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.