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
- 15
- 16
- 17
I've had the first half of the chapter written for a week, but life got hectic. I really liked hearing what you guys thought about the last chapter. I know in most stories, the happy part usually begins a lot earlier than in this one. I think you guys will like this chapter though since it picks up where the last one ended.

Ch 16

Kelly mentally told herself that she should pull back, that she shouldn’t be kissing Carrie, but she didn’t want to stop. She knew she could pull away, but she couldn’t find the strength to deny the one thing she had wanted for weeks now. Kelly had thought about what it would feel like if they kissed, and it had been nothing like she currently felt. The hand that rested gently on her neck, wasn’t the firm grip she had imagined Carrie would use; and the blonde’s lips were even softer than she had deemed on sight alone. Kelly brought her hand up to brace herself; though before she could decide between Carrie’s shoulder or the arm of the couch for a brace, Carrie switched to her neglected lip. Kelly moaned at the brief sensation of the tip of Carrie’s tongue hot and wet against her lip. She shakily put her hand on the arm of the couch so that she couldn’t move closer to Carrie. She shouldn’t kiss Carrie; she still didn’t have any answers. Kelly repeated the phrase in her head as she caught Carrie’s bottom lip between her own for one last kiss. “What does that even mean that you want to be closer?” Kelly pushed herself away from Carrie as her breath slowly lessened to a more normal rhythm. She knew she should have asked the question long before it actually left her lips. How many times had she told herself that Carrie was straight? Kelly looked over to the other side of the room so that she wouldn’t look at Carrie and forget her common sense. Carrie was straight, and she did not need to kiss straight girls.

Carrie opened her mouth to answer Kelly, but she wasn’t sure what her words had meant either. It wasn’t like she could really tell Kelly that she kind of thought of her friend as a girlfriend, it would insult Kelly, and she wasn’t sure if it was true even after their kisses. She just knew that she wanted to be closer, and that the kiss had felt right too. Carrie had doubted that she could enjoy kissing Kelly, but she felt so close to Kelly now, and she wanted that feeling back because of all the doubts. She felt more secure about her feelings, but really nothing had changed. She couldn’t go back to all of the questions when all she wanted was to get back the easiness between them. Carrie looked down at the couch because of her selfish thoughts. “I think I have feelings for you.” Carrie quickly stood when Kelly got up from the couch. “I do, I mean I do having feelings for you, I wouldn’t kiss you out of nowhere if I didn’t. I wouldn’t do that to our friendship.”

Kelly walked away from Carrie before she said her first thought. She didn’t want to hurt Carrie, but she was so confused. She had been dealing with her feelings, and now Carrie was telling her that maybe there was something more, though the other girl clearly wasn’t sure. “You think you have feelings for me? Why are you kissing me if you’re not sure. This isn’t a game, I’m not something you can just mess around with because you’re,” Kelly took a deep breath and brushed her fingers through her hair. She couldn’t freak out, even if Carrie didn’t have feelings for her, they had to talk about the kiss. She looked over her shoulder at Carrie, angry that her friend would spring this on her. Kelly forgot about her anger when she saw how upset and afraid Carrie looked. She hadn’t ever seen Carrie look scared before. She knew Carrie’s nervous expression, the girl’s mad countenance, but at the moment Carrie just looked so scared that she couldn’t think only about herself. Kelly walked over to Carrie and stopped in front of her friend; she lifted her arms up to hold Carrie, though she let them drop to her sides and took a step back. She wouldn’t be able to think straight if she touched Carrie. “Talk to me.”

Carrie sat down on the couch and clasped her hands together in front of her as she tried not to think about how angry Kelly had sounded at first. She didn’t know where to start, although she wouldn’t waste the chance Kelly had offered her. She had wanted to talk to Kelly all week, though now that she actually had to talk, she was terrified that she would say the wrong thing and lose Kelly. Carrie wished that the kisses had taken away all of her confusion, but they hadn’t. She still didn’t know if she liked girls. What if she said she did like girls, told everyone, dated Kelly, but she was wrong? What would she do then? “I do have feelings for you. I realized last weekend that I don’t think of you as just a friend. I wasn’t sure how much I-” Carrie swallowed a few times because she didn’t want to admit her thoughts out loud yet. “I’ve been thinking about this all week, trying to figure out how I feel so that I wouldn’t hurt you. So that I could understand what it is I’m-” Carrie sighed, but made herself continue. She at least had to say that she was sure about her feelings for Kelly. “I don’t know what I’m doing, but I can’t ignore it and what I feel for you… I don’t want to ignore what I feel for you, not when it feels right. It felt right when I kissed you.”

Kelly almost didn’t hear Carrie’s last sentence because the blonde’s voice had lowered to a whisper, but she had heard Carrie, and she wanted nothing more than to hug her friend and kiss Carrie again. Kelly sat down on the couch next to Carrie, though she kept her hands to herself as she thought about the explanation. No one had ever said anything like that to her before; and if she weren’t so confused she would agree with the sentiment. She wasn’t the only one who was confused though, so it was hard to just let herself be happy with Carrie’s admission. Kelly reached over and held Carrie’s hand as she tried to think of something to say. She had been so sure Carrie was straight after their date; and now Carrie was saying that last weekend something had changed, that all week Carrie had tried to figure out what was going on so that she wouldn’t be hurt. Kelly tightened her grip when she realized that Carrie’s craziness at the pet store had actually been something totally mind blowing, and Carrie hadn’t ran away or avoided her. “I wasn’t questioning you, you know? I’m not hurt, I’m just really fucking surprised.” When Carrie looked at her with a faint approving grin, Kelly smiled. “Have you, I mean, the kiss means that you’re serious right?” Kelly needed to ask more questions to be sure that Carrie was sure, but she didn’t want to overwhelm Carrie with too many questions.

“Yeah.” Carrie solemnly nodded her head because she was serious. She needed Kelly to believe her because she had hated it when Kelly had looked at her like she was just trying to pull a scam or a joke. “I wanted to talk with you, but I didn’t want to put that on you, to make you think there might be something between us if I was wrong. But I’m not. I-” Carrie stopped for a moment and hoped that her words would be enough to reassure Kelly. Kelly deserved the truth, no matter what. “I like making you happy, and I love the look in your eyes when you smile.” Carrie wanted to say more and reassure Kelly about her feelings, but she could only say what she knew for sure. When Kelly didn’t speak right away, Carrie looked down at the floor and silently cursed herself out for kissing Kelly when she couldn’t prove her feelings; of course Kelly wouldn’t believe her.

Kelly would have thought that Carrie’s reason would have included that she was cute, or their careers and love of singing. She couldn’t believe how thrilled and scared she was that Carrie said one of the things that she had thought earlier, about wanting to make Carrie happy; it showed that Carrie valued her, and not for the things they shared, but for their differences too. Kelly wasn’t surprised that Carrie hadn’t said anything for fear of distressing her, because she had done the same thing before. “I feel the same way, about the happy thing I mean.” Kelly rolled her eyes at her own lameness, but she let go of Carrie’s hand faced the other girl completely. “What does this mean?” Kelly hoped that Carrie would like to try to see where their feelings would lead to, although she knew Carrie had more to think about than her; anything that could develop between them would mean big changes for Carrie’s sexual identity.

Carrie was so shocked that Kelly felt the same that it took her a few seconds to remember what the other singer had asked her. She didn’t particularly care what a relationship between them might mean for her at the moment. She wanted to think about the fact that Kelly liked her too; she hadn’t even thought about the possibility because she had been so afraid of accidentally hurting Kelly. “Are you sure you still like me? I’d understand if you didn’t because of our date.” Carrie blushed because of her question; if Kelly were a guy she would feel so much more confident. Although, if Kelly were a guy she wouldn’t have even questioned her feelings. Carrie leaned over and put her hand on Kelly’s knee. If Kelly was sure, then she would feel more assured of everything. Carrie smiled, happy finally to get some answers to all of her thoughts. “Does it feel right for you too when we’re together?”

Kelly interrupted Carrie before the blonde could question her further. She wasn’t sure what Carrie would have said, and the last thing they needed was to jump into any kind of deep discussion about their feelings when Carrie still had questions. Kelly ignored the voice in her head that reminded her that they had been friends for months, been acquaintances for years, it’s not like they were strangers who had just met. As much as she wanted to agree with Carrie and say that it did feel right when they were together, she knew she couldn’t. Maybe she could tell Carrie in a few days how she felt. She knew Carrie needed time to sort out everything; Kelly could be the friend Carrie needed while that happened. “I think we need to stop this conversation, Carrie. I do have feelings for you, but so much has happened in like ten minutes, I think we need some time-”

Carrie got up from the couch and tried not to think about how she had obviously screwed up and said the wrong thing. She couldn’t help but be angry with herself. If she hadn’t hurt Kelly on their date, or if she had just waited and figured out her feelings, Kelly would believe her now. She tried to let go of her anger, but the only other thing that she felt was regret and fear. She had opened up about her feelings, and Kelly wanted to let her down gently. Carrie walked away to put some distance between them so that she could think and get her feelings under control. “I need to talk about this, about us. Kelly, I have no idea what’s going on, other than I care about you more than I should. Does that make me bi? Why haven’t I felt this way for another girl if I am? It’s-” Carrie bit her lip so that she wouldn’t say anything else; she would cry if she shared more and Kelly turned her away. She didn’t want to stop though, she needed to tell Kelly. “I need to talk to you about all these thoughts. You’re the only one that I can talk about this with, the only one I trust to tell.”

Kelly wanted to say that they could talk about them, although she knew it would be a mistake. Carrie looked so sad and confused. She knew what Carrie was going through, and she couldn’t tell Carrie to stop and not think about it, not when she knew how much of a difference she could make just by listening. “I’ll help you, you know I will.” Kelly felt kind of like a jackass when Carrie turned to her and she could see the relieved look on the other girl’s face. She wondered why she had even listened to the thought that had made her say they should stop the discussion. Kelly walked over and hugged Carrie tightly. “It’s okay; you know you can tell me anything. I won’t leave you.” While Carrie held her and tried not to cry, Kelly rubbed the girl’s back with one hand and tried to ignore the TV a few feet away. She absently watched the screen and thought about how she had watched it to make Carrie happy. Kelly sighed and rolled her eyes as another victim died in the movie. If that movie didn’t show that she liked Carrie, then she didn’t know what would. Kelly ended the hug and took Carrie’s hand in her own. She smiled when Carrie followed, though she belatedly turned back and looked at Ace. “Come on, dog.”
****

Carrie suppressed her first reaction when she saw that Kelly was still asleep in the guest room. If she didn’t need to be at the studio soon, she would be asleep in her bed. While she had gotten ready for the day, she had hoped Kelly would have woken up before she had to leave, though that hadn’t happened. Carrie quietly entered the room and made her way over to the bed. She cautiously sat down on the edge of the bed and debated whether she should wake Kelly or not. She didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye, although she didn’t want to interrupt Kelly’s sleep since the other girl had stayed up most of the night listening to her.

Carrie let herself think about the night before for a minute. Kelly had taken her to her room along with Ace, and then Kelly had mostly listened silently as she talked about the things that had been bothering her. She had even shared some things that she hadn’t let herself think about at all the previous week; Carrie knew that she was lucky Kelly hadn’t been stunned by her actions and left her alone. Carrie thought that it was testament to their friendship that Kelly had stayed and believed her. Even though they hadn’t talked about them really, she’d been awake long enough to realize that Kelly had done it on purpose, for her, so that she could become more comfortable with the idea of them. Carrie smiled for a brief instant before she gently shook Kelly’s shoulder.

Kelly curled up tightly in the covers so that she could get away from whatever was trying to wake her. When she heard Carrie say her name, she carefully opened her eyes in an attempt to adjust to the sunlight in the room. Kelly chuckled when Carrie stopped and smiled at her, but she didn’t speak because she was too busy looking at Carrie. Her friend looked as tired as she felt. Kelly wasn’t surprised though, they had been up nearly all night. She pushed the covers down as she looked Carrie over. She couldn’t look at the blonde’s face or she would ask Carrie to stay to talk. Kelly still couldn’t believe that Carrie had been so emotional the night before, and more than that, the other girl had even spoke of past exes and insecurities that had held Carrie back from talking to her last week. Kelly reached out and let her hand rest on Carrie’s leg as she grinned. “How you feeling, Care?”

Carrie didn’t let herself visibly react to the suddenness of Kelly’s hand on her leg, although in her head she was surprised with the physical contact. She was shocked because Kelly hadn’t really said anything about how they would act, and there was a part of her that was uncomfortable at the unexpected touch. “I’m good. I have to go to work, but you can stay as long as you’d like.” Carrie glanced down at Kelly’s hand, though just as quickly, she returned her gaze to the other singer’s face and smiled. She could keep her mind in the present; she could ignore the conflicted emotions she felt. “Do you remember where I said the extra key is?”

Kelly mumbled a yes as she closed her eyes and snuggled her head against the pillow to get more comfortable. She could easily fall back asleep, but she at least wanted to ask if Carrie would need her later. She was sure Carrie would avoid the question if she asked when she called the other girl at the studio. Maybe it was selfish of her, but Kelly didn’t want to lose the closeness that they had gained the night before. Kelly opened her eyes and tilted her head so that she could see Carrie. “Do you want me to stay here? We can talk more when you get back.”

It took Carrie a few moments to answer because Kelly had subconsciously started to stroke her leg. She didn’t know if it was a good thing that Kelly was so comfortable with her while half asleep, but Carrie couldn’t deny that the longer the action went on, the more her shock wore off, and the action relaxed her. “It’s not necessary. I know you’re busy too.” Carrie softly curled her hand in a fist as she resisted the urge to take Kelly’s hand and hold it in her own.

Kelly didn’t know if she had imagined the change in Carrie’s words, though she did recognize the shortness of Carrie’s sentences. She sat up and blinked a couple times to try to wake up faster. She didn’t want to upset Carrie with a barrage of questions, so she looked at the blonde momentarily. Kelly didn’t notice anything right away, but she did look down when Carrie did the same. She blushed when she realized what she had done, and pulled her hand away from Carrie in case that was the problem. When Carrie didn’t speak or leave, Kelly couldn’t stand the silence any longer. “Do you want to forget that we kissed?” Kelly swallowed nervously and damned herself for acting out after the way she had tried so hard to hold back for Carrie’s sake.

Carrie hadn’t listened to Kelly closely because she had been immersed in her thoughts about how she missed Kelly’s hand on her. She considered Kelly’s question for a second, even though she already knew her answer; she only hesitated because the question made her wonder if Kelly regretted the night before. “I don’t want to pretend like it didn’t happen, but if it’s too much for you, then I’d understand.” Carrie was lying, even if Kelly hadn’t discussed their feelings, the other singer had admitted to liking her in some way. However, she didn’t want to be a jerk if Kelly didn’t want to get involved after the way she had practically cried all night.

“It’s not too much for me.” Kelly couldn’t have been happier to hear what Carrie thought. “I know what you’re going through. We can figure it all out together.” She hugged Carrie loosely as she thought about how much she wanted to reassure Carrie that she felt the same things Carrie had mentioned the night before. She couldn’t push Carrie though, especially not if she continued to second guess her own actions too. Kelly sighed sleepily and let her head rest on Carrie’s shoulder when the other girl hugged her back. “As long as you think that what we have is good, then it’s good enough for me.”

Carrie definitely felt more at ease as Kelly leaned against her. The reassurances on Kelly’s part had helped her nerves, it was their embrace though that was more peaceful to her endless thoughts. “It is, it’s right.” Carrie wasn’t completely positive that she could handle a relationship with Kelly, but she was convinced that it was because she hadn’t had the opportunities to think of Kelly in a romantic sense. Kelly’s stroking had disconcerted her at first; though just like the kiss, it hadn’t taken her much to relax and trust her feelings. Carrie leaned away as she brought her hand up to Kelly’s neck and held the other girl in place for a short kiss. “I’ll talk to you later.”

Kelly couldn’t stop her own grin when Carrie smiled at her. She happily watched the other girl’s exit; just glad Carrie trusted her to help figure out what their relationship would mean to Carrie personally. Kelly got up from the bed and made her way to the bathroom. Jason would be surprised that she was up before noon on her own, but she wanted to go home and work so that she could come back later after Carrie left the studio. Kelly frowned when she saw her reflection in the mirror. It was a wonder that Carrie had kissed her with the case of bedhead she had. She quietly laughed at herself and decided to hurry; maybe she could catch Carrie if she got ready fast enough.

Carrie flipped through her keys as she stood in front of her front door. She needed to be in her car in the next few minutes, or Matt would insist that he could drive her when he made his daily morning call to make sure that she was ready. She quickly locked the door once she found the right keys, though even in her haste, she noticed that she had more house keys than she should. “Shit.” Carrie started to unlock the house again because the extra key meant that she had forgotten to put the key back when Kelly had returned it to her. She had just gotten the door unlocked when she heard another car in the driveway. She glanced at her watch and wondered if Matt had decided to forgo his usual call and had just driven over.

Jason smiled as he parked the car and turned it off; he had hoped that Carrie and his sister would be at the house. He had gone along with Ashley’s plan to give Kelly and Carrie time alone together, but he was glad that Kelly and he had some business to discuss, and that he had been right when he figured that the couple would be up early. Jason got out of the car and held his hand up in a mock wave when Carrie saw him. With any luck, they could discuss the business and he wouldn’t interfere with Kelly and Carrie’s plans for the day. “Hey, Care!”

Carrie just smiled in Jason’s direction and opened the door to her house as she started to dig through her bag for her phone. She didn’t want to be rude and leave Jason, though she had to call Matt before he called her since she wouldn’t be on her way to the studio now because of Jason’s arrival. “Shit.” Carrie sighed and hoped she would manage to say something else while she recorded. By the time Jason reached her, she had found her phone. As she pushed the speed dial button for Matt, she waved Jason inside and smiled. “I forgot something. There’s coffee in the kitchen if you want.” She wasn’t sure she wanted to know why Jason had come over; Kelly had driven over, so it wasn’t like he had to drive Kelly back.

Jason would have laughed at Carrie’s joke about forgetting Kelly if she weren’t on the phone. He amusedly watched as Carrie tried to hold the phone to her ear and flipped through her keys for no apparent reason. “I’ll just get some coffee while you’re on the phone then.” Jason stopped when Carrie touched his arm and apologetically smiled at him.

“I’m sorry, Jason, I’m just in a hurry because I’m late for the studio. I wish I had time to stay and talk.” Carrie was sorry; she might have thought Jason was crazy two weeks ago, but part of the reason that she even felt remotely ready to go into the studio was that she knew he wouldn’t hold her feelings for Kelly against her. She half listened as Matt answered the phone and began to tease her. “Maybe we can all do something tonight?” Carrie ignored Matt’s question and smiled when Jason agreed before he headed off to the kitchen.

Kelly raced down the stairs when she heard voices and realized that she hadn’t missed Carrie yet. The house had been completely quiet when she had finished making herself sufficiently presentable, and she hadn’t seen Ace at all upstairs, so she had decided to get a shower. Fortunately, she had heard what she thought was a conversation and had headed downstairs. Kelly giggled when she saw that Carrie was on the phone. She had trouble containing her laughter as she snuck up on Carrie while the other girl tried to convince Matt that he didn’t have to drive over. Kelly slipped her arms around Carrie’s waist just as the blonde finished messing with one of the shelves. “Tell him I said I’ll drive you.”

Carrie almost jumped at the unexpected touch, only Kelly’s familiar voice kept her from cursing again. “Matt, I’ll be out the door in two minutes, go to the studio.” She hung up on her best friend and set her phone down on the shelf next to where she kept the extra key, which she had returned before Kelly had decided to sneak up on her. Carrie easily turned around, although it was much harder for her to deny that she wanted to hug Kelly back. “Kel, Jason’s here.”

Kelly playfully rolled her eyes that her brother had come over unannounced. She hadn’t needed to hear Carrie’s whispered words to recognize that Carrie was frazzled already by being late to the studio. She hugged Carrie a bit more tightly and quietly whispered back. “That’s too bad for him since I already volunteered to give you a ride to the studio.” Kelly laughed quietly as she ended the hug. “Don’t worry, just go to the studio. Call me during your lunch break?”

Carrie had started to smile at the joke, but Kelly’s question made her wonder if the other girl had taken her words the wrong way. She wasn’t the type to be affectionate in front of other people, and Kelly knew that, though she hadn’t meant for Kelly to pull away so quickly, even if she was late. Carrie took Kelly by the hand before she could reconsider her snap decision, and she led them upstairs so Jason couldn’t see them when he returned to the living room. When they were out of sight, she pulled the shorter girl close and kissed Kelly to smooth over any doubts.

Kelly automatically grinned as Carrie ended the kiss. “I am, so, glad that I caught you before I left.” She took a moment to watch Carrie laugh, then she leaned in and kissed the blonde before Carrie could laugh too hard. She slowly moved her lips against Carrie’s; delighted when Carrie quickly followed her lead so that she could take her time. Kelly would have liked to explore more than Carrie’s supple lips, but she broke away because she wanted to go at the other girl’s comfort level. “Have a good day at the studio.”

Carrie dazedly stared at Kelly as she seriously considered being a little later if she could get a replay of the kiss. A giggle from Kelly brought her out of her thoughts, and Carrie remembered why she had taken Kelly aside. “I told Jason all of us could get together some time for dinner.” She might not be comfortable with displays of affection, but she wanted Kelly to know that she wanted to be around Kelly and the people in Kelly’s life. “I really have to go now, but talk to him and figure out a good day for us, okay?” Carrie had to grin when Kelly nodded excitedly, although she did manage to make herself move so she could get out the door and on to work.

Jason had just made it to the living room when he noticed Carrie at the bottom of the stairs. He opened his mouth to ask if she had found whatever she had forgotten, but her hands were empty and she had a silly smile on her face. “Bye, Care.” He chuckled as Carrie belatedly waved at him and walked on to the door. He knew that Carrie could have found whatever it had been and put it in her bag, it was the smile on her face though that made him think that really she had just wanted to say goodbye to Kelly again. Normally he would have been slightly uncomfortable with the thought of Kelly kissing someone; it was different now though because Kelly was so happy. Jason sat down on the couch and looked around for the remote so he could turn on some sports. “When you scrape yourself up off the floor, Kel, we have some details about the shows we have to go over!”

Kelly momentarily frowned when she heard Jason quietly laughing at his own joke, although she couldn’t be bothered to actually get upset. She could handle her brother’s teasing since she knew that Carrie did have feelings for her. Kelly bounced down the stairs while she thought about the way Carrie had looked at her before leaving; she had wanted to tell Carrie all her feelings when she saw the smile on the blonde’s face. She could wait to tell Carrie, she didn’t want to screw everything up by rushing, because she thought they were right together too.
****

Carrie knocked on the door to Kelly’s house as she reminded herself that it was just like any other visit to her friend’s place. Jason and Ashley didn’t know that things had changed between her and Kelly, so there was no reason to be nervous. Still, Carrie was a little nervous because even though she knew Jason wouldn’t be a problem, she had her doubts about Ashley. Carrie straightened up and held onto the package in her hands when she heard some shouts from inside over who would answer the door. She hoped that it would be anyone other than Ashley.

Jason laughed as he blocked Kelly from the door. He didn’t have to answer the door to know that Carrie was the one who had knocked. Since Kelly hadn’t left earlier to go over to Carrie’s, he had been pretty sure the country singer would be making a stop at the house; and Kelly’s reaction, to jump up from the couch to get to the door first, had convinced him. “Hold up, Kel! It could be anyone, let me answer.” Jason put his arms out so Kelly couldn’t get past him.

“Jason, just answer the door already if you’re not going to let me open it!” Kelly tried to duck under her brother’s arm since Jason wasn’t facing her, and then she swatted at him when he easily pushed her back. “Jason!” Kelly backed away and crossed her arms over her chest while she looked at Ashley to help her.

“I swear, I don’t even get that kind of reaction when I’ve been gone for a week.” Ashley snickered when Kelly gave her a dark look. She didn’t mean her comment, she only wanted to help Kelly with the gentle reminder. “Just open the door before whoever it is goes away.”

Jason held in his laughter and opened the door without checking to see if it was Carrie or not. He did not want to anger his sister or Carrie. He grinned and stepped back so the blonde could come into the house. “Sorry it took so long, we-”

Kelly moved forward and stepped on Jason’s foot so he wouldn’t say anything about their scuffle to answer the door. She didn’t want to come off like an eager teenager, especially since it hadn’t even been two whole days that she and Carrie had been apart. “Ignore him, he’s had one too many.”

Carrie didn’t contradict Kelly, though if she knew anything about the siblings, she was sure they had been fighting over opening the door. She smiled at Kelly, and then turned to Jason. “Speaking of beer, I have a friend who brews his own. He invited me up to his place to try this new kind, do you think you’d want to come with me, Jase?” Carrie felt awkward using the nickname, but she wanted to get to know Jason better.

Jason shut his eyes and waited for Kelly to stomp on his foot again, but the blow never came. “Really?” He shut the door, thankful that it got him a little further away from Kelly. “That would be cool.” He refrained from asking more questions when he saw the impatient expression on Kelly’s face.

“Are you guys going to let her in past the front door or what?” Ashley giggled at her friends’ behavior. She was glad that Carrie had come over, though she would bet that Carrie wouldn’t hang out with all of them if Kelly had any say. “Carrie, you might as well back away from the two of them before they start fighting again. They’re not playing nicely with each other today.”

Kelly looked at Ashley exasperatedly. Just once she wished that she could have someone over without Jason or Ashley embarrassing her in some way. Kelly did not even want to think about how bad the teasing would be when she actually told Ashley about Carrie. She took Carrie by the hand and leaned in so that no one else could hear her. “Say hi before one of them decides to drag you into the game we were playing.”

Carrie chuckled and nodded her head to Jason as Kelly pulled her towards the stairs. “Hi, Ashley! Bye, Ashley!” She wasn’t about to protest that they were leaving the others behind if it meant that she could spend some time alone with Kelly. Carrie silently followed Kelly until they were far enough away from Jason and Ashley. “Any reason in particular why you’re dragging me away from the living room?”

Kelly didn’t say a word until they were both in her room and she had shut the door. “Not really, no. I love it when my best friend and my brother do stupid stuff in front of people I like.” Kelly smiled when Carrie hugged her, although she chose to ignore the blonde’s laughter. “Did you stop and check on Ace after you left the studio?” She would feel a little bad if Carrie hadn’t gone home first.

Carrie pulled back from the embrace with a smile. “Yes, I did.” She had also changed clothes, but Carrie didn’t think Kelly needed to know that information. “Matt wanted to go hang out, but I told him that I already had plans with you.” She had spent some time with Matt and Tommy on Sunday, and she had spent most of the day in the studio with Matt, so she didn’t feel bad about saying no to Matt. “I got you something.”

Kelly studied the takeout container Carrie held out to her. She had noticed it, but she had just assumed that Carrie hadn’t ate dinner yet. “First, you try to get in good with my brother by offering to take him on a trip to get drunk, and now you bring me food. You’re a strange girl, but I like it.” She took the box and set it on top of a shelf, and then she wrapped her arms around Carrie’s waist. “You don’t have to bring me stuff, Care. I’m just glad you came over.”

Carrie blushed and wondered if maybe she should have gotten Kelly a real present. She had thought that she had managed a good surprise, but Kelly didn’t seem interested. “I want to be here too.” She looked down for a second before she leaned in and lightly kissed Kelly on the lips. “What I really want though, is for you to open up that box before Jason realizes what’s in it.”

Kelly reluctantly let go of Carrie and retrieved the container. “Should have known you weren’t the type to bring chocolate.” She giggled and opened up the food container while Carrie blushed. She forgot all about how cute Carrie looked while blushing when she saw that Carrie had brought her dessert from the restaurant where they’d had their first date. “Are you sure you haven’t done this before? Because you’re really good at being sweet.”

Carrie willed herself not to blush and carefully put her arms around Kelly. “I was thinking about how things are gonna be hit and miss for the next week or so, what with your band coming in for rehearsals and all. So, I thought I would,” Carrie slowly stopped and tried to remember what was she had thought to say to Kelly. She’d had it all planned out, but she couldn’t remember her reasoning; Kelly was smiling at her. “I was thinking about when we went out, and I just thought it would be a good idea.”

Kelly set the box on the shelf again, and then she hugged Carrie. She loved the gesture and that Carrie had taken the time to stop to get the dessert for her. “You, so, left the studio early to pull this off.” She held Carrie close and kept her head back so that she could see Carrie blush. “If everyone could see this side of you, then no one would ever call you names like they do in the-” Kelly wasn’t surprised when Carrie cut her off with another kiss.

As she gently kissed Kelly, Carrie felt herself relax while the shorter girl’s arms moved up around her neck. She wanted to be closer to Kelly, but she wasn’t sure if she should move her hands to Kelly’s hips or back, or what. A change in position of her arms wouldn’t make any difference in how close they were really, though Carrie felt like she should do something different. Frustrated with herself, Carrie ended the kiss. “Go on a date with me?”

Kelly couldn’t keep the laughter out of her voice as she answered Carrie. “Yeah, of course. When do you want to go out?” She started to pull away from Carrie, so that they could sit down and eat the dessert while they planned their date, but Carrie didn’t let go of her. She raised an eyebrow in a silent question, although she happily kept her arms around Carrie’s neck.

“I thought maybe we could go out once you guys had a chance to rehearse some. How’s Thursday sound?” Carrie didn’t want to talk about why she hadn’t let Kelly go. She had shared her feelings with Kelly about her confusion; she didn’t think that the girl had to know about everything though. Carrie couldn’t get comfortable with them if they were both anxious about unintentionally hurting each other. “I’ll get out early, and we can go wherever you’d like?”

Kelly had already said yes, so she thought it was funny that Carrie was trying to talk her into the date. “Thursday sounds good. I’m going to see you before then, right?” She held her hands together so that she didn’t play with Carrie’s hair while they talked. Kelly liked that Carrie was trying so hard, though she knew their interactions had to be a little unnerving for Carrie because of the newness alone. “Maybe you could come back Wednesday and meet the band?”

Carrie kept her face blank, even though her head filled with scenarios of how the meeting might go. She thought she could handle a group of guys, it wasn’t like Kelly wanted to tell everyone about them. “I’ll do you one better, how about I take everyone out? That way we can all talk and get to know each other. Maybe I’ll even dance with you again.” Carrie grinned and let her hands drop down to Kelly’s hips. She lightly held Kelly to her as she tried to sort out her new thoughts and pay attention to their conversation.

Kelly waited a little to speak. She hadn’t expected the flirting or the touching, and even though Carrie had sounded very assured and confident, she knew better than to ask questions. Carrie was way too tense again, however, the longer she waited, the more Carrie loosened up. “I think you’re about to get a bunch of new guy friends. Though if we don’t end up dancing, I’m so gonna make you plan our date on your own.”

Carrie actually liked the idea of her planning their date, in spite of Kelly's joking tone. “I can do that. You did plan our first one after all.” She automatically tightened her grip on Kelly’s hips when the other girl laughed. “Since I’m going to plan it, you think we could eat dessert before it gets too cold?” Carrie smiled teasingly and lowered her head long enough to peck Kelly’s lips before she let go and picked up the container. “I got the one without almonds that you liked.”

Kelly shook her head and took Carrie’s hand in her own as she tried not to laugh. “Well, I’m not gonna say no to that.” She wondered what kind of date Carrie would plan for them. She had a feeling that whatever they ended up doing would be fun, not as fun as dancing, but maybe Carrie would surprise her again.
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So Cold