So, this is going to be the final instalment of New Years Eve, but feel free to check out my other stories. Thanks to A.K who helped me with editing, can't thank you enough. Hope that you all enjoy.


Alexis' eyes fluttered open. The sunlight was streaming in through the window.

She could hear voices in the distance—most likely her father and Kate making breakfast downstairs. She could smell fresh coffee and bacon, and it made her stomach rumble.

She pushed the covers back and stretched her arms as she yawned. Sitting up, she saw the light flicker on her phone; she must have missed a text. Alexis began to smile as she realized it was probably from him.

'Good morning beautiful. Hope you're feeling okay this morning. I'm going for a run, but I'll let you know when I get back. We can meet for that coffee.'

Alexis felt like she was gliding on air. She tossed her phone onto the bed and headed for the bathroom, where she showered and dressed. As she applied some lip gloss, she realized that she had to wipe the grin off of her face or her father would know that something was up. She was supposed to be sick after all.

She placed the cap back on the jar and walked back to her bedroom. She stood in the doorway, thinking about everything that had happened last night: the kiss at the party, Kevin following her home, making love to him in her bed. All in all a very eventful night, she thought.

She quickly made her bed and headed towards the kitchen.

As she reached the top of the stairs she could hear laughter coming from below. Her Dad and Kate were filling someone in on the events of last night, something about a couple causing a major scene when the girl caught the guy looking at another girl. She couldn't help but smile as she heard her father put his own unique twist on the story.

"Sounds like I missed quite a performance." She joined the conversation as she reached the bottom step, realizing that it was Kevin they were chatting with.

"Oh, I didn't know that we had company," she stammered.

"Yeah, I ran into Detective Ryan when I was out this morning picking up coffee." Castle gestured to the take-out cups on the counter. "He wondered how you were doing after last night, so I told him to come by and check for himself. You couldn't sleep that much longer."

She looked at the clock that hung on the wall in the family room, "Oh wow, it's past noon. I didn't realize it was so late."

"That's OK sweetie. We know that you're not feeling well." Castle kissed her on the forehead as she brushed passed him to retrieve a cup with her name written on the side.

"Thank's for the coffee, Dad." She took a long sip, not quite knowing what else to do.

"So how you feeling Alexis?" Kevin stood on the opposite side of the counter.

"Ah, I'm okay, thanks for asking Detective Ryan." It felt strange being so formal with him after what they were doing just a few hours ago.

"I told you last night, call me Kevin." He grinned.

She nodded and took another sip.

"So, about last night, what exactly happened?".

"What do you mean Castle?" Kevin raised an eyebrow.

Damn him, how could he act so cool? Alexis wanted the floor to open up and swallow her whole.

"Well you two, I understand that you followed her home to make sure that she was okay, which I appreciate fully, but you didn't have to stick around and babysit."

"Dad—"

"Rick," Kate piped in, smacking his arm and giving Alexis an apologetic look.

Alexis watched the exchange between the two men silently.

Kevin laughed, "Its fine Castle. I didn't mind hanging with Alexis until you guys got back. It was fun."

"Fun," Castle repeated.

"Yeah, I came up to check on her, we watched some TV and talked a little, said Happy New Year, and then you came home."

"But you were in her room."

Alexis felt herself turning ten shades of red. She wasn't entirely sure if it was embarrassment or anger.

"Yeah, when she got up to go to bed she said that she felt dizzy, so I went up with her. I didn't want to leave until I knew that she was alright. I didn't want her to fall down and get hurt."

"So that's it?"

"What were you expecting Castle? One of your insane theories?"

"No, of course not, I'm just making sure that my little girl is okay. That's all."

Kevin placed his cup on the counter. "Why? Do you think that I would do something to hurt her?"

"I hope not, because if something were to happen..."

"What Castle? What would happen?" Kevin crossed his arms.

Alexis had had enough, she dropped her cup on the counter and headed for the stairs, quickly followed by Kate. "Alexis sweetie, he's just trying to—" Kate's voice trailed off.

"Way to go Castle, now she's upset." Kevin gestured in the direction of the stairs. Which were now empty.

"I know what I've done, I should have listened and kept my mouth shut."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because that's my daughter, and when I overheard the two of you arguing last night I got worried that something may be going on between you two."

Kevin put his hands in the pockets of his sweat pants and looked out the window.

"Ryan?"

"Yeah, Castle?"

"Why aren't you adamantly denying it right now?"

"Because we both know that it would be a lie, and I don't wanna lie to you any more."

"So you're gonna give me an aneurysm instead?" Castle grabbed his chest and started pacing.

"Would you rather me lie about what happened?"

"No. Yes. What happened? Never mind. I don't wanna know."

"I never meant for anything to happen and neither did Alexis."

"Couldn't you have just lied to me a while longer, saved me some heartache?" He sat on the stool facing Kevin.

Kevin chuckled and sat beside his friend. "You're actually taking this pretty well Castle. I've gotta give you credit."

"Well, you haven't made it out of the apartment yet," Castle frowned.

"Truthfully, I don't quite know what's happening between us yet, but I would like to see where it could go. Is that okay with you?"

"Are you asking for my permission?"

"Not really. She is a grown woman; I'm just giving you a heads up."

Castle stared down at the floor. "I just don't want Alexis to get hurt, that's all."

"I know that, and I would never hurt her in any way. I promise you that."

"I know that you're a stand-up guy, but that's my little girl up there and the thought of her and you just creeps me out."

Kevin laughed, "All I'm asking is for you to give me a chance to make her happy. Can you do that?"

"I'm not sure, but I can try."

"Alexis." Kate followed her upstairs and knocked on the closed bedroom door.

"Go away, Dad."

"Alexis, it's me, can I come in?"

The door opened and Kate saw the anger and frustration on the young girl's face.

"He means well. He's just worried about you."

"What does he have to be worried about? Doesn't he trust me?" Alexis flopped on the bed.

"Sure he does, it's just—" Kate leaned against the dresser and paused.

"What?"

"We saw the two of you arguing last night at the party, so naturally your dad is worried."

"You saw that." She blushed.

Kate nodded, she couldn't help but smile as she watched Alexis' pale cheeks turn bright red.

"Oh."

"How long have the two of you been seeing each other?" Kate questioned as Alexis' eyes widened.

"No, it's not like that. We haven't—it's just that we kissed at the party." Alexis hung her head.

Kate stepped forward and sat beside her on the bed. "I swear, there was nothing going on between us before last night."

"I believe you." Kate smiled down at her.

"You do? Thank you."

"But your father has this theory that you two have been in this elaborate relationship and are about to run off together," Kate joked.

Alexis rolled her eyes and huffed.

"We're not."

"OK, so what is going on? Please don't say it's nothing, because this morning was the first time your father ever bumped into Ryan running. He lives nowhere near here. That was no coincidence."

"Can I trust that you won't tell Dad? Please don't think less of me."

"Of course."

Alexis took a deep breath and decided to let it all out. "We kissed at the party and after we fought, he followed me home to make sure that I wasn't upset. When he got here I wasn't going to let him in but I did. So we talked and then we sort of..." Alexis trailed off.

"You what?"

"We sort of slept together."

"You sort of slept together?" Kate repeated in shock.

"Please don't tell Dad. I know that he knows I've had sex before, but I think this might send him over the edge."

"Agreed."

"Kate, I'm so confused."

"Well, did you guys talk about where thing were headed?"

"No, we didn't really talk about it. It wasn't planned; it just sort of happened," Alexis admitted shyly. "I have always had a crush on Kevin, but I never really thought anything was going to happen between us."

Kate nodded silently.

"Now it has and I'm not sure if it's a good thing or not. We've sort of been friends forever, and now we did this huge thing. I mean it can really only go two ways: We could fall in love and get married and have a bunch of kids, or we could just agree that it was just a big mistake, decide to just stay friends."

Kate hugged her supportively, "What do you want to happen sweetie?"

"I'm not sure. I like him. A lot."

"So maybe the right thing to do now is have this conversation with Ryan, figure it out," Kate offered.

Alexis nodded in agreement.

"But please, don't mention a word of this to Dad until I figure out exactly what this is."

Alexis stood and hugged Kate. "You have my word ."

"Thank you for being here for me."

"Anytime, and I'm sorry but I've gotta ask—" Kate raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"What?"

"Ryan, how was he?"

"Oh gosh, really?"

"He's just always so eager to please, I can almost picture him now: fumbling around in the dark with that boyish grin." Kate giggled.

"Seriously?" Alexis smiled, "You have no idea." She used her hand to fan her face.

"Oh wow, and he… you know, did you?" Kate begged the question.

Alexis held up two fingers, and mouthed the word, "Twice."

"Way to go Ryan!" Kate stated. "Come on, let's go see if your Dad has scared him off."

The two wandered into the hall and down the stairs, to find Castle and Ryan chatting at the kitchen counter.

"He's still here; that's a good sign." Kate whispered to Alexis.

Their approach drew the attention of the two men and they both stood.

Kate wrapped her arm around Kate, "Everything OK?" he asked, kissing the top of her head.

"Great. Right Alexis?"

"Uh huh." Alexis had locked eyes with Kevin, and she could not look away.

Kate saw the look on Ryan's face, and realized that they may need some time alone.

"You know, it just occurred to me that we don't have any jam for the toast."

"What?" Rick questioned.

"Yeah, let's go get some. It will only take a minute." Kate dragged Rick towards the door.

Alexis watched her confused father being tugged through the door as it slammed shut.

Kevin walked up behind her and placed his hands on her hips, causing butterflies to erupt in her stomach. "Alone at last." He spun her around and stole a kiss. When he pulled his lips from here she was smiling.

"So, I kinda talked to Castle about us." Kevin admitted.

"What? When? What did he say?"

"The usual, but, surprisingly, he seems to be okay with it."

"Really? He didn't freak out about us sleeping together?" Alexis thought he would have protested a little. She pulled away from him and walked over to the sofa.

"Well I didn't give him the details, but he know's that we're together."

"Kate too, she was actually pretty helpful."

"Helpful?" Kevin questioned, and he sat beside her.

"Well yeah. It was helpful to talk this out with someone."

"Did this need talking out?" he asked a little confused.

"Well I just mean that we didn't plan it; it just sort of happened."

Kevin nodded, "Yes, and?"

"Well I mean, it was just all so overwhelming this morning and it helped to talk to another woman about it, and us."

"You told her everything about us?"

"Yes. Is that a problem?"

"No, not at all. What was her take on the whole situation?"

"She said that we should talk about it, which I agree with, don't you?"

"Sure, if you wanna talk about it we can."

Alexis was silent for several minutes, Kevin watched her patiently.

"Hey." He pulled her onto his lap, "What's going on in that beautiful mind of yours?"

"Was this a one night stand for you? A fling? If so please, tell me now."

"No. I had no intentions on letting anything happen between us if I didn't plan on sticking it out."

She nodded silently.

"Lex, do you really think that I could walk away from you just like that?" Kevin couldn't help but feel a little hurt. Did she really think so little of him, that he could sleep with her and just walk away? Then he saw a single tear roll down her cheek.

"Lex, what's wrong?" he asked wiping away the tear.

She shook her head, "Nothing. I'm glad that you wanna stay." She snuggled into him.

"I'm not going anywhere Lex. You're stuck with me now."


Hope you enjoyed, please leave a review and let me know what you think. Remember to check out my other stories, It Happened One Night, and my latest, Held Captive.