A/N: You guys are awesome. That is all.
Disclaimer: Castle is not mine.
At the End of the Tunnel
Chapter 2
Hang in there.
Kate smiled as she read his text message for the millionth time that night. It still felt surreal. Richard Castle had literally fallen into her life in a way that she would never have imagined, not even in her wildest dreams. After he invited her for a cup of coffee, they had walked to a nearby café, just a block away from the Central Park east entrance. He told her about his mother and how her sixtieth birthday was that weekend and they were throwing her this big party to celebrate. Alexis was adamant that they just had to find the perfect present for her grandmother, but he was at a complete loss about that.
As they sat at one of the comfortable booths in the dimly lit café, she tried to suggest a few options, trying to think of what her own mother would have wanted, had she lived to turn sixty. A waitress came by and took their orders and soon both had steaming cups of caramel cappuccinos in their hands and conversation somehow flowed easily back and forth between them. For those precious few minutes Kate had spent in his company, she felt like her world was not falling apart. He managed to make her forget for just a little while that she didn't have to go home to a cheating husband and look happy in front of her kids so they wouldn't worry.
They only stayed for a little over twenty minutes, but it somehow felt they had talked for hours when he hailed her a cab outside of the little shop. He had saved his number into her contact list and told her she could call anytime and that if she ever needed anything…
"You don't even know me, Rick." She had argued when he told her to promise to call him if something happened. He shrugged and handed back her phone.
"You know how sometimes you meet someone and it feels like you already know them?" He said and she lifted an eyebrow at him. "I guess that just happened with us." He explained with an almost shy, boyish grin. Kate shook her head with a smile and shot him a quick text.
"There. I guess the feeling is mutual." She pursed her lips, trying to hide a smile when he fished his phone from his back pocket and gave her a happy smile. "Thanks for the coffee." She told him, reaching out to touch his arm and got into the cab. "And for listening." She added through the window and he nodded.
"No problem. We should do it again soon." He called after her just as the car started pulling into traffic. She nodded with a smile and he soon disappeared into the crowd of New Yorkers on the busy sidewalk.
She had picked up Olivia and Alex from school and taken them to get ice cream, just like she had planned before Rick Castle dropped unannounced into her life. Her heart felt lighter and she managed to distract both kids enough to wear them out. Right now, Alex was sleeping peacefully in her lap while Olivia watched a movie, curled up next to her on the couch. Jake was nowhere to be found and Kate was strangely grateful for not having to deal with his crap tonight.
Locking her cellphone, she slowly leaned over to put it on the coffee table in front of the couch, careful not to wake Alex up. When she returned to her previous position, she found Olivia looking at her, brows furrowed in thought.
"Okay there, Liv?" She asked quietly, reaching out to touch her daughter's feet that were pressing against her thigh. The girl nodded, but kept staring at her, biting her bottom lip. "What's got you thinking so hard, then, sweetie?"
"Can I ask you a question, mom?"
"Ask away." She smiled at her little girl, tickling her feet, making a fleeting smile grace the girl's features before she turned serious again.
"I was talking to Sophie today at school and she said her parents don't live together anymore. That they were fighting a lot and then her dad moved out a few weeks ago." Olivia explained and Kate nodded, already knowing where this was headed. "Is that what's happening with you and daddy?" She looked away, biting her lip again, unsure, and Kate felt her heart break at the sad look in her eyes.
"Yeah, baby. That's what's happening." She decided to go with the truth. Olivia was such a smart girl, there was no use trying to lie to her when she was inevitably going to have to know what was going on in the very near future.
"So, we're not going to live together anymore?"
"We're still working that out, Liv, but yeah, we're going to have to move out soon." She explained and had to take a deep, fortifying breath when she saw tears welling up in her little girl's eyes.
"But… why?" It came out as a shaky whisper and Kate couldn't take it anymore. Reaching out, she pulled Olivia into her side, hugging the girl close.
"Sometimes…" She started, but had to swallow hard and clear her throat to dislodge the knot that had taken up residence there. "Sometimes things don't work out as well as they used to for mommy and daddy and it's better if they live in separate apartments."
"Is it us? Me and Alex? Did we do something wrong, mom? Because we didn't mean to, I promise." She looked up at Kate with those big, shining blue eyes and Kate brushed away a stray tear that was slowly making its way down her cheek.
"No, baby, no. Not at all. Don't ever think that." She kissed the top of Olivia's head and sighed. "I love you both so much, Liv. So does daddy. That is never going to change, okay?"
"But then why do we have to live somewhere else? I don't get it." Olivia rested her head on Kate's arm and closed her eyes.
"We just don't want to live together anymore. Things are just hard right now, but everything will be okay, I promise you that."
"Pinky promise?" The girl offered her pinky finger to Kate and she smiled, linking her own with her daughter's.
"Cross my heart, baby." Olivia nodded and yawned, leaning into Kate's side again. "Let's go to bed?" The girl nodded again and stood up, waiting for Kate to do the same. She stood up slowly, carrying Alex close to her chest and once she had him secured in her arms she started down the corridor towards his room. "Go brush your teeth, Liv. I'll be right there to tuck you in. Let me just put your brother to bed."
Once Olivia disappeared into her room, Kate leaned against the wall for a moment, holding her little boy's sleeping form close to her, as if she could draw some strength from him. Letting out a heavy sigh, she entered Alex's room and carefully put him down on his bed after pulling the covers down. Covering him with his Cars comforter, she leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead.
With one last look, she left the room, leaving the door opened just a crack.
Found your mom's present?
Her finger hovered over the send button the next afternoon, unsure if she should text him or not. He had texted her this morning, saying hi, and she had replied, but that had been it. She had been busy tracking down a lead in their latest case, so she only realized she hadn't gotten a text back hours later. Now she wasn't sure if he was busy or maybe his offer the day before had been an empty promise. Taking a sip of her nearly cold coffee, she pressed the send button before she could talk herself out of it.
If he didn't text her back, then she wouldn't bother him again. But she had really enjoyed his company yesterday and, well, the guy was someone she had admired for so long and he had seemed so nice and down to earth – not at all like the playboy the tabloids made him out to be. Maybe this friendship (or whatever it was that was forming between them) was exactly what she needed to get through this horrible process of ending things with Jake.
Detective Ryan called her over to his desk and started rattling off about what he had found out about their victim's financials, which served as a great distraction for her at that moment. When she came back to her desk about an hour later, she picked up her phone and smiled when she saw the alert of a new text message and a missed call from him. Biting her lip, she debated with herself if she should call him back for a minute, before pressing the green button and holding the phone between her ear and shoulder as she made her way to the break room to grab another cup of coffee.
"Hello?"
"Rick, hi. It's Kate Beckett." She said, feeling a little nervous and pathetic for being so worked up over it. "You called?"
"Yeah, I texted you, but you never texted back so I thought I'd give you a call as a last resort." He explained quickly and she thought he sounded a little nervous as well. "Is this a bad time?"
"No, not at all. I left my phone on my desk and had to go look into something with my partner, but I'm good now." She told him and took a deep breath in the end. "So, what's up?" She asked, pouring herself a cup of their disgusting coffee.
"You didn't read my text?"
"No, why?"
"Well," He cleared his throat before continuing. "Our mission in buying my mother a birthday present was not successful yesterday and I'm getting a little desperate here. So, um, I was wondering if maybe you'd like help me out with this? I mean, if you're free, of course. I know you have to be with your kids and everything and-"
"Tonight?" She interrupted his rambling and had to bite on her lip to keep from laughing at his nervous speech. It was hilarious that Richard Castle – a celebrity author – was nervous about asking for her help.
"Yeah. But I totally understand if you can't make it, Kate."
"My dad has the kids tonight, so I can come by whenever to pick them up. I just can't stay out for too long, you know? Things are hard enough for them as it is."
"Of course, don't worry about it. Should I pick you up or do you want to meet somewhere?" His tone was now excited and she smiled involuntarily, taking a sip of her coffee.
"I get off at six, so maybe we can meet at that café we went to yesterday at 6:30?" She suggested and he immediately agreed. "Alright, I'll see you later, Rick."
"Yeah, see you soon, Kate."
They hung up and Kate leaned against the counter in the break room with a sigh. She shouldn't be getting involved with someone in the middle of getting divorced. But she was just helping a friend out, right? It didn't have to be labeled as anything other than that. Besides, she was so not ready to dive into a new relationship and he didn't seem like he was coming on to her. At least she didn't think so, even if the butterflies in her stomach tried to tell her otherwise.
God, she hoped this didn't turn out to be a big mistake on her part.
"Hi." Kate greeted him with a timid smile when she reached his booth. It was 6:40 and she had gotten stuck in traffic on her way to the coffee shop, feeling bad for making him wait.
"Kate, hi." A happy smile stretched his lips wide as she slid onto the seat across from him. "Do you want to order something?"
"Yeah, do you mind? I didn't really have lunch. Got caught up in this case we're working on." She picked up the menu on the table and started looking through her options.
"Lawyer?" He asked, knowingly and she shook her head, realizing she hadn't told him what she did for a living.
"Actually, no. I'm a detective with the NYPD." She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and kept her eyes firmly on the menu in front of her.
"No way. Seriously?" The excited tone in his voice made her look up at him, meeting his sparkling eyes. It looked like his inner child was shining through at that moment.
"Yup." She confirmed it with a chuckle and he nodded, still a little awed.
"That is so incredibly cool, Kate." He told her with a wide grin as she called the waitress over and ordered a cappuccino and a croissant. "What kind of detective?"
"Homicide. Just the fun stuff." She teased sarcastically and he chuckled. "I thought I'd told you that yesterday."
"Oh, you definitely left that little detail out. There's no way I would've forgotten that." He leaned back on his seat and watched her for a moment. "How… I mean, a homicide detective isn't exactly a common profession among beautiful women like yourself. How'd you even get into that? Family thing?"
"Kind of. I guess you could put it that way." She bit her lip and closed her eyes for a moment. It still hurt to think about her mom. When she opened them again, he was watching her with concerned eyes. She shook her head and thanked the waitress when the young girl brought her order over. "It has its moments, though. I really like my job most days." She offered him a reassuring smile when he still looked worried and saw him let out a sigh.
"Would you mind talking about it sometime? Your job as a homicide detective, I mean. For research. I told you I'm a writer, right?" He said quickly and she nodded, smiling at him fumbling with his words. "So, you know, I like to get the details right. It'd be great to talk about it with someone who actually knows what it's like."
"Sure, I'd love to, Rick." She nodded with a small smile and took a bite off her croissant.
"So how are you?" He asked after a moment; she swallowed her food and took a sip of her cappuccino before she answered.
"I'm alright. You know, getting by each day, I guess." She leaned back against her seat. "I told Olivia about it last night." She confessed and he gave her a small sympathetic smile.
"Yeah? How'd she take it?"
"She was the one who brought it up. Said her friend's parents are not living together anymore and asked if that's what's happening between me and Jake."
"Ouch, nowhere to run, huh?" He winced and she chuckled with a nod.
"I figured it was easier to tell her the truth. She's a smart girl, she would've found out eventually." Kate shrugged and took another sip. "I just wish this wasn't so hard on her, you know? I hate that she's hurting because of this."
"I know, Kate." He reached out and touched her hand in a comforting gesture, earning a smile from her. "Alexis thankfully doesn't remember much about it. She was three when I divorced Meredith." He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before letting go. "They'll get used to it. It's hard at first, I'm not going to lie to you. But it'll blow over."
"I hope so. I just want this to be over, but there's just so much I have to do and no time to do it, you know?" She finished her croissant and was quiet for a moment. "I have to start looking for an apartment and hire a lawyer and stuff like that." She let out a frustrated sigh. "Sorry, you don't want to hear any of this." She told him sheepishly and he touched her hand again, holding her gaze.
"Hey, anything I can help with, I'll do it." He offered her a smile and she nodded gratefully. "I told you yesterday, remember? There's something here," he motioned between them. "I want to help. As a friend." He added quickly and she chuckled. "A friend of mine is a lawyer. Maybe you can give him a call. I'm sure he can help."
"That'd be great, Rick." She saved the guy's number on her phone when he showed it to her on his. He asked for the check and the waitress promptly brought it over. "Thanks." She smiled at him, returning his phone, and saw him throwing a twenty on the table and getting up. "No, hey, we can split the bill."
"Don't worry about it, Kate. This one's on me." He smiled at her and waited for her to get off the booth, completely unfazed by the glare she was sending in his direction. "Ready?" He asked when she pulled her jacket back on.
"Yeah, let's go." She started towards the door and felt his arm brushing hers when they stepped outside, making the stubborn butterflies in her stomach go a little crazy. "Where to?" She asked, pulling her hair out of her jacket.
"There's this little shop my mom always goes to. It's just a couple of blocks from here. I thought we could start there?" He suggested and she nodded.
"Sure. Lead the way."
She smiled at him and felt him touch her back momentarily, but then withdrawing his hand quickly and shoving it in his coat pocket. Kate shook her head with a small smile.
Looked like she wasn't the only one having trouble discerning what was right or wrong here.
A/N: Thoughts?
