A/N: Hello! First, thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed! You all are awesome. I am so grateful for the responses I've been getting. Thank you so much for taking the time to drop me a line!
Here is the next chapter (the beginning of Part II)! There is a subtle time jump between the last chapter and this one. Just a heads up! Feel free to leave a review if it's no trouble! :) xo m
PART II
Chapter 11
The bed beside her was cold. A jolt of panic went down her spine for a second, replaced by the cool swell of relief as the smell of blueberry chocolate chip pancakes greeted her nostrils. She laid still, a smile creeping on her face as the sound of laughter wafted in from the kitchen.
Kate looked at the clock and decided it was way past time for her to get up.
She swung her legs over Castle's plush California King sized bed and stood, stretching and yawning in an exaggerated manner.
When she reached the kitchen she felt tears prick her eyes and cursed her over active hormones. Castle and Alexis were wearing matching chef outfits, playfully engaged in a full out flour war.
"Surrender or suffer certain death by flour, graceless wench!" Castle shouted, standing on top of a barstool and holding a Tupperware filled with flour menacingly toward Alexis' now-pale red hair.
"Castle!" Kate gasped, laughing.
"Kate?" he looked up, surprised, and beamed as he caught sight of her in the doorway. His distraction allowed Alexis to pounce on him and dump an entire bag of flour over his head and into his mouth. Her small but strong form zealously knocked him onto the floor with an "Oompf!""
"Ha ha! Lady Alexis wins again!" Alexis cried, holding up a ladle in victory.
"Oh no you don't," Castle exclaimed, and pulled her by her legs onto the ground with him, pressing patches of flour onto her cheeks. "Lord Castle will have his revenge!"
They wrestled around for a few moments, shrieking and getting flour everywhere as Kate laughed hysterically.
Abruptly, they stopped and looked at her with wide eyes.
"Lady Kate?" Castle raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, no, Rick, don't you d-" but he was already across the room and gathering her in his arms, tickling her mercilessly and leaving a trail of flour all over her clothes and hair. Kate shrieked and laughed.
"Lex, help me!"
Alexis gladly joined in attacking her father, the two of them tickling him back until suddenly Kate had him flat on the floor with both of them breathing heavily. They gazed into each other's eyes, a hint of a smile forming on Rick's face. He reached up and gave her a quick kiss, smirking before rolling out from beneath her and dumping the last canister of flour on her head.
"Victory to the Lord of the Castle!"
Kate and Alexis both rolled their eyes at each other as Rick continued celebrating with a little dance.
"Kate totally let you win, Dad," Alexis teased.
"Yeah, can you imagine all the whining we'd have to endure if I didn't?" Both girls laughed as they high-fived.
"Hey, I don't know how I feel about both of my girls ganging up on me," Rick pouted. Kate scoffed.
"Oh please, you love it."
Rick's expression turned serious then as he held her gaze and she could have sworn his eyes misted over.
"Yeah," he agreed softly. "I do."
Kate cleared her throat and looked down at the messy floor.
"So what were you guys up to before The Great Flour War erupted?"
"Oh!" Alexis squealed, and began rummaging in the cupboards.
"Alexis?" Kate inquired.
Seconds later she presented Kate with a plate of blueberry chocolate chip pancakes, made in the shape of a smiley face, complete with a whipped cream hair-do and a bowl of fruit on the side.
"We know you haven't been feeling well lately," she began, "but smiley face pancakes make everything better. And Dad told me blueberry chocolate chip pancakes are your favorite... And we're just so happy you've been a part of our lives lately... and just... We want you to feel better."
Kate felt tears pricking at the corner of her eyes again at the sweet gesture and prayed that they wouldn't notice, but unfortunately the Castles were just as good of detectives as she was.
"Oh no, Kate, don't cry, please-"
"Why was it in the cupboard?" she asked, as tears started streaming steadily down her face. Alexis and Castle looked at each other, confused.
"We didn't want it to fall victim to our Flour War," Rick stepped in to explain.
"I can make something else if you don't like it?" Alexis said in a tiny voice. By then Kate was sobbing and she threw her arms around the girl.
"Thank you so much, Alexis," she said, holding the girl's head close. "It's been so long since someone's done something that nice for me."
She felt Alexis physically relax in her arms when she was certain Kate wasn't upset with the breakfast.
"You're welcome, Kate," she paused for a moment. "Thank you for helping us get through Gram's death. I'm so glad you're here." She brushed a kiss on her cheek, both of them laughing as she got flour in her mouth and had to rush to spit in out in the sink, effectively cutting the tension in the room.
"Yuck! I think I'm going to go take a shower. I'm sure Dad will keep you company while you eat though." Alexis winked at the two adults before she scampered up the stairs to her room, leaving a befuddled Rick and Kate staring after her.
She felt his eyes shift to her.
"What?" she smirked.
"Kate," he said, his face a bit shocked. "I... I think my daughter ships us!"
"What do you... you mean like two characters on a TV show?"
"I mean we're her ship, her OTP, she's a firm believer in Kick!"
"Kick?!"
"No… that's not right... I've got it, Caskett! Get it? Like Castle and Beckett? And because you catch murderers? If we're not together we may as well be in a-"
"Rick," she cut in, reaching across the table and twisting his ear. "We are not making our own shipper name." His face grew troubled as she released his ear.
"Kate, do you ship us?" She put her fork down and gave him her full attention.
"Rick, what do you mean? Of course I do." She wiped her syrupy hands off on her napkin and reached out to take his, but he pulled away.
"It's just, I can't get a good read on you. You came to my door a few weeks ago and said you wanted to give us a try, and you've been here, and it's been great. I've never been happier in my life. I know how I feel about you. But I can't help but feel like there's something holding you back. Every time those walls of yours start to come down, you withdraw into yourself further and we take a few steps back again. I feel like I'll never truly know the real you," he sighed then, rubbing a tired hand over his face. "Kate, is it me? Am I not enough for you? Will I ever be? If that's it, please tell me right now. Because I can try to make you happy... I will try... but if you don't want to be with me I won't force you.""
Kate shook her head furiously, reaching out again for his hands. This time he let her take them.
"Rick... you idiot. I... You make me happy. These past few weeks have been the happiest I could ever be. You and Alexis..." she took a deep, shuddering breath and squeezed his hands before looking timidly into his eyes. "You're it for me. But when I think about that... I get-"" she choked- "scared. Being around me will only hurt you.." Her eyes grew stormy and faraway as she finished. He realized she was not looking at him but at a spot above his shoulder.
"We've been over this, Kate. We're in this together." He squeezed their hands tighter. "Whom I want to spend my time with is my decision, and Kate, I want you here with me. Here with us. Our lives have been so much better since you've been here."
He got up from his seat and drew her into a hug. She resisted at first but then sank into his embrace.
"How do you always make me feel so safe?" she whispered into his chest.
"This thing with V," he began. "With your mother, my mother... We are going to end it. Together. I promise you that, Kate. And you won't have to be afraid anymore."
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
"Are you sure you have to leave?" Alexis whined.
"Yeah, Kate, can't you stay just one more hour?" Rick mimicked in the exact same voice.
"I'm sorry, children, but I have laundry and housework to do if I want to hold onto my 'I'm an adult' card."
"You're no fun," Rick growled and went in for a kiss.
"Definitely not what you thought last night," Kate whispered into his ear before biting his earlobe.
"Holy shit," Rick murmured.
"Bye Kate! Come back ASAP! We've still got Season 5 to watch!" Alexis called, waving from the kitchen.
"You'd better not start without me!" Kate yelled back.
Alexis just laughed in response.
"Thank you," Rick said, putting his hands on her hips and pulling her in for a warm hug.
They pulled back and kissed again before she made her way out of the loft.
When she reached the street, Kate decided to walk a few blocks before hailing a cab, enjoying the cool spring weather. As she turned onto the next block, she felt a man from behind grab her by the arm.
"Hey, what do you-"
Immediately her assailant clasped a hand over her mouth and shoved her into the back of a sedan, keeping a firm grip on her limbs as she tried to lash out. She was strong and trained for situations like this, but somehow her attacker was stronger and prepared for her every move.
The pin prick of a needle jabbed into her neck right before her whole world turned to black. She felt her body fall limp and the last image she saw was of 3 men in masks holding her down and smirking as she gave in to the unrelenting urge to slip into unconsciousness.
