Chapter 12
Kate was having breakfast when her eyes lingered on a special drawing hanging on her fridge. It portrayed one elephant and three people standing right beside it. A little red-haired girl was holding onto a man's and a woman's hands. She could easily tell that Alexis had drawn them. At the top she had written "Luggard loves you" in a colorful writing.
After their great zoo trip they had agreed on meeting up regularly and had immediately decided on seeing each other in the park again. Alexis could hardly wait and had been counting down the days until their next meetup excitedly, making sure her dad wouldn't forget. By the time she had spotted Kate from afar, she had run right into her arms. As she had pulled away, she had proudly presented her the drawing which she had drawn right after their trip to the zoo once she had discovered that elephants had a special meaning for Kate. Kate had been touched by this sweet gesture and had tried her hardest to not let any tears fall. The love for this girl grew stronger each day. While his favorite girls had interacted, Castle had been watching them with a proud smile, looking forward to their playdate.
Some weeks went by and all three of them got to know each other better. They made sure to meet up every Friday afternoon. Kate was enjoying the time she got to spend with the Castles. It's been way too long since she felt this carefree and being around Castle and Alexis let her free her mind.
Last week they'd went to the cinema because Alexis had wanted to watch Moana. Castle being Castle couldn't stand getting ignored throughout the entire movie, so he leaned in closer to her and in an attempt to distract her, he whispered the most random and bizarre stories in her ear. But whenever Alexis, who sat between the two adults, noticed it, she would shush her dad with a smack on his arm and order him to keep watching the movie. Bored again, he would start throwing some popcorn at Kate until Alexis took his bag of popcorn out of his reach causing Kate to laugh silently. This father-daughter duo was truly more entertaining than any comedy show.
Today they were supposed to meet at a little café which Kate had discovered recently. Unfortunately for Kate, Alexis wasn't free to join but instead of canceling Castle insisted on meeting for a coffee anyways. So here she was, standing outside in the cold and waiting for her company who had yet to arrive.
When time lapsed away and he still hadn't showed up, she tried to call him, but it went straight to voicemail.
She might not know him that well, but it wasn't like him to not show up without letting her know. They had talked yesterday when Castle picked Alexis up and she was quite certain that he had sounded pretty excited about their little coffee date. But what if he changed his mind or something came up. He would have had the manners to cancel, wouldn't he...?
What if something had happened to him…?
Kate kept looking at her watch and started to get worried. Since her parents had died, she tended to overreact when stuff didn't go according to plan. Figuring that worrying would get her nowhere, she decided to go to the loft to check on him.
When she got there, the well-known wave of nervousness hit her all over again. 'Hell, Kate… just get it over with. He probably just forgot to cancel. He will be fine.'
But what if he was fine in the company of another woman, a fun and uncomplicated woman…
Pushing those thoughts back, she rang the bell but nothing happened. Starting to panic, she rang it again while knocking on his door. After what felt like an eternity, she heard some footsteps approaching the door and all of a sudden she was standing right in front of a coughing and out of breath Castle.
"Kate… What are you doing here?", he whispered in a sniffy voice, while leaning against the doorframe for support. He was wearing a dark blue robe. His hair was damp and clinging to his forehead. His eyes had lost that playful sparkle and were watery instead. His face looked all sweaty and he was struggling to breathe through his sniffed red nose.
"Rick… you look like hell", she said while moving her hand towards his forehead. "and you are burning up."
"Thank you…", he said sarcastically, seeming to have forgotten about the question he had asked just a moment ago.
"We were supposed to meet, Rick. When you didn't show up, I got worried, so I decided to check on you!", she explained, trying to hide her blush. She hadn't planned on letting it slip that she had been worried.
"Oh gosh, Kate. I'm so sorry. It wasn't my intention to stand you up… I was really out of my mind, so it must have slipped my mind."
"Hey, it's okay. Come on. Let's get you back to bed. You look like you are gonna pass out any moment.
"You don't have to stay. I can find my own way back to my bed. Surely you must have better things to do than to take care of a sick, dying man." Kate tried her hardest to hold back her laugh. Castle could be even more dramatic when sick. Before he could waste his breath on convincing her to leave him alone, she took his hand and lead him further into the loft. Castle followed slowly, leaning against the wall trying his hardest to not lose balance and fall over in front of Kate. Castle walked to his office and bedroom on autopilot. She only had been to the loft once before, on the day she abruptly left, so this was the first time she entered his office and his bedroom. The drawn curtains made the room look dark and just the small lamp beside his bed offered a dim light. They slowly moved towards his king-sized bed and she helped him get onto it.
"Kate.. really… you don't have to do this. You'll get sick too. I-", she shushed him and motioned him to lay down which he obliged. He slowly tried to get into a comfortable position, rested his head against the headboard of this bed and closed his eyes for a moment while Kate pulled his covers over him.
"This headache is killing me. My eyes won't stop tearing up and my nose is constantly running. My body is aching…I feel dizzy… Kate..", he whined.
"Have you taken some painkillers?" Castle shook his head no and rumbled something about real men not needing any painkillers while whining about his aching body. After a while he told her where she could find some advil. She grabbed it and returned with a glass of water.
"Here take this. It should kick in soon and lessen your aches." He rose from his bed and took the pills with a gulp of water. He let his upper body sink back against the headboard with a sigh. A coughing fit overtook his body again, making it hard for him to breath.
"Easy there! Lie down for a while and get some sleep. Meanwhile I'll make you a nice warm soup. I bet you haven't eaten all day."
"You…don't…have… to.", he tried to say while trying to get his coughing under control.
"I know. But I want to."
She took one his hands in hers and squeezed it gently, her eyes never leaving his. She noticed that his eyes grew heavy and he was struggling to keep them open. Once again she encouraged him to get some sleep. She gently drew small circles on his hand, which seemed to calm his breathing. After a while, when she was sure he was asleep, she left his side to prepare his meal. She rummaged through the cupboards in his kitchen to find the ingredients she needed to make him her mom's infamous chicken soup. When she was a child, her mother would make it for her whenever she was sick. It always worked like a charm. The comfort that the soup and her mother's love had provided her nurtured her back to health. She wanted this for Rick, wanted to be there for him. 'That's what friends are there for, right?'
Luckily Castle's fridge was well stocked, so she found everything she needed and started her work. After 30 minutes she peaked into Castle's bedroom with a steaming bowl of soup in her hands.
There he was, lying on his bed and sleeping soundly with his mouth wide open. At least the painkillers must have kicked in. She walked slowly towards the bed, trying to be as quiet as she could be, and gently put her hand on his forehead, looking for any signs of fever. He was indeed still burning up, so she got a wet cloth and put it right onto his forehead hoping it would offer him some comfort and cool him down. She brushed a sweaty strand of his hair that had fallen onto his face back, letting her hand linger a little longer than necessary. He whined quietly and turned around without waking. He was in desperate need of some more sleep, so she let him be. She would heat up the soup for him when he woke.
She made her way back to his living room, grabbing one of his books when passing his office, laid down on his couch and began reading. No matter how often she read his books, they never ceased to amaze her. They comforted her in a special way.
If she was being honest to herself, she had read some of his books a dozen of times already, so that she could even quote some scenes. Of course she wouldn't ever let him know about how big of a fan she was. After all, his ego was big enough already, she didn't need to add on it.
Lost in Castle's written words, she didn't notice a certain best-selling author slowly moving towards her.
"You are still here!", he exclaimed surprised. He felt way better after his nap but hadn't expected Kate to be still around. When he inched closer, he noticed that she was holding a very familiar book. "And you are reading one of my books!", he sat right next to her and blew his nose.
"Well, sleeping beauty… If I'm friends with a certain best-selling author, I should be familiar with his work, shouldn't I? I had some time to kill and to be fair, it's not as bad as I thought it would be." She tried to play it down, hoping he wouldn't look right through her lie in his state of mind.
"So, you've never read any books of mine?", he asked skeptically.
"No, this is my first one. You are good with words…" One look at her and Castle could tell that she was lying.
"You are blushing real hard, Ms. 'I'm a fan of Richard Castle.'", he said smugly.
"Am not."
"Are too."
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
Deciding that this wasn't going anywhere and she couldn't convince him otherwise, she admitted: "I might have read a couple of your books…"
"A couple as in all of them?!", he grinned.
"Sorry to disappoint you but I'm no fan of yours."
"Keep telling that to yourself but some day you'll admit how big of a fan you are! Uh, don't tell me you've got a Richard Castle fanaccount. What's your name? 'I love RC'? 'FutureMrsCastle'? Oh, I got it: HotsforCastle41319?"
"Seems like you are feeling better… maybe I should leave." She was slowly getting embarrassed and wanted to take the easy way out. She couldn't let him know how big of a fan she was. He couldn't know how often his words had saved her. Because if he knew, he would keep asking and she wasn't willing to share her past with him yet. She knew that day had to come soon considering that her abrupt departure after their first playdate must have left a lot of questions open. But luckily Castle seemed to contain his curiosity.
Not wanting her to go he feigned a coughing fit.
"I do feel a little better but I'm still not okay to be on my own. My headache is still there. My body is feeling sore. My throat is still sore too. And don't get me started on the constant coughing. But before you came, I was literally dying! You saved me just in time. 30 minutes later and you would have had to drag my dead body out of bed..." He was back to his overdramatic self. Why were men this weak when it came to the flu.
"Trust me, you would have survived." She rolled her eyes at his pout and kept going: "I made some chicken soup. It was my mom's recipe. I'll heat it up for you. It should help your body to strengthen up again." Before she left to get the soup, she put her hand back on his forehead. "You are still a little hot. We might need to measure your temperature later."
"I'm hot indeed.", he smirked. The normal Castle was hard to handle but a sick Castle was just insufferable. She gently smacked the back of his head.
"Oh shut up… you know what I meant."
"Ouch, that's abuse… But you gotta admit, I am ruggedly handsome…"
"Good to see that your sickness hasn't affected any of your cockiness… So Mr. Insufferable, let's feed you." She rolled her eyes once again and headed towards the kitchen to heat up the soup. Moments later she returned, carrying the pot and noticed that Castle had set the table for two and was patiently waiting for her. He rested his head on his hands, trying to breathe through his stuffed-up nose. Although he looked much better than earlier, she could tell he still felt worse for wear.
After Castle had complimented and thanked her for the soup, they ate in silence. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, it was rather a pleasant one.
From time to time Kate would steal a glance at him and he would do the same, causing her to focus her attention back on her soup again to hide her blush.
When they were done with dinner, Kate did the dishes after a short argument with Castle who defeatedly realized that he could never win this argument. She was just finishing up, when Castle slowly entered the kitchen.
"Kate, thank you… again..."
"Stop thanking me. We are friends. You would have done the same for me.", he nodded subconsciously while holding her gaze. Their moment was interrupted by another coughing fit.
"Let's get you back to bed. I'll make you a cup of hot milk with honey which should help you fall asleep easier."
Without arguing he made his way to his bedroom. His heart grew with affection for her. No one had ever cared that much for him when he had been sick. His previous girlfriend Gina would just get angry at him for no reason. Probably because work always came first for her and he couldn't give her any new chapters. After this he swore to himself that he wouldn't burden anyone ever again and would just lock himself inside his loft until he was fine. He could take care of himself and his daughter. But it was different with this extraordinary woman. He smiled when thinking about that gorgeous, warm-hearted woman who was taking care of him. She wasn't pitying him or making him feel bad about himself. She was one of those warm blankets that you would wrap around yourself to feel safe. He wanted to open up to her, to let her care for him and his little girl. He wanted to take care of her when she needed him. He wanted her to stay and this thought really scared him.
Lost in his thoughts, he did not notice Kate entering his bedroom until she sat down on the corner of his bed, holding a cup in her hands.
"Here!", she said, holding the cup towards him. Their hands brushed against each other's and their eyes met. This unexpected touch sent sparkles through their bodies. She could tell he was feeling it too.
While holding her gaze, he slowly drank the sweet liquor. Not wanting to let her go, he tried to come up with any pathetic excuse to extend her stay but unfortunately for him his feverish brain wouldn't come up with anything.
She wanted to stay, just to make sure he was okay and didn't need her. He was still a little feverish, so he might need some help. That's what she told herself to justify her thoughts. But she also knew that it would be crossing boundaries, that she shouldn't stay.
"Okay, I should get going…are you set for the night?" he just nodded again. She inched closer and took his feverish hand into hers giving it a light squeeze. "There's some advil right next to your bed alongside a glass of water. So you should be fine. If you need anything, don't hesitate to call me, okay?" She said in a soft voice and smiled at him.
"Doctor, am I dying?", he didn't want to let go of her hand just yet, so he tried to come up with some goofy questions to buy time.
"The world won't lose their annoying 9 year-old, so don't worry." She gave his hand a final squeeze and was about to walk out the room when Castle called out again:
"Kate?"
"Yeah?" She slowly turned around and took a few steps back into the room. Castle had sat up again and was looking at her all adorably.
"Thank you, for caring!"
"Always." She gave him another one of her smiles that had him weak on his knees.
Without a word she turned around again.
Gathering all his courage, he muttered the words he wanted to say so desperately: "Kate? Would you…would you mind staying for a little longer?"
AN: Uhlala, Castle wants her to stay! Will she or won't she? And what's gonna happen next? That's for me to know and for you to find out! Lemme know what you think will happen! Love reading your reviews!
And sorry for the belated chapter! University is kicking my ass lately, so I've been struggling to do any fanfic work. But heyy, at least this is a longer chapter! I'll try to upload the next one in 2 weeks xx
Hope 2022 is treating y'all well! See ya!
