Oooh, Teen Titans. Dem rights, doe... I don't got 'em.

The triumphant smirk that found its way onto Raven's face disappeared immediately when the half-robot across the room cleared his throat to announce his presence. She turned around swiftly, taking in his knowing grin and nonchalant demeanor.

"Well, that was cute."

Her eyes narrowed instantly at his choice of words.

"I do hope you aren't referring to me, Cyborg," she deadpanned, before a coy smile flitted against her lips. "Or Beast Boy..."

The robotic titan rolled his eye in amusement as he sauntered towards the kitchen. "Nah, BB's not really my type," he replied, giving her a pointed look. "Though it seems somebody I know might feel differently about him."

Raven tilted her head in mock-confusion. "Robin? Oh dear, this is going to be hard to explain to Starfire."

Cyborg let out a hearty laugh, obviously not expecting her response, and allowing Raven a small opportunity to escape back to her room.

"Hold up, Rae."

But she obviously wasn't quick enough.

She turned around slowly, giving him her most convincing look of boredom. She was suddenly cursing herself for forgoing her cloak as her hand absently reached for her hood.

"I'm sorry, I had assumed our conversation was over," she replied dryly.

He shook his head confidently, and she felt her skin crawl as he again directed a knowing look at her.

"You know BB knows how to hide things, right?"

His statement confused her - she figured Beast Boy had some deep-rooted instincts to borrow and bury objects, but she hadn't realized they were surfacing. She idly wondered if that's why all their socks had been disappearing.

Cyborg must have mistook her silence for surprise as a wicked grin split his face in two.

"He's just hiding it, Rae."

Raven was now thoroughly flabbergasted - what was Beast Boy hiding? If it was another one of her spell books -

"He likes you, but he's suppressing it."

She felt her heart stop momentarily as she soaked in his words. Never had she felt so stupid - of course Cyborg was talking about the changeling's emotions. He doesn't even wear socks.

"He is, hmm?" She couldn't stop the amused smirk from creeping onto her face; did Cyborg really believe she hadn't thought of that herself? Or thoroughly dismissed it when she realized that - though he wasn't as dumb as he looked - Beast Boy wasn't capable of outsmarting her like that?

It was insulting, really.

The half-robot apparently failed to pick up on the sarcasm in her voice as he nodded animatedly, obviously pleased with himself.

"Yep - Mento taught him how to block out any unwanted visitors in his mind."

Raven arched her brow curiously at this new development. Though she didn't believe what her teammate said to be true, it was interesting to hear that the green teen had been previously trained on evading any attempts from psychics - and, apparently, empaths.

"That is a very interesting theory, Cyborg," she began slowly, trying not to sound too condescending; after all, this was her area of expertise. "But I think you are overlooking the fact that I am a very powerful empath - and hiding your thoughts is much easier to do than hiding your emotions."

Again, her teammate looked unimpressed with her unwavering logic. "If he doesn't know it's there, then you won't know it's there."

Honestly, his persistence of the matter was getting rather irritating. Raven suppressed a growl as she glared at her older brother.

"Then, do tell, how you know it's there."

She cringed internally at the hostility in her voice, but luckily her robotic teammate was used to her mood swings.

"I know everything," he said simply, only a hint of a grin tugging at his lips.

Raven rolled her eyes in exasperation, suddenly feeling the impending need to meditate. Or blow off some steam by blowing up the training course. Or the T-car.

"I can't seem to stress this enough," she started slowly, her teeth clenched in frustration. "I do not feel that way about Beast Boy. Period. Nor does he feel that way about me. Period."

Cyborg opened his mouth to protest, but she silenced him with a challenging glare.

"And as Beast Boy's self-proclaimed 'best friend', I find it odd that you would share this information with me in the first place. I had always assumed that matters of the heart were kept secret, especially when dealing with unrequited love..." She let her words trail off lazily, the stricken look on his face all the confirmation she needed to know she had said the right thing. Cyborg wasn't often the one to blab secrets (honestly, that was more Starfire's forte), and his reveal of Beast Boy's crush on her (despite his lack of evidence, coupled with her knowledge that it was untrue) was a form of betrayal on his part, that he undoubtedly committed.

"B-but I was only - "

"Everyone makes mistakes, Cyborg," she interrupted curtly. She began to leave the room, giving him one last look over her shoulder as the common room doors slid shut.

She was fairly certain the look on his face was defeat, and she couldn't help but smile.

Her secret was safe - at least, for now.

Raven opened her eyes slowly, blinking at the darkness that surrounded her. She usually liked to meditate with a candle or two, but it seemed as though they had gone out. Which was incredibly strange.

She landed gracefully on her bed, a strange feeling of apprehension seeping into her bones. Her meditation had gone well, and she had been able to sort through some of her more troubling emotions, but she wasn't feeling her usual sense of calm. Something was gnawing at her, and she felt a foreign, antsy feeling.

Raven never felt antsy.

The sudden knock on her door made her heart rate spike and a random object in her room implode, though it was still too dark to see what it was. She jumped to her feet quickly, turning her overhead light on with the flick of her wrist as she reached her door.

It slid open almost soundlessly, revealing the nervous expression of her alien teammate.

Raven breathed a sigh of relief - she was just picking up on Starfire's feelings. It happened rarely, but she'd find herself randomly anticipating a Friday night, only to find out that Robin had planned a date with the redhead. Or she'd feel a growing sense of despair, and later hear the hushed voices of the two arguing.

Starfire had no reservations when it came to her feelings, and Raven really envied that - when she wasn't being subjected to them.

"Starfire?"

The alien only responded with a sad look, which told Raven that the impending feat of girl-talk was well on its way. She sighed warily, motioning for her teammate to come in.

Starfire complied immediately, dragging her feet towards the empath's bed. It was a bad sign when the alien wasn't flying.

"I fear that Robin and I are doing the drifting of the part," she muttered tiredly, before face-planting onto Raven's dark blue comforter.

The pale girl let out another sigh as she closed her door and followed suit, only to flop down onto her back beside her teammate.

"What happened this time?" It was a draining routine that the two female titans would follow at least once or twice a month. Despite the boy wonder's ever-growing soft-spot for the beautiful alien, his own deep-rooted reservations of getting too close would cause him to pull away, which Starfire didn't take too kindly to.

And regardless of the seemingly mundane task of comforting the orange girl, Raven found herself burdened with the forbidden feeling of hope that maybe, one day, she would be the one venting to Starfire about a certain green changeling.

But now was not the time for fantasies - she needed to be a good best friend and listen.

It was the same story Starfire told every time they were lying on Raven's bed.

She'd tell Robin that he's over-working himself.

He'd say it's his job.

She'd tell him it was affecting their relationship.

He'd say the city had to come first.

She'd cry.

He'd tell her that she knew what she was getting into.

She'd cry more.

He'd feel bad, but only show indifference.

Then she'd end up in the empath's room, still crying, while Raven wondered idly if she could heal Robin's fingers if she snapped his laptop closed on them.

But whenever she voiced aloud those thoughts, Starfire would only sigh wistfully, and say that she didn't wish any physical harm on her boyfriend.

So they usually just put itching powder in his hair-gel.

Was it immature? Maybe; but hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. And that woman usually had friends to back her up.

Starfire giggled as Raven suggested mixing in some hair-removal cream as well.

"Though it would be a sufficient way for us to enact the revenge, I prefer my boyfriend with the hair."

"Cyborg seems to rock the 'bald is beautiful' look," Raven pointed out in jest.

The orange girl only giggled again, the tears running down her cheeks long forgotten.

"Yes, well, despite Cyborg's beauty, I am quite particular to Robin's hair - that is, when it isn't drenched in the gel."

Raven shrugged indifferently from beside the alien. Even though she felt a powerful feeling of envy towards the beautiful girl, she also felt a strong sense of friendship. And her friendship with Starfire was something she held close to her heart, despite her seemingly indifferent attitude.

Glancing at the clock beside her bed, Raven realized that they had spent the good part of an hour lounging around on her bed, meaning Robin's grand gesture for forgiveness was due at any moment.

"Well, the boy blunder is bound to be showing up at your door any minute now," Raven mused contently as her teammate sat up.

"Oh, you are correct! I must be off!" Starfire cried, before pulling Raven on her feet and into a bone-crushing hug. "My gratitude is unwavering for you, friend!"

Raven merely went limp in the alien's arms, since struggling often resulted in bruised tissue and hairline fractures. "A-anytime, S-Star," she managed weakly.

Starfire set her down gently, and with her usual, cheerful smile, she flew out of Raven's room and towards her own.

The empath watched with a small smirk as the door hissed shut, leaving her alone in her room.

She remained standing beside her bed for a moment longer, before deciding to figure out what she had managed to break. Walking towards her vanity, she realized bitterly that it had been none other than the ruby-red lipstick the alien had gifted to her.

The silver container was nothing more than scraps of plastic, while the lipstick itself was reduced to small chunks.

She heaved a mournful sigh as she scooped up the mess with her powers and deposited it in the small trash under her desk.

"So much for getting Beast Boy's attention," she mumbled to herself, before another round of knocking on her door caused her to almost blow up the trash bin.

Raven felt a small pull on her heart, wondering if Robin had failed to show up, and Starfire was here to cry some more. Not even bothering to reach out with her powers, she swiftly made her way to the door and opened it...

...Only to be greeted by the sheepish smile of her green teammate.

"Hey, Rae," he grinned, rubbing his arm nervously.

She merely arched a brow to disguise her pleasant surprise.

"Beast Boy," she responded as usual, relishing in the way he rolled his eyes in mock-frustration.

"Must you always greet me in such a clinical way?" he whined playfully.

She narrowed her eyes good-naturedly. "Hello, Beast Boy," she amended sarcastically.

He flashed her a triumphant grin. "Thank you - that's much better."

She rolled her eyes fondly at how simple it was to please him. "I trust there is a point to this visit?"

The changeling shook his head in amusement. "Wow, I can't even stop by to say hello, huh?" he mused, again gracing her with his signature, toothy smile.

She held back a delighted grin of her own, immensely pleased that the earlier awkwardness of the conversation wasn't seeping through into this one.

"Wait," she deadpanned, earning a curious look from her teammate. "Don't tell me... is dinner ready?"

His smile morphed into an unimpressed frown, though the mirth remained in his eyes.

"You're not supposed to know that, Rae. I make a point of telling you that everyday for a reason. Because you're not supposed to know!"

She rolled her eyes at his dramatics as she made her way down the hall. She knew he did make a point to tell her - but she knew he wasn't telling her the real reason.

Suddenly, that gnawing feeling she felt in her stomach earlier returned, only she recognized it as her own. And though she told herself not to, she couldn't help but wonder if what Cyborg had been saying earlier was, in fact, true.

Another chapter!

So I am obviously making most of the focus on BB's and Rae's relationship, but I decided to add in a little more dynamic with the other titans. This story has been severely lacking any interaction with Starfire and Robin, so I'm attempting to fix that. Though this particular chapter didn't have much Robin, I am planning on expanding his friendships with the two further, though I may focus more on his and BB's, since I haven't really done that.

Anywhoo, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Leave a review?