I regret to inform you of the disheartening news that I do not own the Teen Titans.
The tables had been turned (or rather, returned to normal) as Garfield desperately tried to get Raven to talk to him. He knew she probably needed space after what had happened- well, almost happened- but he really, really needed to talk about it. If what he thought was going to happen was really what was going to happen, then that meant that his teammate felt something for him- she wasn't the type of girl who just went around almost kissing guys.
Well, at least he hoped she wasn't.
But at the moment, it didn't really seem to matter; Raven was avoiding him like the plague. She had volunteered to help Kori with some charity business, and Jinx had requested Garfield's assistance with Logania's funds.
Which was pretty strange of the pink-haired girl to do, but he figured her girly senses must have been tingling after he and Raven returned to the lobby separately. It was a little unnerving to know that she must have suspected something had gone on, and he was praying that she wouldn't bring it up.
"What the hell happened between you and Rae-Rae?"
But his prayers didn't always get answered.
He let out a labored sigh while casting his curious teammate a sideways glance. "What are you talking about?"
Jinx rolled her eyes in exasperation at his obvious avoidance. "I'm not stupid, Gar- what happened? Did you say something to her?"
He scoffed in offence at her assumption. "What makes you think I was the one who said something?"
The pink-haired girl smirked wickedly as she returned her sights to the worksheets in front of her. "Well, you're an idiot as it is-" He let out another scoff at her explanation, which she ignored. "- but when you're in front of her, you're a stuttering, awkward, flustered idiot."
Garfield crossed his arms in defiance as he glared across the table at her, waiting for her to continue.
"And Rae-Rae's pretty easy to read- she's not the type of girl to go around saying stupid things, so obviously you were the one to say something stupid."
"What makes you think we were even talking?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, he wished he could take them back. Especially when a devious smirk began spreading across his teammate's face; one that would give even Victor a run for his money.
"You guys weren't talking?"
Garfield decided that he had said enough, so instead of answering, he directed his attention back to the task at hand.
Though his reluctance only seemed to heighten her curiosity.
"Were you guys doing something... else?"
The blonde felt his jaw clench in frustration- like Jinx had any right to know what went on between him and Raven. He hardly considered the pink-haired girl a friend- the only reason he associated with her was because of Wally. And sure, eventually they reached a bit of an understanding and became a little more than acquaintances, but that didn't mean they were BFFs. Jinx was a royal pain, and he had no idea how Wally managed.
"It's really none of your business," he growled. Unlike his bantering with the dark-haired girl, arguing with Jinx was honestly just irritating- she didn't know when to shut up.
"Gaaaar," she whined playfully. "Rae-Rae's not into girl-talk, so I can't get anything out of her!"
He rolled his eyes in exasperation- why couldn't she just call her boyfriend or something?
"Nothing happened, okay? We just ran into Mr. Wayne, and I think Raven just felt a little awkward," he lied.
Jinx looked at him skeptically. "Why would she feel awkward?"
Garfield groaned as he tried to figure out a better excuse.
"Because I used to hang around up there all the time, and it was strange seeing him after all these years without Richard there."
The blonde jumped at the monotone voice of his teammate, who had somehow managed to sneak up on him.
Jinx continued to look unconvinced.
Raven sensed her disbelief and rolled her eyes. "We didn't leave on the best of terms," she elaborated, and Garfield knew that she, too, was lying. From what she had told him the other day, Bruce and Richard were like a surrogate family to her.
The pink-haired girl finally seemed to accept her reason as she stood from her chair. "Well, that sucks," she offered with a shrug, before giving them both a devious smirk. "I'll just leave you two alone. To talk."
With that, she swiftly made her way across the room and towards the rest of their teammates.
Garfield sneaked a quick look at Raven, who was avoiding his eyes as she gathered up the papers Jinx had left.
"It's Thursday," she mused casually after a minute of awkward silence.
Her teammate nodded, clearly bewildered by her statement. "Uh huh..?"
Raven let out a huff of amusement, though she still hadn't looked at him. "Are you almost done with my book? You have until tomorrow," she explained, hoping that reminding him of the bet would make him forget about the... thing that had almost happened.
Realization lit up Garfield's eyes. "Oh, right! Yeah, I'm almost done," he grinned, thankful for her distraction. He wanted to talk about what almost happened, but didn't want to do it in front of the prying eyes of their teammates. He'd just have to wait until a better opportunity presented itself.
"And how do you like it so far?"
He smiled kindly as she made quick eye contact with him. Honestly, the book was a little too... dark for his tastes, but it was well-written and fascinating. "I like it."
She held his stare, a confused expression plastered on her face. "You do?"
His smiled widened at her obvious pleasant surprise. "Yeah, I do," he assured.
He felt his heart skip a beat at the small smile that spread across her lips. "I forget if you liking it was a good thing or a bad thing," she admitted with a small laugh.
Again, his heart decided to defy science and stop for a whole second, before speeding up to a somewhat uncomfortable rate. How could her laugh cause him to feel this way? Why did this girl have such an affect on him? Jinx was right- in front of Raven, he was a stuttering, awkward, flustered mess. It was embarrassingly enjoyable.
"I forgot, too."
Raven felt her own heart thump wildly against her chest at the way he was looking at her. It didn't make her uncomfortable or anything, but perhaps that was the reason why she found it so unnerving. She had barely admitted to her crush on him, but she was in no hurry to do anything about it. Even though she was pretty sure Jinx had been telling the truth about how Garfield felt- he obviously liked her as more than a friend. Or at the very least, he was attracted to her.
Yet none of this changed the fact that she just was not ready to deal with all these emotions again. Maybe somewhere down the road, she could allow herself to get closer to him, but not now.
She had to focus on this competition- and when it was over, she'd need to focus on graduating. And after that, college.
There was no time for a boyfriend, and she was in no position to have her head clouded with feelings and her stomach swarmed by butterflies. She wasn't in the mood for a fairytale.
"Well, Richard wanted me to take all this back to his room before dinner," she began, cursing herself for rambling. "Would you mind helping me?"
She had no idea why she'd ask that- it was only going to make things harder. Especially since she could sense his desire to talk to her.
Garfield felt as if his face was about to split in half; he knew that an opportunity to talk to her would present itself if he were to remain patient.
"Sure, Rae!"
Raven blushed at the blonde's enthusiasm as he scooped up the other papers. She decided that the private elevator would give them too much privacy, so she led him towards the guest elevators, hoping the company of strangers would keep him from saying what he really wanted to say.
He stifled a snort at how obvious she was being with her choice of elevators, and decided that maybe he shouldn't bring it up just yet.
They stepped into their usual elevator, and Raven felt her heart sink when she realized it was empty. So much for not being alone with Garfield.
They remained silent as they ascended past the first few floors, and Garfield felt himself growing angsty- he needed to say something. He opened his mouth to break the silence, only to be interrupted by the jolt of the elevator as it came to a sudden stop.
Thankfully Raven had been holding the handrail this time, so she wasn't thrown towards the blonde, who had kept his balance masterfully. She waited with bated breath for it to start-up again, but found herself gasp in surprise as the lights began flickering.
"Oh my god," she muttered, praying that it would jolt back into motion, or at least open on the current floor.
A similar thought passed through Garfield's mind as he willed the elevator to move- he hadn't wanted an opportunity like this.
"It did this last time, remember?" he began soothingly, noting the look of terror on Raven's face. He idly wondered if she were claustrophobic or something, because she looked to be on the verge of hyperventilating.
Unbeknownst to him, Raven was really only terrified of being stuck in a small space with him- avoiding talking to him about her feelings was hard to do when they were forced together into a cramped box.
"It didn't take this long to work last time," she snapped.
Garfield furrowed his brows in concern, which slowly grew into dread as a voice rang out from the speakers.
"We are sorry for the inconvenience; the hotel is sending someone up to fix the elevator as we speak."
Raven growled in frustration as she pressed the button beside the speaker.
"Thank you," she seethed, obviously use to the drill. Garfield suddenly wondered if this type of thing happened very often, or at least when she had been living here.
He kept his eyes fixed on her, blushing when she spared a glance at him. He found that he couldn't look away though as she continued to look distressed.
"Are you okay, Rae?" he whispered, unsure of whether or not the maintenance people could still hear them.
She gave him a halfhearted glare, before rolling her eyes. "Just peachy."
Sorry for the late update (well, late for me, anyway)!
I hope this chapter helps to quench your thirst for BBRae and help ease the withdrawals (oh, who am I kidding- that is one addiction I don't think will ever be satisfied for any of us!)
Maybe leave a review or something? That'd be pretty awesome! And if you are waiting for an update for The After Party, do not fret! I am not giving up on it, I'm just focusing more on my other stories. When I find some fluffy inspiration, I will be sure to write up something cute for it!