Hands Open

.

Sometime during the night, they had managed to migrate up to his bedroom.

And Kate had stayed the night. Out of her own volition.

To say that Castle had been happy about this development would have been an understatement.

.

Kate wakes up buried under a mass of blankets and covers. He's already awake beside her, reading a book his publisher had wanted him to review.

"How are you?" he asks when her green eyes blink open and meet his.

"Warm," she answers.

"Too warm?"

She smiles ironically. "I'll never be too warm ever again."

"Fair enough." He bends down to kiss her and she lets him.

"I have the day off," she says when he sits back up.

He knows what her implication is even without her hands travelling up his thighs under the sheets. He desperately wants her to spend the day with him but he's not going to make this easy for her. He's not going to provide her with an easy way out. If she wants to be with him – even for just today – she has to say it. Waiting for his initiation is her way of keeping one foot out the door: later on, it will allow her to say she had just been going along with it, that she hadn't wanted to be with him as much as he had wanted to be with her.

He waits. Doesn't say anything even as she makes him so completely aroused. Finally, he catches her wrist. It makes her sit up in bed and stare at him.

His eyes plead with hers, just tell me what you want, he wants to say. I would do anything for you if you could only say the words.

"I guess I should go home," she says, extracting her hand from his. "I'm still really tired."

Castle nods. "Right."

"Can I—" she gestures towards his bathroom.

"Of course."

Minutes later, he hears the whirring of his toothbrush and the taps being turned on and off. He dresses while he waits for her to finish and then, feeling the chill, thinks better of it and crawls back beneath the covers.

He's forgotten that he had texted his mother and Alexis last night, telling them that it would be safe to return to the city whenever they wanted, until he hears the front door open and close.

The quick patter of feet that could only belong to his daughter gets louder and… "Dad!" she exclaims, bursting through the door and running up to give him a hug, "I'm so glad you're alright."

"I am absolutely, a hundred percent alright," he says with a smile.

Alexis sits down on the edge of his bed. "Grams and I were so wor—"

The door to his bathroom opens about a second before he has time to warn Kate or prepare Alexis.

"Kate!" Alexis says in surprise.

Kate is, at least, properly dressed but Alexis – now that she has had time to notice the state of her dad's room and acknowledge the look on their faces – is under no delusion as to what had happened between them.

Of course Martha, with her perfect timing, decides to show up at that very moment. "Richard…" she starts, "…and Kate! What a pleasant surprise!"

Kate is clearly not enjoying the current situation. "Martha, Alexis, I am so sorry—"

"—For what, dear?" Martha cuts in. She gestures to her granddaughter, "Alexis, come on. Let's give your dad and Kate some space."

"Oh." Alexis nods, still unsure about what to think, "Yeah, sure."

"No," Kate says, "It's okay, you guys don't have to go. I was just about to leave."

"Nonsense!" says Martha, "Stay for brunch, at least. We need to get some food in you!"

Kate exchanges a look with Alexis. Having the girl find her so unexpectedly in her father's room could potentially destroy any relationship that had been built between them. "Alexis…" Kate says, tone questioning.

There is a momentary lapse into silence while Alexis looks between Kate and Castle. But then, she smiles and Kate inwardly releases a sigh of relief.

"Please stay, Kate," Alexis says, "You haven't been around in a while."

.

The next afternoon, Alexis is sitting in the chair beside Kate's desk – the chair that has come to be known as Castle's, whether big or little – when she returns from the interrogation room. It brings up memories of the week she had spent taking care of Alexis when the girl had broken her arms.

"Hey Alexis," Kate says, sitting down in her own chair.

Before Kate can say anymore, Alexis responds, "I know dad's not here today. I texted him before I came."

Kate stops typing on her computer. She gives Alexis her full attention, wondering what this was about (although admittedly, she had a pretty good idea).

Alexis takes a deep breath. "I'm smart."

Kate smiles a little at that. "I know," she replies.

"I'm smart enough to know what's going on between you and my dad."

"Alexis…" Kate sighs.

"And don't say it's nothing!"

Kate tries to keep the tone light. "How about it's not anything?"

"Yet."

Kate furrows her eyebrows. "What?"

"It's not anything yet, right?"

Kate's expression turns into one of slight amusement at the hopeful tone that had just crept into Alexis' voice. "Why do you say that, Alexis?" she asks instead.

Alexis suddenly looks uncomfortable. "I don't normally like to think about who my dad goes out with and he's pretty good about protecting me from… well, accidentally coming into contact with a girl that he's not really serious about."

Kate groans inwardly. "Alexis, I'm really, really sorry about yesterday morning. Truly. After everything that happened, I—"

Alexis shook her head, cutting Kate off. "It's okay, Kate. You don't have to say nothing happened." She blushes, "I mean, I am in high school where there are a lot of hormones…" she stalls before continuing, "Anyway, that's not what I meant to bring up. What I wanted to say is that even though I don't ever involve myself in that part of dad's life, it doesn't mean that I don't think about it – I want my dad to be happy and I think it would be nice if he had somebody to share his time with. But… I… I just think that my dad isn't looking in the right spot. I think he's dating the wrong people."

"And who do you think are the 'right' people?" Kate asks softly.

Alexis looks up. "You."

.

Nothing is as easy as simply willing it to be so. Her relationship with Castle is a perfect representation of that. The two of them had always had such bad timing or, sometimes, the wrong motivations. Kate knows Castle is no longer in it for the chase. She's known that for a while now even before she had asked him straight out during her mother's case. He's her partner, not just her plucky sidekick.

She wonders now, though, if the two of them aren't just acting on some sort of post-traumatic stress from facing and subsequently cheating death. She doesn't want to dive right into it with Castle if their reasons are just so they don't end up dying with regrets.

She climbs into bed that night after a scalding shower. Kate's never had a problem with being alone – she's somebody who likes having, and sometimes even needs to have, her own space.

None of that means she wouldn't prefer to have somebody who could always be there for her, especially when she wakes up in the middle of the night afraid of her own dreams.

A/N: As I'm writing this story, it has gone somewhere I hadn't thought to go... oh, brain, how I love surprises...

Anywho, love you all for being such awesome reviewers! (I don't know if I've said that in any of my other stories!) :)