Irreconcilable Differences

++++++++++



Kelly felt her phone vibrating in her pocket in the middle of a radio interview where she was promoting her latest single. She pulled it out quietly, reading the text that had been sent.



I got a surprise for you. :)



Kelly raised an eyebrow, seeing that it was from Carrie.



"Anything good?" the DJ asked as they took a break from the interview to play a song.



"I'm not sure," Kelly laughed, sending one back to the country singer.



What is it?



Don't you know what the word surprise means?



Kelly laughed, shaking her head.



Good or bad?



Good.



Don't forget, you and I have different views of good, lol.



"And we're back now with pop superstar, Kelly Clarkson. So, Kelly, you just got back from a tour. How'd that go?"



"Oh, it went great," she smiled. "I'm constantly being surprised by how amazing my fans are. They're the ones that make the concerts so much fun. I'm just along for the ride."



"So, during the break, you were getting some text messages," he smiled.



"Yes," Kelly smiled back.



"Maybe Kelly Clarkson's finally found a man that isn't a scumbag? Who's the lucky guy that's got you smiling from ear to ear?" he asked, making them both laugh.



"No, I'm still singl--wait, shoot, this is so rude," Kelly said, going to turn her phone on silent as it vibrated again.



"No, go on, read it," the DJ urged.



"No, I'm good," Kelly replied. "I'll catch it later."



"You know you want to."



Kelly rolled her eyes, reading the text. Her jaw dropped as she turned a bright red.



Idk, I thought you'd consider me wearing nothing but a bow under

a Christmas tree as your present, pretty good.



"Oh, come on, I know that face," he laughed. "What guy is sending Kelly Clarkson dirty text messages?"



"No, no," Kelly corrected, "it's from Carrie."



She quickly covered her mouth with her hand.



"As in Carrie Underwood?" the DJ asked, his eyes wide with delight.



"Yea, but she wasn't sending me dirty texts," Kelly laughed uneasily. "She was just texting me."



"I know that face: jaw dropped, cheeks red," he insisted.



"No, no, it's nothing like that. I mean, I'm not...and she's not...and..."



"Of course you're not," the DJ replied, a grin on his face.



++++++++



"Smooth," Ashley laughed as they walked into the house. "Seriously, real smooth."



"It's not funny. That's one of the most listened to stations in the south. Now everybody's gonna think I'm screwing Carrie Underwood," Kelly frowned.



"And would that be a bad thing?" Ashley slid in casually.



"What?"



"I'm just saying that you and her seem to get along really well, and she seems to be good for you. I mean, the way she handled you the other night--Jay and I would have never known to do that, nor would you have allowed us to."



"You're crazy," Kelly replied, looking at her in disbelief as they walked into the living room.



"I am so sorry," Carrie quickly apologized, standing from the spot in the middle of the floor where she was sitting.



"You heard?"



"Yea," she nodded as Ashley walked away, leaving them to talk.



"I swear, it was just a joke. I didn't mean to get you into any kind of trouble."



"Not just me, us," Kelly reminded her.



"Do you still want your surprise?" Carrie asked hopefully.



"Is it still you under the tree?" Kelly smiled, feeling her anger reside at the sincerity in the country singer's eyes.



"Only if you want it to be," Carrie teased.



"Maybe later, I'm too tired right now," she replied with a smirk, not letting Carrie get the best of her.



Carrie felt her cheeks flush as Kelly laid out on the sofa, closing her eyes. Kelly felt something small being placed on her chest as something wet pressed against her nose. She opened her eyes to find herself nose to nose with a black fluff ball that stared back up at her with two adorable brown eyes.



"Bear?" she asked with a smile.



"Yep," Carrie replied, sitting on the side of her as she sat up. "He's all yours."



"He's so cute," Kelly said as the small dog tried to chew on her finger.



"So, good surprise?" Carrie asked.



"I mean, it's not you wearing nothing but a bow, but..." Kelly laughed as Carrie blushed. "Yea, it's a great surprise," she assured her, kissing her cheek.



"So, um, does this mean I get to start sleeping in my own bed again?" Carrie asked trying to sound hopeful, but was betrayed by the look of disappointment in her eyes.



"Not if you don't want to," Kelly said casually. "Cause, there's no way I can sleep with Bear. He's way too small right now. So, you're welcome to stay."



"Good. Uh, cause, I mean, I was kinda getting used to having someone there, and I, um, it would suck going back to not," Carrie replied, mentally slapping herself.



"It's fine," Kelly assured her with a laugh.



++++++++++



Carrie walked into the kitchen, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes to find Kelly dancing around.



"Merry Christmas," she sang. "Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas and happy holidays."



"Please tell me that you, Miss Rockstar herself, were not just singing Nsync," Carrie laughed, causing Kelly to jump.



"Hey," she defended. "It's Christmas Eve, I can do whatever I want; besides, they were good."



Carrie rolled her eyes, sitting at the counter, "So what smells so good?"



"Waffles," Kelly smiled, placing the plate before her.



"You made waffles?"



"Well, Eggo made them. Just think of me as the assistant chef," she replied, joining her with her own plate.



"So where's Ashley?" Carrie asked, taking a bite.



"Are they that bad?" Kelly questioned. "I mean seriously, even I can't screw up frozen waffles."



"No," Carrie shook her head, laughing. "I just meant, I'm so used to her being the one in here all bright and early."



"Oh, she had to go pick up some more stuff for tomorrow."



"So, what is tomorrow, anyway?"



"Christmas."



"Nerd," Carrie said, pushing her playfully. "I meant, what's the routine?"



"Oh, nothing special. We wake up to a kick ass breakfast, open presents, finish getting the house ready, then we have a nice dinner over here with some of our friends and family, but nothing too big."



"Sounds like fun," Carrie smiled.



"Yep," Kelly replied, poking Carrie's last waffle with her fork. "You gonna eat that?"



"I know you did not just touch my food; you must want to lose your hand or something," Carrie warned her.



"Is that a threat?" Kelly asked, her eyes holding a mischievous glint.



"You know what? I think it was."



"I just want you to know," Kelly said casually, standing. "I'm a black belt in karate."



"And I just want you to know," Carrie smirked, "that I know that you're deathly ticklish."



"You wouldn't," Kelly gasped.



"Are you gonna touch my food?"



Kelly smiled innocently, before reaching out quickly and grabbing the last waffle. She took a quick bite, smiled, and took off, tossing the rest of it on the counter, trying not to choke as she swallowed the food in her mouth whilst running.



"You are so dead," Carrie called after her, chasing her into the living room.



"Care, I swear, I don't know what came over me," Kelly said, backing away from her. "I mean, I think it was temporary insanity."



"I think permanent insanity is more like it," Carrie teased.



"Not nice," Kelly replied, stopping as she ran into the back of the sofa.



"Looks like you're cornered," Carrie smiled, closing the remaining distance between them.



"Ninja skills!" Kelly called out, jumping over the sofa. She landed on the ground on the other side of the sofa, her feet sliding out from under her as she slipped on one of Bear's toys. She landed on her back with an, "Oomph."



"Shit," Carrie cursed, rushing around the sofa to her side, worriedly. "You ok"?



Kelly nodded, staying on her back, "My pride's a little bruised though."



"So, ninja skills, huh? Carrie laughed.



"Ok, so I lied. I never took karate."



"Well, you know what?"



"What?"



"I didn't lie when I said I knew that you're ticklish," Carrie smiled.



"Carrie!" Kelly squealed as she felt her fingers tickling her sides.



Carrie just laughed in response as Kelly began to squirm under her grasp.



Kelly was finding it hard to breathe as she felt Carrie's hands on her, and for some reason, she didn't think it was just because of the tickling. She felt a cold wet nose against her cheek.



"Bear," she laughed. "Not fair. You can't gang up on me. You gotta get her."



Carrie giggled as the tiny puppy turned to her curiously. She just shook her head, continuing to tickle the girl next to her making her laugh loudly as she struggled for breath. Soon, there was a mixture of tiny barks with Kelly's laughter as Bear attempted to defend her.



"What you gonna do, punk?" Carrie asked with a smile.



"Get...her...Bear!" Kelly managed between laughs.



The puppy jumped onto Kelly's stomach, latching onto one of Carrie's fingers. She let out a yelp, pulling away quickly. Kelly relaxed, trying to catch her breath as the dog walked up her body to her face, licking her proudly.



"You rock," Kelly laughed as the puppy jumped off, going back to it's toys. She sat up, finally able to breathe normally.



"You ok?" she asked, looking at Carrie concernedly.



"Yea," she replied. "He did it playfully. It just surprised me that's all."



"Well, that's what you get for tickling me," Kelly laughed.



"Hey, I'm hurt here," Carrie pointed out.



"You said you were ok."



"I was just being strong," she replied with an overdramatic pout.



"Oh, come here," Kelly said, pulling her next to her. She took Carrie's hand, studying her finger, not even seeing a mark. "It looks serious."



"Really?"



"Yea, we might have to chop it off."



"Shut up," Carrie laughed, pushing her.



"Seriously though, does it really hurt?"



"Like crazy," Carrie nodded.



Kelly looked at her worriedly. It was one thing for Bear to be playful, it was an entirely different thing for him to hurt somebody.



"I think you might have to kiss it to make it feel better," Carrie continued, giving her the biggest pair of puppy dog eyes she had ever seen.



Kelly sighed in relief, realizing that she was only joking, "It's that serious, huh?"



Carrie nodded solemnly.



"Well, if it'll make you feel better," she smiled, raising the small finger to her lips, kissing it gently. Carrie felt her heart surge at the feeling of the soft lips pressed against her skin.



"Better?" Kelly asked, pulling away, not sure why she was blushing.



"Much," Carrie nodded, feeling her own cheeks flush.



++++++++



"So what time is that thing tomorrow?" Kelly asked, getting comfortable. Carrie was laying on her back with Kelly curled against her side, an arm draped over Carrie's stomach.



"Um, I need to leave here by 11, and I should be back around 5 or 6. Why?" Carrie asked, trailing her fingers up and down Kelly's arm, giving rise to multiple goosebumps.



"I need to know what time to tell them to have dinner ready," she replied with a content sigh.



"You don't have to wait for me."



"Of course we're gonna wait for you. You're just as much a part of everything tomorrow as the rest of us."



Carrie kissed the top of her head, causing Kelly to snuggle into her even more.



"You know, sometimes I have no idea what I did to deserve you as a friend," Carrie confided.



"Deserve me?" Kelly teased.



"Shut up," Carrie smiled. "I was trying to be sincere."



"Sorry," she laughed.



"What am I going to do with you?" Carrie asked, laughing as well.



"Anything you want," Kelly replied, looking up at her with a cocky smile.



Carrie's jaw dropped.



"Sorry," Kelly laughed again. "But I still hadn't gotten you back for the whole text messaging thing."



"You suck," Carrie replied. "And keep you're dirty comment to yourself," she continued as Kelly opened her mouth to retort.



"Hey, you're worse than me," Kelly pointed out.



"So..." Carrie blushed, searching for a quick change of subject as Kelly shifted her body against hers, trying to get more comfortable. "What did you ask Santa to bring you for Christmas?"



"Well," she smiled up at her playfully. "I asked for a pony."



"And the sad thing is, I have no idea if you're joking or not," Carrie laughed. "But seriously, what do you want?"



"Care, I thought we said no presents," Kelly replied. "I mean, this was a last minute thing, and besides, Christmas is tomorrow."



"I know, I didn't mean from me. I meant, like what do you want. If you could have anything, what would it be? It doesn't even have to be something material."



Kelly frowned in thought, moving back to rest her head on Carrie's shoulder. Carrie rubbed her back patiently.



"I don't know," she sighed. "I mean, what does everybody want? Happiness. More time with their family. A million dollars."



"You already have that last one," Carrie pointed out.



"Oh, yea," Kelly laughed softly. "I guess I just want to live my life, my own way."



"And what way is that?" Carrie asked curiously.



"I don't know," she said shyly, playing with the hem of Carrie's shirt. "I just want to be able to make my own decisions and not have fifty million people question them. And I want to like really live it, you know? Like I wanna stop having to wait for the right time for everything. Why can't I do it now?"



"I'm not stopping you," Carrie pointed out.



"And I guess, I just wanna live a life that's worth remembering. To be able to look back and be proud of everything I've done."



"You're not proud of what you've done?"



"No, it's not that. I just, I don't know. So many times I've found myself holding back, you know? Just waiting for the perfect moment, whether it was someone else telling me to, or my own decision to hold back, and before I knew it, my chance was gone."



"So you wanna live," Carrie nodded.



"Yea," Kelly agreed. "What about you?"



"I just want more moments like these," Carrie answered.



"Cause I'm so good in bed, right?"



"Damn you," Carrie laughed. "Can you hold back you're ADD for like five minutes?"



"No, not really," she smiled. "It was just getting a little too stuffy for me. Is that what you want, though? More serious conversations? Cause honestly, you're already way too serious."



"No, that's not what I meant, and thanks for the compliment by the way."



"Hey, if it helps, you've gotten better. I think I'm starting to rub off on you."



"Unfortunately," Carrie teased. "But what I meant was just more, relaxed moments where I can hang out with people who I know actually care. I mean, why can't I go bowling even though it's childish? Or why should I be so worried about making a fool out of myself with someone? You do it all the time, and we still love you for it."



"Thanks," Kelly laughed, not sure how to take that.



"It was meant as a compliment," Carrie assured her. "But I guess I just want to have more fun and also more me time, you know?"



"This constitutes as me time?"



"Yea. I'm exactly where I want to be, doing exactly what I want to do. There's no pressure, no facades, just me."



Kelly smiled, tightening her grip around Carrie in a sort of hug.



"So, now are you tired?" Carrie asked.



"It's not that I'm not tired, I'm just too excited to go to sleep," Kelly explained.



"For what?"



"Christmas, duh" Kelly said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.



"You're worse than a ten year old, you know that?" Carrie laughed.



"Don't tell me you don't still get excited about Christmas," Kelly replied, looking up at her in shock. "I mean, seriously, don't you just get this giddy feeling when you wake up, knowing what day it is. It's like for that day, that one day of the year, everybody can be happy."



"Not everybody celebrates Christmas," Carrie pointed out.



Kelly rolled her eyes, "You need to work on that having fun thing."



"You need to get some sleep," Carrie countered.



"You sound like my mom."



"Would you picture your mom under the tree wearing nothing but a bow?"



"Eww, gross," Kelly said, making a face. "And I didn't picture you like that."



Carrie studied her face, smiling knowingly, "Oh, yea you did."



Kelly blushed, "Well, it was your fault."



"Liked what you saw?"



"Oh God," Kelly drawled, now crimson as she buried her face in Carrie's shoulder, making Carrie laugh.



++++++++++



Carrie was awoken by the feeling of someone shaking her.



"Wake up, wake up," Kelly said.



"Bed," Carrie grumbled, bringing the pillow over her head.



"Oh, no you don't," Kelly laughed, pulling the pillow away and tossing it aside. "You're gonna get your country butt out of bed right now because it's Christmas, and we can't open presents until we eat, and we can't eat until you get your lazy ass up, so let's go."



"What happened to the Kelly who was not a morning person?" Carrie asked, looking up at the singer who was practically bouncing with excitement. "I think I liked her better."



"Well, too bad," Kelly replied. "I'm going downstairs. If you're not in the kitchen in ten minutes, I will come up here with a bucket of ice water."



"You wouldn't."



"Try me," Kelly smiled.



"But it's Christmas," Carrie pointed out.



"Exactly," Kelly beamed, skipping out the room.



++++++++



Carrie walked up to Kelly from behind in the kitchen that was loaded with food and wrapped her arms around her. Kelly leaned back into the embrace, smiling as a gentle kiss was placed on her temple.



"Merry Christmas," Carrie whispered.



"Merry Christmas," Kelly replied, perfectly content with staying in the position they were in.



"So this is what you meant by a kick ass breakfast?" Carrie asked, surprised at the way that Kelly seemed to fit perfectly in her arms.



"Yep," Kelly smiled. "My mom's here by the way. She got here earlier and helped Ashley with all this. My sister and them won't be able to make it here till tonight, though. And some of my other friends will be coming too."



"Sounds fun," Carrie replied.



"So, not that I don't love standing like this, cause I do," Kelly laughed. "But I'm starving."



"I was hoping you'd say that," Carrie giggled, letting her go.



"Merry Christmas," Jeanne greeted happily, swooping in, kissing both girls on the cheek without so much as a second thought.



Kelly giggled at the look of shock on Carrie's face.



"Carrie this is my mom, Jeanne. Mom, this is Carrie," Kelly introduced them.



"Hi sweetie," Jeanne smiled.



"Hey," Carrie returned the smile. "This food looks amazing."



"Aw, thanks. Y'all eat up. I know Kelly can't wait to open presents, so you might wanna hurry before she eats all the food for you."



"Oh, I think she's learned her lesson," Carrie replied, eyeing Kelly's hand carefully that was creeping towards her plate that she was filling with food. Kelly quickly withdrew it, realizing she was caught.



++++++++



Carrie could feel Kelly's leg jiggling beside her. She was sitting next to her, eying her carefully.



"You staring at me isn't gonna make me eat faster," Carrie told her.



"Kelly Brianne, let the poor girl eat," Jeanne fussed.



"But come on," Kelly pouted. "She's just doing this cause she knows how pumped I am."



"Well if you would stop acting like a five year old," Carrie teased.



"See," Kelly turned to her mom. "I told you she was doing it on purpose."



"Prove it," Carrie smiled.



Kelly frowned, crossing her arms.