AN: First of all, Happy Christmas Eve eve! I'm so sorry for having kept you waiting for almost an entire year altho i said I wouldn't take long breaks in between posting chapters again... but here it is! FINALLY!

Well, hopefully there are still some people around who will read this chapter. Please let me know how you like it! Reviews make me happy :D


Chapter 10: Take a chance on me


Kate, Hi… Can we talk?."

There he was, looking as handsome as ever. She had been sure he wouldn't turn up after she had cowardly run away.

He could have any woman he wanted, so why would he want such a broken one like her?
And all she could do was stare at him like a fool. Those jeans and blue button-up fitted him perfectly and emphasized his ocean-blue eyes. 'Get it together, love-sicko!'

"Rick", she said nervously, folding her hands together. 'Who had turned up the heating? It was getting pretty hot in here… Could he just stop looking that handsome?!.'

"Look, Kate, I know we've just met, but I like you, very much and I liked spending time with you but if I overstepped, I'm deeply sorry…I don't want you to feel like I'm pressuring for any information you don't want to share with me."

Richard Castle was a womanizer. No matter what he said or did, he always got the girl and he never had to put much effort into it. Maybe, although all those women wanted him, he hadn't been the one, who wanted them, knowing their ultimate motive.

It was different with Kate. She was different. He had never been that enchanted by a woman and although he barely knew her and felt she was pushing him away, he couldn't give up on her. She might be the one, he dreamed of but hadn't found until now. He wasn't the guy that normally chased after women, but he knew that this fascinating yet broken woman was worth it. He could sense she was about to close off again, so he kept going with his apology.

"Alexis enjoyed having you around and so did I. You are amazing and beautiful, inside and out.

"Rick…"

"Kate, I mean it. You are extraordinary-"

"I'm broken beyond repair. If I was you I would run as fast as I could and -"

"What if I don't want to, Kate? What if I want to be the one to put you back together? Just let me in."

"I can't…". The fear of rejection seemed to be stronger than her desire to be happy. Since that incident she had been thinking a lot about him. He had been constantly on her mind and as much as she wanted to give in, she couldn't fight the feeling of fear, nagging at the back of her head.

Before the rejection could continue, they were interrupted by some little footsteps approaching.

"Miss Kate, Miss Kate.", an exciting little redhead ran into her room and jumped into Kate's arms who wrapped her arms securely around her tiny frame.
In her excitement she failed to notice that her father was sitting right across from Kate.

"My only progeny has already forgotten about her old man.", he pretended to be offended. Hearing her dad's voice, her head shot up from Kate's shoulder, where it had been resting. She immediately ran towards her dad and hugged him.

"Silly Daddyyyy, I missed you!"

"Pumpkin, I missed you too."

"To the moon and back?"

"Always"

It seemed to be like a little ritual that the both of them had established. Every time Castle picked her up, they would say those words. Kate couldn't stop smiling at them.

"Daddy, what are you doing here? Miss Kate is my friend and not yours!", she said possessively while Kate tried her hardest to suppress her laughter.

"Alexis, can't both of us be her friend?", he playfully pouted and gently tickled Alexis, who started to laugh. Alexis seemed to be thinking pretty hard about it but after a moment, she agreed on the deal.

"Don't worry, Alexis. You'll always be my favorite Castle. Your dad can't hold a candle to you.", Kate said teasingly while watching Castle. And with that both of them knew that they would be fine and that the events that happened over the weekend hadn't destroyed the friendship they were slowly developing.

"Teaming up on the poor old man..", he pouted.

"Ohh Rick, you don't have to emphasize how old you are every time you get the opportunity to. We already now, grandpa.", Kate laughed and highfived a giggling Alexis.

'That backfired… but at least it made my two favorite girls laugh', he thought while watching the girls with a goofy grin.

"Are you going to come over to play with me again, Miss Kate? You are a better princess than Daddy. He still refuses to wear a tiara…"

Alexis was watching Kate expectantly. How could Kate tell her no, especially with those cute eyes…
Kate wanted to give in so badly but deep down she knew it wouldn't do her any good, especially now that her mind was all over its place.

"Pumpkin, go get your backpack and I will meet you here again."

A little dejected, Alexis walked away to get her belongings. Castle turned towards Kate and before she could excuse herself he said: "I know what you are thinking, Kate. You don't want to let her down but you are afraid…afraid to get too close?! It's natural. Kate, everyone needs people. People, who support them and are there for them. Let me be one of those people for you. There always is a slight risk that once you open up, you can get burnt. There also is the chance that it could turn out perfect. But if you don't try, you'll never know."

He took out a pen and wrote something down. "Here, in case you change your mind…"

For a moment she looked at the piece of paper that hold his number.

"I should go. Bye… for now!", he smiled and left the room before she could utter a word.

He decided to wait for Alexis outside of Kate's room. On the one hand he didn't want to overwhelm Kate again and force her into a meeting with them, on the other he did not want his little girl's heart to break in case Kate would say no. He was going to take Alexis to the icecream shop and distract her, hoping she would refrain from asking about another playdate with Kate again.


2 weeks later, Kate was still conflicted. She wanted to spend time with both of them but that would mean she would need to open up more. Letting your walls down would mean making oneself vulnerable and she had been vulnerable way too often in the past. Rick might have said that he would help to fix her up again but if he only knew how much baggage she was carrying around... He might be okay with it for a while but eventually it would get too much for him and he would leave.

She eyed that note that was lying on her kitchen counter. Gently grabbing and straightening the wrinkled paper, she thought that Rick had kept his promise and kept his distance. As the days passed she had only seen him once as he picked Alexis up.
Alexis, on the other side, seemed to search for her company more often. She would visit her in every lunch break and sometimes even after school when her dad wasn't there yet. She would talk about her favorite princess movies and about all the fun activities she and her dad had done on the previous day. A couple of times she had asked Kate if she wanted to join them but Kate would always come up with an excuse or change the topic quite fast.
After not getting the answer she was going for, Alexis stopped asking. Kate felt bad. She never wanted to be the person that made a little girl feel uncomfortable or not appreciated. She wanted to spend more time with Alexis and if it wasn't for the tons of walls around her heart, she gladly would spend every day with this enchanting little girl.

She even caught herself thinking about a certain author more and more often. As irrational as it sounded she missed him and was craving his presence.

'Get it together, Kate. You can do it! Espo is right, you can't hide behind those walls forever. It's just a phone call!'

Before she could chicken out, she dialed his number and waited for him to pick up. After what felt like an eternity, a husky voice answered:

"Hello?", a confused Castle asked.

"Hi…Rick, it's me. Kate..."

That he was shocked would have been an understatement. The first week, after he gave her his number, he waited for her call every day. He wouldn't admit it to anyone but he always had his phone with him, not wanting to miss her call. But when it never came, he slowly started giving up hope.

"Kate…Hi?"

"Is it a bad time? I can call you later or you can call me when you are free—"

"No, you just caught me off-guard. I wasn't expecting your call…"

"I'm sorry… You were right. I'm scared of potential events that might not even occur to me. You are a great guy and Alexis is an amazing little girl. I want to get to know you better, both of you." She was pretty nervous.
"…as friends. It can't go beyond but I could use some friends."
She paused and waited for his reply. He was taking forever to answer.

"So about that offer?", he carefully asked.

"I would love to meet up with Alexis… and you.", she smiled feeling a unknown wave of uncertainty hit her. She had never been this nervous when talking to a guy.

"Great, Alexis'll be over the moon to get to spend some time with you!"

"And what about you, Rick?", she asked slyly.

"Me too…", he whispered, "more than you'll ever know."

"See you soon, Rick.."

Before he could say any more, she hung up. Holding the phone close to her, her mind drifted towards the evening that she had spent with this perfect guy.

_
AN: They can't be more than friends, huh? As you can see Kate got some inner demons to battle with, so what's gonna happen now? Will Kate go or will she chicken out? Stay tuned and find out in the next chapter which will get uploaded next week! See ya!