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

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

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

"What? Marz didn't tell you?"

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

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

"When did he leave?"

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

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

"Huh?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Thank you," she spoke softly.

"For what?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Yeah," Kara answered with a slight nod.

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

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

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

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

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

"Wow…" Kara said almost breathlessly.

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

Haha!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"And how would you know?" Justin asked.

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

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

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

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

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

"Yeah."

"And what do you think?"

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

"Is this a ballad?" she asked.

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

"How did you know?" he asked Kara.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"What? I had a taste for catfish."

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

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

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

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

Well at least I still got a free meal.