She scanned the room quickly: black-tiled floor and walls; a disco-ball right out of MTV's My Super Sweet Sixteen; not one open bar, but three, on top of the circulating cocktail servers; a live band that wasn't really encouraging anyone to dance but wasn't exactly keeping everyone glued to their seats, either; and, at the center of it all, Dick, his arm wrapped protectively around Kori's waist, her slinky pink dress glittering beneath the disco light, the two of them smiling into one another's faces as though nothing else mattered.

She felt a pang of affection for her friends and a stab of something else, too. She couldn't delve into that just yet. And, god, how was her glass already empty…?

Regretfully, she emerged from her dark corner and traversed the pulsing crowd in search of another drink. She found Vic, instead, crashing absentmindedly into his hulking metal form.

"Ow," she proclaimed, rubbing her forehead where it had collided with his robotic arm. "Watch where you're going, Tin Man." She scowled up at him, but a small smile tinged her features.

"I beg your pardon, Your Creepiness," Victor teased in return. He paused to take in the sight of her, hiccupping and stumbling, routinely adjusting the slipping neckline of the dress she hadn't cared enough to have tailored. Vic grinned. "My god, Rae, are you wasted?"

"Mind your business," she said flatly, edging past him into the crowd, trying to locate the nearest bar. "Not a good idea, Raven!" the cyborg called after her, and she wanted to laugh at the absurdity of Victor talking her down from ordering another drink. Garfield being the cool and collected one chatting up Nobel laureates (or something), while she was the hot mess on the brink of vomiting. Life was cruel. And hilarious.

But the sober part of her brain knew Vic was right, and by the time she reached the bar, she had somehow gained enough clarity to ask for "Just a water, please." As she gulped down one glass, then another, she challenged herself to keep her gaze trained on the bar-top, her fingernails, the floor – anywhere but in his direction. A bustling party certainly wasn't the ideal setting for meditation, but she'd do what she had to do.

The night waned around her. As guilty as she may have felt for not participating in the festivities more actively, she’d have felt even more guilty if she made a drunken spectacle of herself on Kori’s special night – so sobering up it was.

When she was sober enough to watch the strobe lights without reeling, she rose from the table and began searching the crowd. There. In his understated white button-down/grey trouser combo. Alone, somehow. Staring down at his cellphone in what he probably hoped was a preoccupied way but really just came off as bored and desperate. Had his adoring fans tired of him when they realized his primary interests were video games, comic books, and tofu-based recipes? No matter. He was wide open now. She was going in.

She sidled up to him as casually as she could manage, immediately cursing herself for not bringing a drink along, if only for decorative purposes. Her hands were painfully idle. She didn't know if he'd even noticed her arrival at first, but then he put his phone away and sighed.

"How is it only ten o’clock?" he mused aloud – not necessarily directed at her, but as good an opening as she was going to get.

"How indeed," she replied in what she hoped was as Raven-y a voice as possible. God, how effortlessly he disarmed her.

He glanced over at her then. He was smirking, but it was missing much of his usual mirth. Such were many of their interactions these days.

"What," he said, "you mean to tell me you haven't been having a good time tonight, Raven?"

Something about his expression told her he'd borne witness to her little bout of drunkenness. She flushed.

"If I resort to drinking to survive a function, you know it's especially bad," she said sourly. But neither of them mentioned the real reason she'd been drinking, the truth that hung between them like an electric current.

"Come on," Gar managed to say mildly, "be a good sport for Dick and Kori," but it was hollow; there was nothing behind it. Everything that was being said between them in this moment existed somewhere in the space between words. All at once, Raven felt dizzy again. She steeled herself.

"Garfield," she said, but it was barely a whisper. "Gar," she tried again. His name was so heavy in her mouth. She couldn't stomach it, she couldn't breathe–

"Raven?" 

Garfield's hand on her shoulder, cool like stone. He was steadying her. She'd been swaying. She jolted back to life, took a step backward as though his touch would destroy her. It still might. She forced herself to meet his eyes, wide with concern.

"Can we talk?" she managed, hating how uncharacteristically desperate she sounded, hating how pivotal this moment was. She was metaphorically on her knees, and Gar was going to be the voice of reason, and she was disoriented by this role reversal; she felt as though her entire life had been swung on its axis.

Gar’s expression betrayed skepticism. "Rae,” he said quietly, "I…I don't know if now is really the best time. I mean, we're at our friends' engagement party. We should probably—"

"Please," she interrupted. "Just a talk. That's all I'm asking for."

He grimaced pensively, then shrugged. "Where?" he asked in surrender.

"The rooftop?" Raven suggested, then, thinking that might sound a bit too corny and romantic, "The sidewalk?"

But the rooftop was apparently off-limits, and the sidewalk was icy-slick and packed with people clamoring for an opportunity to speak with a Titan. As they hurriedly ducked back inside, Raven muttered, "You're too famous for your own good."

"I'm only as famous as the rest of you," Garfield replied.

"People like you better. They only know me as the demon-chick who almost caused the apocalypse."

He didn't respond to that, but she could sense his smile.

They made their way in silence down a long corridor, around a bend and then another, passing rooms with Do Not Disturb signs hanging on the knobs and piles of empty room-service trays. Raven was hoping they'd find a patio at the end, far away from the commotion of the party. She couldn't risk letting anyone else's emotions meddle with her mindset right now.

Gar cleared his throat. "Hey, uhh...Rae?"

She shot him a glance.

"I was just thinking, ah, we could've been...talking this whole time," he said, shrugging sheepishly.

Raven shook her head curtly. She needed to get him alone. She couldn't say what she needed to say unless they had privacy.

"Then...where–" Gar began.

Without thinking, Raven seized Gar's arm and phased through the closest door. When her portal disappeared, they were standing in a relatively spacious storage closet. It was filled with all the folding chairs and buffet tables that weren't currently in use for the Anders-Grayson affair. Azar, they're capable of hosting events bigger than a superhero engagement party? Remind me never to come here again.

Gar was staring at Raven somewhat warily. She levitated one of the folding chairs to the door, lodging the doorknob to prevent them from being interrupted, and waited for him to speak.

"Ooooo...kay," he said finally. "Raven, you're acting kind of weird. What's going on?"

She narrowed her eyes. "We're acting weird," she modified.

"Uh...what?"

She gestured vaguely between them. "We can hardly stand to be around one another anymore," she said, screwing her eyes closed against the sting of the words. "Ever since…"

He said nothing. Raven swallowed against the burgeoning lump in her throat but didn't reopen her eyes. "I was afraid, Gar. I'm still afraid, but I–”

"But you what?" he interrupted, his voice a hoarse whisper. There was a pregnant pause. Garfield snorted. "I gotta say, Raven, your timing really couldn't be worse."

"I know," she said. She dropped her hands to her sides, flexing them as though preparing for a fight – one she knew she couldn't win. Nonetheless, she looked at him pleadingly. "Do you think I don't know that?" She swallowed again. "I'm suffocating here tonight."

"I don't know what you want me to do about that," Garfield said bitterly. She hadn't heard this tone of voice from him in a long time. It was almost, almost comical that their roles were so subverted: here she was baring her heart to him, searching for any emotion besides anger and hurt behind his stony expression. But really it wasn’t funny at all.

"Hear me out," she said.

"I'm waiting." Garfield splayed his hands. Exasperated, he took a seat atop a nearby box. Raven suddenly felt something akin to stage fright. She took in a shuddering breath and began.

"Months ago, you came to me. You wanted to talk. We were close, then. Closer than we'd ever been before. Nearing inseparable. And then you told me–"

"I remember," Gar interjected. "I'm not as simple as you seem to think."

"I don't think you're simple," she replied earnestly. She gathered her thoughts. "I don't know what I was expecting that night on our walk, Gar. Anything but what I got."

"Sorry for the inconvenience."

"Yes, me too. I mean…" Raven's gut twisted in protest. "When you told me you loved me, I panicked. Not because I didn't already know it–" Gar's eyes flashed up at this, “but because I thought...maybe I'd read you wrong. Or...or that maybe you were mistaken about your feelings. That it'd pass. Or that...maybe you'd know better than to want to get involved with someone like me."

"We were already kind of involved, Rae," Gar retorted, but she could see his stony resolve slipping. 

"Yes," Raven whispered. She remembered, against her will, those moments they toed the line: brushing hands, sharing food, divulging secrets. When she'd known he loved her, and at the same time, was sure it was a lie. When she, to sate her own curiosity, began giving away little pieces of herself to him. That night before the last night, when they’d wound up tangled up in her sheets, when she’d woken and he was still there, drooling on her pillow. When he finally looked her in the eyes and told her plainly, and the world came crashing down around her because she understood. She understood that she loved him too, that she'd pressed too far, and she couldn't set things right anymore.

At that time, she hadn't realized that right was wherever they were together.

Garfield regarded her semi-quizzically. "What are you getting at, Raven?"

Raven’s self-control had been commendable in recent years. She no longer disrupted her environment at the slightest annoyance. She could smile or laugh along at a joke without any lightbulbs bursting overhead. But, as the room began trembling around the two of them, it occurred to her that she was not — could not possibly have been – prepared for this moment.

She stared back at him through a film of tears. “What do you think I’m getting at?”

“I’m not an empath or a mind-reader, Rae,” Gar answered, but his voice was shaky, too, and the words were not as barbed as they might have been.

Raven maintained eye contact as she nodded. “You’re going to make me say it.”

“I think I’m owed that much,” Gar replied, rising from his seat.

“Yes,” Raven conceded. She wiped at her eyes with the heels of her hands, then steeled herself. Gar took a tentative step forward. Raven met his gaze. “I love you, Gar.” Her heart leapt into her throat; she pressed onward. “I do. I love you. And I have loved you for a very, very long time, and I am sorry that I could not be honest with you…or with myself, sooner.” 

The trembling around them worsened. They both ignored it, Gar slowly closing the distance between them as Raven continued.

“I loved you when the world was ending,” she breathed. “I loved you when your heart was breaking. I loved you that stupid night and every night since and I love you…now. I love you right n–”

A few crates caved under the weight of Raven’s magic as Gar pressed his lips to hers, one hand on each side of her face. He broke away momentarily. “Don’t lie to me.” Another kiss. “Tell me you mean it, Rae. Please.”

“I mean it,” she swore. “I promise, I promise, I mean it.” Her tears were overflowing. Overhead, a dim lightbulb flickered threateningly.

“Shhhhhh,” Gar soothed as he shielded her head with one hand instinctively, “I believe you. Okay, okay.”

“Kiss me again,” she pleaded.

Gar pressed his forehead to hers, smiling slightly. “Can you handle it?” he asked.

“If you love me too and everything is okay then yes, yes I can handle it,” Raven said in a matter-of-fact tone, some of her usual resolve returning to her voice. As if to prove it, she closed her eyes and inhaled sharply, waiting until the clattering objects had settled around them before she exhaled. “See? I’m in control.”

“Yes, love,” Gar answered, stroking her cheek with one thumb. Without waiting for her reply, he dipped his head down again, kissing her tenderly at first, then with more urgency. Raven felt herself melting, stifling a moan as Gar moved to kiss the corner of her mouth, then her jawline, then her neck.

“Let’s go find a room,” she whispered. “They can’t be using all of them.”

Gar froze, pulling back to look at her. “A room?”

“Yes,” Raven said, suddenly self-conscious. “I just thought…I mean, I…want you.”

Gar chuckled huskily. “Raven, baby, I want you, too. Believe me,” he assured her, clasping her waist tightly. “It just doesn’t seem appropriate. Tonight’s about Dick and Kori, remember? Plus, your emotions are high right now. I don’t want you to rush into anything–”

“I’ve waited six months,” Raven interrupted, pulling him closer to her. “There’s nothing rushed about it.”

Gar hesitated. “I don’t know, Rae,” he demurred. “It still doesn’t seem fair. It’s an engagement party.”

“Thanks, I got that the first couple of times,” Raven said sarcastically, and for a moment they were their old selves again – she rolling her hooded violet eyes, he grinning that sharp-toothed grin in response. “And this is Dick and Kori we’re talking about. They’re probably sneaking out to feel each other up in the backseat of a car as we speak.”

Gar’s brows lifted in appraisal. “You make a fine point,” he said. “But in that scenario, they’ve got a car. There’s not really an inconspicuous way for two superheroes like ourselves to book a hotel room on a night like tonight.”

Raven’s brow furrowed. “Damn.”

Gar chuckled again and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “It’s okay, beautiful,” he whispered to her. “When I get you home tonight, we’ll have all the time in the–”

         “No.” Raven’s fingers found his belt buckle, and Gar’s eyes widened slightly.

         “What do you mean, no?” he replied, but he made no move to remove her hand.

         “I mean I can’t wait that long,” she said. She began undoing the belt as she spoke, feeling his desire wash over her in waves. “So either you can take me right here…” Gar moaned under his breath. “...and we can go back out there when we’re finished and be the Boy Scouts you think we should be. Or,” she finished undoing his belt and discarded it in a wash of black energy, “we can go home, right now, so you can fuck me on your bed like you so clearly want to, and we’ll forever be known as the two assholes who ditched their friends’ entire engagement shower to go have sex.”

         When Gar had recovered enough to speak, he said, “You drive a hard bargain, Raven.” He reached out gently, then quickly pressed her up against the nearest wall. “I’m game,” he breathed before their lips connected and he hoisted her up to straddle him.

         Raven dug her nails into Gar’s shoulders as their tongues met. His own hands were helping him to hold her up by her thighs, one gradually creeping up to fondle her ass. He began kneading the soft skin there, prompting Raven’s hips to buck involuntarily. As he broke away to devote his attention to the pale expanse of her throat, Raven bit her lip and tried her damndest to keep up her side of the bargain; another exploding piece of furniture or light fixture might feasibly ruin the moment.

         Gar wasn’t making her job easy, though. The kisses he peppered her neck and collarbone with soon became fervent, and she yelped as he took her skin between his teeth, biting down gently.

         “Yes,” she said, and it was more than an affirmation – it was a plea.

         Gar grunted in response, reaching up to paw at the straps of Raven’s little black dress. She was braless, and as the dress slid down to reveal her pretty pale breasts, Gar could scarcely suppress his wonder. He laid his free hand gently on her waist and pressed his groin into hers to prevent her from sliding down the wall, then leaned forward to capture her rosebud nipple in his mouth. Raven moaned, twisting the fingers of one hand into his mess of tousled green hair as he teased her with his tongue. Gar shifted his attention to her other breast, relishing in Raven’s little noises of approval.

         Then, abruptly, he dropped to his knees, resting Raven’s thighs on his shoulders and cupping her ass with both hands; she remained propped in the air, her back flush against the wall. Gar tore her underwear away with his teeth, a bit animalistically (though, to his credit, they were flimsy to begin with). “Oh,” Raven said softly as she felt his lips nearing her.

His eyes, heavy-lidded with desire, flicked upward to meet her gaze. “Problem?” he teased.

“No,” Raven managed, but the truth was that – even the last time (the only time) they had hooked up – they hadn’t done this. She didn’t trust herself not to fall apart in the process. Gar raised his brows, and she could tell he was smirking even though his mouth was partially obscured. “I’ve never done this,” she admitted. “I really want it.”

“I should’ve done it last time,” Gar said, sounding sincerely apologetic. Then, without further warning, he reached out and pressed his tongue flat against her, dragging it slowly, tantalizingly upwards. When he reached her clit, he used the point of his tongue to circle it, and she nearly choked on the gasp trying to escape her throat. “Mmm,” Gar moaned against her, and he began passionately kissing her there, his tongue and lips enveloping her in warmth.

“Fuck!” she shouted, and instead of warning her to quiet down (which he probably should have done), Gar picked up his speed, sucking gently on her clit and licking her wildly in alternation. “God, Gar. God, Gar,” Raven panted, one hand bracing herself against the wall while the other tightened in his hair. His tongue began a rapid back-and-forth over her clit, and she hissed through her teeth as she began tapping the top of his head urgently. “Stop, you have to stop, I’m already close.”

Gar only laughed, the vibrations causing her eyes to roll back into her head. “I mean it,” she begged him. “I can’t finish now. I want you to – god! – I want you to fuck me. I want–”

“Let go,” he told her in a low tone. “I’ll still fuck you after. I’ll fuck you until you shake all over.”

Raven bit her lip to keep from crying out as Gar resumed his work in earnest. She felt several of the tables and chairs around them being enveloped by her magic, but that was, frankly, the least of her concerns. Using one hand to maintain her position, she clamped the other over her mouth, moaning freely into it as Gar’s tongue worked her ever closer to the edge.

Gar shifted down slightly, never breaking contact, then slid his tongue inside her, reaching up to tease her clit with his fingers. Raven writhed beneath him, feeling his tongue thrust in and out of her, and all she could think about was how badly she wanted him. Raven stifled a scream as Gar brought her to her first orgasm of the night, and the tables that had been struggling against her magic finally surrendered and clattered to the ground. Neither of them flinched.

“So,” Gar said finally, releasing Raven with a self-satisfied grin, “how about that?” 

Her feet were back on solid ground, but her legs were nearly too shaky to support her. “Yes,” she said weakly, one hand still on the wall to help stabilize herself.

Gar laughed, reaching out to touch her, but Raven stepped away. “No,” she said firmly.

“No?” Gar repeated, his tone colored by confusion.

“We made a mess, Garfield,” Raven said, a bit sullenly. For the first time, they turned to survey the damage – a few busted crates, a slew of toppled tables and chairs – and Gar shrugged.

“So we’ll clean it up like good citizens when we’re done,” he said, sliding a hand down to grip her thigh. “I’m not through with y–”

“They’re already coming to investigate the noise,” Raven cut him off, crossing her arms. “I can sense them. So it looks like part two will have to be postponed.” At the onset of Gar’s pout, Raven held up a hand to stop him. “Don’t give me that, Gar. I asked you to and you didn’t, so now you have to wait.”

Gar pulled back, his eyes wide but lit with humor. “So now your explodey powers are all my fault?”

“Well, they usually are,” Raven muttered.

Gar ignored this, reminding her, “You said you could handle it.” As he said this, he leaned forward to kiss her softly.

“I said I could handle…the usual,” she said after they broke away. “Not…whatever that was.”

“Are you saying you didn’t like it?” Gar challenged. “Because I think the evidence begs to differ.”

“Of course I liked it, you idi–”

They were interrupted by a metallic clank at the door. “Raven? You in there?” a voice called.

“It’s Vic,” Raven said, then, “Shit. Hotel staff I could’ve handled. Vic’s going to be much harder to lie to.”

“Let me handle Cy,” Gar said, making for the door, but Raven caught him by the elbow.

“Um…”

“What?” Gar demanded.

Raven shot him an exasperated look. “Your face smells like sex,” she said plainly. “You can’t just walk up to Cyborg and give a convincing excuse that way.” Victor knocked again. “Morph into something tiny and run to the nearest bathroom when I open the door,” Raven instructed Gar. Obligingly, he shifted into a fly and hovered near her in anticipation.

As she approached the door, Raven adjusted her crumpled dress, replacing the straps and quickly running her fingers through her hair to create what she hoped was a convincing, totally-not-bedhead sort of arrangement. When she opened the door, Vic’s back was to her, and Gar took the opening to escape down the corridor.

“Vic?” Raven said, and her teammate turned to face her, wearing a puzzled expression.

“Oh, Rae, there you are,” he said, peering behind her into the storage closet. “Uh…I don’t wanna pry, but is everything okay?”

Raven closed the door behind her, stepping out into the hallway. So much for her and Gar’s solemn vow to pick up after themselves. “Um…yes,” Raven said in reply to Vic. She knew she was probably flushed, and averted her gaze in embarrassment as she continued. “Why?”

“The front desk staff heard a loud crash from down here and when they came to check it out they saw…you know, all your creepy crawly dark magic seeping out from under the door,” Vic explained as gently as he could. “I told them I’d handle it. Just wanted to make sure you were good.”

Raven winced slightly. “Ugh, that’s embarrassing,” she managed finally. “Yes, I…I’m okay. Just a little…overwhelmed tonight.” She looked up at Victor. “And the alcohol didn’t help, I guess.”

Vic looked over his shoulder, then said in a conspiratorial tone, “This wouldn’t happen to be about BB, would it?”

Raven blanched but tried to maintain her composure. “Why would it be about Beast Boy?” she asked unconvincingly. She could feel the heat rising in her face and knew Victor could detect it, too. He wore a reluctantly smug expression.

“Uh huh,” he said. “I knew it.”

“You knew what?” Raven demanded. She desperately hoped she and Gar hadn’t been that obvious about it. Hell, when she’d pulled him aside to talk, it wasn’t even like her intentions had been sexual. She hadn’t even been sure he’d be receptive to her apology. Although, two people sneaking away from a collectively buzzed party into a hotel corridor wasn’t the most innocent-looking thing in the world to an outside observer…

“Y’all have been torn up about this for months,” Vic said, dragging her back to the present. “I mean, you’ve kept your guard up really well, I’ll give you that – and I only had BB’s side of the story, so I could only speculate about you…but I knew something was up.”

Raven paused. “Wait,” she said, “‘BB’s side of the story?’”

Vic had the decency to blush. “Well, yeah,” he said, “you know, the whole, ‘I confessed my undying love to Rae and she’s barely spoken to me since’ thing.” He offered a nervous laugh. “I’m sorry, I know it’s none of my business, but he was really devastated and that’s my best friend, you know? I gave him a shoulder to cry on, and I didn’t mean to pry beyond that, but I just thought…” He shrugged. “I’ve been watching you two. Not in a creepy way. Just…I’ve noticed you sneaking glances at one another. I’ve noticed how you never sit next to each other in the car or at the dinner table and you don’t even argue about it like you used to. It’s like y’all have a silent agreement to avoid each other.” He looked at her knowingly. “To push it down.”

Raven remained silent, then sighed, burying her face in her hands. “And here I thought I was aloof and mysterious,” she mumbled.

Vic chuckled, pulling her into a brotherly hug. “You mostly are,” he assured her. “If it hadn’t been for Gar spilling his own beans, I might never have put two and two together.”

Raven pulled back, looking up at Vic helplessly. “I love him,” she said. She’d already established as much with Gar directly, but it helped to say it out loud to someone else, someone who didn’t turn her to jelly when they looked at her.

Vic was nodding sagely. “I know, Rae,” he murmured. “And the cool part is he loves you right back.”

“It is cool,” she agreed quietly. “But…” She shook her head rapidly as if to clear her thoughts. “Am I bad for him?”

“You could never be bad for him,” Vic said, resting a large hand on her shoulder. “He takes you as you are, Rae. All of you. Even the complicated, demony parts.” They shared a small smile at this. “Just do the same for him. It’ll be okay. I promise.”

Raven smiled again. “I guess you’re right,” she conceded.

“So you’ll tell him how you feel?” Vic asked with childlike excitement. He looked about two seconds away from jumping for joy. Raven almost didn’t have the heart to break it to him.

“About that,” she said gingerly. Vic’s eyes narrowed slightly. “What if I told you that…I already have?” She shrunk back as though it would lessen the impact of her words.

Vic took a moment to process this. His gaze shifted back and forth between Raven and the closet behind her a couple times, and then, finally, landed on the blooming bruise nestled into the crook of her collarbone. “Oh, come on, Raven. Really?!”

Raven blushed once more. “Shut up Vic,” she muttered, trying to step around him.

“All this time I thought I was helping you deal with your twisty emotions, when you were actually just–”

“What’s going on, guys?” came a voice from the end of the hall. Vic and Raven turned to see Gar rounding the corner, looking as fresh as he had at the start of the evening.

“What’s going on,” Vic boomed as Gar drew closer, “is that I just found out y’all were canoodling in this storage closet–”

“Vic, keep it down!” Raven pleaded at the same time as Gar offered a sheepish, “Heh, so you heard about that, huh?”

Raven heaved an exasperated sigh. “I hadn’t admitted to anything,” she said sharply to Gar, “although I guess that’s what I get for keeping you around.”

Gar gazed adoringly at her, extending a hand. “Let’s get back to the party, shall we, angel?” He turned to Vic. “You coming, Big Guy?”

“Am I–” Vic floundered, gesturing wildly around him. “Are we just not gonna talk about this?”

“What’s there to talk about?” Gar called over his shoulder as he led Raven down the hall. “There is such a thing as TMI, you know, Vic.”

“Honey,” Kori called out when he happened to steer close enough to them. “Come sit down. You have to slow down when she lets us, remember?”

“Right.” Dick slowed down with effort and joined them, laying at the foot of the bed. Kori laced her fingers through his, and it was like a switch that let him breathe full breaths again.

“To think I’ve always wanted to be a mother,” she mused. “It’s odd to think it finally happened.”

“You’ve always known that?” Raven asked, and Kori nodded. “I never saw myself having children. Still don’t.” She said it because she’d realized it at that moment, and then wondered if that was insulting, seeing as she was looking down on her friend’s baby as she said that.

But Kori was Kori. She didn’t take offense. "You've never had baby fever?" she wanted to know.

“No," chuckled Raven, and left it at that.

Part of her still doubted the so-called baby fever was even real. Seeing a baby awoke a primal urge to take care of it. Humans were designed that way. It was so parents wouldn’t abandon their babies for being so needy--so the human species wouldn’t die out. Maybe it was because she held such tight control on her emotions, things like that didn’t make it through her primary filters. Or maybe the fever was a myth.

Raven smiled down at Mar'i. “I’m just fine being an auntie.”

Dick cleared his throat. “Raven, is Gar coming now?”

“Yeah, just after the table read,” Raven confirmed.

“Um, when he comes, can you keep him from trying to pick Mar'i up?”

Raven did rip her eyes from Mar'i for that, turning to look at her friend in surprise. Dick at least had the decency look ashamed, though tiredness had made him callous, and Kori shook her head smiling, in a way Raven could tell they had talked about this beforehand and hadn’t agreed. “Excuse me? Why?”

“It’s not personal, alright? I’m just trying to keep my new baby from being dropped.”

“What?” Raven couldn’t help feel immediately defensive of her boyfriend of two years, and made no effort to hide it. “Why do you think he’s gonna drop her? I was just more likely to drop her.”

“Nope, you took care of kids before,” Victor’s voice joined the discussion from the kitchen. “They’re fine to this day. No evidence of a long-buried head trauma you conveniently forgot to tell us about.”

“I’m trying to protect my child here, Raven,” Dick pleaded, more frenzied seeing Raven’s frown didn’t ease.

“Gar seemed so eager to visit, too,” Vic’s voice commented. “He looked particularly excited today. Flippant. Butter-fingered.”

Raven called out, “Thanks, Vic. Don’t help.”

Kori calmly said, “If Mar'i was dropped she would simply fly.”

“That’s right, can’t Tamaraneans fly from birth?” asked Raven.

“She’s half Tamaranean,” Dick pointed out, at the same time Kori laughed, “He hasn’t allowed me to see if she can fly or not.”

“Of course not!” Dick cried at his wife, who smiled so warmly at him in return his face slackened, and he gave her a kiss as if to apologize for being a raw nerve.

He looked so pitiful, Raven couldn’t help but want to be diplomatic. “Well… with any luck Mar'i will stay asleep through Gar’s visit.”

However, there was no such luck. In the next hour, Mar'i began to fuss, then move her little feet, and open her eyes at turns, and she was well awake by the time G let himself through the door, bellowing, “Uncle Gar is here!”

“Sh!” Dick admonished, having materialized at the door next to him.

Gar’s ears dropped. “Is she asleep?” he asked, now in a whisper.

“No, but she just was,” Dick said, his tone plainly regretting that she wasn’t still asleep.

Gar lifted the admonishment on himself and scanned the apartment for his niece. His eyes brightened when he located Raven –it was a thing she always noticed happened when he saw her again after a while, and it was one of her favorite things in the whole cruel world-, and he made a beeline for the bed, laying a kiss on his girlfriend’s temple before he turned his attention to the baby, wherein his eyes widened and he gasped.

“Whoa, Kori… she’s so beautiful. And so tiny.”

And then the thing Dick feared so dearly happened in a split second. Dick was leaning against the opposite wall, half asleep on his feet, when Gar asked, “Can I pick her up?” and Kori nodded.

One green hand went under her head, another scooped the rest of her body, and Gar delicately lifted Mar'i on a safe journey to his chest, where she laid her head, perfectly comforted.

Dick had been halfway across the room. Gar turned just in time to see him stop cold, and cocked his head at the spatial disorientation of his friend being four feet closer than where he thought he was.

Dick had stopped cold because Gar had turned, and the sight of him holding Mar’i was so undeniably peaceful that his sleep-deprived mind could scarcely remember what he was scared about. He let out a mystified, “Oh.” And straightened.

Victor came out of the kitchen with the last batch of pancakes, most of which would be for Gar. “See, told you he wasn’t gonna drop her.”

“You thought I was gonna drop her?” Gar demanded.

Kori laughed at the scene and looked at Raven, but her smile fell when she saw her friend’s face.

Raven was staring at wide-eyed at nothing, face flushed red. Kori called, “Raven?”, and when the room’s attention inevitably turned on her, she went redder, covered her mouth, and coughed into it to cover it up. Koro patted her back, and Raven could feel her boyfriend’s concerned gaze on her.

Raven had never wanted children. It had never entered her mind before in any shape or form. But all it had taken was Gar holding Mar'i like that for her to be hit upside the head with a deep, irrational longing.

Maybe she wanted kids. Maybe she wanted one right now. The certainty split her brain in two: on the one hand, she knew her new feeling was as unreasonable as it was sudden; on the other, she was sure she needed to have a baby right this moment, with that exact guy. Goddamn it. The stupid fever was real.

“I’m fine,” she said as Dick brought her a glass of water. She was still avoiding Gar’s eyes.

If you concentrated hard enough, you might hear a clock ticking.

───

Notes:

It's fucking 0:14 where I am I was so close to making it 😥 whatever it's still Day 1 because I haven't gone to bed

I'm risking my life finishing editing this on mobile. If there's any mistakes I'll edit them tomorrow 😅

I stretched this prompt thin, mainly because I was sure the prompt 'future' was gonna win in the poll and I didn't realize it hadn't until after I was attached to this 😶 but hey, at least it keeps with the family theme

This is legitimately all based off a tiktok

I’m not gonna say how many drafts I have for how many of the week prompts in case I don't finish but I'm posting it all on ao3 and fanfiction.net at the end of the week.

No one else seemed to care. Dick and Victor were both avoiding his meaningful glances and potent sullenness—Vic was his ride, and Gar lived on the edge of town. He was trapped here until they decided to leave.

Kori, sweet Kori, his piece-of-sunshine friend who Gar would do anything for, was the reason they were here. A day before prom, she was still fretting over which hair accessory to submit to the hairdresser to complete her outfit. They had been hanging out at the mall when it had suddenly occurred to her she needed the opinion of her newest female friend. Hence, to Raven’s house they went. No matter Gar’s protests.

Raven being more or less in Gar’s group of friends was a relatively recent development. She had always been tangentially around them –Vic tutored her in Math and he said she was funny, which, fine, Gar had a low opinion of Vic’s sense of humor anyway; she was on AP Literature with Dick, and he said she was the kind of kid who looked intimidating but was just serious and actually pretty nice to talk to, which Gar would believe when he saw it- but her hanging out with them had only started when Kori had begun to work at that clothing store with her. Kori had attached to Raven fast, and one day Gar had turned around and suddenly Raven was there, among his friends. No one had asked him if he was fine with it.

And he wasn’t! He had good reason to hate her. She’d always been callous and careless—she stomped over people’s feelings like they weren’t real. He’d known her since preschool –not known known her, but she’d always there. They had grown up around each other, and she’d always been like that.

But the real feud had started two years before. They had been on a class trip to the fair. He’d declared he was getting Terra, his crush and almost-girlfriend at the time, the biggest plushy they had. A crowd had gathered as he managed it; it had been a glorious moment, and then Raven had said, as he gave Terra the prize, “A giant chicken. That must be the luckiest girl in the world.” Even Terra had laughed, and it had ruined whatever effect his achievement had had. That had been his first and last chance to impress Terra, who had since moved away. His first love, gone. He’d written two songs about it.

“In this one the colors match the dress better,” Kori was telling Raven. “But this one is so delicate, and a classic.”

Victor and Dick both scrolled through their phones on Raven’s bedroom floor. It was the same deliberation Kori had been stuck with all morning.

Raven sat on her vanity dresser with two fingers cupping her chin. “The teal one,” she stated, so certain Dick looked up to see how it would float with Kori. Raven had offered more certainty in a second than the three boys all morning.

“Really?” Kori returned, eyes wide. “But the silver one…”

“Is a safe choice. And it ages you.”

“It does!?”

Gar was appalled. The roughness of her tone pushed him over the edge. “God, why’d you have to be such a hater? She looks pretty either way.”

The outburst made everyone look at him, given the fact it was first time he spoke all afternoon.

“Excuse me?” returned Raven.

“I’m saying you don’t have to be mean.”

“I’m not,” Raven stated. “I’m trying to help her.”

Kori moved to agree. “Gar, I asked for her opinion, she’s helping me as a friend.”

“She didn’t have to be a jerk about it,” Gar sustained, crossing his arms.

Dick, closest to him, bumped him on the arm, wordlessly telling him to knock it off.

And there, proof the enmity was real and mutual, was how quickly Raven turned to big guns when she said, “I don’t know what your problem is with me, but no one’s forcing you to be here.”

Vic spoke up. “Raven, don’t listen to him, he speaks without thinking, ever.”

Gar was perhaps more offended by Vic’s dismissal than Raven’s affront. “I mean what I said. And I’d leave if I could,” he told Raven. “Vic’s my ride and he’s ignoring me.”

Raven set her questioning gaze on Victor.

Vic offered a tremulous smile. “I’ll just take him home.”

Dick saw them outside, and lingered by the porch door. “Guys, I’m gonna wait for Kori.”

“’Kay. I’m gonna put this baby down for a nap,” replied Vic, and gave Gar a strong hack in the back as they left the premises of the enemy.

Gar didn’t care. One way or another, he was out of Raven’s house, and he counted that as a win.

───

As Vic pulled up before Gar’s door, he said, “Last chance, you’re really not going to our prom?”

“Duh, I’m going to the prom my date’s at,” Gar replied, face brightening at the thought of tonight.

Vic snorted. “Some date,” he muttered, but Gar just closed the car door on him, pretending he hadn’t heard.

He refused to think badly about tonight. Sure, he hadn’t actually asked out his date, or she him; sure, it had been arranged by his new friends from Terrance High, who had finally let him into his group after months of effort in befriending their unofficial leader Terry while they both worked the cinema candy counter; sure, he hadn’t ever seen Angelica before, except once at a distance because she was angry at one of the boys and was keeping away from them where they could still see her.

But a date was a date. He’d rather go to a different school’s prom than show up to his own dateless. In his room, he beamed at the suit hanging on his wardrobe doorand did the check for the hundredth time: suit, shirt, tie, corsage. All ready. He wouldn’t let anything ruin tonight.

───

[Friday, 6pm. 1 hour to Prom.]

Right from the start Gar could tell something was wrong. The Terrance group pre-gamed at a weird sleazy bar-slash-gym called Dark Side Club Gar had never known existed in town before, where Angelica had taken one look at him and her mouth had twisted, and Gar had known she found him disappointing. Now she faced away from him as he awkwardly chatted along with the others, left to wonder what he’d done wrong. Was it his suit? He had gotten it on sale, but could people actually tell? Could girls? Or was it he was a head shorter than her? He also wished he could’ve fixed that, but there was nothing he could do if his promised growth spurt hadn’t happened by the end of high school. Had she changed her mind about him? Had she ever wanted to go to prom with him in the first place? Everyone else seemed to think it was funny, smirking when Gar would talk and Angelica would blank him or talk over him.

After an awkward hangout, destiny was sealed when they left the Club and Angelica suddenly turned to Gar and asked him to get her chips from the convenience store across the street. Gar, eager to please and elated she had acknowledged him, jumped at the request.

He probably did feel the foreboding as he chose the chips and stood in line; there had to be a reason he wouldn’t look out the window while he chatted with the cashier and paid.

When he left the store, the car was gone.

It didn’t surprise him as much as it should have. He had sensed the odd energy,seen the smirks, the runaway glances. He had thought it was odd his date had suddenly talked to him after a night of ignoring him. He wasn’t surprised. Or maybe the big gaping hollowness on his chest didn’t leave room for anything else, surprise included.

Had they planned it from the start? Had it been a spur of the moment cruelty of Angelica’s? It didn’t really matter. It still meant Gar would have a senior prom-shaped hole in his life.

───

He didn’t really mind where his feet took him. He really should have. Because the next time he looked up, his eyes fell on a girl sitting on a bench at the end of the sidewalk. The fact that she was dressed to the nines in a pretty flowy back dress caught his attention first. The fact that he recognized her came second.

Raven had been looking at her phone. If Gar hadn’t made a choked sound in surprise, she might not have seen him. But he did, and she did, and Gar saw her face freeze in a way that must mirror his.Of all people, he thought, it has to be you that sees this.

Raven’s face went through changes he didn’t understand: she looked away, then back at him, did a double take and looked him up and down, only then seeming to notice his suit. “Are you… walking to prom?”

Gar coughed. “I’m… my plans fell through.” He shoved hands in pockets, tried to look nonchalant. “I was going to the Terrance High prom with a group, but…” he shrugged vaguely, having no idea how she’d interpret that. Was he playing he’d lost interest in prom and walked away? He had no idea what his story was. This was too raw for him to pull an act over it.

“Oh? Did you pick a senseless fight with them too?”

And he was too raw to mask the effect of her jab on his face.

“What about you?” he said, to throw the onus on her. “Didn’t you have a boyfriend? Where is he? It’s past seven.”

Gar didn’t immediately understand when her eyes widened in a vulnerable expression he was unprepared to see in her; when she looked down, it hit him. Oh. Oh no. He hadn’t thought he was witnessing someone being actually stood up—he’d thought her date was late.

He had been so focused on her witnessing his embarrassment he hadn’t realized he’d walked into hers.And he thought she was callous.

He decided honesty was the best policy. “Sorry… I said it because I thought you were waiting to be picked up.”

“I am,” she said.

He didn’t know if she was trying to save face or she truly thought her boyfriend might still show up.

“Did you have a fight?” he asked. Why was he trying to comfort Raven Roch?

“No, Michael is…” She paused. Her tone was dry and detached when she completed, “You want the truth? I was just trying to make it last until prom.”

“What?” And here he’d thought Raven was perfectly happy with her super-tall boyfriend.

“I knew it was doomed. I just wanted a proper prom night with a boyfriend. But he couldn’t even do that for me.”

If she was any other girl he’d be touching her shoulder right now. “You wouldn’t have enjoyed prom with a crappy guy anyway,” he said sensibly.

“Maybe,” she replied immediately. “Maybe memory would have smoothed everything over and looking back I would think I enjoyed the night.”

She said that like she’d given it some thought, done the math and concluded a crappy date was better than nothing. Like Angelica was for him. Both of them were two unlucky kids who’d settled for the date they could find for senior prom. He sat next to her on the bench, where he deflated. “So are you gonna wait for him?”

She made a low grumble. “Probably gonna sneak back home. I don’t feel like explaining this to my mom.”

Gar kicked a rock with the point of his shoe for a moment, before he took a deep breath in preparation to say the obvious thing. “Raven. Fuck it. Let’s go to prom.” And he barreled over before her shocked face could deter him. “This is ridiculous, we’re all dressed up, what are we gonna do? Go to bed? Let’s go to prom.”

“With you?” she replied. “And you with me? We can’t stand each other, we’ll have a terrible time.”

“Maybe. Or maybe memory will make you think you were super into me.”

She looked insulted at the thought. He winked, just because. He was elated to see her blush.

She crossed her arms. “I’d rather go to bed.”

“Raven, we’re seniors. This is our last chance to do prom at our school, with our friends, with our classmates. They’re all already there.”

“Says the guy who was perfectly fine going to another school’s prom until recently,” she pointed out.

“Yeah, well, this event has humbled me and shown me the error of my ways, now come on, let’s go.” And he stressed his words by jumping to his feet and daring to pull on her arm. She shook him off immediately. “Look, my tie’s got little birds on it and your dress has those feathery things,” he said, holding up his tie and gesturing to the feather-shaped tulle accents on her dress’ cap sleeves. “It’s fucking fate, dude!”

She focused on his tie. She hadn’t noticed the tiny black birds on a dark green background before. “Why the hell does your tie have birds?”

“It was the cutest thing with animals on it my mom said was still elegant enough for the dress code.” He tucked the tie back in as if to shake her eyes off it. “Look, the tie’s not important, what I’m saying is if we go together, it’ll look right.”

“Great argument. You so convinced me.”

“If you don’t cool it with the sarcasm I’ll just take you at face value and drag you along.”

“How are we gonna get there, genius?” she posed. “We both lost our rides and the school is miles away. And prom started long ago.”

But he acted like she’d said what he wanted to hear. “Ride’s your problem? Cool, I’m calling a cab.”

Raven watched him pull out his phone, mark the number, and put the phone to his ear. He waited for the call to connect with a determined look on his face, and she finally realized he was serious. And, well, Raven had always been a path-of-least-resistance kind of girl. But he would not be getting a cab on prom night.

Gar started when she put her hand over his arm. “Wait. I can get us a ride.”

───

[7:52 pm. Minus 52 minutes to prom.]

Raven’s available ride was her neighbor Azar, who was seventy years old and perfectly willing to help out, but warned the kids she wasn’t used to driving at night and would take it slow and safe. The frenzied teenagers assured her this was fine.

Azar drove so slowly it gave Raven time to regret things ten times over. She was about to say something –anything—something like “This is so dumb,” something that would cast Gar back down to Earth too, something that would make them look at each other and realize they should just go home-, but Gar was on an entirely different wavelength. When Raven looked over at him, he was hard at work trying the car lights in different combinations; the ceiling light, then the ones over each of the back seats, then both, the just the left one. She was about to ask what he was doing when he took out his phone, set it on frontal camera and scooted closer to her side.

“What the hell are you doing?” she asked.

“I’m scared you’re gonna push us past the photo booth when we get there, so I’m taking control of the situation.”

He took a picture. Raven had just enough time to see her own floored face staring back at her, next to Gar’s smile with the tooth sticking out. Gar checked the picture with a smile and put his phone back.

“You’re not gonna tell me to smile?” Raven asked.

“Nah. This is more true to life,” he declared.

For some reason, that was strangely heartwarming to her. No one easily accepted her resting bitch face in photos. It was nice to not have to fight someone on this. Raven felt some of her doubt slip away. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

───

Never mind. It was bad.

Why was everyone staring at them? Was it that weird she’d showed up with the class clown? Was everyone wondering where her boyfriend was? Did everyone even know she used to have a boyfriend? Raven had personally made it through high school ignoring ninety percent of her classmates, but kids she’d never talked to were now staring at her like they had strong opinions about her. She wanted to crawl into a hole.

“They’ll stop staring in two minutes,” came Gar’s voice next to her. “Take it from the class clown. People’s attention doesn’t last.”

Maybe it was because they were among their classmates now, but having Gar next to her, whispering to her, made Raven feel… weird. It felt intimate in a way that… wasn’t entirely unwelcome. Maybe it was because she felt they were a team against the rest of them—and she’d never been in a team that included Gar Logan.

Their friends spotted them before Gar and Raven located them. The unlikely couple approached their puzzled friends, and on reaching them, Gar simply said “’Sup. We had a change of heart.”

Kori’s face hardened as she set a knowing gaze on Raven. “Michael?”

“Yep,” said Raven.

“Tell me you’re breaking up with him.”

“Oh yeah. Tomorrow, when he shows up with flowers all apologetic… I’m gonna dump him.”

In turn, Vic crossed his arms at Gar. “The Terrance High losers pulled something on you, didn’t they?”

Gar furrowed his brows at Vic. “Nope, I decided to blow them off.” And before Vic’s anger could reach him, he pulled Raven’s hand. “C’mon, Raven, let’s dance.”

───

Gar was right, people were long done staring as they danced, even though they were a bigger spectacle now: they had come just in time for the slow songs.

“You’re happy we came, right?” Gar asked her.

“Yeah, I am,” she replied sincerely.

His face brightened at the response. “See? Sometimes it’s better to do things than… not do them.”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” she stated, with an edge on her voice.

But her sarcasm didn’t rub him the wrong way anymore. He didn’t know why, but he felt he understood her better now. In fact, as she swayed before him with a relaxed look on her face, he struggled to remember why he had ever disliked her.

Gar looked past her head and only then saw the big sign on the wall and remembered the theme of the dance: ‘Date with destiny’.

Huh. He tried very hard not to take in the subtext.

But was it dumb to take this for the big movie ending? To think this might last and, come Monday, they would keep… getting along, at least? Was this just for tonight? Just because he was the only prom date alternative around? Could this keep going? Maybe… evolve?

Raven suddenly cast her eyes down, and Gar internally panicked—had some of what he’d been almost thinking translated into his face? Before he could even process it himself?

She had just shrugged off a bad boyfriend, he reminded himself. It wasn’t the time anyway.

He shouldn’t even be thinking of big what-ifs, but… friendship. Friendship was good enough for him. He didn’t have to know now where this was going. This morning, did he think he would be slow dancing with Raven Roch by the end of the day? Absolutely not. So he didn’t have to know now. He could be in the moment and wait for what the future held.

───

Notes:

*whispers* Enemies to last-minute prom dates 🤩

I know exactly what Gar and Rae are wearing in my mind I just didn't have the time to hunt down reference photos :(