Teen Titans not mine lol

"Alright, Ms. Mae approved our charity! Now we can start raising money!" Richard announced smugly.

Raven rolled her eyes as Garfield and Kori started clapping animatedly.

"Sweet! Who could resist kittens and puppies!" the blonde exclaimed, slinging his arms over both the pale girl's and the redhead's shoulders.

"I am sure no one can!" Kori replied cheerfully, her hands clasped before her. "We will do the raising of the most dollars, correct?"

"You know it, Baby K!" Victor grinned.

Jinx responded with the twirl of her finger as she texted with her other hand.

Raven let out an amused sigh at how excited her teammates were- she never knew charity work was considered this much fun. It seemed like everyone- excluding the pink-haired girl- couldn't wait to get started. Sure, she was happy that they would be helping out homeless animals, and in the end, if they raised the most money and had the most success with their "country", they'd each get scholarships and another hefty donation. But at the same time, it seemed like her team wasn't going to take this seriously, and Raven could really use the scholarship.

"Well, how about we actually get to work?" she suggested as she discreetly tried to get out from under Garfield's arm.

The blonde didn't seem to notice as he pulled her closer to him. "Yeah, Rae's right! We need to figure out ways to tug at everyone's heartstrings!" he grinned.

The pale girl huffed in irritation, giving up on her quest of getting away from him. She was starting to realize how pointless it was.

"Oh! We should do the selling of baked goods!" Kori squealed, ripping herself out of Garfield's grasp.

Raven watched with envy.

Richard smiled at the redhead, about to agree and commend her on her great idea, but was interrupted by three of his team members yelling a consecutive "NO!"

Kori's face fell immediately.

"I, uh, I mean... that's a good idea, but..." Garfield started warily.

"...but baking is a craft, and... and..." Victor tried to finish.

"Kori can't bake to save her life," Jinx blurted, finally tucking her phone into her pocket. "No offense."

The redhead nodded solemnly in silent agreement.

Richard gave her a pitiful look, and Raven couldn't help but smile at his obvious display of affection. She knew the black-haired teen was guarded, and rarely ever let anyone in, but she could tell he had fallen hard for her roommate in the short time they had spent together.

"Well, you seem like a creative girl; maybe you could decorate the cupcakes- or whatever it is we decide to bake," he suggested sweetly.

Kori's eyes lit up instantly, and she quickly pulled Richard into a fierce hug. "Oh! I am very happy you have the faith in me!"

Raven watched as her friend's face turned red, though she wasn't sure if it was from embarrassment or lack of air.

"N-no problem," he managed to get out. The redhead continued smiling as she released him, and he couldn't stop himself from smiling back.

Garfield grinned at the exchange. He knew Kori was naïve and a little too trusting, which meant keeping her away from guys who would use her was tough- especially when she was such a beautiful and kind person. He and Victor knew they had their work cut out for them when they befriended the foreign girl, and so far they had kept her away from heartbreak. And even though the mutual attraction was obvious between her and Richard, their "brother" senses weren't tingling too much, though the blonde still didn't like how close Richard and Raven seemed to be. But when he stopped to think about it, he realized it was probably just his jealousy clouding his judgement.

As his mind wandered to the pale girl (like it had been this whole trip), he realized his arm was still around her, and she didn't seem to be fighting it, though she didn't look pleased. He slowly pulled it off of her, trying to make himself seem casual, but he knew his blush was giving him away.

Raven gave a relieved sigh as Garfield finally released her, and spared him a fleeting glance. It appeared he hadn't even realized what he had done as he continued grinning at the redhead's excitement.

"And I have watched many of the televised programs with the cake decorating, so I am assured in my own capabilities from the 'watching and the learning'!" she enthused while hopping up and down.

Raven rolled her eyes fondly, though she felt her stomach churn uneasily as the redhead grabbed the blonde's hands and made him jump with her. Garfield happily complied, laughing along with his friend.

This was a strange feeling for Raven; why was she all of a sudden... jealous? Garfield was a pain, and she should have been ecstatic that he wasn't invading her bubble, but instead she felt... upset. She figured it was because boys had never paid much attention to her, and it didn't help that Jinx put the idea in her head that the blonde teen was possibly interested in more than friendship. But did that mean she was just imagining his seemingly undivided attention towards her? Was she just seeing things she wanted to see, since his carefree personality made it so easy? Was he just a total flirt, and she was just caught up in the newness of the situation?

The dark-haired girl shook her head, cursing herself for being so worried. She knew she didn't care if Garfield thought of her in that way- or if he didn't. They had known each other for less than a week.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Garfield quickly snatched one of her hands and attempted to make her hop with them. She glared at him halfheartedly, telling herself that the fluttering in her stomach was not butterflies, and she was in no way relieved that he was paying attention to her again.

The blonde grinned at Raven's obvious annoyance- getting a rise out of her was quickly becoming one of his favorite pastimes.

"Come on, Rae! Get excited!" he laughed, yanking her arm up and down as he jumped.

She huffed in irritation. "Excited for what, exactly? That we're planning a bake sale?" she replied incredulously. Sure, it sounded somewhat fun, but their excitement wasn't really warranted. "Maybe I'll be excited if we actually win this competition."

Garfield stopped his hopping at her words and gave her a pointed look. "How do you expect to win with an attitude like that?" he teased.

"She's right, grass stain," Victor piped up. "I know you and Kor can get a little ahead of yourselves, but we don't have anything to celebrate right now, so instead of hopping around, let's actually make a plan. A bake sale is a great idea, but obviously not enough. We could sell shirts, drop off donation boxes at several businesses, and maybe organize some kind of function."

Richard nodded in agreement. "And we can't forget to focus on our 'country'; raising money is only half of what we're expected to do."

Raven smiled gratefully at Victor and Richard's voice of reason. They were right- they needed to focus to win. This was a competition after all.

Garfield gave a defeated sigh- he forgot that this was going to require work. He looked down to show his submission, and realized with a jolt he hadn't let go of the pale girl's hand.

She seemed to notice at the same time, and quickly pulled it away, a bright red blush on her face.

Garfield smiled sheepishly, ignoring his own blush, while Raven again told herself that those were not butterflies in her stomach.

So it looks like Rae-Rae is starting to get use to all this attention! Hopefully this won't get ugly!

Also, I want to stress the fact that even though Raven and Gar aren't going to jump right into a relationship, it doesn't mean Kori and Richard won't. I feel like those two would totally be that "love at first sight" kind of couple lol

Anywhoo, review?