(1)

Beast Boy's heart was pounding and his stomach was rebelling against the rest of his body as he leaned in closer to the common room's giant monitor, his rear just barely resting on the edge of the sofa. With his brain working overtime and his thumbs doing the same, his brow furrowed in deep concentration. His eyes completely transfixed on the screen, never straying, never blinking, he was completely absorbed with the task at hand. In the seat next to him his long time friend Cyborg was in very much the same way.

The day had very much started the way it usually did. Cyborg was already up cooking breakfast when Beast Boy slunk through the doors, still groggy from sleep. They made their usual morning greetings and after both had gotten his fill of his particular favorite breakfast food the decision was made to play a quick round of Gamestation before either Nightwing or the Titan alarm pulled them away.

Sitting down in their usual places on the sofa they started playing. As per usual Cyborg got off to an early lead winning the first couple rounds of Virtua Racer with relative ease. They exchanged boasts and taunts like they always did, but it was right about at the hour mark, just when the other Titans began appearing in the common room, that things started to change.

Chewing his lower lip, Beast Boy rocked the D pad of the controller, pressing so hard down on the accelerator button that it hurt. On the screen his bright green car trailed just behind Cyborg's blue and white one, nipping at its heels. Zipping speedily past the check point, they began their final lap. By this point the bragging and boasting had officially stopped. Never in all their years of playing video games together had it ever been this close before and each Titan was giving the screen his full attention.

Crisscrossing back and forth, going around turns at break neck speed they ever so slightly began to trade first place position back and forth. Each little position indicator in the top right of each split screen blinked back and forth between 1st and 2nd.

From behind them Starfire could be heard cheering them on, shouting things like "Go Beast Boy and Cyborg! Race!" giving both equal encouragement. However neither could afford to give the kindhearted Tameranean much attention as they closed in on the final stretch.

Sweat poured down their temples as the checkered flag came into view. Eyes wide in concentration they continued trading first and second position back and forth as each of them drilled down on his respective accelerators. First Cyborg. Then Beast Boy. Then Cyborg. Back and forth, getting closer and closer to the finish line. Cyborg. Beast Boy. Cyborg. Until finally...

"Yes," shouted Beast Boy at the top of his lungs. "Oh my freaking God! Yes!"

He dropped his controller to the ground and immediately leapt up on the couch, pumping his fists into the air and cheering loudly.

"I beat you," he shouted down at Cyborg. "I beat you! In your face, metal mouth! "

To say that Cyborg was shocked would have been a gross understatement.

"No, no, no," he said quickly in disbelief. "There is no way that that just happened."

Throwing maturity to the four corners of the wind, forgetting about the fact that it was completely unflattering, Beast Boy, still standing on the couch, cabbage patched and did his "Go Beast Boy" chant for the first time in years.

Rubbing his face and climbing slowly to his feet Cyborg turned and headed for the exit.

"I'm gonna need some time to process this," he said, shaking his head and walking through the common room doors.

As Cyborg left Starfire quickly zipped over to Beast Boy and roughly embraced him, pinning his arms to his sides and lifting him up off of his feet with ease.

"Oh Congratulations, my friend," she shouted, smiling, her cheek pressed tightly against the side of his face. "After much persistence you have finally bested Cyborg at the station of gaming."

Beast Boy had just wheezed out a, "Thanks, Star" when suddenly Starfire, noticing the position of the sun in the sky, quickly released him, causing him to drop to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

"Oh my," she said. "It is nearly time to feed Silkie."

With that realization she quickly took to the air, soared over to the refrigerator where she retrieved a baby bottle and then hastily zipped out the door.

Collecting himself, brushing the dust from his uniform, Beast Boy got back to his feet. With Cyborg and Starfire gone, his eyes soon fell on the room's only other occupant: the beautiful young girl who had remained silent throughout the entire ordeal. The lovely violet haired empath who was currently making her way to the counter and pouring herself a fresh cup of tea. The girl with the loveliest name he ever heard. The girl he knew as Raven.

Wearing his most charming smile he quickly sauntered up to Raven's backside as she poured the steaming hot liquid from the tea kettle into her cup.

"Morning," he said pleasantly.

"Good morning," said Raven in return.

He smiled.

"You know I won that game just for you."

She did not turn around.

"Lucky me," she replied stoically.

Though her tone was far from friendly, still it brought a warm feeling to the pit of Beast Boy's stomach, and immediately he could feel his common sense slipping away. He knew what she would say and his mind kept telling him that he probably shouldn't, but still it was not in his power to resist.

Stepping in close he wrapped his arms gently around her waist and embraced her. He felt her tense up ever so slightly but she made no move to push him away. He took a moment to breath in her scent, the sweet smell of her that tantalized his finely tuned senses, before he brought his face down, burying it in the crook of her neck and placing soft loving kisses against her collar bone. He felt her shudder against him as he began running his fingers over her firm stomach, slowly, teasingly making his way up to the undersides of her breasts. And then...

"Garfield stop," said Raven suddenly. "Someone might see."

"So?" he said, kissing her neck.

There was a moment's hesitation as Raven let out a pleasurable sigh.

"Then they'll know," she said finally, the slightest hint of worry in her voice.

"So?" he said again, lovingly running his fingers down her cheek and under her chin.

Placing his hands on her wrists he gently coerced her into placing the tea cup, which was still in her hands, down to the counter top. Next putting his palms to her shoulders he slowly turned her around until she was facing him. He smiled warmly as his eyes fell on hers.

Her hands went to his chest with every intention of pushing him away. Instead she found herself sighing as her fingers and palms began exploring his well toned torso, starting at the top of his pectorals and working their way down his abdomen to the belt buckle of his uniform. She swallowed nervously as he placed his hands on her hips and brought his pelvis to rest against her own.

"Garfield," she said in a voice just above a whisper. "I can't.."

He smiled and gently brushed his lips against hers.

"Then stop me," he smirked. "If that's what you really want."

Their lips had just barely begun to meld when suddenly the common room doors swished open accompanied by a loud and worked up Cyborg shouting from the hallway that he wanted a rematch.

Quick as a hiccup Beast Boy suddenly found himself enveloped in black energy. His head jerked as without warning he was propelled through the air and across the common room to where he landed with an unceremonious "oomf" on the couch.

Cyborg, who had entered the room only in time enough to see Beast Boy's impromptu flight looked puzzled for a moment as his eyes wandered back and forth from Beast Boy to Raven.

"Uh.. Is everything okay in here?" he asked with obvious apprehension.

Yanking up her hood over her face Raven quickly dumped her full mug of still steaming tea down the sink and quickly floated past Cyborg to the exit.

"Nothing," she said quickly. "Beast Boy's just being Beast Boy again."

After Raven had gone Cyborg breathed a nervous sigh and rolled his eyes before strolling over and taking his seat next to a not yet recovered Beast Boy on the couch.

"Man, I figured by now you'd know enough to not get on Raven's nerves," he said, picking up a game controller. "What did you do this time?"

Doing his best to cover up his hurt, Beast Boy repositioned himself on the couch and offered his metallic friend a small smile.

"Like she said. Just being me, I guess."

(2)

It wasn't long after the incident in the kitchen that Beast Boy found himself back in his room. After having given Cyborg his rematch and losing, he then decided his best course of action was to go some place where he'd be alone.

Lying on his bottom bunk with his hands crossed under the back of his head, he stared silently up at the underside of the top bunk. After a while he turned his head to his nightstand. It was there in a simple yet elegant picture frame that resided his favorite photo: one of he and Raven at one of their secret rendezvous'. The image was somewhat crooked and was mostly of their faces since he had to snap it himself with an outstretched arm, but still, as far as he was concerned, it was absolutely perfect. Her arms were around his neck and the two of them were pressed cheek to cheek, but what made it really special was the fact that both of them were smiling. Hers may have been less pronounced than his, but still it was there, and it gave him a warm feeling every time he saw it.

In a game of lies and deception, the photo was his proof of something that actually existed.

After a few minutes, he felt a strange sensation go through his body, something unusual and yet very familiar. Sitting up he quickly spotted a black portal opening up on his floor. It rapidly grew in size spreading across his carpeting until finally it stopped and the blue cloaked figure of Raven slowly rose up through it.

The violet haired empath hovered in the air for a few moments as the portal closed beneath her feet before she gently hovered the short distance to the ground. Her hood was down and the look on her face was that of sadness and regret. Like all of her expressions it was very slight, but to someone like Beast Boy, who knew her as well as he did, it was impossible to miss.

"Hey," said Beast Boy, sitting up.

"Hello," she said quietly.

There was a moment of silence as Raven slowly floated her way to Beast Boy and took a seat beside him on the bed. It was then that she too took notice of the framed photo on his nightstand.

"Oh," she said in surprise. "I see you got a frame for it."

Beast Boy followed her gaze back to the photo. Feeling slight irritation at Raven's attempt to be casual, he deftly snatched the frame up into his hand.

"Yeah," he said. "But I guess I probably shouldn't have it out in the open like this. Someone might see." He then opened up the top drawer of the table, put it in and then quickly closed it.

Raven looked down at the ground, her eyebrows arcing sadly.

"Garfield," she said softly. "I'm very sorry for what happened in the kitchen."

"I know," said Beast Boy, getting to his feet. "But I guess I can't blame you. I'd be embarrassed of me too."

"Please don't say that."

"Why?"

"Because it's not true."

Beast Boy stood. Putting his hands on his hips, he began slowly pacing about his room. Despite the love he had for Raven, his frustration with the current status of their relationship continued to grow. He was sick of the secrets and of all the sneaking around.

"How much longer is this going to go on, Rave," said Beast Boy finally. "I mean, you know how I feel about you right?"

Raven nodded and said, "Yes." Of course she knew how he felt about her. She could feel it. Every time he looked at her, every time he embraced her, kissed her. Every time he looked into her eyes and told her he loved her, she could feel it clear as day. It was heaven to her: being loved by him.

"And you feel the same way about me, don't you?"

"I..." Raven's breath caught in her throat. "I...yes. Yes, I do."

Her delay in answering did not go unnoticed. Despite being saddened by her trepidation, Beast Boy continued all the same.

"So why keep sneaking around? If you're not embarrassed of me, what's so bad about the other Titan's knowing?"

"It's not that it would be bad," said Raven. "It's just..."

She paused. Looking up at the man standing in front of her she saw his gaze break away from her and look to the wall. Standing, she made her way towards him and placed a gentle hand on his cheek, turning him back to her.

"Please," she continued. "Just give me a little more time to adjust. Then I swear we can tell them together."

As her fingers gently caressed his face, Beast Boy felt all his frustration with her disappear. He placed his hands on the small of her back and brought her close. Their lips met and he could feel his heart beat faster and his breath quicken. The feel of her beautiful body pressed against his, of her soft pillowy lips gliding over his own was something that was indescribable to him. The feelings and emotions she stirred up inside him made him forget about everything else.

So what if their love for the moment was a secret? He could wait. After all, they had all the time in the world.

It was at that moment that the electronic beeping of Raven's communicator made itself known. Pulling away in surprise, the empath quickly reached down, grasped the object in her hand and pressed the receive button firmly with her thumb. Immediately the image of Nightwing filled the tiny screen.

"Yes," she said.

"Raven," said Nightwing. "It's almost time to go to work. Go get Beast Boy and tell him to meet in the common room in five minutes."

"Right," she said firmly, like she wasn't even aware of the fact that she was still in Beast Boy's arms.

Clicking the communicator off, Raven looked up into Beast Boy's emerald green eyes. Knowing it would most likely be all day before she found herself in this position again she decided to make the most of it. Wrapping her arms around his neck she pulled him into a strong passionate kiss which he gladly returned. After nearly a minute of hard kissing and frantic rubbing and pressing they two finally broke away.

Pulling herself out of his arms Raven placed a gentle hand on Beast Boy's cheek.

"Soon," she said. "I promise."

She leaned in quickly and gave him one more brief peck on the lips before once again a black portal opened up beneath her and she teleported out of the room.