There's been a time gap between the last chapter and this one because I wanted to start getting a move on with the story.
"Kate," Alexis smiled as the door to the loft opened and Kate nervously stepped in, followed by the beaming writer who watched as his daughter tightly wrapped her arms around the brunette. "I'm so glad you agreed to stay here," Alexis admitted, moving away slowly as Kate nodded in agreement, smiling when Martha walked towards her and wrapped her arms around her as well.
"Hello darling," Martha whispered into her hair as Kate buried her face into the older woman's shoulder. "You're looking so much better," the redhead commented, Kate smiling at the woman's honesty. Martha had given her the courage to call Rick; she'd given the kick of realisation that she'd needed to get on with her life when she'd been miserable and lost.
"Thank you," Kate replied as the redhead nodded and finally let the younger woman out of her hold.
"We sorted out the bedroom for you Kate. It should be pretty comfortable but if you want anything else just ask," the teenager explained as she glanced across in the direction of her father's bedroom. Rick had agreed that Kate should have the downstairs master bedroom as her mobility still wasn't brilliant and he didn't want her to have to tackle the stairs throughout the day.
"Thanks," Kate said quietly before turning to look at the writer who was holding onto the bag of her possessions from the hospital. The doctor had visited earlier in the week, informing her that she was healthy enough to return home as long as she made fortnightly check-ups so they could monitor her progress and Rick had immediately agreed to her staying with him when the doctor had added that she shouldn't live alone. "Thank you for letting me stay," Kate smiled as he nodded, carrying her stuff towards his bedroom as she followed silently. "Are you sure it's okay? I don't want to get in the way," Kate asked when they entered his office and were away from his family.
"Kate I want you here, Alexis and mother want you here. You are welcome here as long as you want and you will never be in the way," he stated as she remained silent. "I know I've done some things in the past that have hurt you and I'll never forgive myself but I want to look after you, all of us do and we want to help you get better," he insisted before holding his hand out towards her. "Come on Miss Beckett, let's get you settled," he declared, smiling when she took hold of his hand and slowly followed him towards the bedroom. Stepping into the room, Kate smiled at the bedroom before she sat down on the bed and watched as Rick rested her bag on the bed. "I could help you unpack if you want," he said quietly.
"There's not much too unpack," she said quietly as she glanced at the barely filled bag. "Twelve years of my life and that's all I've got," she declared before shaking her head, determined not to cry again! She was getting on with her life, she was going to do something now and make sure that the last twelve years weren't the only thing she could discuss about her life. "I was wondering Rick," she began when the writer opened her bag and started to remove various t-shirts and pants.
"Yes," he replied, glancing across at her briefly while she bit into her bottom lip.
"I want to go to my father's apartment soon, I want to see whether he's still got some of my things," she said quietly, scared that he'd tell her that she wasn't ready and should wait a bit longer. She was fed up with waiting! She wanted to start doing things. "I want to see whether he's okay too," she added, knowing that deep down she was still concerned about her father. She hadn't seen him since the first time when she'd woken up and neither she nor Rick had heard from him! He was her father and in some ways he'd abandoned her.
"We could go this afternoon if you'd like too, I could get the address off Esposito," Rick responded, her smile growing as she nodded and reached across for some of the clothes that he'd removed from the bag. "I'm sure he's okay Kate."
"I know," she sighed, carrying her clothes towards the chest of drawers. "I just wish he was here Rick, I miss him."
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
"He hasn't moved," Kate said quietly as she glanced at the door to her childhood home, Rick's arm wrapped around hers to support her as she stood in shock. "I thought he'd move or something. I didn't think he'd stay here," she explained quickly, her head shaking as she moved forwards and took out her old house keys. They'd been in evidence for the last twelve years but Esposito had agreed to return them to their rightful owner and had also informed them that Jim hadn't changed the locks or anything about the apartment since the death of his wife. Stepping inside, Kate immediately heard the sound of bottles being knocked over by the swinging of the door before she glanced down and stared at the collection of empty alcohol bottles that was forming on the floor.
"Kate," Rick said quietly, desperate to comfort her as she shook her head and moved towards what had been her bedroom. "Kate are you sure you're ready for this?" he asked as she nodded, pushing the bedroom door open before she stepped inside.
"It hasn't changed," the brunette commented, Rick following her inside to see the untouched room. The room had been cleaned, the only room it seemed in the whole apartment to have been it seemed to Rick, but nothing was changed. The bed was made, clothes were hanging in her wardrobe and books and work littered her tiny desk. "I used to lock myself away for hours in here," she said quietly as she brushed her fingers across a piece of paper that was covered in her college work. "I was trying to work, spend time with my family and earn money that holiday! I never seemed to get the balance right and that's why we went to dinner, to spend time together," she admitted as tears filled her eyes. "I thought I was going to come home that night, I thought we would come home and I would go back to college and get my degree," she sobbed, finally breaking down as Rick moved towards her and wrapped his arms around her tiny figure. "She shouldn't have died. We shouldn't have even been there Rick, we should have been at dinner with my dad."
"No one could have seen this Kate," he soothed, brushing his fingers through her hair as she began to calm down slowly. "And it wasn't your fault Katie. You can sit here and think about if you'd been faster or if you'd done something different but it wasn't your fault. You didn't kill your mom or hurt yourself or make your dad an alcoholic, some bastard somewhere did."
"Katie?" she asked quietly.
"Sorry," he immediately responded as she shook her head, a small smile covering her face when she looked up at him.
"My parents used to call me Katie," she admitted as he nodded, remaining silent. He didn't want to say something that would upset her. "I like it when you call me it," she said shyly, the writer nodding as he tightened his hold of her and felt her bury her forehead against his chest. "Will you help me pack some things?" she asked quietly as he nodded, not quite ready to let go of her yet. He wanted to hold onto her forever, he wanted to keep her safe in his arms and not let anyone hurt her again. "We should probably…" she began as he nodded, stepping away from her before they both laughed nervously at the situation.
"Tell me what you want to pack then Kate," he declared, staring at the bedroom around him that provided him with an even deeper insight into Katherine Beckett. "You're a big reader," he commented like he didn't already know it, observing all the books that covered practically every surface.
"Always have been, everyone in my family is," she admitted. "Mom was a massive fan of your books, she kept telling me to try them and I kept telling her I wasn't interested. I'm annoyed at myself now for not giving them a try because we'd have had the chance to discuss something else. I think she thought I wasn't interested in her anymore when I went to college. I was too busy trying to impress boys and make friends, I wanted to be cool and I just stopped talking to her."
"Kate," Rick sighed.
"What if she thought I didn't love her when she died?" Kate asked, the writer hating himself for agreeing to bring her here. She needed longer! They'd expected Jim to be in a new apartment and her stuff to be boxed up; they hadn't planned for her father to still be occupying her family home with all the memories still fresh. Jim was living in the past and now Kate was going back too and he hated himself for being the one to bring her here.
"Maybe we should go," Rick suggested, not surprised when Kate shook her head at his idea. "Kate, I am not going to be the reason you end up in hospital. You're not ready for this yet."
"Stop trying to protect me," Kate begged as she turned to face him. "I need to do this, I need to start getting control of my life so please just let me do this and help me pack."
"I'm just trying to look after you Kate," he said quietly, a small smile gracing her face as she moved towards him again.
"I know you are and I appreciate it, it's just I'm an independent person and I want to start moving on from this. I need to get on with my life. I need to get better and find a job and perhaps even start looking for a relationship, I can't just stop because of one terrible thing that happened to me," she explained as he nodded, understanding her desperation. "Just be here when I need you to support me. Be here to pull me back when I do go too far, just don't stop me from trying Rick," she begged as he sighed and nodded in agreement, knowing that that was his role. He was her friend; he was here to support her. He couldn't control what she did, he just had to support her choices and be there in case something went wrong.
"Why don't we go out tonight?" he suggested as her eyebrows rose. "You must be bored of being inside all the time and you can walk more now, let's go out somewhere."
"Like where?" she asked as he shrugged.
"We could go to dinner or go for some drinks, whatever you'd like to do," he smiled.
"Drinks," she immediately answered as he laughed. "I've never been legally allowed to buy my own drinks before," she smirked as he shook his head at her comment before they both laughed. "Make sure I don't drink a stupid amount though, I can't walk normally sober at the moment. I don't want to imagine what I'd be like drunk."
"Drunk Kate, that does sound fun," he smiled as she glared at him for a moment. "Not that I would let you get drunk of course, not until you're fully recovered."
"Hmm…"
XOXOXOXOXOXOX
"You look wonderful darling," Martha smiled as she stared at the tight black dress the brunette was wearing, a nervous smile covering Kate's face as she sat on the end of the bed. She was exhausted already. She'd showered, got dressed and managed to do a small amount of make-up and now she just wanted to curl up in bed and go to sleep and she hated herself for it. "Tired?" the redhead asked as Kate nodded slowly, watching as Martha shook her head for a second before reaching across for the hairbrush that was waiting beside the brunette. "I'll do your hair darling; you can have a power nap."
"Thank you," Kate said quietly, her eyes shutting when she felt the brush run through her hair. "I'm not going to bore him tonight am I?" Kate asked nervously, unable to stop herself from smiling when Martha laughed at her comment.
"Katherine Beckett my son could never be bored of you," Martha stated as Kate remained silent. "He hangs onto every word you say and if you don't want to drink a lot, don't! Just go and have a nice evening out of a building for the first time in twelve years," she smiled as Kate nodded, smiling when she looked at the two of them in the mirror.
"Thank you for finding me a dress," Kate quickly said, her eyes glancing down at the black material that was tight to her figure. "I don't really own appropriate clothes anymore; I guess I'll be going to the shops soon to find some suitable clothes."
"Well Alexis and I would love to join you, a girly shopping day with Richard's card," Martha smiled as Kate laughed again, enjoying the company of the older woman. "Right, you look perfectly wonderful now darling," the redhead stated, her fingers brushing through Kate's hair as the brunette remained silent. "Have a good time tonight darling, don't do anything I wouldn't do," Martha smiled before climbing off the bed and disappearing out the room. Reaching across for her shoes, Kate sighed as she pulled them on before slowly approaching the door and walking out to see Rick waiting for her.
"You look…" he began before falling silent, not knowing what to say.
"Thank you," Kate quickly replied, not wanting the awkward silence to form as she moved towards him, a laugh leaving her lips when he helped her into her coat and led her towards the door. "You look pretty good too," she added.
"Pretty good?" he asked, her head shaking at him searching for compliments. "Just pretty good?"
"You're lucky you got the pretty," she teased before they walked out of the apartment together.
XXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
"I'll go and get the drinks," Kate offered quickly as he nodded nervously, smiling as she removed her coat and glanced around her.
"Are you sure you'll be okay carrying them? I could help," he said quickly, his voice full of concern as she glared at him for a moment. Was he ever going to stop treating her like a child? She did like his concern and it was nice to have someone around who was worried about her but he was starting to get ridiculous. He wanted to help her get in and out of the car and he was continually asking whether she was okay and it was beginning to drive her crazy. In the hospital she'd liked having him around because he treated her like a normal person but now he'd gone crazy with concern.
"Stop babying me Castle, I'm fine," she warned before disappearing in the direction of the bar, the writer watching as she reached the bar and was immediately served by the barman. Sitting down with his eyes still on the brunette, Rick watched as she started to laugh with the man serving her drinks before another man moved to stand next to her, immediately getting her attention. He hadn't ever seen her like this. Laughing and talking with anyone around her and it worried him. Should he go over and make sure that everything was okay?
"Stop it," he hissed to himself. He was Kate's friend and it was his idea to come out and he was glad to see her enjoying herself before she'd even had one drink. Watching as she turned with two drinks in his hand, Rick smiled at her before he noticed the man who was following her towards him. "Kate," Rick declared, forcing the smile to remain on his face when the other man stood beaming beside the younger woman.
"Rick this is Will, Will this is my friend Rick," Kate introduced before passing the writer's drink over to him and sitting down.
"It's nice to meet you," Will immediately grinned, moving to sit down beside the brunette as Rick nodded. Of course it was nice to meet him! He was the one who'd brought the beautiful brunette into the club after all. Was he seriously jealous of this other man? "So Kate what do you do?" he asked, both men noticing the smile disappear from Kate's face as she glanced from Will to Rick and then back to the new man.
"Kate?" Rick asked nervously.
"I'm currently unemployed," Kate immediately blurted out as Will nodded slowly. "But I'm currently looking for another job," she added. It wasn't a lie, even though she didn't really have any idea what sort of job she could do. "What about you? What do you do?" she smiled, Rick falling back into his seat as he watched the interaction between the two of them!
"I'm in law enforcement," he admitted, Kate nodding quickly. "The FBI actually," he admitted, a laugh leaving Rick's lips before both Kate and Will turned to face him.
"Rick?" Kate asked quietly, embarrassed by the way he was behaving.
"I can see why that sounds funny, people say that all the time to sound cool," Will immediately responded as Rick groaned to himself! "Here," Will immediately said, attempting to resolve the situation before digging into his jacket pocket and removing his badge. "Just to prove that I'm not just saying it to impress a beautiful woman," he declared as Kate blushed at his comment while Rick observed. Was Kate seriously flirting with this man?
"That's amazing," Kate admitted as Rick nodded slowly, attempting to become involved in the conversation again. "Rick works with the NYPD actually," Kate quickly smiled as she glanced across at the writer who was staring at her.
"Are you a cop then?" Will asked.
"He just follows them. He's a novelist, he writes the Storm books," Kate blurted out, not giving the writer the chance to speak as Will nodded again, completely enthralled by the woman beside him.
"And why are you friends with a novelist then?" Will smiled at her as Kate shrugged.
"I like interesting people," Kate smiled as Will stared at her.
"Would you say I'm interesting?" he immediately asked, the two of them flirting as Rick immediately brought the glass to his mouth. He was never bringing Kate out drinking again if she was going to attract the attention of every man around them and flirt with the first one who talked to her! It was embarrassing, watching the two of them.
"Well you are an FBI agent," she responded before they both laughed and took a sip of their drinks.
"Do you want to dance?" Will asked as Kate nodded and stood up, smiling across at Rick who was staring at her.
"Be careful," Rick warned.
"Of what? Dancing so much I go into another coma," Kate replied sarcastically before following Will towards the large crowd, unaware that Rick was still watching her.
I don't know why I decided to bring Will in but I thought it would be interesting especially that the Caskett relationship isn't as strong as it once was because of the whole trust issues and Kate isn't the completely strong woman we know in the show and she has been in a coma since she was 19…
I am in Cornwall for the next week so I am really sorry about how terrible my updating has been and will be but I promise to get back to writing this story when I return from my holiday. Please review, I love hearing from you and any ideas you have or would like to see do keep me informed.