I don't own any aspect of the Teen Titans.

"Eeeeeee! Richard has done the texting and told me that we can begin the decorating of the cakes!"

Raven and Jinx both shared an exasperated look as the redhead continued to express her excitement with shrill sounds.

"They're just cupcakes, Kor- no need to have a panic-attack," the pink-haired girl teased as she got up from the lobby's couch. Raven followed suit, still a little traumatized from her earlier conversation.

Jinx and Kori had somehow managed to get her to admit that Garfield was an above average young man in the looks department. Raven was mature enough to acknowledge one's physical attractiveness, but she would not lie about having a crush on someone. And she did not have a crush on Garfield. The idea was completely absurd.

The pale girl knew what it was like to crush, and she was not planning on doing it again anytime soon. Especially after an incident that happened after she had moved to Jump two years ago. She didn't want to go into detail, but she let Jinx and Kori know the jist of it- girl meets cute boy, cute boy leads girl on, cute boy uses girl, girl plans future as a cat lady. Textbook stuff, really.

Surprisingly, Jinx was the one who told her she didn't have to say anything more if she didn't want to. And Raven really didn't want to.

"Come on, Rae-Rae! It's a long way up to the penthouse," the pink-haired girl smirked, knocking Raven from her thoughts.

She rolled her eyes in amusement as she followed her roommates to the elevator. When she had lived here, she had spent a lot of time in the penthouse with Richard, since they were each other's only friends. It was a nice escape from her own room adjoined to her parent's room a couple of floors down, where she could hear them constantly fight. Pushing away that thought, she was a little excited to see it again, since it was a penthouse suite in a super fancy, 5-star hotel.

Raven briefly paused her train of thought when she realized they were about to go into Richard's room- and even though Ms. Mae didn't say anything about Richard's room, she wondered if it was still breaking the rules. The pale girl quickly shrugged away her bad feeling, instead focusing on her happier memories in the hotel- at least, the ones before everything went terribly wrong.

"It'd be so cool to live here!" Jinx exclaimed as soon as they stepped onto the top floor and walked towards Richard's room.

Kori hurried ahead, pounding excitedly on the door. "Friends! We are here!"

Raven rolled her eyes as she came up behind the redhead, holding the laptop under her arm. "I think you might have to knock louder, Kori," she drawled sarcastically.

The redhead was about to comply, but thankfully the door opened. "Come on in!"

Raven felt herself blush immediately as the blonde opened the door. Even though she acted like calling him cute was no big deal, the fact that Kori and Jinx knew about it made her feel suddenly awkward around him.

Garfield also blushed as he set his sights on the dark-haired girl. She looked less-than-thrilled to be here, but he gave her a bright smiled anyway as he moved out of the doorway to let the girls come in. "Kitchen's over-"

"I know where it is," Raven interjected as she shoved the laptop at him. "Can you put this on the desk over there?" she asked, or rather, demanded.

The blonde rolled his eyes fondly as he obeyed. "Sure thing, sweetheart," he teased.

The pale girl froze in place as she regarded his words. He was obviously joking, but Jinx wouldn't let her live this down. She took a quick peek at the pink-haired girl, who was thankfully distracted by the view from Richard's living room.

"I can see all of Gotham!" she exclaimed breathlessly.

Kori stood beside her with her mouth agape. "In my country, our tallest building was only eight stories!"

Richard walked up behind her, his face flushed as his eyes darted between his view and the redhead. "Where is it that you're from, again?"

Raven attempted to hear her roommate's answer, since she had been curious as well, but as luck would have it, Garfield decided to start talking.

"So Dick said you and him used to hang out up here all the time," he mused casually as he followed her into the kitchen.

"Why were you guys talking about me?" she asked incredulously, giving him a strange look.

Garfield blanched as he stood there behind the island counter, his mouth opening and closing comically.

Raven took pity on him and gave him her signature smirk. "I'm kidding- I don't care," she deadpanned.

He let out a strange sound that was a mixture of a sigh and a snort. "Yeah, hah, I was gonna say that we, uh, you know, weren't talking about you about you, just... yeah," he laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand and playing with a jar of frosting in the other.

"Whatever," the dark-haired girl mused, before looking around the counter skeptically. The guys had baked about three dozen cupcakes in a variety of chocolate and vanilla flavors. All of them were already cooled down as they sat on an assortment of paper plates- Richard never kept dishes.

"We, uh, we got just plain vanilla frosting and then some red food coloring, since we're the 'red team' and all," Garfield explained nervously. Before the girls had arrived, Richard had been pestering him about the pale girl, and he wasn't sure what to say. She was obviously indifferent towards him, and even if he did like her- though he wasn't admitting to it- she'd never like him back. She had made it perfectly clear that she found him annoying beyond belief.

"Red-frosted cupcakes for an animal charity doesn't seem a bit morbid to you?" Raven asked as she arched her brows quizzically.

Garfield's eyes widened as he picked up on what she was referring to. "Uh, no offense Rae, but I doubt anyone would look at it that way," he replied sheepishly.

The pale girl let out a huff of irritation. "It's Raven, Garfield."

He rolled his eyes in amusement, before scooping the frosting into the bowl. "How about we do a really light red? So people won't think we used the blood of the animals we slaughtered," he teased.

Raven snorted in amusement. "Wouldn't it just be pink?" she pointed out as she began scooping frosting into her own bowl.

"What's wrong with pink?" Jinx laughed as she inconspicuously left Kori and Richard alone to admire the view.

"Nothing," Raven smirked as she handed her bowl to the pink-haired girl, who took over the mixing beside Garfield. "It's just not red," she elaborated as she looked through the drawers to find ziplock bags. She let out a small giggle when she found them in the same place Richard had them all those years ago. Some people never change, she thought fondly, before scooping Garfield's pinkish colored frosting into the bag. She pushed it all into one corner, before taking a pair of scissors and snipping off the tip.

Garfield watched in awe as she expertly frosted the cupcakes. "Damn, why weren't you up here helping us? You're a pro!"

A small smile played at the pale girl's lips as she shook her head slightly. "I can't bake to safe my life," she confessed.

"You sure know how to frost, though," Jinx mused.

"My mom can bake really well- she actually works in that little bakery in Jump next to-"

"Next to the mall?" the pink-haired girl finished.

"Yep," Raven replied as she finished frosting one whole plate of cupcakes.

"Oh my god! I know your mom!" Jinx exclaimed as she threw her hands up in excitement, sending a spoonful of frosting onto Garfield's cheek.

"Hey!" he cried defiantly, wiping it off with his finger and sticking it in his mouth.

The girls ignored him as Raven gave her roommate a surprised look. "You do?"

Jinx nodded animatedly. "Yeah- I deliver for them! Arella, right?"

"Yeah," the pale girl replied, somewhat surprised. Sure, Jump City wasn't the biggest city- not even close- but she hadn't expected anyone to know her or her mother.

"I knew there was a reason why you looked familiar!" the pink-haired girl continued. "You guys look a lot alike."

Raven blushed slightly at that- her mother had always been considered a very beautiful woman, so it was no doubt a compliment. "I guess so," she replied shyly.

Garfield stared at Raven, blushing along with her, though his flushed face was due to thinking how adorable she looked while blushing. "So your mom works at a bakery?" he asked timidly- she hadn't talked about her family at all, so he figure it was a sore subject. He could relate.

"Mmm hmm," she hummed in reply as she began frosting another batch.

"That's so cool!" he grinned. "What does your dad do?"

He felt himself flinch as he noticed her hand shake ever so slightly, causing the frosting to squirt onto the counter. Suddenly he felt like he had crossed some invisible line, and he desperately wanted to take back his question.

"Whoa there, Rae! We're frosting the cupcakes, not the counter!" he teased, dropping their earlier topic.

She looked up at him gratefully for changing the subject, giving him the tiniest smile before rolling her eyes.

Another chapter! Whoohoo!

And more shoddy details? Yay!

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