Disclaimer: Characters are owned and produced by The Disney Channel, That's So Productions, Brookwell-McNamara Entertainment, It's A Laugh Productions, Warren & Rinsler Productions, NBC Universal, Tailwind Productions and Shaftesbury Films. I am just borrowing them for these stories. Original characters are owned by the author of this story.
Authors Note: Dan Patrick says it best on ESPN's SportsCenter, "You can't stop him, you can only hope to contain him." I think he was talking about me. I'm back, again with more Chrave femslash. If that offends you, you may leave this story now.
I've got another sequel for you. This time it's the sequel to Continental Divide. Remember, Raven, Chelsea, Claire, Teri in New York? Oh yeah, that one! Well, they're still in New York. This story is called When Continents Collide. I hope you enjoy it.
When Continents Collide
Chapter 1
Déjà Vu
It had been nearly a year since Chelsea Daniels moved to New York and moved in with her best friend-turned-girlfriend Raven Baxter. She had come to New York to tell her best friend that she was in love with her, only to find out that she was seeing someone; a girl no less! But it didn't matter. True love trumped all. Veni, vidi, vici. She came, she saw, she conquered.
Chelsea was now in her second semester at NYU, studying criminal justice. Her career goal, after talking to Raven's mother at length, was to become an environmental lawyer. There was just one thing stopping her from achieving her goal at the moment; ethics. The ethics class was kicking her in the behind and was a source of much of her frustration that fall semester. Raven was a supportive as she could be, however, she had her own hands full with three business courses as well as a course in fashion design.
One Thursday afternoon in November was particularly frustrating for the redheaded bombshell. She failed an ethics quiz, missed a reading assignment in her English Lit class studying for her ethics quiz and, to add insult to injury, broke a heel on the way home from campus. She was in the apartment by herself; Raven wasn't due home from class for another hour, when her frustration hit a boil. She was reading a passage from her ethics textbook when her brain tripped its own kill switch.
"TO HELL WITH ETHICS!" Chelsea screamed as she flung her textbook across the living room. Two loud thuds echoed through the apartment as the thick book hit the front door then the hardwood floor. "Who needs to be ethical anyway?" She said out loud. "It's law. People think lawyers are blood-sucking, ambulance-chasing shysters anyway." She stood up and shuffled around the room looking for something to occupy herself. Not finding anything suitable for her entertainment, she picked up the remote and flipped on the TV. She stopped on the MTV digital video channel. "We pay Cablevision a hundred ten dollars a month. They better have some good music on this station."
Before she knew it, she saw one of her favorite artists pop up on the screen: Beyonce.
"Bass." Beyonce said at the beginning of her song, Déjà Vu followed by a thumping bass. "Hi-hat." Chelsea said in unison with Beyonce as a hi-hat cymbal sounded. Now the two ladies were in synch. "808." They both said as more layered beats were added. "Jay. Ready? Let's go get 'em."
Chelsea then launched into her best Jay-Z impersonation.
I used to run base like Juan Pierre
Now I run the bass hi hat and the snare
I used to bag girls like Birkin Bags
Now I bag B (Beyonce: Boy you hurtin' that)
Brooklyn Bay where they birthed me at
Now I be everywhere, the nerve of rap
The audacity to have me whippin curtains back
Me and B, she about to sting
Stand back
Then she sang Beyonce's part.
Baby seems like everywhere I go
I see you, from your eyes, your smile
It's like I breathe you, helplessly I reminisce
Don't want to compare nobody to you
Chelsea was so lost in releasing the frustration of the day in her song that she didn't hear the apartment door open.
Boy, I try to catch myself
But I'm out of control
Your sexiness is so appealing
I can't let it go
Know that I can't get over you
'Cause everything I see is you
And I don't want no substitute
Baby I swear it's Deja Vu
Know that I can't get over you
'Cause everything I see is you
And I don't want no substitute
Baby I swear it's Deja Vu
Raven stood for a moment and watched in amusement as her girlfriend blew off steam. In her mind, it was long overdue. She was happy to see Chelsea loosen up a little. It was then that she decided to give Chelsea a little help with her song.
"Yes!" Raven started to rap Jay-Z's next part causing Chelsea to jump and whip her head around toward the door. She smiled when she saw her hazel-eyed goddess standing there
Hova's flow so unusual
Baby, girl you should already know
It's H-O, light up the strobe
'Cause you gon' need help tryna study my bounce, flow, blow
What's the difference?
One, you take in vein while the other you sniffin'
It's still dough, po-po try to convict him
"Go Raven! Go Raven!" Chelsea cheered.
That's a no-go
My dough keep the scales tippin like 4-4's
Like I'm from the H-O-U-S-T-O-N
Blow, wind so Chicago of him
Is he the best ever, that's the argu-a-ment
I don't make the list, don't be mad at me
I just make the hits, like a factory
I'm just one-to-one, nothin' after me
No Deja Vu, just me and my, Oh
Chelsea walked over to Raven, cupped her face and continued singing.
Baby I can't go anywhere
Without thinking that you're there
Seems like you're everywhere, it's true
Gotta be having Deja Vu
'Cause in my mind I want you here
Get on the next plane, I don't care
Is it because I'm missing you
That I'm having Déjà vu
Boy, I try to catch myself
But I'm out of control
Your sexiness is so appealing
I can't let it go
Whoo...
"Your day was that bad, huh?" Raven yelled over the loud music. Chelsea went over and hit mute on the TV. She came back over to Raven and threw her arms around Raven's neck. "Oh, poor baby. Here…" Raven gently pulled away from Chelsea long enough to pull her heels off then took Chelsea by the hand and led her over to the couch. "Sit down and tell me all about it." Raven sat down, placed Chelsea's head on her chest and cradled her.
Chelsea took a deep breath, inhaling Raven's scent, and smiled. "You know, putting my head here makes my troubles seem to just melt away."
"That's the idea." Raven said. "It's called Magic Bosom, from the makers of Silly Putty." Chelsea exploded in laughter. "Now that's the Chelsea I know and love. You wanna talk about your day now?"
"No, just hold me and make me laugh. I need that right now." Chelsea asked as she chuckled.
"All right." Raven said. "A nun, a priest and Howard Stern walk into a bar…" Chelsea once again exploded in laughter. "I'm not even finished with the joke." Raven said. At this point, Chelsea is laughing so hard she can't catch her breath. She collapsed on the couch as her face turned beet red. "I… am going to order some Chinese. You want your usual, Princess Chuckles?" Chelsea was still laughing. "I'll take that as a yes." Raven started walking to her bedroom. "Damn." She said to herself. "If she laughed that hard at the beginning, she would have peed on herself when I got to the punchline."
Forty-five minutes after Raven placed the food order, the doorbell rang.
"That's odd." Chelsea said out loud to herself. "Rae! Looks like the intercom's not working again!" Chelsea yelled as she made her way to the front door.
"Our new super sucks!" Raven said, referring to Frank, the new building superintendent.
"Yes?" Chelsea called out. She couldn't see through the peephole. Frank needs to replace that as well. He told Raven and Chelsea that they were on his list.
"Hunan Palace." A heavily accented voice said from the other side of the door. Chelsea glanced at the baseball bat next to the door, just in case she needed to reach for it and slowly opened the door. "You order Chinese?" The person said. It was then that Chelsea realized that the voice didn't match the person.
"Teri?" Chelsea quizzically asked.
"In the flesh, baby!" Teri said, impersonating Hulk Hogan's character Thunderlips from Rocky III. She stepped inside the threshold and threw her arms wide open. Chelsea stepped forward and embraced her.
"Oh my God! It's so good to see you! What are you doing in New York?" Chelsea exclaimed as she hugged Teri.
"Moving. I'm here for good." Teri answered.
Teri Winters. Chelsea met her on her flight to New York almost a year ago and became fast friends with her. Teri helped Chelsea sort through her feelings for Raven and proved herself to be a loyal friend despite the fact that Raven was dating Teri's cousin Claire at the time. Chelsea hadn't seen Teri since the morning she and Raven flew to Las Vegas to celebrate their new relationship. They had, however, kept in frequent contact via email and phone calls.
"Oh, here's your food. I ran into the guy downstairs and asked if it was for your apartment." Teri said, handing the bag to Chelsea.
"What do I owe you?" Chelsea said.
"It's on me. Don't sweat it." Teri said.
"You colored your hair! You look good as a brunette." Chelsea said. Teri had reminded her of Sienna Miller when they first met. She had a short, cropped blonde thing happening. Now, her hair is still short, just dark brown.
"Actually, I just took the color out." Teri said. "I'm a natural brown. But you'd know that if you had hooked up with me at Maryland!" She said as she slapped playfully at Chelsea. Just then Raven came out of the room.
"I can smell it! I'm starving… Oh, we have company." Raven said. "Hi, I'm Raven." Raven walked over and extended her hand to shake Teri's, not yet recognizing her. Teri just stood and looked at Raven with a "Hello, don't you recognize me" smirk on her face.
"See, I help her hook up with you in Vegas and she forgets my name in the morning." Teri said to Chelsea.
"Oh my damn! Teri!" Raven starts laughing and throws her arms around Teri. "Girl, I didn't recognize you with the hair!"
"Uhh, ya think?" Teri joked as she hugged Raven. "Does she need glasses?" Teri asked Chelsea as she continued to embrace Raven.
"Yeah, big coke-bottle ones at that." Chelsea deadpanned.
Raven released Teri. "How have you been? How's Chris doing?" Raven asked. She was referring to Teri's girlfriend Chris.
"I'm okay and the next time I see Chris, I'll ask her." Teri said flatly as Raven took her jacket.
"What happened?" Chelsea asked.
"She cheated on me and left me for her research partner. She told me they were moving to Florida." Teri announced.
"I'm so sorry." Chelsea said.
"Well, when one door closes, another one opens. Guess who called me out of the blue for the first time in almost seven years?" Teri said.
"Your brother?" Chelsea asked.
"Yeah. He called me and told me how much he missed me and loved me and that my lifestyle didn't matter to him anymore."
"What made him change his mind?" Raven asked.
Teri pulled her wallet out and slid a picture from one of the sleeves. "Her name is Hannah. She's my niece. She just turned two."
"Aww!" Raven and Chelsea said in unison. "She is beautiful." Raven said.
Teri choked up. "Her middle name is Teresa." She said with tears in her eyes. "He named her after me. That was so sweet." Raven went to grab her a tissue. "But look… I just dropped by to say hi. Y'all are about to eat dinner. I'll call you and…" Teri went to get up.
"Sit… your five dollar ass down before I make change." Raven borrowing a line from New Jack City. "You are staying for dinner. We'll share with you. And I'm not taking no for an answer."
Teri wiped her face and agreed to stay. The three of them shared General Tso's chicken and a vegetable medley and talked until nearly midnight. Teri told them that she got an apartment near 63rd and Lexington and worked for a software company just over the bridge in New Jersey.
"So what are y'all up to tomorrow?" Teri asked.
"I have an ethics lecture in the morning then I'm free." Chelsea said.
"I've got to go to the administration building tomorrow to straighten out some financial aid stuff then I've got two business classes. I'll be done around 4." Raven said.
"Then how about I catch up with you for lunch…" Teri said looking at Chelsea. "And both of you for dinner."
"You mean she gets you twice?" Raven joked.
"That's it." Teri said as she grabbed Raven by the wrist and headed for her bedroom. "I'm tappin' that ass tonight!" Raven started giggling as she looked at Chelsea.
"Sorry, babe. You can finish my egg roll while we're in here!" Raven said to Chelsea. All three of them began howling in laughter.
"I'm outta here." Teri said as she grabbed her jacket. "I'll call you around 12. I'll hang out near campus and we'll hook up after your class."
"Sounds good." Chelsea said. "Bye, Teri!" Chelsea embraced her. "Don't be a stranger."
"No chance of that happening now." Teri said before releasing Chelsea. She then turned to Raven. "Come here you!" She grabbed Raven and dipped her backwards and planted a kiss on her lips.
"I knew you were just trying to make out with my girl." Chelsea deadpanned. Teri released Raven and the three of them said their goodbyes.
After Teri left, Raven put her arms around Chelsea's waist. "I am exhausted. I can't wait to hit the bed." Raven said. "Yours, mine or separate tonight?"
"I don't know why you threw that last one in." Chelsea said. "I never pick it."
"I just like seeing your face. You're cute when you're irritated." Raven said as they walked toward her bedroom.
"Say goodnight, Raven." Chelsea said.
Raven delivered her line on cue. "Goodnight, Raven."
The next day offered the usual bustle of collegiate life in New York City. Chelsea and Raven shared a kiss before Chelsea was off to her ethics lecture. Raven made her way into the administration building to see a financial aid counselor regarding her package for the spring semester. After a mind-numbing two hours in the financial aid office, one hour of which was spent waiting to see a counselor, she made her way out of the building. She had a forty-five minute break before her business lecture started so she figured that a hot chocolate would hit the spot.
She headed down the sidewalk toward the corner. Just before she reached the corner, a man on a bicycle came flying around the corner nearly knocking Raven to the ground. She wheeled around and began to give him a piece of her mind. She was backpedaling toward the corner of the building when a woman jogging turned the corner and plowed right into Raven, sending her sprawling to the ground.
"Sonofabitch!" Raven exclaimed as she lay face down on the concrete. "I guess it's my day to eat concrete!"
"I am so sorry!" The woman said. "Let me help you up. Are you all right?"
Raven slowly rolled over onto her back to sit up. "Yeah. I'll be fine. I didn't break…" Her train of thought was interrupted by a ghost from the past. "Claire?" Raven asked. However, she knew the answer. Standing in front of her was Claire Bennet, her ex-girlfriend, the one she left for Chelsea. Raven shielded her eyes from the sun that was almost directly behind Claire's head. Those crystal blue eyes.
Almost a year and a half ago, not far from where she lay on the ground, she and Claire knocked each other down. The first thing they noticed about each other were their eyes. Raven lost herself in Claire crystal blue eyes. Claire was mesmerized by Raven's hazel eyes. The more things change, the more they stay the same. They locked on each other's eyes for what seemed to be an eternity.
Claire reached down and offered Raven her hand. Raven reached up and allowed Claire to pull her to her feet. Raven brushed herself off and smiled awkwardly. Claire pursed her lips, as if to study Raven's facial expression. Her expression then softened as she spoke.
"What are the odds that we'd literally run into each other outside the same building twice in one lifetime?" Claire asked.
Raven smiled and chuckled. "If I had placed a bet on that I'd be a rich woman right now." She added another nervous laugh. "How are you?"
"I'm doing well." Claire said nodding her head. "Still in school, working a part-time job, being me. How about you? You look… great." The word "incredible" flashed across Claire's mind but she choked it back at the last moment.
"I'm fine. Too many classes, not enough time. You know how I roll." Raven said attempting to lighten the slightly tense mood.
"Well…" Claire said before opening her arms. "Can you spare a hug for an old friend?"
Raven's stomach did a flip. What is wrong with you? Just hug her. "Of course I can." Raven said as she stepped forward and embraced Claire for the first time since their goodbye kiss in the apartment. It was in this moment that Raven remembered one of the reasons she fell for her. Raven decided it was in her best interest to step back. You are kidding me! Raven thought to herself. You cannot still be attracted to her. Can you?
"So do you go jogging here every morning?" Raven asked.
"No. But I'm meeting someone for an early lunch and a workout." Claire said. "Well speak of the devil." Claire said as she looked past Raven. Raven turned around to see a familiar face coming towards her dressed in workout gear with a gym bag slung over her shoulder.
"Clarissa Cheyenne Bennet!" The young woman addressed Claire by her full name. Raven was slightly taken aback. It was the first time she had heard anyone other than Claire herself say her full given name.
"Cassandra Lynette McDonald, I presume." Claire responded in kind. "Hey." The young woman walked up to Claire and gave her a quick peck on the lips.
"Oh. Raven this is…"
"Casey McDonald. Hi Casey." Raven said.
"You two know each other?" Claire asked with surprise in her voice.
"Hi Raven." Casey said. "Yeah. I'm Raven's financial aid counselor. How do you two…" It then clicked in Casey's head. When she first started dating Claire, the blond cutie mentioned her ex-girlfriend but referred to her only as "Rae". Casey put two and two together and simply needed confirmation. "Claire? This is your Rae?"
"She hasn't been my Rae… in about a year now." Claire tried to make that comment neutral, but Raven could read in between the lines and see the hurt that was still there.
"Wow." Casey said as a million things went through her head. "Small world, huh?"
"Gets smaller every day." Raven said with a manufactured smile. "I hate to do this, but I have to run. I have an ethics class pretty soon."
"Yeah, we have to get to the gym." Claire said. "It was good seeing you again, Rae."
"You too, CeCe." Raven said. CeCe? Where the hell did that come from? That was my pet name for her.
"Raven, I'll call you as soon as I hear about your Pell grant." Casey said, trying to switch the subject away from their past.
"Okay." She said to Casey while looking at Claire. "Bye Casey. Bye Claire." She started walking toward the corner.
"Bye Rae." Claire said softly.
Claire and Casey walked to the corner. Claire watched Raven as she crossed one intersection while they waited to cross at the other. Casey looked at Claire. They had been seeing each other for about three months but had never seen her preoccupied, like she was now. At first Rae only had a name. Now that there was a face, a beautiful face, a familiar face and voluptuous body, to go with the name, Casey now thought that she had reason to worry. Not fancying herself as one that pulled punches, she asked the $64,000 question.
"She is gorgeous!" Casey said. "What made you break up with her?" She asked in a light-hearted manner.
"You don't really want to talk about this. Do you?" Claire asked.
"Sure. What, you don't?" Casey asked a loaded question designed to paint Claire into a corner.
Claire sighed. One thing that she learned about Casey is that she is like a dog going after a bone if there is information that she wants. She keeps chipping away at you until you crack.
"I didn't break up with her. She broke up with me." Claire forced out.
"Do I dare ask why?" Casey said with delicacy.
Claire stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. She felt her Texas temper beginning to rise but she kept her cool because she realized that Casey wouldn't be asking these questions if she had told her the whole story from the beginning.
"Raven and her best friend from home developed feelings for each other. She came to visit last year, they admitted to each other how they felt. She had fifteen years of history on me. She won, I lost. Period. End of story." Claire said with a succinct abruptness Casey had not seen before.
"That must have hurt." Casey said softly.
Claire stopped again. Will you please stop with all the questions! Damn! She dropped her head briefly, then lifted it and cupped Casey's face.
"It did. But I'm past it now. I have you, a beautiful cat and a free trip to Canada to meet your parents in the spring. Life, as bad as it was a year ago, is now very good." Claire said. "Now come on. We'll work off a couple hundred calories on the treadmill, then a couple hundred more back at your place."
"Miss Bennet, I believe you're trying to seduce me." Casey said.
"Judging by the smile on your face, it's working." Claire said.
"You're right. It is!" Casey shot back as they continued down the sidewalk.
As Claire walked her thoughts drifted back to her chance meeting with Raven. All of the memories of good times and bad came flooding back to her. She glanced over at Casey. She really liked everything about Casey from the way she smiled to the way she grilled her for information, even down to the lip-gloss she uses.
But seeing Raven again triggered something inside her that she hadn't felt in over a year. It was a familiar warmth that blanketed her, not unlike the first time she met Raven. Maybe it was the fact that she bumped into her this time in almost the same way they originally met. Maybe it was the fact that she hadn't seen her in over a year.
Whatever the reason, she took heart in the realization that as long as she didn't have to lay eyes on Raven again in the near future, she would be fine. New York was a big enough city for the both of them. They were there for months before they met and a year after breaking up before running into each other again. No worries. They were simply two ships passing in the night. Casey provided her port in the storm of life now. Raven was now just a distant port of call.
Hi everybody! Did you miss me? Welcome to "When Continents Collide". Did you like chapter one? And to answer your question, yes that is Casey from Life With Derek. Now you know what she looks like, because I neglected to describe her. Chapter two will be along before you know it. But before that, please review this one. Thank you.