A/N: I know this is shorter than usual. The original plan was for it to be much longer, but I felt that the aftermath of the events that took place last chapter should stand on its own. Even though something relatively big happens in this one, it is also something of a bridge. Next chapter will be the beggining of the second part of this story and it just felt right to have this interlude before what is going to happen next. Hope you'll still enjoy it.

Disclaimer: If Castle was mine, those two would've jumped each other a long time ago.

Someone Like You

Chapter 16

"Rick?"

Tyler's voice brought him out of his thoughts. He was still holding a sleeping Kate in his arms and – he realized as he checked his phone – had been for the past hour. She had finally succumbed to exhaustion after the rollercoaster of emotions she had experienced that day. Kissing her temple, he gently laid her down on her bed, pulling the comforter over her sleeping form. When she didn't stir, he brushed her hair away from her face and whispered his feelings for her as he pressed a kiss against her hair.

"Is she okay?" Tyler asked him apprehensively and he nodded, guiding the boy out of the room with a hand on his shoulder.

"She is going to be fine, buddy. Don't worry." He assured him as they walked into the kitchen. "You hungry? Want me to make you some dinner?" He asked, after realizing it was almost 8pm and the boy probably hadn't had anything to eat since Kate took him out to get a hot chocolate.

"A little." He nodded, sitting at the kitchen table and bit his lip in an exact replica of his mother. "Did she tell you what happened?" he asked hesitantly, brushing his hair away from his forehead impatiently, while Rick started to look around for something to cook in. "The pans are in there." Tyler pointed to the cupboard under the sink.

"Thanks, Ty. Want to help me?" he offered with a small smile and he shrugged, that sad look still lingering on his face. They worked silently for a few minutes as Rick expertly made him some mac and cheese. "I think she'll tell you everything soon enough, Ty. It's not my place to have this conversation with you." He finally said, after thinking it over how he could skirt the boy's questions. He didn't know how Kate was going to handle this; had no idea if she was going to tell Tyler about Josh's true identity or not.

"But I won't tell anyone." He insisted, looking up at him after drying his hands on a dish cloth. "I kept your secret, didn't I? I didn't tell her you love her because you told me not to."

"I know, buddy, I know. And I appreciate that. But just like I'll tell her when I'm ready, she'll do the same with you, I promise." He served some mac and cheese onto two plates and put them on the table.

"She was so sad, Rick. I don't like seeing my mom sad." He sat at the table and started picking at his food with the fork, pushing it around the plate.

"Neither do I, Tyler." He murmured, mostly to himself. "Come on, buddy. You gotta eat."

"Who was that guy? Was he the one who made her cry?" Tyler kept pushing and Rick sighed heavily. He understood the boy's concern. He really did. But it was just not his choice whether Tyler found out about Josh or not. That was solely in Kate's hands.

"I can tell you this much. From what your mom told me, he was someone who hurt her feelings really bad a long time ago and she hadn't seen him in years." He explained and hoped Tyler would leave it at that. The boy nodded, thoughtfully and started eating his dinner, forehead scrunched up in deep thought.

"Is he going to hurt her again?" he asked quietly after a few minutes and Rick reached out, touching his shoulder comfortingly.

"I'll do everything in my power to stop him from hurting her again." He said earnestly and Tyler nodded, letting out a heavy sigh.

"Okay. Thanks, Rick." He told him seriously, which just endeared him even more to Rick. He really admired the strength of the child's love for his mother and his willingness to protect her from harm. "Mom, you're awake." He looked up, over Rick's shoulder. Rick looked behind him and found Kate leaning against the wall at the entrance of the hallway that led to the two bedrooms of the apartment.

"Hi, guys." She said quietly and made her way into the kitchen. Rick watched her closely, searching her eyes when her gaze locked on his. "Hi, baby." She murmured when she reached Tyler and leaned down to kiss his forehead.

"You okay, mom?" he asked, concerned and she ran her hand through his hair, nodding.

"I'm getting there. Thanks for taking care of me, my little man. I'm so proud of you." She kissed his hair again, lingering for a few seconds, before looking up at Rick. The small smile she sent his way said a lot more than her words ever could. "I see you guys made dinner." She walked over to the cupboard over the sink and took out a plate, serving some mac and cheese for herself. As she made her way back to the table, her hand squeezed Rick's shoulder. He knew she couldn't say anything with Tyler there, but her gesture conveyed the message.

A couple of hours later, Kate put a much calmer Tyler to bed. They had managed to distract him with board games, but Rick knew she was making an effort to make everything look normal for her son. He could see it in her eyes, though, that she was still hurting and that she would hurt for a while yet. The emotional damage Josh caused in her ran a lot deeper than he had expected, even all these years later.

When she returned to the living room, she simply reached out her hand to him, pulling him up from the couch, and led him back to her bedroom. Closing the door behind her, Rick wrapped his arms around her when she immediately pulled him into a hug.

"I don't even know what to say." She murmured in his ear, hugging him tighter. "I just… thank you." She breathed and he pulled away slightly to look at her, his hand caressing her cheek.

"I just don't want you to hurt like that." He said quietly, touching her lips with his. "I can't stand to see you hurting."

"Thanks for not telling Tyler about Josh." She tucked her head into the crook of his neck and breathed him in.

"Not my secret to tell." He whispered, his arms tightening around her, his love for her threatening to spill out of his lips. Then he realized she had most likely overheard their conversation earlier and his stomach suddenly felt like it was in knots. She pulled away and rested her forehead on his. "How much of that did you hear?" he asked curiously.

"Enough." She told him, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "I don't know what I did to deserve you."

"Right back at you, detective." He smiled back and pressed a lingering kiss to her lips.

"Can you stay?" She asked quietly after a while. "I don't want to be alone tonight." She admitted and sucked in a shaky breath.

"Of course. Just let me call my mother so she can stay with Alexis." He tucked her hair behind her ear lovingly and kissed her nose.

He called Martha and explained the situation without giving many details and watched Kate's movements as she got ready for bed. Ending the call, he took off his shoes and jeans, and got into bed with her. She immediately rolled onto her side, her head on his shoulder and wrapped an arm around his stomach. He turned his head and kissed her forehead, his arm soothingly running up and down her back. She leaned up and kissed his lips, sucking on his bottom lip gently.

"I love you too, you know." She whispered, resting her forehead on his. "I really, really do."

He closed his eyes and allowed her words to wash over him. He suddenly found himself unable to speak, so he just pulled her closer until she was lying on top of him and hugged her tightly, his breath mingling with hers. She seemed to understand his actions (as she always did) and just nuzzled his neck, pressing a kiss to his skin.

They stayed wrapped in each other's arms like that for a few minutes until he turned his head and kissed her cheek.

"I love you." He whispered in her ear, his voice finally returning, but her breath had evened out already.

She had fallen asleep.

Kate woke up to her alarm the following morning. Stretching lazily, she grabbed her phone to turn the blaring sound off and check the time. It was already 6:30 and she groaned inwardly. She had slept through the first alarm apparently and now she couldn't even enjoy an extra ten-minute nap, snuggled into Rick's side. With a sigh, she rubbed the sleep off her eyes and turned to her side to look at Rick, who was still fast asleep. The world could be ending and the man wouldn't wake up, she thought with an amused smile.

Sitting up, she allowed herself a moment to watch him sleep. He looked like a little boy, so completely different from the concerned man she had seen the night before.

He loved her.

This was probably entirely too soon to be feeling like this, but God help her, she loved him right back. She had never thought she could feel this intensely for someone so quickly, but Rick had proved her wrong. She used to be so jaded after her horrible experience with Josh that she spent years thinking that real love didn't exist; that was it was something that belonged in a Hollywood romantic comedy, but never happened in real life. Or if it did, it would most certainly never happen to her. She was cursed, damaged, broken. Irreparable.

Love – real, honest to God love - was something that she had thought she would never be able to experience. And deep down, she wasn't even sure she wanted to. The deeper you felt for someone, the harder the fall would be when that person left. She had learned that when her mother was murdered, even though she knew and understood that it hadn't been her fault. Josh, on the other hand, had been one hell of a reality check.

But Rick had made her fall for him, fast and hard. It had been about six weeks since that day at the hospital. Six weeks. And yet, here they were and she honestly could not imagine her life without him anymore. How twisted was that, she wondered to herself, tracing the contour of his face with her finger. Leaning down, she pressed a quick kiss to his cheek and got out of bed, making her way to the bathroom. She would have to wake up Tyler for school soon, but she could let him sleep a few more minutes while she got ready for work.

After taking a quick shower, she returned to her room to pick out an outfit. Once she was dressed, she stopped in front of the mirror and bit her lip. Even with makeup on, she still looked tired, she realized, biting her lip.

"You look beautiful." A sleepy voice said behind her and she turned around to find Rick lying on his stomach, hugging her pillow with a small smile playing on his lips. She smiled back and shook her head.

"Morning, sleepyhead." She leaned down and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

"Sleepyhead? It's not even" he reached out and grabbed his phone from the nightstand. "It's not even 7, Kate. Lemme sleep." He threw the phone on the bed and hugged her pillow again, closing his eyes.

"I didn't wake you up, Mr. Castle." She grinned at him and tried to turn away to return to the mirror for a last once over, but he held onto her hand, pulling her down onto the bed.

"Morning." He tugged on her hand until she leaned down enough that he could capture her lips with his. "You okay?" he asked, tucking her hair behind her ear, his hand lingering on her neck afterwards. She nodded and nuzzled into his hand.

"Almost there." She murmured as he played with her hair. "Thanks for staying, for taking care of me and Ty." He nodded with slight smile and pulled her down to him again.

"I love you." He whispered in her ear, placing a kiss on her neck. "I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat."

She couldn't fight the smile at his words and pulled him into a deep kiss, trying to pour into it all the avalanche of feelings that were bubbling up inside of her. He made her feel again. That in itself was one hell of an accomplishment in her book.

He made her happy.

"Love you too." She said breathlessly against his lips and pulled away, only to gravitate back to him for another kiss. "And I need to finish getting ready and wake up Tyler for school." She said after a minute with a hand in his chest to hold him down to the bed.

"You're no fun." He pouted and she rolled her eyes at him, standing up.

"You can get a few more minutes of sleep if you want. We're not leaving for another forty minutes at least." She told him and he took hold of her hand before she could go very far, placing a kiss on her skin.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked and she could see the concern in his eyes.

"I will be. Yesterday was just… hard, you know?" she squeezed his hand, not eve wanting to think about it. "But Tyler is here and you're here…" she trailed off and looked away. "I'll be fine, eventually." She finished and he held her gaze for a moment, before pressing his lips to her skin again.

She offered him a small smile and hoped it conveyed how grateful she was to have him in her life.

A/N: Thoughts?