Author's note: This is my first multi-chapter fic to do, and only the third fic I've ever written, and I'm amazed at how many views and follows I've gotten on it in such a short time! Please feel free to review it- reviews are actually very helpful to me, and I can improve my story based on them.

"So tell me about yourself," Kate said as they exited the park. She was trying to sound casual, despite the fact that her heart was racing, and her stomach felt as though a million butterflies were flying inside of it. Richard Castle was walking beside her, arm in arm. Richard Castle was leading her through the busy streets of Manhattan. Richard Castle was taking her to lunch. Richard Castle, her idol, her hero.

"I'm a mystery writer," Castle said, interrupting Kate's silent fangirling. "I've written several novels. Do you read mystery novels?"

"I'm a fan of the genre," Kate said as nonchalantly as she could.

"Maybe you've read some of mine, then?" Castle asked as they crossed a street. "'In a Hail of Bullets'? 'Death of a Prom Queen'? 'Flowers for your Grave'?"

He had just named the exact three books hiding in Kate's backpack. She tried not to panic—of course he hadn't looked in her bag. Be calm, Kate.

"Flowers for your Grave' sounds familiar," she said slowly, trying not to let her voice give too much away. "I think I may have read that one before… what's your last name?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"Castle," he answered. "Richard Castle."

"Yeah, that does sound kind of familiar," Kate said as casually as she could. "I probably checked it out from the library once."

"So you're a reader, huh?" Castle asked, leading her down the sidewalk.

"Yeah," Kate answered confidently. "Books, plays, poetry—I read it all." There—her first true statement in this entire conversation. That wasn't so hard, was it?

"Wonderful!" Castle exclaimed, skipping a bit as they walked. He looked as excited as a kid on Christmas morning, and Kate had to suppress a giggle. "You'll have to come visit my loft. I have hundreds of books. I'll let you borrow some, if you'd like."

Kate's heart skipped a beat. Had he really just invited her over? She couldn't do this. She was trying to figure out how to respond when Castle stopped walking. She looked up to see where they were, and was stunned.

"Café Lalo? Are you serious?" Kate asked excitedly.

"It's the best," Castle answered proudly. "And it was only a few blocks away."

"It's expensive, though. If you want to go somewhere else…"

"Nonsense," Castle replied. "Only the best for you. Shall we?" He released her arm and opened the door, holding it for Kate to walk through. She mumbled her thanks as he passed by her, leading them to the host, who seated them in a cozy corner booth. After ordering food and drinks—a fruit-topped Belgian waffle and water for Kate, and a tuna salad sandwich and root beer for Castle—he began to speak again.

"I live in SoHo with my six-year-old daughter, Alexis," he said, pulling a picture out of his wallet. Kate took it, smiling at the adorable redheaded child grinning toothlessly. "She's beautiful," Kate said sincerely, handing the picture back.

"I think so, too," Castle smiled, "but I'm biased." He returned the picture to his wallet. "That was her school photo for this year. You know why she's smiling like that? She had lost both of her front teeth, and she was so self-conscious about it that she didn't even want to show up to school for picture day. We spent the entire evening before practicing smiling without showing teeth. When I picked her up that next day," he continued, "she said that she'd smiled just like I told her to, and it worked. She said it made her feel more grown-up. She said, 'Dad, when I smile without my teeth, I feel like I could be seven years old!'"

"She sounds like a handful," Kate smiled.

"She is," Castle said proudly. "She insists on calling me 'dad' because according to her, 'daddy' is what kindergarteners say. Oh, I could talk about her all day long. But I've talked enough, Kate," Castle said as their drinks were delivered. "Tell me about you." He folded his hands under his chin and leaned forward, looking at her.

Kate took a nervous breath. "Well…" she started. She was embarrassed to talk about her life in its current state. "I'm afraid my life isn't nearly as interesting as yours."

"Come on," Castle encouraged. "I know there's got to be more to you than just the girl who sits on the bench every day."

"There used to be," Kate sighed. "But that's pretty much all I do these days."

"Then let's start with the basics," Castle said with a grin. "All I know about you is that your name is Kate, and you make a bench look pretty good."

Kate felt her face flush. Oh no. He was flirting. She couldn't handle this. She had to try to act uninterested. "It's Kate Beckett," she said, a bit more harshly than she meant to.

Castle looked amused. "Beckett," he said, imitating her overly –enunciated consonants. Kate blushed again. She hadn't meant to say it that way. "So tell me, Beckett," Castle continued, "how old are you?"

Two could play this game. "Well, Castle," she retorted, "I'm nineteen. But I'll be twenty in November," she quickly added, after seeing the surprised look on Castle's face.

"No, Kate, your age isn't a problem," Castle said. "It's just… I'm curious as to… how…" He looked flummoxed. "Why are you…"

"Why am I homeless?" Kate finished.

Castle nodded, blue eyes wide, leaning forward again. God, he was so hot. And he was clearly interested in her, too. For a moment, she wondered if his interest was only for her story, but she mentally scolded herself. Stop overthinking things, Kate.

Thankfully, their food was delivered right at that moment, so Kate had time to collect her thoughts. She took a bite of her waffle and was immediately overcome by the delicious flavors. She closed her eyes, chewing slowly to savor the flavor for as long as possible.

"You look like you've died and gone to heaven," Castle laughed.

Kate swallowed, then smiled widely. "That was the best thing I've eaten in my life!" she declared happily, hastily scooping another bite onto her fork. She noticed Castle laughing at her as she put the second bite in her mouth, but she didn't care.

"Try not to enjoy it quite so much," Castle said, smiling.

After they'd finished their food and had shared a piece of chocolate cake, Castle folded his hands under chin again. "Well, Miss Beckett," he said. "This was wonderful, but I still don't know your story."

Kate sighed. Clearly, he wasn't going to let her off the hook. She hated having to admit her mistakes to people, but she might as well tell him. She took a deep breath.

"My mom died back in January," Kate said quietly, not meeting his eyes. "My dad took it really hard. He started drinking, and I couldn't live with him anymore. He was too unstable. So I moved out of my parents' apartment and moved in with a couple of college friends. I just finished my first year of pre-law at Stanford." She looked up and noticed that the look in Castle's eyes had changed. He was still looking at her with interest, but his gaze was softer. He nodded, and she felt encouraged to continue.

"So I lived with my friends for a couple of months, but then I moved in with my boyfriend—well, my ex-boyfriend. Rogan." Kate shuddered. "He was really charming at first, and I really liked him. We went on a weekend trip to Vegas as soon as school got out in early May."

She looked down again. "But he had… issues. He gambled most of the time we were there. He was old enough to enter the casinos, but I wasn't, so he'd go gamble while I did other stuff. He told me he was winning a lot, but that was a lie. He lost everything." Kate closed her eyes—this is the part she was most embarrassed about.

"And I'm the idiot who let him convince me to get a joint back account with him, since we were sharing a place. He gambled away all of my money. It's all gone."

She heard Castle breathe in sharply, but ignored him. "I broke up with him as soon as I found out what he'd done. We couldn't pay rent, so we got evicted. He went to go live with some of his friends, and I refused to go with him. My friends that I'd lived with before weren't from New York and had gone home to live with their parents for the summer. My dad's in and out of rehab, and I can't live with him. I don't have a job, so I can't afford to get my own place. So here I am," she finished lamely, hanging her head.

Castle was silent for a moment. When he spoke, his voice was full of compassion. "Kate," he said gently, reaching across the table to take one of her hands in his. "I am so sorry."

Kate shook her head, willing herself not to cry. "Don't be," she said. "I brought it on myself. All of this was my fault."

"No, Kate," Castle said gently, but emphatically. "None of this was your fault."

He was wrong. It was all her fault. Kate could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. She pulled her hand out of Castle's and wiped her eyes. "But if I hadn't joined my back account with Rogan's…" she started.

"Kate, you had no one guiding you. You're young. You didn't know it was a bad idea, and it sounds like you had no one able to give you advice. Everyone makes poor decisions when they're young," Castle said.

"Except most people's bad decisions don't land them with an empty bank account and a bench in the park," Kate replied bitterly.

"Everyone's consequences are different, Kate," Castle said gently. "This wasn't your..."

"You don't get it, do you?" Kate interrupted, hitting her fist on the table. She was angry, and she didn't know why. "My dad's an alcoholic. He hasn't been sober in months. I could have tried to help more than I did. But I gave up. I left. He could be better if I'd actually done something. But you know what I did? Nothing. It's my fault that he isn't sober." She felt a fresh wave of tears welling up in her eyes, but she ignored them.

"And my mom," she continued, her voice getting louder. "My mom was murdered, Castle. Stabbed in an alley and left to bleed out and die. Alone." The tears began to spill out of her eyes. Castle started to speak, but she interrupted. "She was supposed to meet my dad and me for dinner, but she never showed up. You know what we did? We just sat there and waited. I never worried about her, or called the police, or anything. If I had just sent someone to look for her, they could have found her. She could still be alive. But I did nothing. Nothing. And now she's gone." She looked at him, tears streaming down her face, silently challenging him to contradict her.

"Kate…" he started. She noticed the genuine compassion in his eyes, and she hated him for it. "I've only known you for a little over an hour, and I think that you're an amazing girl." Kate wiped a few tears from her eyes. "But you're not superwoman," he continued. "There are some things that are out of your control, and what happened with your parents is one of them. Nothing you could have done would have changed what happened. I know you're hurting, but blaming yourself for things that weren't your fault is only going to make things worse."

Kate stood up. "Don't pretend you know me, Castle," she said, putting emphasis on his last name. "Because you don't." He looked hurt. Good. She wanted to hurt him. He had been so nice to her the past hour, but he saw too deep into her soul, and she couldn't handle what he was trying to tell her. So she did the only thing she knew to do: she picked up her backpack, and she ran.

Castle chased her out the front doors, but she'd gotten too much of a head start. There were hundreds of people walking along the busy street, and she must have melted in with the crowd. He stood outside of the café, frantically calling her name, but he didn't see her. She was gone, and he didn't have time to search for her—he'd given the sitter a deadline, and it was rapidly approaching. His heart sank. He walked back inside the restaurant and found his way back to the booth that he'd shared with Kate just moments earlier. He laid a fifty dollar bill on the table, then slowly exited the café. He felt as though a bright light in his heart had just been dimmed. She was gone. Millions of people lived in the city. How was he ever going to find the only one he was seeking?

Then it came to him: the shelter on 87th. She said she was usually there by six each night. That's how he'd find her. He hailed a cab, asking for "the homeless shelter on 87th." Thankfully, the cabbie was familiar with the location, and in no time, Castle found himself at the front doors of Kate's safe haven. The woman at the reception desk knew exactly which young lady he was talking about, and after giving her his business card, he had a promise of a phone call as soon as Kate stepped through the doors.

He wasn't going to lose her. Not after he'd just found her.

Author's note #2: Nobody likes Rogan, I know. But I was amazed at how easily he fit into my storyline, so I decided he could be of use. But since this is an AU, I figured I might as well edit out the "they got married" storyline. Because I'm the author, and I can. So no spontaneous marriage between Rogan and Kate happened. No worries. :)