Author's Note: I'm sorry, you guys. Last week was weird. I came down with a pretty serious cold (I'm fine now, no need to worry), and as many may know, migraines aren't exactly helpful when it comes to stimulating creative thinking. I'm kind of happy about how this chapter turned out, though; there's a little bit of fluff, a little bit of humor, and a little bit of drama. I do hope I struck a good balance. Anyway, enough about me, onto the story!

Disclaimer: Hm...Nope. I can't find my name anywhere on the Teen Titans. Pity.

Chapter Four

Realizations

Raven was the first to awaken the next morning, as she often was. Immediately, three things were brought to her sleeping mind's attention. The first was that she was still tired. Understandable, given how late, or rather how early, she'd gone to sleep that morning. She'd only gotten a few hours of sleep so far, courtesy of her internal clock and old sleeping habits.

The second, more surprising and lacking the quick reason of the first, was that she was comfortable. Not just the sort of reasonable comfort born of a nice nap, though. Rather, she was surprised to find that she was completely lacking the ball of dread that tended to grow in her stomach while she slept; the product of nightmares and trace remnants of her father's influence. Indeed, despite her drowsiness due to so few hours of sleep, she felt quite refreshed and, dare she admit it, happy.

The third thing she noticed was relevant to the second. She could remember no nightmares. Due to the higher levels of thinking she was trained to unlock for the use of magic and her empathetic abilities, she always remembered her own dreams. For so many years, that had simply meant that she was cursed with remembering in vivid detail every moment of her nightmares. Today, however, she wasn't haunted by knowledge of her sleep. She'd slept without dreaming, something she had no memory of doing in years.

She could not, for all her thinking, find a reason for these two things. In her still groggy state, however, the details of the night before were somewhat foggy in her memory. Had she tried a new potion, perhaps? Opening her eyes slightly, she was half determined to find the source of her comfort and replicate it, though the other half knew the first thing she was going to do was go right back to sleep in a minute or two.

To say she was surprised when she was met with a face not but a foot from her own would be a gross understatement. Her eyes snapped open fully and she raised her head slightly, ready to blast the boy out of her bed; no, her room. What was Beast Boydoing in her room, let alone her bed?! However, the laziness that comes of having too few hours of sleep and a really comfortable mattress got to the empath, and she laid her head back down. Closing her eyes yet again and riding the drunken stupor of the morning's pleasant discoveries, she drifted back to sleep.

Besides, it wasn't as though anyone were there to notice the way she curled up slightly, and perhaps inched a little closer to the source of warmth already well within arm's reach. It certainly wasn't her fault if, in her sleep, a hand came to rest upon the changeling's grey gloved appendage.

Later, she would question the implications behind her decisions; but right now she was content.

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Robin looked at the clock. It was almost three in the afternoon, and only three members of his team were present in the common room. Raven's absence wasn't totally strange; she sometimes got up before even he did, only to make some tea and retreat back to her room for the day. Beast Boy, however, normally would've been up by now, out in the common room and scrounging up some breakfast. His attention returned to the controller in his hand and the screen on which he was currently battling Cyborg in a racing game.

"Hey, Cy. Have you seen Beast Boy today?"

"Nope, haven't seen him; that's weird. Even he's normally up by now."

"Loser has to go drag him out of bed?"

"You got yourself a deal, bird boy."

The match was close, but eventually Robin was crowned the king of the track; at least, until the next round. Grumbling something about unfair advantages because of slim fingers, Cyborg got up and made his way out of the common room. Not really being a fan of singe-player games, Robin got up and decided to see what otherworldly concoction Starfire was stirring to life in the kitchen this time.

"Hey, Star. What's cooking?"

"Today I am making a traditional Tamaranean dessert!"

"Isn't it a little…Early for dessert, Starfire?"

"Normally, yes; but this dish requires many hours to set after the preparing has been done. It is comprised of-"

"He's not in his room."

Cyborg came back into the common room, looking slightly worried. Were it any other day, he wouldn't have been surprised that to find Beast Boy out of the Tower; but after yesterday's events today wasn't any other day, and even Beast Boy was responsible enough to tell someone when he was going out. Cyborg was already moving towards the controls for the main computers.

"I'm gonna check the hallway security cameras. Maybe we can see where he went, and when."

After about a minute of tapping away, Cyborg had the security cameras old videos on screen. At around one in the morning, Beast Boy could be seen leaving his room. After taking a lap around the residential level, stopping for a moment at everyone's door, he stopped in front of Raven's door. The video showed, for nearly three full minutes, nothing happening. The changeling's fist was raised as if to knock, but he never did. All of a sudden, the door opened and he was practically yanked inside before the door slid shut.

"Well that was weird. What the heck would he be doing in Raven's room?" A quick fast-forwarding of the video up to the present confirmed that her door had yet to be opened again.

"No sign of Raven this morning, either. You don't think he would've hurt her, do you? Or tried to?"

"I don't know, but I intend to find out. Cyborg, Starfire, let's go."

With that, the three of them found themselves outside of Raven's room. A cursory knock gained no results, even after a full minute. Cyborg banged on the door, once, twice, then a third time. The three were growing increasingly worried, now. They didn't really think that Beast Boy would hurt Raven, or could for that matter, but there were strange things happening, and what they knew may not be applicable anymore. Not wanting to wait anymore, Cyborg punched the emergency over-ride code into the door panel, and it slid open noiselessly. Their jaws also dropped rather noiselessly.

"Oh…"

"My…"

"X'hal!"

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The sound of banging on the door was what originally woke Beast Boy. Unconsciously, his hand tightened its grip on the soft object he was clutching. The pressure on her own hand was what woke up Raven from her peaceful sleep. The pair's eyes opened at just about the same time. Best Boy looked like a deer caught in the headlights, his eyes trailing from Raven's down her arm to where their hands were linked.

Raven, slightly less shocked due to her temporary awakening earlier allowing her awareness of the situation beforehand, looked down at their hands as well. That was surprising. She was about to push him out of her bed, if only to regain some sense of normalcy in the morning, before the unthinkable happened; the door slid open with a hiss. As though knowing they were about to look death in the face, the two on the bed turned their heads to stare at the open door and, more importantly, the three standing in it.

"Y-you know, there's a p-perfectly good explanation for this…" The changeling was doing a fairly good job of keeping the stammer out of his voice, though he slipped up once or twice.

"Beast Boy and I were…Reading."

Even as Raven said it, despite it being the truth, she knew how much like an excuse it sounded. She didn't need to be an empath to know they didn't believe a word of it; hell, she didn't even need to look at them. Beast Boy and reading didn't belong in the same sentence most of the time, let alone accusing him of doing it. Besides, the pair had very clearly been asleep and holding hands when they were caught.

She reached out blindly for one of the books that should've been strewn about the bed. That would show them! Except…There were none there. Glancing around her room, she saw the new row of books on her shelves and sigh, silently cursing herself. Of all the times to subconsciously tidy up while she was sleeping, it had to be the one time when a mess would've saved her reputation.

"Oh, yeah; I believe y'all. Guys, they were just reading." Cyborg barely kept his voice straight and he let the moment hang for a bit. Robin was staring at him just as incredulously as he had been at the other two, and Starfire merely looked confused, as though he could tell there were something more but wasn't sure where he was going with it. "Yeah, Rob. They were reading; if Braille was made to be read with the tongue. So, guys. Was it a good 'reading' session?"

Robin's eyes widened even further, and Raven had gone quickly from nodding to coughing violently. Neither Beast Boy nor Starfire got the joke immediately.

"But, dude, I thought Braille was for blind people. Y'know, with all the little- Oh, you're sick."

"Robin, I do not understand. What does the Braille have to do with tongues?"

"Star, I'll…I'll explain it later. Guys, get up. You've been sleeping long enough. Cyborg, let's go."

Robin was running on autopilot and his brain seemed to have slipped into leader mode. Apparently, the sight of the two was a bit much for his head, so he was just acting like it hadn't happened. He hadn't just seen them sharing a bed, still asleep at three in the afternoon, which meant they'd stayed up late last- He shut that train of thought right the hell down, then tied it off with warning tape and danger signs. Just to be safe, he chucked it into the back of his skull, where he kept the vault holding his most traumatic memories.

Starfire sighed. Really, all the little Earthling customs were so strange. Not only did they have many different languages, but the languages themselves were so complex. Idioms and expressions and references to this, that, and the other twenty year old obscurities. If she were a less patient person, she would've given up a really long time ago. Giving Beast Boy and Raven a bright smile and happy nod- obviously misunderstanding the situation- she floated off to find Robin.

Cyborg, however, was taking this all in much better stride than the others. Granted, he didn't really think that there was anything going on between the two; but it made for some monumental teasing and a blackmail goldmine to boot. After making sure to get a few more pictures with his cybernetic eye, he sent a sly smirk in the two's direction. "Don't y'all be getting too frisky now, y'hear?" Laughing, the half metal titan practically sauntered off.

"We're dead, aren't we?"

"I don't think it's that bad, Beast Boy. We just have to-"

"They're never gonna let us forget this. We'll be teased until we shrivel up and die."

"…You're probably right."

The two sighed, practically in unison. They were sitting up, now, their hands having retracted from each other sometime during the fiasco. Green eyes met violet, illuminated only by the light through the open door. They both sighed again. In that moment, they'd come to an unspoken conclusion; they'd have to avoid each other for a few days. At least until the sure to be infamous incident was at least pushed to the back of everyone's minds. Suddenly, the changeling threw up his arms and fell back onto the mattress, sighing contentedly. His eyes closed a moment later.

"Beast Boy, what're you doing?"

"Huh? I'm about to go back to sleep, obviously."

"You're still in my bed."

"Yeah, so? You have a really comfy mattress, Raven."

"Beast Boy, get out of my bed."

"But Raaaaaaaaaaaaveeeeeeeeen…"

"Out."

"Aww, man!"

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Beast Boy paused the game, sighed, and turned off the console. Single player games were fine sometimes, but it really wasn't even the games he liked. It was the fact that he got to spend time with his friends playing them. Unfortunately, Cyborg was out in the city shopping for parts. Starfire and Robin were out on a date, or as Robin liked to call it, a 'joint patrol mission'. Really, who did they think they were fooling? It was better than being one of those couples that were hanging on each other every minute of the day being sickeningly sweet he guessed, but still. Raven was somewhere in the Tower, probably her room, doing whatever it was she did during the day.

Getting up, he made his way into the hallway and off in the direction of his room. Lo and behold, who should he see but Raven; except, that wasn't her bedroom she was coming out of. That was the bathroom. The empath paused, staring at him with wide eyes. Naturally, she was wrapped up in a towel, but being the hormone ridden male he was, anything less than her usual cloak and leotard was sure to bring notice. Silently, he cursed the Towers floor plan; there was a bathroom at the each end of the hallway, but they were each currently blocking the path to each other's rooms.

"Uhh…Hey, Raven. I thought you normally, uh, teleported to your room, or something."

"I thought everyone was gone. You didn't go into the city?"

"Nah. I thought about it, but there wasn't really anything to do. I stayed here."

They both started walking again at the same time, each determined to make nothing of the unexpected meeting. It wasn't as though these things hadn't happened before; with five teenagers living together, it was inevitable every now and again. Besides, he was Beast Boy! He had years of experience holding down his natural instincts. What he didn't account for was the twisting in those very instincts over the course of the last week. As the two passed each other, a scent caught his nose and something in him cracked. He stopped walking.

"Was there something else you needed, Beast Boy?"

"Huh?"

"You're holding my wrist. Kindly tightly. Would you let go?"

"Are you using a new shampoo, or something?"

Raven paused. She'd opened her mouth to answer, but then realized how strange the question was and stopped. Turning to look at her friend, she stopped in her tracks. He was staring at her, but there was a far-away look in his eyes. With strength and she didn't know he had, the changeling spun her around to face him fully. Looking into his eyes proved to be a mistake; thin vertical slits stared back at her.

She didn't even realize she'd been pushed up against the wall, at first. She could feel his hands pinning her arms against the wall, feel him squeezing to the point that she noticed the tips of his claws even hidden as they were inside of his gloves. His face was naught but a couple inches from her own, and she felt her concentration slip. He was sniffing the air experimentally, moving from her cheek to her jaw, then down the side of her neck to her shoulder.

The feeling of his mouth closing over the skin of her shoulder sent involuntary shivers down her spine. She should've been pushing him away, and deep down she knew that, but somewhere between her logical mind and action hormones decided to have their way with her decision making processes. When his teeth started pressing harder she winced, but the discomfort helped her clear her thoughts a bit. It wasn't, however, until there was a sudden release of pressure and a flood of pain that logic took over.

Her knee drove straight into his groin and he stumbled backwards, as was the natural reaction for any man to be struck in such a sensitive area. When he looked back up at her, recognition had flood his features, his pupils returning quickly to their normal, circular state.

"Ow, Raven! What the hell was…Raven?"

Seeing her state stopped him dead. There was a bloody mess on her shoulder where it looked like someone had taken a chunk out of her with their teeth. He could feel the ball of dread growing in his stomach, probably born of the blood and flesh of his friend now churning there. His hand flew to his mouth, and came back with smeared blood on it.

"Oh god, Raven, I didn't- I swear I wasn't- I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!"

Before she could bother to format a response, his stomach lurched, hard, and his hand went flying to cover his mouth again. Shaking his head furiously, he fled from her, vanishing into his room in a flurry of activity. Left alone in the hallway, Raven planted a hand on her wounded shoulder, trying to start the healing process while she leaned back against the wall. Releasing a heavy breath she didn't realize she'd been holding, she slid down the wall until she was in a sitting position, her current state of dress, or more specifically lack thereof, completely forgotten for the moment. In fact, there was only room for one thought in her brain at the moment.

She knew it was wrong, so why had it felt so…Right?