Chapter 24 – Save It For a Rainy Day

October 22nd 2009, 4:32 pm

Raven had just picked her purse up and opened the door when she found Beast Boy with his fist raised, ready to knock.

"Hi!" he greeted her with a smile.

"Hey… What are you doing here?" she asked, confused "I thought you were going out Cyborg today"

"I was… But he cancelled on me because of the T-Car…" he answered, his ears lowering "Then I thought we could spend some time together"

"Sorry, I'm going to the coffee place" she informed, closing the door behind her "It's been a while since I went there"

"Oh…" Beast Boy's ears lowered even more. He did not like that place… He considered go play some video games, until he remembered Raven's vampire ex-boyfriend also attended to that coffeehouse.

"Raven!" he yelled, following her to the elevator.

"What is it?"

"Can I go with you?"

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November 4th 2009, 6:09 pm

"What is this about?" questioned Raven, sitting on the couch with her legs crossed.

"It's an awesome series about the guy who's chasing the 'man in black' in a post apocalyptic world!" told Beast Boy, sitting next to her with a popcorn bowl. "Sounds cool, huh?"

"… It does" replied the empath, trying her best not to sound sarcastic "Well, we agreed on an episode a week, right?"

"Yeah! 40 minutes, so you won't find as tiresome as a movie" he confirmed, talking with his mouth full.

"Yes, and you can read a short story, which is not as tiresome as a book" she complemented, making sure he would remember his part of the deal they made after a discussion they had about not having anything in common.

"OK" he muttered, his mouth already full of popcorn again "Can we see it?"

"Yeah, go ahead" she said, rolling her eyes.

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October 22nd 2009, 5:34 pm

"Dude… This sucks…" whined Beast Boy, almost sleeping.

"I told you not to come!" argued Raven, giving him an annoyed stare "I don't know what gave into you so you'd want to come…"

"I just wanted to do things you like and be near you" lied the changeling, looking at where Stan was sitting with the corner of the eye.

"Right…" she muttered, sipping her tea "Be quiet now, I really like this girl's poems…"

Beast Boy rolled his eyes and ate a piece of the pie he ordered. At least this was good. He just couldn't understand how Raven appreciated these people reciting weird poems that didn't even rhyme.

"Boring…" he said quietly when the girl finished. Raven turned to him, seeming angry.

"It's easy for you to criticize from there" she replied with a contempt look "Getting up there and declaim takes a lot from these people, did you know that?"

"It takes me a lot to get up and sing at the karaoke!" he argued, offended.

"Please! When you sing at the karaoke you don't show anything from yourself other than the voice" she stated "In here, you write yourself, it comes from inside"

"So what, did it ever occur to you that I might pick a song to which I identify?" he asked, sitting straight "Besides, I can totally write some poem and recite if I want to!"

"Do you really?" she found this extremely fun "Then go there!"

"You say this, but you don't get up anywhere, huh?" he accused her, and she turned red "So how about this: I compromise to write a poem and come to recite it if you sing at the karaoke!"

Raven bit her lip, thinking. It would be so funny to see Beast Boy in that position, but on the other hand, she would have to do what she hated most: expose herself. But she couldn't use this argument, since she had just said that at the karaoke you didn't really expose yourself.

"You have to be completely on character!" she determined.

"Fine! I'll choose the song you'll sing!" he extended his right hand to her. She looked at it for a few seconds then took it in her own.

"Deal"

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"Hey BB, do you wanna…?" started Cyborg, entering the common room and speaking loudly, until a band of black aura covered his mouth. He looked around, confused, and found Raven's reproaching look.

"Shh!" she ordered, putting her index finger on her lips. Cyborg nodded and the band was gone. The cybernetic man followed her look and saw something that almost made him reset:

Beast Boy, sitting on the corner of the couch, his legs folded till his chin and the nose stick inside a book. A book!

Suddenly, he closed the book and looked at Raven with a surprised expression.

"Duuude!" he exclaimed, his eyes wide open. The empath smiled and approached him.

"Right?" she asked, talking about something Cyborg didn't know, probably about the book.

"It was awesome, I would never imagine he was the assassin!" he said, leaning in excitement "And that time when the detective holds him against the wall and take the poker to defend himself…"

The changeling started to fight with an imaginary sword, dancing in the middle of the room.

"I'm glad you liked it" declared Raven, and she did seem pretty satisfied "What did you think when…"

Cyborg decided to exit the room. Since these two started to date, things were getting way too weird for his taste…

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November 11th 2009, 5:23 pm

"Why are you guys here again?"

Raven was sitting at her usual table at the coffeehouse she liked, with a white mug in her hands and surrounded by her friends. Their colorful clothes and happy mood were calling everybody's attention.

"Look at Raven, wanting all the fun for herself!" exclaimed Cyborg, with his arm ready to film everything when Beast Boy went up the stage.

"This is going to be hilarious" commented Robin, with an arm around Starfire, who also seemed anxious.

"I really want to see what kind of things friend Beast Boy wrote" she said, drinking a glass of orange juice, since they didn't have mustard for her "He spent day in his room doing this!"

"Yeah, it'll be interesting…" Terra complemented, a mocking smile on her face.

"Shh, it's starting! Everybody shut up!'

Silence fell in the room, and a young man got up the little stage at the corner. He wore pants, a black hoodie and a black cap covering his head. They could only see his green pale face, which had an anguish expression.

"Man…" muttered Cyborg "Did BB put on eyeliner?"

Raven was in shock. She was sure Beast Boy would show up in his regular clothes and had the hope that she could use this as the argument for him not being completely on character to get rid of singing at the karaoke. The man started to declaim a text about instability and that compared emotions to different kind of animals.

Silence fell again to the changeling's last words. He came down from the stage and joined his friends, taking off his cap and being teased by Robin, Cyborg and Terra. Starfire congratulated him once the laughs stopped.

"So? Was that on character enough for you?" he asked, putting his arm around his girlfriend's shoulders. Raven sighed.

"Yes. It was good, I have to admit it" she said, with a miserable expression.

"Cool!" he yelled, raising his arms "You know what that means, Cy?"

"Sure! My camera will be ready for our next night at the karaoke!"

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January 7th 2010, 8:13 pm

Beast Boy noticed the popcorn was over and continued to drink his extra big soda. Next to him, Raven held a cup of ice tea on her hands, but didn't drink it for some time already. He looked to check if she was still awake. She was awake and her eyes never left the screen. The Tower was empty. Starfire and Robin had gone out, Cyborg went to see Sarah and he hadn't heard from Terra.

He looked right into Raven's pretty face, her delicate features, her lips parted… Then he slid his arm behind her shoulders and kissed her lightly on her neck. She turned, gave him a faint smile and looked back to the TV. He felt encouraged and snuggled next to her, kissing her shoulder and going up until her ear.

Then he was lightly pushed away, the empath still with her eyes on the TV. He sighed, a little frustrated, and turned his attention back to the episode.

The gunslinger continued his way through the desert after the cross fire from which he came out safe. When the man in black was sighted, a dramatic music started to play and the credits started to rise.

'About time' he thought, opening a smile. It was about now that Raven cuddle with him and they could have some alone time…

However, turning to his girlfriend, he found her with a disappointed expression.

"Raven? Is there a problem?"

"Hmm, no" she answered, diverting her look "It's pretty early, isn't it? Why don't we… see another one?"

Beast Boy forgot his second intentions for a minute, sat straight on the couch and stared at the empath, who was trying to maintain a casual expression.

"I thought more than 40 minutes was too much TV time to you" he commented, holding his laugh.

"Well, I… It's just that this last episode ended a little abruptly, and I'd like to feel like it had really ended" she tried to explain.

"You like TV!" he yelled, with a smile of triumph "You like TV, you like TV…"

"Whatever, I like this specific series" she admitted annoyed "Now, can we see the next one?"

"We can't, sorry" he informed, finishing his soda "The next one will be aired only next week"

"No!" All the DVDs jumped from their shelf and were spread on the room.

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November 29th 2009, 9:19 pm

"I don't see why I have to do this" complained Raven with her arms crossed.

"Come on, Rae, we came on Monday, the emptiest day of the week!" argued Beast Boy "You wouldn't want to sing on Friday or Saturday…"

"I still…" she started, but Beast Boy interrupted her, touching his nose on hers.

"We had a deal" he said simply. She snorted.

"What song did you choose?" she asked, fearful.

"Don't worry, it's a really easy, quick song" he assured her with a smile "I wanted to show it to you for some time…"

"Really?"

"Really. I'll sing with you. I'll be your background voice" he told her like it was some big deal. Raven let a small smile escape, shaking her head. She should know he wouldn't abadon her in this situation.

"It's your turn, Raven…" teased Cyborg, with his arm camera ready just like it was at the coffeehouse.

"Let's get this over with" she determined, picking her boyfriend's hand and going up the stage.

They sang 'Save it for a rainy day', with Beast Boy singing 'so sad…' on the background while he did stupid poses, which let Raven feeling more comfortable, after all, she couldn't look so stupid next to that.

"Yes! Thanks, Rae!" yelled Beast Boy, excited as they leave the stage "Remember this day when you're sad"

"Whatever…" she mumbled, trying to look indifferent, although her still reddish face gave her away. Then Beast Boy hugged her and she said, quietly as only he could hear it: "Thank you"

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Terra decided to enter the game and got herself a boyfriend too. She made sure to display him everywhere and kiss him without inhibitions whenever they were near Beast Boy and Raven. In fact, she took him to the karaoke the night she knew the empath would sing. She knew that Beast Boy would realize how ridiculous this was and that he couldn't keep dating her, not even just for fun, when she wasn't able to loosen herself on stage next to him.

To her surprise, however, she noticed Beast Boy barely looked at her, and was completely indifferent to her new relationship. He even asked Dean to sing with him when Cyborg and Robin refused later that night.

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January 31st 2010, 6:10 am

"Beast Boy? Are you okay?"

The changeling turned to the voice with a smile. It was a cold and dim morning, and they were once more walking on a street surrounded by trees with golden leaves, he being dragged by three dogs and she walking calmly with her well behaved Bubbles. They've been doing this every Saturday morning for some months now.

"You're not talking much" she repeated, a little worried.

"I was just thinking… You know, I think I've never been this happy"

Raven's look got softer and she gave him a warm smile. Those were only for him. The dogs got quiet for a minute and he approached her, leaning his forehead against hers.

"I love you" he said, staring into her violet eyes. The empath breathed and the dogs barked at some leaves that started to move with no wind to push them. Raven noticed that, but before she could say anything, her boyfriend gently put his finger on her lips.

"You don't have to say anything right now" he assured her, kissed her and walked away, taking the dogs.

Raven sighed and kneeled next to Bubbles, petting her head. Indeed, she had never been so happy before.

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Hey everyone, thank you so much for the reviews so far! I just want to tell you that we'll have a couple more chapters like this one, because I want to explore our dear couple's relationship development, ok?

Another thing: The TV series I refer to in this chapter is an imaginary one, I invented it because by the time I wrote it, I really wanted to see a television series inspired by the series of books The Dark Tower, by Stephen King. That was like two years ago. Fortunately, now there is at least a movie of it!

Answering some of the guest reviews from last chapter:

Vin: I totally agree that Terra is competitive because she's insecure and not confident... She's just like a kid who's left a toy but wants it back the minute another kid grabs it... But to be fair: I also would be a little annoyed if my ex ended up dating someone whom I was jealous of while in the relationship. About the sex slave, I think it could happen with BB's and Raven's darkest parts of themselves... But that's way too dark for me.

TheAlienHeart of darkness: I know! We really just want to watch the world burn!

Guest: :Thanks for reading and for the review!

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