Many thanks as always to Andy for the unending encouragement!

The Final Nail

They'd fought.

It was stupid and petty but they were both tired and emotionally strung out after the last case, after hearing a man confess to killing his wife and their two-year-old daughter upon finding out there was a chance the girl may not have been his.

Kate had asked Castle to stick around afterwards while she finished the paperwork, both to keep her company and to distract her brain from replaying images of the case, the crime scene. And he had, for a while. But he'd forgotten to turn his phone off of silent after the interrogation and he'd also forgotten about the meeting he was supposed to be attending. So when Gina couldn't get ahold of him, the woman herself showed up at the Twelfth and dragged him by the arm out of the precinct, flooding Kate's brain with a whole other set of memories she never wished to recall.

He called her in the cab on the way to the meeting, apologizing for not saying goodbye and promising to come back as soon as he could.

But the meeting ran long. He called Kate again halfway through, tried to explain and promised to be home in another couple hours. But she was already mad; at Gina for dragging Castle away, at him for not fighting back and at least taking the time to squeeze her hand and say goodbye, at herself for feeling irrationally jealous towards the woman.

So the phone call morphed into a fight, her accusing him of spending too much time with Gina, him calling her insecure and jealous and untrusting. It was a mess, and by the time they angrily hung up the phone she stormed out of the precinct and caught a cab to the loft, tears already pricking the corners of her eyes.

God, why did she always have to make such a mess of things?

Eventually Kate had come to her senses enough to know that most of what she'd said was the exhaustion and jealousy talking. There was no way Castle was just 'spending time' with Gina outside of professional obligations. That was in the past. He was with her now, loved her. And in the midst of all the anger, she'd allowed herself to forget that.

Sluggishly she stood from the couch where she'd collapsed upon arriving home, made her way to their bedroom, to the nightstand. She plucked the journal from the surface, took it out to his office, curled up in his chair and began to read, reminding herself of all the reasons he loved her, the reasons she loved him.

Dear Kate,

Thank you. For letting me come back. For buying me a drink, taking my mind off of things for a while. For being my Valentine today even though you have a date tonight.

But mostly, thank you for believing in me. Turns out I wasn't as right as I thought I was but it means a lot that you believed me anyway. It's not easy to watch someone you used to know show a different side to themselves.

This case couldn't have been easy for you, either, to know you were putting me in that position. But thanks for not making it harder than it needed to be or saying, 'I told you so.' And for making this an okay Valentine's Day, even though Damien was guilty and I'm home alone tonight.

If I didn't think you'd shoot me for it, I'd be showering you with flowers and chocolate and kisses right now, because you deserve to relax and be loved tonight. But I know you're out with Josh right now, and I'm sure he loves you, too.

I just hope he's treating you right, giving you what you deserve. I hope he realizes how damn lucky his is to have your heart.

I know we're not together, but I want you to know that my heart already belongs to you.

Happy Valentine's Day, Kate.

Love,

Rick

Just as she finished reading she heard the click of the lock, the door creaking open. She watched through the openings in the bookshelves as Castle stepped inside, quietly shut and locked the door. He kicked off his shoes, hung his jacket in the hall closet, then looked around. The light of the lamp must've been what gave her away because once his eyes settled on it he made a beeline for the room, stopping in the doorway when he saw her.

"Hey," she said softly, offering him a tentative smile.

"Hey." Tiredness radiated from every inch of him, eyes heavy, hair mussed from too many passes of his hands. Obviously the meeting had been frustrating, and Kate was sure that the way they'd left things hadn't helped at all.

"I'm sorry."

He nodded. "Me too."

"I know you were really just at a meeting. I was... it was stupid."

"It's not, Kate," he said softly, approaching her. "It's okay to be jealous."

"I wasn't," she protested immediately.

He smiled gently, came to lean against the desk next to her. "Of course you were. But that's okay. I get jealous too, every time a suspect hits on you."

"Okay, yeah, I was. Yeah."

"I love you," he assured her. "And I'm sorry for leaving so quickly and for saying all those things to you on the phone."

"I forgive you," Kate responded, reached out for his hand, twined their fingers together. "And I love you, too."

Castle bent down, pressed their lips together in a sweet kiss. She leaned forward to set the journal on the desk, laced her now-free hand around his neck.

Naturally, Castle noticed her movement, pulled away slightly to investigate. She could tell the moment he made the connection because he lifted curious eyes to hers. "You were reading?"

She smiled, nodded. "Yeah."

"But you were mad."

"I was," she agreed. "But I was tired and angry and I needed to remind myself of all the reasons I love you."

"So you read."

She nodded again, lifted a hand to cup his jaw. "About how you love me."

"And it helped?"

Kate smiled, snagged his lips again in a gentle kiss. "It did."

"Good."

They shared one more kiss before Castle took her hands, tugged her to her feet and through to their bedroom. It'd been a long day and maybe it was only eight p.m., but Castle was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to curl up with Kate for a good sixteen hours.

They crawled into bed, collapsed fully clothed into a tangle of limbs in the center.

Both were asleep before they could manage to say goodnight.

Thoughts?