Don't worry I'm not abandoning "The Past Starts Tomorrow". I just felt an irrepressible compulsion to write a little one shot based on the new set photos for 5x01 - argghhhhh! I CANNOT DO THIS - WAIT UNTIL SEPTEMBER? NOT GONNA BE POSSIBLE.

...

Kate and Rick had just spent an amazing first night together, no one would deny that and no one would ever claim to not remember it.

Because it was simply unforgettable.

But Katherine Beckett was an independent person and at the same time, she was as fragile as a porcelain doll. And she had learned to find solace in her loneliness, comfort in her pain.

Being alone was easier, it allowed Kate to focus on messes that were her own and try to piece them back together one by one, instead of having to worry about anyone else's' messes.

But what she had realized last night when she was sitting, sopping wet in the rain, in a park, on a swing was that trying to piece back together her life was growing tiresome on her own and surely a little help wouldn't be so bad.

There was one man who had offered to help, who had risked it all just to let her know she wasn't alone. That he was right there.

He was always right there.

And she had turned him away.

When she'd gone to his home last night and practically forced herself on him, she had expected nothing less than for him to pull away. Why should he bother now? After she'd done so much to deter him.

Because he was the best man she'd ever known, that's why.

Because he was good and decent and loyal to a fault, and he was in love with her.

There was a quiet knock at Kate's door and she lay down the spoon she had been stirring her cup of coffee with on the bench.

Her heart thumbed in her chest, her thighs feeling as if they had little weights in them. Aside from the fact that she had been thrown around on concrete and tossed off a building, Rick had not exactly been gentle last night, not that she was complaining or could blame him, she had waited as long as he had for this.

She opened the door and a miraculous thing happened, all of the hesitation she'd felt previously disappeared instantly.

As she looked into his blue eyes, all the aching her body was experiencing after her beat-down by Maddox yesterday was replaced with a glowing warmth, familiar but new.

"Hey", his silky voice interrupted her thoughts.

She bit her lip, getting lost in the deep lakes of his eyes. "Hey, come in".

She closed the door behind him as he stepped across the threshold of her apartment, and the threshold of her heart.

"Thanks for stopping by. I was just making coffee, you want one?"

"That sounds nice, but ah, no not just yet."

Kate crossed her arms in front of her self, smirking. "Ah, don't like my coffee huh? Don't worry just because we're no longer partners it doesn't mean you can't bring me coffee anymore, and it certainly doesn't mean I won't appreciate it."

Rick nodded as a small smile came to his face.

"So how are you? You feeling any better?" He asked her, looking slightly anxious.

"Well, things have decidedly improved in the last thirty seconds", Kate grinned with a sparkle in her eye as she unfolded her arms and unsurely reached out her hand to take his.

Rick chuckled nervously and looked down at their now joined hands. "Now Kate, you just leave the charming to me, it's my superpower you know."

"It's not your only superpower", Kate replied shyly.

Rick turned his head to the side, grinning, a slow blush crawling up his neck.

"Castle, I'm sorry I left so quickly this morning, I just- the way you were talking about Alexis and how she was so unsure about everything in her life, I just kind of got the impression that her finding me in my underwear in your kitchen might be an unwelcome surprise."

"I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable or unwelcome. It's just..." Rick sighed heavily.

Kate squeezed his hand, looking into his eyes imploringly. "Come on, tell me."

Rick's closed his eyes briefly. "Yesterday I was so mad at... you and everything and I'd already told her I was finished with all of it and she was so supportive, she almost didn't go on her all-nighter because she was so concerned."

Kate kicked herself internally. "The last thing I want to do is create a rift... I really respect Alexis, especially the way she looks after you. There are more people than just the two of us involved here and we need to be cautious in making sure we don't upset anyone."

"I agree, however..." Rick took a small step closer to her. "I'd like to think we can be cautious while being in the same room as one another."

Kate smiled slowly and nodded. "I need to stop running, and I'm ready to do that now... Someone out there wants me dead, badly..."

Rick swallowed, looking pained, until Kate spoke again.

"But I feel safer than I have in years."

Rick breathed a sigh of relief. "You are", he lifted his hand to caress her face lightly, staring into her emerald orbs.

She gave him a look out of the corner of her eye. "Castle, aren't you going to kiss me?"

Castle gasped lightly. "I forgot I can do that now... I can seriously kiss you right now?"

Kate laughed. "After last night, I should think so."

Castle's eyes sparkled like stars as he leaned into her and brought his lips to hers softly. The emotion the kiss brought to them spread through their bodies like wildfire. They both smiled into each other's mouths before pulling away and resting their foreheads together.

"Hi", Kate told him softly, as if greeting her new life as well as the man who would spend it with her.

"Hi", he smiled back.

"Castle, I really want this to work, this whole "us" thing", Kate swore to him.

"So do I, and I know you have great reason not to trust Kate so I'm honored that you're entrusting me with your..." He stopped, not sure all of a sudden how much exactly she was willing to give him here.

"Everything", she said almost instantly. "I trust you with all of me and all that I have Castle and I mean it... I'm not running anymore, especially not from you."

"All I need is your heart."

"You have it."

Rick's eyes grew wide. "Really?"

"And then some", Kate told him, her voice filled with emotion.

Castle shook his head slowly, shaking the disbelief from his face before taking her in his arms and kissing her with all his might.

And all his heart.

When Rick pulled away from her, she was smiling just as she had last night when he'd finally responded to her with this level of passion.

"So, what are your plans for today?" Kate asked him quietly.

Rick shrugged. "You tell me?"

Kate bit down a wide grin. "OK. Today I am going to get to see just what it is you do on your days off Mr. Castle. I think after four years of you following me around, I deserve this."

Rick straightened himself up. "Alright, prepare yourself for a riveting day filled with doing laundry."

"Mm", Kate made a noise of delight, not bothering to suppress her grin anymore.

"Making countless tedious phone calls to agencies and editors and what not aaand... throwing little paper balls into a trash can."

Kate laughed again then she ran her hand over his chest. "Think we could squeeze some time in the bedroom into that busy schedule?"

Rick gave her a serious look, pulling his phone out of his pocket. "Ooh, I don't know, I'll have to see what I can move around."

Kate snatched the mobile device from him, throwing it on her couch. "It's OK, I'm pretty flexible."

Needless to say, his agent was not given another thought, no paper was wasted that day and the laundry never got done.