CHAPTER 1

Summary: What if Castle had met Beckett at college? Would they have still wasted so much time dancing around each other? Think 'Veronica Mars' style crime fighting. Think Caskett. Think love and friendship and drama and life.

Disclaimer: I do not own Castle, but I've got the first two Nikki Heat books…

Author's Notes: This idea came to me sometime in early October on a lonely, rainy day when a stress induced bout of depression had me realising that university is nowhere near as fun as it looks in the movies. I won't get into specifics because, really, who likes reading author's notes? But I will tell you that I hesitated to publish this for two particular reasons. The first being the simple fact that this story is so AU that I wasn't sure that anyone would actually enjoy it. The second, intertwined with the first, is that I have always been horrible at being a 'teenager' (this story isn't about teenagers per se, but you get the idea), so I wasn't sure that I could successfully write such tales of youth. Alas, I am taking the leap with the utmost fear that this could be a flop, but I'll let you decide.

This one is for all of the students who I know seek an escape from their stressful lives on the pages of this website. I hope you enjoy it.

"The best problem I ever found, I found in my local public library."

– Andrew Wiles.

It had always bothered Richard Castle that you weren't supposed to speak in libraries. After all, they held the world's languages in aisles and aisles of carefully bound books that smelled of other lands. It seemed somewhat ridiculous that you couldn't even use them in the one place that they were most abundant. How could one breathe life into the endless stories if he was not allowed a voice to do so? What was the point of experiencing new worlds in the library if you were not able to discuss what you read or felt in the tomes of such a place anyway?

Words were his forte. Even at the age of 23, Rick knew how to hold a conversation, especially with the beautiful girls who roamed his college campus. He could charm the dining hall staff into giving him extra portions and he got along well with his professors.

Driven by such talents, the English major was enlisted to produce a short novel for his creative writing class by the start of the following week. He had come to the library in need of inspiration because, despite the silence, there was so much being said. Even when his imagination was not generating elaborate scenes of murder or deception, Rick often sought after the less fictional stories that lurked behind every mask of the people also seeking refuge between the book shelves.

Lost in thought as he watched an emerging storm lengthen the shadows cast across the carpet from tall bordering windows, he never noticed the girl in the purple hoodie arrive. For story's sake, Rick would have liked to be able to say that he had seen her; that he was aware of her presence the very moment she breathed the same air he did and that she had floated across the room and reclined into the hard plastic chair with the grace of an angel. But it was the God-awful racket she made as she closed one textbook with a slap of frustration and reached for another that made her presence first apparent to him. She sat kitty-corner, facing him two tables away; in the seat furthest from his own.

Rick drank in the sight of her – a refreshing change to the girls he was used to. The ones that looked even half as good as she did were never in the library studying. A royal purple hood enveloped her head as she hunched over her books with loose tendrils of chocolate brown waves framing her face. There was a deep crease set between her brows as she read with determination stronger than he'd ever seen on the face of someone her age. It made him want to see every expression that her face could make; happy, annoyed, loving, jealous, and even sad if it prolonged the time he was allowed to look at her.

Even to him, it sounded crazy. Rick Castle was not known as the type of guy to be fascinated by a sole woman. He loved them all; anyone who had not made it past his playboy façade could tell. This girl, though, was different. Every movement she made captivated him - the way she bit the end of her pen in concentration, the way she tucked a wild strand of hair behind her ear. She appeared beautiful and fragile but strong and powerful all at once. He wasn't even sure how to put it into words but from that moment on, he knew he could watch her forever.

And so he did. Rick studied her as the relatively blank document of a non-existent novel sat completely unnoticed with its blinking cursor all but forgotten on his laptop. He did not write, but for the first time in months the young writer was filled with more words than he knew what to do with. There was a fleeting moment in which he considered putting on a suave mask, sauntering up to the girl in purple and introducing himself with a charming smile. Just by observing her focused eyes and determined expression he knew he wouldn't stand a chance. This girl was not a socialite waiting to be rescued or impressed. She was a complete mystery to him.

In the time he'd been watching the purple-hoodie girl, she had sunk lower into the chair; swallowed deeper by the mess of curls and fabric framing her face which was leaning against a single fisted hand that spoke of frustration. Driven by her drained expression and the sudden realization that the sun had disappeared, probably some hours ago, he rose from his chair with a plan. He would make her smile; an expression he had yet seen cross her face.

The girl looked like she was set up for a long stay in the library as Rick hurried anyway. He left without a possession in hand so quickly that he didn't even catch the look of curiosity that the girl shot him.

Rick made it to his destination in recorded time and waited in line impatiently. He drummed his fingers against his leg. Why did everything always take so long when one was in a hurry? She had to still be there when he got back, he thought desperately as he placed his order.

The drawling voice of a saleswoman snapped him back to reality. "That's five bucks."

He'd reached for his wallet to pay. His wallet was in his bag. His bag was in the library. The world hated him.

The saleswoman earned a famous Richard Castle smile that he often saved for times of need. One elbow propped onto the counter, he looked into her eyes with feigned interest and asked, "How was your day?" He walked away only moments later, throwing her a wink on the way out the door as he escaped into the night without paying. As a regular customer, he promised himself that he would pay triple next time.

It surprised Rick, yet elated him, when he rounded a corner into the secluded part of the library again, shaking water droplets from his hair. Purple-hoodie girl sat with her back to him, just where he had left her, and raised both arms above her head in a stretch that made his plan seem valid. He stopped in his tracks to watch the motion until she swiveled in her seat to look at him, obviously having sensed his presence. Rick wondered if she had spidey-senses as he stared stupidly back at her.

The narrowing of her mesmerizing eyes kicked him back into action and he took the remaining few steps until he was directly beside her, standing above her feeling like a creepy ogre who couldn't string a sentence together.

The young woman looked up at his dumbfounded expression and couldn't help but be drawn to his handsome features. In unknown parallel to his thoughts, the girl with the purple hoodie decided she would never stand a chance with the guy wearing the cocky grin.

With a steady hand that reminded Rick of a stagehand pulling back the curtains, brunette pushed the hood down to the back of her neck; her face the very definition of skepticism as her green eyes met his, blue. He made a mental note to tell her how beautiful hers were, if words ever returned to him, as he placed a steaming hot cup of coffee beside her books. It was a 'hello, how are you?' in the sincerest of forms.

"Thanks." The girl murmured.

"Any time." His stubbled lip twitched with a low rumble of mirth as he decided to test the waters. "I'm Rick and do you know you have gorgeous eyes?"

She gave him a tiny grunt of shocked disbelief but didn't offer anything more back.

After a beat filled with the sound of rain drops hitting glass windows, Rick nodded with a grin before he was gone, returning to his seat.

._._._._._.

On the second day she was there first, seated three spaces closer to the side of the room he had occupied the night before.

With some foolish fluttering of hope that she would appear again, Rick had come prepared with two cups of coffee. A triumphant grin spread across his mouth when he saw her. He strolled in an awkward balancing act of cups and a laptop before casually placing the liquid heaven in front of her and walking away. It may have just been his imagination again, but the writer couldn't help comparing her to a deer. She reminded him of a startled doe at that moment, and it served as reminder not to spook her. She wasn't a deer though, and not quite as likely to dash away at unexpected movement, so instead of returning to his seat from last night, Rick moved to the middle bench and sat exactly three spaces closer to her end of the room.

As he sipped from his cup and waited for the laptop to warm up, Rick noticed the girl in the purple hoodie give him a look that was filled with curiosity and the slightest hint of amusement. She somewhat reluctantly picked up her own cup and briefly raised it towards him in thanks before gulping down a mouthful.

The young woman focused again on her books while Rick didn't even make it beyond the computer start-up as he watched her. He leant back in his chair with fingers hovering above the keyboard, prepared to refocus his attention if she were to look up and catch him staring. On further investigation, he noticed that the word Law was included in the titles of her stack of textbooks and wondered why such a pretty girl would follow such a path. She was model gorgeous and he had no doubt that she could have pursued that goal quite easily. In fact, the English major was willing to bet that the purple-hoodie girl could've had anything she desired handed to her on a silver platter if she so chose. He'd dated enough beautiful co-eds to know that much.

His musings were interrupted by the ringing of his phone.

"Rick! Rick! Rick! Rick! Rick!" A female voice echoed in annoying repetitiveness around the library. He'd forgotten to turn it off.

He fumbled with the offending object, glancing apologetically at the girl in purple and trying to pull the phone out of his pocket to shut it up. It fell from his hands, hitting the floor with a bang and after hastily leaning down to pick it up his head collided with the table. The audible crack of Rick's skull against the hard timber earned him her full attention. She glared across the small space in accusation and he barely noticed the few other annoyed faces that surrounded him as he shut the phone up and shrugged in apology towards her, rubbing his head. The brunet rolled her eyes, not even bothering to look back at him before her vision fell to the book in front of her once more.

Cursing the phone, himself for forgetting to turn it off and the odds that didn't want him to impress this girl, he quickly answered the phone before it could go to voicemail, ignoring the library's stupid silence rule.

"Alexis? What's wrong?" She never called him out of the blue.

The girl in the purple hoodie frowned as the guy who had brought her coffee the last two nights suddenly jumped to his feet after answering his phone. He scooped his belongings in his arms and ran for the door, lassoing his laptop cord into a more manageable hold and completely ignored the scene he was making.

She wondered what drew him away so quickly, slightly disappointed that he had left so soon.

She frowned deeper at her own thoughts and mentally shook herself. She needed to be studying, not pining after strange strangers.

Author's Notes: Back in the days when the LOST fandom was thriving, there was a craze with high school based AU fics. Some of them were brilliant but others have made me determined to not make this a lame, immature piece of fluff that has little substance - hence why I took the college route. In keeping with our much loved crime solving duo, I plan to intertwine Veronica-Mars-style crimes for our heroes to solve around the campus.

Unlike my last multi chapter fic, I want to map most of this story out before I really get started so that there is a clear path. Whilst I have already begun working on more, I wanted to get this first chapter posted so that I could gauge your reactions in case it is indeed a flop (in which case I would scrap the whole thing). Your feedback would mean the world to me and basically define whether or not this will be continued.

If you have Tumblr, come and say hey! (Check my profile on here out for details…)

Amy.