"Goodnight dears, sleep tight both of you," Martha said with a wink as she opened the loft door.

"Goodnight!" both Rick and Kate said simultaneously.

When the door closed Rick slowly turned to the woman beside him, suddenly afraid she might want to leave too despite her question about staying for a couple of days.

"You told your mom about me?" Kate whispered out her question, not looking at him in fear of what she'd discover.

"Not technically, I never told her your name or how we met, only that I met someone who I thought I'd..." he stopped talking, not sure of how much she could take.

The first time she ran away it was because of the feelings he clearly had for her. They hadn't changed, but he didn't want to scare her away by giving voice to them.

"Who I found interesting and wanted to get to know more," he changed his words in order to still be able to tell her something.

Kate nodded, couldn't argue his thoughts. She felt his fingers peacefully sneak into her hand, and she didn't stop to think before her own fingers curled around his. Her heart skipped a beat as she felt their palms kiss. She glanced up at him from her side, feeling her heart flatter when her eyes met his blue ones.

"I shouldn't be here," she whispered her thought into the open.

"Yes, you should," he said, his hand hugging hers tighter.

"No," she whispered, stepping on her toes to peck his lips with hers. "I shouldn't, but I want to."

She felt her heart break at the thought of how she would most probably destroy his life if she stayed.

"I... you need to know, I lied before. I wasn't in need of money when I was younger, I don't need to pay rent in the way I told you before, I'm not someone you should be together with."

If she warned him then maybe he would want to get out before she had fallen too far, at least that's what she hoped. Because if there was something she knew it was that she wouldn't survive him leaving if it had gone too far. But it already has, a voice whispered in her head.

"Well," he started, putting his free hand on her waist to turn her towards him, "you can tell me all about it... in your own time."

"I haven't told anyone before. Well, except for those who were there that is," she said before biting her lower lip.

He carefully pulled her body a bit closer to his, and she drew strength from his touch, the hand which held her hand letting hers go in order to land on the other side of her waist. By automatic her arms landed on his shoulders, locking her hands behind his head. She grew stronger from his hugging hands, and she wondered why that was.

"I was sixteen when my parents died, they were on their way to a camping trip which I would join later on, anyway they got in an accident and... died immediately," Kate started, trembling with her words a bit. After taking a deep breath, and stealing a little more strength from his grip, she opened her mouth again. "I got into foster care and it didn't take long before a man and a woman came to adopt another child, they-uh... the second they laid eyes on me they were certain they wanted to take care of me."

Rick couldn't stop the cringe of disgust spreading across his face, could only imagine what she would say next due to the things he knew she had to do when working.

"I didn't suspect a thing, only wanted to get out of the foster care center, wanted to have my own room to be able to morn my dead parents, get away from everyone," her lower lip was starting to shake, and he wondered how much more she could tell before breaking apart. "They're the ones who... showed and told me what to do," she swallowed hard and he hugged her tighter, putting his forehead against hers.

"You don't have to tell me everything at once," he whispered, not really wanting to interrupt her but feeling like he needed to assure her that he didn't want to push her.

He watched her eyes close, seeming to feel comfortable with having him so near, to be able to feel him.

"Anyway, I have a couple of foster sisters, and one of them, Bianca, has been there since she was six. They shared the job with her as if it was a normality, poisoned her brain into thinking they only did what was right and what needed to be done. I tried to tell them no, in the beginning, but they used other methods on me since I was too old to be manipulated the way B was. That's why I can't leave, why I can't stay with you. I don't know what they would do to me, or you for that matter, if I told them I wanted out. And I can't leave her there, no matter how ok she thinks it is."

She didn't open her eyes once, made sure to constantly draw strength from his touch. To her surprise she didn't stumble over her words this time, but that didn't mean she was less uncomfortable about sharing her experiences. She just felt like she needed to tell him, if he knew then maybe he could make the hard decision for her. If he was to tell her he didn't want her anymore then she would be able to force herself to leave. Without much warning his forehead left hers and she fought the sudden tears that wanted to spill her eyes. This is it. But before she could think any further she felt his lips replace his forehead, his lips soft against her skin.

"I got you, I got you," his mouth whispered the mantra over and over, trailing across her forehead in a kissing matter.

How could he be so loving? How was he able to stay with her the way he did despite what she had just told him? Even though she told herself it shouldn't matter, that what should matter was the warmth his whole being gave her, she couldn't stop thinking about it. Because, how could he be interested in someone like her?

"How could I not? You're the most beautiful and intellectual woman I've ever met, and you make me feel things I've never felt with anyone before," Rick answered her question, a question she hadn't realized she'd said out loud.

Her cheeks blushed, and his lips kissed down her face to land on her lips, sending tingles down her body as she kissed him back. The second their lips parted she sucked in her bottom lip to bite on it with a giddy feeling in her belly.

"How about us going to bed? It's been a pretty long day and I think you're as tired as me if not more," Rick said, a yawn quickly proving his point and she chuckled at his try at hiding it.

Before she knew it she was mirroring his movement and it was his turn to chuckle.

"Come on," he said, pecked her cheek before he bent out of her arms to be able to grab her hand and pull her towards his bedroom.

Kate followed without hesitation, her body willingly moving towards the room where she had eventually found herself falling for the guy she was supposed to be professional with.

"Do you want to borrow a shirt for pjs?" he asked, looking her into her eyes as she nodded with a small spark in them.

"Yeah, I'd love that," she said with a big smile on her lips, because oh how badly she wanted to be wrapped in his scent the way she'd been that morning.

Together they found a shirt she would be comfy in and both knowing full well there was no point in being modest, they had literally seen each other naked plenty more than once, they changed in front of each other before they snuggled down under the covers. Kate made herself comfortable, laying her head on his chest and one of her arms around his torso, while Rick made sure to wrap his arms around her and held her close to him.

"Thank you for coming back," he whispered in her hair, kissing the top of her head.

"I have a feeling I will always come back," she mumbled back her honest thought.

"Good."

They cuddled closer to each other, none of them wanting to let go because none of them really knew how long they would have this time. Rick was unsure if Kate would truly stay this time, no matter how much he could feel she wanted to she had shown before she was more afraid of whatever these two people keeping her on the job could do to her, or her foster sister or him, than she was sure of staying. Kate was unsure because she couldn't understand how someone as great as Rick could seem to want her, she felt as though it would only be a question of time before he would get tired of her and send her away.

Kate awoke with him surrounding her, his scent in her lungs, the feel of his breath in her neck, even their bodies were tangled! They were spooning so not really that tangled but their legs were, and one of his arms was around her, that hand on her belly. The other hand was between them but with fingers in her hair. She wondered if he enjoyed her scent as much as she enjoyed his, since his nose was clearly in her hair by the way she could feel his breath in her neck. It kinda tickled too. Without much warning he squeezed her tighter to him before mumbling something into her hair. She couldn't help the giggle from escaping her mouth before she whispered 'what?' into the open. He mumbled something again, sounding like the same melody as last time but she still couldn't make out the word. She tried turning around but he wouldn't give her the space to do so, his arm pulling her back closer to his chest, and so she turned her head as far as she could instead.

"What are you saying?" she chuckled through every word.

That was when she finally heard what he said, and it wasn't a word, it was words.

"This is nice."

Her teeth sunk into her lip as the smile spread on her mouth. Because yes, this was nice. She hummed when she suddenly felt him kissing her head, and it wasn't just one kiss either. He peppered every inch he could reach with kisses and she started giggling when his lips started tickling her neck, nippling on her sensitive skin. She couldn't help but try get away from him, ducking her head in order to hide her neck from him, only he was too strong and the angle he held her in made it impossible for her to break free. His lips moved from her neck, thank god, and nipped once on her ear before his arm eased around her. She was about to crawl out of bed when she heard him once again mumble something incoherent in her hair.

"What was that?" she asked, not understanding how he could think she could possibly hear when he just a minute ago had to repeat himself three times before she caught what he was saying.

"Please stay five more minutes," he said louder and she felt her cheeks get warm with a blush.

She couldn't believe this sweet, sweet man. He was way to good to her and she wondered why. And how could he make her blush without even doing anything worth of blushing for? His arms around her made her feel secure and loved, something she hadn't felt since she was still a kid and her parents had held her, not really the same but still, kinda the same way. The rumbling inside her mind was dragging her into crazy, but she didn't want to go back to the way things used to be anymore. She had gotten a taste of what a life with him could be like, cozy and loving, and there was not a single part of her that wanted it to go away. So what if she stayed? What would she do? She'd have to quit her job, which really wasn't a job she'd wanted in the first place. She'd have to try get Margaret and Tom to let her go without threats. But how?! And could Rick really stand to be with her? Was she not too damaged? She hadn't gone to college... she hadn't really done anything but being the kind of escort Margaret and Tom had turned her in to be. Would Bianca be okay? Could she get her foster sister to quit with her? Or was she in to deep and too manipulated to even want to quit? Her mind kept spinning around, question after question running around as if it was a race with no answers at the finish line. One thing she was sure of though. She didn't want to leave.

"Okay, I'll stay," she whispered out her promise, only moving to turn around and put her arm around his torso.

I'll stay as long as you want me to. Hopefully forever.