Disclaimer: I own nothing Castle-related and I am not making money by writing this fanfiction. However, I do own the idea and the characters I myself invented that appear in this story.

Summary: Richard Rodgers and Kate Beckett both seem to be clueless when it comes to making friends. Feeling out of phase much? This is a story of meeting because it was destiny, of childhood, and of love. A story about the process of becoming extraordinary.

Author's Note: So this is my first story in English – be kind to me, as it is not my mother tongue. I'd like to thank Emanuelle (Her tumblr: .com/) for being my beta-reader and talking me into publishing these first chapters.

Music being one of the things that really help me getting through a story, I would like to offer you these titles of songs that accompany this first chapter. They are all songs I cherish with all my heart and you will probably find a pattern while listening to them… they do have something to do with this chapter.

I will probably give you a collection of song titles at the beginning of each chapter to, let's say, put you in the mood as you read.

Astronaut – Simple Plan

The Deep End – Josie Nelson

A Place in this World – Taylor Swift

Get it Right – Lea Michele

Everyday – Toby Lightman

A Lonely September – Plain White t's

Without further talking, here's the first chapter. Hope you like it!

Chapter one: Experiencing Loneliness

'Richard, sweetheart, I'm sorry but I really can't stay home with you. If I don't go to that rehearsal, I…' Martha tried to explain as she walked into her son's bedroom, holding her purse in one hand and waving dramatically with the other.

The teenager looked up at her with sad and feverish eyes, his forehead shiny with sweat. He was shivering and his mother sat down beside him to adjust the covers above his shoulders.

'It's okay, mother, I'm not a little kid anymore, I can take care of myself' he said, offering her a weak smile.

'Oh, don't be silly, everyone needs someone to take care of them when they're sick, do you want me to call Sarah?'

'Mom, it's been three years since you last called Sarah, I'll be fine. Now, off you go!' Rick protested his voice breaking at the end of the sentence as a cough burst in his throat.

'Fine. Make sure you eat something, darling. There's chicken soup powder somewhere, you just gotta boil some water and…'

'I know, mom, I've been here on my own before if you recall.'

Martha gave in a sigh.

'Okay. Call me if it gets worse, okay?'

'I will. And you go kick some dramatic asses' Rick smiled.

'I will, I will' she said before leaning in to kiss his forehead.

She looked at her watch and gave out a cry that resonated in her son's aching head.

'Oh my god, I'm already late. See you later, sweetheart!'

She stormed out of the room without further considerations, allowing Rick to sink back into the covers and to pick up Catcher in the Rye which he had been reading for a few days. He smiled as Holden watched her younger sister, Phoebe, having fun on the carousel, and then frowned as he read the conclusion. He didn't quite grasp the meaning of it, and thought that maybe the author hadn't known himself.

He got up and inspected his bookshelf while placing Salinger's book on it, half expecting to find a brand new book he wouldn't have read yet. When he realized there wasn't any, he walked to the kitchen and prepared some soup for himself before lazily putting on a comfy sweater and heavy, warm socks. He was freezing and secretly wondered if it would feel quite the same to lock himself up in the freezer. He considered how cool it would be to freeze someone to death – well, how cool the idea would be, since he really wasn't a psychopath – and thoughtfully drank his soup sitting in the couch, thinking.

Now that he was going to be home alone all day without a single book to read, he didn't know what to do with himself. Last time he had been sick, Sarah had been there to play with him and they had built a fort with pillows and she had read stories to him. He considered the idea of building a fort on his own but thought it wouldn't be as fun and decided against it.

Of course, there were his mother's book, but most of them were dramas or romantic stories and he was more of a science-fiction or mysteries kind of reader.

He got back to bed and stared at the ceiling, thinking about how he would have preferred going to school that day. Not that he really liked school – all kids called him a weirdo and a geek because he knew all kinds of stuffs about superheroes and comic books and literature – but Monday was the day he had two hours of English to begin with and he just loved that subject. Everything about toying with language and discovering new words passionated him.

That was one of the reasons most kids didn't really like him. He had been bullied for as long as he could remember for not having a father and having such a weird but beautiful mother that acted in movies and drank wine and acted like a teenager herself, and now that people had gotten used to that, they were making fun of him for being good at English composition and loving it with all he had. He felt he would never understand other kids; they were mean and cruel. You always had to act like an adult, girls had to wear heels and make-up to be called pretty, otherwise they were not noticed by anyone, but if they wore too much of them, then they were called sluts. Boys said you were supposed to be getting girls and to have sex with them and to go to parties and to smoke like you were a grown-up, but Richard was not interested in all these things. The only things he was interested in were games and books. He didn't care much for girls; he knew that would come later, but for now he liked that he could still be a kid, and he wasn't ashamed of it. He just wished at least someone would see that he was not just childish but also human, and mature in his own way.

Letting out a sigh, he reached for the notebook he hid under his bed and opened it to the middle, where he found a blank page. He took out a pen and began to write slowly, his head heavy from fever.

I wish I had friends.

oOo

Kate took some books out of her locker and then tossed them in her bag, closing the door to her locker with a shove. She threw her bad over her shoulder, losing part of her balance in the movement, and made her way towards the exit door, walking against the dense stream of pupils rushing to their next class or to their lockers. She was still rather short and had trouble being noticed by the other kids as she went past them.

She had thought that entering middle school and being in 7th grade would help her make friends, but it hadn't really helped. At least back in her small Brooklyn Elementary School she had had a few good friends that she'd known since kindergarten. Now that she was in the giant school she had chosen in Manhattan – closer to both her parents' work places – she had become completely invisible.

She was delighted to find her mother waiting for her in front of the school, discretely reading a book and trying not to look like she was waiting for her kid. Kate smiled and nearly ran to her, throwing her arms around her mom's neck to greet her.

'Hey! Katie!' Johanna said before hugging her daughter back. 'How enthusiastic of you! Hasn't your day been good?'

Kate let out a sigh; her mom read her like an open book. She always could. But right now, it was a little embarrassing; she didn't want to admit to not being able to make friends only two weeks after her first day.

So she rolled her eyes instead, trying to look as self-assured as possible.

'Yeah, it was cool' she shrugged. 'I'm just glad it's over, the math course wasn't exactly what I would call interesting.'

Johanna let out a laugh at her daughter's attempt to sound like a teenager. Kate was becoming increasingly good at imitating them and she wouldn't be surprised if her quiet and joyful daughter turned to a real teen on the exact date of her thirteenth birthday.

'Well you can tell me all about it on the way to Hattie's. You haven't forgotten, have you?'

'Bear claws and cupcakes after school? Seriously, mom, how do you think I could forget?' Kate said.

They walked to the dinner, Kate talking about her classes and teachers and going on and on about how that boy was a real jerk and that girl was always acting like she was sixteen when she clearly was not. Johanna paid close attention to her daughter's way of telling her stories, quietly nodding as she noticed that her daughter still didn't seem to have made a friend.

They sat at their usual booth at the back of the store and ordered the usual while Kate went on talking about school and how cool and fun it all was.

Once the flow of words started to slow down and they had both gotten their cupcakes and bear claws, Johanna finally managed to ask the question that ruined all her daughter's acting.

'Katie, if it was so much fun, then why is that smile of yours still not reaching your eyes?'

She quirked a suggestive eyebrow and Kate took a bite of her vanilla and mocha cupcake, bending down her head. She pushed her straight hair out of her face and stared at her mom with defiant eyes. When she noticed that Johanna still didn't believe her, her smile dropped.

'Were you picked on?' her mom asked. 'If you're being picked on and it's serious you have to tell me, sweetie, things can go pretty far in school, I've had those cases…'

'Mom, I'm not being picked on or bullied or anything. I just don't have any friends, okay?'

Relieved, Johanna extended her arm over the table to stroke her daughter's cheek.

'And why is that, sweetie?'

'Because no one notices me. I'm just invisible, you know? No one pays attention to me; in fact, no one cares if I'm here or not. I'm just ordinary, part of the furniture'

'Oh, sweetie' Johanna sighed. 'Of course you're not just a piece of furniture, it's just… I don't think you really give people the time to try and get to know you. Most of the time you just… I don't know, I think maybe you're scaring other kids off.'

'You think I'm scaring them?' Kate said, half smiling, half shocked.

'Well, you can be quite scary sometimes' her mom laughed as they both got up to leave, waving at Hattie as they passed the front door in a ting.

'I don't believe you. I'm not scary' the girl giggled.

They got into Johanna's car, which she had parked a street from Hattie's.

'Okay, perhaps you're not scary-scary, but you certainly are a little bit, let's say, intimidating. You make people stare down. Even grown-ups, I mean' Johanna explained.

'Well maybe, but I don't want them to be mean to me, so…'

'So you don't even give them a chance to prove you that they had no intention of being mean in the first place?'

Kate nodded reluctantly, as if it took every cell in her brain to admit it, which made Johanna laugh all the more.

'You may be intimidating and scary, but you are not invisible, Katherine Beckett. And you are not ordinary. You never will be.'

'How can you be so sure?'

'Because you're a Beckett.' Johanna joked. Seeing Kate glaring at her in the rearview mirror, she completed, 'Because you were never ordinary, and because, as your mom, I can assure you that you are and always will be extraordinary.'

It was the first time Kate had ever been told something that important by her mom and she knew that it was an extremely important moment.

'Now promise me you'll try and get to know people before you scare them off' Johanna said with a teasing smile.

'Okay, I promise I'll try.'

'No, I don't only want you to try; I want you to do it. Life can be tough sometimes and having friends to count on in difficult situations is very important'

'I promise'

There was a silence while Johanna parked the car into their garage and Kate was about to run upstairs when she suddenly turned back to her mom and kissed her cheek.

'Thanks mom. Love you'

Johanna watched her kid climb the stairs as fast as she could while screaming Dad, we're home and whispered 'Love you too, kid'

xXx

So here it is! Tell me what you thought about it? I've already got the second chapter laid down on paper, so I'll probably publish it in a few days after it's been beta-read and everything. Thanks for reading this!

Have a nice day/evening/night, wherever you are!

Sophie