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."