SOUNDTRACK: "Cough Syrup" by Young the Giant

Three days later, Jared was back in San Diego. He had hoped that Kate might reach out to him after their meeting, but it had been radio silence on her end. He couldn't really blame her; she had a life and he was essentially barging into it on a court order. Still, he hoped that this meeting might be slightly more productive than their last. Ryan had invited him over to their house and Jared had happily accepted. The less time they spent in public, the better at this point.

He parked on the street in front of a four story townhouse in a row of matching properties. He could smell the salt on the air as he walked up the sidewalk and rapped his knuckles on the front door. A second later, he literally fell backwards as a large dog jumped against the window next to the door, barking loudly.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" he swore loudly, putting his hand to his heart in an attempt to slow it down.

"Vedder, down!" Kate bellowed on the other side of the door. Instantly, the dog settled down and a second later she opened the door. "Hi," she said. "Sorry about that."

Jared stood up and brushed himself off. "Its fine. You didn't tell me you had a dog."

"He's Ryan's," she explained. "Come on in. Just take your shoes off."

He walked into the entryway and shut the door behind himself. Reluctantly, he kicked his shoes off, conscious of the fact that his socks didn't match. When he turned to face Kate, he smiled slightly as he saw that her own socks were mismatched as well. The dog was seated next to her, a low growl emanating from his chest. The Great Dane's massive head came level with Kate's elbow and his large brown eyes tracked Jared's every move.

"What did you say his name was?" he asked.

"Vedder," she answered. "Come on upstairs."

He followed her up the wooden staircase cautiously, aware that the dog was plodding along behind him. "Like after Eddie Vedder? From Pearl Jam?" he asked.

Kate shrugged. "I don't know. Ryan named him."

Jared stopped at the top of the stairs. The room opened up to a large living area with two sofas and a big set of bookshelves lining the wall. A large contemporary fireplace commanded one wall, its mantelpiece decorated with a few family photos. A dog bed the size of a crib mattress took up one corner and he could see a formal dining room through a set of open French doors.

"Where's your dad?" he asked, looking around.

"He's upstairs in his office," Kate explained. "Do you want something to drink?"

He followed her through the French doors and into the dining room. He paused for a minute, taking in the extravagant wedding china on display in a built-in cabinet along the wall. It was very obvious from the decor that Kate had not gone wanting in her childhood.

"Oh - uh, just water is fine for me," he said, coming back to himself. "What does Ryan do?" he asked. "You know, for work."

"He's an investment banker for a big company based in San Diego," she called from the kitchen. "His hours can be kind of weird."

Jared walked through a short hallway and found Kate in a modern kitchen, pouring water into two glasses. Vedder was slumped across the floor, taking up a large portion of it. He carefully stepped over the large animal and seated himself at the kitchen island.

"You don't like dogs?" she asked in reference to his reaction to the dog.

"I love dogs," Jared replied. "That's just...a lot to take in at once. I've had a husky before, years ago. How do you manage such a big dog in a small house?"

She shrugged. "Ryan takes him for a run every day. He's a pretty laid back dog most of the time, though."

"Huh," he said. "So, what have you been up to?"

She leaned against the counter. "School. Soccer practice. That's kind of it."

"Soccer, right," Jared made a mental note. "Are you on your school's team or just on one in a league or something?"

"With school," she answered. "I'm a forward."

He struggled to place her on the field in the correct position. "That's the one that does a lot of running, right?"

Kate nodded. "Yeah."

"Sorry," he said. "I'm not really into sports. That's more my brother's area of expertise."

"You have a brother?" she asked.

Jared was surprised that she hadn't done any research on him after learning who he was. "Uh - yeah. He's older than me."

"That must be cool to have a brother. I wish I had brothers or sisters," she remarked.

"Well, it's not without its challenges," he answered, remembering Shannon's troubles the previous year. "Your mom and Ryan never had any other kids?" he asked.

Kate shook her head. "Nope," she said. "Ryan didn't really want any more. He said that I was enough."

"Well it looks like your dad does pretty well for himself," he said.

"Yeah but he works long hours," she answered.

"What did your mom do?" Jared asked.

"She was a painter," Kate replied. "She painted those."

Jared followed the girl's finger toward a large piece of canvas with bright colors splashed across it. It looked like a more modern Jackson Pollack, but with more color blending. He got up and walked toward it, letting out a low whistle as he approached.

"Wow," he said in appreciation. "She was good. Do you paint?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at her.

"I never really tried," she responded.

"Did she have a studio?"

"Yeah, on the top floor," she replied.

"Would you - do you mind if I take a look? I'm kind of a big art buff," he said excitedly.

Kate paused. "I guess, sure."

He left his glass on the counter and followed Kate back through the house and up two more flights of stairs. Photos and artwork lined the walls. He glanced around at the first landing and saw a hallway with several doors in it. One was closed and Ryan's voice could be heard from behind it. As they climbed to the top floor, Jared heard the jingling of dog tags as Vedder climbed the stairs after them. They came to a stop at the top of the stairs and Kate pushed a door open.

The room was a little musty, like it hadn't been aired out for a while and hints of oil and acrylic paints still hung in the air. A half-finished canvas say on the easel, bright colors almost glowing in the dim light. A familiar-looking piece hung on one wall. He remembered it from years ago.

"Wait, I've seen this piece before," he muttered. He took a few steps closer. "Yeah, it was on display at one of the first art shows I went to."

"My mom painted it," Kate answered. "She showed it at her first show."

Then it dawned on him; that was how he had met Rachel.

"I remember now," he replied. "That's how I met your mom. She was super nervous about the show and I didn't really know anyone at the gallery either. We started talking and..." his voice trailed off. "I gave her my number but she never called me. I always wondered why."

Kate nodded in silence, contemplating how different her life might have been if she'd grown up as a movie star's daughter instead. Jared took a few paces around the studio space, looking at the shelves lined with paints and brushes. He looked at a stack of blank and half-filled canvases in one corner. Kate felt tears start to prick her eyes.

"Can we go back down now?" she asked.

Jared looked at her and he could tell that she wasn't happy to be up there. "Oh, sure," he said, walking out of the room ahead of her. Vedder met them at the foot of the stairs. "So, uh, what do you want to do? Technically speaking we've still got like an hour left."

"Ryan doesn't want me to go anywhere with you by myself yet," she said.

"Understandable," Jared said, more to himself than anything else. "Well, you said you had a piano. I could show you how to play a few things," he suggested.

"Its okay," she answered, shaking her head. "I've got homework to do."

He watched as she walked down the hallway and disappeared into another room. He looked around awkwardly. Ultimately, he followed Vedder down the hallway, stopping outside Kate's bedroom. He shoved his hands into his pockets and peered into the room.

The walls were painted a cheerful sea foam green and a large window let in the light from the setting sun. Kate was seated at a desk, doing math problems from a thick textbook. A nicely made full-size bed sat in one corner and the door to an ensuite bathroom was slightly ajar. A few posters of different films were on the walls and a bag of soccer gear sat neatly in the corner near the door. He took a deep breath and walked into the room before sitting on the foot of the bed.

Suddenly, Kate spun around at her desk. "What exactly are you going to do?" she demanded. At his confused and alarmed face, she continued. "Are you going to take me away from Ryan?" she asked.

Taken aback, Jared had to blink several times while he formulated his response. "Kate, I don't know what I'm doing yet," he replied. "Honest. I don't want to force you to change everything about your life. You live with Ryan, this is where you go to school and where your friends are. The last thing I want to do is take you away from all of the things you're used to. But I want to be in your life. I want to get to know you and I want to spend time with you. I missed out on a lot of stuff I didn't even know I could have seen or been a part of."

"I don't want to move to Los Angeles," Kate said.

"I understand," he replied. "But maybe one weekend a month or something you could stay with me?" he suggested.

"It won't be fun," she answered. "I'll hate it there."

He suppressed a smile. "How do you know you'll hate it or it'll be boring if you've never done it?" he asked in a teasing manner.

Her glare was enough to silence him. They fell into silence again and Jared got up and walked around the room, looking at the pictures on the wall. The one that got his attention was featured prominently on a shelf. It showed a younger version of Kate in a soccer uniform, grinning up at the camera. To her right, a thin redhead was kneeling with her arms around Kate. Seeing her face was like looking at someone you run into time and time again, but you just can't place their face. She was familiar, but a complete stranger.

"Jared," Ryan's voice broke into Jared's thoughts. He spun around to see the other man standing in the doorway. "Can I have a word with you?"

Jared nodded. "Of course," he said, walking out of Kate's bedroom. "What's up?"

"I wanted to ask you about what your plan is here," the other man said stiffly.

"What do you mean? I told Kate I wasn't going to have her move to L.A. so I don't really know what the issue is," Jared answered.

"I understand that. I'm specifically asking about your fans and the general public," Ryan replied. "How are you going to keep Kate out of the press?"

"Oh," Jared said. "I honestly don't know. I'm not going to make a big announcement, if that's what you're worried about. I generally endeavor to keep my private life private. My own employees don't know about Kate beyond my publicist and personal assistant."

"What will you do when you do tell them?" Ryan asked.

"Ryan, I'm not entirely sure I'm going to tell them - or anyone else - about Kate," Jared sighed. "From what I've seen, she has very little interest in getting to know me, so I don't know if I'm going to pursue any type of custody arrangement after the trial period is up."

Ryan nodded. "I understand."

"I wanted to ask you about the possibility of you bringing Kate up to L.A. on a weekend so I could take her to a few places I think she'll like there," Jared said.

Ryan shook his head. "No. I don't want her taken out of San Diego and I don't want you going anywhere alone with her."

Jared blinked. "Why? You think I'm going to abduct her or something?" he asked. "Trust me, the last thing I need right now is criminal charges for abduction or kidnapping." He shifted. "I just think that getting her away from all of these things that remind her of her mother might make her a little bit happier and it might make it easier for us to get to know each other."

Ryan nodded. "I know. That's why I just listed the house for sale. We're going to get a place that's smaller and better suits the two of us."

Neither man saw the teen standing next to the doorway in her room, eavesdropping on their conversation. And neither man saw the tears that filled her eyes as she listened.