244Oh wow, I got almost 40 reviews on the last chapter! I was originally going to end the story there, when I started this entire thing, but I had a little idea for an epilogue-y type chapter, and then I realized I forgot something very, very, very important...
Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans.
"Enjoying yourself?" Gar asked cheekily. Rachel rolled her eyes at him, sipping her punch. The unnecessarily loud music was pounding in her ears, the swirling disco lights blinding her, and half their friends weren't there. Yeah, definitely enjoying herself. "C'mon, Rae, live a little. Come dance with me?" After a moment of careful consideration, she shrugged and nodded, following him out on to the dance floor.
He wrapped his arms around her waist as a slow song came on, and she awkwardly looped her arms around his neck. She wasn't sure what to do, and followed his lead. She was probably the only girl in this entire year that hadn't ever danced with a guy before. "Now are you enjoying yourself?" Gar asked hopefully. Rachel smiled a little bit, nodding.
Flashback
The doorbell was ringing. Gar didn't feel like getting it. He was still moping over Rachel leaving, and hadn't left the couch. His mother had come home, trying to talk to him, but had given up after an hour of not getting a word out of him. She was out again, and, seeing how the doorbell would not stop, he opened the door. Imagine his surprise to see Rachel there, hugging the handle of a suitcase to herself and looking as surprised as he.
She lunged at him, hugging him, and Gar was far too shocked to respond. "Rachel? You're here? What...?"
"I ran away, Gar, I ran away." She was crying. He embraced her quickly.
"Come on in, Rae, tell me the whole story. Hey, it's okay. Don't worry, Rae, everything will be okay."
They sat down on that infamous couch. With Rachel choking out the situation. "...And I just picked up my suitcase when he wasn't looking, and I made it to the elevator without him noticing. I don't know...I don't know what'll happen now, Gar. He might come for me...I don't know what he'd do. I hate him, Gar, I couldn't stay with him..."
"I know, Rae, you did the right thing." He'd never seen her break down before, and was already in complete emotional turmoil, and didn't know what to do. So he called up Vic, Dick, Kory, and Karen.
They came almost instantly. After Kory was done smothering Rachel in her bone-crushing hugs, they all sat down and listened to Gar's retelling of Rachel's story. Kori frowned, waving it away. "There isn't a problem. Rachel is to stay with me. If her father decides to come back in town, we lead a protest to demolish his big offices. All solved. Now come on, Rachel, my mother won't be happy if we're late for dinner."
There was a speechless silence, which Dick broke by laughing. "How about we get Rachel's opinion on this, Kory?"
"No," Rachel said, shaking her head. "It sounds great, but...you wouldn't mind?"
"Of course not!"
"Besides the protesting thing, of course."
"Aw, man, I was waiting to get the old signs out," grumbled Vic. There was another silence, far more uncomfortable, as everyone held back laughter.
"Listen, Rachel-" Karen started.
"It's okay. Forget it."
"No," said Gar firmly. "We're not forgetting it, Rachel. We're all really, really sorry. It was wrong. However stupid."
Rachel gave a small smile. "It's okay, Gar, like I said. Don't worry about it. That's what...friends...are for, right? To forgive each other."
Kori squealed with happiness, and Vic added in his own 'expression of joy.'
"How can he not worry? You should've seen him without you, Rachel, he was so lost," Vic guffawed. Gar turned a furious red.
"Was not!"
"Yeah, your butt was glued to that thing, Gar, and you probably emptied five boxes of ice cream," Dick joked, pointing at the couch. Rachel rolled her eyes, ready to, once again, save Gar from being totally humilated.
End Flashback
Now, five months later, Tristan Roth had made no appearance. On the news, it seemed that his project in Steel City was running smoothly enough without Rachel. The money for her house, however, had stopped coming. Her best guess was that he thought she was dead or at some home, and couldn't care less. The six of them were always alert, but each day it became less and less likely. Even if he did come for her, Rachel had realized, she had friends this time. He wouldn't ever take her again.
For the first time in her life, Rachel was practically worry-free, unless almost-freshman-in-college jitters were counted. It was the last dance of the year, and it went without saying that Gar and Rachel, daing for ages, were going together. And so were-
"Do you know where Dick and Kory are?" asked Karen worriedly, interrupting Rachel's pathetic attempt at slow-dancing. Gar shrugged.
"You know them. Probably in some corner making out. Why?" Karen mock-sighed.
"Sometimes I wish you hadn't gotten them together, Rachel. They just won't separate, if you know what I mean. Then, do you know where Vic is?"
A mischievous look flashed across Gar's face for a minute, though no one but Rachel caught it. "Don't worry, Karen. I'm sure he'll be here soon. Vic isn't one to back down on something like this." Karen frowned, noticing something was off.
"What do you mean, 'back down-"
"Hey, y'all!" called Vics booming voice. Karen turned around and paled.
"If anyone asks, I've never seen him before in my life," she whispered to Rachel and Gar before disappearing.
Calls of 'Yo, Robotman!' and 'Halloween was ages ago, Vic!' followed the star football player through the crowd. Gar was doubled over in laughter, but Vic seemed unperturbed. "Like the getup?" Vic asked Rachel, grinning widely. He was, as promised, dressed up in a robot costume from Halloween. Technically, Gar had won the bet, because Vic hadn't had time to call it off. Rachel smirked, nodding. Vic was then swept away by herds of laughing fans.
"You gotta admit, though, Vic's awesome at the robot," said Gar after catching his breath. Vic was currently entertaining a crowd of juniors and Gar and Rachel had stopped to watch.
"What's with Vic?" asked a voice behind them. It was Dick, and Kory with him.
"Well, you look like you've been having fun," commented Rachel, eyeing their messed-up hair and the lip gloss all over Dick. He shrugged, grinning sheepishly as he wrapped his arm around Kory's waist.
"We aren't the ones wearing a Halloween costume," Kory pointed out. "Why...?"
"He lost the bet, remember? Rachel laughed before he called it off. She said it was okay with her if we finished it up. We couldn't find a dress big enough for him, so we went with his robot costume idea. But he's milking it. That's so unfair. Do you think I would be this popular if I had to wear a pink bikini all summer?"
Dick smirked. "It's not his fault you're horrible at making up punishments."
Gar glared at him. "Kory, please shut him up."
She giggled. "My pleasure." She kissed him, and Dick managed to choke out, 'we're gonna go...dance...' before they disappeared into the crowd.
"Yeah right," Gar sniffed. Then a slow grin spread across his face. "Hey, Rae, you wanna go 'dance'?" He emphasized his point by making quotation marks with his fingers.
"No."
"Come on, Rachel! That is so unfair. Dick and Kory kiss all the time!"
"Vic and Karen don't."
"So?"
"So, Dick and Kory are Dick and Kory. They can do whatever they want."
"Hmph." Rachel watched Vic as he attempted to do the worm in his bulky costume, and Gar slid over to her in what he probably thought was an inconspicuous manner. "Hey, Rachel."
"Garfield."
"Don't call me that! I didn't even call you 'Rae' that time!"
A little half-smile made it's way across Rachel's face. "If you call me by my full name, I'll call you by yours."
"But then you get mad 'cause I call you-wait a sec, are you giving me permission to call you 'Rae'?"
Her smile grew wider. "I'm getting more punch."
"No, wait!" Gar followed her off the dance floor. "I need a written document! Next time, you can't blow up at me!"
Rachel chuckled, shaking her head. "How about on a napkin?"
"That'll work!" said Gar enthusiastically. He grabbed a pen off the sign-in desk and handed it to her. "You write while I dictate. I, Rachel...what's your middle name?"
"Does it matter?"
"Whatever. I, Rachel Roth, promise to never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever..."
"Gar..." Rachel started warningly.
"...Ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever...hey! You missed an 'ever'!"
"No, Gar, I stopped writing. That's a stupid written document."
"Sorry, old habits. How else do you think I get five hundred words on an essay?"
Rachel grinned devilishly and lifted her cup over Gar's head. "Yeah, old habits, I can relate."
"NO! Not the hair, anything but the hair!" Seeing as this wasn't working, he tried a different tactic. "You look really pretty when you're about to spill a cup of punch on my hair, Rae." Then he pressed his lips to hers, so Rachel dropped her cup behind him in surprise. He didn't hear anything falling out. Empty. Gar would've slapped his forehead, if he hadn't been kissing Rachel. It would be hard to explain why he'd hit the back of her head for no reason.
"Fine. I'll write," Rachel said breathlessly when they pulled apart. Gar grinned. "I swear, I should be..." She smirked again. That couldn't be good news. "How about this instead, Gar. Let's make a bet. I dare you not to call me Rae for the rest of the week. If you do, you're wearing a hot pink bikini of Kory's the entire summer."
Gar gulped. Here we go again.
I hope that was a more satisfactory ending and that you all liked the story. Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed!
HPFan1994