nightmares ✩ bbrae

✩ chapter 2 ✩

raven had never really opened up to anyone, ever. she was close with the teen titans of course, they were her best friends, but she never let her guard down fully.

now more than ever, she had time to reflect sadly on this, as she levitated gently above her bed.

startled, she realized she had never even disclosed her real name, rachel roth. she wondered if robin already knew, the boy wonder always seemed to go overkill when deep diving into a person's past, and he'd surely done just that for every member of the team.

after last night's incident with beast boy, raven knew she had to be more cautious when heading to the kitchen at an obscenely early hour in the morning.

what she didn't know was that the boy was banking on her midnight snack to try and reach out to her.

-

the hours crept by, and raven had deduced based on the suffocating silence in the tower, that everyone was dead asleep.

tiptoeing down the hall, she made it to the kitchen, and opened the fridge before nearly jumping out of her skin.

"hey," beast boy said calmly and quietly. "i just came to grab a snack, it looks like you had the same impulse. we must be connected or something." the boy's eyes twinkled, giving away the fact he was trying desperately, yet failing to take the situation seriously.

"get out of my way," raven hissed, attempting to sprint back to her room. "i'm a danger to you. all of you. don't be a moron and let me hurt you."

to her dismay, beast boy started to laugh.

face flushed red with embarrassment, raven opened her mouth to yell at him, before remembering what hour it was. "forgive me, but i fail to see the humour in the situation," she huffed. "i'm trying to protect you."

"well it seems to me we've been chatting for a few minutes now and no one's died yet, although i don't wanna jinx it," beast boy said.

"now why don't we sit on the couch and you can explain why you've been weird lately. i mean, weirder than usual," he said playfully but earnestly.

"not a chance," raven retorted, attempting to sidestep him in order to leave the room.

the teenage boy took this as an opportunity to transform into an elephant, parking himself in the doorway to the hall.

"i won't budge unless you sit and chat. even if it's for five minutes," he pleaded.

raven didn't know why or how, but the look in his eyes made her softly mutter an "okay."

elated, beast boy shrunk back down and ran to the living room portion of the large multi purpose main room. hopping onto the sofa, he patted the seat next to him.

it was insane how much energy he had, considering what time of night it was. the boy was like a battery that never ran out.

"so why have you been ghosting us rae?"

he said it with such concern and seriousness that raven was taken aback.

cautiously, as if afraid that she herself was a bomb that could go off at any minute, the girl made her way over to her friend's side.

as if looking at him for the first time, raven took in beast boy and how much he'd changed in the past few months. not only had he seemingly matured emotionally, but physically. of course, he was still on the scrawny side, but his arms were now toned. his jawline had sharpened with the loss of baby fat, and raven was shocked that the same boy who she'd mostly dismissed and labelled a pest was now attractive?

jolting herself out of that bizarre train of thought, she realized beast boy was waiting for a response from her.

what was she supposed to say? a taste of her nightmares would be enough for him to turn and run the other way. but her gut instinct told her to tell the truth.

"it's because of the nightmares."

beast boy looked at her curiously, waiting for further explanation.

anxiously pulling her knees up to her chest, raven sat in a ball, unsure of whether or not to continue.

noticing her self doubt, beast boy gently rested his hand on her knee. "you know i'm not going anywhere, no matter how scary the nightmares are right?"

raven peered into his green eyes, searching to see if he was telling the truth. but a glance was all she needed to know. he was calm and collected and truly felt safe around her despite her frantic warnings earlier.

with a shaky breath, she continued.

"the nightmares, well they vary. but they always have the same outcome. me hurting you. not just you, the entire team. last night i woke up right before i-"

"before you killed us," beast boy said in a hushed tone of understanding. "so now you're afraid that the dreams are visions, and the more time you spend with us, the more pain you'll end up inflicting on us in the end."

raven nodded her head, startled by the accuracy of her friend's reading. he really had matured, no longer the kid who took joy in toilet humour.

"look i know you're scared, and you don't even have to spend time with the whole team. but please don't shut me out rae. i'm here for you no matter how crazy it gets inside your head."

the girl's eyes welled up with tears at beast boy's fond statement. she may not know the reason for this godawful nightmares, but at least now she knew she wasn't alone.

"thanks gar," raven said softly, using the boy's real name. his face flushed as he responded. "anytime. but we really should head to bed before i pass out on this couch. i don't think you'd like to be woken up by cyborg singing as he makes omelettes."

raven nodded, and the two stood up and made their way to their respective rooms, together, but in comfortable silence.

the pair stopped at raven's door, knowing beast boy's was just across the way.

unexpectedly, the boy grabbed the half demon's hands delicately, whispering "i'm always across the hall if you need me," before hustling into his room, and presumably his bed for some well deserved shut eye.

meanwhile, raven lingered a moment longer, simply wondering what she had done to deserve beast boy's understanding and empathy.

she couldn't be all evil.

because if she was he would've turned and ran.

but he stayed.

a/n
so far i'm honestly not super proud of this fic, but i'm mostly just writing it for fun, and i've got some really good chapters planned out. also, if anyone is confused, the plot/backstory isn't too specific to a certain version of the teen titans. it's kinda just inspired by the characters etc ... anyways i hope u continue to enjoy !