A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates lately. I've been busy with school and attempting NaNoWriMo. Which did not work, for the record. I barely capped 20,000 words. But I also quit a few days before the end of the month because I knew I wasn't going to make it and I decided I'd rather focus on fanfic. Ah, priorities. Gorgeous little things. Although they never seem to stay where I put them. Instead they run all over the place and I lose track of half of them. Usually the ones that most people might deem "important." Subjective. Fanfiction is important. And I'm sure you agree if you're reading this. Excellent way to skew an audience.

ANYWAY. What was I saying? Right. My lack of updates. I actually almost forgot how to post a new chapter. I wish I was exaggerating. I literally tried to add a new chapter without uploading it to the doc manager first and then wondered why I couldn't find it. SIGH. You know it's been too long when. I'll try not to let that happen again. Also, I feel really bad about how long I left poor Castle feeling all crappy. He really doesn't deserve that kind of treatment. But I do have another chapter for you to read now. Which I assume you figured out using your excellent deductive skills and the fact that this is an author's note... and those tend to be either followed or preceded by chapters. So you can read it now. I give you my permission. And with that, I shut up.

He hadn't had any thought of falling asleep again. He'd slept for quite a long time the night before. But he must have, because when he heard the bedroom door open, it woke him up. He hadn't actually remembered Kate closing it when she left, but she must have, because she opened it and reappeared with a bowl of something that smelled amazing.

"Here," she said, trying to hand it to him. "You should eat something."

But ignoring the rumbling of his stomach and the appealing smell, he pushed it away. "I'm not hungry," he said. In reality, he just didn't feel much like letting her take care of him.

"You don't have to eat all of it, just eat some. It'll help, I promise."

"What else are you gonna promise? World peace?"

"Just take it, Castle," she warned.

He did, but he didn't eat any. "I believe you also said something about aspirin?" he reminded her.

"I did. Check the bedside table."

He looked. There was a box of DayQuil capsules and a glass of water. "You were in here before?"

"Checked on you as soon as I got back, but you were passed out. So I left the box and the water here for when you got up, and I went to make this. My mom's recipe. She used to make it for me every time I got sick. Should be good."

He frowned. "You had time to make chicken noodle soup from scratch? How long was I asleep?"

"It's not from scratch. It's from a can, just fixed up a little. But it should still be good."

"Fixed up how?"

"I can't tell you that. It's a secret family recipe. You are not family, nor can you keep a secret. Just eat it."

He gave up and tried it. "It's good," he admitted.

"I'm glad."

"Get some for yourself," he suggested. "You have to eat too."

"I already did."

He nodded. "Then sit down at least. It's weird with you just standing there watching me eat."

She perched awkwardly on the edge of the bed. He studied her as he ate. There was so much difference in her, he noticed, between yesterday and today. Yesterday she'd been more relaxed. The color had started to come back into her cheeks, and the brightness into her eyes. But today all of that was gone. The dark circles beneath her eyes had reemerged. There was a pallor to her face that he didn't like. And something about her appeared… uncomfortable.

"You wanna talk about it?" he asked.

She came out of the distracted place where she'd been. "What?"

"Whatever's bothering you. Do you want to talk about it?"

She shifted. "Not really."

"Will you anyway?"

She nodded slowly. "I'm sorry, Castle."

"We already did the apology thing," he reminded her.

"I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about this morning."

He frowned. "What about it?"

"How long were you standing outside in the rain with me? If you were already getting sick, I'm sure that didn't help."

He felt a chunk of the iceberg inside of him break off and melt away, and he smiled. "How could you have known that? I didn't even know that."

"I should've," she said, twisting the comforter between her fingers. "That whole seasickness thing… that's not normal for you, is it? And it took longer than it should've for you to get over it. Plus you slept for like nine hours last night and you were still exhausted. You usually have more energy than most six-year-olds I've met."

He smirked. "How many six-year-olds have you met?"

She sighed, but he saw a hint of a smile on her face. "Not the point."

"Come on, Kate. It's not your fault I got sick. Not at all. And it's sweet that you're trying to take care of me, but I don't want you to feel like you have to or you owe me or anything like that. I'm fine. This trip… it's supposed to be about you. Not me."

"Well, if you wanted it to stay that way, you shouldn't have gotten sick."

"I agree. But here we are."

"Here we are," she repeated. She opened the DayQuil box, got out two capsules and dropped them in the palm of his hand. "Take these, it'll help."

He did, but then turned to her. "You know, just because you're taking care of me doesn't mean I stop taking care of you. You need to talk, I'm here."

"Actually, I'm happy to have something else to focus on for awhile. But thanks."

He nodded. If that was what she wanted, she could have it. He didn't have the energy to fight her to open up right now, and he wasn't sure he had the energy to receive it well if she did.

Kate took his bowl and left the room, going, presumably, to the kitchen. She sat back down for a second and then left again, came back into the room with a box of tissues and set them on the nightstand, leaving the bedroom door open. She sat back down, but then got up again and shut the door. Then she sat down, strummed her fingers against her leg for a few seconds, and got up again.

Castle couldn't watch this anymore. "What are you doing?" he asked, a hint of a laugh in his still-nasal voice.

"Oh, uh… I was gonna open the door."

He raised an eyebrow. "You know we're the only two people here. It makes no difference if it's open or closed. Why don't you relax?"

She went to the door and opened it about two inches. This seemed to satisfy her, because she nodded at it and then started walking back toward the bed. "Relax," she repeated as if it had been a command that she was now trying to follow. This wasn't exactly what he'd intended. But this time she didn't sit down. Her lips pursed. "I can't," she said quickly. "This is weird. I need to do something. What do you want me to do?"

He smiled. He knew what she meant. There was an odd sort of tension in the air. Things weren't completely right between them, weren't back to normal, but here they both still were, concerned about each other but not quite sure what would be appropriate to say or do. How far was too far? What wasn't far enough? "Look," he finally said, "I might not be doing anything too exciting today, but there's really no reason I still need to be in bed. How about I get dressed and meet you out in the living room in a few minutes?"

She eyed him skeptically. "Sure you're gonna be okay? Last time you tried to get up it didn't exactly go well."

He remembered the annoying dizzy spell that had led to his still being here in the first place, but he nodded. "I think I'm better now." He pushed back the covers to demonstrate this and swung his feet around to the side of the bed.

"Nice and slow," she cautioned.

But he stood up quickly and with a bit of dramatic flair in an effort to emphasize the fact that he was fine and she was worrying about nothing. It backfired. The head-splitting dizziness came back, this time accompanied by an unwelcome hint of nausea, and although he was determined not to sit back down, he had to squeeze his eyes shut.

She was at his side in an instant, taking a firm hold of his forearm to keep him steady. "See what happens?" she said, although even in her triumph she sounded concerned. "How about you skip the flourish today and focus on staying vertical?"

"What's life without flourish?" he tried to banter, but it came out sounding more like a grumble as he was still trying to get his bearings.

"You okay?"

He nodded.

But she wasn't buying it. "Speak," she insisted, trying to meet his eyes. "Are you okay?"

He nodded again and she frowned. He rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Yes. I'm okay." He took a deep breath to regain full composure and then eyed her hand, still supporting his arm. "You can let go now."

"Oh." She looked at her hand as if wondering how it had gotten there and then did let go. "Okay. Then I'll go. You sure you're good?"

"Go."

She stepped out of the room, this time decidedly closing the door behind her.

Kate was in the living room sitting on the couch when he emerged in old but comfortable jeans and a navy blue fleece he wore over a t-shirt. He sat down beside her but then quickly moved over a little. "I don't want to get you sick," he explained.

She rolled her eyes. "We've been in all the same places for almost a week now. Either I'm not going to get it or I'm already screwed."

He saw the wisdom in this, but kept his distance just in case.

"The DayQuil you took should be kicking in. Feeling any better?"

He nodded. "Yeah, a little."

"Good." She hesitated for a second but then nodded, apparently resigning to say something. "Castle, I think there's something I need to talk to you about. If you're up for it."

He nodded, frowning. "Of course. What's up?"

"You know that if I'd actually believed your motives for bringing me here were anything but pure I wouldn't have come. Right?"

He exhaled. "That was what I thought, yes."

"Well, you were right. I never doubted you. Not really."

He frowned. His headache had begun to dull significantly, but now he felt it coming back. "Then why did you tell me you did?"

She sighed, but didn't answer right away. She looked straight ahead. If she was seeing him at all, it was only in her peripheral vision.

"Kate?" he prompted after a long moment of silence.

"I think…" she began. "I think maybe I wanted it to be true."

This made even less sense. "You wanted me to want to take advantage of you?"

"No, I just… I thought maybe… but it was stupid." She still wasn't looking at him. "You're a good friend. That's it."

His mind began to clear a little. "Do you want more?" he asked.

"No," she said reflexively. But then she considered her shoes, and they seemed to change her mind. "I don't know. It's a weird time for both of us right now. You're sick, and I'm all… emotionally…" She struggled for a word. "Well, you know."

He nodded. "As much as you'll let me."

"I mean, we're still stuck here together for another week," she said. "I don't want to make things weird."

"I don't think it can get much weirder than the last few hours have been."

"But now…" She shook her head. "I can't right now. It's not the right time for me to be starting anything new. But I do… I trust you. And I know that you care about me. I just wish that I was sure that I could offer you as much as you've already given me."

He met her eyes. She was as sincere as he'd ever seen her. He wanted to tell her that he was sure. That she was a wonderful person and that, when she was ready, she would make a great girlfriend. But he couldn't quite get there. Couldn't feel that sentiment authentically enough to persuade it to pass through his lips. He swallowed. His throat hurt. His head was still pounding, although somewhat less violently than it had been before. His brain was running slower than usual. He didn't want to do this now. He felt about the least sexy and eloquent that he ever had. But he had to say something. He knew that. "I don't think this is the right time to start doing anything different," he finally said. "Not for either of us."

She nodded. "I agree. But maybe when all this is over, you know, depending on what happens at the hearing… maybe we can have this conversation again."

He let his eyes slide closed and nodded. "It's a plan."

"I'm sorry," she said, actual concern evident in her voice. "This wasn't the right time for that, was it?"

He opened his eyes. "It might not have been the best time. But it worked. Hopefully I'll be a little more helpful tomorrow. I'm not really doing my job now, am I?"

She smiled. "You're fine. I'm not doing my job."

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what exactly is your job?"

"Get you better." She located the TV remote on the coffee table, picked up the remote and flicked it on. "No more heavy subject matter," she declared. "For the rest of the day, we watch stupid TV shows and think about nothing. Got it?"

He nodded. Maybe, for one day, that would be best for both of them.