"Ryan, stop, please." Esposito begged from his kitchen doorway. It was probably close to three in the morning, figuring it was 2:30 when he woke up only to find the right side of his bed cold and vacant and he had been standing here for a good half hour at least.

There was nothing going on between them, Ryan barely ever slept in the bed for anything to happen even if either wanted to. After that night that Beckett and Espo found Ryan unconscious on the floor and Castle tied to a chair in a dingy motel room, Ryan was staying in Esposito's apartment because Tyon had stolen his wallet; he knew where Ryan's apartment was.

But as the weeks passed, Espo was glad he had the excuse of Tyson knowing where Ryan lived not just because he enjoyed his partner's company (that was a bonus, really) but because he soon realized that if he wasn't there to remind Ryan to eat and sleep then he'd kill himself from dehydration before he stopped his search. What search? He was set on finding Tyson and getting his gun, badge and wallet back if he died trying.

The only sign that showed Ryan was even acknowledging what his partner was saying was the small shake of his head. He was still in that day's clothes; the jacket and tie were thrown carelessly to the couch. His button up shirt was loosened but on along with his slacks. His gelled hair was a mess from his hand constantly running through it and bruises pooled underneath his eyes from his lack of sleep lately. He looked like a complete mess.

Esposito sighed, tired of his persistence with this even though it was anything but healthy for him. "Kevin," He tried again, "you need to get some sleep. Captain has already called you out on your decline in energy over the past month and the less sleep you get the more likely you are to get hurt on the job."

"I'll go to sleep in a minute, just let finish looking through these papers." He was lying and Esposito knew he was because not only had he said that every night previous to this one, but his leg was twitching up and down- something he only did when he lied. One of the perks of knowing his partner like the back of his hand, Espo thought.

"Bro, you said that an hour ago. Just get some sleep, maybe that'll help your brain process all of what you're sucking in." Espo stood besides the Irishman and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Call it a night."

At first, Esposito thought that Ryan was just going to ignore him, but after a few hesitant seconds of just flipping through the papers in his hands, Ryan finally sighed with a heavy nod, "Fine, I'll take a break."

Esposito knew he was pushing his luck, but he had to try, "And tomorrow too, promise me you'll take a break from this. You can only look into his past records so much until you've gotten every detail you could have possibly gotten."

Ryan looked up to face his partner and Esposito could see how much Ryan wished he could stop this obsession just by the begging in his eyes. It was an internal struggle with himself, half wanting to put this chapter behind him and the other half of him refused to even budged just for the slight chance that he actually got somewhere.

Esposito lowered himself so he was looking his partner directly in the eyes. His hands rose to cup his cheeks, his stubble was rough against his hands. "Kevin, pause this until you find something else. You're going to hurt yourself."

"Okay," Ryan finally gave in, "okay." He repeated not to be obnoxious to his partner, but to convince himself that he needed to stop.

Esposito smiled, pulling his hands always once he was sure that Ryan would be following him into the bedroom. Ryan stacked the loose papers with the main stack and drowsily followed Esposito through the hall into his bedroom.

"Bathroom's yours, I finished earlier." Esposito waved his hand towards the door before he stumbled into his side of the bed. Ryan nodded before slipping into the bathroom. Once the door shut, Esposito rolled over on his side to look at Ryan's unofficial side of the bed. Now that Esposito thought about he, he never really saw Ryan sleeping in his bed during this whole ordeal; he was always awake when he went to bed and when he woke up. Espo couldn't even be sure that Ryan actually scrawled into bed and got some sleep at all.

When Esposito heard the faucet shut off, he shut his eyes and peeked one eye open gingerly to see Ryan shuffle out, the bathroom light illuminating his frame before he flipped it off and the room went black. He felt the bed shift slightly as Ryan eased himself onto the mattress with a soft sigh.

Esposito knew that it should have felt weird; sharing a bed with his partner, but it didn't. Which that should have been weird as well, but again it wasn't.

He thought he heard Ryan mumble a thanks, but when he turned his head to acknowledge his appreciation he was sound asleep. The light from outside buildings casting itself through the window behind Ryan made it seem like he was glowing as his body rose and fell with each snore.

Esposito smiled and decided that even if Ryan was asleep and didn't even say anything in the first place, he would, "You're welcome, Kev." Esposito whispered before falling asleep to the sound of his partner's soothing snores.