Till Death Do Us Part

Chapter 5: Fire, Ice, and a Book

Beast Boy breathed a heavy sigh of relief as the clock struck 4:30. It was Friday, he did not have to work Saturday and all the young man wanted to do was retreat to his couch and bury his head underneath the pillows. This past week was one of the hardest of his life. Beast Boy knew nothing about being a veterinarian and after spending every night for the past three days up studying until morning he still had no clue as to what he was doing.

Thankfully, Annie had been by his side all week helping him otherwise he surely would have never made it out alive. Beast Boy hung his white lab coat up on the hook and was, like always, the first out the door. He had the weekend ahead of him, and was going to spend his time sleeping. Nothing was going to stop him.

"We have stuff to do." Raven stated in her monotone voice as she stared down at the Garfield-shaped lump on the couch, wondering how she had married it.

"Like what?" The lump mumbled closing his eyes tighter.

"It's been days and we still haven't done any research on the rings or this curse you got us into." Maybe it was her tone, or maybe it was the fact that Raven would not stop blaming this mess on him. Whatever it was made Beast Boy far more irritated then he had been in days.

"Ugh! No way, I just got home like an hour ago! I wanna sleep!" Whined the young man as he snuggled deeper into the couch. Raven rolled her eyes and shoved his shoulder in an attempt to get him up.

Beast Boy's head popped up from underneath the pillows, his blonde hair sticking out in every direction and his green eyes fixed in a glare. "I have not slept in days thanks to the damn couch you are forcing me to sleep on and the fact that I've been up every night studying! Do you know how hard it is to be a vet?" He yelled, his fuse growing shorter by the second.

Raven was somewhat shocked by his outburst but her expression did not show this. "You aren't the only one who hasn't gotten any sleep."

Before he could stop himself, Beast Boy said something he knew he would regret. "Dude! You're just a teacher! That's nothing!"

The young woman's violet eyes widened, now she was angry. "Just a teacher. Yes, because kids are easy to look after. All I do is sit at my desk because they are all so well behaved that I don't have to lift a finger. When one of them gets a bloody nose they know how to clean it up themselves, or when they learn a dirty word it isn't my responsibility to explain to their parents where they heard it. You are so right!" Raven exploded, not holding back her emotions.

Beast Boy was stunned by her freeness but he was too caught up in the argument to let go. "I have to neuter dogs! I have to go into work to a boss that I know will fire me any day now and then get yelled at by people that think I can't take care of their pets!"

There was a silence before Raven spoke up. "You know, why would I even want your help, you'd probably just ruin this." She dug at him, refusing to give in. "I'm going, do whatever you want." The young woman marched over to the closet and got her coat.

"Wait, where are you going?" Beast Boy asked a hint of curiosity in his voice. He was still mad, but wanted to know what his wife was up to.

"Out." With that, she was out the door, leaving the young man confused. The sun was setting as Raven exited the building, and the air was thick with the smells of various foods. Looking at her watch she quickened her pace down the sidewalk. The young woman pushed her sleeve up and scratched at the bites on her arms, looking down she noticed that they were red and puffy.