Finding home

Chapter 27 - Jim's place

"Katie, Alexis!" my dad exclaimed with a bright smile as he opened the door.

"Hi dad" I said and hugged him.

We let go and he bent down to pick up Alexis and hug her too as she said hello. Still with Alexis in his arms he looked up and I saw the blood in his face disappear as he saw I wasn't alone.

"Dad, this is Alexander, he's a good friend of mine" I introduced Castle with his middle name, like we had agreed to in the car on our way over.

"Hello nice to meet you" Castle said, trying to sound british, as he extended his hand towards my father.

My dad looked at his hand a few seconds before he reached out and shook it.

"Nice to meet you too" he said before he moved a bit to let us inside.

I walked inside with Castle close behind me. I walked into the kitchen and heard my dad follow us after he had closed the door.

"So, what drags you kids here?" my dad asked and looked at Alexis. "Is it my famous waffles with whipped cream and raspberry jam?" he thought out loud before he attack Alexis with tickling.

She started to laugh and squirm in his arms as she tried to get away from his attack. I couldn't help but chuckle at their small war and when I looked at Castle I saw a small glimpse of sadness in his eyes.

"How about Alexis help you make the waffles and I'll show Alex around the house?" I suggested with an innocent smile.

My dad stopped tickling Alexis and looked at me before he shot a glance towards Castle. He looked suspicious and I definitely knew that look. He was trying to figure out if there was something going on between me and Castle, the man he hopefully thought was british with the name Alexander.

"Suure" my dad said dragging out the word as he tried to think about me and how high the chance was that Castle was a potential boyfriend.

I quickly pushed Castle out of the room yelling back to my dad and Alexis to start on those tasty waffles. I checked over my shoulder to make sure my dad wasn't looking after us and saw her hadn't followed us by moving to the doorway I took a new grip on Castle's arm and dragged him to the door leading to the basement, where he earlier had said the tape would be. I opened the door and pushed him inside before I followed him, closing the door gently behind me.

"Light?" he asked and I clicked on a button to turn the lights on.

He smiled small but I could still see that saddened glimpse in his eyes. We walked down the stairs to the end of the basement before I broke the silence.

"What's wrong Castle?" I asked carefully and he looked at me with a questioning look.

"Why would something be wrong?" he defended and I sighed.

"Something upset you up there, but you're right, you don't need to tell me unless you want to" I decided, shot him a comforting smile and looked around the big space with no walls or whatsoever.

Our basement had basically been the labyrinth of stuff that every kid would love to have. I used to play hide and seek, build fortresses and just find toys around here when I was a kid. It was my favorite place and I only showed it to my best friends. It was my holy playground.

"It's just..." he started before going silence again and when I looked at him he bit his lip.

I walked up to him and placed my arms around his neck as he looked down on the ground. I pecked his lips before I whispered "talk to me".

"Seeing how comfortable Alexis is with your father, and thinking about how much time he's spent with her as a father figure while I couldn't makes me feel worthless. Don't get me wrong, it's amazing she's so comfortable with him, it just... it kills me a little" he confessed and I could see how deep of a wound it had become.