A.N. I am so sorry for not fixing this but I didn't realise that I made this mistake. Thanks for reading.
Previously in CK
"What if he's right? What if I'm not myself?" He looked down at me with searching eyes.
"Castle, I wasn't me when I was recovering from my surgery. And I wasn't me when we had the Sniper case. These things take time. And in the mean time, you just have to take what people have to say with a grain of salt." I told him gently, stroking his cheek. "You're you and you will react differently to things than everyone else, same as I do. But we'll get through this. Ok?"
"Ok." He replied softly, pulling me in closer and wrapping his arms tightly around me as he rested his head on my shoulder, lightly kissing my neck as he did. "So," He whispered softly past the shell of my ear, pulling back to look me in the eyes, "Coffee?"
"I'd rather a morning kiss." I replied with a grin, leaning in and pecking his lips. "But a coffee would be nice too." I smiled, patting him on the chest.
I heard the elevator doors ding open, letting out the occupant who proceeded to stomp their way through the precinct. At first I thought nothing of it before I looked over Castle's shoulder and noticed the livid look on the approaching Josh's face. I physically paled for a moment as he caught me leaning against my desk in Castle's arms, giggling as he placed a delicate kiss on my neck. Castle must have felt the tension because he stopped his kiss prematurely and looked at me with concern in his eyes.
"Kate? What's wrong?" He followed my line of sight and the moment his eyes connected with Josh's, I could feel his arms tense around me in fear? Protectiveness? I had no idea.
"I'll tell you what's wrong!" He spat out, wrenching me out of the sanctuary of Castle's strong arms. "I come home and I can't find my key, so I can't get into the apartment."
"It's my apartment Josh." I replied weakly, hating that my voice sounded so.
"And I'm your boyfriend! It's my apartment too. My stuff's there. You don't get to just kick me out like that! I have a say in this relationship too, and I say its not over." He told me, tightening his grip on my arm, starting to drag me with him. Rick made an advance, trying to get to me, only for Josh to shove him back hard in the chest, shoving him to the ground.
"Who the Fuck do you think you are! Stealing my girlfriend!"
"She doesn't want to be with you anymore. It's over Josh." He told him, carefully pushing himself off the ground.
"It's not over till I say its over!" He reinforced, yanking me again towards the elevator. By this stage, most of the precinct had their heads turned towards what was now becoming a hostile situation, still standing on the sidelines, unwilling to enter into the chaos. It was at that moment that I saw Josh cock his head to the side, letting out a booming laugh, throwing his head back before turning his attention back to Castle. I followed his gaze and noticed that his shirt collar was now more prominently open, exposing the marks on his neck. "Are you really that much of a wuss that you tried to kill yourself?" He laughed.
That was the last straw. I turned towards Josh and slapped him across the face. "Don't you ever talk to him like that!" I glared at him, venom seeping into my order.
"All he ever wanted from you was to bed you. Just another notch on his playboy belt. Nothing more. Nothing less." I was at a complete loss for words.
"It's not true." I whispered, unable to get past the emotional lump in my throat.
"You bastard!" Castle cursed as he rose to his feet and rushed towards us, shoving me safely behind him and punching Josh square in the face. The recoil was something to behold as Josh stumbled backwards, clutching his now bloody nose, glaring back up at Castle, only to see him advancing on him, winding up for another punch. I saw him fist his shirt tightly and heard his fist connect with his face, then his guts, shoving the air out of Josh's lungs. The next thing I knew, Josh was pinned under Castle on the floor as he punched him again in the face.
"How dare you think so lowly of Kate. You never deserved her!"
"How did it feel to know that every night she would be coming home to me? That I was the one who she would sleep next to? How did it feel to know that she was mine when you hung yourself?" He sneered.
"You…" Castle all but yelled.
"Stop!" I interrupted, finally finding my voice amongst all of the chaos rapid firing around me. Castle's head jerked around to look at me, anger in his features and fire in his eyes, fist clenched and ready to strike, white-knuckled from the tension. I'd only seen that expression once before when he punched Lockwood unconscious. The look of my face must have been enough to make him worried because his face softened, his hand unclenched, letting it fall loosely by his side as he slowly got off the still sniggering Josh. I watched as he stepped back a few paces, putting a fair amount of distance between us, the expression on his face unreadable.
Josh got up slowly, wincing slightly at his sore ribs from the landing on the floor, the sadistic smirk still on his face.
"You are so whipped." He shook his head mockingly, clutching his stomach. "Did you think that trying to kill yourself would make the pain go away?" His voice mimicking the tone used on a child. "Are you really that selfish!"
"That's Enough!" I heard Esposito interject, storming up to Josh, Ryan close behind, face hard and body rigid. He fisted both his hands in Josh's shirt, lifting him slightly off the floor.
It was only then that I saw a flash of fear in his eyes. "Now get out!" Esposito spat, dropping him on the floor, throwing him back a few paces, making Josh stumble.
I saw Josh's eyes flick around the room and settle onto Castle, his sadistic smile returning.
"Next time you try to kill yourself, make sure you do a better job."
"I said get out!" Esposito reinforced, taking a warning step forward. Josh's eyes flicked over to me, set and cold.
"This isn't over, Kate." He warned. That was the last straw for Esposito. He stormed right up to Josh, right into his personal space, threatening him.
"If you even think about coming anywhere near her, I'll shoot you on the spot." Esposito informed. "Now I won't say this again. GET. OUT!" He punctuated the statement by drawing his gun and poking it into Josh's stomach. He sneered at him but obeyed, backing away slowly towards the elevator. Once he was inside the elevator and the doors slowly closed, everyone seemed to let out a consecutive breath, the tension in the air still tangible, making breathing difficult.
I saw Espo motion a uniform over and whisper something about putting a detail on him. The uniform nodded without question and headed towards the elevator. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears as I stood frozen to the spot, staring blindly at the elevator. I didn't even notice when Ryan gently touched my shoulder, trying to pull my attention back to the here an now. It was only until Espo stood in front of me, holding my shoulders and looking right into my eyes, gently saying my name that I managed to focus.
"It's ok, Kate. He won't be bothering you anymore. We've got your back." He spoke gently, trying to calm me down enough. Suddenly I snapped back to planet earth and a single though came to mind.
"Where's Castle?" I whispered. I began frantically looking around the room in search of him until my eyes settled on the break room. I wriggled out of Esposito's grasp and rushed into the deafeningly quiet room.
I scanned the room only for my eyes to settle on him sitting on the couch with his head in hands, staring at his shoes. I slowly made my way over to him, careful not to spook him, and carefully sat down next to him. I slowly slipped my hand over onto his back, rubbing slow, soft circles. I felt him gravitate towards me, slowly letting his body fall the side against mine. I turned myself around, wrapping my arms securely around him, needing to hold him as much as I knew he needed to hold me. I placed a light kiss on his cheek.
"I love you, Castle." I whispered, my lips lightly caressing the shell of his ear. "Remember that. Nothing can change that."
I felt him take a shaky breath against my neck before he replied; "It's not something I can forget", wrapping his arms around my lower back, holding me close.
A.N. I know, Josh is an ass hole, and now he's gone! Poor Castle though. Gotta love Espo's protective brotherly ways.