Kate awoke to the screams of her boyfriend. Rick was asleep but must have been having a horrible nightmare because he just kept screaming her name. He was tossing and turning furiously,

"You son of a bitch!" he screamed Kate had enough,

"Castle… Castle! Rick!" she tried to wake him up, "Rick!" she screamed as loud as she could, and he woke abruptly, and shot up, he had tears rolling down his face. Rick turned to her and relaxed a little when he saw her.

"Rick, what the hell?" Kate whispered, almost in tears herself. He pulled her into a tight hug,

"Don't ever leave me" he told her "Please Kate, don't ever leave. I don't know how I could live without you"

He pulled away to look her in the eyes, "I'm not going anywhere Rick. You're stuck with me till the end. Got it?" he nodded and pulled her back in for another hug. "Wanna talk about it?" she asked softly. He shook his head,

"Sorry I don't, I just… I just need to hold you. To know you're here. Is that okay?" he asked,

"Of course" she said sweetly. He lay down and held his arms open, welcoming her to cuddle. She lay down and cuddled into his side. "I'm here" she said as she drew circles on his chest "I'm here"

A few short moments later she was fast asleep. He lay still trying to forget the thoughts that had haunted him since day one. He knew she was here, he knew she always tried her best to stay safe but there was still that small possibility that he could lose her forever. It was like cleaning products, they clean 99.99% of germs, but it was that .01% that he was deathly afraid of. He knew he would be better off if he thought of the positive but there's those rare moments of weakness where everything you've tried to ignore or avoid comes flooding back into your mind, creating a storm and quite possible turning against you. Rick had been having these 'moments of weakness' more often recently than he had in the past. What was wrong? Why wouldn't his mind shut off or at least stop thinking about the bad things! Kate didn't know but Rick had been having trouble getting to sleep lately and most of the time when he finally did get to sleep he had nightmares similar to the one he had tonight. He and Kate had been dating for quite a few months now and they've known each other for well over 2 years, so why the change all of a sudden? Who knows! He doesn't know exactly what the problem is so he can't try to help himself! All he knows is he is exhausted and he needs to get some actual sleep. Having her in his arms just made him feel calm. She belonged there in his arms. As the storm that was invading his mind calmed a bit he slowly drifted off to sleep hoping that he wouldn't have to experience his nightmare again.

The couple awoke to Kate's phone ringing. She groaned as she rolled over reluctantly removing herself from Rick's side.

"Beckett" she said groggily, "okay, thanks. I'll be there is 20" she hung up the phone and rolled back over to Rick,

"A body drop?" Rick asked, barely even awake,

"Yeah, you can stay and sleep in if you want. I'm sure I can manage without you for a couple of hours" she smiled at him, thinking about how helpful he is, not just on her cases but he also helped her open up to him. She was always a bit skeptical about them at first and the whole time he allowed her to have an out to let her leave if things didn't go as she planned.

"Do you mind?" Rick asked sitting up,

"No not at all babe" She leaned over and kissed him lightly, "get some sleep Rick. You look exhausted" she gave him another quick kiss before getting up and heading to the bathroom. Rick lay there; did he really look that bad? How could she tell he was exhausted? Well she was a detective after all. A few minutes later Kate came out of the bathroom dressed and ready to go. Rick looked at her, damn she was gorgeous!

"I liked it better when you were in your jammies" he said with a playful smirk. She walked over to stand next to the side of the bed he was laying on and grabbed his hand.

"I know Rick. But I don't think it would be appropriate if I showed up at a crime scene in your shirt and boxers" she said as she patted his cheek with her free hand,

"You never know till you try!" he said as she rolled her eyes and smiled,

"Maybe next time" she leaned down and kissed him, softly at first but then it became urgent, more passionate. God she wished she didn't have to go to work this morning! She'd rather stay in bed with Rick all day.

She broke the kiss at stared into his baby blue eyes. "Rick I got to go" she said as he pulled her in for another kiss. His lips left hers and trailed down her neck. "Rick… I…" she stuttered as he hit the right spot, "I have to go" she reluctantly pulled away. "I'll call you at noon" she said as she saw the disappointment in his eyes.

"Okay" he said with a smile, "have a good day gorgeous" he placed a light kiss on the back of her hand before letting her pull it out of his grasp.

"I'll see you later Rick, get some sleep and if you have a nightmare again or even if you just want to talk call me, got it?"

"Got it" She left the room. She loved her job but she hated not being able to sleep in or spend a nice morning with her boyfriend. Well we will definitely make up for it tonight she thought as she pulled on her jacket and high heels. She opened the door and yelled 'bye' before closing the door behind her. As she headed towards the elevator all she could think about was him. Maybe it was time for her to say those three words. The ones the take a second to say, hours to explain and forever to prove. Forever she thought, with Rick Castle famous novelist known for his wit, charm, ruggedly good looks and his amazing creativity. This is it, she thought, he's my one and done.