Disclaimer: Come on, if I owned the Teen Titans, would I really be sitting here writing fan fiction?

Rating: K+

In Ten Seconds

"Not much time to go, Raven. You excited?"

Raven winced at the sudden intrusion of her solitude. "Well, Beast Boy, we've spent many New Year's Eves together. What do you think?"

"Ummm," he thought for a moment, "I can't really tell. That's why I asked you."

Raven gave him a deathly blank stare. "You of all people should know that I'm not one for celebrations."

Still pertaining to his usual antics, Beast Boy pinched an hors d'oeuvre off a tray placed on the snack table they stood next to. Popping it into the air, he waited for gravity to do what it did best and let the tasty snack fall into his mouth.

Raven rolled her eyes. Even in the midst of a conversation, the boy's stomach held control over his thought processes. Nevertheless, after consuming the snack, he returned his attention to her.

"You can't keep doin' this all the time, Raven," he stated, "You've celebrated with us before. I mean, you even started that party after we defeated Trigon. Why don't cha come join the fun?"

This was usually the point at which the conversation would end or take a desperate turn. Whether she bluntly changed the topic or abruptly walked away, the current subject would always stop in its tracks. This time, however, despite how she hated having her actions questioned, she was actually impressed with him. First of all, he was being unusually brave. Second, if what he said couldn't be considered making a good point, she could at least understand his reason for asking. Raven rarely saw the logical side of her shape-shifting friend, but when she did, it was quite a sight. For that, she decided to humor him.

"I don't like big crowds. You know that too," she said incriminatingly. "When it's just the five of us, I'm comfortable, but when you get the whole league of Titans involved," she gestured at the enormous crowd in the common room of Titans Tower, "it becomes too much for me to handle."

"But you're not even with the crowd," he pointed out. "You're standing here all by yourself, so what's there to handle? All they wanna do catch up with friends and have a good time."

As much as she did not like it, he did in fact make a good point this time. While she had regrettably joined in the festivities of the brand new year, she positioned herself off to the side of a table where the only thing people concentrated on was the food. If someone did manage to notice her, she could act like she was busy picking out snacks for herself. It was impossible to escape exchanging a few hellos, but the only person she made any actual communicative progress with was, well, Beast Boy. It struck her as strange that he was the only person that she was willing to talk to. With the others, she kept her words to a minimum to avoid lengthy talks about things she frankly did not care about.

"It's just a new year," Raven argued in a voice that held no interest. "It happens every 365 days. I don't see what's so special."

Beast Boy looked straight into her eyes. Raven, on the other hand, looked past him to the clock on the opposite wall. Less that a minute remained until the New Year rolled in.

Noticing that she was not meeting his eyes, Beast Boy adjusted himself to capture her gaze again. "Maybe it doesn't matter what you're celebrating…"

Raven gave him a questioning look that could have pierced through him with the right superpowers.

"It's who you celebrate with that matters," he finished.

Her features softened, but only for a moment before her hardened demeanor returned. "How cliché. And you think I want to celebrate with you?" she asked incredulously. The words escaped her lips before she could register them and she instantly regretted it.

Beast Boy looked hurt, but then his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes narrowed like a cat's. "I'm the only one you seem to wanna talk with tonight. It looks like you've managed to steer everyone else away," he said sternly.

Raven shot back a similar look. "Have you been spying on me from across the room or something? That makes me feel real comfortable," she scoffed.

"Oh come on, Raven."

"What?"

"I'm not some stalker. That's not what I'm after," he said callously.

"Then what are you after!?" she spat out of nowhere. She knew Beast Boy's intentions were not of indecent nature—she would have sensed something more sinister in him otherwise—, but his persistent questioning aggravated her.

"I want to know more about you! Is that so wrong!?" he answered in a similar fashion.

"Why would you want to know anything about me?" she inquired, glowering directly into his shimmering emerald eyes. His pupils were now only slits and, surprisingly, Raven felt a little intimidated by them.

"Because I care about you, Raven!" he answered, moving closer to her. "You caught my attention the first day we met, and every day since then you've come to mean more and more to me."

Raven felt a lump form inside her throat. His words made no sense to her. "How could I mean that much to you?" Raven asked disbelievingly, moving in closer to make sure she would hear him correctly. She could not possibly believe that, could she?

"Ten!" came the shouts of everyone else's voices. The countdown had begun.

"Because you're everything I could ever want," he said, bringing his voice down to a gentle tone.

"Nine!"

"You're the person I care about most."

"Eight!"

"I doubt it," she sighed sadly and quickly turned away.

"Seven!"

"Why?" he questioned in return.

"Six!"

"I've never meant that much to anyone before," she said dejectedly.

"Five!"

"You do to me," he said, taking a step towards her.

"Four!"

"More than you know," he added. He placed his hands on her shoulders, squeezing gently.

"Three!"

She whipped around to stare him in the eyes once more and she felt her eyes water up. "How can I trust you?" she asked.

"Two!"

"Like this," he whispered, and closed the distance between them.

"One! Happy New Year!"

Beast Boy captured her lips with his own, holding her tightly in his embrace. He did not know how she would react, but he kept his lips pressed against hers. A wave of both relief and passion washed over him when he felt her kiss back.

Raven felt butterflies in her stomach and a spark of electricity shot down her spine, spreading throughout her entire body. His lips were soft and they brought an instant feeling of warmth and protection to her. She could not pull away from him, from this feeling he gave her. She wasted no time in leaning into him and placing her hands on his chest.

As fireworks burst up high behind the city, shedding their brilliance upon the clear night sky, Raven and Beast Boy continued their kiss, going unnoticed by the rest of the cheering Titans. Sparks of black magical energy caused a few food items on the snack table burst as well, also going unnoticed.

When the two finally pulled away, Beast Boy looked at her. A light stream of tears ran down her cheeks. He could not tell what she was thinking.

"Raven?" he asked calmly, searching her eyes for an answer.

Her mind had calmed down, no longer clouded by the rampant, flustering thoughts of the argument before. She felt the true concern and tenderness he had for her as she looked at the softened features of his face. How things between them went from here, she could not even imagine, but she knew one thing…

Raven pulled him into a hug and rested her head against his chest. "I trust you," she said.

Beast Boy smiled warmly and wrapped his arms around her. "Happy New Year, Raven."

A/N's:

Happy New Year, everyone!