"Rick, this is not what I agreed to!" Kate said, feeling the panic rise in her body.

"Yes you did, I told you I needed to go out and I asked if you could accompany me. You said yes," he reasoned, but she could see a small shame in his eyes.

He had not told her the whole story, and she knew that he knew that. But it was too late now, they sat in a limousine on their way to a book party which Rick had to attend to. She had given him a suspicious look when he'd handed her the beautiful red dress he apparently had ordered the day before when she had still been sleeping. It had been two days, two days, since she had promised him to stay, and he'd already been able to make her feel as if they'd been together forever. He peppered her with so much love that she was afraid to loose it, it was like he tried to prove to her that no matter what, he'd be with her. As if he was telling her, very loudly, that he wouldn't survive if she ran away again.

"I don't know if I can do this," she whispered with a scared look all over her face.

She didn't know what was to come, had never been to this kind of party before.

"Sure you can, and we only have to be here a couple of hours, it's not even a party for me, but my publicist said I had to attend," by the look on his face she suddenly got the feeling he didn't want to be there either.

Silently she let her hand touch his, she had put a small space between them the second the driver had mentioned the party they were going to, but now she didn't like that space anymore. His hand turned and immediately let their palms kiss as he intertwined their fingers. She took a few deep breaths, trying to wrap her head around the fact that she should not run the first thing she did when she walked out of the car.

"Don't worry, I got you. We'll do this together no matter what," Rick promised and when she looked at him she could see he was aware of the fear that had crept into her body.

"I know," she whispered and leaned her body closer to his.

He seemed delighted by the sudden touch, a glimpse of it in his blue eyes, and he leaned in to peck her lips. The clearing of a throat had them both turn their eyes forward, the driver had rolled down the black window in order to get their attention.

"We're here Mr. Castle, miss," he nodded to the both of them in a polite matter.

"Thank you Martin," Rick told him and turned to Kate, "you ready?"

"No, but the quicker we get this over with the quicker we can go home, right?" she asked and he pecked her lips again.

He restrained the smile that wanted to spread on his lips. She said home. The door to the limousine suddenly opened and Rick went out first, reaching out his hand towards her the second he was out. She took his hand and let him help her out of the car, flinching at the instant flashes surrounding them. It took her a second to hear the clicks and see it was cameras setting off.

"Richard Castle! Over here! Who's your date tonight?!"

Kate felt her eyes widen. She'd not expected him to be this famous! Rick's arm went around her waist, his head in her hair in a disguise of a kiss.

"Don't be scared, I got you," he whispered.

She tried to school her features, tried not to look as terrified as she felt, his arm squeezed around her waist and she drew strength from his touch. He led her over the red carpet towards the entrance, avoiding all kinds of questions the paparazzi seemed to throw at them. The second they got inside everything calmed down a bit, there were a few more people taking pictures but they seemed more... civil. She wondered if that was because they were inside, that they had passes to get inside and that calmed them from harassing as much as the people outside had.

"Heey, look who decided to join us tonight! Rick Castle, how are you?" a man walked up to them with a big smile and his hand out to shake Rick's.

"James Patterson," Rick greeted while shaking hands, "I'm great what about you?"

"Absolutely marvelous, and who's this beauty?" the man turned to Kate, holding out his hand to her.

"Uhm," Kate was speechless but reached out to accept his hand.

"This is Kate, my girlfriend," Rick introduced her and the man looked at her with wide eyes.

"You're certain you wanna be with this clown?" he said in a mocking yet friendly tone.

Rick chuckled at that and shook his head.

"Don't you dare try to steal her," he said in a joking matter.

He pulled Kate closer to him and kissed her cheek. She was sure her blush was evident, couldn't quite believe what she was hearing. The two writers continued to talk for a few more minutes before they parted and Rick led her away to mingle with others. She felt a constant warmth on her cheeks from all the nice words people were exchanging with them. There was a need for her to draw strength from him every now and then. About an hour after they'd gone around and talked to people Rick seemed to know on a professional level, he took her aside to be able to check on her. He didn't want all this to scare her, but he also needed her to know this was also a part of his life. When he'd asked her to follow him out on a night out he withheld information on purpose, not stating where or what they were going to. Somehow he'd known she wouldn't agree to it then, and he needed her to follow him because he was afraid that if he let her be alone in his loft she would leave. She'd voiced some of her worries the day before, how she would be able to get a life other than the one she had, and he had a feeling it wasn't only about being strong enough to get out of it. She was afraid of who she'd be without it, and he thought he'd seen her feeling embarrassed of what her parents would've thought of her not getting out sooner.

"I'm okay, overwhelmed but okay," Kate answered as he searched her eyes to see if she was indeed telling the truth.

"I'm sorry for not telling you," he said, his shame on full display.

She took a deep breath, "It's okay, this is a part of your life, and if I'm going to be a part of it then I should know about this part too."

He grinned at that, because that's what he'd thought about too. He was just praying it wasn't a part that would leave her running. Kate mirrored his smile and he couldn't refrain from cupping her one cheek to be able to kiss her lips. The kiss didn't last long, but it was definitely long enough to have have them both loosing their breaths, and as they parted their foreheads rested together.

"You should be aware that you don't ever have to go to another book party if you don't want to though," he said with a low and gentle voice as he looked into her hazel green eyes.

Those beautiful eyes. He had a feeling he could drown in them for hours if she would let him.

"I don't mind, as long as you promise not to leave my side," she bit her lip and he agreed, promising immediately.

Kate leaned up and pecked his lips once more before they went back to the party with glowing smiles.


Kate was surprised she actually started to enjoy herself, if she were to be honest she was actually having the time of her life. She had never been to anything like it, of course she'd been scared at first, but after Rick had made sure multiple times she was okay and when she was actually starting to feel like she belonged there it was so much fun! They had been seated by a table with another two couples and they had gotten along so well that Kate wondered what the hell she'd been so scared of. Turned out Rick knew them from before but that didn't stop them from immediately including Kate in their small group.

"Kate are you sure you can put up with his foolishness?" Lanie, one of the women around their table, asked with a chuckle as Rick was currently throwing up a drape in the air to catch it in his mouth.

Kate gave him an unsure look when he let go of a small winning sound and punching in the air, having caught the grape.

"I'm starting to regret it," she said and as Lanie started laughing Rick let go of a small 'what?', to which Kate answered, "Nothing, babe."

The rest of the table laughed while Rick was just simply grinning, and Kate couldn't help but lean forward to peck his lips, getting a few awe's from their company.

"You two are adorable, I'm glad you finally found someone," Kevin, another one of their table-friends, said and the others agreed.

Kate felt her cheeks blush, but her smile only widened. All of a sudden Rick had widened his eyes with lips forming an 'o' as he bounced up from his seat only to surprise Kate by grabbing her hand to pull her with him as he walked towards the open floor.

"What are you..."

"Dance with me," he said as he turned to her and pulled her closer to his body.

That's when she realized someone had started the music, that's why he'd pulled her up so sudden! She couldn't help but chuckle at his excitement when she took his hand in one of hers as the other landed on his shoulder. His hand, that wasn't holding hers, carefully took its place on her hip and they started swaying their bodies to the music. Kate was relieved to see more couples joining them on the dance floor, not really wanting to be on the spotlight. Well, more than she already had that is. Rick was much better at dancing than she thought he would be and so she let go of a laughing yelp when he dipped her down.

"Don't worry, I got you," he smirked and she hit him lightly on his chest.

When he pulled her up again he pulled her so close she could feel her insides tingle, his lips just barely touching hers. Letting her decide what to do and the decision for her was easy. She pushed up to claim his lips with hers, nipping his lower lip into her mouth to suck it lightly. They both woke up from their haze when there was a quiet moan roaring from his throat. They both started chuckling at their own stupidity for doing something so reckless as beginning something they shouldn't have in public, and let their lips touch quick once before pulling away from each other. Or, they didn't exactly pull away completely from each other, they went back to their dancing. Kate felt like a whole other person, she felt as though everything was possible, as if she wouldn't have to worry about anything at all. It was like she was finally at peace.

"Nikki? Nikki Heat?" a man's voice had her insides freeze.

Oh no.