A/N: Thanks to those that are still following along with this story. Sorry for the delay, but I hope you enjoy!

His muscles and arm are sore when he wakes the next morning, but he feels like he finally got some rest. He feels just a little bit lighter after the conversation he and Beckett had that night. Castle lifts his phone in search of the time and finds its almost eleven. He's startled when it rings while still in his hand. Ryan's calling him.

Castle has always been grateful for the way that the boys have taken him in. They treat him like a brother in the care they show him as well as the ribbing. Now, though he's sitting on the bed, head in his hands as he tries to process what Ryan has told him. Apparently, he'd thought that Beckett had already shared with him the circumstances in which she'd left when she'd flown out to Colorado. His mind is reeling, his heart thundering at what all this could mean.

He decides not to ask her about it yet. He's still trying to feel her out and it's just starting to feel like they have entered into a kind of fragile truce that could be easily broken.

Still unsure how he is feeling, Castle decides to get on with the day. He slowly rises from the bed and after using the restroom and patting down the few strands of his chestnut hair that are sticking up in the back, he walks out to the common rooms.

He finds her there, sitting at the kitchen island, a book in hand sipping from a mug of what he assumes is coffee. Somehow seeing her now feels different than the last few days have. Their encounter last night and the fact that she's here, after what Ryan told her makes him soften. He realizes just how much he'd missed her over their separation the last few weeks.

"Morning sleepy head," she greets him as he enters the kitchen, smiling brightly at him.

"Morning," he returns.

"Here, you probably need another one of these," Kate says as she uncovers his bottle of pain medications and hands him one. She reaches behind her to fill a glass of water for him and hands him that as well.

"Thanks," he replies as he takes them from her. "How's your foot?" he asks.

"It feels better this morning. Thank you for patching me up."

"No problem," he replies. He finds that the encounter with her is still awkward, but she's trying and he can too.

"I made some breakfast burritos. Let me heat one up for you," she says in route to the microwave. "It might make that pill sit better in your stomach."

"Thank you," Castle says as he pulls a stool out from the kitchen island and sits next to her spot. She sets a hot cup of coffee before him and he smiles as she turns away. It feels nice to have her care for him, to have her anticipate what he wants as he has done so many times before for her, not that he needs her to repay him, but it feels good.

She busies herself with his food as she talks. "So, what would you like to do today? I know you have a doctors appointment this morning to check on your progress, but after?"

"Well, I'm supposed to be doing some walking. Maybe we can take the trail behind the house. It's pretty tame if we stay close by." He takes a bite of the burrito she's placed in front of him and hums in enjoyment.

"You think you can handle that?" She asks with the lift of an eyebrow and a smile gracing her face.

"I'm always up for a challenge, Beckett. You know that," he replies and feels a smile tug at his lips.

"I've walked it a lot since coming here. I can handle it. Plus I know the physical therapist is going to be after me to walk more. And...you really shouldn't leave before seeing the view of the mountains around here. It really is spectacular."

He sees her smile. "It sounds great."

A few hours later he exits the doctor's office and finds Beckett finishing a phone call in the waiting room.

"Yeah, ok. Espo, listen we'll talk later. Ok, bye."

He catches the later part of the conversation as he approaches her.

"Hey, how did it go?" she asks turning her attention to him.

"Doc says I look great. They took some blood and we will just wait for those results to come back. The ribs are healing, slowly but healing and my arm looks fine too. He says I should be able to fly in a couple of days if the tests turn out as expected. I need to do some physical therapy exercises to make sure I'm using my muscles but other than that good."

"I can help you out with those if you'd like," Kate says as she looks at the black and white print out of the recommended exercises. "I had to do some of these when I was recovering from...well, yeah recovering."

"Um, yeah, I would appreciate that." He tries not to let himself be bothered by thoughts of her recovering on her own, of hiding away. She's here now and helping him to recover and that must mean something. Right?

"Ready to go? I'm excited to take that walk. I think some fresh air would do us good."

"Yeah, let's go," Castle replies as they head back to the car.

They eat a quick late lunch before heading out the back door to the yard and following the footpath that leads to a slightly wider trail of wood chips. The weather is perfect, the sun is shining but not too hot. They walk together a while before Castle breaks the comfortable silence they had been in.

"So, how's Espo?"

"What?"

"You were talking to him at the doctor's office…"

"Right, yeah. He's fine. He actually wanted me to say hi. He's glad that your recovery is going well."

"He called me the other week. I didn't get a chance to call him back," Castle says feeling a little guilty now.

"Well, I don't think he has any hard feelings about it Castle."

He's about to bring up the call from Ryan now but caught up in his thoughts, Castle's foot catches on something in the path. He reaches his arm out to find balance and Kate grabs him, helps him steady himself.

"Whoa, you ok there?" she asks in concern.

"I guess I'm still a little weak, a little off balance."

"Maybe we should sit for a minute?"

"Up ahead there is a nice spot. By those rocks?" He nods to the grouping of some boulders on his left side just up ahead. All the while Kate keeps him close has his arm tangled with hers to ensure he won't trip.

They reach the spot and sit side by side. Castle watches her as she takes in the view in front of them. A large meadow filled with a rainbow of flowers and native grasses is displayed before them. The blue-grey mountain range rises majestically behind it, decorated with white puffy clouds that caress the peaks.

Birds are happily singing songs to one another in the background, while crickets compete with a soundtrack of their own. His eyes are drawn from her as they both watch a swallowtail butterfly dance in the air around them and land just a few feet ahead on top of a purple coneflower.

He hears her release a deep sigh, her shoulders dropping and releasing stress she must have felt. "Castle, this place is so beautiful," she breathes out. "It's so peaceful."

"I spent quite a bit of time out here since I arrived. I had even worked my way up to some of the full day hikes."

"You? Hiking?" She teases. "I never figured you for such the outdoors type."

"I guess there isn't much space or time for that in the city, but I do enjoy it," he shares with her.

They are quiet for a few beats as they both soak in their surroundings.

Soon it becomes too much for him, too much to sit thighs pressed next to hers, joking with her, without knowing. Without getting things out in the open. Without attempting to move forward.

"I wanted to thank you for coming- " he pauses for a beat, "and for staying. I know the way that we left things didn't make it an easy choice."

He had been trying to understand why she was even here after shoving him away until the phone call he'd gotten from Ryan that morning.

She fiddles with the twig she'd pick up along the path when she speaks, "Castle, I know that I messed up." Kate turns to look at him, and he sees so much honesty written on her face. "I never should have accused you of betraying me, I never should have doubted your motives for working the case, and keeping it from me. I was angry you kept it from me, but I can see your side. I can see why you did it."

"Kate-" he tries to interject, but instead she talks, pleads for him to listen.

"Castle, please let me get this out…" He nods for her to continue.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, for what I said, for just leaving you like that and not even listening to what you had to say-for assuming the worst. I know you better than that." Her eyes are downcast and he can sense she's ashamed, but really so is he.

"Please, forgive me for hurting you." Her eyes are misty now and they shine brighter as rays of sunlight illuminate them.

"Beckett-" he sucks in a breath as he mentally goes over what he wants to say, trying not to let the hope that is increasing in his heart run away with him completely. They can't just shove this under a rug like they have with so many things in the past.

"I'm sorry too. I realize now that I shouldn't have kept things from you even though I was afraid of what you would do. I never should have hidden the call I got, we should have gone at it as partners."

He watches her chew on her lip as she listens to him, he's never been able to look away when she does that.

"In all honesty?" He asks with the rise of his eyebrows and her nod opens the way for him to continue. "You did hurt me, Kate. I thought we had come so far. I thought...I guess I need to know, to really know for sure-" the thought absorbs him for a moment, the fact that this is the make it or break it moment for them.

They both need clarity so they can move forward, either together or on their own because there is only one chance to come back from where they are now.

"Why did you lie to me about the shooting and what you remembered? Why did you pretend you didn't hear me tell you… how I felt?"

She stands pacing in the small space in front of him, wringing her hands together. "I've thought a lot about that. I know I tend to give off the impression that I'm always strong, and that I know the answers, that I can handle anything. There was so much happening in my mind, the shooting, Montgomery but, I don't want to give you excuses because I see things so differently now." She pauses, stops in front of him.

"The best answer that I have, the truest answer that I have is that I was afraid."

When she doesn't immediately continue he asks, "What were you afraid of..." His eyebrows raise, "Me?"

She sighs, "Yes and no. I was afraid that I would lose you, afraid that I would hurt you and mess things up. But I guess I managed to do that anyway," she huffs.

"Afraid to lose me because you still wanted me as your partner but... didn't feel the same?" He asks in a lowered breath, his eyes dropping to roam the field ahead as his worst fears feel like they are coming true. This is the end.

She's quick to come to his side though and surprises him as she reverently reaches out for his hand. All it takes is that touch from her to make his breath quicken.

"No, not because I don't feel the same. Rick," she implores as she seeks his eyes. He feels the connection as they meet, his sky blue to her natural green. "I'm long overdue in telling you this, and I hope I that I'm not too late now. I was also afraid of letting you in."

His mind is reeling as he listens, hopes and yearns for her to say what he so deeply desires to hear.

"I was afraid, because what I want with you... I've never had. The way I feel about you, I've never felt before."

The pounding of his heart is loud in his ears now, drowning out everything around them, everything that isn't just him and her. He's certain that the reason she just tightened her grasp on his hand was to stop hers from trembling.

"Castle, I love you," she says, her voice certain. "I love you so much and I messed up, but all I want is you. Just you," she implores as he watches a tear finally come free and glide down her gorgeous face.

He is silent as he watches the wind flutter through her hair, a range of emotions and thoughts flood through him. He's shocked, shocked but overjoyed, and is this really happening?

His smile is impossible to repress and it pulls him out of his momentary mental shock and brings him back to her. He takes his hand from the tangle of hers only to raise it to her cheek, to shift his body a little closer where they sit open to each other.

"Kate, this is real? Say it again. Please say it again."

She's smiling now too and she's never been more stunning. She looks into his eyes and he feels it in his heart, in his soul when she says it again expelling any last doubt that may have remained.

"I love you, Rick. I love you. I lov-" he cuts her off then with his lips ardently pressed against hers. He draws her nearer as he slips his hand back into her hair, cradles her head gently in his palm. She moans when he sucks her lip into his mouth and he's coming undone so quickly.

It's nothing like last time, he knows this because the memory of their alley kiss has replayed in his mind thousands of times. This is deep, emotional, this reaching what he's yearned after for so long, this is real and beyond lust, beyond his wildest dreams.

He pulls back just all little, bringing their foreheads together in an attempt to stop time in this perfect intimate moment. He wants to save it, to write the scene so he will always have this memory kept in a special place in his heart.

She steals another quick kiss, "Does this mean I'm not too late?"

A chuckle leaves his throat at that, "No, not too late. Never too late for you," he reassures her because even though late was painful, it's better than never, so much better than never.

This time she frames his face with her delicate fingers, hands on each side caressing his cheeks as she leans back in to sip from his mouth. His good hand finds her small waist, expands out to touch as much of her as he can and oh, how he wishes he had both hands to be able to do this now.

She's welcomed him in, her tongue dancing with his, reaching and exploring each other. He hears himself moan this time as she bites down on his bottom lip in delicious juxtaposition to the way she soothes him with her tongue afterward.

She's sweet and sexy, welcoming and exotic all at the same time and all they are doing now is kissing. If he thought that she was a mystery before, he's realizing that she's one he may never solve, one he will spend his life happily working on.

Somehow his hand has gravitated under her shirt and the softness and warmth of her skin mixed with what she is doing to his mouth are too much for where they are as he finds it hard to control where all his blood is flowing.

"Kate," he mumbles into her mouth.

"Hhmm?" She gets out even as their lips stay connected.

He smiles into the kiss as he slows her and pulls back.

"Hey," he shines at her.

"Hi," she says, her lips pink and kiss-swollen and looking so delicious.

"Maybe we should slow down a little…at least while we are still out in public."

She drops her head forward onto his shoulder. "I suppose you're right," she breathes her voice laced with amusement and maybe a bit of shyness.

He takes her hand back into his, making sure their fingers are linked together. "Why don't we walk back, talk a little more. Maybe we could take the hot tube for a spin. It'll be dark soon. We can start a fire…"

At that, she lifts her head, smirks at him.

"I didn't- I didn't mean that kind of a fire, but maybe that kind too..." he smiles.

She just shakes her head as she playfully pokes his side for that one.

"Sounds perfect," she replies standing and pulling him up alongside her and starting back along the trail to the house side by side.