A/N: I borrowed some major lines in this chapter from another TV show. If you recognize the show I'm talking about, I think we should be best friends. No really, because besides Castle, that show has got to be my only other favorite. XD

Chapter 22

"Alex … Hi."

For a moment, all they did was exchange stares. Gosh, how awkward. There were so many things she wanted to say to him, Kate had no idea where to even begin. So they just stood there, feet apart, in a lone hallway staring each other down as if they were about to have a shoot off in the Wild West.

Kate has no idea what was going through Alex's mind right then—was he mad, happy, sad, or indifferent to see her? Should she be more concerned about how there seemed to be more like a lack of response? Because how can she have a reaction when he wasn't giving her anything to go off of? As a detective, she'd learned to deliver her news based on the other party but in this case, Alex was being rather difficult!

Please, Alex, just give me a sign. How do I go about making this right?

What was she doing here?

Alex kept wracking his mind for an answer but everything he came up with didn't fit with the person standing right there in front of him. After their last conversation, he honestly never expected to see her again. So how was it that she was standing right there, not more than two yards before him? Gah, she's such a maddening, frustrating person!

Alex had no idea what to say to Kate, if anything, but before he could even begin to word fumble, the noises behind him reminded him of his location and the plans he had which resulted in him being there. Last thing he wanted to have happen was for the reporters to find him after he managed to make his speedy getaway when Gina concluded their conference. And particularly, not with Kate in his company. He could already anticipate tomorrow's deadlines—"Writer caught with the Detective he defended. Could the King of Castle have already found his Queen?" He needed to move this, whatever this was, away from their very compact and not at all private hallway.

"We need to go, now."

He didn't even wait to see if Kate wanted to leave with him, or if he wanted Kate with him, but the moment he realized he had reporters on his heels, he just acted on what had by then become autopilot. Anything to do with journalists and his instincts for self-preservation and privacy kicked in. He needed to get out of there. So he grabbed Kate by the arm and hauled her with him down the hall towards the closest elevator. He knew there were more reporters and paparazzi outside of the hotel, since only so many could be invited to fill the conference room, so Gina had the wonderful foresight to book him a room to wait out the storm. That was where he was headed—no place more private and away from the prying eyes of professional gossips than a personal suite all to himself.

If Kate had any protests, he didn't hear them. She may have faltered a bit when she realized they were going up to a reserved room instead of down towards the garage level to exit out in a tinted car service, but she stayed with him all the way up those twenty floors to his penthouse suite. He didn't hear a peep from her until after they'd crossed the floor that was entirely reserved for him, and he slid the keycard into the lone door that stood between his personal world and that of the public media outside. It wasn't until that door closed behind them and they were back to staring at each other, now merely a foot or two away, that he finally saw Kate's walls crumble.

Their impasse was no more.

"I'm so sorry, Alex. I'm so sorr—"

"Kate, what do you want?"

The look Alex gave Kate stopped her in her tracks. It was as if the person she had seen back in the conference room was only a figment of her imagination. Where was the man who proudly handled himself despite all that was thrown at him? Where was the man who defended her despite all that she did to him? How did she go about making him understand where she was coming from and why she was there?

"There's—okay. Okay. There's a story." Wow, smooth Kate. What are you even talking about?

"What?"

That's a good question. What was she trying to get at? After her conversation with her dad, she spent a good deal of time forcing herself to commit to some self-reflection and life reevaluations. Her dad asked her to tell the truth, but what truth did she have to tell? It hadn't exactly worked out too well for her the last time she tried. She had visited Alex, at her captain's request, and though it was half done in the name of advocating against his lawsuit, she did go to him with honest intentions and concerns regarding her homicide case—but he just completely refused to acknowledge her justifications for pursuing her case as hard as she did. She had never once truly believed that Alex could've been the killer, though. As angry as she was with him initially, it was never completely over the fact that he was dishonest with her. But then what was she mad at him for? That was the tough question she had to answer once she got there.

Standing now, before Alex Rodgers, she wasn't sure the answer she came up with was good enough. So instead, she went with the first thing she could think of that might allow her to stall.

"There's a story about a little kid who keeps shredding paper." The minute those words were out of her mouth, she wanted so badly to facepalm them back into her head. Judging by the confused, almost worried look on Alex's face, she could tell he was probably half a phone call away from having her escorted out of his hotel room in a straight jacket. But, she had already committed to the first inane thought that passed through her head so she might as well see it through, for risk of looking even more insane if she just stopped right then.

"The little kid, who keeps shredding paper—his parents take him to all kinds of doctors to get him to stop shredding paper. And finally, they take him to the most expensive doctor in the world who turns to the kid and says, 'Kid, if you stop shredding paper, your parents will stop dragging you to doctors.' And the kid turns to his parents and says, 'Why didn't you just say so?'"

What the hell is she saying to Alex Rodgers? She could feel the words leaving her mouth in a rush and that noise most definitely sounds like her voice, but a part of her feels like she's having an out of body experience. If only she could reach out and slap that person standing there, idiotically reciting some story she had heard somewhere irrelevantly, but now of all times, thought it would serve as the perfect transition to her trying to bare her heart out.

"Well, alright, then," Alex responded, almost dismissively.

Oh my god, Kate, get it together. Kate could tell she was starting to lose Alex. Honestly, she was a little surprised he hadn't already kicked her out.

"The point of the story is that the kid could make himself happy by just stopping. I think that's the point. I don't know. I've been trying to figure it out. But I guess that doesn't matter. I mean it does. I don't know. I—"

"Kate! What's are you trying to say?" he asked, but she heard the implied what are you still doing here and blabbing your mouth off like a crazy person?

With a frustrated sigh, she ran her hand over her face. Clearly, her random story wasn't enough to get Alex to understand that this was her "stopping" or giving up on her anger towards him and his involvements in her case. So she tried again, this time with more truth, like her father suggested. It took her the rest of her afternoon and a lot of tossing and turning last night to settle on what she figured must be the root of her problems—she just didn't know how to get him to her same conclusions without dragging him through all the rubble of her deliberations. But her father's last words were hitting her again and indeed, all she had to remember was that the truth was her weapon to wield. If Alex decided not to accept what she had to say, then she had done all she could. It was now or never.

"I'm sorry. But I'm also not, and I want you to understand why. I don't expect much, but I do hope you can give me a chance to explain myself. I don't want to give up without trying."

That was the best she could come up with. So there she stood, on bated breath, waiting for his response, that would determine exactly what she might be giving up: her "truth" or their relationship.

What the hell is going on? That was all he could think as Kate started rambling on about some story that he could not for all his knowledge and experience working with the craft figure out. Something about a boy shredding paper and being happy once he stopped? What is going on?!

He really wanted to know the answer to that question. For such an assertive person, he was surprised that Kate was taking so long to get to her point. A part of him almost found the whole situation amusing. This was a new side to Kate that he hadn't yet seen; it was kind of adorable how flustered she was. But then he remembered that he was still supposed to be upset with her, and that was just all kinds of confusing, although by that point, he was kind of over it. Especially now the press conference was done and settled, he felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. The world knew that he was Richard Castle and he accepted that. He wasn't hiding from it anymore. So why should he still hold on to his so-called anger to hide against confronting his issues with Kate? He didn't want the weight of their relationship, whatever it was, to replace what he just managed to relieve himself of. It was time he took charge and steered this in the direction he needed it to go. Which, speaking of, why were they still standing just in front of his hotel door? Where are my manners?

"Okay, before you continue, why don't we move this somewhere slightly more comfortable than this conversation is bound to be?"

He doesn't know if it was his question or honesty that shocked Kate more—did she not expect him to hear her out?—but she remained stock still by his entryway. Sighing further, Alex decided to just model the behavior for her, figuring she would follow. He was set on hearing her out, but that didn't mean he wanted to have an entire conversation standing by the door, just for her to bolt half way through if she started second-guessing him or her choices. He'd already made up his mind and he was committed to it. Time to find out where they stood.

So he turned into the mini living room directly facing the door and sat down on the plush couch situated in the middle of the room. His movement must have been the push Kate needed because not a few heartbeats passed before she was right behind him. She hesitated a moment once they reached the sitting area, but eventually settled on the chair perpendicular to his couch instead of the available spot next to him.

That minor hesitation though was the last he would see from Kate for quite a while because once they were both seated and more or less comfortable, Kate immediately launched into it all, head first.