Chapter 12

Disclaimer: There's a part in this chapter that sounds a lot like when Beckett says "I have a difficult job but you make it a little more fun, I've gotten used to you pulling my pigtails" but I do not intend any copyright infringement

Kate woke up to the smell of coffee. She stood up and stretched before opening the door and following the smell to the kitchen. She stood, silent, for a second watching Castle pour the coffee into two mugs and load up two plates with bacon, and waffles. "Morning Castle" she said walking up behind him and putting her arms around his shoulders

"Go back to bed" he said without turning around.

"Excuse me?"

He finally turned around. He was holding two plates that were piled high with waffles, eggs and hash browns. "I was going to bring this to you in bed. You're ruining my romantic gesture."

She took one of the plates from him and popped one of the hash browns in her mouth. "It's ok, you're going to forgive me. And how about we go to the couch instead?"

He smiled, nodded and followed her to the living room. After the past couple of days they were both content to just enjoy their breakfast in silence.

Eventually Castle spoke up. "So what's next with this case?"

"Unfortunately there's not a whole lot we can do until we find the car. We don't have any other leads at this point."

"Well, in that case why don't you take the morning off and go in a couple of hours late?"

She turned to him with a concerned look on her face.

"You know Ryan and Esposito will call you if they find anything."

"I don't know, I really feel like-"

"Like you need to be there" he said, cutting her off.

"You know me too well,' she said getting up and heading off to get dressed.

"Detective, have you forgotten that for a while it was my job to observe you?

"Believe me Castle, I could never forget."

Half an hour later the couple was getting off the elevator to the precinct as Beckett's phone rang. She saw that it was Ryan and silenced it without answering. She walked up behind his desk and said "what have you got for me?"

He jumped and turned around. "Beckett, hey, I just tried to call you."

"I know. Update?"

"Beat cop just called. He found the car."

Beckett's heart picked up its pace as she thought about finding the woman that was harassing her. "Where?"

"Out closer to the edge of the city about a half hour drive. And get this, it's parked outside the house of her friend that we have down in holding."

"Any sign of her?" Beckett said, heading over to her desk.

Esposito answered her "no but we had the officer stay there and keep an eye on the car to make sure she didn't leave if she was there."

"Good. You guys…" her voice trailed off as she saw the newspaper on her desk. A heat rose to her face and she could hear the blood pulsing in her ears. She picked up the front section with trembling hands. She could barely comprehend what she was seeing. She looked up at the three men looking at her. The last face she saw belonged to Castle and suddenly the multiple feelings flooding her body at that moment turned to anger. She rolled up the section of the paper in her hand and stormed off to the interrogation room yelling behind her "Castle, follow me!"

He perked up and looked at where she was going. He got up and silently mouthed to Ryan and Esposito "what did I do?" They both shrugged and went back to their desks. He followed the detective into the cold room and closed the door. "Kate what's-" he was cut off.

"Sit down" she said through clenched teeth. He tried to take a step closer to put his arms around her but all she did was put the table between them and point to the seat across from her. He sat and she slammed the paper down on the table. She paced back and forth in front of the mirror while she waited for him to figure out why she was so mad.

He picked up the paper and unrolled it. He jaw dropped and he nearly dropped the paper when he saw what was spread across half of the front page. Along with the headline Things 'Heat'ing up for New Yorks Finest was the picture Kaylee Lincoln had taken and sent to them of Beckett carrying her bags into Castle's apartment. "Oh my god, Kate, I'm so sorry. I haven't had a problem with reporters at the house in years, I never thought it would get this bad." He looked up at her and she was still pacing. "What can I do?" he asked.

She stopped and looked at him. "I don't know Castle." She put one hand on her hip and ran the other one through her hair. "When we worked that first case together you annoyed the crap out of me. You still do actually." Her face softened a little as she sat down across from him. "But I have a hard job Castle, and you make it a little bit amusing. Got used to your crazy ideas and realized that some of them aren't so crazy. Things went back to normal."

She smiled a little and he smiled back. He tried to reach out and take her hand but she crossed her arms over her chest and started talking again. "Then you turned me into Nikki Heat. I was flattered, even if I didn't show it. I liked my fifteen minutes of fame and getting dressed up to go to the Heat Wave release."

"You looked good that night" Castle added.

She blushed "that's not the point."

"Then what is? Because right now you're not making a lot of sense."

"My point is, Castle, that I didn't mind the first couple of interviews or articles. When you signed on to shadow me I expected it. But things went farther than I ever expected them to, and this," she picked up the newspaper and waved it around.

Castle could tell the worst part of the conversation was about to start. He stayed silent and let her continue. "This is not what I signed up for and it's not ok. I like you a lot Castle, and I'm happy with you. I don't mind being seen with you in public or getting dressed up and going to book parties. I'll even give another interview if I have to, but right now, my personal life is on the front page of the New York fucking Times. I can't deal with this Castle. I want to make things work between us but I can't live my life on the front page." She finally fell silent and just sat there, staring at the man across from her.

"Kate…" he started with a hurt expression on his face. "The press, the reporters, soon they will stop caring about us being together. And fans like this are rare. But there are going to be other books parties with reporters and photographers, there are going to be other books and interviews and articles. That's who I am. It takes some getting used to. I want to make this work too and you mean the world to me Kate, but I can't stop being who I am for you."

"That's not what I mean Rick."

Now it was his turn to get upset. "Then what did you mean Kate? Because I can't figure out what you want from me in this situation. I've been here for two years waiting for you to tell me what you want and we just keep going in circles." He stopped and looked at her, waiting for a response. The ball was in her court now.

She returned his steady gaze and fought to keep her emotions under some sort of control. Tears were threatening to burst from her eyes. "I don't know Rick, but I think I need some time to figure it out." She paused and stood up to put some distance between them. "You should…go home, and I need to go deal with this case."

"Kate don't do this, we can work through this, we can-"

She cut him off "I'm not walking out of your life Castle, or asking you to stay away from the precinct forever. I just need some time to think about things. So today you go to your house, and I'll go to mine, and then…"

"Then what?" he asked, getting up and taking a couple of steps closer to her. This time she let him get close enough to cup her face in his hands. He noticed a tear sliding down her cheek and wiped it away with his thumb.

"Then we figure things out, but I need to go. Ryan and Esposito are waiting for me."

He nodded and stepped aside. She looked at him one more time before wiping away all traces of tears and opening the door. "Ryan and Esposito, you guys get to the house and find out if she's in there. I'm going to go talk to Brian Adams."

The two boys glanced at Castle, who was just standing in the door of the interrogation room and then headed for the elevator. Beckett headed for the holding cell where Brian Adams was being held without looking back.

Dun dun duuuuuuun :p

Will they get back together or wont they? Reviews please :p