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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
- 23
- 24
- 25
I thought everyone had forgotten about this story, so I don't have much written for it. Here's an update though.

Ch 22

Ashley eyed the open doorway to Kelly’s room from her position on the couch in the front half of the bus. She knew the door wasn’t open because Kelly wanted to talk to her. Kelly was currently on the phone with Carrie. In fact, the pop singer had barely spoken to her, not even to complain about the makeup that had to be put on earlier in the night for the show. The show had been over for a good five hours; they were already on their way to the next show, and the only time Kelly had spoken to her, other than out of necessity, had been to murmur an apology when they had nearly run into each other in the front half of the bus.

She knew that she had hurt Kelly’s feelings before their trips, but she knew that Kelly knew that the only reason they had fought at all had been because she was looking out for Kelly. Ashley sighed and looked back at the TV as Kelly laughed. She had a horrible feeling that something had happened between Kelly and Carrie during the break. The sad thing was that once she had calmed down, Ashley had started to worry for Carrie too. Ashley turned the volume up on the TV to drown out the brief bursts of Kelly’s side of the conversation that she could hear. She still believed that if something had happened, it was because Carrie was only experimenting with Kelly, so it made it a whole hell of a lot harder to ignore Kelly.

However, Ashley knew that there was just as much of a chance that Kelly was into Carrie because the girl was straight. Carrie couldn’t seriously hurt Kelly if Carrie was straight. Kelly could moon over the country singer and have the bit of drama and adventure that Kelly thrived on; and all without the risk of being hurt or stuck in a relationship that would eventually leave Kelly broken. Ashley didn’t like to think about Kelly avoiding relationships. She couldn’t even count the number of times Kelly had confided in her, about being scared of love, about wondering how the brunette could avoid a relationship that was like her parents… Ashley had time and again tried to talk out the issues with Kelly, and she hoped that the conversations had finally resonated in Kelly, because even if Carrie was only experimenting with Kelly, she knew the blonde would be hurt. She might have strongly disliked Carrie at first, now though, she knew that Carrie took peoples’ feelings into consideration; the country singer expected the same in return. Ashley really didn’t want to think about how it wouldn’t just be Kelly that got hurt.

It wasn’t like she had wished to come back from California to find Kelly despondent over nothing happening on the trip with Carrie. She didn’t want Kelly to be hurt at all. The sound of Kelly talking so happily with Carrie just confused her. She couldn’t ask Kelly what had occurred on the trip, not after their blow up, and certainly not after the things she had said in the heat of the moment. Ashley did regret that she had been so hard on Kelly. She knew that Kelly didn’t respond well to being pushed, but she had just been so shocked that Kelly would keep the truth from her until the very last moment. The only thing she could think about at the time had been the likelihood of Kelly being hurt and how she didn’t have any time to get Kelly to think out the invitation.

Ashley had been so frustrated with herself for her overreaction, and the hard part had been knowing that if she had called Kelly during the break, like she had wanted, that Kelly wouldn’t have answered the phone. A good portion of her trip to visit Aben had been spent crying in her boyfriend’s arms, all because of her and Kelly’s stubbornness. Ashley pulled her phone out and scrolled through the device until she came to the text that Aben had sent her earlier. She had to smile when she read the cute little encouragement: “Stop being such girls and make up with one another already. I don’t want to wait to tell Kel and the rest of the gang about us.”

Ashley determinedly pocketed her phone and turned the TV off before she stood up. She hadn’t even been able to tell Kelly about the fact that she was with Aben. The night that Kelly had introduced Carrie to the band, she and Aben had kissed on a dare. The next day at the rehearsals, he had come up and asked if they could meet up to talk. She had agreed, because she thought that he had wanted to make sure that they were cool, so she had been surprised when Aben had ended up asking her out on a date. Ashley walked over to Kelly’s doorway and tried not to smile at the memory. Aben was always so cool on stage, but the boy had been so shy on their first date. She hated that she couldn’t tell Kelly because of her own actions. Kelly would have loved teasing Aben about the fact that she had kissed him goodnight when he had been too afraid to do so.

Kelly listened eagerly as Carrie told her about something cute Ace had done earlier in the day. “I swear, Carrie, Ace has you wrapped around his paw. You gave him a treat for barking at the guy, didn’t you?” She laughed at her girlfriend’s quick defense of the dog’s actions and giving him a treat. She hadn’t needed Carrie to confirm her assumption; after all, she had been around Carrie and Ace long enough to know how the dog would react.

“He was only barking because he was afraid the dude was going to take your attention away from him. You leave him for a week, and you’re surprised that he’s growling at people that he thinks are too close to you?” Kelly snickered at Carrie’s silence. She really wasn’t surprised after their conversation the day before; apparently, Ace had practically jumped into Carrie’s arms the moment the girl had shown up at Matt’s. Kelly shook her head when Carrie tried to slyly imply that Ace wasn’t the only one who acted protective. “Do not even-”

Kelly chuckled when Carrie spoke over her and reminded her of how she had been worried about the blonde during the dinner with her mother and Jason. “There’s a difference between me trying to stop my mother from asking you twenty questions and Ace growling at everyone for the next week.” She pouted when Carrie teased her that there wasn’t a difference. “Like you weren’t trying to-” Kelly stopped when she noticed that Ashley was in the doorway. She stared at her friend for a few moments as she tried to decide if she wanted to say something that she knew would start another argument with Ashley. “Hey, Care, I’m going to have to get off the phone.”

Ashley stared at the doorway and tried not to listen as Kelly started to say goodbye to Carrie. In a way she was glad that she had overheard part of the phone call. It didn’t sound like anything had changed between the two girls, although, Ashley didn’t know for sure if she had missed anything affectionate between the two. Ashley frowned when Kelly turned her back to her. Not that she would have wanted to hear Kelly and Carrie being romantic. Ashley mentally thanked Kelly for not being a girl who was cutesy on the phone; she wanted to make up, not get bitched at for interrupting something.

Kelly tried to pay attention to what Carrie was saying to her, but she was focused on the fact that Ashley was at her door, and not on whatever airport her girlfriend was talking about. She was still angry with her best friend. She wasn’t over their fight by a long shot. “Okay, that sounds good. I’ll call and let you know the details.” Kelly paused for a second since she didn’t know how to say goodbye to Carrie in front of an audience. “I miss you… call me when you get up in the morning.”

Ashley pretended not to notice that Kelly was whispering something; she just kept her eyes on the doorway until Kelly had finally hung up the phone. “Kel?”

Kelly fiddled with her phone and tried to decide if she even felt up to talking with Ashley. “What?” It was one thing for Ashley to react so badly when her best friend didn’t know anything about Carrie. Now though, Ashley’s problem with her spending time with Carrie meant that her friend had a problem with her, not Carrie. Ashley thought that she was too stupid to date someone who was good for her. Kelly didn’t want to deal with that kind of negativity.

Ashley wanted to walk over to bed and sit with her friend, but Kelly hadn’t even turned around to look at her. “Good phone call?”

“Yeah.” Kelly wouldn’t give Ashley anything to go on about Carrie, or her relationship with Carrie.

Ashley waited for Kelly to elaborate; the words never came though, so Ashley slowly walked further into the room and stood in front of Kelly. “How long are we gonna be like this?”

Kelly shrugged her shoulders and moved so that Ashley could only see her profile. “When are you going to get over trying to run my love life?”

Ashley bit back her first response, and then she stopped herself from asking if the friendship with Carrie had changed. “I deserved that. I know that I-”

Kelly stood up from the bed and glared at Ashley as she interrupted the other girl. “I didn’t deserve the way you talked to me, or the way you questioned me. I told you before why I waited to tell you about the trip, and you only proved my reasoning right.” Kelly stared at Ashley for a second, angry with the other girl for doubting her, for doubting Carrie’s sincerity. “I don’t need that. Get out if your opinion hasn’t changed.”

“Kelly, I know I said things the wrong way, but I was just worried-” Ashley sighed when Kelly sat back down on the bed. “Don’t be like this. I’m trying to apologize. I want us to go back to talking with each other. I know Carrie wouldn’t hurt you on purpose. I know you wouldn’t hurt her. It’s the things that might happen that neither of you counted on that I’m worried about, Kelly.”

Kelly grabbed her phone and stared at it; willed it to ring because she wanted to hear Carrie’s voice. “Get out. You don’t know what you’re talking about, and I can’t deal with this now. Not in the middle of shows. Just leave.”

Ashley stood next to Kelly for a minute, but her friend didn’t look at her or say anything else. “I’m sorry.” Ashley could barely think of any time that Kelly had used such a cold tone with her, much less meant for it to hurt her. She reluctantly walked out of the room and wished that she had just stayed with Aben on the other bus.
****

Carrie dragged one of Ace’s toys along the ground; happy to spend some time with her dog after having been away from him for a week. She had just gotten off the phone with Kelly, so the only thing that could make her day better was spending time with her favorite boys. “You better catch it, or I’m gonna steal it!”

Matt watched the scene with a smile on his face. He had missed Carrie, and his girlfriend had certainly been glad when the blonde came home since Ace had chewed up one of her favorite pairs of shoes the day before Carrie had come back. “How do you feel about some lunch?”

Carrie looked up for a moment while Ace gnawed at the toy she had a firm grip on with her hands. “We could definitely do that. I know I’m hungry, even though I’ve only been on the phone all morning.” She had spent most of the morning playing with Ace in between phone calls to her management, and then she had spent another hour or so on the phone calling her mother and sisters. She had enjoyed talking to her mother, who had been happy to hear from her.

“Cool. I was thinking we could go out to the bar with those really awesome stuffed potatoes?” Matt looked at Carrie hopefully because he wanted nothing more than to hang out with Carrie. They could have an early day; no one would know the difference. “Unfortunately, Ace can’t come.”

Carrie pouted and scooped the dog up in her arms. “Aw, poor, baby. Uncle Matty doesn’t want to hang with you, even though I know you were a good boy for him while I was gone.” She brought Ace closer and hugged him as he licked at her. “I don’t know. I don’t think he wants to leave either of us.”

Matt shook his head and tried to hide his amusement at the pouty look Carrie was giving him. “I’m just gonna pretend that you’re not using the dog’s feelings to stay with him.” He pulled out his phone and scrolled through the numbers for the one to the bar. “I’m sure they’ll send out a delivery.”

Carrie grinned and rolled back onto her back. “Hear that, baby? Uncle Matty doesn’t want to leave you either!” She chuckled as Ace took a seat on her chest and looked down at her curiously. “Aw, I missed you too. I know I’ve been on the phone, but you’re number one right now, boy.”

“If I didn’t now better, I’d think you were on a sugar high and hadn’t just been on vacation.” Matt got up and walked out of the living room to get them some drinks while they waited for their lunch.

Carrie pet Ace as she just soaked in the feeling of being at home. There was plenty that she had to catch up on, but she wouldn’t trade the five days she’d had with Kelly for anything. She had been nervous to tell Kelly that it was only the brunette that she found attractive, but Kelly had reacted like the friend she needed; like the friend that Kelly had promised to be. “Mommy was stupid and tried to avoid talking with Kelly, but she did good.”

Carrie laughed when Ace barked in reply to her tone before licking her face once. “Yes, Kelly convinced me to call Grandma. Would you like to see her?” She hit her hands against the floor, just to get Ace excited. The sight of Ace having a good time was the best thing she could have since she wouldn’t see Kelly for another couple days. “Hmm, baby? She’ll do till Kelly gets back right?”

Matt laughed as he walked in on the scene. “He can’t mess with Kelly, so you’ve decided to bring your mom out as a stand in?” He sat down on the floor next to Carrie and placed the beer he had grabbed for her by her side. “Don’t tell Diana, she’s still freaking about the shoes Ace ate.”

Carrie sat up when Ace jumped off her and raced to get to the toy she had been teasing him with earlier. “I’ll take her out to buy a new pair. Thanks again, Matt.” She opened up her drink as Matt did the same, and then she reached out and threw Ace’s toy for the dog. “I had such a good time. I know that things are fixing to get rolling again, but I really needed that time away from everything.”

Matt sipped his beer and watched Carrie try to steal the toy from Ace before she threw it once more. He had known Carrie had gone away with Kelly, he had been the one to book Carrie’s flights, and he knew Kelly’s schedule pretty well because of Carrie. “Anytime, and don’t even worry about the shoes. I’ve been in the doghouse so much because of Mark and his crap with the scheduling that I’ve been trying to think of something to buy her any way.”

“At least let me buy her a purse or something to go with the shoes.” Carrie wouldn’t feel right if she didn’t try to make up for Ace destroying the shoes. Matt was her best friend, so she wanted to have a good relationship with his girlfriend. It didn’t have anything to do with the fact that she wanted Matt to remember that she had always been supportive of his relationships.

“All right. We’ll go out sometime soon and pick it out for her.” Matt moved back a couple feet and leaned against the chair that he usually sat in as he watched Ace run back and forth across the carpet. “Maybe we can go before you get Kelly from the airport in a couple days?” He wasn’t fishing for information, however he knew that things were going to pick up soon business wise.

“Sounds good.” Carrie threw the toy again for Ace, but he ignored the toy and sat next to her. Carrie wanted to aw, but she held it in and began to pet Ace. As long as she had Ace and Matt, she couldn’t be upset that her sisters weren’t as forgiving as her mother. “I’m going to bring him the next time I go on a trip.”

Matt nodded and sipped his beer. Carrie hadn’t mentioned much about the trip, other than she’d had a good time, but that was because of phone calls. “That would be fun for him, though I’d miss having a buddy to sit with me while I play my games.”

“You’d miss him for like a day, but then you’d be happy to have the time off with Diana.” Carrie chuckled when Matt grinned and told her she was right. “I think he’d like it. There was so much room for him to run around. Although I’d probably spend half my time running after him just to make sure that he didn’t get lost.”

“Bet that would interrupt all the fun things you would do without him around.” Matt just smiled at the thought of Kelly being annoyed, yet loving it as Carrie trailed after Ace.

Carrie had a drink of her beer and tried not to laugh. “Yeah, it would’ve been pretty hard to ride the horses with him in my arms.” She snickered when Matt laughed; she didn’t have to say that he was picturing it, it was just obvious.

“That would be difficult.” Matt wiped his mouth of the tiny bit of beer he had spilled. “You think you’ll be able to go back again before the cd promo or Kelly’s fall tour?”

“Yeah, if she wants.” Carrie had figured out a few days ago that Matt knew whom she was going to visit in Texas. Whether it was because she had called him that morning when she was half-awake or just because he knew her so well, she didn’t know. She wasn’t about to ask him though.

Matt carefully thought over what he should say when Carrie took a few gulps of beer and held onto Ace. “Well, you know you’ve always got someone to watch Ace if you’re still not sure about taking him the next time you go away.”

Carrie stared down at Ace so that she didn’t have to think about how much she hated that she couldn’t confide in Matt. She didn’t like lying to her sisters or Tommy either, but at least they had been on her case recently. She didn’t want to lose the good feeling that she’d had ever since the trip started. “Matt?” Carrie looked at her best friend and tightened her grip on Ace.

“Yeah?” He wanted to say the right thing, but he didn’t know what it was. Matt moved closer, so that he was next to Carrie, and looked his friend in the face.

Carrie tried to make herself tell Matt about Kelly, but she couldn’t. In frustration, she hung her head and said the first thing that came to mind. “Do you think we can get caught up with the schedule today?” Carrie stared at the ground; mad at herself for not telling Matt. She hadn’t been able to get the words out though, not once he had moved closer. She couldn’t lose him any more than she could stand to lose any of her family. “My mom.”

Matt wasn’t sure why Carrie had mentioned her mom so quietly, and then he remembered that Carrie had missed the woman’s birthday. “I told you I would tell everyone that you were gone for a few extra days, didn’t I?” Matt laughed when Carrie looked up at him hopefully. “You can fly her in tomorrow if you want.”

Carrie hadn’t meant to take the conversation in the direction of her mother visiting, however, it worked in her favor because she had wanted to bring her mother out. “Really?”

“Really.” Matt chuckled when Carrie let go of Ace and hugged him tightly. “Maybe we can even keep her around long enough so she can meet Kelly, yeah?”

Carrie froze at the idea of Kelly and her mother meeting. She hadn’t thought about the drawbacks of having her mother in town while Kelly was also. There was no way she could pretend to be just friends with Kelly around her mother. “That might be something.”

When Carrie pulled back from the hug, Matt could see that he had said the wrong thing. He reached out and pet Ace while Carrie drank some more of her beer. “I bet it would be. She’ll end up loving Kelly, then she can mother over the both of you.” Matt tried to move away when Carrie slapped at his shoulder. “She’ll love it. You know she likes to meet the important people in your life.”

Carrie stared at Matt for a second. He was right; it was just the way that he had said the word important that made the sentence feel strange for her. “Yeah.” Carrie nodded her head, barely feeling it as Ace licked her hand. “Yeah. She’ll love Kelly.” There was no reason to be worried. She didn’t doubt that Kelly could win over her mom, and she did want her mom to know Kelly. “Is there anything we can catch up on now? I really want to have everything clear when my mom’s here.”

Matt smiled and finished off his beer. Carrie hadn’t sounded very sure at first, but he had seen the moment that Carrie had become confident in the suggest and in how Kelly and Carole would react. “Not a problem.” Matt quit petting Ace and pulled Carrie in with one arm so he could kiss the top of her head. “I still have that list of stuff you came up with, and I sent you the updated schedule this morning.”

If she wasn’t so happy that she had the greatest best friend in the world, then Carrie would probably cry. She really didn’t know what she would do without him. Carrie cuddled Ace to her with one arm as she dug her phone out of her pocket. “I think Matty wants to kisses, Ace!” She grinned devilishly at her best friend and set the dog on him.
****
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So Cold