Disclaimer: All these characters belong to ABC and Mr. Marlowe

A/N: Just a little side note, this all takes place in Kate's new apartment i.e. the one after the other one blew up.


"Castle, why are you looking through my fridge?"

He had been at her place for a total of five minutes. Five minutes, and he was already searching around her apartment like it was his personal playground.

"I'm just a curious mind," he justified, staring at the shelves. "What's with all of the takeout boxes in there?" he questioned, turning to Kate.

Marching to the writer, Kate shut the fridge door, abruptly ending his perusal session.

"I'm a cop, Castle, with cop hours," she informed, watching him make his way into her lounge room. "I don't have time to cook meals."

"Huh," he sighed, seemingly approving of her explanation. "Speaking of, I met your neighbour on the way up. She said she hardly sees you around here," he informed, now gazing over her shelves.

He just could not help himself. As much as she disliked going to his loft, him coming here was worse. Much worse.

"That would probably Mrs. Simpkins," Kate began to explain, walking to where he was standing. She stopped directly in front of him, effectively blocking his view of her displayed belongings, before continuing. "She's getting older though, so I wouldn't be holding myself to her opinion if I was you," she further justified, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I don't know about that," he began as he turned around, apparently getting her hint. "She seemed very pleased to know that you have snatched yourself up such a, and I quote, 'lovely young man'," he smiled over his shoulder, pleased with the older woman's description.

"Really, she said that?" Kate queried. "Well I'm pretty sure she reads all the gossip magazines. Maybe she only had that opinion because she didn't have high expectations to begin with," she teased with a grin.

"Ouch," he sarcastically expressed, holding his hand to his chest. "I literally just got here and you're already pulling out the punches."

Turning around to get a full view of the immediate area, Castle gave his approval. "You have a nice place. It has character. I like it," he concluded.

"Thanks," Kate flippantly mumbled, watching him with a curious glare.

"Oh no, don't take it as a compliment," he clarified, spinning around to face her. "You see, apparently like Mrs. Simpkins, I didn't exactly have high expectations either, so..."

"Oh, very clever," Kate replied with a smile, walking back towards the kitchen.

Humored, Castle sat down on her couch. He briefly wriggled his body, seemingly trying to get comfortable, before leaning back with a yawn.

"Man, I am so tired," he sighed, further relaxing into the couch.

Ignoring him, Kate began to put a few dishes away, before Castle cleared his throat.

Kate let out a sigh and turned around, to find him looking at her with a waiting expression on his face.

"Okay, Castle. Why are you so tired?" she question apathetically.

"Well, you see my wrist is better, thanks for your concern by the way," he sarcastically added, "So I began writing again last night. I was on a roll and didn't get much sleep."

"Maybe next time you should choose more appropriate work hours then," she replied, shutting her cupboards.

"Oh-no, you don't understand. Inspiration is a very hard thing to come by, so when it does, you have to make the most of it," he informed, before something caught his attention. "Hmm, that's odd," he noted, pushing himself off the couch.

Walking around, he managed to search behind the couch and under her coffee table before Kate took notice.

"Castle, quit snooping," she instructed, striding towards him.

"I'm not snooping. I'm looking for where you hid your TV," he justified, continuing his hunt.

"Well, good luck, Sherlock, because I don't have one," she blatantly informed.

"You- what?" he questioned, baffled by her admission. "How do you not have a TV?"

"I don't really watch any programs, so what's the need when I wouldn't use it?" she defended.

"Well, what am I going to do?" he questioned, raising his arms.

"I don't know, Castle," she replied, walking towards her table, "Isn't creativity part of your job description?"

"Yes, but there must be something for me to do. It wasn't like this when you came to my place," he whinged.

"That's because I brought my own things to do," she responded, lifting up her files in her hand.

"You're going to do work again?"

"Yes. Now, sit there and don't touch anything," she instructed, pointing to her couch. "I'm sure you will find a way to keep yourself occupied."

"Fine," he mumbled, sitting on the couch in defeat. "I guess I will just play angry birds on my phone then for three hours," he complained.

"Good," she responded, before leaving the room and sitting down at her desk.


Releasing her pen, Kate finished the last of her paperwork. Gathering her files, she stacked them into a neat pile, before raising her arms in a stretch.

With all of that done, the only thing left to do was to file them at the precinct, and then she would be finished. Well, for the moment at least.

Looking at her watch, she noted it was only almost four-thirty. That meant she at least had a bit of her afternoon left.

Suddenly coming to a realisation, Kate lifted up her left wrist again and double checked the time. It was almost four-thirty and Castle was supposed to leave by four o' clock.

Kate paused, baffled. Not only was Castle still there, but it was silent. He was silent. Unless he left? But surely he would have said goodbye, or she would have at least heard him?

"Castle?" she called, still sitting at her desk.

Kate's eyes were alert, waiting for an answer. With no response, she stood up and began to cautiously make her way to the lounge room.

"Castle, I need to go to the precinct," she began, entering the room where she last left him. "Time for you to-" Kate stopped, her words swallowed, as she finally caught sight of the writer.

He was lying on his back, the length of his body extended along her couch. His legs and arms were both stretched out, his face slightly turned to the side and mashed into one of her cushions. Letting her eyes linger, she noticed that mouth was slightly open with a little bit of drool hanging out, but his eyes were firmly closed.

He was asleep.

Thoughts raced through her mind on how she could uncompassionately wake him; pour water on his face, hit him with a pillow, drop something on the floor. When the time for a decision came, however, Kate was frozen in place, and could do nothing but grin at the sight before her.

She didn't want to wake him.

He appeared different when he was asleep. The way he had managed to spread himself out, he didn't portray the image of a celebrity author, he simply seemed like a big kid, shielded with innocence. He kind of looked cute-

No. Stop right there. She refused to let herself think of him like that. It was not going to happen.

Suddenly, as if he felt her presence, Castle slowly closed his mouth and swallowed, before gradually opening his eyes.

"What are you doing?" he mumbled as he looked at her, his voice thick and hazed with sleep. "Why are you creepily staring at me?"

What the hell was she doing? This was Richard Castle, a man who she wasn't meant to like, and she was gazing at him as he slept.

No, she wasn't gazing at him, she was simply-

"I was just contemplating how to get your drool out of my cushion," she answered, snapping out of her stupid trance. "I was coming to wake you. You were meant to leave half and hour ago, so it's time to go," she said, pulling the cushion out from under his head.

"Hey, that was comfy," he complained before letting out a sigh and shutting his eyes once again, "And I don't drool," he clarified.

"Well then what's this?" she questioned, holding up the cushion for him to now see.

Opening his eyes, he caught sight of the small wet patch she was pointing to. "Oh, sorry about that," he said, wiping any excess from his mouth. "Why were you contemplating? Can't you just wash it?" he innocently asked, rubbing his eyes.

Kate swallowed and looked at him, considering how to answer. "Castle, just get up," she dismissed.

As he slowly sat up, rubbing his face and attempting to fix the odd angles of his hair, Kate placed the cushion on her table, before turning back around to face him.

He was still sitting on her couch.

"Come on, Castle," she sighed.

"Yes, I'm getting up," he whined, moving to sit up straighter. "I guess I was tireder than I thought." Offering her a pout, Castle held out his hand to her. "Help me up?"

Simply wanting him to hurry up and leave, Kate rolled her eyes and walked towards him.

"Hey, so Paula called me yesterday," he began as she clasped his hand, "And she thinks we should act more coupley when we are out. Doesn't want the press getting suspicious."

Hearing his words, Kate quickly released his hand just as he slightly lifted from the couch, causing him to fall back down.

"She what?" Kate questioned sternly, as she stood in front of him, arms tightly crossed.

"Nothing bad," he began to clarify, slowly getting to his feet by himself. "You know, I say jokes, you laugh. You tell me how good looking I am, I agree with you. Basic relationship stuff," he joked with a sly grin.

"Oh, so that's all basic relationship stuff is it?" she mocked, placing her hand on her hip.

"Yeah," he confidently agreed. "It's not like we have to give each other pet names or anything," he optimistically informed, raising his eyebrow.

"Good, because there is no way that would happen."

"What's the matter? You don't like them, Honey-bun?" he teased.

Scrunching up her face, Kate reached for his ear and slightly twisted.

"Ow!" he complained, "Okay, no pet names, I get it!" he whined, holding his hands up in surrender.

Satisfied he received the message loud and clear, Kate released her grip.

"Ouch. Is this how you treat all of your boyfriends?" he frowned, rubbing his ear.

"No, and you're not my boyfriend," she clarified, walking to open the front door for him.

"And I'm glad," he informed, searching for his jacket. "I mean, waking up next to you? If this is what you're like in the afternoon goodness knows what you would be like in the mornings. Cannot imagine you being too happy," he sarcastically mumbled.

"Oh, you have nothing to worry about. You see, if this was a real relationship, I can guarantee that you would be spending your nights on the couch," she retorted.

"Well, considering your tendency to get angry at me, I'm pretty sure I would prefer it there anyway. I know my ears would appreciate it," he replied, once again trying to sooth his red ear with his fingers.

Kate frowned her eyes at him, and walked to her armchair where she found his jacket and held it out to him.

Pursing his lips together, Castle collected his piece of clothing. "Knew it was here somewhere."

Tilting her head to the side with a frown, Kate waited in silence for him to get himself organised.

"Hey, did you ever catch that guy?" he casually questioned, attention focused on pulling his arms through the jacket holes.

What on earth was he going on about?

"What guy?" Kate questioned flippantly.

"Ah, the one you were chasing after when we met," he clarified, waiting for an answer as he fixed his collar.

Kate lifted her head. "Doug Healey? I thought you didn't care."

"Well, there's more to me than a pretty face, Detective," he said with a smile.

Rolling her eyes, Kate gave him a dry response. "Yeah, we caught him," she responded.

"Good," he said with a nod of his head. Lowering his gaze and placing his hands in his pockets, he continued, "It's kind of been bothering me since it happened. I asked a couple of the officers in the precinct last time I was there, but no one-" lifting his head, he noticed Kate's face. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Kate didn't know what to think. The way he acted when it happened there was no way she considered he cared, let alone was affected by it.

"I just- Wasn't expecting that from you, that's all," she fumbled.

Letting out a huff, Castle began to make his way to the door, with Kate following close behind him.

"I know I can come across as a bit of a jerk, but I have a mother and daughter who walk through New York. They are the most important things in my life, and if anything was to happen to them, or anyone, because of my carelessness, I don't think I could live with myself."

Kate stopped walking and paused next to her table, shocked at his admission, as he continued to make his way to her door.

She swallowed. "It wasn't your fault."

She almost regretted it as soon as she opened her mouth, but listening to his guilt, she couldn't help herself. The words just seemed to flow out on their own accord.

Hearing her, Castle spun around with a questioning glance.

Kate cleared her throat and pressed on. "It wasn't your fault, so you shouldn't feel bad about it."

"But, I thought you said me getting in your way was how he escaped?"

"Well, that's true. Although, he shouldn't have been able to leave the precinct in the first place," she clarified. Considering her next words, Kate continued, "Besides, the murder he committed was an isolated crime, so the community wasn't in any real danger. I was more worried that he wouldn't get the justice he deserved. His victim deserved," she answered almost shyly, deliberately avoiding his gaze.

Castle stood there. "This whole, 'getting justice thing', it's really important to you, isn't it?" he asked, noting to the files he could now see on her desk.

"Yeah, it is," she responded.

They both were encased in silence, staring at each other.

After a few moments, Castle finally spoke, breaking the tension. "Thanks for being nice to me," he said with a grin.

Kate looked up at him and smiled. There was no better time when she was thankful for his sense of humor. Their conversation was getting too heavy, especially for them, and it was something they simply didn't do.

"Just enjoy it while it lasts," she said, shrugging her shoulders.

"So, are you saying that now is the appropriate time for me to ask you to compliment my good looks?" he innocently questioned.

Catching her glare, he answered for himself. "I'll give it a bit more time," he compromised.

"Don't push your luck. I'm not feeling that generous," she warned.

Lifting her hands up, she placed them on his shoulders and spun him around, so he was now facing the door.

"Time to go, Castle," she informed, giving him a light push for extra measure, ushering him out.

Castle let out a chuckle and began to walk to the door as she stood back. "I'm going, I'm going."

Reaching the door, he held on to the handle before turning back to her. He paused, and provided her with a mischievous grin.

"Bye, Honey-bun," he teased.

Kate opened her mouth and drew her eyebrows in a frown. Quickly reaching behind her, she grasped the cushion from the table and threw it at him, but he was too quick, and the cushion silently hit the closed door.


Argh, you were all asking me so nicely for a quick update, so I tried to get this out as soon as possible, but it took forever. Sorry! Good news is that I'm not going to be as busy anymore, so you shouldn't have to wait as long for the next chapter. Thanks for still reading!

BareWriter