18. Chapter 18

After Dressed to Kill

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: How much Castle do I not own? All of it. Rating: K Time: See above.

Author's note: Yes, once again, I'm doing an After… story out of order. However, if I waited until Season Six came up to write this, I'd have forgotten what I wanted to write.

Rick pulled Kate to him. He nibbled lightly on her ear, and then kissed her. "Thank you." He whispered.

"For what?" She asked, curious.

"For talking to me."

She pulled back and looked into Rick's eyes. "Rick, I always talk to you. Every day."

He nodded. "Sure, but not like you just did. How many times when something was wrong did you tell me that everything was fine, there was no problem, or that old standby, "Do what you want. You'll do that anyway."

Kate looked down. "Castle, I'm so sorry. I know…"

He put two fingers over her mouth. "No, this is not about making you feel sorry. I love you, Kate. I want to spend my life with you. I want to do everything I can to take away all the pain in your life and fill you with joy. That's kind of hard to do if won't tell me what you're thinking. Please, honey, let me in. Please, when something's wrong, tell me what's going on, just like you did tonight."

Kate crawled up onto Rick's lap and threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. Soon, Rick felt her tears fall on his cheek. "Kate, please don't cry. Please."

She shook her head. "I'm crying because I'm happy. I'm crying because I love you so much. I'm crying because you stayed with me for years when any sensible man would have left me. I'm crying because you've already given me more joy than I ever thought I'd have in my life."

Rick pushed her back a bit so he could kiss away the tears in her cheeks. "Okay. You can cry for that, but remember, I love your smile."

"I know. I love to smile for you." Kate rested her head on his shoulder. "I hardly ever smiled, you know, before you. And I never had any fun."

"I'm all about fun."

"You're about a lot more than fun. You changed me."

"You changed me as well, Kate."

"I don't know how I did that. For years I was a bitch. I put you through hell for years. I know what you said…"

"Then don't apologize. You have never done one thing that you need to apologize to me for. The only apology I want I'll get when I piss on that bastard Bracken's grave for what he's done to both of us."

Kate managed to cry and giggle at the same time. "I'd join you, but I'm too much of a lady."

"And so you are."

Rick and Kate cuddled. Then Kate spoke. "Rick, I never loved Mike Royce or Will Sorenson. I never loved Demming and I never loved Josh. I've only ever loved you."

"Honey, we don't need to…"

This time it was Kate who put her fingers on Rick's mouth to quiet him. She shook her head. "No. Don't speak. I have years, decades, worth of things to tell you. It's just that they're all coming out at once."

Kate smiled at Rick and brushed the last of her tears away. "Did you know that you saved my life before we ever met?"

Rick laughed. "I'm talented, I'll admit that, but save your life before we met? I'm not that good."

Kate nodded. "Yes you are. After my mom died, I found your books. They helped me get through the worst time of my life. They showed me that good can triumph over evil, if the good people in this world make the attempt. It helped me decide to become a cop. Your books kept me sane at a time when I just felt like crawling into a hole and pulling it in after me." Kate kissed him lightly. "Thank you, Richard Castle, best-selling author and savior of lost damsels."

"Kate, that means more to me than anything anyone's ever said about my books."

"Rick, I have so many things to tell you. But, we need to get to bed. I had a very long, difficult day."

"How long and how difficult?"

She smiled. "Not that long and difficult."