(A/N)! Thank you so much those of you who wanted me to keep writing for this story! It was originally only supposed to be a 2-part story, but now I kinda want to do something that happens after the story ends. (Like an epilogue or something) So if you have an idea please feel free to tell me!!!

(2 weeks before Castle is supposed to return)

Kate Beckett sat in her kitchen, staring at the package. She wondered aloud what could possibly be inside it. She toyed with it, shaking it around, guessing, tossing it and rolling it around. After a half hour, she sighed. "Okay, no more stalling. I just need to open it." She almost held her breath while she slowly opened the package. She exhaled loudly and laughed when she saw that is was only a pen and a pad of paper. Then she saw something else. The corner of an envelope barely stuck out from under the pad of paper. She pulled it out. 'KB' was written neatly on the envelope. She opened it to find an index card with an address and a phone number on it. She felt the oxygen leave her body.

"He wanted me to keep in contact..." It had been eleven months and one week. In two weeks, he would be returning. "Crap." She leaned against a cabinet and let the index card fall gently to the floor. She decided the best thing to do was to surprise him at the airport, and told herself she had to keep that a secret so he wouldn't find out.

That night, she didn't have a nightmare. Well, it started out as a nightmare, with her being lost and alone in the dark, with one streetlight shining bright. But this time it was different. Castle stepped into the light, and extended a hand. She took it, beaming, and embraced him. She woke up hugging her pillow. She felt happy, and decided that the light at the end of the tunnel had finally come for her dreams.

(the day of Castle's return)

Beckett stood gracefully by the gate and watched his plane land. She had a smile on her face. She saw Alexis get off first, and waved. She was followed by Castle... who was walking arm in arm with a beautiful woman. Her smile evaporated as she saw a smile cover his face. He approached her and hugged her.

"Well if it isn't Detective Beckett. What a pleasant surprise! Lita, this is my friend, Kate Beckett." Castle brought forward his foreign beauty, and Kate reluctantly shook her hand.

"Okay, well, I have a case to get back to. Nice to see you again Castle!" She called over her shoulder as she walked out of the airport, almost sure she could feel Castle's eyes following her as she left. "Who the hell was that?" she asked herself. She sighed. "This is going to hurt later." She felt the warmth of the beautiful, strange woman who he affectionately called "Lita" on her hands still. He must have found her after he gave up on me sending him a letter, she thought.

"This is all my fault." She said out loud. She felt shocked, yet her heart believed every word as it sank inside her chest. Just because she didn't speak to him for a year didn't mean he wouldn't come back, right? This new woman wouldn't steal Rick away from her, would she? Thoughts reeled through Beckett's mind, and she didn't realize she was at home until she heard a knock on the door. She snapped out of her head and got up to answer it. She hid a frown when it was Castle behind the door.

"Come in." she said, making way for him to enter her apartment.

"Beckett... Why didn't you write me?" She laughed. "I didn't open the package until two weeks ago. That's when I decided to surprise you at the airport. I wasn't expecting a surprise from you, I have to say." His puzzled look pressed her to continue. "It's not like you told anyone about that woman you were with. I just wasn't expecting it, that's all."

He stepped closer to her. "Lita and I aren't romantically connected, Detective." His blue eyes searched her face, looking for a hint of forgiveness. "Oh. Really." she sounded distant, and turned away.

"I'm telling the truth. Actually, she's better friends with Alexis then she is with me." Beckett looked at the floor.

Rick thought she didn't believe him, while she was only considering the outcome if she told him about her nightmares.

"Kate."

Her face snapped up and she looked him in the eyes when he said her name like that, so gently that it made her heart hurt. "Castle..." She sighed. "I'm going to tell you something I don't want you to tell anyone, do you understand?" He nodded, and kept his eyes locked with hers. "After you left, I guess something happened to make me start missing you. Not physically, but unconsciously. I had horrible nightmares every night about two months after you left. The day I opened that package, you pulled me out of my nightmares." His eyes flashed hurt and comfort at the same time.

"I made you have horrible nightmares. For almost a year." His voice was filled with a hint of disbelief. For once, the writer was at a loss for words. "But it's okay, Castle, because you're here now. You're home." Kate stared into his bottomless blue eyes.

"It made me very happy to see you waiting for me at the airport." He moved an inch closer to her and put his hand on her waist. He pulled her close to him in an embrace, and when they broke apart he left his hands on her waist, and she left hers around his neck.

"And you don't have to have nightmares anymore. You're safe now. I'm always here for you. Always." Kate didn't want him to see her eyes, which were tearing up, so she closed them and leaned in. Her lips met his in a sweet, but full of love and longing, kiss.

"Castle?"

"Yes, Kate?"

"Please don't leave me again."

He smiled and kissed her briefly again, loving how he could finally express his emotions for her, and said, "I won't. You'll always be safe here with your Castle."