Disclaimer: I don't own anthing affiliated with "That's So Raven."

Chapter 16

Eddie hurridly walked from the kitchen to the living room with a glass of water. He handed it to Raven, who he'd finally gotten up off the floor and on to the couch. Raven took a few sips and set it down on the coffee table.

"How you doing?"

"How do you think I'm doing?" Raven said, but it wasn't vicious. It was just a question.

"You wanna tell me the whole story?"

Raven sighed, not really wanting to tell the whole thing.

"She came here, upset, telling me that she needed to know what was wrong. I tried to calm her down, but she started to cry...and my heart broke when I saw what I was doing to her." Raven's voice cracked with emotion.

"It's okay," Eddie soothed. "What happened next?"

"I-I couldn't help it Eddie. She just kept...demanding me to tell her why I was acting this way, so I told her. I said, 'Chelsea, I love you.' And...I kissed her."

Eddie swallowed hard. Now comes the hard part. "And what'd she do?"

Raven looked at Eddie and he saw her eye glaze over again, not in shock, but as if she were going back to the moment after she kissed Chelsea. "She...she ran away."

Eddie fought his own tears off, trying to play it strong for Raven.

"And I lost her. I lost her for--" Raven was cut off, sucking in air as she was pulled into a vision.

"I'm scared." Chelsea barely whispered and Raven grabbed her hand. It was night, Raven couldn't tell where they were.

"I'm scared too." Raven replied, and she moved a few locks of Chelsea's hair behind her ears, exposing her beautiful face.

A tear rolled down Chelsea's cheek as she closed her eyes. Raven pulled her closer, cupping Chelsea's jaw as their lips met...

The vision was suddenly over and Raven was gasping for air.

"What is it?" Eddie yelled, "What did you see?"

Raven jumped up and Eddie followed her. "I'm gonna kiss her again Eddie!" Raven screamed in excitement. "I'm gonna kiss her again!"

"What?" Eddie squeaked, his voice high pitched with excitement. "When? Where? How?"

"How?" Raven asked, raising her eyebrow.

"I know how Raven, it just came out."

"Oh, I gotta go. I gotta go find Chelsea!" Raven ran from the house. A smile so wide spread across her face, Raven thought her head was going to split at her lips.

"You liked it...and it freaked you out?" Ben asked and Chelsea nodded.

"She's my best friend in the world Ben. And she's a girl. I can't..."

"Why not?"

"Because that's not who I am. At least...it's not who I thought I was."

"What do you mean?"

"I like guys Ben. I liked you, and others before you."

"Raven did too."

Chelsea let out a deep sigh and ran a hand through her hair. She didn't know if she should share it, but maybe Ben could help.

"The-the thing is Ben...I've felt this way before."

"Huh?"

"A few years ago. Raven...did this really great thing for me. She got back at a guy for me, and..." Chelsea swallowed the lump in her throat, rehashing her memories was making her very frightened. "...I sort of..."

"Developed a crush?"

"Yeah. But I thought that was over with. That I moved on. I-I mean, I never thought Rae would...what are the chances of that happening? And now...and I don't know what to do or how to feel."

They sat there for a moment, thinking about what Chelsea had just said.

"How did this happen?" Chelsea asked aloud to noone, putting her face in her hands.

"What did you do when Raven kissed you?"

"I-I ran away. What else was I supposed to do? You can't just drop a bomb like that, saying 'I love you' and kiss--Oh my God!" Chelsea's eyes widened. "She told me she loved me."

"She does."

Chelsea looked at Ben. "How do you know?"

"I'm psychic remember? I had a few...visions about it."

"Is that why you broke up with me? Because of Raven?"

"No. I broke up with you because of this. The way your feeling."

"You think I could..."

Ben nodded sadly. "I would love to be with you Chelsea, but if we stayed together, you'd never really know how you felt. And, I wanted to give you space until you figured it all out."

"What am I going to do Ben? I-I've never been so confused in my life."

"Just...trust your instincts. Listen to what your heart is telling you."

Chelsea thought about Ben's advice, and she was still scared out of her wits, but it made sense.

"Listen, I'm gonna get going, let you think things over."

Ben and Chelsea both stood up and walked to the front door.

"You know...you are amazing." Chelsea said. "Not a lot of guys would do this for their ex-girlfriends."

"I'm just trying to do what's best for you." Ben said.

Chelsea gave Ben and peck on the cheek and pulled him in a hug and he wrapped his arms around her, kissing her on the cheek as well.

Raven's smiled faded as she watched Chelsea kiss Ben and hug, then Ben kiss Chelsea back. She stood there for a minute, all of her excitement turning into despair. 'They're getting back together,' her mind shouted at her, 'and you'll never have Chelsea. She'll never love you.'

Raven backed away slowly, hot tears burning her already irritated eyes. Then, she turned and ran away, never looking back.

Chelsea walked Ben to the door and he hugged her once more before leaving. Going back to her room, she sat down on her bed and stared at her phone.

She wanted to call Raven, but what would she say? "Oh hi Rae, yeah, about that kiss..."

It was confusing and scaring the crap out of her. Chelsea's whole body shook as she thought about the kiss. How soft Raven's lips felt on hers. How it felt so right. How the whole world just melted away for a second...before she pulled herself off.

It made her feel like she was fourteen again, when every time she closed her eyes, she saw Raven's beautiful face smiling at her. She was over it though. It was just a passing phase...wasn't it?

'I should call her,' she thought. 'No. No, don't call. Call. Call her. No, you don't know what to say. Call, you have to talk to her. No don't...'

"Stop!" Chelsea screamed aloud, and then felt stupid because she was arguing with herself.

Chelsea hesitantly reached for the phone, but then recoiled her hand. She reached out and touched it, but then drew her hand back. She picked up the phone, and slammed it down.

"No. I'll call her. I'll call her." Chelsea said, breathing deeply. She picked up the phone and dialed the number quickly, forcing herself to keep the phone at her ear, because her arm desperately wanted to slam the phone down on the receiver.

"Hi this is Rae, leave a message after the beep."

BEEP.

"Rae...it's Chelsea. Uh...could you please call me back? I-I think we need to talk."

Then, she hung up.