AN: Alright, we're officially in the M section thanks to the second half of this chapter. You have been warned...

Love ya!

Gwen

Chapter 25

"A little higher, please." The man brought the length of fabric up another two feet. Starfire cocked her head, assessing the change. "I believe that will do most wonderfully! Thank you!" She gave him a beaming smile to let him know she really did appreciate his help getting the valences to just the right height. She turned to face the rest of the room, assessing what else needed her attention.

Dozens of people moved throughout the Titan's common room, some hanging candles, others cleaning the newly-installed hardwood flooring, and those under Cyborg's instruction helping to put up the new wall panels and columns. Most were sent by the Mayor to help out, the others by the companies supplying the materials.

Starfire caught sight of Cyborg heading towards the common room doors, presumably to take a break in the new temporary kitchen. She looked down at her list and around the room. She was delighted to find that they were ahead of schedule; Cyborg's breaking was acceptable. In fact, she decided it would be nice to join him.

As the common room was getting a complete makeover for the gala, it was necessary to install a kitchen in one of the spare bedrooms for the Titans and the caterers to use. Starfire ambled through the hallway blissfully, caught up in the excitement surrounding the celebration. When she arrived in the kitchen, Cyborg had already reheated a few slices of leftover pizza and sat down at the small, circular table in the corner. The rest of the room was dominated by professional-grade kitchen appliances that none of the Titans had dared to touch. They stuck with the refrigerator and microwave that were pulled from their original kitchen and situated next to the table.

"Greetings friend!" she called as she perused the selection of foods in the cupboard. "Is today not most enjoyable?" She decided on a bag of the popped corn and placed it in the microwave, making sure to remove the plastic first. That was a lesson learned from experience.

"Yeah," Cyborg huffed in reply, "everyone loves a to-do list."

"Oh, I hope our friends are liking their lists to-do. They seem most agreeable," she noted about their new staff. Cyborg gave her one of those smiles that frustrated her, the one that said she had missed something or said something humorous when she did not intend to. Before she could inquire as to exactly what that was, the microwave beeped, signaling that her snack was ready.

After joining Cyborg at the table, she took a handful of the fluffy pieces and popped them in her mouth, letting their buttery taste turn her lips into a smile.

"Hey, Star, can I ask you something?" Cyborg had a frown on his face and his eyebrows drew together in concentration.

"Of course. You may ask me anything."

"Have you noticed anything going on with Beast Boy and Raven? Both of them have been acting downright strange lately. I mean, when's the last time you saw either of them?"

"I had a most pleasant morning with Raven yesterday, though I did not see Beast Boy at all." Now that she thought about it, that in itself was odd. Beast Boy was a very social person and spent most of his time around his friends.

"And did Rae seem a little off to you?"

"Off of what?"

"I mean did she act weird," he clarified.

"Oh. Well she did agree to view my gown of the ball and suggested that we share a mealtime together, but she did not seem to be acting too peculiar." Starfire bit her lip, trying to think back in case she missed something.

"Hmm," he sighed. "Yesterday she asked me for a holo-ring for Beast Boy."

"To make him disguised?"

"Yeah. Thing is though, she said it was for some party thing and that she lost a bet to him and had to run his errands for a while. The whole excuse seemed weak and far-fetched to me. I don't know what they're up to, but it's definitely something."

The doors slid open, startling them both. Fortunately, it was only Robin. Starfire's face lit up as he walked in. She hadn't seen much of him lately either.

"Robin!" she greeted enthusiastically.

To her surprise he gave her a big smile back. "Hey Star. Cyborg," he nodded, giving his friend a clearly unexpected fist-bump as he passed him to get to the fridge. "What's up? I'm not interrupting something, am I?"

"Of course not!" Starfire rushed to assure him. "Cyborg and I were simply discussing friends Beast Boy and Raven."

"What about them?" He grabbed a can of soda and joined them at the table.

"Well I know you haven't noticed anything up there in the evidence room, but something's going on with the two of them," Cyborg explained.

Robin furrowed his brow, considering the information. "Well, we did tell Beast Boy to keep an eye on her. Somehow that turned into helping him with his party chores," he said with an amused look.

"But I thought Raven was not to help in any way?" Starfire asked.

"Yeah, well, we thought it would be good for her so I made an exception. Is she still tense?"

"No, in fact she appears to be in good spirits," Starfire reported. "Perhaps you and Beast Boy were correct."

"No, something else is going on, I'm sure of it," Cyborg mused. "There has to be something they're not telling us. I pulled up the tower's entry logs and they've been out of the tower like twenty times over the past couple days."

"What's weird about that?"

"When I asked him Beast Boy said he was here the whole time. Plus he got all nervous and jumpy about it. He's a bad liar." They all shook their heads in agreement. "But I can't figure out what Raven has to do with it."

A thought occurred to Starfire. "Perhaps they are doing the dating," she suggested brightly. "It would give explanation to their disappearances, the time they are spending with one another, and their sneakiness."

The two boys sat there for a second, staring at Starfire. Then they burst out laughing. She did not understand what was so funny about the suggestion.

"Please, why are you laughing?"

"Beast Boy," Cyborg gasped between snickers, "and Raven. Dating." This only made him laugh harder.

"Sorry Starfire," Robin explained when he got a hold of himself. "We're not laughing at you. It's just that Beast Boy would be the last person on Earth Raven would want to date."

"Yeah, the day those two hook up is the day Spiky over here dyes his hair pink," Cyborg chortled, jabbing a thumb at Robin.

Their laughter was cut short when the door slid open. Beast Boy waltzed in with an empty glass and a smile on his face. They all sat up straighter, attempting to appear natural.

"Hey guys," he greeted as he went to put the glass in the sink. "Whats up? What were you all laughing about?"

"Nothing!" they all three rushed to reply in unison. Beast Boy raised a brow.

"Okaaay. So how's the common room coming? Or should I say the ballroom?" he asked with a grin.

"It is coming most splendidly," Starfire supplied, voice higher than she intended it to be. The silence that followed hung awkwardly in the air.

"Right. So what have you been up to?" he asked, this time addressing Robin.

"Oh, you know, the usual. Hunting down Slade, trying to book a band." Robin stared down into his soda can.

Beast Boy opened his mouth like he was about to say something, then closed it. "Well, uh, good luck with that." His task in the kitchen complete, he turned towards the door to leave. Before he made it he stopped and looked back at Starfire.

"Oh, Cyborg, can I borrow the T-car again?"

Starfire turned to look at her friend who would undoubtedly be displeased by the request. To her shock, a large smile spread across his face.

"Sure, B. Just don't get any scratches on my baby." He gave him an intimidating look

"Thanks. Also, can I talk to you for a minute Starfire? I, um, have a question to ask. In private," he specified, catching Robin and Cyborg's interested glances.

"As you wish," she said hesitantly. She rose from the table and deposited her empty bag in the trash. As she followed Beast Boy out, she turned back to sneak a look at her friends. Robin sat there with his eyebrows raised. Cyborg pointed at Beast Boy and mouthed "weird." Starfire turned and sighed, bracing herself to comply with Beast Boy's strange request.

Raven held a hand to her face to shield her eyes from the sunlight. Fortunately, the sensitivity from her hangover was gone. The only remnant from this morning's sickness was a slight fatigue. Whether it was the sleep, Beast Boy's hangover cure, her healing abilities, or a combination of the three, Raven felt immensely better when she opened her eyes the second time today.

As her eyes adjusted to the brightness, she took a deep breath of the warm, salty air and dug her toes into the sand. She certainly wouldn't have guessed this as Beast Boy's favorite spot, but now that she was here she could see it was perfect.

The beach was a forty-five minute drive from the Tower and a ten minute walk through the woods, but it was worth it. It was remote and secluded and absolutely pristine, with a stretch of golden sand between cliffs of the Pacific's signature rocky shore. Raven turned to locate her companion and found him right behind her.

She smiled up at him. "It's beautiful. How did you find it?"

"From the sky," he said with a grin. "One day I decided to take a flight up the coast and found this inlet. It's great because almost no one knows it's here. We've got the whole place to ourselves."

Raven's heart beat a little faster. Stop it, she commanded herself, he didn't mean it like that. Raven didn't know how to feel about their quickly-developing relationship right now. She was kind of going with the flow of things, but honestly she didn't expect things to move so far so quickly. After he left this morning, she cried for a little while. Underneath her happiness at having Beast Boy so close was this horrible pang of sadness and fear about loosing everything in a matter of hours. He was so kind and thoughtful and loving this morning that it brought up the worst sense of guilt. How could she knowingly do this to him? What kind of horrible, selfish person was she?

As they walked down towards the shore, he caught her eye and gave her a wide grin. He looked so happy and carefree, things Raven desperately wanted to be. But for her, happiness came at a cost. It always had. And there was a greedy voice down inside her that told her she was dying; she had a right to be selfish in her last hours.

Raven sighed. She was sick of having this debate. She was doing it again: taking these beautiful moments and marring them with guilt and grief over something that hadn't happened yet. Hadn't she decided to just live in these moments and let things work themselves out later? She wasn't doing very well with that resolution. She took a deep breath, using all of her emotional training to let go of every negative feeling in her body. She basked in the warm air and sunlight, letting it fill her mind with positivity. She looked at Beast Boy and couldn't help but smile at him. He had his attention on where he was walking; Raven took the opportunity to study him.

He walked with confidence, letting his leanly-muscled body carry him effortlessly over the sand. He was clothed in swim trunks and a t-shirt while Raven was in her uniform minus the cape. Right now he carried a cooler in one hand and an old-fashioned wicker picnic basket in the other. He turned towards her.

"Wanna stop here?" he asked, gesturing towards the sand. Raven nodded and spread out the towel she had been carrying. Beast Boy immediately got to work retrieving the contents of the cooler. He pulled out two water bottles, a bottle of soda, and some chilled green tea. From the picnic basket he produced sandwiches, chips, and a bag of M&M's. Raven raised a brow.

"It was what we had," he explained. "Have you seen the new kitchen?"

Raven narrowed her eyes in confusion. "New kitchen?"

"Yeah, Starfire's got the common room all torn up so we moved the kitchen into a spare bedroom. It's all fancy for the caterers to use, but a pain in the ass to find anything in."

"Hmm," Raven replied, reaching for the sandwich marked "turkey." The other was labeled "tofu" and was definitely intended for Beast Boy. "Did you have Cyborg make this for me?" she asked as she took a bite.

"Nope. Made it myself," he announced proudly. Raven tried to keep the food she was chewing in her mouth.

"You... touched meat?" she asked incredulously. She couldn't imagine what would possess him to do that.

"Sure did. I'm trying to keep you and I under the radar, so I had to make it myself. I did use gloves, but hey, it was a good try." Raven was seriously impressed. First he cleaned her puke, then he touched meat for her. Raven hadn't had many boyfriends—okay, she'd never had any boyfriends—but she presumed he was as good as they came.

The chatted a bit as they ate, sticking to casual topics such as what was going on around the Tower. Apparently Raven had missed a lot while she was out. When they finished, Beast Boy stood and reached for the hem of his shirt

Raven considered herself a woman with grace and maturity. Yet the minute Beast Boy pulled the shirt over his head and revealed a toned stomach and chest, she swooned like a thirteen-year-old girl. She clamped her teeth together and tried to keep the red out of her cheeks.

"Ready for a swim?" he asked casually, surveying the water. Raven took a minute to compose herself before replying.

"I don't have a swim suit."

Beast Boy looked at her and smiled before kneeling down and pulling a black bundle from the picnic basket. "Don't worry. Star took care of it." He handed her the pile of cloth. "You can change back in the woods."

Raven stood slowly. Okay, Starfire's packed me a swimsuit. She ran through the last few swimsuits Starfire had bought and worn. The odds that it would a) fit, and b) cover her adequately were slim to none. But what other option did she have? Sighing, she turned towards the woods. "I'll be back in a few minutes," she called to Beast Boy.

Trudging back to the woods, Raven held the thing out in front of her. She discerned two black triangles held together by strings that she assumed constituted the top. The other piece was another tiny strip of fabric with more strings. Well, she thought, trying to console herself, at least it's black.

Black or not, when she finally made it behind a tree, stripped out of her uniform, and figured out how the contraption went on, she gawked at the coverage. No way, she thought to herself. Theres no way I'm walking out in front of Beast Boy in this thing. Raven was a ways from voluptuous, but she had curves. Thanks to this bathing suit, Beast Boy was about to discover that.

Making a mental note to plot revenge against Starfire, Raven relaxed the frown off her face and stepped out from behind the tree. She straightened her posture and began to walk as confidently as she could across the sand. Just because the bathing suit stripped her of her dignity didn't mean she had to show it.

She saw Beast Boy already knee-deep in the water. When he caught sight of her he froze. Raven tried not to flinch. She made it to the shoreline and let the water lap against her toes before she dared to look him in the eyes. Only when she looked, his gaze wasn't directed at hers; it was a little further south.

Raven was sure her cheeks were flaming red at this point, but Beast Boy's attention gave her a slight boost in her confidence. When he realized she had caught him staring, he gave her a sheepish look and blushed. He held out his hand.

"Come on out. Water's great!"

Raven obliged, wading out a little further to meet him. He moved back further as well, urging her to follow until he was waist-deep. He was right, the cool water felt fantastic on her flushed skin.

"Hey," he said as she drew close to him. She smirked.

"Hey. I'm surprised. You've been in the water five minutes and you haven't impressed me with your various fish forms."

He grinned. "That's because I'm not in my uniform. The swim trunks are nice, but they'd be floating away and I'd be naked when I went to change back." That sent Raven's mind to a whole other place where it should not have been.

"Oh," was all she managed. He moved a little closer to her. The fluttering in her stomach returned, only this time, she was pretty confident it wasn't because of any nausea.

"I'm surprised you came out in the water. You didn't strike me as a water-loving type."

Raven shrugged and gave him the honest answer. "I'm not. I came out because you were here." She was surprised by her own candidness, and unsure if it was a good idea.

Beast Boy moved in even closer; she could feel his breath on her cheek. "Hmm. Well now that you're here, we'll just have to make this fun."

Fun... Raven liked fun. Her head felt light and fuzzy and blissfully happy, especially when Beast Boy closed the gap between their lips.

The kiss started a little heavier than their kisses usually did. Within seconds Beast Boy's tongue had somehow found it's way into her mouth. Theoretically, French Kissing wasn't the least bit appealing to her. In actuality... well, she wasn't complaining.

Beast Boy continued to kiss her, harder, sweeter, and deeper. She felt one arm wrap around her back, the other slide it's way up and down her side. The movement sent shivers through her as heat pooled in her stomach. Raven clutched his shoulders and his neck for support as she pressed herself closer to him. She loved the feeling of his muscled arms wrapped around her, his broad chest pushed against hers.

A large wave crashed against them, ripping Raven away from him. She stumbled to find her footing in the deeper, swirling water.

"Sorry," she said breathlessly, leaning up for more as she re-oriented herself. "The wave—"

"I think we can fix that," he replied in a low voice.

There was the heat again.

Before she knew what was happening, Beast Boy picked her up out of the water and held her against him, her legs wrapped around his waist. For once her mouth was now above his. She saw her chance and brought her lips down on his.

As they kissed Raven lost contact with the world around her. She didn't know where they were or what time it was; to her they could have been at this for hours. All that mattered was pulling herself closer to him, kissing him harder, feeling the wave of pleasure from his every touch. She vaguely realized that they were no longer in the water. Beast Boy was walking towards shore, carrying Raven all the way.

When they made it back to the sand he laid her down on the ground. He pulled his lips away and locked eyes with her for a moment, conveying that he was enjoying this as much as she was. Then he was back to kissing her, leaning over her and gently pushing her back into the sand.

The next time they broke apart, gasping for air, he moved down, planting wet, desperate kisses along her neck and collarbone. Raven leaned her head back to give him better access. He pulled away again. Raven was about to say something when she felt his teeth drag across her skin. She gasped, letting chills overtake her. Beast Boy returned his attention to her lips, ravaging them as his hands began to explore her body.

He moved them up and down her side and across her stomach, then lower to her hips and thighs. Raven tried to keep her cool, to stop being so reactive, but her efforts didn't do her much good. Suddenly his hand slid up from her thigh, slowly over her hips and up her side. It inched higher and higher until it stopped just below her bathing suit top. He pulled away from her lips for a moment and looked at her, as if asking for permission.

If Raven was thinking rationally, she might have reacted differently. She might have said that it wasn't a good idea, that they were moving too fast. As it was, Raven's thought process was far from rational. She looked up at him intensely.

"Beast Boy," she began, "just touch me."

Beast Boy didn't need to be asked twice. His hand slid up over her breast gently, rubbing, squeezing, and exploring her as he continued to occupy her mouth.

It was common knowledge that sex and its preceding activities were pleasurable. Raven, though inexperienced in this area, knew that much to be true. But what she was feeling now she couldn't of imagined. She felt like her skin was on fire, like her body was floating, like the Earth was shaking.

After a few more seconds of euphoria she realized the ground was shaking.

She leapt upwards, throwing a startled Beast Boy off of her. She looked around at the once pristine Beach in awe.

Rocks tumbled from the cliffs onto the sand, a good portion of which now blew about in the air like they were in a hurricane. Trees in the forest behind them had fallen from the winds which whipped around them. The color drained from Raven's cheeks. Oops...

Evidently this was too much for Raven's emotions to handle. As she came down off of her high, the feelings were replaced with those of embarrassment and horror.

"Woah," Beast Boy breathed, looking around at the mess. He looked at her. "Did you do this?"

Raven bit her lip and nodded, hanging her head. "Beast Boy, I'm so sorry. I couldn't control—"

"Stop," he commanded. She clamped her jaw shut. "While I didn't create a man-made hurricane because of it, I wasn't exactly in control either. I don't know about you, but that right there might have been the best moment of my life." As soon as they were out he seemed embarrassed by the words. Raven smiled softly.

"Um, yeah. Me too," she admitted quietly. Her head was dizzy with what had almost happened. There was a thick, awkward air hanging between them now. Neither knew quite what to say or do.

"So, I think I've had enough of the beach for one day. How about you?" he asked hesitantly.

Raven nodded with relief. "Yes, ready to go home?"

Neither of them said a word the entire car ride home. Beast Boy casually picked up Raven's hand and held it the whole time. Raven smiled as she stared out the window. It wasn't an awkward silence, it was a peaceful one. Raven sighed. No matter what was going to happen, no matter what was coming her way, she couldn't help but feel safe next to Beast Boy. Though she knew it wasn't going to be, he gave her this hope, this feeling that everything was somehow going to be okay. She clung to it like she clung to his hand as they drove back to the Tower.