For Gloria. Set in early season 4.

You're not alone

I'll listen 'till your tears give out

You're safe and sound, I swear that I won't let you down

What's hurting you I, I feel it too
I mean it when I say
When you cry, I cry with you, with you

When he pulled his phone out of his pocket and saw her face light up his screen, he didn't even hesitate. He hit accept and pulled the device to his ear.

"Beckett?"

"Castle, I..."

"Kate, are you crying?" He rose to a sitting position, concern rising up in the back of his throat at the broken quality of her voice.

"I shouldn't have called...I'm sorry..." She sounded out of breath when she finally responded.

"I'm coming over." And with that he hit 'end call,' not giving her time to protest.

When she came to the door she was dressed in a ratty old NYPD sweatshirt that swallowed her frame and was at least two sizes too big. She had on a pair of leggings that had a hole in the left knee and her eyes were bloodshot, her mascara smudged from the tears that she had let loose. She looked beautiful.

"You really didn't have to come over, Castle." She said as she stepped aside to let him in. "I'm fine."

"And I don't believe you." He watched as she huffed out a laugh, her hands coming up to scrub at her eyes.

"Well, I feel a lot better now that you're here." She offered him a small smile as she finally took in what he had in his arms, "What's with all the movies?"

"Nothing like a good ol' movie night to cheer you up, what do you say, Beckett?" He waggled his eyebrows at her, laughing at the eye roll he received.

They had started out on opposite ends of the couch, her curled up under her favorite blanket, and him with his feet propped up against her coffee table. But somewhere around movie 2, Castle glanced over at her to find her way closer than he remembered. Smiling briefly, he turned his attention back to the movie. But she chose that moment to stretch, which brought her just a little bit closer, close enough that their knees brushed and he could smell her. He breathed in the scent of vanilla, cherries, and...vodka? Oh Kate.

He turned towards her and tugged her into his arms, not being able to resist the urge to hug her anymore. She let out a surprised little grunt, but it only took a second before she was melting into his arms and burying her nose in the crook of his neck.

It was a few minutes later when he felt the wetness at the base of his neck. He just gripped her tighter, his hand moving from its spot on her waist to rub soothing circles on the small of her back. Pulling away, he used his other hand to tilt her chin up so she was looking him in the eyes.

"Do you want to talk about it?" At the shake of her head, he got up, rearranging the blankets before pulling her flush against him. His arm came to wrap around her shoulders, and when she didn't move away he pressed play on the movie he hadn't even realized they had paused. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as she brought her knees up to her chin, curling further into his side and resting her head on his shoulder.

A few minutes later she changed her mind.

"I just...I really miss her. And there are days when it hits me harder than I thought possible." She brought her hand up to her face to brush away the tears that were starting to fall.

"Today, I was looking through some of my stuff, God, I don't even remember what I was looking for, but I found an old picture of us and it just brought back all these memories. It was of the two of us at my highschool graduation. She looked so proud of me and I just couldn't help but think, would she still be proud of me if she was here today?" When he opened his mouth to respond, she just shook her head before continuing, "Back then I was graduating top of my class, had a partial scholarship to Stanford, and I was class valedictorian...now I'm just some cop obsessed with her mother's murder. I went from Stanford to getting shot in the heart because I couldn't just let her case go. I let her down, Castle."

"No. Kate, you absolutely did not let her down. She would be so proud of the woman you are. I know I am." Castle could feel the tears gathering in his own eyes, the frustration bubbling up in his chest. How could she not see how extraordinary she was?

"It should have been me in that alley. Not her." Castle felt the breath leave him at that, the tears he had been holding back finally slipping free.

"Oh Kate. Kate, no, please don't say that." Castle pleaded with her.

"My mom made a difference. She had people who care about her."

"So do you, Kate. You make a difference every single day, with every murder you solve. And so many people care about you, me being at the front of that line."

She didn't respond, just snuggled deeper into his side, closing her eyes against the tears that were rolling steadily down her cheeks. They stayed like that, cuddled together on her couch, as the movie played on, neither of them paying any attention to what was going on onscreen.

He was starting to think she had fallen asleep when she stirred in his arms, moving to look in his eyes.

"Thank you, Castle. For coming over. For crying with me," She smiled a little at that, "For everything."

"Anytime, Kate. I mean that. Call me anytime you need to cry and I'll be right here, ready to cry with you. Always."

I hope this was what the prompter was looking for. Thank you for the idea.