Playing With Fire

+++++++



"What's going on?" Carrie asked, confused.



"Let's go," Chris commanded.



Carrie turned to Kelly, shrugging her shoulders, "I have to go."



"I can't even tell you bye?" she asked, hoping Carrie understood what she meant.



Carrie turned back to Chris who was growing redder by the second.



"Kel, I'm sorry. I'll see you soon. I promise," Carrie insisted as Chris grabbed her wrist, pulling her out the door.



"I'm leaving to go overseas for a press tour tomorrow," Kelly replied urgently.



Carrie froze, "What?"



"I was gonna tell you this morning. I thought we'd have time to talk about it, or at least to say goodbye."



"Look," Chris sighed. "You see her; you told her bye; now, we have to go."



Carrie twisted her arm, slipping out of Chris's grip, and slammed the hotel room door shut. She took Kelly's face in her hands, backing her against the wall. She kissed her forcefully, trying to convey all the emotions that were coursing through her body at that moment. Kelly's hands found Carrie's belt loops, and she pulled the blonde--if possible--even closer, not wanting the moment to end. Finally, when air had become a necessity to survive, they broke apart, gasping for breath.



"I have to go," Carrie breathed, not wanting to look her in the eyes, because she knew if she saw those beautiful hazel orbs staring back at her, she wouldn't be able to hold back the tears.



"Come with me," Kelly begged.



Carrie closed her eyes at the level of desperation that was in her voice. So much for holding back the tears.



"You know I can't do that," she replied gently, looking down to find Kelly's eyes shining.



"I'm gonna miss you," Kelly confessed.



"I'm gonna miss you too," she smiled, wiping Kelly's tears away and ignoring her own. She leaned down to kiss Kelly once more, this time slow and gentle. She smiled at the sight of Kelly's closed eyes as she pulled away.



"What's up with us and these one night stands?" Kelly asked, opening her eyes.



Carrie laughed, finally wiping away her own tears, "You're gonna call?"



"Everyday."



"When will you be back?"



"I honestly don't know."



Carrie sighed, pulling her into a hug, holding her close.



"I hate to say this," Kelly whispered. "But you have to go. I don't want to get you into trouble."



"Too late," Carrie smiled, pulling away. "So, I'll see you?"



"In your dreams," Kelly replied with a wink. Carrie gave her one last smile before opening the door and walking out. As soon as the door closed, Kelly let out a long breath. She shut her eyes, leaning her head back, allowing her self to slide down the wall. So much for not hurting anymore.



++++++++



"Chris," Carrie fussed as he drug her to the elevator.



"Chris, you're hurting me," she said, pulling her arm out of his grip. "What is your problem?"



"You," he replied shortly, pressing the ground floor button.



"Care to explain?" Carrie was trying her best to stay calm. She was also trying her best to not think of Kelly and those pleading eyes because she knew if her thoughts lingered there, she would never be able to leave the hotel.



"I have been trying to call you all morning," he said through gritted teeth.



"My phone was on silent," Carrie smiled innocently.



"Yea, well, I've been getting my ass handed to me while you were having your little slumber party."



"What are you talking about?"



"Your 'people' have been trying to get in touch with you all morning. You have a meeting at 11. Well, you had a meeting at 11, there's no way we're going to get there in time now."



"The office is only about an hour's drive from here," Carrie pointed out.



"Not those people," he frowned.



"You mean?"



"Yes, cowgirl. We're going to L.A."



"But, I thought that wasn't until Tuesday."



"Yea, well, that was when you were in a small amount of trouble," Chris slid into the back of the limo with her. "Now, the shit has hit the fan."



"Why?" Carrie asked, her heart starting to race. Had someone found out about her and Kelly?



"Well, you see, everything was so crazy and hectic yesterday, that apparently word never got to Clive of the duet with you and Kelly."



"And?"



"And?! And he's pissed Carrie! He would have never approved that, and I should have known that. You should have known that!"



"How would I have known that?"



"Look, Kelly is what you might call the black sheep of the family."



"But she's white."



Chris sighed in aggrivation, "Sometimes I forget how dumb you were when I first got a hold of you."



"Excuse me?"



"Look, we don't have time for this. Clive doesn't want you anywhere near her. He's afraid she might rub off on you or something."



"First of all, that's ridiculous. Second of all, would that be such a bad thing? I mean, Kelly is a great person."



"Yea, how about you leave all the talking to me in the meeting?"



"Can you go in the front please?" Carrie asked, holding back her anger.



"Why?"



"I need a break. If I show up there all tired and worn out, it will only make things worse."



"Good point," Chris nodded. He climbed through the open partition to the front. Carrie pressed the button, raising the partition and giving herself total privacy. She reached into her pants and pulled out her cell with a shaky hand.



+++++++++



Kelly was walking around the room, mindlessly packing her stuff when there was a knock on the door.



"One minute!" she called. She walked into the bathroom, making sure her eyes were no longer red from crying. That's when she saw Carrie's pajamas still on the floor. A sad smile crossed her face as she picked them up, putting them into her suitcase as well.



"Hey," she greeted Jason, opening the door to let him in.



"You ready to go?" he asked.



"Yea," she nodded, giving the room the once over.



"Is everything ok?"



"Yea, everything's fine." she said blandly.



"Did Carrie get back ok?"



"Let's go," she sighed. Jason took her bags from her and led her out into the hall. They rode the elevator downstairs, and waited in the lobby for Ashley to come around with the car.



"I hate hotels," she muttered.



"I know," Jason replied softly, placing an arm around her shoulder and giving it a slight squeeze.



Kelly felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out, reading the name flashing on the screen.



"Hey, I need to take this," she said. Jason nodded, watching her walk off with a concerned frown.



+++++++



"Carrie?" she questioned, worriedly. "What's going on? Is everything ok?"



"No," Carrie replied, relief washing over her at the sound of Kelly's voice. "I'm on my way to L.A. for a meeting."



"Why? What's wrong?"



"Well, first, I kind of missed the red carpet yesterday, which means I missed tons of promotion opportunity for my new album. Also, that means I didn't wear the dress or jewelry that I was supposed to."



"Care, I'm sorry, that's my fault."



"No," she sighed. "It's not. But also, Clive is a tad pissed about the duet."



"Our duet?"



"Yea, he kind of doesn't want me hanging around you."



"Well, we're lucky he didn't see us this morning," she smiled, earning a giggle on the other end.



"True," Carrie took a deep breath. "Kel, what am I going to do?"



"What do you mean? You go in there, apologize for missing the red carpet, and that's it. It's not like they're going to ground you or anything."



"I know, but--"



"No, Carrie, listen to me," Kelly cut her off. "You are one of their top recording artists. You have the highest selling CD out right now, with the most anticipated ones of the year coming out in a couple months. You remind them of that, and that if they want it to stay that way, then they had better start backing off. You aren't a little kid. You don't need them telling you how to do every little thing."



Carrie smiled, wiping a tear away.



"Care?"



"You can be pretty passionate, you know that?"



"Yea, well, it's nice to have someone to be passionate about."



"You know I could never do that, though, right?"



"Well," Kelly sighed, "maybe Clive has nothing to worry about after all."



"What?"



"Well, he's worried about me rubbing off on you, am I right?"



"Kel, I'm sorry. It's just, I'm not like you. I wasn't raised to be this strong, independent person."



"You think I want to be this way? Do you have any idea the reasons why I am the way I am?" she asked, suddenly growing very defensive, although she had no idea why.



"I didn't mean it that way. I--"



"Save it. Why don't you go to your precious meeting, get a slap on the wrist, and going on living your perfect little white bread life."



Kelly hung up her phone, not waiting for a response. She walked back to Jason, breathing heavily.



"Everything ok?"



"Perfect," she replied. "Everything's back to normal."



+++++++++



Carrie stared out the window the whole plane ride to L.A. She didn't know what was waiting for her there, and frankly, she didn't really care. The pain in Kelly's voice kept playing over and over again in her mind. She knew enough about Kelly to know that she hadn't had the easiest life growing up, and the last thing she wanted to do was bring up old wounds, but that's exactly what had happened.



++++++++++



Kelly pretended to sleep the whole ride back home. In reality, she just didn't want to talk to anyone, afraid of what she'd admit to if she opened her mouth. The warm sun was shining down on her, as if mocking her.

Ashley looked at Jason on the side of her who was snoring. She looked in the rearview mirror at Kelly who was pretending to sleep and sighed.



"Kel?" she asked carefully.



No response.



"Kelly, I don't know who you're trying to fool, cause I know you're awake."



"So?" Kelly grumbled, not opening her eyes.



"You ok?"



"Perfect."



Ashley frowned at her short tone. She hated the fact that Kelly was always so closed off, "So, Carrie seems really nice."



"Yea."



"Is everything ok with you two?"



"Yea."



Ashley frowned. Even with her eyes closed, Kelly was so easy to read. "Kel, um, what exactly are you and Carrie?"



"We're friends. Just friends," she replied with conviction.



Ashley nodded, turning the radio up and letting the vehicle fall back into silence. Kelly wiped away the single tear that had escaped and went back into her own little world, where she felt nothing. It was safer that way.



++++++++++



"Don't I even get to change?" Carrie asked as she was rushed up the front steps of the huge office building. She was still in Kelly's clothes.



"No time," Chris responded, showing his ID at the front door. "We're already an hour an a half late."



They hurried onto the elevator, going up to the top floor.



"Did I ever mention that I'm not a total fan of heights?" Carrie asked as they walked past a huge window.



"Did I ever mention that I don't give a sh*t?"



They didn't even stop at the secretary's desk to be announced. They just walked straight into the office. Several very important looking people were sitting around a long table. Clive Davis, himself, sat at the head of the table.



"Carrie," he greeted her in the same condescending tone and gentle smile that he always used with her. "Please, sit down."



Carrie sat down in one of the chairs surrounding the table as Chris sat next to her.



"So, Carrie," a suit on the side of Clive began. Carrie frowned, not even knowing who the guy was. "I understand we have a little situation on our hands."



"We do?" she asked innocently.



"Yes," his tone was similar to Clive's. "We do. You see a lot of people are very upset that you didn't make a red carpet appearance. A lot of things were riding on that appearance."



"I know, and I'm--"



The guy cut her off as if she had never even spoken, "Now, I'm sure you have some excellent explanation as to why you weren't there. Care to share?" The execs all turned to Chris, not Carrie to explain.



"Well, you see--"



"No," Carrie spoke up. "He doesn't even know where I was."



"Rossum?" Clive questioned Chris, using his last name.



"Well, you see sir, I--



"Does anyone even care where I was?" Carrie interrupted. "Because I was sleeping. That's why I missed the red carpet. I was sleeping."



"You were sleeping?" another nameless exec asked.



"Yes," she shrugged.



She could see that Clive was struggling to keep the gentle smile.



"Well, it's ok," he nodded. "We all need a break every now and then." The execs around the table nodded in agreement.



Carrie couldn't help but look at them incredulously. What the hell was going on?



"Now," he smiled. "We have other matters to attend to."



"We do?"



"Yes. It seems that you had quite the duet last night."



Carrie couldn't hide the blush that rose to her cheeks, her thoughts at a completely different place than Clive's.



"With Kelly, yea," she managed.



"Well, now that was fine as a one time thing," his smile was starting to creep her out. "But, from now on, I think it's best if you two stay in your own separate careers."



"Huh?"



"It's just, I believe that you are two completely different artists, and I don't see a reason why your paths should cross."



"Are you telling me to stay away from her?"



"Carrie," Chris whispered urgently.



"I do believe it's best for your career if you--" Clive began to explain.



"You're not my mother," she pointed out. A look of slight shock quickly passed over the faces at the table.



"I'm not trying to be your mother," Clive laughed softly.



"And even if you were, you have no right to tell me who to hang out with!" Carrie said, standing.



"Hang out with?" Clive asked curiously. "I was under the impression that it was just a duet," he turned his gaze to Chris who shrank away from it. Clive turned back to Carrie. He was maintaining the eerie calm. His eyes fell on Carrie's clothing. It was definitely not something he was used to seeing her in.



"Interesting shirt," he smiled.



"It's Kelly's," she replied with a smile.



"And why would you have her shirt?"



"Because I hung out with her and her brother and her best friend last night. And when we were through, it was too late to walk back to my hotel alone, so I stayed there."



Clive nodded, "So, how's the CD coming?"



"What?" Carrie asked, thrown by the sudden subject change.



"The CD. Well, actually, we have this really great producer that we want you to work with."



"Ok?" she asked sitting back down.



"You'll be leaving tomorrow on a flight to Japan to go meet him."



"Japan?" Carrie questioned. "Excuse me if I sound ignorant, but what does Japan know about country music?"



"This is a highly sought after producer, and it will do you a lot of good."



She sighed, giving in, as she always did, "Fine."



The meeting ended soon after with Carrie leaving in a hurry.



"Why Japan?" an exec asked, turning to Clive.



"Because Kelly Clarkson isn't in Japan," Clive smiled.