Adult-FanFiction.org : Celebrity

So Cold	By : willjames52 Category: Singers/Bands/Musicians > Kelly Clarkson Views: 7114 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. I do not profit monetarily from this work. I don't know Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood.

Chapter List
- 1-So Cold
- 2-Ch 2
- 3-Ch 3
- 4-Ch 4
- 5-Ch 5
- 6-Ch 6
- 7-Ch 7
- 8-Ch 8
- 9-Ch 9
- 10-Ch 10
- 11-Ch 11
- 12-Ch 12
- 13-Ch 13
- 14-Ch 14
- 15-Ch 15
- 16-Ch 16
- 17-Ch 17
- 18-Ch 18 pt 1
- 19-Ch 18 pt 2
- 20-Ch 19
- 21-Ch 19 pt 2
- 22-Ch 20
- 23-Ch 21
- 24-Ch 22
- 25-Ch 23
- 12
- 13
- 14
I know the last update didn't have Kelly and Carrie in the same scenes, and the reason why will become clear at the end of this chapter lol. Plus, you know, they were in two different places and all.

Ch 13

Tommy grinned when he read Hector’s latest text message. He quickly ran up the stairs, although he slowed down when he nearly dropped the bottles of water he had grabbed from the kitchen for Carrie and himself. Hector had been texting him off and on for about an hour since he had told his boyfriend about how the rest of his and Carrie’s friends had ran off when Carrie had started to put down the drop cloths so they could paint. Tommy sent a text to Hector, and then he tucked his phone in his pocket as he reached the room. “I’m back!”

Carrie placed the paint roller on one of the trays of paint and walked over to her friend. “You were gone forever. I practically finished my wall in the time it took you.” She wiped her brow and looked at Tommy curiously when he silently handed her a bottle of water.

Tommy wanted to laugh because Carrie had just wiped paint across her forehead. He wouldn’t laugh though since he had paint on his arms and shirt. They hadn’t been the most precise painters. “Please, you just think I took so long because you have as many issues with this whole painting thing as I do.”

Carrie rolled her eyes and opened up her water. So they had been a little confused at first, but they knew what they were doing now. “Whatever. I’m not the one that couldn’t get his can of paint open.” She smirked when Tommy’s jaw dropped. “You were totally trying to hang out in the kitchen.”

Tommy had a comeback, but the alert tone for text rang before he could speak. He took a few steps away from Carrie and retrieved his phone from his pocket. “I’m not the one who had to get a bandana so her hair didn’t get paint in it.”

Carrie knew what had taken Tommy so long now; he had been talking to Hector. She snatched the phone out of her friend’s grasp and backed away while she held the phone behind her back. “You were the one who asked me if I had an extra bandana for you, and then pouted when I didn’t have one in the color you wanted.” Carrie laughed and sidestepped when Tommy tried to reach around her for his phone.

"At least I don’t have paint all over my face.” Tommy tossed his water bottle to the floor and moved closer to Carrie so that he could try to get his phone again. “Give me my phone before you get paint all over it.”

"Nope!” Carrie laughed as Tommy grabbed one of her arms and tried to take his phone back with the other. “At least I don’t have paint on my ass like you!” She spun out of his grasp and ran across the room.

Tommy pouted while Carrie idly drank some water. She was just taunting him now, pretending that she didn’t have to pay attention to him to keep him from his phone. “You’re the one that left the roller in the middle of the floor. It’s not my fault I tripped and sat in the paint tray. You owe me, so give me my phone.”

Carrie continued to drink her water as Tommy bent down next to one of the trays and picked up a paintbrush. She cautiously refastened the cap on her bottle and narrowed her eyes in a silent dare for Tommy to try to start a paint fight. When he dipped the brush in the tray, she dropped her water bottle and ran over to the open can of paint. “You do, and I drop your phone in here.”

Tommy debated his options as Carrie held his phone over the can of paint. When the doorbell rang, he grinned and put the paintbrush down, though he made sure to let his palm glide over the wet paint on the bristles. “You win.” He got up and walked over to Carrie, who was smirking at him, and then he playfully slapped Carrie’s butt and ran. “Now I’m not the only one with paint on their ass!”

Carrie chased Tommy through the hallway, and then down the stairs as he yelled about how they had to answer the door. “Forget the door! I’m tossing you and your phone out in the yard!”

Tommy giggled all the way to the front door, which he hastily opened, and ran out of the house. He went right to his boyfriend and hugged Hector tightly. “Baby, protect me.” He quickly moved behind his stunned boyfriend before he smiled at an equally stunned Kelly. “Distract Carrie so Hector can get my phone back?”

Carrie tried to stop when she saw Kelly and Hector, but she ended up tripping over the welcome mat because of her speed. She stared up at her three friends and briefly glared at Tommy. “I still got your phone.” She was embarrassed, but she had still won, sort of. Carrie got up and brushed off her pants, although she stopped when she got paint on her hand. “Hey.”

Kelly raised an eyebrow at Carrie’s casual greeting. She was thoroughly amused by the spectacle that had just occurred, and by the sight in front of her. There was paint all over Carrie’s face and on the cute, black skull and bones bandana on the blonde’s head. “I would say hi, but I think I’m gonna keep my mouth shut since I hear you’re threatening people today.”

Hector chuckled at his friend’s words, though he stopped when Tommy hit his side and told him to get the phone from Carrie. He brought his hand up and patted Tommy’s hand that was still holding on to him. His boyfriend had told him to come over and bring Kelly. “Tommy, did you ask me to come over because you were afraid of Carrie?” Hector pulled Tommy into his arms even though the shorter man pretended to resist. “Did you manage to get any paint on the walls?”

Tommy blushed because of his boyfriend’s joke. He felt better when he noticed Carrie blush also. “I told you we needed help; it was just a bonus that we get to spend time together too.” He had invited Hector and Kelly over so that they could all spend time together, and because he knew Carrie wanted Kelly to help with the room. When Hector had mentioned that he was with Kelly, it had seemed like too good of an opportunity to let pass.

Carrie didn’t want to start a conversation about her threatening people, or how she was apparently ‘bitchy Carrie’ today, so she walked back into the house. “We could use the help, the rest of the guys bailed after they helped move furniture. I don’t know why, the painting is easy compared to the moving.” She shook her head as everyone walked back into the house, and then she shut the door. “Do you guys want anything to drink? Tommy and I were on a water break.”

Hector smiled down at Tommy; he knew the truth. He cleared his throat and looked over at Carrie. “No thanks. I,” He stopped as Tommy squeezed his hand tightly, even though his boyfriend was hugging him. Hector remained silent when Tommy shook his head against his arm. He didn’t know why he couldn’t say that he didn’t want a drink.

Tommy broke the embrace and took a step towards the kitchen. “He’s too shy to say yes. We will be right back.” He dragged Hector to the kitchen; once they were out of sight, he let go of Hector. “Act like you’re getting a drink.” Tommy peered out from the edge of the doorway to spy on Carrie and Kelly. He wanted to see how they interacted with each other. He still thought Carrie had feelings for Kelly, and he could tell that Kelly had a crush on Carrie. Tommy wouldn’t normally be so concerned with Carrie’s private life, but he felt he should get a better awareness of the situation in case he was correct about his friend’s feelings and she needed to talk at some point.

Kelly silently chuckled at Tommy and Hector’s weird behavior, though she turned her attention back to Carrie. The blonde was laughing at their friends. She looked Carrie over again, but still her eyes lingered over the paint on Carrie’s face. It was too cute. “You have paint all over your face.” Kelly began to reach out so that she could try to wipe the paint away, though at the last moment she managed to turn the action into a gesture, as if she were just pointing to the paint spots. “Looks like you got into a paint fight or something.”

Carrie playfully rolled her eyes before she swatted Kelly’s arm. “If that were true, I still would have won. Tommy’s got a ton more on him.” Carrie couldn’t be happier that Kelly had come over, she was sure that it was Tommy’s fault, but she wasn’t about to hold it against him. She’d gotten over her embarrassment and wanted to hang out with Kelly, she had just felt like she should leave their next meeting up to Kelly. “I totally owned his ass.” Carrie showed Tommy’s phone as her proof.

Kelly couldn’t have held in her laughter even if she had wanted to; she shook her head and put her hand over her stomach as she laughed at the ridiculous grin on Carrie’s face. It took her a few moments to settle down, however once she quit, Kelly knew exactly what to say. “Don’t let Hector hear you say that, ya’ll might have to throw down then.”

Carrie pushed Kelly’s shoulder for the comment, and then she pocketed the phone and stared at Kelly. “You don’t get to see my room if you keep making fun of me and laughing.” She looked over Kelly’s jeans and blouse and had to frown. “I take it Tommy didn’t tell Hector what we were doing? You’re so going to have to change into some different clothes. Come on.”

Kelly was about to object and say that she didn’t need to change, but she saw the back of Carrie’s pants. “Dude, you know you have paint on your butt?” She put her hand on Carrie’s shoulder and moved closer so that the blonde couldn’t turn around. “Why is it shaped like a hand? I thought you said you owned Tommy’s butt, this would seem to,”

Carrie had completely forgotten about the paint on the back of her pants; so she quickly pulled away from Kelly and turned around to where her friend couldn’t see the stain. “So he got one good shot.” Carrie shrugged her shoulders and gave Kelly a look. “I thought you were here to help paint, not check out the paint on me?” Carrie figured the best way to let Kelly know that she wasn’t embarrassed any longer was to joke and act like normal, so she smiled.

Kelly had opened her mouth to apologize, though she just casually waved her hands in the air when she saw Carrie smile at her. “Hey, you were the one trying to drag me to your room, it’s not my fault that I noticed.” She looked around the entryway as Carrie laughed at her joke, and she suddenly realized that she hadn’t seen or heard Ace. “Where’s Ace? Tell me the dog didn’t get caught up in that paint fight of yours.”

Carrie lightly chewed on her lip as she thought about her answer. “He’s in the laundry room. I didn’t want him around the paint, or under foot when we were moving everything. If you want to see him, we can get you some clothes in there.”

Kelly shook her head and walked around Carrie so that she could go upstairs and see what Carrie had accomplished so far. “Naw, I’m fine. Though why didn’t you just let him out in the back yard. It’s fenced in.”

Carrie hoped that her blush would fade by the time they got upstairs. She knew that Kelly had animals back in Texas, but Ace was her baby. “I didn’t want to leave him out for that long. He’s safe inside the laundry room. I’ve got it all set up for him for when I have a lot of people over.” Her friends made fun of her that Ace had more furniture in the house than she, but she wanted her dog to be comfortable. Carrie tripped when Kelly stopped abruptly. “What?”

Kelly had wondered why Carrie sounded so unsure, although now that she had turned around she was much closer to Carrie than she had anticipated. She swallowed a couple times and kept her eyes on Carrie’s face as she tried to remember her words. “Uh, nothing. I just was going to say that I could hold him for you, that way he could be upstairs while we’re working.”

Carrie grinned at the idea and hugged Kelly tightly. “That’s so sweet.” She had wanted to hug Kelly when she first saw the shorter girl, but she had been too embarrassed over tripping to do it; Carrie smiled when Kelly hugged her back, fully reassured that her friend wasn’t upset with her. She pulled back from the hug and grabbed Kelly’s hand as she started back down the stairs. “Although I know you only suggested it so that you don’t have to paint.”

Kelly let Carrie lead her back down the stairs. “Did not. I was trying to save him from being locked up.” She continued the playful argument all the way to the laundry room, even though she had seen the way Tommy and Hector had looked at them as they had walked past. When Carrie opened the door to laundry and bent down to grab Ace, Kelly looked around in shock. “I take back my locked up claim, you totally have a freaking playground for him in here.”
****

Kelly listened as Narvel talked about the schedule for the next few weeks; confirming with everyone that they knew what they were doing and if any of the team that had any scheduling conflicts since the last time they had spoken. She went back to thinking about how she was going to joke on Jason about forgetting to reminder her of the meeting. This last part of the meeting was more for the management team anyway since they had already talked about possible ideas for the next video. Kelly glanced over at Carrie and smiled before she turned back towards Narvel.

Carrie had seen Kelly’s look in her direction since the magazine she had been reading through was a few months old. She snickered as she thought about telling Kelly to tease Narvel and his staff about getting newer magazines in the office. The plan had been to pick up some dinner and some movies, but Jason’s call had delayed those plans. Carrie frowned when she saw the clothing photo spread in the magazine. Her earlier assumption had been wrong; the magazine had to be at least six months out of date. She set the magazine aside in time to see Reba and some guy about her age enter the room. Carrie grinned and straightened up because it had to be a sign that the meeting would end soon if Reba had come into the room.

Reba led the way to the chairs at the back of the room so that she and Hayden wouldn’t interrupt the meeting. She gestured for him to take a seat and told him that they’d have to wait a few minutes. While she listened to Narvel start to bring the meeting to a close, Reba noticed Carrie sitting a couple chairs away. “I’ll be right back, Hayden. The meeting’s almost over, but wait here for me, okay.” Reba moved to the chair beside Carrie and smiled. “Hey, you. What are you doing here?” She had heard from Narvel that Kelly and Carrie were spending time together, though she hadn’t thought that the blonde would be at the meeting.

Carrie kept her eyes on Reba because she knew she couldn’t look over at Kelly. She had seen how Kelly had lit up and started to wave at Reba before Kelly had stopped herself. Carrie would laugh if she looked in Kelly’s direction and saw her friend grinning that Reba had shown up at the meeting. “Kelly and I are hanging out tonight, having a girls’ night in. It’s been delayed on account of this unexpected meeting.” Carrie smiled shyly when Reba quietly laughed at her bad joke. Somewhere between her head and her mouth, her funny joke about rain delays, baseball and the meeting had vanished. “Are you and Narvel going out for dinner?”

Reba was disappointed that Kelly already had plans, but she could work with the situation. “Actually, we were gonna take Kelly out to dinner since we hadn’t seen her in a while.” Reba lowered her voice even more when she saw the brief look of disappointment on Carrie’s face. “Would you like to come along? See, the thing is I brought a young man for Kelly to meet, and having you with us would make it seem like less of a,” She paused and tried to think of a good word. She had learned with Shelby that the term ‘set up’ tended to freak out kids. “It’s an introduction, and hopefully they’ll hit it off. Listen, I know she’s not into blind dates and all that, but,”

Carrie quit listening to Reba and looked over at the guy in question. She couldn’t tell Reba of all people that Kelly was a lesbian and that there would be no way Kelly would go out with the guy. She briefly wondered why Reba didn’t know about Kelly. Carrie had to guess that Kelly didn’t want to maybe lose Reba as a friend. A touch on her shoulder made her look back at Reba, and Carrie realized that she was supposed to answer now. “If Kelly wants to go, then I’ll go, but I’m not telling her she should go.” Carrie looked at the guy again and almost felt sorry for him.

“That’s fair considering you and Kelly had plans for the night.” Reba would have thanked Carrie, however she noticed the noise level of the room increase, which signified that the meeting was over. She smiled and patted Carrie’s shoulder, and then turned in Hayden’s direction. “I’ll be right back with Narvel and Kelly.” Reba chuckled at the grin she got in return, and then she walked the short distance over to her husband and Kelly.

Carrie decided to talk to Hayden since she was sure that Kelly would say yes to Reba. She sat down next to him, but he ignored her and continued to text on his phone. Carrie didn’t feel so sorry for the boy now. He was the one messing up her and Kelly’s night anyway. She sat back in the chair and watched Kelly laugh and talk with Narvel and Reba; she didn’t notice Hayden’s phone ring, although she did hear him mention Kelly’s name. When Hayden talked about how it was true that he was going out with Kelly, Carrie knew he had to be on the phone with one of his friends. She had enough guy friends to pick up on the tone men used when they were bragging. She rolled her eyes and tried not to be irritated.

Narvel looked away as Reba asked Kelly if she wanted to go out to dinner with them and Hayden. He didn’t want to play matchmaker with Kelly and Hayden, but Reba had insisted it wouldn’t hurt to ask Kelly. He knew his wife wanted Kelly to meet someone nice, so did he, he didn’t think he should be part of equation though because he was Kelly’s manager. “You can say no, Kelly.”

Kelly gave Narvel a quick smile for the option. She had been a little afraid of what he’d think if she said no; it would be hard enough to say no to Reba. She had never been so glad that Jason had forgotten to remind her of something. “I can’t. I’m hanging out with Carrie tonight.” She pointed Carrie out, even though Narvel had already seen Carrie, and Reba had to have seen the blonde also. She mentally thanked Jason again, because if she hadn’t already been out with Carrie, then she wouldn’t have such a good excuse to not go to dinner. Kelly stared at Carrie curiously when she saw that her friend was glaring at the guy Reba had brought.

Reba didn’t want to speak for Carrie, even though the other girl had said she would come with them to dinner. “Kelly,” She glanced at Narvel for some help with the conversation, although her husband remained quiet. She knew he hadn’t been supported the idea completely, but his silence annoyed her. “Carrie’s invited also. Why don’t you talk it over with her?”

Narvel opened his mouth to tell Kelly that it was okay, that the three of them could go out to dinner another time, but he noticed Carrie’s incredulous stare directed at Hayden. It couldn’t be a good sign that Carrie wasn’t even talking to the boy and she was looking at him like he had said something rude. He frowned and moved a little closer towards the back of the room so he could hear what was going on, although he covered the action by putting his hand on his wife’s arm.

“I’m sure I can go out with her long enough to get her, it’s been like two years since she’s dated. I got this in the bag what with Reba’s approval and all.”

Carrie had slowly begun to get angry with Hayden for every sentence that left the boy’s mouth, but the latest claim just pissed her off completely. “Hey, buddy.” Carrie tapped Hayden on the shoulder, and then repeated the movement again with more force when he ignored her. “That’s my friend you’re talking about. And you sure as hell don’t have anything in the bag.” Carrie really wanted to tell the boy off and say that he didn’t have any chance in hell with Kelly, but she couldn’t out Kelly, especially not around some of Kelly’s management team and mentor.

Hayden barely glanced at the chick getting rude with him. He knew that Reba’s opinion would outweigh any little friend of Kelly’s. “I’m having a private conversation here, so if you could back off I’d really appreciate it, blondie.” Hayden smiled when the girl vacated her seat, so he didn’t bother to pay attention to her movements. “Anyway, like I was saying,”

Kelly had been trying to think of a way to say no, but her mind went completely blank when she heard Carrie talking to someone angrily. She glanced back at Reba and Narvel, but they were staring at Carrie too. She quickly headed over towards her friend. Carrie didn’t get angry really, so she knew something was wrong.

Carrie wanted to punch Hayden; she would have wanted to do so anyway because he had been insufferable and called her blondie, but he had started to talk about Kelly again. Carrie knew she couldn’t punch the boy though, so she took his phone and brought it up to her ear. “Hayden can’t talk right now. He’s about to get his scrawny ass kicked by a girl.” Carrie hung up the phone and casually tossed it on Hayden’s lap. The outraged look on his face made her feel better. “I told you Kelly’s my friend. Don’t talk about her like that again. I don’t care if you’re bragging to your friends or not. I will-" Carrie stopped when she felt Kelly touch her arm, but she coolly glared at Hayden.

Kelly didn’t wait to find out what was going on, she took Carrie by the arm and turned the taller girl around. “We’re leaving; walk.” She might have been angry if she wasn’t so unsettled by the fact that Reba had tried to set her up with some guy, a guy who was a jerk apparently. Kelly tugged on Carrie’s arm and stopped when they were close to Narvel and Reba. “I’m really sorry we can’t do dinner tonight. We’ll do it another time, okay?” Kelly could tell that Narvel wasn’t happy about something, and Reba didn’t look very happy with Carrie at the moment.

Carrie saw the way Reba was looking at her, and she didn’t really care because she was still pissed off about Hayden. It was Reba’s fault that he was even at the meeting. Carrie silently sighed when she felt Kelly gently tug on her arm and look at her to say something. She didn’t want to make Reba upset with Kelly, so she took a deep breath while she tried to phrase her thoughts nicely. “I’m sure that boy was nice to you, Reba, but you need to keep him away from Shelby so that your son isn’t picking up that it’s all right to be disrespectful and rude.”

Narvel looked over at Hayden and saw that the boy was watching them uncertainly. He turned to Carrie and looked at her seriously. “I’ll have a talk with him.” He knew people, and he had heard that Carrie wasn’t the type of person to lose her temper. He had also overheard what Hayden had said about Kelly, and he didn’t like it at all. Narvel put his hand on Reba’s waist before she could speak up, he would fill her in after he talked to Hayden. “We’ll all do dinner another night like Kelly said. Why don’t the two of you go back home and rest.”

Kelly was surprised when Narvel gave her a hug after she agreed that they should go to dinner, but she hugged him back before she cautiously turned to Reba. She held in a relieved sigh as her mentor hugged her without hesitation and told her to go have fun with Carrie. She smiled at the couple as Carrie said goodbye, although she wondered why Carrie was still so angry.

Carrie didn’t say anything as they made their way out of the building. She didn’t answer Kelly when the other girl started to talk about how glad she was to leave the uncomfortable situation once they had exited the building. She just took Kelly to her car as she focused on the fact that Kelly wouldn’t have to spend time with Hayden. Carrie really wanted to go back inside the building though, maybe call Matt and have him come help her scare the crap out of the boy.

Kelly sighed when Carrie opened the car door for her and ushered her inside the vehicle. She knew the guy had said something, but Carrie wouldn’t talk. She wanted to know what had been said that angered Carrie so much, her subtle attempts to try to get Carrie to speak hadn’t worked. When her friend got in the car and started it, Kelly turned towards Carrie. “Did he say something about you? Whatever it was, I’m sure Narvel will fix it.”

Carrie didn’t speak at first because she was still angry; she backed the car out of the parking spot and then drove for the exit of the parking lot. “He’s a prick. He’s lucky I didn’t punch him.” Carrie ignored Kelly’s taken aback expression and continued to drive. “He was on the phone with some friend of his, talking about you, so I told him to quit, that you’re my friend and I wouldn’t have him talking like that about you. Then the little punk called me blondie.”

Kelly had been stunned at Carrie’s name choice for the guy, but it kind of amused her that Carrie was offended by the term blondie. “I don’t know what he said, Care, but he was probably just excited to be going out with all of us.” She didn’t want to make a big deal out of the situation. It wasn’t like the guy had a chance with her anyway. “I’m sorry he called you that term.”

Carrie stared at Kelly incredulously for a moment; she wasn’t that upset because of what Hayden had called her. “Whatever. I’m calling Matt when we get back to my place, and then I’m calling Narvel. He’ll know where the boy lives, and then me and Matt can go scare him for the crap he said about you.” Carrie tightened her grip on the steering wheel as she remembered the way the idiot boy had bragged that he was going out with Kelly.

“You can’t go beat him up for talking about me.” Kelly enjoyed how sexy Carrie looked when angry, but she didn't understand why Carrie was so angry. The things Carrie had mentioned weren’t that bad. Ashley got angry when people mistreated her, but Ashley hadn’t ever threatened to beat someone up for her, not seriously anyway. “Whatever he said isn’t worth it, Carrie. He’s just some guy that had a chance to brag, so he did. There’s no harm done. It’s not like I might have ended up dating him, I’m gay.”

Carrie knew Kelly wouldn’t feel the same way if the other singer knew what the boy had said, but she woudn’t tell Kelly. “Doesn’t matter, he doesn’t need to talk about you like he was.” She slightly shook her head as she stared ahead at the road. She muttered under her breath about the boy being an asshole for implying that Kelly would be easy to sleep with since she hadn’t been out with a guy in so long. Carrie really thought she should at least get to punch him for that comment alone. Kelly was her friend, not the jerk’s girlfriend to talk about as he pleased.

Kelly would have liked Carrie’s protective side if she wasn’t so confused about the whole thing. She had tried to make Carrie feel better by saying the boy had no chance with her. She had tried to laugh the situation away, but Carrie had been opposed to that also. It was almost like she was dealing with Jason. “You’re not calling Matt. I’m sure that we won’t have to deal with the guy ever again, so calm down and don’t forget that we need to pick up some movies.”

Carrie sighed as she switched lanes to go back towards the video store, and not to the interstate, which was where she had been heading so that they could go back to her house. “Fine, I won’t get Matt and scare the boy. I’m sure I embarrassed him enough.” Carrie had to smile. The fact that a girl had said she could and would beat up the boy would be humiliating, even more so because his friend had heard. “What are we getting for dinner?”

Kelly chuckled at Carrie’s inquisitive glance. “Of course you’re more interested in the food. I don’t care. You pick dinner, and I’ll pick the movies. Don’t think I didn’t notice last time when you snuck that scary movie into the pile.” If a talk about what to get for dinner calmed Carrie down, then that’s what they would talk about until they had some movies to watch. Kelly bit her lip so she didn’t laugh as Carrie started to defend sneaking in the horror movie during the previous movie night.
****

“You know,” Jason grinned mischievously as he looked over at Carrie. “We could be each other’s alibi.”

Carrie sleepily stared into her coffee while she tried to figure out why she and Jason needed an alibi in the first place. “It’s too early for you to talk in riddles. Spit it out.” She raised her head up so that she could watch Jason as she drank her coffee. If he continued to be vague, she would need more than the cup of coffee in her hands. She and Kelly had spent most of the previous evening watching movies to forget about what had happened at Narvel’s offices. Carrie was in no mood to play guessing games, at least, not until she had been awake a few more hours.

Jason chuckled at Carrie’s inability to understand what he meant. When he had arrived at the blonde’s house an hour ago, it had been obvious that Kelly and Carrie hadn’t been awake very long, if at all, before his arrival. “I’m just saying we could easily get the information on this Hayden guy and go threaten him while Kelly’s getting ready.” Jason paused a moment so Carrie could have time to process his words. “We could be each other’s alibi.” He smiled even though he was only half kidding. Narvel had called and told him what had happened after the meeting.

Carrie sighed and sipped her coffee when she finally realized the meaning behind Jason’s words. “Well, normally I would say no. Last night I would have said yes, probably would have pushed you in the car myself after I’d have a couple beers, but today I’m gonna say no.” Carrie still thought she should have gotten to hit the boy, but she had known all along that Kelly was right; Hayden had been doing what all guys did when they wanted to impress their friends. “Thanks though.”

Jason was mildly disappointed that Carrie had said no, he didn’t want anyone talking badly about his baby sister, however he knew Kelly would not have found any prank or threat to Hayden funny. He looked around Carrie’s dining room and sipped his coffee as he tried to think of another topic so that he didn’t ask about Kelly and Carrie’s relationship. He didn’t know what Kelly was doing by saying there wasn’t anything going on with Carrie. They still went out as much as they had before, and from what Narvel had told him, Carrie had been very displeased with Hayden. “I’m glad you didn’t hold back from saying something to the guy.”

Carrie shrugged because what she had done wasn’t a big deal. “I’d have done the same for anyone else.” She had reacted more aggressively because it was Kelly and she knew what could happen if Hayden or one of his friends decided it would be cool to tell someone from the press that Kelly Clarkson was dating. Carrie frowned slightly when Jason raised an eyebrow at her comment. “I didn’t know who he was talking to, or if the guy would tell some rag magazine.”

Jason nodded while he thought about Carrie’s answer. She had a point, but he knew that wasn’t the only reason Carrie had gone off on Hayden in a room full of people that worked closely with Kelly, people that could tell the story to others that Carrie worked with from time to time. He wanted to say more, so he got up from his chair and checked to see that Kelly wouldn’t be coming down the stairs anytime soon. He leaned against the doorway to cover up his actions and looked at Carrie. “I know that things are… difficult for you and Kelly, but I want you to know that I’m behind you completely. And you don’t have to worry about anything like this happening while we’re out of town.” Jason knew if he mentioned any details, he would be breaking Kelly’s trust.

Carrie began to wonder if Jason always talked so cryptically and she had just never noticed before. She was positive she’d only had the two beers while watching movies, so she didn’t have a hangover to explain away Jason’s vague comments. “I’m glad you look out for her while she’s working, it would be weird if you didn’t?” She assumed she had said the right thing because of the way Jason grinned at her. “The press can be difficult to deal with sometimes, but we don’t have to worry about that since Kelly would have never gone out with the guy anyway. I’m not worried about Hayden or his friend telling anyone what I said.”

“Good, you shouldn’t be worried about there being repercussions for standing up for your-” Jason bit his lip so that he didn’t say girlfriend. “All that matters is that you and Kelly aren’t having any problems over what happened.” Jason hated that he couldn’t just say what he meant because of his promise to Kelly, but also because of what Kelly had said about Carrie. He didn’t want to seem like he was pushing her to define things with Kelly. “She’s happy, you know that right?”

Carrie just stared at Jason because she was beginning to think Jason hadn’t been joking all those times he had made little remarks about her and Kelly dating. “What do you mean?” She thought Kelly had never told Jason about their misunderstanding; and that if Kelly had told Jason, that he would have been angry with her. She didn’t understand why Jason thought that they were ‘still dating’. She had seen Kelly tell Jason to shut up about the date comments enough times that she knew he hadn’t gotten the idea from her friend. Carrie absently looked at her cup and wondered if she had accidentally put alcohol in it along with her coffee.

Jason silently started to freak out when he saw Carrie look down. Kelly would yell at him if he had upset Carrie. He walked over to the table and sat down next to the girl, even though he wasn’t sure if he should stop the conversation or if he should comfort Carrie. “Okay, don’t tell Kelly that we talked about this, but I know that you guys got into some kind of fight.” When Carrie looked up at him with a scared expression, he smiled and comfortingly held one of her hands. “I also know that my stubborn sister didn’t make it any better when she went and flirted with a girl at her party, but I’m telling you that she’s happy with you and she hasn’t gone out with anyone else. She keeps saying that you’re just friends, and if that’s what you want to call it, that’s cool. I remember how Kelly was when she first came out. I guess what I’m trying to say is that what you guys have is a good thing, and that you don’t have to worry about how long it takes you to be all right with being gay, because she’ll wait since you make her happy.”

Carrie was speechless because of Jason's attempts to reassure her. “That’s,” She sighed and tried to think about what to say. Apparently, Kelly had tried to dissuade Jason of the belief that they were dating, and it hadn’t worked. “Well, I’m glad you’re happy that Kelly’s happy. It was, uh, really sweet of you to tell me what you think about this whole,” Carrie removed her hand from Jason’s and patted it a few times as she tried to come up with something to say before it became clear that she was stalling. “You didn’t have to try to comfort me, Jason, that’s just, you’re a great guy.” Carrie got up from the table and took her coffee cup with her as she thought about the things Jason had said to her. “Do you want some more coffee? I’m gonna get some more coffee.” She had seriously thought Jason was about to threaten to kick her ass when he had mentioned the fight, but the rest of Jason’s thoughts completely shocked her.

Jason quietly watched the blonde when she came back to the dining room with two cups of coffee. He casually pushed aside his first cup so that Carrie didn’t mention it and focus on that instead of what he had said. He knew he had startled her, though he was confident that she knew he was okay with her and Kelly in a relationship together. When a minute had passed and Kelly still hadn’t returned, he decided to interrupt the silence. “I’m sure Kelly’s told you that Ashley and I want to see her with someone who has been out a while and isn’t going to add drama to her life, but that’s not how I feel. I want her to be happy.” Jason watched as Carrie’s initial worried and confused expressions gave way to a guarded indifference. “You took care of her yesterday, and you do the same thing everyday by just caring for her, so don’t think that we have a problem. You can talk to me. I don’t know everything about coming out, but I was there for Kelly, and I can be a good listener if you need it. I imagine it might be hard to talk to Kelly about the things you’re going through because you want her to see that you guys can be together.” Jason cautiously let out the breath of air he had held when Carrie finally showed some emotion because of his honesty. He moved to give Carrie a hug, but Kelly came into the room and gave them an odd look for sitting in silence.

Carrie couldn’t look at either of the people in the room. She couldn’t even begin to sort out her thoughts about the conversation with Jason, so talking with the brother and sister was definitely out of the question. Carrie stared at the table and drank her coffee while Kelly and Jason talked about a videoshoot. She didn’t see how her actions, or Kelly’s, could make Jason think that they were together. Maybe the way she had gone off on Hayden had been a bit much, although she thought she would have done the same thing for any of her friends even though she hadn’t known Kelly for as long. Carrie just attributed her defensive reaction to the fact that she knew how much the press could hurt, and she didn’t want that to happen to Kelly. To have one little interaction follow Kelly around for months was not all right by Carrie. She glanced at Kelly and smiled when the other singer gave her a look for her silence. Maybe she shouldn’t have complained about how Kelly and Ashley had teased her that night at the bar; that could have been when Jason had gotten the idea in his head. Of course, she really hadn’t helped when she had tried get back at Kelly. Carrie would have laughed if she wasn’t so confused. She and Kelly had become close in a short amount of time, but she knew that closeness came from the fact that they understood the pressures that came with singing. Carrie glanced at Jason, and then she looked at Kelly. Just because Kelly was attracted to her didn’t mean Kelly had feelings for her. “I’m gonna get a shower now that you’re out.” Carrie winced at her word choice and got up from the table. “If you guys have to leave while I’m upstairs, that’s fine. Just, umm,” She placed her coffee cup on the table and started to walk away. “Just use the keys by the door, so you can lock it, if you do.”

Kelly wondered what the hell had gone on while she had been in the shower as she watched Carrie leave them alone in the dining room without another word. “Why do I get the feeling we were just dismissed?” She turned her attention to Jason and stared at her brother. “Did she say anything to you?” Kelly considered the possibility that maybe Carrie was still upset about Hayden, or it was possible Carrie had finally gone through all the possible things that might happen because of the way the blonde had handled the guy. They had joked about the press many times, but with the way that Carrie’s mind worked, she could see how now that Carrie had cooled down, the blonde might think that there could be an unfortunate outcome with the press.

Jason did his best to look at Kelly; he knew she would think he had something to do with Carrie’s silence if he couldn’t face her. “I don’t know, Kel. She didn’t say much while we were waiting for you.” He didn’t want to lie, though if he told Kelly about the conversation, he knew his sister would talk to Carrie. Kelly could easily make Carrie feel uncomfortable about talking to him, and that wasn’t what he wanted at all. “She probably just needs a little time to herself. She’s had a lot of people around helping her with that room. The meeting last night probably didn’t help any.”

It hadn’t occurred to Kelly that Carrie might want to be alone, although she didn’t know why. The next few months were supposed to be a rest period for Carrie, even though there were appearances the other girl had to make. “I guess.” Kelly didn’t want to leave, but if Carrie did want to be alone, then she understood the feeling. “Finish your coffee, and then we’ll get out of here. I’ll go look for the keys she mentioned.” Kelly didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye, not when there was such a difference in Carrie’s behavior from last night. She didn’t think Carrie would want her to run upstairs and say goodbye though, that would be weird; and a note seemed even stranger. As she looked around for the keys, Kelly decided that she would call Carrie to let the other singer know that they had left; she could always leave a message.
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