Adult-FanFiction.org : Celebrity

Best Days Of Our Lives	By : classic06 Category: Singers/Bands/Musicians > Kelly Clarkson Views: 14130 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. I do not know Kelly Clarkson. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 43
- 44
- 45
+++++++++
Kelly rubbed her eyes tiredly as she walked into her room, dumping all her stuff down. She had worked a double, having Lyndsey bring her home. She looked around the bedroom with a frown, her eyes falling to the empty bed. It was the third night without Carrie there. The first two she had spent tossing and turning in the empty bed, not used to having so much space to herself. She turned to her desk that her homework was spread across. She sighed, grabbing a pair of pajamas and heading to the bathroom.
+++++++++
Carrie walked into the room, her smile faltering when she saw Kelly, sound asleep, hunched over her desk. She walked to her, squatting down as she rubbed her back gently, "Kell..."
She heard her mumble something softly.
"Baby, come on, you need to get up."
Kelly pushed herself up, her eyes cloudy as she gazed at the Oklahoma native, unfocused.
Carrie smiled sadly as she wrapped an arm around her, helping her up. "Come on, let's get you to bed. You're gonna be sore if you sleep in that position."
"I've been sleeping," Kelly replied groggily.
"For how long?"
Kelly looked at the clock on the desk. It took a moment for the numbers to register, "Two hours."
"That's what I thought," Carrie nodded, helping her into her bed.
"School..." Kelly yawned.
"Not for you, you need some sleep. You look like you haven't slept in days."
Kelly didn't reply.
Carrie kicked off her shoes, climbing into the bed as well, reaching out and pulling the shorter girl to her.
"What about school for you?"
"If I'm being honest, I haven't slept all that well either," Carrie replied before kissing her forehead. "A few extra hours will do us both some good."
Kelly smiled sleepily, snuggling into the warm body before her.
++++++++
Jeanne stopped in her tracks as she walked down the hall of her apartment. She raised an eyebrow at the sight of her daughter's bedroom door open just a crack, the light coming through. Normally it was only closed when Kelly was in there, but when she wasn't, the door was left wide open. That was their agreement for privacy.
She reached out, carefully pushing the door open a little more so she could walk through. She shook her head smiling when she saw the two girls laying together in bed. Ever since she had brought Kelly home from the hospital as a baby, she had been a clinger. She would cradle her in her arms, and Kelly's tiny fists would hold on to her tightly, pulling her closer. She'd always thought of it as one of her daughter's many lovable little quirks.
As she got older, whenever she'd have a nightmare, she'd crawl into Jeanne's bed as quietly as she could and snuggle close to her. Jeanne would wake up to a tiny body clinging to her side, nearly dried tear-stains on her cheeks as she now slept soundly.
After the divorce, Kelly never wanted to sleep in her own bed--she hated being alone, especially in the dark. Night after night she would try to sneak into Jeanne's room, and night after night Jeanne would carry her back to her own bed. Kelly would scream and cry until she had no voice left, but Jeanne never relented. Night time was the only time she had to herself, and it was the one time she felt it was safe to let herself break down without Kelly seeing. If she were there in the bed with her, clinging to her, there was no way that could happen, and there was no way she could've survived without those few hours to herself.
So instead, she listened to her young daughter cry herself to sleep every night. She felt guilty at first--she knew Kelly was hurting just as much as she was--but then one night, the sound of tiny footsteps trying to sneak into her room never came. Worried, Jeanne got up to check on her daughter, and she found Kelly sleeping in her own bed. Instead of using her one pillow to lay on, the young girl held it tightly in her arms, holding it close as she slept soundly. Before then, Jeanne would've said it was impossible to be jealous of a pillow, but after that, Kelly had never tried to sneak into her bed again.
Now Kelly lay, facing the taller blonde as they both slept soundly. Jeanne could see Kelly's fist peaking out from the blankets, clenched tightly around Carrie's shirt near her shoulder. Looked like some things never changed. Jeanne frowned, suddenly remembering that she was home early because of dentist appointment. She looked down at her watch, her frown deepening as she walked to the bed.
Jeanne studied the two of them closer. Carrie's arms were wrapped around Kelly, allowing her to cling to her as tightly as she wanted, not seeming to be bothered by it at all. Jeanne swallowed the lump that was rising in her throat, once again finding herself jealous of something that was completely ridiculous for her to be jealous of.
Kelly wrinkled her nose, and Jeanne frowned again. She reached out, shaking her daughter lightly, "Kelly...Kelly, wake up."
Kelly fussed tiredly, burying her face into Carrie's neck.
Jeanne laughed softly as Carrie pulled her closer, tilting her head so she could rest her cheek atop of Kelly's head. The two girls were lucky they looked absolutely adorable at that moment because that was the only thing that was keeping Jeanne from blowing up about the two of them not being in school when they should be.
"Kelly, wake up," Jeanne shook her again. "I mean it. You don't want to make me any more angry."
Kelly's nose wrinkled again as she pulled back from Carrie slightly, rubbing her eyes.
Jeanne had to fight the urge to smile as her daughter looked up at her with a light smile, still too asleep for her to register anything.
"Mommy?" Kelly looked up at her cloudy eyed.
Jeanne shook her head. "Don't 'Mommy' me. Get up," she could see the sleep wearing off as the short girl looked up at her, her eyes growing wide. "You have five minutes."
Kelly watched as her mother walked out of the room. She turned to Carrie who was fighting to wake up.
"Was that your mom?" she asked, confusedly.
Kelly looked at the alarm clock behind them nervously, "Oh crap."
"What?"
"It's nearly one. We slept through almost all of our classes. My mom's gonna kill me," she gulped.
++++++++++
Jeanne gave each girl a glass of milk as she placed the plate of cookies before them on the table.
Kelly watched her closely, trying to gauge her mother's mood.
"So..." Jeanne sat down, across from them.
"I fell asleep," Kelly replied quickly.
"So I noticed," Jeanne laughed softly. "Do you know what time it is?"
"Way past the time we should've gone to school?"
"Yes ma'am," Jeanne nodded.
"So...this is probably a bad time to ask for a dog for my birthday?"
"Kelly..." Jeanne grew serious for a moment.
"Mom, it was an accident. It's not like we skipped school on purpose."
"You say that like you'd never do something like that," she raised an eyebrow.
"You know me too well," Kelly grumbled, folding her arms over her chest.
"It's my job," Jeanne nodded.
"It's my fault, Mrs. Taylor," Carrie cut in.
"Jeanne," she corrected.
"Jeanne...it's my fault. I walked in and found Kelly sleeping at the desk. She looked so worn out, so I told her to go to bed. I was gonna wake her, but I fell asleep too," Carrie explained.
"So you weren't supposed to skip all day...just the beginning."
Carrie's shoulders sunk.
"Kelly," Jeanne turned to her daughter. "If it's more sleep you need, cut back your hours at work."
"But I'm only a couple hundred away from being able to buy a car," Kelly argued.
Jeanne sighed, "A car...that's all I ever hear you talk about. That and--"
"But I need a car so I can go to L.A."
"--L.A.," Jeanne finished.
Kelly looked at her mother nervously. She felt Carrie take her hand under the table.
"I don't want your schoolwork suffering because of this L.A. thing."
"It's not suffering, and even if it was, so what? It's not like I need good grades. I'm not going to college."
Jeanne frowned.
Kelly's heart sank at the worried look in her mother's eyes as she looked back at her, "Mom, I know this isn't what you want. I know..." her voice caught. "I know you want things to be easier for me, for me to have more than what I had growing up, and I know that you think the only way for that to happen is for me to go to college, but trust me, I can do this. I can make it as a singer. I know I can."
Jeanne placed her hand over her daughter's that was resting on the table, "I just--"
"Want to protect me," Kelly nodded.
"Can you please just keep your grades up until you graduate? For me?"
"Of course," Kelly quickly agreed.
Jeanne stood, walking around the table, placing a kiss on top of Kelly's head, "I love you."
"Love you too, Mom."
"And you're grounded for two weeks for skipping school."
"Damn it..." Kelly groaned as her mom walked away.
+++++++++++
"So what does you being grounded consist of?" Carrie asked as they sat at their normal cafeteria table. She looked around, "I'm one of the first ones here for once."
Kelly laughed softly, "Lyndsey and Mary are on a field trip."
"Y'all still get field trips in high school?"
"Why not?" Kelly shrugged.
"What class?"
"Some art class--they're going to an exhibit."
"Sounds fun," Carrie nodded. "So you being grounded?"
"Not much actually because, I mean, I'm always at school or work anyway so it's not like I can do too much. I can't pick up double shifts, though because I have to be home for nine. No sneaking out to go see a concert."
"How would your mom know if you snuck out?"
"It's the premise of the matter," she replied. "No phone calls."
"You're not really a phone person to begin with."
"I know, but it's not like I have anything that she can take away from me. I mean, I work my butt off so I don't have that much time to go out with friends and stuff to begin with, and it's not like we have a whole lot of money to be spending on material things, so I don't have like a t.v. or anything in my room she can take away from me."
"What about your keyboard?"
"She'd never do that," Kelly shook her head.
"Why not?"
"The only reason you ask that is because you didn't know me before I started writing. I'm a mess without music, without that outlet to put all my energy and frustration into."
Carrie frowned as she looked over the Texan's shoulder.
"What's wrong?"
"Ashley."
"What about her?"
"Lyndsey and Mary aren't here. Is she gonna still sit with us?"
"I don't know. Why?"
"Don't you think it'll be kinda awkward?"
"I think we're about to find out," she replied as Ashley walked to them.
"Hi," Ashley nodded, sitting beside Kelly.
"Hey," Kelly replied, offering a smile. She turned back to Carrie who seemed to be lost in thought. "Don't strain too hard there, Einstein."
Carrie laughed softly, "I was just...you said you couldn't go out with your friends..."
Kelly's smile widened, "You've found the loop hole."
"So I can still come over?"
"Yep."
"Does your mom know about this?"
"Yea, if I had really pissed her off then she would've started listing the things I couldn't do, and that's never good. One time she said I couldn't breathe...needless to say that punishment didn't last too long."
"What did you do that time?"
"Threw a fit...and the Bible through the closed window..."
Carrie's eyes widened.
"Like I said: you didn't know me before I started writing. I must've only been in like the third grade when that happened."
"That's a lot of anger for a little kid."
Kelly shrugged.
"But yea, besides the no breathing thing, I wish my mom punished as easy as your mom."
"Her mom knows her too well," Ashley replied.
"Like how?" Carrie asked, forcing herself to remain polite.
"I asked her about it one time after Jeanne caught us trying to sneak out. She seemed so mad, yet she hardly punished Kelly. So I asked her why."
Carrie glanced at Kelly who smiled softly, sending her a wink. She turned back to Ashley, "What'd she say?"
"She said that she knows her daughter well enough to know how huge of a heart she has, and the mere fact that Kelly knew she upset her was probably harder on her daughter than any punishment she could give."
Carrie thought back to the look in Kelly's eyes when Jeanne had woken them up, and knowing now what she did about the conditions of Kelly's grounding, the fear and worry just didn't add up. Jeanne had definitely hit the nail on the head with her assessment of her daughter. "She's right."
Kelly rolled her eyes, "I swear, sometimes y'all make me sound like some martyr or something."
"You mean, you wouldn't die for your mom?"
"Of course I would. I mean, who wouldn't?"
Carrie shifted uncomfortably.
Kelly caught her eye, "I'd also die for my friends, and I know for a fact they'd do that for me without question."
Carrie smiled, giving her a silent nod.
"See, I don't have some crazy ass heart...I'm just more open about it than others."
Carrie glanced up at the clock on the wall.
"You have that softball meeting," Kelly reminded.
"Yea, I should get going," Carrie nodded, standing. She felt the sudden urge to lean over the table to kiss her, and she wasn't sure if it was just because Ashley was right there, and she felt protective, or if it was because she merely wanted to. She settled for a smile, "I'll see you in choir."
"Ok," Kelly nodded, smiling back.
Carrie gave Ashley a polite wave as she walked away, knowing full well that protective wasn't the right word for what Ashley made her feel, but she was way too afraid to actually admit it.
- 43
- 44
- 45
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Best Days Of Our Lives