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

Chapter 9

A large, grumbling crowd exited the movie theater in droves, leaving a mess of popcorn, soda and candy in their wake. Raven and Chelsea were among the last few to leave.

"Oh my God, that was the most boring movie ever!" Chelsea said, blinking a few times to focus her blurry vision. "Watching it was like…torture or something!"

"You mean you actually watched the movie? I fell asleep fifteen minutes after the opening credits."

"I know." Chelsea smiled, laughing a little. "Your snoring kept everyone within a ten foot radius wide awake."

"I do not snore!" Raven yelled, raising her eyebrows and laughing, smacking Chelsea playfully on the arm.

"Yeah sure. At one point, I had to stop the guy next to us from shoving a handful of popcorn in your mouth to shut you up."

"Chelsea!" Raven squealed, smacking her on the arm again.

"Okay, okay. You only snore a little." Chelsea laughed and braced for another playful hit, but then she whispered, "But it's cute."

"Yeah?" Raven asked, her face softening.

"Absolutely…you sound just like my Sammy Whammy when he's sleeping. It's the cutest thing--"

"Chelsea!"

Chelsea burst into hysterics and ran away. Raven gave chase, as they dodged through the crowds of people and ran for the park. It was virtually empty at night, just the way the girls liked it. That was the only public place they could really show affection because nobody else was there. Chelsea reached it before Raven did, disappearing into the darkness.

Raven stopped in the middle of the dark park, breathing heavily because of the run. She looked around, not seeing Chelsea at all. "Chelsea?" Raven panted, searching the pitch black park for anything. No Chelsea.

"Chel-sea! Come out, come out, wherever you are!" She sang, looking around.

Chelsea didn't answer. Raven looked around again. Nobody was there. Her dream flashed in her mind…she could see Chelsea being dragged into the lockers…disappearing. She could see herself screaming for Chelsea. "Hey, this isn't funny. Come on--"

A gust of wind rustled the bushes beside Raven and she jumped.

Raven looked around, her already rapidly beating heart beginning to pick up to an impossible pace. "Chels? Chelsea?" Tears sprung to Raven's eyes, which she knew was ridiculous, but her dream was coming back to haunt her. Any minute, she expected Rocky to jump in front of her.

"Chelsea, where are you!"

Silence.

"Chelsea, answer me right now!"

Silence.

"CHELSEA!" Raven screamed, spinning around wildly. Suddenly, a pair of hands grabbed her by the shoulders and she stopped.

"Boo!" Chelsea shouted and Raven screamed. Then, to Chelsea's surprise, Raven pulled her into a tight hug, a sob escaping her lips. "Rae? Rae, you okay?"

"Don't ever do that to me again! Ever!" Raven shouted, tears running down her face. Chelsea pulled back, but Raven kept her arms around her waist.

"Hey, why are you crying?"

"You scared me to death girl! I screamed and screamed and you didn't answer."

"No, I was just playing around--"

"I thought something happened to you! I was so scared." Raven pulled Chelsea into a hug again and Chelsea felt her own eyes grow wet.

"Hey," Chelsea whispered hoarsely, "I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to scare you so badly." Her heart broke with each of Raven's tears. She was just playing around. She didn't mean for this to happen. "Stop Rae. I'm really, really sorry. Please? Please don't cry anymore."

The broke apart again and Raven sniffled, wiping tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry. It was just this dream I had last night."

They sat down on the bench in the middle of the park, Chelsea grabbing one of Raven's hands and rubbing it in comfort. "You wanna talk about it?"

"It…it was just you, disappearing in my dream." Raven didn't want to share all of the frightening details; Chelsea was already scared of Rocky and his crew. Plus, Raven didn't want to dredge it all up. "I screamed and screamed for you, but you didn't answer. And…when you did that here, it just brought it all back."

"I'm sorry Rae. I didn't know."

"I know, I'm sorry for freaking out like that. It's just…I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you. I care about you so much. I love you so much." Raven pulled Chelsea into another hug, more tears running down her face.

"Oh Rae," Chelsea whispered, her voice breaking as a tear rolled down her cheek. "I love you too."

There was silence. Raven pulled back slowly, looking at Chelsea. "What did you say?"

"I love you."

"What?"

"I love you." Chelsea said again, smiling and crying at the same time.

A wide smile spread across Raven's face as new tears of joy pooled in her eyes. She kissed Chelsea passionately, putting a hand on Chelsea's cheek. They both laughed shakily from all of the emotion as they kissed again, and then touched foreheads, breathing heavily.

"I had it all planned differently in my mind. You know, without scaring you half to death and making you cry." Chelsea sniffled and then laughed a little.

"It's perfect."

"I wanted it to be more romantic."

"It couldn't be more romantic if we were sitting in the middle of a French love story." Raven kissed Chelsea again. "And I couldn't be more happy."

"Me neither." Chelsea added, and they kissed one more time before embracing one another again, resting their heads on each others' shoulders.

"Say it again." Raven whispered softly.

"I love you." Chelsea whispered in her ear. "I love you…" Chelsea kissed Raven just beneath her ear. "I love you…" Making her way down her neck. "I love you." Chelsea pulled down the collar of Raven's white shirt and kissed Raven's collar bone.

"I love you too." Raven said, cupping a hand under Chelsea's chin and pulling her up to kiss her lips again. Chelsea intertwined her fingers with Raven's, squeezing it tightly. Raven returned the squeeze and moved a strand of hair out of Chelsea's eyes. Chelsea wiped away a stray tear from Raven's cheek with her free hand and Raven kissed her palm.

Raven sighed in contentment, planting one more kiss on Chelsea's lips. She never, ever wanted to stop. She wanted to wrap Chelsea in her arms and keep her there. If she could freeze time, she would keep this moment forever. Her heart swelled with so much love, she could barely breathe.

The moment was ended though, by the soft ringing of Chelsea's cell phone. Chelsea reached into her pocket without taking her eyes off of Raven. She only broke her gaze to look at the phone, sighing as she switched the 'off' button. "That's the alarm. We should start home if I want to make curfew."

"Okay." Raven said, and they both stood up. "Can we hold hands until the end of the park?"

"Absolutely." Chelsea answered, smiling.

They walked out of the park, happy and in love.

Deckland stepped out from behind the tree just beyond the park bench, taking a drag of his cigarette. Tyrone stepped out of the other side, cracking his knuckles.

"Well, well, well…" Deckland said, flicking his cigarette. "That's a new twist on things…isn' it?"

Tyrone nodded. His eyes, hidden behind his dark sunglasses, followed the girls out of the park.

"Wait till Rocky gets a 'old a this." Deckland laughed. "Raven and Red…little lovebirds."

Tyrone smirked, lighting a cigarette and taking a long drag.