Playing With Fire

++++++++



Ashley entered the studio quietly in case they were still recording. When she noticed they weren't, she greeted them happily.



"Hey."



The two men jumped at the sudden noise.



"What's going on?" she asked.



They nodded towards the darkened room before them, both of them still in awe.



"Is she in there?"



"Yea," the producer finally found his voice.



"Is she finished? Cause we're supposed to be going out for dinner. Y'all are invited by the way."



"Um, yea, the songs finished, but I don't think she's ready yet. Give her a few more minutes."



"The songs finished?" Ashley questioned.



The producer nodded, taking a CD out of the computer and putting it in a case and handing it to her. He then gave her Kelly's ipod that had been plugged in the computer as well.



"It's finished," he nodded.



"But don't y'all always do some other stuff, like I don't know, music stuff?"



"Touching that song would be a sin," the producer replied seriously. "And I don't know about you, but I'm a God fearing man."



Ashley looked around the room curiously, not sure if they were just pulling her leg or not.



"Is she ok?" she asked, nodding towards the recording booth.



The soundboard operator turned on the mic in the other room. The sobs had subsided but they could still hear her shaky breathing and a sniffle every now and then. He then turned the mic off out of respect.



"I don't understand," she said.



"We don't either," the producer admitted. "One minute she was fine, maybe a little closed off, but that's nothing new. Then she went outside for a few minutes, and when she came in..." his voice trailed off as he looked towards the recording booth. "But listen to the song. You know her better than us, maybe it'll explain something."



Ashley nodded, although she still had no idea what any of them were talking about. She walked to the soundboard and turned on the speaker.



"Kel?" she asked gently. "Are you ready to go?"



A hurried sniffle. "Yea, just give me a sec," she replied, trying to hide the fact that only moments before she had had a complete breakdown.



"Take as long as you need," she turned the speaker off.



"Ok if we take a rain check on that dinner guys?" she asked. "I think we should probably get our girl back to the hotel for now."



The two men nodded.



The door opened and Kelly walked in, smiling shyly at the two guys. They each gave her a silent nod.



"You ready?" Ashley asked, holding out her arm. Kelly nodded, walking forward, and allowing her to wrap her arm around her shoulders, and lead her out the recording studio.



++++++++



Ashley frowned as she sat at her laptop in her hotel room. The CD the producer had handed her was in her hand. It had taken a while, but she had eventually gotten Kelly to sleep. She placed the CD into the drive and pressed play when the little box popped up. She put on her headphones as the guitar began to play. She listened as her best friend's heart broke, sounding as if she were right in front of her as it had happened. It pained her to listen to it, but as the producer had been, she was left in awe and goose bumps.



A single word in the song had explained all she needed to know. It had confirmed all her fears. She wondered if the producer had even noticed it. She almost hadn't at first because it seemed to fit so naturally. She sighed, knowing it wasn't any of her business, so she just decided to drop the matter because the fact was the song was so brilliant, so beautiful, and so indescribable for words that it didn't even matter.



"Ash?" Jason asked, knocking on her door.



"It's open," she replied.



"Hey, so, I was sitting at the restaurant, waiting," he began.



"Shit, Jason, I'm so sorry--"



He shrugged it off, "When I got a call from Narvel. He had gotten a call from the producer saying that Kelly had just laid down the most amazing song ever. He also asked if everything was ok because she had some sort of a breakdown?"



Ashley nodded, "Yea, she's not doing to good right now."



"Do you have the song?"



"No," Ashley lied. She wasn't sure, but she had a feeling that this wouldn't want be the way that Kelly would want Jason to find out. Although, she doubted he would be able to put two and two together.



He nodded, "I think we need to call the rest of this press tour off."



"You know she won't ever agree to it."



"I know, but Narvel agrees. She needs to go home and take a break. She's been working her butt off for this album for the past year, and it has brought nothing but stress. He said she needs to take a couple weeks off, and then she can start promoting again."



"I agree," Ashley nodded. "But you're gonna to be the one to tell her."



His eyes narrowed, knowing exactly what his sister's reaction was going to be, "Fine."



+++++++++



"No," she replied flatly.



"Kel," Jason sighed.



"No, I can't. I have two more weeks of scheduled appearances. I can't just blow them off."



"You're not blowing them off. You can reschedule them."



"Like I'm rescheduling the tour?" she asked the slightest hint of venom in her voice. "Tell me Jay, how's that coming along?"



"Kelly, we're just worried about you," Ashley cut in, knowing that the tour was a sore spot for all of them. Ever since it had been cancelled, they had been working their butts of to reschedule it, but for some reason certain people didn't want that to happen.



"There's no reason for you to."



"Oh," Ashley smiled, pulling out Kelly's ipod and the CD from her purse and handing them to her. "I was told to give these to you. Nice song by the way."



"I thought--" Jason began, but got a swift elbow from Ashley.



Kelly looked at the CD, then back at Ashley, her eyes cold, "You had no right to."



"I had every right to Kelly. We aren't the only ones worried. Your producer is the one that told me to listen to it. Narvel's the one that called Jason about cancelling."



Kelly just shook her head, "Please leave."



"Kelly?" Jason asked, the shock evident in his voice.



"Go," she said firmly. "I have an interview this afternoon that I need to get ready for."



Ashley followed Jason to the door, but closed it after he had passed through it.



"Kel, you can't do this again."



"Do what again?"



Jason knocked on the door, trying to get back in.



"Close yourself off. Bury yourself in your work. It's not healthy, and it's not safe."



"So you're my doctor now?" Kelly asked.



"You do this every time you get hurt," Ashley pointed out. "But let me ask you something. Is it really worth it? Is she really worth it?"



Kelly's eyes widened. "Out," she demanded through clenched teeth. "Get out now."



Ashley nodded, exiting the hotel room, dragging Jason along with her as he fussed about what she had done. Kelly collapsed onto her bed, bringing a hand to her eyes. So...Ashley knew. And from the sound of her voice, she didn't approve. She felt her anger rise again. Ashley had no right to pass judgement, especially not on something that she knew nothing about.



+++++++



Carrie frowned. A month. One month, two weeks, three days, and forty-five minutes had passed and still no word from Kelly, but who's counting? She hadn't even heard any news on the girl. She was back at her home in Nashville, waiting to receive the finished copy of her record. She opened her front door to get the paper, and that's when she saw it. A brown envelope with her name written across the front.



Carrie looked around frantically, trying to find any sign of who had left it. Her heart raced as she picked up the envelope and her paper and brought them both back inside. She sat down on her sofa, and brought a shaky hand up to the envelope. She opened it carefully and turned it upside down. A cd fell into her lap.