Cyborg was ready for dinner. He had a big lunch, yes, but working is exhausting and uses a lot of energy. He decided to make a quick and nutritious meal, something that even Beast boy could eat, so as to refuel as soon as possible without any fuss or argument.

Starfire had come back from her outing as Cyborg was starting to cook and happily showed him the things she got, performing a small fashion show as she joyously described the shopping center in detail and all the kinds of people she saw.

Beast Boy was lured out by the smell of spices and noodles, barrelling down the hall in excitement.

Robin came in with a sigh, looking clearly tired as he walked to the sink to wash his hands and forearms in the sink, trying to get all the dust and debris off and joined the others at the table.

"Will Raven be joining?" Starfire asked, eager to see her friend.

Starfire and Beast Boy looked at Cyborg first but shifted their gaze to Robin once they saw Cyborg shrug.

"I don't know, probably not." Robin said as he sat heavily in his seat, glad to sit down and eat.

"How uh, how was she today?" Beast Boy asked nervously.

"Exhausted." Robin answered. "I feel like there's more going on than what she's leading on, but until she's ready to talk about it there's not much else we can do but support her."

Beast Boy nodded. "What do you think happened?"

"I don't know." Robin lied, having a feeling as to what could have happened but didn't want to plant that seed in case it wasn't true.

"They were in there together for a week." Beast Boy mentioned. "When I uh, snooped on her," he said sheepishly, "he would touch her sometimes."

"Touch her?!" Cyborg exclaimed. She barely let them casually touch her in forms of hugs and the games they played, so this was a shock to him seeing as she only knew this magic book bastard for a few days. "Touch her how?"

"It was hard to tell sometimes, but he would hug her from behind a lot and just touch her as he talked." Beast Boy explained. "I was only there for a few minutes but there was a lot of contact going on there."

"Do you think he… tried to make a romantic advancement towards her?" Starfire asked tentatively.

"I don't want to think that, but I can't help to think that something like that happened." Robin said, not meeting their gazes.

It was silent for a few moments, the only sounds their utensils scraping against their plates before Beast Boy spoke again. "Do you think she was-"

"Let's not get that far just yet." Cyborg cut off, not wanting to think the worst about his little sister.


She hated this.

She hated the way she was feeling. The way her mind wouldn't calm. How she's been having more and more emotional outbursts seemingly out of her control. How everything is different because of her one stupid mistake. How all of this happened because she let someone get too close to her who ended up tossing her aside like the directions for anything the Titans bought.

She didn't know how long she was in the bathroom for. 20 minutes? 40 minutes? She didn't know and frankly didn't care.

Her back was pressed against the wall by the door, sitting on the floor, head between her raised knees, and hands clutching to her hoodie by her head, trying to squeeze everything away but failing as her tears started to pool in the fabric of her leggings, causing an unsettling cool dampness that didn't help either.

Was she having a panic attack? Maybe. Whatever it was, she wanted it to stop.

"Why am I acting like this?" She shuttered under her breath.

The bathroom wasn't too much of a mess. She retreated to the communal one instead of her own because she wasn't sure if that was a good idea and Robin's was too far. Only a few things were knocked over. The mirror didn't shatter, she was very thankful about that, but there were some spills of shampoo and bodywash that had to be cleaned up.

She had missed dinner, again. She thought about going out when she was done, but so much time had passed and she didn't want to face the others. She was so exhausted and just wanted to go to bed and forget everything.

'Shower first.' She thought to herself. 'Then you can pass out.'

She gave herself a onceover in the mirror, not daring to meet her eyes, and left in search for Robin's room when-

"Friend!"

Raven closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she turned around to face the other girl in the tower.

"We missed you at dinner. It was the everything soup. Are you…alright?" She hesitated at the question.

"Not really." She answered honestly.

"I see." The red haired girl said somberly. "I want to give you something."

Raven watched as she pulled out a dark blue journal with a silver tree on the front and a pack of dark colored pens resting on top and gently thrusted it toward her.

"I saw this while I visited the new shopping center and thought that if you do not care to share your thoughts or feelings, that maybe you could use this so you're not burdened by those thoughts."

She didn't know what to say. She was touched at her friend's good naturedness. She was always so kind, so nice and thoughtful. And that made her sad, how she wished she could be more like her sometimes.

"I know that you don't like to talk about such things, but I want to know that you have an outlet of some kind to help you through this." Starfire added nervously, not knowing if she would accept or deny the gift and was greatly shocked when she gently took the gift and hesitantly wrapped her arms around the taller girl.

"Thank you." Raven said quietly but grateful.

"You are welcome." Starfire put her arms around her in turn lightly, not wanting to scare her off with her usual spine crushing hugs.

Raven pulled out of the embrace after a few seconds, not wanting to lose her composure again and bid her friend good night as she declared her need for a shower.


"Can I tell you something?"

Cyborg was a bit taken aback at the question, mostly at the serious nervousness his green friend presented it with. He paused the show they were watching and turned to give his friend his full attention. "Sure."

"I've been thinking for a while…about dinner the other night."

Cyborg nodded. None of them forgot about it just yet.

"Well, as I was thinking, I realized that I wasn't being fair to Raven. I guess I'm just so used to her never making a mistake and always ragging on me for mine. So when this happened, I didn't know how to bring it up and I got mad at her because she's so smart, how did she fall for this you know? That she can be tricked. I guess I was upset because that happened to me with Terra and it just kinda went from there."

"I understand that. Don't get me wrong, I'm kinda upset with her too, but there was no reason for you to have acted like that."

"I know. And I feel horrible and I know I have to apologize but I'm nervous to. She's kinda scary." He added trying to lighten the mood.

Cyborg gave a short chuckle in amusement. "Girl is pretty scary huh?"

Beast Boy smiled, happy to talk about this and have someone that would listen to him. "I've been meaning to tell her that I'm sorry for a while, but I never know when a good time would be. And she's not been eating with us so I've just kinda been pushing it back."

Cyborg sighed as he thought. "Yeah, it's hard to gauge what kinda mood she's in recently. I doubt any one of us will see her for the remainder of the night, but maybe tomorrow could be a good time. She's not been in the most talkative of spirits, but I feel like she would really appreciate your apology."

"Alright. Thank you." Beast Boy nodded.

"Now how about we finish this show and hit the sack?" Cyborg concluded. "It's been a long day."


While she had wanted to get in bed as soon as possible, Raven ended up staying in the shower for a while. She felt dirty and gross and didn't get out until she felt clean, ritually applying the homey smelling lotion on her warmed skin.

She sat on the bed leaning against the pillows contemplating the journal for a while. While she was excited, she was also very apprehensive. It wasn't that she didn't trust the process, it was more like she didn't trust the other not to read it. Starfire loves to be involved and will often read over her shoulder with whatever she had in her hands. Beast Boy liked to "play", more like taunt, and was known to grab whatever she was reading and dash around reading some parts out loud if he thought it would embarrass her until she not so lovingly chased him down and used her big sister scariness. Cyborg, having no interest in having the image of his little sister be tainted, refused to look through her books in fear of invading her privacy and not wanting to fall victim to a fake book that was a cover for an adult novel if you will again. Robin though, he was more or less like Cyborg. She had often shared books with him but was unsure if his detective upbringing could resist the temptations of a personal journal or not.

She used to keep a journal when she was younger living with the monks, but lately reading had been a way for her to cope.

Wanting to give it a chance, she picked a dark purple pen, took the ball of wax off the tip, and wrote the date on the second page, wanting some kind of privacy, even if it would be revealed by the turn of a page. It made her feel better.

She paused.

'What now?' She thought, not fully wanting to admit her intimidation to a damn journal. 'Where do I even begin?'

Raven sat and stared down the daunting blank page as she fiddled with the pen in her hand, reminding herself to not snap off the clip like she tended to do to the other pens in the tower when-

Knock knock knock knock.

Her head snapped to the door, so deep in thought that she didn't sense Robin walking near. She quickly closed her journal, putting it and the pen under the covers and opened the door with her powers.

"Hey." Robin greeted with a sheepish smile. "Didn't know if you would be awake or not. Can I come in?" He asked, feeling silly asking for permission to enter his room, but he did offer it up.

She nodded, also feeling weird about the rooming situation. "Of course."

He closed the door behind him and stood there awkwardly for a moment before he spoke. "So, I was wondering if it would be bothersome at all if I did some work on the computer? There's some things on it that aren't on my office one so…"

"Oh, no, go ahead."

"Thanks." He said as he walked to his desk. "Did you have a better evening?"

"Not really." She mumbled, braiding her hair over her shoulder as a distraction. 'It's gotten longer recently.' She noted and yawned. "What time is it?"

"11:09." Robin read from the corner of his computer screen. "Did you get some dinner at all?"

Raven looked away, both of them knowing the answer. "I had a lot for lunch." She mentioned if that eased any minds.

He nodded in slight disapproval and swiveled in his chair to face the computer, starting up some files and programs.

"You're going to do work this late?" Raven asked with a concerned judgment.

"Yeah. Most of my afternoon was spent rebuilding. Didn't get much work done earlier."

"Is that such a good idea?" She asked, knowing the events that happened a few weeks ago with his Slade obsession.

"It's nothing too terribly important." He assured.

"Seems important enough if you're doing it so late." She argued, not wanting him to relapse.

Robin sighed. "It's just some more insurance stuff. I want to get it done before it gets overshadowed."

Raven nodded uncertainly but leaned over to the nightstand to pick up a book, the mood for writing her feelings passed.


Robin had been telling the truth. It was some insurance files and paperwork. Things like going over receipts and spendings to see what could be covered and what couldn't.

No matter his work, he got in deep. With the clicking of the keys and the occasional turn of a page from his bed, he didn't realize how long he'd been working until a thunk pulled him out of his flow.

He turned around, ready to expect the worst, but sighed in relief upon seeing it was just Raven's book laying on the floor. He glanced up to see why it had fallen and was met with the sight of a very deeply sleeping Raven. Her hands rested across her stomach where she previously held her book, gently rising and falling with her slow even breath.

He couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. He had only seen her asleep a handful of times and couldn't get over the stark contrast of how calm and content she looked. Her usual scowl was replaced with a softened peace that only sleep could bring. She almost looked like a child with her blankets all around her, one hand stretched and grabbed part of a blanket as she blew out a gentle sigh.

Robin turned back to finish up his work as quietly as he could so as to not disturb the sleep he knew Raven needed.

When he powered down his computer, he heard some rustling and turned back around when it subsided seeing she had turned facing him, blanket still clutched in her hand as she curled up in herself.

He stood up, ready to depart before he quietly walked to her and covered her upper body with another blanket. It was a chilly night and he knew how much she disliked being cold.

He made a move to leave before he saw a book and a pen peeking out from under the covers. He reached over, trying not to accidentally wake her. The pen was still open and made a few marks on the sheets so he made a note to wash them and clicked the pen closed and placed the two items on the nightstand on top of her fallen book.

Deciding he didn't really want to sleep in his office quite yet, he pulled out a blanket from his closet, cringing when the door made a horrible squeak, and wrapped up back in his chair. He propped his sock covered feet up on the nightstand and let his thoughts roam.