A little over two years after she got smacked around by him, RIHANNA is now following CHRIS BROWN on Twitter.

On Saturday, a 14-year-old girl who follows Rihanna on Twitter noticed this, and asked Rihanna if she was getting back together with him.

She said, quote, "I never thought you would go back to him!  You better not, it's your life but you do have (people) that look up to you. e.g. young girls."

Rihanna replied, quote, "Its [effin] twitter, not the alter!  Calm down."  (--Yes, she spelled "alter" wrong.  The correct spelling for the thing you stand in front of in church to get married is a-l-t-A-r.)

The fan then apologized . . . which prompted Rihanna to apologize to HER.  She said, quote, "Babygirl I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt or offend u! Just needed to make it clear to the Navy…xoxo."

"The Navy" is what Rihanna calls her fans.

Rihanna then began following the girl on Twitter.

There's no word from Chris Brown on any of this . . . although it should be noted that he's following Rihanna, too.