Hey everyone. Thanks for all kind response so far.

Here's the next chapter.

I know that the legal drinking age in the USA is 21, but I kind of forgot about that when I wrote this chapter. I'm really sorry for this mistake. In Germany, the legal drinking age is 18. Let's just pretend that Rebel-Becks knew her way around.

I don't own Castle.

Chapter 3

Half a year had passed since the murder of her mom and to get on other thoughts she had thrown herself into work. After a two month long period, in which she mourned her mother's death, she had signed up for the police academy. If the police couldn't find the one responsible for Johanna Beckett's death, then she would!

Unfortunately, there hadn't been as much changes in her father's live as in hers. She wanted to help him so much, but she didn't know how. A few months ago she hadn't had the strength to get away from that deep rabbit hole for the both of them. However, sometime down the road she became stronger again. What had been surprising though was from where exactly she got her new strength. The source of that new strength was none other than Richard Castle.

She had discovered his books in her mother's belongings and had started to read. She wasn't a big fan of mystery novels, but these books had been a part of her mom's life. Her mother had been a huge fan of this author and Kate longed for anything that could make her feel closer to her again. Surprisingly she had enjoyed reading them. She had read for hours and couldn't put the book away. She had been so caught up in the events of that book. But she had been more surprised when she discovered the picture of the author on the back cover of the book. It was that stranger from the park. Rick.

At that time she couldn't really believe that a bestselling author had been sitting next to her on a swing in a park, offering her coffee. If her mother would have been still alive then, she surely would have freaked out after discovering that.

Right know she was on a tour through some bars of NYC with one of her new friends. Her name was Lanie and she studied medicine. She wanted to become a pathologist, what had surprised Kate. She would've never thought that she'd be into that whole dead body thing.

They were already in the third bar of their tour. It wasn't popular one, but it was still an insider tip and so far, they hadn't regretted coming here. They sat at the bar and let different men invite them for drinks. To be honest, Kate was already a little bit tipsy, but she was still enjoying the positive side of their night out and didn't care about the number of drinks she already had. She'll worry about the negative side tomorrow, when she'll curse every drink she had drunken this night.

She saw daily how the alcohol impacted her dad's life, but if he could drink his sorrows away, so could she. Just for one night. She just wanted to forget. She just wanted to have a careless life again. A life that was normal for her age. She wanted to have fun. She wanted someone who could help her to forget her worries. She wanted an awkward morning after, waking up in an unfamiliar bed. She wanted all of that, so that she could stay away from the real life as long as possible. She didn't want to go back to her broken life.

"I have to say, this bar is a really good insider tip." said Lanie to Kate, while she smiled flirtatiously at the guy who just got her a new drink.

"I absolutely think so, too." Kate was also flirting with a man. He had nice, brown eyes and a beautiful smile. He looked like he worked out a lot and was around the same age as her. Maybe he could be the one who made her forget for one night. To feel free of all worries again.

After a few more drinks, Lanie bid her goodbye to Kate and went home, but Kate stayed where she was. She didn't want to go yet, she had too much fun. In the meanwhile, the guy she had flirted with got bolder. There were more touches and he moved his whole body closer to hers. At the beginning she liked his boldness, after all she had wanted a meaningless night. A night to forget everything but the present time. However, she started to slowly regret her decision. His touches made her uncomfortable.

She tried to distance herself a little from him, but he followed every move of her, bringing his body closer to her. She laid a hand on his chest and tried to shove him back, but she wasn't strong enough. Normally she'd have no problem defending herself against men, but she clearly had too much to drink. Her thoughts were a big mess and her reaction wasn't as fast as it normally was.

"What's your problem? Don't be so prissy. I thought you wanted this?" murmured the man into her ear and she could smell the alcohol. He was just about to lay his arms around her as a hand came out of nowhere and packed one of the arms of the man.

"I think this lady had changed her mind. You should respect her decision." This voice seemed oddly familiar to her, though she couldn't place it. She turned her head a little bit to the left and tried to focus on the second man. Was this Rick? Because of the low lighting of the bar and the high alcohol level in her blood, she couldn't be sure of what exactly she saw.

The distraction was successful, because the man actually turned away from Kate, but he had a new goal in mind now. He looked aggressively at Rick and rose to his full height, however Rick showed no sign of being intimidated. He didn't feel threatened by a drunk man you couldn't even say one word without slurring. "Oh, really? And why do you think exactly, that you can interfere with my business?"

"Do 'your businesses' always involve drunk women? Besides my friend Eddie doesn't want any problems in his bar and I think he'd be glad if you'd leave now."

Eddie, the owner of the bar, stood behind Rick. Irritated by the two men, he looked from one to the other before his eyes where back on Kate, who supported herself on the bar. He seemed to contemplate if Kate would be worth the trouble with the two men. After a few seconds, Eddie lost his patience and made the decision for the man. "Come one, mate. Don't make things more complicated than they already are and go home."

Eddie reached for the arm of the man and pulled him to the door. With one last look towards Kate, he disappeared into the night.

"Thanks, Eddie."

Eddie brushed it aside. „I won't tolerate such behavior in my bar." Then he looked at Kate who still leant on the bar, eyes half closed. „Should I call a cab?"

"No, thanks. I take it from here."

"You want to go already?"

"Yes, I have to go home. Besides, if I go now, I can at least make sure that she arrives safely at home."

Rick went back to his table in the corner to get his things. He had been sitting at that table for three hours and worked on a new chapter when he had seen her entering the bar. He could hardly believe it when he saw her, because he had thought that he'd never see her again. From this moment on, all of his attempts to concentrate on the words in front of him, were in vain. She was just too interesting. It looked like their destiny that more than one meeting point. Later, when he saw that the guy she was flirting with, got more aggressive towards her and she clearly showed that she didn't feel comfortable around him anymore, he couldn't just keep sitting there and watch. She could drink and flirt as much as she wanted, he still saw the young and lost woman he had met in the park.

When he had all of his things, he went back to Kate and laid supportive an arm around her waist. "Come on. I take you home."

"I can walk myself." Protested Kate and loosened his arm around her. Rick rolled his eyes about her stubbornness. Even under the influence of alcohol, this character trait didn't seem to have changed. If she wanted to walk without his help, he would let her.

She staggered in front of him towards the door and he asked himself whether she noticed that her balance was off. To make sure that she would stumble and fall, he stayed close to her, so that he could catch her if necessary. Before he walked out of the door, he waved briefly his goodbye to Eddie.

While he called for a cab, he kept his eyes the whole time on Kate. Thank God that there were still enough cabs driving around that they didn't have to wait too long. He wanted to help her getting into the car, but she ignored his hand and got in herself. This time he suppressed an eye roll. He had the feeling that she won't make it easy for any man in the future.

He got in the cab and closed the door, when he felt something heavy on his arm. He looked down to her and saw that she fell asleep leaning on him.

Rick signed. So much for taking her home.

Well, let's just say that Kate is getting that awkward morning after, just not like she had envisioned it. And she'll see Alexis again.