A/N: Hi, I'm back with another Castle fanfiction. Thank you so much for putting up with the abrupt ends to my other fics, and I promise I'll do my best to update those when I get a chance. I'd also like to take a moment to say that Castle is not mine, nor are any of its characters. Harry Potter and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon both belong to their respective authors as well. - Immac

JANUARY 1, 2000

Kate rolled over in her bed, a dull pain throbbing in her temple. She was having one of those mornings where she would be unwilling to get out of bed even if she didn't have a hangover. Her thick comforter covered her lower body, warming her, while the top half of her lie exposed to the chill of her apartment. She reminded herself to talk to the landlord about fixing her heat, but decided that could wait.

Her phone rang beside her as Kate started to snuggle deeper into the blankets. She cursed, then answered it with a bitter, "Hello?"

"Hey, Katie."

His voice was slurred. Drunk. Not even hung over, like she was. Full on drunk. Kate wasn't entirely sure if she wanted to scream at him, or cry, or just bury herself under a mountain of blankets and pillows until she ceased to exist.

"Hi, dad," she murmured. "Happy New Year."

"And a very happy New Year to you too," he chuckled drunkenly. "Katie, I want you to come over this afternoon. Can you come over this afternoon?"

"Sure thing, dad. I'll be there at 5. You have a good day, okay?"

"I love you, Kate."

She didn't say it back. She just hung up, flipping the phone shut and tossing it across the room. Morning sunlight was seeping through the blinds, but it didn't hurt her eyes the way it had before. Now she was beyond caring about whether she was comfortable or uncomfortable with loud noises and bright lights. She was just pissed.

Suddenly, the idea of staying in bed all day seemed cowardly. Kate wasn't a coward. She stood, her body recoiling to the feeling of the icy air on her bare legs. But the shock was over as soon as it started and she began to dress herself. Pulling on a pair of jeans and a red t-shirt, and sliding her feet into a pair of sneakers, Kate examined herself in the mirror. She'd had worse days. She could get through this. A fighter. She was a fighter.

She brushed the taste of cheap tequila out of her mouth, gargling double the mouthwash. No makeup today, she decided. She needed something to do, somewhere to go. Anything but staying still and focusing on how her dad promised he wouldn't drink last night.

Kate grabbed her coat and was out the door in an instant.

If she had though the chill of her apartment was bad, the chill of the world outside was ten times worse. New York was freezing, and even though it was crowded with strangers, that didn't make it any warmer. Kate pulled her coat tight around her chin and walked purposefully down the snowy streets. All these people, walking merrily through the street as if they hadn't a care in the world. Kate resented them, and she resented resenting them. It had been a long, hard year. She, of all people, should be happy for a new leaf. A fresh start. And yet, all she saw was another square on a calendar, another 12 months of dealing with her alcoholic father and her college choices that she didn't understand yet and people who just didn't get it.

Even to herself, Kate sounded angry and bitter.

There had been some positives in the past year, she reminded herself. The new Richard Castle novel had come out. She'd read and reread that book 16 times in February alone. Not that she had let anyone know that. And she'd been seeing a guy, albeit not consistently. Will was really understanding, though, and he'd been around when she wanted him to be around and away when she wanted him away. And there had been some nights where she and her college friends would go out and dress up like the characters from their favorite TV show. Those had been fun. A nice break from her harsh reality.

Kate hadn't even begun thinking about the next semester. She had been planning to go back to Stanford for the rest of the year, but the more she thought about it, the less she wanted to. It had been hard enough leaving New York the last time, and after her father's latest relapse, leaving him alone seemed like one of the dumbest things she could possibly do.

But at the same time, staying seemed really dumb too.

Kate sighed, pushing the thoughts from her mind. She needed to relax. She didn't need to worry herself so much. After all, it was (technically) a holiday. So, on a whim, she ducked into the next shop she saw and was delighted to find it was a bookstore.

"Daddy! Daddy! This one!" Alexis said, thrusting a book into her father's lap.

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," Richard murmured, reading the title. "This one looks like a good one. Any other books you want?"

"Nope! I want this one!"

"Are you able to wait until we get home, or should we pop out a chapter while we're here?" Richard asked, putting the chapter book back into his daughter's hands.

"Hmm," Alexis said, putting her finger to her chin and contemplating. "Can we read a chapter here? Please?"

"Of course. You go find a comfy place for us to sit, and I'll get us some hot chocolate," he said with a smile. Alexis beamed and kissed him on the cheek before running off into the children's section. Richard watched his seven year old bounce off and silently thanked the gods of genetics for blessing that child with the love of reading.

Standing, he closed up his book (The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, which had been a birthday present from Alexis last year, though he hadn't had the chance to read it until now) with a receipt marking the page. Walking up to the coffee stand in the bookstore, he stood behind a young woman.

"Whatever the strongest, blackest coffee you can make is, please," the woman said, putting a five dollar bill on the counter in front of her. The barista raised an eyebrow but took the money and gave her change.

"Can I get a name for that?"

"Kate," the woman said. Richard liked that name. Kate. It gave her an aura of innocence, which he always saw as a plus for anyone. She turned and sat down at a nearby table. Her phone rang, a generic ringtone, and he watched as if in a trance as she answered it.

"Sir?" the barista asked, and Richard turned, suddenly remembering that he was supposed to be buying hot chocolate for his daughter, not stalking a stranger.

"Sorry. May I get two small hot chocolates?" he asked. He handed the barista ten dollars. "It's for Rick. Keep the change." The barista grinned and Richard stepped aside, keeping an eye on the woman. Kate.

"Sorry, Maddie," she was saying in a pained voice into her cell phone. "I can't come over tonight. My dad… yes, again. No, I haven't decided what I'm doing as far as school… I'm sorry. You know I can't just switch right now. I'm already enrolled for next semester. I can't just drop everything to stay here… I know," she huffed. She seemed really upset. "I know, Maddie. Look, I can figure it out on my own. Okay? I'll talk to you later… Bye."

She flipped her phone shut and sighed, rubbing her temples. Richard couldn't help but notice how exhausted she looked. But, then again, a lot of college students looked like that after New Year's Eve. Her green eyes had dark bags under them and a hollow look to them, as if she were haunted by something, and her brown hair was in a messy pony tail, as if she hadn't bothered to do anything with it before stepping out of the house. Not that it detracted from her beauty. If anything, it made it rawer, like he was looking at a fresh geode instead of the cleaned and cut rocks one would see in a jewelry store.

He wanted to help her, somehow. If he'd had the chance to swoop in, he would have paid for her coffee. But she didn't look like the type of woman to want charity like that, even if he didn't mean for it to be charity. She was just so young, so lovely, that he wanted her to smile. Nobody should be as sad or troubled as Kate looked like she was. Nobody deserved that.

"Large coffee for Kate?" the barista called out. She looked up, tucking her phone in the pocket of her pea coat. She breezed past Richard, grabbed her coffee with a polite smile and a word of thanks before slipping around him and diving into the mystery section of the bookstore. He wanted so badly to follow her, to say hello and maybe give her the gift card for the store that he'd brought along (he had enough to pay for Alexis's book without needing to use it). But before he got a chance, the barista handed him two hot chocolates and he knew that if he kept his little girl waiting much longer, he'd never hear the end of it.

So, instead, Richard grabbed the drinks and headed back to the children's section, Kate still on his mind.