My very first Teen Titans fic! Please R&R!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Teen Titans. It belongs to Cartoon Network and DC Comics. Enjoy!

Have you ever been in one of those situations where…You did something that didn't seem so bad, but it ended up having unwanted consequences? And if you say yes, then did it also have something to do with your friends? If you say yes to both, then you'll probably understand my current situation.

The sound of the downpour thumping harshly against the roof echoed loudly in the cave I was currently in. Darkness almost completely surrounded me, and the sound of water dripping echoed throughout the cavern, but I couldn't care less about that right now. I sniffled, tears still fresh in my green eyes, and I shivered in the frigid temperatures of the cave. I hugged my wet, trembling body, trying to give myself some extra warmth. I had gotten caught in the downpour just before I found this cave; it was already cold both outside and in here, and my wet clothes were certainly not helping at all.

I sighed as I leaned again the stone walls in the darkness, they were cold to the touch and made me shiver slightly more. The raindrops on my forehead made my messy bangs stick to my skin, and my constant tears were starting to leave my face feeling sticky and slightly sore. Part of me wished that I could go back to the tower, where I always had food, shelter and warm. But I won't go back…I just can't go back…Not after what my so-called 'friends' did to me.

…Those jerks! A low yet soft growl welled up in my throat as pure rage and anguish built up quickly in my system as I thought about what they did. How dare they…How could they?! For a few quick seconds, I let rage overcome me and I unconsciously stood up, flames burning brightly in my eyes, and I suddenly punched the cold stone walls as hard as I could out of absolute anger. At first, it didn't hurt—my body had mostly gone numb from the fury—but the pain quickly settled in within seconds. I hissed in pain and held my fist with my other hand. In hindsight, this was a really bad idea. I quickly used my unharmed hand to remove the glove that covered my pained hand and inspected how bad it was.

My knuckles and fingers had scrapes and a few bruises on them, the scrapes were starting to bleed slightly, and the skin around the wounds was already red and slightly swollen. I groaned mildly in pain as I put my glove back on. Great, this day just keeps getting better. First the incident with my 'friends', and now this. Perfect, just perfect.

I inhaled and exhaled, still rubbing my pained hand, trying to calm myself down. Getting angry again certainly wasn't going to solve anything now. I slowly sat back down against the rocky walls and sighed. I wasn't sure what to do now, all I could do was go down the bad area of Memory Lane. I close my eyes for just a minute or two, reliving those awful memories that I know I'd never, ever forget.

(Flashback)

I giggled in pure glee and bliss, a small, cheeky smile was planted upon my green-skinned face, as I jumped into my bed on to the warm, welcoming sheets that seemed to just wait for me to fall asleep on them. Why was I so giddy, you ask?

It was because I had just pulled the prank of the century on my best friend, Starfire! Gosh, that girl is so gullible! My other friends might now react to all my pranks anymore, but I know that good ole Starfire will never let me down!

Let me explain to you just how the prank went down.

Basically, I have the ability to transform into any animal I want. Pretty sweet, huh? Anyways, Starfire was outside watering the flowers when a mosquito came up to her. It started to buzz around Star and bother her, and after failed attempts to get it to go away, Starfire quickly blasted it with her laser eyes. Again, sweet! While the mosquito started to bother her, I quickly transformed into a gorilla and snuck up behind her. Unfortunately, I wasn't looking where I was putting my feet—I was too focused on making sure that Starfire didn't see me—and I suddenly tripped over a rock and landed on my front with a light thud.

Ow, my chest!

I groaned loudly in pain, holding my sore chest, as I stood back up. And unfortunately for me, Starfire heard me. I could tell because her head shot up as soon as the groan escaped my lips. Fear shot through me instantly. So much for a surprise prank attack!

But the fear quickly subsided when I saw Starfire look down at the mosquito she had singed and picked it up. "Beast Boy? Is that you in the form of a mosquito?" she asked with concern in her voice.

I flashed a devilish grin as I suddenly got the best idea for an awesome new prank! I quickly changed back into my normal form and hid in the bushes, now completely forgetting about my pained chest, and Starfire's back was still turned to me. I started to make loud, dramatic pain noises and spoke as if I were in horrible agony. And Starfire completely fell for it all!

After a few minutes, I finally decided that she had enough, so I snuck up behind her with great stealth, leaned forward and whispered, "Boo!" into her ear rather loudly. Starfire squeaked loudly and jumped high in surprise. I couldn't suppress a small laugh as she landed back on her feet. Upon hearing my laughter, Starfire quickly turned around, and once her bright green eyes fell upon me, they were reduced to slits of horror.

"Beast Boy?" She gasped, fear was heavy in her voice. "Y-You…You are a g-ghost!"

I grinned lightly. This prank just keeps getting better and better! I started to pretend to be a ghost, and Star still fell for it! Boy, did it scare her and amuse me! But it got even better than ever when Starfire got on her hands and knees and told me out of fear that she'd do whatever I asked, just as long as I wouldn't haunt her. I quickly took advantage of this and asked if she would do my laundry; I've been meaning to do my laundry for a while, and there's quite a lot of dirty clothes in my room, though I've never found the right time to do it. She quickly agreed to do it and ran off right away.

I chuckled and sighed in amusement as I reached for the lamp, which was on the nightstand right next to my bed, and turned it off, plunging the room into darkness. Now, I'm not a big fan of the dark, but my room was illuminated by the moonlight right outside my window, giving me enough light to sleep in peace. I covered myself in a warm, dark blue blanket and just moments after I closed my eyes, I was plunged into a deep sleep.

I woke up the next morning to something cold and hard pressed against my face. I opened up my emerald-colored eyes in confusion. As soon as I opened my eyes and took in my current surrounding, I immediately knew that something wasn't right for two reasons.

One: I wasn't in my bed, nor was I even in my room. And I know for a fact that I don't sleepwalk (I should know, I asked Raven to watch me all night just in case and she told me that I don't sleepwalk at all).

And two: it looked as if I were in some sort of casket! I looked up and sighed in relief, the lid was still open, thank goodness.

I sat up and groaned slightly, my limbs felt pretty stiff. Probably from lying still for so long. Raven actually told me once that I toss, turn and fidget a lot when I sleep, though it usually happens when I dream. I probably didn't really move a lot last night, it was actually a pretty dreamless night.

Anyways, I quickly climbed out of the casket. Yep, definitely not in my room, but instead in one of few unused rooms in the tower. I looked around the room. How did I get here and why was I in a casket? When my gaze fell upon my left, what I saw made me frown. It was all of my friends: Cyborg, Raven, Starfire and Robin, and they all looked like they were in grief; their eyes were closed, their heads lowered, and they all had saddened expressions on their faces.

Feeling concern and confusion overwhelmed me. I quickly walked over and stopped in front of them. "Guys? What's going on?" I asked.

Either they didn't hear me or they simply ignored me, but all of my friends suddenly started saying rather depressing stuff in mournful tones.

"He was so young." Robin said quietly

"I'll never forget ya, Beastie!" Cyborg sobbed loudly.

"At least…He's in a better place now." Raven sighed sadly.

Shock and fear suddenly plunged deeply into my system. I was dead?! But then, just seconds later, I found myself laughing. Laughing out of amusement, of all things. What did I find so amusing, you ask? Well, I found it amusing that my friends were trying to prank ME of all people! Me, the Master of Pranking! Because of the tons of pranks I had pulled on my friends over the years, I know a lot about pranking, not that I want to boast or anything.

I knew it within seconds: this was all a failed attempt at a stupid prank!

I crossed my arms and flashed a cocky grin as my friends as I continued to laugh. "Nice try, guys," I said once I stopped laughing. "Seeing you guys trying to prank me is amusing, it really is. And besides, if I truly am dead, or a ghost of all things, could I be able to do this?"

I walked over to a table on the far side of the room. The table had a rather large lamp sitting upon it. I reached for the lamp quickly to grab it…But my hand went right through the lamp! My eyes widened in shock as dread started to weigh down in my stomach, as if I just swallowed a heavy stone. I swiped at the lamp again and again, and just like before, my hand went straight through the lamp.

I swallowed audibly as my heart thumped in my chest, threatening to burst at any moment. My hands were starting to shake slightly. What was going on?! Was I truly…

I quickly walked back over to my friends. One final test to confirm if my fears are true or not. I quickly crouched and lunged at Robin…

…And I went straight through him! As I crashed on to the floor behind him, I heard Robin shudder and say, "Whoa…I just got a chill up my spine."

My emerald irises were reduced to mere slits as horror quickly overtook me and started to numb my body, though I felt as if I were about to puke out of fear at any moment. I stood up, my entire body trembling, and I slowly lowered my gaze to my hands. They were shaking violently, and the rest of my body was starting to do the same. I certainly didn't look or feel transparent, but apparently I was!

I'm dead! I'm a ghost!

I screamed loudly in horror as I ran through the wall and out of the room, into one of the long hallways of the tower. As soon as I was out, I quickly felt the content of my stomach rising to my throat. I turned and vomited, just vomited out of pure terror as hot, salty tears burned in my eyes. How did this happen? WHY DID THIS HAPPEN?! Did I do something bad and now death—death of all things—is my punishment? If it is, then I'm so, so sorry for whatever it was! Just please don't let me die! PLEASE DON'T LET ME BE A GHOST!

Finally, I stopped vomiting. There was nothing left in my stomach, not even my stomach acids; the fear had caused me to reject literally everything in my system, and the hot, disgusting taste remained in my mouth. I groaned and spat the taste out on to the piles of vomit on the cold floors. Tears cascaded down my fast swiftly like a waterfall as I wiped any remaining bile from my mouth with my hand. I can't believe I just got sick all over the place!

I suddenly froze.

Wait a minute…I'm not expert or anything, but I've seen and read TONS of ghost stories and documentaries. And I'm pretty sure that ghosts don't get sick.

I frowned slightly as confusion quickly drowned out my previous emotions. If I wasn't actually a ghost, then why did none of my friends see me? And how come I can pass through solid objects all of a sudden?

Maybe this was all a bad dream, and I'll wake up at any moment? A tiny half-smile graced my face. Yeah, maybe that's it. I quickly shut my eyes tight, my tears stopping by now, and concentrated as hard as I could. Come on, Beast Boy, just focus and wake up! I opened my eyes and found that I was still here. This was definitely going to be harder than I thought.

Suddenly I heard something, and what it was made me smile disappear and be replaced with a confused frown.

Laughter.

But not just any laughter. My friends' laughter!

I could have sworn I just felt confusion and suspicion smack me hard in the face. They all seemed so sad just moment ago…Why were they all laughing? I quickly got as close as I could to the wall without going through it and listened closely.

"Oh, he definitely fell for it!" Starfire exclaimed happily. I couldn't tell, but I bet she had a gleeful smile planted upon her face.

"Sure hope he likes a taste of his own medicine." Cyborg agreed in a somewhat-cocky voice.

"Good idea casting that Transparency Spell on him, Raven." Robin said in a rather happy tone.

My eyes went wide again. This was all a PRANK?! Usually, I would have felt a small wave of victory crash over me for being right, and I would usually just laugh it off; I do love a good prank after all.

But not this time.

I mean, come on, do you REALLY expect me to laugh?! They just made me freakin' fear-vomit all over the floor! Within seconds, my shock was ultimately dominated by anguish and rage. My blood started to boil as I felt both my eyes and ears twitch, and my green-skinned face quickly turned red with anger. Tears started to swell up in my eyes, but not tears of shock and horror. No, these were hot tears of anger. How dare they…HOW COULD THEY?!

I've never told anyone this, not even my four friends—mostly because I know that they'll all just ignore me and/or deny it—but there's a reason why I do all of the pranks and jokes that I do.

I need something to laugh at to try and forget about/push away all of my emotionally and mental agony…which is caused by my 'friends'.

Let me explain. I'm…Well…Let's just say that my friends, and a lot of other people I know, usually refer to me as 'not the sharpest tool in the shed'. I'm actually pretty intelligent, but I just don't use my brain much and I'm quite naïve most of the time, and not to mention that it usually causes mischief for both me and my friends. But that's just the way I like it; I like being the fun-loving yet naïve troublemaker, every group/team needs one, right?

But because of that, however, I'm usually considered the 'black sheep' of the group, which causes me to be the subject of my friends' frequent ridicule and teasing. And not the friendly-type of teasing, but the kind of teasing that leaves you feeling like you were just smacked in the face harshly.

I find this totally unfair since I only ever tease me friends in a friendly, light-hearted way because I care deeply for the well-being and their feelings, and the last thing I would want is to see my friends in mental pain…They don't deserve the same pain I feel almost every day, even if they're the ones who cause it. Mental pain is not a pretty thing, trust me.

But with my friends, it's so much more than obvious that they couldn't care less about how I would feel! And all of their stupid teasing—which consists of nothing but mean words and harsh insults—always leaves me feeling burned up emotionally inside. Plus, every time I try to complain about this to my friends and ask them to stop, they always start denying it and make up stupid, overrated excuses to save their sorry hinds. And then, out of the blue, they start accusing ME of whining! I mean, really!

So, to try and forget about all of that pain, even if it's only for a few short minutes, I constantly crack stupid yet funny jokes and pull hilarious pranks to make myself laugh and temporarily numb those wounds.

Under normal circumstances, my anger would have subsided and I would be laughing good-heartedly by now…But these were no longer normal circumstance. Well, they weren't a few days ago. A few days ago, I've begun to feel as if I'm finally being driven to my limits and the pain is getting too much to bear.

Long story short: My usually cheerfully, laughing, happy-go-lucky self is nothing more than a mask that I wear to conceal my true feelings.

I entered the room, my vision becoming a mere red haze of vexation, as my friends continued their annoying laughter, and they hadn't even noticed that I entered the room. I growled, right now all I wanted to do was smack all of them as hard as I could! But I can't thanks to Raven's stupid Transparency Spell. Suddenly, I could no longer control myself, my anger had completely taken over me, and I forced words from anger out of my mouth.

"You think this is soooo funny, don't you?" I hissed, startling and shutting up each of them. They all turned around and looks of shock were on their faces immediately once they saw my red, angered, tear-stained face. "You think it's funny that I just FEAR-VOMITED ALL OVER THE PLACE, THANKS TO YOUR STUPID LITTLE PRANK?!"

Robin scowled at me and crossed his arms. "You should know better, Beast Boy," he chided me in a rather harsh tone. "You scared Starfire half to death with your stupid little ghost prank! We just decided to give you a taste of your own medicine. It's about time you grow up already!"

In that moment, as those harsh words sunk into me, I swore I felt something snap inside of me. Tears kept on coming faster and harder, my vision getting pretty blurred by now. That's it, I've had it with all of this!

I stormed right up to my friends with glare from my eyes, which were now bloodshot and puffy from all of my tears. I wanted so badly to transform into a lion and slash them all with my claws as hard as possible, but once again, I can't make physical contact with them right now.

"You're the ones who need to grow up, not me!" I yelled, pure anguish sharp in my voice. "I only pull those pranks and jokes just so I can forget about the pain that YOU bozos cause me every single day! It's the exact same thing with all of you every day and night!"

I turned to Cyborg first. "Do you remember the time you made fun of me just because I got a job to buy you an expensive birthday present? Or the time you practically insulted and slapped me just because I accidentally messed up your oh-so precious T-Car? Because I sure remember it! I loved you like a brother, Cyborg, I always have…But I don't think a true brother would constantly hurt his brother!"

I hardly noticed the guilty expression on Cyborg's face as I turned to Starfire next. "And you! I've always seen you as the sister I've never had. I always look to you whenever I need advice on friendship and love…But regardless, you still treat me like dirt! And remember when I accidentally set that prank that was meant for Cyborg on you? Well, I certainly remember that I tried to apologize, and you straight-up ignored me and called me a 'Clorgbag Varbllerneilk', whatever the heck that is! How do you think that feels, Star? Huh?! How do you think it feel?!"

I didn't bother waiting for a response from her, instead I turned to Robin, who had a shocked and somewhat-guilt-filled expression on his face. "And the Boy Wonder…I see you as a mentor, but you just hurt me almost every day! Every insult you throw at me is just harsh and uncalled for! You always say that you're a little harsh on everyone, yet I've NEVER seen you called Starfire 'useless', or Cyborg an 'idiot', or even Raven a 'freak'!"

Finally, I turned to the last person. Raven. My tears were intense with her. Raven wasn't just a good friend, but I've always had a crush on her, and I've seen a couple of times that she likes me back. Every time she hurts me, it felt like the pain I received from the others times ten.

"Raven…You hurt me almost every day," I sobbed angrily. "You insult me, slap me, and just straight-up leave me in both mental and physical pain! But I've always loved you regardless…But now, all of that has changed!"

I studied their faces for a few split-seconds, their emotions plain as day on their faces: guilt, regret, sorrow, and self-hatred, and each of them had tears rimming their eyes. To be honest, I felt temporarily relieved to finally get all of that off my chest, but I wasn't done yet, and my so-called 'friends'' saddened expressions weren't going to stop me!

"Do you know what it's like to feel horrible emotional pain that's caused by your so-called 'friends' day in and day out?" I growled at them, venting out more and more of the emotions I've kept bottled up all these years. "I'll tell you this right now: it truly hurts! I've tried to tell you all this time, but all you do is ignore and insult me even more!" In pure, 100% pain and anguish, I yelled at the top of my lungs, "WHAT'S MORE IMPORTANT TO YOU?! YOUR STUPID LITTLE FANTASIES WHERE EVERYTHING IS OH-SO PERFECT, OR MY FEELINGS?!"

Stunned silence reigned for a few short minutes. I kept my glare on my face, and my friends kept their pained, guilty expressions on their faces. Finally, Robin opened his mouth and drew in a breath to speak but I quickly interrupted him. "Don't bother answering that," I hissed. "You've already answered long ago."

Suddenly I couldn't take it anymore, I broke into loud sobs and transformed into a cheetah and ran out as fast as I could, and I didn't have to use the door and could go straight through the walls thanks to the spell. I heard my 'friends' calling after me, but I ignored them and kept running, tears blurring my vision slightly. I just kept running away. I ran away from the room, from the building…from my 'friends'.

(End of Flashback)

I opened up my eyes again and sniffled, more tears were coming. Pain erupted within my head. I groaned softly and gently rubbed my temples, all of this crying and stress was giving me a stupid splitting headache. After I got out of the tower, I ran for what felt like an entire hour when the rain started. Thankfully, I had found this cave just a few minutes after the downpour struck.

I'm never going back to the tower. NEVER! I don't EVER want to see my ex-friends and ex-crush again for as long as I live!

I sighed as I allowed a few more tears to escape my bloodshot green eyes. I remember that Raven read to me from her book that someone once said that a person must eat a peck of salt before he truly understands his friends. Now, I don't really know what that means, but how many pecks of salt have I eaten to really understand my 'friends'? But no matter what, I'm always choking on those salt pecks.

Oh, where on Earth are my manners? I completely forgot to introduce myself. My real name is Garfield Logan, but I now go by the name Beast Boy. I'm a changeling, or a shapeshifter as some people call them. I am…er…I was a member of the Teen Titans. All my life, ever since I've lost my parents as a child, the only thing I've ever dreamed of was finding real friends and true love. I thought I had finally found that when I first joined the Titans…But clearly I was mistaken.

I just want to be accepted, to have true friends…and to love and be loved in return…Is that really too much to ask for? Apparently it was.

"AAAH!"

I jolted up in surprise when that scream suddenly erupted in the air from a distance. That scream sounded exactly like Starfire.

"Guys, run, hurry up!"

Robin…I know his voice anywhere. How did they find me? Did they follow me or something? But judging by the tone of his voice, it sounded like he and the others were in trouble. I forced myself to stand up and slowly walk to the entrance of the cave. The downpour was still raging and the cold wind was fierce now. I squinted to see if I could find them, but they were far out of my sight.

Why did they follow me? Do they…Truly care about me?

"Of course not!" A voice in the back of my mind yelled. "They're the reason you ran away in the first place! As if they would truly care about you!"

"They did hurt me…" I muttered out loud, slightly agreeing with the voice.

"AAAH!"

Starfire's scream came again, this time a little louder. I know what that scream is: a scream of fear and pain. Suddenly, I swore I felt sense slap me in the face. My feelings towards my friends changed within seconds. Despite, the insults and pain they've thrown at me, they're all still my friends…and I love them, no matter what.

And the times they didn't hurt me, they were all so nice to me. Like the time Cyborg comforted and hugged me when I woke up in the middle of the night from a horrible nightmare. And the time when Starfire made me a beautiful flower crown to cheer me up after I injured my arm on a mission. And all the times when Robin helped me when I was too scared to do something. And, the best one of all, when Raven and I shared our very first kiss at dusk on the beach almost a year ago.

They all mean so much to me…I would never leave them in pain or in danger, and I could never live with myself if something bad happened to any of them!

A loud, ear-piercing roar suddenly sounded, slapping me back into reality, followed by distant screams from all four of my friends. My own eyes widened with realization, something was attacking them. They needed me help!

Without a second thought, I transformed into a cheetah and ran out into the frigid rain towards the sounds of the roars and screams. "Hold on, guys!" I yelled as I ran. "I'm coming!"

Within just two seconds of running (I was going at full speed), I stopped in my tracks when I came within view of a huge, blood-red, scale-covered monster! And right below it were all four of my friends, each of them scared and trying to fight the creature off. Starfire was using her Starbolts, Cyborg used his Arm Cannons, Raven was using her telekinesis, and Robin was using his advanced martial arts.

I gulped, my friends were giving it all they had, but they already had wounds on them and their powers were getting weaker and weaker. My protective instincts for my friends instantly kicked in and I transformed into a T-Rex and roared as loud as I could, gaining the monster's and my friends' attentions.

"Beast Boy!" Starfire gasped happily. "Oh, we are most happy to have found you!"

"Guys, get out of here!" I yelled before charging up to the monster and biting one of his arms as hard as I could. No one attacks my friends and gets away with it! The creature howled loudly in pain and tried to strike at me, but I caught sight of his claws coming towards me at the last second, let go of his arm and jumped backwards to avoid the blow. Fresh, crimson liquid stained my teeth, and the monster's wound blended right in with his red scales. I turned to my friends, who hadn't moved at all. "What are you waiting for?! Run! Get out of here! Get somewhere safe!"

"No! We're not leaving ya, BB!" Cyborg objected.

"Not with this thing!" Raven added.

I couldn't help but smile slightly. They truly do care about me. How could I have let all of my anger and sorrow blind me to that?

Suddenly I felt the monster's claws strike me face hard. I gasped in pain and fell backwards, reverting back to my normal form in the process. Hot agony pulsed through my face as I felt blood start to drip down my face. I landed harshly on the ground with a thud and groaned as more pain pierced my body, mostly my back and head.

And thanks to that hit on the head, I was slowly starting to lose consciousness, my body starting to slowly shut itself down. Though I was conscious enough to feel the monster suddenly pick me and to hear Robin yell, "Hang on, Beast Boy! We'll get you out of there!"

A small, weak smile graced my face and I turned to look at my friends. I looked at them though one half-closed eye, more other eye was shut tight due to blood running over it. "No, don't do anything…" I said weakly, darkness starting to finally take me over. "…Just please save yourselves, for me…I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to any one of you…"

I didn't get the chance to see how they reacted, because as I said the last word, the monster chucked me towards a cliff as hard as he would. Within seconds, I could feel myself falling into empty air. I had gone over the cliff.

I heard all of the friends fainting calling my name. So…This was is…I was going to die for real this time. I didn't want to die, I'm actually afraid of death…But dying in the place of my friends seems like the best way to go.

My smile remained as I fully blackened out.

I could faintly hear the sound of a heart monitor beeping steadily next to me as consciousness started to return to me. My entire body, mostly my face, back, and the back of my head, felt really sore. Was I dead? A real ghost this time? No…ghosts can't feel things…And I could feel pain right now.

"Is he alright?"

"I think so. The doctors said that he didn't suffer any injuries that were too major."

"Friends, wait! I think that he is finally coming to!"

A soft moan escaped my lips as I slowly opened up my eyes, but I immediately shut them tight again as a huge, bright light greeted my vision. I opened them again and this time I was met a reddish-pink blur suddenly wrapping its arms around me tightly.

"Oh, friend Beast Boy! You are finally awake!" Starfire cried happily as she hugged me. "We were ever so worried that you would never wake up!"

I wanted to respond and let her know that I was okay, but I was having a lack of air and my pain increased from her tight hug.

"Starfire, stop it!" I heard Raven snap at the young alien girl. "You're hugging him too tight!"

Starfire gasped and immediately let go of me. I gasped in a breath loudly once she let go, I silently thanked Raven for that. I opened my eyes once more and saw all four of my friends, each of them had relieved smiles on their faces.

"Beast Boy, you're finally awake," Robin said with a smile.

I looked around the room I was in. I was in a hospital room, my clothes had been replaced by one of those hospital gowns, I was lying in a hospital bed, hooked up to a heart monitor, and bandages were wrapped around parts of my body. I gently raised one hand and ran it across my face to see if the scratches from the monster were still bleeding. No blood, but my fingertips were greeting by something else, something I didn't recognize.

"What's…What's on my face?" I asked, slightly concerned.

"The doctors had to give you stitches for those scratches," Cyborg told me. "You were lucky that they managed to save you once we got you here."

"Once you got me here?" I echoed, now feeling fully awake. "But…What happened?"

"After the monster threw you off that cliff, I used my powers to grab you and teleport all of us to the hospital," Raven explained, her amethyst-purple eyes filled with concern for me. She pulled her hood down, revealing her beautiful pale face and short, dark hair. "And just like Starfire said, we were all so worried for you."

"That was a very brave act you did, friend Beast Boy," Starfire told me, tears rimming her eyes. "You almost became the dead."

I bit my lip slightly. Guilt started to sink its way into me, I shouldn't have yelled at them, no matter how much they deserved it. I looked up at each one of them. "Guys, there's something I want to tell—"

"No, Beast Boy," Robin said, interrupting me. "Let us speak first. We're really sorry about what happened."

"Yes, we should not have hurt you so much," Starfire agreed, regret strong in her voice. "We are the sorry."

"And we're really sorry that we didn't realize how much we've hurt you over the years until just now," Cyborg added sadly.

"That prank to get back at you was really stupid idea, we shouldn't have done it," Raven said, it sounded like she felt the most guilt out of everyone in the room. "We'll try to be better towards you from now on, we promise that we'll be kinder and more patient, and we'll never hurt of insult you ever again. Please…Can you ever forgive us for our crimes?"

I stayed silent for a few moments, any words that I wanted to say died on my lips. Then, a few minutes later, a tiny smile and tears of happiness came to me. "Guys…Remember what I said to you right before the monster threw me over the cliff?" I asked, holding back the tears of joy.

Everyone nodded. "Yeah, you said that you couldn't live with yourself if something happened to any of us," Robin said calmly. "But what does that have to do with us asking for your forgiveness?"

My smile grew wider as a single happy tear escaped my eye. "When I felt that cave to find you, when I fought off the monster to save you guys, and when I said those words right before I was thrown…I had already forgiven all of you." More tear escaped my eyes, and tears were starting to swell up in their eyes as well. "You all mean so much to me, and no matter what happens, I love you guys. I always have, and I always will."

With tears running down her face and a small smile gracing her lips, Raven suddenly rushed over to me and hugged me softly. "And we love you too, Beast Boy," she said warmly. I hugged her back, feeling warmth and joy rise up in me quickly. I hadn't felt true emotions like this for days!

Within second, Robin, Cyborg and Starfire all joined in on the hug, though Starfire made sure to be gentler with me. I sniffled lightly as I hugged all of them back. Raven cupped my cheek in her hand and, out of nowhere, leaned forward and pressed her lips against mine for a soft, sweet kiss. I happily kissed her back, this felt like heaven on Earth!

Once she pulled away, I smiled again. Whatever pain I had felt in my heart for my friends was now gone, replaced with love and happiness for all of them. "My heart doesn't ache anymore," I whispered to them lovingly. "All I feel is joy and love for all of you now."

"And we all feel that for you too, Beast Boy," Robin said gently.

Yet another tear of joy fell from my eyes, but the others used the tips of their fingers to wipe them away. Every single one of us had…Painless Hearts.