Hello all of my wonderful readers and reviewers! As promised and to make up for my unexpected illness-related writing delay, as well as the unforgivable brevity of the last chapter, here it is, in record time: Chapter 6!
Now there have been some questions about timeline, and I'll be honest, when I first started this thing, I hadn't really intended for it to grow quite as much as it has – which means, I hadn't really thought about a timeframe. I was reading a fic recently (and for the life of me can't remember who wrote it or what it was called – I'm so sorry!) but it had suggested that Kate and Josh had broken up months before and that she had been lying to Castle about it because of pride – and the idea kinda worked for me (imagine that) – so I've decided to set this fic in that universe – We are between 3X12 and 3X13 – so no spoilers to worry about and neither Josh nor Gina are an issue.
Now – onto the fic!
Disclaimer: Really? Is it really necessary that I write one of these at the beginning of every chapter? Probably not – but it allows me to put out a little snark with every new chapter, and really, where would I be without my snark? )
Hearing the snicker of amusement from the ME's departing form, Kate weakly tries to free herself from Castle's surprisingly strong grip. "I can't breathe, Castle," she whispers, taking shallow breaths.
"Oh sorry!" he chirps, entirely too happy for someone in his condition. Or someone in mine, she thinks to herself ruefully.
Ultimately, he loosens his arms enough for her to breathe, but she quickly realises that expecting him to outright let her go is not going to be an option that night. Thinking back on the care that he had shown her throughout her illness, and his, she thinks, she finds that she's not all that concerned with pushing him away. Together they fall back asleep.
Chapter 6
When Lanie woke up for the last time the next morning, she was grateful to see that it was because of the sunlight peaking in through the windows of her friend's apartment, and not because one of her rather difficult 'patients' was once again out of bed. Groaning as she rolled over on the less-than-comfortable couch, she reached for her phone on the table to see the time, relieved that, while it wasn't ridiculously early, she wasn't yet late for work.
Work.
That thought made her flop back onto the couch, groaning. Rubbing her eyes, she felt like she had just worked a triple shift courtesy of the drug-induced hallucinations of the two who finally seemed to be sleeping peacefully in the other room. She had to admit though – the sheer level of entertainment, not to mention the stories she was going to have to share with Esposito and Ryan, very nearly made up for her lack of sleep…almost.
Smiling at the memory of Kate chasing pink bunnies down the hallway at two in the morning, her musings were interrupted by the bunny-chaser herself shuffling into the living room and plopping herself down on the couch, right on top of her legs.
"Jesus, Kate! " she cried out in pain, bolting up and snatching her legs out from underneath her friend's behind, "just because you haven't eaten a decent meal in three days doesn't mean you don't weigh anything."
"You know, Lanie," she said, her voice still hoarse, though considerably stronger than it had been in days, seemingly unaware of her friend's outburst, or her pain for that matter, "I'm feeling a lot better. I think I'm going to head into the precinct later."
Lanie just stared at her friend as though she had grown a second head. "You're joking, right?" she asked flatly, unimpressed that she was going to have to have this conversation three minutes after waking up from what amounted to only a few hours of sleep. If that.
Kate just turned to look at her friend as though she didn't know what she was talking about. Seeing that she was going to have a fight on her hands, Lanie decided not to hold back any punches.
"You do realise that you spent most of the night either chasing bunnies down the hallway or building theory with Castle's puke-bucket, right?"
"I did not!"
"Oh yes you did, girl, and I have the video to prove it," Lanie smirked, knowing that she had the upper hand as Kate eyed the ME's cellphone on the table like one would a venomous spider, blushing profusely, her eyes wide. "Besides," she continued, going for the coup de grâce, "who's going to watch over Castle? I have to go to work in a couple of hours, and I'm not sick."
Seeing Kate's shoulders slump in defeat, she knew that it was a low blow, playing on her friend's guilt for getting Castle sick in the first place, but she couldn't let her friend throw herself back into her gruelling work schedule when she was only just starting to recover from what had been a very bad case of the flu. She was just grateful that between her own precautions, her iron-clad immune system courtesy of her residency days in paediatrics, and the fact that she took far better care of herself than her friend did, that she wasn't likely to get sick herself.
"Can I at least go out and get some food?" she asked sighing, "there's nothing to eat here and I am a little hungry."
"No need," Lanie smiled, relishing in her small victory and nodding towards the kitchen, "do you really think that I would come armed to the teeth with drugs but not bring any food? Really Kate, when did you start to think so little of me?"
Following Lanie into the kitchen, albeit at a significantly slower pace than usual, she was surprised to find that not only was her fridge fully stocked with fresh fruits and vegetables, but on the counter sat an assortment of teas and crackers that would appeal to even the most wretched of flu sufferers.
"Lanie," she started, a little breathless from the walk, "you really shouldn't have—"
"Don't you even start with me," the shorter woman cut her off, "just because you're feelin' all better and shit this morning doesn't mean that you can't accept the help of your friends."
Finding herself at a loss for words at the ME's bluntness, Kate sat herself down at the table while Lanie puttered around the kitchen getting a bagel in the toaster for each of them and putting on the kettle for tea.
"Besides," she continued, waggling her eyebrows a little, "you certainly seemed happy to have Castle around to make you feel better."
"Lanie!"
"What?" she asked, raising an eyebrow, daring the other woman to refute her argument. "Don't you even try to pretend that you don't have feelings for that man in there. You know it. I know it. And by now, most of the 12th knows it. The man just spent three days taking care of your sorry ass, even after he got sick himself. Don't you think it's time that you stopped pretending that things aren't what they are?"
Hanging her head in her hands, shaking her head back in forth a little to clear her thoughts, she struggled to come to terms with her own feelings. She knew that what Lanie had just said was true, she was well past trying to deny it.
"Of course he makes you feel alive. But eventually you know he's just gonna to let you down."
"You have no idea how hard it is to love someone when you know they're gonna break your heart."
"So why risk it?"
"Cause the heart wants what the heart wants."
She knew now. She had always known, really. If Castle's actions these last few days couldn't settle the fear that lived in her heart every day since her mother died, nothing ever would.
Lifting her head from her hands, the words of acknowledgment died in her throat seeing Castle slowly stumbling toward the kitchen, his face pale and drawn.
Seeing her friend's change of focus, Lanie quickly turned to see what had caught her eye. "Castle! What are you doing out of bed?" she barked, softening her tone by approaching the man in question and helping him get to the free chair across the table from Kate.
"Something smelled good," he whined plaintively. "I'm hungry."
The look he gave the two women would have worked on anyone else. Unfortunately for him, however, the two women in question were completely impervious to the sad puppy dog eyes and it wasn't long before he was looking down at a package of saltines instead of the delicious smelling bagel that Kate was currently pecking away at on her own plate.
"Suck it up, Castle," Lanie grinned, "or do you really want to spend another day curled up on the bathroom floor?"
Pouting as he tore into one of the saltines, he tried once again to appeal to the ME's sense of compassion. "But Lanie, you could just give another one of those amazing pills and then I could eat a proper breakfast to restore my strength."
"Nuh uh, Castle," she answered him shaking her head, trying to steel herself against the pleading look in his eyes. Damn he's good at that! she thought to herself. How the hell does Kate stay immune? Out loud she replied, "if you think I'm spending the night here again putting your butt back into bed every time you feel the need to go chasing double rainbows or calling your puke-bucket 'Alexis', you got another thing coming."
Looking at Beckett who was trying her hardest to hide a grin, she just nodded, "it's true, Castle."
Now it was his turn to plop his head down in his hands, the sudden movement causing his nose to start running uncontrollably. Seeing his predicament, Kate reached back on the kitchen counter to grab the box of tissues, handing him a wad.
Grabbing them gratefully, he blew his nose for what would not be the last time that day. Or that week, for that matter.
"Could we not pass that little tidbit on to Alexis?" he groaned, still sniffling.
Deciding to take pity on the sick man, at least for now, both women exchanged a look and then nodded. Reaching out to touch his hand, Kate waited until she had his attention before speaking. "Speaking of, you should probably call the real Alexis," she smirked a little, though it didn't quite reach her tired eyes.
Nodding and grabbing the saltines and tissues, he slowly made his way back to the bedroom, where his phone lay on the nightstand.
Once he was gone, Kate looked directly at her friend and said, "you're right, Lanie. I owe him the truth. Just, not right now. I don't want this to be because we're sick or because I feel like I either owe him for taking care of me or that I feel guilty because I got him sick too. And I don't want him to think that either."
Sighing, Lanie knew her friend was right. Accepting her answer for the time being, she looked at the clock over the stove and realised that if she didn't get going she was going to be late for work. Despite the interesting night that the trio had just had, she knew that she could leave the two of them to each other's care. Leaving a couple of extra pills for Castle, in case the nausea returned, she left specific instructions with Kate and, once she was as sure as she could be that her friend would actually follow them and take care of herself too, she gathered up her belongings and headed out the door.
"I'll come back and check on the two of you tonight on my way home. Promise me you'll at least try to take it easy."
Nodding at her friend, she closed and locked the door behind her. Left alone, she realised just how tired she was and decided that maybe Lanie had been right and that she should just take it easy. Heading back into the bedroom, she found Castle propped up against a stack of pillows rasping into the phone. Seeing the detective enter the room, he stopped the tirade of whoever was on the other side and handed the phone in her direction.
"It's Alexis," he mumbled by way of explanation, his eyes drifting shut, "she wants to talk to you."
Sitting beside him on the bed, she grabbed the phone from him and lifted it to her ear. "Hi Alexis," she spoke softly, smiling.
"Oh god! Kate!" the teenager began, "are you ok?"
"I'm ok, Alexis," she quickly reassured the girl, "thanks to your dad," she smiled in the direction of the man in question.
"What about my dad?" she asked, anxiously, "he says that he's feeling ok, but I don't really believe him, since you know how men are, and they always try to say they're ok when we all know that they're really not, and you know, if he was really ok then he would just come home, unless you're not really ok, but you said you were ok, and I really wish that I could come over and see you."
Kate Beckett found herself staring mutely at the phone in her hand, trying to make sense of the barrage of worry that the poor girl had just unleashed upon her. Pulling herself together, she decided that the girl deserved the truth, the same as she herself expected from the people she cared about.
"Alexis," she began, "I need you to understand that while your dad and I are sick, we're both going to be ok. Your dad got it a bit worse than me, since he spent yesterday throwing up, but we've got him on some medication and he's been doing a lot better. Dr. Parish was here all night taking care of both of us, and she made sure that we have food and medication. I promise you, Alexis, I won't let anything happen to your dad."
The teenager, sighing with relief and trying to cover a sniffle, simply answered, "thank you, Kate. Please let me know what's happening. I just want my dad back."
"I know you do," she smiled, glad that she had allayed the girl's anxiety for the time being. "Don't you worry though, he'll be back to his normal, annoying and overbearing self in no time—"
"Hey!"
"Sorry Castle, it's true and you know it," she smirked at the man next her who was trying his best to level a glare of outrage in her direction and failing miserably.
Hearing her dad trying to stick up for himself, albeit pathetically, Alexis smiled for the first time that day and hung up the phone.
"She's worried about her dad," Kate said, putting the phone back down on the nightstand. "You can't really blame her. Not knowing is always the worst part."
Meeting his gaze, she saw understanding and gratitude in his eyes. Surprised at just how much they could communicate without saying a word, she found herself shuffling closer to him under the blankets. Wrapping his arms around her and gathering her against his chest, he stared out the bedroom window, his mind wandering.
"Castle?"
"Hmmmm?"
"Don't you dare snot in my hair."
SIDENOTE
Okay, lest I be judged too harshly should this chapter seem a little disjointed – you should all know that as I was in the middle of writing, a GIANT bug of unknown origin (thankfully not a cockroach, I would've moved out) started crawling across my floor. Suffice it to say, all the beautiful plans I had for this chapter went straight out the window as I sat on my couch staring in sheer horror at that thing as it continued to crawl across my floor! Like it belonged there! The nerve!
Frozen in place in disgust and horror, I tracked its movements until, thankfully, my boyfriend came home and got rid of it for me (and by got rid of it, I mean he trapped it one of my drinking glasses, which will never be drunk from again, and released outside so it can procreate, raise an army, and return en masse to invade my apartment).
END OF SIDENOTE
A HUGE thank you to all my reviewers – you are my heart and soul! A very special thank you goes out to sarahlovesa – you were my 100th reviewer! And truly, thank you for your wonderful words!
Another big thank you goes out to No Mere Mortal – I look forward to hearing more from you!
And for all of you who picked up the less-than-subtle double rainbow reference – I realise that I let you all down – after I posted, I noticed I had the perfect opportunity to put a 'shiny' reference in too and I missed it! *hangs head in shame*
Again, to those of you who have been with me since the start – you are a growing list and I heart you all for your support and your continued reading!