Spill The Sickness Chapter 6

Because this month has been crazy busy but you all deserve an ending

A/N: Here is is guys. The final chapter. I am SO sorry for the delay. I hope this last chapter is what you all wanted.

Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or any of it's characters. I leave that to TPTB

To Rimah, for broadly

Too afraid to look up and see what Kate's reaction was, Rick chose to look down at the counter instead.

"Rick…." Kate began, her voice hesitant and unsure.

"Look Kate, just forget I said anything. Now, go sit down and I'll bring you your food, it's almost ready."

"Rick." Kate said again, sounding more confident in her tone. When he chose not to look up, he felt the cool smooth hands he instantly knew were his girlfriend's on his cheeks, pulling his face up to look at her. Rick kept his eyes shut for another moment, and then slowly opened them. What he saw shocked him.

Kate, in all her grossness and sickness, was smiling at him so broadly it looked like her face would split in two. "I love you."

Rick felt his heart stop. Kate's smile didn't falter. She just continued to stare at him, much like she did that day after the bank explosion, or when he broke out of jail and she found him at the New York Public Library. It was one of those rare moments of pure, unbridled love that shone through Kate's eyes and warmed the hearts of anyone and everyone around her. "You're sure?" He asked, trying to eliminate that small shred of doubt once and for all.

Laughing, Kate replied "Yes Rick. 100% sure."

At that, Rick grabbed Kate around the waist, and kissed her chapped, dry lips, in that moment not caring about getting a cold or the ravioli currently cooling in the microwave. All he could think about were Kate's lips underneath his. His tongue ran along them and her mouth opened in response. He swallowed Kate's moan of pleasure and pulled her impossibly closer to him.

Breaking when air became a necessity, he placed his forehead against hers, breathing in and out in perfect harmony with the woman who loved him. Kate went up on her toes and gave him an Eskimo kiss. Rick opened his eyes and looked deep into hers, overjoyed by the love he saw reflected in them.

"Now, Mr. Castle. I believe you were in the process of making me a very late dinner." Kate grinned, moving backwards slightly to look at his face.

"Why Detective Beckett, I do believe you're right. Now, where were we? Ah yes, mini ravioli. Upon speaking with your father he informed me of your love for mini ravioli as well as Eggo waffles. However, seeing as it's nearing 10pm I figured that ravioli might be a better choice. I mean of course, if you would prefer waffles, I can always eat the ravioli and make you some waffles, or if you don't want either of those I'm sure somewhere delivers…and I'm rambling again aren't I?"

"Yeah, you are. But it's sweet Castle." Kate patted his arm encouragingly. "Ravioli sounds absolutely fantastic. Now," she said, grabbing the glass of juice as she stood up, "you said something about TV shows?"

"Indeed I did!" Rick replied happily. "I grabbed Modern Family. I've only seen the first season and I thought it could maybe be something we could watch together. If you want." Rick looked at her expectantly.

"I would love that." Kate grabbed the DVD set and headed into her bedroom to grab her laptop to watch it on.

Unable to contain the grin that spread on his face as he watched her shuffle her feet along the ground from the small opening in the blanket, Rick shook his head and turned his attention back to his wares. He looked back at the rest of the items he had laid out on the counter.

He filled up a second glass of cranberry juice and ginger ale for himself, put another 30 seconds of time on the microwave to reheat the now lukewarm ravioli, and placed the rest of the food onto a baking tray, acting as a makeshift serving platter.

Next, he grabbed the candle, lit it, and placed it on the coffee table in the living room.

Opening the throat lozenges, he placed a few in a small dish, grabbed the cold medicine and a tall glass of water, and placed those on the table as well. He headed into Kate's bedroom, just as she was walking out. Snaking an arm around her waist, he pulled her in for a brief kiss. Planting his lips on hers, he heard her slight hum of approval, causing him to smile as he pulled away.

"I'm going to put on some sweats. Are mine still in the drawer?"

Kate looked up into his eyes, a smile dancing across her face. "Yeah, they're washed and folded up in the bottom drawer. They're right next to your dress shirts that you keep 'accidentally' leaving here."

Grinning mischievously, Rick replied "What can I say? The way you look in the morning, standing in your kitchen, wearing just one of my shirts is one of the hottest things I've ever seen."

He began pulling her in again, just she lightly smacked him and kept him at arms length. "Down boy. Go put on your pants and meet me on the couch."

"Yes ma'am!" He replied, with a mock salute.

"I'll be the one under the giant blanket." She said with a wink as she walked away.

He quickly changed out of his jeans and into his black sweats, thankful that he went for a navy pullover sweater instead of a dress shirt today. It also didn't hurt that Kate became especially touchy whenever he wore one. She could never stop her hands from skimming across his chest, feeling the strong, flat muscles of his pecs beneath her fingers.

Wasting no time, he headed back into the living room to see Kate already cuddled up under a blanket. Bringing over the "tray" of food, he placed it on the table next to the medicine and sat down next to his girlfriend.

"Okay, first medicine, then food, then TV."

"Wow Castle," Kate teased, "who knew you could be so assertive. It's kind of hot."

"Hey, you discouraged any funny business not even 5 minutes ago. Don't tempt me now."

Sitting up, Kate quickly downed her medicine, grabbed up her bowl of ravioli, and resumed her original position of leaning back against the couch. Meanwhile, Rick grabbed the laptop, popped in the DVD, and set it up to play the first episode. Placing the laptop on his legs, he threw an arm around Kate so she snuggled up against his side. She smiled up at him. "Rick?" she asked.

"Hmm?" he murmured in response.

"Thank you. For today."

"Always" was his simple reply.

And that night, as she fell asleep in is arms, Rick knew that in years to come, he would always be here to make Kate feel better. 'In sickness and health' wasn't too far away anyways.

A/N: As always, I'd love to hear what you thought about it.

I've been working on another one-shot for a while, I'll try to post it at some point.
Thanks for sharing this journey with me guys. It's been a blast.

Geneva