A/N: She's back with a vengence!

Well...it's not much of a vengence but still...i think I did a pretty good job of this chappie.

I mean, OK, it's a bit jumpy in terms of plot but I like it.

*chuckles nervously*

I've also come to realise that I love ships that are ANGSTYxFUNNY.

Much love.

So hope you enjoy and review OK?

*hugs and kisses*

Chapter 12

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Garfield cringed as he watched Raven ravage her victims savagely, some parts splattering on the walls violently.

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

He turned around slowly, trying to sneak a peek at Vic and Kori as he saw them turn a pale shade of green. Green was never a flattering colour on anyone but it looked even worse on them, he thought silently to himself.

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

It was vile.

It was disgusting.

It was totally, totally inhumane.

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

And he was so totally not gonna drink it.

She couldn't make him, could she?

Slowly, she stopped the blender and poured her evil concoction into two tall glasses before—to his relief—placing them in front of his other two friends. They blanched visibly and he did too; the damned drink looked like it was made out of the innards of somebody and it was so gloopy and brown that it might as well have been vomit.

Shudder.

He pinched his nose as the scent entered his nostrils and gagged at the thought of what it must taste like, taking note that he would never ever let her cook for him in the future, near or not.

"And I thought Kori had her talents in the kitchen." He joked weakly.

Raven glared at him, tapping her fingers impatiently on the dining table, her other hand formed a fist that rested on her hip, "Shut up." She shook her head to herself, probably tut-ing him mentally, "It's for their own good. If they didn't have so much to drink last night then I wouldn't even think of giving this to them."

Vic and Kori stared at the drinks expectantly, probably wanting to know if it would somehow come out and attack them or something. They looked up simultaneously and widened their eyes at Raven to no avail.

"Drink it." Raven stated, making that simple sentence sound like a threat while she placed two aspirins each in front of them.

"But—!" Vic started, to which she cut off with a dark glower.

"Drink it or I swear by Azar you will both not see the light of day." Raven stated before turning around to pour the remaining drink in another glass, "And don't think that just because I'm not looking, I won't know if you've drunk it or not. So, drink."

"Fine." Vic lifted the glass halfway in the air before chugging it all down, some bits of the drink splattered messily on the table before popping the aspirin in his mouth. He gagged and choked after the glass was finished, but after a while, he calmed—to a degree—and all was left to mark his consumption of the drink was the fact that his human eyes was very, very red.

Kori and Garfield looked at him, wondering what he would say next. It couldn't have been too nice by the way that he was tapping his stomach slowly.

"Damn, girl, what the hell is in this shit?" Vic exclaimed finally, his face going red.

"I wouldn't want to know if I was you." She smirked but then went all serious again, "I wouldn't want you puking all over the floor for someone else to clean up. Unless you'd like to do the honours."

Vic shut up then and shook his head, glaring at the empty glass in vengeance, "Man, I'd like to know who made you frickin' Mother dear."

Raven twisted her mouth in disdain, "Well, if I wasn't Mother dear then you'd both be lolling about in your beds with headaches the size of Jupiter, complaining about it and grabbing the first cup of coffee that you see." She shrugged, "Which is completely wrong since coffee just makes you all the more dehydrated, and you can't afford to lose any more water." Garfield watched as she licked her lips subconsciously, "We have jobs, you know, and having the Titans not be able to defeat the criminal because of dehydration and migraines isn't going to help anyone."

Garfield looked at Kori and saw that she was looking ever so slightly frightened, but her head kept going to her forehead, as if trying to slam the headache out. She took a considering look before moving her gaze onto Raven as if she was trying to telepathically plead with her. Her fingers visibly shuddered and they moved slowly towards the glass under Raven's watchful eye.

She paused, "Please, friend, is there no other more…um…pleasant way…?"

"Not one that's as effective." Raven grumbled, "And I don't believe all that 'Hair of a Dog' nonsense. Really, now, more alcohol is not going to cure the hangover that's caused by the alcohol in the first place." Her tone was so matter-of-factly that it didn't seem possible that she was demanding for Kori to drink that thing, "Now drink."

Kori whimpered momentarily before grabbing the glass with both her hands and stuffing the liquid down her throat. She shuddered as the liquid went down and her eyes widened quite dramatically. Kori hastily threw the aspirin in and bit down on it really hard, chewing with all her might; she seemed to be trying to make the bitterness of the aspirin override the disgusting flavour of the drink, and by the crude expression on her face, he knew it wasn't working. It would've been completely funny if Garfield was not so disgusted right now.

Well…it was still a little funny actually…

Kori burped in the most unladylike manner and whimpered, "Well…that was most unpleasant."

Raven just nodded to herself before she took away the empty glasses and placed them in the sink. As she washed those glasses, he took it to himself to pretend to be puking to see how green Vic and Kori would turn with that vile concoction in their stomachs. It was actually amusing how sea foam could be such an unbecoming colour on people who are not actually meant to be green.

Suddenly a glass appeared in front of her, half full with the drink, "No…way." Garfield shook his head, his jaw hanging open, "I don't have a hangover. I'm fine."

"Look," Raven started, pressing her fingers to her brows, "I know that you went out for tea with me last night and that's all good but you did drink and you might get one later on. This is a just-in-case drink."

"Nuh-uh. No way am I risking my life." He growled and hissed, pointing at the drink, "I mean look at the stupid thing! It's like frickin' evil!"

"it's not evil, but I can be. So drink the damned thing already."

They glared at each other for a while and it turned into a full-fledged glaring contest. Obviously she was winning—he thought that she must practice in front of the mirror sometimes. No way can someone be that good at perfecting the art of the glare without some practice—but he kept his ground…for a while anyway. Soon, he gave in and snatched the glass violently, holding it to his chest but keeping his fingers away from the rim of the glass; he wasn't sure if his fingers were going to burn to bits or not.

"Fine." He grumbled, looking away from her in a dramatic fashion, "I'll drink your poisonous potion."

"It's not poisonous." She drawled shortly.

He shook his head, "Whatever you say. I just wanna ask somethin' though."

"What?" She asked shortly.

"Well no need to get rude, baby doll." He winked at her, "I just wanna know…why can't you just use your magic thingy to heal us?"

Raven crossed her arms across her chest before heaving a sigh, "Because I'd rather not have a hangover for the rest of my life." She frowned for a moment, "Now, are you going to drink that or do I have to force it down?"

He didn't say anything and for a moment he felt ashamed—she had never told anyone what she did with their injuries when she healed them and he had an inkling that this was the most information she would tell anyone about it—but then felt it dissipate as soon as the liquid touched the tip of his tongue. It was as disgusting as he imagined, more disgusting in fact—if that was even possible!—and it tasted like he had thrown up and stuffed it all back into his mouth again before repeating the throwing up and eating again. His ears twitched wildly and he had to throw his hands in front of his mouth to stop himself from puking; it was that vile.

"By Azar, Garfield, no need to exaggerate." Raven rolled her eyes as she took the glass away.

He choked, "Not exaggerating."

Soon enough they had all proceeded to raid the fridge to eat whatever junk was in there for breakfast. Breakfast was important and no matter what happened—or how late it was, in this case—they always had their breakfast—admittedly, breakfast had been mostly distorted by the lack of adult supervision in their teen years—and it was a discipline that had been kept throughout the years no matter what happened; it signified the beginning of a new day. Currently, though, Garfield secretly hoped that his new day did not taste as bad as the leftover pizza he was eating did; he did not even want to know how long it had been in that refrigerator for.

Well, that didn't really matter actually, he was too distracted by the scents of the kitchen to even bother to get up from his chair and rummage through the blue stuff in the fridge to find some decent food. There were so many scents around him that he was surprised that no one else could smell them; the scent of the lazy morning air, the scent of the leftover foods and, of course, their own scents. Each of them had a different and distinct scent to them and, funnily enough, none of them actually matched their personalities, though, at the same time, you could say that they matched too well; Kori smelled like a brand new car, Vic smelled—weirdly enough—like custard pie and Raven…well…she knew as well as he did that he thought that she smelled of cranberries…

Always.

It was so delicious and insatiable and so frickin' sensual that the scent drove him crazy sometimes. Maybe it was something she used but he doubted it; there was something in that scent that told him that it was embedded deep into her skin, so deep that no matter what happened to her—if she was thrown into mud, if she never washed again, etc—she would still, undoubtedly, smell like red, ripe and shiny cranberries. Whenever he was close to her, the scent left Garfield a little dry in the mouth, but in a way that just made him crave the scent even more and it reminded him of the Golden-Age Hollywood stars that just completely oozed sensuality. He couldn't get enough of the juicy flavours that sprang into his mind when he caught her scent and he had to do everything to keep himself from trying to eat her because of how good she smelled.

There were times when the scent was heightened and when it was barely there, though, and today, the scent was deliciously strong; mouth-watering and scrumptious and he had a vague idea of why, grinning mentally as the memory came back to his mind. She had told him that she loved him—finally!—she had told him, however quiet she was, that she loved him. Raven Roth loved Garfield Logan, and it was the best, most fantastic, feeling in the world. He still couldn't believe it, and he kept pinching himself to see if he was dreaming or not but after an extremely bruised arm, he had come to realise that he did not have any drunken hallucinations and did actually hear her say that she loved him.

It was fucking awesome.

He had wished and wished for it, praying and begging to whatever forces—he himself wasn't sure that the big guy and the whole life-after-death thing existed but Raven was completely adamant about it—was up there for Raven to come out and say it, he had also wondered if she was ever going to say it and even despaired at the idea that she didn't feel the same as he did, as strongly as he did. But…but now it had all worked out and she loved him…he still couldn't get over the shock of it all! The idea was enough to send him doing cartwheels everywhere he went and he had played the scene over and over again in his head and at the same time, wondering why no one had come to burst his bubble like they always did.

He saw her look at him weirdly, and understood that she had sensed his sudden change in emotions; but he really didn't care. She could go on looking at him like he was a loon for all he cared! It was just that…he didn't like being too mushy and romantic and all but…this feeling that burst inside of him was just completely indescribable and he wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

She raised a brow at him.

He grinned.

Raven's mouth contorted in confusion and his heart thumped that random, completely syncopated beat that it did on so many occasions when he found himself falling completely in love with Raven again. It was—as Kori would say—glorious.

Her brows furrowed and he continued grinning like a madman, winking at her once and wondering how she did not just see his heart leap out of his chest in a bloody mess, all red and thumping and weirdly shaped. He was smiling so much that the corners of his mouth started to twitch in pain, but it was a good pain, a happy one.

Suddenly, his nose detected that her emotions had changed too and it was somehow…embarrassed. He peeked a glance at her and was surprised to see her all flustered while picking at her fruit salad randomly; she had realised what he was thinking about. He beamed at her—to which he earned a scowl—and found him remembering how cute she looked as she spoke those words so quietly that it was almost impossible—except for these brilliant ears he owned—for him to hear—as if she was confused on whether she wanted it to be audible or not—and she had quickly tried to conceal her flush by hiding behind Styrofoam and steam. He had salvaged their awkward moment alone together by suggesting the miracle cure of super sundaes and Disney movies; two things that he knew no one in their right mind could refused.

Surprisingly, she had agreed, and after her confession they had walked back to the Tower—slowly though; Garfield knew how much she enjoyed their long walks together—side by side, talking about whatever it was that came to their mind. They made super sundaes together—though, admittedly, he did most of the work as she just watched and suggested—and had spent the whole night watching 'The Black Cauldron' and 'Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland'—two completely kick-ass movies that if you have not seen then you should be shot dead—and they had fallen asleep on the couch, only to be woken up the next morning by loud groans and moans about their headaches. It was a good night, nonetheless, and a night that Garfield was sure to remember. Of course, some making out would have added to the brilliance of the night but he wasn't disappointed by how things turned out.

Well…a little disappointed…some making out would've been nice. It had been a while since he purred in her ears…

Quick as a flash, Garfield saw from the corner of his eye, Raven glare at him.

He was kidding!

Kinda…well…mostly kidding…

Um…

Another lethal look was sent and he gritted his teeth.

Seriously! Kidding!

He looked down for a moment and stole another glance and to his relief, Raven had gone off and started to discuss—well more like berate from what he could see—with Vic and Kori the benefits of having everything in moderation, especially alcohol. At the very least, that's what he thought they were talking about anyway, he wasn't really paying much attention and he didn't care.

It was stupid of him to have worried anyway; he knew as well as the others did that she couldn't communicate telepathically with others—in exception to Dick—unless she tried really, really hard and had enough energy to spare. That wasn't the point though.

She loved him and he loved her and everything crap that had been going on seemed to feel much, much, much less like crap. It wasn't that he had forgotten all the OC-esque drama that had been going on lately but it seemed to be number by those three tiny little words—technically four since she was replying to his own 'I love you'—and everything seemed to be much, much brighter than it was before.

God, it felt good.

Life was so good that he was going to start singing some High School Musical songs if no one was going to stop him.

He was happy, happy, happy, happy, happy—

"Gah!" Raven was suddenly next to him, whispering quite fiercely that if Vic and Kori weren't having some huge discussion about the differences between human and alien technology, he would've thought that they'd heard Raven right now, "Stop it! Stop being so damned happy." She hissed, "Just because I said…" she lowered her voice, "you know…last night…"

"Nope." He beamed at her, squishing her in a hug that could easily equal Kori's, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, stop it, will you?" She snarled, but it was so funny that he couldn't take it seriously, "All this is disturbing my psyche. A little maturity never hurt anyone." She stated stubbornly.

"The word mature was never intended for anything except wine and cheese. Ah, good old Bordeaux 1904." He sighed dreamily to himself, "But, whatever, being mature isn't as tasty."

Raven frowned, "That was almost witty." She stated sullenly, "But, seriously, will you please keep the happiness down a bit?"

"Why?" He asked sincerely, clearly confused on her point, "Is the happiness bad?"

"No…but it's bad enough that I already can feel some remnants of their," she nudged her head towards Vic and Kori, "hangovers but I don't need your over-excitable bundle of happiness making it worse."

"So…you'd rather have their headaches over my genius, love-filled happiness?"

"No." She stated shortly, "I just need…I just need some head space, OK?" She furrowed her brows in a way that was so, so, so adorable.

"So, you do admit that my happiness is totally awesome." He impersonated Mr. Burns, tapping his fingers against each other, "Excellent."

"Great." She rolled her eyes, "Now I know that I need to confiscate the remote from you for at least two weeks." Raven smirked, "Now, really, tone it down, OK?"

"OK, baby doll, since you look like a sick puppy." His grin grew wider, "I love you."

Her eyes widened in surprise but then gradually softened, "You mushy, over-romantic, idiotic fool."

"Say it."

Raven raised a brow at him, "No, who in their right mind would say it now, in here, in front of others?"

"They're not listening, they're arguin' 'bout who's more special; the T-car or Silkie. Trust me,it's gonna take them a while to figure that one out."

"Still, I refuse."

"Aw, I'm hurt." He mock stabbed himself in the hurt, "C'mon baby doll, you know you want to."

"No, not really." The corner of her mouth twitched and she smelt amused.

He leaned in closer, "Just once, you know, for memory's sake."

She looked up at him incredulously, "Memory's sake? I just said it last night, didn't I?"

He grinned, "Potato tomato. Say it or I'll…" he leaned in closer to that only their sweet breaths created a barrier between them.

"Oh no, you don't. Not now, not here. Later."

"Well you could simply just avoid it by saying it…" He teased.

She glared at him, "I am warning you Garfield Logan, I will—"

Oh, he liked being sly, it was one of the perks of dating Raven Roth, "What? Throw me out of the window? Slam me into the ceiling? Been there, done that baby doll."

"Why you—!" She fumed before he interrupted her with a kiss.

It was a short kiss, and so sweet that it tasted like candy apples. It was nothing like the heady and passionate kisses that they shared in private, the ones that they took whenever an opportunity or a dark corner came up. It was so short that he didn't give her a chance to respond, and instead smiled wickedly against her lips. Raven had always been stingy with her kisses—though when she did kiss…God! It was like and explosion of…something!—and it felt funny to draw back from her, but he did anyway, to save any further embarrassment; she was turning into the colour of a tomato…that couldn't be too healthy…

Raven's eyes widened and he heard a loud crash from behind him.

Well…that wasn't good.

He pulled away from her and turned around to see what she had broken, "Well…there goes the microwave."

"Agh! My eyes!" Vic laughed, slapping his hands onto the table, "God, get a fuckin' room, why don't you? I just ate my breakfast and I don't wanna throw it all up."

Kori elbowed Vic, throwing him a reproachful look, "Vic! It is not proper to make fun of the acts of stolen kisses. Honestly, friend, do you not find it endearing?" She sighed, a soppy smile on her face.

"Endearing? Maybe." Vic grinned, chuckling all the way, "Awkward? Damn straight." The grin grew wider, "Not to mention that it causes me to fix a lot of things." Raven glared at him, "Not that I mind. Though that was a new microwave."

Kori flew over to them and squished them both together in her trademark Kori hug, "I do not mind that our appliances are frequently broken. It is oh so endearing that you two are oh so in love. It is like having a marshmallow, mustard and banana sandwich, no?"

Garfield smiled, "Yea, exactly like that."

He glanced at Raven and found that it took her a while to recover from the shock of the kiss; it wasn't that he had never kissed her before—of course not—he figured it was more that his response to her threats was so light hearted and that the fact that she had told him that she loved him didn't scare him away and it didn't seem to change a thing. Well, of course it didn't change anything, that would be really stupid if it did, and as serious as they might feel for each other, Garfield knew that keeping it casual was the only way Raven would feel comfortable and not awkward about her confession. At least he was going to keep it casual on the surface; there had to be some sort of commitment for each other that didn't have anything to do with the physical side of things.

Raven opened her mouth slowly, working it like she had never used it before, "I believe that there is nothing to gawp about here. Isn't there some kind of training we're supposed to do or something?" She flushed briefly but regained her cool composure in an instant.

"Ooooh." Vic chuckles rumbled through the air and his ears reacted by twitching, "Someone's getting shy."

"No one is getting shy." Raven said sharply, "I just appreciate privacy, that's all."

Their friend continued to guffaw in hilarity, "You appreciated it so much that you didn't get a room." She glared at him again and Vic bit her lip to stop another laugh from coming out, "Joke, joke."

"Hilarious."

Suddenly Vic stopped laughing and cleared his throat, "But seriously though, talkin' about privacy, I need to talk to you about somethin' in private." The words were said seriously and it piqued Garfield's interest, wondering what they were talking about, "I mean we don't need to talk about it now…but you said that you wanted to know about it ASAP." What was this it they were talking about?

Garfield watched curiously as Raven pondered on this for a while before a simple understanding seemed to pass between them. She simply nodded with the oddest expression on her face and glided her way out of the kitchen—Vic trailing behind her slowly—without even a word to either Kori or Garfield—hmmph!—but he was glad that she regarded him by the gentle sweep of her soft hands against his knuckles. Man, if there was someone who knew how to make someone green feel invisible, it was Raven, but he was glad that she had left some remnant of her on him, even if it was just the tips of her fingers brushing against his rough, calloused skin.

He sighed and looked to the door, a crooked smile attached to his lips; he was glad that she loved him—he really was! He was frickin' ecstatic about it!—but the way she just left reminded him that she did not let anyone in easily and the fact that she had declared—well that was a bit of an exaggeration—her love for him meant that she had put a lot of effort and time into it; the declaration may have been spontaneous but the build up to it wasn't, not really anyway. There was also the issue that getting in wasn't so easy but getting out was easier than making toast, and that sure as hell was easy. It was just that she had trust issues and as awful and restricted as they may sound, he didn't ever want to change them; Garfield Logan never backed down from a challenge!

Well, unless it involved Teletubbies…those things were just creepy.

He chewed his pizza, not tasting the staleness of it while his jaw moved unconsciously on its own, teeth grinding at what he thought might be mould. He looked to his right and saw Kori digging in heartily into her bowl of Greek yoghurt, lettuce and cherries—he shook his head—looking way better than she was a while ago; it seems that Raven's stuff worked, however impossible that may seem.

"So, us two alone again, huh? Think the Big Guy up there is tryin' to say somethin'?" He joked weakly. His ears still pricked up to try to hear what Vic and Raven could possibly be saying to each other.

"This Big Guy is what you Terrans call X'hal, is it not?" Kori asked seriously and she placed her fork gently by her plate.

"Um, I guess." He raked his hand through his hair.

She pondered on this for a moment, her lips pressed together in contemplation, "Then, I do not think so. X'hal would not do such a thing; your heart belongs to dear Raven and by the fact that you have been looking like Silkie after a hearty good meal, I would say that her heart belongs to you as well." She smiled, the fleshy lips spreading out thinly, "Tell, me, was it last night after you departed that she confessed her love to you?" her smile was teasing, like a big sister to her younger brother.

Garfield suddenly felt a little sheepish, "Maybe. Wouldn't you like to know." He teased back, chuckling nervously, "How was the rest of the party anyway? I'm guessin' that I left when things started to get good?"

Kori giggled; covering her mouth with her fingers, "It was the most…"she paused for a moment, flushing quite a lot through her golden skin, "awesome. I have not done the partying in what seems like such a long time. I am so glad that you all agreed to come, it would have been strange if you did not."

"Ah, Kors, you would've been fine. You're like a total social butterfly." She looked confused at his statement and he slapped himself mentally at this, "Ah, forgot, no metaphors in front of you."

"I am learning." Kori pouted briefly, twirling her red ringlets between her fingers, "I made so many new friends there and…connections. It seems that I have made an impression on these...um…designers of fashion…three have already asked me what agency I am in and if I am busy for the rest of the week. I am to be booked!" She clapped her hands gleefully, "What did you think, friend Garfield, of my walking down the runway?"

In reply he raised two thumbs up, grinning so widely that his teeth were getting dry, "It was hawt. Like hawt with an A and W. Seriously, Kor, I don't know why you didn't get into modellin' sooner." He shrugged, "There was no frickin' contest between you and the other models. Serious hotness was goin' on then."

"Glorious." She sighed happily, "I felt a little uncomfortable…like a jorkra…but when the lights were flashing it was just such…it is a wow moment, as you would say."

"Glad you've found somethin' that you're good at. You know, apart from beatin' up bad guys and stuff." He grinned cheekily and took a sip out of the glass of milk he was holding, "The future to me is kinda foggy, can't really imagine it, you know?"

Kori nodded slowly, the smile slipping from her lips, "I understand, friend. Things have not turned out as I would have them to but I believe that it was all for the best." She heaved a sigh, looking away for a moment, "By x'hal, not at all…not at all." Her scent was none too pleasant at the moment but when she turned to look at him again, her eyes were bright as if she had not been contemplating other futures, "Enough about me, how are your studies friend Garfield? Are they going well? Raven has not been reprimanding you as of late about your studies, so it must be going well, yes?"

Garfield paused at this question, his fingers scratching at his ears subconsciously. His studies; he had not neglected them—no! Raven would personally murder him if he did—but with all the drama and the burdens, he wasn't taking it as seriously as he usually would, and in consequence, he wasn't doing as well as he usually did. He had taken a zoology major and as easy as that was—for once he wasn't exaggerating. He may not be the best in the class but being able to morph into animals helped…a lot—balancing it with a minor in drama and theatre while being on the Teen Titans was no easy feat and right now he totally envied Raven who could take her classes online; he had to squeeze in classes between all the fighting crime stuff that they did and if he couldn't fit it all in, he usually missed way important classes, which kinda sucked seeing as though some of the stuff they were learning was really complicated and wordy and catching up was such a hassle; the professors hated being badgered about assignments and stuff like that.

The drama and theatre minor wasn't helping him that much either, but it felt considerably lighter since he really liked the stuff they were doing—right now they were studying Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing' and were planning to perform it in the end of the academic year. Seriously, the play was frickin' hilarious and he was so psyched about playing Benedict; the man was frickin' awesome!—and so it felt more like a hobby or a club rather than something he would actually be marked on. Plus his drama professor told him that he had some talent and that just made Garfield grin like a lunatic at the prospect that he might actually end up as an actor, like he had always dreamed of.

Finally, Garfield chuckled, "It's…not goin' as well as I want it to be and Raven's been too distracted by stuff to even try to shout at me. We're gonna perform soon though so that's gonna be great." His gaze slid towards the door, "What do you think they're talkin' bout, eh?"

"To be completely honest, I do not know." Her own gaze followed his and her brows furrowed together in concern, "Maybe it is about this lady love of friend Vic's or something medical in which Raven has inquired, but I truly do not know. It seems to be important, though, Vic had the serious face on despite having the hangover."

"Yea…" He lamely shrugged, obviously still curious, "Kor, as much as I hate his guts right now, don't you ever—?"

Kori cut him off, glaring at him sharply, a glare that could match Raven's, "Don't. Do not. I am happy." She gritted her teeth; she sure didn't look happy, "He is happy." She fumed at him and he backed away a little, "And we are friends. We did not separate with the best intentions, but I believe that we are still friends."

Garfield bit his lower lip nervously, "I was just…"

"I know." She suddenly turned weary, all that passion seemed to have been drained right out of her, "It is just hard, but I am coping. It is even harder that you and friend Raven seem to be at your happiest and I am not but I do not blame you on that either." Kori pushed her plate away from her slowly, "Maybe…friend Dick had a point, we have become too reliant on each other and it seems that we have forgotten what it was like to function without one another. That is why I have the jealousy for you and Raven; you understand the boundaries when we did not." Sigh, "I am weary but…there is some odd sense of freedom from this separation. I admit I do love him, still, even after the bad words and feelings that had been exchanged and I believe that he, at least, has some sort of affection towards me, some remnant of what was. And so I am kinda glad that this break has happened; I just do not know what will happen when he comes back…if he decides to come back."

"He better not," He growled subconsciously, "or I'll punch the livin' daylights out of him."

Kori laughed weakly, "Oh, friend, you are ever so adorable when you attempt to protect me." She stopped for a moment to take a sip out of a glass of water, "But, friend Garfield, he must come back, it is inevitable. However unwilling he is, he will come back because he has a responsibility." Another weak laugh, "And we all know how it is that friend Dick is with responsibility. And when he does come back I will…I will not welcome him with eager smiles and willing hugs—no matter how much, dear x'hal, I would want to—but I will welcome him back with polite manners and a sense of duty because…well because, friend, we are a team and through the thick and the thin—as you say?—teams always do the sticking together."

There was a pregnant pause between them and neither of them bothered to put in the effort that would keep their conversation going; it was just too—as Kori had stated—wearisome…tiring…it made his frickin' head hurt. Seriously, maybe it was—as Raven had said again and again—that they were all just struggling with the concept of adulthood and that's where all the problems were rooted and, really, it kinda made sense because he couldn't remember this much drama when they were still in their teens, which was pretty ironic because weren't the teen years supposed to be the most dramatic years of your life? Like the stuff that happens in Gossip Girl and 90210 mostly happened to teens. Sure the drama was usually because someone was wearing the wrong thing or whatever but it was still drama nonetheless; seriously, someone should make a TV show from the Teen Titans, they were jam-packed with drama!

Then there was the problem with Dick; the antisocial, stubborn jerk with the tendency to boss people around—though that was natural since he was the leader of the Titans—like there was no tomorrow. It was like he was going through some weird puberty type thing and was PMS-ing like a girl and there was no stopping. Dick had always had two identities and they were always interchangeable and so convincing that no one really knew which one was the real one and which one was the face he put on when he was being watched. Firstly he was Nightwing, formerly known as Robin, he was hard as stone, super smart and intuitive and he did the most awesome back flips known to man. But at the same time he could turn into Dick Grayson; ward of Bruce Wayne and notoriously as much of a womaniser as Bruce Wayne was and as generous. It was confusing and recently, with all that was going on, Garfield was sure that the lines between Nightwing and Dick Grayson were blurring a lot and it was making him question himself, and question Dick; who was he actually?

The thing was…Garfield actually—well apart from the current situation—liked Dick Grayson and actually owed a lot to the guy. He was the older, serious brother in contrast with Vic's older, fun brother and he was almost like the father figure, if you were to put it in the most basic forms. Dick had done a lot for him; he had taught Garfield how to think quicker and think more efficiently in order to choose what animal he was to become when fighting criminals, he was a good sport when it came to playing the GameStation with him and was not overly competitive like Vic was and he also helped him out with Raven…a lot. There was always some kind of buffer between them, yes, but he knew that stemmed from the fact that the circumstances of the origins of their whereabouts were similar and that made each other comfortable when it came down to that but other than that…he really did like Dick Grayson even if he was being such a dick.

There was also the matter of the bond between the two; Raven and Dick. They completely relied on each other for mental stability—they were both mental head cases, Garfield thought sourly, though he knew that Raven at least had a bit of an excuse; having a demonic dad was not really gonna help anyone. Whatever, he loved her so it didn't matter that much anyway—and if one felt really strongly, the other had to put in some kind of effort to push that emotion back. It was a bit of a tug-o-war game to others and to him and he didn't think it would be that great to distress either one of them and it was confusing. So it was really hard to hate Dick because he knew that Raven wouldn't be too happy about it, though he knew that she also thought that he was being irresponsible.

"Gar…friend Garfield?" Kori's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Eh…what?" He realised that he had been day dreaming and grinned apologetically, "Um…sorry."

Kori giggled, "It is OK…I was lost in the thoughts too…it is just that I have never seen you this…serious before." The giggles erupted once more, "Very contemplative…it is a good look on you, friend."

He chuckled nervously, "Um…yea…dunno…everything just seems to be out of sorts and I'm slow at taking it all in. Bad habit." He grinned once more.

"I understand." Kori frowned for a moment, looking tired once again, "Well, though thoughts are good sometimes, I do not think I have time for those today. I need conversation and if you do not offer any then well…I believe that I shall go off and drown myself in the girl magazines. It is a bad habit, says Raven, but it is a fun one." She joked lamely, and he recognised it as a 'not-really' joke as he had done it so many times before.

"Well…no, no…we'll talk." He did an exaggerated bow; a difficult feat to do while sitting.

"Oh, really,friend? That is most comforting!"

"Well, I can't really refuse the princess—almost empress—of Tamaran, can I? I'd probably be beheaded or somethin'!"

She laughed, her head flailing backwards, "Oh, Garfield, you do have the school to make one laugh. It is not treason to refuse a conversation with a princess, and to be honest I am not a princess any longer no matter what the people of Tamaran say. Though maybe my knorfka might have a few strong words to say to you…"

He could totally imagine that actually, her knorfka was totally not to be messed with, "Nice. So, since we're supposed to be talkin' bout somethin'…anything interestin' happen last night?"

"Well…I…" her face suddenly lit up with such a flush that her face turned the exact same shade as her hair, "Oh! I do remember what I was going to tell you, friend! It is the most exciting and I was going to tell Raven too but I was afraid that she was to disapprove." She pouted, "I do not think that she would disapprove but I know it. She will be making the face where her eyes become squinty and her mouth twists like she had just eaten a bad zorkaberry like this…" Kori went on then to do an exact replica of Raven's 'disapproving' face and he had to laugh at that; they had lived together long enough to know what she looked like when she disapproved and imitate it exactly.

He sniggered, "That was completely genius."

"Ah, I do not think it is perfect yet…she does something else but I cannot seem to pick up on it." Her mind seemed to lose track at that moment but then she shook it out, "Oh, yes, I have forgotten…well…I do not know how you will take this but I…I met a boy…" if her red cheeks were any redder, Kori would look like a tomato right now, "a man if we are using correct human terms and oh," she cooed, "he asked me out on a date. Oh he is ever so nice, friend!" He saw her catch his confused expression and she sighed, "Oh, Garfield, please tell me that you are happy for me. I know that it has only been a few weeks since…" she let that sentence trail off purposefully, "Oh, please do say you are happy for me…I cannot stand it if you disapprove."

He laughed weakly, "You can't stand it if I disapprove? What? Has the sun exploded or somethin'?"

"It is just that…Raven would clearly disapprove and I do not know if she will disapprove because she is worried for me or if she is worried for Dick but I know that she will disapprove. Friend Vic would disapprove but only because he does not know this man very well and he will be doing the interrogating and will scare the wits out of him, I am sure." She grasped for his hand and he stiffened under her grip; she was warm, "It is just that you understand spontaneity and 'in the moment' moments and I was hoping that you would understand and…well…I was doing the hoping that you would approve."

"Have you said yes yet?"

She shook her head, "I have not said no but I have not said yes. It is confusing but I believe that I would like to say yes."

There was another pause between them as Garfield gathered his thoughts. He knew that he wanted to say that she had his approval but at the same time if Raven disapproved…well…let's just say that Raven had disapproved many things that he did and he had ignored her warnings—on the basis that…well…everything couldn't be that bad, could it?—and it had not ended as nicely as he thought it would and so he heeded most of her warnings now…well…sometimes.

On the other hand there was the fact that if Dick had cheated on Kori—Garfield didn't like this idea…if someone as controlled as Dick could actually cheat then well…something bad must've unnerved him!—that if it was true then Kori had every right to go off and date somebody else. It wasn't as if Kori would jump the guy, Garfield knew that no matter what she looked like Kori would definitely not do that, and it was Dick's fault for bringing in the mention of a break and all. Really, if they were actually on a break then Kori was—temporarily, he realised—single and that she could do whatever she wanted without his consent. Not that Garfield ever thought that Kori asked Dick for his consent to do anything; Garfield thought that Kori would probably throw a starbolt at Dick before asking for his permission…

"Well, you know what. I'm happy for you." He forced a grin, "It's good, y'know? I mean all I've seen you do these past couple of weeks is just work, work and work. You need a lil' fun and I guess this is a good way to do it."

She released his hand and sighed in relief, "Oh, thank you, friend. And yes, you are right. It will be fun. I am in the mood for fun and nothing serious." She giggled.

"When's he taking you then?"

"Um…I think it will be the Saturday of the next…oh, it will be glorious…he is taking me to 'Matahari', you know that really expensive restaurant at the border of Jump?"

He nodded but then a thought suddenly occurred to him, "Kors…what if Dick comes bac—"

"I do not care. He can come back and I will welcome him but he himself told me that we are not in the status of the dating; he himself has told me that we are now two separate entities and the decision to become one again would not come about for a long, long time."

For a second time—well more than a second time actually—Garfield thought about who this mystery girl that Dick had been with was and it annoyed him that he couldn't figure it out because clearly Raven knew her. What was weird was that Raven knew her and didn't tell him who she was because, really, if someone cheated on your best friend and you knew who the 'other woman' was then wouldn't you tell your best friend who that person was so that she could take her revenge or whatever? It was weird…he figured that Raven either really liked and respected her as a person and didn't want to get her accused of anything or she despised her and didn't want to mention her because it would bring up bad feelings and whatnot.

It was really, really weird.

"Well, I guess it serves him right…but man, the 'Matahari'?" He asked, sincerely excited, "That's kinda awesome."

"I know…" She laughed again and gave him a hug, "I know."

From that moment they talked about who the guy was—some actor, apparently, by the name of Chace Crawford. The name sounded familiar but Garfield couldn't put his finger on it; he couldn't be that good if Garfield Logan aka movie buff extraordinaire, didn't know who this guy was—and what he was like and all that junk that girls usually said to each other. Raven wasn't here right now though so he thought that he made a pretty decent substitute. As Garfield listened to her—his chin leaning on the table lazily—gush about this Chace guy, the new clothes she had received from a designer , the mustard pie that she planned on baking tonight and other stuff he knew that he wouldn't be able to stand listening to if it were not for Kori speaking.

She was right, he realised, they were similar in a way that was different to the other Titans and it was not a bad thing, not a bad thing at all. They were both—he looked for the right word in his head—free-spirited unlike the other Titans who seemed to be tied down in chains. It had nothing to do with their pasts, Garfield mused to himself, it was more that they took everything as it came and though there were times that both of them pondered on what it would be like to not have any powers and not be…this, they concentrated more on the present and the future, keeping the past as something sacred and unchangeable. Of course they both wished that their pasts weren't so dark but both knew—and he knew that she knew—that it could not be changed, that it was not meaningless and whatever had happened—when it happened—there would always be a time when they had people that loved them, even if those people were now lost. Sometimes it made him sad though; he missed his mum and dad and he missed Rita, and maybe—well not really…well…yes he did but…AGGGGH! CONFUSING!—he missed Steve a little…a little mind you!

From all the events that had been occurring around the Tower…Garfield knew that this was a turning point for the Teen Titans. They were breaking apart and trying to do it in the nicest and easiest way possible. It was like they were trying to be indifferent to each other's feelings because they thought it would hurt less but in doing so each of them was hurting another member even more. It made sense—in the weird logical way that Raven was always so proud of—since they had lived with each other for such a long time. Seriously, think about it, if you were told that you suddenly had to stop living with these people—the same people you had been living with since your early teens!—and to stop connecting to each other on a daily basis, wouldn't you want to try to ease it a little? Both for you and the other person? It made sense, and he thought that he should propose this theory to Raven, if she had not already thought of it first.

Suddenly the kitchen door whooshed open and in came a grumpy looking Raven; her brows furrowed together so deeply that he wouldn't be surprised if there was a dent in between her brows, and she had a scowl on her face that made a wolf's snarl look nice. She was pissed, and he didn't know what she was so pissed about.

"Raven, are you OK?" Kori voiced his question before he could say it.

She growled but did not answer verbally and he didn't blame her; she stank. The scent she was emanating right now still had an undertone of cranberries but it was horribly distorted and it smelled like something rotten that had stayed under the sun for too long. It wasn't a nice smell at all and it was a pity, because a couple of moments ago she was happy…well…OK…maybe not happy…but she was close to it. Again, he wondered what Vic had told her that had made her so distressed and whether it should worry him too.

"Rae, seriously, you OK?"

Her gaze quickly switched to him as if she had just realised that he was still there in the kitchen, "It could be better and…" she shook her head and he smelled the frustration on her, "no, no, I'm not that great right now."

He gritted his teeth, not knowing what to say back to her.

"It cannot be that bad, friend, in addition to that your mood cannot be so foul that you are unable to remember your happiness just a few moments ago." Kori offered sympathetically.

Raven didn't say anything and merely glared at her best friend. Garfield felt his throat constrict as she caught the look that she sent Kori; it was menacing and foul and just…sad and frustrated.

Weird.

It was weird that she was visibly showing how much she felt because—though she had always said that she was now free from the grips of her father—Raven had always remained reserved and quiet and controlled when it came to her emotions. There were times when she would laugh out loud or when she would cry but never has she switched up emotions this quickly. Not that Garfield knew of, anyway.

He reached out for her hand, gripping at her fingers softly and occasionally interlocking hers with his own, "Hey, hey…Raven talk to me." He asked slowly, making sure that he didn't sound demanding.

She still didn't say a word, and Kori and Garfield exchanged a confused glance with each other, both not having a clue on what to do or what to say. Kori shook her head slowly and stood up before patting Raven gently on the shoulders. She gave him a concerned look and pursed her lips.

"I think that you will do a better job than I, Garfield." She sighed, "I will be going to friend Vic to see what has caused this distress."

He nodded in reply and watched her as she walked quietly out of the kitchen, her red hair swishing prettily even in the early morning. As soon as the Tamaranian was completely out of sight, he turned his attention to Raven once more to find that she had closed her eyes and started to breathe deeply; she was trying to calm herself down it seemed, but it didn't really look like it was working because she still looked grumpy and she still smelled quite bad.

"Raven…what's wrong?"

Her eyes flashed open and he was suddenly exposed to her bright, angry, violet eyes, "I…" she stopped to inhale deeply, "I shouldn't be so upset by this but…" The words trailed slowly away and she took a seat next to him, her fingers still interlocked with his.

"What's the 'this'? I mean, if I knew then maybe I could help…"

She shook her head and at that very moment she reminded him of a lone wolf pup that had been abandoned by its pack and if she really was a wolf right now, he knew that she would be whining in high pitched voices; intermingled with that atmosphere of pain and longing. There wasn't really that sense of longing, really, when he tried to figure out what she was feeling, but there was that sense of anger that a wolf would feel towards its pack for abandoning it. If only he could figure out why she was feeling this way, maybe then he could actually help out with whatever problem Vic had presented.

"Are you sick? I mean…if you were talking to Vic I'm guessin' it had somethin' to do with your medical records…" He guessed blindly, taking whatever came to his head at that moment.

"I'm not sick. No." The tone was flat, "No, I'm as healthy as I could be."

He shook his head in confusion, "Then what is it? I mean unless you took an interest in cars or whatever—"

"Don't be ridiculous, Garfield." Raven cut him off, frowning at him, "It has nothing to do with cars."

"Then baby doll if you don't tell me anything then I can't fix anything!" He stated, ignoring the fact that he knew he sounded so exasperated at that moment.

She snorted, "Did I ask you to fix anything, Garfield?" There was a moment's pause before she scowled at his confused face, "No, I did not."

"No need to be a bitch about it." He grumbled, "I was just trying to help."

"Great, calling me a bitch." Raven slipped her fingers out of his roughly, "Because that makes everything so much better."

"Well if you weren't so frickin' vague about everything!"

She flung her arms in the air, "Well I have to be vague about it," she pointed at him accusingly, "because I don't know if I should tell you or not!"

He stopped what he was going to say to her as she mentioned his involvement; now he was really curious on what his best friend and his girlfriend was talking about. OK, he was now a little more pissed rather than curious—really now! He had a frickin' cause! If only she wasn't so defensive about whatever she was on about—but still he was curious all the same. Was it bad? Was she cheating on him with Vic? He didn't believe it—not really—but with all this talk of cheating and relationships and drama, he was willing to say that it was possible.

"Are you cheating on me with Vic? Just tell me, I can take it." He seethed.

Raven's jaw dropped and her eyes went even crazier, "No you—agh!— I cannot even think up a word fitting enough for an idiot like you!" She huffed angrily, "Why in the world—in any dimension!—would I even consider Vic as more than a friend? There are a million words for 'fool' that I can put to you but," she sighed and he saw the heat leave her eyes slowly, "then I would have to magnify them by a thousand just to suit the likes of you!"

It took him a while to register what she was saying and he had to grin for that second there—it was funny how her calling him an idiot did that sometimes—before a frown promptly went back and slapped him on the face again. If she wasn't cheating on him then what was it? What could upset her so much that she was this grumpy and…emotional? And it involved him, as well.

He scratched his ears irritably and found himself trying to figure it out in his head while watching how her body language was working right now. She seemed tired all of a sudden with the bags under her eyes and the way her usually perfect posture was slouched in a C-curve. There was an edge in her eyes that worried him and her lips kept pursing and un-pursing as she watched him as intently as he watched her. There it was, he realised suddenly, there was what was bothering her, and in turn bothering him…

She coughed lightly, clearing her throat and sat silent for a couple of moments and he knew that she was trying to calm herself after the sudden outburst. Brushing her hair back from her face, she frowned a little but didn't smell as…agitated…as she had before.

Which was a total relief.

Finally, Garfield got the nerve to ask her straight up, "Raven, are you worried about me? Is there something I should worry about?" He cleared his own throat, "Is there something wrong with me?"

"Wrong is a…very subjective word." She shook her head, "I don't know what you will think in your perspective but…" she left the sentence to trail off by itself as she gazed at him sharply.

His grimace deepened, "But what? Am I gonna die or somethin'? Is that it?" He sucked in his breath nervously.

Her eyes widened frantically, "No, no…nothing like that. You are not going to die." Her head shook again, violet strands swaying from side to side, "Not on my watch, you're not." Her arms crossed defiantly over her chest to emphasise the fact.

"Oh. Well, I guess that's good but…really is there nothin' I should be worried about? I mean, if you're this pissed then I'm guessin' that it's somethin' big…"

"Nothing big, well, no…it is perspective dependent again and so I can't answer that but…" she paused for a moment to think, "we must have a talk soon…"

"Why can't we just talk here? Now?"

Another shake of the head, "No, not now. Later."

"Later? Why later?"

"Because you need to talk to Vic first…" she pursed her lips, "and then we'll talk."

There was a tone in her voice that told Garfield not to press on, even though he really, really wanted to. She just sounded like she had taken a bite of Brussels sprouts and realised that no matter how horrid it was, she had to take it in and eat it because it was good for her. He had an odd feeling that if she was told to swallow mud she would only look marginally better than how she did now. Well, yes, he was exaggerating but he still felt the same about it.

He moved closer towards her and stroked her hair back so that he could see her chakra flashing in brief, odd flashes that had no particular rhythm or pattern to it. Her skin was cold under his hand but it was the normal cold that he felt from her; with a hint of warmth and a cool sheen of sweat and so he wasn't too worried about her physical well-being. But there was just something behind her words, something that she wasn't telling him that worried Garfield. The 'not telling' bit didn't bother him too much because she did that a lot but the fact that she reacted this way seemed to emphasise that it was important and that she was confused on how important it was; important enough to tell him or not important enough to tell him. It was like a Catch-22, a bad one at that, and he wanted her to tell him what it was but figured that she wasn't comfortable enough to do so and so was sending him off to Vic.

He shook his head.

And the morning was going so well…

He nodded slowly, "I'll go talk to Vic later…when you're better."

"Better?" She asked sharply, "I don't need to get any better…I'm fine as I am, thank you very much." The sentence was much too scathing for Gar's own taste but he ignored it.

He grumbled before attempting a smile, "Fine. You're great." She rolled her eyes at him, knowing that he didn't believe her, "But I wanna make sure that you stay that way because I'm not in the mood of Lil' Miss Grumpy-Pants, OK?"

She cracked a smile, a small one, but it was still a smile, "Fine, Mr I'm-So-Happy-I-Should-Be-A-Walking-Advertisement-For-Anti-Depressents, I'll follow through." He watched carefully as she tried to stop herself from smiling but was glad that she failed, "As long as you promise me that you'll speak to Vic soon."

"I promise." He replied without any hesitation.

Like any other awkward ending to an argument, there was silence between them and all that Garfield could concentrate on was the sound of her deep breathing and the bad scent that was slowly drifting away from her normally delicious scent. He never really knew what to make of these arguments and what the conclusion actually meant for both of them but he thought that if they were able to work through petty spats and silly squabbles then they might actually be able to work through this relationship and last; he did not want to be like Dick and Kori who seemed to be constantly getting along and suddenly something triggers them to have some mahoosive fight that causes them to split up. He did not want to split up with Raven if he could help it, he loved her and in all sincerity, he knew that she loved him and so it made sense that he wanted to make them last, to be better than his two previous other relationships that just practically…bombed.

In a bad way.

Suddenly, his ears twitched as he saw her look at him in a peculiar way and he watched carefully as her lips moved silently as if on their own accord. Except her words weren't silent…they were almost silent for normal human ears but for his own…well…you could say that it sounded closer to a loud whisper. At first, he wasn't sure what she was saying as he was mesmerised by how her delicate lips moved as they spoke those silent words, but after a while, he kinda got it.

He grinned.

"I love you too baby doll," he chuckled while ruffling her hair, "I love you too."

A/N: MonkeeNoodles is listening to "Adelaide" by Anberlin.

Is obsessed.

*giggles maniacally*

Don't forget to review!

Hope you stay in tune for the next installment of...*dramatic drum roll*