Kate Beckett's POV
"Where the hell have you been and why aren't you answering your phone?!" Lanie came at me the second I opened the door.
That's when she saw my eyes and I saw the immediate worry fly into her body.
"What happened?" she asked with a much calmer voice before she opened her arms and embraced me in a hug.
The guys stood there with shocked faces before they walked inside and closed the door behind them. I tried my best to keep my tears in as I answered with a shaky voice.
"Nothing, I'm fine."
"Girl you are not fine, now tell us what happened" Lanie demanded as she let go of me and took my hand to drag me towards the couch.
I had no other choice but to follow her and the guys went to get me some tissues before they joined us. Javi handed me a tissue and I declined it, determined not to cry in front of them.
"Kate, tell us what happened" Kevin said and I shook my head.
"Guys, it's nothing. Really, I just feel a little sick that's all" I said biting my inside cheek.
"Come on Beckett, you know you can trust us" Javi said and I flinched at the old nickname they all had called me when we had gone to police academy, "sorry" he added when he saw the flashback playing in my mind.
"Nothing's happened, trust me with this. Please" I begged and they all looked at each other, sharing worried looks.
"You know we can't ignore this Kate, we need to know what happened. You haven't called in sick since you started working, don't you remember all those times the teacher and your boss has had to send you home after a long time of argument about you being 'fine'" she said and made quotations in the air.
"Yeah, so come on, tell us. You know we're family" Javi said with a soft voice.
They kept on pushing me into telling them what happened and I kept on insisting I was fine. I was starting to get tired of this, and without thinking I happened to spill what I didn't want to tell them.
"We broke up okay!" I exclaimed and then I held my hand over my mouth as if I told them something big.
They looked at me with shocked faces.
"What!?" Lanie almost screamed.
"Where was it that he lived again?" Javi asked and both him and Kevin raised with anger in their eyes.
I stood up and grabbed a hold on their arms.
"Don't, it was mutual. It's not his fault" I panicked.
"Why did you agree to end it when it's obvious you love him?" Lanie questioned and I could see she doubted me being a part of the breakup.
"Because it just didn't work out, okay? Don't do anything, it's not his fault" I said and added quietly, "if it's someone's fault it's mine."
"Why would you think that?" Kevin asked and I took a deep breath.
"Stop" I said with a much stronger voice than I had before, "stop investigating in this. Just let it go, I will and so will you."
I could see they got surprised by the change in my voice but to my relief they were silent for a while. I had given them a stare telling them to back off, to not ask any further questions.
"Kate?" Lanie said with a shaky voice and I gave her a death stare.
She got quiet and the guys looked at me. I stood up from the couch and started walking around the room. I heard a whistle sound and I turned towards my phone sighing. Lanie met my eyes and as soon as she saw I knew exactly who it was from she quickly took my phone before I was able to take it and opened it to check my messages.
"'Kate, please answer, we can figure this out. You don't have to go through with this, I can keep you safe' what the hell is he talking about?" she asked with a horrified voice.
I grabbed my phone out of her hands and went towards the door to my apartment. I opened the door and held out my hand.
"You should leave, I'll be back at work tomorrow, I promise. And I'm fine, you don't need to babysit me" I said harsh and all three gave me looks of worry.
They then gave looks to each other before they raised and started walking towards me. Kevin and Javi both stroke my arm before they went out the door. Lanie took me into her arms and gave me a tight hug.
"Don't run away from it Kate, I know you don't want to" she whispered in my ear before she let go of me and walked out while I felt a big lump in my throat.
I closed the door and leaned towards it with a tired mind and body. My heart was beating hard against my chest. I looked on my phone again, scrolling up all the messages he had sent during the day.
"I already miss you. I know you don't want this message, I know you made a deal but I'm sure we can rearrange that deal. I can't imagine not being able to kiss you anymore, not being able to see you. I love you Kate" was the first text he had sent this morning.
I felt my tears drop again, running down my cheeks.
"And here I was thinking I was out of tears" I whispered to myself before I sniffed and locked my door.
I turned around and steered my feet to my bedroom where my ice cream still waited for me, probably melted but I didn't care.
Richard Castle's POV
I stopped sending messages to her after that day. I was always thinking about her. Always wanting to call and visit her to make sure she was okay. To my relief I had Alexis who could let me know how she was doing. Though what I heard didn't really help at all.
"She doesn't have that glow anymore dad, what happened to her? She doesn't smile anymore, maybe she pretends to the other kids but I can see she's not smiling for real" Alexis told me one day and it broke my heart.
After a few days Alexis had started sleeping in her own bed again. I could still see she was sad and she was sometimes crying but at least she wouldn't hear me crying when she stayed in her own bed. Every day I thought about her, every hour, every minute, every second. There was nothing I could do to take my mind off of her. I was writing more and more, made me feel closer to her. As the two months went on I did nothing but investigate, write, and question Alexis how Kate had been at school every day.
"Dad, you have to go there" Alexis hurried voice interrupted me while I was searching more information about the senator.
"Why, what happened?" I asked immediately on my feet.
"I don't know but she's sadder than usual" my six year old daughter explained and she ran up to me to take my hand.
She started dragging me out the office and I did nothing to stop her.
"Do you know where she is? In her office? At home?" I asked, my voice filled with worry.
I was starting to stress out, I needed her to be okay.
"In school, she looked like she was staying late, like she has done ever since you two broke up" Alexis answered and I grabbed my car keys.
I was on my way out the door when I stopped in my tracks and turned around to face my daughter.
"Don't worry about me, I'll call gram. Go!" she practically screamed at me and I smiled at her.
I leaned down and kissed her cheek.
"Love you pumpkin!" I shouted back to her as I set off on my way to my car.
It didn't take me long to drive the small distance between my parking and the school. I hadn't seen Kate in two months and I was afraid she was going to be angry at me for showing up the way I did but I had heard the worry in Alexis voice and that had implied it was urgent. Plus Alexis would've never gone home by herself unless it was something important, at least I recall not giving her permission to leave school without mother or me getting her. I stopped in my tracks by the entrance to the school, not quite knowing if I should go in or not. I looked around me, searching for someone who might be following me. I saw none. I opened the door and quickly got inside, hearing the door's electrical lock set in just a few seconds after it closed behind me. I looked at the clock and saw they were right on time. 06:00 pm. I looked down the hall and tried to be quiet enough to maybe hear something, just anything, that indicated someone was there. Again I heard nothing, there was nothing at all that said whether there was someone or not. But then again I knew it was nearly impossible to hear anything from her office anyway, provided her door was closed. An invisible force made me walk forward, drew me closer to her. Somehow I could feel that she was there, not in a mysterious supernatural way, I could just feel the closeness of her. As I got to her office door, which was closed as predicted, I didn't know if I should knock or just open it. I took a deep breath before I decided to knock lightly before I opened it. When I opened it I saw Kate with her hand down her left drawer and wide eyes, which only widened when she saw it was me.
"Ca-Castle?" she asked before she quickly jumped out of her seat towards the windows to shut the curtains.
Once they were shut she turned over to her desk and turned off the one lamp on her desk. She looked stressed and I started to regret coming here, it felt like it was my fault.
"I'm sorry, I-I couldn't stay away. Alexis- she came home, without my mother getting her, and told me to come here right away. That- something probably happened" I stumbled across my words as I studied her face.
I couldn't really read her. She had her pokerface on and I couldn't read it like I could a few months ago. She looked at me and I slowly saw something turn in her eyes, something changed and in just a second I could see the misery she was in. Without warning, or any talking at all, she came crushing into my chest and I quickly wrapped my arms around her, sighing with relief for finally feeling her in my embrace. She cried silent tears and so did I. God I had missed her those empty months. After a few minutes of silent hugging she pulled away and looked up at me. I wiped away her tears and kept my hand cupping her cheek.
"You shouldn't be here" she said and I shook my head.
"No, I should be here. I need you, I can't live my life without you" I heard my voice crack but I didn't care.
"You could before, you and Alexis were doing fine before you met me" she said and I gave up a panicked chuckle.
"Not really, our family was never complete until you walked into our lives. Alexis wants you at our home, our home. Mine, hers... and yours" I said with a careful but determined voice.
Her eyes watered and I saw them flicker down to my lips. I didn't hesitate. I bent down and crashed my lips on hers, feeling that electrifying static flying through my body as our lips moved in synchronization. That same feeling I had missed more and more everyday. That same feeling that made my heart beat and my soul feel complete. When we pulled away I could see a small smile set on her lips.
"I love you" she whispered and the corners of my mouth pulled up in a mirroring expression.
"I love you too" I said before I bent down and kissed her again.
Once we pulled away I could hear her taking a breaking breath.
"But you should go" she said with a lump in her throat.