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
- 16
- 17
- 18
I'm glad you guys are enjoyed the last chapter. It had a little sadness, but it was mostly happy :) I have to admit that Kelly is much more easier to write than Carrie since I've never liked guys. So I'm really glad that people are interested in the way that impacts the story.

Ch 17

Kelly stifled her giggles as they walked along the sidewalks back to Carrie’s car. She didn’t think that Carrie would find it funny that she still got a kick out of the blonde’s choice to wear a dress. It didn’t matter that she knew Carrie wore dresses to award functions, and that before they had become friends, she always saw Carrie in dresses; the last time they had been on a date, Carrie had wore pants and a dressy shirt, and she had expected the same for their date. Kelly took a sidelong glance at Carrie and once again had to smother her giggles by pressing her lips together. “Are you taking longer to walk so that I’ll laugh? Cuz if you are, that’s just mean.”

Carrie wasn’t drawing out their walk to make Kelly laugh. She walked slowly because she didn’t know how to end their date. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just enjoying the night air.” The night before they had gone out with Kelly’s band to a bar, while that had been fun, Carrie wanted to enjoy the walk from the restaurant to the car. She had so few dates that didn’t have paparazzi tagging along, unless the dates were more outings with a group of friends anyway, that she just wanted to prolong the night a little longer. “Why are you going to laugh?”

Kelly held her purse straps tighter in one hand so that she didn’t reach out and take Carrie’s hand. The only real contact she had gotten from Carrie had been when the country singer had picked her up and given her a kiss. “No reason, really.” Kelly liked their meandering walk, but she hoped they could get to the car soon. The date had gone very well; the only downside had been their lack of touching because of the people around them throughout their evening. “I just think it’s funny that the both of us are walking down the street like we are.”

Carrie snickered as she considered Kelly’s words. She did think it was kind of funny that they were walking down the street without too much recognition, and there was also the fact that they didn’t have anyone with them. “It is kinda funny.” Carrie momentarily wondered if she should have asked her manager for some security. She hadn’t wanted to make the date a big production though, so she hadn’t asked. “I guess Jason must trust me if he didn’t insist on coming with us.”

Kelly had to laugh; they had gone out before without Jason being over protective. “He knows better. Although, I wouldn’t be surprised if you told me that he called you and asked what restaurant we were going to. He would so try to figure out if it gets a lot of traffic.” Kelly smiled at Carrie’s laughter, though she was just as happy to see that they were in the parking area where they had parked.

“I think we should keep Matt and Jason very far apart, otherwise we’d end up going out on dates planned to the tiniest detail.” Carrie glanced around them to see if anyone was paying attention to them, and then she casually reached out and held Kelly’s hand. Kelly was an affectionate person in general, and since their first kiss, Carrie had tried to allow herself to be more so also; it was difficult though when she knew neither of them wanted it to get out about them. “Is this okay?”

Kelly nodded her head as she held in her first reaction. She didn’t know how Carrie would take it if she said that the girl’s concern for her was cute. “It’s more than okay.” She smiled at Carrie and rearranged their hands so that her fingers were laced with Carrie’s. When Carrie laughed shortly at the change, she grinned and tried to think of something else to say to make Carrie laugh. “If Jason were here though, he’d probably go on about us not having our hands free.”

Carrie could imagine what Jason would say from her own experiences with Matt, and that only made her laugh harder.

“He’d probably scowl at us and be like, you two should know better!” Kelly did her best impression of Jason’s serious face; it was difficult though because she wanted to laugh with Carrie.

Carrie chuckled and held her free hand to her stomach, though she laughed even harder as her purse fell down to the crook of her arm. “He would not!” She thought Kelly was right, but she didn’t want to let go of Kelly’s hand or lose her purse because of her laughter.

“Oh, he so would. You don’t want to even know how long it took him to get used to the band.” Kelly couldn’t hold in her laughter when Carrie lightly hit her arm to get her to shut up; she batted Carrie’s hand away and continued. “You saw how he was on the dance floor; imagine ten times that protectiveness around all of my band.”

Carrie pressed her lips together so that she wouldn’t laugh, but it was a struggle. She took a deep breath when she saw the grin on Kelly’s face and heard the pop singer’s giggle falter. “Kelly, whatever you’re about to say-”

“The guys are all taller than him, so he was watching them, giving them looks.” Kelly snickered when Carrie held onto her hand tighter and tried to get the purse back on the blonde’s shoulder. “Not to mention all the guys in the club that he kept giving dirty looks too. I think he was relieved when I came out, it’s not like he’d hit a girl.”

Carrie couldn’t hold her laughter in any longer. She stopped walking and held onto Kelly as the images finally took hold in her mind because of Kelly’s description. She bent over slightly while she tried to stop laughing, but she couldn’t stop picturing Jason giving menacing looks to a club full of guys, let alone Kelly’s band members who were married or with someone. “You’re so mean.” Carrie straightened up, even though she didn’t have control over her laughter. “I don’t even want to know what you said about me to your band last night.”

Kelly quietly grinned and held onto Carrie’s hands as the other girl’s laughter faded. She wanted to continue to joke, partially because she knew Carrie could use the laughter, but mainly because she wanted to watch Carrie laugh. The dress, the sound of Carrie’s amusement, it all worked together and made her want to lean in and kiss the beautiful woman that had unwittingly won her over. Kelly ran her thumb over Carrie’s wrist, too distracted by her thoughts to care about other people.

Carrie wasn’t aware of Kelly’s actions until the brunette pulled away. Even though Kelly still held her hand, Carrie wanted Kelly’s other hand back in her own. She took a deep breath and squeezed the brunette’s hand softly; she hoped they would end up at her house. Carrie knew the date aspect of their night would be over the second they reached Kelly’s house. She walked faster to her car while she tried to think of a way to invite Kelly to her house without Kelly misunderstanding her intentions.

Kelly didn’t know what Carrie was thinking about; she could tell that the other girl was trying to decide something. She wanted to continue to make Carrie laugh, but she kept her mouth shut because she kind of liked the serious look on Carrie’s face. It wasn’t until they reached the car that Kelly thought about why Carrie might be nervous. “I’m really enjoying our date.” Kelly didn’t try to hide her grin when Carrie paused for a second while unlocking the car. She had been nervous at the end of the date she had planned for them, so she wanted to reassure Carrie.

“Me too.” Carrie opened the passenger side door and reluctantly released the Kelly’s hand. She waited until Kelly was in the car, and then she shut the door and walked around to the driver’s side. She was pleased that the date had lived up to whatever expectations Kelly had held. Carrie thought Kelly’s words also meant that the other girl wasn’t ready for their date to end. She quickly got in the car and started it, at ease now that she knew they both wanted the night to continue. Carrie confidently took one of Kelly’s hands in her own again as she navigated her car out of the parking space and gave herself some time to ask Kelly to her house.

The change in Carrie’s expressions convinced Kelly that she had assumed correctly, so she decided to joke around once more. “You know the guys did ask me about you.” Kelly turned her head in Carrie’s direction to see the blonde’s reaction. She had blushed and tried to deny that there had been anything going on between Carrie and herself when her friends had asked, but her friends knew her too well. She and Carrie hadn’t been overly affection at the club. “Apparently, they thought something was going on because of our dancing.”

Carrie snickered at Kelly’s joke. “Well, if I had known that, I would have just given you a goodnight kiss in front of them.” She briefly looked at Kelly before she turned her attention back to the traffic. Kelly had wanted dancing, so she had danced; and she knew Kelly had enjoyed it because of the way Kelly had stared at her while they had danced. “Y’all have dirty minds. First, you think I dance-”

Kelly laughed at Carrie’s nonchalant dismissal of her friends’ opinions, and then she interrupted. “Oh, please! You so dance like you’re,” Kelly stopped before she could say something that might make Carrie uncomfortable. She pouted slightly when Carrie’s smile turned into a large grin because of her hesitancy. “You know you do. Don’t even try to be all cocky.”

Carrie softly squeezed Kelly’s hand as she pulled out of the parking lot. She wanted to tease Kelly, but she knew that they could go back and forth for a while. “So, what’d they say about me and you? Should I be happy that they didn’t try to interrogate me about my feelings for you?” Carrie wasn’t serious, though she knew she had to address the band issue. She also knew she had to ask Kelly wanted to do next, or in a few minutes she would have to turn the car around.

Kelly studied Carrie’s face for any signs of regret or fear, but she didn’t see anything to suggest Carrie was upset that the band had figured out the feelings between them. “It wasn’t you so much, it was me. Between the dancing and the way I looked at you, they knew something was up. They like you.” Kelly had to grin because Carrie had impressed her band, though she hadn’t doubted that the blonde would. She had wanted to tell her band about Carrie, but she had held back for Carrie’s sake, even though at the time she had tried to justify her urge to tell her band with the fact that all of her lesbian and gay friends thought Carrie was gay because of the parties.

Carrie was relieved to hear that Kelly’s friends liked her; she had enjoyed the night out with the band too. “I like them too. They’re cool. I can see myself spending time with them.” Carrie left it open to Kelly to decide under what circumstances she might hang out with the band, but she could see herself joking around with the guys after a show. She didn’t want to tell Kelly that though because maybe Kelly didn’t want to think that she would like to spend some of her break traveling out of state for a show and time with Kelly. “So… what did you tell them about us?”

Kelly thought she heard some trepidation in Carrie’s voice this time, so she brushed her thumb over the back of Carrie’s hand that she held. “I didn’t really say anything one way or the other. I don’t know what you would want me to say to them. It was pretty obvious to them though that I liked you, so I just told them that I liked you. Then I pelted them with pillows because they started teasing me about trying to get with you. They think you’re the perfect girl because you drink and joke around like them but dress up all girly.” Kelly giggled as she remembered how her musical director had teased her about picking up Nashville’s hottest country singer.

Carrie rolled her eyes at the mention of her fashion sense. “Just because I like to wear dresses doesn’t mean you can laugh. I know you don’t like getting ready for things like award shows, but I do.” Carrie glanced at Kelly. She looked at Kelly’s choice of clothing for their date; she liked the simple dress’ cut, though she wondered why Kelly had a red sweater on over top of a black dress. Color appropriateness aside, Carrie liked that Kelly chose outfits that worked with her friend’s body. “I don’t know why you don’t like it though; I think you always look good. You can’t go wrong with a black dress, and I know that’s your favorite color with your clothes.”

Kelly blushed because of the comments; Carrie had complimented her dress within the first five minutes of arriving at her house, but she hadn’t really expected another mention. “Whatever, you like dressing up because you get to play around with all the different types of dresses, whereas I cannot.” Kelly gestured towards the lower half of her body with her free hand. “Besides, you know I can’t even sit still when Ashley does my make up; and she’s my friend.”

Carrie frowned at Kelly’s choice of words. She was thrown by Kelly’s comments; the blasé tone of Kelly’s voice didn’t help her understanding, though she was happy Kelly was still stroking the back of her hand. “You always look great though. You know what works for you.” Carrie wanted to talk about something else; Kelly’s sudden quietness unnerved her. She thought back on the conversation again; she didn’t think that she had said anything bad about Kelly. “You know you look hot, right?”

Kelly didn’t know what to think about the red tint to Carrie’s cheeks, though she wished they could talk about something other than clothes. “Are you trying to compliment me so we can talk about clothes, or are you trying to distract me from talking about the band?” Kelly hoped that Carrie was complimenting her because Carrie hadn’t called her cute or hot before. She had noticed Carrie shyness when it came to the new physical aspect of their relationship and the way Carrie thought of her.

“Neither. I just want you to know that I think you always look good, that’s the point of red carpets. But since you want to talk about the band, it’s all right if you tell them about us. I kinda figured that you had already told them, which I’m fine with, they’re your friends.” Carrie licked her lips and momentarily wished that she could talk to her best friends about her relationship with Kelly. “Have you told Ashley?” Carrie was pretty sure Kelly’s answer would be no, mostly because Ashley hadn’t threatened her again. She assumed that if her polite try to turn Kelly down had earned a bitchy phone call, her confused feelings about Kelly would warrant the same.

Kelly didn’t know which question to answer first. She didn’t really want to answer Carrie’s questions; she wanted to ask Carrie when the other girl had come to think of her as hot or cute. Those statements had surprised her, and then the thing about Carrie being all right with her telling the band about them had surprised her even more. If Carrie hadn’t brought up Ashley, Kelly would have loved the direction their conversation had taken. “I’m not going to tell Ashley right now, if that’s okay with you? I do want to tell the band though.” Kelly turned in her seat towards Carrie. “I just want to do whatever is comfortable for you, and I know Ashley…”

Carrie didn’t finish Kelly’s words; there was no need to point out that Ashley hadn’t liked the thought of them together. “I am comfortable with what we’re doing.” She briefly smiled at Kelly and tightened her grip on the other girl’s hand. “I know you’re used to more, and I wish that I was at a place where you could tell Ashley, but I’m not there yet. I can’t really be dealing with my questions and be ready to stand up to her when she flips about you and me. I want to get to that place because I don’t want you fighting with her and worrying about me.” Carrie swallowed uneasily a few times because of how Kelly might react. “Do you want to come back to my place?”

Kelly grinned, even though Carrie was staring at the road and the traffic. “Yeah, I’m not gonna run off just because you said I can tell my friends about us.” She giggled when she saw the tiny smile on Carrie’s face. After what Carrie had said, Kelly didn’t want to go home. She probably should have already figured it out on her own how Carrie felt, but she was happy Carrie had told her. She wanted to ask if Carrie wanted to tell Tommy or Matt, though she felt like that would be like pushing, especially after Carrie had said there wasn’t a problem with her band knowing. “I’m really happy that you’re okay with me telling the guys. I don’t think I could have lied to them. At my last show, it was pretty obvious that I wasn’t totally there because I missed you.”

Carrie chuckled at Kelly’s honest admission; she had said the same thing when Kelly had returned. “I’m gonna miss you when you leave, so I guess it’s a good thing your friends know. They can keep you in a good mood until you get back.” Carrie knew that Kelly would only be gone for a few days, but she would miss seeing Kelly after a long day at the studio. “You’re gonna be back before I finish in the studio?” She wasn’t sure how many days Kelly would be gone exactly, she just knew that her studio time would be over with in two days. Carrie was looking forward to having her days free because she wanted to go to Kelly’s shows if the other girl thought it wouldn’t be too distracting. She also couldn’t wait to plan their next date with Kelly.

Kelly knew Carrie’s last day in the studio was supposed to be Saturday, though she wasn’t sure because of Carrie’s stupid producer, Mark’s propensity to make Carrie do multiple cuts. “I don’t know for sure. I’ll try, but I’ll definitely be back Sunday. We can spend the day doing whatever you want.” Kelly wasn’t eager to miss the end of Carrie’s recording, but she couldn’t cancel her show. “I will definitely call you every night if you want. Hell, I’ll even listen if you call me while you’re out celebrating the end of recording with Tommy and Matt. It might be fun to see what I can get you to say when you’re drunk.” Kelly giggled when Carrie pretended to groan.

“Was that why you kept trying to get me to drink more last night? I thought you were just trying to get me drunk so that I’d kiss you in the club.” Carrie laughed once when Kelly hit her shoulder. “Well what else was I supposed to think? I thought you were just a little drunk yourself and wanted some attention despite the fact that we were in public. Now I know better.” Carrie didn’t want to have their date become too serious, although she liked that Kelly had promised to call her everyday. She bit her lip and struggled to keep her eyes on the road when Kelly hit her shoulder again for her comments. “What would you have asked me?”

The leering tone of Carrie’s voice made her laugh regardless of her determination to keep up her charade of being upset with Carrie. “You are such a guy sometimes!” Kelly giggled and used their joined hands this time to hit Carrie’s leg when the blonde laughed at her. “I think I’m going to have to ask you to take me home. Who knows what you have planned for me back at your place?” She stopped giggling when she realized what she had said, though she was able to keep her smile on her face. Kelly didn’t have to wait long, after a second Carrie laughed at her joke. She was glad that Carrie was okay with joking around about them, it was unexpected, but good.

Carrie wanted to look over at Kelly, however she kept her attention on the road. “I suppose if I don’t take you home, you’re gonna accuse me of kidnapping you again, aren’t you?” This time when Kelly tried to use their hands to knock her knee, Carrie was prepared. She used her strength to stop Kelly’s attempt to hit her, though she made up for her action by copying Kelly’s earlier motions on the back of the brunette’s hand. “I promise you’ll like what I have planned. I’m a very nice kidnapper.” Carrie didn’t have a plan really, she had just picked up a couple movies she thought Kelly would like. She thought Kelly would appreciate some time alone since Kelly had to leave in the morning for the show.

Kelly couldn’t make herself pretend to be upset, not when Carrie was in such a good mood and wanted to spend time with her. “What do you have planned?” She continued to cajole Carrie, but the country singer refused to answer her. Kelly gave up on her impromptu questioning and settled down in her seat properly once again. She smiled at the sensation of Carrie’s thumb brushing across the back of her hand. She was even happy that this time her turning in her seat hadn’t upset Carrie. It all showed that the other girl was becoming more comfortable with her and the idea of them in general.
****

Tommy quietly shut the door and then sat down next to Matt on the couch. He had come to the studio to spend some time with his friends since he hadn’t seen them for a few days. “Hey, how’s it going today? Mark managing to keep his asshole side to a minimum?”

Matt snickered while he glanced at his watch. He was surprised to see that it was time for their lunch break. “It’s been going well. We’ll probably be finished in the next few minutes.” He leaned towards Tommy and lowered his voice so no one else in the room could hear.

Tommy tried to keep his eyes averted from the other people while Matt talked about what had happened so far during the recordings. He would not be able to stop himself from smirking from all the details if he looked at the people Matt was speaking of; not that he cared really, he just didn’t want to cause problems for Carrie or Matt.

When Mark was satisfied with their progress, Carrie excitedly exited the booth. She almost wanted to stay and work through lunch so that they could be closer to the end of their work, but she didn’t relish the idea of missing Kelly’s usual lunchtime call. Carrie stopped in the middle of the room when she saw both of her friends on the couch. Matt didn’t think anything of Kelly’s calls. Carrie didn’t know how Tommy would react; if he would want to talk to Kelly, or if he would see how much she missed Kelly. She didn’t want to find out, but she couldn’t ditch her friends.

Matt sat back and watched Tommy try not to giggle over the story he had told to occupy them. He smiled when he saw that Carrie was ready to leave for the break. “Look who missed us.” He laughed when Tommy blushed, and then he stood up and walked over to Carrie. “He can’t even go a whole week without us.”

Tommy rolled his eyes at Matt’s teasing as he got up from the couch and walked over to the pair. “This is the last time I try to be nice if you’re just going to tease me.” He hugged Carrie, though he backed away when Carrie took longer than usual to return the embrace. Tommy looked at her quizzically for a second, but decided to let it go when she smiled at him.

Carrie chuckled weakly and walked over to the other side of the room where she had left her bag. She knew it was ridiculous to be nervous around Tommy; it wasn’t like he would be able to see that she had feelings for Kelly. “I’ll make Matt go get us lunch or something.” Carrie grabbed her bag and smiled as a few techs walked by her. “I’m kidding. I was up early today, so I made something.”

Matt hadn’t expected for Carrie to have made lunch. “Is that why you disappeared once we got here? I don’t know, Care, even if you remembered to put the food in the refrigerator this time,” Matt grinned when Tommy chuckled at the mention of the last time Carrie had cooked for them. “I’m not really feeling like some strange casserole.” He had no problem with Carrie being a vegetarian; he just thought the food bland.

Tommy shrugged his shoulders when Carrie looked at him for approval of the meal. “I’m up for a new food experience. You did remember to put it away when you got here?”

Carrie stared at her friends with a dry look. “Of course, but if you’d rather go somewhere else, that’s fine. Just means more for me.” Carrie walked away. She wasn’t offended, but she knew Kelly would have tried the food without giving her a hard time. She didn’t like feeling apprehensive around Matt and Tommy, although it was easier to forget about with Matt.

Matt looked at Tommy, who was looking at him, and then he hurried after Carrie to catch up with his boss. “Wait up, Care.”

Tommy was right behind Matt. “Yeah, I said I wanted to try whatever you made.” He was glad when Carrie slowed enough so that she walked with them, and not in front of them. “You guys go on to the conference room, and I’ll go get lunch.”

Carrie nodded her head, but didn’t speak, she just headed to the conference room where they usually ate lunch. She was relieved that she had a little time to adapt to Tommy’s presence. Carrie knew she had handled her friend’s arrival badly. She couldn’t help though that she felt like Tommy would know that things had changed between her and Kelly because he was gay. Tommy hadn’t even known Kelly before her, and he had been right about Kelly being a lesbian. It wouldn’t take him very long at all to see that she had feelings for Kelly.

Matt didn’t know what to think because of the way Carrie had walked off, or that she hadn’t even tried to help Tommy out by explaining whatever it was she had made for lunch. “You were up early enough to cook?” Matt patiently followed Carrie into the conference room, and then he sat in a seat next to his best friend. “Don’t tell me you’re still recovering from when you went out with Kelly’s band?” He meant it as a joke, or a way for Carrie to bring up a subject.

Carrie couldn’t tell Matt that she had been up early because Kelly had to leave town well before she had needed to be at the studio. “No, I was up before the alarm, so I-” Carrie quit trying to explain when her phone rang. She didn’t think she’d ever been so glad to get a call; she really didn’t want to lie to Matt. She pulled the phone out of her pocket and smiled when she saw that it was Kelly. “I have to answer this, but I’ll get off in a few minutes.”

Matt was accustomed to Carrie receiving important phone calls, although typically he got a call also if it was about Carrie’s schedule. He just smiled and drummed his fingers against the table when Carrie went to the other side of the room to talk. He wondered who was on the line. Carrie had expected the call, he knew because the phone hadn’t been set to silent like normal. There was also the fact that Carrie hadn’t given him the phone to hold while she recorded.

Tommy carefully opened the door to the conference room since his hands were full; and then he cautiously brought everything to the table in front of Matt when he saw that he wouldn’t get any help from his friends. He glanced in Carrie’s direction as he sat down next to Matt. “I don’t know what this is, but I didn’t burn it and I didn’t blow up the microwave.”

Matt quietly laughed at Tommy’s declaration as he peaked into the covered dish. “I don’t know about you, but I’m going to wait until she gets a plate. At least she’ll know if you messed it up or not.”

Tommy snickered at Matt’s comment; he could never tell if the stuff Carrie made was cooked all the way through. “Who is she on the phone with? We don’t have anything going on for a few weeks I thought?” He glanced over again. Carrie was smiling, so maybe it wasn’t about music.

Matt leaned in since Carrie was still on the phone and he didn’t want to make it difficult for her to hear. “It could be Kelly. She calls Carrie during lunch, but I think she’s out of town for a show.” Matt idly wondered if there was anything other than water in the studio.

Tommy wanted to look over at Carrie, but he didn’t. He hadn’t known that Carrie and Kelly called each other that often. Tommy couldn’t believe that Matt didn’t think anything of the fact that Carrie and Kelly were so close. He had thought there was something between the girls, especially after the way Carrie had flat out told Matt to stop trying to set her up with guys. “They are getting pretty close. Hector said Kelly didn’t throw one of her parties, even though she was in town.”

Matt dubiously stared at Tommy; he didn’t get why Tommy would mention Kelly’s parties. “What’s that got to do with, Care?” He was happy that Carrie had someone to hang out with since he and Tommy were dating people. When Tommy just looked at him expectantly, Matt rolled his eyes. “So she didn’t throw a party right before her show, big deal. I think it’s good that Carrie and Kelly are friends. She can never have too many good people in her life.”

Tommy didn’t want to talk about Carrie like she wasn’t in the room, but sometimes Matt pissed him off with being such a straight guy. “Yeah, that’s why she’s over there and not sitting with us.” Tommy sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. He made himself available whenever Carrie asked to hang out, but Matt spent more time with Carrie; so for Matt not to consider that something might be going on, it made Tommy want to bring the subject up with Carrie. He could just imagine Matt’s jaw dropping if Carrie tried to talk about Kelly to the other man.

“I’ll be back. I’m going to get some drinks for us.” Matt left before Tommy could turn the topic back to Carrie and Kelly. Maybe he could leave and pick up a burger if he told Carrie that he only left to go check on Ace. Matt smiled at the thought of using Ace as an excuse to end the conversation if Tommy started to talk about Kelly again. They did have to check on the dog, it wouldn’t be a lie.

Carrie pressed her lips together when she heard Kelly yawn once again. “Go take that nap you mentioned. You gotta keep up with your sleep if you’re gonna rock your concert tonight.” Kelly had been half asleep for most of their conversation, but it hadn’t bothered Carrie. She grinned when Kelly reluctantly agreed with her and told her goodbye; she knew Kelly had pouted before speaking. “Bye, Kel. I’ll call you after your show.”

Tommy stared at the door as Carrie hung up her phone and walked over to the table. More than ever, he wanted to ask Carrie about Kelly. He would be so glad when Carrie finished recording, at least then Carrie would be around more often. Whether or not she talked to him about Kelly was a different matter altogether. “How’s Kelly doing? I’ve heard a couple things from Hector, but I’m sure you know more since that was her.”

Carrie blinked a few times at the direct question. She damned herself for not leaving the room when Kelly had called. She had thought the conversation wouldn’t last so long though because Kelly had sounded so tired. “She’s good. She’s really excited about the show tonight.” Carrie sat in her chair and smiled at Tommy. She didn’t want to lie, but she knew she would give something away if they talked about Kelly. “How is Hector? I missed seeing him when we hung out on Sunday.”

Tommy smiled at the mention of his boyfriend. “He’s okay. Things are going well, I think.” He wanted to talk about Kelly, but at the same time, he liked talking with Carrie about his boyfriends. “I know you’ve been busy, but having the time off has made it easier to get to know him. Although, there are still some things that he does that I don’t get.” Tommy laughed as he remembered a specific instance. “He doesn’t talk about his feelings a lot, but that’s normal for most of the guys I date.”

Carrie could talk about Hector; she was glad that her maneuvering of the conversation had worked. “How many times have I told you that you’re not likely to find a guy who is as into talking about his feelings as you?” Carrie laughed when Tommy chuckled and acknowledged her words with an embarrassed grin. “He seems cool though from the times I’ve hung out with him. He’s affectionate.” Carrie pointed out helpfully. In her opinion, Hector was more affection than a lot of the guys Tommy had previously dated.

“Hector is affectionate. He’s all sweet and he’ll come up just to give me a hug, and he’s always texting me about how much he wants to see me.” Tommy laughed when Carrie scrunched up her face and pretended to be grossed out. “Oh, please, you haven’t even heard of the things he does.” Tommy barely managed to contain his laughter. He hoped that by talking about Hector he could get Carrie to open up about Kelly. “Even though I know you’re pretending, I’ve missed talking like this with you. We’re usually all about talking about the people we’re interested in.”

Carrie looked down at the table and mumbled an agreement. She did miss her friendship with Tommy, but it wasn’t like she had pushed him out of her daily life on purpose. “It’s a good thing that I’ve got the rest of my break mostly free. You can tell me all about the developments between you and him.” She stood up and started to check the food to see if it was ready, not that she doubted Tommy’s skills, but one time he had thrown her lunch away because he had thought it was expired.

Tommy looked up when Matt came back in with drinks for them. “Maybe we can hang out this weekend and I’ll tell you all about Hector’s idea of a night out.”

“What? You angry because he didn’t want to go shopping with you or something?” Matt laughed and set the drinks on the table as he sat down between Carrie and Tommy. “Guys don’t go in for that stuff.”

Carrie laughed at the annoyed expression on Tommy’s face. “Leave him alone, Matt.” She plated the food as she thought about how to get out of meeting up with Tommy. “You know I’ll be really tired after we finish recording tomorrow. Why don’t we go shopping next Tuesday?”

Tommy took the drink that Matt had left near him, even though he wasn’t thirsty. “We’re still gonna go out tomorrow night though, right?” Carrie never turned down a shopping excursion, so he had to wonder what she had planned the next few days.

Matt picked up his fork and brought his plate closer once Carrie had set it in front of him. “Yeah, we always go out when we finish recording. Diana is really looking forward to it because we all haven’t hung out in ages according to her.” Matt dutifully scooped up whatever was on the plate and took a huge bite for Carrie’s sake. “S’good, Care.” The food was as bland as ever, but Matt just reminded himself that he would get a burger on the ride back to the studio.

Carrie was glad Matt liked lunch, even if he was a human garbage disposal. “Thanks, Matty.” She handed Tommy a plate and thought about how to answer her friends’ questions. She really just wanted to spend the next night on the phone with Kelly, but she didn’t want to ruin everyone’s fun. “How about we all go out Monday to celebrate? I’ll ask Kelly and Jason if they want to bring some people, it’ll be great and Hector will have some more people to talk to, and Diana.”

“I thought Kelly was out of town for a show?” Tommy got the feeling that Carrie wanted to wait to celebrate with Kelly, which was weird if they were just friends. “We can do both. There’s no such thing as celebrating too much unless you count the time Matt got super wasted after one of those bowls.” Tommy looked and Matt and tried to remember which football game he was thinking of; he knew it wasn’t the Superbowl. “Fighter?”

Matt rolled his eyes and forked some more of the noodle creation in his mouth. “Fiesta.” Either idea sounded good to him. He wouldn’t turn down a big party, or two parties to mark the end of recording. Hell, he would take beers at Tommy’s as long as he didn’t have to see Mark or the inside of a studio for a few months. “It’s up to you, Care. I’m sure Diana would be just as happy going out Monday.” When he heard a frustrated huff from Tommy, Matt stared at the other man. He had a feeling he was going to have to bring up checking on Ace soon.

Carrie had thought Tommy and Matt would accept that she wanted to go out with a lot of people, though she obviously needed to plan out a different tactic. “Let’s figure this out another time, okay? You come here tomorrow, and we can work out all the details and see who is available for what night.” Carrie sat down and started to eat her lunch to end the conversation. She could distract Tommy while they were shopping, but she didn’t know what she’d say if she had been drinking and was a little upset that she was out and not on the phone telling Kelly about her last day in the studio.
****

Carrie eagerly stuffed her keys back in her bag as she opened the door and knelt down. She grinned and waited for Ace to run out the door to greet her. She had finally finished with her vocals, and she couldn’t wait to settle in with Ace on the couch for a night of relaxation. Carrie knew she had left Ace out after they had checked on him, so she didn’t know why he hadn’t come barreling for the door. Carrie quickly stood up and entered the house. “Ace?” She took a cursory glance around the living room as she dropped her bag in a chair, but Ace wasn’t in the room.

“Ace!” Carrie listened for the sounds of Ace’s paws in case he was downstairs, but she only heard a muffled voice. “What the-” Carrie stood completely still as she tried to figure out where the noise came from and if she could hear Ace at all. She would kick the intruder’s ass if he had messed with her dog. She barely looked around for something to use for a weapon as she thought about when she had gotten home; the door had been locked, but that didn’t mean someone hadn’t climbed the fence and broken into the back of the house or through a window.

Carrie quietly ran for the stairs to get the gun her father had given her when she had moved to Nashville. Her family wouldn’t just let themselves into her house without calling her first. It had to be some crazy person. Carrie didn’t slow down when she reached the top of the staircase, she just ran straight to her room. When she reached her dresser, she grabbed her 45 from the top drawer and checked to make sure it was loaded. Carrie looked around the room for her dog as she took the safety off her gun. She hoped that Ace had run out whatever way the intruder had gotten in, or that he had run for cover. She would so shoot the asshole if he had hurt Ace.

Carrie cautiously walked back to the hallway and looked around for any sign of the intruder. She continued on to the stairs when she didn’t see or hear anything on the upper level of the house. Vigilantly, she made her way back down to the first floor of her house, and then stopped to listen for any sounds. She could hear someone talking. Carrie tightened her grip on her gun and headed for the dining room, angry at the idea of some creeps breaking into her house and hurting Ace. She mentally talked herself up; she could handle two intruders, she had been shooting since she was twelve. She knew what she was doing. Carrie reached the doorway of the kitchen and quickly looked at the doors around her to make sure that no one could sneak up on her.

Kelly shut the cabinet door and set the plates down on the counter while her mom talked. She had planned to cook dinner for Carrie, but her plane had gotten in late. She hadn’t wanted to ask Ashley to help her cook dinner since she still hadn’t told her best friend about Carrie, so Kelly had decided to order takeout and call her mom for some advice on how to make the night special. Of course then she’d had to explain why she was calling for advice. “What do you mean she won’t like takeout? I brought her food; it’s the same as cooking, almost.”

Carrie stared as Kelly blithely moved around the kitchen, oblivious to her presence. She put the safety back on as she lowered her gun and tried to calm down. If she wasn’t so relieved that it was only Kelly in her house and that Ace was okay, then she would yell at Kelly for scaring the shit out of her. Carrie leaned against the doorway and watched Kelly chatter happily to someone on the phone as it sunk in that Kelly was in her kitchen trying to surprise her.

“I already told you that I had planned to cook for Carrie. It’s not my fault the plane was late.” Kelly rolled her eyes as her mother interrupted her. “That’s not funny. I’ll have you know I can cook certain things without making people sick. Besides, Carrie’s a vegetarian so there’s-” Kelly turned to grab another carton and noticed Carrie in the doorway. “I gotta go.” She hastily hung up the phone, dismayed that her surprise was ruined. Panicked at not having dinner ready, it took Kelly longer than it should have to notice that Carrie had a gun. “What’s with the gun?”

Carrie raised an eyebrow at the question. “See, I didn’t know you were gonna be here. I totally walked in and thought someone had grabbed Ace and was currently ransacking my place.” Carrie straightened up and set her gun on the counter while she took a deep breath. She walked over to Kelly, still upset by the past few minutes. “Not quite the relaxing evening I had planned.” Carrie tried to sound confident, but now that her adrenaline was wearing off, she couldn’t not think about how if she hadn’t been so focused on what she had to do, that she could have shot Kelly.

Kelly tried not to laugh, but the idea of Carrie stalking around the house with a gun was hilarious to her. “So you decided to be all macho and grab your gun?” Kelly playfully glared, to see how upset Carrie was, and then she hugged the other girl when Carrie pulled her close. She tried to pull back after a few seconds, but Carrie wouldn’t let her go. She opened her mouth to say that she had missed Carrie too, but she stopped when Carrie hugged her harder and softly cursed and said her name. “I’m sorry I scared you, Care. Ace is fine. I was running behind schedule and I’m working on like four hours of sleep, so I didn’t think to- It’s okay, nothing’s wrong.”

Carrie took another deep breath and loosened her hold. She guessed that things could have been a lot worse if Kelly hadn’t known that she had a gun. She didn’t even want to think about how Kelly could have spazzed out if the pop singer had actually seen her ready to shoot. “You’re right.” Carrie briefly shut her eyes and let herself focus on their hug. “No more teasing, not like when you joked on me for being so gay because my dad taught me how to shoot.” When Kelly chuckled in her arms, Carrie ended the hug and gave the other girl a curious look. “You came here to surprise me? Even though you had a show last night?”

Kelly looked back at the counter because of the surprise mention, and she noticed the phone. “Crap. I’m sure my mom’s wondering what happened.” With her luck, her mom would call in the next ten minutes to ask her what she had screwed up with the takeout. “Yeah, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to get here before you got out of the studio, hence the surprise part. I just…” Kelly faced Carrie again and tried to keep her smile on her face as she fought the urge to blush. “I knew you’d be happy, but I wanted to be around in case you were a little sad. This session was all about songs you did. Sorry I scared you, again; totally not my intention. Go wash up, and I’ll finish this and get Ace.”

Carrie would have done as Kelly had asked of her, but she was still thinking about the first thing Kelly had said. “You were talking with your mom about me?” She couldn’t really remember what Kelly had said to the person on the phone, though it made her happy that Kelly had told the older woman about her. They hadn’t defined the changes in their relationship, though it did reassure her that Kelly liked her enough to tell Jeanne about their situation. “She knows about us?”

Kelly paused as she tried to discern if Carrie was mad about the call with her mom. The other girl didn’t look upset, although after thinking that someone had broken in, Kelly could see how Carrie might not be as angry. “I’ve told her about how I feel for you, and I-” Kelly frowned because she didn’t want to lie. “Yeah. Yeah, I told her. I panicked when the plane landed late, and I called her. I know I’m lame at this relationship stuff. She pointed that out too. So… food?”

Carrie smiled at the fast, yet pause filled, words. As if the whole idea behind Kelly’s surprise hadn’t been cute enough, Kelly had to be so adorably nervous about the entire thing. “You’re not lame, because if you are, then I am too.” Carrie tried to act casual. “I told Matt and Tommy that I was too tired to go out tonight, but I really just wanted to call and talk to you about today.” The bright smile on Kelly’s face embarrassed her, at the same time though, Carrie returned the look. “Call your mom back, let her know what’s going on; and I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She didn’t want to waste time thinking about what could have happened, or who knew about them.

Kelly grinned before she could stop herself. The whole exhausting trip had been worth it because Carrie was all right with the fact that she had told her mother about them. “Good, because yeah, I order this food like an hour ago. So it’s been here for like ten minutes.” Kelly pretended to make an iffy face and shrugged her shoulders. “I can’t really guarantee how good it’s gonna taste if we have to heat it up.” She chuckled when her act got Carrie to laugh. “Go on. Ace is in his playground by the way. I didn’t want to step on him while I worked so hard to get the food onto the plates.”

“Thanks for thinking of him.” Carrie backed away when Kelly giggled at her gentle teasing, though she turned around and retrieved her gun from the counter. She didn’t want to leave the firearm out, or see it after the night’s events. She quickly ran upstairs and put the gun away, and then she took some time to change into some sweats and a t-shirt. Carrie considered the possibility of a little makeup, but since Kelly was casual in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, she decided it would be overkill. When she got to the dining room, she could still hear Kelly talking, so she went to laundry room to let Ace out.

Kelly tuned her mother out when she saw Carrie crouch down and grab Ace in a hug. She could have easily watched Carrie love on Ace, but an abrupt call of her name got her attention. “What? I was listening, and before you say it, no, I didn’t accidentally drop anything.” Kelly turned her back to the kitchen doorway, just in case Carrie decided to come back to the kitchen. Her mother asked too many embarrassing questions; she blushed enough around Carrie as it was. “Mom, she just got home from work you can’t talk to her! I don’t care if you do like her music.”

Carrie craned her neck so that she could see Kelly; she couldn’t believe what she had just heard. She slid down to the floor and hugged Ace to her as she listened to the phone call. Not only did Kelly’s mom not seem to have a problem with the fact that Kelly liked girls, but the woman actually still liked her. Carrie hoped that her family would be just as cool. She would bolt out of the hallway though if Kelly gave her the phone. She could already picture the badly mangled jokes that would slip past her lips if she tried to talk to Kelly’s mom. Carrie frowned and began to pet Ace as she remembered that she had missed a couple of her mother’s calls and would have to call her back now that she was finished in the studio.

Kelly wasn’t sure how her mom figured that Carrie would enjoy talking on the phone more than her attempt to have dinner ready for Carrie; and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know how her mom justified the words. She quit listening again when she felt Carrie brush behind her. Kelly smiled when she saw that Carrie had decided to help out and finish getting their dinner together. She bit her lip when Ace tried to get close enough to steal some food off the plates; she didn’t think Ace knew how to be sneaky, since Carrie was holding him. Kelly grabbed a bit of tofu and held it out for Ace, but Carrie turned away too quickly. “Seriously?! How do you do that? No, not you, mom.”

Carrie snickered at the exchange. She didn’t think Kelly really wanted an answer, so she leaned against the counter and pet Ace as she waited for Kelly to end the call. She kind of wanted to get Jason, Kelly and Jeanne together in the same room so she could watch them; it would probably be the weirdest and sweetest thing she would ever see. Carrie picked out a few vegetables and snacked on them as Kelly wrapped up the phone call. The non-break-in aside, Carrie was happy with how the night had turned out in the end.

Kelly cheerfully pocketed her phone once she had said goodbye to her mom, although she did give Ace a look. “You’re supposed to take the food quickly, dog. What happened to the fastness you had when I opened up the door and you tried to run out of here like the place was on fire?” Kelly shifted closer to Carrie, so that she could just give the food to Ace, but Carrie moved away again. “It’s tofu. It’s healthy!” Kelly pouted and threw the food into the trash since Carrie wouldn’t let up about Ace. “How’d you know anyway?”

“You’re kidding right? I felt him stretch to take it out of your hand.” Carrie laughed and set Ace down on the floor so that they could get dinner started. “Don’t pout, he can’t have any of this, it might be tofu, but it’s still Chinese, Kel.” Carrie leaned over and kissed Kelly’s cheek before the other girl could object. “Thank you for the surprise.” She hugged Kelly, just because she wanted to and could. She didn’t mind admitting that she had basically missed Kelly. In her opinion, Kelly had admitted more to Jeanne. Carrie wasn’t ready to tell people about them, but she could make sure that Kelly knew how she felt. “Let’s take this to the dining room, and then you can show me what else you had planned.”

Kelly somehow managed not to make a joke about Carrie probably pulling a gun on her if she didn’t agree; their night had been diverted enough by other things. “You know all this was hard work.” She picked up the plates and left Carrie to get their drinks. “It wasn’t like I had someone else to-”

“You don’t have anything else planned do you?” Carrie jokingly interrupted Kelly. The silence confirmed her joke, and Carrie struggled not to laugh. “I just wanted you here anyway. We can figure out what else we want to do while we eat.” She grabbed their drinks and kissed Kelly’s cheek again when she walked by the other girl.

Kelly fought down the childish urge to give a happy shout that she had been right about Carrie liking her idea; that didn’t mean that she wouldn’t tease Carrie. “Hey, that phone didn’t dial itself. And there wouldn’t even be any food if I hadn’t answered the door.”
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