SOUNDTRACK: "Chasing Marrakech" - ZHU

MONDAY

"Thanks for the ride," Kate told Samir as he dropped her off at Jared's house. "See you tomorrow."

The man nodded and waved as she closed the passenger door. He waited until she was inside the side door before backing down the driveway. Kate closed the door after herself and locked it. The driveway was empty, signalling that everyone had left for the day. That was one good thing about her schedule: her day was so long, she didn't have time to sit around the house and force herself to interact with Jared's employees.

"Jared! I'm home!" she called through the house.

She walked to her room and got changed from her uniform immediately, glad to be free of it. She could hear Vedder walk through the house and come to a stop on the other side of her closed door. There was still no sign of Jared. In her tank top and sweatpants she padded down the stairs to the studio, thinking he might be in the soundproofed recording area. The lights were off and the door was locked, so she assumed he wasn't inside.

"I guess it's just you and me," Kate said to the dog.

She went back upstairs and spread her books out across the dining table. Without a desk in her room, she had to take the space where she could get it. It wasn't the first time she'd been left alone in her life. There would be times when her mother had a gallery opening or event and Ryan was working. They had trusted her on her own since she was eleven. Halfway through her Chemistry assignment, she heard the garage door open and then a car door slammed.

Jared walked into the kitchen and tossed his keys onto the counter. He looked through the archway and saw her at the table.

"Damn. I meant to be home before you," he apologized. He set a carry out bag on the counter next to his keys. "Did you eat yet?" he asked, tossing his wallet next to the bag.

Kate shook her head, suddenly aware of how empty her stomach was.

"Remember that Mexican place I took you to the first time I had you in LA?" he asked opening the bag. "I thought you might want some tacos."

Kate watched in silence as Jared put two takeout containers on the counter.

"Okay really I just wanted tacos," he finally admitted. "But I got you the same thing you had last time."

"Thanks," she replied standing.

She walked in the kitchen and opened one of the containers as Jared got plates for the two of them.

"This one's yours I think," he said, handing her the other container. He took a big bite of his own taco before putting it onto a plate with the rest of his food. He sighed happily. "I haven't eaten since breakfast," he mumbled around his food.

Kate took a bite and smiled in spite of herself. "Thanks," she said again.

He picked up his plate and walked over to the dining table. "Homework?"

She nodded and followed him. "I have a quiz tomorrow and another paper due on Friday. Plus practice problems to work through," she explained.

Jared looked at her French textbook. "Tu apprends le français?" he asked.

Kate blinked, surprised. "Uh...oui."

He smiled. "I didn't know you spoke another language."

She shrugged. "It's a requirement at school, remember? Plus I already took it last year at my old school. Ryan helped me out a lot with it," she said.

He bobbed his head and finished off a taco as she sat down in front of her books. "You know, I speak a little bit of French. I could help you out with the conversational side of things, maybe," he offered.

"Yeah, maybe," Kate answered. She pulled her Chemistry book toward her. "I've got a lot of work to get done though," she said as means of ending their conversation. "Thanks again for dinner."

Jared nodded and took his plate downstairs, leaving the teen to her work. Little steps, Jared. Little steps, he thought.

THURSDAY

Come to the back parking lot after soccer.

Kate blinked at the message from Samir. Weird. He usually picked her up in the front lot. She shrugged and kicked off her cleats as she grabbed her towel from her locker. She went through the shower quickly, hosing off sweat from her practice.

"Wexler!" Coach Anders said as Kate walked back to her locker, towel around her body. She paused and turned to the coach. "Well done today. I wanted to see how you felt about playing."

"What, like starting?" Kate asked. "I thought you already had the starting lineup finalized."

"It's fluid. Everything is," the coach assured her. "I know you're still settling in, but I'd be willing to play you after Halloween."

Kate smiled. "Of course. That would be great!" she said happily. She had missed the adrenaline rush from games.

"Good. Take care of yourself and keep up the good work in practices and you'll be on the field," the coach said before walking off.

Kate hurried to get dressed, elated at the news. She pulled her uniform back on and put her damp hair up in a messy bun before rushing out of the field house toward the back parking lot. She spotted Samir's car and got in.

"Why the change?" she asked, buckling in.

"Jared wanted me to take you over to the Compound. He wants to show you around," he replied.

"Really?" she asked.

He nodded. "He said something about the Halloween party too."

Kate sat in silence as Samir drove them to the Compound. They came to a stop at a large gate and he rolled his window down to punch in a code. The gate retracted and he drove through to a large parking lot. Kate suddenly understood why everyone was calling it 'the Compound'. She spotted Jared's SUV on one side of the black top as Samir parked next to other employees' cars. A sign reading Wonderland Air Force Base hung above a wall of windows. A retro phone booth stood guard near the main entrance.

"What do you think?" Jared asked as he came toward them, arms open wide. He had a broad smile across his face, but Kate couldn't get past his outfit to give him a response. "I told you it was big." He gave Samir a nod of thanks before leading Kate to one of several entrances to the building. "This is where we're moving in January."

"It's...uh....it's not really homey is it," she remarked. "You expecting Superman to change out there or something?" she asked, nodding to the telephone booth outside. He laughed.

In truth it wasn't homey at all; the rooms were huge and sparsely decorated and it seemed more like a museum than a house. It had a quirky, warehouse vibe that absolutely fit Jared. She spotted the bookshelves from the San Diego house along a wall down a hallway.

"Are those..." she started toward them.

"After seeing how much we needed here, I had the rest of the stuff brought up," Jared nodded. "The place is big enough for it all."

She turned back to him, not wanting to dwell on the reminder of her childhood home. "Samir said you were gonna show me around?"

"Oh, yeah," he said, taking his hands out of his pockets and jumping into action. "That's the main parking lot, obviously. But since most of the offices are downstairs, I'm having most of the interns park on the other side of the building because it leads right into the lowest level. But this is the main level that you'll be spending time in." He walked her through a seating area and into a living room space. "No more sharing your closet with anyone else."

Kate looked at the white walls and the brown tiled floors. It seemed very...industrial.

"Which room is mine?" she asked as they passed a series of open doors.

"You pick," Jared offered generously. "The rest are going to be guest rooms - and one will be mine, obviously," he added. "There are a few down by the studio, but I think these would probably be better suited for you. That was you won't be bothered when I'm up late recording."

Kate stuck her head into the second one down the hallway. The windows looked right out onto the parking lot. It was decent sized and would easily hold all of the furniture she needed. "I guess this one, since they're all the same."

"Alright. Any particular color you want it painted?" he asked. "We're still having some remodeling done around the place, so I can have it done."

She thought for a minute. "Green is fine. Like a celery green or something like that."

"Like your old room?" he asked. She looked at him in surprise. "I remember things occasionally," he answered with a smirk. "You won't have your own bathroom attached because we're not able to alter the layout of the house. But there's one right down the hall."

She nodded and looked around. "How many times have you gotten lost in this place?" she asked as they walked down the hallway toward the back of the house.

He laughed. "A few times. But once you get used to where things are it won't be so bad. Most of the rooms are empty so we'll never need to go in them. Hell, you could probably use one to kick a soccer ball around in if you wanted to," he answered. "Come on. I'll show you the rest of the place."

He led her past a dining room to the kitchen which looked out onto the pool and small backyard. The kitchen was well-equipped and larger than the one at the house. Adjacent to that was a more homey-feeling living area.

"We'll set this up as a living room or something," he told her. "There's other stuff downstairs, but that can wait."

She nodded. "Yeah. Sure. It's cool. I'll probably need a map for a little bit, but after that I'll be fine."

"I'll be sure to keep all the employees on the lower floor so they won't be in your way," he assured her.

"It's not that they're in my way," she interjected. "It's more that they're so close to me. I don't even know them and it seems like they're already pretty close with each other. Plus I don't think they know how to handle me, you know?"

He nodded. He didn't even really know how to handle her, if he was honest. The fact that they were managing the tour without screaming at each other was a miracle in his eyes. "Well, as you guys spend more time together I'm sure it'll get less awkward."

She nodded and bit her lip. The house was huge and impersonal. Part of her impractically thought that Jared had gotten it so he wouldn't ever have to see her, even though she knew the sale was probably in motion before he even knew of her existence. She knew lots of lonely nights lay ahead of her.

"At least there's lots of space for Vedder inside," she reasoned, trying to sound upbeat.

There had to be something good about all of this.

SATURDAY

"Who is that?" Jared heard his friend Jamie ask.

He looked up from his laptop. "Who is who?" he asked the younger man.

"That," Jamie repeated, pointing out of the window toward the pool.

Jared followed his friend's finger out of the window and blanched slightly when he saw what he was pointing at.

"Kate," he replied.

Kate was sitting out by the pool in her bikini, catching the last few rays of sun before it went down behind the hills. Jamie was practically salivating just looking at her. Jared shuddered a little at the idea of his friend having any type of impure thoughts regarding her. Sure, he didn't really think of her like a daughter yet, but he couldn't deny biology.

"She's fifteen," he said causally, returning to his laptop.

"Oh shit," Jamie replied, averting his eyes quickly, feeling very skeevy all of a sudden.

"She's also my daughter," Jared added, just to ensure the other man would never get any further ideas in the future.

Jamie's mouth fell open with an audible pop! and he stared at Jared in surprise. "You're fucking joking," he exclaimed. Jared shook his head. "How the fuck!?"

"Well Jamie, when two people love each other -," Jared started.

"I mean when did you know," Jamie interjected dully.

"For a couple months now," Jared said. "She's the product of a one night stand with an artist and to make a long story short, she lives with me full time now."

"Where's her mom?" Jamie asked.

Jared cleared his throat. "She uh, she died over the summer."

"Oh shit. That sucks. Is that how you got stuck with the kid?"

Jared sighed. "Kind of. I don't really want to talk about it, Jamie," he responded. "But I think it goes without saying that I don't want this to be in the press, okay?"

Jamie bobbed his head and returned to his guitar. They sat in silence for several seconds before Jared got up from the sofa, put his laptop on the table, and walked out to the patio with a towel.

"Come inside and get changed," he said quickly. Vedder perked up from his place on the other side of her lounge chair. "I have something I need you to help with."

Kate protested, but he threw the towel on top of her and walked away before she could say anything else. She sighed and went inside, narrowly avoiding a collision with Shayla on the stairs leading up to the first floor. She changed into an oversized sweatshirt and shorts and met Jared down in the studio again.

"Ah, there you are," Jared said standing. He had another guy in his late twenties with him. "Jamie, meet Jailbait, AKA Kate. Jailbait, meet Jamie Reed. He's a producer and one of my good friends."

"Why are you calling me Jailbait?" she asked Jared, looking between the two men. Jamie's face was red and Kate figured out what had likely happened. "Told you I was his daughter, too, huh?" she asked Jamie. "What did you want me to do?" She turned to Jared again.

"I need recommendations for the Halloween party," he replied.

"Why would you ask me? I've been here for less than a month. I don't know anyone here. I've barely figured out how to find the house on the street," she answered.

Jamie laughed in spite of himself, but returned his face to neutral when Jared glared at him.

"I mean recommendations for guests. Do you have anyone you want to invite?" he asked. "Any celebrity you might like to meet?"

"Like I said, I don't know anyone here -," she repeated. The idea of meeting another celebrity made her cringe. She was barely over the one she had to live with.

"Ugh fine," he groaned. "Go help Shayla and Reni stuff the gift bags then," he instructed.

She muttered to herself as she walked away. Jared looked up to find Jamie staring at him.

"Aren't you going to ask me if there are any celebrities I want to meet?" he asked in a fake insulted tone.

"No."