Playing With Fire

++++++++++



"Ashley," Carrie said seriously, joining her on the sofa in the living room.



"Carrie," Ashley mimicked.



"I need a favor."



"Ok," she said, still copying her tone.



"Stop making fun of me, I'm being serious," Carrie frowned.



"Alright," Ashley smiled. "I'm sorry. What do you need?"



"I need you to go pick up Kelly's Christmas present for me," she explained.



"Um, Christmas was like two weeks ago. Aren't you kinda late?"



"Well, I had it sent over to my house, and with everything that happened, we never got around to the whole gifts thing, so I had to ask my mom to send it over here, but naturally everything for Kelly goes to the post office because there's so much stuff, so I need you to go pick it up, pretty please."



Ashley eyed her carefully.



"What?"



"You do know Kelly's not much for gifts right? Like money wise?"



"Why not?"



Ashley shrugged, "She doesn't like people spending money on her, and in retrospect, a lot of her gifts are like homemade, or something really special. I mean, hers wasn't something she bought for you, it was something she did, right?"



Carrie raised an eyebrow, "Did? You mean...that night?"



"That night?"



Carrie blushed at the thought of Christmas night.



"What? Ew...no, not that, gross," Ashley gagged.



"Sorry," Carrie laughed. "You said something she did."



"She must have not told you yet," Ashley replied, still making a face. "And I was so about to fix me some lunch, but that's now out the window."



"But don't worry, the gift didn't kinda cost me too too much.. The guy seriously ripped me off, but it's not like anything extravagant, I promise."



"Good," Ashley nodded. "So, I'll go pick it up for you a little later this afternoon when I go pick up some groceries, ok?"



"Thanks," Carrie smiled.



+++++++++



"Haven't seen you out here in a while," Jason commented as he sat next to Kelly beneath her tree. "Everything ok?"



"Yea," she nodded. "Just thinking."



"When you were little," he smiled. "I remember I used to get so aggravated with you because you always wanted to do whatever I was doing, and go wherever I was going, no matter if you were to young to or not. Kinda funny now that I'm the one struggling to keep up with you."



Kelly laughed softly, resting her chin on her knees.



"Then when we got older, and we saw each other once maybe twice a year, I hated that."



"Please," Kelly rolled her eyes. "I was nothing but you're annoying little sister. You'd get mad when I'd go visit cause that meant that for one weekend you couldn't go out with your friends."



Jason laughed as he shook his head, "You couldn't be more wrong."



"Oh yea?"



"Yea, my friends loved you. They were always asking me when you were coming visit."



"They were like a decade older than me."



"In case your fan base hasn't been a good enough example for you to realize, there is no age limit when it come to the KC charm."



"Whatever," she laughed.



"Kelly, I'm serious. You just have such a genuiness about you that just draws people to you. People want to be around you. They want to get to know you."



"Not anymore," Kelly shook her head, leaning back against the tree.



Jason sighed, "Nothing's changed."



Kelly raised an eyebrow.



"With you. Nothing's changed with you. You're still the same person you've always been, maybe a little more whole than I'm used to seeing you, but that's only a change for the better, and I think people will see that."



Kelly shook her head, "People suck Jay."



"You know, mom used to call me all the time after the divorce to talk about you and how worried she was about you and the way you were acting."



"What is this? A trip down memory lane?"



"Kelly--"



"And why are you bringing up her?"



"Just here me out, ok?"



She nodded, her arms wrapped tightly around her legs.



"She was so worried about you because you just sort of shut down. You wouldn't talk to anyone. You'd hardly ever smile. You'd just have this anger building inside of you until you'd explode."



Kelly's jaw clenched, fighting back the memories of the past.



"Then, when you started writing, things got better. At first it was like you had found some sort of relief. I remember when she called to tell me you joined choir...I didn't believe her," he chuckled. "But as time went on, you got older, went to high school, she became worried again. From what she said, you were throwing all of your time into music. You hardly ever had time to hang out with your friends. You pretty much never went out on dates. She was afraid that you hadn't properly dealt with everything, and were just using music as a distraction. I told her she was worrying about nothing."



Kelly could feel the warm tears starting to fall, but she refused to acknowledge them.



"Then, when I really started hanging out with you, being your assistant and everything else, I was starting to think that she had been right. I mean, you would throw yourself so deep into your work every second of every day, at first I just thought it was dedication, but it got to a point of self-destructive. Especially when something bad happened either with a guy or with your career, you'd just bury yourself even further, refusing to not only deal with it but to acknowledge the fact that anything was wrong in the first place. You wouldn't let anybody close to you at all."



"Jay..." she said softly.



"Then you met Carrie, and I don't know how she does it, but you have this light in your eyes when she's around that I haven't seen since back when you were begging me to let you tag along. You still have your drive, but now it seems to be more out of love than desperation. She gets you, in a way that I've never seen anybody do before. She got you to stop running and to stop hiding and pulling away. The way she handles you...she always knows what to say," he shrugged. "I don't know how she did it, or how she does it, but she's fixed you. And I know that's corny as hell, and I just lost major cool points, but it's true."



Kelly nodded, the tears falling harder now.



"I guess what I'm trying to say is that not everybody sucks, Kell. Sometimes you just gotta have faith. I mean, you have faith in Carrie, right?"



"Yea," she replied.



"Then why not trying to have faith in your fans and all the other people out there?" Jason asked simply



"Because in my heart, the entire time I knew it was worth it."



"What was?"



"Carrie and I. Even if she'd just turn around and leave me, you know that'd kill me, but every second that I spent with her is so worth that."



"And your music's not worth it?"



Kelly shook her head, "My music will always be here. There's no running from that. Even if I'm just sitting next to the pool, humming along to the radio, I'll always have it."



Jason nodded, "You're career."



"I have everything I need," she replied. "I could never work a single day ever again, and I'd still have way more than necessary."



"But are you willing to do that? After everything you've seen over these past few years? You've witnessed the way people have been touched by your voice and your songs. I know you, you couldn't do that to them."



Kelly shrugged, "It's not really up to me, is it? It's up to them now."



"I still don't see why you can't have faith in them."



"You were right, Jay. Carrie fixed me. But that's one out of how many people I've crossed paths with in my entire life? Maybe I don't have faith, because history's on my side."



+++++++++++++



"Here you go," Ashley said, handing Carrie the gift that was already wrapped.



"Thanks," Carrie smiled, taking off to find Kelly. She turned the corner into the living room, running straight into something.



"You ok?" Jason laughed.



"Yea," she grinned. "You seen Kelly?"



Jason narrowed his eyes at her as he thought back to Kelly saying how she was worth it, "If you ever hurt her--"



"Huh?"



"If you ever leave her, I swear Carrie..." Jason warned.



"What are you talking about?" Carrie asked, her smile faltering. "Jason, you know I could never leave her. What's going on? Where is she? Is she ok?"



"Yea," he sighed, relaxing. "She's fine. It's just something she said earlier. Sorry."



"It's ok," she replied, eyeing him cautiously.



"So what you got there?"



Carrie's eyes lit up as she showed him the gift proudly, "Kelly's Christmas present."



"Christmas?" he laughed. "Aren't you a bit late?"



"Why must everyone point that out?"



Jason shook his head with a smile, "I think she's in her room."



"Thanks," Carrie grinned, turning and hurrying up the stairs. She made her way to Kelly's room where she paused outside the door upon hearing her voice floating from within. She turned the knob to find it locked, and she listened more carefully, realizing that she didn't recognize the melody at all. Carrie smiled as she sat down, leaning against the door. Kelly was writing. She felt her heart surge at that thought as she waited patiently for her to finish.



+++++++++++



Kelly let out a satisfied breath as she closed her laptop. She got up, walking over to the door and opening it, letting out a slight shriek as something fell onto the floor. She laughed as she bent down, hovering over Carrie.



"What are you doing?" she smiled down at her.



"The door was locked," Carrie pointed out from where she lay, flat on her back.



"You coulda knocked."



"I didn't want to interrupt. You were writing, weren't you?"



"Yea," Kelly nodded.



"Was it about me?" she grinned, playfully.



Kelly laughed, "Maybe."



"I got something for you," Carrie beamed, holding her hand that held the gift straight up in the air.



"Care..." Kelly's smile softened.



"I know it's kinda late for a Christmas gift, but I had it on time, it was just cause everything got so crazy..."



"Don't think of it as late," Kelly shook her head, sitting down next to her as the country singer sat up. "Just think of it as really early for next year."



"And that is why I love you," Carrie smiled, watching as Kelly turned the gift over in her hands.



"So can I open it?"



"Yea, open it," she nodded, excitedly.



Kelly bit her lip as she quickly unwrapped it, her face turning into a huge smile.



"Is this the latest Guitar Hero?! Carrie, you rock!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around the blonde next to her.



Carrie laughed, "Shoot, if I had known it was that easy to please you, I wouldn't have gone through all that trouble."



"What trouble?" Kelly asked curiously, holding the game in her hands, eager to play it.



"Where's your game system at?"



"Um..." Kelly blushed. "Pretty much every room with a tv."



"Nerd," Carrie rolled her eyes, standing and offering Kelly a hand up, bringing her over to the television set in the room. She turned it on, putting the game in and handed Kelly the control. "Here, I don't know how to do it."



Kelly laughed, "What am I supposed to be doing?"



"How do you view the songs you get to play?"



"Oh, um, you go to the menu..." Kelly said, going to the main menu, selecting a skill level, then going to the song list. "There you go..." Kelly's voice trailed off as she looked at some of the songs on the list. "Care?"



"Yea?" Carrie smiled broadly, loving the look on her face.



"Why are some of my songs on Guitar Hero?"



"Because I had this twelve year old computer genius customize it for you," she replied. "You like it?"



"This is like the coolest thing ever," Kelly replied. "I can't wait to play it. Oh my God...I'm on Guitar Hero!"



Carrie laughed as the Texan threw her arms around her once more, hugging her tight.



"Why don't you play it right now?" Carrie suggested.



"Don't you want your gift first?" she asked.



Carrie raised an eyebrow, "Ashley said you didn't get me anything."



"Ashley has a big mouth," Kelly replied. "But she's right. I guess it's more kinda something I did, or am gonna do, actually. I hope that's ok?"



"Yea, Kell," Carrie nodded. "Shoot, I was perfectly fine when I thought your gift was what we did Christmas night."



Kelly laughed, "Well, if I knew you were so easy to please..."



"Shut up," Carrie blushed, pushing her playfully.



"Alright, alright, so seriously. I've given this a lot of thought, so I don't want you to think I'm just doing this on a whim and that I'm not serious about it because I know how important this is to you. So, I've really thought about it, and I've done a lot of research, and I'm in this for real."



"Ok..."



"I'm gonna be a vegetarian."



"What?" Carrie's jaw dropped. "You? Miss Texan herself?"



"It's not like I'm gonna be a vegan. I seriously couldn't do that."



"You're gonna become a vegetarian?"



"Yea," she nodded.



"For me?" Carrie felt her heart soar.



"Yea," Kelly smiled as Carrie wrapped her arms around her waist.



"Wow," Carrie breathed. "I love you."



Kelly's smile widened at the sight of happy tears forming in her girlfriend's eyes, "I love you too."



"This is seriously the most amazing thing anybody's ever done for me, Kell," she admitted.



Kelly leaned up on her toes, kissing her gently. Carrie pulled her in another hug, holding her as closely as possible, whispering another 'I love you' in her ear.