Disclaimer: I don't own anything that has to do with "That's So Raven."

Chapter 6

Chelsea flinched as thunder cracked over her head once again. It hadn't begun to rain yet, but it was going to soon. Chelsea could feel it. Ben walked beside her, not holding her hand like he usually did. They had just had a rather uncomfortable dinner at their favorite resturant. Ben seemed like he wanted to say something to her all evening, but he didn't know how to say it. As they walked back to her house, in silence, Chelsea finally cracked.

"What's wrong?"

"What?"

"You've been acting weird all night. What's on your mind?"

Ben sighed, and rubbed his forehead, looking around. "Here." He said, bringing Chelsea to a bus stop bench. Chelsea scrunched her forehead in worry. Suddenly, she didn't think she wanted to know what was wrong.

"Chelsea, I...I know that we've been going out for some time now and it's been great..."

"Ben, what are you trying to--" Chelsea asked, confused.

"Just let me finish. I-I...I can't do it anymore."

"Can't do what anymore? Ben, what are you saying?"

Ben sighed, looking at the ground to try to gather some courage. Then, he looked right into Chelsea's eyes and said, "I think we should break up."

Chelsea looked at Ben for a second, trying to grasp what he was saying. When it finally hit her, she drew in a sharp breath. "What?" she barely whispered.

"I-I don't think it's working between us." Ben stammered, clearly losing his nerve. "I'm sorry."

Chelsea looked around. She nodded a little, tears springing to her eyes. "That's...this is...what? You take me out, act weird all night, and then break up with me at a BUS STOP!"

Ben looked around in embarassment, smiling nervously at the people who turned their attentions toward him and Chelsea.

"Why are you doing this to me?"

"Look Chelsea. It's not going to work out. I'm sorry. We're...we're just too different."

"What are you talking about? We've been going out for months. And-and up until a few weeks ago, we were fine. I don't understand what happened."

"Can't we just leave it at this? Can't we?"

"No. I want to know what happened! Did I do something?"

Ben looked at Chelsea, mentally begging her to leave it alone, but Chelsea refused, standing her ground. Ben didn't want to hurt her any more than he already did, so he just sighed and said, "Chelsea, you're a great girl, but it's not going to work. I'm sorry."

Ben grabbed her hand and squeezed it before getting up and walking away. Chelsea let out a small laugh in surprise before the tears began to fall down her cheeks.

Then, it started to pour.

Chelsea shook her head as the other people around her scrambled for cover. She was soaked in seconds. The rain batted against her face, mixing with her salty tears. Chelsea stood up and began to walk. She didn't know where, she just had to get away from that place.

Raven jogged down the steps into the living room, playing with the pull string on her pajama pants. She was bored. Cory and Victor were over at, "The Chill Grill," Eddie was on a date with Chantel, and Chelsea was on a date with Ben.

She was all alone again, and it was stormy outside. Lightening split through the sky, lighting the dark living room up for a moment. The loud patter of rain filled Raven's ears as she made her way to the kitchen. Suddenly, there was a knock. Raven turned, and lightening crashed again, exposing a dark figure standing just outside the front door. Raven hesitated for a minute, and the scary movie from last night entered her mind. There was a second of irrational thinking, where Raven could imagine a "Man-eating Zombie from Mars," standing outside, but the thought left almost as soon as it came.

Raven opened her door. Chelsea was there, soaking wet and shaking. "Chelsea! What are you doing here?"

Chelsea shrugged. "I didn't know where else to go."

"Well come in." Raven said, ushering Chelsea into the house. "You're soaked! Come upstairs, I'll get you some dry clothes."

Raven ignored the tingle she felt in her hand when she grabbed Chelsea's. There were more important things to think about. Like getting Chelsea dry before she caught pneumonia.

Raven pulled Chelsea into her room and took out a pair of sweatpants and a sweat shirt from her drawer. Then, she rushed into her bathroom and got a towel. "Here." She said, handing the clothes to Chelsea.

Chelsea muttered a "thanks" before going into the bathroom to change. While she waited, Raven picked up the phone and called Chelsea's house.

"Hello, Mrs. Daniels? Hi, it's Raven. I'm just calling to ask if Chelsea can spend the night here. Yes, I know she was with Ben, but she's here now. It's raining so hard and she was soaked so I gave her some dry clothes and she's changing. Yes. So, is it okay? All right, thanks. Yes, I'll tell her. Okay. Bye." Raven hung up just as Chelsea came out of the bathroom. She had the wad of wet clothes in her hand.

"Where can I put these?" She asked and Raven could tell she was really upset.

"Uh...here, I'll take them. They can go in the dryer right?"

Chelsea nodded. Raven nodded too. "Okay, I'll just go put these in the dryer and you can dry your hair. Be right back."

"Okay, thanks."

"No problem." Raven said and ran downstairs to the laundry room. She threw the clothes into the dryer and turned it on. As the dryer began to vibrate, Raven leaned against it, taking deep nervous breaths. She knew that when she went back upstairs, her vision was going to come true. Everything she saw was there. Chelsea's hair was wet and she was upset, so all Raven needed to do was be up there too.

"It's okay. You can do this." Raven reassured herself, but didn't really believe it. Nevertheless, she wanted to know what happened, so she went back upstairs.

Chelsea was sitting on the bed, towel drying her hair. Raven sat down next to Chelsea on the bed. "Hey. I know you like the rain, but isn't this a little extreme?"

Chelsea put the towel aside. She didn't say anything, but fresh tears glistened in her eyes.

"What happened?"

"Ben broke up with me."

"Oh. I'm sorry Chelsea." Raven tried her best to sound sincere, but inside she was beaming. Which was bad. Not nice at all. But, Raven didn't care at the moment.

"I don't know why though. I don't know what went wrong. Is it me?"

Raven couldn't help herself. "No. No way, Chels. Don't even think that. There's nothing wrong with you."

"Then why did he break up with me?" Chelsea cried, tears begining to roll down her cheeks. She put her face in her hands, sobbing a little.

"I don't know Chels. But whatever the reason, it's his loss. You're great. You're smart, a-and funny, and kind to everyone. And...beautiful."

Chelsea looked up at Raven. "Y-you think so?"

Raven nodded nervously, smiling slightly. "I know so."

Then, Raven saw her vision happen. Chelsea was sitting there, her hair wet, crying and shaking. And Raven couldn't stop her hand from moving up to Chelsea's face and wiping a tear away with her thumb. Her heart literally stopped as Chelsea leaned in...and wrapped Raven in a tight hug.

Raven closed her eyes, relaxing in disappointment. She fought hard to keep her own tears from falling. It was just a hug. Not a kiss. Raven scolded herself mentally for thinking even for a second that Chelsea was going to kiss her. She put her arms around Chelsea too and noticed that Chelsea was still shaking.

"You really are a great friend Raven." Chelsea whispered through her tremors.

Raven swallowed the lump in her throat and said, "You're shivering. Are you cold?"

They broke apart and Chelsea said, "I'm fine. Tired."

"Well, I called your mom and she said that you can stay over. You just gotta call her in the morning."

"Okay." Chelsea lay down and Raven pulled the covers up around her.

"I'll just get my sleeping bag--" Raven said, backing away from Chelsea, but Chelsea grabbed her hand.

"Wait. Can...can you just stay here with me for a while, until I fall asleep?"

"Uh, sure." Raven said, sitting down at the edge of the bed. Chelsea scooted over and Raven hesitantly laid down above the blankets next to her. Raven held onto Chelsea's hand, which felt cold and clammy. But, Chelsea's shivering had stopped. Raven pulled Chelsea's hand up to her side, soChelsea's arm was slung acrossRaven's stomach.

Chelsea didn't seem to mind since she didn't pull away. Raven moved her head sideways so she was facing Chelsea. Chelsea's eyes were closed.

"Chels?"

"Hmm?"

There was a moment of silence. And then Raven said, "I love you. You know that right?"

"Hmmm." Chelsea replied, drifting off to sleep.

Raven bit her lip as the tears she fought so hard to control began to make their way down the sides of her face. Then, she kissed Chelsea's forehead, released her hand, and carefully got out of the bed.