A/N - Guys, I'm extremely sorry for taking so long in updating this story. I knew exactly where I wanted to go with the story, I just didn't know how to get there. I finally managed to and there will be only one more chapter after this. I hope you enjoy reading it. This is my way of making up to all of you.

Nina K.

"Hello, Katie" she heard someone say and immediately regretted not accepting Rick's invitation to stop by at his loft first.

"D - Dad? What are you doing here?" she asked, confused.

"I came to see you. I missed you, didn't you miss me?" he stood up and started walking towards her, but she stepped back, keeping her distance. "What's wrong, Katie?"

"What's wrong is that you sent me away when I needed you the most, and now that I'm finally getting used to the idea of being in a new home and in a new school, with new friends, you come here and say you missed me? Why? Just to say you're sorry and leave again? I guess you were pretty clear about it in that letter."

"Kate, it's okay. Just listen to him." Rick whispered in her ear. He knew what it felt like to not have a father. He had never actually met his, and though he tried to convince himself and the people around him that he couldn't miss what he didn't have, he missed the possibility of having a father figure around - and not only the men his mother would bring home from time to time.

"I don't want to listen to him, Rick. He chose to make me leave, he chose to live without me."

"Katie, let me explain -"

"No, dad. I don't want to listen. Just leave and don't come back." she cried.

The three men watched as she climbed the stairs, two steps at a time, and rushed in her bedroom. Jim fell back on the couch, both hands on his face as he tried not to cry. Phillip still stared at the stairs and Rick tried to think about something he could do to help.

He walked towards Jim and put a hand on his shoulder. The older man looked at him and Rick saw the tears in his eyes. "I'm Rick Rodgers, sir. Kate's boyfriend. I know the circumstances aren't the best for us to meet. I'll talk to her and see what I can do."

"Thank you, son."

Rick climbed the stairs after Kate and knocked on her door. She didn't answer, so he knocked again. "Katie, it's me. Open up, please."

He heard her unlock the door. It suddenly swung open and he barely had time to think as she pulled him inside and locked it again. She threw her arms around him and sobbed desperately against his shoulder. "Shh, Katie, it's okay. I'm here. Always, remember? I promised you."

"I know. I love you, Rick."

"I love you too, Katie. But, I think that, later, you're going to regret not talking to him, so, calm down and wash this beautiful face of yours. You should listen to what he has to say, no matter what it is."

It took a while, but the sobs subsided. Then, she did as he had told her to and carefully washed the remaining tears away, before heading downstairs, hand in hand with Rick, to listen to what her father wanted to tell her. She stood behind him, though, as fear filled her.

"Katie." he said, standing up. "I'm so sorry, honey." he paused waiting for any kind of reaction, but nothing came. "I know I sent you away with a lame excuse, I should've made up something better."

"Made up?"

"Yeah, Katie. I sent you away because I was afraid they'd try to get to you."

"Who's 'they', dad? Just spit it all out, I'm a big girl, I can handle it."

"The crash was a set up. The people behind the case I was working on in the firm were giving me a warning. If I didn't back up they'd kill my family. I guess no one was supposed to have died, just be badly injured, but you were the only survivor. While you were in the hospital, I got a letter. They were threatening to... they said they'd hurt you to get to me and I could not let them. That's why I sent you away. But, I sent the letter to the cops and it turns out the guys weren't as professional as they thought they were. The police arrested them a few days ago. We're free now Kate. You are the only family I have left and it's my job to take care of you, not Phillip's. He's been great so far and he told me you've improved emotionally, so I guess it's time you come back with me."

Both Kate's and Rick's faces fell. Go back? What did he mean? "What?"

"I want you to come back home with me, Katie."

Of course she'd love to go back home with her dad, but what about Rick? She loved him. She couldn't leave him behind! She was young and yet she had found love. Everything her mother had said about falling in love and all the songs finally making sense... She could not ignore it, she'd have to follow her heart, but it was as indecisive as her mind.

"No. No, no, no. I can't go." she snaked her arm around Rick's waist and held tightly onto him. "I can't." she cried.

Rick wrapped both his arms around her tiny frame as to protect her from whatever harm her father was causing. He kept whispering to her that it was okay, but didn't move his eyes from Jim. The older man looked at the couple, surprised, and, although Rick didn't want to let Kate go, he felt like he had to. She needed her father and he wouldn't keep her from him, as his mother had done.

"Katie, you should go with him."

"What? Why - Why would you even suggest that?" she asked, surprised. "You don't want me anymore?"

"You need him and he needs you. I do love and want you and that's why I can't keep you away from him. It's better for you, Katie. We can write to each other every week. I promise to wait for you, forever and always."

"I don't want to leave you." she whispered.

"I don't, either, Katie. But you'll regret not going."

She hugged him tighter. "Okay, I'll go, but you promise you'll wait... and write?"

"Always, Katie." he kissed the top of her head and turned to her father. "When do you plan on leaving?"

"In a few hours. You should pack, Katie."

Phillip drove the other 3 to the airport. Jim was in a hurry and Kate and Rick barely had time to say good-bye. He bought her a teddy-bear which held onto a heart with their word "Always", so she would remember him while they were apart. He promised, one more time, that he would write, and kissed her.

She cried all the way home - in the plane, in the cab - and even cried herself to sleep in the now unfamiliar bed, because all she could think about was him and how little were the chances of them meeting any time soon.

6 years later

Kate had never gotten any letters. She didn't blame him, though. He'd probably moved on with his life. She didn't know. She'd kept her promise though, and never dated anyone else. Sure, guys would hit on her, but she wouldn't let them get very far.

She'd decided to join the police academy, specifically the homicide division, so she could help people who lost their loved ones unexpectedly as she had. She'd been training really hard and was the best.

Kate hadn't seen her grandfather since that day, but he had called a few times. He'd moved from the loft, as it had gotten way too big for an old recently single guy. He hadn't heard from Rick either, but had invited her over several times.

She'd finally finished training and decided to go to New York and try to join a precinct there. Her father was against that decision in the beginning, but when he realized she'd not change her mind, he did everything he could to support her.

Before hopping in the plane, she bought a couple of gossip magazines and a few candies. The flight wouldn't take that long, but she needed to do something while being squeezed between two people that she hoped weren't fat. She scanned the first magazine and half-way through the second box of Nerds, she picked up the second magazine and started reading.

She came across a picture of a familiar figure. It couldn't be, could it? The name was surely the same, but the last name wasn't. The man in the picture did look like her Rick, he even had those same piercing eyes.

Kate read the article over and over again. Richard Castle would be signing his second best-selling book in the Barnes and Nobles close to her grandfather's new apartment in the next couple of days. Should she go there and see him? Would he like to see her? That she didn't know, but it wouldn't hurt to try.

"Hey, grandpa." she said, giving old Phillip a hug as soon as he opened the door to her.

"Katie! Oh, dear Lord, you've gotten so big! Let me help you with that." he said, moving to get her suitcase.

"Oh, no, Pops. I can handle it."

"Okay, then, Kitty-Kat. Let me show you to your bedroom."

The room way too good for someone who wasn't going to stay long. As soon as she saved a little money she'd put it all in for a one-bedroom apartment. She set the suitcase there and helped the old man cook dinner. They ate together and caught up on the last few years. After dinner, they were both exhausted and went to bed. Kate knew she'd have a lot of things to do the next day, and that included buying both Richard Castle's books.