Disclaimer: Characters are owned and produced by The Disney Channel, That's So Productions, Brookwell-McNamara Entertainment, It's A Laugh Productions and Warren & Rinsler Productions. I am just borrowing them for these stories. All original characters are the exclusive property of the author.
For Them The Bells Toll
Chapter 10
The Place
The big day was less than three months away. Planning was well underway for the biggest day of their lives. No detail was left untouched. There was a menu to be prepared for, of all people, Leonard "Chef-Man" Stevenson. This man was the bane of Victor Baxter's existence for years but when he heard that Raven was getting married, he volunteered his services, on the condition that Victor return the favor when his daughter got married. Victor happily accepted.
But that wasn't the only detail. Limousines had to be ordered, chairs had to be rented, and favors had to be assembled. But there was one huge, HUGE detail that had yet to be finalized. Raven and Chelsea had still not found a location for their wedding. Getting a permit was not the issue. They had contacted every coastal town in California from Albion to Ventura about getting married on the coast. They all indicated that it wouldn't be a problem. The sticking point was the feeling.
Raven and Chelsea said to each other that when they set foot on the beach that they were to tie the knot on that they would know it. It was something that they did not take lightly. For the better part of the last three months they spent every weekend going down the California coastline looking at various locations that they had seen on the Internet, in magazines, on the Travel Channel or that had been recommended by family, friends and acquaintances.
They were by no means giving up, but they were starting to get weary of the search. The weekend before found them snapping at each other in the car and on the verge of a full-blown argument before cooler heads prevailed. Raven was frustrated by the location search as well as physically and mentally fatigued. Chelsea felt the same as Raven but had an additional beef; Over the past four weeks, Raven had been spending long hours after class somewhere and Chelsea had no idea where she was. Coming home at 9:00 was commonplace for Raven over the last couple of weeks. Throw on top of all of this the mutual pledge of celibacy until their wedding night and the mix was combustible to say the least.
Friday, March 9, 2007 – Raven and Chelsea's Dorm Room, University of California at Berkeley
Chelsea was sitting on her bed with several apartment guides strewn about the bed. She had guides for San Francisco County and the surrounding areas. She was thumbing through one of the guides when she heard Raven's keys hit the lock. She glanced up at the clock on her nightstand. It was five minutes to eight.
Raven opened the door, fatigue etched on her face. "Hey." She strained to say as she tossed her bag onto her side of the room and flopped down on the bed, almost simultaneously kicking off her heels.
"Hey." Chelsea briefly looked up to acknowledge Raven before turning her attention back to the apartment book.
"You been through all of those?" Raven said, referring to the guides.
"Nope. Here." Chelsea said non-chalantly, tossing two of them onto Raven's bed.
"Thanks." Raven said flatly as she began flipping through the book. Several moments of silence ensued. There was a palpable tension in the air. Anyone standing in the room at that moment would have had the feeling that the rubber band was about to snap. They would have received their answer with Chelsea's next sentence.
"You're home early tonight." Chelsea said with a dollop of sarcasm on top.
"You know what?" Raven began. "You've been really snippy lately. If you have something to say to me, just say it. I'm tired of having eggshells cracking under my feet." Raven fired the opening shot.
"All right, Raven…" Chelsea heavily emphasized her name. "You want to know why I've been snippy? I'll tell you why." Chelsea stood up. "We leave here early to go to class every day, we don't see each other all day, I come home tired, despondent and horny and to top all that off, I don't know where the hell you go every night! You get out of class at four! Most nights you're nine o'clock coming home!" Raven dropped her head in resignation as Chelsea spoke. "If you want to call this thing off, just tell me now so we can save ourselves the grief and aggravation cause frankly, the closer we get to the date, the less happy I get!"
Raven slowly rose to her feet and took a step toward Chelsea, whose face had taken on a crimson sheen during her mini-outburst. Raven lowered her chin and began speaking, looking at Chelsea seemingly from underneath her eyebrows.
"Chels, I'm sorry that I've been coming home late." Raven spoke slowly, measuring every word that came out of her mouth. "I don't want to call the wedding off. It's just the opposite. There is a very good explanation for why I've been late every night for the last couple of weeks."
"Well I would like to hear what that is." Chelsea said in a low-volume but still biting tone.
"I have been working on something, actually two somethings for the wedding." Raven said, a small, almost imperceptible smile pursing her lips. "One is a surprise for our wedding day so I can't tell you that, but the second one, I was going to tell you about when I finished but since I'm almost done, I can tell you."
"This had better be good, Raven." Chelsea said, still not convinced.
"It is." Raven said. "For the last four weeks, I have been designing and making our wedding dresses." Chelsea's near scowl instantly turned into shock, which in turn turned to joy.
"Rae! Are you… You actually… How did you make the dress without me there?" Chelsea said incredulously.
"You are the one person on this Earth that I can make clothes for blindfolded." Raven said. "I guarantee that this dress will fit you more perfectly than any article of clothing you have ever or will ever wear."
Chelsea stood frozen, looking at Raven in stunned disbelief. "I want to see it."
"Not until our wedding day." Raven said. "Because if you see it, you'll want to put it on and if you put it on, I'll want to see it on you and if I see it on you then I'll want to see it on the floor after I take it off you…" Chelsea began laughing. "And I don't want to do that because I want to preserve the magic and the awe of that day… our day."
"Do you know…" Chelsea shifted in her stance and then closed the distance between them. "Do you know how difficult it is to keep my hands off of you right now?" Chelsea grabbed Raven around the waist and cradled her. Chelsea's voice dropped into a low, but sweet growl. "You are the sweetest, most thoughtful woman in this or any other world." Chelsea planted a big kiss on Raven's lips.
Raven reciprocated, giving Chelsea and equally big smack on the lips. That kiss was followed by a second, then a third. The situation then devolved into a torrid impromptu makeout session. After several intense moments, Raven pulled back.
"Whoa!" Raven said before Chelsea planted several more kisses on Raven. "Chels!" Chelsea continued kissing Raven. She made her way down to Raven's neck, then "the spot". "SHIT!" Raven spat when Chelsea lightly sucked on her weak spot. She then gingerly but effectively pushed Chelsea away. "That my dear was getting way too good way too fast." Raven said breathlessly.
"So why stop now?" Chelsea said hungrily.
"Because we made a promise… stop looking at me like that! Damn!" Raven interrupted herself as she saw Chelsea stripping her with her eyes. "Because we made a promise to hold off until our wedding night. We've come this far, no pun intended, so we can make it the rest of the way."
"So what am I supposed to do to keep my mind off those luscious, juicy, mouthwatering curves of yours?" Chelsea asked with as much lust as she had inside her.
"I don't know… sing a song or something." Raven said.
"All right. I can do that." Chelsea said. She then trailed off, turned around, flopped down on the bed to look at the apartment books and began singing. "Bye, bye, Miss American Pie, drove my Chevy to the levy, but the levy was dry…" Unbeknownst to Chelsea, Raven was then suddenly and unexpectedly pulled into a vision.
(VISION)
It's just after sunrise. Raven is running down the beach toward a spot in the not-so-far distance dragging Chelsea behind her.
"CHELS! THIS IS IT! THIS IS OUR SPOT! WE'RE GETTING MARRIED IN MALIBU!"
(END OF VISION)
"CHELSEA!" Raven screamed startling Chelsea.
"Rae! You scared the crap out of me!" Chelsea said.
"Sorry Babe, but I just had the best vision ever!" Raven said. "We've got to take a nap right now cause we're getting up early in the morning and catch the sunrise!"
"What are you talking about?" Chelsea asked.
"I just saw where we're getting married!" Raven exclaimed.
"Where?" Chelsea asked as she excitedly hopped off the bed.
Raven's eyes sparkled as she proudly announced their wedding site. "Malibu!"
Saturday, March 10, 2007, 1 am – Interstate 5 South headed toward Los Angeles
Raven was flying down I-5 like a woman possessed. Her vision set off a charge inside her that was not going to burn out until she reached that section of beach in Malibu.
"Rae, you want to slow down? I would like to be alive when I get married." Chelsea said in as calm a voice possible considering that her fiancée was doing a solid 90 mph on the freeway.
"Chels, I told you, we were running down the beach at sunrise. That's in less than six hours. Now as long as we don't get stopped by the police, we can make it." Raven said, doing her best Jason Bourne behind the wheel. They still had a just under 300 miles to go.
"Okay, but your adrenaline is going to give out eventually. Promise me that we'll switch when you start fading." Chelsea said.
"Promise me that when you get under the wheel, we won't lose any time." Raven said.
"I promise." Chelsea assured Raven. With Chelsea's assurance tucked neatly away in her subconscious, Raven turned her attention back to the road. Her radar remained silent for the next 150 miles. As they neared the town of Coalinga, Raven finally ceded the wheel to Chelsea.
"Wake me up when we get to L.A." Raven said, looking at her watch. It was 2:30 and she mentally figured that they would get there in the next two and a half hours.
"Okay." Chelsea gave Raven a soft kiss and started up the truck as they headed back into the night.
Raven was in the middle of a dream. It was a dream that she was growing accustomed to. She was in a queen sized bed, alone. The cool cotton sheets felt exhilarating against her warm skin. She felt the bed dip. She blinked her eyes open to see Chelsea in a white silk robe crawl up to her. She was so beautiful. Raven couldn't take her eyes off of her, that was until Chelsea spoke her name. "Raven." Her name felt like silk coming off of Chelsea's tongue. "Raven." She closed her eyes to drink in Chelsea's voice. "Raven." Then suddenly, she started floating off the bed and through a tunnel of bright light. "What the…"
"Raven? Baby?" Chelsea said softly, awakening Raven from her dream. "We're almost there."
Raven blinked her eyes open with a smile. Waking up was always more pleasant for her with Chelsea near. "What time is it?"
"Ten after five." Chelsea said.
"Mmm. You made good time." Raven said somewhat sleepily. "Where are we?"
"We just passed Oxnard." Chelsea said.
"Oxnard? That's not on I-5." Raven said, confused as to Chelsea's navigation. Raven's MapQuest directions didn't take them near Oxnard.
"I went across the 126 and down route 1. We're almost at the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway)." Chelsea said.
"You are a smart girl, you know that?" Raven said as she pulled out a piece of gum.
"Well, that and the navigation I have on my phone." Chelsea said with a smile.
The next thirty minutes went by as they chatted about the beauty of the coastline as the black sky began to lighten with the approach of the sunrise. The energy level inside the truck, which was a mellow calm, grew electric as they reached the city limits of their destination.
"City of Malibu. Twenty-seven miles of scenic beauty." Raven read the sign as they entered the city. "I can feel it Chels! We're close. Slow down." Raven said as she began looking out the window.
"What are we looking for?" Chelsea inquired.
"I'll know it when I see it. We were running toward this… THERE! Up on the right! Pull in here!" Raven said to Chelsea who pulled the truck into the parking area of one of the areas of beach access. Come on!" Raven hopped out of the truck before Chelsea could put it into park. She glanced at her watch again. It was a couple of minutes before the scheduled 6:12 am sunrise.
Chelsea jumped out of truck and ran after Raven, her auburn hair flowing behind her. After about 15 seconds of running, she caught up to Raven.
"Rae?" Chelsea exclaimed. Raven turned her head slightly as she ran.
"Take my hand. Come on!" Raven said. They were running along the coastline laughing. "This is just like my vision!" Raven was drunk with giddiness. After thirty more yards of running, Raven squealed and jumped in the air as she ran and pointed. Then she stopped in the sand about 50 yards from a beautiful beachfront house. "YES! LOOK! CHELS! THIS IS IT! THIS IS OUR SPOT! WE'RE GETTING MARRIED IN MALIBU!"
"Rae! Are you serious? This is beautiful!" Chelsea jumped into her arms. "I have never been so happy about one of your visions in my life!" Chelsea beamed as she embraced Raven. "Oh my God, baby! I can't believe it! This is OUR spot."
"Wow! This is… this is better than in my dreams! It's…" Raven's thought was interrupted by the sound of an acoustic guitar wafting through the air. "Do you hear that?"
Chelsea paused for a second to listen. "Yeah, I do." She listened for a moment more. "I think… it's coming from behind that rock over there."
Chelsea and Raven began walking over to the rock. As they got closer, Raven recognized the song and the voice sounded like one she had heard before.
Several guitar chords were strummed before the person began singing. "You can't judge an apple by looking at a tree, you can't judge honey by looking at the bee, you can't judge a daughter by looking at the mother, you can't judge a book by looking at the cover, Come on, can't you see… oh, you misjudged me… I look like a farmer but, I'm a lover… You can't judge a book, by looking at the cover."
Chelsea and Raven reached the edge of the rock and began clapping, startling the performer who came into their view. It was a young girl who looked to be around 17 or 18 years of age and although she was sitting, she appeared to be tall and thin, about 5'8 or 5'9. She had long, wavy hair that was mousy brown.
"That was great. I've always liked that song." Raven said, recognizing the song as Don't Judge A Book By It's Cover by Bo Diddley.
When Chelsea and Raven came into focus, the girl shot up from the folding stool that she brought with her. She ran to Raven and threw her arms around her. "OH MY GOD, RAVEN BAXTER! IT IS SO GOOD TO SEE YOU! It's been four, five years!" If Chelsea was confused, Raven was shell-shocked. Her mind began to race. Who do I know in Malibu? Raven stood frozen as the girl squeezed Raven with all her might. The girl, realizing that Raven is not hugging her back, pulled back and looked at the look of confusion and attempted recall on her face. "You don't recognize me, do you?"
"I'm sorry. Just give me a minute." Raven said.
"How about this? Boston? The Tipton? A dress? Picture me with a long blonde wig." The girl said. Raven took a long hard look at the girl. After about five seconds, the revelation hit Raven like a ton of bricks.
"Sweet Jesus! You're kidding me! Hannah… Montana?" Raven exclaimed.
"It's me! Although, when I'm not on stage, I'm Miley Stewart." Miley said.
"No way!" Chelsea said. "What a difference a wig makes! You're like Clark Kent to Hannah's Superman!"
Raven rolled her eyes and chuckled. "Miley, THIS is Chelsea Daniels."
"So you're Raven's best friend. She told me all about you back in Boston." Miley said.
"Actually… Chelsea's title has changed. She's now my fiancée. We're getting married." Raven said.
"Wow! WOW! Congratulations! That's… WOW!" Miley stammered.
"That's how I felt after Chelsea proposed." Raven said with a smile. "So do you live here?"
"Yeah, that's my house right there!" Miley pointed to the house that was about thirty-five yards away.
"That's the house I saw in my… dream." Raven said to Chelsea.
"So what are y'all doin' in Malibu? I thought you said you lived in San Francisco." Miley asked.
"I had a… dream… that we were getting married in Malibu! And that spot over there…" Raven pointed to the beach behind them. "Was the spot that I dreamt about!"
"That's awesome!" Miley said.
"It must be so cool to live right near the beach." Chelsea said.
"It is." Miley said. "Sometimes I come out here by myself to write or just meditate. Most of the time I come out here with my best friends, Lily and Oliver."
"You've got a male best friend too?" Chelsea asked.
"Oh, yeah. Raven mentioned her other friend, what's his name?" Miley asked.
"Eddie." Raven replied. "He is so cool. He's gonna be our best man." Raven then looked at Chelsea, then back at Miley. "Hey, I know that you are a busy pop star, but we'd love it if you came to our wedding. It's on June 2nd."
"I'd love to." Miley said without hesitation. "After all, it's in my backyard." They all laughed. "You know what, that gives me an idea! Are y'all hungry? Dad's gonna be up soon and he can whip us up a mean breakfast."
"We don't want to intrude." Raven said.
"It's not an intrusion. Shoot. My dad's wanted to meet you since you made that dress for me. Come on!" Miley implored them.
"All right. Count us in!" Chelsea said.
The three of them walked into the house and sat down at the kitchen table. They chit-chatted about everything that has gone on in their lives over the last five years.
"Have you heard from London or the girl at the candy counter… Maddie?" Raven asked Miley.
"Yeah! Maddie calls every so often and London called yesterday! She asked about you." Miley said.
"London Tipton asked about me? I didn't even think she remembered me!" Raven said.
"She said she wants get in touch with you. She needs a dress for some fancy cotillion she's going to." Miley said.
"Give me her number!" Raven excitedly said. "Designing another dress for London Tipton would be huge! And it would get those bitches in my Advanced Design class to shut up!"
Just then, Robby Ray Stewart shuffled into the kitchen in his robe and slippers making his first appearance of the morning. He stopped at the sight of his daughter sitting at the table with two lovely young strangers.
"Well I either gained two more beautiful daughters overnight, or we've got company." Robby Ray said.
"Morning, Dad." Miley said. "These are my new friends, Raven Baxter and Chelsea Daniels. Raven, Chelsea, this is my Dad, Robby Ray Stewart."
"Is this the same Raven that designed that dress for you?" Robby Ray asked.
"That's me, Mr. Stewart. It's a pleasure to meet you." Raven said, shaking his hand. "This is my fiancée, Chelsea."
"Weeeelllll…" Robby Ray dragged out. "I know that there are a bunch of guys that're madder 'n a nest full of hornets that you two are off the market." Robby Ray continued. "Y'all are prettier 'n a Malibu sunrise."
Raven and Chelsea blushed. "Stop flirting Dad! They're engaged and they're too young for you!" Miley admonished. "I invited them for breakfast. I hope that's okay."
"Shoot 'chea it's all right." Robby Ray said. "I went grocery shopping last night. Not even Jackson can eat that much food that fast." Robby Ray said as he went to open the refrigerator. "Dang flabbit! He ate a whole pack of lunch meat! JACKSON ROD STEWART! GET YOUR GARBAGE DISPOSAL OF A MOUTH OUT HERE!"
Jackson came running out to the kitchen in his boxers. "A little louder, Dad! I don't think Mamaw heard you back in Tennessee!"
"Mamaw's gonna see you flyin' back to Tennessee when I dropkick you back there!" Robby Ray said to his son. "You ate a whole pack of lunch meat in 12 hours?"
"There was a triple feature on Cinemax last night! I needed a snack!" Jackson said.
"No what you need is some pants! We have company! Now go get dressed for breakfast!" Robby Ray said.
Jackson was about to say something to Raven and Chelsea when Miley cut him off. "I'll introduce you when you put some pants on and not a minute before!"
"But I…" Jackson attempted.
"Not a minute before, Jerkson!" Miley said.
"Man! You get more like Dad every day!" Jackson said before retreating to his room.
"Welcome to my world, girls!" Miley said.
Raven laughed. "No worse than my younger brother Cory. He was a real pain in the butt. How old is Jackson anyway?"
"Nineteen." Miley said.
"Okay, he just needs a beatin'!" Raven said.
"Or to get laid." Chelsea chimed in. Miley laughed and high-fived her.
"So Dad, Raven and Chelsea are getting married on our beach." Miley said.
"That's wonderful. It's beautiful out there." Robby Ray said.
"It sure is. And I had the best idea." Miley said.
"Wait a minute." Robby Ray said in an ominous tone. "Last time you had 'the best idea', Lily stayed here for a week and I was cleaning up skateboard wheel marks everywhere. I'm still trying to figure out how she got 'em on the wall!"
"No Dad! This one's even better and it's well thought out… since Raven and Chelsea are getting married on the beach, how about they have their reception here… at the house!" Miley said.
"Oh no! Miley we couldn't do that to you… to your father!" Raven said.
"Why not? I owe you for making me that dress and besides, I didn't have the birthday party I was supposed to have here last year, so this will make up for it!" Miley said.
"Miley! A wedding reception is not equal compensation for making you a dress five years ago!" Raven said.
"I know. That's really sweet but we can't." Chelsea said.
"Now, hold on a minute." Robby Ray said. "I actually think that Miley's on to somethin'." Robby Ray sat down at the table. "The place is big enough, you're guests won't have to drive and besides, you helped my daughter when she was in need. It's only right that we return the favor."
"I don't know…" Raven said. She looked at Chelsea.
"Rae, the wedding IS in three months." Chelsea said quietly.
"Okay. We'll accept your offer… but only if you let us pay you." Raven said. Robby Ray was about to wave her off. "At least let me contribute to the Jackson Stewart Greedy Man Food Fund." Raven joked.
Robby Ray laughed. "Now that I can use a hand with! All right. You've got a deal." Robby Ray shook Raven's hand, then Chelsea's. "All right, let's get down to some plannin' and some eatin'!" He said as he turned toward the stove to begin preparing breakfast.
The four of them brainstormed and ate. Jackson just ate and tried several times to hit on Raven and Chelsea. Raven called her father who in turn conferenced in Leonard Stevenson to discuss the layout of the Stewart's home. They planned a trip down there to see things first hand. Once the planning was over, Raven and Chelsea stuck around for a while, taking the tour of the house (especially Hannah's closet), and meeting Lily and Oliver before they said their goodbyes.
They left the Stewart's house around 1 in the afternoon and decided to take a leisurely drive up the coast and drive until they got tired and find a motel for the night. As they began their drive, Chelsea saw a strip mall with an ice cream store in it and asked Raven to stop. They went in and ordered; a chocolate cone for Raven, a soybean vanilla cone for Chelsea.
"Ice cream, beautiful weather in a beautiful coastal town and the woman I love. It doesn't get any better than this." Chelsea said with a sigh as she enjoyed her ice cream cone.
"Yes it does." Raven said. "June 2nd, 2007 at around 1 in the afternoon."
"That's right." Chelsea said with a smile. She then looked at Raven curiously as she licked her ice cream cone. "Rae, let me have a taste." Raven stuck her hand out and offered Chelsea a lick of her cone. "Here." Chelsea stuck her cone out for Raven to sample, which she did. "That's more like it."
"What is?" Raven asked.
"Me licking your chocolate sweetness, you licking my vanilla sweetness." Chelsea said.
"Oh my God! You are so nasty!" Raven exclaimed.
"And you wouldn't have it any other way." Chelsea said. "You know, this is the first time I've really relaxed in weeks."
"I know what you mean. I've always believed that things would turn out okay, but today just felt like when you play Solitaire, and you turn over that one card that frees up the rest of the cards you need to win the game. I felt like coming here did that." Raven said.
"It was lucky that we ran into Miley slash Hannah, huh?" Chelsea said.
"It wasn't luck Chels. It was destiny. We are destined to have the wedding of our dreams." Raven said.
"And I am destined to spend the rest of my life with the woman of my dreams." Chelsea said with a warm smile.
"I love you Chelsea." Raven said warmly.
"I love you too Raven." Chelsea responded. "Now let's go. We've got some California coastline to see."
"You got it babe." Raven said before she started singing. "They say we're young and we don't know, we won't find out until we grow…"
Chelsea took the next part. "Well I don't know if all that's true, 'Cause you got me, and baby I got you… Babe."
Then they sang in unison. "I got you babe… I got you babe… I got you babe… I got you babe… I got… you babe."
They've got each other babe. And I've got you for at least two more chapters. Special disclaimer for Michael Poryes Productions which produces Hannah Montana and a double shout out disclaimer to It's A Laugh Productions, which in addition to producing That's So Raven, also produces Hannah Montana. The day before the wedding is next. Thank you for coming this far. PLEASE REVIEW.