Fanfic!!
Title: Bless the Broken Road 2/?
Rating: pretty PG for now
Ships: Dave/Carrie <3
Disclaimer: I obviously don't own squat!
part 1
“How are all my ladies tonight?” Carrie asked as she tried to catch her breath, “Okay, Ladies in Nashville, Tennessee. I have a question for you, How are the local fella’s? Do we have any prince charming’s in the building?” The crowd responds with some boo’s some cheer’s, “I’m just wondering because I’ve been on tour all year and I need to find myself a date for when this is over, and I know that if my Prince Charming is anywhere he’s here in Nashville Tennessee!!” Again cheer’s mostly from the men, “I just thought I’d, uh, let all of you out there know, Not everything printed about me in the papers is true. In fact if you read something that says ‘a close friend of Carrie’s said’ its probably false,” She chuckled a little, and the crowd starts to yell again as she begins to walk down to the edge of the catwalk, “I don’t know where they get these things from because I cannot find myself a man to save my life.” She pauses and laughs at the thought because she does in fact have a man, “I mean I don’t know what’s wrong, I’m nice, I have a job I can pay for the check at dinner, I’m funny” She shrugs her shoulders and receives another roar from the crowd, “All I know is that sometimes it can get pretty lonely, yes I can admit that, so if any of you ladies out there feel the same way,” she says as she starts to make her way back up the catwalk, “then do what I did, and get yourself a dog!”
From the light booth David watches Carrie intently, smiling from ear to ear, he marvels at her crowd interaction, and at her ability to flawlessly hit the high note in the middle of The More Boys I Meet with little effort at all. He cheers her on and sings under his breath to the songs. Some of the fans surrounding the booth have started to notice him there but he doesn’t care, he’s the least important person attending the show as far as he’s concerned which is why he’s caught off guard when Carrie grabs her guitar for Get Out of This Town and then dedicates it to him.
“I’d like to thank a couple of some very important people in my life for coming out to tonight’s show,” She paused as she adjusted the strap so that it wasn’t caught on her hair, “Mr. Simon Fuller and Mr. Simon Cowell are in the building and I wouldn’t be up here if it wasn’t for their kindness.” She paused as the crowed cheered the men and Carrie herself even joined in clapping for them. “Then we have a very talented trio of ladies here as well, I know them as my competition, but you know them as Katherine McPhee, Kellie Pickler and Taylor Swift.” She paused for the crowd to cheer on the ladies, “I um, also have some family in attendance, shot out to them, my sister and my niece and nephew are here. It’s a school night though so they probably have to leave soon,” She sticks her tongue out as the crowd laughs at her dry humor, “and last but not least, a very special person is back there, in the light booth,” She said pointing towards where David was, “He’s a very talented guy and he also happens to be my guitar inspiration-you probably don’t know this but he taught me everything I know about guitar and I taught him everything he knows about singing,” She deadpanned, “which is why he won American Idol, obviously, and he’s from Oklahoma, just like me so that’s an added bonus for him, so please give it up for Mr. David Cook ya’ll.” The crowd went crazy at the mention of his name and Carrie let out a small laugh, “So this one goes out to that Idol Boy back there because he uh, he came from… well from wherever he was to see the show, unlike everyone else that I mentioned earlier who actually lives in Nashville.” She said jokingly as she started to play the song.
David doesn’t mind that se dedicates a song to him especially one about running away together, in fact he couldn’t help but blush as he listened to Carrie talk about him, but at the same time he couldn’t help but think about how much Mike probably wanted to punch his lights out. He shrugged it off and enjoyed the rest of the show and rushed quickly back stage as Carrie said her good-bye’s after Before He Cheats. He got backstage and waited for her right at the entrance to the stage. From the first sight of her blonde hair his heart started racing and he wanted to run to her, instead he held his hands out towards her, “You were amazing!” He praised as she ran into his arms hugging him tightly, “Thank you for teaching me all of my singing skills because, I would just be another Tulsa boy if it weren’t for you.” He said laughing.
Carrie threw her head back in laughter, “You liked that didn’t you?” She asked still holding on to his arms as she blew her bangs out of her face.
David nodded his head, “I’m not complaining.”
“Carrie, The building is starting to vacate so if you want to head to your bus now would be the perfect time so you don’t get caught by all the fans who might swarm the bus area,” Shelton, Carrie’s body guard, said interrupting the two.
Carrie nodded, “Oh right! Come on Dave!” she said unconsciously grabbing his hand and leading him toward the bus with Shelton only half a step behind. They got to the door of the venue and were swarmed by flashing light bulbs; Carrie quickly dropped his hand as she tried to shield her face. David turned to the paparazzi and waved before moving next to Carrie to help block her from the camera’s view. “Thanks.” She said from behind her hands as Shelton fumbled with the keys to the bus.
“No problem, I can’t believe there are paps in Nashville!” He said surprised as he looked towards the cameras.
Carrie chuckled, “Yeah I know, they need to leave!”
Just as Shelton got the door open, the fans got to the gate surrounding the bus area. The heart pleading yells of “Carrie please! Can I have your autograph!” shook David to his core.
He put his hand on the small of her back to help guide her up the stairs in her bus, “you know for being such a small person you sure do have a lot of power over those fans out there.”
She laughed lightly as she threw herself down on the couch in exhaustion, “Yeah, I have good fans.”
David scoffed, “Good? They were crazy for you tonight!” He sat down next to her staring at her bright eyed, wide smile. He felt like a little school boy who just got his crush to talk to him.
Carrie blushed, “Thanks, tonight was a good night. The show was pretty good.”
David was about to agree when Matt and Mike walked into the bus, David immediately got up from the spot next to Carrie and moved to the table area across from him, “Hey guys.” He said with a light wave before shoving his hands into his front pockets.
Matt threw a nod in David’s direction, “Carrie, there are a bunch of fans out there waiting and the van to take you to the after party should be here in a bit.”
She nodded as she fanned her self with her left hand and patted the spot next to her with her right inviting Mike to sit down. He accepted the invitation and quietly sat down next to her. He didn’t kiss her like she was expecting, instead he just leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees with his head down. “You okay?” she asked.
“Yeah I’m fine,” he answered, still not looking at her.
She scooted closer to him and scratched the back of his neck lightly with her right hand, as she rested her left hand on his thigh, “Did you have fun?” He nodded again, “She leaned in closer and rested her head on his shoulder, “are you mad?” she whispered.
Mike shook his head softly and turned to finally face her; he kissed her forehead lightly, “You did good tonight, I’m glad that I made the trip.”
She smiled softly, “Well I’m glad that you could come.” She kissed his cheek and ruffled his hair before standing up, “Help yourself to the refrigerator boys, I’m going to change.” Carrie said as she walked towards the back trying to peel off the silver jacket that was stuck to her skin.
The three men sat in silence, no one wanting to talk in fear of the elephant that loomed in the room. Matt actually thought the whole thing was kind of funny. He’d gone to college with Carrie and this wasn’t the first time he’d seen two guys fight over her. He covered his mouth as he mustered up all his strength to stifle his laugh. David finally cleared his throat, “Erm, so uh good show huh?” He said hoping to lighten the mood.
Matt let his head drop and laughed lightly, “Yeah, did you see Mark totally almost beef it during Paradise City?” he asked humoring Dave as he too was becoming a bit uncomfortable at the silence.
Mike stood up and walked towards the fridge grabbing a VitaminWater, “Yeah I caught that, remind me to tell him something later.” He said as he twisted the cap off, “But you want to know what my favorite part of the show was?” Mike asked glaring at David, “Carrie dedicating a song to you David, how nice of my girlfriend to do that.”
David swallowed, “Yeah, that totally caught me off guard I mean,” He scratched his head as he paused, “she-“
“Alright boys, lets go.” Carrie said interrupting them as she came in from the back. “The van’s outside and the bus is going to pick us up from the hall after everything has been packed away. Dave you need a ride?”
Dave let out a sigh as she clearly saved him. He thought about her offer, and the way he figured it, if he went with them he’d be in close quarters with someone who wanted to rip his head off, but if he drove himself then what was stopping Mike from highjacking the van and ramming into David’s rental? “Um, yeah I’ll go with you guys if you uh-don’t mind.”
“Don’t be silly, let’s go,” she said grabbing her small purse and walking towards the door, “The place is only a couple minutes away but it might take us a while if there’s some traffic.”
“Alright,” Mike said as he walked ahead of Carrie to open the door. He reached for her hand but she gently pulled it away.
“There’s a lot of press here, I don’t really want us splashed all over the news anymore. Is that okay?” She asked softly
Mike bit his bottom lip trying to control his anger, “yeah sure whatever you want.” He exited the bus first and helped her out, he let her hand go as soon as she was completely out, and held the door for everyone else, including David, which surprised him.
The fans waiting for Carrie went crazy at the first site of her blonde hair, she politely waved at them and scrambled into the unmarked white van, Mike, Shelton, Matt and David followed and they were off.
Two hours into the party and David was sitting at a table with Carrie’s band arguing over what song was Guns N’ Roses’ best.
“November Rain! Hands Down! The guitar solo is amazing!” David said as he played air guitar. Clearly getting into his air solo.
“I’d have to agree with you on that one Mr. Cook,” Ed, Carrie’s guitarist, agreed. “I remember when Carrie first told us she was going to cover the song, I was so excited to actually get to play the solo live in front of people only to find out that she had cut it!”
“That wasn’t my choice, it just flowed better into Paradise City,” Carrie said as she ruffled Ed’s hair from behind him. “Hey M&M’s!” She said stealing the yellow bag from Ed before sitting down to the left of Mark.
“Damn it,” Ed laughed trying to snatch them back from Carrie, “That’s my last bag!” He yelled at her. She giggled and stuck her tongue out at him and he did the same in return.
“Wait, you guys sang November Rain?” David asked with excitement bursting at the seems, “Where was I? How did I miss it?!”
Carrie laughed throwing an M&M in her mouth, “Yeah we covered it,” she pursed her lips thinking, “around March/April-ish”
David scoffed and hit the table while snapping his fingers, “dang! I can’t believe I missed it!”
Mark took a sip of his beer, “Youtube it.”
Dave nodded, “Ah, the almighty Youtube.”
Carrie threw an M&M at David trying to catch his attention as he had already begun to pull out his iPhone to youtube the performance. “Hey Idol Boy, I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” she said while trying to stifle a laugh, “but there’s a certain Ms. Taylor Swift standing in the corner over there, and she has been giving you ‘the look’ for the past hour.” She said wiggling her eyebrows in a suggestive manner.
David turned around and indeed caught Taylor looking at him, “Isn’t she like…15?” he asked turning back to Carrie who was still wiggling her eyebrows, he picked up the M&M she had thrown at him and threw it back at her playfully, “Stop that!” He loved the way their friendship was. Silently he wanted more but wouldn’t pressure her into anything especially since she seemed happy with Mike. So instead he enjoyed the little moments like these.
Carrie laughed, “Nope, she’s legal. Let me know if you ah-want me to tell her anything. You know put in a good word for ya.” She said kinking her eyebrow and throwing in a wink just for kicks.
Dave shook his lightly, as he put his hand to his forehead wiping away a bead of sweat, “Real funny Carrie. Really funny.”
Just then a very unpleasantly looking Mike came over and tapped Carrie on her shoulder. She turned around and he leaned over to whisper in her ear, “Can I talk to you for a minute please? In private”
Carrie nodded her head, “Of course, handsome” She said with a smile as she intertwined their fingers. Shelton immediately began to follow, but Carrie waved him off and led Mike off to the hallway where it was quiet. “What’s up?”
“I’m gonna go,” He told her quickly.
Carrie looked confused, “Now? I thought maybe you’d stay with me tonight and then catch a flight in the morning,” she said rubbing his arm, leaning into him.
He moved her hand away from him and took a step back, “Yeah, I can’t, I have to go, now.”
Carrie dropped her shoulders, “Wait, what’s wrong?”
Mike scoffed and shook his head unable to contain his composure any longer, “I think you know very well what is wrong.” He told her raising his voice.
Carrie stood there, dumb founded, thinking about it, when it hit her, “David.” She said almost inaudibly.
“Yeah your little ‘Idol Boy,’” he said using air quotes, “He’s been drooling over you since he got here and - ” he put his hands up to his temples in attempt to control his temper, “and you wanna know what the worst part about it is Carrie?” She looked away, afraid of the answer, “You like it.” She closed her eyes at his words, “I can tell. You’re looking at him the way you used to look at me, laughing with him the way you used to laugh with me, dedicating songs to him and then ignoring my existence.” He slowed down his pace and let go of the deep breath that he was holding, “So if that’s how you want it to be then-you can go be with him, because I’m done here.”
Carrie looked up quickly with tears in her eyes, “What? You’re-you’re breaking up with me? Mike, David and I are FRIENDS! We seem close because I’ve been helping him since he won Idol; I’ve done that with the past couple of winners because I wish that I had someone there to help me through it all, that’s it! There is nothing going on between us!”
“Yeah you keep saying that Carrie but I don’t know who you’re trying to convince, me or yourself.” He told her more harshly then he had intended. “Carrie, I-I only want you to have what you want, and if that’s David then its David, don’t let me hold you back. I don’t want to be the reason that you aren’t happy.”
Carrie was sobbing by this point, “You’re-I - I want you. I do.” She said stepping closer to him fisting his shirt. She felt pathetic. She was heartbroken and humiliated by his words and her actions. She knew he had a point, she probably had been acting more than friendly with David, but she couldn’t help it. She just felt more comfortable around him than most guys.
He shook his head, “I don’t think you do Carrie,” he pulled her closer and kissed her forehead, “I’m gonna go,” He wiped the tears that threaten to fall from his eyes, “Good Luck with the rest of the tour.”
She gripped to him tighter hoping he wouldn’t leave but he gently broke her grip on his shirt and left. Carrie didn’t know what to do, she turned and leaned against the wall and slid to the floor. She rested her head against the cold concrete, her head was telling her to go after him and prove to him that he was wrong, but somewhere deep within her heart she knew he was right, she knew that she shouldn’t be stringing him along if her feelings weren’t as sincere as they should be. She truly did care for Mike, he was such an amazing guy, he was great with kids, he was caring, considerate, honest, religious, and everything that she wanted in a guy, he just wasn’t the guy. And although Carrie began to realize that weeks ago, she wanted so badly to be proven wrong. She didn’t want to admit things were falling apart between them because then she’d have to admit that she was crushing on David. She knew there was nothing wrong with David, he was nice guy and was always there for her when she needed him to be, she just wasn’t sure if she wanted to sacrifice their friendship. She took a deep breath and wiped the tears away with the back of her hand, pushing the thought of David to the back of her mind. “Well Carr, I guess there goes another one,” she whispered to herself as she slowly picked herself up. She dusted off her dark denim jeans and walked back down the hall towards the party, she got to the door, closed her eyes, and took a couple more deep breaths before opening the door and returning to the party.
“Hey, where’d Mike go?” Matt asked as Carrie sat back down.
“Home,” she said as she smiled weakly. “He-uh- he went home.”
Matt looked a little taken back, as he obviously had expected Mike to stay longer than the day, “Is everything okay?”
Carrie nodded her head, “Yeah, everything is fine. But, you know I’m actually not feeling too well, I think I’m going to head out and see if the bus is here.”
She stood up to leave and David, out of respect, stood up as well. “You want me to walk you?” His heart thumped a little quicker waiting for her response.
She pointed to Shelton who stood near by, “It’s okay, stay enjoy the party, hit up Taylor, Shelton will make sure nothing happens to me.” She winked at him and turned to leave. “Night everyone.”
David stood there momentarily, not shocked that she had rejected him. He looked around at the band obviously not wanting to be rude, but still wanting to run after her to make sure that everything was okay, friends did that right? “Just go dude,” Matt said nodding his head in the direction that Carrie had just walked towards.
“Thanks man,” he said before he grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair and took off after her finally reaching her once they were in the hallway, “Its kind of cold outside, maybe you should at least take my jacket.” She turned around to deny the offer and that’s when he actually looked at her for the first time since she had come back to the table, Her eyes were swollen, probably because of Mike, her mascara was running, barely but enough that he noticed, , he hadn’t noticed back at the table because there wasn’t enough light but he couldn’t help but note how incredibly sad she looked, “Hey is everything ok?” He asked concerned, putting his hands on her shoulders looking more closely into her eyes
She dropped her shoulders and nodded her head, “Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired.” She lied, tears threatening to fall from her eyes again.
David nodded his head, knowing full well that she was lying. It hurt him to see her like this so he did the first thing he could think of, he pulled her into a tight hug, the kind of hug that a protective boyfriend gives their girlfriend after they’ve received terrible news. She rested her head on his chest and wrapped her arms tightly around him, he in return rested his chin on the top of her head, They stood there for a moment, Carrie let a couple tears fall each making David cringe in pain, he shouldn’t hurt like this for her but he couldn’t help it. In his eyes she was far to beautiful to be anything but happy, “I’m here for you Carrie, if you ever just-I don’t know, want to talk…” he offered drifting off at the end.
She smiled pulling away from the hug, “Thanks idol boy.”
He touched her chin, “See there’s that smile.” He wiped away the tears she shed and looked deeply into her hazel eyes.
She let out a little laugh after a while feeling like she was dragging down the mood, it was a party afterall, “You still want to walk me?”
He nodded his head, “As long as you want me to.” He hadn’t noticed but somewhere between the table and now his heart and slowed down a bit, he figured it was because he was trying to be the strong one, the calm one for, for her sake, but at her offer his heart rate increased again.
She nodded her head, “Yeah I want you to.” She looked over at Shelton who respectively kept his distance, she winked at him, which seemed to be the signal and he turned and re-entered the party. She turned back to David and nodded her head towards the exit, “Come on.” She wanted to grab his hand but slapped herself mentally, she had just broken up with Mike, well, he had just broken up with her. She didn’t know what she was thinking she should be mending her heart not trying to prove Mike right, even though she knew to some extent he was.
“Wait, hold up,” he said as he put his jacket over her shoulders, “There.” She smiled softly, at his thoughtfulness, the last guy that ever treated her this well was back in Okalahoma, but then again David is from her home state and she wouldn’t expect anything less than respect from an Okalahoma boy.
They walked in silence towards the bus; it wasn’t an awkward silence, but the kind of silence that you learn to appreciate in a relationship. She got to the door of the hall, which, of course, he opened for her and quickly spotted, her bus. She looked around and didn’t see any paparazzi and let out a sigh of relief, as she didn’t want any flashbulbs going off especially right now. She looked over at David and noticed that he was just staring at her; she looked back away and felt herself begin to blush. She nudged his arm, “What are you looking at?”
He laughed and shook his head, “well,” he paused, “you.”
She laughed a little, “Well, I’m flattered.”
“You should be,” he deadpanned, “I mean come on I’m like the sexiest person to come off of American Idol.” He said laughing this time, as he knew that wasn’t the case at all.
“Next to who? Ruban Studdard?” She laughed and immediately put her hand over her mouth, “that was rude,” she laughed again, “I take it back.”
David laughed, “yeah, next to Ruben.” They grew silent for a little while, “Well actually I think I’m the third sexiest person to come off idol. Next to you and Ruben of course.”
She shook her head noticing the compliment but chosing to ignore it hoping to avoid any subject about her, “Well aren’t you humble?”
He laughed, “No I’m just kidding, seriously look at me!” he pointed to himself. Noting what he thought were his problem areas, his gut and his butt, “I’m like the least sexiest person ever!”
She shook her head, “You don’t give yourself enough credit Davey boy!”
“Davey boy?” he laughed, “Seriously the last person that called me that was my third grade teacher!”
“Seriously?”
“No, I can’t remember that far back,” he said laughing.
They reached the bus and she fumbled with the keys to get it open, “this is why keeping the bus locked is Matt and Shelton’s job!” she said laughing as she finally got the bus open.
He helped her inside the bus and closed the door behind them. Once inside Carrie threw herself down on the couch, “Today was a long day.”
David plopped down next to her, “I know, watching you kick butt on stage is tiring.” He deadpanned.
She punched him gently in the arm, “you’re crazy.”
“You think?” He asked.
She held up her hand showing her index finger an inch a way from her thumb as she squinted her eye, “just a little.”
He laughed, “as long as it’s not a lot.”
“You have your moments.”
He nodded and stayed silent for a while, “so you want to talk about it?”
She looked over at him and shook her head, “not really.”
He nodded his head, “Alright.” He knew that she, like any other girl, would open up about what happened when she was ready.
It only took her a minute before she finally cracked, “He broke up with me.”
Dave turned to her and immediately pulled her into a hug, “Oh Carrie, I’m-I’m sorry.”
She waved him off, “It’s okay, and it was going to happen eventually, we weren’t happy. You know they call it a break up because it’s broken.”
He nodded his head, “Well aren’t you philosophical?”
She laughed lightly before inching closer to him till she was leaning into his shoulder, she sighed deeply and asked the dreaded question that had been on her mind for a while now, “So when do you have to leave me?” She asked changing the subject back on to him.
He leaned his head down on top of hers, “I can stay as long as you want me to.”
“Really?” she asked softly. He couldn’t help but smile to himself, as she genuinely seemed happy with his response.
“Yeah, really,” he whispered. He knew that he was being irrational, he had to leave eventually but really she only had a week left of the tour and what were the odds that she’d ask him to stay that long?
“Then will you stay with me tonight?” She asked allowing herself to be vulnerable, she didn’t know why she asked him, but something inside her said that he’d make things okay and he’d make her feel safe, even if it was just for the night.
He picked his head up. He paused and thought about the question before nodding a grinning slightly showing s hint of a dimple in his cheek, “Yeah, I’ll stay.” She reached into her purse that lay at her side and pulled out her phone. “What are you doing crazy girl?” He asked inquisitively.
She looked at him momentarily, pausing to stare into his deep green eyes, a part of her already felt safe as she sat here with him, She inhaled deeply and on the exhale told him, “I’m texting Matt, telling him to stay with the band tonight.”
He tilted his head in interest, “What, why?” His heart rate picked up again as she stood up and offered her hand to him.
“Come on,” she said as she grabbed his hands pulling him up from the couch. A million thoughts were running through her mind right now but only one meant anything to her, She was with David. It didn’t make any sense to her but that’s how she liked it, and that’s how she wanted it. Actually that’s how they both wanted it as they headed to the back of the bus where her room was.
Rating: pretty PG for now
Ships: Dave/Carrie <3
Disclaimer: I obviously don't own squat!
part 1
“How are all my ladies tonight?” Carrie asked as she tried to catch her breath, “Okay, Ladies in Nashville, Tennessee. I have a question for you, How are the local fella’s? Do we have any prince charming’s in the building?” The crowd responds with some boo’s some cheer’s, “I’m just wondering because I’ve been on tour all year and I need to find myself a date for when this is over, and I know that if my Prince Charming is anywhere he’s here in Nashville Tennessee!!” Again cheer’s mostly from the men, “I just thought I’d, uh, let all of you out there know, Not everything printed about me in the papers is true. In fact if you read something that says ‘a close friend of Carrie’s said’ its probably false,” She chuckled a little, and the crowd starts to yell again as she begins to walk down to the edge of the catwalk, “I don’t know where they get these things from because I cannot find myself a man to save my life.” She pauses and laughs at the thought because she does in fact have a man, “I mean I don’t know what’s wrong, I’m nice, I have a job I can pay for the check at dinner, I’m funny” She shrugs her shoulders and receives another roar from the crowd, “All I know is that sometimes it can get pretty lonely, yes I can admit that, so if any of you ladies out there feel the same way,” she says as she starts to make her way back up the catwalk, “then do what I did, and get yourself a dog!”
From the light booth David watches Carrie intently, smiling from ear to ear, he marvels at her crowd interaction, and at her ability to flawlessly hit the high note in the middle of The More Boys I Meet with little effort at all. He cheers her on and sings under his breath to the songs. Some of the fans surrounding the booth have started to notice him there but he doesn’t care, he’s the least important person attending the show as far as he’s concerned which is why he’s caught off guard when Carrie grabs her guitar for Get Out of This Town and then dedicates it to him.
“I’d like to thank a couple of some very important people in my life for coming out to tonight’s show,” She paused as she adjusted the strap so that it wasn’t caught on her hair, “Mr. Simon Fuller and Mr. Simon Cowell are in the building and I wouldn’t be up here if it wasn’t for their kindness.” She paused as the crowed cheered the men and Carrie herself even joined in clapping for them. “Then we have a very talented trio of ladies here as well, I know them as my competition, but you know them as Katherine McPhee, Kellie Pickler and Taylor Swift.” She paused for the crowd to cheer on the ladies, “I um, also have some family in attendance, shot out to them, my sister and my niece and nephew are here. It’s a school night though so they probably have to leave soon,” She sticks her tongue out as the crowd laughs at her dry humor, “and last but not least, a very special person is back there, in the light booth,” She said pointing towards where David was, “He’s a very talented guy and he also happens to be my guitar inspiration-you probably don’t know this but he taught me everything I know about guitar and I taught him everything he knows about singing,” She deadpanned, “which is why he won American Idol, obviously, and he’s from Oklahoma, just like me so that’s an added bonus for him, so please give it up for Mr. David Cook ya’ll.” The crowd went crazy at the mention of his name and Carrie let out a small laugh, “So this one goes out to that Idol Boy back there because he uh, he came from… well from wherever he was to see the show, unlike everyone else that I mentioned earlier who actually lives in Nashville.” She said jokingly as she started to play the song.
David doesn’t mind that se dedicates a song to him especially one about running away together, in fact he couldn’t help but blush as he listened to Carrie talk about him, but at the same time he couldn’t help but think about how much Mike probably wanted to punch his lights out. He shrugged it off and enjoyed the rest of the show and rushed quickly back stage as Carrie said her good-bye’s after Before He Cheats. He got backstage and waited for her right at the entrance to the stage. From the first sight of her blonde hair his heart started racing and he wanted to run to her, instead he held his hands out towards her, “You were amazing!” He praised as she ran into his arms hugging him tightly, “Thank you for teaching me all of my singing skills because, I would just be another Tulsa boy if it weren’t for you.” He said laughing.
Carrie threw her head back in laughter, “You liked that didn’t you?” She asked still holding on to his arms as she blew her bangs out of her face.
David nodded his head, “I’m not complaining.”
“Carrie, The building is starting to vacate so if you want to head to your bus now would be the perfect time so you don’t get caught by all the fans who might swarm the bus area,” Shelton, Carrie’s body guard, said interrupting the two.
Carrie nodded, “Oh right! Come on Dave!” she said unconsciously grabbing his hand and leading him toward the bus with Shelton only half a step behind. They got to the door of the venue and were swarmed by flashing light bulbs; Carrie quickly dropped his hand as she tried to shield her face. David turned to the paparazzi and waved before moving next to Carrie to help block her from the camera’s view. “Thanks.” She said from behind her hands as Shelton fumbled with the keys to the bus.
“No problem, I can’t believe there are paps in Nashville!” He said surprised as he looked towards the cameras.
Carrie chuckled, “Yeah I know, they need to leave!”
Just as Shelton got the door open, the fans got to the gate surrounding the bus area. The heart pleading yells of “Carrie please! Can I have your autograph!” shook David to his core.
He put his hand on the small of her back to help guide her up the stairs in her bus, “you know for being such a small person you sure do have a lot of power over those fans out there.”
She laughed lightly as she threw herself down on the couch in exhaustion, “Yeah, I have good fans.”
David scoffed, “Good? They were crazy for you tonight!” He sat down next to her staring at her bright eyed, wide smile. He felt like a little school boy who just got his crush to talk to him.
Carrie blushed, “Thanks, tonight was a good night. The show was pretty good.”
David was about to agree when Matt and Mike walked into the bus, David immediately got up from the spot next to Carrie and moved to the table area across from him, “Hey guys.” He said with a light wave before shoving his hands into his front pockets.
Matt threw a nod in David’s direction, “Carrie, there are a bunch of fans out there waiting and the van to take you to the after party should be here in a bit.”
She nodded as she fanned her self with her left hand and patted the spot next to her with her right inviting Mike to sit down. He accepted the invitation and quietly sat down next to her. He didn’t kiss her like she was expecting, instead he just leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees with his head down. “You okay?” she asked.
“Yeah I’m fine,” he answered, still not looking at her.
She scooted closer to him and scratched the back of his neck lightly with her right hand, as she rested her left hand on his thigh, “Did you have fun?” He nodded again, “She leaned in closer and rested her head on his shoulder, “are you mad?” she whispered.
Mike shook his head softly and turned to finally face her; he kissed her forehead lightly, “You did good tonight, I’m glad that I made the trip.”
She smiled softly, “Well I’m glad that you could come.” She kissed his cheek and ruffled his hair before standing up, “Help yourself to the refrigerator boys, I’m going to change.” Carrie said as she walked towards the back trying to peel off the silver jacket that was stuck to her skin.
The three men sat in silence, no one wanting to talk in fear of the elephant that loomed in the room. Matt actually thought the whole thing was kind of funny. He’d gone to college with Carrie and this wasn’t the first time he’d seen two guys fight over her. He covered his mouth as he mustered up all his strength to stifle his laugh. David finally cleared his throat, “Erm, so uh good show huh?” He said hoping to lighten the mood.
Matt let his head drop and laughed lightly, “Yeah, did you see Mark totally almost beef it during Paradise City?” he asked humoring Dave as he too was becoming a bit uncomfortable at the silence.
Mike stood up and walked towards the fridge grabbing a VitaminWater, “Yeah I caught that, remind me to tell him something later.” He said as he twisted the cap off, “But you want to know what my favorite part of the show was?” Mike asked glaring at David, “Carrie dedicating a song to you David, how nice of my girlfriend to do that.”
David swallowed, “Yeah, that totally caught me off guard I mean,” He scratched his head as he paused, “she-“
“Alright boys, lets go.” Carrie said interrupting them as she came in from the back. “The van’s outside and the bus is going to pick us up from the hall after everything has been packed away. Dave you need a ride?”
Dave let out a sigh as she clearly saved him. He thought about her offer, and the way he figured it, if he went with them he’d be in close quarters with someone who wanted to rip his head off, but if he drove himself then what was stopping Mike from highjacking the van and ramming into David’s rental? “Um, yeah I’ll go with you guys if you uh-don’t mind.”
“Don’t be silly, let’s go,” she said grabbing her small purse and walking towards the door, “The place is only a couple minutes away but it might take us a while if there’s some traffic.”
“Alright,” Mike said as he walked ahead of Carrie to open the door. He reached for her hand but she gently pulled it away.
“There’s a lot of press here, I don’t really want us splashed all over the news anymore. Is that okay?” She asked softly
Mike bit his bottom lip trying to control his anger, “yeah sure whatever you want.” He exited the bus first and helped her out, he let her hand go as soon as she was completely out, and held the door for everyone else, including David, which surprised him.
The fans waiting for Carrie went crazy at the first site of her blonde hair, she politely waved at them and scrambled into the unmarked white van, Mike, Shelton, Matt and David followed and they were off.
Two hours into the party and David was sitting at a table with Carrie’s band arguing over what song was Guns N’ Roses’ best.
“November Rain! Hands Down! The guitar solo is amazing!” David said as he played air guitar. Clearly getting into his air solo.
“I’d have to agree with you on that one Mr. Cook,” Ed, Carrie’s guitarist, agreed. “I remember when Carrie first told us she was going to cover the song, I was so excited to actually get to play the solo live in front of people only to find out that she had cut it!”
“That wasn’t my choice, it just flowed better into Paradise City,” Carrie said as she ruffled Ed’s hair from behind him. “Hey M&M’s!” She said stealing the yellow bag from Ed before sitting down to the left of Mark.
“Damn it,” Ed laughed trying to snatch them back from Carrie, “That’s my last bag!” He yelled at her. She giggled and stuck her tongue out at him and he did the same in return.
“Wait, you guys sang November Rain?” David asked with excitement bursting at the seems, “Where was I? How did I miss it?!”
Carrie laughed throwing an M&M in her mouth, “Yeah we covered it,” she pursed her lips thinking, “around March/April-ish”
David scoffed and hit the table while snapping his fingers, “dang! I can’t believe I missed it!”
Mark took a sip of his beer, “Youtube it.”
Dave nodded, “Ah, the almighty Youtube.”
Carrie threw an M&M at David trying to catch his attention as he had already begun to pull out his iPhone to youtube the performance. “Hey Idol Boy, I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” she said while trying to stifle a laugh, “but there’s a certain Ms. Taylor Swift standing in the corner over there, and she has been giving you ‘the look’ for the past hour.” She said wiggling her eyebrows in a suggestive manner.
David turned around and indeed caught Taylor looking at him, “Isn’t she like…15?” he asked turning back to Carrie who was still wiggling her eyebrows, he picked up the M&M she had thrown at him and threw it back at her playfully, “Stop that!” He loved the way their friendship was. Silently he wanted more but wouldn’t pressure her into anything especially since she seemed happy with Mike. So instead he enjoyed the little moments like these.
Carrie laughed, “Nope, she’s legal. Let me know if you ah-want me to tell her anything. You know put in a good word for ya.” She said kinking her eyebrow and throwing in a wink just for kicks.
Dave shook his lightly, as he put his hand to his forehead wiping away a bead of sweat, “Real funny Carrie. Really funny.”
Just then a very unpleasantly looking Mike came over and tapped Carrie on her shoulder. She turned around and he leaned over to whisper in her ear, “Can I talk to you for a minute please? In private”
Carrie nodded her head, “Of course, handsome” She said with a smile as she intertwined their fingers. Shelton immediately began to follow, but Carrie waved him off and led Mike off to the hallway where it was quiet. “What’s up?”
“I’m gonna go,” He told her quickly.
Carrie looked confused, “Now? I thought maybe you’d stay with me tonight and then catch a flight in the morning,” she said rubbing his arm, leaning into him.
He moved her hand away from him and took a step back, “Yeah, I can’t, I have to go, now.”
Carrie dropped her shoulders, “Wait, what’s wrong?”
Mike scoffed and shook his head unable to contain his composure any longer, “I think you know very well what is wrong.” He told her raising his voice.
Carrie stood there, dumb founded, thinking about it, when it hit her, “David.” She said almost inaudibly.
“Yeah your little ‘Idol Boy,’” he said using air quotes, “He’s been drooling over you since he got here and - ” he put his hands up to his temples in attempt to control his temper, “and you wanna know what the worst part about it is Carrie?” She looked away, afraid of the answer, “You like it.” She closed her eyes at his words, “I can tell. You’re looking at him the way you used to look at me, laughing with him the way you used to laugh with me, dedicating songs to him and then ignoring my existence.” He slowed down his pace and let go of the deep breath that he was holding, “So if that’s how you want it to be then-you can go be with him, because I’m done here.”
Carrie looked up quickly with tears in her eyes, “What? You’re-you’re breaking up with me? Mike, David and I are FRIENDS! We seem close because I’ve been helping him since he won Idol; I’ve done that with the past couple of winners because I wish that I had someone there to help me through it all, that’s it! There is nothing going on between us!”
“Yeah you keep saying that Carrie but I don’t know who you’re trying to convince, me or yourself.” He told her more harshly then he had intended. “Carrie, I-I only want you to have what you want, and if that’s David then its David, don’t let me hold you back. I don’t want to be the reason that you aren’t happy.”
Carrie was sobbing by this point, “You’re-I - I want you. I do.” She said stepping closer to him fisting his shirt. She felt pathetic. She was heartbroken and humiliated by his words and her actions. She knew he had a point, she probably had been acting more than friendly with David, but she couldn’t help it. She just felt more comfortable around him than most guys.
He shook his head, “I don’t think you do Carrie,” he pulled her closer and kissed her forehead, “I’m gonna go,” He wiped the tears that threaten to fall from his eyes, “Good Luck with the rest of the tour.”
She gripped to him tighter hoping he wouldn’t leave but he gently broke her grip on his shirt and left. Carrie didn’t know what to do, she turned and leaned against the wall and slid to the floor. She rested her head against the cold concrete, her head was telling her to go after him and prove to him that he was wrong, but somewhere deep within her heart she knew he was right, she knew that she shouldn’t be stringing him along if her feelings weren’t as sincere as they should be. She truly did care for Mike, he was such an amazing guy, he was great with kids, he was caring, considerate, honest, religious, and everything that she wanted in a guy, he just wasn’t the guy. And although Carrie began to realize that weeks ago, she wanted so badly to be proven wrong. She didn’t want to admit things were falling apart between them because then she’d have to admit that she was crushing on David. She knew there was nothing wrong with David, he was nice guy and was always there for her when she needed him to be, she just wasn’t sure if she wanted to sacrifice their friendship. She took a deep breath and wiped the tears away with the back of her hand, pushing the thought of David to the back of her mind. “Well Carr, I guess there goes another one,” she whispered to herself as she slowly picked herself up. She dusted off her dark denim jeans and walked back down the hall towards the party, she got to the door, closed her eyes, and took a couple more deep breaths before opening the door and returning to the party.
“Hey, where’d Mike go?” Matt asked as Carrie sat back down.
“Home,” she said as she smiled weakly. “He-uh- he went home.”
Matt looked a little taken back, as he obviously had expected Mike to stay longer than the day, “Is everything okay?”
Carrie nodded her head, “Yeah, everything is fine. But, you know I’m actually not feeling too well, I think I’m going to head out and see if the bus is here.”
She stood up to leave and David, out of respect, stood up as well. “You want me to walk you?” His heart thumped a little quicker waiting for her response.
She pointed to Shelton who stood near by, “It’s okay, stay enjoy the party, hit up Taylor, Shelton will make sure nothing happens to me.” She winked at him and turned to leave. “Night everyone.”
David stood there momentarily, not shocked that she had rejected him. He looked around at the band obviously not wanting to be rude, but still wanting to run after her to make sure that everything was okay, friends did that right? “Just go dude,” Matt said nodding his head in the direction that Carrie had just walked towards.
“Thanks man,” he said before he grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair and took off after her finally reaching her once they were in the hallway, “Its kind of cold outside, maybe you should at least take my jacket.” She turned around to deny the offer and that’s when he actually looked at her for the first time since she had come back to the table, Her eyes were swollen, probably because of Mike, her mascara was running, barely but enough that he noticed, , he hadn’t noticed back at the table because there wasn’t enough light but he couldn’t help but note how incredibly sad she looked, “Hey is everything ok?” He asked concerned, putting his hands on her shoulders looking more closely into her eyes
She dropped her shoulders and nodded her head, “Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired.” She lied, tears threatening to fall from her eyes again.
David nodded his head, knowing full well that she was lying. It hurt him to see her like this so he did the first thing he could think of, he pulled her into a tight hug, the kind of hug that a protective boyfriend gives their girlfriend after they’ve received terrible news. She rested her head on his chest and wrapped her arms tightly around him, he in return rested his chin on the top of her head, They stood there for a moment, Carrie let a couple tears fall each making David cringe in pain, he shouldn’t hurt like this for her but he couldn’t help it. In his eyes she was far to beautiful to be anything but happy, “I’m here for you Carrie, if you ever just-I don’t know, want to talk…” he offered drifting off at the end.
She smiled pulling away from the hug, “Thanks idol boy.”
He touched her chin, “See there’s that smile.” He wiped away the tears she shed and looked deeply into her hazel eyes.
She let out a little laugh after a while feeling like she was dragging down the mood, it was a party afterall, “You still want to walk me?”
He nodded his head, “As long as you want me to.” He hadn’t noticed but somewhere between the table and now his heart and slowed down a bit, he figured it was because he was trying to be the strong one, the calm one for, for her sake, but at her offer his heart rate increased again.
She nodded her head, “Yeah I want you to.” She looked over at Shelton who respectively kept his distance, she winked at him, which seemed to be the signal and he turned and re-entered the party. She turned back to David and nodded her head towards the exit, “Come on.” She wanted to grab his hand but slapped herself mentally, she had just broken up with Mike, well, he had just broken up with her. She didn’t know what she was thinking she should be mending her heart not trying to prove Mike right, even though she knew to some extent he was.
“Wait, hold up,” he said as he put his jacket over her shoulders, “There.” She smiled softly, at his thoughtfulness, the last guy that ever treated her this well was back in Okalahoma, but then again David is from her home state and she wouldn’t expect anything less than respect from an Okalahoma boy.
They walked in silence towards the bus; it wasn’t an awkward silence, but the kind of silence that you learn to appreciate in a relationship. She got to the door of the hall, which, of course, he opened for her and quickly spotted, her bus. She looked around and didn’t see any paparazzi and let out a sigh of relief, as she didn’t want any flashbulbs going off especially right now. She looked over at David and noticed that he was just staring at her; she looked back away and felt herself begin to blush. She nudged his arm, “What are you looking at?”
He laughed and shook his head, “well,” he paused, “you.”
She laughed a little, “Well, I’m flattered.”
“You should be,” he deadpanned, “I mean come on I’m like the sexiest person to come off of American Idol.” He said laughing this time, as he knew that wasn’t the case at all.
“Next to who? Ruban Studdard?” She laughed and immediately put her hand over her mouth, “that was rude,” she laughed again, “I take it back.”
David laughed, “yeah, next to Ruben.” They grew silent for a little while, “Well actually I think I’m the third sexiest person to come off idol. Next to you and Ruben of course.”
She shook her head noticing the compliment but chosing to ignore it hoping to avoid any subject about her, “Well aren’t you humble?”
He laughed, “No I’m just kidding, seriously look at me!” he pointed to himself. Noting what he thought were his problem areas, his gut and his butt, “I’m like the least sexiest person ever!”
She shook her head, “You don’t give yourself enough credit Davey boy!”
“Davey boy?” he laughed, “Seriously the last person that called me that was my third grade teacher!”
“Seriously?”
“No, I can’t remember that far back,” he said laughing.
They reached the bus and she fumbled with the keys to get it open, “this is why keeping the bus locked is Matt and Shelton’s job!” she said laughing as she finally got the bus open.
He helped her inside the bus and closed the door behind them. Once inside Carrie threw herself down on the couch, “Today was a long day.”
David plopped down next to her, “I know, watching you kick butt on stage is tiring.” He deadpanned.
She punched him gently in the arm, “you’re crazy.”
“You think?” He asked.
She held up her hand showing her index finger an inch a way from her thumb as she squinted her eye, “just a little.”
He laughed, “as long as it’s not a lot.”
“You have your moments.”
He nodded and stayed silent for a while, “so you want to talk about it?”
She looked over at him and shook her head, “not really.”
He nodded his head, “Alright.” He knew that she, like any other girl, would open up about what happened when she was ready.
It only took her a minute before she finally cracked, “He broke up with me.”
Dave turned to her and immediately pulled her into a hug, “Oh Carrie, I’m-I’m sorry.”
She waved him off, “It’s okay, and it was going to happen eventually, we weren’t happy. You know they call it a break up because it’s broken.”
He nodded his head, “Well aren’t you philosophical?”
She laughed lightly before inching closer to him till she was leaning into his shoulder, she sighed deeply and asked the dreaded question that had been on her mind for a while now, “So when do you have to leave me?” She asked changing the subject back on to him.
He leaned his head down on top of hers, “I can stay as long as you want me to.”
“Really?” she asked softly. He couldn’t help but smile to himself, as she genuinely seemed happy with his response.
“Yeah, really,” he whispered. He knew that he was being irrational, he had to leave eventually but really she only had a week left of the tour and what were the odds that she’d ask him to stay that long?
“Then will you stay with me tonight?” She asked allowing herself to be vulnerable, she didn’t know why she asked him, but something inside her said that he’d make things okay and he’d make her feel safe, even if it was just for the night.
He picked his head up. He paused and thought about the question before nodding a grinning slightly showing s hint of a dimple in his cheek, “Yeah, I’ll stay.” She reached into her purse that lay at her side and pulled out her phone. “What are you doing crazy girl?” He asked inquisitively.
She looked at him momentarily, pausing to stare into his deep green eyes, a part of her already felt safe as she sat here with him, She inhaled deeply and on the exhale told him, “I’m texting Matt, telling him to stay with the band tonight.”
He tilted his head in interest, “What, why?” His heart rate picked up again as she stood up and offered her hand to him.
“Come on,” she said as she grabbed his hands pulling him up from the couch. A million thoughts were running through her mind right now but only one meant anything to her, She was with David. It didn’t make any sense to her but that’s how she liked it, and that’s how she wanted it. Actually that’s how they both wanted it as they headed to the back of the bus where her room was.