Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to the Teen Titans or any characters in the DC Universe.

Beast Boy was sitting on top of the Tower, his legs dangling over the edge as he watched the sun begin to set over Jump Bay. From all external appearances it had been a glorious day, as the temperature had hovered around a balmy 75F and the humidity was low. But it had been anything but a glorious day, at least for him.

Earlier that day the schoolgirl who was Terra's doppelganger had finally admitted she was indeed Terra, only to tell him that "things change" and that she didn't want to see him anymore.

He felt like a chump, a total loser. The rejection still stung in his chest, like a sharp dagger that had been plunged in deep and swiftly. He had charged out of Murakami High School, numb from the unexpected rejection. What had happened to "You're the best friend I ever had?" and then there was Slade, taunting him, telling him that she wanted nothing to do with him.

Beast Boy wiped the tears away. But that wasn't all that had happened that day, not by a long shot. He had been brushing off his teammates for the past few days as he tried to reconcile with the girl who insisted she wasn't Terra and had outright ditched them today while they fought the strange transubstantiating monster. By the time he had rejoined the team that afternoon the monster was gone, it had vanished without a trace, but not before trashing the local Wal-Mart distribution center, which was a smoldering ruin after it had escaped. Robin was displeased to say the least. It was bad enough to blow a mission, but the creature had wrecked havoc in a way that would affect the local citizens, who had heard of the local supply chain disruption and were now raiding the local grocery stores, picking the shelves clean in anticipation of local food shortages. Robin knew that the blame for this fiasco would be laid on the Titans, and he blamed Beast Boy for their collective failure.

After they solemnly returned to the Tower with their collective tails between their legs Robin quietly told Beast Boy to follow him to his office. The door stayed closed for almost 30 minutes. No one could hear what was going inside, as Robin had Cyborg soundproof the room earlier that year, but Raven could sense the intense emotional storm that was going on inside. At first it was pure anger emanating from both boys and she worried that they would actually start a physical fight with each other, but about 15 minutes in something happened and Beast Boy's emotions changed. He had quickly shifted from anger to depression. He was emotionally hurt and stayed that way until he quietly emerged from Robin's office, walking silently past Starfire, Cyborg and Raven as he headed for the roof.

Robin emerged from his office a moment later and seeing the others gathered there his mood turned even sourer.

"Don't you have something better to do?" he snarled at the trio as he slammed the office door shut.

"Just when you think it can't get any worse." Raven droned in her monotone before phasing into the floor. Starfire walked away sniffling. Why does he take losses so personally? She wondered. It isn't possible to always win.

Raven materialized on the roof, having followed the trail Beast Boy's jumbled emotions left behind. She remained hidden in the shadows and watched him fight back the tears. Something had happened to him earlier in the day and Robin was too pig headed to take notice. Beast Boy needed to be with someone, he needed someone to talk with. She had hoped someone else would take the initiative, but quickly came to the conclusion that it was up to her. She sighed as she prepared to approach him. He once joked to Kole that Raven wasn't good with people, and while his insensitive remark had angered her, she knew it was true. Nevertheless the ball was in her court and she couldn't just leave him there weeping. Having braced herself to come out of her comfort zone, she approached him.

"Hey, are you OK?" she asked nonchalantly.

"I was wondering if you were going to come out of the shadows." He replied as he wiped away a few more tears. He had smelled her unique scent while she was skulking in the shadows.

"Do you want me to leave?" she asked flatly in her monotone.

He shook his head. "Sorry. It's been a bad day."

Just then her communicator chirped. It was Cyborg.

"Dinner's ready. If you don't hurry it's going to get cold."

"I'm not hungry." Beast Boy replied to no one in particular.

Raven turned away from him and whispered into the communicator.

"Go ahead and start without us. I'll take him out somewhere."

"You will?" Cyborg asked with a hint if surprise in his voice.

"What? You think I don't care about you guys?"

"Of course not, but this is the green bean we're talking about. Are you sure Raven?" he replied.

Raven had no desire to sit down and eat dinner with Robin that night. She knew he would show up with a Colgate smile on his face, acting like nothing had happened. She wasn't ready for that, not tonight.

"I'll be fine." She replied curtly. "We'll see you guys later". She flipped her communicator shut.

She turned around walked up to him.

"You really are hungry, aren't you?" she asked.

"There's no fooling you, is there?"

"Wanna check out Luigi's?" she asked him.

"You mean the fancy place downtown? I heard they make the best pizza in Jump City"

"That's the one. I'm buying." She replied her voice flat and free of emotion. She could already sense that he was beginning to feel better.

"Gee, Raven, thanks! When do you wanna go?"

She spread her arms and a dark circle formed on the ground.

"Let's go now. Hop on." Suddenly she felt his hesitation. "What's the matter?" she asked.

"Uh, Raven, don't take this the wrong way, but why are you being nice to me?"

"What? I can't be nice to my friends?" she said as she felt a wave of uncertainty and even a bit of fear coursing through his emotions. You're a real winner Raven, even your friends are afraid of you.

She placed a hand on his shoulder as they flew towards downtown.

"You know you're my friend, right?" she said as warmly as she could.

He gave her a weak smile. Yeah, I do."

Being a weeknight the Pizzeria wasn't very busy as most orders were for takeout. There were plenty of empty tables and Raven led Beast Boy to a quiet booth in the corner of the restaurant where they could have some privacy. The restaurant was cozy and decorated in an over the top fashion, with pictures of Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra and other Italian-Americans plastered on the walls. They could hear the kitchen staff shouting in Italian while heavenly aromas came out of the kitchen. Raven could already sense that the changeling was beginning to relax. Their waitress approached and Raven thought she looked like Sophia Loren. They ordered a large vegetarian pizza with the works and a pitcher of root beer.

"So what happened this morning?" she asked "You kind of disappeared. We were worried about you."

She saw his ears begin to droop.

"I'm not spying on you Beast Boy. I'm just curious."

He sighed before responding "I went to Terra's school and talked with her."

"So what happened?"

Beast Boy stared at his frightful teammate, not sure if he wanted to open up to her with what had happened. After thinking about he realized that if anyone would take him seriously, it would be her. She might not understand and probably wouldn't approve, but at least she wouldn't ridicule him. Well, at least that's what he hoped.

"Well, she is Terra, she admitted it."

Raven's eyes grew wide.

"So you believe me?"

She nodded. "And?"

"Well, I didn't tell you guys about this, cuz I was pissed at all of you, but I saw Slade last night, at the amusement park."

"What!?" Raven shouted, drawing the other customer's attention. She quieted herself down. "You should have told us. What happened?"

"Well, it turned out to be a SladeBot, it wasn't really him. Anyway, he made fun of me, and said that Terra didn't want me in her life anymore."

"So what did you do?"

"I attacked Slade. That's when I leaned it wasn't really him. He was too easy to beat and I trashed the SladeBot."

"Ok, so what about Terra then? What happened with her?"

Tears began to well in Beast Boy's eyes. "She dumped me Raven. She said that she wasn't the girl I used to know. That things change."

He turned away so she wouldn't she him cry, and began to sob quietly.

"Beast Boy, it's OK, you don't have to pretend. Of course it hurts, I should know."

He choked backed his tears and put on his bravest face. "That bastard Malchior"

"It's OK to feel hurt Beast Boy, just remember, you're not alone."

"I was feeling alone. Thanks for, you know, being my friend."

"Just promise me something Beast Boy"

"Sure, for you, anything."

She gazed at him straight in the eyes; her vision was piercing, as if burrowing deep into his very soul.

"Promise me you'll forget about her."

"I'll do my best" he laughed weakly.

"No, Beast Boy, listen to me. She's bad news. I guarantee she'll eventually come back to you, and when she does she'll hurt you again, just like she always does. I don't want to see you get hurt again."

The waitress arrived with the pizza and the pitcher of root beer. As soon as she left Raven continued.

"Don't believe for a moment that she's all you got going for you. You're a nice guy. You deserve better."

"Thanks Raven, even if I don't believe what you're saying." He picked up a slice of pizza and began to nibble absentmindedly at the cheesy triangle.

"Why don't you believe me?"

He finished the slice of pizza before answering "First of all, I couldn't get a girl to date me if my life depended on it. Secondly, Remember Tokyo?"

For a moment she lost her composure and Beast Boy thought he saw a flash of regret on her face, but she quickly recovered and her poker face returned.

"I was going through a bad moment at the time, and I took it out on you. I'm sorry."

He sighed. "Doesn't mean that you were wrong. I'm green, and have pointy ears and fangs. I'm not exactly heartthrob material."

Raven moaned inwardly. "Beast Boy, don't sell yourself short. Believe it or not, girls do like you."

He looked back at her with a skeptical look on his face.

"Terra's the only girl who's ever loved me" he said dejectedly.

"Look, just forget about her, OK? " She paused. "Listen, if it helps, you can hang out with me. I need to go to the fabric store at the mall tomorrow. If you come with me we can catch a movie afterwards."

He quickly perked up. "They're playing 'Revenge of the Zombies' at the Metrolux!"

"Don't push it. It'll have to be something we can both agree on."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Sure, whatever you say. What do you need to go to the fabric store for?"

"I need to buy some cloth and other materials to sew some new capes and leotards."

"You make your own clothes?" he asked, clearly surprised.

"Yes I do. Where do you think I get my stuff? At Macy's?"

Beast Boy began to laugh.

"What's so funny Beast Boy?" she said with a hint of annoyance.

He stopped laughing long enough to answer: "You were, you made a joke!"

"I suppose I was." She replied in her steady monotone "So are you interested?"

"It's a date!" he replied as he began to eat his second slice of pizza.

"No, it's not a date!" she corrected him "I don't 'date'. We're just gonna hang out together, understood?"

He nodded sheepishly. "The pizza's really good. You should eat some before it gets cold."

Raven picked up a slice and tasted it.

"Not bad. It could use a meat topping though."

They returned late from the pizzeria. Beast Boy was carrying a pizza box as they entered the Tower through the main entrance. Cyborg had already secured the Tower for the night and the front door, with its palm reader was the only way to get in at this hour. They stopped by the common room, but it was already dark.

"They've all gone to bed already?" Beast Boy asked. "I wanted to play some GameStation with Cy." He placed the leftover pizza in the fridge.

Raven briefly considered offering to play a game with him, but understood why everyone had turned in early: the transubstantiating monster was still at large and it usually attacked in the morning.

"We should follow their example and get some rest. There's still that monster to deal with, and we'll probably be tangling with it tomorrow." She said as they began to walk towards their rooms. They walked in silence until they reached her room.

He took her hand and squeezed it. "Thanks, Raven"

She stiffened up and he smelled her discomfort. He immediately let go of her hand. "Sorry Raven. I forgot." He turned and began to walk away. He had almost given her a friendly peck on the cheek, but had opted instead for a "safer" hand squeeze, which was fortunate.

"Wait!" she called. He turned around as she ran up to him.

"I'm sorry. It was a friendly gesture. I shouldn't have rejected it."

"Forget it. Good night, Raven."

She took his hand and gave it a soft squeeze. "Good night … Garfield."

He smiled at her. "Just call me Gar."

-( - )-

Ok Readers, some of you might remember this story. I yanked it a couple of years ago and cleaned it up. Then I forgot all about it. Since I'm still not writing anything new at the time, I figured I'd republish this old story. This is one of my older stories, and I think it shows. For those of you who haven't read it before, I hope you like it.

There are thirteen more chapters. I will update every day, since they are already written