Fic: All Coming Back
Title: All Coming Back
Fandom: Castle
Author: spaciireth
Words: 2640
Rating: G
Genre: Fluff/Romance/General
Prompt: 100_women 096 “Memories”
Characters/Pairing: Beckett/Castle, Jim, Martha, Alexis, Lanie, Ryan, Esposito
Summary: Beckett's memories of the shooting return to her gradually in the days following...
Warnings: None really.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Notes: Why, yes, it's another post-season 3-finale fic! The first 2300 words or so of this were written in the week following the season 3 finale, then I got caught up with things, then I had writer's block, and so it's only now that I'm getting around to finishing it (worth noting that I'm not overly happy with the ending because it was a bit of a "Dammit, I want to finish this NOW!" scenario). Also, I realise that Kate undergoes a rather Hollywood-style recovery here, but that's more what I was going for than realism. :)
When Kate Beckett first wakes up after surgery, she remembers very little about being shot. She remembers the way time slowed down as she was hit and the jarring thud as she came into contact with the ground, Castle on top of her. There had been screaming and she saw flurries of movement in her peripheral vision before it faded. Castle had been speaking to her, but in her memory, the sound was muted; she had no idea what he had been saying.
He’s there when she wakes up, fast asleep in the plastic chair by her bed, looking completely dishevelled and worn out. She smiles and the word “Always” drifts through her mind. She doesn’t want to wake him, but the second she tries to shift her weight, an involuntary gasp of pain escapes her, and Castle’s eyes fly open.
“Kate?” He’s standing by her bed before she can blink, taking her hand in one of his, and brushing her hair from her face with the other. Even if she’d tried, Kate wouldn’t have been able to miss the sheer relief washing over his face. She imagines speaking might be painful, and so instead gives his hand a squeeze, hoping that will convey the gratitude she’s feeling for his presence.
“Kate, I was so worried,” he says. “If anything had happened to you...” He trails off, unable to adequately express exactly how losing Kate would have affected him.
“Castle.” She was right, it does hurt to speak, but Kate knows she has to say this. “Castle, it wasn’t your fault.”
“If I’d been a couple of seconds sooner, you’d be safe.”
“And it might have been you with the bullet wound.”
Castle shrugs nonchalantly. “Worse things could happen.”
Kate doesn’t know how long it’s been since she went down, but however long it’s been, she knows Castle has spent the whole time re-enacting the scene at the cemetery. He’s probably exhausted every avenue of “what ifs” by now.
A moment later, he looks up at her and asks, “Do you remember much of it?”
She gives a small shake of her head. “Not really. There was a lot of yelling and screaming. I know you were speaking to me, but I can’t remember what you were saying. And then I don’t remember anything after that.”
A look that Kate can’t quite place passes over Castle’s face, but he hides it quickly. Dejection? Disappointment? What did she say to bring that on?
She doesn’t wonder for too long, though, because there’s a knock at the door and her father pokes his head into the room.
“Am I interrupting anything?” he asks.
Castle lets go of Kate’s hand and crosses to the door. “Not at all. I’ll leave you two alone.” He turns back to Kate and gives her a smile. “I’ll see you later.”
She smiles back and manages a small wave. Castle disappears out the door and Jim takes his place beside Kate’s bed.
“How are you holding up, Katie?”
Kate wriggles again, but stops when it starts to get painful. “I’ll live,” she replies, not wanting to go into too much detail about it. She knows how much her father worries about her.
“We thought we’d lost you for a while there, Castle and me.”
Kate feels a pang of guilt. “It was Mum’s case, Dad. I was so close.”
“I know. And I know how much it means to you to finally close it. But your mum’s gone now, Katie. You’re still here. You’ve got to put yourself first. You can’t keep running out into traffic like this.”
Kate looks away and doesn’t reply. She’s used to hearing this argument from her father. It came up many times when she first joined the force and buried herself in her mother’s case.
Sensing her silence, Jim continues, “I don’t know if you could see the look on Castle’s face when you went down, Kate. Honestly, I’ve never seen another man look so terrified before. If you won’t step back from this for me, do it for him. He’s been sitting in this chair for the best part of the last three days, waiting for you to wake up, spending his time wishing it’d been him instead of you. He cares about you, Katie. A lot.”
Kate finds herself feeling guilty again. She casts her mind back to the few days leading up to Captain Montgomery’s funeral. She realises she’d been doing a lot of yelling, and a lot of it had been aimed at Castle. She’d taken out so much anger on him, and yet he still showed up for her, did what was best for her, would have taken a bullet for her.
She closes her eyes and fights back the lump forming in her throat. Exhaustion washes over in a sudden wave, and she lets herself sink back into her pillow. Her father stands up, and gives her a kiss on the forehead.
“Go back to sleep, Katie. We’ll be here when you wake up again.”
~*~
Her sleep is somewhat fitful at first; her mind keeps drifting back to the shooting and trying to fill in the gaps in her memories. She keeps hearing the gunfire, and feeling over and over again the burning feeling of the bullet hitting her. Castle comes in and out of focus, and then things go black again. She can still hear the bustle going on around her, hear Lanie demanding Castle’s jacket from him and then feel the pressure as Lanie applies it to the entry wound. She can hear Castle shouting her name, but getting steadily more distant. She’s not sure if that’s because someone pulled him away from her, or because she was fading out of consciousness.
Despite the dreams, she sleeps for the best part of the next twenty-four hours. When the nurse informs her it’s been that long, she assumes she was given something to knock her out. Castle is back, and looks pleased to see her awake again. Once the nurse has checked everything over to make sure she’s still stable, he scoots the chair closer to the bed so he can hold her hand again.
“How are you feeling?” he asks. Kate wonders how long it’s going to take for her to get really sick of that question, but she replies anyway.
“I can remember a bit more now.”
She notices how Castle seems to perk up a little at this. “Yeah?”
“Sorry about your jacket.”
Castle gives a small chuckle, but Kate can’t help but notice the dry tone it comes out in. She wonders if Castle is actually doing as well in the aftermath of all this as he seems to be.
“Castle?” She pauses for a moment, and then amends, “Rick? How are you feeling?”
“What?”
“I know that we’ve been partners for a while now and you’ve seen a lot in that time, but when something like this happens to someone you’re close to... It can still be a shock.”
He shakes his head. “I’m doing fine, now that I know you will be. Mother and Alexis are taking good care of me. You’re the priority at the moment.”
Kate’s quite sure this response is partially false bravado, but she doesn’t press him. If he’s trying to shut out the trauma for the moment, she’s not going to try to stop him. She changes the subject by enquiring about Ryan and Esposito. Castle tells her about a new case that has come up for them at the precinct; they’ve been working on it for the past two days, but they’ve been ducking in to see how she’s doing each evening. He checks his watch and says that they will probably be along soon if she can stay awake for it. She agrees that she’d like that.
True to Castle’s word, the two detectives appear about half an hour later. While Castle had reported to them the day before that Kate had been awake, it’s clear neither of them can wipe the smiles off their faces actually seeing her. She’s not quite at the hugging stage yet, but there are plenty of hi-fives going around. Kate is pleased when they fill her in on the case they were working on, and she’s able to give her point of view. She can’t help but feel a little bit proud listening to them talk about working a case on their own. She’d never doubted they were perfectly capable of holding the fort, but it’s good to see it anyway.
It’s great to catch up, but it’s not too long before Kate starts feeling tired again. She points this out to her guests, and Ryan and Esposito agree they should probably both be heading off anyway. Ryan suggests getting pizza, to which Esposito agrees, and they ask Castle if he wants to join them. He seems reluctant to leave Kate’s side, but she tells him to go, and assures him she’ll still be here when he comes back. He still doesn’t seem too keen, so she cocks an eyebrow at him, and he relents. As the boys disappear out the door, she settles herself back into her pillow again, and it’s not too long before sleep claims her again.
~*~
The following morning, the nurses decide to get her sitting up in bed. She has about six pillows propping her up, but it feels great to finally be at eye-level with the people she speaks to, despite the initial pain in her chest and abdomen as the bed was raised. Her father was there when she woke up, and they chatted while she tested how much real breakfast she could get down.
Castle arrives within the morning visiting hours, Martha and Alexis in tow, carrying between them an enormous flower arrangement, which they set up on the table by her bed. Alexis sits on the edge of her bed and gives her hand a squeeze, while Martha gushes about how well Kate’s starting to look now, all things considered.
Apart from that, the day is fairly uneventful. Castle gives the nurse his puppy-eyes until she relents and agrees to let him and Jim both stay with Kate. Her vitals are still all fine and she’s feeling a lot better now that she’s eating, even if it is only a little. Jim embarrasses her by telling Castle stories about when she was a kid. She wishes Martha was still here to do the same to Castle, but she figures that if Castle sticks around in her life for long enough, there will be plenty of opportunities for that.
Ryan and Esposito visit again in the evening, and Lanie is with them this time. Ryan called ahead, and took Jim and Castle’s pizza orders. Kate becomes envious of everyone else getting to enjoy delicious-smelling food, and says as much, so Castle feeds her some cheese and pepperoni from his own slice.
She tries not to laugh too much because of the pain it causes, but there is a wide grin across her face the whole time they are there. For a while it feels like she wasn’t shot, doesn’t have to spend an age in hospital and that everything is back to normal. The group of people surrounding her right now, they’re her family. Sure, Jim is the only one she’s actually related to, but the others are just as important to her.
She manages to convince both her father and Castle to go home for the night. They both protest, but she points out that they know she’s doing better now, and nothing’s likely to happen to her overnight. She promises that if anything does, they’ll be the first two to know. After they’ve left, she can’t help but smile to herself. As much as she’s always said she prefers taking care of herself, it is touching to see just how much some people are willing to go out of their way for her.
~*~
Castle’s face swims in front of her as she sleeps. His expression is one of complete horror and his words a panicked. She can hear them this time.
“Stay with me, okay? Kate... I love you. I love you, Kate.”
Her eyes fly open. “Castle?” It takes her a moment to remember she sent him home. She turns her head to check the clock on the bedside chest. It says 3:04. Well, she’s sure he’ll turn up eventually. She settles her head back down into her pillow and dozes off again.
Sure enough, the next time she wakes up, he’s sitting in the chair beside her again. She allows herself a smile, which he notices.
“What’s up?”
“Just admiring the way you’re nearly always here when I wake up.”
“Only nearly always?”
“Well, I can’t expect you to be here when I wake up in the early hours of the morning.”
“Oh.” She swears he looks disappointed that he wasn’t.
They drift into silence and Kate wonders what would be the best way to bring up the memories that came back to her overnight. Eventually, she decides it’s best to just be up-front about it and takes a deep breath.
“Rick?” He looks back up at her. “I... I remembered what you said to me. Just after I was shot.” His face becomes so hopeful; it now makes perfect sense why he’d been so dejected when he’d realised she couldn’t remember what he’d said.
“And, um... your thoughts?” Rick is suddenly bashful, and Kate feels the corners of her mouth twitch upwards. Then she realises he is actually waiting for an answer, and tries to think of something to say.
“Well, it’s a lot to take in,” she finally replies, “but I guess... I guess I kind of already knew.”
“You did?”
“You and me...” Kate gives a small shake of her head. “Masters of witty banter, but unable to say anything meaningful when it really counts.”
“So... I take this to mean you feel the same way?”
Kate hesitates for a moment, then smiles fully and replies, “Yeah. Yeah, I do.” She chuckles as a huge grin spreads over Rick’s face; sometimes, it seems like he is just a little boy. She pats the side of the bed and Rick scoots his chair closer, taking her hand in both of his.
“Let’s just take this slowly, though, okay?” She knows she’s had feelings for Rick for quite some time, and that that has probably contributed to the fact that her last attempts at relationships haven’t really worked. Despite that, she still wants to be careful; she doesn’t want to rush into anything only to realise she’s made a terrible mistake.
“Slow is good,” the writer agrees quickly. Kate can’t help but think that he looks like all his Christmases have come at once.
She leans towards him and beckons for him to meet her half way. “Come here.” He gladly obliges and closes the gap between them. Kate ensures she keeps the kiss gentle, as she’s not strong enough yet for anything too exciting, but the relief at finally having got this far is enormous.
Later, Lanie comes to visit, and susses out the new situation between Kate and Rick within seconds of walking through the door. The teasing begins almost immediately. Kate would have preferred to stay quiet about the whole thing, at least while she’s still recovering, but the news spreads rather quickly, at least through their immediate circle of friends.
Kate can’t bring herself to mind it too much, though. In fact, she’s smiling a whole lot more than she usually does. For once, allowing herself to admit her true feelings about someone hasn’t completely backfired on her. It’s a weight off her shoulders, and despite her injuries, right now she’s feeling better than ever.
Fandom: Castle
Author: spaciireth
Words: 2640
Rating: G
Genre: Fluff/Romance/General
Prompt: 100_women 096 “Memories”
Characters/Pairing: Beckett/Castle, Jim, Martha, Alexis, Lanie, Ryan, Esposito
Summary: Beckett's memories of the shooting return to her gradually in the days following...
Warnings: None really.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Notes: Why, yes, it's another post-season 3-finale fic! The first 2300 words or so of this were written in the week following the season 3 finale, then I got caught up with things, then I had writer's block, and so it's only now that I'm getting around to finishing it (worth noting that I'm not overly happy with the ending because it was a bit of a "Dammit, I want to finish this NOW!" scenario). Also, I realise that Kate undergoes a rather Hollywood-style recovery here, but that's more what I was going for than realism. :)
When Kate Beckett first wakes up after surgery, she remembers very little about being shot. She remembers the way time slowed down as she was hit and the jarring thud as she came into contact with the ground, Castle on top of her. There had been screaming and she saw flurries of movement in her peripheral vision before it faded. Castle had been speaking to her, but in her memory, the sound was muted; she had no idea what he had been saying.
He’s there when she wakes up, fast asleep in the plastic chair by her bed, looking completely dishevelled and worn out. She smiles and the word “Always” drifts through her mind. She doesn’t want to wake him, but the second she tries to shift her weight, an involuntary gasp of pain escapes her, and Castle’s eyes fly open.
“Kate?” He’s standing by her bed before she can blink, taking her hand in one of his, and brushing her hair from her face with the other. Even if she’d tried, Kate wouldn’t have been able to miss the sheer relief washing over his face. She imagines speaking might be painful, and so instead gives his hand a squeeze, hoping that will convey the gratitude she’s feeling for his presence.
“Kate, I was so worried,” he says. “If anything had happened to you...” He trails off, unable to adequately express exactly how losing Kate would have affected him.
“Castle.” She was right, it does hurt to speak, but Kate knows she has to say this. “Castle, it wasn’t your fault.”
“If I’d been a couple of seconds sooner, you’d be safe.”
“And it might have been you with the bullet wound.”
Castle shrugs nonchalantly. “Worse things could happen.”
Kate doesn’t know how long it’s been since she went down, but however long it’s been, she knows Castle has spent the whole time re-enacting the scene at the cemetery. He’s probably exhausted every avenue of “what ifs” by now.
A moment later, he looks up at her and asks, “Do you remember much of it?”
She gives a small shake of her head. “Not really. There was a lot of yelling and screaming. I know you were speaking to me, but I can’t remember what you were saying. And then I don’t remember anything after that.”
A look that Kate can’t quite place passes over Castle’s face, but he hides it quickly. Dejection? Disappointment? What did she say to bring that on?
She doesn’t wonder for too long, though, because there’s a knock at the door and her father pokes his head into the room.
“Am I interrupting anything?” he asks.
Castle lets go of Kate’s hand and crosses to the door. “Not at all. I’ll leave you two alone.” He turns back to Kate and gives her a smile. “I’ll see you later.”
She smiles back and manages a small wave. Castle disappears out the door and Jim takes his place beside Kate’s bed.
“How are you holding up, Katie?”
Kate wriggles again, but stops when it starts to get painful. “I’ll live,” she replies, not wanting to go into too much detail about it. She knows how much her father worries about her.
“We thought we’d lost you for a while there, Castle and me.”
Kate feels a pang of guilt. “It was Mum’s case, Dad. I was so close.”
“I know. And I know how much it means to you to finally close it. But your mum’s gone now, Katie. You’re still here. You’ve got to put yourself first. You can’t keep running out into traffic like this.”
Kate looks away and doesn’t reply. She’s used to hearing this argument from her father. It came up many times when she first joined the force and buried herself in her mother’s case.
Sensing her silence, Jim continues, “I don’t know if you could see the look on Castle’s face when you went down, Kate. Honestly, I’ve never seen another man look so terrified before. If you won’t step back from this for me, do it for him. He’s been sitting in this chair for the best part of the last three days, waiting for you to wake up, spending his time wishing it’d been him instead of you. He cares about you, Katie. A lot.”
Kate finds herself feeling guilty again. She casts her mind back to the few days leading up to Captain Montgomery’s funeral. She realises she’d been doing a lot of yelling, and a lot of it had been aimed at Castle. She’d taken out so much anger on him, and yet he still showed up for her, did what was best for her, would have taken a bullet for her.
She closes her eyes and fights back the lump forming in her throat. Exhaustion washes over in a sudden wave, and she lets herself sink back into her pillow. Her father stands up, and gives her a kiss on the forehead.
“Go back to sleep, Katie. We’ll be here when you wake up again.”
~*~
Her sleep is somewhat fitful at first; her mind keeps drifting back to the shooting and trying to fill in the gaps in her memories. She keeps hearing the gunfire, and feeling over and over again the burning feeling of the bullet hitting her. Castle comes in and out of focus, and then things go black again. She can still hear the bustle going on around her, hear Lanie demanding Castle’s jacket from him and then feel the pressure as Lanie applies it to the entry wound. She can hear Castle shouting her name, but getting steadily more distant. She’s not sure if that’s because someone pulled him away from her, or because she was fading out of consciousness.
Despite the dreams, she sleeps for the best part of the next twenty-four hours. When the nurse informs her it’s been that long, she assumes she was given something to knock her out. Castle is back, and looks pleased to see her awake again. Once the nurse has checked everything over to make sure she’s still stable, he scoots the chair closer to the bed so he can hold her hand again.
“How are you feeling?” he asks. Kate wonders how long it’s going to take for her to get really sick of that question, but she replies anyway.
“I can remember a bit more now.”
She notices how Castle seems to perk up a little at this. “Yeah?”
“Sorry about your jacket.”
Castle gives a small chuckle, but Kate can’t help but notice the dry tone it comes out in. She wonders if Castle is actually doing as well in the aftermath of all this as he seems to be.
“Castle?” She pauses for a moment, and then amends, “Rick? How are you feeling?”
“What?”
“I know that we’ve been partners for a while now and you’ve seen a lot in that time, but when something like this happens to someone you’re close to... It can still be a shock.”
He shakes his head. “I’m doing fine, now that I know you will be. Mother and Alexis are taking good care of me. You’re the priority at the moment.”
Kate’s quite sure this response is partially false bravado, but she doesn’t press him. If he’s trying to shut out the trauma for the moment, she’s not going to try to stop him. She changes the subject by enquiring about Ryan and Esposito. Castle tells her about a new case that has come up for them at the precinct; they’ve been working on it for the past two days, but they’ve been ducking in to see how she’s doing each evening. He checks his watch and says that they will probably be along soon if she can stay awake for it. She agrees that she’d like that.
True to Castle’s word, the two detectives appear about half an hour later. While Castle had reported to them the day before that Kate had been awake, it’s clear neither of them can wipe the smiles off their faces actually seeing her. She’s not quite at the hugging stage yet, but there are plenty of hi-fives going around. Kate is pleased when they fill her in on the case they were working on, and she’s able to give her point of view. She can’t help but feel a little bit proud listening to them talk about working a case on their own. She’d never doubted they were perfectly capable of holding the fort, but it’s good to see it anyway.
It’s great to catch up, but it’s not too long before Kate starts feeling tired again. She points this out to her guests, and Ryan and Esposito agree they should probably both be heading off anyway. Ryan suggests getting pizza, to which Esposito agrees, and they ask Castle if he wants to join them. He seems reluctant to leave Kate’s side, but she tells him to go, and assures him she’ll still be here when he comes back. He still doesn’t seem too keen, so she cocks an eyebrow at him, and he relents. As the boys disappear out the door, she settles herself back into her pillow again, and it’s not too long before sleep claims her again.
~*~
The following morning, the nurses decide to get her sitting up in bed. She has about six pillows propping her up, but it feels great to finally be at eye-level with the people she speaks to, despite the initial pain in her chest and abdomen as the bed was raised. Her father was there when she woke up, and they chatted while she tested how much real breakfast she could get down.
Castle arrives within the morning visiting hours, Martha and Alexis in tow, carrying between them an enormous flower arrangement, which they set up on the table by her bed. Alexis sits on the edge of her bed and gives her hand a squeeze, while Martha gushes about how well Kate’s starting to look now, all things considered.
Apart from that, the day is fairly uneventful. Castle gives the nurse his puppy-eyes until she relents and agrees to let him and Jim both stay with Kate. Her vitals are still all fine and she’s feeling a lot better now that she’s eating, even if it is only a little. Jim embarrasses her by telling Castle stories about when she was a kid. She wishes Martha was still here to do the same to Castle, but she figures that if Castle sticks around in her life for long enough, there will be plenty of opportunities for that.
Ryan and Esposito visit again in the evening, and Lanie is with them this time. Ryan called ahead, and took Jim and Castle’s pizza orders. Kate becomes envious of everyone else getting to enjoy delicious-smelling food, and says as much, so Castle feeds her some cheese and pepperoni from his own slice.
She tries not to laugh too much because of the pain it causes, but there is a wide grin across her face the whole time they are there. For a while it feels like she wasn’t shot, doesn’t have to spend an age in hospital and that everything is back to normal. The group of people surrounding her right now, they’re her family. Sure, Jim is the only one she’s actually related to, but the others are just as important to her.
She manages to convince both her father and Castle to go home for the night. They both protest, but she points out that they know she’s doing better now, and nothing’s likely to happen to her overnight. She promises that if anything does, they’ll be the first two to know. After they’ve left, she can’t help but smile to herself. As much as she’s always said she prefers taking care of herself, it is touching to see just how much some people are willing to go out of their way for her.
~*~
Castle’s face swims in front of her as she sleeps. His expression is one of complete horror and his words a panicked. She can hear them this time.
“Stay with me, okay? Kate... I love you. I love you, Kate.”
Her eyes fly open. “Castle?” It takes her a moment to remember she sent him home. She turns her head to check the clock on the bedside chest. It says 3:04. Well, she’s sure he’ll turn up eventually. She settles her head back down into her pillow and dozes off again.
Sure enough, the next time she wakes up, he’s sitting in the chair beside her again. She allows herself a smile, which he notices.
“What’s up?”
“Just admiring the way you’re nearly always here when I wake up.”
“Only nearly always?”
“Well, I can’t expect you to be here when I wake up in the early hours of the morning.”
“Oh.” She swears he looks disappointed that he wasn’t.
They drift into silence and Kate wonders what would be the best way to bring up the memories that came back to her overnight. Eventually, she decides it’s best to just be up-front about it and takes a deep breath.
“Rick?” He looks back up at her. “I... I remembered what you said to me. Just after I was shot.” His face becomes so hopeful; it now makes perfect sense why he’d been so dejected when he’d realised she couldn’t remember what he’d said.
“And, um... your thoughts?” Rick is suddenly bashful, and Kate feels the corners of her mouth twitch upwards. Then she realises he is actually waiting for an answer, and tries to think of something to say.
“Well, it’s a lot to take in,” she finally replies, “but I guess... I guess I kind of already knew.”
“You did?”
“You and me...” Kate gives a small shake of her head. “Masters of witty banter, but unable to say anything meaningful when it really counts.”
“So... I take this to mean you feel the same way?”
Kate hesitates for a moment, then smiles fully and replies, “Yeah. Yeah, I do.” She chuckles as a huge grin spreads over Rick’s face; sometimes, it seems like he is just a little boy. She pats the side of the bed and Rick scoots his chair closer, taking her hand in both of his.
“Let’s just take this slowly, though, okay?” She knows she’s had feelings for Rick for quite some time, and that that has probably contributed to the fact that her last attempts at relationships haven’t really worked. Despite that, she still wants to be careful; she doesn’t want to rush into anything only to realise she’s made a terrible mistake.
“Slow is good,” the writer agrees quickly. Kate can’t help but think that he looks like all his Christmases have come at once.
She leans towards him and beckons for him to meet her half way. “Come here.” He gladly obliges and closes the gap between them. Kate ensures she keeps the kiss gentle, as she’s not strong enough yet for anything too exciting, but the relief at finally having got this far is enormous.
Later, Lanie comes to visit, and susses out the new situation between Kate and Rick within seconds of walking through the door. The teasing begins almost immediately. Kate would have preferred to stay quiet about the whole thing, at least while she’s still recovering, but the news spreads rather quickly, at least through their immediate circle of friends.
Kate can’t bring herself to mind it too much, though. In fact, she’s smiling a whole lot more than she usually does. For once, allowing herself to admit her true feelings about someone hasn’t completely backfired on her. It’s a weight off her shoulders, and despite her injuries, right now she’s feeling better than ever.