A/N: Following suit with all the other lovely writers who contributed, I figured I'd post all my BBRae week prompts on here. Conveniently in one place for your reading pleasure! Enjoy!

BBRae Week: Day 1

Unorthodox Sleeping Arrangements vs Pining

"Get out."

Finality.

It was in the way she enunciated every syllable.

Beast Boy wanted to retaliate, to have one more word before his fate was sealed, but Raven had made it vividly clear that she was no longer interested in talking. She threw his pillow at his face, followed shortly by a makeshift blanket.

"Out," she repeated herself, this time with more fervor, pointing an index finger at the door behind him. Just in case he'd thought she wasn't being serious.

He hadn't expected the impact, and the soft fabric hit him square in the nose before flopping into his open arms.

It was true; he was still annoyed and maybe a bit angry with her, but the thought of sleeping apart from her for the night terrified him.

He wanted to apologize. He wanted to swallow his pride, take back everything he'd said, and make things right with them again.

Anything so that he didn't have to spend the night wondering if he'd sullied such a good thing that they had going. Knowing and lingering on the fact that he'd hurt her so deep, she couldn't even stand the sight of him anymore, was tearing him to pieces on the inside.

[follow the cut for the rest!]

He loved her. More than anything he'd ever known in his life. There was simply no one else he wanted to make happy for the rest of his days. He'd never, ever dream of hurting her or causing her any undue misery; not when she'd already endured so much throughout most of her youthful existence. Raven was everything to him, and he was more than willing to spend every counted breath convincing her of his undying devotion if that was what it took.

That love was like the persistent lump in his throat; it was in the way his stomach twisted into knots, and how worry easily overpowered every other fighting inclination he'd felt prior.

Losing her.

That was his greatest fear.

"Raven, I-…"

Just then, she fixed him with a chilling violet stare, the ends of her short, dark hair nearly standing on end from the ominous power resonating within her. It effectively silenced him, leaving him to choke on his words.

She was fighting her emotions for control; he could see it in the way her bottom lip quivered, and the strained twitch of the muscle in her jaw.

She needed him to leave. No matter how much it pained him, it would only hurt worse if he stayed and caused her any more undue stress.

Defeated, he sighed and turned to go, clutching his bed things to his chest, while his shoulders slumped forward and his head hung low and heavy.

Into the dog house for the remainder of the night.

As he softly closed the door behind him, Beast Boy's heart felt overwhelmed, and his head was abuzz with all sorts of thoughts swirling about. He was so preoccupied with the anxious feeling that he'd somehow catastrophically ruined his relationship permanently, that he'd barely paid attention to the lights left on just ahead of him.

When he eventually reached the common room area, Garfield was surprised to have found Richard still lounging about on the couch, bare feet kicked up onto the coffee table. The Titans leader then turned his head to glance at the changeling with a curious expression, a single brow arched in question. His eyes darted from Garfield's long face, to the pillow and blanket tucked under his arm. Something a lot like understanding flashed in his azure gaze, and Dick appeared strangely humbled instead.

With a sympathetic smile, he asked, "Rough night?"

Beast Boy threw both pillow and blanket onto the other vacant couch and tried to make it look as comfortable as possible. "Something like that," he shrugged complacently.

Richard shifted in his seat, leaning forward to watch the green man unfold and smooth out his sheets unblinkingly.

Then, in a voice uncharacteristically low and gentle, Dick said; "You know, when Star and I had our first big fight, she locked me out on the tower roof. Said that the cold night air might help with my hot head and attitude problem." Richard broke into a grin from ear to ear at the memory, shaking his head in shame. "She forgot to let me back in. If it weren't for Raven's morning meditation ritual, I'd probably have been up there for days."

Beast Boy couldn't help but snigger at the idea of Richard Grayson, aka Nightwing, being trapped on the Titan's rooftop all because he'd managed to somehow piss off his gorgeous, over powered, alien girlfriend. "Dude, that sucks."

Richard nodded in agreement, but the smile that lit up his eyes and brought out his dimples remained. "Yeah, so take it from me; the couch isn't such a bad deal, especially since your girlfriend could probably banish you to another dimension if she wanted to."

Beast Boy scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, pretty sure Kory could fling you into space if she wanted to."

Dick's good cheer dissipated. "Fair enough," he conceded begrudgingly.

The former boy wonder stood up to his full height then, pushing his bangs back from his face with little effect. "Either way, I'm sure the two of you will work this out in no time. It's just, every once in a while, you have to give someone the space to realize how much you mean to them." Richard placed a comforting hand on the younger man's shoulder, squeezing gently.

Garfield sighed deeply, staring down at his own two feet rather than into the eyes of his all-knowing leader. "Yeah…Unless the exact opposite happens," he mused, running his hands through his hair.

Dick's smile became a tight-lipped frown. "Don't beat yourself up so much, Gar. I don't think you're giving Raven enough credit here; she might not show it much, but she's pretty smitten. In the mean time, get some rest. I learned the hard way that staying up torturing yourself with what ifs doesn't help anyone." With that said, Dick turned out the lights, and headed to his sleeping quarters, leaving Garfield behind to mull over his words of advice.

Once Richard was out of earshot, the changeling groaned helplessly, and buried his face into his pillow when he'd flopped forward onto the couch.

He tried not to think about the pure, volatile anger in Raven's expression, or the way she'd regarded him with such scorn and resentment. Her beautiful features had contorted into something that had looked a lot like hurt and betrayal, and it pained him to realize he'd been the cause.

He should have apologized.

He should have told her that she was right and that he'd been in the wrong. Maybe, if he had, he'd be sleeping next to her right then, curled up against her back, his face nuzzled into the silken strands of her violet hair, inhaling the sweet scent of her minty shampoo.

The fight, of course, had been over something entirely ridiculous. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he realized how silly the whole thing had been.

"He's into you," he'd bluntly told her earlier that evening. "He's into you and he doesn't remotely see me as a threat."

He'd regretted his words the minute he'd said them.

Raven had shifted in his arms, suddenly uncomfortable and a bit perturbed by his statement. She'd turned to look at him appraisingly, trying to read him with a narrowed gaze. "What are you talking about?"

Looking back on it, he shouldn't have said anything. Rarely did he ever allow his insecurities to show, and like always, he'd have been just fine dealing with it by himself.

Beast Boy couldn't understand what had possessed him to have been so bold and forward in the first place.

Perhaps he'd grown so comfortable in her presence throughout their relationship that he felt like he could tell her anything. Even something like, say, his most irrational fears.

At the time, he'd tried to play it off, cool and impartial on the matter. "It's nothing serious, I just can't help but notice how he is around you, even if I'm nearby. He doesn't seem to care." He shrugged his shoulders, averting his gaze to the television so that he didn't have to stare into Raven's questioning amethyst-toned eyes.

The empath sat up abruptly, clearly trying to puzzle out what her boyfriend was insinuating. She blinked at him a few times before saying; "He is fully aware that I'm in a committed relationship and that nothing will ever happen between us. What's the problem?"

Garfield absent-mindedly scratched at the nape of his neck. "Nothing. No problem," he answered untruthfully with another callous shrug. When Raven appeared to have somewhat relaxed, he added through gritted teeth, "Except for maybe, you know, that he's hitting on my girlfriend right in front of me."

Raven groaned and rolled her eyes, bringing her fingers to her temple in frustration. "Are you actually jealous of someone I'm not even interested in?"

Garfield, knowing that he'd very well opened the can of worms he promised he wouldn't, sat up properly on the bed as well.

"It's not about your interest. It's about his, and the lack of respect he has for ourrelationship. I know I come off as the comic relief guy, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let some punk kid walk all over me, either." By this point, he was growing mildly aggravated, as a lot of bottled up anger was coming up to the surface.

"I can't believe this is happening right now," Raven sighed, shaking her head. "You shouldn't feel threatened by him, Gar. This isn't some sort of testosterone competition, and I sure as hell won't have you throwing punches over it."

He raised his hands in defense. "I won't, but if he pushes the right buttons, there's no guarantee I'll hold back. Kid with a mouth like that has it coming."

Raven stared at him openly, wearing a deadpan expression. "You're ruining date night. Stop talking about beating up a young boy just to make yourself feel better. We're supposed to be cuddling and watching a movie, not arguing about nonsense," she informed him rather blandly.

"I'm sorry; next time I just won't tell you anything, and instead, keep it to myself so it doesn't ruin anything," he remarked sarcastically.

Raven narrowed her eyes. "You do know we were going to have sex tonight, right?"

"You do know that I'm not some kind of hormone driven male, right?"

"I sure as hell don't need this from you, Gar. You're acting like a child," she contested, growing irritable.

He laughed, but the sound was cold and anything but merry. "Because you'rejust the pinnacle of maturity, aren't you? I can't believe you just tried to bribe me with sex!"

Shock registered in her pixie-like features at his accusation, and then anger replaced it abruptly. "Excuse me?" She queried, flabbergasted.

Raven effectively moved away from him, and he was perfectly fine with that; she had somehow managed to piss him off to the point where being in the same vicinity was unnerving him.

It was Garfield's turn to fix her with a look of scorn, his smile twisted into something bitter and harsh. "Did I stutter?" He sniped.

"No," she answered coldly. "But you had better watch your tongue, Logan," she threatened, her voice low and menacing.

She'd never called him by his last name like that before. He almost immediately decided that he didn't like it, but he couldn't discern if it was merely her tone or just the manner in which she'd used it.

Despite Raven's newly intimidating demeanour, he wasn't done with her yet, still riding the tumultuous waves of his scathing fury. "You know what? Maybe you like the attention. Maybe that's why you're being so defensive of the brat. Secretly, you like it when he flirts with you, and treats you like some goddamn prize to be won," he spat venomously, the floodgates to his more well-kept emotions having been thrown open.

Raven stared at him, unblinking. Her mouth was a tight line, and dark crackling energy was materializing around her. She maintained an eerie silence, but her nostrils flared with rage.

When she did speak, her voice was thin and icy, barely even audible. "If you think this is how you'll convince me of not going on the assigned stakeout with him, you're doing a pretty bad job," she informed him through gritted teeth.

Talk about a low blow.

That one had hit right below the belt, and it must have showed on his face, for there was a flicker of a victory smile on the empath's darkly painted lips.

His anger flared, but mostly, he was just hurt. Beast Boy floundered for words, opening, and closing his mouth fruitlessly, and in the process, damaging his hurt pride even further by looking the part of a fool.

She'd effectively left him speechless. She'd played him for the idiot that he felt he was. The brief silence was numbing, and his ears rang from the heat and blood that had rushed to his face.

Raven's chilling smirk only grew. "Did I forget to tell you? Nightwing wants us to scout out some suspicious activity happening at an abandoned warehouse he's certain Brother Blood's been operating out of," she elaborated.

Garfield's handsome features contorted into something like a disgusted sneer, repulsed by this new information in ways he couldn't mask. "Why would you tell me that?" He asked her incredulously. The changeling's shoulders had slumped forward, a million negative thoughts running through his head as he played through various unsettling scenarios.

"Because, apparently, you don't trust me," she seethed.

Beast Boy shook his head vehemently. "No," he started, "No, absolutely not. You cannot go alone with him, Rae!"

"Where the hell do you get off telling me what to do?!"

"That brat is going to try something bold, don't think I don't know it! You say you don't want us coming to blows, but you're practically instigating it!"

"How dare you?! Years I spent with the monks of Azarath, practicing peace and non-violence, and you have the gall to accuse me of inspiring a stupid, petty fight?"

"All I'm saying is, the more I hear, the more I want to punch him in his stupid face!"

"So help me, Gar, if you so much as lay a finger on that kid because of this…"

"What? You'll break up with me?"

She hesitated, and their eyes locked in a heated exchange. Silence pervaded once the elephant in the room had been addressed. Somewhere in the background, the television series they'd planned to binge was still playing, but they were both unfazed by it's steady drone.

"Get out."

That was it.

That was how he'd winded up on the couch.

"I feel like the human equivalent of a giant turd," he grumbled to himself into his pillow, his voice muffled even as he inhaled deeply. He could still smell her in the very fabric of his sheets, like the ghost of her had somehow embedded itself in the stitching.

There was no way he'd sleep a wink, no matter what Richard had told him. Not when they'd ended things on such a horrible note, anyways. For all he knew, he'd wake up freshly single again, and would have to witness Raven potentially start dating the very reason they'd broken up in the first place. He couldn't stomach the thought; it made him physically ill, knowing he was so close to losing her.

What had he done?

Beast Boy slapped his palm against his forehead repeatedly, grimacing from each impact, and berating himself every time he relived what he'd had the nerve to say to her.

She'd been harsh, it was true, but he'd practically inspired it from her.

No one was a winner tonight. He'd let a much uglier side of him show itself, and Raven had not taken to it well.

"Me and my big mouth," he surmised, telling himself that tears weren't going to make him feel any better if he permitted them to spill.

Nonetheless, they burned the backs of his eyes, and his bottom lip quivered in defiance of his wishes.

He hated himself.

He always hated himself.

But when he was with Raven, sometimes, he forgot. When they were happy, he found something about himself to like. The way he could make her smile, for instance. A true rarity if there ever was one. When he got her to laugh, or crack wise jokes, or when he'd pleasantly surprise her and she'd gaze at him like she was proud. When she'd open up to him, and they'd have a heart to heart, or the way she'd look at him in the aftermath of a lovemaking session, her eyes glistening in the afterglow, and a contented purr rumbling from her throat.

It was in those small but precious moments that he was happiest. If she could somehow derive a sense of pleasure from his company, then it was all worth it.

However, realizing this only made it hurt even more, and Beast Boy couldn't have felt more hopeless than he did then.

The distance between them, the sudden rift. It left his heart aching in ways nothing could ever remedy. A breaking heart, so acutely aware of an impending, agonizing loneliness, was no wound that could ever be cured so easily.

Beast Boy turned on his side, squeezed his eyes shut, and buried his face into the couch's back cushion, telling himself the hot moisture he felt against his face was merely a figment of his imagination.

A few more moments of self loathing and pitiful tears, and then the atmosphere had somehow changed.

The blanket had shifted, exposing him to the cool air of the common room. His eyes shot open, but a familiar scent of honey and lavender permeated through his nostrils and left him still as stone.

She climbed in next to him without a word, the narrow space of the couch forcing her to snuggle in against his back, and threw the flimsy blanket overtop them both. One of her arms came to snake around his torso, and she scooted in closer, tucking her face into his neck.

Slowly, she placed her full lips, warm and tender and somewhat shaking, against the side of his neck, lingering too briefly. She then nuzzled the tip of her nose against the lobe of his ear, and crooned into him, much like a cat would towards their human's beloved touch.

Beast Boy remained frozen, not knowing what to make of the situation. His heart was soaring, pounding, and fresh tears threatened to spill anew, only this time, out of sheer bliss and joy. It had felt as if he'd been drowning this whole time, and he was finally granted the starved taste of oxygen his body had so craved.

He hadn't lost her.

Not yet.

His hand, unsteady and trembling, came up to join her where she was holding him, and he laced his fingers with hers.

"I'm not going," she then whispered against his ear, her hot breath giving him pleasurable chills. There was a hint of apology and guilt in her tone, and she placed yet another tentative kiss against his flushed neck. "I'll tell Richard in the morning. He can easily find someone else."

A sense of relief washed over him, and he squeezed her hand in response.

He wanted to apologize for his behaviour, too; he wanted to put into words all his complex thoughts and feelings. He felt like he owed her that at least, but Beast Boy was having trouble finding his voice. He was terrified it would crack from under the pressure of his overwhelming emotions.

So, instead, he brought her pale hand to his lips, and placed a tender kiss on each and every one of her dainty knuckles. It was an action so intimate that he could almost swear the empath was blushing.

Garfield vowed to himself that he'd make it up to her with more than just words.

After all, talk was cheap, and she deserved the world.

Eventually, even Beast Boy managed to slip into a dreamless slumber listening to the sound of Raven's steady and slow breathing. They'd both curled up on the couch, and held onto each other like letting go would be to succumb to the most terrible of fates.

There would be a lot to talk about in the morning, apologies that needed to be said, but they both knew they'd somehow work through it.

As long as they wouldn't be spending the night alone, they'd be okay…

-FIN