A/N: So, this is my first ever Castle fanfic (though not my first fanfic), and I'm hoping to have a good turnout. This is going to be just a few chapters (maybe somewhere between two and four), but I'd definitely be willing to work on some other Castle fics. Reviews are love. Criticism is life.

"I'm a bitch, I'm a lover; I'm a child, I'm a mother; I'm a sinner, I'm a saint; I do not feel ashamed. I'm your hell, I'm your dream; I'm nothing in between. You know you wouldn't want it any oth-"

Richard Castle awoke to the sound of his cell ringing, instinctively groping for it on the coffee table next to him. When had he fallen asleep? It was pitch black outside. The song blasting from the phone told him it was Beckett who required his attention. "Morning?" he answered.

"Castle, it's eleven o'clock at night. Were you seriously sleeping?" Beckett chuckled into his ear.

Glancing at his watch, Rick let out a groan at he rubbed his eyes. Last he'd checked it had been 8:30, and now that he thought about it, he hadn't gotten very far into the movie he'd been watching. Alexis was at a friend's house, Martha was out at some party or event or something, and he was alone. The house was eerily quiet.

"Apparently," he admitted. "What's up?"

"Actually, I was wondering if you wanted to go out and grab a drink, but you don't sound like you're up to it."

Now he was awake. There was something suspicious in Beckett's tone. "Didn't the doctor get in tonight?"

"He did, yes. And . . . uhh . . . well, he asked me to marry him."

Rick blinked a few times in the darkness, a useless attempt to clear his suddenly hammering head. "He did what?"

"It was all romantic and mushy and candlelit and everything; the ring was gorgeous. I said no."

He let out a breath that he hadn't been aware he was holding. "You said no? W . . . why would you say no?"

"He's been gone for how long, Castle? If you were to count only the time he's been in America while we've been dating, I'm sure it hasn't been more than two or three months. I'm not going to marry someone after two or three months of really knowing them. So I said no, and he was offended. He's packing his things right now, said he's moving out if I'm not ready to commit after this long. So I just wanted a drink with a friend, you know?"

Rick found himself in the bathroom, straightening up his disheveled hair in the mirror. "You're okay? I mean . . . you sound okay, but are you really okay, KB?"

"I'm fine Castle. Look, I'm gonna call Lanie and see if it's too late for her to come out."

She'd called him before Lanie? "No. I mean, no, pick me up and we'll go out." It was weird that he usually told Kate to pick him up, but he didn't like her behind the wheel of his cars, so it was the easy way out.

"Half hour?"

"Seeya then."

As Rick changed his clothing and cleaned up, his mind wandered back to the one question he'd never been able to answer about Kate Beckett. He really tried not to think about it, especially with her and Josh having gotten so serious. It had been four months since she was shot. Four months since he'd sat at her bedside for all hours of the day and night, while Josh took extra shifts and "dropped in to check on his girl". The question that plagued his thoughts drifted into the background of their friendship, but with Josh moving out and the relationship being over, he couldn't help but to wonder. Had she heard his admittance to her as she lay bleeding in his arms?

Maybe she had. Maybe she hadn't. He knew it didn't matter. Kate and him could never be more than friends; she wouldn't allow it. He knew her too well for her to allow him any more power over her heart.

x

Rick watched in silence from his perch on a bar stool as Kate draped her arms around a stranger's neck and seductively swayed her hips until her waist met the man's. They'd gone for drinks, then to the club. Kate had drank a considerable amount more than he had, seeing as he'd only had a single beer.

The stranger's hands dipped slightly lower than her waist, and Rick decided interference was necessary. Setting down the glass that belonged to his partner, he vacated the seat and closed the distance of what was probably less than ten feet. "Mind if I steal the lady from you?" he inquired.

Mr. Wandering Hands smelt like cheap cologne and whiskey. "Piss off," he growled.

He didn't want to fight. He didn't want to cause problems. He just wanted to take Kate home, tuck her in, and wait to hear her voice complaining about a hangover and blaming him for allowing her to drink so much. "Kate," he attempted, "c'mon, let's get out of here."

She released Wandering Hands and turned to him, jaw set but eyes showing the tell-tale signs of alcohol. "So you're taking me home, now? I'll leave when I want to, Castle." To the writer's surprise, the detective's words were still clear.

"No, Kate, we're leaving now. I'm taking you home before somebody else does." His words were gentle, but his tone suggested that he wasn't to be argued with.

"Oh, Ricky, I'll dance with you if that's what you really want." Fortunately, Wandering Hands scoffed and turned his back as Kate's fingers toyed with Rick's collar. "Dance with me," she whispered. Her warm breath on his ear sent a chill down his spine, causing him to have to fight the testosterone rising within.

He shook his head, grasping Kate's smaller hands in his large ones, and tugging them from around his neck. "Kate, let's go. Before you do something you might regret." Rick placed his hand on the small of her back, coaxing her toward the door.

x

Kate rolled over to the glaring morning sun as her eyes flitted open. It took her only a second to realize that she wasn't in her own bed. She'd only seen Castle's room a few times, and only in passing, but she knew exactly where she was. With caution she moved to look at the opposite side of the bed. To her relief, she found it empty. God, she'd acted like a complete fool last night, and with absolutely no reason. The breakup really wasn't getting to her, she didn't miss Josh. And yet she'd been unable to slow the drinking.

Castle probably had zero respect left for her.

"Ugh!" She buried her face into Rick's pillows, inhaling the scent that was distinctly him.

Standing from the bed, Kate found herself wearing a pair of sweat pants that were much too large for her, and a long sleeved t-shirt that she knew belonged to Castle.

The smell of coffee drew her down the hall and into the kitchen. When he heard her footsteps, he poured her cup and set it on the island. "Thank you," she said. Speaking made the thumping in her head magnify. "Do you, uh, do you happen to have an Advil somewhere around here?"

Rick nodded and darted down his hallway and into the bathroom, emerging a moment later with a bottle of Advil. Kate swallowed two with her coffee. "Thank you, again. Where's Alexis? Martha?"

"Alexis stayed the night at a friend's house for a birthday party, and Mother went to a benefit late last night. I'm not sure I want to know where she ended up." He was careful to keep his voice quiet, well aware of how her head must feel.

"They're great and all, but I'm really glad they aren't here to see me like this. I wish you weren't seeing me like this. I am so, so sorry Castle. I'm a grown woman, and I acted completely ridiculously last night. It was childish of me, and you shouldn't have had to deal wi-"

"Shh. That's what friends are for, right?"