The last case hit too close, reminded her too much of her mother. To tell the truth, all of them had ever since Coonan. They all took their toll on the detective, chipping away at her sanity.

It would be a lie to say that Castle didn't help her during these times. A year ago she had admitted that she enjoyed having him around, and they had just grown closer since then. She was careful to set up a boundary between friendship and a romantic relationship, and he was sure to always push it. It was their game and they were experts at playing it.

One of their rituals after a particularly hard case was unwinding together. She got too wound up to go home with only her racing thoughts, so they would have a glass of wine and talk about anything and everything. Sometimes they would discuss the case, sometimes all they would talk about was the latest baseball game. Castle could talk about anything.

Tonight was no different. Beckett made her way up to his room, the elevator sliding open as she lifted her eyes from the floor, about to take the first step towards his door. That's when she saw the young blonde in Castle's arms.

He leaned down (she was shorter than Kate, something that made the detective smirk inwardly) to kiss her, giving her a final squeeze before letting her go. The bimbo looked upset, a trail of mascara broadcasting to the world that she was troubled.

Castle turned to watch his latest conquest go and was surprised to see he had a visitor. His eyes widened as he gulped. "Detective, I didn't expect to see you tonight." The surprise wearing off and once again all charm, he smiled and held the door open for her. She brushed past him without a glance, but she caught him muttering under his breath, "Not the first surprise of the night…"

Great, he had just gotten lucky and here she was to hear him boast. She felt her face flush in anger. I was stupid to ever think he was different. "She looked like a walking felony," she commented. He squinted at her, trying to understand the underlying meaning.

"I'm afraid I don't…?" He tilted his head questioningly but she gave no answer.

"A night with you can bring a girl to tears, huh, Rick?"

Not catching her reference to her previous guest, he grinned and said with a wink, "Only one way to find out."

She didn't even roll her eyes. It was completely unlike her not to acknowledge his attempts at flirting. There was no playful banter tonight. Something was wrong.

He reached for her unconsciously, only realizing it when she pulled out of his reach and stared at the table, at the rug, anywhere except his eyes. "Kate, talk to me. This case…Are you okay?"

His voice was thick with concern. It started to melt her resolve, but that just made her angrier. She fought a battle with herself, trying to decide how to handle the situation. She wanted nothing more than to lecture him, to yell at him, to make him feel sorry for what he was doing to her…but she didn't understand what he was doing. How was she supposed to shame him over something that was completely befuddling to her? Why do I feel like punishing him?

"Just peachy, Castle. I shouldn't have come here. I'll see you at the precinct." She had to get out of there, to go somewhere where she could sort through what she was feeling. It couldn't be jealousy. Over Castle? Never. He was just a good friend, a partner, and nothing more. But her churning stomach was trying to tell her differently, and that had to be dealt with privately before she could face him again.

"What? Don't go. Come on, I have some wine. Let's sit down and talk." He reached for her again, this time anticipating her move to get away. Catching her elbow, he gently pulled her towards the kitchen.

She spun out of his grasp. "I said I'll see you at the precinct. Goodnight." She was out the door before he could utter a protest.

He stood there, in the middle of his living room, without a clue as to what to do. The detective had once again shaken up his world. She couldn't go anywhere without having some kind of effect on him.

What the hell just happened?

Kate arrived at work early, hoping to delve into paper work before her annoying shadow showed up. She couldn't imagine facing him after what she witnessed last night.

Beckett, being the type of person who liked control, detested the way she felt after seeing him kiss another woman. It's not like she had any right to him. Nor did she want any. Right? She pulled at her hair a little and shook off the nagging thoughts.

The worst part was that he didn't even realize what was bothering her. Anger was easy to deal with when the other person knew why they needed to give you space. It was going to be hard to gain that kind of understanding with Castle. He would push her until she broke down and told him what was going on, and that was simply not an option.

She slammed down her pen in frustration. This was not the time or the place to be thinking about Castle for any reason. It was usually okay to think about her good friend, but she always had to be careful not to let her thoughts wander to something more serious.

She could sometimes get irrational when she was angry with him, which is why she had a hard time thinking of him as a friend right now. She considered it enough that he weaseled his way into her job...she didn't need him constantly invading her thoughts, too. And my dreams...

She shivered as the memory of her latest Castle-themed dream washed over her. Staring off into the distance, she indulged herself in a more pleasant type of thought.

"Hey." Speak of the devil...

The unsuspecting detective nearly jumped out of her skin. "Castle?" Her fantasies mixed with reality for a moment, causing confusion.

He didn't look like he got much sleep. His normally cheerful eyes now had bags under them and no sparkle of mischief. His clothes were rumpled, too. Something had certainly kept him up, and it didn't look like it was the same thing that plagued her sleep.

Beckett snapped out of it. Before he could respond, she was angry again. "You look like shit." There was no joking in her tone.

"I feel like it, too." He sat down in his chair with a thump and turned his puppy dog eyes to her. He was searching for some piece of sympathy or concern, but it was obvious he found none when his eyes got even droopier.

She hummed an acknowledgment to let him know she heard him and kept her eyes trained on the computer screen. Give him an inch and he'd take a mile: that's what she'd learned in the span of their partnership. There was no way she was going to even hint that she cared what was shaking his happy disposition.

Truthfully, she did care, but anger overpowered it for the time being.

"Kate..." He leaned forward. "Look at me, please?" His pleading voice was enough to tug at her heart, but she thought of the bimbo she'd seen him with and maintained her self-control.

Still not looking at him, she mumbled, "This is going to be a long, boring day full of paperwork. You might want to get out while you can." He easily picked up that it wasn't just a friendly suggestion.

"I was worried about you last night. You acted like the old Kate: the one who never let me help out or leaned on me."

She closed her eyes for a long second and finally faced him, swiveling her chair and taking a deep breath. "I don't need to 'lean' on you, Castle. I can take care of myself. Now, go home. There is no new case to work on and your assistance is not needed today." She picked her abused pen back up and began to fill out another form.

He felt as thought he'd been slapped. That cold, distant tone ripped through to his core.

He was wrong; she was worse than the old Kate. He didn't even recognize her right now.

Hey guys, this is my latest venture in the Castle fandom! I'm going to try really hard to make this story worth a read. I already have the next chapter planned out, so I should be able to update shortly. I won't wait as long between updates as I did with Tease. I'm also going to try my hand at making longer chapters for this story. This will probably be the shortest one.

Reviews are appreciated =P