Chapter 18: In the Morning Light

Raven's Point of View

The room was dark. Not that this was strange -- the room was always dark and cold. The jagged cobblestone floors cut into my knees as I kneeled, but I was numb to the sting. Only trying to hold myself up just a little bit longer. My head pressed against the glass wall of my cage allowing me to look out at the room around me. Even this did not help, however. The tears were blinding, a streaming torrent that refused to stop. I tried to blink them away so I could see him properly. But all I could make out was a mangled green blur, streaks of red and purple swirling with the green. So much green. So much red.

"Why?" I whimpered quietly.

"PATHETIC!" a louder voice roared over my own. "The wimp didn't even fight back."

I looked up to my demon father, tears freely streaming down my face. "I love him!" I yelled through my sobs.

"You're a demon. You don't know how to love." He reminded me, his sinister smile engraving itself into my mind as the room suddenly erupted into flames, everything burning around me. But still I sat on the stone floor, unmoving, a single word escaping my lips as the air became hazy with smoke.

"Beast Boy..."

I sat bolt upright in my bed, a cold sweat dampening my forehead. My heartbeat finally began to slow as I reminded myself that it had just been a dream, nay, a nightmare. And as I calmed, I realized that I was not in my own bedroom. I was in the guest room Beast Boy was staying in. But where was Beast Boy?

Worried, I looked around the room wildly. Of course it isn't a very big room and there are not many places for him to be hiding. The bathroom door was slightly ajar, the light off, so he clearly wasn't in there. Remembering my dream, I grew even more concerned, despite how improbable Trigon's coming into Azarath may be. I dismissed the thought however. What could Trigon even want with Beast Boy, even if we are going to (maybe) get married? He's not my father, not anymore. Not after all that he's done.

No. Beast Boy probably just needed some water from the kitchen or a snack or something. What if he left to get away from me. What if he regretted last night? He probably woke up sober and realized the mistake. That's why he left; he didn't want to see me. He probably doesn't actually want to marry me... who would?

These insecure thoughts made me want to crawl back under the covers of his bed that still smelled like him. I had gotten used to him being here to make the nightmares better. I didn't even have my Zentax to help, as that was back in my room. Although I had already popped down two pills and I wasn't quite sure it was late enough into the next day to constitute taking another. So I curled back up under the covers and tried to fall back asleep, pretending his arms were still around me. And that's when I saw it, through the soft fluttering of my eyelashes, sitting so innocently on the bedside table: the note.

Suddenly much more awake, I picked it up and read.

Good Morning my beautiful fiancée. (Is it cool to call you that now since you did agree to marry me? :) )

He said the F word. He called me the F word. Fiancée. The word felt strange on my tongue and caused this weird flip in my stomach. Admittedly, I did not altogether hate it, either.

Anyway don't freak out that I'm gone. I just had to take care of something quick but I'll be back soon.

Take care of something? What could he possibly need to take care of in the middle of the night? Perhaps it had been a call from the Titans, but surely he would have woken me for that. And wouldn't I have gotten the call too? No it had to have been something different. But what?

My eyes flickered down to the last sentence.

Love you. ♡B

My heart jumped a mile out of my chest. Sure, he had said in his emphatic speech last night. Sure, the feelings were probably there. But to see it written so casually in his messy handwriting. To see his awkwardly squished, yet still perfect, heart before his initial. It was weird, yet normal, which only made it weirder. How was this so normal? How was this so easy for him?

I read through the note from the beginning again, still confused over what he would leave in the middle of the night to "take care of". But at least he had thought enough to leave me a sweet note. And he had called me his fiancée. He had labelled us. Last night had been for real.

So why would he leave me?

Eventually I gave up on the mental war, and lay back down to sleep, snuggling deep into the covers on his side of the bed--the side that smelled most like him--reveling in the feel of his t-shirt as I wrapped my arms around myself, pretending they were his. His note was on the pillow beside my head, allowing me to still read over his words as I fought to find sleep.

Be back soon. When is soon? Where is he?

Love you. Fiancée.

Beautiful fiancée. He thought I was beautiful. My mind drifted back to the first night in the medical room and a small smile tugged on my lips. You're always beautiful.

How had I not seen it before? His feelings... my feelings...

Love you. Love you. Love.

He loves me. He really loves me. And we're going to get married.

No matter how much I told myself this, convinced myself that last night had been real, I still had a hard time believing it. Even now, holding his note in my hand, I still felt as though it were a dream, a joke. And I almost feared that if I moved too much I would wake myself up and break this enchantment. So I curled up tighter, and held my eyes shut, hoping this giddy happiness could stay forever.

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Beast Boy's Point of View

The room was still dark when I returned. Rae was clearly still sleeping. I slipped into the room silently, stripped down to just my boxers, and then padded back over to the bed to get in a few more hours of sleep. Only to realize that Raven had migrated to my side of the bed. I chuckled silently. She was too cute to even be mad at with her messy hair sprawled across the pillows around her. Not to mention she was still wearing my t-shirt, which was doing a lot of things to me. When Terra had worn my shirt, it annoyed me. She would try so hard to be 'sexy' that it was a turn-off.

But Rae didn't try at all. She just was. So genuinely herself around me. So innocently beautiful. I had always admired that about her.

I eased myself into the bed, being careful not to make too much noise or movement, and slid over to Rae's sleeping form, slinging an arm around her waist. Her face visibly relaxed as she immediately melted into me.

Sure that she was still sleeping, I leaned down to gently press a kiss to the soft, creamy skin of her cheek. Her mouth twitched up into a brief smile but nothing more happened so I knew she was still sleeping. Taking advantage of this rare opportunity, I stared down at her beauty, drinking in every curve and mark. Like the tiny little scar just above her eyebrow, so faint you hardly noticed it unless you were as close as I. I wondered what it was from--her childhood? One of our battles as Titans? Trigon? There were other things I noticed too, or at least had a greater appreciation for. Like the curvature of her cute little nose, or the blanket of her long lashes and the one lash that had fallen out and rested just beneath its sisters. My hand was twitching to brush it away, but I feared it would wake her. I was surprised she hadn't woken yet.

But I was glad she had not because then I couldn't look at her like this--so freely. She would hide herself and insist I look away, folding into her insecurity. Because no matter how many times I tell her, she will never see it. But my God she is beautiful. And without a single trace of makeup too. In fact, if I could see her everyday, just like this, I would. Because this Raven--this bare, open, vulnerable, beautiful Raven--is mine, and mine alone.

I pressed another soft kiss to her cheek, holding it there for just a few seconds too long. I wished I could do more--touch more, kiss more. But I know my limits, and I am pushing them as it is. So I tucked into her a little more and released a sigh of content as I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep.

But as I was just falling asleep, Raven was waking up. "Beast Boy...?" She mumbled sleepily, her voice a little husky and a whole lot sexy.

"Mmhmm," I hummed into her lavender scented hair, my eyes still closed, hanging onto the small shred of sleep I had just found. However, Raven was not having this as she turned herself around in my arms to look at me, suddenly wide awake. I had no choice but to peek my eyes open and match her gaze.

"Where did you go?" She asked, studying my face.

"Nowhere important. I just had to take care of something quick. But I'm back now." I said, leaning in to trail kisses from her ear to her chin.

"But where? What'd you have to take care of?" She asked, a twinge of panic in her voice, as well as frustration at me for craftily skirting around her questions. I stole a kiss from her lips to stop her from asking anything more.

"You know, there are much better ways to spend the next ten minutes than talking about this." I flirted, stealing another kiss. But Raven pulled away before I could deepen it much further. I pouted at her defiance and she narrowed her gaze on me.

"Why are you deflecting? Where were you?" She demanded, increasingly worried.

"It's really not that important, Rae." I lied.

"Was it the Titans? Robin? Terra?" The last word was said with so much venom I was fearful of the violence that would have come to me if I had actually met with her. Not that I ever would, but Rae has a bit of a wild mind when it comes to that topic.

"NO." I assured my fiancée hurriedly. "This has nothing to do with the Titans, and especially not with Terra either. I told you, I'm done with her. We talked the day I left to come here and officially ended whatever it was we had. And I proposed to you last night because I love you and I don't want you marrying anyone else. Especially not scumbag, punk-ass little traitors like that Tyler kid."

She accepted the distraction.

"Jealous are we?" She teased, forgetting for a moment that she was supposed to be mad at me.

"No, Rae. I'm not jealous." I argued. "Jealous is what you feel when someone has something that you want but don't have. But you see, I'm the one that has you--in my arms, in my bed." My lips graced her ear as a blush spread across her cheeks at the implication. I bit back the victorious smirk that threatened to break loose at the sight of what my words could do to her.

"So, no Rae. I'm not jealous of that prick. I'm territorial over what's already mine."

"Yours, huh?" she breathed, staring up at me with those deep, soulful amethyst eyes.

"Mine." I declared again, quite liking the feel of that primal word on my tongue. Raven's eyes sparkled with a smile as she leaned in to steal a kiss. I gladly accepted it; capturing her lips with my own; reestablishing my dominance with a hand cupped around her cheek. My other hand sneakily found its way to the band of her spandex shorts and the exposed skin above it; my fingers massaging small circles there.

It was as far as I was allowing myself to go. Not yet had she allowed me to go further, and after the first try two years ago (and hearing about all the shit that had happened to her), I was hesitant to push for more. At least until she gives a clear sign of what she wants, and that she is ready to actually go there.

It was challenging, though. With her hands in my hair or delicately tracing the lines of my back and abdominal muscles. With so much of her skin already exposed. It would be so easy to just... push her t-shirt up a little higher and kiss every inch of the skin there... to just... pull the waistband of her shorts down a little lower and explore the uncharted territory there.

But I must remember my limits--her limits. The last thing I want to do is spook her. Or hit another trigger...

After a few more minutes of making out like this, Raven pulled away to catch her breath, resting back against the pillows. I eased off of her, lying on my side to still be able to face her. I kept my hand on her hip, but she hardly seemed to care. She curled into me, using my chest as a pillow for her head. Our breaths began to steady as we drank in the silence, each lost in our own thoughts. And I was happy with just this, the demons of my mind subdued. Except for one that reminded me of earlier and wondered how I would tell Rae about it. I mean, how do you tell your fiancée you went behind her back to meet with her demonic father and made dinner plans with him?

But alas, the time to tell her did draw near.

"So, at the risk of starting another fight, who did you go meet?" Raven finally interrupted the silence to ask. She was not letting this go anytime soon.

"You're not going to like the answer." I warned her. Raven pulled back slightly to square her gaze with mine.

"Well it can't've been worse than Terra." She joked, but I only grimaced.

"How about your father?" I ventured, a breath held in anticipation of her response.

Raven began to laugh. Not the little chuckle she usually stifles. No, a full-out, body trembling laugh that seemed to fill the entire room. And though the sound was music to my ears and I was overjoyed to have finally found the key to achieving my long-held goal of making Raven laugh--I could not enjoy it. Because she thought I was joking, and I was most certainly not.

She stopped abruptly when she noticed that I had not joined her merriment. Her gaze narrowed on me as she put it all together. A lump formed in my throat, but I dared not swallow it. It would show my nerves, and this was a not a time to be weak.

"You can't be serious." She finally said, studying my face as if looking for some sign that I was joking. Oh, how I suddenly wished I were.

"My father? Trigon? Are you absolutely mental? Of all people to sneak off to in the middle of the night--my father? That... that bastard. What the hell were you thinking?"

"Well... I didn't really have a choice. And he demanded that I not tell you."

She was silent for a minute, taking in a deep calming breath. "Well, what did you two talk about?"

"The only thing we have in common: you."

"And what'd he say?"

"He said he's changed. Wants to be a better father."

"And you believe him?"

"I don't know. But he supports our engagement."

"You told him?!" Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that...

"It came up..." I said carefully, scratching the back of my head nervously. "And I was kind of excited to share the news..."

"Ugh, you're too cute to stay mad at." She admitted giving me a quick kiss. "You haven't told anyone else, though, right?"

"Nope." I lied, thinking about my conversation with Ezra. Rae didn't need to know about that, yet...

"Good. So what else did you and my father talk about?"

"Well along with supporting us, he also wants to support your campaign for the crown. He said he has some ties that could help us swing the vote and convince the committee. It's probably all to his gain in some way or another, but if he's telling the truth... it could be worth the risk."

"What kind of ties?"

"Some contract with your mother. Seems pretty legit, too, Ezra confirmed it..."

"Oh we talked to Ezra about this too?" She asked pointedly. Oops...

"Um, kinda?" I chuckled nervously. "I met her in the kitchen on my way here. She knew something was up... I had to tell her--it's Ezra."

"I understand." She assured me with short sigh. Then, more to herself, added "sneaky little bitch," with a soft smile. There was also a lilt of admiration in her voice, telling me that the insult was not truly meant.

"Anyway, your father has this contract that gives him legal custody over you in the event that your mother goes missing."

"Awful convenient how that's worked out." Raven grumbled.

"He claims it's a coincidence and is sticking to his story that he doesn't know anything about her disappearance."

"He's probably lying."

"Probably. But if this contract is real, we'll need his help regardless. And he's offering it to us, on one condition."

"We join the dark side with him?" She guessed, a teasing smirk perched upon her lips.

"Dinner, actually. Tonight."

"Dinner? With him? Tonight?" Her deep violet eyes studied my face as if trying to find some sign of this all being a joke, still believing that I could be lying about this.

"We're to meet him at The Golden Rose at 7."

"No." She immediately said.

"Rae, I know this is hard for you and I truly do understand why you don't want to meet him, especially after yesterday. But this could be good for you, help you get over your fears. And if he's telling the truth, we will have to work with him either way. Better to be on his good side, then, right? Plus we're going to be in a public place and I'll be with you the entire time, so nothing bad can happen. I promise I won't let anything happen to you."

"We will need his help..." she finally agreed, nuzzling her face into my shoulder. She was shaking a little, but I didn't know what to say. So, I just hugged her closer, pulled the blanket tighter around us, and comforted her the best way I knew how, until she finally fell asleep.

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Sorry for the short chapter... it just seemed fitting to end it here and I know you guys are impatient for more... so here you go.

VOTES AND COMMENTS are extremely appreciated! I love hearing from you guys!! :D

Much Love,

Rain