Here is the second chapter of the weekend. Hopefully I will be able to post another one tomorrow.

"And no matter the obstacles, no matter how hard you try, you'll never get rid of me. I love you."

Anatomy Of A Murder

Rick spent the next couple of days with his emotions all over the map. At times he was euphoric at the thought of the implications of his mind reading ability, that of he and Kate being soul mates. There were other times that he was angry with himself for waiting to tell Kate about his mind reading abilities, no matter how legitimate the excuses seemed at the time. He fell into an exhausted sleep both nights with a heavy sadness weighing on him, not knowing when he would be able to see her again.

But his most prominent emotion was determination. He had promised her 'always' and Richard Castle did not make promises lightly. With his history of failed relationships, Kate may question that aspect of his character, but there was much that she still didn't know about his past.

Rick knew Kate was aware that Meredith, his first wife, had cheated on him, but the detective didn't know that the woman had walked out on him. Although the marriage hadn't lasted, he couldn't bring himself to regret it, because Meredith had given him Alexis.

As for his second marriage, Gina had wanted to end things because she felt that he wasn't ambitious enough since writing didn't consume his every waking thought. Their constant fighting, especially at the end, had made it easy for him to let her go. Neither he nor Alexis needed to live in that kind of chaos. The only reason he had even tried a second time with Gina was to try to get his mind off of Kate with her new boyfriend. Although he had ended the relationship with Gina the second time, he had broken no promises, for he hadn't made any.

Then there was Kyra, the one relationship in his past where he had been the most emotionally committed. Kyra had asked for space, and he had given it. He just hadn't realized that his college sweetheart hadn't wanted the distance to remain permanent.

Rick didn't regret that, though. If he had stayed together with Kyra, he never would have had Alexis. And he wouldn't trade his daughter for anything. There had been a slim chance of his getting back together with Kyra when they had met up again while he and Kate had been investigating the murder of one of her bridesmaids only hours before Kyra's wedding to another man. But it didn't take Rick long to realize that Kyra was deeply in love with her fiancée, and Rick's own feelings for Kyra had been little more than nostalgia over his first love.

If things hadn't happened the way they had, Rick wouldn't have the hope of forever with Kate that he had now. Considering that he could honestly say Kate was the only person in his life as important to him as Alexis, he would fight for a chance with her until his dying breath.

The only thing that would stop his fight would be if Rick knew she was truly happy with someone else, and she had made the ultimate commitment. Kate had told him early on that for her marriage was a "one and done" thing, and he wouldn't try to stand in the way of that. Thankfully the threat of that was gone, since he knew that she was no longer with Dr. Motorcycle Boy. Even with the threat of the other man removed, Rick still couldn't quite bring himself to use the doctor's name, at least not in his private thoughts.

It was late morning on the third day since Kate had ordered him out of the precinct when his phone finally rang and the name Beckett appeared on the screen.

"Castle," was all he said when he answered the phone. Frequently he would drop a humorous quip when he knew she was on the other end of the line, but his emotions were too raw for that at the moment.

You can do this, Kate. You're a cop. As long as he follows the rules, things will be fine.

Rick debated answering her thought instead of waiting for her to speak, but he figured that might irritate her enough to change her mind, so he kept quiet.

"Castle, we need to be clear on one thing before I can let you come back," Kate finally spoke after a few moments of silence. "Under no circumstances can anyone at the precinct know about your special ability. Not only would it be a huge distraction, but chances are the city would revoke your permission to shadow me. Do I make myself clear?"

"Understood," Rick said solemnly.

"All right then." That was easier than I thought. I figured he might want to brag about it to Ryan and Esposito.

"Kate, I may kid around a lot. I may have more than a passing fascination with the oddities of life. But reading your mind is no joking matter. And I wouldn't boast about it, to Ryan, Esposito or anyone else."

While Rick was still worried that answering her thoughts might set her off again,

he didn't want there to be any doubts in Kate's mind about how seriously he was taking how this whole situation was impacting her.

"Thank you, Castle," Kate said in a subdued tone. "So, will you be able to make it in today?"

Rick couldn't resist smiling at the question. If it wasn't so cliché, and if it didn't give away more than he wanted to reveal at the moment, Rick would have told her that wild horses couldn't have kept him away. It said a lot about his emotional state that he couldn't think of anything more original than that.

"Castle?" Kate's tone was uncertain when he didn't answer her right away.

"I'm on my way," Rick told her. Seconds later he grabbed his coat and keys and was out the door.