Disclaimer: I wish... (The title comes from Thoroughly Modern Millie, so I don't even own that - that belongs to... whoever owns that show.)

She heard the door to the study click shut. If he was going to write, she'd have to wait at least another five minutes for him to start up the SmartBoard, pick out music, and settle in at the desk for the night. If she didn't hear the playlist start playing, that meant he was headed to bed and she could sneak out immediately.

Alexis pressed her back against the hallway wall, her heels dangling from her fingers, waiting to hear which option her father was going with. He thought she was in her room, working on her paper for her AP Literature class. What she was really doing was going out to a party that Paige had told her about. Her best friend had insisted that Alexis join her, something about getting over Ashley as quickly as possible. Alexis wasn't sure partying all night without telling her father was the best option, but part of her wanted to go.

So, when the quiet tapping of the keyboard joined OneRepublic's singing in the study, she took a deep breath and pushed off the wall, padding down the stairs. Out of habit, she scribbled a note on the magnetic pad of paper on the fridge just letting him know she was out and had her cell phone. Then, she tore the note off the pad and crumbled it in her hand, tossing it in the trash on her way past the bin. People who snuck out to college parties did not leave notes for their parents. And Alexis was determined to not be 'that girl' at the party; the one that was texting her father the entire time so he wouldn't freak out.

Once she was outside the apartment, she slipped the heels on before walking to the elevator. Eduardo raised a brow as she headed past him.

"You be careful, Miss Castle."

"Will do, Eduardo."

Alexis hailed a cab and gave him Paige's address. They were going to meet at her building, then share the cab to the party. The buddy system had been drilled into their brains having grown up in the city and even those habits died hard.

Paige slid into the cab, pulling down her mini skirt so it barely covered the tops of her thighs. "Hey girlie! You ready to get your funk on?"

"You bet." She tried to make it sound as excited as Paige's statement, but she was sure it was an uninspired performance. "Now, give the address so we can get going."

The apartment that was home to the party looked as sketchy as the rest of the area. The zigzagging fire escape was rusted and parts were hanging off the brick exterior. There was a homeless man sleeping next to the door as the two girls got out of the cab and walked over to ring the doorbell. The booming of a bass from a stereo echoed down the hallway to the apartment. Paige was the one to knock on the door as she tossed her brown hair over her shoulder.

"Girls, girls, girls!" exclaimed the young man as he opened the door. "Paige, my sweet heart, how are you?"

Paige leaned forward to give the man a kiss on the cheek. "Mike! Thanks for inviting me. I brought a friend." She stepped aside so that the man could see Alexis. "Mike, this is Alexis. Lexis, my friend Mike."

Mike took Alexis's hand and tugged her forward for a hug. Alexis could smell the alcohol on the guy's breath as he pushed back, keeping a grip on her wrist.

"Come in, come in! Plenty of party still left for the two loveliest ladies in New York!"

The apartment was a mess of red Solo cups, empty beer cans and vodka bottles, and crushed bags of chips. It was lit with a black light, turning the white of Alexis's top a ghostly blue-purple. The shades were pulled, turning the living room pitch black. It didn't hide the couple cuddling on the couch or the group of people dancing to the rap music coming from the iPod dock.

Alexis hesitated. This was wrong. She shouldn't be doing something this dramatic to get over a boy who was almost 4,000 miles away. She had nothing to prove to him. But then she shook her head and followed Mike and Paige further into the apartment. What could go wrong? She had her cell phone tucked next to the mace in her little purse and her father's basic hand-to-hand instructions playing in the back of her mind. Alexis Harper Castle could handle herself.

With a smile, she took the empty cup from Mike, watched as he poured the iced tea into the cup. She placed her hand over the top when the boy turned to pick up a half-full vodka bottle to pour some in.

"Aw, come on, little Lexi!" he drawled, waving the bottle in front of her eyes. "Just let loose for a night."

She pulled the cup from his grasp. "That's okay. I'm good."

Paige was rolling her eyes from behind Mike. "I'll take hers. She's still pining over her boyfriend."

"Ex-boyfriend," Alexis corrected, sniffing the iced tea before taking a sip. More safety rules from her father kicking in.

Mike smiled and Alexis had to notice that he looked something like the wolf when he spotted Little Red Riding Hood in the forest. She backed up and he followed. "Dance with me, Lexi."

Paige circled them and gave Alexis a shove. "Go party, Alexis. It'll be good for you."

This chapter was getting to him. The ones with children always did, but he had no control over how his murderers picked the victims; he was forced to go with the flow. Castle was happy to finally hit Ctrl+S at least five times, just to make sure it was really saved, before closing the laptop and setting it on the desk. He turned the iTunes playlist off, swung his feet off the desk where they had been propped, and closed down the SmartBoard. The clock on the desk told him it was nearing 2am but he needed to make sure his own kid was safe in her own bed, not bleeding out in an alleyway.

He climbed the stairs two at a time, tripping at the top step when he miscounted. He caught himself on the rail, hoping he didn't wake Alexis up with his clumsiness. Her door was closed and the lights were off. That meant she was asleep, probably with "The Importance of Being Earnest" opened on her bed next to her.

Castle cracked the door open slowly, his eyes scanning the darkness for his daughter. But something was wrong. Her bed was neatly made, the pile of books and notebooks stacked on the bedside table.

"Alexis?" he whispered just loud enough to be heard but quiet enough so that he wouldn't wake her if she was sleeping in the armchair in the corner.

No response. He flicked the lights on and his suspicions were confirmed. Her bed was empty as was the chair.

Panic twisted its way through his stomach. He ran from her room, searching the guest room before running down the stairs. It was the tiny, still-rational part of his brain that stopped him from tearing apart the loft looking for her. There wasn't a note on the island, no voicemail or text on his cell.

Just as he picked up the phone, his finger over Beckett's speed dial, the door opened. He threw the phone onto the couch and swung around the corner. Alexis was stumbling in, leaning a hand against the wall to hook her heels off.

"Alexis?"

She looked up, brushing her hair back from her face. "Oh… Dad…"

"Yeah, Dad. Where were you?" His voice held barely contained anger mixed with concern.

She was frozen in place, blinking. "I, uh, was out. With Paige."

"Where?"

"At her friend's place. Just a little party."

He took a step forward as she picked up her heels. "With alcohol?" He held up a finger when she opened her mouth. "Think about the answer. I can smell it."

"Yeah, but I didn't have any." She walked past him, her feet steady as she took the first few steps on the stairs. "I know better, Dad. Goodnight."

Castle hesitated. He wanted to go upstairs and question her, find out exactly what happened that night and why there wasn't a message from her beforehand. The other part wanted to just let her come to him in her own time. In the end, the second part won out, at least for the night. Alexis was smart; when she wanted to talk, she'd search him out.

As he turned off lights in the kitchen and living room on the walk back to the study to go to bed, Castle couldn't help but think he needed some outside help, though. This was the second night in the past week that Alexis had come home later than usual. The first time, there had been a note. He was all for letting his daughter be independent, but sometimes, there was still a line and, in his opinion, it had been crossed tonight.

A/N: Hey readers! Apparently I'm not too fantastic at the whole I'm-staying-away-from-writing-fanfiction-during-NaNoWriMo thing. But I wrote 5,080 words today which places me three days in advance of my daily goals so I deserve some fanfiction writing time.

Anyway... This came from the traditional post-Castle episode fangirling message with my sidekick. She knows where it's going and so do I, but I'm not going to share it with anyone else. Just know that there is at least another chapter coming whenever I have the time to write it.

Review and boost my spirits and I will love you forever.