Disclaimer: I do not own Castle.

Waking up to a tile floor and being drenched in her own sweat wasn't how Kate imagined her morning. Or afternoon. Glancing at her phone and seeing the time was around noon, she groaned. Almost half of her day, wasted on a bathroom floor. As she stood, she tried to walk toward her kitchen but her stomach started doing flips that led her straight back to the toilet. Kate finally resulted to picking up her phone and sending a quick text to Rick.

'How much would I have to pay you for you to run out and get me some flu medicine?'

'Depends on whether or not you're letting me stay.' Kate smiled at his quick response, and thought about actually letting him stay.

'Oh please, you'll drop the meds and run the minute you see how I look.' Kate hadn't even looked in the morning yet, mostly because her stomach wouldn't let her stand up.

'Never.' Kate rolled her eyes and her stomach finally let her at least stand up to take a look at herself. Her hair was sticking up every which way and her shirt might as well have been a cloth to cover her chest. The makeup residue still from yesterday was rubbed across her cheeks, and she could feel her eyes stinging from where the eyeliner and mascara rubbed into her eyes. Oh yeah, he would definitely run.

Ten minutes had gone by and Kate still hadn't answered Rick, so when a knock on her door startled her from her half-sleep, her instincts kicked in and she almost reached for her gun. Standing up and slowly making her way to the door, she opened it after looking in the peephole, hand on her forehead.

"I didn't think you would actually come." Rick laughed and shrugged out of his coat, handing her the bag from Walgreens. She set it on the table and placed both hands on the table to steady herself, feeling a sudden wave of dizziness. She squeezed her eyes shut and silently pleaded for her stomach to keep its contents out of the toilet.

Of course it didn't listen to her.

Kate made a dash to the bathroom, a hand over her mouth. She slammed the door behind her with her foot once she was in and let her stomach empty itself into the bowl for the fifth time that day. She didn't hear a knock, but she heard the bathroom door creak open and when she lifted her head out of the bowl, Rick was kneeling next to her, rubbing her back.

Kate eventually fell back off of the toilet and onto the wall beside her, leaning her head against the wall she closed her eyes. When the tears didn't stop by her closing her eyes, and started blinking rapidly. It was rare that she ever cried, but being sick was one of those rare times. She hated being sick, even when she was a child she would just cry and her mother would hold her. Kate could deal with a cold. Kate could deal with a cough. Vomit? Kate couldn't deal with that.

Rick leaned against the wall next to Kate and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him, her head falling to his shoulder. Still trying to keep her tears at bay, she opened her eyes and whispered,

"Don't you think this is going a little fast?" When Rick laughed, Kate's body jostled as well and surprisingly, she didn't feel sick. She didn't panic because she was leaning against him, she was calm. Neutral. As if it happened on a daily basis.

"I don't know, you were the one asking for me to take care of you when you're sick." Kate leaned her head off his shoulder and looked at him, gaping.

"I did not ask for you to take care of me."

"You asked for medicine. Close enough." Kate opened her mouth to respond, but was instead overwhelmed with a need to throw up. Rick yet again rubbed her back and kneeled next to her as she spilled into the toilet. She finished and ripped a wad of toilet paper from the roll, wiping her face. She tossed the paper into the toilet and flushed.

Kate tried to lean back into the wall, but was stopped by Rick's arm around her waist, his other arm under her knees.

"Rick what-" Before she could finish, he had lifted her up and was on his way into her bedroom. He laid her down on the bed and turned to walk back into the kitchen.

"Don't move," He ordered, pointing at her and moving into the kitchen. Kate nodded and pushed herself up so she was leaning against the headboard. When Rick came back with a bottle of liquid in his hands and a package of crackers in another, she almost squeed. Squeed. So pathetic.

"God, I could kiss you!" Kate leaned forward and grabbed the medicine and the package, downing what she tried to assume was three tablespoons of the medicine. Rick laughed and took back the medicine, setting it on the nightstand. After a few crackers, Kate nudged his thigh with her foot and waved her hand at him. He stood and watched as she wedged herself under her blankets.

Soon, the only visible part of Kate's body was her face. She sighed and rolled her eyes when her phone blared from the kitchen sink. She tried standing to get it, but when she became dizzy, her hand automatically reached out to Rick, who was standing in front of her. He let her grab his arm and listened as the phones ringing soon died, and Kate was leaning her head in between her knees.

Rick kneeled in front of her and rubbed her back again, her hand still clutching his arm. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and watched her as her body finally relaxed and she sighed out of relief. Rick took her by the arm and watched as her eyes closed when she was sitting up. She was trying to take steady breaths hoping they would help, but they didn't do anything to help her. Instead, it took a minimum of five seconds before she was racing back to the toilet.

Rick listened as she heaved and finally stood to walk into the bathroom, only to be stopped by his phone going off in the kitchen. Walking to it, he rolled his eyes at the name that appeared on his phone.

"What?"

"Why Richard," Meredith's voice rang through the phone, "What a rude way to greet me."

"Hardly," Rick responded, rubbing a hand over his forehead. "What do you want, Meredith?" Kate had apparently finished in the bathroom, and was now walking into her kitchen with a hand rubbing at her mouth.

"Hey, do you want something to eat or something? I can't hold anything down but feel free to raid my- oh." Kate put a hand over her mouth when she turned to see a phone pressed to his ear. "Sorry!" Kate stage whispered.

"Richard? Who is that with you? It doesn't sound like Alexis." Meredith's agitation was clear through the phone.

"She's a friend of mine. What did you want, Meredith?"

"Oh please, like I'll buy that, seriously who is that?" Rick closed his eyes and leaned against the table.

"I just told you, she's a friend of mine. Do I need to hang up the phone, or did you actually need to talk to me about something?"

"Kate! I knew Alexis had mentioned a woman! You're dating her aren't you?" Rick pulled the phone away from his ear and set it down on the table for a few seconds before returning it to his ear.

"Yes, Meredith, her name is Kate. No I am not dating her. What do you want?"

"Well I was going to ask you to come to my hotel tonight but I see you're already entertaining yourself without me. Too bad, I've been really wanting to-" Meredith sucked in a breath, "Spend time with you lately."

"Well, I'm hanging up now Meredith." Rick pressed the end button over Meredith's pleas for him to not hang up on her. He looked up to find Kate's eyes staring back at him, her arms crossed, her body leaning against the fridge.

"I'm assuming you heard that," Rick smiled weakly and pulled a chair out, sitting in it. When Kate did the same thing in the chair next to him, he was shocked.

"She sounds lovely." Kate laughed and leaned her head in her hands, facing him.

"Oh yeah, she's just great." They both laughed this time, they didn't chuckle, or giggle, they laughed. By time the laughter died down, Kate was again standing near the fridge, still a smile on her face.

"Seriously though, like I was saying, you can feel free to raid my cabinets all you want. I may not have anything except for macaroni and cheese and takeout leftovers, but you can look." Rick smiled at her and shook his head.

"It's fine, I had food before I came here."

"Okay, well, it's there if you want it." Kate smiled and started towards the bedroom. "I'm gonna try to take a nap." Rick stood and followed Kate to her bedroom, grabbing her by the arms when she turned and literally ran into him.

"Jeez, Kate, what are you doing?" They both laughed again as he let her go and she turned back to her bed.

"I honestly don't know what I was doing." She said as she climbed under the covers once again, making herself a caterpillar in the cocoon of blankets.

"Maybe you just wanted to hug me."

"I doubt it; if I wanted to hug you I would have just hugged you." Kate smiled at him and he smiled back, his eyes crinkling. "Can I ask you something.. Strange?" She bit her lip and watched him intently.

"Sure, I guess."

"Will you come lay with me?" Kate watched as his face went from happy and laughing to worried.

"I- Are you sure, Kate? We haven't even known each other that long." Kate shrugged and pushed her hair behind her ear.

"Are you going to try and kill me in my sleep?" The two laughed as Rick shook his head no and she again, shrugged. "Then I trust you."

Rick watched her for a minute, and she closed her eyes. When she opened them, he was no longer standing above her, but he was making his way to the other side of the bed. He slid his shoes off, placed his phone onto the bedside table and climbed into her bed. Kate's bed. Richard Castle, best-selling novelist, had just laid down in Kate Beckett, Homicide Detective's, bed.

She had instinctively turned to face him and he wrapped his arm around her waist. Kate rested her head on his chest and let out a breath. She felt relaxed there. Kate wasn't thinking about work, or about her father's alcohol problem. She wasn't thinking about her mother or the woman that was just on the phone with Rick. Kate wasn't even thinking, she was just lying there. She felt at home.

Strange, considering she'd met the man not long ago, but she pushed back the part of her brain that said no and for once, let her heart, do the talking. Well. Her heart was actually screaming 'Yes! Stay!' Kate had ignored her heart too many times before this and now, this came first. She trusted her heart before her head and made a silent prayer that she was doing the right thing.

Once Rick thought Kate had fallen asleep, he pressed a kiss to her forehead and let his lips linger there for a few minutes.

A/N: So so so so sorry this is late! I hope this extreme fluff and tonights "Linchpin" episode will help you forgive me! Enjoy!