A/N: Ah...yes...this was supposed to be the chappie that saved my arse...but I don't think it's done that...even though I spent like two million years on it.

sigh

BB is a bit OOC (understatement much?) in this chappie but I just wanted to see if I could explore a more "mature" side of him since he's like...20 and all...but yea...um...didn't turn out the way I wanted it to.

Oh, also, this chappie's turned out a bit longer than usual (also another understatement by like 2000 words) so I hope it doesnt reallt drag on.

Also, this is the day after chappie 4.

SO read and enjoy!

Chapter 5

Beep.

Beep beep beep.

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

"Mmmrrgghhh…"

Beep beep beep beep beep beep.

"Mmmrrgghh…"

Garfield continued to shut his eyes, firmly ignoring the communicator that was beeping incessantly and refusing to shut up. He pushed the edges of the pillow he was laying on over his ears and turned on his side, away from his bedside table where the damn communicator lay. It was damn well near midnight now on a Wednesday night and unless someone was dead, he was so not answering the communicator—

—wait a sec…there might actually be someone in trouble!

He grumbled…so much for having a good night's sleep...not that he was going to get any sleep at all, anyway…he had too many bruises to even get into a comfortable sleeping position from earlier this morning when one of Jump City's expensive apartment complexes caught on fire and they had to rescue about a hundred people…if not more…but they did it…if a little sloppily. He wasn't sure if it was because of the heat of the flames, the choking smog or the falling rubble that came with fires but Gar noted that they were getting a little sloppy in the rescuing department and he wasn't sure if it was because of those factors…or because of other factors…but it was happening and the fact that it was happening was a bad thing…heroes did not get sloppy, no matter what the situation was.

He threw the pillow hastily to the other side of the bed, stretched out a bit, and then picked up the communicator slowly, hoping that by God that the beeping would subside as soon as he picked it up.

Beep.

It didn't, of course…just his luck.

Groggily, his vision swam a little from the fact that he had shut his eyes for quite some time, but he managed to press the button to receive the call. The screen went fuzzy for a while before forming a perfect video transmission of the caller, and—lucky him!—it was none other than the mighty Dick Grayson, though on the screen he was in his uniform, so technically he would now be dubbed Nightwing.

He scowled.

"Beast Boy?"

Garfield yawned, "Here, Nightwing. Wassup?" He slurred his words unwillingly.

"Where's Cyborg?"

"Cy? He's…I dunno." He replied lamely as he realised where Vic really was.

Nightwing raised a brow and Garfield could totally imagine his blue eyes glaring at him, thank God for the mask, "He's supposed to be in charge."

"Give him a break dude…he might be…I dunno…asleep or something."

"Leaders don't sleep. We patrol." His voice was stone-cold.

Garfield frowned, "Maybe if you slept more, you wouldn't be so cranky all the time." He mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." He replied, putting a sing-song twist to the word, "Dude…I don't know. I haven't seen him since earlier today." Even through the communicator, the atmosphere was getting tense, "Rough day, y'know."

All Nightwing did in reply was grunt gruffly.

"Fires to put out…" His words faltered as he realised that his leader wasn't paying any attention to him, "Dude, if you're so desperate to find Cyborg, why don't you just call him?"

"I have, and he's not picking up."

Garfield sighed, "Look, Nightwing, we're fine…OK? Nothing's gone wrong."

"I didn't say anything went wrong…I'm just checking in."

"I'm sure you aren't." He resisted the urge to roll his eyes and instead tried to portray a convincing grin.

Nightwing actually chuckled, sure Dick Grayson chuckled sometimes…but Nightwing?

Never.

"You spend a lot of time with Raven, don't you?"

Garfield grinned truthfully this time and shrugged, "I guess so. Why?"

"You didn't even understand sarcasm before…and now I sense sarcasm in your sentences."

"Well…que sera sera, I guess."

There was a pregnant pause in between the two team mates, causing Garfield to distract himself by twisting the communicator around in his grip, feeling the smooth plastic covering of the yellow item. He and Dick never connected that well, maybe they were too similar…or too different…but all in all, unless Vic was around, the awkwardness just naturally came to both of them and when it happened, they both knew not to say anything to make the situation even more awkward.

"Talking 'bout Raven…Nightwing…" He heaved a sigh, "When are you coming back?"

"Soon." Nightwing raised a brow at him, and he looked like he had been sucking on a lemon all day, "What does that have to do with Raven?"

Garfield paused to think about how he was going to structure his sentence, "I don't know what you're really doing in Gotham…or why you're in Gotham but…" the words didn't seem to want to enter his mind as they usually did, "you need to get it done…as soon as possible…if it is possible…and get back here soon."

"Why?" Nightwing was suddenly alert, his hard facial features hardening even more, "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing is…really…wrong. It's just that…" Another sigh was released from his chest involuntarily and he raked a hand through his hair only to find it to be damp with sweat, "Just take care of how you feel, OK, Dick?"

The use of his real name seemed to hit Dick as the figure on the screen fell silent and his dark brows furrowed together in what seemed to be worry. The canvas that was his face softened a little bit, just enough to see through the hard lines that seemed to be etched permanently on his leader's face and—just from the movement of his facial muscles—Garfield could see for the first time in a long time, why they had let this guy take the reins of the Teen Titans, why they had decided to put their trust in this man with his strict policies and his vague past.

"Just…try to keep everything under control, Dick. Don't let your feelings get the better of you." He laughed shortly, "We still need someone to kick our butts over not training enough, dude, it'll be hard to find a replacement if you don't come back soon."

It was meant to sound like a joke, but even to his own ears, it sounded kinda hollow…like a good joke that wasn't thought out too well. Yet, somehow, he thought that Dick knew what he was trying to say…or at least that was the impression he got when Dick let out a low chuckle accompanied with an incredulous look painted on his face. Dick let his hand wander to stroke his chin thoughtfully and Garfield was glad to see that a smile was gracing his lips, though whether or not they touched his eyes were another matter; they were still concealed by that dark mask.

"Gar, I'll be back soon, don't worry." Dick's expressions switched from a soft, almost reminiscent, smile, to a furtive look and then back again, "I just have some…business to attend to…I owe a friend a couple of things, so I'll be back as soon as it's done." His face turned solemn once more, "I'm sorry about Raven, I'll try to keep…everything…under control."

Garfield shoved a thumbs up to the screen so that Dick would be able to see it, "That's great, dude. This means that Silkie will be able to try to eat someone else other than me!"

"I'm looking forward to that." Dick replied with sarcastic undercurrents in his words, "Because I obviously miss it when it wakes me up by licking me."

"You know you love it. Now piss off so I can get some sleep—dammit!—if you haven't noticed, I don't exactly do Batman's patrol time." He yawned, "It is…" he looked around to check the time, "almost twelve and if you don't mind…I really do want my beauty sleep."

"OK." Dick replied shortly, a smirk gracing his lips, "Nightwing out."

"Yea, yea…"

With that the screen fizzled out to became pitch-black and he clumsily threw it on the floor so that it wouldn't bother him anymore, then he threw the blankets back on top of himself to keep him warm…it didn't help that the radiator in his room was completely busted…for once in his life he was glad that there was such a thing as global warming…it was the warmest winter that Jump City had had in a long time; he didn't understand why the Teen Titans weren't located somewhere sunnier…like L.A. or somewhere similar. The hibernation aspect of his animal behaviour didn't help much either, it sometimes made him too lethargic to even think straight and it was embarrassing to fall asleep in the most random places in front of your friends.

Whiteboard markers and cameras ring any bells?

He shuddered; he should probably get out of bed to find a shirt or something that would cover his bare chest and keep all the body heat more or less in his body.

Grumble.

Yet he couldn't be bothered to release himself from the warm embrace of his duvet and so he wrapped himself even more with the thick fabric, trying to ignore the cold draft that sometimes tried to enter the cocoon that he had made for himself. For a moment, Garfield considered changing into something extremely furry…with lots and lots of blubber…but just when he was trying to think about which animal would be perfect to keep himself out of the cold; he remembered that he wasn't allowed to stay in his animal form for too long and that Raven would probably berate him if she found out about it. She would probably scold him in front of everyone and say something along the lines of 'the stupidest person I had the perchance to meet' or 'I realised that you weren't too intellectual but I never knew that you didn't own a brain' or even something along the lines of 'you turned into a polar bear just because you were cold? Did you not even stop to think about the consequences of your actions?' then she would go off in a huff until he approached her and—with all his superior charm and hilarious jokes—try to make her smile. It would never work at first—of course not…if it was that easy, he would be suspicious and try to find out if she was being mind-controlled or something like that—but she would eventually give in, though the signs were never obvious and they were so subtle that earlier on in their relationship, he never actually caught these delicate gestures; she would send him those soft, small smiles once and only once—so if he missed it, he missed it and that sucked—or she would pick out the meat from dinner that had been cooked by either Dick or Vic and eat it that way, or sometimes when they were sitting close to each other, she would let her fingers gently trace the nape of his neck and it gave him shivers down his spine every time…and there was more, but right now he just couldn't think of any more, but there was always something…some gesture or signal that indicated that she had forgiven him.

Sigh.

He turned in his cocoon with his eyes firmly shut, trying to get some sleep…but for some odd reason, it was futile and the drowsiness that he experienced just a couple of minutes ago disappeared as if it never existed. He was getting hot, he realised, as the heat that was trapped in his cocoon was causing him to sweat and though a warm atmosphere usually helped him into making himself sleepy, but heat just made him even more restless than he was before and so he unravelled the duvet and kicked it onto the floor hastily, not really caring whether or not it got dirty since his floor was a mess and all. It was weird for him to not be able to fall asleep, because, man, Garfield Logan loved to sleep, and for him not being able to fall asleep was like…Vic admitting that he loved vegetable…or Kori going Goth…or Dick admitting that, yes, he did look idiotic in his old—and really colourful—Robin suit…or…or…

…or Raven telling him that she loved him…loved him back as he loved her…so very much.

Another sigh involuntarily left his lips and as soon as he opened his eyes, he closed them again, breathing deeply as his thoughts swam in his head, and all those thought led to one thing; Raven. He knew that she was incredibly—he wasn't even kidding…one sniff of Raven and he knew it like that!—attracted to him and that she liked him more than a friend…but he didn't know if she felt the same way that he felt about her, with the same intensity that he experienced whenever she was around…actually, he still experienced it when she was absent from his presence as well…it was just a little subsided when she wasn't around. She always made him feel…he didn't really know, actually, but all in all, Raven just literally made him feel, and that was enough to make him glad that he had her…that she was his. He was pretty vocal about his feelings too, and not in the soppy way that you saw in chick flicks, but in the more…realistic…way of just saying it casually but with some emphasis…if that made any sense at all…but despite this factor, she still didn't say anything, her body language didn't even betray any of her feelings—she was quite good at that, dammit—and even though he was quite good at deciphering it, figuring out how Raven truly felt, purely by her body language and her scent was damn near impossible.

Maybe he was just asking for too much, maybe she just wasn't ready yet…maybe she really did love him but she wasn't sure how to pronounce those words so that they didn't sound silly and immature like his words sometimes sounded. Their relationship had started slow and was continuing in the same pace that it started off in and to be quite honest, it had been the slowest relationship that he had ever had…it wasn't that he was complaining—it was all for Raven's benefit, after all, and for her, he was willing to do anything…well…maybe not anything…he certainly was not going to prance around in a loin cloth for her—but sometimes it was tiresome…but whenever he grew tired of it, he remembered that Raven—if he was being completely honest…since he would never ever say this in public…ever—was quite the emotional train wreck. He wasn't trying to be mean by saying that, he was just stating things the way that he saw them, the way his human side saw things without the interference of his animalistic qualities. She was…

His eyes flickered open and he stared at the grey ceiling pointlessly.

…really smart, gentle—in her own twisted way—sarcastic, sharp, quiet, beautiful—in a completely out-of-the-box way…she would have never been seen as conventionally pretty in normal society, but normal society never really got to see her eyes, her drop dead gorgeous, 'you're-lucky-just-to-be-looking-at-me' eyes—always in control, headstrong, mysterious, critical, very powerful and…a hell of a good kisser. And yet he knew that there was something—he racked his brain for the right word—broken about her. It was like she was one of those porcelain cups that Raven used to drink her tea from and if you looked at them from far away, all you would see was the cup as a whole with its intricate blue and white patterns etched carefully on it…but if you took a good look at it—at her—you would see tiny cracks in what would seem was a beautiful piece of porcelain. He didn't know where the cracks had come from but he could probably guess—probably something to do with her childhood in Azarath, her conception, the hatred she felt for her father, the fact she felt neglected by her mother, the fact that she was supposed to be a portal to Trigon, her encounter with Malchior and there was more…way more—and it affected the way that she dealt with things, both emotionally and physically. Though she was an empath, she grasped the reasons behind emotions slower than others, and when she became emotional, her powers reacted in hazardous ways, and so she tried to keep her emotions more under control and she actually held discussions—discussions out of all things!—with her Emotions to articulate the situations that surrounded her every day.

The fact that she was…broken…didn't repel him at all—obviously, since he was still in a relationship with her—and sometimes he wondered if that was what made her appealing to him in the first place…because, in all honesty, he was broken too…maybe not in the same way as she was, maybe not as much as she was…but he was still broken nonetheless. Everyone in the Teen Titans was broken in one way or another, but it was still only Raven that he had been attracted to, it was still only Raven that was capable of pulling himself out of his 'humour shell' as she had liked to put it.

He laughed at the thought.

She had her introverted, pessimistic and sarcastic self and he had his 'humour shell'…it was like a comfy blanket that you didn't want to take off, not ever, and even though eventually it turned dirty and—most probably—unhygienic, you still insisted on covering yourself up in the blanket no matter how smelly it became. He knew that he was broken and since everyone had their own way of dealing with it, he had one as well…and his 'humour shell' was his comfy blanket, it was the smelly, dirty, unhygienic blanket he insisted on using all the time. Raven had pointed it out to him, one lazy afternoon early on in their relationship, that even though he cracked jokes all the time, he was at his 'funniest'—he remembered the look that she shot him when he said that word, clearly threatening to kill him if he told anyone else—when he was subconsciously angry at something, or someone and that was probably initially why—she pointed out to him that this was only a theory, but to Garfield, it seemed plausible enough to be true—he was attracted to her, why he liked her; even though Victor Stone was his best friend and they knew each other inside out, Raven was the only one who saw through his happy-go-lucky exterior and berated him for it and where the others had just moaned and ignored his jokes, she always told him to shut up or if she didn't do that, she would throw an insult at him. Those actions didn't sound like very nice actions but he knew that it was her way to tell him that it was OK for him to be mad and that he didn't have to cover it up with something else…of course it was a bit hypocritical on her part—seeing as though she herself only allowed her emotions to come through when she knew it was all under control—but it was nice knowing that someone could drag him back down to earth once in a while.

He felt his drowsiness tug his eyelids down slowly and he curled on his side as the comfortable darkness was all that he was able to see. His breathing slowed down a bit to suit his sleeping mode so that he was physically aware of the rise and fall of his chest and it created a rhythm that tempted him to fall into a deep sleep…

Knock.

Knock knock.

Knock.

Once again, his eyes flickered open suddenly at the sound of someone knocking at his door, just when he was about to fall asleep of all times. Who the hell was it now? Couldn't they—whoever they were—tell that midnight was not the best time to go visit someone…especially in their room? First Dick now…whoever this was…did the word 'sleep' exist in anyone's vocabulary? No, seriously, did it?

He lay down on his soft mattress for a couple more minutes and just let the sound of the knocking flow over him but then he decided that he was going to be a decent human being and politely open the door before telling the person outside of his door to piss off. Garfield stumbled out of his bed and trudged slowly all the way to the door, his arms hanging off from his side heavily and his shoulders heaving as if weights were put upon them. As he reached his door, he heaved a sigh, before pressing a button to make his door open up and he was surprised—really surprised—and a bit disgruntled to find Raven facing with her dark hair messed up atop her head and her right hand gripping her left wrist, twisting it in her grasp, dressed only in her midnight blue silk pyjama bottoms and a huge—and extremely woolly—jumper on top.

"Rae?" He asked groggily, unsure whether or not he was hallucinating, "What are you doing here, baby doll?"

She looked unsure for a moment, her upper teeth biting at her lower lip, her gaze averted away from him, darting from side to side, "I…I couldn't sleep." She still didn't look at him, "I would've gone to Kori's but…you know how her room makes me uncomfortable…" she paused for a moment, then looked up at him, and he found himself looking at the dark circles under her eyes, "Can I…stay here tonight? Just tonight…" She whispered those last words.

"Uh…" he suddenly became self-conscious of his bare chest and she seemed to detect this as her throaty laugh became apparent, "sure…come in Rae."

"Thanks."

She walked in slowly, her footsteps firm…and yet at the same time they were timid…and the way she clutched at herself got him worried, but he wasn't going to voice them…not just yet. Raven finally found herself at the edge of his bed and looked expectedly at him, her gaze falling to his chest then quickly back up again.

He grinned sheepishly at what she just did, "I…um…I should get a shirt…" he suddenly remembered that he was also only in his boxers, "and some shorts."

Raven nodded calmly and he scampered away to his wardrobe to find something—anything—to wear, his head turning back to look at her occasionally to see if she was doing OK; what was she doing in his room? Why wasn't she able to fall asleep? Finally, after what seemed to be a million years, he found a clean T-shirt and a pair of shorts that didn't seem to be used too much…it smelled pretty clean anyway. With whatever speed he possessed, he put his clothes on—briefly hopping around on one foot as he toe got stuck somewhere in his shorts—and went back to his bed, to Raven.

"So…what's up?" He sat down next to her on the edge of his mattress.

Raven raised a brow at him, "Nothing much."

He grinned at the bluntness of her answer, "No, I meant, what's wrong?" The brow remained and so he softened his grin to a mere smile, "It's not like you to barge into my room in the middle of the night, baby doll." He poked her shoulder playfully.

"I don't know…just…worried about things, I guess. Nonsensical things, true, but still things." She frowned, "And the dreams have come back again." She shrugged and threw him a meaningful look, "I know, I know…the past is the past…but still…it's not that easy to forget, Gar."

He placed his hand on top of her head and gave her hair a bit of a ruffle, "Why didn't you go to the kitchen to make yourself some tea? That always seems to put you in a better mood. Not that I'm not glad you're here, of course."

"I did." She seemed a bit put off by him messing her hair, so he took his hands off her, "I sat there drinking my tea for a full hour or something, and yet they didn't go away. I would've woken up Kori but she had a long day today with her photo shoot and the fire and all…and…she's got her own worries."

"Dick?"

She nodded, "Ever since he's been gone, she's…well…she hasn't been the same. Kori's a bit confused…and sad…she's…she's sad." The words that she spoke were slow, as if she were trying to taste the words on her tongue, to understand them fully.

He tucked in a stray hair behind her ear, "And you?"

"Me?" He watched carefully as both of her brows rose, "What about me?"

Garfield moved to touch her shoulder but then he hesitated and pulled away, and she seemed to realise this as her scent became that of confusion.

"Are you worried about Dick?"

Raven cocked her head to the side, before curling her lithe legs under her small body, "Anyone who knew what really goes on in his head would be worried, Gar."

"I guess being Batman's protégée can make anyone a little paranoid…but…" he chuckled at the thought but then sobered for what he was going to say next, "you're particularly worried about…whatever…he's doing now in Gotham…aren't you?"

"Maybe." She stated shortly, not giving him a definitive answer.

He moved away from the edge of the bed and towards the centre, and she followed him in suit before she finally settled down in a cross-legged position. He was well aware that, in the silence, when she thought that he wasn't looking, she was using her eyes to try to figure out what he was thinking and was also probably using her empathic powers to delve out his thoughts but he knew that she wasn't too good at figuring out how people felt by their body language and though she did have empathic powers, he was fully aware that she knew that only knowing the emotions was just one half of it and it was probably quite useless right now.

"Gar…what's wrong?"

Now that took him by surprise, and it took him a moment to digest that question as she sat there, looking at him, her scent that of curiosity and worry. He sat there with his head resting in his palm and he thought about what he was going to say before he finally replied.

"Nothing's wrong, baby doll, why would you think that something was wrong?" It was the truth…or at least if it wasn't, he wasn't aware of anything being wrong.

The silence spread between them once more as he watched her think on his answer; was there anything wrong? He racked his brain for the answer…well…no, not really…he personally didn't have any problem with anything, everything was going fine…well…he worried about Raven, but that just meant he was being protective, right? Of course he was worried about her, he had to watch as her powers waned on some occasions and her control slipped because of stress. He had to witness her worry about others—especially Dick since his absence…Dick and Kori—and never worry about herself…well…she worried about her powers but he knew that she worried because she thought that she might harm others and not because she thought that she was becoming less powerful than she was previously. So…apart from that, there was nothing wrong.

"You've been…distant." Raven stated slowly.

"Distant? What do you mean distant? I've always been here and I'll always be here, Rae."

She shook her head, "Not physically…well…actually, that's partially it but…it's like…I'm not sure but…"

"But…?"

"You don't hug me as much as you used to, you don't hold my hand unless you ask and we don't kiss unless I initiate it…"

"Is that all?" He laughed, "You're worried because we haven't made out in a while? You know since you're here…" He moved to kiss her but she raised a hand in front of his face.

Raven rolled her eyes, "That's not it…you've just stopped since Dick went away about a week ago…" she smelt hurt, "is it the bond?"

He sighed as she mentioned the bond. Of course, it had to come up some time in a conversation he had with Raven, especially now…though of course he still had a right to feel uncomfortable with it. The bond was just…it just wasn't right…it felt unnatural—which it totally was—but that wasn't what bothered him most about the bond. It was that she unwillingly received emotions from Dick when she sometimes was not capable of even exploring her own emotions so that, not only did she have to deal with things that was happening to her, she also had to deal with the things that caused certain emotions out of Dick and that…he just felt a little sad whenever he witnessed this because she had to work twice as hard as any other person.

There was also something else that he had only started noticing recently and he didn't know if it was because he was paying more attention to Raven now or if the bond had somewhat matured and developed, but he noticed that it was slightly different to when it first came to be. Before, he was only capable of smelling those emotions that came out of Raven and just identifying them as separate emotions…but now…now he was capable of differentiating between the ones that belonged to Dick and the ones that actually belonged to Raven, and it made him feel uneasy. So, sometimes, whenever he was alone with Raven, they would be having fun together and everything would be OK…but then her emotions would twist and she would smell like Dick for less than a second and then switch back again…but that was enough to make him feel uncomfortable because…sometimes it felt like he was dating two people instead of one and that just seriously creeped him out.

"So? Is it?" Her voice interrupted his train of thoughts.

He looked at her grimly, "Maybe." He was being as vague as she was before, "What is he really doing down in Gotham?"

"He's…" she traced her finger on the mattress, creating invisible circles, "Gar, that's not fair, you're changing the subject and, plus, I can't tell you that. It's not in my right to."

"One, it's not really changing the subject because it involves Dick…" he held out a finger to drive his point, then held out another, "and two, he doesn't have a right to force these feelings into you so you might as well tell me."

Her hands found their way to her mouth but then she noticed that he saw her concealing her lips, and so she stopped and dropped them to her sides, "So it does have something to do with the bond." She paused then he found himself looking at a face with incredulousness written all over it, "Gar, are you jealous?"

"Jealous?" He scoffed, "Me? Jealous of Dick frickin' Grayson? No frickin' way."

She interlocked her fingers, amusement hitting her lips, "You're jealous. By Azar, you're jealous."

"I'm not jealous." He exclaimed indignantly, his head shaking fervently to drive his point.

He was so not jealous.

OK, fine, he was a little jealous; it just wasn't fair though! He had to work really hard to develop what little connection he and Raven had, and it took even longer for him to get through to her—though now that he had, it was marginally easier—because of how concrete her shell was, the one he constantly tried to get her out of. The shell was getting looser now, he had seen to that, but it was still a constant around her and though he loved her just as she was right now…he sometimes wondered what she was like without any inhibition, with her emotions free to fly where they wanted to.

Dick, however, got the connection with her straight away and he had no romantic intentions with her at all, and so it offended Garfield even more that Dick was able to bond with her and he was not. From the way he heard it from Kori, Dick didn't even want the bond with Raven and kept blocking her our of his mind and physically not talking to her for at least a month, and that must've hurt Raven…she only created the bond out of a last resort to save Dick who had gone quite insane from his obsession with Slade. That just pissed Garfield off because, though the bond was unwanted, it was all in good intentions and he knew that if Raven was able to remove the bond completely, she would, but she had confided in him once that though it was possible, she wasn't sure how to do it and what the consequences for such actions were.

She crossed her arms and threw him a look that told him that she didn't believe him, at all, "You're jealous but…" her words faltered and he saw how the corner of her lips turned a little sad, "you're worried too…you're worried more than you're jealous. I know that you think it's wrong for me to be completely in synchronisation with Dick's feelings…but I can't help it, and I know that you know that."

She was right of course, he hated that she was always right when it came to his feelings but then again it was to be expected since she was an empath and all. The reason that she stated before was part of it—the whole being almost completely in sync with Dick thing did worry him—but it was something else that worried him more than that did; it was the fact that despite the physical distance between Dick and Raven, she was still completely affected by his emotions and if she denied it, he would know that she was lying because he was still able to smell Dick on her. The fact that he was still able to catch his scent on her was quite significant, because he knew for a fact that distance numbed the bond a bit and that the further away they were from each other, the less she was able to feel Dick's emotions but this time…this time the intensity of the emotion must be humongous for her to be able to experience his emotion even though he was all the way in Gotham. And he was worried that if Dick came back with his problem—whatever that turned out to be—unresolved that it would overcome Raven, just like it did that day when Dick left Jump City for Gotham; she didn't even smell like herself for the rest of that day, she just oozed his scent through and through, it was so unrecognisable that he had to stop himself from snarling and growling when he was around her that day. The scent was still there now…but subdued…but it was still there…

"I just want you to be OK." He said when he finally spoke.

Raven looked at him with her dark eyes piercing at him, as if searching for an answer behind his own green eyes. Her face was serene—pale, smooth, milky and hidden—and yet those eyes told him that she needed to know more, much more, than what he was giving her.

"You have always been the more…active…one in this relationship and I the more passive…" she started, and a delicate finger tucked a lock of dark hair behind her ears, "and…though I don't deem displays of affection as necessary, I've come to be partial to the way we…this…works but I don't know what the hell happened but you're—if I'm not mistaken—distancing yourself from me, and I have no idea why." She looked down, "It's just that I know you—or at least I think I do—and you…you need something physical to know that you are wanted and you are usually the one who initiates these actions to see if there's any response." He noticed that her chakra glowed briefly before she continued, "And now…you're not doing anything…you're being…well…you're being me. You haven't initiated any contact and instead you wait for me to initiate it and you know perfectly well that I have trouble doing so."

"Baby doll, are we back to the whole 'not-making-out-for-a-whole-week-and-a-bit' thing again?" He grinned, trying to lighten up the situation

She glared at him and he physically moved away a teensy weensy bit, "Garfield! Be serious!" She gave him a condescending look but then it melted away to show her concern, "I know that you're worried about me Gar, I know that…but…usually when you think I'm depressed or hurt or…whatever…you usually try to make the situation better by making me laugh or by doing something idiotic so I would forget about whatever happened to me but…here you're distancing yourself and…and well…now I'm worried."

Garfield listened to all this, quite bewildered at how determined and passionate she smelled—even though she physically looked like she was lecturing him about something boring…like physics or something—and it actually made his nose itch at how overpowering it was. As he scratched his ears, he thought about what he was going to say to her because he knew that if there was some type of error in the thing he wanted to say, she would probably take it the wrong way and leave his room in a complete hissy fit, glowing black powers and all. There were so many things that he wanted to tell Raven, to explain for his behaviour and to—if possible—just skip to the make-up making out session that actually was quite the rarity but he enjoyed them immensely.

He suddenly felt her fingers touch his and he was surprised at how cold they were, they were all ice and no warmth. And yet…the gesture was considerate and loving and though he still did not know if she loved him or not, he was sure that she cared a lot for him and if—God forbid!—they ever broke up, she would still care for him

"Baby doll…" After what seemed like an hour of conversation, he lifted her chin up with his finger, and it was the first physical contact he had initiated since they had started talking, "Yea, I'm kinda worried and I'm sorry if you're worried bout me but…Rae…I dunno." His finger remained under her chin and he inhaled as the scent of cranberries mixed with tranquillity entered his nose, "you know how much the bond bothers me, but I never ask you bout it…ever…and it's because I know that its none of my business and that you would get really pissed off if I showed that I didn't like it. You would, don't deny it."

She didn't deny it and her brows merely joined together in what seemed to be thought.

He continued, the tone of his voice sober, "And, yea, to make you feel better I would probably—as you kindly pointed out—," he laughed as her scent turned indignant, "do something stupid so that you wouldn't have to think about…whatever you were thinking about before. But…" he let his thumb stroke her cheek and was pleased to find her body temperature warm up as a response, "I noticed that this time…it was different…I don't know how…but it just was. So, I knew that the whole joking thing wouldn't work, and that's why I haven't been as…close…to you as I usually am. This was something you had to deal on your own—or that's what I thought before you got all worried—and I wanted you to do that because I know how you go through these situations; you criticise and analyse them with everything you have. So…I dunno…I just thought that this time it would be better for me to take a different approach." He grinned cheekily at her, "A more mature approach."

"Shut. Up." Raven rolled her eyes in what he thought to be disbelief and cynicism, "You choose now of all times to be mature?" She closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again, and she shook her head, smelling amused and a little shocked, "I was right all along; you have no tact or timing." A soft smile appeared on her thin lips, "Gar, I can't believe I'm saying this but…it is times like these that I want, no, need you to be immature. As much as it pains me to say this—and I swear to Azar that I will throw you out of the window if you even utter any of these words outside of this room—I want you to incessantly spout your really bad jokes, to blare that stupid trance music throughout the whole Tower and to do your idiotic victory dance whenever you beat Vic at a game. I need you to poke me until my shoulder goes numb or embarrass me by kissing me in public. I'll get angry, obviously, but the anger…it'll be my anger," The smile remained as she touched her chest, "and not Dick's."

A swell of comfort grew in his chest, accompanied by relief; relief that she was not angry with him, relief that she still accepted him and his faults. Before, he wasn't so sure if she would forgive him, but right now—though there was still some irritation, reluctance and anger intertwined into it—her scent was all forgiveness and all affection and it was calm…very calm. All the worry and tension had been wiped out with that one monologue and he was glad of it, now he knew that he was being an idiot—like she always pointed him out to be—and that it would be all fine now. Though now there was the matter of him going back to sleep…and where…he was still sleepy after all…he wasn't lying to Dick when he told him that he needed his beauty sleep, he could practically feel the bags under his eyes swelling up.

Slowly, he leaned forward so that her head was directly under him, and he tenderly kissed the top of her head, pressing slightly so that he would be able to smell the scent that was laced into her mass of dark-violet hair. Each strand was soft against his lips and he noticed that she was very warm, so warm that all he wanted to do right now was to curl his arms around her so that she would transfer some of her body heat to him…but he knew that even though they had figured out their previous problem and she was currently quite content, he knew that for now, this was enough for both him and her.

"Even though that was full of insults directed at me, to the point that I was kinda scared that you really were gonna throw me out of the window and even though I'm really sleepy…I'm glad that you came to my room tonight, I'm glad that we had this talk…" he moved back a bit so that now they were face to face with each other, "and I'm way glad that I have you."

He saw her smirk, her eyes sparkling darkly, "I know." She yawned.

He raked his hand through her hair before giving it a bit of a ruffle; she was tired from all the talking, and probably also from the process of relieving tension between them. He chuckled before kissing her once more, but this time on her right cheek, and the chuckle grew louder as he saw her face contort to become a cross between incredulousness and sleepiness. So in quick decisiveness, he leapt off the bed then chucked her the blanket that was lying on the floor.

"You better get some sleep…you kinda look horrible." He grinned.

She rolled her eyes in return, "Wow, thanks a lot…I feel so much better now." She tugged at the blanket as she lay her head on the pillow.

He smiled at her then walked slowly towards the bean bag where he was going to sleep on, but was suddenly interrupted by Raven's voice.

"Where are you going?" Her voice had a scratchy quality to it.

"Um…the bean bag? Where else would I go? I mean, I need my beauty sleep too, y'know…can't expect me to look this gorgeous if I don't get me some sleep."

The silence came back once more, like it always did, and as she looked at him inquisitively, he just stood there while scratching his ears, wondering what was going on in here mind right not. She smelt reluctant and yet eager at the same time, a confusing mix…but still delightfully Raven.

"Your heater broke, didn't it? It's cold here." She shuddered for more emphasis, though he knew that she wasn't cold at all since she was wearing the cookie-monster equivalent of a jumper, "You'll get cold there." She stated simple, emphasising the word 'there' for some weird reason.

He crooked a brow at her, "Yea, but, where else am I gonna sleep? Outside?"

She sat up from her sleeping position, her hands firmly gripped on the edge of the blanket, and if he didn't know any better, she seemed to be considering something and after a while, the fact that she was biting her lip nervously meant that she had come to a decision. What it was, Garfield personally had no idea.

A delicate finger pointed at the spot on her left, "You could…um…" she was lost for words, which made him even more confused, "you could always sleep here. You know, as long as you don't try anything funny or inappropriate." She sighed, "I mean it is my fault that you're sleeping there…"

He looked at her for a moment, digesting her words and replaying them again and again in his mind before he realised what she had just said, causing his jaw to drop. Did she just say what he thought she had just said? Seriously? He thought for a moment; did he eat some of that blue stuff that Kori had cooked up earlier on in the day? He must've, Raven did not—would not—ask him to—literally—sleep with her…it was just weird and unnatural and just…weird. Did he say weird already?

There must've been some really screwed up expression on his face because the next thing she said was, "Or, if you prefer, you could just sleep on that bean bag." She stated—probably—knowing full well that he so did not want to sleep on the bean bag…ever…again.

He grinned, and then he scrambled onto the bed hastily but carefully so that he wouldn't embarrass himself by falling off the bed or something stupid like that. She seemed to find him hilarious by the way the edge of her lips twitched uncontrollably and before he knew it, he was sitting next to her.

Garfield placed his hand on her forehead and then felt her forehead wrinkle, "Gar…what are you doing?"

"Are you sick or something?"

"No, I am not sick." She stated patiently.

He gasped, "Then you must've been abducted by aliens when I wasn't looking and they must've taken your brain out or something and did experiments on it."

"Gar…" she shook her head, "do you want to sleep here or not?"

He nodded.

She glared.

"I probably should shut up and go to sleep, shouldn't I?" He beamed at her, he couldn't help it!

She lay her head back on the pillow and he followed in suit, facing her, feeling quite surreal at how close he was to her right now. Of course, he had already been this close to her before, but somehow, this time it was different; her features were so soft when she was sleepy, all the angularity and sharpness of her face softened by the downward droop of her eyes and her lips, softened further by her scattered locks of hair.

"Um..." he started just before her eyes closed, "I'm going to hug you while you sleep, OK?" It wasn't a question really, but he wanted to ask it all the same.

She didn't reply and so he did it anyway; his arms curled around her small body, revelling in the warmth that she generated. She was small, so small, but somehow, she fit in perfectly in his arms like her size was made perfectly for his arms. Her eyes were firmly closed now, her breathing heavy and slow, but though she looked like she was asleep, Garfield had a sneaking suspicion that she was still awake.

"You know what, baby doll?" He smiled, not sure if he was talking to her or to himself, "Even though you snore, I still want to hold you like this forever and ever."

His smile grew wider as her scent suddenly changed to that of indignation.

Yep, she was definitely awake.

A/N: So, what did you guys think?

Review it please?

Hope this chappie hasn't put anyone off this ficcie! Hope I see you guys next time!