DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE TEEN TITANS. AND THAT SUCKS.
Oh God. It was him.
There she was, a ten-time Grammy Award winner, singing up on stage in front of her hundreds of celebrity friends while hosting her best friend's party on New Year's Eve. And yet, his face was the first she had spotted. Why did she feel so excited all of a sudden? Did he still have that effect on her? She didn't want to know the answer to that question.
She finished and put the microphone back on its stand, trying to avoid the sly and mischievous glint in his eyes as he smirked towards her. "Thank you, thank you! And now, let's welcome our birthday girl, Raven!"
A gray-skinned girl stood up shyly in her black gown, smiling at her best friend gratefully. The crowd settled down after a few moments of cheering and hollering out her name.
"Okay everybody," she grinned. "It's time to party!"
The young woman stomped off stage furiously and towards the large center table while all the guests had rushed over to the dance floor, tramping her feet heavily with anger as she headed for the birthday celebrant. Grabbing her arm swiftly, she hissed, "What on Earth were you thinking even putting him on the guest list?"
"What do you mean, Kor? I mean, seriously, its just Richard."
"Yes, Rae, I know its Richard. You know I left out his invitation for a reason. What do you expect; I'm still trying to get myself to hate him! Oh God, this is so not working for me."
Raven laughed jokingly as she watched Kori's face break out into an slight grin, but then it withered away quickly as she remembered what situation she was in.
"Look, I know you didn't want me to invite him and everything, but…Richard and I are still good friends, even though both of you guys went through all that trauma and everything in the past."
Sitting herself down in a chair beside her, Kori let her head sink in her delicate hands, burying her face from the shame and embarrassment.
"Raven," she whined, " You know what's going to happen; he and I have too much…history together! I mean really, what am I even famous for besides dumping the famous Richard Grayson?"
"Your lovely voice, maybe? You have five shelves of Grammys to prove that fact."
Kori jumped up and out of her chair, startled from the voice behind, but she was even more startled by whom the voice belonged to.
"Oh shut up, Richard. Go away; you weren't even supposed to be here to tonight."
She smoothened out the silky white gown that complimented her soft facial features and stood up, striding poised and elegantly towards the exit out of the theater. But before she could even get two feet out of reach from her table, she felt a strong hand take firm grasp of her slim wrist, pulling her back gently. It was his. She could recognize his gentle and tender touch whenever she felt it.
Refusing to make any eye contact with him, she breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly. "What do you want, Richard?"
"Look, Kori, you never gave me a chance to explain; let me do that now."
Throwing her arms up in the air out of despair, she sighed incredulously. "Please, you've been talking to me about this since we broke up! Stop calling me because I've had to change my number for the tenth time this month, and somehow, you keep managing to get it! I don't want to do this anymore, Richard! Just…tell me what you want from me and I'll give it to you, just as long as you leave me alone for good."
He shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets, staring calmly and serenely at her. "Okay."
She was surprised at how calm he was reacting to what she had just said. Maybe he had changed…
"Well?" she asked. She found herself trying to act as impatient as she could, but found herself getting more and more eager as she pretended to act convincingly towards him.
"Dance with me."
Her eyes widened confusedly as she gave him a skeptical look. "Um…you're sure that's all you want?"
"Just take my hand, and dance one number with me." His hand was held out, and it was almost like her conscience was pressuring her to lay her hand on his and actually agree to his terms.
'Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it…'As if on instinct, her body disobeyed her and Kori soon found herself staring at both their hands clasped together, their fingers entwined with one another's…just like old times. In a calmed but somehow unnerving silence, he led her courteously back down to the large and empty dance floor, where only few of the bravest couples swayed back and forth on the sleek gold floor. As his hand positioned itself on her waist, she thought she felt her stomach teeter, then slipping her hands in his and putting her other hand upon his shoulder. And together they swayed gracefully, her flowing gown trailing after her every move.
"This song- it sounds so…familiar," she mused.
She shivered as his voice whispered in ear, his hot breath leaving a trail on her neck. "Don't talk," he whispered huskily, "Just dance."
The salsa beat was contagious. Soon Kori found herself twirling in his arms carelessly, doing chains of turns, and soon they were the center of everyone's attention. Their footwork seemed almost impossible to many of the bystanders observing.
Pulling her to him gently, he held her closer and tighter.
"What happened to us?" he asked softly.
"Richard, you just can't waltz back into my life like nothing ever happened!" she hissed soft enough for their audience not to listen in to their discussion.
But he ignored her reply as if she hadn't even said anything. "Why did you leave me?"
"Richard…no." She pulled away from him, leaving him standing and ran to the doors, holding up her dress and ignoring the crowd's gossiping whispers, not even realizing he was still following her.
"Richard!" Kori swerved around and found him standing before her. "Stop this, please! I've had enough of your nonsense!"
"I'm not leaving you alone until you talk to me, Kori."
She sighed in defeat. She always loved the way he would never give up. But the fact that he hadn't given up on her impatient persona made her swell inside with joy.
"Fine, you want to know why? You were always doing work, work, work, work! And when you weren't at work, which was a rare thing, you were always talking about it!"
"Kori, I've changed. I'm don't want to be that person anymore. I want to be with you."
Wiping the tears that fell from the corners from her eyes with his thumb, he lifted her chin up gently. He looked into her emerald orbs as they sparkled with tears in the dark, yet star-lit sky.
"So you want me to just," she sobbed softly, sniffling as she tried to continue, "pretend all that stuff in the past never happened? D-do you expect us to get married, and…grow old together? I love you, Richard Grayson."
Their lips met in a split second after that, and the only thing she could hear was the soft crackling of their lips as they kissed in the moonlight and the loud thumping of their hearts as they beat in unison; nothing had ever felt as spectacular as the feeling of her hand pressed against his heart.
She had vowed, right after they broke up, that she would never dance, only making an exception to dance one last dance with the love of her life. And she did. She saved the last dance for him.
A/N: I've been feeling so off balanced and practically dead for the last two weeks, so for that I apologize for the delayed update for some of my stories. Thank you for reading this; I loved this reading and writing story (I'm one of those cheesy romantics) and I hope you did too! Send the reviews in!