I Love You, I Hate You

Late Night Talks

Raven sighed as she wiped the sweat from her pale forehead. She had woken up screaming again. She was sitting up straight in her bed staring at nothing in particular as she attempted to wipe her memory of the horrid nightmare she just lived through. She slowly began to calm her breathing as she held a hand to her chest. She read the electronic clock on her nightstand and wasn't surprised when the bright red numbers read 2:13. She always woke up around two in the morning. Lately her nightmares had been more sporadic, but not completely gone. Raven didn't even fully understand why she was still having nightmares. Her father had been defeated ages ago, Slade was no where in sight, and things seemed to be going fine around the tower. Raven's pondering was soon interrupted by a quick knock on the door.

"Raven?"

Raven knew that voice. It was the same voice that told her at least three terrible jokes a day. The same voice that had been there for her, even if she was particularly rude to him. It was Beastboy, only tonight his voice sounded different. It was stained, almost like he had been screaming earlier himself.

"Hey, Rae?" He asked again, searching for an answer. Raven slowly stood to her feet and made her way to her large bedroom door. She cracked the door open to see the green changeling, clad in only a dark red towel. He was soaking wet.

"Beastboy," Raven sighed. "What are you doing up? And did you just... get out of the shower?"

"I... heard you screaming and got kind of worried." He said, looking straight into her eyes. Raven stayed silent, waiting for him to address her second question. "And uh, showers help me think is all."

"At two in the morning?" Raven further questioned.

"I've been having a lot of nightmares lately. Either nightmares or sleepless nights."

"Do you... Want to talk about it?" Raven mumbled. She knew it was unlike her to invite Beastboy into her room so willingly, but he looked more shaken up than she did. She wasn't used to seeing her teammate like this. Quite frankly, she didn't like to.

"... Okay," He answered after a moment, before he looked down and realized that he was still unclothed. "Just let me put some clothes on, alright?"

"I'll leave my door open."

Moments later Beastboy had returned, now clad in a baggy pair of black sweatpants and a red tee shirt. He came into the room silently, shutting the door behind him. Raven was back in her bed, waiting for him patiently. Beastboy stood respectively by the side of her bed.

"You can sit, you know." Raven explained. Though the room was dim, Beastboy could hear the eye roll in her voice.

"Thanks." He smiled slightly as he walked to the other side of the bed and took a seat to Raven's left. As soon as he sat, Raven turned her head to glance at him.

"Well, what's up?"

"No, let's start with you."

"Me?" Raven questioned. "I'm completely fine, I assure you."

"You're not fine." Beastboy sighed from beside her.

"And how would you know?" Raven was now curious. After all, how would he know about her countless sleepless nights?

"You talk in your sleep," he explained. "You talk and you scream. Usually it's nothing, but tonight it's something."

"What do you mean?"

"Raven, I can hear you from my room. No, it's not because you're loud. It's because my hearing is just ridiculously sensitive... Anyway usually you let out a scream or a moan, then your breathing slows back to normal. But tonight you just sounded different. Even more scared. You're still breathing hard."