Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans.
A/N: Ok, I know I should be working on my chapter fics, but this idea popped into my head one night and it's been nagging me for about 3 days.
Raven woke up not feeling up to her best. She had slight uneasiness in her stomach and was coughing a lot. She thought it was nothing and went downstairs.
The living room doors hissed open. As usual, no one was there. She coughed again. Raven walked over to make her tea. She noticed a couple of suitcases in the corner. At first, Raven was confused, but then she remembered they were supposed to be going to Titans East for a while.
Her tea stopped boiling. Again, Raven coughed. (Actually, it was more like hacking up a lung!)
"Hey Rae!"
Raven turned around sharply to see Beast Boy emerging from the pile of suitcases.
"What do you want?" she asked bitterly.
"I was just packing some tofu."
Raven raised an eyebrow. "Oo-kay. Why?"
Beast Boy was slightly shocked. Raven wasn't usually this talkative. "Cy wouldn't me let bring it, so I decided to sneak some in. Genius, huh?"
Raven sighed, but laughed mentally. "Yes, that's about as genius as you are. And let me remind you, you only have half a brain."
"Ha-ha, very funny Rae. You really have to try it, though. It's loaded with soy-beany goodness!" Raven coughed again. All thoughts of Raven's last comment were washed from his memory. "You feeling okay?"
"I'm fine," she said, picking up her cup. "I just need to meditate."
As she turned out the door, she heard Beast Boy say, "Okay, but if you need anything, you get me, okay?" She just ignored him.
He sighed. "I really hope she's as okay as she says she is." Beast Boy had had a crush on Raven for some time now, so if she was sick, and Raven didn't do sick, he would immediately go and help her.
Around noon, the rest of the Titans were awake, doing their usual. Beast Boy and Cyborg were killing each other in video games; Starfire was cooking another god-knows-what-it-is; Robin was answering her questions about Earth.
And Raven? She was trying to read, but every time she coughed, she'd lose her place, so she'd been reading the same page in Warriors: Book Six: The Darkest Hour for about ten minutes.
"Boo-yah! In your face, little green guy!" But, this time, Cyborg's taunts didn't reach Beast Boy.
"Huh? Yeah, whatever," he replied while Raven coughed. She looked a lot paler than usual.
"Hey, you okay man? You sound pretty distant."
"I'm fine." He got up, walked over to Raven, and knelt down beside her. He tried to look her in the eye. "Hey."
She looked at him. "What?" Raven asked, a bit nasally.
"You feelin' okay?"
"I told you before, Beast Boy, I'm perfectly fine." She jinxed it. Raven coughed again. Without thinking, Beast Boy patted her upper back. She stopped. "What was that for?"
"That usually helps stop coughing, that's all." He smiled. Not one of his stupid grins, but a real smile. Something that meant a lot to Raven.
"Thanks." She went to her room to meditate.
As she walked out of the room, worry flushed over Beast Boy. Raven pulled up her hood. She felt his concern, and she was blushing. Which caused the Gamestation to break. Which caused Cyborg to bawl like a baby. When Cyborg noticed Beast Boy was staring at Raven, he smirked. As soon as she was out of the room, he said coyly to Beast Boy, "You like her, don't you?"
Beast Boy snapped out of it. "What? No! Raven's a teammate, and, more importantly, a friend. It's just natural for a friend to worry about a friend. End of story."
"Riiiiiiiiiight. Then, please explain why you were staring."
"I was not!" he exclaimed defensively.
"Yes you were."
"Was not!"
"Were too!"
"Was not!"
"Were too!"
"Was not!"
"Was not!"
"Was too! I mean- oh crud."
"Ha! I knew it!"
"Cy, shut up," Beast Boy growled.
"BB and Rae, sittin' in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Beast Boy was fuming. "First comes love, then comes marriage-"
"Then comes Cyborg with an iron lung!" shouted Beast Boy bitterly. (A/N: WAY too many b's!) Beast Boy socked Cyborg in the chest, then stormed off in a huff.
Robin and Starfire looked up. "Cyborg, why was Friend Beast Boy so angered?" asked Star.
He grinned. "Because BB li-" A piece of masking tape covered his mouth. The green mouse that applied it changed into a spider and crawled out of the room.
"Robin?"
"Yes, Starfire?"
"Why does Cyborg wear the "tape of masking" over his mouth?" Robin shrugged in response. "Should we assist him in removing it?" Cyobrg nodded 'yes' about a zillion times.
Robin smirked. "Actually, Star, I think he's better this way." He winked at the girl of his dreams.
She laughed. "Agreed. We should leave the "tape of masking" on."
"Uh, that's "masking tape", Star," he corrected gently.
"Oh. Sorry!"
"No need to worry."
"Mey! Muys! A mittle MELLM mould me mice! (Translation: Hey! Guys! A little HELP would be nice!)" shouted Cyborg through the tape.
"Did you hear something, Robin?" asked Starfire jokingly.
"Nope. Must have been the wind." The two of them walked off to do…oh, I didn't say what that was, did I? Whatever.
"Mrrrr. Meast Moy! Men mi met mout mof mis, murr min mush mig mrouble! (Translation: Grrr. Beast Boy! When I get out of this, you're in such big trouble!)" screamed Cyborg.
Beast Boy knocked on Raven's door. He hadn't heard from her for a while, and they were about to leave for Titans East. "Raven?" he asked. "You okay in there?" Instead of the usual "Go away, Beast Boy" or "I'm trying to meditate", the changeling heard a light moan.
"Raven?" he asked again, genuinely worried. The door opened to reveal a sleeping Raven. Chase the bad thoughts away, thought Beast Boy. He walked over and gently shook her shoulder. "Raven? You awake?"
She groaned. "I am now. What time is it?"
"About time to leave for Titans East."
Raven's eyes widened. "Has it really been that long?"
"I-I guess so." Raven tried to get out of bed, but as soon as she stood up, she fell back. Into Beast Boy's arms.
She looked up at him. For a moment, she was in heaven. And then reality crshed down on her when she felt like she had to throw up.
Let's just say that while Raven was- err, how can I put this? –upchucking, Beast Boy held her hair back behind her head, and leave it at that!
After the two walked out, Beast Boy looked at Raven. "Guess you're not as okay as you said you were, huh?"
"Okay, you win," she said. "I'm sick. Happy?"
"Yes- I mean no- I mean…" he stammered.
She silenced him by putting her finger to his lips. "It's okay."
A realization hit Beast Boy. "You are in no condition to go to Titans East. One of us has to stay to take care of you."
She glared at him. "I can take care of myself. Are you saying I'm not capable of staying home alone?"
"No! No! It's not that! It's just that…well, um, back in your room, uh, you couldn't get out of bed right, and I think someone should at least stay to make sure this doesn't get any worse."
Raven blinked. She hadn't thought of that. He's so cute when he gets like that- WHERE THE HECK DID THAT COME FROM!
"What about the others? Titans East is expecting us, and it's not like we can just skip out on them," stated Raven.
"Ummm," said Beast Boy, growing red in the cheeks. "I was going to volunteer to stay with you." His voice died away, but Raven understood what he said.
He's so cute! shouted Happy.
He's smarter than he looks, said Knowledge.
He can seriously kick butt, said Bravery.
He's so sweet, said an emotion Raven didn't recognize.
Shut up! said Raven.
"Uh, Raven?" said Beast Boy, breaking her thoughts.
"Yes?"
"I just asked if you wanted herbal tea," he said, blushing.
She smiled a little. "That would be…nice. Thank you."
He smiled. "Comin' right up! Until then, you should rest." He gestured toward the couch.
"Since when were you health expert of Titans Tower?" she asked jokingly.
"Since my dad was a doctor and I worked with him," he said, playing the deadpan.
Raven smiled. Until a couple of months ago, she didn't think Beast Boy could be…normal.
She just prepared herself for meditating when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Raven turned to see Beast Boy with two mugs in his hand. He handed one to her and said, "I told you to rest, not meditate."
He handed a mug to her. She examined it. "Don't worry, I didn't poison it," he said.
She smiled at him. "Thank you Garfield," she said. Raven had hoped that calling Beast Boy by his real name would agitate him, but he didn't seem moved.
"Not a problem," he replied with a smile. Somehow, he had enjoyed Raven calling him "Garfield." He took a sip and smiled again. "Now I see why you like this," he said.
She smiled. And coughed again.
Beast Boy shifted his gaze from her. He felt terribly nervous right now. Alone in the Tower, alone with Raven…he never felt so strange.
They looked at the clock. About 6:30. They didn't have anything to do, and they really weren't hungry either. It was Raven who got an idea. "You wanna play chess?" she asked.
"What did you say?" he asked, shocked.
"You heard me. Do you want to play chess?"
"Okay, but I know I'm taking on the master." Raven blushed.
The two sat at a table on the far side of the game room. The board was already on the table, and two boxes were set up for each color. Beast Boy and Raven both bent down at the same time. They whacked their foreheads against the others, their lips dangerously close.
The two pulled away, blushing like manics. "Uh, sorry, my bad," stuttered Beast Boy.
"Yeah, um, whatever," said Raven. "White goes first."
"Okay," said Beast Boy. "How do the thingys with the round heads move again?"
Raven sighed. "Those are pawns. You can move them two squares forward on their fisrt move, once space forward after that, and they can only attack to one square on either the right or left diagonal."
Beast Boy moved the pawn in front of his king two spaces forward. "Like that?"
She smiled. "Exactly." She moved the pawn in front of her queen two spaces forward.
Beast Boy seemed confused. "How do the little horse things move?"
"That's a knight," Raven explained. "They have to move either three spaces forwoard and two spaces to the right or left, or two spaces forward and three to the right or left."
Beast Boy moved his knight so it would knock out Raven's pawn. "Like that?"
She got a sly smirk on her face. "Perfect." She moved her queen so it would knock out the knight that took out her pawn.
"Dang it!" said Beast Boy. "Didn't see that coming." The game went on like that for a while. Raven finally put Beast Boy in checkmate. She folded her arms across her chest. And coughed.
Not knowing what came over him, Beast Boy walked over and gave Raven a quick kiss on the cheek. "A kiss for the victor," he explained.
Raven was blushing like mad. Which caused her to run a fever. Which caused Beast Boy to go in 'doctor mode' again.
Quickly, Beast Boy picked Raven up bridal style and brought her to the med bay. Raven obviously felt more nervous now. "Relax," said Beast Boy. "You'll be fine." He left the room for a second, and then came back with a paper towel and a small bucket of water.
He then ripped the paper twoel in half and dipped them in the water. He wrung them out a little before placing them on her wrists. Raven noticed the water was cold to the touch, but she didn't care. It made her feel a lot better.
"Feeling better?" asked Beast Boy.
"Much," replied Raven. He smiled. He's so cute- HELLO! she thought.
They fell into an uncomfortable silence. Regarding these past events, a realization hit Raven.
"Um, Beast Boy?" said Raven.
"Yeah?"
"Uh, about what happened back there, um, why did you kiss me?"
Beast Boy could feel himself getting red in the cheeks. He didn't want to tell Raven now…or did he?
Yes, he did. He really wanted to tell her. And that's exactly what he intended to do.
He took a deep breath. "Raven," he began. "I just want to let you know that, I really hope that what I'm about to say doesn't ruin our friendship."
He's going to tell us he loves us! shouted the emotion Raven didn't know.
Who are you? asked Raven.
You'll see, replied the emotion.
"Well," continued Beast Boy, "ever since that incident with the HIVE, I've, um, h-had a crush on you."
Raven's eyes widened. Perhaps you're right, she said to the unknown emotion.
"A-and ever since Cy and me got sucked into your mind, I, um, I-I…I fell in love with you, Raven."
I knew it! shoouted the unkown emotion.
I know who you are, said Raven. You're Love, aren't you?
About time you figured that out!
Raven looked at him and smiled. She sat up, wrapped her arms around his neck and said, "I love you too, Beast Boy."
He pulled back in surprise. "Do-do you really mean it?"
She nodded.
He looked at the clock. "It's late," he said. "We should both get some sleep."
"Beast Boy," said Raven, "Umm, uh…" Her voice trailed away, too embarassed to ask.
"Raven? Do you want me to stay with you?" he asked, hoping she didn't blow his head off.
She nodded again. Trying to be mature, Beast Boy turned into a cat. Not everyone's "The Face" kitten, but a fully-grown cat. He would have been a tortoiseshell, if it weren't for the fact he was green.
The cat leaped up onto the bed. Beast Boy curled up next to Raven.
'Beast Boy?' asked Raven telepathicly. 'Can you hear me?'
'Yep,' he answered.
'G'night,' she said.
He purred. 'Night, princess.'
He drifted off to sleep pretty easily. Maybe being sick isn't that bad, thought Raven as she hugged the cat closer to her.
A/N:
Awww, wasn't that nice?
I also do not own this book. It is copyrighted by HarperCollins books and is written by Erin Hunter.
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