A/N: My audience is small, but I appreciate each and every one of you. Thank you.

You're the One

6. in silence

It had been business as usual until she'd started taking off her clothes.

Beast Boy had already been feeling sort of remorseful about being a fly on the wall, but he was never a peeping tom. It just wasn't his style. He'd only been selfish in wanting to be near her. He pined for her when she wasn't around, much like a puppy whined after its master. He just had to be near her, even if she'd explicitly told him that she had to be alone during her meditations.

The changeling didn't need to be told that he was hopeless whenever it concerned Raven. He'd been like that when they had just started getting to know one another, and then he'd stumbled his way through their rocky friendship, occasionally taking two steps back for every step forward. It had been like navigating a jagged, unexplored map, but this new territory he now found himself in left him completely blind and in the dark.

Thus, the idea of seeing Raven naked made his head spin and his blood run hot.

Beast Boy was perfectly content to being in the nude, and never truly cared one way or the other if anyone happened to see all of his naughty bits. However, Raven was always reserved and was very clear about her privacy. On the lonely nights she'd wander into his bedroom, he'd often find himself watching and waiting with heart in his throat, forgetting that he needed to keep breathing to stay alive. Sometimes, she just craved his company and wanted to listen to him talk. Other times, they found a new way to use their lips that didn't require words.

She was pretty shy and obviously self conscious, so, out of respect, he'd keep his hands to himself more often than not. As usual, he'd be going in blind, so he'd settle for letting her lead the way.

That was why he had reacted so poorly once he'd realized that she was actually getting naked. This was not part of the routine, but then again, after unexpectedly having to battle it out with Plasmus late into the day, she'd pushed back her meditation time into the evening. She was most likely just changing into a set of comfortable pajamas, and he'd just been too preoccupied to have noticed sooner. Truth be told, he was too busy admiring her. He had been itching to touch all that soft hair and had wondered how the heck he'd gotten so incredibly lucky that she'd picked him.

Then, suddenly, she'd started undoing her bodysuit zipper and had managed to free both arms by the time he'd registered what was going on. Beast Boy, feeling his heart going a mile a minute, then morphed unexpectedly back into his human form. He hadn't meant to, but he'd panicked and couldn't maintain his tiny, insect exterior anymore. He went crashing down from the wall to the ground head first with an embarrassed yelp, having lost his ability to fly. He heard Raven let out a startled gasp and he watched as she lashed out at him with a wave of black energy. It hit him hard enough to send him flying into her door.

"Ow!" He whined, rubbing at his sore behind as he tried to stand up again.

"Beast Boy!" She shouted in surprise, eyes wide in horror.

Something like guilt, shame and humiliation worked their way into her features when she'd realized what she'd accidentally done. Then, remembering that her pale shoulders and chest were still completely bare, she struggled to hastily put her clothes back on before all her dignity was lost. Although her cheeks were flushed, it wasn't long before anger would root itself in the place of embarrassment.

Realizing this, the green teen was quick to go on the defensive. "I wasn't spying on you, I promise!"

He had to get a word in before she could jump to the most obvious of conclusions. Beast Boy wasn't a total git; he knew exactly what it must have looked like to her, but he was hoping that since he'd earned her trust and respect, she would opt to believe in his character and honesty instead.

He put his hands up defensively and kept his eyes shut because he was afraid that she'd catch him staring. He didn't know if she was still...exposed, and he wasn't ready to face her wrath on the matter.

"What are you doing in my room?" Raven hissed through gritted teeth.

"A-are you decent?" Beast Boy asked nervously from behind closed eyes.

He heard her groan at him. "...Yes." Her answer was curt.

Beast Boy opened one eye at a time, his vision focusing in on the familiar, feminine silhouette standing before him, clothed arms crossed over an equally clothed chest. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, and felt his heart slow down its erratic tempo.

Then, he began to work on his defense.

"I'm not a pervert, I was just, uh...I was just wondering what you were up to." He added in a nervous chuckle at the end in hopes of seeming sincere. Even he knew his answer was vague, and he mentally slapped himself for sounding so transparent.

"I told you earlier; I needed to meditate before bed," Raven reminded him.

The empath was the embodiment of unimpressed.

Beast Boy sighed deeply before he stammered on; "Okay, so maybe I knew what you were doing. But I didn't know that you were gonna get...I didn't know you were...I mean, it's not like I wanted to see...ugh!" He grabbed at his head in frustration. Nothing he could think of saying in that moment was going to sound right and clear his name at the same time.

When Raven said nothing, and he could feel her heated, purple stare boring into him, Beast Boy twiddled his fingers and spoke in a whisper of a voice; "Sometimes, I get lonely..."

He was embarrassed to admit it, but it was the simplest, and the easiest, truth. "I miss you and I get lonely..."

For a while, there was silence as the words settled between them like dust.

Raven then asked to clarify what she'd caught the other Titan doing; "So, you come in here as a fly and watch me meditate for hours on end?" The edge in her voice was gone now, replaced with a newfound empathy.

The changeling replied by nodding meekly, still too ashamed to meet her eyes. It somehow had sounded so much worse when she put it that way.

"Beast Boy," she called his name, causing his ears to perk up; "you realize you could have just asked, right...?"

When he moved to look at her again, all he saw was the back of her black leotard and her cropped, plum tinted hair. There was an undeniable sadness in what she said to him next. "After all, I understand what it's like to feel alone better than most..."

He didn't know what to say to that, or how to even react. He remembered the events with Malchior like they'd only just happened yesterday, and even now, it tore at his heart that she could still feel like that around him. All he really wanted to do then was just reach out and pull her into him, to hold her close until she didn't hurt anymore. He hated that he was too cowardly to comfort her.

"You can stay in here with me as long as you like," she then told him, acting as if nothing was out of the ordinary. "Just be sure to keep quiet when I'm meditating," she warned him, going to pick up her blue cloak from the floor where she'd left it.

"I mean it, one peep and you're out," she added for good measure.

He stared at the back of her head, bewildered. He could hardly believe his ears; Raven was granting him permission to actually hang out in her room with her.

Beast Boy.

In Raven's room.

Welcomed.

A few months back, he'd have thought the whole thing ludicrous. Yet, here he was.

"Yeah, yeah, sure! I can totally do quiet! I'll just read a comic or play a game with headphones or something, and you can do your thing! It'll be like I'm not even here!" He beamed, overcome with excitement.

When Raven turned around to face him at last, she graced him with an ever elusive, genuine smile.

"You were pretty good at it as a fly, so I've got high expectations."

He laughed and scratched at the back of his head. "Honestly, I think I was just pretty distracted by the view..."

A/N: This one was shorter as the prompt was a more basic one. I nearly made this M rated but decided to keep it T friendly for all the folks already reading and following. Plus, I have something M rated in the works so I'll just save all of that for another time. You know what to do at this point. :)