Disclaimer: All these characters belong to ABC and Mr. Marlowe

So to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I'm sending a massive thanks along with a virtual gift basket full of goodies to each and every one of you. Yes, this is me being somewhat lazy and not replying to all of you individually, but instead I used the time to polish off this chapter (and get it out in under a month), so I hope I'm at least a bit forgiven :)

Unlocking her door, Kate moved into her apartment. Her dark, quiet, empty apartment. Reminding her of everything that her life was, all that it used to be and all that she used to be satisfied with, before she met him.

And now it was the life that she somehow had to navigate her way back to.

Kicking off her heels, she moved across the shadows that painted her floorboards and flicked on the lights. She couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment at the sight that lit up before her, almost as if she was hoping that the darkness was hiding something, another life maybe, but everything was there, just the way she'd left it. And she was alone.

As if on cue, her stomach grumbled and announced its hunger, and it seemed as if the bath she so desperately desired was going to have to wait. Making her way to her refrigerator, she surveyed the take-out menus stuck on the steel door. Chinese was easy. And reliable. Although- no, screw it. She was going to cook something. She was sure she had some vegetables on the bottom shelf of her fridge somewhere- yes. Spring onions, mushrooms, carrots, cabbage. Perfect, she could make a stir-fry. Scavenging for a few more essentials, Kate placed all of her ingredients on the kitchen island. See, this was easy. She could do this. She could go back to her normal life. Her life without publicists, and dates, and writers, and-

Despite her best efforts, all of the tension she had so neatly packaged throughout his book launch was beginning to unravel, and looking down at her vegetables, Kate let out a sigh. She needed that bath. Now. And despite what her stomach was telling her, food could simply be pushed down to necessity number two.

Pouring herself a glass of red wine, she abandoned her dinner preparations and moved into the bathroom where she released the taps on her bathtub, allowing the porcelain to slowly fill with the steaming, soothing water. Resting her wine glass on the small wooden stool next to her tub, Kate closed her eyes as the warmth from the taps slowly began to rise and encase her body. It had been a long day, a long six weeks and yeah- this is exactly what she needed.

Feeling her muscles relax, she reached for the back of her dress and leisurely lowered the zipper, the material gradually easing off her skin, before she maneuvered it around her arms and finally allowed it to drop and pool around her feet. In nothing but her bra and panties, she reached over to dip her fingers in the water and assess the temperature, the hot liquid doing wonders on her skin, when she suddenly heard a knock at her door.

She stiffened, frowning at the sound, as surely she couldn't possibly have any visitors now, but just as she was doubting her ears, she heard it again, this time more forceful and assertive. Straightening, Kate turned off the taps and looked down to her state of undress, before spotting her robe draped over the chair in the corner of the room. She twisted her lips. She normally wasn't one for answering doors in underwear and robes, but- it would do. It was late and it wasn't like her visitor would be staying. She wrapped it around her body, the black silk cool against her skin as she padded her way to her apartment door, tightening the sash around her waist as she went. Unlatching the security chain with a huff- because seriously, who would be visiting her now- she swung the door open and her lips parted and her eyes tightened as soon as she recognized the figure on the other side.

"Cas-Castle?" she questioned, her brow burrowed in confusion as the writer stood before her, his back slightly arched and a hand resting against her apartment's hallway wall for support, his eyes lowered to the floor.

Her immediate question of what are you doin'? was on the tip of her tongue, but in the process of trying to comprehend the fact that he was there and standing outside her apartment, it got lost as he remained hunched over, his body rising and falling to the rhythm of his heavy breathing.

"What's wrong with you?"

He remained, huffed something in response like Oh God, and That's the last time I draw inspiration from Rom-Coms, before he cleared his throat. "I'm just- catching my breath," he forced out, his breath slightly labored but his words more decisive. "You had a head start on me and I didn't want to take any chances, so I ran here."

"You ran-" Kate began, watching him struggle. "Are you insane?"

"Probably, but there were no taxis so I figured if Billy Crystal could do it, then why couldn't I?" he replied, his speech coming out easier as he seemingly began to recover. "Although mind you, they fail to portray exactly how exhausting it is, not to mention how difficult it is to run and try to avoid hazards at the same time in the movies."

As he finished, he finally straightened his body and swept his gaze up off the floor and stood tall before her. His eyes locked onto hers, something new swirling around in his blue orbs, before his features suddenly changed and his eyes slowly lowered and swept down her body. His breath seemed to abandon him once again, although this time for entirely different reasons as he continued his canvas of her body, before his gaze rose and lingered on her chest.

He wasn't even trying to hide it, and suddenly feeling all too vulnerable, Kate lowered her head to notice the long v of exposed skin that stretched from her neck all the way down to her cleavage, where the curved rims of her bra had managed to peak out beneath the edges of her robe-

Her robe.

Suddenly remembering what she was wearing- or not wearing- Kate hastily fisted the material, her knuckles white as she drew the edges together, bunching it tightly over her collarbones, before she cleared her throat, breaking Castle out of his stare and hoping to move things along and away from her obvious state of undress.

"What-what are you doing here?"

Instead of answering he blinked, his perusal session momentarily over, and his gaze returned to hers. "Can I come in?"

Kate kept her eyes on his, narrowing them as he ignored her question. She didn't have time for this. She wasn't going to stand there and waste her energy on him. Not when they were done.

"No." Leveling him with a stare, Kate reached out to grip the handle of her door. "Goodbye, Castle." Turning around, she moved back into her apartment, swinging the wood behind her and waiting for the inevitable sound of the locks clicking into place.

It never came.

"Hey!" Sticking his arm out, Castle halted the closing door. "It's not a good bye, it's actually a very frustrating bye."

Unnerved by his lack of a departure, Kate continued to walk through her apartment, tightening the sash on her robe for extra measure. "Well it's still a bye," she finished with an exasperated sigh.

"Well what about manners? You know it's rude to close your door in a guests face. You're not even going to offer me a glass of water?"

With her back still facing him, Kate moved to her kitchen bench. "I'm sure you'd be able to find one at that book launch of yours. The one that you're meant to be at..."

With his reply nonexistent, Kate rotated her body only to find Castle disregard his lack of an invitation and step inside.

"Probably," he shrugged after a moment, "although I'm sure Paula's already immersed in the stages of damage control by now, so I'm betting she's got things under control there."

"Wasn't this your big night?"

"Yes, but I'm already halfway through my next book, so I'll just have another one next year," he casually justified, his eyes remaining on hers as he emitted a new sense of confidence and determination.

She couldn't deal with this, not after she'd already made peace with everything. "Well then, if you're not going back to your party, then I suggest you go home."

Castle however held his ground and took another step forwards, clearing her entry way and closing her apartment door behind him. "I'm not going anywhere."

Kate let out a short exhale, his actions surprising her, and despite being in her spacious apartment, she suddenly felt cornered, the walls closing in around her as he made his way towards her.

Her face hardened. "Castle, why are you here?" Her words were meant to come out strong, enforcing, indestructible, however the result was much more breathy than desired.

"I came to talk to you."

"Talk about what?"

He continued in his movements, closing the space between them and coming to a stop in her kitchen. "Us."

His words, the pairing of them together, caught her off guard. "Well there is no us, Castle, so I guess there's nothing to talk about."

"No, there's plenty to talk about, and I'm not leaving until we do."

He gave her a raw and all too dangerous look she'd never seen from him before and it sent a shiver through her body, but no- she was ignoring it. "Well fine," she strongly shrugged, "stand there all night. See if I care." She turned away and headed for her kitchen bench.

"Fine then I will," he determinedly answered.

She needed to keep busy, keep undeterred by his presence, so looking down at her previously forgotten stir-fry ingredients, she set about peeling the pile of carrots in front of her.

She would just ignore him, pretend like he wasn't there. It wasn't like he would hang around all night. He would have to leave at some stage. Surely.

Silence encased them, and after a few moments of watching her, Castle deliberately cleared his throat. "So, what are you doing?"

Kate held back an eye roll. "I'm peeling vegetables," she shortly responded, eyes focused on her task at hand and refusing to look up. "I'm hungry."

"Don't you think it's a bit of an odd time to be eating vegetable scraps?"

"Stir-fry, Castle. I'm cooking a stir-fry."

"Now?"

Letting out a sigh, Kate pierced him with a stare.

Closing his mouth, Castle got her message loud and clear and refrained from asking anymore questions. "Look, I'll help you," he offered instead. Moving to her top draw he grabbed a knife before coming to stand beside her as he silently collected a handful of mushrooms.

Kate briefly paused, couldn't believe he was actually going to wait her out, but maintaining her composure she continued to work on the carrots. She was doing fine, excellent even, but as Castle began to chop and slice, she couldn't help the way her thoughts slightly weakened as the solid build of his arms began to brush against hers. The act could have been deemed as something completely innocent, but the fluttering in her insides and the rising tension in her body told her otherwise.

Kate shut her eyelids, silently cursed the way her bench space was inconveniently not designed for those trying-to-avoid-physical-contact-as-you-stand-next -to-someone-you-completely-desire moments, and then hesitantly lifted her eyes. She cautiously allowed his presence to fill her peripheral vision as he silently worked beside her, the heat from his body travelling straight through the thin fabric of her robe and all the way down to- no. Stop. She had to stop.

Releasing the peeler on a frustrated sigh, Kate paced over to the fridge before rotating around, her hands on her hips. "If not your book launch, surely you have better things to do with your time? Shouldn't you be packing a suitcase or something?"

Looking up, he placed the knife back on the bench and turned his body to face her. "That whole book tour thing, it was all Paula's idea," he began, his words persuading. "I had nothing to do with-"

"You know what, forget it," Kate interrupted, her hands falling from her hips. "You don't have to explain yourself."

"I don't?"

"No," she deftly answered, opening some draws and trying desperately to look busy. "You see we're done, so there's no point. I don't care."

Hearing her, Caste's posture straightened. "So you're saying that you don't have an issue with it? Not at all?"

His question struck her, and releasing a nervous breath, Kate once again faced him. "Everything ended tonight, Castle, so why would I have an issue?"

"I don't know," he said, taking a step closer to her. "You tell me."

His boldness was unexpected as his eyes bore into hers, the strength of his stare sending a wave of shock and desire through her body. And yes, she wanted it. Wanted him. Her body practically aching for it. But she couldn't- not when she was meant to be forgetting- so hastily averting her eyes, she turned back to the cutting board, this time positioning herself on the other side of the bench, placing something solid and safe between them and his all too seducing face.

"Castle, I went to your book launch, I did my bit, okay, I played my part. It's over." From where she was she reached over to pull the cutting board to her side and focused back on the task at hand.

"So that's it. After everything we simply move on, just like that?" he replied with a downright frightening glint in his eye.

She stared at him, her face a picture of surprise at his sudden boldness, his challenge catching her off guard. "Yes," she thickly swallowed. "So now that we've got that sorted out..." Lifting her arm, she gestured back to the door.

Castle however, remained.

"Yeah, well maybe I don't want tonight to be it. Maybe I don't want this to be the end of us," he spoke, his eyes intense and voice all too alluring as he took a step towards her.

"There is no us, Castle!" she shot back. "The cameras are gone so can you just stop pretending and-"

"I wasn't."

Wait, he wasn't-

"What?" she gasped.

"I wasn't pretending."

She took a step back and shook her head at his admission. "Don't say that. It was fake, Castle, so- just let me get on with my life and-"

"Is that honestly what you believe?" he questioned, finishing the rest of the journey around the island and joining her on the other side. "Or is that just what you keep trying to convince yourself?"

Kate concentrated on her breathing, his question hitting a nerve as all of her enclosed feelings continued to swim for air and brim under the surface.

"You should go."

"You've already said that."

"Well you haven't listened."

"When do I ever listen?"

"Castle-"

The rest of her warning was cut off as he remained silent and she suddenly felt all too exposed as she looked up at him as he stood before her, her bare feet curling against the cool wooden floor.

"I'll tell you what," he spoke after a beat. "If that's what you really want, I'll leave. I will go home and I promise you that you'll never hear from me again. But just answer me this...are you honestly okay with this being it for us? To go our separate ways and never see each other again?"

Her blood pumped through her veins as her eyes briefly dropped to his lips, her heart pounding at the way he was looking at her. And oh- now was not the time to be thinking about that, not when she was trying so desperately to keep everything contained.

"Why wouldn't I be, Castle? It's not like I asked you to date me in the first place."

As the words left her lips, his posture changed and a slight curve shaped over his lips. "You know, most people would be flattered to date me."

Kate narrowed her eyes, a hand moving to rest on her hip. "Flattered?"

"Yeah."

"Do you know how much grief you've put me through these past six weeks?"

"Oh, I've put you through grief, have I?" he mocked.

"Yes!" Kate nodded, allowing her other hand to rest on the opposing jut of her hip.

"Right," he nodded, his eyes decisive. "Well I guess you're not going to appreciate this then."

What on earth was he-?

Kate's brow furrowed in confusion. "And appreciate what exactl-?"

Before she could even finish, he reached for her. His fingers fisted in her hair, and holding her in place he stepped into her.

And then his mouth crashed down onto hers.

She immediately tensed and released a slight whimper at the force, because oh God- he was kissing her. She remained frozen as his lips worked over hers, warm and thorough and yes- it was good and exactly what she had remembered, and then her chest began to pound, tingling burst through her limbs and she found herself suddenly surging into him, her mouth opening.

Heat shot through her body as Castle released a low growl, his tongue making most of its invitation as it slid past hers and settled deep within the cavern of her mouth. She gave into him, her mouth rough and desperate against his, lips nipping and pulling, as her own hands rose, combing through the small hairs at the nape of his neck, trying desperately to draw him closer. Her throat released a soft moan as his face slanted, opening up their angle for more exploration as her back arched- she simply couldn't help it- and her body was consumed by an overwhelming sense of need.

Sensing her desire, Castle's hand found its way to the curve of her hip and he jerked her into his broad chest, holding her there and pressing their bodies together and yes- this is what she wanted. Had wanted for so long.

She knew she was meant to be pulling away, not raking her fingers through his scalp and pressing her body into his, but it was so good and oh-why hadn't they just gone for it before?

And then suddenly remembering their deal and his book tour and exactly why they hadn't just gone for it before, her eyes opened and she forced herself out of his grasp. She stepped back, took a moment to consider him, his eyes large and his body breathless, no doubt mirroring hers.

"What the hell was that?" she questioned, her chest heavily rising and falling of its own accord.

"That was amazing," he heaved, lips wet and parted.

Her body was screaming out in agreement cause yes, yes, it was, but-

"You shouldn't have done that," she replied, her lashes fluttering, determined to maintain at least some shred of control. She adjusted her robe, tugging on the material that had risen and parted without her permission.

"Why not?"

"Castle-"

"Kate," he matched. "Deep down I think you know the truth and you know what?" he questioned, his eyes heavy, "I think that scares you."

Kate scoffed and turned around. "Please, get over yourself!"

Castle shook his head in amusement. "Oh, you are ridiculous!"

Stopping on the other side of the island, Kate leveled him with a stare. "Oh, I'm the one who's being ridiculous?"

"Yes!"

Narrowing her eyes at him, Kate grabbed a fistful of carrot peels and threw them at him.

"Hey-ow! As if you just threw carrot at me? What is wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me? I'm not the one who is making absolutely no sense, and going around just- kissing people- when you're meant to be leaving!" she shot back, sending another pile of carrot peels flying his way.

"Not people, just you," Castle began, removing some of the orange vegetable from his hair, "and as for my book tour, if you'd actually give me two seconds to explain, you would find out that I'm not going. I never even agreed to it in the first place! So do you think you can put your violent tendencies aside for one second and stop attacking me with vegetables now?" he finished, before grabbing a handful of mushrooms and tossing them at her in return.

Their eyes remain locked as both just stood there, letting their words sink in, before Kate spoke. "What do you mean you're not going?"

"I'm not going."

"Why would you do that?" she breathed.

Castle's features softened and a smile spread across his face. "Because you're stubborn as hell, and there are moments when you completely frustrate me and drive me crazy. Insane even. But you are also the most remarkable, vulnerable and passionate person I've ever met..."

He stalked towards her, her heart pounding.

"I still don't see why you're not going."

His shoulders dropped and his body relaxed. "I'm not going because I am completely and utterly in love with you."

Thoughts?

:)

BareWriter