Wow. I am overwhelmed by how you guys react to my fanfic. Thank you guys so much! So, here's chapter 3. If you guys find anything wrong in this chapter, do send me a PM and I'll do the necessary adjustments.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Castle.

Kate waited outside of Alexis' school. As soon as she heard the school bell ring, her eyes headed for the school gate. Kids began to swarm out of the school, running. Kate was too busy searching for Alexis when she felt someone hug her. She looked down and saw the little red head.

"Kate!" Alexis said happily.

"Hey Lil' Red!" Kate exclaimed.

"You came!"

"I said I would, didn't I?" Kate replied with a smile.

Then a man walks up to Kate with a boy by his side.

"Hi, I'm Ethan," the man said.

"I haven't seen you around before. You new in town?" he asked.

"Sort of. I grew up in New York but I just got back from California."

"Great place, California.. Is she your daughter? She's adorable."

Before she could reply, Alexis spoke up. "Mommy, c'mon! Daddy's waiting!"

"Daddy, huh? I guess I better get going. C'mon James," the man, Ethan said to the boy.

"Alexis, what was that for?"

"Mr Bennett does that to all single mothers."

"Does what? We were just talking."

"He was trying to ask you out," Alexis pointed out.

"What's wrong with that? I haven't had a date in years."

"Oh.. Are you mad?" Alexis asked softly.

"No, I'm not mad. I'm glad you told me. Otherwise, I'd be dating a player. No one likes that."

"C'mon. I left your daddy at Remy's. If we're quick, we can let him pay for the ice cream," Kate said.

"Yay! Ice cream!"

Kate Beckett and Alexis Castle reached the diner in the nick of time. They bumped into Rick Castle.

"Kate... I thought you weren't coming back."

"I wasn't but then since I'm bring lil' Red to have some ice cream, I thought why not let her daddy pay for her?"

"After all... She is your only daughter, right Castle?"

"You're playing me.."

"Please daddy?" Alexis pouted.

"C'mon Castle. You can't say no that face," Kate said as she mimicked the face.

"Are you kidding me?" he asked.

Looking at their puppy dog face, a smile crept on his face. He couldn't say no to those two. He sighed and moved aside to let them in the diner, signalling that they have won the battle.

"Thanks, daddy!" Alexis said before walking in and taking Kate's and Rick's usual seat.

"Yeah.. Thanks, daddy," Kate teased.

"Oh shut up. It's not fair that the two of you gang up on me. Besides, I was going to say yes anyways."

"Mmhm.. Yeah, okay. Whatever you say, Ricky," she teased as she walked in.

He walked in with a sigh and sat at their table. "I'm never going to win this, am I?" Rick asked.

"No, probably not," Kate said as she gave Alexis a light fist bump.

Once they were done, Rick paid the bill again and they headed to the park, as originally planned. Kate and Alexis walked ahead, hand-in-hand, towards the swing set. Rick just stared at the in awe. Kate let Alexis ran ahead and sat on the swings. Kate turned around and caught Castle staring. She smiled and gestured him to come. He was snapped back into reality when he saw Kate gesturing to him. He shook his head and walked towards them.

"You okay?" Beckett asked.

"Huh? Um.. yeah.. Never better," Castle lied.

"Rick, c'mon.. I've known you for like what? 10 years now? I can tell when you're lying. Out with it," Kate demanded.

"It's just... I couldn't help but admire how good you are with Alexis. Not even her own mother would bother to spend time with her. It's nice to see that someone cares."

"Well, this someone has known Alexis practically her whole life. And her father for a decade. I think of you guys as family. Of course I would care."

"Plus, Martha likes me," she said with a wink.

Before he could reply, Alexis called out to Kate. She wanted Kate to push her on the swings. Beckett excused herself from Castle and walked towards the little red head.

I think of you guys as family. Her words ring out in his head. It was strange that only Kate Beckett could have this effect on him. He didn't know what exactly but he felt something different about her.

17 year old Richard "Rick" Rodgers sat at his usual seat at Remy's for breakfast before school when he noticed a girl sitting on a table in front of him. She wasn't sitting alone. She was with her parents. Rick stared at her. Medium length black hair with purple streaks. She was wearing a black shirt with leather jacket and skinny jeans and boots but she was stunning. The girl was looking out the window, possibly avoiding whatever her parents were saying. When she turned her head, he saw those piercing hazel green eyes staring back at him. Rick quickly looked away. When he looked back up, she was gone. Both her and her parents. He looked around and saw that she had just left the diner. Then something caught his eyes. It was the clock above the door. Shit! He was late!

Rick Rodgers rushed to school as the bell rang only to bump into someone. He continued to rush after a brief apology. When he looked back, he saw those same hazel green eyes from the diner stare back at him. It was her. He stopped running and turned back to see her slowly reaching down for the books she dropped when he bumped into her. He walked back to help her. It was cliché but it was the right thing to do. He bent down and picked up a few books and handed it to her.

She stood back up and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Thank you," she said.

Her voice was mesmerizing. Such a beautiful voice with a beautiful face. He shook his head and smiled back.

"No problem. I'm sorry for bumping into you earlier," he said.

"It's fine."

"I'm Rick Rodgers," Rick introduced himself as he extended his hand to her.

She took the hand and shook it. "Kate."

"Kate.. Is there a last name to that?" he asked as he took back his hand.

"Beckett," she replied.

"Nice," Rick complimented.

"Listen I have to get to class. I'll see you around, Rick," with that 15 year old Kate Beckett walked away.

"Kate Beckett..." he said to himself. He then smiled as he watched her leave. Then another bell rang. He missed homeroom. He rushed to his next class. He didn't want to be late again but... It was worth it.

Rick Castle was then again snapped back into reality by his daughter. He waited until his eyes adjusted. Then he saw his daughter in front of him. She had been calling him several times. He walked towards them.

"Um.. Yeah, sweetie?" he asked.

"Daddy? You okay? You've been daydreaming," Alexis asked, concerned.

"Huh? Um.. Yeah. I think so. It's nothing to be worried about," he replied.

"Okay... Hey daddy? Kate? Can we go home? I'm tired," Alexis said.

"Sure thing, lil' Red," Kate said and she held out a hand towards her.

Alexis took it and held on to it as she rubbed her tired eyes with her free hand. She let out a yawn. Rick smiled warmly and carried Alexis. He gave Kate a smile before gesturing to her. Kate smiled back and wrapped her arms around his free arm.

"Mind telling me what was going on in that brilliant brain of yours?" she asked as she teased.

"I was having a moment," he said.

"Oh really?" she giggled. "Of what exactly?"

"The first time we met. I still remembered. Even after all these time. I could never forget those eyes of yours. The way you give your 'look'. If looks could kill, yours would've killed me at the first sight."

She chuckled. "You know.. from the day we met, I knew you looked familiar. I went back and looked at some old pictures and I found you in one. You were my neighbour and since then, I knew we had to be friends," he added.

"Ah.. So that's why you followed me and watched my every move. I thought you were just a stalker," she teased.

"Shut up. You knew that we were neighbours but you said nothing. Why?"

"I had no reason to," she just shrugged.

"Wha.. Fine then," he said as he chuckled.

They walked back to the loft in silence. It wasn't awkward silence. It was a rather comfortable silence. Once Rick settled Alexis on her bed, he walked back down and found Kate on the couch, reading his latest book. He chuckled. He poured her and himself a glass of red wine and brought it to her.

Kate looked up from the book and saw the glass of wine in front of her. She smiled as she accepted the glass. He took a seat beside her.

"So..." Rick started.

"So..?" Kate asked.

"Thank you. For what you did for Alexis. I really appreciate it," he said.

"Always," she said simply.

He smiled at her. Always, huh? Rick thought to himself. Kate continued to read the book. Once the wine was finished, Kate asked.

"Do you think I could crash here for a few days? My apartment isn't ready until next week."

"Of course. What's mine is yours. There's a guest room upstairs." He got up as she did and he asked, "So, by the looks of it, you don't have spare clothes. I have some, I could lend it to you."

"Oh, that's okay, Rick. I could just head to my parent's place and get my suitcase there."

"Kate, it's getting late. We could get your stuff tomorrow."

"Fine," Kate gave in.

Rick left her as Kate walked up the stairs to the guest room. Once inside, Kate looked around. Then something caught her eye. It was a picture of her and Rick when they were younger. It was an old picture. Kate was about 5 years old while Rick was 8 years old. They looked so happy. A knock on the door made Kate jump. She turned around to find Rick at the door, holding some clothes.

"Um, hey. So um... They are a little big but that's all I have," Rick said as he placed the clothes on the bed.

Kate walked towards him and held up the picture up. Rick looked at it and smiled.

"I can't believe that you still have this," Kate said softly with a huge smile on her face.

"Remember when I told you I looked into some old pictures, this was the one that I found. It was the only one I had of you," Rick said.

"And you kept it. All this time?" Kate asked.

"Of course. I had no reason to throw it away. And why would I? You were my best friend. You still are."

Kate's smile widen and she threw her arms around him and hugged him. "That's very sweet of you, Rick," she said as she pulled away.

"I try," Rick said confidently.

She giggled.

"Goodnight, Kate."

"Goodnight, Rick." Kate walked closer and gave him a small kiss on the cheek.

He smiled and then left the room. Kate flopped onto the bed and sighed.

Thanks for reading! Please review and tell me what you guys think! Note: The spelling of "neighbours" is actually correct. I live in a country where we use English from the UK. I sometimes write in English (US) but sometimes it comes so natural to me that I tend to write my essays in English (US) when I'm supposed to write in English (UK). It results in me failing the essays. So, just ignore the difference.