Ok so first and foremost I want to give a big, no HUGE, shoutout to BetweenTwoWorlds! This girl helped me soooo much! The last part of this story would not be nearly as good if it weren't for her! So, once again, thanks! :)

Here it is, CHAPTER 4 :)


Night Into Dawn and Beyond: Chapter 4

Castle sat as his desk staring at a blank computer screen. Kate hesitated before she walked into the room. She had no idea what she was going to say to him. She had to go in though, she had to work things out with him. Establish where they both stood when it came to their relationship. She slowly stepped in, closing the door behind her.

Castle didn't bother to look up. He had hoped that she would come by, but quite honestly, he wasn't sure if she would. He had so many feelings that he had kept bottled up, in fear of scaring her off. He couldn't keep them in any longer. He cared about her too much. Love? Well that was a big responsibility that came along in any relationship. He couldn't say if he had reached that place yet or not, but he could definitely see their relationship getting there. If only she would let him.

"Castle." He heard Kate's voice echo in the room, invading into his thoughts. Only then did he look up, meeting her eyes. She might as well get it out there. "I wanted to talk about what happened at the precinct."

Still, he said nothing.

Kate continued, "I was wrong to have lied about our relationship. But you have to understand where I'm coming from. I'm not ready for our relationship to be open. I'm not ready for everyone at the precinct to know. It has nothing to do with you, but it has everything to do with my job. It has everything to do with the reputation I wish to maintain at work."

"How could being in a relationship with me ruin your reputation?"

"Not ruin my reputation, but it could hurt it. Don't you see how being in a relationship with you could skew my judgment?"

"No more as it would now. Either way we're still in a relationship, private or not."

"But it could make other's question my decisions. Haven't you ever heard 'never mix work with pleasure'? People might start doubting my procedures and protocols by wondering if I'm more focused on my relationship, rather than my career. Or if we get into a fight and it carries over to work. You can't say that everything will stay the same at work, because it won't."

"The thing that I don't understand is that you obviously don't want our relationship to be public, you don't want anyone at work to know. Tell me then, Kate. What do you want? Do you even want us to keep seeing each other? Does that even matter to you? You say you don't want people at work to know because of your reputation, would you rather me stop following you around? Will that give me the chance to be with you? Jesus Christ, Kate! Just tell me, what do I have to do?"

His words hurt her, but she had to stay strong, she had to fight her point, she could not let her guard down.

"I just want things to be simple! I can't handle complicated right now, and you Castle, you're the definition of complicated. Why does everything with you have to be open, have to be known by all? That's all your life is, Castle! Your life's like an open book that anyone can turn to and read! You don't care if the tabloids, newspapers, magazines, or anything else, you don't care to let them into your personal life. You don't care if everyone knows who your hot new fling is or who you're screwing. Can you not see that I'm not like that? That I like to keep my private life what it's meant to be-private?"

"So you want me to give up writing? Can't you tell that I try my best to stay as private as I can be? Besides book signings or red carpet events I'm hardly ever in the tabloids. True, I may have been like that at first. But ever since I've met you Kate…you changed that. You made me realize that fame, that being the hot new "thing", all of that, it doesn't matter."

"Castle, I-"

"Just hear me out." Kate nodded her head giving him the notion to continue. "I've made it clear that I care about you. And over the past couple of weeks, I've shown you that you're more to me than just sex. This isn't a game for me, Kate. I know you think I'm immature when it comes to serious matters such as this. I don't know, maybe you think I'm careless, seeing that I've been married twice and both of them ended in complete failure. I'm not good enough for you, in fact, I probably never will be. But, Kate, all that I'm asking for is a chance. A chance for me to develop deeper and stronger feelings for you, a chance to show you how much I truly care, a chance to show that all of this, what we have, it's not a game to me."

"How can you be so sure that everything would even work? That's a huge risk in itself. I can't take that risk. You may be sure Castle, but me…I'm not."

"Goddamnit Kate! All I'm asking for is just a chance. I want to be in a relationship with you. I think we're good for each other, I think we could end up being something serious. I've been trying to be patient, to give you time and space because I didn't want to rush you or scare you, for that matter. But you have this whole wall of doubts built around you. It's like you're waiting for an excuse, so you can point and say 'There- that right there is why we won't work.' You have to trust someone at some point in your life, Kate. Eventually the walls have to come down for someone, you have to let someone in, and I want to be that someone."

"Did you ever think that those walls are there for a reason Castle? I've been burned too many times to not have those defenses. You're used to hiding behind your books, using your characters to do what you want to do. How can I be sure that you're not just using me to get on top of New York's best sellers list? How can I be sure that you're not just using me as a muse, something to scratch an itch, get ideas from and then leave? That's what you've done with other people your whole life, what makes me any different?"

"Jesus, Kate. If I were using you for a muse do you not think I would have had my way with you and be done with you by now?"

Kate froze. She had seen Castle angry before, but never like this. She had never heard him actually yell at anyone. She turned towards the door.

"Come on, Kate. I didn't mean it like-" But she was gone. She had slammed the door and left his apartment as quickly as she could. "Damnit." Castle muttered to himself.


Yes, I know another cliffhanger...ughhh haha :)

Any one you Lainie fans out there? Well here's a spoiler alert: she might just make her way into Chapter 5 :)

Also, sorry its taking me long to update, even though this is probably the quickest I've updated in about a month...I've been busy reading and correcting other people's stories, and once again, if anyone else needs any ideas, etc... let me know :)

Please Review and let me know what you think :)