Castle started to walk towards the stairs but was stopped by Kate's hand on his chest.
'Rick, can I go?' she asked him quietly. He nodded and she reached up to place a soft kiss on his cheek. 'Make some hot chocolate or something. Calm down.' She told him, walking up the stairs. Kate found Alexis's bedroom and knocked gently.
'Go away dad, I don't want to talk to you,' came the muffled reply.
'It's not your dad, it's Kate,' she said calmly, pushing the door open slightly.
'Great, because I definitely want to talk to you,' she muttered sarcastically under her breath. Kate pushed open the door fully to see Alexis sitting cross legged on her bed, pretending to be engrossed in a book.
'It's not like that Alexis,' Kate told her quietly.
'Like what?' came the cold reply. Alexis still pretended to be engrossed in her book.
'The way you made it sound, between me and your dad, shallow. It was never about the money, you know that and I resent you saying I used him for sex,' she told her firmly. Yes, Kate wanted to get on with Alexis but there was no way she was going to let her get away with what she said. Kate came further into the room, before she reached the bottom of Alexis's bed. 'Alexis... come on, I know you're not my biggest fan but-' she was cut off.
'Not your biggest fan! Kate, my dad was a wreck! You should have seen him! And it was all because of you, and you stringing him along for months! How could you do that to him? I thought you cared about him!'
'Look, I know I should have told him sooner but I was scared. I wanted to tell him. I lo-' she trailed off, before sighing and closing his eyes. Why couldn't she just say it? 'I care about your dad, so much, and I can't stand seeing him upset, especially if it's because of me,' she looked to Alexis who had now put her book down and was looking at Kate with a quizzical look upon her face. 'We've sorted things out now. I'm trying so hard to be the person he deserves and I want to be there for you too. You're the biggest part of Castle's life, if we can't get on then there's no hope for our relationship,' she looked Alexis squarely in the eyes, walking towards her and perching on the edge of her bed. 'Will you give me a chance?' Kate asked in a small voice. She never thought she'd be intimidated by a teenage girl, especially Alexis Castle.
Alexis sighed deeply and scooted forward on the bed, closer to Beckett.
'Oh Detective Beckett I'm sorry for being such a bitch. You got to understand though, my dad is the most important thing in the world to me, so I have to protect him! It was just a shock, because the last time we spoke about you he was talking about leaving and it was all so confusing,' she replied.
'I know,' Kate replied, smiling gently at the fierce red-head.
'I'm sorry about what I said before, you know, about you using him for sex and money,' Alexis flushed and Kate grimaced, embarrassed. 'I didn't mean it, I was just really angry. My dad seems really happy and I know that it's because of you and if you make him happy then I'm happy. Just promise me you won't leave him? He doesn't deserve it,' she told Kate firmly, her eyes still holding some lingering resentment and worry.
Beckett reached forward and placed a hand on Alexis's knee. The young girl didn't pull away which was a start for Beckett.
'You're dad makes me really happy too and I promise you I won't leave, I couldn't if I tried,' she smiled fondly at Alexis. 'Are we ok now?' Beckett asked softly, not quite meeting the girl's eyes, scared of her rejection. Kate suddenly felt a pair of arms latch round her neck and a flash of red hair pressed against her. Kate relaxed into her and reciprocated the hug. They pulled away, slightly teary-eyed. They laughed at each other for being over-emotional and pulled in for another hug, rubbing each other's backs soothingly.
'Come on, we should probably head downstairs before your dad comes up thinking we've killed each other,' Kate smiled, standing and holding out a hand to pull Alexis off the bed. Alexis laughed and joined Kate before wrapping an arm round her waist as Kate put one round her shoulders.
'Yes you're probably right. I think he's expecting world war three and I almost guarantee he's been listening in to our conversation,' she raised an eyebrow at Kate.
Castle heard the sound of a bedroom door being opened and scurried back towards the kitchen, anxiously waiting. He had tried to listen in to their conversation but wasn't able to properly hear most of what was being said. He attempted to act as nonchalantly as possible as they descended the stairs but his mouth gaped open at the sight of them with their arms round each other.
'Castle close your mouth,' Kate smirked at him.
'Yeah Dad, you'll catch flies,' Alexis added, grinning up at Kate. Castle stuttered for a second before composing himself. He glanced at Kate and she beamed back at him, silently letting him know that everything was ok.
'What now you two are ganging up on me? That's not fair!' he whined, pushing two hot chocolates across the breakfast bar to Alexis and Kate.
'Oh Castle, we're not ganging up on you,' Kate replied, taking a long gulp of her hot chocolate.
'Just mutually recognising a fault of yours,' Alexis finished as Kate flashed her a grin.
'Oh dear daughter and what might that be?' he said, moving round the bar to pull Alexis into a hug, looking down at her frowning. Kate smirked before looking over and stating calmly,
'Gawping.'
Apologies for the short chapter but I've just finished all my exams so I've been super busy but I'll try and update again soon with something longer thanks to everyone who has subscribed/reviewed!