When Kate finally got into her house the next day it was just starting to become light outside. The city that never sleeps was now yet again reflecting off of the water nearby and Kate was completely wiped out. Kate pushed open the door to her apartment, and when she glanced at the clock it read 8:01AM. She could hear her alarm going off faintly from her room.
Dropping her bag as she walked into the kitchen, she slid her heels off and tossed them near the shoe rack at the door. Kate ran her fingers through her hair. When she'd cancelled the date Rick and her had planned and reported to the precinct two nights ago, she didn't expect to be starting a 37 hour case.
The only time Kate had been home in the past two nights was to change out of the dress she'd been in for her and Rick's date. The care was hard for her, which was a change. She could usually handle any case; children, wives, husbands, grandparents. She only realized this one was so hard for her once Rick had texted her letting her know that Alexis was feeling much better.
A four year old boy had been found dead in a large space bag, burned and stabbed. She wouldn't tell Rick, but whenever she saw the little boy she couldn't help but imagine him being Alexis. When they'd found out who the killer was, Kate felt her blood run cold and she had to excuse herself for a few minutes.
The father of the boy had killed him because he wanted to spend more time with his wife. He even thought he was doing well for both of them, considering they hadn't had a night out in almost four months. Kate felt sick as she watched the man write his confession, and she even hugged the boy's mother, giving her most sincere apologies.
Kate was just happy to be home now. She fell onto her bed and let out a deep sigh, closing her eyes and cursing loudly when she heard her ringtone from across the room.
"What?" She nearly yelled into the phone, not bothering to look at the caller ID, just angry at whoever was distracting her from sleep.
"Well I'm gonna say your final answer is 'not so good' to the question 'how are you?'" Kate closed her eyes and put a hand over her forehead.
"Rick, I'm sorry, I didn't expect it to be you, I'm sorry." She sighed deeply and he chuckled.
"It's fine, how did the case go?" Kate groaned and leaned against her headboard.
"I just got home. I'm really tired. Do you mind if we talk later?" As if to prove it, a yawn came from Kate's throat and Rick laughed.
"Sure, call me when you wake up."
"Alright," Kate hung up the phone and was asleep before her phone even locked.
Although Kate had only slept for around six hours, she woke up feeling refreshed. She pushed her hair out of her face and stretched her arms above her head. After she relieved herself, she picked up her phone and was surprised to see no messages. She texted Rick, letting him know she was awake and asked how Alexis was doing. When he answered with a simple 'fine' she pressed the talk button on her phone.
"Yeah?"
"Uh, hello to you too. What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Bullshit."
"Excuse me? You've known me for what, a week and a half and you act like you just know me and know when I'm not in a good mood?" Kate was taken aback by him, and she cleared her throat.
"I- fine." Kate pushed her hair back, feeling like she'd just been smacked. "Just.. Call me when you're not in a pissy mood."
"Kate, wait-" She didn't let him finish before she hung up. She didn't need his attitude on her day off and as much as she wanted to help him, she didn't deserve it.
Kate took a quick shower and decided today was a good day to finally pick up the new shoes she's been looking at for weeks now. Rick hadn't tried to contact Kate and she honestly wasn't surprised. If he needed to deal with what he needed to deal with, she wasn't going to stop him. When Kate stopped her car in front of the coffee shop, she got out, humming Piano Man.
Kate threw the door open and stepped inside the small shop, smiling at the woman behind the counter as she ordered. She was leaning against the counter, texting, when she heard her name.
"Kate?" She turned, and opened her mouth to respond but was cut off by the woman behind the counter handing her her coffee. She took it and thanked the woman, turning back to Rick.
"Uh, hi," Kate bit her lip and looked down.
"Kate, I'm sorry, I really am. I know you were just being nice and I treated you like crap, I'm sorry." She sighed and he gestured to a nearby table. Nodding, Kate followed him to the table and they sat across from each other. Just like the first time they'd spent the day together. When she looked around, Kate even noticed that they were sitting at the same table.
"You were kind of a jackass." They shared a laugh and Rick put his hands on the table, looking into her eyes.
"I know. I really am sorry, Kate." Kate looked up and was met with his eyes. She bit her lip and nodded.
"Are you at least going to tell me what was wrong?" Rick rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair.
"Meredith, Alexis' mother, came around today. She wanted to take Alexis out to lunch and I told her that Alexis was still getting over being sick and she just kept asking so I finally said yes but now I'm afraid Alexis is going to come home sick."
"She didn't care that Alexis was sick?"
"No. She never cares about anything but herself." Kate leaned forward and put her hand on his shoulder, smiling a bit. She then stood and looked down at him.
"I have to go get new shoes, I was just going there and I'd like to know what you think." Rick stood and smiled at her, putting his hand on her back and leading her out to her car, since Rick had walked from his apartment.
"You know, we're gonna need to reschedule that date."
When Rick entered his apartment after shopping with Kate, he sighed in relief as Alexis' laugh lingered throughout the apartment. Rick walked into the kitchen where his mother and Alexis were sitting at the table coloring in a few of Alexis' coloring books. He kissed Alexis on the top of her head, and then kissed his mother on her cheek.
"Hello, ladies, having fun without me?" He asked, reaching into the fridge to get a bottle of water.
"Oh, Alexis was just telling me about her new friend, Kate." Rick stopped mid drink, and started coughing. Water spurted from his mouth as he ran to the sink to catch the rest of the water that hadn't made it down his throat. "Oh, so you know her?" Martha rolled her eyes and went back to coloring.
"Uh, how much did she tell you about Kate? Because we aren't together or anything." Rick replied in between coughs.
"No? But I thought the two of you were going on a date the other night?"
"I- We- We were but I- We're not dating, Mother."
"Rick, I didn't ask if you were dating the girl, I simply was telling you that Alexis told me about her." Rick sat down across from her and looked her dead in the eye.
"We're not dating. Sure, she's beautiful and I may be beginning to have feelings for her, but we're not dating as of right now." Martha leaned across the table and patted Rick's cheek.
"I wouldn't judge you even if you were, son."
When Kate had woken up the next morning, she'd expected it to be from a call to head to a scene, or even a call from Rick. She didn't expect to be woken up because of her stomach needing to empty itself. Kate pretty much jumped out of her bed and almost didn't make it to the bathroom, getting there just in time.
Once she finished vomiting, she flushed the toilet, washed her face and her hands, and walked slowly back to her bedroom. She felt dizzy. Really dizzy. Whatever was happening right now was probably from Alexis and a part of her felt bad for Alexis having to feel this.
Kate sat on her bed and reached for her phone, picking it up and noticing it was only around 6AM. Feeling the urge to yet again empty the contents of her stomach, Kate ran out of her bedroom and to the toilet. After a few minutes of just lying on the cool tile bathroom floor, she heard her phone ringing.
"Hello?" She yelled, as if that would actually answer the phone for her. Kate groaned and lifted herself from the floor, basically crawling to where her phone was on the floor, halfway between the bathroom and bedroom.
"Beckett." She answered groggily, trying not to sound too sick if it was a case.
"Jeez, you sound awful." Instead replied a voice she instantly recognized.
"Wow, thanks Rick, that's something I love to hear every time you call me." She could hear Rick laugh as Kate tried to stand, almost, almost making it. She could hear him in the middle of a sentence when she ran back into the bathroom, phone still in her hand, and vomited. Lifting the phone to her ear when she finished, she sighed and laughed a bit.
"I guess now you know why I sound awful."
"Yeah, that was just… I think you should just tell me if you're sick next time, Kate." Kate laughed again and sat up, leaning her head against the wall and her knees pulled tightly to her chest.
"I'm sorry; I didn't know you were going to call." Kate yawned, "It's early."
"Yeah, I'm sorry, I just wanted to see if you had work today but I'm going to take that as a no."
"Ding ding ding, we have a winner Mr. Castle." She heard him laugh this time and let out a giggle of her own.
"I'm gonna let you sleep. Feel better, Kate. I'll call back later." Kate smiled and closed her eyes.
"Thanks, Rick."
About forty-five minutes later, Kate was yet again awoken by something, but this time it wasn't her stomach, it was a knock at her front door. Looking through the peephole, she opened the door and was handed a bouquet of roses. Kate thanked the delivery man and walked into her kitchen, still extremely dizzy. She set the flowers on her table and took out the note attached to them.
'For being a jackass, and for some color in your day other than what you're putting into your toilet. –RC'
Kate grinned from ear to ear and set the card onto the table, but not hesitating to read it at least four more times before doing so.
A/N: WOW! Long chapter! I'm so sorry I haven't updated! I've been extremely busy over the past few days but now that I'm on vacation, it's a lot less stressful. I will also have chapter nine out either tonight, or early tomorrow morning, so I hope you enjoy both!