A/N: prompt at end of story

In The Morning

Will you be there in the morning to face the light of the day…will you be there in the night to chase the dark thoughts away? Post 8x08 based on an anon prompt from tumblr

Something was off.

Castle couldn't shake the feeling as his eyes snapped open, still blurry from sleep. With a soft groan, he turned to his side and reached for his phone from the nightstand, noticing the early hour.

4 AM.

Why the hell was he awake? They had only just fallen asleep in each other's arms, not even two hours ago after multiple rounds of punishment, each having a turn at taking charge. It was a perfect way to truly welcome her home.

A way to start mending their frayed relationship…

The last couple months had left a bitter taste on his tongue, but when it all came down to it, he loved his wife. He wanted to believe her apology – believe in her desire to fix what she had fractured with her crusade for justice. Closing his eyes, he tried to ease his mind and fall back asleep, when realization washed over his body. He rolled over and confirmed his fear. Instead of his wife's lithe sleeping form, he found cold bare sheets instead.

"Kate?" he croaked, his voice still thick from sleep. The question echoed through the room but remained unanswered as dread raced through his veins and sank in his stomach.

Had he imagined the entire thing?

He reached for her pillow and buried his face against the Egyptian cotton, breathing in the lingering scent of her shampoo. At least his mind hadn't played a cruel trick on him, but that didn't explain why she wasn't lying warm and sated, pressed against his body.

"Kate?" he called again, but silence greeted him instead of the sound of his wife's voice. The lack of response weaved panic into his generally optimistic thoughts, planting seeds of doubt where they wouldn't normally exist.

Had she waited until he fell asleep before making her escape?

Castle pressed the heels of his hands against his eye sockets and sighed. There had to be an explanation to all of this, even if the rational part of his brain was still fast asleep. He scooted himself up against his pillows and looked around the room.

Empty.

Swinging his legs out of the bed, his toes curled against the chilled wood floor as goose bumps prickled along his skin. He should be cuddled in bed under a pile of blankets with Kate in his arms, but instead he was cold and throwing his robe over his naked skin.

He allowed the fleece's warmth to embrace his body before he moved any further. Becoming more conscious to his surroundings, he finally noticed Kate's clothing from last night still thrown throughout the room.

She hadn't left. She was still here.

Somewhere.

His relief was short lived when he found her in his office, cuddled up on the leather chair. Kate's tear-stained cheeks were illuminated by the moon's glow streaming in through the picture window. He froze, hesitant on what he should do at this point. She had left their bedroom to be alone, but had she really intended to fall asleep out here?

"Rick?"

Her voice shook him out of his internal debate as his eyes focused on his wife's broken expression, fresh tears threatening to fall.

(…)

Something was off.

As her eyes slowly cracked open, realization flooded her mind. She was in his office – not in their bed. The emotions and memories danced along her conscious thoughts as she felt her eyes well up, blurring her vision. A small creak from the doorway pulled her from her self deprecation.

Wiping away the stray tears that rolled down her cheeks, Kate blinked and turned to find Rick standing there, frozen in his place.

"Rick?"

His name hung in the air for what seemed like an eternity before he met her eyes, his expression nearly mimicking her own sadness.

"You didn't leave," Castle whispered, his voice low enough that she was sure he hadn't meant to say the words aloud, but instead they had merely slipped from his tongue.

The surprise in his eyes broke her in two, pulling all the oxygen from her lungs and mangling her already fractured heart. "I didn't."

"I thought-" He stopped to clear his throat, running his hands through his hair and shifting against the door frame. "When I woke up and you weren't there..."

"You assumed I ran again," she stated. It didn't take a mind reader to finish his train of thought. She did this to them, broke them, planted the seed of doubt in his mind that she wouldn't stay when she said she would.

"No. I just – you weren't there and I was –" He moved into the room, by her side in an instant. His hands ran down her arms, fingers lacing with hers, as if to apologize for his doubt. An apology she didn't deserve. She shook her head at the unspoken meaning and abused her bottom lip, pulling the skin between her teeth, pausing to consider her words.

"Castle, I did this to us. I get it."

"Why are you out here?" he asked, his tone still soft and hesitant. She shrugged, walking toward the window to stare at the dark of night below.

"I'm angry, with myself," she said, embarrassment heating her cheeks and thickening her tone. "What you said today about being broken, you were right, but I don't want to be broken anymore and you're the only one that has ever made me feel whole. Yet, I almost threw it all away." With each word she spoke, the confidence to face him washed through her body. She loved him with everything in her being and for as foolish as her actions might have been, her intentions were pure. She had truly thought she was protecting him.

"You make me feel whole, too. Kate, that's what being married is all about. We're in this together, for better or worse."

"I don't understand," she said, her head falling to her hands before turning around to find him directly behind her. She rested her forehead against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. "How can you forgive me? So quickly? After everything I put you through? How could you possibly still want me?"

Castle nudged her chin up, leaning forward to kiss her lips, a soft, tentative action, but it was everything she needed. "Because, I love you, Kate. Logic and sense don't play a part here. All I know is, I love you and because of that, I forgive you. It's the only choice I can make, because living without you is not an option anymore," he murmured, his breath washing over her cheeks.

"Thank you for loving me," she whispered, burrowing her face into his robe as his arms tightened around her waist.

"I don't need you to thank me - loving me back is all I need."

"Well you're in luck." Kate craned her head back to give him a soft smile before she smeared a kiss to the underside of his jaw. With a sigh, she turned back toward the view of the city's skyline and leaned her head back against the wall of his chest. "You know, here with you, the night doesn't seem so bad…"

The words hung in the air, the meaning clear between the two of them. In his arms, with him by her side, she could face anything. She had lost sight of that, thought she could fight battles alone, but she wouldn't, couldn't, anymore. Not without him.

"Let's go back to bed," he sighed, reaching for her hand to guide her back to their room.

"I'll be here in the morning. You know that, right?" Her eyes were on him when he offered her a tired grin, the turn of his lips, crinkling the skin near his eyes.

"I know."

"I'm sor-" He cut off her apology with a press of his lips against the corner of her mouth, flushing her cheeks with warmth.

"I know."

And that's all they needed right now.

The end

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Prompt: Kate comes home and her and castle are sleeping and she gets up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and he thinks she left again.

Thanks so much for reading everyone! I'd love to hear from you!

xoxo

Love to team beta for reading!