Oh my goodness. You guys! I don't check my email for a day, and it's flooded. You all are the absolute greatest! I meant what I said earlier about having the best readers around, I really did. I'm so grateful, thank you. 3

Long chapter! Things start heating up...NOW!

Song(s) of the Chapter: For the first part: "Say" by John Mayer. For the second part: "Bright Lights" by Matchbox Twenty.

Disclaimer: I don't own Castle, any of the songs or artists above, or anything affiliated with them.

Enjoy!

September 30th, 2017:

Castle stood in line at the coffee shop, yawning. He was up far too early for someone who had been up into the small hours of the morning writing, and he was going to need this caffeine jolt if he wanted to get through his meeting with Gina.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when the man in front of him turned enough that Castle caught the full profile of his face. "Josh?"

Josh turned around to face him. "Oh. Hey. Castle." He forced a polite smile.

"Hey." Castle offered a genuine smile. He was a huge part of Kate's life, so if she liked him, he liked him. "How've you been?"

Josh shifted, obviously a bit uncomfortable. "Oh, you know, I've been better." He shrugged. "Yourself?"

"Tired." Castle said with a chuckle. He glanced around the coffee shop, his eyes quickly searching for a specific face. "Where's Kate?"

Now, Josh looked more than a little uncomfortable. "She's not here."

"Oh." Castle said, disappointed. "Well, tell her I said 'hello' then."

Josh hesitated. "You should probably tell her yourself. We're getting divorced. I'm living up here now."

Castle felt his eyes grow a bit wider. "She's leaving you?"

"Other way around." Josh told him. "Listen, Castle, it's been nice catching up and all, but I'm running late." He grabbed his coffee and began to set out the door.

"Josh!" Castle called after him.

"What?" He asked impatiently, one hand on the door handle.

"You are, by far, the dumbest man I have ever met." Castle told him, beginning to walk forward. "I don't know why you're leaving Kate, and you know what? I don't care. Because whatever half-assed reasons you've come up with, you're wrong. Kate is perfect. And through everything, through her own doubt, through you constantly being gone, she stuck with you. If you ask me, you became the problem when you forced her to quit the job that she loves more than anything – taking away the city's finest detective in the process – and making her live in the suburbs! That's not who she is, and that's not who she'll ever be. But from what I've heard, she's tried to change for you. Attempted to adapt. And you're leaving her?" He shook his head. "Maybe it's a good thing you're leaving since you obviously don't know her at all."

Josh looked angry. "You done?"

"Not even close, but I'll hold back the rest because it doesn't bear repeating in polite society."

Josh rolled his eyes and pushed out the door.

The whole coffee shop began to clap.

Later that day:

Castle drove slowly, trying to keep calm. He hadn't been able to focus all day, and had done mundane and useless things trying to shake Kate from his mind. Finally, around 6 p.m., he made a call to Esposito to get her new address.

Which was where he was headed now.

In truth, he had no idea what he was going to say. He was more concerned with just making sure that she was okay. Making sure that someone was there for her. Just like he promised all those years ago.

As he drove, his mind waged a war between turning around now, and driving on. While his mind had been made up when he got in the car, now it was filled with doubts. They hadn't spoken in over 5 years. What if she didn't want to see him? What if she didn't appreciate him getting involved in her life? What if he was the only one of them who had never stopped thinking about the other?

But he had to see her. The thought of her hurting was too much to bear. So, he turned into a neighborhood about an hour away from the city that was full of nearly identical houses with neatly trimmed hedgerows, manicured gardens, and perfect lawns with a sign boasting the title "Lilac Meadows" at the entrance.

He drove through the streets, making Desperate Housewives references to himself while he looked for her street. When he found it, it wasn't long until he found her house.

He had to double-check the numbers to make sure it was the right one.

It was literally exactly like the one he had always pictured in his head. The house stood two stories high, and was painted a pale yellow with white shutters and trim. It had a huge front porch with a wooden porch swing and a stained glass screen door, which opened to reveal a perfect, heavy, wooden front door. It had stepping stones leading from the driveway up to the porch, and large shade-providing tree in the front yard.

He took a deep breath and got out of his car, forcing himself to put one foot in front of the other until he was at her door. Here goes nothing. He thought, and then rang the doorbell.

Somewhere inside the house he heard Kate's voice say "Coming!" It wasn't long after that that the door opened to reveal a woman holding the hand of a small boy, who simply stared at the new comer. "Castle?"

His face split into a wide grin. "Hey, Kate."

"Hey!" She laughed incredulously and let go of the child's hand, and opened the door wider. "Come in!"

As soon as the door was shut, they wrapped each other in a large (and rather long) hug.

Castle took a step back, but put his hands on her shoulders and looked at her. The long, perfectly curled brown hair that he remembered was now shoulder length and straight. She wore no make-up, and no shoes. Instead of work appropriate attire she wore jeans and an orange cardigan with a brown shirt underneath. He noticed that her wedding and engagement rings were missing from her left hand, that she still wore her mother's ring and her father's watch, and that her eyes were as green as ever. "You're still beautiful."

"You're not half bad yourself." She smiled at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Just wanted to see you." He shrugged. "It's been a while."

Kate nodded. "That it has."

The child tugged at the bottom of his mother's cardigan. "Mommy." He whispered loudly. "Who's that?"

Kate laughed and crouched down next to him. "Michael, this is Mommy's very good friend Rick." She looked at Castle. "Rick, this is my 5-year-old, Michael."

Castle nodded to him. "Nice to meet you."

Michael let go of Kate's cardigan and thrust his hand forward. "You too."

Castle glanced at Kate, amused, and then shook the small boy's hand.

Kate stood. "Michael, why don't you let me catch up with my friend for a little bit?"

He nodded once. "Okay!" He said, and then ran off.

Kate looked at Castle. "Why don't you hang your coat up and I'll make you a cup of coffee?"

Castle did so, and then followed her into the kitchen in the next room, smiling. "Good to know one thing hasn't changed."

She glanced at him over her shoulder. "Yeah?" She asked, pouring him a cup and setting it in front of him, then pouring one for herself and returning to the counter, leaning against it with her elbows. "And what's that?"

"You still mainline caffeine." He said. Taking a sip.

Kate laughed lightly, wrapping both of her hands around her mug. "I haven't really changed that much." She said. "I'm still me, just a more…condensed version."

Castle chuckled. "Then I'll bet you have a lot to let out."

"You have no idea." She said with a smirk. "But it gets easy to ignore after a while." She gave a short laugh. "I'm domesticated and family friendly."

Castle looked at her for a while before asking, "Are you happy, Kate?"

Kate thought for a moment. "Happy is such a strong word." She looked down at her coffee. "I'm…content. I'm comfortable. Or I was, I suppose, now that we're getting divorced." She shook her head and took another sip of coffee.

"Why are you getting divorced?" Castle asked.

"Something about 'just not feeling anything anymore'." She gave a cold chuckle. "I didn't know he felt that much in the first place."

"What do you mean?" He prompted gently.

"I don't know…" Kate ran a hand over the handle of her mug. "It's just that I never really felt anything…strong, for Josh. I guess I just assumed he felt the same way."

"I don't think anyone can feel neutrally about you." Castle smiled warmly at her.

She looked up at him and smiled as well. "You're sweet."

"I'm honest."

The lapsed into silence for a moment, just looking at each other.

"How've you been, Rick?" Kate asked softly.

"Alright, I suppose. Life's been…quiet." He took a sip of his coffee. "Alexis just graduated college, and she's living in Virginia. My mother finally invested in property and moved out. Which just leaves me in the loft alone." He shrugged. "I have a boring life."

"Richard Castle has a boring life?" Kate looked at him skeptically. "Hah. I have a very hard time believing that one."

"You'd be surprised."

"Even with the books?"

"Even then."

"Huh." She hesitated. "Speaking of books…why haven't you written another Nikki Heat one?"

Castle looked at her for a moment, a small smile creeping onto his face. "You still read my books."

Kate rolled her eyes. "God, Castle, I never stopped reading your books."

"Really?" He asked in disbelief.

"You caught me reading Heat Wave in a restroom stall." She reminded him.

Castle grinned at the memory. "Your face was priceless."

She shook her head. "I'm serious, I'm curious! If you're not going to write another book, you've at least got to tell me what happened."

He paused. "Nikki Heat got married. And Rook realized that in order for her to be happy, he had to let her go."

Kate bit her lip. "That's not a good ending."

He shrugged, looking sad. "Such is life."

Concern showed on Kate's face. "Hey, what happened to you being the optimistic one?"

"There comes a time when you have to stop kidding yourself, and accept what's in front of you." Castle told her.

Kate frowned. He had always been her sun, in a way. No matter how pessimistic she got, he would always make her look on the bright side, or, at the very least, make her laugh. To see him this sad, this defeated, this worn…it hurt her. She felt like she owed it to him to cheer him up. "Why don't you stay for dinner?" She asked softly.

Castle smiled gently. "I don't want to impose." He said and stood, beginning to walk back to the door.

Kate reached out and grabbed his hand to stop him. "Rick, please don't go." She locked eyes with him. "I…I've missed you." She admitted. "Let me make you dinner."

He stated back into her eyes for a minute, then his face lit up suddenly. "I have a better idea." He told her, letting go of her hand and walking to the door.

Kate followed, curious.

Castle hurriedly slid on his jacket. "When was the last time you didn't cook your meal?"

She thought for a moment. "I don't remember."

Castle grinned. "Don't cook anything. I'll be back in a couple hours." He walked out the door and began walking to his car.

"A couple hours? Castle, where are you going?" Kate asked, leaning out the door.

"You'll see!" He got in his car and started.

"And when did you buy a car?" Kate called out after his door had already shut.

Castle gave her a thumbs up and backed out of her driveway.

Kate was seated on her couch, reading while Michael sat next to her watching T.V., when the doorbell rang.

She peered in the direction of the door over the top of her book, slowly setting it down.

"I told you he would come back." Michael said, looking at his mother.

"Hush, you." She ruffled his hair, then stood and went to the door, opening it to let Castle in.

He walked into the kitchen and set a bag down on the counter. "Tah-dah!" He announced as Michael came wandering into the kitchen as well.

Kate crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Tah-dah?"

"I have brought you, my dear detec-" He stopped short and paused. "My dear Kate, authentic, New York City, Chinese takeout!" he began pulling cartons out of the bad and setting them out.

Kate couldn't stop the smile from spreading across her face. "You drove two hours to bring me takeout?"

Castle unloaded the last carton, and crumpled up the bag and threw it away. "Yeah." He said as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

"I've never had this kind of food." Michael informed Castle, climbing onto a barstool so that he could see.

Castle looked at Kate. "He's never had Chinese?'

"He's had it homemade." Kate said defensively. "Michael, remember the chicken that Mommy made you that you liked a lot? With the rice?"

The child took a moment to place the dish. "Oh." He said finally. "I remember. That was good."

"This is so much better, little man." Castle told him.

Kate shot him a look.

Castle winked at her, and then handed a carton to Michael. "I think you'll like this one."

Michael looked hesitantly at the carton. "What is it?"

"Try it and find out." Castle raised his eyebrows. "Unless you're too scared, of course."

Michael puffed out his chest. "I'm not scared of anything!" He announced and went in the dining room.

Castle smiled as Kate laughed, and then said, "It's good to hear you laugh again."

"It's good to be able to." She said honestly. "What did you give him?" She asked, looking in the direction of the dining room.

"Sweet and Sour chicken."

She looked back at him. "How did you know what he'd want?"

"Alexis wouldn't eat anything but that from a Chinese restaurant until she was 10. It's like the Chinese takeout version of chicken nuggets and ketchup. I figured it'd be a safe bet with kids." He shrugged. "And for you…" he held up a carton until she could only see his eyes over the top of it.

"What is it?"

"Your favorite."

"Which is?"

"Open it."

Kate snatched the carton from his hands and smiled for what felt like the millionth time that night. "Lo mein from Cho's." She looked at him. "You remembered that?"

"Of course." He said with a small smile.

"Thank you." Kate said. "Not just for this. For everything."

"Anytime." Castle told her.

She grabbed a pair of chopsticks off the table and began to head in the other room when Castle grabbed her hand, making her stop and face him.

"About what you said earlier…" he began. "I missed you too."

"I know, Castle." She told him tenderly, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. "Let's go eat."

Around 10 P.M. they all say on the couch, watching a movie. Michael was snuggled up, fast asleep, to Kate, who stroked his head absentmindedly. And somehow, Castle's arm wound up around Kate, her head on his shoulder.

For both of them, it was the most whole they had felt in a long time.

They had spent most of dinner reminiscing, telling Michael tales about the other one.

Kate made sure Michael knew how all-around great Castle was.

And Castle mad sure to tell Michael about all the cool things his mom had done as a detective that he was sure she never told him.

And after Kate woke Michael up after the movie and put him to bed, they talked some more.

They talked about Esposito, Ryan, and Lanie. About Montgomery, and dirty bombs, and L.A. They talked about Alexis and Martha and about life. Kate brought up poker, and Castle brought up Russian accents. They discussed apartments being blown up, being held captive, Christmas cards, and monkey-peed-in-battery-acid coffee.

And by the time everything was said and done, it was 2 o'clock in the morning.

"I should get some sleep." Kate said reluctantly. "I have to start packing tomorrow."

Castle furrowed his brow. "Where are you going?"

Kate let out a long sigh. "Hell if I know." She shook her head. "I'm a stay-at-home mom, Rick. I can't afford an apartment of a hotel room because I have no source of income, and I can't get a job if I have to say I don't have a residence, which means that Michael and I have nowhere to go…well, I guess I should say I have no place to go…Michael can always live with his dad for a while I suppose…" Her voice got quiet with the grief of the possibility of having to part with her child, even for a little bit, and her eyes shone with tears.

"Why do you need to find a new place?" Castle asked.

"Josh's name is the one on the house, and apparently he wants it. He gave me a month." She shook her head. "It's amazing what you learn about a person in a divorce." She looked at her hands.

Castle stayed quiet for a while, and then said, "Well…you could always come home."

Kate looked up at him.

"To New York City." He elaborated.

"I wish." She sighed. "No way I could swing that."

"You don't have to." Castle stated as if it were obvious.

Kate looked at him, clearly confused.

"I have a nearly empty loft." Castle reminded her. "I would love to have you and Michael for as long as you like. No rent needed." He smiled at her.

Kate hurriedly stood up from her chair and walked the few steps to Castle's, put her hands on either side of his face and kissed him. She kept her face close and whispered, "Thank you."

"Always." He said quietly, then gently put a hand on her neck and brought her lips back to his and kissed her again.

For a while.

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