I sincerely hope that my denial of owning the Teen Titans has been made clear.

Raven could feel Starfire's excitement and anxiety approaching before the alien had even knocked on her door. Exhaling slowly through her nose, the empath used her powers to slide the door open, revealing the floating redhead.

"You have requested my presence?"

Raven nodded stoically as she motioned for her friend to join her on her bed.

With a brilliant smile, Starfire swiftly made her way into the pale girl's room, before plopping unceremoniously onto the bed. Raven released her hold on the door, and let out another sigh as it hissed closed.

She could feel Starfire's gaze probing into the side of her head as she re-positioned herself to face her teammate. Keeping her eyes glued to her hands, Raven tried to bring up the topic delicately - after all, once the alien learned that this was indeed girl-talk, about boys and crushes no less, she was bound to defy gravity and hit the ceiling.

"Starfire," she began slowly, keeping her voice level and her expression blank, "we... we are friends, right?"

She glanced up quickly, only to see a look of outrage adorning the alien's usual pretty features.

"Raven!" she gasped, undoubtedly appalled by the pale girl's question. "Is it even necessary to ask such a foolish question? Why, infants on my planet are able to identify the characteristics of true friendship, and yet you felt compelled to ask such a thing?!"

Raven opened her mouth to elaborate, but it seemed Starfire was on a roll.

"I have never heard such idiocy come from your mouth! Are you truly an empath? For one would think you could do the sensing of my feelings towards you, and know that we are, how you say, the BFFs!"

Again, Raven tried to speak, but the redhead wasn't finished.

"We have been through the thickness and the thin, and yet you do not know the stance of our relationship? I consider you more than a friend, for you are now a sister to me, Raven! Have you been unaware of the growing bond between us over the years?"

Sensing her cue to finally speak, Raven quickly tried to make amends. "Of course I've been aware, Starfire," she insisted, placing her hand on the alien's knee to perpetuate a sense of comfort. "I hadn't meant anything by that, honestly. I've never really initiated one of our girl-talks before, so I was only going off of what I had seen in movies, and - "

"Oh!" the alien suddenly gasped, interrupting the half-demon's explanation. "This is, indeed, the girl-talk?!"

Raven felt her lips twitch as she tried not to scowl. "Yes."

"Glorious!" Starfire cried, clapping her hands before her.

Raven tried to remain calm as she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. Both girls knew that Raven wasn't one to talk about her problems, so Starfire's excitement was warranted - despite being unwanted. Like the alien had said, they were best friends - sisters, even - though Raven felt that Starfire still didn't grasp the concept of how Raven's mind worked.

"Will we be discussing your romantic interest in our fellow teammate, Beast Boy?"

Okay, maybe she grasped a bit.

Raven opened her eyes in shock as she stared at her friend. Had she really been that obvious with her crush?

"Y-you know?!"

Starfire's lips merely curled into a knowing smile as she nodded her head.

Raven couldn't believe this - Starfire knew? How the hell was that even possible? She had gone out of her way to maintain her usual relationship with Beast Boy while in the presence of the others, and despite a few minor slip-ups here and there (like at dinner, for example), she had thought she'd been doing a spectacular job.

But apparently not.

"H-how long..?" Raven couldn't even bring herself to speak in complete sentences as she cupped her mouth in horror.

Again, Starfire wore a look of understanding. "I had not been certain, until you confirmed it moments ago," she admitted with a shrug, before reaching towards Raven's hand and gently removing it from the empath's face. "But I had been doing the suspecting."

Raven nodded absently as the alien's words sunk in. So Starfire hadn't been sure, which meant Raven's secret wasn't completely exposed. But she had suspected it, as did Cyborg; and after the little show at dinner, she could probably add Robin to the list as well.

"What made you... think... that?" she stammered, still feeling unusually flustered at the idea of her feelings being broadcasted to all of the titans.

But with that thought, she felt her mouth gape open in horror. Did Beast Boy know, too? Was that why he had been acting so strange with her?

Because he knows, and he doesn't feel the same?

Before her mind could dwell further on the thought, Starfire began speaking.

"Well, I had figured it was only a matter of the time before his unwavering kindness towards you caused more than just the annoyance," she admitted sweetly, playing with a strand of her long hair. "If a boy with such a large heart and eyes so beautiful had done the same to me, I, too, would have been doing the crushing."

Raven knew the alien's words were meant to be comforting, but the fact that Starfire had described Beast Boy in such a way made her a little nervous. Though she knew that the girl only felt friendship for the changeling, the fact that she was aware of his charming qualities didn't sit well with the empath. Raven figured that if she wanted, Starfire could get any guy with the snap of her fingers. And, unfortunately, Beast Boy did qualify as a guy.

Pushing aside her jealousy, Raven continued to listen as Starfire went on.

"Also, I had done the noticing of your prolonged gazing at him, as well as the slight shift in your usual, chilled demeanor."

Raven nodded slowly, feeling a blush rise to her cheeks as she imagined how obvious she must have been.

"And the fact of which you have been doing a lot of that in his presence," the alien smirked, gesturing to the empath's flushed appearance.

"Oh Azar," she squeaked, feeling a new bout of heat rush to her face.

"But, I presume we are here to discuss his mutual attraction towards you, which you are undoubtedly wanting to speak of."

At this, Raven felt her eyes grow even wider, if that were possible.

"Y-you say that like it's a fact," she deadpanned, attempting to squash down the feeling of hope welling in her chest.

Starfire cocked her head to the side curiously. "Is it not?"

Raven chanted her mantra in her head as she folded her hands in her lap and directed her sights to her own legs. She idly noted that the seams in her leggings were wearing, and put investing in a new pair onto her mental to-do list. Right after drowning in her own mortification and sorrow.

"He... I mean..." she began quietly, unsure of how to answer the redhead's question. In all honesty, Beast Boy's feelings were now a total mystery, despite the fact that she had been leaning towards him returning her affection.

Starfire must have sensed her inner turmoil, for an orange hand was suddenly obscuring Raven's view as it gently tipped her chin up, so that she was again eye-level with her teammate.

"I am sorry," the alien began quizzically, removing her hand, "but I fear I do not understand. Are you not able to decipher his feelings with your empathetic abilities?"

I have no idea, Raven answered mentally to herself, before shaking her head in reply.

Starfire's eyebrows knitted together as she digested this new information. "So, you are unaware of his returned feelings of affection, yes?"

This time it was Raven's turn to cock her head to the side. "You really believe he likes me back?" she whispered shyly.

A slow, unnervingly joyful grin spread across the alien's face. "Without the doubt, friend."

Raven swallowed nervously as she shifted on the bed. "Why do you believe that?"

Again, the look of joy on Starfire's face sent a wary chill through Raven's bones.

"There are many of the reasons!" the redhead laughed, before bringing her finger to her chin and tapping it thoughtfully. "Hmm, for example - his own prolonged gazes directed towards you, along with his eagerness to spend time with you. Also, the way he seems physically unable to restrain himself from being near you, coupled with his protectiveness of you, as well as his desire to bring you joy and see you smile."

Raven suppressed a small smile as she waited for the alien to continue.

"And I have done the noticing of the way he seeks comfort in you, and the way his face does the lighting of the up when you seek the same in him. You mean very much to him, Raven. I have never seen him do the caring for anyone more than he does for you."

Raven wanted to thank Starfire for the assurance, but instead, something she hadn't even dared to think about popped out of her mouth instead.

"More than he cared for Terra?"

If Raven were the type to smack her hand over her mouth in embarrassment, she was sure all of Jump City would have heard the slapping sound. But instead, she kept both her hands tangled in her lap as her expression remained blank.

The mention of their former teammate seemed to dampen Starfire's mood as she regarded Raven carefully.

"I believe Beast Boy had done a lot of caring for... Terra," she started, her green eyes directing towards her own lap, "and had she not betrayed us, he would have continued to care for her."

Raven nodded slowly in understanding as she tried to convince herself that the stinging behind her eyes were not, in fact, tears.

"But," Starfire continued, her voice regaining its usual confidence, "I also believe he would have grown bored with their similarities, and would only care for her in the same way he cares for me: as a sister. For Beast Boy has always liked a challenge, and you, Raven, have been nothing less of one."

Raven decided not to fight the smirk that played on her lips as she soaked in Starfire's words. She couldn't help but believe (as well as hope) that the alien's words rang true. Sure, Beast Boy had really liked Terra, but Raven had also really liked Malchior, and yet his betrayal completely wiped away any ounce of sympathy for him. And despite being total opposites, Raven knew Beast Boy must have felt similarly with Terra's betrayal. There wasn't a doubt in Raven's mind that the changeling would (and probably did) forgive the blonde, but the geomancer could no longer expect anything more than forgiveness from the green teen. And even if Terra had remained a loyal titan, Raven felt Starfire's beliefs were true - both of them would probably have gotten bored with each other, and regress back to being just friends.

And then Beast Boy would undoubtedly return to his usual antics of annoying the hell out of the half-demon.

Because Starfire was right - Beast Boy loved a challenge. And he definitely would find that with Raven.

Guuuurl-talk! Holla! Lol

So in case any of y'all are wondering, I HATE Terra. Like, so, soooo much. But I don't want to flat-out bash her and act as if BB never felt anything for her. But I also believe they were way too similar, and BB is someone who gets bored easily. Plus, I felt like his puppy-love crush wasn't mutual. Terra seemed like she wanted BB as just a friend, and was really conflicted in betraying his friendship. She also seemed a little uncomfortable with his advances, though she eventually gave him a shot. But Idk, I usually avoid watching episodes involving her, and haven't seen them in like a decade. Lol

Anywhoo, I figure you guys were probably expecting BB's POV this chapter, but I felt I needed to get the girl-talk out of the way. So next chapter will deal with his reaction to Raven's... unusual behavior!

Stick around! And maybe leave a review? ;P