Azar, what have I gotten myself into?' Raven thought as Aria dragged her to the DJ. After choosing a song, she was pulled onto the stage in front of the crowd hungry for more tunes. Raven could already feel that sickening feeling of nerves.

"Alright, ladies and gents, we're gonna liven things up with a little bit of pop action," the DJ announced.

As a steady beat began to pound Aria exclaimed "Is that Vic?"

"What?" Raven screeched. Her worst nightmare began to form right before her eyes. A tall, muscular man dressed in a gray t-shirt with a leather jacket and black jeans entered. Following him was a young blonde haired boy wearing a black button up and a fedora to match. A squealing red headed girl came next clothed in a knee length lavender dress. The girl held the hand of a man with sunglasses as black as night along with a matching V-neck. The Titans had just arrived right before Raven's turn at the mic.

'I am so screwed,' was her last thought before the lyrics appeared on the screen.