Authors Note: Happy Saturday, everyone! I know it isn't Friday, but I just couldn't wait to update this chapter! Also, I have no life, so I'll be posting outfits on my Tumblr under the tab "Falling Again.", so feel free to check that out as soon as I get it up. On that note...
Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.
Summary: One night of helping a red-headed girl with her portfolio changes a lot about Kevin Ryan. Especially his views on the young Twenty-one year old.

She pulled the keys out of the ignition of her red car, grabbing her phone from the cup-holder, along with the black plastic bag that was on the passenger seat and quickly getting out of her car and running inside the building before getting any rain on her. When she got inside, she walked straight to the elevator. After about a minute of waiting, the doors open for her. She got inside and hit the floor number she needed, then leaned against the wall. She ran her hands over her black and white pleated skirt. She unlocked her phone and started scrolling through her text messages as she waited to get to the floor she needed. When the elevator stopped sooner than it normally did, she looked up, seeing a male detective walk.

"You're going up to homicide?" he said when he noticed that that was the button that was pushed.

"Yeah, taking my Dad's Fiancee lunch. He got stuck in a meeting." Alexis replied looking back down at her phone.

"I see." was all he replied with. When the elevator doors closed, he leaned against the left wall and looked back over at her.

"Whose your Dad's Fiancee? Maybe I know her." Alexis didn't look up, he was obviously trying to make small talk.

"Detective Beckett." she replied. As soon as she said it, the elevator stopped, and she walked out to see the familiar homicide department.

"Hey, Alexis." Detective Beckett said as soon as the redhead reached her desk.

"Dad's meeting ran long, so he had me bring you some lunch." Alexis told her, handing her the black back. "He wanted me to tell you that he's sorry, and he'll make it up to you. I didn't bother asking how, because I am sure that I don't want to know." She continued with a joking smile on her face.

"Thanks, Alexis. I've got a ton of paperwork to do anyway, so it's fine." Beckett said setting the bag on the floor to be eaten later. "So, how'd the job interview go?" Kate asked her. Alexis shrugged.

"I think it went pretty well, they have some guy coming in to interview in about an hour. I should find out around six if I got the job. She said that she was impressed that I could manage to get four years of school done in three and a half years. Both with highschool and college. If I do get the job, I'll be the youngest teacher there." Alexis said proudly.

"That's really great Alexis, I think you'll get it."

"Well, I'm gonna go home. Faye wants to know how it went because she'll be sending her daughter there at the beginning of the year."

"How old is Faye again?" Kate asked as she put a piece of paper in a manilla folder.

"She's my age. Twenty-one." Alexis said.

"Right, she had her daughter really young." Kate replied. Alexis looked around quickly just to see if who was there.

"Where are Detectives Esposito and Ryan?" Alexis asked as she brushed her hair behind her ear.

"Uh, I think they went for lunch." Kate told her without looking up.

"Right. Well, I'll see you later then." She said before turning and walking away, leaving the room in complete silence except for the click of her heels as she walked away. Instead of wanting to take the elevator, she decided that she would take the stairs, because she didn't have to meet Faye for an hour and she had time to kill.

When she reached the bottom floor, her phone vibrated in her hand, and she unlocked it, seeing a new text message.

To Alexis From Faya-Bella: Hey Lexi, Gale is sick, so we won't be able to make it. Sorry, hun. We have to do it another time. Call me when you find out! ox Faye.

To Faya-Bella From Alexis: It's alright, don't want little Abigale to get more sick, or to get anyone else sick. I hope that she gets better soon. I will call you as soon as I hear anything. (:

As Alexis was typing her reply she was slowly walking to the doors of the precinct, not really watching where she was walking. As soon as she hit send, she went to lock her phone, but instead, she ran right into someone. Immediately she felt terrified. She probably just ran into a cop. For not paying attention.

"Oh! I am so-" she looked up to see the face of one Kevin Ryan standing there. "-sorry." She brushed her hair out of her face using both of her hands and she looked at the ground.

"Good to see you too, Alexis." he said with a chuckle. "Whatcha doing?"

"Well, now I'm going home to sit there and wait for my Dad to come home and complain about his meeting." She sighed before continuing. "I was going to go change and meet up with a friend and tell her how the interview went, but her daughter got sick so that plans out." Alexis replied.

"How did that go, by the way? I'm betting that they were impressed."

"It went well, I find out around six tonight if they liked me or the other, much older, guy." she said with a confident smile.

"You'll get it." Ryan said with a nod. "Hey, I have an idea. Since your friend canceled on you, I get off in a few hours, we can go get something to eat while you wait to hear." he talked really quickly, but Alexis understood every word he said.

"Would this be two friends getting something to eat together, or would this be like a date or something?" Alexis asked him.

"Uh, Well, uh, Either?" He looked down at the ground then back up at her again.

"A date it is then." she said with a smile.

"how about you meet me in the park at say.. five-thirty? I'm off at five."

"Five-thirty." She confirmed with a nod.

"Alright, well, Beckett's gonna kill me if I don't get back up to work." he told her. She nodded and walked outside as he made his way over to the elevator.

[ - - - ]

It was four-thirty when Alexis had decided to get ready. After she had gotten home she decided to take a shower then go sit on her bed and read until her Dad got home. After he had complained for an hour, he decided that he would go call Kate and apologize.

Alexis picked up her phone off her bed and re-read the text message she had gotten from Kevin about an hour.

To: Alexis From: Kevin Ryan: Dress nicely tonight. Something like you would wear if you were working.

After closing the text message, she walked over to her closet and opened it, pulling out a black long-sleeved shirt, and a white tanktop out of the dresser. All her friends thought that she was weird for keeping her dressed in her closet, but she just thought that it made sense to have all her clothes by each other. She pulled them on and grabbed a black skirt off one of the hangers. After looking at it for a second, she put it back on it's hanger, and reached over and grabbed a white wool one that she never wore, and quickly put it on. She grabbed her favorite pair of black ankle-boots, and tossed them onto her bed before she opened the top drawer of her dresser and pulled out a pair of white socks. She walked over to her bed. She pulled her socks on, not folding them over like she usually did, and then pulled her shoes on. Once she had the laces done up, she folded the tops of her socks over twice so that they could be seen above her shoes.

She walked over to her full length mirror and examined her outfit. Once she was sure that it was fine, she grabbed the comb off the nightstand and combed through her hair, deciding that leaving it down and not straightening it looked best with her outfit. When she had finished combing through her hair, she walked over and grabbed her phone off her bed checking the time, that was now 5:10. She grabbed the small black clutch that had her keys to the loft and her lip gloss in, along with some spare cash and her ID before turning off the light to her room and practically running down the stairs.

"Hey Lexi, you going out?" she heard from the kitchen. She turned her head to see Kate sitting on one of the stools, flipping through one of her Dad's old picture albums.

"Yeah, I have my keys, so tell Dad he can lock the door. I don't know when I'll be back." Alexis said before quickly walking out.

She had only been back from college for a little over three months now, and she couldn't wait to get her own apartment. She loved living with her Dad, but she was turning twenty-two next month, she was getting a little old to be living with him.

She walked out of the apartment building and started her walk to the park, dodging the groups of teenagers who were staring at her with wide eyes. She was very grateful when she arrived at the park, because most of the people there were with someone. She looked at her phone, seeing the time was now 5:29. She pulled up her contact list and hit Kevin's name and hit the call button.

The phone only rang twice before he answered.

"Hey, we never said where we were gonna meet?" She said as more of a question rather than a statement.

"Well, where are you right now? I'll come find you." She heard through the reciever.

"Uh, I'm just a little past the Taco stand Kate likes."

"I know where you are. I'll be there in like, thirty seconds."

"Kay." She clicked hung up the call, locked her phone and put it in her bag. When she had clipped het bag closed, she saw Kevin walking towards her, kind of looking down at the ground. She smiled as she walked up to him.

"You look..." He took a deep breath as he grabbed her wrists and looked over her outfit. "..Wow. You look great." he told her.

"So do you, you look great." she said with a smile.

"Alright. So, why don't we just walk around until you get your phone call, and then we can go eat?" he suggested, and she nodded.

"That sounds good."

He nodded and they started walking down one of the cement path. Alexis brushes one part of her hair behind her ear, leaving one part draping over her shoulder.

"So, get all your paper work done?"

"Most of it." Ryan replied with a shrug.

"That's good." She replied with a smile. She looked up at him and bite her lip.

"You look really pretty tonight, Alexis, but I must ask you.. When you get the job, would you actually wear that to work?"

"Well, no. I wouldn't wear this. I'd probably wear slacks and a button up shirt most of the time." Alexis replied with a shrug.

He nodded and put his arm gently on her back. She looked down at the ground, letting her hair fall over her face so that he wouldn't see her smile.

"Want to go sit in the grass?" Alexis asked as she looked up at him. He nodded, grabbing her hand and leading her to the grass, She sat down, pulling her legs to her side and looked across the park at a couple toddlers playing with their parents. Ryan sat down next to her, running his hands through the grass.

The wind picked up lightly, causing Alexis' hair to blow into the side of her face. "Hey, Kevin, I'm assuming there have been a lot of murders here, how do you stand to come back?"

"I solve the murders."

"That's a good way." Just then, Alexis heard the default ringtone go off on her phone. Nervously, she opened her bag and took out her phone, seeing the number of the school she applied at. She took a deep breath and slide the answer button across the screen, putting the phone to her ear.

"Hello?"..."Yeah."..."Alright, thanks." After she said that, she hung-up, took a deep breath, and smiled.

"Training starts next week." She said, turning to the detective.

"I told you, didn't I?"

"You did." She replied. She reached over and hugged him tightly. When he pulled away from her, he gave her a soft kiss on the forehead, and stood up, reaching for her hand.

"I think we should go eat now, I'm pretty hungry." He said as he helped her up.

"Food sounds delicious." She replied with a smile. They started walking, hand in hand, through Central Park on their way to dinner.