Prompt from CastleFanFicPrompts and Anonymous on Tumblr:

47 seconds AU. Castle joins Beckett in the interrogation, she still says the same words.

xxxx

"You want to know trauma? I was shot, and I remember ever single second of it!"

The moment the words came out of her mouth she knew she made a huge mistake. How could she say that with Castle sitting right next to her? She'd kept the damn secret for almost a year and now she blurted it out in front of a suspect? He was going to hate her.

Even as these thoughts ran though her mind, she couldn't bring herself to look at her partner.

"I swear I don't remember," Bobby shouted back at her, reminding her to breathe again.

"Fine. Maybe you can sit here and try to remember." She stood up and stalked out of the room, applauding herself on her acting skills. Inside she decided the term freak out wasn't quite strong enough for how she felt.

Castle had followed her out of the interrogation room and immediately walked to his chair, grabbed his jacket and made his way to the elevator bank. He was there before she even realized he was on the move. Seeing him leaving, she rushed towards him, knowing that if he left, she'd never see him again.

"Rick! Please."

"I'm sorry, Kate." He stepped onto the elevator which had arrived moments before and pressed the 'door close' button, but he wasn't quick enough.

"No! You're not going to run away before we talk about this. That's not you."

"No, that's you. How does it feel," he asked brutally.

She nodded. "I deserved that. Of course I did. But don't you even want to know why I lied?"

"What does it matter? If you could lie to me about something like this, what else could you lie about? How am I ever to trust you again, Kate? Tell me! I love you dammit!"

"I lied because I love you too, Rick," she sobbed, just before the elevator doors opened. She dragged him out through the lobby, onto the street, and towards her car.

Once they were both inside, Castle exclaimed, "That is either the dumbest thing I've ever heard or it's the most selfish. You didn't ask me what I thought about it, did you? I think I know why you lied, Kate. I could handle it if it was for a couple months, but it's been almost a year. So you weren't ready! No one is ever ready for true love, it just happens, and then you work towards making a life together. You're not perfect, neither am I. I didn't say the words to you that day expecting you to jump into my bed the next day, Kate. I could have handled anything except what you did. This is…this is unforgivable."

Unforgivable? He couldn't forgive her after everything she had forgiven him for? Didn't she deserve a second chance? Anger flared deep within her. "How dare you! Unforgiveable! Bah! How can you not forgive me, huh Rick? I forgave you didn't I? You looked into my mother's case at the end of our first year together, and then I let you come back. Now you're looking into it again, and I'll forgive you again. Don't give me that look, Castle, I'm a trained detective. I know you're looking into my shooting behind my back, putting yourself and your family in danger. Yet I didn't say anything, because I knew you were doing it for the right reasons. Can't you even think for a minute that maybe I lied to you for the same exact reason? I needed to keep you safe. Safe from the case, safe from me! I was unstable. I would have ruined everything." She was panting by the time her rant ended. She looked away from him out into the street. They hadn't moved once they got into her car, and the enclosed space was getting to her. She needed to breathe, she needed space. Hurling open her car door, she got out and sprinted away from her car just needing to get away.

xxxx

One thing Richard Castle knew for sure was that Kate Beckett was a runner. When things got tough, she'd run away from it. It was just who she was, but he loved her anyways. So he, being the lovable idiot he is, ran after her. Even on his best day, he was never going to catch her, so he settled on just trying to keep her in sight.

When she finally slowed down, he noticed that she had entered the park and sat down on a bench. He could see the tension in her shoulders as she buried her face in her hands, obviously crying.

He came up to her and sat down, not saying anything as he tried to catch his breath. Once he did he said softly, "We're quite a pair, aren't we?"

Kate's head snapped up, shock written plainly on her beautiful face. "Castle? How?"

"I ran after you. Obviously I couldn't catch you, even with your monster heals on you are faster than I am, but I kept you in sight."

"But why? Not enough shouting for you today?"

"I don't know. I think, despite the shouting, that was our most honest conversation ever."

Kate huffed, but couldn't deny it. "So what now?"

Rick sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "Do you really?"

"Do I really what?"

"Love me?"

"Yes. Of course I do." Kate smirked, "Do you think I'd have put up with you for this long if I wasn't head over heels?"

Rick laughed. "Touché, Detective. I love you too. Don't you think that might be a good place to start?"

"I…yes, perhaps it is."

"So I guess the next question is, are you ready to go on a date with me? If you're not, I'll wait, but no more lying to each other."

"I'm ready, Rick. I think it's best if we take it slow, but I'm ready. I am sorry for lying to you. I…I guess I just thought that if I lied it might give you time to move on without me. I thought that that was the best possible outcome at the time. I was so broken. I am broken," she corrected. "But I'll fix myself for you."

"Sappy, but nice," he said, turning towards her, grasping her chin in one of his hands and then pressing his lips to hers.

When they finally broke apart, he said, "I love you, Kate."

"And I love you, Rick. Now let's talk about what you've been doing behind my back, shall we?" she asked sweetly.

Rick groaned. This was going to be a long day.

xxxx

a.n. If you have a prompt, send it to me via PM or on Tumblr (mattaweber is the UN). I don't do smut, so leave that at the door. Also I prefer ones that can be wrapped up in a single shot. I have way too many multi-chapters right now.

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