I would really like to thank Alex Beckett and PhoebeLuv25 for the inspiration in this chapter and the following chapters. :)

Chapter 22

Kate... The morning after...

Kate woke slowly. Her body taking its time in waking up. Her eyes still closed she finds her other senses heightened. The bed she was laying in was soft and warm, his arms encircle her waist, his cologne fills the whole room. Finally she dares opening her eyes carefully. The room is painted in warm tones, black and white pictures of large animals are hanging on the walls. The clock on the nightstand blinks that it is nearly 9. She smiles, after their adventures last night, she actually had a fairly decent nigh of sleep. She turns slowly in his arms to face him. He is adorable while he sleeps, his hair matted to his forehead, his deep breathes coming out in little puffs. She smiles when he grunts a little in his sleep. His grasp around her loosens, giving her some freedom. She lies there watching him, her mind traveling back to their brief summer together. As she travels down memory lane her heart jumps into her throat when she remembers their last meeting. When they'd run into each other at the ice skating rink. The dark memories of the next few weeks haunted her every day, still, despite the five years it's been. The edges of the wound in her heart had been torn more and more lately as she finally managed to get her father into rehab.

She closes her eyes, her mind debating, the last person she had been with left her because she had pushed him away for six full months, not to mention the time of friendship before their actual relationship. She was broken and still is. She is uniform cop in the NYPD, spending her down time searching for her mother's killer, the man who had never been caught and whose crime had been put down as a random act of gang violence. She couldn't have a real relationship until she could put some rest to the case that has made her who she is. She opens her eyes to gaze upon the sleeping man beside her. She gently reaches out and touches his lips ever so carefully with the tip of her finger. She couldn't hurt him. She wouldn't hurt him. She had to leave, run from the morning that was soon approaching. Silently she raises herself off the bed, the mattress barely moving from the absence of her weight. The cool air hit her naked body hard, she wanted the warmth of Rick's arms around her again, but she couldn't give into those thoughts, she had leave now. She searches the room for her clothes, pulling on the causal dress she had worn to the party, grabbing her under garments from their spots on the floor.

She was searching for her purse and shoes when he woke.

"What are you doing?!" He asks surprised.

"I'm sorry Rick. I really am, but this was a-"

"Don't say mistake."

"I'm sorry. So sorry." She could see he was hurt. She wants to get out of there as fast as humanly possible.

"Why Kate?" He stood, grabbing his boxers from the floor beside him, pulling them on he walks to her. She is a head shorter then him without her heels.

"I just can't Rick. I'm not ready."

"Ready for what? Why can't you?" He wouldn't stop and she knows, so she blurts out the only thing she knows would stop him.

"My mother was murdered."

He freezes. "I'm so sorry... How long?"

Kate walks past him and sits on the edge of the bed. He turns and watches her. "You remember the last time we met?"

"Yeah... We ran into each other ice skating..."

"January 9, 1999. I had only been home for a few weeks and we were going out to dinner. After dad and I waited at the restaurant for two hours we left only to be greeted by a detective. They worked her case for two days, before writing it off as a random act of gang violence. She was never brought to justice. I left Stanford and finished my criminal justice degree here last year while I was in the academy. My dad turned to the bottle, I just talked him into to going to rehab two weeks ago. I'm broken Rick and I have to fix myself before I can be with someone I truly care about. And I'm so sorry."

Rick had moved to sit beside her on the end of the bed midway through her story.

"Let me help." He whispers.

"I can't let you do that."

"Why?"

She thinks carefully. "I'm afraid, you would think I would be using you."

"I could never think that about you." He mutters to her.

She looks up at him tear tracks stain her cheeks, but during her speech her voice never broke once.

"Let me help you, fix you. If that makes any sense?"

"You can't."

"Why?"

"I have to it on my own." She stands abruptly, her back to him.

"Then can we please at least just stay friends? Until you're ready?" He stands and moves to her. Standing behind her, close enough to feel the heat on her skin.

"I don't know when I will be ready."

"I can wait Kate. I can wait forever, for you."

She turns to look at him.

"And if I'm never ready?"

"I will always be here Kate. Always."

Sorry for the shortness, but I needed to stop it here or it would have become wayyy to long. But anyway I hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter!

As always leave your reviews/thoughts/comments. :)