Butterfly kisses were her new favourite good morning.

The soft brush of Rick's lips against the back of her neck, the leisurely traipse of his fingertips across her skin, the warmth of his body curled up behind hers: everything just felt so... right. Nothing had ever made her feel quite as secure as she did when she was in his arms.

To think that this was what she had been denying herself: a sense of security.

Because it won't last, that vexatious voice warned.

But... what if it did?

What if she could have this forever?

This joy, this comfort, this love. It could become her whole world, if she would just let it. And, sure, the idea of losing it already hurt her more than she would have thought possible just months ago. But each moment shared with Rick - each laugh, each kiss, each whisper - was slowly but surely convincing her that this was a once in a lifetime kind of thing. The kind of risk worth taking, regardless of how it may end.

Do you walk away from a magic show because you know it's just smoke and mirrors?

She groaned as her mind answered it's own question with a snarly magic's not real, regretted it the moment Rick's kisses stopped.

"Didn't mean to wake you," he whispered against her skin. "Just... couldn't resist."

Kate shook her head, grabbed the hand that had been tracing patterns on her stomach and brought it to her face to press a gentle kiss to Rick's knuckles.

"Best way to wake up," she reassured him with a sleepy mumble.

Encouraged by her words, he pressed a firm kiss to the back of her neck. Again and again, moving slightly until he reached the curve where her neck met her shoulder. He pressed his open mouth to her skin and his tongue darted out to taste her; he moaned and her eyes fluttered shut, heat pooled low in her abdomen.

"Was gonna go have a shower," he rasped against the shell of her ear. "Put my favourite gift to use."

She could hear the smile in his words when he spoke of his favourite gift and she just had to turn so that she could see his face. Sure enough, she wasn't disappointed. She twisted the top half of her body and was greeted by deep blue eyes and a smile brighter than the morning sun, her heart had never felt quite so full. She brought her hand up to his cheek, scratched gently at his two-day stubble and smiled to herself when his eyes fluttered shut, head dropped forward and a moan reverberated in the back of his throat.

"You need some help?" she asked.

His eyes shot open to find her wicked smile.

Rick didn't give her an answer; not with words, anyway. He tossed back the blanket, exposing them both to a rush of cooler air that swirled around them, then wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her back against his body.

Kate giggled as he nipped at her ear, his stubble tickling along her neck and shoulders, and she shrugged in attempt to block his access to her ticklish spot. When he held her tighter and rolled to his other side, bringing her along for the ride, an excited - and slightly surprised - squeal escaped her. They both laughed.

She planted her feet firmly on the floor beside the bed to ensure they didn't both come tumbling out in a fit of laughter. It took a moment to orientate herself - her head slightly spinning from the sudden roll - and by the time she knew which way was up, Rick was standing behind her with his hands on her hips and his lips at her neck, guiding her toward the staircase.

"I'm naked!" she reminded him, as if his wandering hands weren't acutely aware of the bare skin they were roaming.

He moaned against her neck. "I know. I like you naked."

She giggled because, dammit, she liked him naked too! But the knowledge that they'd have to pass by floor-to-ceiling windows in order to get to her shower had swallowed those giggles too quickly. She planted her feet and reached out for the railing, stopping their movement.

As if he could read her mind, he softly reassured her, "You've seen the building from the outside: it's like a giant mirror-ball. No one can see."

She had been assured of her privacy when she toured the apartment, and again just the other day when she was up here with Bruiser. The privacy film on the windows created a mirror-like effect when it reflected light. She had been warned about the reversal of the effects, that - particularly at night - if the light from inside was brighter than outside, then anyone who might happen to be several hundred feet above ground might get a clear view into her home. However, given the fact that these windows fronted the river - and the only buildings with an unobstructed view of this side of the building were on the other side of said river - she didn't see that being much of an issue for her.

Still, the idea of strutting past them in nothing but her birthday suit made her slightly nervous. She would get used to it, she supposed.

Kate turned in Rick's arms and offered him a sweet smile. "Are you forgetting something?" she asked as her eyes raked over his body.

He looked down at himself, then back up to her eyes. "No?" She tilted her head and waited for him to realise but he wrapped his arms around her and smiled. "As long as I've got you, I don't need anything else," he said in a honey-sweet voice.

She shook her head and rolled her eyes but she couldn't stop her lips from curving into a beaming smile. This man and his ability to make her heart beat in silly little rhythms that surely weren't good for her health. She pulled herself from his arms and moved toward her dresser, pulling open his drawer. Then, with a pointed look in Rick's direction, she lifted the plastic bag: his favourite gift, apparently.

"Oh. Duh." He huffed out a laugh and then sauntered over to take the bag from her hands. "Sorry. I was obviously too distracted by the absolute angel in front of me."

Kate smiled. "An angel, huh?"

Rick hummed, wrapped his arms around her waist and brought his lips to the shell of Kate's ear. "When I'm good, she lets me do such devilish things to her," he rasped and then kissed her neck.

She inhaled sharply; her skin erupting in goosebumps because yes, god yes, she would let him do whatever he wanted to her.

That was such a foreign feeling for her: wanting someone else to take the reigns, to guide her and show her what they wanted. She was never selfish lover - her partner's enjoyment was always as important as her own - but she had always learned their desires from a position of power.

Don't be afraid to ask for what you want.

Ask, not tell, because that left her in charge. She had the power to deny them and, when she needed to bolster that sense of control, she did without hesitation.

It was different with Rick, though. She didn't want him to have to ask. She didn't even want him to tell her what he wanted. She just wanted him to take it, to make her his in a way she had never been anyone else's. She trusted him to do that, to take what he needed without taking too much, without making her feel used. And, if last night was any indication, all he wanted was her. Nothing about what they did was devilish; he worshipped her. To her, nothing in this world felt as pure as they way he loved her. The thought of ever denying him made her chest feel tight.

"Kate-" Rick brought his hand to her cheek, pulled back to look into her eyes.

She shook her head. "I'm okay," she promised.

He chuckled. "You gotta stop doing this to me."

Kate smiled and cradled his face between her hands. "I overthink. I'm sorry. But it's not always a bad thing, I promise."

She pressed a kiss to his lips; just a short, reassuring peck before she pulled back to smile at him again.

He smiled, too.

"Care to share these not bad thoughts, then?" he asked, and Kate blushed. "Oh, that good, were they?"

She nodded stupidly, words failing her.

"You know what? I think we need one more thing before we go." Rick dropped his palm from her cheek and slowly stepped away from her, back toward the bed. He reached into the bedside drawer and pulled out the box of condoms from last night. Then, he looked at her as if asking for permission. "Just in case those not bad thoughts keep swirling around that busy mind of yours."

"Maybe bring a few," she suggested and Rick's eyebrows arched in pleasant surprise. She rolled her eyes, shook her head. "To keep in the bathroom drawer," she clarified, pointedly.

Although she had no qualms about spending the day christening every surface of this place if that was what Rick wanted.

"Ah, planning ahead." Rick nodded his head as if to show he approved of her idea. Then, he pulled out roughly half of the box's contents. "I like it."

He tossed the box back in the drawer, pushed it shut with his foot and then rushed back over to Kate.

"Now," he said thoughtfully. "Where were we?"

He kissed her; tenderly, lovingly.

The hours passed all too quickly.

After their shower, Rick had offered to make breakfast while Kate finished transferring the last of her clothes into her wardrobe.

Each time she had moved, getting her bedroom sorted was always her first priority. Usually, luck would have it that moving day would fall right in the middle of a case and, therefore, she would only have small periods of time spared to unpack and sort all of her belongings. Her stuff would stay in boxes for weeks at a time and those piles of boxes would look more and more daunting as each exhausting day passed - but she would always have a nice, tidy place of refuge in her bedroom.

But now - clouded by this unfamiliar haze that seemed to completely warp her priorities - she just wanted to be with Rick. Right by his side; touching him, kissing him. That's why, when he headed to the kitchen to get a start on their breakfast, she rushed upstairs to throw on a pair of gym shorts and an oversized shirt, then rushed back downstairs to offer him some assistance. Assistance she knew he didn't need, but hoped he wanted.

She was certain that he could read her mind. As she practically skipped through the living room toward the kitchen, he watched with the most knowing smirk she had ever seen. With anyone else she probably would have been embarrassed to be so needy, but not with Rick, because when he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into his side she knew he was feeling just as pathetically dependant as she was. The need to cling would wear off, she was sure, but for now she was happy to just roll with it. It was unusual, but it felt right.

They didn't have many options for breakfast - she hadn't done a proper shop for groceries yet - but thankfully she had everything they needed for very, very basic pancakes. Although an easy task, they worked together as a team. They burned the first one - too busy kissing and giggling and whispering sweet nothing in each others ears to remember to flip it in time - but, once they were able to demonstrate the slightest amount of self control, the rest of the batch turned out perfectly.

Once they were refuelled, they went to the bedroom to finish the task Kate was supposed to have already done: sorting her clothes. It was a ten minute task, at most. Even less now that there were two of them doing it. Still, it took almost an hour. Probably because Rick had commented on just about every dress she had pulled out of the box.

You dress like such a girl, he had said once her wardrobe was brimming with clothing.

She couldn't blame him; apart from the two dresses she had stuffed into her suitcase before fleeing to Lanie's, he'd only ever seen her in the clothes she wore to work or the comfort clothes she had practically lived in outside of work for the past few months. He had no idea that she loved to get all dressed up, to do her hair and make up, to feel pretty.

She just laughed and reminded him, that would be because I am a girl, Rick.

When she had unpacked a sleek, black evening gown with a plunging neckline and hung it on a hanger, he was speechless for a moment. With a smile she held it against her body and asked him if he liked it. His only response was asking her to promise that she would let him take her somewhere she could wear it. Her heart had fluttered at the request; whether it had been the knowledge that he wanted to show her off or the look in his eyes as he had asked, she had been filled with a nervous excitement that temporarily muted her. All she could do was nod her agreement.

Soon, she promised him in her mind. She cemented that promise with a kiss.

By mid-afternoon they were done, everything in it's place and - apart from the broken down moving boxes in the corner - the place looked neat, tidy and homely.

It was real.

She did it.

She survived, she was moving on with life.

"I can't thank you enough," she said, her voice full of emotion, when Rick wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back against his chest.

"You don't have to thank me for a single thing, Kate," he said softly, then pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

She shook her head, though. She disagreed emphatically but she wouldn't argue.

"My dad is coming over in a few hours," she said. She turned in his arms, then looped her arms around the beck of his neck. "I invited him over for dinner, to show him the place."

"Oh, I see how it is," Rick said in a playful tone. "Just use me for my body and my impeccable organisational skills, then give me my marching orders."

Kate chuckled and shook her head. "No, you idiot, I'm asking if you want to stay and have dinner with us."

"Tonight?"

She nodded and Rick let out a heavy sigh.

"Or not," she said, trying to keep her voice light despite the twinge of pain in her chest. She dropped her arms from around his neck, but he kept his tight around her waist. "No pressure."

"No!" Rick blurted. "No, it's not- I'd love to! It's just, Mother is back from Paris and I promised Alexis that we'd all go to Le Cirque for dinner tonight," he explained and that pain in Kate's chest dissipated completely. "Alexis is a bit, uh, tense after the whole week with her mother so I just- I wanted to treat her a little."

She melted; he was so sweet. Then, she tensed again, averted her eyes. "Is Meredith..."

She let her voice trail off, not able to bring herself to actually ask the question on her mind. Not that she was even sure what she would ask, if she dared.

Is Meredith still in the city?

Is she going to dinner with Rick and his family?

Is she still the bane of his existence or is he falling for her again?

God, she felt so pathetic.

"She's flying back to LA tonight," Rick told her. "But, uh-"

Kate forced herself to look back at Rick - his expression was serious and... nervous?

"Everything okay?"

Rick nodded, but his expression remained unchanged.

"She'll be back next month," he admitted, as if warning her.

Her heart sunk because of course she would be back again. She'll always be back again. Kate knew she had no right to hate that but she just couldn't see a future where Meredith wouldn't be an issue.

"I promised her a family day and I know she won't let me get out of that so I figured it'll be best to just get it over and done with," he explained.

Kate shook her head and forced a smile. His eyes were studying her, trying to gauge how she felt about this situation and she refused to give him any doubt. Sure, she didn't like the idea, but she understood why it was necessary. She cared about Alexis and - after spending just one night with the kid - she would move mountains for the girl; not only did she understand why Rick would endure spending time with his ex-wife for his daughter, she admired him for it. Sure, he may have fallen victim to convenience and familiarity in the past, but she was sure that was all it was. She trusted him.

"I'm sure Alexis appreciates it," she said. "Do you know what you're going to do yet?"

She hoped the question sounded supportive; more curious than anything else. Not bitter, or jealous, or mistrusting.

He smiled and answered her question with the shake of his head; and when she stepped into his arms and rested her cheek on his chest, he laughed.

She looked up at him, eyes narrowed as she tried to figure out what was so funny.

"You did it again," he said, still chuckling to himself. "You went on some insane journey in your mind. Your eyes are, like, crazy expressive and I swear you just felt every emotion known to mankind in those few seconds of thought."

She pressed her cheek to his chest again and let out a sigh. "You must think I'm psychotic."

"I don't think that," he said softly, as if trying to quell any actual insecurity before it had a chance to grow. But then, in jest, he added, "A little crazy, for sure, but not psychotic."

Seven thirty, on the dot, Jim's cab pulled up to the curb.

He had called to say he was on his way - an expected thirty minute trip - and she had waited anxiously for him in the lobby from the moment she had hung up the phone.

She wasn't sure why she was so nervous; her father had seen all of the apartments she had lived in over the years and, if she was being honest, the majority of the places she lived in her early twenties were absolute squalor compared to this place. But maybe that was exactly the issue. Every place she had ever called home before had been worked for, earned.

The shoebox dorms at Stanford were the payoff for years of dedicated study (which was no easy feat when she was simultaneously trying to live up to the Rebel Becks nickname she had somehow acquired in high school).

She had worked a crappy part-time job to be able to pay for the room she rented Queens while she was in The Academy. Her father had offered to pay but - given his own personal issues at that time - she had refused his help. She wanted to prove that she could stand on her own two feet (to herself and to her father). And she did.

The next place she lived looked like it probably should have been condemned a good decade or so earlier. Her poor father had looked like he wanted to cry the first time he visited her. Thankfully, she wasn't there for very long.

Each home slowly improved until she moved in with Adam. He had a wonderful little two bedroom in the heart of Manhattan, but when Kate happened to find an old brownstone for sale a few blocks away (and absolutely fell in love with it), he had put a deposit down the very next day. He had been living off inheritance money for a while so he never truly understood why Kate had been upset but, after a long and tiresome conversation about dividing costs and discussing plans before going ahead with them, they moved into the new home that they could call theirs. Kate had been serious about dividing the costs, too: she paid her half of the mortgage each month and within the year they'd lived together, she had paid back her half of the deposit.

She regretted that now: with the home being in Adam's name and there being no official contract in place regarding the money she had put into the place, she was almost certain she would never see that money again. However, there was a small part of her that would happily kiss that money goodbye if it meant never having to deal with her ex again. She didn't need it. She didn't even really want it. She was fine. Lesson learned, she just wanted to move on.

But here she was again, in a home that had been practically handed to her on a silver plater. She couldn't help but wonder if her father would be disappointed in her for taking handouts. Or for living above her means; this place was definitely more luxurious than she would ever actually need. She had grown up privileged but her parents always stressed the importance of only taking what you need, of always giving what you can, and how one should always earn the things they have. This apartment felt like she was laughing in the face of all those teachings.

"Hi, Katie." Jim greeted her with a hug, warm enough to melt away all her doubts.

She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed tight. "Hi, Dad."

The tour didn't take long: the place was big, sure, but there really wasn't that much to it.

Here's the living, dining and kitchen, there's the bathroom and upstairs is the bedroom. Done.

Her father didn't seem to mind, though. He, just like everyone else so far, was impressed by the beauty of the place. He stood by the window, staring out over the river for at least fifteen minutes while she checked on dinner's progress.

"Want an even better view?" she asked as she approached, two glasses of ginger ale in hand.

She passed one of the glasses to her father and he accepted with a gracious smile.

"Does it get better than this?" he asked.

"Follow me."

Kate grabbed a key fob from the bench - the one she had placed in a leather key chain to give to him - and led him out to the elevator.

When they stepped out of the greenhouse and onto the rooftop, Jim was just as awestruck as Kate had been. When Kate finally peeled her eyes away from her father, that sense of awe filled her again, too. She felt like she was looking at the space for the first time because - unlike the first time she was up here - now the sun was setting and the cityscape was shrouded in a pink and orange glow.

It was breathtaking.

And all she could think about was how she wanted to sit up here with Rick, wrapped in his arms as they watched the vibrant colours of the setting sun dance across the river. The thought alone filled her with this overwhelming sense of happiness and - dear God, what was happening to her? - she couldn't help but smile. It was at that exact moment that she felt his eyes on her. She turned, slowly, to face her father and her cheeks flushed when she realised he had been watching her, caught up in her daydream.

"I take it you got everything sorted?" he asked with a smile.

He didn't have to clarify, she knew exactly what he was referring to. She nodded, shy but certain.

"Good," he stated. "I'm glad."

She averted her eyes, worried they'd give away too much, just as Rick had said. Your eyes are, like, crazy expressive.

But when her father spoke again, she knew she was too late.

"You seem quite fond of the guy," he commented. Casually, because he knew his daughter, knew she had a terrible habit of hiding from anything that felt too serious.

Kate nodded. "I am," she admitted quietly. Then, as if her confidence was suddenly bolstered by his apparent understanding, she continued. "It feels like it's all moving so fast but it also just feels so... right. He's very spirited and a little impulsive and he has this whole persona for the public that he plays just a little too naturally for it to not have been authentic at one point, you know? But then he's also the kindest, gentlest, most caring person I've ever met and it's like every single thing I've ever read about him just can't be true: that's not the man I know." She looked at her father and sighed. "He'd give me the world if I asked for it. But all I want is him."

When the rosiness returned to her cheeks and she bit down nervously on her lower lip, he knew this one was different.

"You love him." Jim offers the truth quietly, but without hesitation.

All she can do is nod. Because, yeah, she does. And even though she can't say the words out loud - apparently not even to her father - she knows that it's true.

She loves Richard Castle.

Without her permission, a single tear slipped from her glistening eyes.

"I just don't know how I got it so wrong before."

"You wouldn't be the first person to fall for the wrong guy, Katie." Jim placed his glass on the table and then stepped closer to his daughter. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in for a hug. "Just- don't close yourself off to the possibilities," he urged. "Trust yourself. If it feels right, then it probably is. Don't miss out on something great."

It was after ten when Bernie, the night doorman, called up to let her know she had a visitor.

Rick was on the approved list, so Bernie had let him up in the elevator. The call was just a polite heads up but she appreciated it nonetheless. It meant that she could meet him at the door.

When Ricked stepped off the elevator to find her waiting for him, his smile beamed.

"Miss me, did ya?" she teased as he strode toward her.

His hands gripped her waist and pulled her against him. "Too much," he said before he leaned close and captured her lips with his.

He lifted her and her legs wrapped around his waist. He took two giant steps inside of her apartment, turned them around and leant her body against the door before using their momentum to slam it closed. His hands saved her back from colliding against iron door; still, she gasped as his weight pushed against her.

"You okay?" he asked.

He tried to pull back, to check on her, but she fisted the collar of his shirt and kept him from moving away.

"I'm fine," she said softly. "Don't stop." Then, she claimed his mouth again.

She was sure he came here for a reason; to talk, maybe? But they'd get to that later.