AN: Hello! First of all, thank you very much for your nice comments on my last chapter. They made me really happy.
This chapter is a little bit shorter and I'm not sure if I really like it the way it is or not. Anyways, I hope that you enjoy it and I try to update as soon as possible.
Chapter 5.
Laying on her back her eyes were fixed on the ceiling above her. It was dark and the only light in the room came from the city outside her window. Still fully clothed she crossed her arms behind her head.
After coming home three hours ago she found herself on top of her bed reading. His book. But the book was long abandoned beside her as it got too dark to see. Now the only thing she could do was thinking back on today.
/
"I'm really sorry, Kate." he said but all she could feel was his hand on her knee. The heat from his fingers spreading through her whole body as she tried to stop the tears. Pressing her hands into her eyes in an attempt to stop the shaking in her body; his thumb started to roam her knee. His touch was making it easier but also so much harder.
Slowly drawing her hands off her face she sat up straight, still not ready to look at him. Slowly removing his hand she already missed the contact. Not the physical touch but the emotional connection she felt for the first time in a long time. The first time since. The first time in 110 days.
"The worst thing is." she started, swallowing the lump in her throat. She felt his eyes on the side of her head. "We never got an answer. No why. They said she... they said it was probably a gang. But I wish there was this one person to blame." she whispered and looked at him while she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. The tears still burning behind her eyes she locked her gaze with his.
She thought about telling him more. About her father, about the guilt, about not knowing what her future would bring but she already said too much. Too much for someone she did not really know. Too much, because 110 days ago was still too raw to put everything into words. Too much, because he was looking at her with those blue eyes and she could not understand how he still sat right next to her.
"I know you've probably heard that a million times, but if there is anything I can do-" he started. She didn't actually. Or at least most of the offers were not honest. Just platitudes you say to a person who lost someone.
The slight shake in his voice let her know that he was honest with her. Why? She was just another girl.
"No, no. But thanks." she mumbled.
"Really? Because you just have too ask." Right, like asking is so easy. "I write a book for you, you can be the next main character of my story, if you want to. Anything." he said and she knew he was trying to make her smile.
"Write a book about me?" she asked arching an eyebrow.
"Yeah, about this hot college student who solves crimes at night." He actually sounded excited about his idea.
"How can that be about me? I'm not solving crimes." she chuckled shaking her head. She looked at her hands. She just chuckled. After 110 days, just minutes after exposing her past. Reality. Life.
"First, your hot. Second, I bet you could." He flashed her one of his smiles she has already seen a few times today. "And third, you're pretty when you're smiling. I wish I could see it more often." he suddenly stated and she felt the heat rising up in her cheeks. What was he doing?
"Well... it's not that easy." she breathed, the smile suddenly vanished off her face.
"I'll make sure that you smile more often."
"And how are you gonna do that?"
"With my humor and my exceptional personality." he explained matter of factly. A short sarcastic laugh escaped her lips. "See, that's what I'm talking about."
/
Biting down on her bottom lip to suppress the smile that was forming on her lips she rolled onto her stomach, hiding her face in the pillow. For the first time since her life came crushing down on her she felt alive. For the first time since she lost everything she felt like maybe something that was similar to happiness was still somewhere in the stars. Out there, waiting.
It just crossed midnight. 111 days.
/
Sitting on his couch, laptop on his legs he tried to write. It has been hours since he tucked his daughter in and told her a goodnight story. Since then he concentrated on writing. Or tried to concentrate. He could not stop his mind from drifting off every few minutes.
/
"With my humor and my exceptional personality." he told her and her sarcastic laugh was ringing in his ears. "See, that's what I'm talking about."
He looked at Kate, that girl who has been through so much the past few months and still sat here right next to him, letting him make her smile.
"You know you're a pain in the ass, don't you?" she asked him, turning her face in his direction. He just smiled at her, locking eyes. He could see more behind those strong surface. She was so much more than just a broken girl. She was extraordinary.
"I should probably get inside and let you tell your daughter a goodnight story." she said running a hand through her hair. "I'm tired." she continued.
"Tired? It's not even seven and I woke you up when I called you." And again he spoke before thinking. He was known for speaking what was on his mind but he really needed to learn how to bite his tongue.
"What can I say?" she breathed and shrugged her shoulders. "Sleeping is not the easiest thing to do lately." He knew that the smile she was giving him right now was one to convince that she was okay. She wasn't though. And looking her up and down he knew that sleeping was not the only human need that she lacked of.
Standing up and looking at him he also got up. "Goodnight, Castle." she said with a small smirk on her lips.
"Goodnight, Kate. I'll call you to make sure you laugh." he answered and brushed his knuckles along her arm for a second before she turned around and walked up the stairs until she disappeared behind the door letting him stand alone.
/
How could six days of knowing each other made him want to write a book about her? Or more like get to know her story; unravel each page and burst down that walls she build up around herself. How come she was so different from all the other girls?
He heard the locks turn indicating that his mother came home. After she dropped off Alexis after the puppet theater she went on a blind date. Walking into the living room she let herself fall on the couch next to him.
"He wasn't as great I suppose?" he asked her raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, he was." Martha answered. "If a 75 years old guy who never even saw a Broadway play and is almost blind counts as great." she explained and reached for his beer on the table to take a sip.
"Well, that gives blind date a completely new definition, don't you think?" he asked her laughing and she slightly slapped his arm.
"Anyways, how is your book going?" she asked him.
"I don't know."
"What's wrong?" The concern in her voice was evident.
"Nothing." he answered.
"Richard" she said in a warning tone. "I know you and that look on your face."
He closed his laptop and put it on the table turning to his mother. "Richard!" she exclaimed. "There is a girl!"
"A girl? What? No!" he answered. How unbelievably right she was.
"Don't lie." she said holding up a finger to him. "That's great. I knew that behind your playboy surface is another person. I see it when you're with Alexis."
Shaking his head he answered. "No."
"Yes, I'm your mother. I'm supposed to know those things. And that look there-" she pointed at his face. "I haven't seen in a long while, dear."
His mother and her wisdom. "It' just... complicated." he explained and Martha raised and eyebrow at him. "She's... amazing. But... she's been through a lot lately. And-" he breathed in and closing his eyes for a second. "And she's just 19." That's what she told him today at the coffee shop.
"Well." she said laying a hand on his shoulder. "The heart wants what the heart wants."
"But-" he protested before she interrupted him again.
"No buts."
"She hit rock bottom. I just... I want to make her laugh." he explained. Because damn, that laugh.
"Then give her time, be there for her and be your charming self." she said with a wink before squeezing his shoulder one more time.
AN: Thanks so much for reading. What did you think?