Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I still do not own anything. At all.

A/N: sorry for keeping ya'll waiting.. To tell the truth, I just haven't been writing that much :-/ this chapter is pretty much fluff, just to let you know. And BTW, if you didn't notice, I'm not the kind of person that uses swear words a lot.

Anyways, to the next chapter!:

The doorbell rang and Alexis jogged down the stairs from her room. "Going out for lunch with a friend, Grams!" she eagerly responded to the questioning call. She reached the door and took a deep breath.

Here goes nothing!

She unlocked the door and a smile captured her lips when she saw a familiar blue-eyed face.

"Hi Alexis, ready to go?" The detective asked her, a smile also playing along his face. He was still in his work clothes; a nice suit and a tie. Alexis figured he came here as soon as he was finished with his paperwork.

"Yeah," Alexis replied, walking out the door to the loft. They walked side by side, keeping awkwardly quiet.

"You look nice," Kevin told her.

She was pretty; she wore a sapphire blue shirt that matched her eyes and jeans jacket along with pair of denim slacks. Her hair was draped down the back of her shoulders, and she wore 2 or 3 inch heels on her feet that clacked against the ground as they walked.

"You're not too repulsive either," Alexis quipped, amusement glimmering in her eyes.

Kevin chuckled in response. "Thanks, glad to know I won't be scaring you off."

They were speechless for the rest of the way down the building. Once they got into Ryan's car, Alexis broke the silence that was in the air again.

"So, how's my dad and Detective Beckett?"

Ryan started the engine and backed out of his parking space.

"Well, I can tell you that they resolved whatever problem they were fighting about."

Alexis brightened up knowing her dad and Beckett were still friends. "Really?"

"Yeah, they were trying to be subtle about the whole thing, but Esposito and I are masters at deciphering things from the clues."

That made Alexis give a small chuckle. Almost a laugh, but not quite.

"That's good. So where are we going?" Alexis asked him. She had tried to ask him earlier but he said nothing.

"A little diner I like to call, Remmy's," Kevin Ryan replied with a mischievous grin.

"Great, I love that place."

Minutes later, Ryan pulled his car into a parking space in front of the diner. He took his keys out of the ignition and hopped out the car before Alexis could even open her door to get detective went to the passenger side of his car and opened the door for the redhead.

"Chivalry still lives," Alexis commented as she stepped out.

Kevin kept a continuous smile on his face. He opened the diner's door and let Alexis go inside Remmy's first.

They sat down opposite of each other at a booth and were soon waited on by a waitress who took their drink orders.

"So, tell me what happened over your trip," Kevin persisted watching her facial expressions carefully while leaning against the soft backing of the booth.

"Well, everything was going well at first. We had some good times together shopping and hanging out. After the days went on, everything just got dull. My mom wasn't doing anything with me, she ignored my texts, she was acting like I wasn't even there! I mean, I was there to visit for awhile, I just felt like I wasn't welcome or wanted there at all. My mom was never there, and I should have remembered that and not even went. She was on the phone most of the time, and when I tried to speak with her, she just shooed me away. I was so frustrated with everything that I bought a plane ticket without thinking about it, and you know the rest," Alexis summarized what happened over her trip.

(A/N: I know, that was terrible, but I couldn't think of anything else!)

Ryan sat up straight now. These were things he certainly didn't like to hear. He reached out with his right hand and lifted up Alexis's downcast face by her chin.

"I'm sorry, Alexis. You have to remember, your dad loves you so much, your grandmother does too. I'm quite sure anyone at the precinct will do anything to make sure you're always safe," He told her, sweeping away a single tear that was resting on her cheek.

Alexis took Ryan's wrist (the wrist of the hand that held her chin up) and put his hand down against the table.

"Thanks, Kevin," she said quietly, moving her own hand down and squeezing his hand gently before releasing her grip on his hand.

...:D

Alexis sat down on a bench in the park that Kevin had pointed out. They had finished their lunch and agreed on taking a walk to end the day. As soon as the park came in view of Ryan's sight, the detective showed the red headed girl over to a bench.

"You know, I used to come here with my mom when I was younger. My mom would lean back right at this exact bench and watch me play with the other kids in the park," Ryan said, half to himself, but mostly to Alexis. He turned around in his seat and searched the wood with his fingers.

"There is it!" he exclaimed. "It's my initials, KR, engraved right here. My mom helped me put those on the bench one day that we were here." Ryan ran his fingers over the two letters embedded in the wood surface.

"When I was younger, I thought carving your own name into wood would bring back luck," Alexis stated, now chuckling about how silly it sounded to her now.

Ryan glanced at her with a questioning look of disbelief.

"What?" Alexis rolled her eyes at him. "My dad told told me all the myths."

Kevin chuckled quietly. He could imagine Castle telling his daughter at the age of four about the Tooth Fairy and Santa Clause, but eventually revealing the truth when she was older and already knew that they were fake.

"I could see that," Ryan finally said. He paused for a moment, wondering if he should ask the question he had in mind.

"What was your favorite outside game to play?"

Alexis turned around in her seat so she was facing the correct way. She raised an eyebrow at Kevin, along with a smirk.

"Kick the Can," she replied.

"Kick the Can?" Ryan questioned her, his head slightly cocked to the side like a confused puppy.

"You haven't heard of that one? Well, it's kind of similar to tag. You've gotta play this during nighttime, it's a lot more challenging. There's one person that guards the can, but also goes to search for other hiding people. If the guard sees someone, he or she has to say their name. If he or she gets it right, the person that was hiding goes to jail. (there's one place picked for jail at the beginning of the game.) the guard has to not only catch people, but make sure the can is not kicked over. If the can is kicked over by a hiding player, then all the people in the jail are free and a new guard is chosen," Alexis explained.

"Well, what was your favorite outside daytime game?"

"Tag I suppose.. I've always enjoyed that one. Why do you ask?"

"Because you're it!" Ryan prodded her in the shoulder and sprinted off.

"You little..." Alexis scowled. She raced to her feet and ran after Ryan.

The detective was fast, faster than Alexis expected. She knew he needed to be quick for his job, but boy, could he run! Alexis was also speedy herself. After a matter of time, she eventually caught up with Ryan's speed.

Ryan glanced over his shoulder to see how close he was just as Alexis tackled him to the ground by grabbing his waist and pushing him down.

Ryan fell with an "oof!". He was certainly surprised as the strength of the red-head, but he had a few tricks up his sleeves. He twisted his legs and waist with one sharp movement and quickly went up to his feet.

"Think you could get me that quickly, eh?" Ryan smirked while extending his arm out.

Alexis rolled her eyes again and took Kevin's extended hand. He pulled her up to her feet. Once she could stand, she released his hand and brushed some dirt off her jeans.

"I gotta admit though, you are pretty strong," Ryan said, trotting up beside as she began to walk through the park.

"You only get that way when you work out at a gym," Alexis replied, flipping out her phone and taking a quick look at it. She replied to a few massages, then took a gander at the time.

Was it really 4:00 already?

She put her phone back and looked at the sky. Yep, it was four.

Alexis turned to the detective. "Hey, Kevin, I've got to get back to the loft soon; my dad said he's going to be cooking dinner, and I want to make sure he doesn't light the house on fire, just in case."

"Sure Alexis, whenever you need to go is fine with me," Ryan responded to her.

Alexis studied his face. She had always admired how his eyes were blue like the sea, and her own father's eyes. She also took a liking to the neatly combed hair that rested upon his head.

"What'cha doin'?" Ryan's words brought Alexis back to reality and her eyes met with his.

"Me? Nothing, just waiting for you," She replied innocently.

"Alright, well I probably should get you back; time flies by fast." Ryan began to head toward his car. He looked over his shoulder, seeing that Alexis was still standing in the same spot.

"You coming?"

"Oh, yeah sorry about that, just thinking about something," Alexis said when she reached him.

Ryan wasn't going to ask what was in Alexis's mind. If she wanted to tell him, she would on her own time.

A/N: I'm gonna end there... Just because I can. ;)