"Don't talk to me!"

"Kate, come on," Rick said, following her like a helpless little puppy across his living room, wearing only his boxers. "Will you please let me explain?" he begged as she pulled on her coat.

"Explain what? You were in bed with your ex-wife. So typical. I can't believe I thought you changed, that you're any different! You're not the man I thought you were." She grabbed the doorknob, pulling the door open but he came up behind her, slamming it shut again with one hand.

"Let me explain," he said again, this time it wasn't a request. It was a command.

She rolled her eyes and turned to face him, crossing her arms as she leaned back against the door. "Fine. Explain."

"I thought she was you."

Kate stared up at him. "You… yeah, because we look so much alike!"

"It's two in the morning! I was sleeping, waiting for you to get home and she crawled into bed and started touching me. I didn't open my eyes, I thought she was you. Then… then I looked at you… at her and… it wasn't you. I tried to push her off and then you walked in."

She sighed, she wanted to believe him. She wanted to believe that he was innocent, that Meredith had attacked him and he honestly thought his ex's hands belonged to her. But he was still a man whose history was against him, with a past full of promiscuity and cheating. Why should Kate think she was any different than any other woman he'd ever been with? Just another notch on his bedpost.

"Kate, please," he begged softly, seeing the doubt written all over her face. "I love you. I don't want anyone else. Ever. Please, just… please."

She shook her head. "I need some space. Just… let me go."

He opened his mouth to protest again, to beg her to forgive him but no words came. He silently lowered his hand from the door, allowing her to open it and slip out. When the door closed behind her, he leaned his head against the wood then banged his forehead against the door twice before he opened the door to look out into the hall, hoping she was still there but she was gone.

Rick looked at Kate as he walked into the station, holding a cup of coffee in each hand. She bit her pen as she poured over paperwork, her head in her hand, looking exhausted. He sat the coffee down on the desk in front of her and her lips automatically pulled into a smile but she quickly stopped herself. "Thanks," she said, not looking at him.

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, I got that."

"Where did you go last night?"

"Lanie's. By the way, for your own protection, you shouldn't visit the morgue for a while. Not that I care if she hurts you."

"Kate…" he said softly, leaning on her desk towards her.

"Get outta here, Castle," Esposito said as he walked up to him.

Rick let out a breath, looking at Kate's other partner. "Look, Espo, whatever Lanie told you…"

"You gonna tell me she's lying? Why the hell should I believe you?"

"Because… you don't know the whole story."

Esposito crossed his arms as Ryan came up behind him in a similar stance, joined by a couple uniforms. "You should leave before we make you," Ryan told him.

"Ok, ok," Castle said, nodding as he turned around to head back to the elevator. Kate lifted her head to look at him, standing alone in the elevator, his eyes on her before the door closed.

"You alright?" Ryan asked, putting a hand on her back. She nodded, now looking at the coffee cup Rick had left.

"I'm fine."

It was three days before Rick heard from Kate again, he wisely stayed away from the station and stayed locked in his office, sleeping in the leather computer chair until he went to answer the door, finding Kate standing in the hallway. He didn't say anything for a moment, not sure what she was there for.

She took a deep breath, not looking at him. "You promise nothing happened?"

"I promise. I honestly thought she was you. I know, it sounds stupid but it was the middle of the night and I was sleeping and… Kate, I'm so sorry. I never want to hurt you."

She bit her bottom lip. "If anything like this ever happens again…"

"You'll send your scary brothers after me, I know," he said, still a bit shaken from the events in the precinct last time he'd been there. "It won't happen again," he told her. "I'll get Meredith a hotel room, tell her she can only come when we're all awake."

"No, she needs to be with Alexis. What if she needs her in the middle of the night?"

"So…?"

"So, don't go to sleep without me."

He smiled, putting his arms around her waist. "Never again."

She pushed against his chest keeping her distance. "I'm still mad at you."

"But?"

"But I love you and I believe…" she was cut off as his lips crashed into hers, pushing her back against the door.

"Say it again," he whispered.

She smirked. "I'm mad at you."

He pulled back slightly to look at her, knowing she knew what he wanted to hear. "I love you," he prompted.

She couldn't help smiling. "I love you too." She pushed him away as he went for another kiss and walked into the living room. "Still mad though. You're gonna have to make this up to me. You can start by making me coffee," she told him as she sat on the couch.

"Yes, ma'am," he said with a grin as he went to the kitchen.