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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
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- 70
+++++++++
Carrie glanced out the corner of her eye at the bouncing Texan as she pulled into the parking lot, "Excited?"
"You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this," Kelly replied.
"Graduation dress rehearsal?"
"No," she laughed. "Graduation."
"We still have like three days until then."
"Hush and let me enjoy this."
Carrie giggled, giving her hand a squeeze as she parked the car.
"Oh, look, Mary and Lyndsey are already here," she grinned, quickly getting out of the vehicle and closing the door.
Carrie shook her head, still laughing, and followed suit.
"Hey y'all!" Kelly called out, making to jog over to them, but getting tugged backwards forcefully, causing her to fall to the ground.
"Oh shoot," Carrie cursed as she ran around to the other side of the car. "Baby are you ok?"
Kelly rubbed her neck, loosening the gold chord that was around it.
Carrie reached out, opening the passenger side door, and pulling the chord all the way out before reclosing it. She knelt down beside the short Texan, "Are you ok?"
"That hurt," Kelly pouted slightly, and Carrie could tell she was really struggling not to cry.
"Aw, it's gonna be ok," Carrie assured, running a soothing hand through her hair.
"I don't wanna graduate with honors anymore," she shook her head.
"How about we just make a note not to let you get fully dressed until like two minutes before graduation is actually about to start on Saturday, ok?" Carrie suggested, her fingers gingerly moving across the red mark on Kelly's neck.
Kelly nodded in agreement, "Ok."
"Ok," Carrie smiled, wiping away the couple of tears that had managed to escape the other girls eyes before standing and helping her back on her feet. "All better?"
Kelly nodded again, leaning into her when Carrie wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they walked towards Mary and Lyndsey.
"Hey there, girlie," Mary rubbed her arm softly. "You ok?"
"Yea, just me being a dork like always," Kelly grinned, brushing it off. "So how's y'alls week been? Or, well, yours...I know how Lyndsey's has been--she's been stuck at work all week with me."
"Ain't that the truth," Lyndsey sighed, making the rest of them laugh.
"I've been good," Mary shrugged. "Trying to be as lazy as possible which is really hard with my mom harping on me to get a job for the summer. I was just like, don't I even get a break first?"
"And what was her reply?" Carrie asked.
"Hell no."
They all laughed again.
Kelly's laughter died off quickly.
Carrie turned to see what was wrong.
"Hey," Ashley greeted the group with a cautious smile.
"Hey," Lyndsey replied, her eyes moving back and forth between her and Kelly.
Carrie pulled Kelly closer with the arm that was still around her shoulders.
"Can I talk to Kelly...alone?" Ashley asked.
Kelly could've sworn she heard Carrie growl at the request. She felt Lyndsey and Mary's eyes turn her. She knew the only pair of eyes that weren't on her were Carrie's which would probably be glaring Ashley down. She took a deep breath, "Ok."
Ashley's eyes widened in surprise. "Ok, um, I'll just be over there..." her voice trailed off as she pointed to a place away from all the groups that were forming in the parking lot.
Kelly nodded, watching her walk away.
"I'm going with you," Carrie said firmly.
"Care..."
"What?"
"I can handle myself," Kelly reminded.
"Yea, but..."
"But what?"
Carrie glanced at Mary and Lyndsey before turning to Kelly with a helpless expression.
"I'm gonna be fine," Kelly smiled softly before pulling her into a quick hug so she could whisper in her ear, "And I love you too."
"So, um...how you been?" Ashley ran a nervous hand through her hair as Kelly approached her.
"Good," Kelly nodded, sitting on the trunk of a car.
"Good, that's good," Ashley replied. "I, um...I wanted to, um...I'm sorry."
"Excuse me if this comes off as bitchy, but I believe you've said that before," Kelly said in earnest.
"I know, I know, I guess I just never really meant it before."
"Really? Could've fooled me..."
Ashley's eyes fell.
Kelly sighed, "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be mean, but you know...fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me..."
Ashley nodded, "Yea, I understand. I just wish there was a way to let you know that I really and truly mean it when I say I'm sorry this time. Maybe if I could explain?"
Kelly nodded, waiting patiently for her to continue.
"Ok, so um, I guess this all started when it was just me and you, right?" Ashley swallowed hard. "Best friends forever, and nothing was going to change that. I guess that's when I started to have feelings for you, I just didn't really realize what was going on a first, you know? But then she...Carrie...then Carrie came along, and y'all just clicked. I saw it, how when y'all were around each other, everything just lit up. That's when I discovered the oh so wonderful feeling of jealousy."
Kelly gave a light laugh.
Ashley smiled, continuing, "I think that's what made me realize that what I felt for you was more than friendship. I didn't know how to deal with it. I was scared. I hated the way Carrie looked at you. I just...I don't know..." she shook her head, sighing. "Then I realized I had to tell you how I felt. That would solve everything. I just never thought, no matter how much the part of me that was jealous of how close you and Carrie had gotten screamed otherwise, I just never thought that you wouldn't feel the same way about me."
"Ash--"
"No, wait, just let me finish please?"
Kelly nodded.
"So when I finally told you how I felt, and you said you didn't feel the same way, I was crushed. I never realized anything could feel as bad as that. But then, I thought about what you said, about us still being friends, and I thought about how much you seemed like you were being truthful when you said that, and I realized that I wanted that. That was my worst fear when this all started--losing you as a best friend. I just didn't realize how hard it was going to be: just being friends with you when I felt so much more for you. Meanwhile, you and Carrie kept getting closer and closer, and I realized that you liked her. I started to act out. I don't know why. Jealousy is just a funny things sometimes, you know?" she paused to take a deep breath. "When I started doing that, I could feel you really start to pull away from me, and I think that hurt worse than when you said you didn't have feelings for me. I became scared that I was going to lose you as a friend as well, and I really started to act out. I know it was dumb, and I realize that now, I just wish I would've realized it then and saved us all a lot of trouble."
"Amen," Kelly replied with another nod.
"I just felt you pulling away more and more, and I realized I had to do something, so I thought I'd try to win you back."
"Ashley, I'm not some prize that can be won," Kelly shook her head.
"I know, I know that," Ashley held her hands up in surrender. "I just wasn't thinking straight, and I am so sorry for all the pain and aggravation I've caused you...and Carrie. I was just...I was stupid."
"Yea, well...it's not like we did everything in our power to help you out, either."
"There wasn't really anything you could've done," Ashley replied.
"I was hard on you," she shrugged, glancing back over at the small group she had left. Carrie's eyes were trained on Ashley. "I just...I kinda have blinders on when it comes to Carrie--I'd do anything to make her happy and to protect her from everything that makes her otherwise, no matter who it is I'm hurting to do that. I could've been more lenient with you, I mean...I know how I feel for Care, and if that's how you felt for me, then I guess...I could see where you could get caught up in it all, you know?"
"It doesn't excuse me for the stuff I've done," Ashley shook her head.
"No, but it does help me to understand why you did it," Kelly replied. "And like I said, I know what I feel for Care, and I can't even imagine what it would be like if she suddenly just decided that she didn't feel the same way, and I am so sorry that you had to feel that because of me."
"It's ok," Ashley nodded. "Everybody gets their heartbroken sometime, it's just a lesson of life...unless of course you're the luckiest person in the world."
Kelly smiled as Ashley looked at her before glancing over at Carrie.
"She really hates me, doesn't she?"
"She's not exactly a fan, no."
"Can't say I blame her," Ashley turned back to her. "You really are lucky, you know."
"I know," Kelly nodded.
"And um, no matter how much it pains me to say it," she smiled almost playfully, "I'm pretty positive you don't have to worry about her suddenly deciding that she didn't feel the same way for you...what y'all have...it's definitely something special, and definitely pretty rare for people our age. I guess that's why you shouldn't feel bad about not liking me back. You said you couldn't imagine how it would feel if Carrie didn't like you back, but what you feel for Carrie...I'm not dumb enough not to realize the difference between a high school crush and something real, you know? I had a crush on you, a pretty major one, but still just a crush. Like I said it hurt me way more to realize I was losing you as a friend than it did when you said you didn't like me back. What you and Carrie have...that's real, trust me, I've seen how strong it is first hand."
Kelly smiled in appreciation.
"So...yea...that's all I got..." Ashley looked at her nervously.
Kelly nodded, her mind reeling.
"So, I don't expect us to just go right back to being best friends or anything, but I...I really miss us all hanging out together. I realized that at Mary's concert. I don't think I would ever be able to forgive myself if I lost that just because I let my feelings get in the way, you know?"
"Yea," Kelly replied, chewing on her bottom lip in thought. "I'm not saying I'm going to forgive you for everything that's happened right away or anything, but it would be nice having everybody together again. It's definitely been different without you."
"I get...I get that it's gonna take a while, and I understand that, I really do, but I just...do you think you'll ever be able to forgive me for everything?"
"Yes," Kelly nodded. "I do. Forget? Of course not, but what kind of friend would I be if I never forgave you?"
"Friend?" Ashley's eyebrows rose in surprise.
"Friend," Kelly nodded with a smile.
"Oh man, thank you so much," Ashley stepped to her, giving her a quick hug. "I swear I am so not gonna screw this up. I promise."
"I believe you," Kelly replied. "And actually, um, Friday night we're having a sleepover at Mary's. She wanted to invite you, but didn't want things to be weird between everybody, so..."
"I understand."
"But, um, all things considered...I think it would be nice to have you there."
"Yea?"
"Yea."
"Well, then I'll be there, definitely."
"Cool," Kelly nodded.
"Carrie's going to be there?"
Kelly had to fight against the initial urge to get defensive, "Yea, she's going."
"Could you maybe tell her I'm not the enemy anymore so she won't try to kill me in my sleep?" Ashley asked hopefully. "Because I think she's seriously contemplating it right now..."
Kelly glanced over at Carrie and laughed, "Yea, um...it's probably gonna take her way longer to forgive you than it will me."
"I figured that," Ashley nodded as Kelly hopped off the trunk of the car.
"So, um, I'll try to keep her behaved, but if I were you, I'd sleep with one eye open that night, just in case."
Ashley laughed as they rejoined their group of friends.
Carrie tugged Kelly to her, adjusting her graduation gown for her.
"I was having trouble with my zipper this morning," Kelly noted.
"Yea, it's stuck," Carrie bit her bottom lip as she yanked on the zipper, getting it to come free. "There..."
Kelly smiled, catching Carrie's eye as the other blonde adjusted the gold chords over her shoulders.
"Try not to kill yourself this time," she winked.
Kelly giggled, wrapping her arm around Carrie's as she stood by her side, addressing the circle of friends, "So I told Ashley she should come to the slumber party Friday night."
"Yea?" Mary and Lyndsey asked simultaneously.
Carrie stiffened.
"Yea, and she said she'd be happy to come."
"Cool," Mary turned to Ashley, giving her a hug.
"Right on," Lyndsey nodded, doing the same.
"Fun," Carrie noted, through clenched teeth.
Kelly rubbed her arm soothingly as it was announced over the loud speaker for all graduating seniors to report to the football field.
Ashley looked at Carrie nervously before turning to follow Mary and Lyndsey to the field.
"Care..."
"I'm not happy about this," she replied firmly.
"I know."
Carrie glanced over at her and sighed. She pulled her into a tight hug, "I just don't want to see you get hurt again."
"I know," Kelly hugged her back just as tightly.
Carrie pulled back enough to be able to look at her, "So it's ok with you if I'm not all buddy-buddy with her?"
Kelly nodded, "As long as you don't kill her in her sleep."
"Can't make any promises..." Carrie mumbled.
Kelly laughed loudly, making Carrie smile.
Carrie pulled her closer as she licked her lips, "What do you say to us skipping dress rehearsals?"
"I'd say, I'd love that idea very much," Kelly replied as her heart started to race. "But we can't because if we skip dress rehearsals, we can't take part in graduation."
Carrie looked at her thoughtfully.
"Thinking it just might be worth it, huh?"
"Yep."
"Yea, me too," Kelly let out a slow breath. She shook her head, taking a step back to get some air.
Carrie took a deep breath, tearing her eyes away from the short Texan.
"So after dress rehearsals then?" Kelly suggested as they headed towards the football field, a good couple feet of space between them.
"Yep," Carrie agreed.
++++++++++
Carrie gave a light shriek as Kelly slid into Mary's kitchen in her socks, wrapping her arm around the slightly taller blonde to stop herself.
"Save me," Kelly ducked behind her.
"Huh?" Carrie looked back over her shoulder, confused.
"You're dead, shorty," Lyndsey declared as she slid into the kitchen as well.
Kelly peaked her head over Carrie's shoulder, sticking her tongue out in reply.
"What is going on?" Carrie laughed at the pair of them.
"Kelly stole my M&M's," Lyndsey accused.
"I did not," Kelly replied indignantly as she stepped out from behind Carrie, a bag of the said candy in her hand. "I'm merely borrowing them."
"Are you planning on giving them back?"
"Give me about twenty hours," Kelly grinned.
"Ew," Carrie giggled as Lyndsey laughed loudly, picking up the chase again. She turned back to Mary who was on the opposite side of the kitchen island, ending a conversation on her phone.
"Ashley," Mary explained, placing the phone on the counter and going back to making the brownies. "She's leaving her house right now, so she should be here in a few minutes."
"Joy," Carrie mumbled as she spooned the cookie dough onto the baking sheet.
Mary studied her discretely from beneath her eyelashes, "You don't think she's sincere this time?"
"Kelly thinks she is," Carrie shrugged. "Just have to trust her judgment, I guess."
Mary chuckled, "Everyone knows Kelly's not exactly the best judge when it comes to sincerity, especially when it's directed towards her."
"Yea," Carrie agreed.
"That's the only thing I'm worried about," Mary admitted.
"With what?"
"When she goes out to L.A.," she explained. "She has the most amazing voice, so I have no doubt she's going to make it. She is the biggest sweetheart, so I have no doubt that America is going to love her when she does make it. She's tough as nails, so I have no doubt that she's going to be able to take care of herself when need be."
"But?"
"She's so damn trusting," Mary shook her head. "I'm just afraid that she's going to get screwed over so many times. Like, I said, she's tough so if she knows that someone is trying to screw her over, well, I feel sorry for them, but if she doesn't know it's happening...you just hear all these stories about artists being screwed over by their record label and their management without even knowing it."
"Yea, but they could screw her over a million times, and she still wouldn't give up. Music is her life."
"I know...I just don't want to see her get screwed over a million times."
"She won't," Carrie assured.
"Is that your promise to look out for her while y'all are out there?"
"Would I dream of doing anything otherwise?"
"Good point," Mary smiled as she poured the brownie mix into the pan.
Carrie took the pan, placing it on the bottom rack of the oven along with the cookies that she placed on the top rack.
"Ok, set the timer for ten minutes," Mary instructed. "After that, take the cookies out then set it for another ten minutes for the brownies, ok? I'm gonna go check on crazy and crazier to make sure they haven't broken anything yet."
"Sounds good," Carrie nodded, setting the timer as Mary made her way to the back of the house. She laughed as she heard Kelly call out for her.
"Care! They're ganging up on me!"
"Oh, it's on!" Carrie called back, stopping at the sound of the doorbell. She froze before taking a deep breath and making her way to the front door. Her face was set, her jaw clenching as she opened the door.
"Wow...what did I do to piss you off, and remind me to never do it again," Jessica greeted from the doorstep.
"Jebbie," Carrie sighed in relief. "I thought you were Ashley."
"Ah..." Jessica nodded as she walked inside. "Kelly had said she invited her. I take it you're not as ready to forgive her as our short friend?"
"Don't really have much of a choice," Carrie shrugged as she closed the door.
"Of course you do," Jessica replied. "Carrie, just because y'all are together doesn't mean you have to agree on everything, you know? I'm pretty sure Kelly would much rather you be honest about how you feel than to have you just go along with what ever she says."
"I know, and she knows how I feel, I just promised I wasn't going to kick her ass."
"Ah..." Jessica nodded again. "How'd she manage to get you to promise that?"
"We get to cuddle tonight," Carrie smiled, blushing slightly. "I would've promised to kiss Ashley's ass if it meant we got to cuddle."
"Jeanne's been tough on y'all?"
"It's not that she's tough on us, I mean, she's totally been reasonable, it's just hard when you care about someone that much and you're used to being close to them like that every night, and then for it to just come to a complete halt, you know?"
"Yea," Jessica nodded.
"So, I'm glad you decided to come," Carrie commented as they walked into the living room. "Kelly said you weren't quite sure if you were going to?"
"Yea, I just wasn't sure...this is y'alls graduation, you know? I already had mine, so I just didn't want to get in the way of y'alls."
"Get in the way? Jebbie, I'm pretty sure I speak for everybody when I say that it wouldn't be the same without you here."
"That's what Kelly said," Jessica smiled.
"Well, it's a good thing you listened to her."
"Oh yea? And why's that?"
"Because she was really looking forward to getting everybody together before graduation, and if you had disappointed her, I may have had to kick your ass."
"Normally I'd scoff at the thought of your scrawny ass beating anybody up, but knowing you would have a lot of pent up aggression from not being able to go off on Ashley, I'm actually a little scared by that threat."
Carrie giggled as Jessica wrapped an arm around her shoulders, giving her a gentle squeeze.
"So where is everybody at?" Jessica asked, being answered by the series of giggles and shrieks coming from one of the bedrooms. "I see they have already gotten into the sugar."
"That's as big of an understatement as they come," Carrie replied with a smile, turning back to the door as the doorbell rang.
"Carrie..." Jessica reached out to stop her from opening the door a second too late.
Carrie's expression darkened as she stood face to face with Ashley.
"Hey..." Ashley greeted with a frown.
"Hi," Carrie replied shortly, ignoring Jessica as the taller girl stepped behind her, opening the door wider.
"Aren't you going to let me in?"
"It's not my house, so it's not really my place."
Ashley pushed past her, letting herself in.
"I thought witches had to be invited in," Carrie mumbled under breath.
"That's vampires, genius," Ashley corrected. "But glad to know you still think highly as highly of me as I do of you."
Carrie opened her mouth to reply but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.
"Cuddling," Jessica reminded softly.
Carrie took a deep breath.
Ashley smirked in satisfaction, "Nice leash...so where is everybody?"
"They're in the back," Jessica replied, her hand gripping firmly onto Carrie's shoulder, holding her in place.
"I guess Kelly was wrong again," Carrie sighed, kicking the sofa softly before collapsing onto it after Ashley had made her way to the back of the house.
"About what?"
"Ashley being sincere."
"Just because she was rude to you doesn't mean she wasn't sincere about her apology to Kelly. I really do think she's done trying to break the two of you up. She's really missed Kelly as a friend, and she knows that if she wants to be friends with Kelly then she has to accept the fact that you two are together."
"She didn't seem too accepting of it."
"Her accepting the fact that you are together doesn't mean she has to like you."
"Then in turn, me accepting the fact the she and Kelly are friends doesn't mean I have to like her, right?"
"Right," Jessica nodded. "Just be civil for Kelly. How y'all treat each other when Kelly isn't around is y'alls business...just don't be petty and go running to Kelly about it, you know how that aggravates her."
"I take it you already had this talk with Ashley?" Carrie tilted her head back to look at her where she was sitting on the recliner.
"Several times, yes," Jessica nodded.
"Care!"
Carrie looked back in time to see a short blonde flying through the air, landing on her with an oomph.
"Save me," Kelly buried her face in her neck.
Carrie smiled, wrapping her arms around the Texan, enjoying the moment of intimacy as Lyndsey ran into the room with a pillow in her hand. "Nope," Carrie raised a hand in warning. "This couch is a safe zone. No pillow fights allowed."
"You got lucky this time," Lyndsey pointed as Kelly peaked back over her shoulder. "Just wait till you're asleep."
Kelly laughed, "Says the girl who always falls asleep first."
Lyndsey frowned, taking a quick swipe at her with the pillow before running back out of the living room.
Carrie giggled as Kelly turned back to face her, "Why hello."
"My hero," Kelly grinned, looking up at Jessica.
Jessica leaned to the side, glancing down the hall before nodding.
Kelly took Carrie's face in her hands and kissed her softly.
"Well, grab me a sword and a white horse, because I'm loving this hero stuff," Carrie smiled.
Kelly brushed their lips together, her thumbs stroking the Oklahoma native's cheeks, "Thanks for not kicking Ashley's ass when she got here."
"Trust me, it was way harder than I thought it was going to be."
"I know it was," Kelly gave a slight pout as she traced along Carrie's bottom lip. "I know she rubs you the wrong way. You don't like her, and I can't say I blame you for that, and because of that I really, really appreciate you at least trying to maintain some sort of civility towards her for me."
"Whatever you need, baby."
"I love you," Kelly kissed her cheek before burying her face back in her neck.
"I love you too," Carrie kissed her hair.
"Aw...I love you three!" Jessica jumped on the pair of them on the sofa, earning shrieks of laughter as they rolled off onto the floor in a pile of limbs.
"Smooth," Kelly chuckled, dusting herself off as she stood.
"So what movies are we watching tonight?" Mary asked as she threw herself onto the couch.
"I don't know," Lyndsey shrugged, pushing her feet off so she could sit. "I thought you were going to Blockbuster on your way here."
"I live here," Mary reminded. "You were the one that was supposed to go to Blockbuster on your way here."
"Oh yea..."
Mary shook her head, laughing as she got up to raid the movie cabinet.
Kelly and Carrie both turned to Jessica with thanks in their eyes.
She gave each of their arms a squeeze as she stood, "Where's Ash?"
"Grabbing the snacks from the kitchen," Lyndsey waved behind her.
"I'll go give her a hand," she gave Lyndsey a flick as she passed.
"Hey!" Lyndsey protested.
Kelly looked around the room. Lyndsey, Mary, and Ashley always had the sofa, and Jessica had the recliner which left the oversized chair. She caught Carrie's eye, and the two jumped towards the cushiony chair at the same time.
"I was here first," Carrie declared.
"I was friends with Mary first," Kelly replied.
"Oh hush it, y'all are twigs, y'all can both fit," Mary replied, tossing them a blanket as she made her way back to the couch with the remote in her hand and a blanket of her own.
Carrie smiled as she placed the blanket over them, wrapping her arm around Kelly as they got comfortable.
"Was this your plan all along?" Kelly whispered as Mary and Lyndsey argued over which way the batteries were supposed to be in the remote.
"Yes," Carrie nodded, feeling Kelly's hand resting on her thigh.
"Me too," Kelly grinned, scooting closer as Jessica and Ashley walked into the living room with the snacks.
"Party on," Mary declared as she made room for Ashley on the sofa before turning on the movie.
Carrie gave an inward squeal of delight as Kelly rested her head against her shoulder. She tilted her own head, resting her cheek against the shorter girl's hair. Maybe the night wouldn't be as bad as she originally thought.
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