A/N:

Sorry I haven't updated in a little while! It's mostly because I got some writer's block; this one's about arguing and since I really do not like arguing it was a little tough for me. The only people I actually fight with are my sister and once in an ice age my dad. I like to keep things light and not argue, but I also think that the strongest relationships are the ones where people fight and still manage to be friends afterwards. Like, Harry threw a button at Ron's forehead in Goblet of Fire and they still made up later and were best friends again.

Also, I didn't want anything to be cheesy or over-dramatic/out of character but I also wanted it to be emotional buuut I'm really sensitive to stuff being cheesy/over-dramatic (as in like I have a lower tolerance before I think something's too dramatic idk) and sometimes I feel a little uncomfortable around sappy romantic stuff/other emotions that aren't light and jokey but that's not a good attitude to have so I'm working on being cool with it all the time. I kinda bugged myself with all the ellipses since I tend to associate that with people being overly-dramatic, but hopefully it doesn't come off that way here.

Oh also! I listened to a lot of instrumental music to finally finish this, so if you wanna put on some chill instrumental music towards the end when things start to settle down (like calm choral stuff, I listened to The Promise of Living by Aaron Copeland) that could enhance your reading experience, just a suggestion. Whatever you choose, on with the story!

Disclaimer: Don't own Teen Titans. Bummer.

"Titans, GO!"

It had been a little over a month since Terra had made her sacrifice to save Jump City, and things were slowly returning to normal. The debris left behind from Slade's rule had been cleaned away, people had returned to their homes, and villains had come out of hiding. Citizens went back to their daily lives and so did the Titans.

Plasmus had finally resurfaced and was currently wreaking havoc in the middle of an intersection downtown. The traffic lights that were still attached to their cables were blinking yellow, not that it mattered; all the cars at the light sat abandoned by their drivers, waiting to be picked up and hurled at the teen heroes that were charging towards Plasmus.

The battle was off to a good start; Cyborg rode a charging rhinoceros Beast Boy towards the dripping criminal while Raven took to the sky with Starfire, who scooped up Robin as well. There was an explosion as an exploding disk and Cyborg's arm cannon simultaneously struck Plasmus, the team converging on him as the dust settled.

About ten minutes later, Plasmus had retreated to the top of a nearby parking garage, and it was obvious the Titans had him on the ropes. He staggered backwards from being hit by multiple barrels launched by Raven, flailing his arms around; Robin, who had leapt at him from behind in an attempt to wrap a grapple line around the monster, was caught squarely in the chest by Plasmus's large hand and sent flying backwards into the brick wall of the stairwell. He fell back down to the pavement, letting out a pained grunt as he hit the ground.

Meanwhile, Plasmus had turned around to see what he had swatted. The villain grinned upon spotting the crumpled form of the Boy Wonder on the sidewalk and picked up a nearby car.

Robin had just pushed himself onto his elbow with a groan, trying to recover from having the wind knocked out of him. Suddenly he heard Starfire's familiar battle cry and felt something catch the back of his uniform and throw him to the left, tumbling to a stop about ten feet away; as he hit the pavement, he heard Starfire cry out and the sound of crunching metal.

He looked up just in time to see a purple boot disappear over the edge of the parking level, the car meant for Robin missing its target as it flew in the now-wide space between him and the stairwell. The dizzy feeling in his head from rolling across the ground was replaced by lightheadedness as the bottom of his stomach dropped out; his pulse began to pound through his veins.

Panic was flooding through Robin as he stumbled onto his feet, giving his voice a ragged edge as he screamed her name. The rational leader in him that shouted to at least maintain his composure was completely overshadowed by the sixteen-year-old boy that was terrified for his best friend.

He was halfway to the edge when Raven swooped down from above, diving after Starfire. Robin resisted the urge to throw himself off the roof after her, knowing Raven had a better chance of catching Starfire than he did. Instead, he skidded to a halt and leaned over the concrete wall.

Four stories below, Starfire lay embedded in the top of a parked SUV. Raven had alighted right next to her head and was knelt over her, hands glowing blue as she laid them on her teammate. Robin gripped the concrete tightly; his view of Starfire's face was obscured by Raven's head bowed over it, but the rest of her that he could see wasn't moving. Behind him, Plasmus let out a screech as Beast Boy and Cyborg continued to battle the monster.

After a few agonizingly long moments, Raven turned her face upwards to Robin and called to him, "She's ok!" Starfire's eyes had cracked open and she looked disoriented but definitely alive.

It felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over Robin; the wave of relief that swept through him made his legs momentarily feel like they might just give out. Raven waved a hand at him to go back to the battle and he nodded, sprinting back to where Beast Boy and Cyborg were continuing to hold the monster off.

The fight did not last long after that. Robin's relief had turned to anger, giving his fighting a dangerous edge that made the other two male Titans feel a bit uneasy. Their leader's self-control seemed to be hanging by a thread as he took his frustrations out on Plasmus; Beast Boy and Cyborg stopped to gape at (and stay a safe distance away from) him as he unleashed a barrage of furious punches and kicks that disoriented the villain long enough for Robin throw an bird-a-rang in his face which exploded, rendering Plasmus unconscious.

Beast Boy stared wide-eyed at Plasmus's now-human form, still a little shaken by Robin's sudden aggression. Deciding to handle the tension like he always did, the changeling looked up, attempted a grin, and cracked a joke.

"Wow Robin, remind me not to get on your-"

He paused midsentence upon seeing Robin's back, the Boy Wonder already halfway to the edge of the parking garage.

"Hey!" squawked Beast Boy. "Where are you going? What about Plasmus?" he cried indignantly.

"The police are on their way," Robin said curtly over his shoulder. Without another word, he rappelled off the side and hopped onto his nearby R-cycle.

As the motorcycle roared to life, Raven joined the boys from behind, a groggy Starfire's arm draped around her neck. The empath frowned as she watched Robin drive off, staggering slightly as her friend's weight suddenly shifted towards her; Starfire had slumped, her tired eyes trained on the fluttering black cape in the distance, stubby eyebrows knitted.

"What's up his butt?" Beast Boy grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest as the red motorcycle disappeared from view.

The police had shown up shortly afterwards, just as Robin had said. Once the Titans had made sure Plasmus was securely in custody, the remaining Titans returned to the tower.

They entered the common room with Beast Boy and Cyborg speculating about what was wrong with Robin, Raven acting disinterested but secretly interested as well, and Starfire still looking troubled. Noticing the alien's distress, Raven finally rounded on the two.

"Whatever Robin's problem is, you two speculating isn't going to do anything to fix it, so stop. It's bothering Starfire," she growled at them, her cloak rippling in a sudden, menacing wind.

Beast Boy eeped and shrank behind Cyborg, who held up his hands defensively.

"Hey, we just wanted to know what his problem-"

He was interrupted by the soft swoosh of the doors across the room opening. They all immediately turned to look at it as Robin stepped through, stopping just beyond the threshold.

"Starfire, can we talk?" he asked shortly, not looking at the other Titans.

Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg all turned to look at Starfire in confusion. The Tamaranian looked quite bewildered herself, staring up at Robin with wide, innocent eyes.

"Um… ok," she replied uncertainly, throwing her teammates a perplexed look over her shoulder and lifting a few centimeters off the ground to float after Robin.

Robin said nothing as he led the way back down the hallway, but Starfire didn't need any words to guess where they were going. She was proved right when they stopped in front of Robin's office.

He punched in the code to open the doors and strode forward when they slid open. She followed reluctantly, holding her elbow.

Starfire had never liked this room much. It was like a monster, swallowing Robin for hours at a time and more often than not spitting him back out tired and/or frustrated. After he had escaped Slade's apprenticeship he had made a concentrated effort to spend less time holed up in it; this effort had been going well until Terra's betrayal, after which he had spent long hours trying to track the pair before they had finally resurfaced. Thankfully, afterwards he had not returned to shuting her out or spending unhealthy amounts of time in the office, but the room still dredged up feelings of unhappiness for Starfire.

Robin stopped in front of his desk, turning around and folding his arms as he fixed Starfire with a serious look. She stopped hovering and touched down on the floor, aware Robin was mad but completely at a loss for why.

"What you did today was unnecessarily reckless."

Her eyes widened as if he had struck her.

"What?" she asked, her tone of voice indicating that she could not believe she'd done any such thing.

"When you flew in front of that car today," he clarified for her.

Though she at least knew what action he was talking about, Starfire still couldn't see what was wrong with it. "Robin, I do not understand," she began, a pleading edge to her voice that wished for nothing more than to understand. "I was merely trying to rescue you from being crushed-"

"Yeah, and you could've gotten hurt!" Robin interrupted, his emotionless façade crumbling slightly as he raised his voice.

Starfire frowned, not following his reasoning. "We all sustain injuries all the time, Robin. Why did you not scold Beast Boy for taking the hit for Cyborg when Dr. Light attempted to blast him off of a building last week?"

Suddenly Robin saw the glaring flaw in his argument and had a moment of internal panic. His mind reeled, searching quickly for a suitable rebuttal that didn't make it look like it he worried unnecessarily about only her.

"I-Well…" he blustered, buying time as his stoic demeanor faded with each second he thought. "Because Beast Boy was a T-Rex then! He was tough enough that the fall wouldn't have hurt him much."

Starfire stared at him for a second, and then her eyes narrowed. "Are you implying that I am weak?" she asked angrily, her body language doing a 180 as she straightened to her full height, practically crackling with electricity. "That I am not capable of sustaining such a fall?" Her voice was accusatory, eyes flashing neon green as she towered over him.

The rational part of his brain finally caught up with him and tapped him on the shoulder, reminding him too late that Starfire was from a warrior culture and he had probably just insulted her. He shrank backwards and bumped into his desk chair, faintly feeling the heat from her eyes on his face.

"What!? Star, no, that's not what I was trying to say-"

"I have had worse falls playing as a child in the gardens of Tamaran!" she continued to rant; Robin momentarily wondered exactly why kind of games children played on Tamaran. Unsure if she had not heard him or simply ignored him, he decided to try again.

"Starfire, listen to me!" he said loudly. This interruption seemed to stun her into silence; Robin seized upon it before she could begin again.

"Look," the teenager sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. I don't think you're weak, at all," he said honestly, stressing the last part.

This seemed to calm her somewhat; at the least, the glow in her eyes died away, revealing her normal emerald eyes still filled with suspicion. She crossed her arms and regarded him skeptically.

"Than what did you mean?" she asked him, pinning him to his spot with her glare.

"Uh…" Robin began to sweat.

Starfire put her hands on her hips. "If you do not think I am weak, why are you upset?" she asked again, raising a ginger eyebrow.

"I- I didn't say I was upset-" he tried sheepishly, but Starfire was having none of it.

"Robin, you wished to comment on my battle performance. Obviously something displeased you, though I do not understand it, so please: what is the problem?" she pressed.

"Er… Actually, now that I think about it, there was no problem," Robin said hastily, trying to escape the conversation.

"So you left the battle abruptly and were cold to all of us, but you are not angry?" she asked skeptically. Her eyes did not deviate from his face; he squirmed uncomfortably underneath her gaze.

"No! I mean, yeah, but-"

"Robin, tell me what is wrong-"

"Nothing's wrong! I told you-"

"You are being untruthful-"

"Starfire-"

"Robin-"

"IT'S BECAUSE I CARE ABOUT YOU, ALRIGHT!" Robin finally shouted, unable to take the arguing anymore.

Starfire shut up at once, staring wide-eyed at him. Her anger died immediately, posture relaxing as she dropped her arms to her sides.

"Um… what?" she finally asked meekly, returning her hand to her elbow and meeting his eyes shyly.

Robin, whose own eyes had also grown to the size of saucers once he realized what he'd just said, stared back at her and briefly considered creating a distraction so he could run from the room.

"I mean, I care about all of you guys," he backpedaled quickly, "and, uh… um…"

He tugged at his collar, looking anywhere but those big green eyes. His heart was pounding; why did he say that!?

Well, he knew why he had said it; it was true. Rather, why had he said it out loud?

After Robin continued to hem and haw for a few moments longer, Starfire dropped her gaze to the ground, a familiar expression of quiet disappointment on her face. "It is alright Robin, you do not have to explain."

She turned to leave and he watched her, guilt stabbing him sharply in the heart. As averse as he was to talking about his feelings (especially regarding her), he was much more opposed to hurting her feelings by letting her go. Unable to stop himself, he called, "Starfire, wait."

Starfire turned around quickly, hope shimmering in her eyes.

With a resigned sigh, the Boy Wonder crossed his arms and slumped back against his desk, looking at the floor. "Do you… d'you remember last month, when you got knocked off that cliff?" he began gruffly, continuing to resolutely study the ground.

"Yes," she replied, eyes now fixed on his face with a very different sort of intensity than she'd had a minute ago.

"When you fell…"

Robin hesitated for a moment and knit his eyebrows together as the memory flashed through his mind: the hard shove, Starfire's cry of pain, darting across the gravel to make a vain grab for the falling girl, the sick feeling of terror as his hand closed on thin air and Starfire's body plummeted into the ocean below.

"And I couldn't catch you… It scared me, Starfire," he confessed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck as he continued to stare at the floor, frowning. "I thought that maybe you'd, y'know…"

Confusion tainted Starfire's intent gaze and she cocked her head slightly, not quite getting Robin's meaning. She could tell he had lifted his eyes by the way his head tilted somberly upwards, feeling the familiar prickle down her spine that meant he had met her gaze, and suddenly she understood his meaning.

"Oh," she said, empathy filling her eyes as she took a step towards him, reaching out a hand. "Robin…"

He held up his hand. "No, look; I'm really sorry, Star." His voice had taken on the soft, gentle edge it always did in the rare moments when he was honest with her about how he felt, like that sunny dawn when he had once told her that no one could take her place. Starfire stayed silent and lowered her hand, clasping both in front of her and waiting for him to finish.

"I shouldn't have gotten mad at you like that. I know you can take a hit, I just…" The Boy Wonder let out a short noise of frustration, searching for the right words to explain feelings he didn't even completely understand. "When I saw you go over the side again, it felt like the cliff was happening all over again and I… I lost control. It was a stupid mistake, and I promise it won't happen again," he told her, looking away to scowl at the wall and balling his fist up at his side.

Starfire's eyebrows curved inward, saddened her to hear her best friend angry with himself. She moved forward and gently took his clenched hand in hers, holding it up between them. At her touch, his fingers relaxed slightly.

"Robin, you say you are scared when you see me get hit, but can you imagine how I feel when I see you in danger?" she asked him softly. "Earthlings are not known for their ability to withstand large objects being dropped upon them."

To her satisfaction, she saw the corners of his lips twitch upwards momentarily, though he did not look away from the various newspaper clippings papering the walls. She continued.

"I know you are a very brave and capable hero, but I still feel fear when I see you damaged," Starfire admitted. "You are my best friend, Robin, and I do not wish to see anything happen to you. However, I also understand that, as heroes, we are always in danger, and we cannot allow the fear of losing one another to cloud our minds and restrict their actions."

Robin turned his head to face her, wanting to tell her that he was impressed by her wisdom, that he wouldn't ever try to restrict her actions again, that she was his best friend too. "Starfire, I-"

The words died on his lips when he saw she was much nearer than he'd thought. Had she been this close a minute ago?

Wait, was she getting closer?

His heart began to race. Was she going to kiss him? Why did he just think that? Would it be good?

All the questions that raced through his mind suddenly became unnecessary as she turned her head slightly to the right and put her arms around him in a hug; not an over-enthusiastic back-breaking one, but a gentle, warm embrace that conveyed her understanding more than words ever could.

Mostly relieved, Robin put his arms around her after a moment and returned it, resting his head on her shoulder.

"So… does this mean you forgive me?" he asked hesitantly.

Eyes closed, Starfire smiled contentedly and nodded, humming her affirmative. A small smile appeared on Robin's face as well.

"Thanks, Star."

The pair stood in silence together, both wordlessly understanding that the embrace meant more than just a simple hug; it was forgivness, and an affirmation of their continued friendship.

Once they had reluctantly parted and Starfire had led him back out to return to their friends, Robin watched her cheerfully reassure them that everything was "the a-ok" (he added in his own short apology to them, though not revealing his reasons as he had done with Starfire), admiring the way she smiled and giggled as a puppy Beast Boy wriggled in her lap while Raven rolled her eyes. Who could've guessed that only ten minutes ago the laughing girl who was now gently playing with the puppy's green paws had made Robin legitimately worried he was about to be blasted by starbolts?

As he continued to reflect on the emotional range of his best friend with a bemused smile, he felt something else rising up in him. It was warm in his chest, a different kind of warmth than he felt for the other Titans; it made him want to walk up behind her and wrap his arms around her and nuzzle her neck and-

Oh. Oh no.

Suddenly Robin realized exactly why the thought of losing Starfire hit him in a way that nothing else did. She turned her eyes on him and his heart began to race again. The grin on her face faded away quickly.

"Robin, is something wrong? You look as though you have seen a zontorf!"

Robin started and waved his hands in front of him rapidly. "No no, I'm fine!" he replied quickly, smiling in what he hoped was a convincing manner.

Starfire continued to stare at him with concern, but was distracted a moment later by Beast Boy whining and nudging at Starfire's hand for her to continue petting him.

Saved from further interrogation, Robin continued to watch her, lapsing back into his musings.

Just as she never wanted any harm to come to him, he never wanted to lose her. He couldn't (and wouldn't) keep her from throwing herself in front of cars for him, but he could do his best to stay out of a situation where that would be necessary. A voice in the back of his head asked him if that was really a realistic solution.

He was pulled out of his thoughts momentarily as Starfire lapsed into giggles again at something Beast Boy did. The warm feeling in his chest grew slightly.

Realistic solution or not, he was determined to not let that happen.

A/N:

So there's that! I really wanted to finish this, so boom. There it is. Onto the next one!

Like I said, I don't like fighting, but when I was in high school there was this guy, right? He was my guy best friend, and we also had sort of had a thing, so sometimes I had problems with stuff he'd do that would unintentionally hurt my feelings. One day I was stupid and decided to be purposefully rude to him because I was really upset by something he'd done (I don't remember what now) and I regretted it almost instantly after I did it, but it was too late to fix it. We hardly ever fought, this was like one of the two or max three fights we ever had, if you could even call it that; there were definitely bad feelings though. I don't remember if we talked about it (knowing me we probably did and I probably apologized) but what I DO remember (and the reason I'm telling this story) is that the next day I was nervous to see him because I was worried he'd be mad at me still or ignore me and I didn't know what to do. So me and my friend (who had no idea about any of this) eventually ended up going over to him and the other people around him and then he held out his arm for a hug without saying anything about the day before and we hugged, and to me it felt like we had a moment just between us in the midst of others where we were saying we were ok again and I didn't worry anymore after that. That's the feeling I was trying to convey with the Starfire/Robin hug, so yeah just some fun backstory if you like that sort of thing. (Unlike Starfire and Robin, we ended up not being meant for each other and that's actually really ok. Side lesson: when you have problems with someone you care about, things go much better when you use actual words to express that's you're upset. However, also take note of whether the person actually tries to fix the problem or not; if they listen but don't do anything you should probably reevaluate your relationship. Protip.)

If you read all that, cool! If not, also cool (though you missed out on a side lesson)! Hopefully I'll get back into the groove now that this is done and I can start something new, so hopefully post again soon!
-Renee