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.