Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.

Author's Note: When I uploaded the first oneshot in this collection, a reader asked me "What happened on the rooftop??" and ever since then I've been wondering: What happened on the rooftop??? Well, this is what happened.

TWELVE

On the Rooftop

It was bound to happen.

Starting out simple – a shy sidelong glance, a smothered breath of laughter at a joke – it had grown steadily into a feeling that had propelled one to notice the other's circumstances in battle, and to occasionally come to their aid, which progressed to a comforting hand on a shoulder, a moment of connection on the rocks, a lucky penny pressed into a cool, pale palm.

It was bound to happen, so when she found the single red rose and a piece of paper with the word 'rooftop' on it lying on the corridor outside her door, no bubble of confusion or curiosity welled in her chest. Just the something she didn't know she had been waiting for; the end of a long anticipation that had lain dormant and undiscovered inside her.

And although she'd swept the incriminating evidence into her room in seconds, the intoxicating scent of the rose lingered over her no matter where she went, as did the cryptic one-word message that had drilled a hole in her head. No doubt there was a decision to be made; the sender of the gifts had cunningly kept himself out of sight in an attempt to alleviate the difficulty of her decision, but still she found herself at crossroads.

It was only when the giant ball of fire traced its slow, full arc across the heavens and was finally displaced by a brilliant moon that outshone the star-splotched heavens that she eventually made up her mind…

The night is surprisingly warm, and he stares into the black waters of the bay, wondering if she will turn up. There is only him on the rooftop, and so the biting wind whips around his one solitary figure and chills him to the bone.

It's sad it has to come to a confrontation (which is what he calls this, now) because he hates quarreling of any kind. But there isn't much of a choice, anyway, because either way he looks at it, whether he is tossing restlessly in bed at night or just standing outside her door fist poised to knock, he has to tell her. It doesn't matter if she doesn't feel the same – and deep inside his heart he is all ready for rejection – he just wants to get it out in the air. No more tensed, awkward silences, no more broken heart-shaped box with a mirror under the lid.

Just the truth.

So when the door finally opens behind him and he turns around to see her there, he isn't ready for his mouth to go dry, or for the words he'd rehearsed time and time again to suddenly fling themselves into the next breeze that hits the two figures, standing, silently on the rooftop of a T-shaped tower.

"You came…"

Silence

"Raven, I…"

She cringes, and he wants to hit himself, because the words sound so stupid, so childish, so…

"I'm sorry, I…"

She apologises, and turns to go, so he does the only thing he can think of at that moment. He grabs her hand. She pulls away as though his very touch burnt her skin, but she doesn't leave.

"Please (he hates to beg), just… just stay. For a while. You know why we're here." He wonders if the pained expression on her face is the same one on his, and then he realizes that she'd flinched at the word 'we're'.

"I've been thinking, and–"

Her eyes widen, she clasps her hands to her ears.

"Raven, please – just–"

Her face is gone, he sees only dark purple hair.

But he can't let her get away, no. He reaches out, grabs silk cloak fabric, steps forward and grabs her arms – both of them – and forces her to face him so when she finally does, her eyes are shining with tears threatening to spill down her cheeks and her words tumble over one another in a torrent. "No, I… can't, I… Beast Boy! Stop, I'm sorry, I can't, I… just – I know Robin better than I know you!"

His eyes glint suddenly in the dark and she knows she should stop speaking, because she has touched something in him that has awakened a terrifying anger. "Robin? What does he have to do with this? What does he have to do with anything? It isn't about knowing somebody, Raven, it's about how you feel about the person. You don't know everything – you can't know everything, but that's fine."

"I've been in his mind."

"Have you forgotten? I've been in yours."

He had.

Suddenly, she is seeing into herself, her mind reeling backwards down the long dark tunnel that he'd traveled through once and she sees now what he saw then: a lonely, beautiful girl with so many hidden emotions and secrets, and although he doesn't fully understand, although he doesn't know everything about her, he loves her already.

"Have you forgotten, Raven? I've been in your mind too."

"And you haven't left."

She looks up, into his eyes, and she sees something there that hadn't been there before. Something like gentleness, concern, but she can't quite place it yet.

As if reading her mind, he smiles.

"Don't worry," he says, "you have all the time in the world. We have all the time in the world."

Author's Note: There! I've been planning to write something like that for a while, and I'm glad it's out. Well, this is just one way in which they could get together… there are many, many more.

Thank you to those who reviewed the previous chapter:

ELLIEdangerous – Hello! Thanks for the review. Hmm, yes, now that I look at it, it's more depressing than beautiful.

silverxpearls – Haha! I can tell you like happy stuff! Thanks for the review!

Egglette – Hello! Thank you for reviewing, and I'm glad you enjoyed the past stories. Hope you enjoy this one too! (Nah, there are greater writers out there!)

pimpofthetitans – Thanks for the review! Glad you enjoy this collection.

Brig.Seth – Yes, I guess I was in the perfect mood to write a sad piece then.

AureliusXsoul – Haha, yes in my mind, he would take her back. But I just didn't write that… Happy and bittersweet don't go together in one oneshot. Haha…

Tammy Tambourine – Thanks, I'm glad you liked the previous chapter. Angsty? Oh dear…

acosta perez jose ramiro – I never really dealt with the Titans as Garfield or Rachel. In fact, I didn't even know Raven's name was Rachel Roth… I only became a fan of them when I watched 'Teen Titans Go!', actually. Haha.

Agent of the Divine One – No year's supply of anything, because I don't have a year's supply of anything to give. Haha

CrazyEmotions – It's unavailable because I'm busy! But here's another update, I hope you enjoy it. SHUCKS I hate making spelling errors, terribly sorry about the Malchior-Malkior mistake!!

warprince2000 – Sorry for the unpredictable updates, but I have examinations on at the moment so it's hard for me to update regularly. Well, I hope this update will be good enough for a while!

SxStrngSamurai13 – Thank you for the review! Glad you liked the previous update.

Beik – When I first read your review I didn't know if it was a compliment or a criticism, but I get it now. Haha! Thanks for the review!

So as I was writing this story I was wondering, what made me pair Raven and Beast Boy together? I guess it was because they were so different, and their interactions were a blast to watch. And also when the team fought the bad guys, somehow Beast Boy would kinda save Raven and other times Raven would kinda save him. Sweet. So when 'The Beast Within' and other Raven&BeastBoy type of episodes came out, I was rather pleased.

My my, quite chatty today, aren't we?

How did you get hooked onto this pairing?

Next Update: unavailable (this will go soon, promise!)