Chapter 2: The Breakup

Kate knocks softly on his door, needing to talk to him but not wanting to wake anyone in his house up at the late hour. Castle opens the door shortly after she knocks. "Kate… hey. What are…?" he notices the sad expression on her face, and his voice trails off. "What's wrong?" he asks, gently taking her hand and pulling her inside.

"We broke up."

"I'm sorry," he tries to pull her in for a hug.

"I shouldn't have come over here," she shakes her head. "You probably think I'm a terrible person, telling you that I want to be with you and then being so upset about breaking up with my boyfriend."

"It's okay, Kate. He seemed like a decent guy, and I'm sure you liked him and didn't want to hurt him."

"He broke up with me," she whispers.

"Oh… Kate…" he doesn't know what to do so he embraces her, not letting her refuse this time.

"I was going to break up with him. I just didn't know how to do it; there really wasn't much of a reason for me to break up with him, and I couldn't tell him that it was so I could be with you," she rambles, finally accepting his hug.

"Why did he do it?"

"You." She sighs, and he patiently waits for her to explain. "He was jealous because we spend so much time together. At first it was easy for me to tell him there was nothing going on but… after last week, I couldn't deny it anymore. And he thinks I've been distant for the past few weeks, and I guess I have since I haven't told him about my mother."

"Maybe it's for the best, Kate. That way you didn't have to lie to him."

She nods and pulls back, "Maybe."

He notices her red eyes and the wet streaks on her cheeks. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Water is fine."

While she goes to sit on the couch, he gets a glass of water for her and a box of tissues. She gives him a grateful smile as he sits beside her. "Do you need anything else? We have leftovers from dinner if you're hungry."

"We ate before it happened, but thanks. I'm not… interrupting anything, I am?"

"No, I was just writing," he gestures to the laptop on the table. "Alexis and Mother are already in bed."

"Sorry for distracting you."

He shakes his head quickly, "You're not a distraction. Besides, I kind of got stuck."

"Anything I can help with?"

"Nikki and Rook are fighting, but what I've written just doesn't sound right. I'll come back to it tomorrow and maybe inspiration will strike." They sit silently for a few moments before Castle opens his mouth again, "I'm surprised you didn't go to the precinct to work on the case."

"I didn't want to be alone," she says quietly.

"You can stay tonight if you want. It'd probably be better than driving home."

"I took a cab."

"Oh… well, you can still stay. I've got a guest room," he offers, not wanting her to feel pressured by saying she could stay in his room with him.

She looks at him for a long moment, "Can I stay with you?"

"Sure."

"No funny business?"

"You can handcuff me if you'd like to be sure of that."

"Somehow I think that will just lead to more funny business."

"Then I promise to keep my hands to myself," he says, offering a hand to help her up. She accepts it and allows him to lead her to his bedroom. "You want something more comfortable to sleep in? My stuff will be a little big on you, but I can go up to Alexis's room and get something."

"I'm fine."

"You really want to sleep in jeans?"

"I'm fine," she repeats. "Beside, it'll be harder for you to try anything if I keep them on."

"Not really, Detective. I'm very good at removing clothes," he smirks.

Kate bites her lip nervously, "Castle…"

"Sorry," he quickly realizes his mistake. "I shouldn't have said that."

"It's fine. I want a relationship with you, Castle; I really do. But I'm not ready yet."

"I know. And I'll patiently be waiting for you to be ready."

"Patiently?" she looks skeptical of the words Castle and patience being used together.

"Or not so patiently. But I'll still wait until you're ready. I want to do things right."

"Thanks," she meets his eye. "That means a lot to me."

"I don't want to mess things up, Kate," he leans forward, but she backs away from him.

"Castle…"

"I was just going to kiss your cheek."

"Oh."

"But if you really don't want me to…"

She rolls her eyes, "Fine, Castle. But nothing more."

This time she doesn't pull back when he leans forward. He presses his lips to her skin and puts his arms around her. "Thanks."

"For what?" she whispers back.

"For at least allowing me that much."

While Castle goes to the bathroom to change, she sets the alarm on her phone and gets comfortable in his bed. He comes out, turns the lights off, and climbs in next to her, unsure as to whether he should make some sort of contact with her.

"I'm not going to shoot you, Castle," she finally tells him. He scoots closer to her, and she rests her head on his chest.

"There's… one other thing you should probably know, Kate. Especially if you're still going to be here in the morning."

"What?" she tilts her head to look up at him.

"I… kind of explained the whole situation to Alexis. She asked because she knew I kissed you, and I didn't want to lie to her. I'm sure she won't tell anyone so we can still keep it a secret for however long you want when we actually start dating. But she… may attack you in the morning if you're still here."

"Attack me?" she looks somewhat nervous, and he grins at this.

"Yeah, with a hug. She was pretty excited about it."

"Oh… thanks for the warning I guess." Kate hesitates, "She's not going to think things are actually moving forward with us if I'm here in the morning, will she?"

"At first, probably. But I'll talk to her."

"Won't it be… awkward for her to know that we've slept together?"

"Nothing's happening."

"But still…"

"She's not going to judge you, Kate. You needed a friend. That's all," he rubs soothing circles on her back. "Besides, you're the most acceptable woman I've been with; there's no reason for her to think otherwise."

"Okay…"

"Kate, I don't think there's a thing you could do that would make my daughter not like you. The press, on the other hand…"

"I don't even want to think about that yet, Castle." She closes her eyes, but seconds later lifts her head up to look at him, "Wait, why won't the press like me?"

"Because you're taking away one of New York's most eligible bachelors. And they don't really like anyone; they just like to expose their secrets."

"Great."

"I'm going to do my best to keep them from you, Kate. When you're ready, we'll meet with Paula and discuss the best way to handle things with the press."

"Thank you."

"I want this to be as painless as possible for you."

She smiles, "You and painless don't go together, Castle."

He sighs, "Then what would you say?"

"I appreciate everything you're trying to do to make this easier, Castle, but… I'm a private person. I don't like to share every bit of my life like you do. And it's going to take some getting used to; no matter what you do, that's not going to change."

"I'm starting to regret basing a character on you."

"Really?"

"Well, not the whole getting to follow you around part. But I should've asked you about basing a character off of you. I tried to change things for Nikki but all I can think about when I'm writing is you, and I don't want to change anything."

"Castle…"

"I mean… you're just so extraordinary, and I want to share you with the world. I just want Nikki to do you justice."

Kate gently presses her lips to his in a short sweet kiss.

When she pulls back, he studies her, confused. "What was that for?"

"For being you. You aggravate me so much, but then you can be so thoughtful. Honestly, Castle… Rick, you're one of the most amazing guys I've ever met, and I'm so grateful that I have you in my life."

Rick, unable to stop himself, kisses her again, this one lasting a little longer before he is conscious of what he is doing and pulls away. "Kate… I…"

"Don't say anything, Castle."

"Okay."

She lays her head back down on his chest, curling up against his side once more. "Night, Castle."

"Until tomorrow, Detective." He lightly kisses the top of her head, rubbing patterns on her back again while she falls asleep. Meanwhile he is busy ingraining the past few minutes in his mind forever and coming up with ideas for a love scene between Nikki and Rook in one of his future books.

A/N: Thanks to those of you who reviewed last chapter; I kind of forgot to reply because I waited until the last minute to study for my two exams for the past couple days. Hope you're all still enjoying this. I'll post chapter 3 Monday sometime. Thanks.