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."