Playing With Fire

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



"Earth to Kelly," Jason laughed, raising a hand in front of her face.



"Huh?"



"It's your turn," he said, motioning to the scrabble board that was in front of them.



"What's up with you, anyway?" Ashley asked, rearranging her tiles. They were all sitting on the floor of Kelly's hotel room, relaxed and having fun.



"Nothing," she replied, placing her word down. She smiled down at the board which read heaven.



"Something on your mind?" Ashley asked, eyeing the board carefully.



"No, why do you ask?"



"Because, you've been acting weird all day. You've done several disappearing acts. You've been awefully quiet. You have this goofy grin on your face. You've been checking your phone nonstop, and your last three words have been inside, your, and heaven," Ashley pointed out.



Kelly just shrugged, "I guess I'm just well rested."



"Right," she nodded, unbelievingly.



Ashley put her word down--liar.



“Oh, look, triple word score,” she smiled.



Kelly gave her a pair of eyes, and the girls couldn’t help but burst into giggles.



“I’ll never understand you two,” Jason frowned.



Kelly stuck her tongue out him, making him smile. He hadn’t seen his little sister this playful in a long time, and it was really refreshing.



Kelly’s phone rang, and the three of them froze, eyeing each other carefully. Then at the same time, all three of them lunged for it, sending the scrabble tiles flying off the board. Unfortunately for Kelly, Jason got to it first.



“Oh,” he smiled, holding the phone high in the air teasingly so Kelly couldn’t reach it. “Whoever it is isn’t in your address book.”



He tossed the phone to Ashley as it continued to ring.



“You guys,” Kelly fussed.



“It must be pretty important, if you’ve been waiting all night for it,” Ashley smiled.



Ashley tossed it back to Jason.



“At least answer it before they hang up,” Kelly pleaded, giving up and standing in between the two, her hands on her hips.



“Gladly,” Jason smiled, pressing the green button on Kelly’s phone. “Hello? You’ve reached Kelly Clarkson’s phone. This is Jason speaking. How may I help you?”



Kelly couldn’t help but giggle.



“Um, hi?” came a questioning voice from the other side.



Jason raised an eyebrow, “May I ask who’s calling. You see, Miss Clarkson is a very important person, so I have to screen her calls for her.”



Kelly made a quick move to grab the phone, but she wasn’t quick enough, and Jason slid over the bed.



“Oh,” the country voice replied. “Well, um, this is Carrie...Carrie Underwood.”



Jason’s eyebrows flew up into his hair.



“Seriously?” he asked. Kelly smiled, knowing who was on the other line.



“Yea,” the voice laughed. “Is it ok if I speak with Kelly? Please?” she added for good measure.



“Definitely,” Jason replied, handing Kelly the phone, still in shock.



Kelly took it with a smile.



“Hey,” she greeted happily, walking into the bathroom and closing the door behind her.



“Who was it?” Ashley asked.



“Carrie Underwood,” Jason said in disbelief.



“You sound shocked. Kelly did just do a duet with her, remember?”



“Yea, but I mean, she’s hot.”



Ashley rolled her eyes.



Kelly walked out of the bathroom about ten minutes later. Ashley and Jason were busy picking up the scrabble pieces. At the sound of the door opening, they looked up expectantly.



“I invited her to come play scrabble,” she said, looking at them nervously.



“Really?” Jason asked eagerly.



“Down boy,” Ashley laughed.



“That’s ok right? I mean, I know tonight was supposed to be just us, but she was by herself. And she’s really a sweetheart. Y’all are gonna love her.”



“That’s fine,” Ashley assured her. “The more the merrier.”



++++++++



There was a knock on the door and both Kelly and Jason jumped up, Kelly nearly tripping over her own feet in the process. She gave Jason a quick glare as he started to laugh, and he immediately sat back down. Kelly walked down the tiny hall leading to the door and opened it, revealing a fresh looking Carrie.



"How's my hair?" Jason asked Ashley.



"It's fine," she replied looking at him, then turning to watch the two girls at the door. "But something tells me you're not her type."



Kelly and Carrie stood there awkwardly, neither knowing the proper way to greet the other.



"Hey," Kelly smiled.



"Hey," Carrie returned the smile. "Come here," she giggled, pulling Kelly into a quick hug. She kissed her cheek innocently. "I have to admit, I'm a bit disappointed," she whispered in Kelly's ear.



"Really?" Kelly asked, pulling away. "Why?"



"I mean I've always heard you slept in the nude," she grinned, looking at Kelly's pajama-clad body.



"Well, I do," Kelly blushed. "But I'm not gonna walk around the room nekked with my brother and best friend in there."



Carrie laughed softly at the girl's pronounciation of the word, "You're adorable, you know that?"



Kelly frowned, "I hate being called that."



"Why?"



"I'm always adorable, or cute. Why can't I be hot for once?" she pouted. "I wanna be sexy Kelly."



Carrie grinned, taking a step closer to her, "Trust me baby, being sexy is one thing you don't have to worry about not being."



"Are you gonna make that poor girl stand out in the hall all night?!" Ashley called from the bedroom.



Kelly laughed, "I don't know. I'm afraid Jason might try to--!"



"Hey!" Jason cut her off. "Not cool!"



"Come on in," Kelly smiled at Carrie, stepping aside, allowing her to walk into the hotel room.



"Ok, you were fawning over my room?" Carrie said, looking around. "Kelly, this is practically a flat!"



"Yea, well, I am Kelly Clarkson, you know," she laughed.



They entered the bedroom and joined the other two around the scrabble board.



"Jason, what are you doing?" Kelly asked, noticing him messing with the turned over tiles.



"Nothing..."



"Are you cheating?"



"No," he said, looking at her indignantly.



"Yes," Ashley said.



"Hey!" he fussed, pushing her slightly.



Kelly laughed, but stopped, noticing Carrie's slight unease.



"Oh, gawd, I'm sorry Care," she said quickly. "Carrie, this is my older brother, Jason."



"Your answering service," she nodded with a smile, holding out a hand. Jason gladly took it, shaking it.



"Nice to meet you."



"The pleasure's all mine," Jason smiled.



Kelly turned to Ashley, and she happily elbowed him for her.



"And you met Ashley earlier today," Kelly continued.



"Yea," Carrie nodded. "It's good to see you again."



"You too," Ashley smiled.



"So enough of that, let's get down to business," Kelly smiled, rubbing her hands together. "Who's ready to lose? I mean, seriously, I don't know why y'all bother anymore cause you can't beat me."



"A little high on one's self aren't we?" Carrie grinned.



Kelly just shrugged giving her an innocent smile, "You'll see."



+++++++++++



Sure enough, a few hours later, and Kelly had won all four games.



"Desideratum?" Carrie asked, looking down at the board incredulously. "Where do you get these words from?"



"She just pulls them out of her ass," Jason teased.



"Yea, well, then it's no wonder she always wins. I mean, look at that thing," Carrie laughed.



Kelly looked at her, shocked, causing the other three to burst into laughter.



"You're just jealous," she replied.



Carrie shook her head with a smile, biting her tongue to refrain from saying the comeback that was on the tip of it. She had a feeling Ashley and Jason wouldn't be to thrilled with her if she said what was on her mind.



"I'm done," Ashley said, backing away from the board.



"Aww, come on, one more game," Kelly pleaded.



"Kel, you said that two games ago."



Kelly folded her arms and started to pout.



"Yea, no, that's not gonna work this time."



"Fine. I'm tired of beating y'all anyway."



"Good," Ashley smiled. "We should be heading to bed anyway. You coming Jay?"



"Yea," he yawned. "It was nice meeting you," he smiled down at Carrie. "See you soon?"



"Sure," she smiled back.



Ashley nodded at Carrie, still unsure what to make of the girl, and both she and Jason kissed the top of Kelly's head lovingly.



"Don't stay up too late," Jason warned. "I don't feel like dealing with cranky Kelly."



Kelly laughed, calling out "Love y'all too!" as the two of them walked out of the hotel room.



"They each have their own rooms?" Carrie questioned.



"Yea."



"Your people are pretty nice to do that for them."



"I paid for it," Kelly shrugged, picking up the scrabble pieces.



Carrie watched her with a smile. The girl never stopped amazing her. Kelly picked up the game, putting it back in the box, then sat back down beside the beautiful blonde. Suddenly, both of them were very aware of the fact that they were in a hotel bedroom. Together. Alone.