Being in the care of Castle had been Kate's two days of heaven until Alexis started ignoring her. Why was Alexis giving her the cold shoulder? What had changed between them? She knew things were different between them ever since the shooting, but they were making a lot of progress. She even thought they were becoming friends. Alexis always acted nicely towards Castle's ex- wives even when she didn't want them around so why was Alexis acting like this towards her? Kate didn't want to think of Castle's ex-wives or girlfriends but she couldn't help comparing herself to them. Jealousy seeped through her veins. She didn't want these jealous feelings to cloud what she felt towards him. She loved every second she spent with him and how well he took care of her. Her heart fluttered making her almost forget why she was mad at him to begin with.

Almost was the keyword here. They both had issues they needed to work out but at the moment she wanted to forget about the secrets Castle kept from her about her Mom's case. She looked up at him and noticed that he was watching her as she picked at her favorite dish.

"What are you thinking about?" Castle asked, before taking a forkful of food and stuffing it in his mouth.

"How creepy it is the way you always stare at me," Kate said, breaking into a smile.

Castle didn't push her to talk further but the loving look he had in his eyes pushed her to share her thoughts.

"It's just Alexis. I think... she's avoiding me," Kate stated her voice rising. She lowered her eyes back to her plate. "I'm not imagining it. There's something bothering her. You have to go up there and talk to her."

Alexis may have perfected her poker face, but Kate saw that same face before. A few weeks earlier after Kate had spilled her secrets, Castle wore that same phony expression.

"I'm feeling a lot better thanks to you so I'm going to collect my things and go home," Kate said, poking at her food one last time before she let the fork clatter on her plate.

"Running again?" Castle asked under his breath.

"What?" Kate asked shocked that he would even think that. "I'm not running! I just think you need to spend some more time with your daughter and talk to her," Kate said with a resolved look in her eyes. She stood up and headed to the room she had been sleeping in for the past two nights. As soon as the room cleared, Castle leaned back in his chair, breathed in, and sighed loudly.

XXXX

Alexis stared hard at the blank page before her. There was so much to write but she struggled to find the right words to describe how she was feeling. Simply aiming for the facts, Alexis bit the top of her pen before scribbling in her diary.

Everything in my life is changing! I just graduated high school and in a few weeks I'm going off to Stamford where I could potentially meet up with—.

Suddenly the words started to flow. Emotions poured from her heart to the paper.

I'm so not ready to face Ashley. What if he has a girlfriend? Everyone is happy with their girlfriends or boyfriends, my Dad and Paige. Paige claims that we will still be friends in college but with Paige going to NYU and me going to Stamford, I'm scared we won't be able to keep in touch. Things will definitely change between us. She will meet new people quickly and inevitably forget about me.

I finished all my internship jobs and now I'm free for the summer. Aside for all the dead bodies, it was rewarding and fun working with Lanie.

Why is everything changing and why can't I stop it?

The worst change at the moment was the changes between my Dad and Kate. Being together with them for the past two days had given me a bad idea of what it would be like to hang out with them. I will always feel like a third wheel. I can't wait to get out of this house, away from them because then I will never to catch them making googly eyes at each other.

With Grams in California, there is no one to talk to. I need her to come home already!

XXXX

"Beckett!" Kate barked into her cell phone that she held near her left ear.

"Beckett? Where are you? Are you still by Castle's loft?" Esposito asked with an urgency to his voice.

"Yeah, why? Do you need my help? I was just planning on leaving and I could be there in ten if‒"

"No! No stay with Castle; don't go anywhere! The Captain will punish you if you come down here and help with this case. You know she wont let you work on this case because you are involved in it."

"I could always come down there and work on some of the other cases that are piling up on my desk. I'm feeling a lot better and I was thinking of coming in tomorrow but I could really come down now. It's not a big deal."

"No! Beckett stay there!"

"What's going on Esposito?" Kate knew there was something wrong and she hoped her voice conveyed that she was not in the mood for nonsense. She needed to know what was going on with the case.

"It's Frankie, the man who attacked you. He managed to get a gun and escape from the hospital. There were two police men that were watching over him. Both of them got shot in the heart. One died right away and the other one is down in the ICU. We're not sure if he had help getting out, but we have posted his picture around the city and we have a team looking for him."

Kate stopped listening. The man who attacked her escaped the hospital and was probably out to kill her at the moment. Her heart sped up as she felt a warm hand grab her shoulder. Unsure of who it was behind her, she let her cell phone drop to the floor, grabbed the person's hand and swirled around just as she flipped Castle to the ground.

"Castle!" Kate exclaimed happy to see that it wasn't Frankie attacking her. "Don't sneak up on me like that!" Kate scolded as she searched for her phone and picked it up. She turned away from Castle who was pouting with a hurt look on his face.

She rolled her eyes, put her cell phone to her ear and caught Esposito saying, "We sent a surveillance car to Castle's loft so stay there for the night and please don't do anything stupid."

"Thanks for the heads up and I'll keep that in mind," Kate said, ending the call.

"What?" Kate asked, spinning around towards Castle.

"I was just thinking that maybe you could stay here while I talk with Alexis and tomorrow maybe we could all go out to dinner and a movie," Castle said as he watched Kate collect all of her belongings and shove them into her overnight bag. "Please Kate, stop packing and stay here for me."

She couldn't say no that face but she didn't want to put Castle in any more danger with Frankie on the loose. With a sigh she put the shirt she held down on her bed and said, "Castle, that was Esposito on the phone and Frankie, the man who attacked me, escaped from the hospital. I don't want to put you and Alexis in any more danger so I think it's better if I leave."

"Kate, you can't leave! What if he's out there and goes to your apartment?" Castle asked with a scared looked.

"Castle, I have a gun. I'll be fine," she wanted to yell but it only came out as a whisper.

"Like last time?" Castle asked, making it come out a little harsher than usual.

"Hey, I had the man down didn't I? Next time I'll just have to aim better," she said, hoping to lighten the mood.

"This is serious Kate! I love you and I don't want to lose you!"

Kate bit down on her bottom lip before saying, "I don't want to lose you either."

Castle pulled Kate into a hug and kissed the top of her head. He loved the smell of his shampoo on her. Kate lifted her head from his chest, looked into his eyes and said, "I love you too." Relief took over her body when his lips came upon hers. She drew her hands to his head and ran her hands through his hair before pulling away from him.

"Castle, go speak to Alexis and then we need to talk too."

"I'll go if you promise to stay," Castle said, holding her tightly until he got a nod from her. She nodded and watched him reluctantly leave the room.

XXXX

"Alexis? Can I come in?" Castle asked, knocking on the wooden door before him.

Alexis quickly shoved her light green, furry diary under her mattress and then stood up to answer the door. "Dad, whats up?" she asked, placing an upbeat smile on her face. Pretending to be happy was becoming more exhausting every second.

"We need to talk, Pumpkin," Castle said, opening the door a little wider. He stepped inside her room and closed the door behind him.

"Where's Kate?" Alexis said, with anger and disgust dripping into each word.

"She's in the guest room and that's what I'm here to discuss with you."

Alexis hated seeing her dad look so stressed and hated it even more knowing that she was the one causing it. She wanted to make his stress go away so she let her dad pull her onto the bed and they both sat facing each other.

"Honey, I want to know how you feel about Kate and I want you to tell me the truth," Castle said, taking his daughters hands in his own.

Alexis looked down at her hands and felt tears slowly drip down her face. "I like Kate. I really do but aren't you scared that she'll run? She left you hanging last summer and she ran after you told her about her mother's case. How do you know she won't run when things get tough again? I don't want to see you get hurt again. You've been through so much heartbreak and Dad, I don't think I could watch you go through that again."

"Kate told me she loves me. We're still figuring things out, but right now I just have to trust that she wants this as much as I do," he said, placing his hand under her chin and picking her head up. "Could you give her a chance for my sake?"

"Yeah, sure," she said, blinking her tears away. She shook her head free from his hand and once again she placed a fake smile on her face.

"And tomorrow... Free your schedule. Kate is going back to work so it'll be just you and me," he said, softly with a smile that reached his eyes.

Castle satisfied with the result of their talk, kissed his daughter on the cheek, stood up, and left her room.

Originally, I was just going to make this story a one shot, but I have decided to work on this more. Alexis's character is a little complicated to write and I want to get it right. I'm going to watch more episodes on how she acts so just bear with me for a few more days. It'll get better between Kate and Alexis I just had to set the mood.

Enjoy :)