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.


The L Word

Chapter 10

Listening

Raven opened the door to the dorm room she shared with Chelsea and walked in. Chelsea and Eddie followed. The events of the day had wiped them out mentally. That transferred to their physical being as they all flopped down, the girls on their respective beds and Eddie in the beanbag they had in the corner.

After several minutes of silence, Chelsea spoke.

"I am instituting one hour of cocoon time." Chelsea said. Raven and Eddie each gave her a WTF look.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Raven spat out with confused venom.

"For the next hour, we don't talk about what happened today. It's a way of shutting our minds off and decompressing our brains. My mother and I would do it if we had a rough day." Chelsea offered.

"Under the circumstances, it doesn't sound like a half bad idea." Raven said. "Eddie?"

Eddie looked like he was still in pensive thought. He was still wondering what made Gina go ballistic and why she didn't want to talk about it.

"Come on Ed, snap out of it." Chelsea said. No response. "Eddie?" Still no response. Chelsea looked at Raven. Just then a light bulb went off in her head. "Please forgive me Rae."

"For what?" Raven asked.

Without answering her Chelsea hopped off the bed and walked over to Eddie. She then flopped down, straddling him, cupped his face and kissed him on the lips. Eddie's eyes grew wide as saucers as he didn't believe what was happening. After about five seconds, Chelsea released him. "Got your attention now?" Chelsea said as she pursed her lips into a smirk and a devilish raised eyebrow.

Eddie looked at Chelsea for a second, and then leaned to one side looking past her to look at Raven. His other best friend just looked at him with a "Well, aren't you going to answer her" look on her face. He blinked once, looked back at Chelsea, and then leaned back over to respond.

"Rae, can you excuse us for about 10 minutes?" Eddie said before flipping Chelsea over on her back and beginning to tickle her and nuzzle his nose into her neck. Chelsea began laughing hysterically.

"RAE! HELP ME!" Chelsea screamed as she continued laughing.

"You got yourself into this Chels!" Raven raised her voice to be heard over Chelsea's screams.

"RAE!" Chelsea pleaded again, still laughing.

"All right." Raven relented as she got up and walked over to them. "EDDIE, STOP!" Raven knelt down to pull Eddie off of Chelsea.

"Now you're gonna get it!" Chelsea playfully gloated, looking up at Eddie.

Raven looked at Eddie. "You do it like this." Raven then quickly picked up where Eddie left off, tickling Chelsea. She began howling in laughter again.

"I'm… gonna… get… you!" Chelsea said as she was being tickle tortured by her girlfriend.

"Promise you're not gonna kiss Eddie again?" Raven asked. She stopped long enough to allow Chelsea to answer.

"Only when you're not in the room." Chelsea joked. Raven continued to tickle her.

"Promise you're not gonna kiss Eddie again?" Raven repeated. She stopped again for Chelsea's answer.

"Rae, let's not be hasty!" Eddie chimed in.

"Shut up, Perv!" Raven shot back, then turned her attention back to Chelsea. "Promise?"

"Okay!" Chelsea relented. She then looked Eddie up and down with a lustful look in her eyes. "Damn babyboy!"

"Oh?" Raven said as she started tickling her one more time.

"Okay! Okay! Okay! I promise! I PROMISE!" Chelsea finally submitted.

Raven stood up and walked back over toward her bed. Along the way, she stopped in front of Eddie.

"Stay away from my woman!" Raven teased.

"Oh I get it. You want me all to yourself." Eddie shot back with a grin.

"Negro, please!" Raven replied. "Sit down before I go to your chin!"

They all laughed as they assumed their previous positions in the room.

"Let's watch some TV." Raven said as she turned on the TV.

(Voiceover on the screen)

"In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police, who investigate crime, and the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories." THUNK-THUNK. (The distinctive sound effect used in Law and Order.)

"OOH! I love Law and Order!" Chelsea exclaimed.

"Me too!" Eddie said. "I hope this is one with Abbie on it!" Eddie said referring to the character played by Angie Harmon.

"You mean to tell me that you watch Law and Order just to see Abbie Carmichael?" Raven inquired in disbelief.

"No!" Eddie replied. "There's also Serena and Claire and on SVU there's Olivia and Casey and Alex…"

"Man, you need help!" Chelsea chimed in.

"So I guess when y'all watched wrestling with me and went "Oh… my… God!" every time The Rock came on screen it was because you respected his athletic ability?" Eddie responded with evidence of hypocrisy.

Raven and Chelsea looked at each other in remembrance of that night. Raven spoke. "No. We were looking at… (in unison with Chelsea) the People's Ass! If ya smellllllllll, what The Rock… is cookin'!" They both laughed leaving Eddie to look at them and shake his head.

Gina sat in her room and wept. Why did I do that? Why did I push him away like that? Best thing that's happened to me in a long time and I push him away. How could I be so stupid? Gina was beating herself up. She was upset over the way she treated Eddie and the mess that she got herself into with Katie. She collapsed onto the bed and curled herself up into a ball as she cried. She would do anything to make the feeling of hurt go away. Just then, her cell phone rang. The Jennifer Lopez "I'm Real" ringtone echoed inside her room. It was her oldest sister Teresa (pronounced Tear-ray-sa).

Teresa Melendez was five years older than Gina and was closer to Gina than her other sisters. Gina always went to Teresa for advise, encouragement or a shoulder to cry on. Teresa had a knack for knowing when her younger sister needed her. When Gina heard Teresa's ringer, she felt that it was a sign from God.

Gina wiped away her tears and answered the phone.

"Hey!" Gina said with fake glee.

"Mi niña dulce!" Teresa always called Gina her sweet little girl. She instantly picked up on Gina's tone. "What's wrong?" Teresa said very calmly.

Gina broke down and started sobbing. "I had a fight with Katie."

"Your best friend?" Teresa said.

"Not anymore." Gina said between tears. "She's a bitch and I hate her!"

"What happened?"

Gina paused. She hadn't told anyone about what happened between Katie and herself.

"I can't… talk about it." Gina said. She hated keeping things from Teresa but felt like she didn't have a choice.

"Gina, you can tell me anything. You know that."

"I… I want to but… I don't want you to get mad at me." Gina said, admitting her fear.

"I won't get mad at you, I promise. Tell me what happened." Teresa reassured.

"Please don't tell Mommy and Papi… or Las Estrellas. Please!" Gina begged. Las Estrellas was the collective nickname of the Melendez girls given to them by their mother. It means, The Stars.

"Okay. Just between you and me."

"I made a mistake last semester and… it's coming back to haunt me." Gina began.

"Okay. We all make mistakes."

"No you don't understand; this one was big. Jodí mal." Gina said. "Jodí mal" is Spanish for "I fucked up bad."

"What was it?" Teresa's voice slightly went up in pitch.

Gina swallowed hard. "I… slept with Katie."

"You did what?" Teresa asked in a surprised but not excited tone.

"I slept with Katie." Gina repeated. Teresa paused for a moment to allow the revelation to sink in.

"Were you drunk?" Teresa asked.

"No."

"High?"

"No."

"Did she force you?"

"No."

"So you were a willing accomplice?"

"Accomplice? You make it sound like a crime!" Gina exclaimed.

"Wrong choice of words. Sorry. You were a willing… participant?"

"Yes."

"One time?"

"More than once."

"Oh boy." Teresa said before realizing she had said it. Gina started crying. "No! Niña! I'm sorry! Don't cry." Teresa allowed Gina a moment to get herself together. "Did you have a relationship with her?"

"For a month." Gina said as she wiped her tears.

"So that's what the fight was about?"

"Yeah. She wanted to keep going and I told her I was into guys and wanted to just be friends. I told her that in May when we broke it off and today." Gina said before dropping the bomb on Teresa. "That's when she hit me."

"THAT BITCH HIT YOU?" Teresa exclaimed. "You mean you had a 'fight' fight?"

"Yeah." Gina said softly. "Don't worry. I whipped her ass." She said with equal softness.

"I hope all my teaching didn't go in vain." Teresa said. She was the one that taught Gina how to fight. "So why are you still hurting? You still want her to be your friend?"

"I did, but not now."

"So what's wrong?"

"I just met the greatest guy. I went out with him and hung out with his best friends. He saw the fight." Gina explained. "He and his friends broke it up." Gina began crying again. "And he tried to find out what was wrong… and I pushed him away… I kicked him out of my room and turned my back on him… It's only been two days since I met him… but I don't want to lose him." Gina sobbed. "Please help me Teresa! Help me!"

Teresa began welling up as she heard the anguish in her sister's voice. Her inclination was to ask her if a guy she only knew for two days was worth shedding tears for, but she had never heard her sister as hurt as she was now. Teresa figured he must have been pretty special. Teresa wiped away her tears before she spoke. She wanted to remain as calm as possible for her little sis.

The Three Amigos finished watching Law and Order. As the commercials played, they looked at each other with a look of anticipation on their face. Eddie looked at his watch, then the dorm room door.

"I'll go check on her." Raven said, knowing that would calm everyone's nerves.

"Thank you." Eddie said as Raven got up and headed for the door.

Teresa attempted to calm her sister. "What's his name?"

"Eddie. Eddie Thomas."

"You really like him. Don't you?"

"He is so sweet and funny and smart. He goes to school in Philadelphia." Gina perked up slightly when she talked about him.

"You don't want to start lying to him." Teresa said.

"I know."

"You've got to tell him." Teresa said.

Raven walked across the hall to check on Gina. Unbeknownst to Gina, her door was cracked open. Raven was about to knock when she heard Gina's voice. She glanced through the crack and saw Gina on the phone. This must be her vision.

"How Teresa? Gina started. "How do I do it?" Gina asks herself out loud. "How do I tell him that? Just because his best friends did it doesn't mean he'd understand it with me." This was the completion of Raven's vision.

"What do you mean?" Teresa asked.

"His best friends are lesbianas." Gina said lapsing into Spanish.

"Really? So he'll understand."

"What if he doesn't?" Gina asked her sister. "I don't want to lose him before I really get to know him."

"If he is the great guy you say he is, he'll understand."

"You think so?"

"Tough situations bring out the true character of a man." Teresa said. "If you want him to stick around for a while, there's no better time to find out than now."

Raven eased away from the door. She went back across the hall.

"So how is she?" Chelsea asked.

"She was talking to somebody named Teresa on the phone. My vision came true." Raven said.

"Teresa is her oldest sister." Eddie said. "You didn't tell me you had a vision."

"Yeah, after Katie left. I saw Gina talking on the phone about what happened."

"Anything I need to know?" Eddie asked.

"Just that she really wants to talk to you." Raven informed him.

"You should go back over there." Chelsea said.

"But she kicked me out."

"She didn't want to." Raven said. "I bet she was screaming inside for you to stay."

"Really?" Eddie said.

"Really." Raven said. Eddie stood up to leave when there was a knock on the door.

Raven answered the door. "Hi Gina."

"Rae, do you know where Eddie is? I need to talk to him." Gina said. Raven opened the door all the way to reveal Eddie's presence in the room. They stood looking at each other for several moments before Gina walked over and fell into Eddie's open arms.

They embraced for several moments as Chelsea and Raven looked on.

"Can we… pick up where we left off?" Gina asked.

"Sure. Let's go back to your room." Eddie said.

"No. All of you saw what happened. All of you deserve to know why we were fighting." Gina looked at all of them. "Y'all might want to sit down." Gina pulled up a chair and sat in front of Eddie. "Katie and I were fighting about something that happened back at the end of last semester. It's something that she wanted to keep doing but I wanted no part of."

"Was it something illegal?" Eddie asked.

"No. Nothing like that. I can promise you." Gina said as she dropped her head.

"What is it? You can tell me." Eddie tried to be as reassuring as possible.

"I'm nervous." Gina said as Eddie could now see that she was shaking.

"Just hold my hand and let it out." Eddie said taking her hand.

"Okay." Gina took a deep breath. "Last semester, Katie and I slept with each other." Upon hearing that, Raven closed her eyes and slightly nodded. Chelsea dropped her head in thought. Eddie remained still. "Eddie? Did you hear me? I said…"

"I heard what you said." Eddie said as he sat perfectly still in his chair. He looked at Gina's face. She was as lost as she had ever been. She could not read Eddie to save her life. "I'm waiting for you to tell me what's making you so nervous."

"Wh- What are you saying?" Gina was perplexed.

"I learned a while ago that what's in the past is in the past." Eddie said. Gina's insides did a flip for joy but her face had yet to show it. "I have just one question for you."

"Yes?" Gina said pensively.

"Are you sleeping with her now?" Eddie bore a hole through her with his stare.

"No. Absolutely not." Gina proclaimed. Eddie sat in contemplative thought for a moment before he spoke.

"Then show me that beautiful smile and give me a hug." Eddie said as his eyes softened and a smile spread across his lips.

"Are you…" Gina turned to Raven and Chelsea who were in tears. "Is he for real?" All they could do is nod yes.

"OH MY GOD! EDDIE!" Gina stood up and threw her arms around his neck. He stood up, picked her up and spun her around. She started crying again. "You don't know how…" She couldn't finish her thought. Eddie let her down and kissed her. Gina started giggling uncontrollably. Smiles were present all around the room.

"If this thing between you and me is going to work, we've got to lay down a few ground rules…" Eddie started and then looked at Raven and Chelsea who were shooting him dirty looks for going down that road. "Which we are not going to get into right now. But what you are going to get into is a top and a pair of jeans. I'm taking you out to dinner."

"Yes, sir!" Gina exclaimed. "Give me fifteen minutes." Gina kissed Eddie again before skipping across the hall.

Eddie smiled as he watched Gina leave the room. Chelsea and Raven quickly descended upon Eddie. Chelsea threw her arms around Eddie's neck.

"You are so sweet! You are a great guy! MMMUUUAAAHHH!" Chelsea planted a big kiss on Eddie's cheek.

"Yeah Eddie! You're not half the a-hole you were in high school!" Raven teased as she threw her arms around him for a big hug and kiss. "You really care about her, don't you?"

"In just two days, she has really gotten to me." Eddie admitted. "It's gonna be hard leaving Saturday... Can I use your bathroom?" Raven nodded and Eddie left the room.

Chelsea slipped her hands around Raven's waist as Raven put her hands around Chelsea's neck and began playing with her hair.

"That was so sweet of him, the way he didn't come down on her." Chelsea said. "It gives me hope for the hearts of mankind."

"I give him two weeks before he tells her he loves her." Raven said. "I can see it in his eyes."

"Just like I can see it in your eyes." Chelsea said before softly kissing Raven on the lips.

"Baby, please don't get me started now." Raven said as she slightly shifted in her stance. She began to feel "the grip" pull on her.

"Okay. Then I tell you what. Let me take you out to dinner, just you and me. We can go to Giuseppe's over on The Boulevard." Chelsea said.

"You know what Italian food does to me." Raven purred.

"Would you two please get a room already!" Eddie said as he came back into the room.

"We have a room! Get out!" Raven playfully barked.

"I'm goin'! Gina should be about ready anyway." Eddie said as he walked over to his best friends. "I'll call y'all tomorrow." Eddie said as gave each of them a peck on the lips.

"Have fun!" Chelsea said as he closed the door. She turned to Raven. "You wanna freshen up?"

"I think I am going to put on one of your favorite outfits." Raven said.

"Any outfit that thick, caramel frame is poured into is my favorite outfit." Chelsea said as she unconsciously licked her lips.

"Keep that up and we won't make it to Giuseppe's." Raven warned. "So I am going to go into the bathroom to change… with the door locked." Raven went over to her closet to pick out an outfit.

"Smart girl." Chelsea said. "By the way, remind me to stop at the store on the way home. I need to pick up some chocolate syrup."

Raven was suddenly pulled into a vision.

(VISION)

Raven is walking over toward a naked Chelsea lying on the bed. As she's walking she's shaking a can of regular whipped cream with one hand and has a carton of cherries in the other.

"One chocolate sundae coming up." Raven said. Chelsea squirmed and grinned as Raven approached her.

(END OF VISION)

"Pick up some cherries and whipped cream too." Raven smiled that trademark devilish smile. "We're gonna need it."


That was Chapter 10. I know that it's been a while since I posted a chapter. I'm sorry. But I'm back now. PLEASE REVIEW this chapter. Let me know how I'm doing! THANK YOU!