Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.

Author's Note: Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews!

Character(s): Richard Castle; mentions of Kate Beckett, a certain Robbery detective, and Kyra Blaine

Relationship: Caskett-y

Genre: Angst

Rating: K

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Losing

Castle was losing. He knew it and he hated it, but that didn't change anything.

It was not a card game that he was losing, nor a monopoly game. It wasn't really a game at all. He wasn't exactly sure about that because it did always seem like his flirtations with Kate were a game.

And lately it seemed that those flirtations meant so much more to him than they usually did or that were supposed to.

And quite frankly, it scared the hell out of him. He had never actually felt this way before, except with Kyra, and he was just a kid back then so it didn't count.

Castle was falling in love with Katherine Beckett…and he just had to realize it at the worst possible time because she seemed to be getting just a little too friendly with a certain Robbery detective.

Which is why Castle was currently losing.

Kate seemed to be falling for the detective and even though he kept trying to do something about it; there was nothing he could actually do that would work especially with her.

With other women, if he had ever felt so strongly about one of them, he would spend money on them, buying them whatever they wanted: jewelry, clothes, cars, houses, animals, anything. But that would never work with Kate.

She was so different from all those other women and that was one of the things that attracted him to her the most. She didn't go all crazy when in the spotlight, when she met him, and she had refused when he tried to get her into bed with his sweet talk and money.

That was why, when he caught that certain detective kissing her, his blood pressure rose to the ceiling and he promised himself that, no matter what he would have to do, he would get Kate.

He wasn't losing this battle.

Kate wasn't going to be like Kyra; she wasn't going to be another 'one that got away' because without her in his life; he wasn't sure he would make it.

Damn.

How the hell had he fallen for her even after all the times that he promised himself he wouldn't?