“Why am I doing this again?”

Kara looked up at the woman standing in front of her and smiled. Then she pushed her glasses further up on her nose before answering.

“You’re doing this charity event because you love children, and you think that every child should have the chance to improve their literacy.”

That was a total lie; her sister could give a damn about those kids and probably didn’t even know how to spell ‘literacy’.

“Right! That’s why you’re my personal assistant; you always keep me on top of things, and you’re so good at it.”

“Thanks Maritza,” Kara responded, pulling out her Blackjack phone and double checking the time her sister was supposed to be rehearsing.

“I don’t see why the kids actually have to be there. What if one of them touches me and gets me sick with their germs or something?”

See. Kara knew her sister like the back of her own hand, and charitable was something that Maritza was not. In fact, the only reason why her sister was doing this was for a publicity stunt. Maritza’s PR set this up to get everyone’s attention off of the incident that happened between her and Lindsay Lohan at a club in LA two weeks ago. Long story.

“Are you listening to me?”

Kara looked up from her phone with a smile and lied to her sister.

“I hear every word you’re saying.”

Well, technically she didn’t lie to her, she did hear every word Maritza was saying, she just wasn’t listening to her. That was a trick she’d learned over the years, and it came in handy during times like this.

“Alright. So what time do I rehearse today? Because you know I have a hair appointment.”

“I know about your hair appointment, I set it up, you silly goose.”

Both women laughed.

“And we’re gonna leave for the studio in twenty minutes.”

“I don’t know what I’d do without you Kara.”

“I don’t know either girl,” Kara replied, smiling at Maritza.

It wasn’t that she didn’t love her sister, because she did, but they’ve always had a weird relationship. Even when they were kids it was always like she was her sister’s shadow, and when Maritza hit it big in the music industry it seemed natural for Kara to follow her once more, this time as her PA. She enjoyed the job, somewhat. But she didn’t decide to do it for pleasure, it was more like a duty to her. Maritza may not have been her favorite person in the world, but Kara didn’t trust anyone else with her sister like that. She was gonna be the one to take her sister’s orders, complaints, schedules, free gifts (on occasion), and verbal abuse. She was also gonna be there to clean up after Maritza’s mistakes, to make sure that people only saw the image the PRs wanted them to, and not see Maritza for who she really was.

Well I'mma freak you right, each and every night
I know how to do it insane girl
'Cause I can make it hot, make it stop

Justin paused in his movements and could hear Marty groan. A smirk spread across his face as the man started to chew him out.

“How many times do I have to tell you that this is for a children’s benefit concert? You can not do that.”

Justin couldn’t help but laugh. They were rehearsing for the ‘NBA Cares’ concert that was five days away. He didn’t even know why they were rehearsing. It wasn’t like they hadn’t been on the road for the past couple of months and hadn’t been doing the routine every night. It actually took them a while to figure out what song they could perform that would be appropriate for the kids. They’d finally decided on ‘Summer Love’ but figured out that they had to cut out the part in the song where they pause the music and Justin grinds on his dancer…which is what he’d conveniently forgot to do the past three times they’d gone through the dance routine.

“I don’t even know why we’re rehearsing this, man. I know this thing like the back of my hand.”

“So why do you keep messin’ up?” Marty demanded.

“To make you mad,” Justin stated plainly.

He watched Marty smirk, and grinned when he dismissed them for the day. Justin waited until everyone else filed out the room before he approached his friend.

“Marty, you know I was just messin’ with ya earlier, right?”

“Yeah. You know I’m just a perfectionist.”

“I know, me too. But you need to learn when to relax.”

“I know, I know.”

“In fact, we’re goin’ out tonight.”

“But –.“

“I don’t wanna hear it,” Justin cut him off. “When was the last time we went out?”

Marty was silent in thought.

“My point exactly,” Justin began. “We’re gonna paint the town tonight. We finally have a couple of days off and we’re gonna put it to good use.”

“Are you sure you won’t need me tonight?” Kara asked Maritza.

The two of them were sitting on the couch inside of home that they shared.

“Nope, why? Do you have plans?” Maritza asked, getting interested all of a sudden.

She pulled up her legs and wrapped her arms around them and turned around to face Kara.

“Not really. I’m just hanging out with a few of the girls.”

“Ooh! Sounds like fun! Where are ya’ll going?”

“I dunno,” Kara began. “Roxi just said that she wanted to go out with the girls before she heads back home.”

“Well, have fun,” Maritza said, a frown beginning to grow on her face. “I’ll just spend my evening here on the couch with my pint of Ben & Jerry’s and Pay-Per-View.”

Kara felt bad for her sister, but didn’t want to give up her night with her girlfriends for her sister. She loved the girl, but she didn’t want her life to become completely wrapped around her sister.

“Oh, well ok.” She smiled, happy that her sister understood.

She rose from the couch and made her way to her bedroom to change for the evening. She ended up deciding on a pair of dark Rock & Republic jeans and a black low cut top. She topped it off with silver jewelry and flat-ironed hair. By ten she was heading out the door and towards downtown to meet her best friends.

"So, okay," Roxi put a lemon to her lips to chase away the bitterness of the tequila shot. "Who are we picking up tonight?"

It was well after one in the morning and the three women sat at a table up in the balcony, overlooking the club and the rest of the party goers. The table top between them was littered with bead necklaces, shot glasses, and two empty champagne bottles.

"I call dibs on that one," Charita pointed out into the crowd.

The other two girls leaned over the edge of the railing and stared down into the crowd of gyrating bodies below them. They giggled when the man she'd picked out couldn't be seen. There were men everywhere, and it was dark, and they had reached the 'tipsy' phase hours ago.

"What about you Kara? Which one is your Mr. Someone tonight?"

"All of them," Kara tipped her head back with a grin. "I'm everyone's friend tonight."

Roxi and Charita exchanged a look before laughing loudly.

"Well don't say that too loudly, you'll catch a reputation!"

Kara rolled her eyes and pulled her purse over her shoulder.

"I don't have time to be anybody’s Ms. Someone. I've got an early wake-up call tomorrow. I should have been home an hour ago."

She stood, slightly stumbling against the stool behind her.

"Oh come on, just one dance for the road," Roxi reached for her hand. "One song and then I promise I'll yank you away and put you in a cab."

"Yeah, we promise," Charita batted her lashes.

Kara looked back and forth between the two girls before she tossed her hands into the air.

"One dance and then I have to get out of here."

The other two cheered and jumped from their seats, leading her toward the stairs.

"I knew it was a bad idea coming here with you guys."

Down on the floor there was hardly any room to breath. Bodies were jam-packed together, spilling over into the bar area. The bass was thumping so loud it was blinding, and it didn't mix well with all the alcohol Kara had consumed. But she didn't let the impending headache stop her. She headed onto the floor, squeezing in between moving bodies, eventually finding a place. Charita and Roxi were snatched up by partners almost immediately. It was always that way for them. They were beautiful, young, thin, confident. A guy would be crazy to see one of them dancing alone and not step in. Kara was always the one left for last, a role she'd become accustomed too. Raising her hands into the air, she focused on her own little space, swaying her hips to the music and enjoying the peace.

Not to long after she'd begun to lose her head in the song, a pair of hands gently rested on her hips. She looked down at them, eyeing the long fingers gripped the material of her jeans. Raising her head, she was met with a shoulder; obviously the stranger was much taller than she was. But if she lifted her head higher to see his face, she might vomit. But he might be cute, so she didn't want to risk it. So she lowered her arms, resting her hands on the sides of his legs and they moved together to the beat. They pressed closer and closer together, her back against his chest, her behind resting against his pelvic. It was sensual dancing at its finest. And all too soon the moment was over, and the song ended. The beat changed to something much faster, and Kara turned to face him.

"What's your name little one?" He asked.

His voice was smooth. Lascivious.

She smirked, but before she could open her mouth to answer a hand wrapped around her arm.

"She's got to go; she has an early call tomorrow."

Roxi smiled at the man and pulled on Kara.

"Wait, I-."

"No, you made us promise, remember? Time to go. Taxi!"

Kara pouted as Charita and Roxi drug her away, arm and arm. She didn't even get to see his face.

Wipe that smile off your fuckin’ face
Then I say to you
Wipe that smile off your face
To be despised
To be loved
To be dreamt of
To be sought
On the inside
I don’t care
Right in the middle
I’m right in the middle

Kara groaned and rolled over to silence her phone. It was entirely too soon for her alarm to be going off. She rubbed her eyes and climbed out of bed, heading towards her restroom. Today was going to be a long day, and her hangover wasn’t going to make matters any better. She popped to aspirin and jumped in the shower, mentally preparing herself for the day’s events. Kara had barely finished making breakfast when she heard the intercom buzz.

“KK,” her sister began, using the petname she only used when she wanted something. “Can you make me some toast and egg whites?”

Knowing her sister as well as she did, Kara had already made her eggs and toast, which were now sitting on the griddle to stay warm.

“They’ll be ready when you come down. And hurry up, we have to be on the road in an hour,” Kara said, holding down the conference button.

She ate her breakfast and scrolled through her sister’s entire schedule for the day on her Blackjack. She was joined half an hour later by her sister and the two made small talk over their meal while waiting for the car to get there. Kara usually drove them around town, but the record label didn’t want to risk anything when it came to big events like the NBA gig. They technically still had a few hours before they were supposed to go on, but Maritza still had to get dressed for the performance and do a few interviews and photo ops.

Nothing too out of the ordinary, right?

Wrong.

“You want me to wear that!?!” Maritza asked in disgust.

They'd arrived at the arena and she'd just seen the outfit her stylist had picked out for her.

“Yes. Is there a problem with it?” The woman asked meekly.

'Poor new girl,' was the first thing that went through Kara’s mind. 'She was doomed from the get go.'

“There’s no problem, I just don’t wear jerseys. Did you pick out anything else?”

“I’m sorry, but since it’s an NBA function all I picked out was jerseys. They’re all fitted though. And I have some really cute bottoms,” the stylist said proudly.

“That’s very nice, but like I said, I don’t do jerseys. Kara!”

“I’m right here Marz,” Kara said, getting her attention.

Maritza walked over to her sister with a pout on her face.

“I don’t like those clothes.”

“Well you better start liking them because that’s all you have to choose from,” Kara replied in a matter-of-factly tone.

Sometimes she wondered who was the older sibling, especially when Maritza was acting like a 5 year old.

“Put on the Nuggets outfit, that blue looks good against your skin tone.”

Maritza sighed heavily before walking over to the stylist and informing her of what outfit she was going to wear. Kara breathed a sigh of relief when her sister started to get dressed and left the room in search of refreshments.

You spotted the ocean
At the head of the trail
Where are we going?
So far away

Kara froze in her tracks. She recognized the song because she loved John Mayer, but the voice that was singing it wasn’t his.

Somebody told me
That this is the place
Where everything’s better
And everything’s safe

She peeked around the nearest open door and just sort of stared as the guy sang through the chorus before chugging a bottle of water. She watched him fidget with his iPod and change the song and hum along with Rihanna’s ‘Hate That I Love You’. She was completely enthralled by this man; this man in jeans and a t-shirt, singing and bobbing his head along with his iPod, oblivious to the fact that someone was else was in the room since his back was to her. Kara leaned against the doorway and watched him finish the song, getting chills when he hit a chord at the end of the song.

“Kara!”

She jumped when her sister yelled her name, thinking that she was caught. She quickly made her way back down the dressing room.

“Huh?”

“What were you doing down there? I’m about to go on.”

“I was looking for some waters.”

“Umm hmm,” Maritza replied sarcastically. “You were looking at Justin, weren’t you?”

“Who?” Kara asked, confused.

“Justin. Justin Timberlake. That’s whose dressing room you were looking into. Was he naked or something?”

Kara was shocked; she really didn’t know that that was his room.

“No, he wasn’t naked,” she replied, rolling her eyes. “He was singing John Mayer, and you know I love me some John Mayer.”

“That you do. So you were stalking Justin? You think he’s cute don’t you?” Maritza asked in a sing-song voice.

Once again Kara questioned who was the older sister.

“I wasn’t stalking him; I was just watching him sing. And it doesn’t matter if I think he’s cute or not, I’d never have a chance with him,” she said, looking down at her feet.

“You’re right,” Maritza replied, totally ignoring the sadness in her sister’s voice. “I’m more his type. Do you think I should say something to him tonight?”

Once again Kara tuned out her one of Maritza’s many rants. She took deep breaths and tried to forget the hurtful words that just came from her sister’s mouth. It wasn’t the first time she’d been put down by her and it probably wouldn’t be the last. Besides, by now she was used to them; they almost couldn’t complete a day with Maritza making her feel like she was a lesser person, and Kara just took it. She didn’t know what else to do.

Cause I can’t wait to fall in love with you
You can’t wait to fall in love with me
This just can’t be summer love, you’ll see
This just can’t be summer looovve

“Thank you!” Justin screamed, running off the stage with the rest of his dancers.

He grabbed the towel from Rachael’s hand and wiped his face while heading back to the interviewing room they had set up for the artists after they finished performing. He was just about to walk in when he was stopped by a woman who informed him that there was another interview going on that moment, but that it would be over in just a bit.

“Thanks. Who’s in there?” he asked, taking the bottle of water Rachael was offering him.

“Marz,” Kara said, using her sister’s stage name.

“That chick who sings ‘Promise’?”

“That’s her.”

“Damn, I didn’t even know she was gonna be here. Did she perform that?”

Kara was just about to answer when Justin cut her off.

“Wait, you probably don’t even know. Are you with the TV station?”

“No, actually I’m her PA, and she performed ‘Get up’,” Kara replied matter-of-factly.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“It’s ok,” she said, turning her attention away from him.

“So, do you like your job?” Justin asked, trying to make small talk.

“It’s ok. It’s gotten harder over the years; she didn’t have this many gigs when she first started out.”

“So you’ve been with her from the start?” Rachael asked.

“Yeah,” Kara replied with a small smile.

“How did ya’ll meet?” Justin asked.

'What is this? Twenty questions? Damn!' was the thought that ran through Kara’s head.

“She’s my sister,” she stated plainly, just as Maritza was exiting the room.

“Oh hi!” Maritza said in one of her fake tones.

Kara was happy that her sister stepped in front of her because she didn’t want anyone to see her roll her eyes.

“I’m Marz.”

“Justin,” he said, extending his hand to shake hers.

Maritza went into ‘flirty’ mode and Kara saw the change immediately. She had to try not to gag while her sister and Justin made small talk about the charity and the afterparty that was happening that night at a local club.

“So you’ll be there?”

“Yeah, I’ll see you there,” Maritza responded with a smile.

“Alright; well I’ll see ya’ll later!” Justin said with a wave as he entered the interview room with Rachael not too far behind him.

“Ooh! I think I’m gonna wear my black backless dress!” Maritza exclaimed as they made their way to their awaiting car.

"Is he here? Do you see him?"

Kara rolled her eyes as she led her sister up the steps to the VIP section.

"I don't know Marz. He'll probably up here in one of booths, not down there with the clubbies."

Maritza tugged on the hem of her super short black dress as she climbed the last of the steps. Her attire was short, backless, and sure to make any man --including Justin-- crumble. Once at the top Kara spotted a booth in the corner, but her forward motion was stopped when he sister grabbed her hand.

"There he is," she whispered, staring off across the room.

Kara rolled her eyes at the glazed over look on her sisters face. When she followed her sisters stare she noticed Justin as well, heading towards them with a drink and a smile.

"Hi."

"Hey!" She replied excited.

"Carly," he nodded to Kara.

"Kara, actually."

He wasn't paying any attention to her. He was focused on Marz lowcut cleavage.

"You made it." He leaned in to give Marz a hug.

"Yes, barely. The paparazzi is crazy out there."

"I know." He shook his head as he downed his drink. "Leaches. Do you two have a table?"

"Actually-," Kara began, motioning towards the still open on in the corner.

"No," Marz interupted. "They're all taken. I guess it's the penalty for being late."

"Well, you're welcome to come join me. There's plenty of room."

Marz accepted the invitation, and Justin's arm before following him over to the booth near the private bar. Kara shook her head, following relunctantly. She'd give anything to not have to sit and watch these two make googly eyes at each other all night. An hour later and Justin and Marz had themselves holed up in the corner discussing the meaning of life and orientation of cosmopolitan martinis. Kara was leaning against the bar, stirring a watermelon margarita. A man, about 25 or so with a brown beard and cap pulled low over his eyes moved up next to her, ordering a Corona.

"You must have come here with her. You've been watching her like a hawk all night."

Kara glanced at him before briefly returning her eyes to her sister. She'd seen him before, he'd been hovering over Justin's dressing room at the concert.

"I'm just making sure she doesn't get drunk and end of up on top of that table. I don't trust your friend there to try and stop her."

The man turned and leaned his back against the bar, eyeing the couple as well.

"You're right about that. Justin is never one to turn down a good show."

Kara smirked. The likelyhood of that happening in her presence was slim to none.

"I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm the morally compromised sidekick."

"Hi, I'm the lowly assistant to celebrity royalty."

"Nice to meet you."

"And you. So, what makes you so morally compromised?"

"Every morning I wake up and have this unrelenting urge to tell him he's an asshole. But he's my best friend, so I don't."

"Funny. You'd think that because he's your best friend, that you'd have no problem telling him he's an asshole."

"Hence the morally compromised."

"In that case we're all morally compromised."

"Speaking of your celebrity royalty?"

"The one and only. My sister."

"I could tell."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, same smile, same hair."

"You can't just all minorities by their hair."

"Who said anything about minorities? I just meant the ringlets."

Before Kara could smile or reply she heard her sister hollaring her name from across the room. She was halfway down the stairs with Justin, apparently they were leaving.

"And that's my cue. I've got to run morally compromised, but I'm sure I'll see you around."

"I'm sure. Oh and Kara," she paused a few feet away to turn and look at him. "The name is Trace."

Kara nodded, "Hi Trace."

"Kara! Come on, we're gonna miss the valet!"

"See ya, Trace."

Kara was fingering the keys on the keyboard in the studio that she and Marz were at. Marz was working on some tracks for her new album and was taking a break at the moment to go to Starbucks and get some coffee. Kara was kind of shocked when her sister offered to do it, but then again Marz was acting different since her and Justin started dating three weeks earlier. Her sister was more tolerable and nice, and Kara didn't want to think about her sister's sex life, but if that was all she needed to loosen up she would have recommended someone to her earlier. A soft chuckle escaped her lips as she began playing the chords to Marz' current single 'Love to Burn'. The song that was released to the radio was an upbeat, pop song but the song that Kara wrote was a bluesy jazz tune, or at least the melody was. That was something she had a knack at. She was more than a personal assistant to her sister, she was also a producer. Kara would come up with melodies, and sometimes even lyrics to go to them, and Marz would sing them. They'd been doing that for years. They used to sing together when they were younger, Marz was even discovered like that; they were performing together at a local talent show, and won, but the agent only wanted her. He said that Marz was what the music was looking for, someone with the voice and the look, and apparently Kara had the voice but she was nowhere near the look…and that she'd never be. Whatever; screw them and their 'look'. She slowed down the chords and began softly singing the lyrics.

I've seen you falling in and out of things
Your heart heats up
Your heart gets cold
Lights up and yearns again
What's your story?
I don't want a flash of glory
Then the crash
The "what was that?"
And why'd I fall so fast?

Justin swirled his keyring around one of his index fingers as he made his way towards studio 3, the studio that his girlfriend was recording in today. He hadn't seen her in a few days due to a promotional event in New York and wanted to surprise her. He missed her; missed her laugh, her smile, missed holding her and kissing her. He'd finally found someone who shared the same passions he did. Finally found someone as loving and caring as him. And she was in the music business!!! But don't let him get started on her music. This girl was a musical genius; the way the words from her angelic voice flowed so seamlessly with the beautiful melodies. He'd always admired her as an artist, but now he was admiring her as so much more. He couldn't help but smile as he approached the door to the studio. He knocked softly twice before he realized that someone was in there singing. He recognized his girlfriend's song and eased the door open expecting to see her, but shocked when he saw her sister, Kara sitting in front of the keyboard and singing her heart out.

Slow down
We've got time
I need to know
That you're all mine
Have you got love to burn?
Kisses for days
Don't you wanna grab onto something real
And never let it get away?
I don't have love burn
Time to waste
Cause I waited far too long
For the spark to become a flame
And if it comes true
I only have love to burn for you

He listened intently in silence; he didn't know Kara could sing so well and he wanted her to finish, just in case she didn't like singing in front of audiences.

I can live without you
I'm happy by myself
But you get to me
You make me feel like there is no one else
Whatcha doin?
Leavin' hearts in ruin
Can't you see
For us to be
That just won't fly with me
Slow down
Let's get it right
Make it last
Let's start tonight

Why didn't Marz release this version instead of the pop one? This version sounded ten times better. Justin didn't know if it was the style of the song or if it was the singer but this version was by far his favorite.

Let's see it through
Cause I was sure you feel this way for me
It's gotta be
Much more than anything we say
For love to ever last
I need to know it's not just touch and go
That you are here to stay
Here to stay
That you are here to stay
Have you got love to burn?
Kisses for day
Tonight we won't let anything
Get in our way

Kara played a few final notes before closing her eyes and ending the song. Justin couldn't help but applaud causing her to jump out of shock and turn around to see who was in the room with her.

"Justin! You scared the shit out of me! What are you doing here?"

"I was droppin' by to surprise Marz. I just got back from NYC and wanted to see my girl," he said the last part of his statement with a smile on his face.

"Oh. She's at Starbucks, but she'll be back in a bit. You can have a seat if you want."

"Alright," he said, sitting down on the nearby couch, "Where's her producer?"

"You're looking at her."

"Huh?"

"I'm producing the track she's working on today. I wrote it so I might as well produce it, who else knows it better than me?" Kara said with a smile.

"So you sing, write, and produce? And not only do you sing, but you sing well. I didn't know you had a voice like that." Kara could feel the heat rising to her face.

"Thanks."

"I mean it. Why don't you have a deal? You and Marz could've been singing together, like Aly & A.J. but better," he said with a laugh. His laughter was infectious and Kara couldn't help but join in.

"Hey! I like their music!" she exclaimed with a smile.

"I do too, but I like ya'll better." Kara couldn't help but stare at his eyes while he was talking. She didn't know what it was about them, but they were so captivating.

"But you never answered my question. Why don't you have a deal. You have talent, girl."

"I don't know, I just never pictured myself as an artist. I sorta like staying behind the scenes," she lied. She couldn't tell him the real reasons, she couldn't tell anyone. Her problems and insecurities were just that, her own.

"Whatever you say. I still think you should try it out. You could be just what this industry needs. There aren't that many---" Justin was cut off when Marz walked in the room exclaiming his name.

"Baby! Why didn't you tell me you were back already?" she asked, placing the Starbucks cups on a nearby table.

"I wanted to surprise you, sweetheart," Justin replied, enveloping her into a hug and kiss.

"Well that's exactly what you did. I didn't expect to see you until this weekend, baby," Marz said with the hugest grin on her face.

"I know, I thought I was coming back this weekend too, but we finished early and here I am." Marz made a squealing noise and hugged her boyfriend once more.

"What are you recording?"

"This ballad for my new album. Kara wrote it the other day and I fell in love with it, like I do with just about all of her work. I swear that girl is a musical genius," Marz said, smiling at her sister with adoration in her eyes. Kara smiled back while walking over to the table and grabbing her coffee.

"Yeah she is," Justin began, "when I walked in she was playing this bluesy version of that song that you have out as a single now. That song you did for that Reese Witherspoon chick flick. Why didn't you release that version?"

"I don't know; but I think I'm gonna put the jazzy version on my album. Are you gonna hang out while I record?"

"Yeah, I made sure that I had the entire day off to spend it with you," Justin answered, kissing his girlfriend's forehead sweetly. Marz grabbed her cup of tea and sat down next to Kara in front of the mixing board and Justin sat on the couch.

"Ok, so the backing track has a guitar strumming the chords along with the keyboard, but we're just gonna run through it with the keyboard before you go into the booth…unless you wanna hear the track."

"No, you can play the keyboard. I wanna make sure I got the lyrics right before we finalize anything; you know just in case we have to change the key or something."

"Gotcha," Kara replied, placing the lyrics on the keyboard stand, "Just remember that there's a four bar intro." She began playing the beginning chords and sang along softly with her sister.

And I don't know
This could break my heart or save me
Nothing's real
Until you let go completely
So here I go with all my thoughts I've been saving
So here I go with all my fears weighing on me

Three months and I'm still sober
Picked all my weeds but kept the flowers
But I know it's never really over

Marz placed a hand over one of her sister's, signaling for her to stop playing.

"I like it. Do you?"

"Yeah, this is definitely gonna be your next single," Kara replied with grin.

She watched Marz take another sip of her tea before grabbing the lyrics sheet and heading towards the recording booth. Kara began flipping switches on the mixing board, turning it on and getting the song cued up for Marz to record to. Marz did a mic test and Kara turned on the backing track. Justin couldn't help but smile when he saw the way the two were working with each other and how gifted Kara was. There were a lot of people who could make words rhyme, but not everyone could write a song…and not everyone could write songs like the ones she did. She was the full package and couldn't see it. She had the talent to pen lyrics, come up with beautiful melodies…something that'd been plaguing him recently, and she had a voice that could give you chills.

And I don't know
I could crash and burn but maybe
At the end of this road I might catch a glimpse of me
So I won't worry about my timing, I want to get it right
No comparing, second guessing, no not this time

Three months and I'm still breathing
Been a long road since those hands I left my tears in but I know
It's never really over, no

Kara leaned forward in the chair and adjusted knobs while her sister sang, humming the harmony in the process. That was the next part of the recording process; once they finished recording the main vocals it was time to go back and record the ad-libs and harmonies, and she usually joined her sis in the booth for those.

Three months and I'm still standing here
Three months and I'm getting better yeah
Three months and I still am

Three months and it's still harder now
Three months I've been living here without you now
Three months yeah, three months

Three months and I'm still breathing
Three months and I still remember it
Three months and I wake up

Three months and I'm still sober
Picked all my weeds but kept the flowers

Justin began a slow clap once Marz had finished recording her main vocals.

"I'm speechless. That song is…wow. That should definitely be your first single. I'd buy the album just for that."

"You'd buy it just for me," Marz said with a grin.

"I'd buy a thousand copies for you…and a thousand more if the rest of your songs sound like that baby."

"Give her the credit, not me," Marz said, pointing over towards her sister, "she wrote those lyrics and came up with that beautiful melody." Kara lowered her head and toyed with the knobs on the mixing board.

"Don't get shy now girl," Justin began, "You know you have talent…talent that I could use right now."

"What's wrong baby?" Marz asked, looking up at him with concern on her face.

"Nothing. I'm just kinda stuck right now."

"Huh?"

"I'm sort of on a deadline for this next album, Jive apparently has a budget for me now, and I'm supposed to have a 'rough draft' on Johnny's desk in three weeks."

"How many songs do you have now?" Marz asked.

"Five. And I need at least 12 good tracks."

"You don't have any unreleased ones? Any collaborations that you could put on there?"

"Three of those five are collabs," he replied dryly.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Who are you working with?"

"Pharell and Timbaland on those songs that are actually new…but I'm trying to change things up a little bit ya know? I want this album to be different from the other two."

"Yeah, are you looking for more ballads? I mean, it's just my opinion, but I loved your vocals on 'Another Song', 'Until the End of Time', and 'Take it From Here'. An album full of mid-tempos and ballads would be a drastic change from your other two."

"Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking," Justin agreed.

"Of course you'd have to have you two or three club bangers, but that could be some collabs; like the one you did with 50 Cent."

"Yeah, I see what you mean. And I wouldn't mind doing an album like that if I didn't have this block. I just need someone to bounce ideas off of, but Tim and Pharell don't really do ballads ya know?"

"Well Kara does. Why don't you two work together?"

Is this girl seriously giving me to him like I'm her property or something? If looks could kill Marz would've been dead from the glare Kara was giving her just then.

"I don't know, you two seem like ya'll are really busy. I don't want to disrupt your recording schedule."

"What schedule? We're just messing around in here. I just like to record songs while they're still fresh in our brains," Marz replied.

"Well if it's ok with Kara then I don't mind."

"I ---."

"Of course she's ok with it. She has nothing better to do!" Marz said with a laugh, cutting off her sister. Both Justin and Marz looked at Kara and she didn't know what else to do but grin and bear it…which is what she did.

"Sure."

"Great! Well then it's settled. You can borrow Kara for the next couple of weeks so that you can finish up your album!" Marz said with a huge grin before kissing her boyfriend square on the lips, "I can't wait to hear what you two come up with. Are you excited Kara?"

"Very," she replied, trying to hide the sarcasm in her voice. She couldn't believe that her sister had just loaned her out to someone…like she was some kind of toy doll or something. Marz had done some pretty stupid and shady things in her life, but this topped the cake. She never thought about other people when she did things, only herself, only how it would affect her.

You'd think that I'd used to this by now. Kara picked up her coffee cup and finished off the lukewarm beverage before throwing her cup in the garbage can. She walked over towards her purse and tried her best to ignore the couple as they practically made out on the couch. Grabbing her phone out of her brown Coach tote she scrolled to her text messages and composed a new one.

Looks like we're gonna be seeing more of each other.

Kara scrolled through her address book until she found the entry 'MC' and sent the message to the number she had saved under that name. It didn't take long for her phone to start ringing, indicating that she had a new text message.

What? Are you having my baby?

Kara quickly hit the 'Reply' button.

You wish Trace. I'm gonna be helping your best friend with his new album.

She hit 'Send'. She smiled when she thought about his initial response. The two of them had grown closer over these past few weeks, often hanging out while Justin and Marz did their 'couple' thing. It was during those times that they figured that they enjoyed a lot of the same things and became friends. She'd even saved him in her phone as 'MC' as in 'morally compromised' and he'd saved her in his as 'LA' for 'lowly assistant'…it was sort of an inside joke for them. Kara was brought back to reality when her phone went off again.

Huh? I'm confused...

So am i babe…so am I.

Kara sent off that last text message and placed her phone back in her purse.

These next few weeks were gonna be very interesting.

A week later Marz and Kara stood on Justin's doorstep, one excited and the other begrudged. Just how, exactly, had Kara gotten herself into this mess?

"What the hell am I doing here?" She turned to her sister.

"What?"

Marz rang the bell again, practically seeping with anticipation.

"What am I doing here? This is your boy-toy, not mine. You should be helping him with the melodies."

"Kara," Marz sighed, "I'd love to be getting paid just to spend the day with him writing little words and periods on paper, but he asked for you."

Marz reached up to lovingly flip Kara's hair behind her shoulders.

"Besides everyone knows you do all the behind the scenes mumbo jumbo and I'm the star."

As soon as the sentence left her mouth the door flung open and Kara was left scolding at her sister.

"Justin!" She practically launched herself at the poor guy. He didn't seem to mind though, catching her with ease and sharing a kiss.

"What took you so long?" She turned on the pout and Kara rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I was out back and didn't hear the bell. Hi Kara, how are you?"

"Good," she nodded.

Justin motioned her in from the porch and she cautiously stepped into the foyer. He had decent taste for a man, that or a woman had been guiding or supervising his decorating.

"Can I get you something? Water? Soda? I have-."

"No, I'm fine," Kara interrupted. "We should get started."

Justin gave her a cook, a little started and a little confused before he looked to Marz and nodded.

"Sure. The music room is this way."

The girls followed Justin down a long beige hall, Kara peeking into every room as they passed. Marz was giddily galloping behind Justin's every step, oblivious to her surroundings. When Justin stopped at an arched doorway with a large dark wood door Marz practically walked into him, but he simply smiled at her.

"The instruments and stuff are in here, but the studio is over there. Which one do you wanna work in?"

Kara shrugged.

"Which ever ones got the piano."

"Yeah, she needs a piano," Marz added.

Kara rolled her eyes inwardly. Why did her sister have to act so dumb around him?

"They both do, actually."

Of course. Because he's a famous musician with money to blow on things like having two pianos ten feet from each other.

"Why don't we just start in here?"

She motioned to the music room. Justin lead them in, uncovering the piano and pulling his music sheets from a drawer.

"Oh my God Just," Marz breathed dramatic. "You have so many instruments."

"Yeah. I've been collecting them since I was in high school. This is a guitar B.B. King gave me at some benefit."

"Like the one we met at?"

"Exactly."

They shared a disgusting sentimental kiss and Kara gagged silently.

"Umm Justin, do you have the lyrics written down somewhere or something?"

"No." He set the shiny blue guitar on a tabletop. "I don't write down my lyrics. I keep it all in my head."

"And it stays straight up there?"

He gave her a funny look and tilted his head.

"Yeah. They stay straight just fine."

Kara bit her lip. She had been a little snappy with the man, when he hadn't really done anything wrong. Marz was behind him, frowning and glaring at her sister.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

"It's alright," he smiled. "Wanna get started?"

Twenty minutes later the two were sharing the piano bench, staring intently at a piece of sheet music.

"So you think it should crescendo here?" Kara asked, erasing the note she'd placed there earlier.

"Yeah, cause the next part is the bridge, we wanna build up don't we?"

"It's your song, you tell me."

"What does this do?" Marz broke their concentration.

"It's a Jamaican drum. You hit the different dents and you get different noises."

"Ohh," she smiled at Justin's explanation.

"What about this?"

"It's just a horn Marz," Kara replied.

"And this?"

"A smaller horn."

"I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to Justin."

He glanced up from the paper, briefly.

"A smaller horn."

"Oh. How do you play it?"

Kara looked up to see her sister draped across the table, her back arched seductively and the horn well placed near her bare leg. Could she be a little more obvious?

"Marz, why don't you go watch TV or something?"

"What?"

"You're kind of distracting and I really need to focus for this."

"Well.... Justin?"

He nodded reluctantly.

"Just until we get this part finished."

Marz pouted, slowly slinking from the table, and making her way towards the door. She turned back, giving them a pathetic look before opening the door and shuffling out. When it closed Kara let out a snort.

"She's a little over dramatic at times isn't she?" Justin smiled.

"She just wants your attention. She really missed you in the whole one day it's been since you last saw each other."

The man blushed and nodded.

"Yeah. We're really close, me and Marz."

"Yeah, that's what I keep hearing."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, but I'm not here to discuss you and my sister's love life; I'm here to help you work on tracks for your album…so let's finish this song and lay it down."

"Yes ma'am," Justin replied with a mock salute. He made a few key and dynamic adjustments before the two of them made their way across the hall to recording room.

"Ok, now we're just gonna lay down the basic key changes and starter vocals. Then we can get some studio time tomorrow and add everything else. Trace was telling me about this place…"

"Speaking of him, where is the little guy?" She asked, interrupting Justin.

"Approving some final touches for the new line for William Rast; we're adding kid's clothes this season."

"Wow, did you just say 'this season'?" Kara asked jokingly.

"Shut up!" He replied, playfully shoving her.

"Abuse! Keep your hands off me, Timberlake!" Kara said, laughing. "Don't make me tell Marz!" They both cracked up at her last comment.

"Let's get this recorded. She's probably gonna come looking for you in a few minutes…you know how she gets when she misses her Justy," Kara said, walking into the recording booth with Justin not too far behind her.

They sat down at the piano and she played the opening keys of the song they were just working on.

"You think you're slick missy…but I'm gonna let that one slide missy. We have work to do."

"That we do."

This hole in the wall where the music they play
is the kind you listen to, to wash your troubles away
She sits all alone, with her drink on its way
Posted with her eyes closed
As left to right her head sways

They had barely finished the first verse when Kara heard the door open and saw her sister walk in.

"Ya'll aren't finished yet? Gosh, it's been forever!"

"Recording takes time Marz, even you should know that," Kara replied.

"Yeah, but it usually doesn't take this long," Marz replied.

"That's because I write the music before we go into the studio, all you have to do is sing what's on the page."

"Oh yeah," Marz replied, walking in the booth and standing behind Justin.

"Philadelphia?" she asked, staring at the title with a confused look on her face.

"That's the only thing I could think of off the top of my head. Why don't you have a seat babe, and as soon as we lay down the basics for this I'm all yours." A smile grew on Marz' face.

"Ok!" She said before giving him a quick peck on the lips and plopping down in a corner of the booth.

Kara rolled her eyes and started playing the key changes again.

"Shit!" Kara exclaimed as she hit her steering wheel while traffic sat still.

It would be just her luck that the one day that she was running behind traffic would be bad. It seemed like nothing was going her way today. She slept through two alarms, couldn't find her eyeliner, almost left her phone at home, missed her exit for the Starbucks she went to everyday, and got stuck at this random location where her barista barely spoke English. And now this! Traffic was bumper to bumper, and she was supposed to be at the studio with Justin and she was supposed to be there…20 minutes ago.

For some odd reason Trace had booked some time at this random studio in Hollywood that she'd never heard of, which means that she had to use MapQuest the directions…and now thanks to that damn website she was stuck behind a Suburban going 2 mph. Kara wanted to lay on her horn, but then thought about it and realized that that would solve nothing.

"Ugh!" She exhaled dramatically before messing with the dials on her radio.

"Ok guys, here's Justin Timberlake's 'Until the End of Time' straight off the request lines! Enjoy!"

Like she needed another reminder of where she was supposed to be right now. Her cell phone started ringing Chris Brown's "Kiss Kiss" and she smiled a bit before answering, knowing exactly who it is.

"You better be dead."

"Damn," she started, "Thanks for those encouraging words Trace."

"Where are you? I was starting to get worried that someone had kidnaped you and whisked you away to be their love slave."

"Haha. Very funny. I'm stuck in traffic because your short ass decided to book studio time in the middle of nowhere!" Kara replied, her voice a little louder than expected.

"I'm sorry babe, this is the only place I could find where we could work in peace. I sent you a text with directions last night."

" And those directions made absolutely no sense. I mapquested the place and now I'm stuck in bumper to bumper traffic, but I'm on my way."

"Well how much longer? The java chip frappachino I bought you already melted and I'm gonna go get you another one…do I have time to do that?"

Kara cursed herself inwardly, she didn't even have to stop for coffee this morning.

"Why didn't you tell me you were handling drinks this morning?! I would've been there by now if I'd have known that."

"I'm sorry, I wanted to surprise you."

"Well next time let me know when you're gonna surprise me, ok?" Trace laughed at her statement.

"That would sort of - - - never mind. Just hurry up and get here."

"Yes sir," she replied before hanging up the phone and tossing it back into her passenger's seat.

Traffic cleared up 15 minutes later and within 10 minutes after that Kara was pulling up in front of the brown studio building. She quickly grabbed her oversized purse from her passenger's seat and made her way in the building, immediately hearing Justin's vocals on an upbeat song.

She's from Philadelphia
She grew up on the west side
A one room apartment in L.A. where she now resides
Oh Ms. Philadelphia though we just meet tonight
Can I be a part of you life

Kara found herself bobbing her head along with the catchy tune and smiling as she walked through the studio door.

"That's hot," she said, seeing Justin sitting with his back facing the mixing board and seeing Trace on the couch.

"Thanks Paris," Justin replied jokingly.

"Cute," she responded, rolling her eyes.

She gratefully accepted a hug from both men before placing her belongings down and plopping down in a chair next to Justin.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to get here…Trace is worse than MapQuest when it comes to directions."

Kara dodged a pillow after that comment and she and Justin cracked up laughing.

"Shut up! You got here didn't you?!" Trace exclaimed, walking over towards the two of them.

"That I did; so let's get to work. You know, you never explained the meaning behind this song to me. Now is it just me or is that song that was just playing about a chick from Philly?"

"That it is. I was watching reruns of Fresh Prince the other night, you know that episode with Tyra Banks and Will run into each other at college after they hadn't seen each other in so long and these lyrics sort of just started rolling around in my head."

"I like it. I really like this new sound you're doing for this album. More of an R&B feel, ya know? And I really like the groove you have going on for this song. It's gonna be a single, I can feel it. Billboard Top 100."

Justin and Trace laughed.

"I'm serious. Even if it doesn't do well on the Pop charts it'll be a hit on the R&B. But where's the rest of it? I wanna hear what you did on the bridge."

"Do you wanna hear the whole thing? I still need to add harmonies and what not, but I got the lead vocal down with the background. It sounds pretty good to me."

"Yeah, play it." Kara watched as Justin pressed some random keys on the mixer board and pretty soon the song was playing.

This hole in the wall where the music they play
is the kind you listen to, to wash your troubles away
She sits all alone, with her drink on its way
Posted with her eyes closed
As left to right her head sways

Oh so beautiful all I could think is her vibe wasn't no ones I've ever seen
Hi would you mind if I take a seat)
So I sat and as we started to chat that's when she told me

She's from Philadelphia she grew up on the west side
A one room apartment in L.A. where she now resides
Oh Ms. Philadelphia though we just meet tonight
Can I be a part of your life

Her favorite color's red she has two dogs and a goldfish
She say's after law school she wants a career before kids
We spoke forever on topics like religion and politics
Up until the music stopped and our time was at its end

Kara was so engrossed in the song that she didn't notice Trace reach over and take a blue spiral that was sticking out her purse. He thumbed through the pages until one of them caught his eye.

(Oh as the lights came up ever so slow we had romanced and I wasn't about to let it go)
As I pulled out her chair so that we could leave
I asked her was it too soon to ask her can you spend the night with me

She's from Philadelphia she grew up on the west side
A one room apartment in L.A. where she now resides
Oh Ms. Philadelphia though we just meet tonight
Can I be a part of your life

Ms. p-h-i-l-l-y can we try to do this
I'm hope I'm not asking to much but
Can I get a little hometown love
Ms. p-h-i-l-l-y let's just try to do this
I'm hope I'm not asking to much but
Can I get a little hometown love

She's from Philadelphia she grew up on the west side
A one room apartment in L.A. where she now resides
Oh Ms. Philadelphia though we just meet tonight
Can I be a part of your life

She's from Philadelphia she grew up on the west side
A one room apartment in L.A. where she now resides
Oh Ms. Philadelphia though we just meet tonight
Can I be a part of your life

"Ok, this song is already one of my favorites," Kara exclaimed once the track finished playing.

"It's not even done yet," Justin said.

"Doesn't matter, I love it."

"Damn, did you write this?" Trace asked, holding up Kara's notebook.

"Where did you get that?" she exclaimed, lunging over to grab it from him, but she was too slow. Trace was up on his feet and by Justin's side in 2.5 seconds.

"Dude, check out these lyrics. Did you really write this?"

"Yeah, I did. Now give me back my notebook," she reached for the tablet once more, but once again she was too slow.

"Nope, not until I finish reading them," Justin said, snatching the spiral from his best friend and turning his back to Trace and Kara while he read the lyrics.

"Wow," was all Justin could say when he finished.

"What?" Kara asked defensively.

She was self-conscious about her writings and really didn't like other people reading them unless she wrote the lyrics specifically for that person. But Justin had said 'Wow' and Trace sounded like he was impressed.

"These are beautiful. Who's the lucky guy?" he asked, which led to a confused look appearing on Kara's face.

"Huh?"

"Songs like this are only written when a person is truly in love; like head over heels, truly madly deeply in love," Justin clarified. "So who is it about?"

Kara could feel the heat rising in her cheeks.

"No---no one. The song isn't about anyone. There is no lucky guy."

"Bullshit! You're telling me that you pulled this shit out of thin air!?!" Trace exclaimed.

"Yeah, I don't have any experience in the subject so I just wrote about what I think it's about."

"Well I can't tell. After reading this I'd think that you're either in love now or you've had at least one great love in your life," Justin said.

"Well thanks, but neither of those are right. Now can I get my notebook back?"

"Is this song for Marz?" Justin asked, avoiding her previous question.

"What? No, I wrote that last night when I got back home. I was just messing around. I was reading a romance and listening to that Taylor Swift song 'Our Song' and got the inspiration for this."

"Well you're talented girl," Trace stated.

"Thanks."

"Wait, do you think a guy could do it? Like me for example?"

"Yeah, I think it could work both ways. Why? You wanna record it? It's pretty crappy. I think I spent like 15 minutes writing the entire thing and I don't even have a melody yet."

"The lyrics are good and that's what you do in a studio, make melodies. So what do you say?"

"Sure."

"Then it's set. We're going out to lunch and when we'll come back and work on this song."

"What about 'Philadelphia'?" Kara asked.

"What about it?" Justin replied.

"You still need to finish laying the rest of the vocals on it."

"Yeah, but I wanna work on this while it's fresh. Do you have any kind of idea of what you want the melody to sound like?"

"I don't know, it just needs to be slow. This is a slow jam. A love song."

"Baby making music!" Trace exclaimed, causing the room to erupt in laughter.

"Oh my gosh, Trace," Kara said, standing up and playfully pushing him.

"What? It's true and you know it." Kara continued laughing as the three of them exited the studio and headed towards the parking lot.

"You wanna ride with us or follow?" Justin asked.

"I'll ride with ya'll. I'm through with driving for today after what happened earlier."

"What happened?"

"Long story. But just know that I'm never following Trace's or MapQuest's directions ever again!" Kara said with a laugh while hopping in the back of Justin's Rubicon.

"N-n-now that that don't kill me, can only make stronger!" Kara sang as she drove to the studio for the third time that week. It had sort of become routine for her. She'd wake up at 8, hop in the shower and be out by 8:20, get dressed and leave the house by 8:45 and do the 15 minute drive to the 'permanent' studio Trace picked for them. She'd walk in at 9 on the dot to Trace waiting at the door for her with her cup of Starbucks in his hand.

"For you Madame," he said as she accepted the beige cup from him.

"Thanks Hun," Kara replied with a smile, "Where's Justin? His truck's not out there and I don't hear anything coming from the studio."

"What? Marz didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?" she asked, confusion showing on her face.

"She and Justin are supposed to be doing a duet for his album…it'll probably be on hers too. He went to go pick her up after she called him and complained that you left her this morning." Kara rolled her eyes…she could hear her sister now.

"When did he leave?"

"About 5 minutes before you pulled up; I'm surprised you didn't pass him on the road." Kara rolled her eyes once more. She did not plan on spending the day with her sister. She was still mad at Marz for "loaning" her out to Justin the way she did, but at least she didn't have to spend her days listening to Marz nag and bitch all day. Kara was enjoying this little break she was getting from her sibling and wanted to keep it that way…oh well. She took a sip of her drink and proceeded towards the studio they'd been working out of over the past couple of days with Trace not too far behind her. She set her belongings down on the couch and turned on the mixing board, mentally preparing herself for the lovefest that she was about to witness between Justin and Marz. There was only so much she could take, and it seemed like those two always knew how to push her over the edge with their PDA actions.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Trace asked, breaking her out of the trance-like state she was in.

"Huh?"

"Whatcha thinking about? You looked like you were off in la-la land."

"Oh, sorry. I just have a lot on my mind. I have to set up this thing for that ballad Justin's recording today."

"Have you not been paying attention to what I was saying?" Trace asked with his signature smile.

"Oh yeah, they're working on that duet. I haven't even heard it."

"He was working on some melody last night at home; even wrote a few lyrics. They're over there if you wanna look at them," he said, pointing to the stack of papers at the opposite corner of the mixing table. Kara walked over and picked up the sheets, immediately recognizing Justin's handwriting and skimmed the words he had written down.

As much as I love you
As much as I need you
And I can't stand you
Must everything you do make me wanna smile
Can I not like you for awhile?

Damn, this boy had a knack for penning lyrics. Kara could already tell that this was going to be a mid-tempo song from the way he separated the words and just from hanging around him for the extended period of time they've been spending together.

But you won't let me
You upset me girl
And then you kiss my lips
All of a sudden I forget (that I was upset)
Can't remember what you did

Kara placed the sheet of lyrics down back where she found it and turned around and spotted Trace leaning against a wall texting. She watched him smirk as his fingers moved rapidly across the keypad.

"You cheatin' on me already?" she asked jokingly.

"Naw boo; you know I'd never do that to you mami," he replied with a smile. He quickly walked over and closed the space between them. Kara felt her breath catch in her throat when he placed his hands on her hips.

"You ok? You've been kinda zoning out since I told you Marz was coming today."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just thought we were gonna work on another song."

"Without your sister being here," he said, basically reading her mind.

"You really gotta stop doing that," she said with a half smile.

"What? Reading your thoughts? Sorry hun; I guess I just know you too well." Kara didn't realize how close they were until then. She'd always called Trace nicknames like 'Midget' or 'Short Stuff', but now that he was standing right in front of her she realized that they were about the same height. She felt him give her hips a small squeeze and couldn't help but smile.

"Thank you," she spoke softly.

"For what?"

"Being you. Being your goofy self and always knowing what to do or say to make me smile."

"I'm just doin' my ---" Trace was cut off when Kara's lips collided with his. Their kiss was short, sweet and to the point, and both of them had a grin on their faces when they parted.

"You're welcome," Trace said before giving her hips one more squeeze. They stood there for a few more seconds, just staring at each other before Trace finally broke the silence.

"Why do you let her treat the way she does? You don't have to take it." Kara looked down, she didn't know how to respond to his question.

"Naw uh, don't shut me out now," he said, placing an index finger under her chin and lifting her face back up to his.

"She treats you like shit and you sit there and take it. And don't give me that bullshit excuse that it's because 'she's your sister and you love her' because Justin's like a brother to me and God knows I love him, but I wouldn't take half that shit you're taking from Marz."

"I don't know. I've been doing it for years; it doesn't even bother me anymore."

"That's bullshit and you know it. You totally changed your demeanor when I told you that Justin was picking her up to bring her back here and work on their duet. You were enjoying this 'break' you've had while you've been working with Justin…even though it was her idea. So you can't really be mad at her can you? She pisses you off by treating you like shit and 'loaning' you out to her boyfriend; but sometimes her shitty actions turn into a good thing for you huh?"

"Yeah," Kara answered with a slight nod.

"Come on, lets sit down," Trace said, leading her to the couch. He sat down and she sat next to him, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"I know you love her, and I know you know she loves you, but you don't have to sit there and let her treat you like shit. You're her assistant, not her doormat. Screw assistant, you're her sister, and she should know better than to treat you like that. Kara, you're a beautiful woman, both in and out, and you don't have to deal with that type of abuse."

Kara couldn't fight the tears that were forming in the corner of her eyes. She'd felt this way for awhile but had never discussed it with anyone, but with Trace she didn't have to say a thing. It's as if he knew her every thought.

"Look at me," he whispered against her hair.

Kara looked up at him and smiled when he wiped away the few tears she still had on her face with his thumb. She looked from his lips to his chocolate brown eyes and back to his lips….which were getting closer to hers. They kissed once more, but this one was longer and more sincere than the other one. They ended the kiss and rested their foreheads against each others, slowing down their breathing and grinning from ear to ear.

"Wow…" Kara said almost breathlessly.

"Yeah; that was intense," he responded, before kissing her forehead sweetly.

Haha!

Both of them sat up straight when they heard Marz' laughter.

"They're back," Kara said softly. She stood up and he followed in her lead and by the time Justin and Marz entered the room Kara and Trace were standing on different sides of the studio.

"Kara! What happened to you this morning?" Marz asked with a laugh with a hand on her hip.

"I didn't know you were gonna be here today; I'm sorry."

"It's ok," Marz began, she looked up at Justin with her brown doe eyes, "my boo bear came and picked me up." Justin smiled kissed her forehead sweetly.

"Ok; enough of that. I just had breakfast," Trace said, "Let's get this track recorded. I have things I need to do today." Justin cut his eyes at his best friend and had to do a double take when he saw something by Trace's lips. He walked over to get a closer look.

"Well whatever you were doing last night left her lipstick on you."

"It's lipgloss," Kara said out of habit, immediately regretting the words as soon as they left her mouth. All eyes in the room were on her.

"And how would you know?" Justin asked.

"Uhh…" she stammered, "It's too light to be lipstick," she said, using the quickest lie she could think of.

"Yeah, even I know that Justin," Marz added. Kara looked over at her sister and silently thanked her when she saw Marz wink at her.

"And even if it is lipstick we're not here to discuss that, so let's get to recording this track," Kara said, changing the subject.

"Yes ma'am," Justin said with a smile. He walked over to the where she was and picked up the sheet of lyrics.

"Have you looked at these?" he asked Kara.

"Yeah."

"And what do you think?"

"I think that we should hurry up and record it…I have things I need to do today," Kara replied with a smile. Marz walked over to her boyfriend and took the sheet of paper from him and read over the lyrics.

"Is this a ballad?" she asked.

"No, more mid-tempo," Kara and Justin answered at the same time.

"How did you know?" he asked Kara.

"Because I know you," she said with a laugh. Justin gave her that signature Timberlake smile and felt her heart flutter.

"Hey, where's your guitar? I was strumming these chords last night and they may fit with this song." Justin grabbed his guitar and handed it to her. Kara sat down on the couch and began plucking a few keys until she remembered what she'd been playing the night before. Justin waited until she had a nice rhythm going before he looked over his girlfriend's shoulder and began singing a few of the lyrics.

As much as I love you
As much as I need you

Kara looked up at him and smiled, encouraging him to go on.

And I can't stand you
Must everything you do make me wanna smile
Can I not like you for awhile?

"I think Marz should sing that part, like split up the first verse you know?" Kara said as she continued strumming the key changes.

"Yeah, I gotcha," he said before pointing at the lines for Marz to repeat. They worked on the song for a few more hours, laying down the final chord changes to Kara's guitar playing before they called it quits for the day.

"Same time tomorrow?" Marz asked as the for of them walked out the building.

"Sure," Kara replied, only Trace heard the sarcasm in her voice.

"Wait, what are ya'll doing now? Do you wanna go eat?" Justin asked once they made it to their vehicles.

"I could eat," Trace replied, "What about you Kara?"

"Sure. What did you have in mind Timberlake?"

"I don't know. I'll figure out something though. You and Trace follow us," he said, opening the passenger's door of his Rubicon for Marz.

"Alright." It wasn't long until they were parked in front of a local fish joint. Kara shot Justin a look of confusion when she exited her car with Trace.

"What? I had a taste for catfish."

They placed their orders and enjoyed their meal on one of the outside benches.

"I miss doing stuff like this," Marz said, sipping on her strawberry soda.

"Me too," Kara began, "I miss the days when we could just walk around the mall all day and didn't have to worry about getting haggled or worry about showing up in a rag mag the next day with a caption saying that we looked fat in a pair of jeans from the Gap." Marz laughed along with her sister. Kara smiled. Today was a good day; Marz hadn't treated her like crap and she'd just got a free meal.

"Wait, why would they mention you in those rag mags…you can't even fit Gap jeans!" Marz said with a laugh.

Well at least I still got a free meal.

"That is not how Michael Jackson dances."

Trace paused, giving Kara a confused glance.

"Are you kidding me? This is like, verbatim." He finished his sentence with a spin and hip thrust.

The door swung open and standing in the door, illuminated by the light was Justin. He held a Starbucks bag in one hand, and a tray with 3 cups in the other. He stood frozen for a moment, his eyebrows raised to his forehead. Trace didn't miss a beat, pointing his finger into the air and yelling, "hooooe!"

"Wow," Justin replied.

"He was bitten by the dance bug this morning. Too much partying last night." Kara informed him, a hand failing to cover the grin on her face.

He lowered his eyes with embarrassment and headed past Trace to the mixing board. Trace continued on in his dance, doing the lean and nearly falling over.

"You ain't no Michael. More like Tito." Justin teased, holding a frappiccino to his lips.

"What do you know about that Jay?" Trace teased. "You don't know this."

"Oh, I don't know Michael?"

That was an insult to Justin Timberlake. Michael was one of his greatest inspirations.

"You don't know Michael. Everyone agreed JC was the most talented of the group."

"What?" Justin jumped up, walking to the center of the room.

"JC ain't got nothing on this."

He did a move, and Trace made a face and turned to Kara.

"Don't you have to have rhythm to impersonate Michael Jackson?"

Kara laughed out loud.

"I don't-I don't have rhythm?" Justin stood in disbelief, pointing to his own chest.

"You're the one ten seconds late on the wave at baseball games."

"You even consider the idea that maybe you guys should consider being nice to each other?" Kara asked. "You might be able to remain better lovers longer."

The boys paused in their bickering, turning to Kara.

"Lovers?" Trace asked, inching closer to her.

Kara's giddiness grew with each step he took.

"I'll show you lovers!" He cried, pouncing on her.

His fingers moved up and down her sides, tickling relentlessly as she laughed hysterically. Justin looked on, for the first time feeling a bit out of place with the two other them. The smiles they gave each other were incredibly bright and sincere. A twinge went down his spine and he had to keep the smile on his own face. It was something about the attention she was showing Trace. They certainly had become close over these past few weeks.

"Uncle!" Kara cried out between laughs.

"You sure? It seemed like you were starting to enjoy it," Trace asked jokingly.

"I'm about to pee on myself, stop it," Kara replied laughing. Trace finally ceased his attack and the two of them collapsed on the couch breathing heavily.

"Well if I didn't know any better I'd say that the two of you just finished a round in the sack," Justin commented playfully.

Kara could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks. She couldn't say that she hadn't thought of that happening before.

"Shut up! You're just jealous," Trace fired back at him.

"Jealous? Please! Me and Marz…."

"Stop!" Kara said, interrupting him, "I don't want to hear about my sister's sex life," she finished with a shiver.

"Now if you don't mind, can we please get this track recorded? I have things I need to do today," Kara told him.

"Like Trace," Justin coughed.

"Hey! What goes on between me and Kara, stays between me and Kara," Trace said with a smile.

"That's enough guys, let's just do this track." Kara walked over to the table and grabbed her drink out of the Starbucks tray and the notebook she wrote all her lyrics down in.

She opened up to one of the recent entries and plopped the tablet down in front of Justin.

"I was going to give Marz this, but I think it would sound better with you. It's kind of upbeat, but hey, I like it."

Justin glanced over the words in front of him and nodded his head in approval.

"Do you have a melody in mind?"

"No, I just penned the lyrics last night and I wanted to see what you thought."

Kara and Justin had become somewhat of a musical team over the few weeks they'd been working together. They'd bounce ideas off of each others; lyrics, melodies, beats just flowed naturally between them.

"Well it's a good thing that I haven't broken up with anyone recently or the press would be calling this 'Cry me a River part 3'."

"They're going to call all your break-up songs that hun; and it's seriously starting to get old."

"Who are you telling?! And 'What Goes Around' wasn't even about Britney!" Trace chimed in.

"Enough about her; lets just get this recorded, I have stuff I need to take care of today."

"Yes ma'am," Justin replied glancing at the lyrics once more before walking over to the keyboard in the room.

He played a few chords before picking one and creating a rhythm with it.

"That seems a little to happy. This is a break-up song, babe. Let's make it a little more bluesy," Kara told him.

"How about this?" Justin asked before picking a key that was a bit darker.

"That's more like it," she replied, walking over to him and looking at the lyrics.

Cause I'm not coming back
I'm closing the door
I used to be trippin' over missing you
But I'm not anymore
I got a picture phone,
Baby your picture's gone
Couldn't stand to see your smile
Every time you dial

"I'm thinking more of an R&B feel for this one. You know? Kinda like the 'Hate That I Love You' feel," Justin said once she finished singing.

Kara nodded.

"I can see that. And I was thinking that you could use your falsetto at the end of it, like doing a riff."

"Let me play with it and we'll see what we'll get."

"That's what she said," Trace interjected.

"Shut up midget," Kara and Justin said at the same time.

"So! Here we are, the big moment," Paul said.

Paul was an A&R for Jive, sent down for the day to observe the progress on Justin's album. He, Justin, Kara, and Trace were seated in a conference room, eagerly awaiting whether they were going to be given the green light on their direction with the album, or if they were going to be told they had to change direction and start over.

"Well, good news is we love it." He said.

The three friends let out a sigh of relief. All of their hard work so far hadn't been in vain.

"But, there's a problem," he continued. "So far you all have been able to remain in the same studio for recording, which let's be honest, is pretty damn convenient. But, Justin's been booked for a promotional tour next two weeks for the Shrek 3 movie. Announcements have gone out, plans have been made. There's no way around it, you're going to have to record on the road."

Kara and Justin exchanged a worried look.

"I don't understand. How are we going to work if Justin's on the road and I'm here with Marz?"

"You're going on the road with them." Paul supplied. Judging by the way he said, Kara figured it wasn't up for discussion.

"You're needed more on this project than you are as Marz's assistant. Someone has already been hired to replace you for as long as this process will take. When the album is done you can go back to working with your sister, but until then, your with Justin."

"Go Team Timberlake!" Trace raised his hands.

"Pack your bags guys. You leave for New York tomorrow morning."

After the meeting the group of three filed out into the hallway, stopping by the water cooler to get a drink and discuss the outcome of the meeting.

"So, they love the tracks we've been doing. That's great news." Justin said, opening the conversation.

"Yeah. I'm glad we won't have to go back to the drawing board and start over."

"But, you're worried." Trace supplied.

He could read it in her features and the nervous way she held her cup.

"Well, yeah. I mean, I've never been on the road with anyone besides Marz. And she's not going to be happy that I'm going on the road with Justin while she's stuck here working on her own projects. Not to mention getting a new assistant."

"It was her idea for you two to work together."

"I know. But you don't know Marz. She won't exactly be pleased."

"I'll talk to her," Justin said.

"It probably would sound better coming from you than from me."

"I'll call her tonight on my way home. It wasn't like we planned it this way. I know she'll understand the situation. She's in the business too. She knows things come up, and sometimes you have to do two things at once."

"There you go," Trace smiled. "Put a little Timberlake charm on it, keep the little woman happy."

Justin merely rolled his eyes.

"Come on," he nodded his head down the hall. "Let's go finish up that track so we can get home and start packing."

It was around 8pm that evening when Kara finally left the studio and headed for home. It'd taken a little longer to get the lyrics laid down, but they wanted to get all of the music to a place where it'd be easy for them to finish mixing while on the road. When she pulled up to her house, Marz's car was gone.

"She probably met Justin for dinner or something."

Kara opened the door and immediately headed for the stairs. She headed for Marz's bedroom door, already forming a mental check list of all the things her sister would need for the trip. It wasn't until she put her hand on the door knob that she realized, Marz wasn't going this time. Kara turned on her heel, smirking to herself as she headed for her own room.

It was after 10pm when Marz finally came home. She found Kara in her room, folding clothes on the bed.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," Kara glanced up briefly. "Where have you been?"

"I went to dinner with Justin."

Just as she'd figured.

"Oh. That's nice."

"Yeah, it was." Marz took a seat on the bed and pulled off her black suede heels. "Justin told me about you guys having to leave tomorrow."

"I'm sorry, Marz," Kara began instantly. "The label just sprung it on us today. I didn't know-."

"It's fine Kara," Marz giggled. "I know it wasn't your decision. Besides, I already knew. I got a call from Jive yesterday about getting a replacement assistant."

"You knew yesterday? Why didn't you say anything?"

Marz shrugged.

"Slipped my mind."

Gee, thanks a lot.

"Having a new assistant is going to suck though. There's so many things I'll have to teach her. Like how I like my tea in the mornings."

Kara paused, giving her sister a look.

"You like honey and lemon in your tea. It's not rocket science Marz."

Marz let out a giggle.

"I know. It's just now I'm going to have to tell her that instead of her already knowing."

Kara was silent, folding her clothes and neatly setting them into her suitcase.

"On the other hand this is good," Marz continued. "You'll be traveling with Justin, so you'll be able to keep an eye on him for me. I always wanted to know the antics he was up too while on the road."

"From what I've heard Justin doesn't get into anything. He just watches all the mischief Trace gets into."

"See! There's another good point. You'll be able to spend more time with Trace."

Kara let a small smile slip from her lips.

"You know, you're lucky your my sister and I trust you not to steal my boyfriend," Marz stood from the bed and headed for the door.

She paused with her hand on the knob, letting out a laugh.

"But then again I know there's no chance of that. You're not exactly Justin's ideal body type."

Kara watched her sister exit the room and close the door, her laugh floating down the hallway. She let out a grunt of frustration and launched a black suede heel at the closed door before she went back to her folding.

"So are you guys ready for this?" Trace asked.

He, Kara, and Justin were seated in a limo, being ushered to the tarmac where a private jet was waiting to take them to New York. It was 7:30am, and surprisingly sunny for how early it was.

"Ready to have to look at both your ugly mugs all day everyday? I don't know."

"How is that different than what you do everyday anyway?" Justin asked.

"Difference is I get to leave you two at the studio and go home at night."

"But don't you take Trace home with you?"

Trace let out a laugh while Kara's jaw dropped.

"No, I certainly don't."

The two men exchanged a look and a chuckle, amused by her embarrassment. Then there was a knock at the window, and one of the crew motioned for them to board.

"Let me show you rookies how it's done," Trace said.

He opened the door and exited the car, the wind sweeping his unbuttoned jacket to the side. Trace walked toward to the plane in slow motion, striding purposefully as if he were in some real life music video. Halfway there he paused, taking a moment to pause and remove his dark sunglasses. He slipped them into his pocket, glancing around before continuing up the steps and into the plane.

"He is so stupid," Kara laughed, exiting the limo herself.

"You're the one who likes him," Justin quipped.

"What?" She paused, turning back to face him.

All she got was a gentle push in her back.

"I said go. We're gonna be late."

How was it that even when Kara was supposed to be helping Justin on this promotional tour she felt like she was still at home assisting Marz? She wanted to feel sorry for the poor soul who had temporarily replaced her, but damn, the replacement should feel sorry for her! From the moment the plane touched down at JFK her Black Jack had been blowing up with text messages and calls from her sister.

Where do you usually get my Chai lattes from?

Where's my favorite red top?

What cabinet are the lucky charms in?

How was she supposed to get anything accomplished with Justin's album when she had to respond to a text or answer a phone call every 5 minutes? Kara finally decided that once they checked into the hotel she'd draft a FAQ's sheet for her sister and the poor person who'd been given the task of being her personal assistant. It didn't take long for her to type up the word document and send it to both her sister's and the assistant's email addresses.

"There, now maybe she'll stay away for a couple of hours." She sighed as she shut down her laptop and stood up.

"I was wondering when you were gonna do that," Trace said, startling her.

"Huh?" Kara asked, confused.

"A FAQs sheet right? What needs to be done and how? Didn't you just type one of those up?"

Kara nodded.

"Yeah. How did you know what I was doing?"

"I had to do the same when I was Justin's PA. I found out that it was better to do it before I left, that way things would still be fresh in my head...and so I wouldn't have to deal with those annoying ass calls. Justin was ten times more picky than Marz, its like those two were made for each other."

"I resent that!"

Both Trace and Kara looked towards the door when they heard Justin's comment.

"I could've sworn I locked that door," Kara said with a slight scowl.

"You did; Trace went down to the front desk and told them that they programmed his key for the wrong room and that he was rooming with you...he left the door open."

Justin stood there with a grin. He saw some color rise in his friend's face and laughed...that is until he heard Kara's following statement.

"Aww, you didn't have to do that hun. All you had to was ask if you wanted to room with me."

Trace grinned before he and Kara burst out laughing while Justin pretended to gag.

"Well I guess I'll leave you two alone then."

"I would invite you to join but I don't think my sister would appreciate that," she said with a laugh.

Kara didn't know where all this boldness was coming from; it was like these two were bringing out the worst of her. Justin paused, raising an eyebrow as he contemplated the offer...minus Trace of course, not thinking that anyone caught it...but Kara did.

The van was silent as they rolled down a dirty New York alleyway. It was 5am and Justin, Trace, and Kara all sat sipping Starbucks coffee and staring at brick buildings through the heavily tinted windows. Someone thought it best to take the back roads to the studio to help avoid those paparazzi that was inevitably looking for Justin.

Finally the van stopped in front of a metal door. Teddy, head of Justin's security, got out and walked over to the door, stepping inside for a moment before he came back out. He looked to the van that had followed them, filled with security, assistants, and label representative, and motioned for them to get out. Then he opened the door to Justin's van.

"All clear," he said.

Justin got out first, followed by Kara. The girl paused to look at her surroundings. There was food litter along the sides of the alley. There was the faint, yet distinct odor of urine. Before she could see anything more she felt a nudge on her back.

"Come on," Trace said.

Kara moved ahead, following the path security had laid out for them. She followed Justin into the building and straight down the hall into one of the recording rooms. For as rundown and shabby as the building looked from the outside, it was the total opposite inside. Modern fixtures and moody lighting, plush furniture and pristine state-of-the-art equipment.

Inside the studio Kara plopped down into a leather chair by the mixing board. Assistants and Jive reps started to filter in after them. Justin turned to Trace and shook his head no. Trace immediately turned to the people in the room.

"Closed session," he said, and pointed to the door.

After a moment of exchanging confused glances, everyone began to file out of the room. Once they were gone Trace locked the door behind them. Justin let out a sigh and took off his glasses. Kara could see the sleepiness in his eyes through her own lenses. Trace followed suit, pulling off his shades and stuffing them into his pocket. They'd all opted for jet black glasses when they were pulled out of bed at 4am.

"Kicking management people out of the room, huh? So you do have a purpose after all," Kara joked.

Trace gave her a sarcastic grin before motioning to her glasses.

"You can take those off you know."

Kara shook her head.

"No I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because it's 5am."

She sipped her coffee and Justin chuckled.

"Why are we here so early?"

"Because this one here," Trace slapped Justin on the back, "has a packed schedule. This was the only time he had available today."

Kara made a face at Justin.

"Stop being so busy."

"Sorry. I'll slow my career down so you can sleep in."

"Thank you."

"But, if you and Trace hadn't been up all night sucking face then maybe you would have gotten to bed earlier and you wouldn't be tired now."

"Jealous?" Trace teased. "At least I was making out. What's your excuse for the bags under your eyes? Late night call to Marz?"

"Can we just establish that there was no making out? As cute as the midget is, I'm pretty sure he spent the night alone. Or, he wasn't with me at least."

"I knew those high-pitched scream coming from your room last night were fake." Justin pointed an accusing finger at Trace.

Kara rolled her eyes and turned her attention to the sound board, powering up the system.

"It's too early for this," she muttered.

Kara was amazed by Justin's commitment and dedication to both his work and promotional duties. The man had to be running on fumes by now, but you couldn't tell by his interviews and recordings. She was currently killing two birds with one stone getting her exercise and meditation done while playing on the Wii Justin had in his apartment in the city. She was getting used to the daily routine they were on, waking Justin up at ten in the morning so he would be ready for the Shrek 3 promotional events he'd be doing that day, going back to sleep or relaxing until about one when she and Trace would grab a bite to eat. Then the two of them would hang out until that evening when they'd meet Justin at the studio. Kara was bent over breathing in deeply when she heard someone groan. She peeked through her legs and saw Trace leaning against the doorframe and chuckled.

"Good morning to you too, like what you see?" she said, rolling her eyes.

She rose to her full height a bit too quickly and lost her balance, but Trace caught her before she hit the ground.

"Whoa tiger, you ok?" he asked, settling both of them on the couch.

"Yeah, too much blood to the brain."

"Do you do this every morning?" Trace asked.

"I try to, I usually do it when you're asleep...so you won't see me like this."

"Like what?" he questioned.

"All icky and fat looking."

"Stop right there, you're seriously going to stop putting yourself down; you're beautiful Kara."

She scoffed.

"You have the wrong sister, hun."

"No, I have the right one," he said, placing a finger under her chin.

Kara remembered the last time he'd done that back in the studio and smiled.

"You're going to kiss me again aren't you?" She said with a grin.

"Yes, unless you don't want me to."

"I didn't say that," she said, leaning in and capturing his lips with hers.

Trace pulled back before she did.

"Wait, I have to ask you something."

"Huh?" She asked, her voice hazy and husky, "Can't this wait?"

"No," he replied. Kara leaned back and sighed.

"Ok, what's on your brain short stuff."

"That. That right there?" Kara stared him with a confused look on her face.

"What are you talking about?"

"You. Me. Us, if there even is an us."

He could see that Kara was still confused.

"You act like two different people when we're around Justin and when we're not. You didn't at first, but whenever he asks if there's anything going on between you immediately go into defense mode and deny everything. Like the other night when we were at the studio when he asked if you'd spent the night with me that previous night you denied it like he was holding a gun to your head."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to come off like that. His comment just came from nowhere and I was caught off-guard."

"Did it really come from nowhere? Or have I been the only one in this…arrangement we've been in for these past couple of weeks? Are you ashamed of me or something?"

Wow. Kara was shocked. She definitely never thought this conversation would come up and if it did that she would be the one saying what Trace was saying.

"No Trace, I'm not ashamed of you."

"Well you sure don't act like it. Now I know we're not together or anything, but you responded to him like I repulsed you or something."

"I am so sorry if it came across as that. If I found you repulsive I would never have kissed you the first time or the many times after that," she said before giving him a quick peck on the lips, "…and I never would've kissed you then. I'm not ashamed of you Trace, I never have been."

"So what is it then? Why are you so jumpy when Justin asks if there's anything going on between us."

"Because I'm not sure if I'm ready for there to be something going on between us," she said, lowering her head.

"Have you ever been in a relationship before?" Trace questioned.

"Yeah," she said meekly.

"A loving relationship?"

"No, he never loved me and made sure that I knew that…everyday."

"Did he hit you!?" Trace exclaimed.

Kara flinched when she heard the anger in his voice. He noticed that and quickly apologized.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell. But did he hit you?"

"No, but his words stung just as bad as any fist would. He made sure I knew that I wasn't the prettiest, smartest, or thinnest girl and that I should be grateful that a guy like him came into my life. That no other guy would even waste his time on me because I was fat and ugly…because I wasn't Marz." Trace was fuming but tried his hardest to maintain his composure.

"Is that why you let her treat you like shit?" he asked, referring to her sister, "Because that's how he talked to you?"

Kara simply nodded.

"And that's probably why you deny everything to Justin. Because you think you're fat and ugly?" Trace inquired.

Kara nodded once again. His heart broke seeing her like this, all down and out…the exact opposite of her usual bubbly self. He wished he could meet that guy once, just once, because that's all it would take to beat his ass for treating her like that.

"He lied, Kara." He watched as she just sighed lowered her head.

Trace placed an index finger under Kara's chin and brought her face eye-level to his.

"I'm serious," he began in a sincere tone, "You're beautiful and any man who can't see that is blind. And besides, Marz is too damn skinny. I like a girl with a little meat on her bones."

Kara chuckled softly at his last statement.

"You're just saying that because…" Kara didn't know how to finish her sentence. She wasn't used to hearing these kinds of things from a guy.

"Because what? Because I'm telling the truth. You're gorgeous and any man would be lucky to have you."

"Even Lance?" Kara replied in a playful tone.

"Yep, I'm pretty sure he and his boyfriend are hot for you," Trace laughed.

This was the Kara he knew and cared about.

"Thank you," she said genuinely.

"For what?"

"For talking some sense into me," she answered before kissing him sweetly on the cheeks. She rose to her feet and walked back over to the game console.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Turning this thing off," she said before doing just that, "I'm starving, do you wanna go grab a bite before we pick up Justin?"

"Yeah, let's swing by Southern Hospitality and I'll grab him a to-go plate."

"No need for that, we finished things up early."

Both Kara and Trace looked up when they heard the front door close and soon saw Justin walk in the living area.

"When did you get here?"

"Just now, I saw Trace staring at your ass while you were turning off the Wii," Justin said laughing.

Trace threw a couch pillow at his friend.

"I was not staring!"

"You're right, it was more like gawking!" Justin replied.

"Seriously? You two need to grow up," Kara said before walking out of the room to get dressed.

Trace laughed with her and got up and walked over to Justin. He waited until she was out of hearing range before asking, "How much of that did you hear?"

"What are you talking about? I just got here," Justin lied once again.

"Yeah right, I know you man. Were you eavesdropping?"

"Naw." Another lie.

"Stop shittin' me man, how much did you hear."

Justin decided to give in.

"Enough to know that her ex is a piece of shit and was wrong for what he said to her."

Trace nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, how could anyone say something like that about her. She's amazing both inside and out, but you can't tell her that. That dude brainwashed her man, she doesn't see herself like I do."

Like I do too.

Justin couldn't speak the words aloud, but they rang loud and true in his mind. He didn't know what it was about Kara that drew him in, but he was seeing a side of her that he'd never seen before. His heart broke for her when she told those things to Trace, his hands aching to reach out and hold her, to comfort her. Justin would never admit it out loud but he felt a slight pang of jealousy when Trace kissed her. He silently wished that he was in his best friend's place, something that he shouldn't have done…especially with Marz in the picture.

As if on cue, his cell rang, and Marz's name was on the caller ID. He glanced up at Trace before opening the phone.

"Hey Marz," he answered.

Trace gagged and rolled his eyes. Marz was soon turning into his least favorite person.

"Baby!" She squeaked. "How are you? I miss you. I haven't talked to you in days."

"Yeah," was all he said. "I miss you too. What are you doing?"

"Waiting for this stupid stylist to get an outfit together for me to try on. I have that fundraiser thing tomorrow night and I still don't know what to wear."

"I'm sure you'll find something amazing. You always do."

"I do," she agreed. "Only usually Kara is here to help me decide. That other girl is here now. Between you and me, I don't think she knows a thing about being a good PA. Every time I go to get some cereal it's in a different place."

Justin chuckled. She was so selfish, in an innocent sort of way.

"Well, it's always a little rocky in the beginning. She just has to get used to the way you do things."

"Maybe. So, how is the album coming along? When are you returning my sister to me so I can get working on my own tracks?"

"It'll be just a few more days. That is, if I can get here out of New York. She's in love with the Chinese food here."

"Oh no," Marz moaned. "Is she getting into the pot stickers again? I told her that's why her thighs are so fat, because she can't stay away from the fried foods."

"Why do you have to be like that?" Justin questioned.

He couldn't help the way his tone changed as he spoke.

"Like what?"

"Why do you have to come down on her like that? There's nothing wrong with the way she is."

"Sorry," she said meekly.

Justin sighed, putting himself in check. He didn't know why he was getting upset over something this small. Marz had made dozens of comments like that about Kara, too her face and behind her back. While he never exactly thought it was cool, it never really bugged him the way it just had.

"No, I'm sorry," he told her. "I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. It's just that your sister is really cool, you know. I feel bad that we're talking about her like this."

"I didn't realize your two had gotten so close."

Justin hadn't realized it either.

It was midnight in the studio, and Justin, Trace, and Kara were going over the sheet music for a ballad they were writing. It was a sappy song about unrequited love, and the mood in the room was a little intense.

All of a sudden, Justin had the urge to do a remake of Erykah Badu's Next Lifetime, and he'd been working all afternoon scribbling down music motes for Kara to follow on the piano. Now they were rehearsing, over and over and over again. Every time he sang, she felt his pain a little bit more. Whatever had brought the feeling on in him, it was real.

"Whew!" Kara breathed. "I need a minute. You're depressing me."

She stood up from the piano bench and moved to the middle of the room. Justin set the paper with the lyrics written on them down on top of the piano and moved to the sofa, plopping down next to Trace. Trace just yawned in response.

"I need a minute. You're putting me to sleep."

Kara's jaw dropped.

"How is this making you tired? It's emotional!"

"I'm a man. We're not in touch with our emotions," he smiled. "There's a 24/7 coffee shop around the corner. Who's going?"

All eyes went to Justin.

"Me? I can't go outside alone. I'll get mobbed and pulled into an alleyway and raped. Send Kara."

"Me?" She pointed a finger to her chest. "I'm a girl. You're going to send the girl out walking through New York in the middle of the night?"

"Teddy will go with you."

Kara made a face.

"I don't really know him."

All eyes went to Trace, and he rolled his.

"Fine, fine, I'll go. There's nothing for me to do here anyways. I don't sing or play piano."

Trace stood, grabbing his keys from the table and heading out the door. Justin and Kara exchanged a look.

"We're never going to hear the end of that," Justin said.

Kara nodded. It was true.

"So, you wanna go over it one more time before we try to lay the vocals down? I wanna make sure I've got the rifts right."

Kara nodded. One more run-through wouldn't hurt. The more practice he got the better. The two moved over to the piano, Kara sitting on the bench. Then she scooted over a little when Justin sat down next to her. He cleared his throat and waited for her to play, the intro sweeping through the room.

Now what am I supposed to do
When I want you in my world
How can I want you for myself
When I'm already someone's man?

Kara played intently, trying to block out the words falling his lips. He had the sweetest voice. No matter how many times he sang the same words over and over, they always seemed as sincere as the first time.

Your energy, feels so damn good to me
It picks me up, don't wanna come down
You got me spinning all around
Yeah
You need to know
I've got that somebody
You're beautiful
But it ain't that kind of party now

Justin felt the same, his mind swirling as he tried to focus on the job at hand. But he couldn't help but think of Kara. He couldn't say that he was in love with her, but there were definitely feelings forming that shouldn't have been. She was his girlfriend's sister, his best friend potential girl. Yet he she was the inspiration for his doing the song, the one person he couldn't get off of his mind, no matter how hard he tried.

Without even thinking, he reached over, coving one of her hands with his larger ones. They paused, resting over the keys, and she began to shake slightly with nervousness. The music had stopped, but he kept singing the words, ever so softly. Kara wanted to speak, ask him what he was doing. But when she looked up at him she couldn't exactly find the words to speak. He was looking back at her, his blue eyes crystal clear, and as nervous as her own brown ones.

Now what am I supposed to do
When I want you in my world?
How can I want you for myself
When you're already someone's girl?

You're already someone's girl? That wasn't the line he was supposed to sing.

His voice quieted, but his hand didn't leave hers. They sat in silence, looking back and forth, wondering what to do next. Justin, not sure if she understood what he'd confessed. Kara, not sure if it was in fact a confession, and if he'd done it on purpose if it happened to be one. So they stared back and forth, waiting for someone to move.

Then, without warning or reason, Justin leaned over. His lips brushed against Kara's. They were warm, and soft. They touched her gently, just barely. Enough to heighten her senses, but not enough to fill her curiosity as to what it would feel like to kiss him.

"I'm sorry," he said suddenly. "I… Kara, I shouldn't have done that. I know you and Trace are-."

His sentence was halted, and he was caught by surprised when Kara leaned forward, kissing him back. She was more aggressive, pressing her lips to his with vigor and liveliness. There was an urgency, that he eagerly returned. Maybe he hadn't been the only one who'd secretly wondered what if would feel like.

His hands smoothed up her sides, one resting around her waist and the other weaving into the hair at the nape of her neck. He held her there, kissing her thoroughly, biting at her lip. Kara groaned before she could help it. While part of her was in awe of his actions and her own, another part of her was on fire. She did like Trace, and he was a good kisser. But this was different, Justin was different. It had been a long time since she had had a real, true, toe-curlingly good kiss.

Suddenly she pulled back. Their bodies didn't pull away from each other, and they stared into each others' eyes, panting as they hung onto each other.

"Oh my God," Kara breathed. "Oh my God, what did I just do?"

She backed away from him, standing from the bench. She walked to the middle of the room, pulling her bottom lip into her mouth. She could still taste him there, only instead of it being a turn-on like it was with Trace, it made her feel sinful and dirty.

"Did we just-? I just-? And you're my sisters-? Oh God."

She put a hand on her forehead, collapsing onto the sofa.

Ten minutes later and Kara touched her lips again for what seemed like the twentieth time that hour. She couldn't believe it. It was better than she thought it could ever be. He was so gentle yet so firm, his soft lips coercing hers in the best way. So that was the reason why Marz was always all over him. Hmm. Kara smirked before reality set in. She had kissed her sister's boyfriend. Her sister's boyfriend. Her sister's boyfriend. Well technically he kissed her first, but she kissed him back.

Have you got love to burn?
Kisses for days?
Don't you want to grab onto something real
And never let it get away?

Kara looked down at her phone in horror. It was like her sister was psychic or something. She let the ringtone play another bar or two before answering.

"Hello?"

"Hey, did I catch you at a bad time? You sound out of breath," Marz said energetically.

Kara didn't realize that she was breathing so hard. In fact she could've sworn she was holding her breath for the past several minutes since Justin left the room after their…kiss.

"Sorry," she apologized softly, not sure if it was for the kiss or the fact that she was breathing so hard. "We're just working late in the studio. You know how worked up I get when I'm writing."

"Do I ever," Marz laughed, oblivious to her sister's lie. "Why is it so quiet in there? Where are Justin and Trace?"

"Justin stepped out for air." Because that kiss was breathtaking. "And Trace went to on a coffee run."

"Oh ok. Why didn't you go with Trace? You two could've had some much needed alone time. I know Justin must be like a third wheel for ya'll, all up in your personal space." Which I enjoyed thoroughly. Kara smiled and momentarily forgot what was going on. She caught herself in just enough time before Marz got suspicious.

"Naw, he's been really busy with this movie promotion so Trace and I usually have the days to ourselves and we just hit up the studio at night."

"Lucky you, at least you get to see your boyfriend."

Kara could hear the sadness in her sister's voice and pouted with her before realizing what she called Trace.

"He's not my boyfriend, Marz."

"He's not? Well I definitely can't tell. I've seen the way he looks at you…and the way you look at him. That midget really likes you," Marz said with a slight laugh.

Kara couldn't help but join in.

"Well we haven't put a title on things, but I like him as well."

"Just don't hurt him. Justin told me that he's had his heart trampled on by girls only being with him to get closer to his best friend."

Kara felt her heart drop. She wasn't one of those girls; she wouldn't break his heart to be with Justin. She couldn't. Besides, she wasn't even Justin's type. Their kiss was a temporary lapse of judgment. Yep. That's what happened. Their minds were experiencing some kind of blip at the same time and they kissed. No harm meant because it didn't mean anything…did it?

The two of them haven't had a single conversation that wasn't related to his album since they kissed two days ago. It was though there was this thick sexual tension between them laced with just a bit of awkwardness. She just hoped that that awkwardness wouldn't be noticeable today since she and Trace were going along with Justin to one of his promotional events. Trace had suggested it the previous day when Justin said that he was getting bored doing the same interviews every day and was ready to go home.

"Well, why don't we go with you? We could run in and fuck with the reporter if you give us the secret hand signal," Trace said with the brightest smile.

Kara sometimes wondered if the man was really just a 10-year-old trapped in a…well 12-year-old's body. Both she and Justin laughed at Trace's comment, and Justin actually agreed to it.

"So what's the secret hand signal?" Kara asked through her laughs.

Trace made moose ears on the side of his face and stuck his tongue out at her.

"Nice. Very inconspicuous," she laughed.

Now she was regretting the decision to tag along. The media would surely pick up on the tension between her and Justin and she could just see tomorrow's headlines in her head.

Justin's Sexy Ladies: The Crooner's Love Affair with Two Sisters! Every Man's Fantasy…Or is it?

She was freaking about that, but deep down inside she sort of wished that the media would pick up on something. Not that she wanted to hurt her sister or anything, but she wanted to show her that she wasn't the "ugly one" like Marz thought. Kara didn't want to throw their infidelity into her sister's face, but part of her wanted to show Marz that even though she didn't have the traditional looks that Hollywood deemed beautiful, men still found her attractive. She decided that she was going to take Trace's advice and have self confidence. If she didn't see herself as an attractive woman how could she expect anyone else to?

They were tagging along as the cast of Shrek 3 went to visit MTV News and possibly TRL, and she wanted to make sure she dressed accordingly. No one went to TRL in sweats and a hoodie so she decided to go all glam today.

Kara unplugged her flat iron and checked her hair once more before running her hands down her outfit. She loved the way her Rock & Republic jeans fit on her and the black elbow length top. She dabbed some pink lip-gloss on and secured her earrings in her ears before grabbing her phone and a turquoise pashmina befrore walking into Justin's living room.

"Are ya'll ready?" She asked with a smile.

"Yeah, we've been waiting for-," Trace stopped mid-sentence. "Damn girl, you look good."

He grabbed her hand and spun her around so he could get the full view.

"What sparked this change?"

"You, actually. I took your advice."

"Huh?" Trace asked, confused.

"Your advice about working on my self confidence."

"Well it's looking good, right Justin?"

Kara looked up when she heard his name. They caught each other's eyes and Kara felt time freeze when he gave her a crooked smile. She felt her heart flutter and returned the gesture.

"You look nice," Justin said.

"Thank you," she replied.

That was the first conversation they'd had that hadn't been about chord progressions and minor keys in two days.

"So what time is our ride getting here?" Trace asked, bringing Kara back to reality.

"In a few minutes. We're heading to MTV News first and then over to TRL for a quick segment. We should be finished at about three and we can go grab lunch then if ya'll want," Justin answered.

"Sounds good to me, let's roll," Trace responded before heading to the door.

The ride to the MTV studios was pretty quiet and the interview with MTV News went off without a hitch. The three of them along with Mike Meyers, Cameron Diaz, and Eddie Murphy, were on an elevator on their way up to the TRL studios.

"We are packed in here like sardines," Eddie Murphy stated, eliciting a laugh from Kara.

"It's true," he continued, "but at least I'm trapped in here with someone who smells sweet."

He sniffed her hair.

"What is that you have on? It smells familiar."

Justin rolled his eyes, the man had been blatantly flirting with her since they arrived this morning and he was getting sick of it honestly. He wasn't sure if it was because he knew about the way Eddie treated women or because he could be slightly jealous. Naw, that couldn't be it. He was, after all, still dating her sister.

"It's probably the new CHI serum, I flat ironed my hair."

"Well it smells really good," Eddie replied, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"Thank you," Kara replied just as the elevator dinged, letting everyone know that they'd arrived on their designated floor.

Justin and Kara were the last ones off the elevator and just as she was stepping off the device she lost her footing and tripped. Justin caught her by the waist.

"Thank you," she said, looking over her shoulder sheepishly at him.

He'd seen that look before. He couldn't place it, but this was déjà vu.

"No problem, you ok little one?" Kara nodded right as it hit her.

"IT WAS YOU!" they both exclaimed.

"You're the girl from the club!" Justin said before she could continue.

He stepped back and looked at her frame from behind, nodding to himself.

"Yep, it was you," he said with a cocky grin.

"What was that for?" Kara said self consciously, turning around and facing him.

"Your jeans --well at least what's in them-- and they way you were moving that night was what drew me to you," he replied with a smirk.

Kara rolled her eyes.

"I don't know if that's a compliment or not."

"It is," he assured her. "Why did you leave so quickly? We were just getting to know each other."

"Marz had an early call the next morning. Wow, I can't believe that I actually danced with you, of all people," Kara said with a slight chuckle.

"You've done more than that, darling," Justin leaned in and whispered in her ear.

Kara felt the heat rise in her face and had to quickly recover when she heard Trace call out their names.

"Did ya'll get lost or something?" he asked, laughing. "Come on, everyone's waiting for you."

Kara turned to go follow Trace and Justin grabbed her hand.

"We have to talk…today," he said.

Kara simply nodded before sauntering off after Trace.

They made it through the MTV News interview without any slip-ups, well between Justin and Kara anyway. Eddie continued his flirtatious ways and even asked her out for dinner later on that week. She politely declined, stating that she'd be busy working with Justin and Trace. Speaking of those two knuckleheads, they were currently teasing her as the trio headed off to TRL.

"You know you like Donkey, you should've just said yes," Trace joked.

"I swear, if you say one more thing to me, midget," she replied through clenched teeth.

She didn't even need to finish her statement.

"You could've at least humored him, it was a free meal," Trace egged on.

"If you like him so much then why don't you go out with him?" She teased.

Justin laughed at her quip. Trace pondered her suggestion for a moment.

"You know what, I just might," he said, heading off towards the studio green room.

Realizing that it would soon just be her and Justin in the hallway, Kara picked up her pace. She wasn't sure if she was ready to be alone with Justin just yet, didn't know if she was ready to have the "conversation". He picked up on her eagerness and grabbed her wrist. Kara barely had enough time to let out a squeal of alarm before she was pulled into an office and pinned between Justin and a wall. He closed and locked the door with one hand and braced himself against the wall with the other.

"What are you doing?" She whispered.

"I could ask you the same thing. Are you really going to go out with Eddie?"

Kara rolled her eyes at him.

"Were you not just listening to the conversation that Trace and I were having? Or was that your body double?" she asked sarcastically. "I'm not interested in Eddie, but why should that matter to you? You have-."

Kara was interrupted mid-sentence when she felt his lips on hers. The kiss was feather-light but it still rocked her to the core.

"What are you doing?" She asked in the softest of tones.

"Something I've wanted to do all day," Justin replied before the hand supporting him against the wall fell away.

Kara was forced backwards when she absorbed the weight of his body, becoming sandwiched between him and the wall. One arm curled hard and tight around her waist. His other hand captured her jaw, holding her head in place while he kissed her ravenously. He sealed her open mouth to his with gentle suction and then burrowed his tongue into the silky wet hollow. Leaving her gasping for breath, he angled his head the opposite way and tormented her with quick, skillful flicks of his tongue across her lips and barely inside them. Her hands moved to his cheeks. She laid her palms against them and ran her fingertips across his cheekbones as she gave herself totally to the kiss.

Whatever qualms she had about being intimate with her sister's boyfriend were thrown out the window. She strongly detested cheaters, but how could something so wrong feel this good? She couldn't fight the moan escaping her mouth when his lips made their way down to the base of her throat. Kara hadn't had many male suitors and usually wasn't envious of her sister's, especially since most of the time they were just flings, but Justin was definitely different. Kara wasn't sure if this was going to be a two time deal of what, but for the time being it didn't matter. All that matter was that this beautiful man to whom she was holding on to for dear life was eliciting pleasurable sounds from her that no man had ever before. Kara moaned when he tilted his swollen center towards her, creating friction between them.

"Justin."

His name rolled off of her tongue in ecstasy and he could have sworn that he got harder just hearing it.

"Damn girl, you don't know what you're doing to me," he whispered in her ear.

He captured her lips once more, silencing her moans just as they heard Trace's voice.

"I don't know where he could've gone. He was right behind me a second ago."

Kara and Justin could tell that Trace was talking on his phone and froze mid-kiss.

"Yeah, I'm looking for him. We'll be there soon."

They heard Trace hang up the call and Kara whispered, "He's about to call you."

"How do you know?"

"Because that's what I would do to Marz."

And there it was. Marz. Neither one of them had mentioned her name until then. Sure enough ten seconds later Justin's phone was vibrating in his pocket. He silently thanked God that he'd forgotten to turn the ringer back on after the previous interview. Justin put a little space between them and pulled the device out of his pocket to answer it.

"Where are you?" Trace asked before Justin could even say hello.

"On my way. Marz called and I stepped in an office to talk to her. I didn't want everyone to hear my conversation."

The lie rolled off Justin's tongue so easily. His excuse hit Kara like a ton of bricks. Of course he had to lie to his best friend, it wasn't like he could tell Trace that he had dragged her in an abandoned room and kissed her senseless.

"Well you need to get your ass to hair and make-up so we can get this interview over with," Trace said before hanging up the call.

Justin put more space between them and Kara cast her vision downward, the feeling of guilt washing over her once again.

"I have to go."

"We can't keep doing this."

"Doing what?"

"Don't play dumb, Justin. You know what I'm talking about. We can't keep running around like this behind everyone's back."

Justin didn't know what to say. He knew she was right, but didn't want to give up what they had.

"We'll talk about this later; I have to go."

"Tonight," Kara said sternly.

"Tonight," he agreed before giving her one more peck and leaving the room.

Kara touched her lips where his had just been and sighed softly. What was she doing? What were they doing?

It seemed like forever before they were done with all of Justin's interviews. They finally returned to Justin's apartment around 7pm that evening, and Kara was a nervous wreck. No part of her was looking forward to her inevitable conversation with Justin. It's not often that one has to tell her sister's boyfriend that they can't make out anymore. But regardless, that conversation needed to happen.

That didn't mean it was going to be easy though. Sin or not, she enjoyed kissing him, and she was pretty sure he enjoyed kissing her too. But it wasn't worth breaking Trace's heart, or losing her relationship with her sister. They had too much to lose to continue this any longer. So when a knock at her door interrupted her staring out the window she pushed all of her nerves to the side.

"Come in."

The knob turned and in poked Justin's head. He smiled sheepishly at her before he stepped into the room, closing the door behind himself.

"Hey."

"Hey. Where's Trace?"

"In the shower. He wanted to get in there before you started doing your girly thing."

They were all going out to a local club tonight to celebrate the end of promotion for the movie. After so much work they all needed a chance to let loose and unwind. Of course Justin had invited Trace and Kara along.

"Good, then he'll be outta my way," she chuckled.

Justin nodded, his hands stuffed deep in his pockets as he rocked on his heels in front of her. He knew the inevitable was coming too.

"So, Justin, about earlier," Kara began.

Might as well get it over with.

But before she could finish her thought Justin stepped forward, kissing her intently. She tried to pull back, and she moaned with confusion, but he held her cheeks and kissed her into submission, smirking when her lips parted to allow his tongue to enter. He kissed her until he made even himself dizzy. When he pulled back he smiled at her closed eyes, his hands still holding her face.

"That's exactly when I'm talking about," she whispered.

"I just had to do that one last time before you said what you had to say."

Kara's eyes opened and unbeknownst to her, she pouted.

"We can't do this anymore."

"I know."

"I mean, you're my sister's boyfriend! And Trace and I have our thing and I don't want to hurt him."

"I know."

"It would kill Marz if she ever found out, and I'd be out of a sister and a job. You would be out a best friend-."

"Kara," Justin interrupted her rambling. "I know. And I agree. This isn't fair to any of us. We can't help what developed between us. But we both care about Marz and Trace, and as adults we need to look at the bigger picture."

"Exactly," Kara smiled.

At least they were on the same page.

"So, starting right now, no more touchy feely stuff. Just friends, agreed?"

She held out her hand, waiting for him to shake it.

"Agreed. Just friends."

They shook hands and Kara breathed a sigh of relief. At least now it was over and they could put the whole mess behind them. A knock sounded at the door and she looked over Justin's shoulder to see trace.

"Hey."

"Hey, what are you two doing?"

"Just talking about music stuff," Justin answered. "Nothing you'd be interested in."

"Oh, well Kara the bathrooms open. You guys better start getting ready, we're leaving in an hour."

The group gathered in the VIP section of a popular club downtown. They stayed upstairs where the general public wasn't allowed. They could see the crowded dance floor when they leaned over the railing, but they had their own booths, bar, and even restrooms.

Justin was sitting at the booth with Eddie and Mike. A Sierra Nevada beer sat in front of him in a frosty white glass. Eminem's newest single was blasting over the speakers and everyone was drunk and in party mode. Including Eddie, he was drunkenly rambling about how he knew Melanie's baby was his; he just didn't want to deal with her for the next eighteen years.

But Justin was hardly paying him any attention. He was busy staring across the room to the bar. Kara was there, sitting on a bar stool next to Cameron. The two girls were talking about laughing loudly, but he couldn't tell what about. In all honesty he didn't really care though. He cared about the hand currently rubbing up and down her arm.

Trace was standing at her side, sipping a Budweiser out of the bottle. Justin could never understand how trace drank the stuff. A more accurate name would be Pissweiser if you asked him. Trace was smiling adoringly at Kara, watching as she engaged Cameron with some story. Watching his friends fingers brush across Kara's skin he couldn't help the sneer that was building inside.

Part of his brain kept saying, "I saw her first!" And in reality he had, he just didn't know if was her. He hadn't known anything about her at first. Marz had been so in his face that he barely had a chance to give Kara so much as a second glance. But now he had, and he couldn't help but wonder what might have happened had they had the chance to talk that night. He'd probably have two albums full of amazing love songs by now. He was also starting to wonder if he was going to regret making that deal with her.

They did have a lot to lose if anyone found out about them. His relationship with Marz and Kara's budding romance with Trace. After a string of failed relationships with actresses his best friend had finally found someone he could vibe with, and he didn't exactly what to jump in the middle of that. And he hadn't thought about it much, but he was pretty sure he didn't want to give up his relationship with Marz. Except for her treatment of Kara, she was a kind girl that he'd grown to really care about. Not to mention the damage it would do to his connection with his childhood friend or the connection between he two sisters. On top of that, Kara's PA career, the William Rast clothing line, and their professional relationship as artist and producer. Plus, the damage it would do to his career once the gossip magazines got a hold of the details.

Fuck, that was a lot to lose.

And there was no guarantee that anything would happen between he and Kara. They had a lot in common, like music and a love of giving Trace a hard time, and yes there was a physical attraction but that didn't always equal a relationship. What if they gambled everything away and didn't even end up together? Pure logic said that it wasn't worth it, but someone needed to explain that to his head, and his heart, and his groin for that matter.

As Trace leaned down to give Kara a peck on the lips he felt a stinging twang of jealousy shoot through him. It wasn't fair that he was in this position, loving one girl and lusting after another. Kara glanced over at him, offering an encouraging smile as her eyes twinkled. He smiled back though inside his blood was simmering. He was definitely going to regret making that deal.

"Are you okay?"

Kara's head snapped up, breaking her trance. She'd been staring at Justin, trying to read his expression. She could see the wheels in his head churning and she wanted to get inside of his head.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?

"I don't know," he answered, looking back at Justin.

Now he was talking to Eddie, trying his best to ignore them and seem interested in Eddie's slurring.

"You and Justin just seem different lately. Anything wrong with the album?"

"No, the albums great. I think we're all just getting tired."

"Yeah. Well tomorrow night we're heading home, and the album is almost done. Life will return to normal in no time."

Kara nodded, glancing at Justin again.

"Good. A little normalcy is what I need right now."

Since they were heading back to LA the following morning, Trace had managed to squeeze in some studio time early that morning. Their flight was leaving at 2pm that afternoon, and they needed to finish up all the projects still in the studio. They needed to be burned from the computers onto CD's so they could be mixed in LA. All of this was interesting to Justin and Kara, but Trace couldn't have cared less. He booked the studio time so they could get the music, not because he was interested. And that was the reason that he stayed home while Justin and Kara rode down to the studio at 7am that morning.

"I can't believe Trace didn't come with us," Kara muttered.

She let out a shaky breathed and rubbed her hands together. It felt like it must have been ten degrees outside and she was freezing. Why did Trace get to stay home in a nice warm bed while she had to suffer the outside?

"Give the guy a break, we must of drank two six packs at that bar last night."

Kara made a face as she climbed out of the van and followed Justin to the door.

"Well no one told him to drink all of that. I drank three vodka and pineapples and you don't see me complaining do you?"

"So he's a lightweight, what's wrong with that?"

Kara rolled her eyes, plopping down in one of the black chairs at the board, and beginning to pull off her gloves and jacket.

"So, he's lucky, that's what sucks."

Justin smiled at her, pulling off his own jacket.

"So, you burn CD's, I'll pack equipment?" He asked.

Kara turned to the monitor and made another face.

"I don't really get this software, J. I'll be sitting here for an hour trying to figure out how."

Justin nodded with a smirk.

"Okay, I'll burn CDs and you pack equipment."

Kara stood up and Justin took her place, grabbing the mouse and clicking different icons on the screen.

"So, did you have fun last night?" Kara asked, pulling a black case out from under the table and packing a laptop into it.

"Yeah, it was cool. I hadn't had a chance to sit around with Mike since we were looping the film."

"Yeah, and you spent some time chatting with Eddie."

"He's a funny guy, when he isn't hitting on people I know," Justin turned to give her a look.

"He's a single guy; of course he's going to try. You know his reputation."

Justin grimaced. Yeah, he knew Eddie's reputation. That's part of the reason he hadn't wanted him talking to Kara in the first place.

"You and Trace seemed o enjoy hanging out last night too. I don't think I saw you guys separated for one minute."

Kara smiled at the box she was taping shut.

"Yeah, well, we have fun together. I only knew the two of you, all those other celebrities and their people were virtual strangers to me. You seemed so occupied with Eddie and Mike I didn't want to interrupt."

Justin didn't reply to her and she turned back to the various plugs in front of her. She'd be lying if she didn't say that things were a little bit uncomfortable with him now. How does one make-out with a guy, and then pretend that it never happened? Every time she looked at him she couldn't help staring at his lips, remembering how they felt pressed against her own. Having to sit next to him in the van had been agony. He'd showered shortly before they left and the smell of his soap and cologne floated all around her. No wonder her sister was always snuggled up to his side. He smelled like heaven in a bottle.

"So, I guess, Marz is picking us up at the airport," he said.

Kara blinked, shaking away her thoughts. She hadn't even realized she'd been staring at him, good thing he was facing away from her.

"Really? The label is supposed to send someone."

"She didn't want that," Justin shrugged. "She called someone and threw a fit until they cancelled it. I guess the drive home from the airport was too long for her to wait to see us."

"Oh, that's cool," Kara said softly. "I know she's dying to see you."

"Yeah," he nodded. "I know she missed me. I'm excited to see her too."

Kara reached down, unplugging a synthesizer, and then she slid her hands underneath it to lift it from the table and into its carrying case. But the big, black box was a little heavier than she'd expected, and she barely got it off the table.

"Hey, Jay, can you help me with this?"

Justin glanced back briefly, clicking another button on the computer before he stood up.

"Yeah, sure."

He crossed the room to where she stood.

"You're just putting it in here?"

"Yeah. Can you just help me lift it?"

Justin put his hands under the box, next to hers.

"Ready?"

"Yep."

"One, two, three."

They lifted the box and he let out a grunt.

"Heavier than it looks, huh?" Kara asked.

Justin smirked, putting his end into the case. He'd been supporting most of the weight, and Kara wasn't prepared for when he let go. It slipped from her hands, slamming down into the case. Even through the heavy padding they heard a solid thud.

"Are you okay?" Justin asked, looking down at her hands.

"Yeah, luckily I jerked my fingers out of the way."

Justin chuckled, reaching over and grabbing her fingers, wrapping his palm around them.

"Good. You can't break those; otherwise I'll have to find someone else to help me finish the album."

Kara smiled and shrugged at him.

"What do I care? I'd still get ten percent of the royalties."

Justin smiled genuinely, examining the shy grin on her face. Anything to distract himself from the fact that her hand was in his. He couldn't deny to electricity shooting between them. No promise of keeping his distance was going to kill to connection, the chemistry. He couldn't bring himself to let go, and he was hoping he could keep her distracted for awhile so she wouldn't think to pull her hand away either. But Kara wasn't considering moving her hands anywhere. She could feel the warmth from his hands spreading all the way down to her toes. Her stomach felt all bubbly and jittery inside.

"True," he said. "You would still have to be somewhere in the credits, and the thanks."

"The thanks? Isn't that usually reserved for girlfriends and close friends."

He looked a little wounded by the question. She couldn't tell if he was joking or not, until he grinned.

"I think when two people have made out like we have, we're automatically put into the 'close friend' category."

The corners of Kara's lips twitched.

"I suppose."

The way he was staring at her face was beginning to unnerve her and she looked down at the case on the table. She ran her other hand over the smooth fabric top. The room was silent for a minute, and she wondered when he'd go back to the computer, when she suddenly felt his warm touch on her face. His hand cupped around her cheek and she snuggled into it before she could help herself. Her hazy eyes peered up at him, and he moved to stand in front of her. Now both his hands rested on her face, warming her cheeks. He licked his lips as he watched her reaction.

"I'm gonna do something, and I know it's wrong, but I need you to just let me."

Her brow furrowed slightly.

Justin inhaled deeply, tilting his head to the side and leaned down. He inhaled her scent, flowers and vanilla. A smell he'd become uncharacteristically accustomed too. His eyes closed and his lips touched her softly, pressing against them before pulling back slightly. It grew feverous before he even knew what was happening. Her hands wrapped around his torso, pressing into his back. His fingers wove into her hair, holding her steady and pulling her closer. Nothing this bad should ever feel this good. It shouldn't be this pleasurable to commit infidelity. But it was. It felt amazing, her hands rubbing up and down his back, the taste of her tongue flicking against his. She was stimulating nerves he didn't even know he had.

He pressed closer to her, and she stumbled back, hitting the piano in the center of the room. Her arm slipped around his neck, rubbing the hairs on the back of his neck. She leaned back against the piano, pressing the keys. The room was filled with chaotic music, random out of sync notes. Justin grabbed behind her knees, lifting her up onto the piano, her thighs pressing down, high and low notes filling the air again. Then he pulled her closer, her crotch against his.

Kara's head was a cloud, a complete and utter daze as his lips travelled across her cheek, behind her ear and down her neck. Something in her head was screaming for her to stop. It was bad enough that she'd let this happen when he'd told her from the beginning that he was going to do something wrong. But she couldn't bring herself to make the demand in her head take action. His fingers were leaving hot trails on her skin, and never in her life had she wanted someone more than she wanted him right then.

His hips felt good between her legs, rubbing and grinding against her, hands caressing her body under her shirt. His kisses were making her heart flip and flutter in her chest. She just wanted him closer. To feel every inch of him pressed against her, to feel the heat radiating off of him all over her. She didn't know if she was brave, or if she'd just lost her mind all together, but she was in a mental state she'd never been in before. Her actions had taken on a mind of their own, and she wasn't the only one who was surprised by the sound of a button popping, followed by the lowering of a zipper.

Justin's eyebrow rose as he felt her hands undoing his pants. Feeling her fingers brushing against him so intimately was driving him insane. It had taken all the reserve he had to keep himself from pulling her yellow tee shirt over her head, and now that one of the two biggest barriers between them had been broken, all the self control he'd been struggling to keep slipped away.

He stepped back from her, reaching down and hurriedly undoing the belt on her jeans. Her shaky fingers worked frantically alongside his, undoing the button fly and then pulling them down her legs until they puddled on the floor on top of his. She'd barely gotten her feet out of the fabric before Justin picked her up again, setting her back on the piano. The notes sounded again, momentarily drowning out their panting as they kissed again. This time the keys didn't stop playing. Kara's weight shifted as he moved her to the appropriate position, and neither spoke as he pushed into her.

Kara let out a gasp, her hand grasping the back of his shirt tightly. It had been a long time since she'd last slept with someone, and it was a feeling she had to get used to all over again. He didn't give her a chance to do that, setting a comfortable rhythm while he laid a kiss on her shoulder. Her legs wrapped around his waist, pulling him in deeper with each thrust.

She didn't want to think about Marz, and how she'd feel if she knew was going on between her sister and her boyfriend. She just wanted to focus on how she felt right now, the heat circulating between them, the keys beneath her filling the air with an out of tune song. Ripple after ripple of pleasure rolled through her body, the piano drowning out her moans. But it was over to soon, and he pushed into her with a groan. She could feel his spasm inside her, a warm rush filling her insides as her own orgasm washed over her. She moaned into his neck, her legs squeezing for dear life. His hands pressed into her hips, digging into her skin, but his hold felt nice.

Then it was done, and the music stopped. Their breathing was once again, the only sound. It took a moment for Kara to raise her head. She was still hazy from it, but she knew that when she raise her head, the moment would officially be over, and the reality of what they'd just done would wash over her. She wasn't sure she was ready to deal with that.

"Kara?"

Justin's voice was soft, and his hand brushed against her leg as he spoke. She raised her head, gazing into his crystal blue eyes. He hadn't moved, one of his hands still cradling her leg against his bare hip. He looked over her face, taking in her heavy lidded look. Then he leaned down, pressing his lips to hers again. She returned his kiss, almost too eagerly.

"I should have stopped you when you kissed me," she said.

"I didn't exactly have this planned, but I'm glad you didn't."

Kara raised an eyebrow.

"Remember that when we get home tonight."

Kara was curled up on the couch with a book in her hand. It was one of her few, much appreciated, days off. Nothing was on Marz's schedule, and there was no studio time with Justin; which meant the two were probably somewhere together. She didn't mind, or at least that's what she kept telling herself.

After the intimacy she and Justin shared that morning in the studio two weeks ago, she'd been feeling a bit more possessive of Justin, as he was beginning to do the same with her. They knew what they had done was wrong, that's probably what had made it so enticing. Knowing that they could have been caught at any moment intensified whatever need there was between them.

She adjusted the black plastic frames of her glasses and turned the page in the novel she was reading. She'd just made it through the thirteenth chapter when she heard someone turn a key in the front door. It was probably Trace. She wasn't expecting her sister until after dinner -if at all that night- and since they'd given both Justin and Trace copies of the house key and codes to the gate a few weeks ago they came and went as they pleased.

"Kara? You here?"

It was Trace.

"In the living room, hun," she replied with a smile.

Trace's face imitated hers as he made his way into the room. She leaned her head over the edge of the couch and accepted the kiss he placed on her forehead before he plopped down next to her, placing her feet on his lap.

"Hey stranger."

"Stranger?" She giggled. "It's been what, eight hours since you've last seen me?"

"Eight hours is too long," he replied, unconsciously rubbing her bare leg.

He noted her relaxed apparel; glasses instead of contacts, hair in a messy ponytail, an old t-shirt from one of Marz's concerts and black shorts. She couldn't look more beautiful in his eyes. Kara noticed him staring and furrowed her brow.

"What? Do I have toothpaste stains on my face again?"

Trace laughed.

"No," he laughed again before continuing. "I was just admiring your beauty. This is when I think you look the prettiest, chilling with no make-up on."

Kara could feel the heat rising to her face. He always said the sweetest things to her. She almost felt bad for sneaking around with his best friend behind his back….almost. Justin -his body and the things he did to her- was like her crack and she was addicted beyond belief. Kara didn't realize that she was daydreaming about Justin until Trace brought her back to the present by asking her a question.

"Huh?"

"I said what's that you're reading?" He repeated.

"Oh, it's Twilight. It's pretty good, I'm about halfway finished."

"A book about apples is interesting?" He asked, eyeing the cover.

Kara chuckled at his comment.

"It's not about apples. It's a love story between a vegetarian vampire and a human girl."

Trace furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Don't worry; I was just as confused as you were when one of my friends recommended it to me. Apparently it's part of a series. This is the first one and it came out like two years ago and there are three more after this. She loaned me this one yesterday."

"You got this yesterday and you're already half-way through it?" He questioned. "Nice."

"I read fast, and it's really good," she replied, beaming.

Kara marked her place in the hardback and placed it on the coffee table next to the couch.

"So, what have you been doing all day?"

She gave him her full attention. Trace cradled her right foot in his hands and began massaging it as he answered her question.

"I had a meeting at William Rast, had to approve of some hem lines and yolks. You know, the standard day at the office."

"Oh yeah, feeling on people's asses is typical huh?" She asked jokingly.

He shrugged.

"Hey, someone's gotta do it, right?"

"Of course," she replied laughing.

Her laugh melted into a moan when Trace began massaging the ball of that foot.

"Feel good?" He asked.

"Umm hmm," she moaned, her eyes closing.

Trace gulped; his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat. Hearing her moan like that caused a stirring in his groin. He could see the pleasure on her face; see her softly biting down on her bottom lip as he continued to massage her foot.

"That feels so good, babe," she said, the words dripping from her mouth like honey.

Trace actually focused on what she said rather than the way she said them. She had been more open about pet names since they'd officially started dating a little over a week ago. He'd come over on an off day -just like today- and she was her room with her friend Roxi receiving a pedicure. It wasn't until Roxi questioned who Trace was that the two had to define their relationship.

"This is Trace, my boyfriend," she had said without hesitation.

They hadn't sat down and put a label on anything, but she felt secure enough in their relationship to tell her friend that. A look of surprise flashed across Trace's face before he confirmed what Kara had said. He smiled fondly on the memory before a moan from Kara brought him back to the present.

"You could definitely be a masseuse for your side hustle," she chuckled softly.

"That's what I have William Rast for," he replied.

Trace ended the massage on her left foot with an all-over rub, not realizing that he'd unconsciously switched feet during his daydream.

"Yeah, well we don't need you to give that up do we? I like the perk of free clothes."

"And you have the cutest shape to model our clothes in," he replied, running his hands up and down her bare legs.

"Thanks baby," she grinned. "But I'm gonna have to be honest with you, Ricardo and his boyfriend are starting to rub off on you; you're starting to talk like them."

Trace rolled his neck and snapped his fingers.

"Naw uh, girlfriend!" he mocked.

Kara laughed and sat forward.

"So what do you have planned for the rest of the day?"

"I was thinking we could grab something for dinner tonight, and just lounge around with you until then."

"Sounds good to me." Her smile mimicked his. "So how do you feel about vampires?"

She repositioned herself so that she was leaning against his chest. Then she opened the book and they both settled in for chapter fourteen.

"How does this look?"

Justin looked up from his folded hands at girlfriend and smiled at the ensemble she wore.

"I like it," he said, his grin growing.

The black pencil skirt she had on hugged her curves in all the right places.

"It doesn't make my butt look big?"

Marz scrunched up her nose, twisting her body to get a better view at her reflection in the floor length mirror.

"Yeah, but it's just more for me to hold on to."

He stood and wrapped his arms around her waist. He placed a feather light kiss on her forehead and breathed in the scent in her hair. Jasmine and vanilla. His thoughts immediately went to Kara. That was the scent that was engrained in his brain, especially when it had been mixed with the scent of their lovemaking.

"Did you change your shampoo?" He asked, kissing the crown of Marz's head.

"No, I used some of Kara's this morning when I ran out. You noticed the difference? Babe, I didn't know you noticed the little things like that."

Marz's smile grew with every word. Justin didn't want to lie to his girlfriend, but he also didn't know how to tell her that he only noticed the difference because that was the scent that he was breathing in as he and Kara had sex in the studio weeks earlier. Instead, he simply nodded.

"Aww, baby," Marz cooed as she captured his lips.

Justin felt that familiar tug in his heart as he kissed her. He loved her; -really, he did- but he also cared about her sister. He didn't want to give up what he had with her just yet, but it came with the consequences of having to lie to her face. It was wrong, but it felt so right when he was holding her in his arms. Justin was getting turned on just thinking about it. Her skin, her smell, her hips in his hands.

"Mmm, you're so bad," Marz giggled. "You know we can't do that in here. They'd kick us out of the boutique."

She ran a lone finger down his growing erection. Justin hissed at her touch and grabbed her wrist.

"Are you almost finished in here?" His voice strained.

"I wasn't, but I guess I could wrap things up."

It was just after midnight when Kara finally returned home that night. She and Trace had decided to go to the movies, and then to dinner at an Italian restaurant around the corner. He'd wanted to go to Justin's restaurant, but she didn't need any more reminders of Justin. Their encounter was fresh enough in her mind, and she was already feeling horrible holding Trace's hand and pretending to listen to him when inside she was thinking about his best friend naked.

So when she saw Justin's Mercedes parked in the driveway she headed straight for her bedroom. She didn't want to see, hear, or think of him at all. She laid down, trying to focus on the rest of her book. And when she couldn't find Edward interesting enough to stop the images of Justin from flashing before her eyes, she put on a Sex and the City DVD. But even Carrie's man-drama couldn't distract her. Her room had only so many distractions, and she was running out of options.

She was about to make a run for her car when her phone buzzed. From her place on the floor she could hear the cheerful chirp, and she sat up, seeing the screen light up. It was probably Trace, bored from hanging out sans-Justin. Kara crawled over to the edge of the bed, reaching up and grabbing the phone. But what she found wasn't a text from Trace.

What are you doing?

It was Justin. Wasn't he with Marz? What was he doing texting her then? For a moment she debated just ignoring him, but it was only a text message. What could it hurt?

Discovering that my room needs a wider range of entertainment.

Once the message was sent Kara raised an eyebrow at herself. Where had the witty response come from? Then she glanced back at the TV, softly playing Sex and the City season five. Too much Carrie Bradshaw?

The phone buzzed again and eagerly she pressed the green button to open the message.

What are you thinking about?

Kara bit down on her bottom lip. What was he doing? Right now he was down the hall in Marz's room. Shouldn't they be cuddling or having sex or watching The Notebook or something? Or maybe he'd already left and she hadn't heard.

I'm wondering why S and the C had a Louis from Louisiana on the show, and a Louise from St. Louis in the movie. That's a lot of L's. But, that's not interesting so I'm going to say 'nothing'.

LoL! Ur right, that's not interesting.

Sorry to disappoint.

Luckily, I have my own thoughts to keep me occupied…

Do I dare ask what they are? Or is it something for Marz' mind only?

No, definitely not for Marz. She wouldn't be happy if she knew what was on my mind.

Kara sighed, looking up from the phone she'd been holding in a death grip for the past few minutes. There could only be one thing he'd be thinking about that would make Marz upset. His comment did the exact opposite of what she'd been trying to do for the past hour. All the images came rushing back to her -his touch, his voice, his smell, the way he felt- and her heart began to flutter.

I would definitely have to say keep that to yourself.

Thanks for the advice. I was planning on keeping it on the low anyway. But that doesn't mean I can't think about it.

You shouldn't be doing things behind your girlfriends back.

Ha. She was one to talk about doing things behind someone's back. But this wasn't about her; this was about Justin, after all.

You know what they say. What she doesn't know won't hurt her.

I think that's the logic that got us in trouble in New York.

I don't know that I'd consider that trouble.

Then what would you call it?

…Euphoric.

Kara leaned back against the pillows on her bed and looked across the room at the TV. Samantha was at dinner with her lying, cheating, ex-boyfriend Richard. She picked up the remote and turned off the DVD player. Suddenly Lauren and Whitney hugging goodbye was on the screen, The Hills icon in the bottom right corner. The phone buzzed in her hand again.

If I remember correctly, we made some pretty sweet music together.

Her mind flashed back to that moment. The piano keys under her legs, random notes filling the air around them. It'd been cold and hard underneath her, uncomfortable and unsupportive. It groaned in protest with every move they made.

I remember.

And I remember you. Your hands scratching my back, whispering my name, moaning in my ear.

The phone fell onto the comforter and Kara stood up with a huff. He was not helping at all! She'd been trying to push those memories to the back of her mind for two weeks and here he was, casually reminiscing like it was just some kinky rendezvous and there weren't any consequences. She should have ignored his texts from the beginning.

She needed a distraction. She'd get ready for bed, and then she'd lay down with Edward, Carrie, and Lauren. One of them had to do the trick, eventually. Kara went into her closet, changing into a more comfortable ensemble of shorts and a tank top. When she came back around the corner her bedroom door was cracked open, and there stood Justin with an almost sheepish smirk.

"What are you doing in here?" She asked breathlessly.

His presence had startled her, and she needed a moment to get her footing back. He shrugged, looking around.

"I've never been in your room before."

Kara nodded, looking around at the beige walls.

"Not much to look at."

She turned, heading into her bathroom to brush her teeth. She'd just picked up her hair brush when Justin strolled in, leaning against the doorway. Kara raised an eyebrow at his reflection.

"What are you doing?" She asked again.

He shrugged again.

"Avoiding watching the last hour of Titanic."

She'd been wrong when she guessed The Notebook, but it was close enough.

"Where's Marz?"

"She passed out while Jack was showing Rose how to Irish dance."

His very presence was making her antsy. Just over his shoulder she could see her bed. Large and perfectly made, begging to be rumpled. He was inviting her subconsciously, standing there casually, his hands stuffed in his pockets while he eyed her up and down. It would be a lot more helpful if he could make his body language a little more abrasive.

"So, you stopped answering me," he said.

Inside Kara groaned. Please do not let their one time encounter be the topic of conversation tonight.

"I didn't really know what to say."

"Ah. I thought maybe Trace was with you or something."

"No, he went home a couple hours ago."

She brushed past him as she went back into the bedroom. Her teeth would have to wait until later. Justin followed her slowly, still glancing around at his surroundings.

"So, then, why did you stop answering?"

Kara turned to face him.

"I don't know that that was a good conversation to be having with Marz lying on your chest."

"She was on her own pillow, actually."

He was trying to be funny, and she refused to let it make her smile.

"This isn't funny Justin. We did something bad and you wanted to have text sex while cup caking down the hall."

Justin frowned, moving to stand next to her. She was fiddling absentmindedly with the remote control, while avoiding his gaze.

"I wasn't expecting text sex, but now that you mention it-."

"Justin." Her eyes rolled.

"Kara," he breathed.

His hand reached up, resting on her cheek. Just touching him made her insides flip. It was like an electric bolt was sent through her. Suddenly she craved everything delicious and sinful that came with being with him.

Her eyes opened and she watched his face as his hand fell down to her neck. His lips parted like he had something to say, but didn't know how. His fingers trailed down the column of her neck and just barely onto the top of her right breast. Just enough to suggest, but nothing more. Then they moved back up again, until his hand was curled around her cheek again. His eyes met hers, and his lips twitched again but no sound came out.

She knew exactly what he meant. She felt it too.

Kara closed the distance between them. Her lips met his eagerly, their arms winding around each other tightly. They kissed feverishly, hungrily. His hands roamed over her, fisting her hair, smoothing down her back, grabbing her ass. She caressed his back, biceps, and chest. She played with the hairs on his neck and rubbed her leg at the growing bulge between his. She could feel the rush coming on between her own thighs and it was morbidly intense. They fell onto the bed, arms and legs entangled.

"Wait," Kara panted. "Marz?"

"No," Justin whispered into her neck. "She's totally out. Besides, I told her I was going home. She doesn't know I'm here."

Kara was about to protest again, but his hands gripped the hem of her tank top, pulling it up to her collarbone and exposing her bare body to him. She felt his fingers kneed into her skin and her eyes rolled into the back of her head.

She'd have to hold that thought.

I have to admit I like the red ones from the other night better than the white ones in NY.

I'll remember that the next time I go shopping.

I'm just saying, if you want a man's prospective.

Kara giggled out loud at the black and white text message. She wasn't exactly sure how they'd ended up on the topic of her underwear, but it shouldn't have surprised her any. It'd been two days since they'd slept together in her room that night and Justin had been irresistibly… naughty ever since. There were flirty messages, suggestive sayings, and secret phone conversations in the middle of the night when their respective significant others went to sleep.

They talked about everything, just like they had before. In fact, Justin probably teased her now more than ever. But their main topic was sex, rightfully so. They talked about partners, positions, wants, preferences. It was like the budding of a new, sexually charged relationship, only this one couldn't happen.

I don't remember asking, but I guess its good advice to have.

"What is so funny?" Trace asked.

Kara looked up, smiling at him from the passenger seat. Her adorable boyfriend was completely oblivious.

"Justin," she said. "He wants to know if 'Dick in a Box part deuce' is a good title for the album."

Trace laughed as well.

"Tell him it's perfect and to give Jive a call. We're going into the studio tomorrow; he couldn't have waited to tell you that?"

Kara, what are you doing tomorrow night?

"We haven't been in the studio since we got back, he'd just excited to get back to work."

Why?

"I know. I saw him the other day to go over some information and he was practically glowing. Things must be going great with him and Marz."

Just answer the question. Are you free?

"I guess. Usually Marz will complain about anything and everything, but she's been pretty quiet lately."

Yes.

"So, what are your plans for tomorrow night? That new club is opening on Vine."

Now you're not. Meet me at 85th and Lex at 10pm.

Kara bit her lip, looking up at Trace as he navigated the LA freeway.

"Sorry baby, I already have plans with the girls."

"Okay, what about tonight?"

She grinned again.

"Tonight I'm free."

I'll be there, J.

"Hold on to my hand, there's a dip."

Kara obeyed Trace's words and gripped his right hand tighter. He'd shown up at her house an hour earlier and told her to put on something comfortable, and then meet him back downstairs in the living room. She'd stared at her closet for a whole twenty minutes before deciding that nothing could be more comfortable than a pair of jeans and a polo shirt. After dressing she returned back downstairs and found her boyfriend standing in the center of the living room with a bandana in his hand.

"What's that for? I thought I told you that I wasn't into that bondage stuff," she joked.

"Damn, there goes my plan for the evening," he replied in the same light tone.

Kara raised an eyebrow.

"I'm kidding; come here," he said, holding a hand out for her.

She followed his instructions and now here they were, walking somewhere with uneven grounds.

"Are we almost there?" She voiced, her tone uneasy.

She trusted him, but she wasn't too fond of being blindfolded, even if it was for a surprise.

"Yeah, just a few more steps."

Trace removed her hand from his and placed both of his hands on her hips.

"Ok, stop."

Both of them froze in their movements. He steadied her and brought his hands up to the back of the bandana.

"I'm gonna take off the blindfold, but I need you to keep your eyes closed just a bit longer, okay?"

Kara simply nodded before he untied the cloth. He shoved it inside his pocket and walked around to the front of her. He took a deep breath and told her to open her eyes. The change in her expression was immediate when Kara saw what Trace had planned for her.

"A picnic in the park?" She grinned broadly.

"Yeah, I heard that they have free plays out here every weekend when the weather's nice. This weekend is 'Romeo & Juliet' and I remember you telling me that that's one of your favorites by Shakespeare. What do you think?" He asked sheepishly.

Kara was silent for a moment, taking everything in.

"I love it."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I can't believe you thought of something like this."

"What? You don't think I can be spontaneous and romantic?"

"No, that's not what I said," she reassured. "I just didn't know that there was stuff like this here and that you'd remember that I love plays."

"I remember everything you say."

Kara's heart tugged at how sincere and sweet Trace was being. This was a side of him she'd never seen.

"Come on, let's eat; the show's about to start."

Trace took her hand and led her to the blanket. She eyed the spread in front of her and could felt her stomach growl.

"It's just a few of your favorites," he said, following her gaze. "Devilled eggs, bacon, tomato and guacamole, Hawaiian rolls, you know the works."

"And red wine?" Kara questioned, eyeing the bottle. "Are you trying to get me drunk and take advantage of me?"

"Do I need to get you drunk to do that?"

The words were out of his mouth before he had a chance to stop them. Kara cocked an eyebrow. How was she supposed to take that? It was then that it kicked in that she'd been more intimate with his best friend than with him and wasn't sure how she felt about it.

"You don't, but it doesn't hurt," she grinned mischievously.

The play began soon after and it wasn't long before the cast was back on the stage taking their bows.

"That was beautiful, Trace," Kara said, her face glowing with happiness. "Thank you babe."

She leaned in and kissed his lips sweetly.

"No problem, anything for you," he replied between pecks.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. She didn't know if it was the alcohol or what, but her body was yearning for his. The sound of him groaning made her want to be closer to him. She climbed over onto his lap and their kiss grew more fervent. Her hands were flying everywhere, his shoulders, biceps, his neck and finally settling at the hem of his shirt. Anything to bring them closer.

"You ready to get out of here?" She asked breathlessly.

She didn't need him to respond audibly, the bulge she felt against her thigh said it all. But he still nodded with a smile.

"Come on," she said.

Prying herself off his lap, she started placing all the food containers and empty wine bottle in the picnic basket. He grabbed the blanket and led her to the parking lot.

"I still can't believe you did all this," she said as they loaded everything up in the trunk."No one's ever done anything like this for me."

The two of them walked to the passenger's door and Trace held it open for her.

"Well I care about you Kara, and I'll do all that I can to keep that beautiful smile on your face…see look, there it is."

Her eyes traveled from his blue orbs to his matching grin before she leaned forward and kissed him again. The alcohol was really getting to her now. Trace caressed her cheek and suckled her bottom lip before pulling back and walking to get in the car.

"My place or yours?" He asked, buckling up and starting the engine.

"Yours; it's closer," she answered once they pulled out on the highway.

It had been a while since she'd had red wine and she forgot the effect it had on her hormones. Kara was writhing in her seat, anxious to get to the house, anxious to feel Trace's body on hers. The thought of that alone was turning her on even more. She ran her left hand down the column of her neck, down to her chest where she pinched her erect nipple. Trace did a double take. It was kind of hard to focus on the road ahead when his girlfriend was moaning in pleasure in the seat next to him. Kara extended her left hand and rested it on his upper right thigh. She squeezed it and ran her hands up to his lap, over his groin, to his hips and up to his navel. She could feel him flinch in surprise upon feeling her touch, and he jerked the steering wheel slightly.

Why is she doing this now? They were ten minutes from his house, couldn't she wait? What the hell kind of effect did that red wine have on her? Trace was storing all of this information away for use at a later date. Lost in her own world, Kara unbuttoned her polo. Trace took his eyes off the road for a moment and looked down at her, absolutely titillated by the peek at her chest he was getting. He took one hand off the steering wheel and cupped her left breast through her shirt, squeezing her erect nipple and causing her to elicit the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard.

She leaned over into his lap, beneath the steering wheel as he released her breast. The outdoorsy scent of the park mixed with his cologne turned her on even more. She unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans and slid her fingers through the slit of his boxer briefs pulling out his stiff member. Kara noticed his size and color and smiled, holding onto it as if she had just gotten what she needed. She drew herself into his lap even more.

Trace had to control himself, trying not to put all the weight of his foot on the gas. She held his member with her fingers and kissed its mushroom head. She licked the tip and capped it in her mouth. She took in his shaft slowly, a quarter-inch at a time, feeling him with her tongue, sliding it around his creases, lubing him up with her saliva and feeling her own lips becoming even slicker with her fluids.

Trace took a deep breath and did something that he really didn't want to.

"You---you gotta stop," he breathed out.

Kara pulled him out of her mouth and smiled against it.

"Why? Am I not doing something right?"

"No, you're doing everything right. But you gotta stop…we can't do this here," he urged.

"But I want to make you feel good," she slurred.

Trace couldn't tell if it was from the alcohol or the lust.

"And I want to let you, but not here. We're almost there," he said, gently removing her head from his lap.

Kara pouted and he couldn't help the smile on his face. She looked so cute.

"What's so funny?" she asked, repositioning herself in the seat and crossing her arms over her chest.

"The way you're pouting at me, you look adorable," he chuckled.

He took a hand off of the steering wheel and fixed himself as they pulled into his neighborhood. They were parked in his driveway minutes later and Trace grabbed the stuff out of the trunk as Kara opened the front door. She was still pouting as they made their way inside.

"You don't want me?" She asked in a small voice.

"Yes I do, you don't know how bad I want you; I just didn't want to get into a wreck," he chuckled and Kara rolled her eyes.

She turned to walk away and Trace gripped her wrist.

"Awe, come here babe," he said enveloping her in his arms.

He kissed her and she could feel that he was still hard. With that all the doubts she had before were gone. His lips were warm and sweet against hers. Trace kissed Kara slowly, as if he were savoring the taste and feel of her mouth. With a gentle tenderness that took her breath away, he encouraged her to part her lips. When she did she felt his tongue, warm and moist, searching for hers.

Kara leaned into him and deepened the kiss. She wasn't sure if it was possible, but within moments Trace had grown even harder and she could feel it against her cleft. She shivered and dragged her mouth away from his, pressing her face against his shoulder as she did so. Trace placed a finger under her chin, lifting her face and looked up at her, asking for permission to continue.

"Honey?"

He didn't have to say it for her to understand his question.

"Yes," she whispered, and pulled his face down to hers.

Trace took her hand and pulled her up the stairs to his bedroom. Once there he undressed her, kissing each part of her body as he exposed it. He lingered a long time over her breasts, sucking and licking her until her body was shaking with need. When he undressed a fresh surge of lust roared through her. He had a beautiful body with broad shoulders, flat abs, and narrow hips. Trace slipped between her parted thighs and Kara's eyes rolled back in ecstasy.

"Someone got laid last night," Justin whispered and Kara nearly jumped out of her skin.

"What?"

Immediately she could feel the blood rush to her face.

"How clear can I make it? You and Trace consummated your relationship last night," he said with a grin.

Kara chuckled at his choice of words.

"Wow, what is this? 1945?"

"You acted like you didn't understand it when I said it the first time."

"It's not that I didn't understand, I just didn't think that it was any of your business what Trace and I did," she answered sassily.

"Really?" He grinned.

"Yeah," she replied matter-of-factly.

Thank goodness Trace had an emergency meeting at William Rast and wasn't here to witness this conversation; Kara could tell that it was about to go south. Justin leaned in close to her ear once again.

"But I bet you he didn't hit it as well as I did," he all but growled.

Kara's jaw dropped with shock.

"Justin Randall!" She hissed, her eyes boring into his. "B. Cox is right across the room."

"I know, don't worry about him. You didn't answer my question. Who was better?"

The smile he gave her turned her reserve to mush.

"I'm not even gonna dignify that with an answer," she said before turning her attention back to her phone.

"I'll take that to mean that I was better," he smirked.

Kara was just about to respond when Brian told Justin that he was ready for him in behind the mic. Justin smirked once more before walking into the recording booth. Kara rolled her eyes and reclaimed her seat next to her co-producer behind the mixing board. Brian double-clicked the mouse and the track they were currently working on cued up. There was a 4 bar intro before Justin started singing.

Babygirl
Drop your guard; I won't hurt you, no.
Baby I wanna give you everything you need
I wanna be your everything
I wanna be your knight in shining armor
But baby you gotta let me

This was the first time in a long time that they were working on something that Justin wrote. She didn't know when it happened, but it seemed as though the writer's block he had been suffering from was suddenly gone.

Just like in the movies baby, I'ma come to your rescue
And I know this might sound crazy
But I think I'm here to protect you
So girl, can you stop running
This ain't that kinda loving
I got you
Just run into my arms and I will show you

Kara bobbed her head along with the R&B instrumental. She liked the direction Justin was going with on this album. This vibe suited him well. Brian cut the track and motioned for him to come out the recording booth.

"I think we got it, for the most part at least. I mean, we're gonna have to spot clean it a bit, but other than that, really good job. What do you think Kara?"

"I agree. There was a line where you were a bit flat, but other than that, I think we got it. I was thinking that we could do an echo effect on that 'rescue you' line, just to cover up the dead air. But other than that, good job."

"Thanks," Justin replied, giving her that grin that made her heart jump in her throat.

They wrapped the session soon after and Justin escorted Kara out to her car. He walked along side her silently, kicking rocks like a nervous little boy.

"See you tonight," he smirked, holding her car door open for her.

Before she had the chance to respond he closed the door and walked off. Kara felt the familiar butterflies in her stomach that came every time she and Justin ended up doing something naughty. She knew she shouldn't, but she loved the thrill that it brought them. She was about to turn over her engine when she heard Marz's ringtone playing on her phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, are you still in the studio?"

"No, we just left. What's up? What do you need?"

She knew her sister didn't have anything planned for the week and was curious to what the phone call was pertaining to.

"Nothing, I was just calling to see what you were doing. It feels like we haven't spent any 'sister' time together."

Kara was stunned.

"Huh? When have we ever had 'sister' time?"

"See? That's what I mean! I don't remember the last time we've done it either," Marz exclaimed.

Kara wanted to tell her sister that that's because they never have, but decided to hold her tongue.

"I don't know, I kinda have plans with Trace," she lied.

They didn't have anything set in stone, but he was her boyfriend so that had to count for something. Kara heard her phone beep in her in ear indicating that she had a text message. She told Marz to hold on while she read the text from Trace.

Emergency at WR. I'll be here most of the night.

Shit, now she had no excuse not to hang out with her sister…at least until ten o'clock rolled around. Kara smirked and replied to her boyfriend.

Alright, I'll see you at the studio in the morning.

"You still there?" she asked, going back to the conversation she was having with her sister.

"Yes, so are we on?"

Kara sighed before responding.

"Yeah, what did you have in mind?"

Kara double-checked the street signs as she pulled into the empty parking lot. She even went through her old text messages until she found the specific one from Justin.

Now you're not. Meet me at 85th and Lex at 10pm.

Yeah, she was at the right address. So why was she looking at the front door of a Catholic Church? She was just about to call Justin when she saw his BMW pull up. She waited until he parked and walked over to her window before chastising him.

"Do you want to be damned for all eternity?" she asked sarcastically.

He just laughed.

"You knew this was a church?" She continued.

"I honestly forgot it was here," he replied, still laughing.

"Yeah, right. Please tell me we're not staying here."

"No," he replied, the grin still on his face. "Follow me, there's a parking garage nearby."

He was right, there was a parking garage nearby, and it was for the major hospital in the area.

"You couldn't think of a more conspicuous place?" She asked after she parked and walked over to his car.

"It's the first place I thought of and it made no sense for us to take two vehicles," he said, pulling a cap down over his head.

"Ok, so what do you want to do?" She asked, resting her hands on her hips.

He licked his lips unconsciously.

"Wanna go for a ride? Can you drive a stick?"

It was a loaded question and both of them knew it.

"I sure can," she replied, her voice dripping with honey.

"Shit. That's usually the excuse I use for not letting anyone else drive. Most women don't."

Marz sure couldn't.

"Wanna give her a run?" He asked.

"Hell yeah. Is this why you picked a parking garage?"

Justin nodded.

"I figured we could start here, just in case you aren't good at driving a stick."

Kara felt her knees go weak.

"On second thought, maybe I should drive?" He said, picking up on her sudden uneasiness.

"How about we both drive?" Kara cocked an eyebrow.

"Now how can be we both drive?"

"A little trick I learned. Watch."

She got out of the car and motioned for him to do the same. She moved the driver's seat back as far as it could go and motioned for him to sit back down. She could already see the strain of the bulge in his pants and smiled, happy that she decided to go commando under her skirt that night.

She didn't know what it was, but Justin brought out the inner Samantha in her. She'd never been so physically comfortable -or attracted- to someone before. She lowered his zipper and perched herself on his lap, guiding him inside in the process. His hands held her hips as his forehead rested on her shoulder. It'd always been the absolute perfect fit from day one.

Kara shut the door, pulling the parking brake. The car shifted into first gear, and crept down the first ramp while she slowly rode him. Hearing his moan from his position under her turned Kara on so much that she hit the gas and shifted straight into third. After letting go of the clutch, she began bouncing up and down, finding a good rhythm while turning down onto the eleventh level. Her mind raced with excitement as her walls squeezed him. Trying to navigate the sharp downward turns of the garage while giving Justin the ride of his life was quite interesting, luckily his hands were helping to guide her along. He was strong enough to lift and lower her on his own. By the time they reached the third level the car was in overdrive and so was Kara's body. Speeding down the curves of the tower was about to give her one of the biggest orgasms of her life.

"Don't wreck my car. Oh shit, Kara, please don't wreck my car," he groaned.

As they flew down the ramp of the second level, two candy stripers that were probably just finishing their volunteer hours stopped in their tracks and gave Kara and Justin inquisitive looks while she used one hand to steer and the other to shift. Justin's arms reached around her, his hands busily rubbing her nipples. The tank top she had on didn't do anything to hide how erect they were. She threw a smile at the shocked nurses as she came closer and closer to exploding.

They sailed down to the first level and she slammed her left foot down on the clutch and used her right hand to throw the shift into neutral, letting the car roll down onto solid ground. As if on cue Justin groaned in ecstasy, and her mind exploded with a million colors. He pulled her down into his lap hard, holding her there as he grunted.

Steering the slow-moving car into the nearest parking space, Kara tapped the brake lightly to get it to stop. She lifted herself slowly off of Justin and opened the door, stepping out carefully on her wobbly legs. She adjusted her skirt and looked over at Justin who was breathing heavier than a horse and hanging his head over the back of the headrest. She couldn't help but smile, he looked more drained than she did. She waited until his breathing slowed before speaking.

"Wow; that was…"

"…intense," Justin finished for her.

"Yeah, we definitely need to do that more often."

He looked over, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Only if we use your car next time. I was scared shitless."

Kara smirked at him.

"Still want me to drive?"

"No," he shook his head. "You've done enough. Get in, I'll drive."

Kara walked around the front of the car, opening the door and climbing into the passenger seat. She glanced over at Justin as she put on her seatbelt and he gave her an appreciate smile before backing out.

"Nice ass."

She sat quietly in the passenger seat, fiddling with the radio while Justin expertly navigated the LA streets. They wound up parked behind a small hotel she'd never heard of, and Justin handed her a small roll of bills.

"Go check in," he told her. "It's under Penny Lane."

She snorted at the movie reference. Rock stars and their metaphors.

"Why me?" She asked.

Justin gave her a look.

"As if the reasons aren't obvious enough? If one pap gets a shot of me checking into a hotel room, especially without Marz, this won't stay a secret for long. Go check in, and then meet me by the elevators."

Kara nodded, getting out of the car and heading around to the front of the building. She checked in, paying for the room with the cash Justin had given her. Then she moved over the elevators and waited for Justin to come in. He appeared a moment later, moved past the front desk unnoticed. Most of that was because of the cap pulled low over his brow and the black shades covering his eyes.

He stood next to her in the hall, not speaking, or even acknowledging her presence. They stepped onto the elevator, and he didn't look in her direction as the elevator rose to the 7th floor. He wordlessly followed her down the hall to their room. Kara slid the key through the slot and pushed open the door into the dark space.

Justin let the door swung shut behind them. He pulled off his hat and glasses, tossing them in the general direction of the bed. Then he moved over to the door, securing the locks on it while Kara pulled off her heels and placed them on the floor near the desk. It was an average room, not at all like one would expect for someone of Justin Timberlake's standards. But it was understandable. The expensive, lavish hotels he was known to frequent would be crawling with paparazzi and there'd be no way to avoid getting their picture taken. But no one would suspect a place like this.

"You were planning ahead."

"More like thinking on my feet," he said.

He moved over to Kara, capturing her lips before she had a moment to even form a protest. Their tongues twisted and twirled, spiraling intimately around each other. He pressed against her, pushing her back against the desk before lifting her to sit on it. Her legs parted, wrapping securely around his hips.

Her pulse started to race, she could feel that same heat circulating between them. It was like a never-ending fire was ignited between them. He broke their kiss, pulling her shirt over her head and tossing it to the floor. His chest pressed against her, warm, solid, sturdy. There wasn't much patience for foreplay; there usually wasn't when it came to them. They were like two kids who couldn't get enough of each other, who couldn't get to the act fast enough.

Their foreheads rested against one another as they struggled to catch up on the oxygen they'd been missing. Kara could feel Justin's sweet breathe warming her face as they both rushed to undo the belt and jeans shielding his body from hers. They dropped to the floor with a clank, and then his mouth was back on hers, even more hungry and needy than it'd been before.

"What's the matter?" She panted. "The car wasn't enough for you?"

She heard him chuckle as his hands slipped under her thighs, lifting her from the table and tossing her onto the bed.

"This time, I get to be in charge," he declared.

Kara was lying on her back, a generic white sheet draped carelessly over her nude body. One leg was bent, her knee left defenseless against the cool air. Justin's arm was her pillow as she stared up at the cracked ceiling. She could feel his muscles contract and release as he toyed absentmindedly with a few strands of her hair.

It was the afterglow, and she should have been blissful laying there next to him. One of America's most sought after heartthrobs was resting beside her, with only a cheap cotton sheet as a barrier, and all she could think about was Trace's unsuspecting face and her sister's carefree smile. They had no idea they were being stabbed in the back by the two people closest to them.

Just damn it if the sex wasn't so great, if Justin wasn't so hot, if he didn't make her feel so good -in more than one way.

"What are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking about how we're both going to burn for all of eternity for this."

Justin chuckled and Kara nodded with certainty.

"We are. It's bad enough that we're cheaters, but then we met up at a church. There's no way we're not going to burn for this."

Kara rolled onto her stomach and looked down at his grinning face. He ran a hand through her hair.

"You can be so melodramatic. We're not the first people in the world to have an affair. Sad as it is, it happens to dozens of people every day."

"That just means we'll have company in the fire," she muttered.

She turned her head, resting her face against his forearm for a moment, inhaling his cologne. He always smelled musky to her, and it always turned her on.

"So that's what this is then?" She asked. "An affair?"

When she raised her head against Justin was watching her, biting his bottom lip.

"Feels like it to me, what about you?"

Kara let out a sigh and turned away from him, rolling onto her back again. Justin sat up, leaning over her to look in her eyes.

"Kara," he began. "I don't like this situation anymore than you do."

"We're going to hell," she said adamantly.

Justin's eyes rolled with annoyance.

"Would you stop saying that? Look, we both know we're bad but it's not like planned for this to happen. Sometimes people connect, even when it isn't exactly convenient for everyone involved. That's how life works."

He paused, his gaze lowering to follow his hand as he smoothed it down her neck, to her arm.

"There was just something about you," he said softly. "Every day it got harder and harder to get you off of my mind, until finally I couldn't fight it anymore. There's something about your kiss, haunting and strange, and I get a feeling like we're alive."

Justin's head lowered as he placed a kiss on her collarbone and Kara raised an eyebrow at him.

"Quoting New Radicals lyrics, are we?"

He shrugged, his lips moving down an inch and kissing again.

"I'm remaking that song for my next album."

"Oh, you are, are you?"

Justin nodded, lifting his head.

"Yeah. I was planning on talking to you about that in the studio tomorrow."

"I would hope so, unless you're gonna produce that song all on your own."

They shared a laugh before he kissed her again, and he didn't pull away. Her hand cradled his face, settling into the slow seductive rhythm of his mouth. One of his hands slipped under the covers, smoothing down her stomach to rest on the bare flesh between her legs.

"But it's all true. There's something about you."

Chapter Nine 

“Your boyfriend’s late,” Justin teased.

Kara looked up from the notebook she was scribbling in and pursed her lips at Justin.

“I like how he’s my boyfriend when something is wrong, but he’s your friend when everything is great.”

He shrugged, glancing over her head at the door. She could guess that Trace had come in by the sudden change in Justin’s demeanor. His previously genuine smile faded into the plastic version he usually reserved for the media, and he stood up from his seat beside her on the couch.

“Hi babe,” Trace greeted her.

She leaned her head back, accepting the kiss her offered her. He tasted like coffee and cinnamon. He’d probably stopped at Starbucks on the way. She kissed him again just to get another taste of the flavors spread across his lips.

“Hey. You’re late,” she told him.

Kara glanced over Trace’s shoulder. Justin was there, watching them as he chewed on the inside of his cheek. When he caught Kara’s eyes he flicked his tongue out at her, and she shuttered inside. She remembered exactly what that thing was capable of, and he shouldn’t be toying around with it in public like that.

“I know. Traffic was so bad; I think they closed some streets down for construction so it was worse than usual.”

Kara was having a hard time concentrating. Just that simple movement with his mouth had her mind running off in a million different directions. And Justin knew it. He grinned, pleased with himself at her reaction before he turned back to the board.

“So, what did you guys get done yesterday?”

“He laid down some main vocals, but then Mr. Brilliant Ideas over there decided he wanted to add another song to the catalogue.”

“What?” Trace questioned. “Why? Justin, you have like twenty tracks for this album already. Are you going for a dual disc or something?”

Justin shrugged, looking at Trace, then at Kara.

“What can I say? When you’re inspired, you’re inspired.”

Trace’s eyes rolled as the ringer on his Blackberry went off. He leaned back next to Kara as he replied to the text message he’d gotten.

“Technically it’s not my job to worry about this, but Jive isn’t going to like paying for the unnecessary studio time.”

“We could always move to the studio at my house,” he suggested.

Kara’s eyebrows nearly rose to her forehead. How could she have forgotten that Justin had a studio at his house, and why didn’t the idea occur to one of them before? It was the perfect excuse to spend some time alone with him. Late night at his private studio, with the doors locked and no one around to accidently walk in.

“That might be a good idea,” Trace said. “As it is you’ve already gone over budget.”

Justin nodded, giving Kara a crooked smile. He couldn’t have set that up better if he tried. Trace suspected nothing, and now Justin had unlimited access to his best friends girl. Kara stood, dropping her notebook on the table and heading over to the board. When she passed Trace, a loud smack sounded as his palm connected with her butt.

“Ow!” She shrieked, swatting his hands away.

Trace chuckled to himself, turning his attention back to his phone. Justin held in his amusement. He’d done that same thing to Kara three or four times last night, but he’d gotten a completely different reaction out of her.

Then Justin paused, his mind running a hundred miles an hour. Was he really sitting here silently trying to one-up Trace? Some part of him became sickened with himself. Wasn’t it bad enough that he was sleeping with her; did he really need to trump Trace on top if it?

He shouldn’t have cared if Trace wanted to give Kara a love tap. His relationship was with Marz, not Kara. For them, it was purely physical. Okay, that was a lie. He’d be lying if he said it was just a sex thing with Kara. It was so much more than that. She was smart, and funny, and his musical equivalent. They were comfortable together, and the physical connection was unbelievable. Even if they hadn’t been sleeping together, he’d still want to spend time with her. She was sassy, and sexy, even if she didn’t always acknowledge it. Trace was one lucky guy.

“Ready to get to work?” Kara asked.

Justin nodded, pressing keys on the computer.

“Yeah, let’s get started.”

They began cuing up all the equipment, and a ring sounded through the room. Kara’s brow furrowed as she looked around. It didn’t sound like any phone she knew of. Finally she was the culprit buzzing on the table.

“Justin, since when does your cell phone sound like a house phone?”

He shrugged.

“I got sick of my ringtone. Grab it for me.”

He went back to the computer, and he heard Kara’s footsteps cross the room. There was a muttered hello, and then he felt her presence next to him.

“Your girlfriend is on the phone.”

“She’s only my girlfriend when she’s irritating you, the rest of time she’s your sister.”

Kara gave him a sarcastic smile.

“Funny how that works, isn’t it?”

Justin took the phone, turning away from Kara and putting it to his ear.

“Hey.”

“Hey babe! What are you doing?”

“I’m in the studio with Trace and Kara.”

“Aww, the happy couple. They’re really good together, don’t you think?”

Justin glanced back at them. Kara had reclaimed her spot next to Trace, and was resting her head on his shoulder while she watched whatever buttons he was pressing on his phone. He was muttering quietly to her, and it caused her to giggle adorably.

“Yeah,” he said dryly. “Perfect.”

“So, do you want me to come join you? I can help get the creative juices flowing.”

Like he needed any help in that department.

“Um, not right now, baby,” he said. “We’re kinda in the zone already.”

It was going to be hard enough keeping his thoughts –and hands- to himself with Trace close by, he didn’t want to have to worry about keeping Marz out of the loop as well.

“Oh okay,” she said, her voice dripping with disappointment. “I understand.”

Justin felt guilty. He could tell she was feeling rejected by his lack of interest in her coming to visit. Usually he would have been ecstatic to have her around. He turned and leaned his hip back against the board, folding his arms over his chest.

“But, why don’t you come over to the house later on tonight? I think we’re going to be finishing up some projects there. You can help me get creative then.”

She caught the sexual reference and giggled.

“Great! I’ll see you tonight then. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Kara looked up at his words. Her face dropped momentarily, the shade of her eyes darkening slightly. But she tried to recover, turning back to Trace’s phone with a forced smile. The worry lingered around her eyes in a fashion that only Justin would recognize. She forced her breathing back into a normal pattern before speaking.

“Ready to start?” She asked her tone just a bit too high.

It didn’t seem like Trace picked up on it, but Justin certainly did. He simply nodded, choosing not to respond audibly. The look of pain that flashed over her face when he finished his conversation with Marz pulled at his heart. He’d said ‘I love you’ back without even thinking, without even realizing how it would affect her. He watched as she slowly rose to her feet and walked over to the sound board. Kara sat down and adjusted the knobs on the electronic equipment and it was a minute or two before she noticed that he was still standing there next to her, a pleading look in his eyes.

“We don’t have all day Justin,” she said in a clipped tone.

“She’s right. I already told you that we’re over budget, so unless you want to move this session to your house I suggest you get in the booth, man,” Trace said, never looking up from his Blackberry.

Justin sighed. He couldn’t win for losing that day.

***
“Pass me the sausage,” Kara said to her sister as she moved the chopped potatoes around in the skillet.

They were having ‘sister’ time for the second time in two weeks and Kara had to admit that she was actually having a good time for once. She didn’t know what had changed in their relationship, but Marz had been cutting back on the rude remarks lately. Kara wasn’t sure if this was because she was spending less time with her because she was hanging out with Trace more; and when she wasn’t with him she was with Justin.

Justin.

She bit her bottom lip. Even thinking about him sent the raw edges of her heart throbbing. Kara didn’t even know why she was reacting like this. It wasn’t like she was the one in the relationship with him. She knew what she was getting into when she agreed to engage in this affair with him, and she scolded herself for getting emotionally attached. In fact, you could barely call what they were having an affair. It was just two people who had amazing sex.

Lies.

She could try to fight it all she wanted, but there were definitely chemistry between them. There had to be since they were constantly going at it like rabbits. Who was she fooling; there was more than just physical attraction there. She honestly enjoyed his company. It wasn’t all about the sex with her. Yeah it was toe-curling, but she’d be okay if they decided to keep their relationship strictly platonic.

“Hello,” Marz said, snapping her fingers in front of her sister’s face. “Earth to Kara.”

“Huh?” Kara said hazily. “Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Where were you girl? Because it definitely wasn’t with me and the potatoes you almost burnt.”

“I’m sorry,” Kara apologized once again, accepting the meat in her sister’s hands.

She mixed it in with the sizzling potatoes and bell peppers while her sister laughed.

“What?”

“You were zoning worse than Justin the other day,” Marz said.

Kara immediately understood the sexual reference, and she didn’t want to think about it.

“Trace must be doing something right.”

“You don’t even know,” Kara said.

“That good?” Marz questioned.

“Better,” she responded.

Now she wasn’t sure if she was still referring to Trace.

“Hey, why don’t you grab some plates, this is almost finished.”

Marz nodded before flittering around the kitchen, gathering their needed dishes and utensils. Kara was giving the contents of the skillet a final stir when she felt her phone vibrate, indicating she had a text message. It was from Justin.

I’m sorry.

She stared at the screen for a minute, not knowing how to respond. Part of her wanted him to be sorry, and other part wondered why he even cared. She finally thought of something.

For what?

The’ love’ thing back at the studio.

She’s your girlfriend; you have every right to tell her you love her.

But I could see it affected you.

What? I was shocked; don’t turn this into something it’s not.

Kara wasn’t sure if she was referring to their relationship becoming something it wasn’t, or his overanalyzing her reaction earlier, but she sent the text anyway. She placed the phone back in her pocket and divided the food onto the two plates her sister laid out on the counter. She wasn’t in the mood to have this conversation with him at the moment, she wanted to enjoy a nice evening in with her sister…it may not occur for another blue moon.

***

“Ok! Ok! I got one; worst kiss you’ve ever had?”

The two sisters were lounging in their living room working on their second round of margaritas. They’d finished dinner and didn’t want the night to end there so Marz came up with the genius idea of homemade margaritas and a game of ‘I never’. The game lasted a whole round before it turned into them just trying to one-up each other.

“Hmm.” Marz thought long and hard before answering her sister’s question. “It was my junior year of high school.”

“Oh my gosh, Chad!?!” Kara exclaimed.

Chad was her sister’s boyfriend that year. He was the captain of the football team, the All-American boy next door. Marz nodded.

“The boy could not kiss at all! Now Justin, that man can work his tongue. Chad could take some pointers from him.”

Kara grinned; she knew all too well about his tongue and the marvelous things he could do with it.

“Ok, my turn. What’s the craziest place you’ve ever done it?” Marz asked enthusiastically.

Kara didn’t even hesitate.

“In a car, driving stick, going down eleven levels in a parking garage.”

She conveniently left out the part about it being with her boyfriend about a week ago.

“What?! How did that come about?”

“He asked if I knew how to drive a stick and I wanted to show him,” Kara blushed.
She was getting turned on just thinking about the evening. The speed, the low rumble of the engine, his hands rubbing up and down her body.

“My sister is a freak!” Marz exclaimed laughing.

“I know you’re not talking. I’ve heard you and Justin before.”

“Yeah, it’s like he can’t get enough of me,” Marz started. “But I don’t mind. Boy definitely knows what he’s doing though. Has stamina for days too, but I wore him out the other day.”

Kara smirked. She must’ve been doing something better than Marz, because she wore him out every time. She mentally scolded herself. What was she doing? Did she want to get caught? She was practically putting their affair out in the open, sharing excursions, trying to up her sister. She shouldn’t have even been comparing the stories. It was like comparing apples to oranges. Justin was just having a fling with her, but he was in a relationship with Marz, and that wouldn’t be changing anytime soon. It’s not like she wanted it too anyway, right?

The ringing of the house phone made Kara focus. She answered, not bothering to look at the Caller ID.

“Yellow?” She said with a giggle.

“Are ya’ll coming over or what? I thought we were gonna work on some tracks tonight.”

“Oh, that was tonight?!” She exclaimed, still giggling.

Blame it on the alcohol.

“Are you…are you drunk?”

“Nope, ladies don’t get drunk, they get tipsy.”

“Oh gosh, is Marz there with you? Maybe she can drive.”

“No, she had even more than I did,” Kara responded, her tone still light.

“Alright, well I’ll just go ahead and save what I was doing and we’ll just pick this up tomorrow.”

“We can work on the tracks tonight. I can help you with your tracks, just not drive. You could come get us; you know, give us a ride.”

Justin shook his head; it was definitely going to be an interesting night.

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

***

“Just call him Timberlake!” Marz sang loudly, and off-key.

She, Justin, Kara were down in his studio listening to the songs the pair had been working on since New York.

“I like that one, it should definitely be a single,” Marz continued, snapping along with the track.

Trying to do two things at once threw off her already shattered equilibrium and she nearly fell to one side.

“Whoa, be careful. You don’t wanna spill your margarita,” Justin laughed.

“No, that would be a party foul; right Kara?” Marz asked in an overzealous tone.

Kara simply nodded. Marz had just made a fresh batch of margaritas when Justin showed up on their doorstep and she decided to bring it along, not wanting to waste perfectly good alcohol. They were lucky that they didn’t get pulled over; she would’ve gotten arrested for riding around with an open container, well, open blender.

“Party foul!” Marz said in a sing-song voice.

Kara sighed. She should’ve taken away her sister’s cup hours ago. Marz was definitely going to regret all these drinks when woke up with a hangover in the morning. It didn’t seem like Justin cared about the fact that his girlfriend was getting shitfaced, he just laughed at her silly antics. Kara figured it was because he thought they were gonna have sloppy drunken sex that night and shuddered. Great, now she’d have to hear her sister moan for the better part of the night. Where was Trace when she needed him? Oh right, another meeting at William Rast. He spent more time up there than he did with her nowadays.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

Kara nearly jumped out of her skin.

“You scared the crap out of me!” She said with a laugh.

“Well someone had to pull you out of la-la land. What’s on your mind?” He asked with his classic Timberlake grin.

Kara felt her heart flip.

“Oh nothing, just wondering what’s going on at William Rast that’s so important. I’ve spent a total of maybe ten hours with Trace in the past five days.”

She wanted to say that she’s spent more time having her affair with Justin than she had having her relationship with Trace, but decided against it since Marz was still in the room. Justin got her drift though.

“I’m sorry,” he frowned.

“It’s ok, it’s not your fault,” she said softly.

“If you weren’t recording you’d be by his side and Marz would never see you either. We don’t need two emotional women drinking, now do we?” She asked jokingly.

He laughed with her.

“I guess not. So, what do you want to do about your sister? I think she’s had enough.”

“Yeah, she’d had more than enough before we left the house. I don’t know why you let her bring the damn mixer in your car,” Kara laughed.

“You try prying it from her hands next time,” he joked.

“Wussy,” she joked.

“WUSSY!” Marz exclaimed.

Kara sighed again; she really did need to put her sister to bed. Here she had thought that they’d progressed in their relationship, but she was taking care of her again, like always. She rose from her seat behind the mixing board and walked over to the couch where Marz was sitting.

“Come on, let’s get you to bed. It’s getting late,” Kara said, holding her hand out to help her sister up.

Marz swatted it away.

“No, I don’t wanna go to sleep,” Marz replied in a childlike tone.

Kara rolled her eyes, her sister was beyond gone.

“You don’t have to go to sleep, you can just go lay down.”

“You just want me out of here so you and Justin can fuck!”

Kara and Justin froze in place; she stood there with her mouth wide open, hand held out and his finger was frozen on the loop button. The only sound that could be heard in the room for a full five seconds was him singing “ooh yeah” over and over. When Kara finally moved she looked back at Justin with panicky eyes, and he responded by chuckling nervously.

“I’m kidding!” Marz laughed.

Kara joined in, her laugh mimicking Justin’s.

“The look on ya’lls faces was priceless! It was like you got caught with your hands in the cookie jar. If I didn’t know any better I’d think that you two were having an affair behind my back.”

Marz couldn’t even get the sentence out with a straight face; she was doubled over with laughter. She focused all her attention on Kara and laughed harder.

“I mean come on; you are so not his type!” She laughed.

Kara stopped laughing.

“Come on Marz, time for bed.”

“No, I want Justin to take me,” Marz giggled, slowly teetering to her feet.

Justin walked over and scooped her up in his arms. He took a step towards the door and turned around.

“I’ll be right back. I’m just gonna tuck her in and we can finish this song.”

Kara nodded and saw him mouth ‘sorry’. She waited until they were out of earshot before exhaling loudly. She’d been seriously ready to piss her pants, thinking that her sister knew about the wrong-doings in her relationship with Justin. Why would Marz make a joke like that?

“I seriously thought she knew,” Justin whispered as he walked back in studio.

“Me too, she scared the crap out me,” Kara giggled.

He pulled her close immediately, placing feather-light kisses on her neck.

“Justin,” she whispered. “Stop, she might hear us.”

“She passed out before I could tuck her in. She’s down for the count babe.”

Her heart fluttered when he said the pet name. He kissed her neck again.

“We are going to hell,” she moaned.

“With gasoline drawers.”

His affection for her neck continued, his arms winding around her waist. Their lips were just about to meet when a yell sounded throughout the house.

“Justin!!”

The pair jumped apart, Justin groaning with frustration while Kara eyed him. She told him they were probably going to get caught.

“See,” she said.

“She was passed-out assed-out when I put her in bed a minute ago.”

Justin left the room, telling Marz he was coming when she called his name again. While he was gone, Kara ran a hand over her face. She was letting herself get way too caught up in all of this. It was bad enough that they were having this adulterous relationship, but they’d actually been entertaining the idea of fornicating while Marz was in the same house. A stupid idea no matter what angle you looked at it from.

“Kara,” Justin appeared in the doorway again.

She looked up at him, expecting to see Marz by his side. No one else was there.

“Did she go back to sleep?”

“No,” he shook his head. “I’m gonna take her home. She remembered she’s got some photo-promo-whatever thing tomorrow.”

“Oh,” Kara sounded.

Secretly her heart sank a little inside. She’d been looking forward to spending a little Marz-free time with Justin. But Marz was so intoxicated that she needed someone to be there for her.

“She can’t be at the house alone.”

“I know,” Justin said. “Lauren is gonna meet us there.”

“Lauren?”

Lauren was Marz’s replacement assistant. The poor girl had been thoroughly tortured while Kara was in New York, and was probably enjoying her well-deserved mini-vacation.

“Yeah. She’ll stay with Marz so you and I will be free to finish that track, and Marz won’t risk being late tomorrow.”

He threw her a wink and she understood completely. He must have been looking forward to a little Marz-free time as well. She heard them heading for the foyer, Marz’s heels clacking on the hardwood floors and her obnoxious laughter echoing off the walls.

The poor girl had no idea that she was only making it easier for her two closest friends to betray her. Kara couldn’t help imagining what she’d feel if Marz and Trace were sneaking around behind her back. After so many intimate conversations with Trace, after having spent her entire life with Marz, it would turn her entire world upside down if they were to do something so hurtful. So many thoughts swirled through Kara’s mind and it started to make her feel a little queasy.
* * *

“You’re doing it again.”

His voice came from just behind her. She knew he was home because he’d let the front door slam behind him.

“What?”

“Pouting.”

“When have I ever pouted?”

“The other day, when I was on the phone with Marz.”

The never-to-be-spoken-of ‘I love you’ comment.

“So,” he continued. “You’re either thinking about that, or your damning us to hell. Again.”

“I’m not pouting.”

“I can see it through the back of your head.”

Kara sighed, running her hands down her face.

“I know what you’re getting at, and I’m not pouting, nor am I mad. I told you before; you have the right to tell your girlfriend that you love her. Especially if it’s the truth.”

Kara stood and turned to face him. He was leaning against the counter, smirking at her. She rolled her eyes and moved to pass him, but he put his hand on her arm, stopping her motion.

“Well just in case there’s any little bitty part of you that is mad, I’m sorry…”

“Okay. That tiny imaginary part of me that wasn’t mad accepts your apology. The rest of me is begging you to let it go.”

“…And incase you were envisioning us burning in a pit of fire for eternity. Stop.”

Kara nodded and he chuckled, letting go of her and standing up straight.

“It’s still early. Wanna watch a movie?”

Forty-five minutes later Justin and Kara were sitting on his over-sized sofa in his over-sized family room watching his over-sized TV. Over-sized burgers had been delivered and devoured, the wrappers covering the table.

With no movie in sight that at least one of them hadn’t seen, they opted for cable TV instead. Ghost Adventures was playing, Nick and Adam had just been locked into a haunted hotel, and Kara could feel a chill run down her spine. This had been Justin’s idea; she’d never been a fan of scary shows.

She didn’t even know she was doing it, but she began to lean away from the TV, and the dark spooky corner to her right, and closer to Justin. He was the only other person in the house and she was seeking some sense of comfort. Justin was too busy holding in his laughter at her to follow the show. Who knew that tough Kara --who could drive down eleven floors while grinding in his lap—was afraid of a fake ghost on a fake reality show on the Travel Channel?

He wished Trace could be here to witness it.

On second thought, not really.

Kara made a face and squirmed at his side as Nick headed down to the basement of the hotel, where the door to the afterlife supposedly was. Justin’s heart started to pound a million miles a minute as he lifted his arm and placed it on the sofa behind her. He was going to attempt to put his arm around her, and he was terrified that he was going to be rejected. Yes, they’d had sex, but cuddling with someone had nothing to do with sex. To some people, it could even be considered more intimate. What if that was an intimacy she reserved only for Trace?

Justin lifted his arm again, slowly and cautiously resting it around her shoulders. Kara looked down at his hand, and then over at his face. He turned his vision to the TV, pretending to ignore her stare and be nonchalant about it all. She watched him for a moment before she leaned against him completely, settling into his embrace.

He leaned against the armrest of the couch, pulling her along; before Kara knew it she was stretched out next to him, feet at one end and her head on his chest. It was nice, being cuddled up next to him, and it was even better that they weren’t doing it in a hotel setting like last time. They were comfortable, at home, and for a moment it felt like a real relationship.

That feeling might have been more sinful than the affair itself.

It wasn’t much longer before hands began to wonder over her body, caressing places they shouldn’t have been. Kara looked up at him, smirking knowingly. She sat up, climbing higher on his body so their faces were at the same level. Slowly she lowered her head, reviling in the anticipation. Every nerve ending in her body was standing on end, waiting for that moment when his perfect, tainted lips would touch hers. They’d kissed a dozen times, and every time it felt new, and every time is sparked that fire that constantly burned between them.

“Wanna go upstairs?” He asked, breathing labored, shirt tossed onto the floor.

Kara had barely nodded before he’d jumped from the sofa, grabbed her hand, and began dragging her up the steps to his bedroom.

* * *

Kara awoke quietly, her eyes popping open and looking up at the dark ceiling above her. She immediately recognized it as Justin’s ceiling, not able to forget the experiences of the past few hours. She looked over at Justin, and he was sleeping soundly on his side of the bed. He was on his back, his head facing away from her towards the window.

She sat up slowly, glancing over him silhouette to the clock on the nightstand. 2:47am. She could still make it home undetected if she got up now. Sliding from the bed, she gently tugged on the top sheet, pulling it from the bed. Kara wrapped it around her body, balling up the extra fabric in the front. She tip-toed into the bathroom, closing the door behind her before turning on the night.

It was a large white room with silver accents. It was clean, and bright, with a large bathtub and separate shower. No wonder Marz like to stay here so much. Kara could fit her bedroom in here. She looked along the countertop, seeing some of her sister’s familiar products. Face wash. Lotion. A pink toothbrush. She shook her head, going to the other sink to rinse off her face. She’d freshen up a little and then hit the road.

When she exited the bathroom she kept her head down, scanning the floor quickly for her clothes. She located them before turning off the bathroom light and headed towards the floor by the bed where they were laying.

“What are you doing?”

The voice breaking the silence made her jump and she looked up. Justin was sitting there, at the end of the bed, his hands calmly folded. He’d obviously woken up recently, and hadn’t bothered to cover his body at all. She could see the muscles in his shoulders and arms, the jaw line along the side of his face, his hips and thighs.

“Um, just getting dressed. I didn’t mean to wake up you; I was trying to be quiet.”

“Getting dressed?”

“Yeah. But, don’t worry, I’m gonna grab a cab. I don’t want you to get up and drive me this late.”

“Come here,” he said.

Kara crossed the room, standing in front of him. He reached out, taking her hand and pulling Kara into his lap. She straddled him, still holding tight to the sheet wrapped around her. Justin rubbed her back gently in slow sensual circles.

“You know, you could just stay here,” he suggested.

“Here?” Kara questioned.

“Yeah.”

“With you?”

“Yeah.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s already almost 3am. Because Marz is going to wake up in a few hours and expect me to be home.”

“Just say that we were working late and you decided to stay in the guestroom.”

Kara shook her head slowly.

“I don’t know.”

“Come on,” he pressed. “Please. I really want you to stay.”

She sighed, seeing his puppy dog eyes even in the dark. Part of her wanted to stay as well. She liked being here, with him, where they could talk and be as they wanted too without worrying about who was nearby and who would over hear. Just his solid, silent embrace felt good even if nothing else happened.

Finally she nodded, and Justin smiled brightly.

“Good,” he said, his hands rubbing her thighs.

His fingertips rose to her face and he titled his head as he studied her. He brushed the stray strands from her cheeks, and then ran a finger across her delicate skin.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered, watching as his hand traced her features. “I like you like this, no make-up, no show, no pretending. I think you’re one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.”

Kara smiled, but she couldn’t stop the small twinge that she felt in her heart. Trace had said very similar words to her just the other day, but they didn’t have the same meaning to her that Justin’s words had. No more, no less, but not the same.

She leaned forward to place a kiss on his barely parted lips. It was moments like this, when he said things like that, which made it so hard for her to say no. To any outsider they probably looked like the most romantic couple on Earth. But there wasn’t very much romance involved in an affair that trapped so many people in its crosshairs. But when he told her things like that, with that honest look on his face, it made her believe maybe it was about more than just sex for him too.

Their kiss grew in passion, and the spark between them had been ignited into a fire once again. Kara clutched at him, lightly scratching at his back and neck, wiggling in his lap with anticipation. She could feel him growing underneath her, and was imagining all the possibilities. Justin reached between them, taking the balled up fabric that had once been in her hands. He untangled the sheet, and a rush of cool air swirled around her body when he opened the fabric.

He pulled it around himself, encasing them both in warmth. They were skin to skin, her touch all too familiar, yet just as tempting and titillating as it had been the first time. Lying back on the bed, Justin kept his grip firmly on Kara, letting her work his body into exhaustion.

* * *

When Kara awoke for the second time that night, the sun was shining in through the windows, bathing the bed in a warm glow. Her face was pressed against Justin’s back, an arm carelessly flung around his waist. His breathing was slow and deep, and she didn’t want to wake him again. She also didn’t want to move. She was warm, and comfortable. She could hear the echo of Justin’s heart, feel the rise and fall of his chest, his mushy scent swirling in the air around her.

She took a deep whiff of him, enjoying the moment, before she slowly started to pull her arm back. She’d barely moved an inch before Justin’s hand shot up, grabbing her wrist.

“Don’t move,” he said. “I was enjoying the moment. I’m almost done.”

Kara held perfectly still as Justin rolled over. His arms enveloped her and they were face-to-face on the blue pillows. He looked the same as he had any other times, relaxed, handsome, and devilish. Kara was sure her hair was probably sticking out in eighty different directions.

“Morning,” she whispered.

“Morning. Did you sleep well?”

She nodded subtly.

“This is a really comfortable bed.”

He laughed and opened his mouth to speak –probably insult her or make a dirty sex joke- but the ring of a cell phone interrupted him. Kara rolled over, leaving Justin’s arms and reaching down to the floor to dig into the pocket of her jeans.

“Do you really have that ringtone?” Justin sounded. “That song is soo old!”

Too panicked to even argue with him, Kara threw a hand over his mouth. He gave her a look, but stopped talking as she pressed the send button.

“Hey, Marz,” she said pointingly.

He got the message and held still.

“Hey! Where are you? You’re room was empty when I got up.”

She sounded cheerful enough, but also tired.

“Um, I’m in Justin’s guestroom.”

“Oh, you stayed the night there?”

“Yeah. We were working on the album until really late and I felt bad making him run back and forth to the house, so I stayed in the guestroom.”

She felt terrible as soon as the lie left her lips. She was naked in Justin’s bed, feeding a lie to his girlfriend over the phone. Was there an even worse hell within the biblical hell? Because if there was such a place, that’s where she was going.

“Okay. So, are you guys going to be working all day too?”

“Why? What’s up?”

She got the sneaking suspicion that Marz wasn’t just calling to check-in.

“Well you know I have that Candie’s commercial today, and last time I looked over the clothes they totally weren’t right. She wants to put me in a jumper for Christ’s sake! And Lauren is no help whatsoever. She’s very nice, but you should see how she dresses. Crocs. Ugh!”

Kara rolled her eyes, waiting for Marz to get to the point.

“Uh-huh.”

“So, basically I was hoping you’d stop by the shoot and help me pick something out.”

“Okay.”

“I mean, even though you can’t fit any of my clothes, you’ve always been able to make me look great.”

Kara bit her tongue. Apparently, despite all of the ‘quality’ time she’d been spending with her sister lately, old habits die hard. Justin’s brow furrowed as he watched a million emotions play across her face in a matter of seconds.

“Sure, Marz,” she said. “I’ll swing by later when we break for lunch.”

“Okay, great. I’ll have Lauren text you the info.”

“No need; I already know where you’ll be. I’ll see you later.”

“Later. Give Justin a hug for me!”

Kara hung up the phone and tossed it back onto the floor, letting out a heavy sigh. Justin pulled her hand away from his mouth, and held it in his own.

“What’d she say?”

“Just that she needs help with her wardrobe for the shoot. I’ll go by there later.”

“What did she say that made you upset?”

Kara looked over at him and he shrugged.

“I can see it on your face.”

She glanced up at the ceiling momentarily before looking at him again.

“She’s just being her usual, sweet self.”

Justin caught her tone, and he could only imagine the backhanded compliment Marz had just given her. That was the one flaw his girlfriend had, and part of what drew him to Kara. Marz was superficial and at times too self-absorbed to realize when she was hurting someone else. Kara had always accepted everyone as they were, going out of her way to help out when she could –even when she didn’t particularly want too. She hadn’t been too hot on the idea of helping him with his album in the beginning, but she had anyway.

“Can I take a shower?”

Kara’s question broke his trance, and he nodded as an evil grin crept onto his face.

“Need some help?”

She giggled, climbing out of the bed. He was so busy eyeing her body that her answer barely registered in his brain.

“No, thanks. I think I’m capable of bathing myself.”

She headed into the bathroom and he sat up on his elbows so he could get a better view. Through the mirror he saw her open the glass doors, staring at the various knobs on the wall before she finally turned the shower on. She checked the temperature, and then climbed inside as the mirror fogged.

Justin sat there for a total of four minutes. He tried to distract himself. First the TV, but nothing interesting was on. Then he thought about making some business calls, but he wasn’t quite awake enough for that. No matter what, nothing was urgent or engrossing enough to distract his mind from the naked girl in his bathroom. So he hopped out of bed and headed in to join her.

Everything was foggy and wet, a cloud of steam hovering in the room. He crept over to the shower door, tracing the lines of her body through the glass door. Silently he stepped inside, smiling as she hummed to herself under the spray. She was soaking wet from head to toe, her curls dripping with warm water.

He reached over, picking up the bottle of body wash and squirted some into his hands. He rubbed them together, warming the liquid, and then smoothed his hands over her shoulders. Kara let out a shriek of alarm and whirled around. He couldn’t hold back his laughter.

“Don’t laugh, you jerk,” she said, half-heartedly punching him in the chest. “You scared the hell out of me.”

“I’m sorry,” he chuckled. “I just wanted to help.”

“I already told you, I’m not at the age where I need someone to give me a bath.”

“I know, but I guarantee it’d be a whole lot more fun if you’d let me.”

Their eyes locked as he smoothed a soapy hand down her neck, between her breasts. His orbs darkened to an almost navy blue as he waited for her to complain, but she didn’t speak at all. As his fingers continued to glide over her skin, her eyes fell closed and her head dipped back under the spray. His appetite for her, always insatiable, reached new heights in that moment.

Pulling her out from under the water, his lips searched out hers with a hungry, greedy intensity. They stumbled back against the wall, water showering down Justin’s back. Kara clung to him, practically clawing at his skin. It was all so surreal, like a fantasy or dream come true. He felt so good pressed against her, and he made her feel so good. Everything about him was warm, familiar, and made her heat flutter.

There wasn’t too much time to enjoy it though. Justin stepped back, spinning Kara around the face the wall. She gasped as her skin met with the cold tiles, but that thought quickly left her mind. She could feel him, all of him, between her thighs seeking out her entrance. Delicate kisses were left on her shoulders as he slid inside of her, a wave of pleasure and relief washing over her. His tight grip on her hips was the only thing keeping her grounded as he pushed into her deeply, luring her closer and closer to the edge.

Kara’s hands rested on the tile, wiping and smudging the water droplets. His moaning in her ear and firm grasp were making it harder and harder for her to hold back the growing butterflies in her belly. Her orgasm was intense, nearly paralyzing as her body convulsed. If she hadn’t been pinned between his body and the wall she probably would have fallen over. But his grip held her steady as her pulsating triggered his own release.

She could feel every move he made, every twitch, every eruption inside of her, and then the fantasy was over. He pulled away, completely leaving her body. When she turned, he was leaning back against the back shower wall, his mouth slightly open and chest heaving.

“You’re not worn out already, are you?” Kara joked.

She couldn’t help but remember Marz’s comment the night before about how she wore Justin out only sometimes. His eyes opened, and they were once again their clear crystal blue. He stood in front of her, and put her hand to his chest. Kara looked at her fingers, resting on his smooth, bronze chest. She could feel the beat under her fingers, strong and rhythmical.

“My heart is still racing,” he said gently.

“Mine too.”

“It always races when I’m with you.”

The shower continued to rain down on her as she looked up at him, almost stunned by the sincerity she saw in his face. He was waiting for a response, and there was only one she could think to give.

“Mine too.”

Kara was cleaning up the remainder of the mess she and her sister had made the previous night when she heard the doorbell. That was odd because she wasn't expecting anyone. The "song" she and Justin were supposed to be working on had long since been finished and when she'd finally had enough strength --- or lack thereof --- she pried herself away from him to help Marz pick out a few outfits for her photo shoot. That took all of forty-five minutes and then she grabbed a foot-long from Subway before heading to the house.

Kara wiped her hand on a dish towel before walking towards the front door. It couldn't have been Justin or Trace, both of them had keys and hadn't knocked or rang the doorbell in forever. But the person was obviously close to her and Marz because they knew the code to open the gate. Oh gosh, it could've been some crazy fan. They could've found the code on the interneta33; you never know about that kind of stuff nowadays. A stalker chick from American Idol did that to Britney Spears not too long ago, but her guards were there to protect her. Who was going to protect Kara? She froze mid-step and heard the doorbell sound again.

Shit.

They didn't even have an umbrella rack next to the door. She had nothing to defend herself with and the perpetrator was less than ten feet away from her, nothing was between them except a piece of wood.

"I know you're in there Kara, I see you car in the driveway."

She let out a huge sigh of relief. It was just Trace.

"I thought you were a crazy fan for-."

She paused mid-sentence when she saw him standing on the porch with a single planted orchid in his hand.

"What-?"

"I'm sorry," he said, cutting her off.

He held out the flower for her to take, then leaned in and kissed her cheek sweetly. Kara smiled and turned her head, catching his lips for a quick kiss before he pulled back. The two of them stood there grinning like Cheshire cats until Trace asked her a question.

"So, are we gonna stand here all day, or are you gonna invite me in?"

"Since when do you need an invite? In fact, where's your key?"

"I have it, I just thought I'd do something nice and romantic for you since it seems like I've been avoiding you like the plague for the past few days."

"It's ok, I understand. You've been busy at the office."

"But I could've made time for you. I'm sorry," he said as they entered the kitchen.

Kara placed the pot on the counter and turned to face him.

"Trace, babe, it's ok. You had to work, that's understandable. I've been busy working with Justin so I barely had time to notice."

Well more like working on hima33;but that was another story.

"So, here's what I was thinking. You and I should spend the day together, just me and you," he said with a grin.

"What did you have planned?"

"Well I was gonna take you out to lunch but since I see you're already eating somethinga33;"

"No, we can go out," Kara said, interrupting him. "I only grabbed this because I needed something in my stomach. We had a long night in the studio."

"That's what I heard," Trace chuckled.

Kara forced out a laugh as she walked to the cabinets on the other side of the kitchen. This whole sneaking around behind his back thing was much harder than she thought.

"You talked to Justin this morning?"

"Yeah, I called him to see if ya'll have finished the session last night and the boy barely had a voice. Whatever you two were working on last night strained his chords."

"Yeah, you could say that." Another forced laugh. "So, lunch?"

"Yes, lunch. Where to madam?"

"I thought you were treating me?" She said with a raised eyebrow.

She circled the island and stood in front of him.

"I am, but what do you have a taste for?" He asked.

"How does Italian sound?"

"Pretty damn good to me; are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, just let me grab some flats and my purse and I'll meet you at the car," Kara replied before heading upstairs.

She was rooting through her closet for her black flats when she felt her phone vibrate in her back pocket.

What are you doing?

Not now. Kara couldn't do this now. How was she supposed to get through a romantic day with her boyfriend when just a simple text from Justin could make her heart flutter?

Lunch with Trace. I thought you were sleeping?

Kara hit 'send' and slipped on her shoes before making her way downstairs.

"All ready when you are."

"When I said Italian I definitely wasn't thinking of the Olive Garden," Kara chuckled as she and Trace ate their salad.

"What's wrong with OG? They have the best chicken con broccoli in the city," Trace replied with a smile.

"We seriously need to get you out more."

"Why? Because I like coming to the Olive Garden?"

"No; because you call it 'OG'," Kara replied, laughing.

She'd always enjoyed spending time with Trace, the simplest things he said and did always made her smile. But it was then that she heard her phone vibrate in her purse. Thinking it was Marz trying to get a hold of her; she reached down and pulled the device out, and was surprised to see that it was a texta33;from Justin.

I was, and I was dreaming about youa33;imagine my surprise when I woke up and saw that you weren't here.

She groaned inwardly. This boy was going to be the death of her. Trace picked up on the discomforted look on her face.

"Everything okay? Does your sister need you?"

"No, it's just an email from her manager. Apparently they didn't get all the shots they wanted today so she has another photo shoot later on this week."

The lie rolled off her tongue with ease, and as it did she quickly responded to Justin.

So first it takes you 5 years to respond and then when you do it's with something like that? Are you trying to get me in trouble, mister? :)

She sent the message and placed her phone on table as the waitress brought out their entra33;es.

"I still can't believe you ordered spaghetti," Trace teased her.

"What? It's Italian," she responded defensively.

"No, it's Chinese; you should've told me that you wanted Chinese and we would've ordered in."

Kara laughed.

"You're right; I forgot that spaghetti originated in China. Look at my boyfriend, being all smart and everything," she joked, reaching across the table and stroking his hand.

Her phone vibrated as she received another text.

"Justin?" Trace said, glancing at the screen of her phone. "What does he want?"

He moved to grab the device, and Kara panicked and scooped it up before he could.

"Oh, it's probably nothing. You know how anal he is about studio time, he's probably just texting me to remind me about our session on Tuesday," she said with a nervous chuckle.

"Yeah, that's Justin for you," Trace said offhandedly.

Kara inwardly sighed with relief before she read text.

Get you in trouble how? Like telling you how much I wish you were here right now so I could make you call out my name a dozen more times? ;)

Yeah, there was no way that Trace could ever read that texta33;or any other one from Justin for that matter. If he or Marz knew half of the things they messaged each other on a daily basis they'd surely be damned to hell for all eternity.

"So?" Trace asked, motioning towards her phone again.

Kara laughed nervously.

"Yeah, just making sure I had the times right."

"Tell him to shut up. He already gets to spend pretty much every waking moment locked in the studio with you, it's my turn."

Kara smiled softly, rubbing Trace's arm reassuringly.

"It is your turn, sweetheart. I'll tell him that whatever he needs to tell me can wait until tomorrow."

Trace nodded and went back to his lunch while Kara quickly returned to her phone.

Don't you think I've called out your name enough? We were up all night long. Besides, Trace finally has some time off and he wants to spend the day with me.

"Did you tell him?" Trace asked when she set her phone back down on the table.

"Yes."

Trace smiled at her, and then shook his head.

"Knowing Justin, he's not gonna listen. He'll have a smart retort for you."

"Probably."

"I'm gonna use the restroom. I'll be right back."

Trace stood up, leaned down to give Kara a kiss, before sauntering off toward the direction of the bathroom. Kara sat quietly at the table for a moment, using the uninterrupted time to catch up on eating. She really was hungry, and between Trace and Justin hadn't been able to enjoy her food much. But then her phone started to ring quietly, making the entire table vibrate. She glanced at the caller ID while she wiped her mouth with her napkin. It was Justin.

"Hello?"

"Your boyfriend is getting pissed at me."

"What did you do now?"

"He just called me to tell me to stop texting you."

"So you call me instead? Are you trying to irritate him?"

"Irritate him? I wasn't even talking to him. How can I irritate a munchkin that I'm not talking too?"

"Because you're taking up his time with me. He can't have my undivided attention if I'm answering your text messages every few minutes."

"You don't have to answer me."

Kara chuckled.

"I think the things you say deserve a response."

"Well, maybe he should think of more entertaining things to say to you, and then you'll feel compelled to answer him too. I won't send you anymore messages; you can finish your lunch with your boyfriend. What are you doing later?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "But I'm spending the day with Trace, so whatever it is you're planning -or want me to do-- will have to wait until tomorrow."

There was a pause before she heard him grumble, "fine."

"Why don't you spend some time with Marz? You know she loves it when she gets to have you all to herself."

"She isn't as limber as you are."

Kara out right laughed at that.

"I'm sure you'll be able to make do somehow."

It was about six in the evening when Justin bounded up the front steps two at a time. He felt like a little kid who'd been waiting all week for this day to come. Like the feeling you got when you were anxiously awaiting a fieldtrip, presentation, or even graduation. When the time finally arrived you were so wound up with excitement you could hardly contain yourself. His knuckles rapped on the door, and inside he was positively giddy.

"What are you doing here?"

The door swung open and there stood Trace, wearing cargo shorts and a white tee shirt. He didn't exactly look excited to see him, but Justin knew he didn't mean the snappy comment. It was more brotherly teasing than anything.

"Don't fake like you aren't happy to see me," Justin said, pushing his way into the house. "I haven't laid eyes on you in a week."

He stopped in the foyer, casually glancing into the living room looking for Kara. He didn't find her.

"You're right," Trace said, locking the front door. "How you doing man? It's good to see you. What do you want?"

"Geez, what warm welcome. It's a wonder you're Mom doesn't visit more often."

Trace glared at him.

"I was just in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by and see if you wanted to play a game of pool downstairs."

Downstairs referred to Trace's game room in the basement. Trace nodded, heading down the hall into the kitchen, and Justin followed still looking around for Kara. The house was strangely quiet.

"Yeah, we can get a game in. I was just about to run to the liquor store though, so you'll have to wait."

Justin sat down on one of the stools at the island and eyed his friend as he pulled a bottle of water from the fridge.

"You're going to the liquor store in the middle of the afternoon? You got a problem, Trace? Need some help? A shoulder to lean on, maybe?"

Trace chuckled, handing Justin a bottle of water as well.

"I just need to restock for later. Kara kindly pointed out to me -as she raided my liquor cabinet- that I was out of patron."

Justin chuckled.

"I'm surprised she didn't make you run to the store right then."

"She made do with my Cabo Wabo instead."

Trace picked up a bottle from the counter near the stove and set it in front of Justin. There was barely a shot left in it.

"Well somebody had a party," he said. "Where is the drunken girl now?"

"She's upstairs asleep."

Justin raised an eyebrow at him.

"You guys really did have a party."

"We just had a couple of drinks, watched a movie, and then she pulled me upstairs."

"You player," Justin teased.

"I'm not a player if it's just one girl."

"Okay, then you're pimpin'."

Trace smirked, taking another sip from his water bottle.

"So, I'm gonna run down the hill to the store and grab some stuff. You wanna ride?"

Justin looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Is it cool if I just wait here? I didn't bring a hat or anything and I don't want to get mobbed."

Trace nodded understandingly.

"Alright, I'll be back in like fifteen minutes."

Justin headed into the living room and plopped down on the sofa while Trace headed into the garage. He turned on the TV and pretended to be engrossed in The Rock on TNT. From his seat he could hear the garage door opening and a car engine start up. Through the window he could see Trace's shiny car backing out of the garage, and then heading down the driveway. When the car was out of sight Justin turned off the TV, shot up from the couch, and bolted up the stairs.

The third door at the end of the hall was Trace's bedroom. The white door was pulled shut. Justin crept up to it, listening briefly for any movement inside. Finally turning the knob he pushed the door open. He could see the big wooden bed, masculine in its features and carvings. On the right side, under green sheets was a sleeping Kara.

Tiptoeing his way to the bed, Justin laid down on the other side. She had the sheet pulled up to her chin, her head tucked down under one of the pillows. She looked so pretty with her wild curls spread all around her and her lips slightly parted. He couldn't believe that it had been less than twelve hours since he'd last seen her, but now looking at her it felt like it'd been a lifetime since he'd last laid eyes on her. He needed her way more than he ever should have.

Justin scooted down, laying his head next to hers. He watched her face, tracing her cheekbone with one of his fingers, breathing in the jasmine and vanilla scent her hair always smelled of. This was the moment he should have had this morning, waking up next to her naked figure rather than an empty bed. He should have been the one tiptoeing around the house trying not to wake her with a satisfied grin on his face.

But Kara wasn't his girlfriend, and he didn't deserve those intimate moments he craved with her. And he definitely didn't need to be doing what he was right now, leaning towards her and placing a kiss on her lips. She stirred, her eyes never opened but her hand slid across the sheet to rest on his arm, pulling him closer. He scooted closer, their bodies pressing against one another, and he kissed her again. She sighed, snuggling against him.

"What time is it?" She asked.

"After six," he said.

Her body went tense and her eyes opened. She looked up at him with a blank stare before shock spread across her features and she bolted upright. The sheet was pulled tightly across her chest and she looked around the room with confusion. This was Trace's house; she remembered coming here with her. But what was Justin doing here?

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

Justin's eyes rolled, but he didn't get up. In fact, he made himself more comfortable.

"What is it with you guys? You two forget how to say 'hello' or something?"

"Hello. What are you doing here? Where's Trace?"

"Relax, he's not here, he went to the store," Justin said. "I'm waiting for him to come back and then we're gonna play pool."

Kara sighed, flopping back down onto the bed. Her head was killing her, and she let out a groan.

"I have the worst headache," she whined. "I feel like something ran me over."

Justin laughed, rubbing her arm soothingly.

"Don't drink a bottle of Cabo in the middle of the day and you won't feel like that."

"I can't remember exactly, but I don't think it was my idea."

"Take some aspirin and drink a beer, it'll help perk you up and you won't feel like you've been hit by a bus."

"Beer sounds like a terrible idea right now."

"Don't you trust me? Just try it."

He rolled onto his side, pressing his face against her skin. He kissed her shoulder, and her collarbone, his arms winding around her waist. Kara accepted his embrace, tangling her sheet covered legs with his jean clad legs. She ran a hand over the short curls of his head and inhaled his musky scent. Her thoughts drifted to earlier that morning, climbing back into that oversized bed with him after their impromptu shower together, waking up in the afternoon with his slumbering body on top of hers.

"You know what's good for headaches?" He asked suddenly. "Sex."

"Justin," she groaned, turned her head away.

"What?" He sounded as innocent as could be.

"No."

"Why?"

"I am not having sex with you. We are at Trace's house, in Trace's bed, and you are out of your mind. It's bad enough that we have all of this going on behind his back, I'm not going to taint his home on top of that."

Now it was Justin's turn to groan and turn away. He really wasn't in the mood to hear the 'we're going to hell' speech again, and he could tell that's exactly where she was headed.

"Alright alright," he said. "You have a point, besides, I was only kidding. Just don't go into that whole 'we're horrible people' thing. Forget I brought it up."

Kara whispered a fine and Justin rolled over again, returning to his original position. She cuddled against him once again and he kissed her temple.

"So, if Trace gets you all day does that mean I get you all night?"

She looked up at him, her brown eyes questioning.

"Don't ask me any questions, just meet me out front of your place at midnight."

"Midnight?"

He nodded.

"And wear your bathing suit."

Her brow creased.

"My bathing suit? At midnight? What are you plotting?"

"Didn't I just say don't ask me any questions?" He poked her side playfully.

"I just want to know what to prepare myself for."

He smiled, his ears perking up at the sound of Trace's car entering the driveway.

"Just be ready to go," he told her.

He kissed her again, biting down on her lower lip till she cried out in surprise. Then he hopped down from the bed and exited the room laughing to himself. Kara stood up as well, tucking the sheet around her body and moving toward one of the windows. From there she could see the driveway, where Trace had parked his car and was pulling several white plastic bags from the trunk. A moment later Justin appeared at his side, taking some of the bags and closing the trunk for his friend before both man headed inside.

Kara backed away from the window with her head hanging down. She felt like a complete failure as a girlfriend, and she was. She'd been carrying on this affair behind her boyfriends back, and the first decent thing she'd done was drawing the line at having sex in his bed when she could have drawn the line at having sex with anyone besides him period. She'd been excited to spend the day with Trace, she cared about him and missed the quality time they used to spend together when Justin had been solely devoted to Marz and Trace wasn't so busy with William Rast. But realizing that she was now as equally as excited about whatever the night held for she and Justin made her feel ten times worse. She had feelings for Trace, but she was beginning to have feelings for Justin too. She was a terrible person.

She could hear the boys downstairs, joking, laughing, and talking about who was going to win the game. It didn't seem like Justin had told Trace she was awake, otherwise he'd probably have come up to talk to her. It might also raise questions as to what Justin had been doing in his bedroom while Trace wasn't home and his girlfriend was in there naked.

After taking a moment to take a couple aspirins out of the medicine cabinet and stare hatefully at herself in the mirror, Kara splashed some cool water on her face to wake herself up and got dressed. To be honest she was dreading going down into the game room. It had always been awkward spending time with Trace and Justin together, it was like her brain wasn't sure who she was supposed to spend her time attending too. Trace, because he was her boyfriend and she wanted to remain as close to him as possible, or Justin because of the things they'd shared and the emotions she was beginning to develop for him.

Eventually she made her way down the stairs and went to the kitchen to grab a beer before heading down the second set of stairs into the basement where the guys were. They both looked up when she stepped in with a shy smile.

"Hey sleepyhead," Trace grinned.

He switched his pool stick to the other hand and put an arm around her shoulders when she stepped over to him. She accepted the kiss he planted on her mouth and looked at the game, keeping her eyes from Justin's face. She could feel her cheeks blush a rosy hue.

"How you feeling?"

"Like a train wreck," she said, taking a sip of her beer.

Trace eyed it and tapped the bottle with his fingers.

"Yet you're having a beer?"

"Yep," she nodded. "Someone told me that having a beer makes you feel less like road kill."

"That's true," Justin said. "That and aspirin will help if you have a headache, not that you do."

Kara smirked.

"As a matter of fact I do, and luckily I took some aspirin when I got up."

Trace's hand rubbing her lower back brought her attention back to him.

"Do you feel up to watching me kick Justin's ass in this game really quick?"

"Aha! Kick my ass? I don't think so. Who's got the least amount of balls on the table right now? Me."

Trace rolled his eyes.

"Fluke," he muttered.

Kara giggled, stepping back out of the way to watch them play. Trace went, making two pockets before missing on his third try. Justin went, easily sinking in his last solid ball before having his first try with the eight ball. He missed.

"Okay," Trace said, surveying the table. "It's make or break time."

He rubbed chalk onto the end of his pool stick, and then held it up to Kara.

"Blow on it, for good luck."

She smiled cheekily. The gesture was so cute that she blew on the pool stick, and then gave him a kiss for extra good luck. He pulled back, running a hand down her cheek. Over his shoulder she could see Justin put his hands to his throat and pretending to gag. Trace knew his friend so well that he could sense his antics.

"You're just jealous," he said, turning around.

"No, you're jealous. I don't need my girl to blow on my stick, at least not for good luck in a pool game anyway."

"Remember that when you go crying to Marz about how you lost a hundred bucks to me."

Trace lined up his shot, effortlessly sinking his striped ball into the pocket. Then he moved on to the eight ball, examining it from multiple angles. Finally he hunched over, lining up his pool cue perfectly and practicing hitting it before he put muscle into the shot. When he made it, he stood up with a grin and polished his nails on his shirt.

"I win," he declared.

"You lose. You scratched. I win."

"What? Bitch, I didn't scratch. You're just mad because you lost."

"I didn't lose, you scratched."

"You just don't want to pay up."

"Yeah, that hundred bucks is gonna kill me."

The boys continued bickering, and Kara shook her head. They were beginning to bring her headache back. What she really needed was a shower, fresh clothes, and to lie in her own bed. Pulling out her phone, she sent a text to her sister, asking her to come pick her up. She'd ridden here with Trace after lunch and didn't have a way back to her house, but she didn't want to pull Trace away just to drop her off.

I'm on a conference call. Lauren said she'd go, be there in 10

She downed what was left of her beer and set it on the table. It was probably good that Marz wasn't coming. She'd see Justin's car and want to stay and hang out.

"Okay, you guys finish fighting it out, I'm gonna head home."

Both pairs of eyes turned to her. Trace pouted and pulled her closer.

"You're leaving already?"

"Yeah, I've got some stuff to go over tonight, and I'm really tired."

"Yeah, you did seem warn out."

"I wonder how that happened."

"I don't know, someone started drinking Cabo and got a little touchy-feely."

"Hmma33; but who could have given me that bottle?"

"I'm not sure. Little birdie, maybe?"

"Oh my God, do I really have to be here for this?" Justin chimed in.

Trace laughed and flipped him a little birdie of his own.

"I wish you would stay," he told Kara softly.

She sighed as his warm hand rubbed up and down her spine. It was relaxing and it almost made her change her mind.

"I know. But it's not like you won't see me tomorrow or the next day."

"Yeah, I know."

He leaned down, kissing her intently. It was a kiss she wasn't used to getting from him. It was aggressive and demanding, when Trace was usually soft and tender. She felt his hand slide down into her back pocket, squeezing her butt before he pulled away. She felt more awkward now than ever knowing Justin was standing there watching them.

"How are you getting home?" He asked.

"Lauren is picking me up."

"She's still working with Marz? I'd have thought she'd have quit by now."

"Shut up," Justin called defensively.

Kara laughed.

"Nope, she's hanging in there. But I'm sure she's thankful for the quick break from her while she drives over here. I'm gonna go out front, she should be here any minute."

"Do you want me to come wait with you?"

"Nope, I'm a big girl, I can handle sitting on the porch on my own. You guys stay here and argue about your little game."

"Little?" Justin gasped. "This ain't little. There's money on the line, girl. And there's the principle to remember: he didn't win, he scratched."

Kara looked up at Trace.

"Why don't you just let him think he won? I think he's gonna cry."

Justin muttered something under his breathe.

"Right, and on that note I'm gonna go. See you later." She gave Trace another kiss before waving at Justin. "Bye, Justin."

"See ya, Kara."

Trace was busy looking down at the table when Justin threw her a wink. He'd see her later all right, in just a few hours.

It was five minute to midnight and Kara was standing in her bedroom, looking over herself in the mirror. She wished she'd had time to run to the mall and buy a new bathing suit. The one she had was fine, but it was old and no longer her favorite suit. It was different shades of pink all swirling together in different spirals. It was a two piece tankini and skirt, and when worn looked more like a colorful tank dress than a swimsuit. But, it would have to do. She'd never be able to get Marz to loan her something, and even if she did it probably wouldn't fit right.

Over it she wore a denim skirt, homemade from an old pair of jeans, and a black tank top. It was a little chilly outside, but the only place Justin could be taking her at this hour that involved water was an indoor pool, in which case the hoodie she planned on bringing would be fine.

Grabbing her purse, Kara snuck over to her sisters' bedroom. She'd gone to bed an hour ago. Kara put her ear against the wood. There wasn't any noise inside, and there wasn't any light coming from under the door. Marz was probably asleep for the night.

Satisfied that her sister wouldn't be a problem Kara headed down the stairs to wait on Justin. It was just two minutes before midnight and he was a pretty punctual person so he'd probably be pulling up any second. Kara stood in the kitchen, leaning against the table; from there she could see the driveway. She bit nervously on her thumb nail, a habit she'd never really practiced before. It was just such a nail biting experience sneaking around with Justin like this. It was exciting not only because it was so forbidden, but because he was just such an exciting man. She imagined him as the kind of man who'd always been able to get the object of his affection to do things she'd never considered doing before.

Movement out front pulled Kara out of her thoughts and she saw a strange white BMW pull up. What made it strange wasn't the fact that it had its headlights off, but that it was a car she'd never seen before. But it was exactly midnight, the car was waiting on something, and the driver had known the code to the gate so it must have been Justin. Kara headed out the back door, into the back yard and out the gate. It was much quieter than going out the front door and would be easier to sneak back in later.

She carefully pushed open the wooden side gate, and then gently latched it behind her. It was colder than she thought it'd be and she regretted wearing the skirt. But her bathing suit was a skirt, and trying to wear pants over it would have been incredibly uncomfortable. Thankfully when she opened the car door a gush of warm air came flowing out and she sighed with relief when she saw Justin sitting in the driver's seat.

"Hey." She whispered, climbing in.

"Hey," he smiled. "I see you took that whole swimsuit thing and went wild with it."

His fingers toyed with the shell necklace around her neck.

"I'm just trying to match," she said. "It's a girl thing, you wouldn't understand."

He faked offense at her words, drawing his hand back only to drop it on her bare thigh. He massaged her skin for a moment, nodding his head approvingly. He'd told her once before that he loved how her skin was always soft, and now he used an excuse he could to touch her. She suspected that that was the reason he currently petting her leg. Finally he looked up at her.

"Nice."

He pulled away, waiting until they were several feet from the house before he turned the headlights back on.

"So," Kara buckled herself in. "Where'd you get this car?"

"It's mine, I just rarely drive it," he explained. "It's my disguise car, so the paps can't follow me. They always see me driving the Benz or the Escalade, they'd never recognize me in this."

"Yes, because there's a huge difference in a white BMW and a silver Mercedes."

"Hey, in my line of work little changes make a big difference."

Kara nodded, looking at the black leather. It was a beautiful car, more spacious than it looked from the outside. It even still had that new car smell, and not a single sign of wear.

"So where are we going?"

"Not telling."

"Come on." She turned to him. "I'm already in the car, what am I going to do? Jump out? Just tell me."

Justin shook his head defiantly.

"Just because I answered one question doesn't mean I'm going to answer them all. Just sit back and let yourself be surprised."

Kara huffed, but took his advice. She settled back into the leather seat, watching the streets of LA breeze by as they zipped down the 110 highway. She knew they were heading south, but she still had no idea what he could have been planning. What she did know was that the black sky was a fantastic backdrop for the city they were apparently leaving. Lights of white, red, green, and blue jumped out at her, mesmerizing her mind as the music played softly in the background. It sounded like Tom Petty, but she wasn't entirely positive until she heard the chorus of Here Comes My Girl. Every now and then Justin's hand would drop down onto her leg, petting her skin delicately or taking her hand to toy with one of her fingers.

A little less than an hour later they exited the highway and began to navigate the streets. They passed Heathercliff, Sea Lion, and Birdview and Kara began to get whiffs of salt water. Eventually they pulled into an empty lot with one light pole, Justin cut off the engine as Kara stared straight ahead. They were in Malibu, and the ocean was laid out before her. Through the raised windows she could hear the crashing waves as they reached the shore.

Her eyes slowly shifted over to Justin and he grinned excitedly back at her as if he still knew something she did not. Hopefully that something was that he knew of a Jacuzzi because there was no way she was getting in the freezing water.

"Come walk with me," he said.

Before she had a chance to reply he'd hopped out of the car and was making his way towards the steps that lead down to the sand. She could see now that he was dressed similarly; sandals, shorts, and a long sleeved fitted tee-shirt. Kara got out of the car, hurrying after him. She worried that if he got too far ahead that she wouldn't be able to find him again. She could make out two other people on the deserted beach, and she could only make them out momentarily when the waters broke, their icy white caps creating a bright enough backdrop that she could see the silhouette of the other couple.

"What are we doing here?" Kara asked, slipping her arms back into her sweatshirt.

She'd caught up to Justin and was now following him in his steady stride towards the shore. He waited until they were a mere few feet from the water before he answered.

"We're going for a little dip."

Kara's eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"Excuse me?" She asked in disbelief. "Justin, it's one in the morning. Do you have any idea how cold that water is going to be?"

He shrugged, unaffected by her complaint, and dropped the two towels she didn't even notice he was holding onto the sand. He looked out at the waters as he slipped out of his sandals and undid the button on his shorts. Under them he wore navy blue swim trunks.

"Nothing we can't get used too. It'll be invigorating."

"Invigorating?" She questioned. "More like suicide. You need a wet suit to get in that water. Can't we go find a nice heated indoor pool? I know there's one at your gym."

Justin turned back to her. She could see he was unafraid, and quite determined. He made a frown at her, and then pulled his shirt over his head. Kara's thoughts immediately began to run together as she inadvertently inspected his pectorals with her eyes.

"Well, there are two things that can happen here Kara," he said. "First, you can be brave and come with me about waist deep in, and be able to say you swam in the Pacific at one in the morning and lived to tell the tale. Or, second, you can wimp out and stay here on the sand and watch me be the brave one."

With that he turned his back, heading towards the water and leaving her alone.

"Justin!" She called after him. "You're really going to leave me here alone? What if a murderous-raping-mugger comes along?!"

It was a valid fear. Who else hung out at the beach at this hour except for bums and crazies? Apparently Justin was the exception. His feet touched the water and jumped at the temperature, but kept trudging along regardless, glancing over his shoulder to shout back at her. The waves were crashing so loud that she barely made out his shouted, "come on!"

Kara grumbled to herself watching as he got further and further away. Without him standing here next to her the temperature seemed to decrease even further, if that were possible. Grumbling even more Kara unbuttoned her skirt, letting it drop to her feet. Then she removed her hoodie, tank top, and sandals before chasing after him.

"Wait for me!"

The water was as she expected, freezing, and a long thin strand of seaweed wrapped around her ankle. Briefly she wondered about stepped on a crab, jellyfish, or some other sea creature. What if she got stung while running around out here in the middle of the night? Then she'd scream bloody murder, Justin would have to pee on it to ease the burning, and they'd be explaining to Marz and trace why they were in the Malibu emergency room at two in the morning.

Kara stopped, mid-calf deep in the water and called to Justin again.

"Come here! Justin, I really don't want to get in."

"Girl," he said sternly. "Get your butt over here. You need some kind of adventure in your life, everyone does."

As if having an affair with one of the worlds most sought after pop stars --while he was dating her sister and she was dating his best friend nonetheless-- wasn't enough adventure. If you asked Kara she had a hell of a lot more adventure going on in her life than most people did. But then he flashed her a smile and turned to head even deeper into the water. One glimpse at that angel tattoo and Kara's feet were moving again, slowly but steadily into the ocean. She realized with a start, that she'd probably follow that torso anywhere he asked her too. That probably wasn't good.

"Okay, can you just wait for me?"

Justin stopped, turning to look back at her as she wobbly made her way towards him. Her arms were wrapped around her chest, and though she looked like the poster child for a freezing woman he had to chuckle at how cute she was. When she was within arm's reach Justin's hand curled around her bicep, helping to guide her the rest of the way.

"Come here," he cooed.

Kara put her arms around his waist, hugging herself closer to him for some kind of heat. She was getting more used to the temperature, but it was still freezing, and the breeze coming off the water wasn't helping. His arms curled around her and he rocked them back and forth, the waves lapping at their hips.

"You ready?" He asked out of the blue.

Kara pulled back and looked up at him questioningly.

"Ready? For what?"

Without word -or warning- she felt his once sturdy and welcoming hands push her away, her body flying down into the ocean. It was dark, and cold, and she kicked and thrashed her way back to the surface. When she stood up again Justin was several feet away, laughing hysterically.

"What the hell?!" She cried.

"That's that adventure I was talking about," he cackled.

Kara's eye narrowed into such small angry slits she could barely see.

"That's it," she muttered.

She dove in after him, braving the water, sea weed, and potential run-ins with jellyfish to chase after him. He stopped when he the water was just below his chin, and he calmly treaded water as she grew closer, splashing water into the air. When she caught up to him she launched herself at him, pushing his head down below the surface. She'd hoped that when he came back up he'd be choking and sputtering like she'd been, but instead he was laughing again as if he didn't have a care in the world. Now she knew for the next time that he needed to be held under for longer.

"That wasn't funny," she stated.

"Yes, it was, don't be a spoiled sport, you know it was hilarious."

"It was rude."

"Oh, did I hurt your feelings?" He teased. "Poor thing, come here."

"No."

Kara swam away from his hands when he reached for her. She was freezing from head to toes, her teeth chattering, and it was entirely his fault.

"Oh, come on," he said. "I'm sorry, okay. I promise I won't do that again, honestly. Come here."

Kara didn't budge.

"Please."

Kara looked at the open hand he extended towards her before she finally allowed him to pull her closer. He wrapped his wet arms around her and she instantly felt warmer. Her arms went around his neck when he nuzzled her cheek with his nose.

"I'm sorry," he told her. "I just needed a way to get you out here. I knew you wouldn't just follow me, so I had to make you chase me."

She frowned to herself. It had all been a plan and she'd played into it perfectly.

"I didn't like that." She pouted.

Justin smiled, kissing her nose.

"I know. But aren't you glad you're out here now? Isn't it nice?"

Kara finally relaxed enough to take in her surroundings. She was floating in Justin's arms, her feet a few inches from the sea floor. The lights of the shore seemed a million miles away and it felt like they were the only two people in the world.

"It's nice," she agreed begrudgingly. "But don't you think it's a little too open?"

She'd never spent time with Justin in a place like this before. They'd always been inside somewhere where the prying eyes of the world couldn't see them. Here they were so exposed and she felt vulnerable.

"Open?"

"Yeah. I mean, we aren't usually some place so public, you know?"

He laughed openly.

"You don't think the hospital parking garage was public?"

"That's different. We were only there for 10 minutes and no one could recognize you behind me anyway. Here there could be stalkerazzi, or crazed fan girls or something."

"I don't think there's gonna be any paps out here this late. Besides, that's why we drove all the way down here. We left all the photographers back in LA."

"What about crazy fans? For all you know they could live in those apartments right there."

He waited until she glanced back towards the shore at the green and pink buildings before he rolled his eyes.

"We're too far out for any stalker fans or stalker paps to find us. They probably can't even see us."

Kara thought back to the couple she'd seen back at shore. The only time she'd been able to see them was when the water had provided the backdrop. To the naked eye they were probably invisible all the way out here. She looked back at Justin. The water was gently lapping at his jaw and his blue eyes were staring at her as she unknowingly clung to him.

"Promise?" She asked.

"I promise."

"Okay."

He smiled and his features visibly softened as he looked her over. Her wet curls stuck to the side of her face and neck, and small beads dripped from her face back into the ocean. The moon light reflecting off of sea made her look pale, but her eyes glowed brightly.

"Give me a kiss," he whispered.

Normally he wouldn't have bothered to ask her, he would have just pulled her close and kissed her the way he wanted. But she was hanging off of his body rather than standing on her own, and he needed his arms to tread water and keep his balance. Kara looked down at him, her hand petting the back of his neck softly.

She leaned down slowly, laying her lips over his. They were wet and cold, but rays of warmth washed over him. Her arms hugged him tightly when his tongue slipped past her lips, brushing her own. When she pulled back, she was smiling for the first time.

"See, it's not so bad," he teased.

"No, it's no so bad."

More than an hour later Justin was in the backseat of his car, leaning back against the door. The windows of the car provided a near panoramic view of the beach, and the stars twinkling above. The heater, and radio were running, and it had to be a good 15 degrees warmer inside than it had been out there. Now he could admit, without hurting his pride, that Kara had been right: it was freezing in that water. Lying with him, between his legs, was Kara. Her legs were pulled up onto the seat, her head resting on his chest. They'd found a large rock to change behind, and she was back in her skirt and hoodie, and he in his shorts and tee-shirt.

It was getting late, and the moon hung high in the sky, but he had no intention of leaving any time soon. He felt to calm and relaxed here with her, No Doubt's Underneath It All playing quietly on the radio. Kara was laying comfortably, one of her bare legs rubbing against his from time to time. He could see now, under the dim lights from the streetlamp, that her skin was tanned with a bronzed glow.

"The albums almost done," she said. "We still have some mixing to do, but everything is all recorded. It won't be long now until we're turning it over to jive."

Justin sighed deeply, his thoughts coming back to the present.

"Yeah," he sounded.

She thought she heard the slightest twinge of sadness in his voice, but couldn't be sure.

"What will you do now?"

He felt her shrug against him before snuggling deeper into his chest.

"Go back to working with Marz probably."

"Really?" He was genuinely surprised at that. "You don't want to keep producing? Working with other artists?"

Again, he got another shrug.

"I don't know. You were the first person I've worked with besides Marz, and look what happened."

She looked up at him with a knowing smirk that matched his own.

"Maybe I'll stay out of trouble if I stick with my sister."

"Maybe you just need to not be so good looking and then artists won't hit on you."

"Maybe you need to not get in the habit of seducing your producers."

She could feel the rumble of his chuckle in his chest. Her eyes moved back to the view out the windshield. If there was ever a better therapy than the ocean, she didn't know what it was. She'd never been one for the water really. She'd go in up to her knees, then get scared and run back to shore. Marz was the brave one that would dive in, the one that got all the attention in her string bikinis. But it had always been relaxing just to go to the beach, looking at such a large body of water, with so many millions of animals living in it, made your worries and problems seem small by comparison.

"Do you ever bring Marz here?"

Once the question left her lips she wished she hadn't asked it. If the answer was yes, she wasn't prepared to hear it. She wanted to believe that this place, this beach, this moment belonged completely to them.

"Marz? No, I've not brought Marz here. I've never done anything like this with her."

That made her sit up. She should have been ashamed at the happy feeling that overwhelmed her at those words, but she wasn't.

"Really?"

"Nope. I think if I ever brought Marz to the beach in the middle of the night she'd lock herself in the car. You know Marz. She likes to put on her dresses and heels, and that's cool. But sometimes you just wanna bea33; yourself, you know? Spontaneous. Adventurous."

There was that word again, adventurous. She nodded understandingly, watching his expression. He looked at ease, content even. She wondered if this was what it was like to be in a real relationship with him. Would all their days be laced with tranquil moments like this? She could feel the intensity growing in her eyes, and what scared her most was that his matched her own.

"You're wasting gas," she said, eager to break the silence between them.

She leaned forward, halfway climbing into the front seat to reach the ignition and turn the engine off. She felt Justin's fingers dance along her spine on the skin left exposed by her sweatshirt.

"We can go to a gas station before we get back on the highway."

"True, but you're still polluting the atmosphere with your non-hybrid BMW."

"Hybrids pollute, just not as much."

Just before she turned the key the DJ announced the next song and Justin lit up, his nails gently scratching her back.

"Leave the radio on," he requested. "I like this song."

Kara did as told, leaving the radio running, and climbed back into the back.

"Now you're just going to kill the battery."

"It recharges," he said absentmindedly.

He was already engrossed in the song, his head swaying along to the beat with his eyes closed.

Today is gonna be the day
That they're gonna throw it back to you
By now you should've somehow
Realized what you got to do
I don't believe that anybody
Feels the way I do about you now

Backbeat the word was on the street
That the fire in your heart is out
I'm sure you've heard it all before
But you never really had a doubt
I don't believe that anybody feels
The way I do about you now

When he opened his eyes again, they looked different somehow. Darker, yet clearer at the same time. He brushed her hair behind her shoulders, and then gripped her knees, pulling one of her legs over so she straddled his lap. The ceiling was low, and the top of her head brushed against it, but she didn't care when he was looking at her like that. His touch was incredibly gentle, as if she were a delicate doll in his arms.

And all the roads we have to walk are winding
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding
There are many things that I would
Like to say to you
But I don't know how

Justin looked her over, a different vibe falling over him. He'd never seen her like this before. Well, technically he had. He'd seen her all kinds of ways, naked, relaxed, annoyed, and insecure. But this was different, she looked different to him, and he saw her in a new light. He embraced her tightly, feeling like if he could hold her close enough now than he would have a chance at holding her forever, protecting her from everything bad or difficult or unhappy about the world.

Because maybe
You're gonna be the one that saves me
And after all
You're my wonderwall

She rested her forehead on his, and damp curly strands brushed his face. Despite the swim she still smelled like jasmine and vanilla. He could feel her breath on his face, her soft hands running down his arms. She snuggled closer and he wrapped his arms even tighter around her. Realizing that the album was almost done also came with the realization that their love affair may be coming to an end as well. Justin wasn't reacting to that news the way he'd always thought he would.

I don't believe that anybody
Feels the way I do
About you now

Kara sat up, her face just an inch from his. His large hand cupped her cheek and she snuggled into his touch. Justin let his fingers trail down the column of her neck, to the clevage between her breasts. With one slightly shaky hand he pulled down the zipper on her sweatshirt, revealing the spaghetti strap tank top she wore underneath. Kara watched him, not looking up to meet his eyes until he was done and the fabric fell open. They hadn't ever moved this slowly before. Even the first time they'd slept together had been hurried, a rush to get to the act and feel their bodies molded together. They'd never really taken their time to actually seduce one another, and she could feel the results all over. The burning desire in his eyes -which he was trying to suppress- would have been enough to make any girl give into his every whim.

When she kissed him, Justin's breathed hitched in his throat. It was feather light, and she tasted of the Pacific. His hands dropped to the smooth skin of her thighs tracing circles on her skin that rose higher and higher to the skirt that bunched at her hips. He realized that he didn't feel the straps of any panties, and she probably wasn't wearing any. His lips moved to her neck, and Kara leaned her head back, hissing when his tongue flattened over her collarbone. She was more turned on than she'd ever been, his warm fingers digging into her hips as the song played. She could feel him growing beneath her, and she wanted him desperately, not for the amazing finish that he'd undoubtedly give her, but because she ached to be close to him and to have this romantic moment to remember forever.

"Kara," he whispered huskily in her ear. "I want you so badly."

Hot trails blazed on her skin as he pushed the hoodie from her shoulders, and down her arms until it dropped to the floorboards of the car. She shuddered when he pulled her earlobe into his mouth, and then pulled back to look at him. His eyelids were heavy over his blue orbs. She trailed her hands down his sides, feeling his muscles twitch at her ticklish touch. Finally reaching the hem, she pulled his shirt up and over his head. He sat back against the leather, her body angled over his perfectly.

And all the roads that lead you there were winding
And all the lights that light the way are blinding
There are many things that I would like to say to you
But I don't know how

She marveled at his body, tracing the perfect contours of his abs with her fingers. Even if their affair was sinful, she'd never felt more heavenly than she did when she was with him. Every touch, every look he gave her made her feel wanted, desired, and beautiful. It was a feeling she didn't want to let go of. Never breaking their gaze, Kara undid the button and zipper on his shorts, pulling his member from within its confines. He was warm and solid, thick in her grasp. His eyes closed at her touch, a sigh escaping his lips. She tilted her head, kissing the side of his neck and she slid her hand up and down his length slowly. She could feel his hands pressing into her ever harder, his erratic moans warming her shoulder.

Suddenly he grabbed her hips firmly, pulling her hips directly over him. Kara took the hint. She raised up onto her knees a little, lining him up perfectly before slowly lowering herself onto him. Justin kissed her in an effort to keep from outwardly expressing how amazing she felt. Her skin still felt a little cool from the water, but inside she was deliciously warm. She started a slow grind against him, her head buried into his neck. Yeah, this was what heaven felt like.

I said maybe
You're gonna be the one that saves me
And after all
You're my wonderwall

I said maybe
You're gonna be the one that saves me
And after all
You're my wonderwall

It was after four in the morning, and Justin was piloting the car back down highway one towards LA. He was wide awake, his mind a jumble of thoughts that zigzagged in all kinds of different directions, except for the directions that made sense. Beside him Kara had her feet propped up on the dashboard, the vents on her side tilted so they blew warm air onto her bare legs. Her head was leaning back in the crook between the door and the seat as she slouched in her chair. Her face was peaceful as an angel's. Every now and then he'd glance over at her sleeping figure as it was illuminated by the headlights of a passing car. Her cream colored hoodie was zipped up to her chin and she barely made a peep as she rested.

He'd stumbled upon a very important realization tonight. He knew that regardless of what the future held for he and Kara, he had to break it off with Marz. She just wasn't the right girl, THE one, and the sooner he ended it the sooner she could get back to finding the right man for her. But that wasn't Justin's biggest epiphany. He was hopelessly in love with a girl, but it wasn't the one everyone called his girlfriend.

Kara thought her mind was playing tricks on her when she woke up to the smell of bacon and French toast. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and glanced at the digital clock on her nightstand. It was 1:33 in the afternoon. She couldn't believe that she'd slept that late; Justin must have really worn her out…but then again he always does. An easy smile spread across her face before reality set in. If she was in bed who was cooking?

"Kara? Are you awake?" Marz' voice floated upstairs, "I made breakfast---well brunch."

Kara heard her sister's tinkling laugh and couldn't help but chuckle. She cleared her throat and peeked her head out her door to let her sister know that she'd be down in a bit before completing her morning hygiene routine. Ten minutes later she was padding down the stairs with a clean face and teeth.

"It smells delicious in here," she said, grabbing a piece of bacon off a plate and popping it in her mouth.

"Thanks, and I hope you gonna eat more than that one piece of bacon. I finished my interview early and decided to cook for us. I know it's not necessarily 'lunch' food…"

"…but it's perfect. Thanks," Kara said, cutting her sister off mid-sentence, "I thought you had a photoshoot after your interview today."

"It was early this morning. I asked the photographer to move it up a couple of hours. I didn't want to be in a warehouse all afternoon," Marz replied, scooping the last piece of French toast out of the skillet.

"Oh ok," mumbled as she watched her sister divide the food onto two plates and take the syrup out the pantry. She followed her sister over to the bar where she had orange juice and silverware laid out for the two of them.

"I want whatever you're taking," Kara joked and Marz laughed.

"I don't know what's going on today, but I'm really perky."

"Yeah you are, you hardly ever cook. And this French toast is delicious. What recipe did you use?"

"Lauren told me to add sugar and a bit of vanilla in the batter."

"It makes a world of difference," Kara replied with a full mouth.

"Yeah it does. I'd been craving them since my middle-of-the-night bathroom run. Speaking of which; what were you doing sneaking in around 5?" Marz asked as she cut her toast. Kara's whole body froze and she had to force herself not to choke on the food that was already in her mouth. She chewed slowly, racking her brain for the perfect excuse and after what seemed like a millennia she swallowed.

"I decided to go for a swim."

It was the truth, part of it anyway.

"In the middle of the night? And who were you with? That car you got out of looked so familiar."

"Just another producer friend, Adriana, she sometimes helps Justin and I," Kara quickly lied.

"She goes once a week and I told her I'd go with her once to see what it was like."

The lies just flowed off her tongue like water.

"Oh ok, so what was it like?"

Erotic. Pleasurable. Pure Ecstasy.

"That bad?" Marz asked after a few moments of silence on her sister's end.

"Huh?"

"You got quiet, like it was horrible."

"No, actually it was fun. I might be going again soon," Kara smiled.

She may have almost died from hypothermia last night, but she would've gone happily in Justin's arms. Nothing else in the world matter when she was in his arms, not the subzero water, paparazzi, or relationships.

"No Rachael, 140 characters or less," Justin laughed.

He was explaining the Twitter phenomenon to his cousin, informing her that the whole world didn't want a paragraph length explanation of what she was doing at that particular moment. She simply rolled her eyes and he chuckled once more as he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

I would do anything to be in your arms right now.

It was from Marz. His smile faltered a bit and he felt bad. His girlfriend was texting him sweet nothings and here he was wishing it was someone else.

Where are you?

Wow, she didn't even wait for him to respond before she sent that. He sighed inwardly before replying.

At my house with Rachael. Trying and failing on explaining twitter to her. Where are you?

On my way, we need to talk.

He almost dropped his phone when he read the last four words of her text. She knew. She knew it all…and now she was coming to kill him.

We're busted.

He sent the quick 2-word text to Kara and prayed that she got it in time. He got his answer when she responded 30 seconds later.

WHAT!?! What happened?

Marz is coming to 'talk' to me.

About what? What did you tell her?

Justin grimaced, why was she placing the blame on him? For all they knew, she could've been the one who accidentally spilled the beans about their affair.

I didn't tell her anything, what did you say?

"Are you even listening to me, boy? I swear since you learned how to text you barely listen to a word anyone says to you anymore."

Justin's head popped up at his cousin's words.

"Huh?"

"I said your girlfriend is here."

"Ok, thanks," he mumbled, locking the keypad on his phone and placing it in his back pocket. Here goes nothing.

Kara paced back and forth across the living room. She was dead. Marz knew everything and was plotting her murder. How did she find out though? Were she and Justin being that translucent that Marz picked up on it, or maybe she came across their text messages? Either way, they were screwed.

"You have some explaining to do Timberlake," Marz exclaimed, as she entered her boyfriend's home. She removed her sunglasses from her face and placed them atop her head.

"That's my cue to leave, see you later cuz," Rachael said, waving as she exited the house. Justin waved back and approached his girlfriend and kissed her cheek.

"Hey babe," he said sweetly.

"Don't 'hey babe' me," she began, "Kara told me everything; you have some explaining to do," she said, placing a hand on her hip and tapping her foot impatiently.

His heart was racing. This was it. He could either play dumb or admit everything. Which one was the better option?

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Well, that was an easy decision.

"Don't give me that; you know exactly what I'm talking about. Why didn't you tell me that the label decided not to keep our duet on your album?"

Justin exhaled a breath of relief.

"That's what this is about?"

"Yeah, what did you think it was about? Got a guilty conscience, hun?" Justin chuckled nervously.

"What, never," he said with an easy grin.

"Now, why didn't you tell me that the label chose not to keep our duet on your album? Didn't you fight for it?"

"I did," he told her honestly.

That was probably the only honest thing he'd said in the past 10 minutes.

"They just thought that it didn't mesh well with the sound for this album."

"Oh," she said disappointedly, "Sometimes I wish our labels didn't have so much power."

"Me too," Justin replied softly, "me too."

"So, I'm finished with everything I had to do today. How about we spend the rest of the day together," she said, stepping forward into his arms.

"Sounds good to me. I have some errands to run; gotta drop some things off at William Rast, but I'd enjoy the company," he replied, kissing her forehead sweetly.

Marz smiled against his chest at the gesture.

"I love this," she whispered. "I love you."

"I love you too," he whispered, hoping she didn't hear the guilt in his voice.

"Come on, let's get out of here," he said, taking a hold of her hand and leading her out to the driveway.

"When did you get a white 760?" Marz asked when she saw his parked car.

"Huh?"

He didn't even realize that that car was still out. He smirked, remembering what happened in that car the previous night.

"Have you always had this car? I've never seen you in it," she said, opening the passenger's door.

"I've had it for a while; I just don't drive it often."

"Oh ok," she smiled. "I didn't think this was a popular car, but it must be; this is the second one of these I've seen since yesterday. Did it come stock with those bubble headlights you have?"

"No, I got that custom when I bought the car," he replied.

"Oh ok," she responded, her voice laced with suspicion, "Funny, Adriana has the same lights on her car."

"Who's Adriana?"

"One of your producers, Kara told me that you two work with her sometimes."

"Oh," Justin sounded nervously. "Right, Adriana. I didn't know you knew who she was."

"Yeah, Kara mentioned her for the first time this morning. I didn't even know you guys were working with anyone else."

Marz glanced back to drop her purse on the floorboards of the backseat.

"Yeah, we like to keep her a secret. Otherwise other artists might want to try to steal her."

Justin was thankful he could focus on the road during this conversation. It was getting harder and harder to look Marz in the eye during all of this.

"So, um, when did you see Adriana's car then, if you've never met her?"

"Last night when she dropped Kara off. They went swimming in the middle of the night, can you believe that? It must have been freezing."

"Yeah, in the middle of the night it must be below zero out there."

"She said she had fun though, and she'd go again. She seemed happy this morning. Maybe there's something good in freezing water that lifts your spirits or something."

Speaking of Kara, she was probably hyperventilating right now. Justin pulled his phone out to send her a message.

False alarm. She's mad about the duet. And who is Adriana?

Whew! Thanks goodness. Next time don't freak me out like that Timberlake. Adriana was my imaginary ride home last night. Just go with it.

"Who is that?" Marz inquired, her hand rubbing his thigh as he drove.

"Just Trace," he lied. "He's making sure I don't forget to drop that stuff off."

Next time can you give me a heads up when you invent people? Our stories need to coincide.

"Well, tell him to leave you alone. You'll be there a little bit. It's my day with my Justy."

Justin grimaced at her nickname. He'd never been fond of it. It reminded him of bad baby talk people did with their dogs.

I didn't know you knew what coincide meant.

Har har har! You're so damn funny!

I know. That's why I moonlight at the Laugh Factory on Thursdays. What are you doing?

"Justin," Marz whined.

I'll be sure to check out that show. Spending the day with Marz. You?

Catching up on house work. Dinner with Trace.

Dessert with me?

"Justin."

"Okay," he told her. "I'm almost done. I promise."

I was out with you all night last night. At some point I have to sleep.

You can sleep when we're done.

I'll sleep tonight. I'll see you tomorrow at the studio anyway.

*sigh* Fine.

Have fun today ;)

Justin slipped his phone back into his pocket. Even though his feelings for Marz were changing, she was still a fun girl to be around. He probably would have a nice day with her, but he couldn't help but wish it was Kara he was spending time with instead.

He pulled the car into the parking lot at the William Rast warehouse and parked in his official spot, complete with a plastic J. Timberlake nameplate.

"Okay, I'm gonna run this stuff inside, and when I come back I'll be all yours."

Marz smiled brightly as Justin picked up a manila envelope and headed inside. It had been a long time since she's spent time with Justin. Between her own schedule, and him spending so much time in the studio, it was hard for them to find more than five minutes together. She noticed that he was beginning to become more and more distant. When they spoke on the phone, he wasn't as excited as he used to be about her calls. Maybe some good old fashioned quality time would help that.

She reached into the back, looking for her purse so she could freshen up her makeup. Justin was attracted to attractive women, and she wanted to look her best for him. She found her pink leather bag on the floor and lifted it up, when something underneath caught her eye. Marz set her purse in her lap before reached back to grab the colorful fabric that had been underneath it. It was stiff with dried salt water, and still smelled of salt and sand. Holding it up in front of her, she saw that it was the bottom half to a woman's bathing suit; pink, with swirls, and an attached skirt.

What would a woman's bathing suit be doing in the backseat of her boyfriend's car? Justin said he rarely drove this car, how long had it been back there? Maybe it was something from before her? It looked very familiar, but she couldn't place it. She just knew without a doubt that it wasn't hers. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes at the thought of another girl being close to him.

Marz glanced up towards the door, and saw it swing open as Justin came strutting out. Quickly she tossed the material back into the backseat where she'd found it. Even though she had a dozen questions she wanted to ask Justin, she didn't want him to think she'd been waiting in the car riffling through his things.

"Alright," he said, climbing into the car with a smile. "I'm all yours. What do you want to do?"

"I can't believe you like this movie."

"Tears of the Sun is awesome!"

Trace's eyes shifted from the dark screen to his girlfriends face.

"Twenty thousand people are slaughtered in this movie, and you think it's awesome."

"It's moving."

"It's grotesque. When you asked me if I wanted to watch a movie I thought you'd pick The Notebook or Pearl Harbor or something."

"Pearl Harbor is good, but that December 7th scene makes me cry every time."

"Oh that makes you cry but this doesn't?" He asked in disbelief.

Kara shrugged.

"I don't know. There's something about Bruce Willis's performance that's just not taking it all the way home for me."

"Speaking of home, I heard you were out late last night."

Kara, thrown off guard at his sudden change of topic, took a moment to reply. She took a sip of her soda as her mind worked on what to say next.

"Um, yeah, who told you that?"

"I called the house this morning looking for you, and Marz told me you were sleeping in because you didn't home until five in the morning. What were you doing?"

Before she could answer that, Kara needed another sip of her drink. She could tell Trace that it had been her new invisible BFF Adriana, because he'd been in the studio with them dozens of times and knew no such girl existed. She'd have to come up with something else.

"That was my friend Charita. We went out for a couple of drinks and got carried away."

"And ended up in the ocean?"

Kara shrugged.

"Girls just wanna have fun, what's wrong with that?"

Trace smirked at her, patting her leg with his hand.

"There's nothing wrong with that. Let me know the next time you want to go for a freezing dip, maybe I'll join you."

"Skinny dipping?" She wiggled her brows and smiled devilishly.

"It's possible. So, what are we doing tonight? Dinner. Another glorified massacre on film?"

"Maybe we should skip the movie. You don't like my selection of educational action movies."

"Just because it's based on a historical event doesn't make it historically accurate."

"Yes it does," she argued. "So, dinner?"

Trace wrinkled his nose.

"I'm not really hungry."

Now it was Kara's turn to wrinkle her nose.

"So, what are we gonna do all night then?"

Trace wiggled his eyebrows devilishly.

"I want an idea besides that," she said already reading his mind.

He pouted for a moment before his eyes brightened again.

"Wanna sit outside with me?"

"Outside? Like in the backyard?"

"Yeah," he smiled. "It's a nice night tonight. You have a nice view of the city, and we're actually alone, which rarely happens."

That was true. Normally when they spent time together they were in the studio with Justin, listening to his antics and sweating under his watchful gaze. Then at home they had to deal with Marz who would make her presence known in the background and try to muscle in on their alone time.

"Okay," she agreed.

Getting up from the sofa Trace turned off the TV while Kara grabbed a throw blanket from a nearby chair. She followed him through the kitchen and out to the backyard. The air was crisp and cool, but not so cold that you needed to be inside all night. It was a nice night by LA standards.

Trace sat in one of the large lounge chairs and Kara settled between his knees, leaning back against his chest, covering them both with the blanket. His arms encircled her waist as he let out a sigh.

"See, it's nice out here."

"Yeah, especially with you."

Taking a deep breath she settled back against her boyfriend. Here in the quiet her mind could wander, and she had a chance to try to clear some of the thoughts running through her head. She was happy being here with Trace, he was easy and familiar, and she felt content with him. With Justin it was different. He was new, dangerous, and she felt alive. But that feeling was probably the rush of the affair itself, the adrenaline of the possibility of being caught was probably what kept them coming back to each other every time.

Kara felt Trace's hold on her tighten as he sighed, lost in daydreams of his own. She needed adrenaline rehab so she could say goodbye to her naughty relationship with Justin and make an honest attempt at a real relationship with Trace.

But all her happy thoughts of a peaceful future with Trace faded when she faintly felt her phone begin to vibrate in her pocket. Her heart began to beat a million miles an hour. She couldn't help but wonder if it was Justin. He knew she was spending the evening with Trace and therefore shouldn't be disturbed, but he rarely listened to her reasoning. His day with Marz was most likely coming to an end and he wanted her attention. But there wasn't very much she could do about it. Trace was sitting just behind her, with a clear view of her phone. He'd be able to see Justin's name and any words he'd sent to her clearly.

There was always the possibility that it wasn't Justin. Maybe it was Marz saying she was staying the night at his house, or an email from Jive about the album, a question from Lauren about Marz's schedule, any number of things.

But already the suspicion was beginning to wear on her. If she looked at the screen and saw that it was Justin then she'd HAVE to read it, she'd have to answer him. Then she'd have to find an excuse to go back into the house, away from Trace, and he'd wonder what was going on.

"Are you gonna answer that?" He asked.

He'd felt the device in her pocket vibrate and was waiting for her to reach for it. Kara reached into her pocket and pressed a random button. Now the phone wouldn't vibrate anymore and she could pretend to ignore it until the proper time.

"No. I don't feel like moving."

Whoever, or whatever, it was would have to wait until later.

The next morning Kara awoke at 7am, to the sound of her phone vibrating against the nightstand. Besides the loud ring, it was banging against the lamp, and she didn't appreciate the uninvited interruption into her sleep time. Grabbing it quickly, she answered it before it had a chance to wake Trace too, who was sleeping besides her. She glanced over at his sleeping form as he rolled over and snored deeply.

"Hello?"

She heard Justin's voice faintly through the phone.

"Hang on," she said into the receiver.

Getting up from the bed she quietly made her way into the hall. She glanced towards Marz's door. It was closed so she was probably still asleep. Kara crept downstairs and into the kitchen, out of anyone else's earshot.

Justin was growing more and more impatient by the second, his nails rapping on the wooden table top in his kitchen as he struggled to keep himself in check. He hadn't spoken to Kara in hours, and now she was on the line but all he could hear was silent and occasional rustling. He wanted to know what was going on.

"Kara?" He questioned.

"I'm here," she said. "I had to sneak downstairs so I didn't wake up Trace."

"Oh," Justin sounded. "He stayed the night?"

"Yeah. We were up talking until really late."

Justin wasn't sure what to say. He knew logically that there wasn't anything wrong with Trace staying at Kara's. That was his girlfriend, and that's what any normal boyfriend would do; he'd spent the night there with Marz plenty of times. But he wasn't expecting the tightening in his chest. He didn't want any other guy sleeping next to her, sharing her bed, cuddling with her at night. It hurt as much as if Marz had called and told him that she had spent the night with someone.

"Well, that's cool I guess," he said.

"So, Justin it's seven in the morning. Why are you calling me so early? This better not be some phone sex thing."

"Why didn't you answer me last night?"

It was bad enough that Trace had been around all day and he hadn't been able to see her, but then she'd completely ignored him by not responding.

"I'm sorry, I forgot."

"You forgot?" He asked in disbelief.

"Well I couldn't look at it right away because Trace was right there and he could see, and then it just slipped my mind until now."

Slipped her mind? How could he have slipped her mind?

"You could have checked it sometime. I mean you went to the bathroom at some point, didn't you? I doubt he followed you in."

"I just figured it wasn't anything super important -like the end of the world- or you would have called or texted again."

Justin rolled his eyes. He shouldn't have to harass her to get a simple reply.

"Well next time can you try not to forget me?"

It may have come off as a lighthearted joke, but he meant it. He heard Kara's soft chuckle on the other end and smiled.

"Justin, I don't think I could ever forget you, but I'll try not to let your text go ignored anymore."

Good. She may not have been his girlfriend, but he needed his time with her too.

"So," he began. "What's new on your end?"

"Well, before I forget Trace asked about the other night and I had to tell him something different than Marz."

"Why? What did you tell him?"

"Trace is in the studio with us all the time, so I couldn't tell him about Adriana the Imaginary Producer. I told him I was out with my friend Charita."

"Marz thinks it was Adriana, and Trace thinks it was Charita. Could you make this any more complicated?"

"Hey! It's not my fault," she complained. "I wasn't prepared to be the brains of this operation. How come I have to do all the thinking and you just get to go along with it?"

Justin shrugged.

"I guess it's because I come up with all the secret dates."

"Yeah," Kara muttered. "The fun stuff. That reminds me, I'm missing part of my bathing suit. Have you seen it? Pink and swirly."

"No. It's not buried in your bag or something?"

"I don't know, I pretty much went through everything in there, but I could have missed it. Do you think it's in the car?"

"I was in there earlier and I didn't notice anything. But I didn't exactly look either."

"That's the only other place it could be. But that's okay right? You said you rarely ever drive it, so no one will see it."

"Yeah."

Justin decided to ignore the fact that when he had driven it today, it had been with Marz. He was sure she hadn't seen anything suspicious, or she probably would have questioned him about it earlier.

Kara was curled up on the couch checking her Facebook account when Marz stormed in the house sighing loudly. She heard her sister's purse hit the hardwood floor and then her shoes hit the floor soon after. Something bad had happened -no, strike that- something catastrophic had happened. The last time Marz came in to the house like that was when Jive had told her that they didn't like the sound she was going with on her second album, and that she should start over from scratch. That had put Marz in a funk for the rest of the recording period and in result that was her worse selling album. Kara silently prayed that that hadn't happen again.

"He doesn't love me anymore," Marz said sadly.

Kara could tell that her sister was trying her hardest not to break down right then and there.

"Who doesn't love you anymore? Come here," Kara said.

She placed her laptop on the coffee table in front of her and moved over to pat the seat on the couch next to her. Marz followed her sister's orders and curled up next to her in fetal position. It broke Kara's heart to see her sister like this. She wrapped an arm around Marz' shoulders, gently comforting her, and silently cursing Jives execs.

"I think Justin's cheating on me."

Those six words froze Kara to the core.

"Wh-What makes you say that?"

"He's been really distant lately. I mean, I know he's working on an album and he has William Rast, so I can understand him being physically distant sometimes.. But when we do spend time with each other it's like he's not all the way there mentally. He never puts that damn phone down! I mean come on, I know Trace is his best friend and business partner, but do you have to spend every waking moment communicating with him? They're together in the studio and the boardroom, do they have to constantly text too?"

The sick feeling in Kara's stomach grew with every sentence her sister spoke.

"And sex! Oh my gosh, sex never used to be an issue for us. It was like the boy was fuckin' insatiable, but these past few weeks, nothing. I had to practically beg him to sleep with me last night, and even then he didn't even say my name, he just kept mumbling things like 'baby' and 'babygirl'. It made me feel like I was nothing to him; I felt so disgusted that I couldn't find it in myself to let him hold me afterwards." That was when Marz broke down.

The tears started flowing freely from her brown orbs and Kara had to fight back tears of her own. It was her fault that her sister was experiencing this pain and that's what hurt her the most.

"And then yesterday afternoon was just the icing on the cake."

"Yesterday afternoon?"

"Yeah, I went to Justin's after I left here and ran some errands with him. By the way, he has the same car and headlights as ya'lls producer friend."

"Really?" Kara asked lightly.

"Yeah, so I decided to wait in the car while he dropped some papers off at William Rast and I found a woman's swimsuit bottom in the backseat."

Kara gasped, she had left it in his car…and her sister found it.

"That's exactly what I did. But he did say that he rarely drives the car so it could've been there for a while."

Justin did say that so it very well could have been from a previously fling/relationship, and Kara's bottoms could be somewhere in her mess of a tote.

"What kind of swimsuit was it?" Kara asked.

"Pink-ish with swirls on it…just like the one you're wearing in that picture," Marz said, nonchalantly pointing at the picture flashing on her sister's screensaver. Silence filled the room as both women digested the statement. Kara didn't even realize that her computer was still sitting there open, so when Marz had said that it took a second to click in her mind that she'd been busted. It was a completely different story for Marz though. She might have had a flippant tone when she said it, but as soon as she did she realized what she'd just discovered.

"It was yours wasn't it?" Marz asked softly.

When Kara didn't answer Marz knew she'd gotten her answer.

"How could you?" She hissed.

"I'm so sorry," was all Kara managed to choke out after moments of silence.

"My own sister. I can't believe this. My own sister!"

Then it happened. In a flash Kara felt Marz' weight lift off of her and her right cheek sting. Marz had slapped her. She held her cheek as the tears flowed freely now.

"You conniving bitch," Marz seethed. "How long has this been going on?"

Kara continued to hold her bruised cheek crying softly.

"I said, how long has this been going on!?!" Marz demanded.

"Since New York," Kara replied meekly.

"I knew it. I knew it. I knew something was going on between you two. I didn't want to believe it though. I didn't want to believe that two of the people I love the most would sneak behind my back and hurt me like this."

"I'm so sorry," Kara repeated.

"So, all those text messages, that was you, wasn't it? All those extra studio times? Oh my gosh, I practically pushed you in to his arms didn't I?"

"No! It was my fault. I shouldn't have let him kiss me."

"Let him kiss you?! Bullshit! Don't you dare put this on Justin! You threw yourself at him, just like you threw yourself at Trace."

Marz' words stung worse than her slap had. She knew what Kara had gone through with her ex-boyfriend and him accusing her of flirting with every man she spoke to when he was really the one who was cheating. Marz knew that saying that would hurt Kara like Kara hurt her.

"I know what I did was wrong, but that was low even for you," Kara said.

Marz didn't speak at all as her sister grabbed her purse from the foyer table and stormed out of the house in tears.

She knows, this time for real.

Justin read the text message for the thirtieth time since he received it a few minutes earlier. He hadn't even responded yet. He couldn't; he didn't know what to say. He was sitting in his office at William Rast and was supposed to be signing off on some of the new designs Trace had okayed, but since receiving that text he couldn't do anything except stare at the screen of his phone. His brain was going a mile a minute trying to figure out how he was gonna spin this, but he couldn't come up with anything. This wasn't just another minor break-up with another starlet, this was the end of his relationship with America's pop princess due to him cheating on her, with her sister…who just so happened to be the girlfriend of his best friend. There was no easy way to put this. He was fucked…royally. Sighing heavily he placed the phone on his desk and rested his forehead in his palms. Shit.

"You have got to be fuckin' kidding me!"

Justin's head shot up when he heard his best friend's voice. He knew. Marz probably called him as soon as Kara had told her. Fuck. Fuck!

"You're not finished signing that yet? I'm ready to go man; hurry up."

Wait, did this mean that Trace didn't know yet? Or was he just really good at hiding his true feelings until they were in a more private place? Maybe he didn't want the press to get wind of this just yet. Trace had been a PA before and knew how vulture-like they were when it came to Justin's break-ups. Those hounds would eat this shit up!

"I'm almost done, gimme a sec," Justin replied softly.

"Alright, well hurry up; I've got plans with Kara later and I haven't even showered yet."

So he really didn't know. Justin was surprised that Marz hadn't called Trace. Damn, she must have been really hurt. And now he felt ten times worse.

"When are you guys meeting up?"

"In like an hour. You can still drop me off there before you go home, right?" Trace asked.

"Yeah sure, no problem," Justin replied, grabbing a sticky note and writing 'Everything looks great to me' on it and signing it before attaching it to the folder. His phone vibrated on the desktop and he saw Kara's name again.

I'm waiting at your place.

This time he responded.

Back door is open. Be there in 30.

Justin grabbed the folder, his phone and his keys before standing up and joining Trace at the door.

"Let's get out of here."

Justin's mind was still racing a mile a minute as he drove through the streets of LA. Even though he and Kara had both known that this day was coming, it was still so shockingly surreal that they were actually living it. Justin had never been in this situation before, he had no idea what to expect or how to act.

When he pulled into his driveway he saw Kara's car and he felt relieved. But that feeling was quickly replaced with guilt. Even under these terrible circumstances he was still happy to be near Kara. That made him feel even worse for Marz because no matter how much Kara had told her, she still had no idea how deep his feelings for her really ran.

"'Kara?" He called out when he finally entered the house.

He could hear Buckley and Brennan barking in the yard, but everything inside was still.

"Kara?"

Finally she entered the room. She'd been in the kitchen, and she still had a wad of paper towels in her hand. Her face was bright red and streaked with her tears. She rushed forward into his arms, sobbing on his shoulder.

"My sister hates me," she cried.

His heart broke as he put his arms around her. If she was hurting this badly, he could only imagine how Marz was doing. Kara sniffled loudly, lifting her head to look up at him.

"We're both disgusting people," she said.

This time he couldn't really argue with her. So he didn't say anything, and she let out a sigh.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't know where else to go."

He followed her into the living room. She was zoned out, zombie like as she walked a straight line down the hall.

"I have to go meet Trace in a little while."

They plopped down on the sofa together and Kara put her face in her hands.

"I know, I just dropped him off at home."

"What am I supposed to say to him?"

"Do you want me to tell him?" He asked.

It only seemed fair since she'd been the one that had to break it to Marz.. That couldn't have been easy and she was already pretty broken up as it is.

"No," she said. "It needs to come from me."

Justin nodded.

"I'll call you and let you know what he says. It'll probably be 'Trace hates me and never wants to see me again.'"

"Trace might be a little more forgiving."

Justin said that, but he doubted it in his own mind.

"Yeah, right. Somehow I find that hard to believe. This isn't the kind of thing people just forgive. I won't blame him when he tells me he hates me, I'll just cry some more."

Justin put an arm around her to consol her when she started to cry again, but she shrugged it off and stood up.

"I better go," she said. "I don't want to be late to meet him on top of everything else." Justin stood up as well, jingling his keys in his pocket.

"I'm gonna try to talk to Marz while you do that. Maybe there's something I can say-."

Kara shook her head.

"Timberlake charm can't fix this," she said.

He followed her back down the hallway toward the front door where she gathered her things.

"Make sure you call me whenever you leave Trace's okay?"

She nodded, running her hands over her face again to wipe away any extra traces of crying. Justin stepped forward and placed a kiss on her forehead, she was slightly trembling beneath his touch.

"Bye."

He watched her slink down the front steps and over to her car. He could see her depression in the sluggish way she moved. Maybe he should go with her? But that would only help to overwhelm Trace more on top of what he was already going to hear. Besides, he already had his own girlfriend to talk too.

The next thing Justin knew he was headed to Marz'. He'd sent her a text message, he didn't have the balls to say it over the phone, which said 'I know you hate me, I know I hurt you; but can we please talk?' Justin was completely shocked when she responded 'my place'.

Now he was going over what he was going to say, or try to say. He'd always been on the opposite side of the situation, the one who was cheated on instead of the one who was cheating; and when it came to this conversation he did all the talking. Justin wasn't sure if he was even going to get a chance to get a word in and was mentally preparing for the tongue lashing Marz might give him, not that he didn't deserve it. What he did was beyond low, hurting both Marz and Trace.

Trace.

Shit, Justin didn't even want to think of how he would react when he found out. This wasn't the first time Trace had been cheated on, but it was the first time that the woman who cheated on him had been with his best friend. Their friendship might be over and Justin didn't want that to happen. Trace was his brother and Justin didn't want to lose him. Damn, Kara had said that they would be going to hell for their infidelity, but he never thought that she was referring to hell on earth.

When Trace finally climbed out of the shower stall and looked out his bedroom window he wasn't surprised to see Kara's car already parked in his driveway. But he was surprised when he descended the stairs freshly dressed and found his girlfriend curled up on the couch, crying. He immediately rushed to her side; wrapping his arms around her, comforting her much like she was doing for Marz earlier.

"It's ok, babe," he said, shushing her and stroking her hair gently.

"No, it's not. You're gonna hate me," she sniffled.

"I could never do that Kara, I love you too much to do that."

"Don't. Don't say that," she whispered. "You can't love me. You can't love someone like me."

Trace sighed; she was belittling herself again.

"How many times do I have to tell you that you're so much better than that asshole of a boyfriend made you-."

"I cheated on you."

The words came out of her mouth before she could stop them. The room was still, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Kara saw shock and disgust flash across her boyfriend's face and pulled herself out of his embrace.

And I know that he knows I'm unfaithful
And it kills him inside
To know that I am happy with some other guy
I can see him dying.

"I'm so sorry. I know you hate me, shit I hate me right now. We didn't plan it, it just happened."

"We? Who's we?" Trace asked in an icy tone.

Kara was silent. This was the hard part. How was she supposed to tell him that the other man in her life was his best friend?

"Who is 'we', Kara? You at least owe me that!" He said angrily.

"Justin," she said, barely above a whisper.

"Justin? Are you fucking kidding me!?" He exclaimed. "Justin?"

She nodded. She was crying too hard to say anything else. Trace was seething now and if Kara didn't know him better she'd be preparing herself for a physical strike; but she knew that he was too much of a gentleman to put his hands on a woman. A perfect gentleman, the greatest thing that had ever happened to her in a relationship sense and she fucked it up. She couldn't even bring herself to face him.

"I can't believe it. I can't believe this happened again. How could you? How could he!?"

His voice cracked.

Kara had cut him deep.

"I'm so sor-."

"Why?"

"I don't know," she said honestly.

"Was I not enough? Was what we had not enough? What did I do wrong?"

"Nothing; you did nothing wrong. You were perfect; you have been since day one. I fucked up, and I understand if you never want to speak to me again," she cried.

She rose to her feet, preparing to leave the house, and possibly his life forever.

"More than once?"

Kara froze in her tracks, turning to face him again.

"Yeah, more than once," he said knowingly. "How long?"

She lowered her head in shame and mumbled, "Since New York."

"New York!?! It's been going on that long? Before we even got serious? Why did you date me then? Was it just for appearances? Because I was convenient? Did you even care about me or was I just a piece of the ploy so you two could keep seeing each other without anyone knowing?"

"No. I did care about you. I do care about you. I love you, Trace." She'd never said the words aloud to him before, but definitely felt them. Her love for him was the cause of her hesitancy in her infidelity with Justin.

"No! Don't say that! Don't you dare say you love me!" he exclaimed, he was really crying now.

I don't wanna do this anymore
I don't wanna be the reason why.
Every time I walk out the door
I see him die a little more inside
I don't wanna hurt him anymore
I don't wanna take away his life.
I don't wanna be a murder.

Kara had never seen him so vulnerable and it hurt her more to know that she was the cause of this pain.

"I do love you, this is hurting me as much as it hurt you."

"Don't give me that bullshit," he spat. "Don't give me that 'I'm hurting just as much as you are' bullshit. I bet you weren't hurt while ya'll were fucking. Were you thinking about me then? Hell no! Ya'll weren't thinking about how much it would hurt me and Marz while ya'll were fucking around. You not only betrayed me, you betrayed your sister. Your own fuckin' sister! Did you think about that?"

She did, honestly she did; but what she had with Justin was like her drug and she didn't want to give it up. But like all drugs, was it worth it? Was it worth losing her sister and the best boyfriend she ever had?

I lost his trust
I might as well take a gun and put it to his head
Get it over with
I don't wanna do this…

"Of course I thought about it," she said. "We didn't mean for this to happen, it just did."

"Your clothes don't just fall off Kara, you take them off. It didn't just happen to you, you did it. Just get out, just go."

Trace turned his back to her, hiding his face and his own tears. Kara watched him for a moment, wishing he would just gather her up in his arms and tell her that he forgave her. But that wasn't going to happen. Finally she turned away, heading out the door and down the steps to the driveway.

Justin stood on Marz's doorstep, trying to work up the nerve to ring the bell. He'd been standing out here for a good 5 minutes already. The drive over hadn't been enough to mentally prepare him for what was about to happen. Finally working up the courage he pressed the button, and the door opened almost instantly. Marz stood there, wrapped in a cream blanket, her eyes red.

"Took you long enough," she said.

She stepped to the side, allowing him to enter, then slammed the door behind him.

"Marz," he began. "I'm sor-."

"Oh save it," her tone was harsh. "Just tell me why? Why would you do that to me? Was I a publicity stunt? Did you just need the press for your album?"

He shook his head, turning to walk into her living room. This conversation was going to take awhile.

"Marz, you know I don't need the press. Why would I purposefully make myself look like a jackass in the media?"

"Probably because you are a jackass," she snapped.

"Alright," he sighed, sitting on the sofa. "I deserved that."

"Damn right you deserve that. You deserve a lot more. How could you do this to me? Why? Why?"

"Marz-."

"Why?"

"Marz-."

"Tell me why!"

"I'm trying!"

Marz remained silent, sitting on the other sofa across from him.

"Marz, I'm sorry-."

"You both say that!" She yelled. "'I'm sorry. I'm sorry.' Sorry doesn't cut it. Sorry doesn't undo you fucking my sister. Let me guess what you're going to say next: I didn't mean it."

"We didn't," Justin interrupted. "We didn't mean to hurt you, hurt Trace. The last thing we wanted was for you to feel any pain. I didn't plan it and neither did she. And I am sorry."

"It started in New York, right?"

"Yes."

"Tell me what happened."

Justin looked at her skeptically, raising an unsure eyebrow.

"Uhh, Marz, I don't think you really want to hear that."

"Tell me."

"No."

"Tell me!" She cried.

Justin remained silent. The last thing he wanted to do was talk to Marz about his sex life with her sister. Why would she want to hear details like that?

"Was it at the hotel?" She asked calmly.

He shook his head.

"The studio?"

After a moment, he nodded slightly.

"And?" She pressed.

Justin stared at her as she angrily clinched the blanket wrapped around her body. She was trembling with anger, and struggling to keep the calm front she'd suddenly put up. She was determined to have this conversation.

"And... We were there alone. Kara needed help packing some equipment, so-."

"I don't need to listen to this filth!" Marz interrupted. "I don't need to hear about how she seduced you."

Justin's brow furrowed.

"She didn't seduce me. If anything it was me, not her."

Marz thought over her words with Kara earlier that day, how she'd accused her of throwing herself at Justin.

"Why my sister?"

Justin shrugged. That was a question he could remember asking himself a dozen times. He'd never been one hundred percent positive what it was about Kara, there had just been a pull to her from the beginning.

"I don't know," he said honestly. "We spent a lot of time together in the studio, in New York-."

"And I wasn't there. You were lonely," Marz added.

Justin nodded. Maybe that had been part of it, he didn't know for sure. He just knew that it had happened, and he knew his feelings for Kara.

"I don't know Justin," she said. "I don't know if we can make it back from this. We're going to have to work on trust, because frankly I don't trust you at all anymore. And you're done working with Kara, that's for sure."

This time he blinked.

"What?"

After all of this, she wanted to work it out?

"Maybe we should look into couples therapy or something."

His jaw dropped slightly.

"You still want to stay together?" He asked in astonishment.

Marz nodded.

"What you did to me was terrible. But I know you're sorry. I think we owe it to ourselves to try to get past this."

Justin stammered for a moment. This hadn't been what he wanted. He was more than amazed that Marz was willing to look past his mistake and see their relationship for what it was - or at least what she thought it was.

"I don't want to lose you over this," she said. "I hate you, but I'm still in love with you."

The room fell silent as she waited for him to say it back. And then she waited for him to say anything. Finally she met his eye and meekly asked, "And you love me to, right?"

He tiredly rubbed his shoulder.

"Marz-."

"Oh my God!" She exclaimed, jumping from her seat.

"Marz my feelings for you are not-."

"You don't love me anymore," she sobbed. "You don't love me. Why?! How did this happen?"

"Marz I've been wanting to talk to you about this for awhile."

He stood from his seat and moved to where she was pacing a hole in the carpet. Her steps were becoming angrier by the second. Soon she looked like a little soldier in practice.

"I don't understand. Are you in love with her?"

They both knew who 'her' was, and Justin wasn't sure how honest to be. Didn't she already have enough to deal with?

"It's her, I know it. You can't have her. You know that, right? You can't be with her. You can't do this!"

"Would you listen to me?!"

He grabbed her shoulders, halting her walking and forcing her to look at him.

"This has nothing to do with Kara," he said, lowering his voice back to normal.

"Things just aren't working out between you and I. I don't think we're who each other is looking for."

Marz stared at him, her expression blank.

"You're breaking up with me? You cheated on me, and now you're breaking up with me?"

Justin hung his head. It was completely unfair of him, but it had been a long time coming.

"You're a beautiful girl, and a great girlfriend. I am sorry about what happened, about what I did to you. I'll always care about you, but I can't stay with you. My feelings for you aren't the same, otherwise I wouldn't have let anything transpire between Kara and I. I'm looking for something, something different."

"Justin, I don't-."

"And you deserve someone different. You don't really want to be with a guy who did what I did."

"Your right," she snapped. "I deserve better than the both of you. See yourself out Justin."

He didn't even get the opportunity to respond before she turned her back a marched up the stairs. Somewhere in the home he heard a door slam.

Kara drove around aimlessly for what seemed like hours when she left Trace's. She was afraid to go home, didn't want to deal with her sister's wrath, and honestly didn't know where else to turn. Having no predetermined destination in mind she was shocked when she found herself on the same beach Justin had taken her to. The tears that were already running down her face increased as she killed the engine and just let herself sob. How was it that her life had turned upside down in a matter of hours? No, it hadn't just been a couple of hours; it had been over the course of months. She saw this coming from day one of her and Justin's affair, she just didn't realize that it would hurt this bad when everything came tumbling down.

What was she going to do? She couldn't go back home, Marz would skin her alive. But then again, Kara couldn't blame her. How could she expect anyone to be nice and perky after finding out that their sister and boyfriend have been sneaking around for months? She had to move out, at least temporarily, but where would she go? She could always get a hotel, or even an extended stay room, and possibly her own apartment if the situation turned into something more permanent.

Her sobs slowly became sniffles and Kara wiped her tear-stained cheeks with the back of her hand. She took a deep breath and stared out at the sunset gathering her thoughts and making a mental checklist of what she had to do. Number one: work up the courage to go home and face her sister just long enough to grab a few necessities. Number two: pack said necessities. Number three: find a hotel to crash at for the night and deal with everything else tomorrow. She wiped away the last few remaining tears and took another deep breath, hearing her stomach growl as she did. She didn't realize that all she'd eaten today was what Marz made her earlier. Kara made a mental note to pick something up to eat on the way to the hotel and turned over the engine. This was going to be a long night.

Marz had holed herself up in her bedroom after she kicked Justin out earlier and hadn't left since. She'd heard her sister pull up in the driveway and even walk in the house and upstairs, but made no effort to leave the comfort of her bed to acknowledge her. In Marz' mind her sister didn't deserve the right to be acknowledged anymore, and neither did Justin.

Kara noticed how eerily quiet the house was when she walked in and didn't know whether her sister was there or not. Maybe she wouldn't have to face Marz tonight. She headed upstairs and to her room, running through her mental checklist of things to pack for tonight. She was throwing a pair of jeans in her overnight bag when she saw her sister standing in her doorway.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She asked in a flat tone.

Kara stared at her sister's stoic expression for a few seconds before responding.

"I'm just packing a few things."

"You're leaving?"

"Yeah, I'm getting a hotel room tonight."

"Good."

That one word from her sister's mouth stung like a slap to the face.

"And when are you going to make arrangements to get the rest of your stuff out? I want you gone by the end of next week."

Her sister's tone cold tone was one she'd never heard before. It was as if she was impassive about the whole situation. Kara realized that Marz' deadline gave her 8 days to find a temporary-permanent place of residence -something that could prove to be impossible- but simply nodded. The silent confirmation was all Marz needed and she turned on her heels and made her way back to the solace of her bedroom. Kara continued to pack the few necessary belongings she'd need for the evening before silently making her way out to her car in the driveway. She threw her overnight bag in the backseat and as she sat in the driver's seat she stared at the home before her. The home she and her sister had shared with her sister since they'd moved out to LA two years ago. The home that was no longer hers thanks to her lapse in judgment.

Step, two, three, four. Turn, two, three, four. Step, two, three, four. Turn, two, three, four.

Kara paced to her own inner cadence across the hotel room. She'd been at it for about an hour; pacing and thinking about everything that had just transpired that day. Her worst fear had occurred; she might have just lost two people that she loved due to her lies. She wasn't sure about Trace, but Marz would never talk to her again. Kara told herself when she and Justin began their little affair that she wasn't going to become "that girl". She wasn't going to be the home wrecker. She wasn't going to get caught up and lose the person she loved most, her sister. She might not have been able to stand the girl half the time, but Marz was her sister and she loved her.

Kara collapsed on the bed and sobbed. She had so much to do and honestly wasn't in any condition to do any of it. She had to make arrangements to have her belongings picked from the house, go apartment hunting, and possibly job hunting. Everything was practically done with Justin's album and there was no way in hell Marz would want her to be a PA anymore. Damn, she'd lost everything important because of her affair with…

Justin

She stared at her phone while his name flashed on the screen. Kara debated on whether she should answer, but finally gave in right before her voicemail picked up.

"Hello."

"I didn't think you were gonna answer," he said softly.

"I thought about not doing it, but I told you before that you're kind of hard to ignore," she replied with a slight chuckle. He mimicked her before asking his next question.

"Are you ok?"

"Honestly? I don't know. I don't know if I'll be 'ok' anytime soon either. I have to find a new place of residence in less than 48 hours and probably employment too."

"She kicked you out the house? Can she do that?"

"She said she wanted me and my stuff gone by the end of next week, so I need to go apartment hunting. And the house is in her name so she has every right to do it. I think its better this way though; the tension in the house was making it awkward."

"I think I know what made it that way," Justin all but whispered.

"You think?" Kara asked sarcastically.

"Aside from the affair, I mean."

"What?"

"When I went over there this evening Marz said that she'd be willing to forgive me and wanted to give us another go."

"And what did you say?" Kara wasn't sure if she wanted to hear his answer. She'd probably never admit it aloud, but his answer had the possibility to break her more than she already was.

"I told her no. I was shocked that she would even propose that, but as soon as the words finished leaving her mouth I knew I couldn't do that to her. I couldn't put her through this heartache again."

"What do you mean 'again'? Don't you love her?"

Justin hesitated before answering.

"I don't know," he said softly.

"Did you ever love her?"

"Yeah; I wouldn't have told her if I didn't."

"But you're no longer in love with her?"

"Damn girl, you're awful intuitive for a PA/Producer." Both Kara and Justin laughed.

"I still care about her and still love her as a person, and I hate to say it, but I think this was the best thing that could've happened to Marz and me. Things weren't going as well as they should've been, but neither of us had the balls to do anything about it."

"Well that might've been the only good that's come from this fuckery we've gotten ourselves in."

"Trace has been rubbing off on you with the language, huh?" Justin chuckled, but fell silent when Kara didn't join in.

"How did things go with him?"

"How do you think they went? He hates me," Kara deadpanned.

"He doesn't hate you. He loves you too much to hate you."

Just like I loved him too much to cheat on him?

Kara didn't dare utter the words aloud. She couldn't. Her relationship with Trace was the first real one; her first relationship where she wasn't abused verbally and emotionally and she was starting to believe that she was falling in love with him. But if she was truly in love with him would she have been able to cheat on him with Justin? How can you say that you really love someone and betray them so cruelly? She figured that was the reason why she'd never told him until tonight. Maybe Justin was right; maybe this blowup was the best thing that could've happened. She would get the time to sit back and figure out what she wanted. She cared about Trace, loved him even, but Justin was still like a drug to her; and through it all she couldn't get enough.

"So where are you now?"

"The Radisson, and I'll probably be here until I find an apartment."

"What are you doing that for?" Justin asked.

"I'm not sure if you were listening earlier, but Marz kicked me out the house," Kara replied sarcastically.

"No, I heard you. What I meant was why don't you just come stay with me? I have plenty of room and you won't have to waste money leasing a place."

"I don't know Justin…"

"What's the worst that could happen? They already know about us."

"Yeah, but if I move in with you they'll think we're still messing around." Justin was a bit stunned with her response. He wanted to continue his relationship with her, but that wasn't the reason why he asked her to move in.

"Look, I'm not asking you to move in for convenience for 'us'."

"I know; I just don't want to hurt them anymore than I already have."

"I'm not going to push the subject anymore. Just know that you have a room here if you want." Kara picked up on sadness in his tone and sighed.

"Can I move in tomorrow?"

Just pulling into Justin's long gravel driveway made the butterflies in Kara's tummy begin to flutter at full speed. It was like meeting an old boyfriend for dinner after not speaking for years. She felt anxious, and nervously smoothed out her clothing as she walked up the cement steps to the front door.

Was it wrong for her to be there? Justin did have a point, it wasn't like Trace and Marz didn't know about them. All of their secrets had been revealed, and they didn't have to hide and sneak around at night any longer. But somehow it still felt wrong. Wasn't it adding insult to injury to continue seeing Justin, even if they had admitted the truth? Kara wasn't entirely sure that she wanted to continue her romance with him. Every time she closed her eyes she saw Trace's face, and here there were reminders of him everywhere. How would she be comfortable living here when memories of their trespasses were in every corner?

The large door swung open before she'd even pressed the doorbell, and that pulled her from her thoughts.

"Hey you," he said.

Despite the lightness in his voice, Justin's mind seemed cloudy as he looked her over. She could see that the weight of the situation was settling on his shoulders, and it gave her a sick twist of comfort to know she wasn't the only one suffering.

"Hey," she breathed back.

Justin opened his arms to her and she stepped into them. Instantly she was surrounded by warmth and his musky scent. The firm muscles in his back stretched and rippled under her fingers as he hugged her tightly.

After a moment he released his hold on her and stepped to the side so she could enter the house. Just looking around, she still felt as if she were doing something wrong.

"How are you?" His voice broke the silence.

Kara shrugged in response.

"As good as I'm supposed to be doing, I guess." Considering I'm about to be sharing a house with my secret lover, she wanted to add. She didn't.

Justin reached down and picked up the suitcase she'd brought to the door. He lifted it with ease, though for Kara it'd taken two hands.

"Well, you have your pick of room's," Justin said, leading the way up the staircase to the second story.

"The "East Suite" as I like to call it," he pointed to one end of the hall where a lavish room that mirrored the master sat.

"The guestroom." The door just in front of them, that opened to an average sized room with just the bare necessities.

"You could take my office, but please don't because it took me a year to get the computer plugged up right and I have no idea of how to move it without fucking everything up."

Justin wanted to add his own bedroom to the list of options, but something inside told him she wasn't ready for that kind of invitation yet. But even as she just stood there, her eyes sad and unsure, he wanted nothing more than to scoop her up into his arms and lead her into that room where nothing could hurt her, and he could show her just how deeply his feelings for her ran.

"I'll take the guestroom," she answered finally.

Justin's brow furrowed momentarily at her answer, but he pushed open the door anyway and set her suitcase down on the bed.

"I have to admit," he said. "I'm surprised you picked this room. It's the smallest of the three."

"Yeah, it just reminds me of my old room at Marz' the most."

While her old room did have a private bathroom, and this one did not, it certainly wasn't as grand as Justin's suite with the Jacuzzi bath and private balcony. It seemed wrong to move into such a wonderful room when the things she'd done to end up there were terrible. Justin stood quietly, watching as her expression grew darker and darker, like something was slowly settling over her, blocking out any happiness she might have felt the way a storm would block you from the warm rays of the sun.

"Do you want to go watch a movie?" He asked.

Something to get her mind off of whatever she was thinking.

Kara turned to him with a shrug.

"As long as it's not a romantic comedy, I'm down."

Thrump, thrump. Thrump, thrump. Thrump...

Kara was laying face down on her bed, her nails tapping against the headboard. The room around her was swallowed in darkness, and the blankets had been pulled up over her head. She preferred to do her sulking in as much darkness and seclusion as possible. But this time she'd left a little peephole. So she could see her cell phone, resting on the pillow beside her.

They'd watched Angels & Demons, and gotten a pizza delivered. Kara didn't talk much and Justin tried to fill the silence with chit-chat about how much his label had loved the album and all the family gossip his grandma had told him from back home in Tennessee. Then she retired to her room for the night, and listened to John Mayer's Gravity on repeat for an hour before she climbed into bed started to wallow deeper and deeper into her self-pity.

Thrump, thrump, thrump...

Should she call Marz? Maybe a night alone had given her sister a chance to calm down and now she'd give her a real chance to explain. But then, if the shoe had been on the other foot, it'd take more than one night for her cool down.

Thrump, thrump, thrump...

Maybe it'd be better if she called Trace.

Thrump…

Kara squeezed her eyes shut and breathed a deep sigh. She couldn't even think about calling Trace. The look on his face haunted her thoughts, the pain and disbelief that flashed behind his eyes. She couldn't even fathom what to begin to say to him.

Thrump, thrump, thrump, thrump.

Maybe if she thought about it hard enough one of them would call her instead. Even if it were just to yell and scream at her, at least it'd be some kind of communication. All she had to do was focus her mind and send all her energy to them.

Thrump, thrump...

It would probably help if she crossed her fingers, too.

Thrump, thrump, thrump, thrump...

Apparently she wasn't focusing hard enough because nothing was happening. Kara pulled the covers tighter over her head, sealing off her peephole.

A few moments later she heard the door squeak as it opened, and the soft shuffling of bare feet on the carpet.

"Kara?"

The soft gentleness in his voice made her pulse quicken.

"Are you--?" Justin paused.

He'd been about to ask if she were okay, but he'd already asked her that question so many times over the past 2 days. Besides, it wasn't like the answer wasn't already abundantly clear.

"Do you need anything?" He asked.

Under the covers Kara shook her head.

"No. Thanks."

There was a pause, and Kara had almost thought he'd silently left until she heard his voice again.

"Are you okay -sleeping in here alone, I mean? Did -do you want me to stay with you?"

Did she? On one hand all she'd been able to think about all day was how her being here was wrong, how it was wrong every time he touched her. But then, she'd risked so much just to be in his arms. She'd lost her sister, her job, her home, all for this man who made her heart flutter with a barely-there caress from his fingertips. Maybe she should just enjoy the one thing that brought her some form of happiness.

Taking her hesitation as a sign, Justin made his way over to the bed. Kara felt the bed jostle and a gust of cool air wash over her as he climbed in. He carefully tugged the blankets down, unveiling her eyes, which were glossy with fresh tears ready to fall.

The cracked door let in light from the hallway, and she could make out the features of his face: his strong jaw and slightly crooked nose. His hand cradled her cheek, smoothing down her neck, and onto her back. He pulled her closer, her head burying into his chest.

He smelled like soap and aftershave, and he was warm and solid, not like the sad phantom figure of Trace she kept seeing in her head. Though he remained wordless, his body spoke volumes about how he felt and what he wanted. She could feel his excitement brushing against her as his lips met her shoulder.

In her mind the battle of wills was still raging... Justin's masculine scent versus Trace's trembling voice. Marz's angry tears against Justin's silky touch. It was hardly fair for a woman to be torn in two like this.

"Stop," his voice whispered. "Stop punishing yourself for what's already been done. You can't change that."

It was true. She couldn't go back and unsleep with him, unhurt Trace and Marz. So should she just let it go and focus on the future? Was that fair? Didn't she deserve to suffer with them since all of this pain had been her fault to begin with?

Pushing her to lay on her back, Justin loomed over her, his weight settling on her. He kissed her, almost harshly, smothering her against the bed. The nerves in her body awakened, almost reluctantly, as she pulled him closer. While all the sirens going off in her head told her the last thing she needed to be doing was lying in bed with him, she couldn't help the sensations that ran over her. His body felt too good, his magnetic pull too strong; she couldn't help but shut out those voices and give into the yearnings and urges of her body.

She did risk it all for him; she might as well enjoy it.

A few hours later Kara awoke with a start. The room around her was cast in darkness, which was normally the way she liked it. But this time that didn't comfort her at all. In her dream she had been running, sprinting as fast as she could through a dark forest.

Bare branches scrapped her legs as she made her way through the brush. It was dark, and damp. A fresh rainfall had given the air a dewy thickness. Clouds of white smoke appeared before her eyes as she panted. She could hear the footsteps behind her as they chased her. Their shoes made crunching sounds as they trampled over fallen leaves. Her bare feet stung as she made way over rocks and thorns.

"Kara!"

Angered voices echoed through the silent night as the mob tracked her through the woods. They'd had her before, grabbed her while she was carrying in grocery bags from the car. They bound her arms behind her back with rope, cutting off her only line of defense so they could punish her the way she deserved. They yelled and screamed, calling her names as they pelted her with rocks, the way you'd punish a prostitute in ancient days. That's what she was to them: the worst kind of jezebel. What kind of woman would turn on her own sister, her own companion, and give her affection to an unworthy lover?

She tried to tell them over and over again how sorry she was, how bad she felt. But that didn't matter to them. They continued their punishment, and all she could do was cry, plead, and pull at her restraints. Somehow she'd been able to escape. The ropes fell from her wrists and she ran from the house she once shared with Marz and into the woods behind her. They were dreary and unfamiliar, but her only real option.

Her gray cable knit sweater got caught on a tree, and she could hear their nearing footsteps as she worked to free herself. They were right behind her, mere feet away. She pulled away at the last moment, and she could feel icy fingers brush her arm as she barely slipped out of reach. She ran again, as fast as her bruised legs would carry her.

Kara rolled over and looked over at Justin who was sleeping soundlessly. One of arms was carelessly thrown over his head, and his other rested on his chest. He looked dead to the world, and was snoring rightfully so. She silently climbed out of bed, and pulled on Justin's tee shirt which had been left discarded on the floor. She didn't want to wake him, and after that nightmare she had no desire to sleep either. Kara left the bedroom, and headed down the hall to the empty suite, then across the room to the double doors that lead to the balcony.

Chilly LA air swirled around her, blowing her hair back behind her shoulders. The view was amazing. From here she could see the twinkling city lights that faded out into the ocean, where a thick fog was blowing in. The view from Marz' had been similar to this, but you had to be in Marz's room to see it.

The dream had really frightened her, and at the same time brought some since of clarity to her. Justin had been right when he said she was punishing herself for everything that had happened. She felt dirty, sinful, perhaps even slutty, and that was probably why she'd dreamed herself being stoned. In her dream she'd been able to outrun her punishers, would the same be true for real life?

"Kara?"

She whirled around, her heart nearly jumping into her throat. Justin stood there, looking sheepish. She hadn't even heard him come into the bedroom.

"You scared the hell out of me," she gasped.

"Sorry."

He stepped onto the balcony and closed the doors behind him.

"What are you doing out here?"

Kara turned back toward the view, folding her arms around herself.

"Just thinking."

"About?"

"Do you really have to ask?"

Justin sighed, leaning his arms on the railings. He only wore the pajama bottoms he'd had on earlier. His chest was left bare because Kara had stolen his shirt instead of putting on her own.

"No, I guess I don't," he said. "But I do have to ask another question."

She raised an eyebrow and turned to face him.

"Yeah?"

"How long are you going to beat yourself up?"

That wasn't a question she wanted to hear. She could tell he was going into his "stop punishing yourself" speech again, and at the moment she wasn't the least bit interested in it.

"I heard you, while you were dreaming. You were begging to someone, telling them you weren't a whore. Is that what you think about yourself?"

She started to turn away from him, but he grabbed her shoulders to hold her in place while he spoke. The shameful lowering of her eyes were his only answer to the question.

"That's not true," he told her sternly. "That's not you. What happened between us sometimes happens to people. It doesn't make you horrible, and it doesn't make you a whore."

His hands released her, and he shook his head to try and gather his thoughts.

"Listen, Kara," he began, "I know how you feel. I cared -care, about Trace and Marz too. I lost them too. Things are tough, and you feel like no matter what you say you'll never be able to make it up to them. It sucks. But now you're here, with me, and this doesn't have to suck. Things between us could be really good. You're not going to make things better -for them or yourself- sulking and chastising yourself like this. Just… Kara just…."

His hands rose to her neck, holding her gently as his voice dropped to a near plead.

"Just let me make you happy. Give me a chance to try to make you happy."

Inside her chest, Kara's already broken heart seemed to shatter even more. In all of her worrying and wallowing, she hadn't thought about how things were affecting Justin. Her pushing him away because of her own self-pity was hurting him. He'd risked everything too; his best friend, his girlfriend. And now he was staring at her, simply asking for a decent shot at the relationship they hadn't been able to have before.

"You're right," she whispered.

It took Justin a moment before he responded. Before that he blinked, and his brow creased.

"What?"

"You're right. My moping -being all withdrawn and depressed- isn't helping. It's not going to make Marz or Trace forgive me, and it's not exactly good for my mental health. So, I'm going to try. I'll try to be better."

His eyes narrowed and he peered at her suspiciously.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously." Her fingers gripped his wrists. "I will."

He grinned, leaning down to place a kiss on her mouth. When he pulled back, the expression on his face was probably the happiest she'd seen him wear since everything had blown up. She started to feel guilty about having been bringing him down so much, but that was going against the agreement she'd just made with him. And when he kissed her again, it distracted her from everything she'd just been thinking. His hands smoothed around her back, running down her body until they rested on the backs of her bare thighs.

"You should walk around wearing my shirt more often. I like it."

"Yeah? You should see what I'm wearing under your shirt; I bet you'll like it even more."

He smiled, and kissed her lips firmly.

"Go inside," he muttered.

"Hmm?"

"Go inside and get in that bed. Right now."

Though his tone was demanding, she could make out a hint of naughty playfulness underneath. Her suspicions were confirmed when he gave her a firm smack on the butt when she turned toward the door.

Kara woke up for a second time that morning, but this time she had to fight the smile that was forming on her face. This was the first time that she'd fallen asleep in Justin's arms and hadn't woken up with guilt gnawing at the pit of her stomach. That wasn't the only thing different either.

She wasn't sure if it was because she finally stopped carrying the weight of the entire situation on her shoulders, the fact that they were now out in the open or what. But now Justin had a certain tenderness with her. The way he caressed her with such compassion and whispered sweet nothings in her ear, Kara knew that it was more than sex, more than a carnal need for that release. She yawned and tried to stretch, but couldn't due to the grip his arm had around her waist. All of her stirring woke Justin up and he kissed her shoulder sweetly before grumbling 'good morning'.

"Good morning yourself," she replied.

He loosened his grip on her, allowing her to turn around to face him. She grinned at him, admiring his boy-like features in the early morning light.

"What?" He asked.

"I never noticed how many freckles you had until just now."

She blushed, burying her face in his chest. Justin chuckled and kissed the crown of her head sweetly, inhaling the jasmine and vanilla scent.

"I can get used to this," he mumbled against her hair.

"To what?"

"Waking up to your beautiful face every morning."

"Wow Timberlake," Kara scoffed. "If that isn't a line, I don't know what is."

"What? I'm serious," he replied, pulling away from her and staring in her eyes.

"You're just saying that because you wanna get in my pants," she joked.

"Well, I've already done that, not that I wouldn't mind doing it again."

Kara smiled. She already knew that. The growing erection pressed against her lower abdomen was sending that message loud and clear.

"That was one of the things I didn't like about our little arrangement; we didn't get to this enough. Do you know how many times I seriously wanted to tell you not to go? To spend the night and wake up in my arms the next morning?"

"You did that one time though."

"And I was scared shitless thinking you were gonna say 'no'."

"But I didn't," Kara interjected.

"No, you didn't. You said yes then."

"And I'm saying yes now," Kara said softly.

She licked her lips seductively and ground her hips into his sensuously, eliciting a groan from him.

"Who's trying to get into whose pants now?" Justin asked in a cocky tone before gripping her waist and flipping them over so that he was on top.

He was just about to settle his weight between her legs before she pulled a fast one, flipping them over once more and straddling his lap.

Kara waggled a finger at him and tsk'd before saying, "Naw-uh, this time I'm in charge."

"So when are you gonna make arrangements to get the rest of your stuff over here?" Justin asked, zipping up Kara's suitcase.

"I dunno, I'll probably call one of those moving agencies tomorrow. I don't feel like dealing with that right now," she replied, collapsing on the bed.

It was amazing how one sentence could bring you back to reality so quickly. She'd been happily floating on cloud nine after she and Justin agreed the other night that she should move into his room with him. It was more for her safety than anything. He didn't want her to be all alone in the guestroom in such a big house, and he had the more comfortable bed anyway. It was a win-win situation…or at least that's what Justin had her believing. It took them twice as long as it should have to unpack and put away her things. It seemed like every article of clothing passed between them came with a kiss or gentle caress.

An outsider would think that they were just going through the honeymoon stage of their relationship, and in a way they kind of were. They might have been having their affair for a while, but this was the first time that they were free to be open and they made sure to take advantage of it. There was an unspoken rule forbidding them to speak of Trace and Marz to avoid situations like this. A feeling of dread washed over Kara as she thought about the process of actually moving all of her belongings out of Marz' home. There was no way she'd be able to go and face her sister herself, she was too scared to do that.

"Hey," Justin said, interrupting her thoughts and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Stop."

"What?"

"I know what you're doing and you need to stop. We've already gone over this, no need for you to back track now. Okay?"

"Okay," Kara mumbled barely above a whisper.

"I didn't hear you."

"I said 'okay'," she responded grinning.

"Good, now come here," he said, pulling her in for a bear hug.

He cupped her face in his hands and peppered it with kisses.

"You're gonna be okay," he said between pecks. "We're gonna be okay."

Kara groaned when she heard Justin's cell phone ringing. She wondered why he even kept the ringer on at night since he never heard it ring while he was sleeping. She smiled when the ringtone finished playing and was happy for a whole 30 seconds until the phone started ringing again. Kara would've answered the device (or silenced it depending on who was calling) if she could but the death grip Justin's arm had around her waist left no room for movement. When he slept he always had a grip on her like he was afraid she was going to run out on him in the middle of the night or something. It was when the phone rang for a third time that she really doubted Justin's sense of hearing and nudged him with her elbow.

"Justin," she whispered harshly.

No answer. Damn this boy was a heavy sleeper! She nudged his hip with hers and said his name again. No response what-so-ever. It wasn't until she ground her backside into his pelvis that he started to stir.

"Mmm," he moaned groggily. "If you wanted to go another round all you had to do was ask."

He kissed the back of her neck.

"Nice try, but your phone has been ringing off the hook for the past 5 minutes."

"What?" He released her and rolled over toward the nightstand. "I didn't hear it."

"That's because you sleep like a friggin' bear in hibernation. Whoever it is has called like four times. It seems kind of important," Kara responded, rolling over so that she was facing his back.

She watched as he pulled up his 'Missed Calls' list and saw that it was his manager, Johnny.

What could he want at this time of the morning?" Kara said, glancing at the clock to see that it was 3:27 in the morning.

"You took the words right out of my mouth; let me call him back."

Justin pressed the 'Call' button on his Blackberry and pulled Kara's arm around his waist. He'd just placed a light kiss on her palm when his manager answered the call.

"Took you long enough! I've called you five times."

"More like four, and 'hello' to you too, Johnny. What's so important that you couldn't wait until the sun was up to call me?" Justin asked.

"Where are you?" Johnny asked.

"In bed, where you should be. Why? What's up?"

"I'm going to ask you another question and I want you to be completely honest with me, ok?"

"Ok," Justin replied hesitantly.

"Are you cheating on Marz with her sister?"

Justin fell silent. Kara felt his body tense up and she knew where this conversation was going.

"Well? Are you?" Johnny repeated when Justin didn't answer him immediately.

"No, I'm not currently."

"But you were?" Johnny asked.

Kara was surprised at how calm the man's tone was.

"It's not what it seems like," Justin began, but the older man silenced him.

"I don't even want to hear it! You know I don't like to get involved in your personal life, but when it starts to affect your career I have to intervene."

"What do you mean 'when it affects my career'?"

"I just got a phone call from Ken. Apparently someone's been tailing you and Kara, and they went to the Rolling Stone with the story. RS emailed Ken an offer."

Ken Sunshine was Justin's long-time, trusted publicist. Ken was the keeper of all of Justin's dirty little secrets, and it was his job to make sure they stayed secrets.

"Rolling Stone? What? Since when did they become a gossip rag?"

"When they got this story in their hands. I'm sending you the email Ken forwarded me now."

Justin put the older man on speakerphone before accessing his email account on his phone. He saw the email from Johnny and hesitated for a second before opening it.

To Whom It May Concern:

Several photo agencies have brought to our attention various photos of you and Kara Sotelo in some compromising positions. We, along with the rest of the public, understand that you're currently dating Ms. Sotelo's sister, Maritza, to whom Ms. Sotelo is employed to as personal assistant, but these pictures show something different.

Here at Rolling Stone we aren't about gossip. For your protection we have bought the photos from these agencies of both you and Kara in various types of activities. Some of these photos include: Kara arriving at the JFK airport in December with yourself and Mr. Trace Ayala, the long embrace hello, your trip to a recording studio with Kara, the compromising embrace between you and Ms. Sotelo in the Good Samaritan Hospital parking garage and more recently an intimate embrace shared between the two of you on El Matador Beach.

If you are curious about the other photos that we have obtained from these agencies please give our offices a call. There are also several of Ms. Sotelo without you, but with Mr. Ayala. These pictures would give the impression that Ms. Sotelo is involved with both you and Mr. Ayala.

If these photos were to leak at this or any other magazine her anonymity would be forever tarnished, as would your image and possibly her sister's.

As previously stated, we here at Rolling Stone aren't about gossip. But we could easily turn around and sell these photos to an anonymous buyer, or accidentally release them to Us Weekly or the National Enquirer.

All we're asking of you is this. We want back what we paid for the photos, plus 10%. On top of this we would like exclusive access to you and Ms. Sotelo for interviews if and when it is made public of your relationship.

Thank you for your time and discreetness in this matter. We really don't want to see what would happen to Ms. Sotelo if this decides to unfold itself.

Regards,
Chad Jackson,
Rolling Stone

Both Justin and Kara's jaws dropped when they finished reading the email.

"Can they do this?" Justin exclaimed, sitting straight up in bed.

"It doesn't matter if they can, the point is they are. The question is what do you want to do about it? If this comes out it won't just affect your career, but Marz' too."

"I'm not paying these leeches a fuckin' dime! Greedy motherfuckers! They can't do this! It's blackmail!"

Justin was furious and Kara was frozen in shock. She thought shit had hit the fan when Trace and Marz found out about their secret rendezvous, but this was a million times worse.

"So what do you want me to do, Justin? You don't want to pay them?"

"Hell no! We'll sue them for slander if they think about releasing the photos, but I'm not paying them a dime. They're fucking vultures!"

Justin's body was practically vibrating he was so livid. If he were Jacob Black he would've changed into his werewolf form five minutes ago. Kara smiled at the thought, and just as quickly as it came, it left. Not only did it remind her of the time she'd spent reading the book series with Trace, but this wasn't some fictional story, it was real life and they were really fucked.

"Justin," Johnny sighed, "I'll call the lawyers and see what we can do about this. But you do realize that by turning them down, you're opening the door for them to expose you. Once they make this public, it'll be a free-for-all for all the media outlets."

A muscle jumped in the side of Justin's clenched jaw.

"I know. That's a chance we're gonna have to take."

"All right. I'll get started on it tomorrow. Get some sleep Justin."

Easier said than done.

Justin flopped back against the mattress, dropping his phone onto the nightstand carelessly. He pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes, and when he opened them again he looked over at Kara.

"Johnny-."

"I heard," she interrupted. "I know what he said."

"I'm not paying it," he stated. "It's bullshit."

"I agree. I don't think you should pay it."

Justin sighed.

"Johnny's worried about what'll happen if they decide to release the photos anyway. Who knows what will happen to my fan base. This could be bad, for Marz too."

Kara shook her head.

"It won't be bad for Marz. She'll get the sympathy of the public. Her boyfriend and her sister getting together? How could they not love her?" She said. "But it'll be bad for you. Are you ready for that?"

He looked at her, his hand rising to hold her cheek.

"I guess I'm gonna have to be."

She nodded and pulled back to kiss his hand the way he'd done to her before. Justin half smirked at her, and then pulled her closer.

"Come on. Let's go back to sleep. I was just getting to the good part of my dream, where you and the lesbian wrestler get into the pool filled with red jell-o."

Kara laughed out loud, snuggling down into the bed. The rustling sheets finally grew silent as she found a comfortable spot. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, but neither of them got much sleep that night.

"No, no, no. I know, for a fact, that there is no way in hell that I'm going to give them a dime. I don't understand how they can get away with this, Johnny... Just because they're Rolling Stone, you think that if I challenge their credibility it'll only make me look bad?... Christ! Once they release those pictures I'll already look bad. I might as well try to fight it. If I give into their offer it'll just make me look like some punk with bottomless pockets. What's to stop them from coming back in another month and asking for more, or from cashing my check and then publishing them anyway?... Their reputation is no better than mine. At the end of the day they're just another business, and they'll do what they have to do to sell magazines... Of course I want to keep this quiet. I don't want this story to go to press anymore than you do. But not at this expense."

Justin was in his office. He'd been on the phone ranting at Ken, his publicist, ever since he'd climbed out of bed at 7am. Even through the closed door Kara could hear his frustrated voice every time he shouted into the receiver. The situation had really upset him. Neither of them was happy about the threat of their personal lives being exposed to the general public, but Justin was more so upset at the idea that someone would try to exploit the situation. He felt that at some point the truth was going to come out, and he wasn't going to hand someone millions of dollars just to slow down the inevitable.

Ken and Johnny, however, felt differently. While they shared Justin's frustration, they wanted to pay them the money. Both men feared that if Justin went against Rolling Stone that it would only make him look like a desperate celebrity trying to get one over on his fans. Who was going to believe that a successful, long-standing, reputable magazine like Rolling Stone was going to stoop so low as to blackmail an artist? Especially over something like an affair. They weren't known for spreading gossip, so why would they start now, and with a scandal this trashy at that?

But with Justin having been locked in his office all morning, it had given Kara time to focus on other things. Normally she and Justin were wrapped up in each other. They'd lounge in bed until the afternoon, and then drag themselves downstairs where they'd play with the dogs, watch movies, and order-in take-out. Now, without him attached to her hip -or lips- she had a chance to realize what a mess the place was becoming, and how they were running low on groceries.

She cleaned the bathroom, and vacuumed the living room before clearing out the fridge and loading the dishwasher. It was her way of trying to keep her mind off of everything that was going on, especially thinking about Marz and Trace. They already had enough to deal with, now they were unknowingly facing having all of their personal business spread across the cover of tabloids. Trace would undoubtedly be devastated. Who would want to lose their best friend and their girlfriend -to each other- and then a week later pick up a magazine to see pictures of them together, smiling and looking happy? She could feel the guilt building up in her chest all over again. It tightened her lungs, quickened her breath, and made her eyes burn and sting. She had to get out of the house.

Opening the door to Justin's office, she saw him slouched in the leather chair at his desk. One hand was holding the phone to his ear; the other was massaging his forehead. Apparently he didn't hear her come in, because he still sat with his eyes closed. It wasn't until she'd already given him a kiss on the cheek that he jumped.

"I'll be back in a little bit," she whispered.

Justin caught hold of her wrist when she tried to pull away.

"Hang on a second, Ken," he said.

He pulled the phone away and looked up at her.

"Where are you going?" He whispered.

"I'm just gonna run down the hill to the grocery store. I'll be back in a little bit."

Justin nodded.

"Hurry back."

"I will."

She gave him a kiss and then rushed out the door. She was anxious to get out and get away from this mess. Being locked up in a house for days at a time wasn't good for anyone. Hopefully getting out and doing something normal would do her some good. Her car was still parked in the driveway, in the very same spot where she'd left it. Aside from a little extra layer of dirt, it looked the same.

It wasn't until she was climbing in that she noticed the car across the street. It was a big white SUV with tinted windows. It looked average, and under any other circumstances she wouldn't have though much of it. Except, this wasn't any other circumstance. The driver's side window was rolled down, and a man was sitting there looking at her. He wore silver aviators, and in his hands was a big black camera. He raised it to his eyes, clicking away photograph after photograph. Clearly, he knew he'd been spotted, and obviously it didn't bother him because he was still snapping pictures.

Kara could feel her blood start to boil. She'd dealt with guys like this before, only then she had been trying to block them from taking photos of Marz. This was the first time she'd ever been their target.

She climbed into her car, trying her best to ignore the camera man across the street. Once she had the door closed she pulled out her cell phone to text Justin. Hopefully he wasn't still on the phone arguing with Johnny; otherwise he might not be able to hear the text alert.

Papz are parked outside.

She started the car, put on her sunglasses, and checked her hair in the rearview mirror while she waited for him to respond. If she was going to get her picture taken, she wanted to look good.

Want me to go with you?

Kara wrinkled her nose. The whole point of this was to spend a little time away from him. Besides, the last thing they needed were more pictures of them on an outing. It would only give the rag-mags -and undoubtedly Rolling Stone- more ammunition.

No. I'm okay.

Be careful. If ANYTHING happens you call me right away.

What did he think she was, a child? She could handle a quick trip to the grocery store with one harmless photographer tailing her.

Pulling out on to the street, she wasn't surprised when the white SUV pulled out to follow her. What was surprising however, were the seven other cars that pulled away from the curb along with it.

This wasn't the first time that Kara had been tailed the paparazzi; this was just the first that she'd been tailed by them without Marz being there. She was used to being in the background, used to being labeled as "and friend" when the paparazzi photos were printed in the various articles. Now she was front and center. It never surprised her how fast news got through this town; she just wished that this particular piece of news wouldn't have spread so fast. Kara was sitting at a red light, trying her hardest to keep her eyes focused on the road ahead of her while dozens of flashes were going off around her vehicle. These people were ruthless; vultures, like Justin and John Mayer had so eloquently put it.

She couldn't make it to Whole Foods fast enough. She raced inside for solace, knowing that the manager of this particular location wouldn't allow paparazzi to photograph in there. She was safe, for now at least. Grabbing a shopping cart, Kara leisurely made her way through the aisles of the establishment, grabbing items she thought they needed at the house. She was standing in the produce section when her phone vibrated in her back pocket. Justin had texted her.

Are you okay?

Kara smiled at his concern before responding.

Yeah, the vultures are stuck outside :)

She chuckled aloud before sending off the text message. Kara began selecting Granny Smith apples and was tying up the bag when her phone buzzed again.

They're probably gonna hound you as soon as you step out there too. I'm sending Eric.

Kara scoffed.

You will do nothing of the sort! I'm ok. I told you I'd call you if I needed something and I meant it. I'm fine, do not send Eric. That would only fuel their fire.

She quickly sent the message and grabbed a bag of organic potatoes, throwing it in her buggy.

Well excuse me for giving a damn. Just let me know when you're on your way home. I miss you already.

Kara smirked at his last text. That boy could piss her off one minute and turn around and make her feel like the only woman on the planet the next. She locked her keypad and slipped her phone inside her purse before finishing shopping.

"Wow, next time I'm making a list, and sticking to a budget," Kara murmured as she watched the total steadily rise as the cashier rang up all of her items.

She reached in her purse to grab her debit card out of her wallet when her phone began ringing. She swiped her card as she answered the device.

"Hello?"

"Kara, it's Lauren."

"Hey Lauren, how are you?" She greeted sweetly.

"Just fine. I'm just calling to tell you that you have a piece of certified mail here at the house. Marz was about to throw it out, but it looks like it's something important."

"Really? I'm on my way to come pick it up."

"Alright, I'll see you in a bit."

Kara hung up the phone and slid her card back into her wallet before pushing the grocery cart outside. She silently thanked God that she remembered to bring her Chanel shades. Maybe the vultures would leave her alone if she pretended not to see them.

"Kara, is it true that you're Justin Timberlake's mistress, that you broke up his relationship with your sister Marz?"

Apparently not.

Kara kept silent and did what her sister always did when she was bombarded with questions by paparazzi: lowered her head and sped up her pace. But just because she didn't respond didn't mean that they didn't continue to ask questions. "Is it true that you're a home wrecker?!"

Kara faltered for a moment and a dozen flashes documented this change in her behavior. She'd never heard that word used to describe her situation with Justin, and hearing it now really hurt her to the core. But what they were saying was true. Every accusation they were throwing at her was true. And it hurt like hell hearing them call her those names.

She loaded the groceries into her trunk in record speed and quickly navigated the roads to her sister's home. Marz lived in a gated community so Kara didn't have to worry about the photographers following her as she pulled up in the driveway.

Lauren was waiting on the front step and met Kara at her driver's window when she cut the engine. She had a thin white envelope in her hand and a sheepish smile on her face.

"Hey."

"Hey. Thank you for calling me."

"No problem. I know you would've done the same for me."

Kara chuckled. She didn't expect that answer from her sister's assistant, but then again, what were you supposed to say in a situation like this? That was one of the things she admired about Lauren. She knew all the dirty secrets but she wasn't treating Kara any differently. She didn't look at her with disgust on her face. She didn't smile and grin either, but then again they'd never really had that kind of relationship. There was an awkward moment of silence between them before Lauren said something.

"Well, I got to get back inside; got to take care of some stuff for Marz."

"Alright," Kara responded, "Thanks again."

She watched the woman walk back in the home before flipping over the envelope and pulling out the single piece of paper inside of it.

Ms. Kara Sotelo,

Rolling Stone magazine has brought it to our attention that Mr. Timberlake has recently turned down their reasonable offer, and we thought that it would be best to approach you, Ms. Sotelo. We know that you're currently involved with Mr. Timberlake, which is shocking because as far as the public is concerned, he's involved with your sister Ms. Maritza Sotelo. As you know it is our duty as the media to report on this matter. Before selling us the photos of your relationship and time spent together, Rolling Stone asked us to send you one more notification before buying the rights and publishing them into our magazine. This would, of course, make front-page news.

If you would like to come out with your relationship we're willing to discard the photos Rolling Stone has for an exclusive photo shoot and interview with both of you. We would also be willing to work out some sort of compensation for your cooperation in this matter.

Normally, since Mr. Timberlake has disregarded Rolling Stone's generous offer to buy the photos, the price of the rights would have gone up, but we have a better deal for you. We're only asking for one-third the price we paid for the photos, plus 5%. If you do not respond by the end of this week this offer will become null and void and our cover story will run on Monday.

In the wake of Ms. Maritza Sotelo's new album and Mr. Timberlake's pending album this could potentially be detrimental for both of their careers. We look fowardr to your speedy response.

Regards,
Chuck Bass
Us Weekly

Kara read the letter three times before letting it fall in her lap. She brought her right hand to her mouth and choked back the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes. These people were threatening the careers of two people she cared about deeply, and she couldn't just sit back and let that happen even if that meant that all their dirty laundry was about to aired. At least this way they'd be able to control what would be said. She pulled up a blank text on her phone and typed. We need to talk.

"You want to sell our story?"

"No. I want to try to spin this in such a way that it won't completely ruin your career."

When Kara had gotten home Justin was already waiting for her in the living room. He'd gotten her text about them needing to talk, and it had worried him. He'd thought something had happened with the paparazzi, but this was worse in a different sort of way.

"Kara, don't worry about my career, okay? That's my job, and Ken's job, and Johnny's job."

"So what am I supposed to do, sit back and watch while something I did ruins yet another person's life?"

"Kara," he sighed, "you weren't alone in that, all right? I had a hand in everything too, so you don't need to protect me. I'm a big boy; I can handle the repercussions of my actions."

Kara chewed on her cheek, momentarily thinking over Justin's words, before continuing on with her argument.

"It's just one interview with one magazine. If we give them the exclusive then they'll tell my side of the story. Maybe it'll stop someone from thinking we're horrible people."

"It won't matter," he stated.

He was already growing frustrated with this. He'd already spend all day on the phone fighting for his right to keep people out of his personal life, and now he was fighting with the very girl he'd wanted to protect from the negative spotlight.

"I want to do this!" She exclaimed.

Justin's brow furrowed as he watched her. She took a deep breath as she collected her thoughts. When she spoke again it was much quieter than it had been before.

"I couldn't help Trace and Marz. There wasn't anything I could do that would have made this any easier for them. This just seemed like something I could do to make it a little easier for you. Maybe I could make this situation just a tiny bit better for somebody that I care about. Maybe if Trace read it he'd believe that I didn't do all this to hurt him, he'd believe that I do... care about him."

She wanted to say 'love him', but that wasn't something she needed to say to Justin. She had a feeling he already knew, but he never brought it up.

Justin nodded. So that's what this was about, the guilt she was still suppressing inside. He took a few steps forward to close the distance between them and took her face in his hands.

"The only one I want you to worry about is Kara. Don't worry about me and Marz. There's a reason we pay publicists big bucks to sit around behind a desk and talk to magazines. This is their job. If anyone needs to worry about anyone, we should be worried about you."

"All the more reason we should take them up on their offer. At least they'll tell my side."

Justin shook his head.

"They don't care about telling your side, they care about revenue. They'll sell the photo shoot pictures to other companies and spin your quotes so you're saying whatever they want you to say. This isn't a good idea, trust me."

The last time he'd said that they'd been lying in Trace's bed together.

"Justin, I don't know-."

"Trust me."

He looked her dead in the eye. He seemed so certain, so assure of what he was saying.

"Okay," she relented. "I trust you. I won't do it."

"Good. In the morning we'll call those bastards and tell them to take their offer and shove it where-."

"Babe, we might at least want to consider being civil to them. Maybe if we're nice they'll take pity and hold off on this story."

Justin snorted. That wasn't likely. He could imagine the magazine publishers practically salivating at the mouth at the idea of how they'd pull in when the story ran.

"Well tomorrow you're going to call them and tell those bastards -in the most civil way possible- where they can stick it, because we aren't interested."

Kara just chuckled. She was pretty sure that between now and then she'd think of a less insulting, more subdued way to say that.

"So, you went to Marz' place?"

Kara had mentioned getting a call, and driving to Marz' to pick up the letter, but she didn't provide more than the basic details.

"Yeah."

"Did she... say... anything?"

She shook her head.

"She didn't even come out to meet me."

Justin chewed the inside of his cheek, his fingers drumming on the kitchen counter top.

"Think she knows you're here yet?"

Kara shrugged. No doubt it was possible. Anything the papz could figure out, any other person could figure out too. There was also a possibility that another magazine had sent a similar offer to Marz, or Trace, for their stories as well. But they had no way of knowing any of that. Justin sighed and threw his hands up in the air before heading up the stairs.

"This week just keeps getting better!"

On Monday morning Kara, once again, awoke to the sounds of Justin's cell phone ringing. It wasn't until the caller dialed his number for the third time that she attempted to reach over him and answer it. But as always, that arm locked around her waist kept her in one confined position. Also like usual, Justin was dead to the world amidst all of her straining.

Kara wasn't sure how he could be sleeping so peacefully at a time like this. Monday was the deadline Us Weekly had given her to accept their offer. She didn't think the voice mail Justin had left a few days ago -basically saying 'fuck you' in not so many words- had managed to sway their money-hungry minds. All night she'd been in and out of consciousness, wondering what was going to happen, what they were going to say, what pictures they were going to use, and what the backlash was going to be. The anxiety was so bad Justin had wanted to give her Tylenol PM to knock her out. Now that his phone was ringing so persistently she wished she hadn't declined the offer. And at this time of the morning she had a pretty good idea as to who was going to be on the other end of the line.

After finally wiggling her way out from under him, Kara quietly made her way downstairs. She needed to see what, if anything was being said about them. She'd most likely get her answers from the television or the internet blogs. Not wanting to venture into Justin's office to get the laptop, she decided on the TV. She didn't want to wake him by turning on the TV in the bedroom, so she headed into the living room and curled up on one end of the couch.

With a cheerful chirp the television clicked on, and she started skimming through the morning news channels. Every ticker at the bottom of every screen seemed to be talking about either Justin, Marz, Trace, or Kara and their bizarre love square.

"Which popular singer was caught secretly keeping it all in the family? Find out after this short break."

She knew when Justin was awake because the light from the upstairs hall flooded the foyer. Then she heard a yawn, and a groan, as feet padded down the carpeted steps. He rounded the corner a moment later, one hand tiredly rubbing the top of his head, his pajamas rumpled from tossing and turning.

"It's five in the morning, what are you doing down here?"

"It's five in the morning and it's already everywhere. Listen to this," she said.

Kara turned up the volume just as the segment began.

This shit was becoming ridiculous.

There had to be some law against the stalking and harassment Kara was experiencing. She wasn't a celebrity. Shit, she wasn't even a quasi-celebrity, but since the news had broken about her and Justin's affair you'd think she was the president of the United States. It honestly felt like she couldn't even bat an eyelash without someone snapping a picture. Every time she turned around her face was plastered on some magazine cover with the caption 'The Other Woman' or 'The Real Other Boelyn Sister'.

Her phone rang incessantly, and somehow those vultures had gotten a hold of her personal email address and were flooding her inbox. Kara just wanted to escape from it all, even if only for a little while. Too bad Justin wasn't there or he would've done just that. But no, he had to go on damage control duty and she was stuck at the house by herself. The only other way she knew to get away from it all was to curl up with a good book and the stuffed Snoopy she'd had since she was little. He always comforted her in times of need.

Kara scaled the stairs and made her way to the closet where she kept her belongings. She searched for 20 minutes for her paperback copy of 'Eclipse' and her favorite stuffed animal, but came up empty-handed. Sighing heavily, she plopped down in the center of the carpeted floor and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. She loaded up the PockTwit app, turning to the only media outlet a select few people knew about. She was tempted to get rid of it -like she did her Facebook account when the media went public about her private affairs- but she felt safe enough not to. Her twitter account was set to private and she didn't even use her real name.

Kara's fingers flew over the keys on her phone as she tweeted.

Desperately in need of an Edward/Jacob/Snoopy fix. :(

Fifty-one characters, she was definitely under the 140 character limit. She hit 'send' and placed her phone back in her pocket before straightening up the mess she'd just made. She was closing the last suitcase when she felt her phone vibrate in pulses, indicating that she had a text message. She pulled the device out of her pocket and almost dropped it when she saw the sender's name on her screen.

Trace.

She hesitated before opening the message, not knowing what to expect.

I just read your tweet and realized that you still have some stuff over here; including Snoopy.

Kara breathed a sigh of relief. But then again, what did she expect from him? Trace wasn't the kind of guy who'd send rude texts to someone. Before Kara had realized it she'd typed a reply.

Oh, so you're kidnapping Snoop? LoL

It didn't take long for Trace to respond.

I thought about it, but no. LoL. I'm about to go drop some things off at William Rast, I can swing by your place and bring your stuff.

Kara's heart fluttered. Geez, this boy was too good to be true. He was still a gentleman in the midst of all this bull. She was just about to tell him that he could meet her at Justin's but changed her mind and told him that she'd meet him at the William Rast offices. Less drama that way.

Her feet were cement blocks. They had to be. It had been like she couldn't get to William Rast fast enough, but once she was parked in the lot she couldn't bring herself to get out of the car. It was like she couldn't get her brain to transfer the signals to her legs. Sighing, she pounded her fists against the steering wheel before resting her head against it.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Startled, Kara shot straight up and saw Trace waving at her on the other side of her window.

"Shit! You could've given me a heart attack," she exclaimed, placing a hand on her chest.

Trace chuckled.

"Sorry, I was just making sure you were okay. I pulled up and it looked like you were asleep or dead or something."

Kara chuckled.

"And that would just be tragic, huh?" She joked, opening the door.

"I'm sure Justin would think so," Trace smirked.

Kara's jaw dropped. She knew his gentleman facade was too good to be true. There's no way that he'd be that okay with everything that's transpired between their group.

"Um, look I'm sorry," he stammered.

"No, no deserved that. I'd be upset too if..."

Kara rested her weight against her car door and looked down at her feet, not able to look Trace in the eyes anymore. This is why her feet didn't work earlier. Her body was trying to prevent her from seeing the pain and hurt on his face. Trace cleared his throat and broke the silence between them.

"Um, I have your stuff in my trunk," he said, motioning to his black BMW parked a few cars down from hers.

She followed him to his vehicle and waited as he used his remote to pop the trunk. Kara didn't realize how much of her stuff she'd left at his house until she saw the box sitting there. A bag of toiletries, two pairs of shoes, a pair of jeans, a sundress, a few tops, her favorite Pink! bra, three paperback novels and her Snoopy was sitting on top of it all. She reached in and grabbed the stuffed animal, hugging it to her chest.

"I thought I'd lost him forever."

She grinned like she was 10 years old again.

"Nope, he's been hanging out with me, keeping me company."

The last part was barely above a whisper. Kara's heart fell to her stomach; she'd really hurt him. And for what? For a few passion filled nights with Justin? Because that's what she was realizing that's all their affair was. Yeah, he was amazing in bed and sexual chemistry radiated between them, but if you took that away what's left? With Trace she had the fire in the bedroom and so much more. He had shown her what love was, broken down the brick wall she'd erected in the past, saw her for the beautiful, charming, intelligent, quirky woman she was. He'd loved her, truly loved her, and she threw that away for a few rounds in the sack with someone who couldn't even remember her name the first three times they'd seen each other. It was a mistake, she saw that now, and she wanted to fix it.

Kara took a deep breath and reached for her box of belongings. She placed Snoopy back in it and gripped the bottom, trying to pull it out the trunk. The box was heavier than she thought and would've slipped from her grasp had Trace not put his arms out to help her.

"Here, let me get that," he said, taking the box.

Their fingers brushed in the exchange and Kara felt a spark of electricity. They both froze in place and stared at each other for a few seconds. That's when Kara realized that she definitely wasn't over him, and he wasn't over her either.

"Um," Trace began, "I'll put this in your car for you."

"Thanks," Kara smiled meekly before leading him silently back to her car.

She opened her trunk and watched him place the box in. He hesitated a moment before grabbing Snoopy.

"I guess it's time for you to go back to your rightful owner, buddy."

He handed the plush animal to Kara before closing the trunk. He turned to walk away when she grabbed his arm.

"Wait. Do you wanna grab lunch or something? I know you said you just had to drop some stuff off, and I don't have any plans..."

Trace held up a hand, stopping her mid-sentence.

"I can't today, sorry."

"Oh, do you have plans after this? We can go tomorrow."

"No, we can't. And we can't do it the next day either."

"Well, how about dinner then?" She asked, still persistent.

Trace shook his head.

"We can't do breakfast, lunch or dinner. We can't do anything. I need time. I need space. I'm sorry."

And with that he walked away.

Maybe it was already too late.

Three days had passed since her encounter with Trace, and Kara had been doing a lot of thinking. Seeing him again had been like some kind of awakening, and she knew now that she had been living in some kind of fantasy bubble with Justin, and at some point all bubbles had to burst. The pain in Trace's eyes was haunting, and she had caused all that suffering for nothing. Justin was a great guy, great musician, but he wasn't the one for her. Her biggest regret in life now was that she had given up someone so special and wonderful like Trace for something purely physical like her relationship with Justin.

"What are you thinkin'?"

Kara's head snapped up at the sound of Justin's voice. He'd just gotten home the night before from doing damage control on their affair. He looked exhausted and relieved, but that wasn't going to last long. He was leaving again the following afternoon for some more interviews.

"Nothing," she answered quickly.

Justin raised an eyebrow from his relaxed position across the sofa.

"Really? You were staring at that patch of carpet for a good 10 minutes, and I think you were holding your breathe for atleast two of those minutes."

"I just thought I saw a stain, but it was nothing. Just a shadow."

Justin's eyebrow lowered, but the corner of his mouth rose like he was literally chewing over her explanation.

"You know, you've been acting strange since I got back. Did something happen while I was gone? Paparazzi attack?"

"No," she lied. "I'm fine."

He let out a sigh and slowly stood up.

"Well, I'm gonna put a pizza in the oven. Pepperoni or Hawaiian?"

"Pepperoni."

"You got it."

Kara twirled a strand of her curly hair around a finger as Justin's footsteps faded out of the family room. Soon she heard the banging and clanking of pots and pans as he undoubtably dug around for a cookiesheet to bake the pizza on.

"I saw Trace the other day," she called.

The distinct clank of something metal falling to the floor sounded through the house. And then Justin's swift footsteps came back into the room. Kara turned to look over the back of the sofa at him, and the boys' eyebrows were raised nearly to his hair line.

"You don't think that would have come under the category of 'something happening while I was gone?'"

Kara shrugged.

"Slipped my mind?"

Justin wanted to roll his eyes at that, but he kept it to himself. He walked around the side of the sofa to sit down next to her.

"So, tell me about it. Where were you?"

He noticed that Kara shifted uncomfortably and turned her gaze back to the floor.

"Um, we were at William Rast."

"What were you doing over there?" He asked.

He'd never known her to randomly drop by the offices before.

"He had some stuff to give back to me, so I met him over there."

Justin nodded.

"Well, did he say anything?"

"You'd be sad if I died."

Justin's jaw dropped momentarily, and then his brow crinkled.

"What?"

"Nothing," Kara waved him off. "It was sort of a joke. Something you had to be there for, I guess."

"I guess. So, did he say anything else?"

"No," she said softly.

Justin blew out a gush of air and his hand dropped onto her knee.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Is there anything else?"

"No."

"You're sure this time?"

"Yeah. That's it J."

He leaned over and placed a soft kiss on her cheek. She plastered on a half hearted smile in return.

"I'm gonna go finish that pizza."

The couple ate dinner with a Knicks game playing in the background. Justin had a five-hundred dollar bet going with a friend over the outcome of this game, and Kara was glad there was something to distract his attention from her, though he still took the time to shoot her questioning and concerned glances during the commercial breaks. But when it came time for them to head upstairs to bed, part of Kara wished they had something else to do instead, or that she'd been smart enough to keep her own separate bedroom down the hall.

Justin shut off the TV and took her hand to guide her up the stairs. Her belly was full of butterflies as he stripped off her clothes and laid her down on the big bed. She could tell he'd been jonesin to get close to her ever since he'd gotten home the night before and she'd conveniantly been asleep when he walked in the door. But now they were both awake, and his ice blue eyes had long since faded into the navy look they got when he was filled with lust.

Everything he did was the same, and as usual he did it to perfection. His large hands spanned her hips, and his thick erection pulsated against her stomach. His tongue flicked across her collarbone and he placed gentle butterfly kisses all over her skin. Underneath him she trembled like a teenage girl about to do it for the first time.

It felt nice. Everything he was doing felt nice, and was technically perfect, but Kara couldn't seem to get herself fully into the mood, and couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

Finally it came time for him to enter her body, which had always been her favorite part before. His member was the same: long, warm, sturdy and rock hard. And judging by the moan he let out in her ear she still felt the same to him. But Kara's mind was a whirlwind. She could feel him there, pushing and stretching; invading her body with his own. But for the first time, in her mind all she could think was that she couldn't wait for it to be over.

It felt nothing like it had before. It wasn't pleasureable, it wasn't hot and steamy, nor was it Earth moving. It just felt like a thing, a chore. Like she had stepped outside of herself and was watching her body go through the motions with no life behind her eyes. And when he climaxed, pressing into her as deeply as he could, she pretended right along with him, thankful when he finally rolled off of her to go to sleep.

He tucked her into her usually nook, her back pressed against him and her head under his chin. Kara was relieved that things seemed fine with him. Her head was already spinning so fast with thoughts and questions about Trace, she didn't know what she'd do if Justin began to catch on. He'd undoubtably ask questions, and she wasn't up for being given the third degree, especially with questions she honestly didn't know the answer to.

Behind her, Justin was frowning. Kara didn't think he'd noticed the difference in her, but he had. It was hard not too. Her eyes were distant and unfocused, her movements mechanical. She was nothing like the Kara he was used too. He knew it had something to do with Trace. She'd been acting completely different since she saw him, and he knew deep down in the pit of his stomach that she wasn't completely over him. It was a fact that made his heart ache. Silently he prayed that this little setback didn't have any long lasting effects on their relationship. He was happy with Kara, and everyday he could feel himself falling more and more in love with her. As far as Justin was concerned, losing Kara wasn't an option.

Kara woke up the next morning -well, afternoon after taking a glance at her bedside alarm clock- to an empty bed and silent house. Figuring that Justin was either in his office or down in the home studio, she gathered her bearings and wrapped the navy top sheet around her body before heading to the bathroom. It wasn't until she picked her toothbrush that she saw the note.

Kara,
So, change of plans. PR moved some of the interviews up so I had to leave this morning. This leaves us with both good and bad news: the good news is that I'll hopefully be back sooner and we can continue where we left off last night. And the bad news is that I miss you already. Hopefully you see this before I call you or it'll be pointless. I would've woken you up and told you but you looked so peaceful. Ok, my ride is here so I'll call you later.
Love,
Justin

Kara jumped when she heard her toothbrush clatter in the sink; she hadn't even realized she'd dropped it. No. This wasn't happening. He didn't mean it. He couldn't. Panic started to come over her and it was then that she decided she had to move out...soon.

She finished brushing her teeth, threw on a kick-around dress and grabbed her netbook before settling downstairs on the couch. She honestly didn't know the first thig about apartment hunting so she did the only thing she knew to do and googled 'apartment Los Angeles'. The fourth linkdown piqued her interest and pretty soon she found herself browsing the various places on Apartments.com. She didn't need much, just a one bed-one bath within a reasonable price range. She wasn't sure how long she'd be living there, and though she had some money saved up she didn't want to blow it all on a couple months rent in some lavish condo. After browsing a few websites and getting frustrated at how confusing they were she looked up the nearest apartment locator. And after a quick phone call she had an appointment in the next hour.

Now she had to tackle the hurdle that was the paparazzi. She wanted to tell Justin in her own time and if even one photo was snapped she'd be screwed. She decided to keep her outfit casual, pairing a black polo with a pair of khaki shorts and flip flops. Minimal make-up and a pair of aviator sunglasses topped off her outfit and she was out the door with 45 minutes to make it to her appointment.

"So Ms. Sotelo, you said you were in the market for a one bedroom?"

"Yes, I just need something big enough for me; so just one bedroom andone bath is fine," Kara replied, looking over the few pamphlets the realtor had given her.

"And when are you looking to move?" Tasha asked.

"As soon as possible actually. Like this afternoon wouldn't too soon," Kara chuckled nervously.

Tasha raised an eyebrow.

"Roommate problems?"

"You could say that," Kara mumured.

"Boyfriend problems," the realtor concluded.

Kara froze. Her relationship with Justin hadn't come up in the converstaion, and she had thought that the woman didn't recognize her, but maybe she was wrong.

"Don't worry, I see situations like this all the time. Everything done in my office is confidential, I even have my employees sign confidentiality agreements; you're fine Ms. Sotelo," Tasha reassured her.

Kara nodded before looking back down at the pamphlets.

"Now, I have a few properties that are available for us to visit today if you'd like."

"No, that won't be necessary. I think I'm going to go with this one," Kara said.

She picked a spacious and beautiful unit whose complex had every ammenity she could think of and the one thing she needed most, privacy. It was a bit over the price range she'd initially wanted to stay in, but for the seclusion the place offered it was worth it.

"And you said a six-month lease, right?"

"Yes," Kara responded, nodding.

"Ok, well let me go get your paperwork ready and I'll be right back."

Kara smiled and nodded as Tasha left the room. She sighed heavily and was relaxing in her chair when her phone began vibrating in her purse. She pulled the device out and saw Justin's name and picture flashing on the screen. Shit, did he know? She thought she had avoided the paps.

"Hey you," she said, answering the device.

"Hey yourself. Whatcha doing babygirl?"

Kara could hear the smile in his voice. Obviously he had no idea.

"Nothing, just looking at some paperwork."

That wasn't a complete lie.

"Oh ok, I was just checking on you. You were sleeping so soundly when I left this morning."

"Why didn't you wake me? I would've seen you off."

"It's ok, I'm gonna be back tomorrow afternoon."

"So soon?"

"Yeah, and you know what I've been thinking? We should go out. Like to dinner and a movie."

"A date night? I don't know..."

"Ms. Sotelo, if you'll sign right here you'll be all set for your six-month lease."

Kara's eyes got as big as saucers. Shit, Justin may not have known about her moving out before, but he definitely knew now.

"Lease? What's going on? Where are you?"

Justin was firing questions left and right at her and she didn't know how to respond.

"Are you signing a lease? Are you moving out?"

Once again Kara was speechless.

"Say something dammit," Justin said angrily.

"I-I," she stuttered.

"You what?" He asked.

"I-I gotta go."

Kara pulled the device away from her face and powered it down before stuffing it back in her purse.

Shit!

It wasn't until an hour later that she finally made it back home. Her hands had been trembling against the steering wheel the entire way, not just from the adrenaline of her having just leased a new place on a whim, but also because of all the drama circling her love life. Justin had called her phone multiple times since she'd hung up on him, and every time she let it go to voice mail. She knew it was rude of her -especially considering she was the guilty party and he hadn't done anything wrong- but she had no idea what to say to him, and a delicate situation like this needed special care. Stepping back into Justin's house, it felt like just that, Justin's house.

While it was lavish and comfortable and beautiful, it didn't feel like home. She realized then that it never had, she'd only been trying to force it to be. It smelled like him, and his family pictures adorned the walls, but her mark wasn't anywhere. Her trinkets didn't clutter the coffee table and bookshelves, and there were no pictures of her anywhere, save for the one Justin kept on his desk in his office upstairs.

Kara didn't have much time to let her mind wander though. Justin had already planned to be back the next day, and now that he knew about her moving out, there was no telling if he'd do anything to speed that up. She wouldn't be surprised if he somehow magically appeared back here within the next two hours. High tailing it up to their bedroom, she pulled the forgotten suitcases down from the closet shelf and started packing.

Kara glanced around her new apartment again, gnawing at her bottom lip in the process. She'd been here for exactly two days, and it looked like she'd only been there a few hours. The walls remained eggshell white, and the hardwood floor was in perfect condition. There was no furniture -except for the dining room table and six matching chairs- and the living room was cluttered with the boxes of items brought over from Marz' house.

All of that would have been fine with Kara, if Justin hadn't been on his way over. She'd finally called him back the day before, and to say that he'd been pissed off wouldn't do justice to the mood he was actually in. He was hurt and confused, wondering what he'd done to make her run off behind his back the way she had. She couldn't even begin to explain to him what she was feeling, since she didn't understand it herself. All she could do was tell him that their relationship had been moving too fast, and she needed time to get used to all of the recent changes in her life, and space to grow into her new self. He had insisted on seeing her face-to-face, and after awhile he finally got her to cough up her address. Just as Kara turned to tidy up the bare bathroom, a rapping sounded on the oak door, a rapping that was distinctly Justin's. She didn't check the peep hole before pulling open the door.

His hands were braced against the door frame, and his head stooped low. He didn't move for a moment after she opened the door, but when he did lift his head to meet her stare his eyes were light pink. He was rather obviously upset.

"Gonna invite me in?"

Kara stepped to the side and Justin strolled in, glancing around as he took in his surroundings. His scent wafted through the air, attacking Kara's senses. He smelled amazing, like pine trees, soap, cologne, and a little bit of sweat.

"You don't have any furniture." He stated.

"It's on my list of things to do."

"What do you sleep on?"

"You'd be surprised how good the floor is for your back."

He turned to face her, and the intensity of his stare made her suck in a deep breath. His eyes were icy blue, almost clear, and whatever emotion he was feeling inside burned behind them like fire. When Kara gasped Justin swallowed heavily, and visibly forced himself to relax. His gaze slid down her body, from her black tank and denim cut offs to her bare feet and back up again. When he looked her in the eye again his orbs were their normal blue, but he was still ticked.

"How are you?"

She folded her arms across her chest and nodded once.

"Good."

Justin's lips pressed together until they were nothing but a thin line.

"Good," he said.

Then he turned on his heel and headed off toward the kitchen, undoubtedly to take inventory on the food in her fridge. Unfortunately her food situation was just like her furniture situation. Bare.

"You don't have any food."

When she stepped into the stainless steel kitchen the freezer door was hanging open, and Justin was inspecting the fridge. He withdrew his head, and pulled out its only contents: two half empty Chinese food boxes, her leftovers from last night.

"That's on my list too."

"Long list."

"I've been busy."

He glanced over his shoulder at her, his expression pure sarcasm.

"Like I haven't noticed."

Kara didn't reply, but rolled her eyes when he went back to his inspection. Who the hell made him a city ordinance inspector?

"Do you have a land line?"

"I have a cell phone."

"It's for emergencies. Cell towers will go down in the event of an Earthquake and then what will you do?"

"I'll add it to my list."

"Along with buying a washer and dryer for those plugs over there?"

Kara uncrossed her arms and placed her hands firmly on her hips.

"If you only wanted to come over here so you could rag on me, then you can feel free to leave."

He opened his open, ready to fire back a smart mouth comment, but quickly thought better and shut it. His intentions were to continue his relationship with Kara, despite the fact that she felt this silly need to live on her own. But she wasn't going to want to stay with him if he was being a complete jack ass to her. Instead he pulled himself up to sit on the counter top, his dangling feet kicking the cabinet doors like a little kid.

"Do you like it here?"

Kara's hands dropped from her hips and she shrugged.

"So far. I mean, it's only been two days. But it's interesting. I've never lived on my own before."

"Yeah, just remember it's only fun sometimes."

The room remained silent for a beat, and Kara glanced away from him.

"So, I went away for one day, to do press for a relationship that you wanted to make public, and while I'm gone you decide that you don't want to live with me..."

"Justin."

"...And you sign a binding contract for your own apartment, for which you have no furniture or food..."

"Justin, I don't want to fight with you."

"...So I'm just wondering: are you still my girlfriend, or did that end when you left the house?"

She paused. Her eye lids blinked repeatedly, and she rubbed her arm nervously. Finally she half shrugged and asked, "What do you want?"

Justin's head jerked, and he cupped his ear as if he couldn't hear her.

"Excuse me?"

"I asked you what you wanted."

"Now you decide to ask me what I want? A little after the fact, don't you think?"

Kara rolled her eyes and walked into the living room. Her original plan had been to sit on the sofa, until she remembered she didn't have one. Justin followed her, stopping by the French doors that opened to the balcony.

"I have to give you credit, you pulled this together fast. I figured it'd take you a couple days to get everything in order, but when I got home all your stuff was gone, like you'd never been there at all. Except for your smell, that's still everywhere."

"Justin, we've been over this. It isn't about you, or anything you did. This is about me. I wish you'd at least try to understand."

He turned his back to the view and folded his arms. Her eyes betrayed her and traveled to his flexing biceps.

"Well, first things first, we need to get some food. It's almost one in the afternoon and there's nothing in there telling me you had breakfast today. Then we'll look at some furniture, because you don't need to be sleeping on the fucking floor."

Too tired to argue, and to overwhelmed to deny his help, she simply nodded.

"And then, when we're done, I'll tell you exactly what it is I want."

Chapter Seventeen

You're dead to me.

Kara dropped her phone on the kitchen counter when she saw the text message from her sister. The clattering sound brought Justin to his feet and at her side in moments.

"What happened? What did you see?"

His questions went unanswered. Kara couldn't say a word, and even if she did manage to get something out it would be muffled by the trembling hand that was covering her mouth. Her phone vibrated with another message and that's when Justin noticed the device sitting there.

First you steal my boyfriend from me and now you're living with him? We're done.

He quickly closed out the text, but it was too late. Kara had seen it and the damage was done.

"I--I can't---I don't know what to..."

She didn't get the chance to finish her sentence. Justin's arms were around her in an instant and her face was buried in his chest. That scent, his scent that once flooded her senses with warmth and comfort, now brought with it a tinge of sadness.

"It's ok," he said as he rubbed her back soothingly.

"No, it's not ok!" She exclaimed stepping back out of his embraced.

Startled by her reaction Justin remained silent.

"I'm sick of people saying that it'll be ok. It wasn't ok when we lost our parents four years ago and it's not ok now!"

Kara was literally vibrating in Justin's hands.

"I promised her that I would be there no matter what after the crash," Kara said between sobs. "And now she can't even stand to look at me; shit I can't stand to look at me!"

"Kara, don't say that," Justin soothed, reaching out to wrap her back in his embrace.

Kara's swat of the hand thwarted that attempt though.

"I can't....I can't deal with this," she said, covering her mouth with her right hand once again before retreating to the solace of her bedroom.

Justin stood there dumbfounded and confused. What the hell just happened? Two days ago they were out buying furniture for her temporary apartment and now she had barricaded herself in her bedroom. He thought they were headed down the path of reconciliation, which was the right path in his mind. He sighed in frustration and slid a hand down his face before making his way into the living room and plopping down on the couch that had been delivered the previous day.

He started to run a mental reel of the week's events, trying to figure out what would cause Marz to send something like that to her sister. She already knew about their affair and had previously made her feelings known so that probably wasn't it. They didn't run into her or any of her acquaintances while furniture shopping, in fact they really didn't run into anyone. Luck must've been on their side because they hardly ran into any paparazzi and both of the furniture places they went to were completely deserted. The stores were promptly closed to the public once Kara and Justin removed their sunglasses and revealed who they were and they were allowed to shop in peace. One of the stores had delivered Kara's living room and dining room pieces yesterday. Just a couch, lounge chair, dining table and four chairs; and the other store had delivered her bedroom furniture earlier that day.

They weren't even hounded by paparazzi when they enjoyed a quick lunch at a local deli, so what could it be? What triggered this sudden anger in Marz? What pissed her off so much that she'd send that message to her sister? Justin's Blackberry chimed, indicating he had an email. It was from Ken, his publicist. It was pictures taken at a distance of him and Kara shopping two days ago and under them was the simple question: Is she moving in with you?

Shit.

This was what did it. If Ken had these pictures that meant Marz's PR team had them too. They'd probably contacted her and asked for a statement, standard procedure, but not so standard when what they're asking you about hits you from left field. What sucked was that the press had it wrong. And it wasn't like this was the first time that's happened either. Justin silently wished that he could text his publicist back and say, "yes, we're together now and it's time to do damage control for Marz." But the first part of that statement wouldn't be true. As of now his relationship with Kara was in limbo; he could tell that she didn't have the strength to fight him a couple days ago when he took her furniture shopping, and he hadn't brought up the issue since.

For a moment he'd thought that they were back to their old selves when she suggested lunch at that corner bistro. He jumped at the opportunity, and was happy to see that smile that crept on her face halfway through the meal. But that smile was gone now. In fact, he couldn't even see her face at all now. The only thing he could hear were the sobs that were coming from the other side of her bedroom door. He decided to try his luck and see if he could get her to open the barrier that separated them by rapping at the wooden door twice.

No answer.

Two more knocks.

Sniffles.

"Kara," he said timidly, pressing his ear to the door.

No answer.

"Kara, open the door babe."

There was silence on the other end that seemed to last for an eternity before he heard the click of the lock being turned, and he backed up as she eased the door open. Just the sight of her brokenness, her tearstained face, made his heart fall to his stomach. He wanted to wrap her up in his arms and try to soothe her pain, but he didn't think that would help after his first attempt failed and sent her in the room in the first place.

"I promised her," Kara stated in a small voice.

"You promised her what?" He asked.

"I promised her that I'd always be there. 'We're all we've got'. That's what we used to tell each other. And now, I've reneged on that promise. I lied. I hurt her, and I lost her," Kara whispered before collapsing into Justin's open arms.

He was confused as to what she was talking about, but stood strong. He wanted to question her, try to understand what she meant, but didn't want to push her too far. This fragile state that she was in seemed to be taxing enough on her, and the last thing either one of them would need would be a complete emotional breakdown. He rubbed her back soothingly and kissed the crown of her head sweetly before whispering in her hair.

"Whether you believe it or not, everything's going to be ok. Trust me."

And she wanted too.

Justin scooped her up into his arms and carried her into the bedroom and placed her on the newly delivered queen-sized bed before tucking her in. She needed to rest. He could only imagine the headache she was experiencing with everything going at a million miles an hour in her mind and she deserved a good nap. He could handle the situation with Ken on his own and try to do something about Marz. Justin sent up a silent prayer that Marz would hear him out and brushed a sweet kiss across Kara's forehead before turning on his heels to head out of the room. He'd taken two steps when he heard her tell him to wait.

"Stay with me; I don't want to be by myself," she said in a barely there voice.

This was a side of her that he wasn't used to seeing; vulnerability. His heart strings were tugged once more. Justin did as she wished though. He lay down behind her and wrapped his arms around her middle protectively as she snuggled into his embrace. He heard her sigh and rubbed his thumb against her abdomen in no particular pattern.

"I don't know if I told you this, or if Marz did, but our parents died in a car crash about four years ago," Kara said after the room had been silent for a while.

"I'm sorry."

Justin whispered his condolences and was shocked when he felt her chuckle.

"You know, I used to reply with 'me too' when people told me that. I guess there's not really an appropriate response to someone's death in our society, huh?"

Justin shook his head, not thinking that she couldn't see him.

"It wasn't even their fault. They were coming back from an event for the sorority my mom belonged to in college and were t-boned by a drunk driver. They were less than a mile away from home too."

Justin was shocked with how even her voice was as she told him this, but said nothing; silently encouraging her to continue.

"Marz had just signed her contract with Jive, but hadn't started recording yet. They'd told her that it would be perfectly okay if she wanted to take some time off and grieve, you know, give her some more time to record the album, but she declined. She sat there in that boardroom and told them that she had everything she needed sitting right next to her to get the album done. And you know what that was? Me. It was then that I vowed to stay by her side no matter what. Through all the bullshit she put me through, the snide remarks, everything. I couldn't turn my back on her, and not because she was my sister, but because we were all each other had left. I don't think she ever got the chance to grieve properly, you know? She was literally in the studio two weeks after the funeral. It took her six months to record everything and within another five the album was out and she was on the road."

Wow. Justin didn't know what to say. Now he understood why Kara was behaving like this. She'd been the backbone for her sister and now…well, now she wasn't. Both of them had incredible strength. He didn't know what he'd do if he lost his mom, let alone both of his parents at such a young age. He definitely wouldn't have been able to begin a career in this industry.

"I gotta make this right," he heard her whisper.

"I have to," she murmured, before going to sleep.

~*~

"So, where do we go from here?"

Justin looked up from the mug of coffee he was nursing. Apparently Kara wasn't the only one who needed the nap. Both of them slept for what seemed like days and woke up well rested that evening. Kara did her best thinking hyped up on caffeine and decided to put on a pot of coffee once they'd emerged from the bedroom and now the two of them were seated in her living room in silence until she posed her question.

"What do you mean: where do you want to go from here?"

"Well I obviously want to go work things out with my sister, but seeing as she's no longer talking to me how are we going to spin things so that neither one of you are seen in too much of a negative light?"

Justin sighed. He thought she'd been asking about their relationship.

"We can put all the blame on me, I don't mind. It's not like I'm not already being deemed as the bad guy in this situation."

"Whoa! Hold up," Justin said, interrupting her rant. "We're both adults here, and we both knew what we were getting into when we started this. I'm at fault in this just as much as you are."

"Justin, you have an image to uphold. Something like this could ruin you!"

"Well if that's what it comes to then fine. If people are more concerned about my goddamn private life than they are about my music then they weren't fans from the start. I need you to stop trying to carry the world on your shoulders. I don't know how you've managed to stay sane all these years with all this pressure you have on yourself."

Kara brushed it off.

"I'm just doing what needs to be done."

"No, you're overcompensating so that you and your sister don't have to deal. You said earlier that Marz never really got a chance to grieve, but you know what, I don't think you did either. You dove into your sister's career along with her. I'm right. I usually am," he said, eliciting a chuckle from the both of them.

"You never just stopped and cried over the loss of your parents."

Kara held up a finger but Justin continued, ignoring her protest.

"No, hear me out here. I understand you want to be there for you sister since you are all she has left as far as immediate family goes, but your happiness and sanity needs to be taken into account here too. The world doesn't revolve around Marz. As much as she thinks it does, it doesn't. She wasn't the only person who lost their parents that night, you did too. And I think since then you've taken on that role and have made it your job to not only take all the bullshit she throws your way, but to shield her from the wrong in the world. Now I'm in no way trying to diminish our affair, it was wrong and you and I both know that, but the world isn't all unicorns and cotton candy. It's hard and cruel and everything doesn't always work in your favor."

Justin took a deep breath, not realizing that he'd made his spiel in one breath. He paused for a beat, letting Kara digest his words and was shocked when he saw a smirk cross her face.

"What?" He asked confused.

"Thank you."

"For?"

"Being my own personal Confucius," she chuckled.

He mimicked her laugh.

"No, really, you're right. Thank you for opening my eyes to what I was doing. I'd been doing it so long that I hadn't even realized how destructive it was."

"What? I never told you that I minored in Psychology in the School of Hard Knocks?" He joked.

Kara emitted a hearty laugh.

"Oh wow. I wasn't expecting that," she continued laughing.

Justin placed his mug on her coffee table and rose to his feet before bowing mockingly to Kara. His blackberry tumbled out of his pocket and landed with a soft thud on the carpet next to Kara's feet with the screen still displaying his email from Ken Sunshine. At the bottom of the screen, under the pictures and Ken's question Justin had written I don't know; I don't even know anything now, but he hadn't sent the message yet.

"What do you mean by this?" Kara asked, pointing to the device.

Justin inwardly cursed himself before responding.

"I meant exactly what I said. I don't know anything anymore when it comes to us. I mean, I thought we were on the same page in this relationship. I thought we both wanted this, that we were gonna fight for this, but I come back home and you've leased an apartment for six months. How am I supposed to take that, Kara?"

She sighed and lowered her head. She knew that this conversation was going to come back up. They never did finish it the other day.

"You never answered my question, you know," she said, raising her head slowly to meet his gaze.

"What question?"

"What do you want? What do you want from me? What do you want from this?"

Now it was Justin's turn to sigh. He sat down next to her and took her mug from her, placing it next to his on the table. He took her right hand between his and looked her in eyes before responding.

"I want you. All of you. With me. I want to wake up in the morning with your hair splayed across my chest. I want your scent to be the first thing I breathe in when I open my eyes, your face to be the first thing I see. I want to shoot the shit with you and be perfectly at ease with lounging around the house all day in sweats with you, or be just as comfortable taking you out on the town. We've never been able to do that and I want to so badly. I want to show the world that I'm happy and you're the reason why."

"But the papers-." Kara began.

"Fuck them. Fuck the media! They're not the ones in this relationship. We are. Do you hear me?"

He placed a finger under her chin and raised it so that her eyes met his once more.

"But that is if you still want to be. I thought we were on the same page, but I don't know now. Do you still want to be with me?"

Kara didn't know how to answer the question. She searched his eyes for a clue, but all she could see in them were hope; hope that she wanted the same thing he did.

"I don't know," she told him honestly. "It's just....."

Sitting in front of Justin now, she thought about all the things that had happened to them, and all that they'd experienced because of their inability to say no the physical attraction. There were things she'd always be grateful to him for, like the way he made her feel when he looked at her with pure sexual hunger. She had never felt like that with any man before. Justin was gorgeous, and smart, and so much fun to be with. Not to mention the sex was amazing. But he didn't make her feel like there was someone out there who loved her more than life. She didn't feel secure and fulfilled. He wasn't it, he wasn't the one.

"I can't," she said.

Watching his face fall was the hardest part. His eyes went dark as hope diminished and he looked away from her and down to the floor, letting go of her hand.

"Justin, I'm sorry. I had a really great time with you-."

He snorted and turned away from her, staring off toward the fireplace.

"I had a great time with you," he mocked. "This is the part where you give me the brush off."

"No, this is the part where I'm finally honest, with you and myself. I had a great time with you, and you're a great guy. It's just that this isn't for me. It's not what I need right now."

"So tell me what I'm doing wrong," he said.

She could hear the hurt and desperation in his voice. She had wanted to spare them both the pain, but apparently that was impossible.

"I can be whatever it is that you need. Tell me it is."

Kara sighed, thinking over everything. Her life was topsy-turvy right now. Her boyfriend was gone, her sister was gone, and her job was gone. With everything she'd worked so hard for having disappeared, what was it that she needed most?

"I need you to be there for me."

"Of course."

"But not as my boyfriend," she clarified. "As my friend. As my dear friend."

Justin was silent for a moment. Then he looked over at her, studying her eyes. He knew the look of determination on her face, and caught the resolve in her eyes. For the first time in a long time, part of her seemed to be at ease.

"There's no talking you out of this, is there?"

Kara shook her head no, and Justin sighed and ran a hand over his face. This was turning out to be one hell of a day.

"I don't understand," he said.

"It's the right thing, Justin. We have to do what we can to make it right, regardless of the toll it takes on us personally. And I think we've both known for awhile that this wasn't the right fit."

Justin was silent for a long while, and Kara started to wonder what he was thinking.

"This blows," he muttered finally.

"Yeah."

It did suck. Justin was the one friend she had left, and now she had to say goodbye to him too.

"Well, on that note I guess I better go."

"Justin-," she began.

He shook his head as he stood.

"It's fine," he told her. "I'm alright. I just need some time to myself, you know?"

Kara nodded, and stood up to follow him down the hall and to the front door. He opened the door, and turned to look back at her. He opened his mouth like he wanted to say something to her, but no words came out. It was the strangest feeling, knowing you were losing something but not being all that upset about the loss. It was sadness that she felt, not hurt or anger, and she knew inside that she'd miss him. They'd still be friends, but it'd never be the way it was before. Maybe that was the notion Justin had no words to convey.

He opened his arms, and she smiled as she stepped into them. When they wrapped around her, she closed her eyes at the feeling. He was warm, and solid, and that ever present masculine scent floated around her. Suddenly she realized she'd never rest her head on his chest or fall sleep in the little nook below his chin again. Kara stepped back, looking up at him, and they both smiled softly. His hands cupped her face, brushing her cheeks and memorizing her skin. His fingertips brushed her lips, and his eyes traced the contours of her face.

Leaning down, Justin touched his mouth to hers softly. He brushed his lips over hers, feeling her exhale of breath one last time. The same pulse of electricity rolled through him, and he felt it everywhere, including some places he probably shouldn't have. Her lips parted, and he pulled her closer, their tongues touching each other hesitantly. He tasted like fresh coffee, and it was bittersweet. Finally he broke the kiss, resting his forehead against hers. Her hands pressed into his back, in their last hug for who knew how long.

"Bye, Kara," he whispered.

Then he was gone.

~*~

Without Justin around the next few days passed slowly, but that was okay with Kara. She had plenty of thinking to do. Trace had made it pretty clear that wasn't interested in rekindling any kind of relationship with her, but hopefully she'd have more success with getting her sister to reconsider the finality of her words. Of course, that meant that somehow she'd have to actually get Marz to talk to her, which was much easier said than done. Marz had gone through a lot of trouble, changing the codes to the front gate and changing the locks on the doors, so it wasn't like Kara could just pop in a surprise her. Getting her to show up to a meeting was out of the question, since she couldn't even get Marz to answer her cell phone. Left with just one other option, Kara scrolled through her phonebook and called the only person who could help her at this point.

"Hello?"

"Hey Lauren."

"Kara? Hi. How have you been?"

"Fine. I've been fine. You?"

"Pretty good. Busy."

"Yeah," Kara said. "I remember those days. Listen, I don't want to take up your time with bullshit so I'll cut to the chase. I need to talk to Marz."

Lauren paused.

"Um, that's nice, but I'm not sure what that has to do with me."

"I need your help. I need to help set up a meeting with Marz."

"Oh Kara, I don't think there's anything I can do. If she doesn't want to talk then I can't force her."

"I know, but there is something you can do. She won't agree to meet with me, but I think if I can get her face-to-face for a few minutes I can get her to hear me out."

"Kara-."

"All I need you to do is get her to meet me. Tell her she had a lunch meeting or a fitting or something, and I'll handle the rest."

"I don't know Kara. I don't think I should get involved in this. I could lose my job."

"Lauren, please," Kara pleaded. "She's my sister. I don't want to lose her over this. Please help me."

The line was silent for a long while, and Kara started to wonder if the girl had hung up the phone. Finally she heard a soft voice.

"Okay. She isn't going to like this, and I will kill you if I lose my job, but I'll do it."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet. First let's see how things play out. She has some time tomorrow afternoon. I'll tell her she has a styling meeting at the Beverly Hills Hotel."

"Thanks Lauren, you don't know what a big favor you're doing me."

"Just don't forget, you owe me one."

~*~

Kara sat at the end of the beige couch, playing with one of the numerous pens the hotel provided in the suite. After she'd gotten off the phone with Lauren she'd called and booked a suite at the hotel to keep up appearances. She heard the door lock click and sighed, mentally preparing herself. Here's hoping that her money wasn't wasted.

"Whitney, I don't know why we couldn't just do this at my place. You didn't need to bring me all the way here for some samp-."

Marz froze mid-sentence when she saw that her sister was the only other occupant in the room. She took off her sunglasses, and if looks could kill Kara would've been dead on the spot.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Marz asked through clenched teeth.

Just as Kara was about to respond she held up a finger, halting her sister's action.

"You know what? I don't even care. I'm gone."

Marz turned and began walking towards the door when Kara rushed over to her, grabbing her arm in an attempt to stop her from leaving.

"Let me go!" Marz barked, yanking her arm free of her sister's grasp.

"Wait, please. Let me explain. Please," Kara begged.

"Explain what? What else do I need to know that's not already splayed across every tabloid known to man? What else is there to add to this wonderful story?" Marz asked sarcastically. "Pregnancy? Wedding bells? Herpes?!"

"What?! No!"

"Well, what is it then? What can you could tell me that I haven't already read on Perez Hilton's page every day since this shit blew up in my face?"

"Since when did you start reading that trash?" Kara asked.

"Since I started feeling like that's all I deserved," Marz said barely above a whisper.

"Marz, I'm sorry. I am so sorry. And if I have to say it to you for the rest of my life for you to believe me, I will. I am so sorry. I…we never meant for it to happen. I swear! It was never supposed to be anything more than a kiss."

Marz held up a finger, silencing her sister.

"Spare me the details please," she said with disgust.

Kara simply nodded.

"We didn't plan on having that affair. We didn't plan on hurting two of the most important people in our lives. And had I known then what I know now I wouldn't have even agreed to it. I went through all of that and I have nothing to show for it. I lost the best boyfriend I ever had, lost the person who means the most to me by reneging on the promise I made you all those years ago. I even lost my job."

Kara finished with a chuckle, casting her eyes to the ground. Marz couldn't help but chuckle a bit herself before what her sister said really sunk in.

"Wait, what do you mean you have nothing to show for it. Aren't you and Justin still together?"

Kara's face slowly rose to eyelevel with her sister, and Marz could see the tears begging to be released in her eyes.

"No, no we're not."

Marz saw the pain in her sister's face and immediately went into to comforter mode. After all, Kara was still her little sister aside from all that had transpired. Marz wrapped her arms around Kara and just held her as she cried. And cried. And cried. Hearing her younger sister breakdown like that triggered her own floodgate and within minutes both women were bumbling messes.

"I'm so sorry!" Kara exclaimed as the tears racked her body.

"I know, I know," Marz replied, rubbing her back soothingly.

"No, you don't. And you hate me."

"Hate you?" Marz questioned, pulling back looking her sister in the eye. "I don't hate you. I could never hate you, Kara."

"But you said that…"

"I know what I said and I should never have said that. Yeah, I was mad at you -shit I still am- but I could never hate you. Come on, let's sit down. These shoes are killing me."

Kara chuckled. Leave it to Marz to bring up fashion when the two of them are having an emotional breakthrough. The two of them sat next to each other on the couch and Marz took her little sister's hands in hers; something she hadn't done in years.

"What you and Justin did hurt me. It hurt me to the core. It felt like he was repeatedly stabbing me in the back and you were there to twist the knife every time he did. But you know what hurt the most?"

Kara shook her head 'no'.

"That I would probably lose the most important person in my life. When I came home and saw all your stuff gone that's when it sunk in; like, really sunk in what had happened. I'd just lost my sister over some guy who honestly wasn't worth it."

"Me too," Kara whispered, shocked that her sister had uttered the words that she wanted to say. "When you told me to leave that's what I was thinking. I'd broken my promise to you for a guy. For Justin of all guys."

Marz laughed at her sister's mock disgust.

"Hey, don't go knocking on Justin now," she said.

"No, I'm not knocking him. We both knew what we were getting into when we decided to sneak behind you and Trace's backs, and I fully deserve whatever I have coming towards me for that be it here on earth or in the afterlife. But I just want you to know that I sincerely apologize for everything. And I would understand completely if you never want to speak to me again after this, but I had to tell you that."

Marz nodded slowly, and shocked her sister when she giggled.

"What? What's so funny?"

"You've always been hard of hearing, haven't you? Did you not hear anything I said? What would make you think that I don't ever want to speak to you again?"

A small smile spread across her face and Kara imitated her.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't think we'll go back to everything being all peachy keen immediately, but that doesn't mean that I don't think we won't be at that level one day. After all, you did hurt me and it's going to take some time for you to earn my trust back, but at the end of the day you're still my baby sister and I still love you."

"You do?" Kara asked, tears threatening to make another appearance.

"Of course, silly. Now, will I trust you around my boyfriends in the future? Probably not. Screw me once, shame on you. Screw me twice, shame on me. And I'm not going to let that happen again."

"And I promise it's not. I swear," Kara promised.

Marz smiled and nodded slowly.

"I know, I believe you. And I accept your apology."

Those five words lifted a weight off of Kara's shoulders that she didn't realize were there. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and watched her sister glance around the room.

"Was all this a ploy? Like some kind of scheme to get you back in my good graces and on the payroll, missy?"

Marz smiled brightly and Kara felt her heart swell with love for her sister. It'd been so long since she'd seen that expression on her face.

"Graces, yes. Payroll, no."

"No?"

Kara shook her head 'no'.

"You found a job?"

"No."

"So, what are you doing for money? Where are you living?"

"I have my own apartment."

Marz' jaw dropped and Kara nodded.

"I know, right? My very first apartment. I had some money saved up from being your gopher all those years and paid up six months of rent two weeks ago. I figured that would give me enough time to figure out what I want to do with my life. And also some time for me to stay out of the public eye," she laughed softly and Marz followed in suit.

"Ok, I can respect that. And Lauren's learning; I mean, she's not as good as you were."

"That's because I've known you your whole life," Kara smirked.

"Yeah, but she's a fast learner."

Kara nodded in agreement, making a mental note to send Lauren a fruit basket or Edible Arrangement or something to thank her for setting this meeting up.

"So does this mean that you're not going to help me with my music anymore?"

"No, not necessarily. You know that I'll always be around for that, but I want to take these six months and find myself. Figure out who I am outside of being your sister, Trace's ex-girlfriend and Justin's ex-mistress. I want to find myself, you know?"

"Yeah, I do. You take this time and do what makes you happy, okay?"

Kara nodded and wrapped her arms around her sister. Marz sighed in content and hugged her back before whispering, "I love you, Kara. Don't you ever forget that."

Oh damn, here go the waterworks again.

Getting into her car a little while later, Kara let out a sigh of relief. Things weren't perfect between she and Marz -maybe they never would be- but at least they were going to try. This would be new found territory for both of them. They'd been business partners, and boss and employee, but they'd never been just sisters before.

Just as she was putting her seat belt on, Kara's phone started to go off in her purse. She knew it wasn't someone she knew, because the ringtone was the standard one she'd use for strangers and unknown numbers. Picking it up, she checked her makeup in the mirror, wiping away the watery mascara from under her eyes.

"Hello?"

"Yes, is this Kara Sotelo?"

Kara paused. Was this another snotty reporter trying to get the scoop on her love life?

"Possibly. Who may I ask is calling?"

"This is Mark Goldenstein. I work A&R for Columbia Records."

That got Kara's attention. She paused, fumbling over her words.

"I-er--, yes, this is Kara. How can I help you?"

"I wanted to talk to you about a writing opportunity. We have a new artist coming into the Columbia family, and we need some new material. We got an advance copy of the album you did with Justin Timberlake, and it's fantastic."

"Thank you."

"Would you be interested in going to Paris and producing some songs with our artist? We'd pay for all of the expenses of course."

Kara paused, her brain working over time. Columbia records? Paris? Producing?

"Oh, I don't know Mr. Goldenstein. I'm sure you've heard all the rumors swirling in the media about me. I was thinking it was time for me to take a vacation."

"Oh please, Ms. Sotelo," he said. "We've been waiting for a fresh new producer like you for a long time, and you come highly recommended by Mr. Timberlake."

She did?

"Besides, what better vacation is there than one where someone else pays all the costs for you?"

He had a point. She didn't exactly have the money saved up to go flouncing around the world on some grand adventure the way she wanted. And it was a job, in France no less.

"Actually Mr. Goldenstein," she said. "I'd love too. When do I leave?"

Epilogue

Three Years Later

"Listen, there has to be some way to switch things around. I can't miss this, Marz will kill me."

Kara was walking down the streets of New York City. In one hand was a Dean & Deluca mocha -which has long since gone cold- and in the other was her purse strap and her trusty spiral notebook containing all her recent lyrics and song ideas. She had just come out of a meeting, and was on her way back to her hotel to grab a quick nap before she had to be in the studio that evening. On the phone her personal assistant, Nancy, was reviewing her schedule for the next four weeks.

"Kara, you've already booked yourself to go to back to LA and work with Wale. There's not too much wiggle room."

"Well, we're going to have to find some. If worst comes to worst, cancel. He'll just have to understand, it's my sister."

"Yes, Kara."

"Thanks Nancy, you're the best assistant ever."

Kara hung up the phone and shoved it into her purse. The past three years had been a whirlwind. She'd gone to Paris to work with Columbia, and after that her production career had exploded. Now she was so busy, she'd had to hire an assistant of her own. It seemed like she had travelled the world three times over in the past few years, and had worked with more singers and groups than she could have imagined. But all of her best stuff she faxed to Justin first. They weren't the closest of friends, but they traded the occasional friendly email or phone call. He'd been dating a supermodel for the past year and a half, and hopefully everything would keep going well because he was already hearing wedding bells and crying babies in his head. Though their time together had been stressful and stormy, when she thought of him she always had no option but to smile fondly.

Because she wasn't looking where she was going, it shouldn't have surprised her when she walked smack into someone, but it did. Kara let out a startled gasp and threw out her arms to steady her balance. When she had a handle on her footing, she looked up to see who it was she'd collided with. Part of her was surprised whoever it was hadn't started screaming at her yet. She'd found out that the notorious reputation New Yorkers had for being mean was both well earned and the God's honest truth. But when she looked into the familiar face before her, she wondered if maybe she'd have been better off with an irate, screaming stranger.

"Hey, Kara."

"Hi, Trace."

He smiled bashfully at her, and inside her heart fluttered. It'd been three years since their conversation in the parking lot. They hadn't spoken since, and she'd given into the possibility that they never would again. But now here he was, and everything in her turned to girly-mush.

"What are you doing here?" She blurted rudely, and then corrected herself. "I mean, how are you?"

They both let out a nervous laugh.

"I'm good. I'm just on my way to grab some lunch. Just got out of a fitting for the William Rast fashion show next week."

"That's right, I heard about that. Bryant Park again, huh?"

"Yep. It's our fourth year in a row."

"Congratulations, that's awesome."

"Thank you. We've showed there before, but the excitement never gets old."

An awkward silence fell over them, and Trace chewed his bottom lip as he thought over something to say. Inside his pulse was racing, but he didn't want her to know that. She looked beautiful, with her grown out curls and big doe eyes. She looked like the girl he'd known years ago.

"I heard about your sister, on TMZ. It was pretty surprising."

"I know! Marz getting married. Who would have seen it coming?"

"Not me."

Kara giggled.

"She's not so bad anymore. Since we don't work together anymore it's allowed our relationship to grow. I couldn't be happier for her."

"What's the guy like?"

Kara mulled over the question for a second.

"Nice. Smart. Low key. They're very different; a case of opposites attract, I suppose. But, he loves her dearly and that's all that matters to me."

Trace nodded.

"Good for her. Give her my best wishes for me."

"I will. She'll be glad to hear from you. She always liked you."

"I wish I could say the same about her," he laughed.

Kara laughed too, and let her eyes roam over him when he looked away. He looked good. His body had filled out, new muscles flexing in his arms. He wore cargo pants and a William Rast tee-shirt, and his hair buzzed low to his scalp.

"So, um, how are you doing?" She asked. "Still no special someone?"

He shook his head.

"No. I was engaged, but that didn't work out."

"Yeah, I read something about that in the tabloids. I'm sorry."

"It was all for the best," he said. "She knew I wasn't completely into it. Still sulking over the one that got away, I guess."

The breath in Kara's throat hitched when he looked at her. His eyes were soft and longing, almost wistful. She knew he meant her, she was the one who got away, and she blushed. His eyes worked their way down her body, and he cocked his head to the side.

"What about you? No special guy?"

"No, no special guy for me. I just got back from Dhabi, I haven't even thought about dating."

"Dhabi? Wow."

"Yeah. There's a Bollystar looking to make an American crossover, so I went to do a few songs with her."

"Well, if it's a crossover they want than they called the right girl."

Kara giggled.

"We'll see."

"No, I already know. I've been following your career, you're amazing."

"Thanks."

Another round of silence fell over them, but this time it wasn't as awkward as it had been. It was nervous energy, exciting and full of optimism. She'd always felt a spark for him, even after the horrible thing she'd done. Maybe enough time had passed that he'd be over his anger and able to feel the spark again too.

"I'm sorry," she said with a smile. "I keep staring at you. I just can't get over the chances of running into you like this."

"It is pretty crazy."

"Tell me about it. Listen, what are you doing right now? I'm supposed to be gearing up my creative juices, but I don't actually have to work until later. Can I buy you a drink, or lunch, or something?"

Trace shrugged, and for a moment Kara thought he was going to say no.

"Okay, on one condition: I'll let you buy me a drink, if you tell me all about Dhabi."

Kara smiled brightly.

"It's a deal. Do you just want a beer? I know a little pub around the corner. They don't do fancy mixed drinks, but they pop the cap off a Coors Light that is to die for."

Trace swept an arm through the arm and bowed slightly.

"Lead the way."

Heading off, the pair walked side by side toward the small pub on the corner. Their faces were covered in nervous smiles, and their hearts raced a million miles an hour. It felt surreal, almost pre-destined; like they were on the verge of something wonderful.