Rick's days of isolation passed in the blink of an eye.

Thankfully, Kate hadn't stuck to her threat of ignoring his messages. Not fully, anyway. She wouldn't respond during the day, no matter how many messages he sent her (not that he sent that many, promise!) but she always sent him a good night message before she went to bed.

Despite his slow start - and the ever-present urge to just give up and spend his evenings with Kate instead - he managed to find his rhythm and, by Friday afternoon, he had not only plotted out his entire storyline but he had made steady progress filling in the chapters, too. He was well on his way to catching up to where he should be to be able to meet his deadline for this last instalment of his Five Families series.

He had to admit, he was pretty proud of himself.

Even Gina had been at a loss for words when he emailed her through the completed chapters, completely unprompted.

At seven o'clock his phone rang and Kate's smile lit up his screen.

"You've reached Ruggedly Handsome Authors and co.," he said in a mock presenters voice. "To speak to a ruggedly handsome author, press one."

Kate's responding giggle was like music to his ears.

"You're a fool," she said, with no malice at all.

He could almost picture the wide smile on her face, the way her eyes may have lit up at the sound of his voice.

"A fool that missed you." He walked into the kitchen as he spoke, began pulling ingredients for dinner out of the fridge. "Please tell me you're not calling to say you're stuck at work!"

"Nope," she said happily, adding a little extra pop to her 'P'. "I'm walking out the door right now. I was actually just calling to see if you needed me to pick anything up on my way over?"

"I ducked to the store a little earlier and grabbed everything," he informed her. "Now I just need you."

Kate laughed again, probably also rolling her eyes at his cheesiness but he didn't care.

"Seriously," he said with a heavy sigh. "Sleeping without you all week has sucked."

"It was three nights."

"Three nights too many!" he sulked, earning himself yet another small laugh from Kate.

"Well, let me stop by my apartment and grab a few things then, I promise, your days of sleeping alone are over."

Rick didn't even want to admit how preposterously happy the thought made him. "Sounds good."

"'kay. I'll be there in, like, an hour. I love you."

"I love you, too."

He put his phone down on the bench, smiling to himself. He couldn't help it - tonight would be the perfect ending to a very productive week.

"Well, don't you look mighty pleased with yourself," his mother stated as she descended the stairs.

"Mother" he greeted. "I didn't know you were gracing us with your presence tonight."

"I'm not," Martha said as she approached the island counter. "I'm just making a quick pit stop." She waited, watching as Rick moved around the kitchen, pulling out ingredients and utensils. "Was that Katherine?" she asked after a few moments.

"It was," her son confirmed, distracted.

"Seems like things are going well, then."

Finally, Rick stopped fluffing around and looked at his mother. He could see the scepticism she obviously wasn't bothered to try and hide on her face.

"Really well," he insisted, perhaps a little too defensively.

But if - for whatever reason - his mother had doubts about his relationship with Kate, he did not want to hear them.

Nothing could burst this little bubble they were in; it was impenetrable.

Still, the look on his mother's face left his stomach in knots.

"Will she be staying tonight?" she asked, her words cautious.

"Are you worried about Alexis?" he countered, curious as to where this line of questioning was leading. "They get along fine. They get along great, actually. I think Alexis really likes-"

"I'm not worried about Alexis, Richard," Martha insisted. "I'm worried about you."

"Me?"

"You do remember what tomorrow is, don't you?"

The reminder alone was enough to have Rick's shoulders slumping, the high he had been riding evaporating into thin air.

"Meredith will have high expectations," his mother stated with a dramatic roll of her eyes. "One of which being that she will have your full attention for the day."

Rick shook his head, but his mother continued.

"Do you really want to expose poor Katherine to that potential disaster?"

"It's fine," he insisted. "You're assuming the worst because you never liked Meredith."

"While that may be true, that is not my reasoning. I am assuming the worst because I know Meredith. She's not exactly fond of the idea that you may actually move on one day."

"One day?" Rick scoffed. "I remarried, remember?"

"Yes, I remember," Martha conceded... for just one moment. "But I also remember Meredith was back in your life before the ink had even dried on your divorce papers," she added with an expression that dared him to try and argue otherwise.

A scolding from his mother wasn't exactly what he had in mind for his evening.

"I just think, considering Katherine's past-"

"Don't compare me to him," Rick spat bitterly, despising the insinuation.

His mother was right, though. The news of he and Gina's divorce had hit the tabloids and not two days later Meredith had come to town, claiming she was concerned and wanted to make sure he was okay.

Like always, he had been weak; desperate for something comforting and familiar.

It had never matter how badly she had hurt him in the past, he always ran back to her.

"It's different now," he said, willing it to be the truth.

His mother only hummed, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with his statement, before she turned and strutted out the front door.

It was different now. He was sure of it.

Kate stood at Rick's front door with a duffel bag of her belongings in one hand and his key in the other, taking just a moment to try and tamp down the excitement that had been swirling in her belly all evening.

Earlier, on the phone, she had laughed at his childish complaints about having to spend these past few nights apart but if she were to be truly honest with herself, she had found it just as miserable. It had been too quiet, too empty, and her bed was too big for just one person. She had felt entirely out of place in the enormity of her apartment.

They say home was where the heart is; her heart was wherever Rick was.

"Really?" she mumbled to herself, shaking her head as she slipped the key into the lock.

To think, she thought that Rick was the cheesy one.

As soon as she cracked the door open, smells of a Mediterranean feast wafted through the air.

"It smells delicious in here," she announced as she walked through the door.

Rick looked up from the food he was preparing and smiled. He quickly abandoned whatever he was working on in favour of greeting her properly. He rushed over to her, took the bag from her hand while simultaneously pressing a kiss to her lips.

"Hey," he whispered as he reached for her now free hand, lacing their fingers together.

Kate smiled up at him. "Hey."

"Dinner's almost ready," he announced, leading her toward the kitchen. He dropped her back on the arm chair as they passed. "Sit," he instructed once they reached the kitchen.

He pulled out the counter stool for her and she perched herself on it. "What are we having?"

"Alexis requested Moroccan chicken and couscous. I hope that's alright."

"Sounds perfect," she agreed. "Where is Alexis?"

"In her room," Rick said as he rounded the counter and lifted the lid off of their dinner. "Finishing some extra-credit project."

"She's really committing to this extra-credit stuff," Kate mused as she watched Rick take a spoon from the drawer and scoop up a small amount of the simmering sauce.

"Each Summer has gotten progressively worse."

"What do you mean?"

"Taste this?" Rick lifted the spoon, held it in front of Kate's face. She obliged to his request. "Alexis has always been the smart girl," he began to explain. "Ever since she was little she was told that, if she applied herself, she could get into any school she wanted and, a few years ago, she decided that school was Stanford. But Stanford only accepts, like, five percent of applicants. I told her that maybe she should look into a few fallback schools, just in case. Instead, she did the volunteering, the internship, the sitting in on college classes-" He sighed. "She's always been driven but this- this is like obsession."

"So, what happens if she doesn't get in?"

"It'll be the start of my villain arc," Alexis joked, catching both Rick and Kate by surprise. "I'll become a menace to society and only find joy in watching the world burn."

"She gets her dramatic flare from her Grandmother," Rick whispered to Kate.

Kate smiled then turned her attention back to Alexis. "Sorry, I didn't meant to insinuate that you wouldn't-"

"It's fine," the girl interrupted. "Dad's been trying to set my expectations for a while now. I do have backup plans, I just- I don't want to say I didn't give it my all, you know?"

"I never had a child," Rick commented, and his daughter rolled her eyes. "She was born middle-aged."

"One of us had to be a grown up," the girl fired back without hesitation. But the smile that teased the corner of her lips told Kate there was no hostility in her words. "Anyway, mom just text me and asked me to remind you that you need to wear blue tomorrow."

Rick sighed. "Why?"

"Because you've been photographed a lot lately and she said if she is going to be seen in public with you she wants us all to look our best."

"She doesn't have to be seen in public with me," Rick argued with a smile.

"Dad."

"Maybe I'll wear green," he teased.

"I'm wearing green. That sage dress Mom bought me last Summer."

"Oh, we can match!"

"Dad," Alexis groaned.

"Fine." Rick huffed. "For you, I will wear blue."

Alexis smiled and practically skipped toward her father, wrapped her arms around him and pulled him in for a tight hug.

"Thanks Dad," she whispered into his shoulder. Then, she pulled back and looked into his eyes. "I know it's... a lot. But I really do appreciate that we can all spend time together."

"I know you do." He kissed the top of his daughter's head. "Dinner's ready in five."

He'd regretted agreeing to this day from the moment the promise had slipped from his lips. Family Day Extravaganza. He knew Kate had just been joking when she had given the day such a name (or maybe she was feeling bitter and petty at the thought of him sacrificing time he could have spent with her to run around town with his ex-wife, he wouldn't blame her) but knowing Meredith it was bound to be exactly that: extravagant.

Rick's idea of a family fun day would be heading to Coney Island, pigging out on questionable foods and trying your luck with the sideshow games. As a kid, Alexis loved the mini golf; she would win every time.

But, considering how Meredith had moaned incessantly over these past weeks, complaining he wasn't contributing to the plans enough, she had kept the day's events quite secretive. That only fuelled his anxieties. Alexis wasn't much help, either. She had been sworn to secrecy and she would never break a promise to her mother, despite how often her mother seemed to break the ones she made to her.

God only knew what was in store for him tomorrow.

But he tried not to spend the rest of his night caught up in his thoughts; tried not to let his trepidation consume him entirely. Because, when he managed to push his concerns to the furthest corner of his mind, this night had been perfect.

Quiet, and uneventful, and perfect.

Dinner had been fantastic, if he did say so himself. They ate as they watched a movie (he was loving this new tradition of theirs) and, when he left his daughter and his girlfriend alone so that he could organise something deathly sweet for dessert, they had shuffled closer together on the couch and were discussing something very intently. He got entirely too caught up in the scene, loving the easy interaction between the two, that he almost forgot the task at hand. Almost.

"Sorbet or cheesecake?" he asked from where he stood in the kitchen.

"Sorbet, please," Alexis answered.

Kate looked over her shoulder and smiled; Rick held up the container of fruit sorbet and she nodded. "Please."

He dished out three overflowing bowls and smiled to himself as he imagined what Kate's reaction would be when he passed her one. Her eyes would bug out of her head, for sure, and she'd probably mumbled something along the lines of oh my goodness! She wasn't quite the sweet-tooth the castle family was - and he often found it funny how she would stare in astonishment as he and Alexis would polish off one of their crazy ice cream sundaes. One day he would learn how to dish an appropriate portion. For now, he'd just enjoy the look on her face.

He picked up the bowls, balancing them as he walked back over to where his girls were sitting, huddled and deep in conversation.

"Thanks Dad," Alexis said as she took the first bowl from him.

He passed the second to Kate. "Thank you."

Rick took his seat beside Kate, chuckled quietly to himself when he heard her whisper oh my god.

Called it, he thought.

"So, what did I miss?" he asked, taking the first bite of his dessert.

"Kate's going to help me with my assignment," Alexis informed him in between bites.

"We did similar ones when I was pre-law," Kate explained with a reminiscent smile. "Case notes were probably my favourite. I loved all the research and-" She stopped when she realised Rick was staring at her, mouth agape. "What?"

"You were a nerd!" he accused. Kate scoffed and shook her head. "I knew that, given you went to Stanford, you were obviously smart. But you were a nerd! Like, a nerd nerd!"

"What does that even mean?" Kate asked, then repeated his words. "A nerd nerd?"

"Dad's intimidated by intelligent women," Alexis said with a smirk.

"Am not," Rick defended. He looked at Kate. "I love intelligent women."

Alexis cleared her throat. "Uh, is that my cue to leave?"

"No," Kate said firmly, her eyes glued to Rick's, warning but playful. She turned her attention back to Alexis. "That's your cue to go grab your assignment. I'd like to see what you've got, if that's okay?"

"Wait, you're gonna help her now?" Rick asked.

"It's due in three weeks," Alexis said - as if that meant anything at all to him.

"That's plenty of time."

Kate laughed. "I just want to read it," she reassured him, and Alexis ran upstairs.

With an overly exaggerated huff, Rick turned his attention back to his bowl of sorbet.

"Such a nerd," he whined.

But he wasn't really upset, not even a little bit. Honestly, the thought of Kate and Alexis having something outside of, well, him to bond over had his heart soaring. He loved that this all seemed to be piecing together, loved how much Kate seemed to genuinely care about his daughter. Most of all, he loved that she didn't act like Alexis was some kind of burden, that spending time together wasn't something she had to do to stay in his good graces, but rather something she wanted to do.

He lingered in the sidelines for close to an hour, watching as Kate and Alexis got sucked into the world of some ancient legal case his daughter had been assigned. Alexis walked Kate through the case, making sure she knew all the relevant facts and in return Kate offered up little tidbits of advice where she could. Unsurprisingly, Kate had been very impressed by Alexis's work and - for just a short moment - Rick even had to hold back a wave of emotion when he looked at Kate and saw something unmistakable in her eyes.

Pride.

She was proud of Alexis - beaming with it! And so was he.

But even their perfect Friday night couldn't ease the blow that was to come.