Lost and Found (A Castle Fanfiction)

Calm After Storm

When Kate got home that night, after having spent two hours with the young boy, putting in overtime she wasn't actually getting paid for, she strolled through the doors with the largest smile on her face that Rick had ever seen from her. When Alexis came running at Kate the way she always seemed to now 'a days, Kate lifted her off the ground and onto her side with ease. "Hey there, how's my favorite little girl doing?"

"Good," Alexis said bashfully, "We played princess today."

"Princess," Kate asked, looking at Rick.

The writer explained, "I was the fairy-godmother. Wand and wings and a tutu as well." He was so proud of that fact. It was adorable.

"I was Cinderella," Alexis said with a pleasant grin.

"Sounds like fun," Kate replied.

Rick then finally stood from the couch, handing in his pockets instead of out like they usually were. This caught Kate's attention. And he was moving slower as though he was aching all over. Instantly, Kate put Alexis down and asked, "What happened?"

"Nothing," Rick lied, "It was nothing."

He stopped moving, but she walked closer to him. "Rick, you are as stiff as a board. What happened?"

Her hands combed over his arms and he winced a bit. The long sleeved black shirt hid his muscles from her, as well as his chest and back. He told her, "I just fell Kate. I'm fine. Really."

"Fell where? How had?"

"I'm fine," he insisted.

She forcefully replied, "You're hurt. You're not fine."

"I will be," Rick stated.

"Would you please let me take a look?" The man looked into her eyes, seeing that she sincerely cared about him and needed to know whether he was telling the truth or not. He swallowed hard and nodded, sighing, and allowing her to lift off his shirt with the most gentle care he had ever received. When she saw the bruising and the cuts that went from his sides to his back and all over his arms, she turned around and told his daughter, "Alexis, go upstairs, alright? I need to talk to your dad alone."

"But-"

"Alexis, go, please," her father insisted. She did as she was told. Rick then cringed as Kate's hand brushed against his ribcage and he asked, "That bad, huh?"

Kate roughly said, "You have to tell me what the hell happened, Rick. This isn't the kind of bruising you get from just falling and these cuts on your back have to be from something sharp."

Rick sighed, avoiding the question, "I just need some Ibuprofen."

"No, you need to tell me what happened," Kate sternly demanded.

The writer paused a moment. He didn't want to say a word. He had to tell her, though. He had to tell her something, and he knew it couldn't be a lie. He had to tell her the total truth. Too many people had done otherwise. "I fell down the stairs at your dad's. Tripped on one glass bottle, landed on another and cut up my back because of it."

Kate's eyes grew exponentially, and her caring hands fell from his back in astonishment. "You- you what?"

"Kate, let me explain."

"No! Why should I?!" She began to back away from him, her rage seeping through.

"Look, your dad called me. He said he really needed to talk to me. You weren't answering his calls and-"

"Of course I wasn't answering his calls!" Kate was livid. "What the hell, Rick! Since when did you side with him in this! Do you not remember what he did to me?!"

He tried, "Kate, please-."

"No! What the hell made you think going over there was okay?! What the hell made you think you get any say in how my dad and I interact?! You had no right! I'm not your daughter, Rick! You don't get to control these things with me!"

"I wasn't trying to! And believe me, I wouldn't have answered the phone either if I had looked at my caller ID and had seen his number! Now, will you please let me explain?!" Kate steamed for a moment, fury lighting her eyes, but she didn't say a word. She have him this one and only chance. "Thank you. Your dad called, I answered thinking it was you, and the second I realized it was him, I wanted to hang up, but his first words to me were, 'Don't hang up, please. Katie won't answer either.' I told him that you had every right to ignore him and asked him why I shouldn't. He told me that he was just trying to call because a package came for you yesterday.

"It was a box of stuff from one of your friends' parents filled with old baby stuff. Apparently she saw you in the bookstore three days ago and she asked her daughter a ton of questions about you and then had her son bring over a box. He figured you would want it now so you didn't waste your money on something you didn't realize you already had. I assumed you wouldn't want to go see him, so I told him I would pick it up and then I would talk to you about it when you got home instead of saying anything while you were still at work. I didn't mean to make you upset, I just didn't want you to feel like you had to go get the box yourself."

"That shouldn't have been your call," Kate said, much more calm now than she had been.

He breathed. "I was only trying to help."

"I can handle myself, Rick."

"I know," he agreed softly.

She watched him, could see he had surrendered, and didn't have it in her to argue anymore. She then slowly took a step forward before saying, "Just- please don't do anything like this again."

"I won't," he swore.

Another few steps forward, she placed her hands lightly on his bare chest. She then felt the need to ask, "Did you get someone to look at your back?"

"Well, my mother had Alexis, so she helped me pluck out the glass when I went to pick her up. She told me I was a fool about twenty times and then decided I was fine. I took Alexis home right after that."

"You didn't go to the E.R?"

He laughed. "And admit I tripped down the stairs? No. I just let my mother pick glass out of my back and dealt with her nagging."

Kate looked at him with disapproval. "And if you cracked a rib?"

"I know what a cracked rib feels like. Nothing's broken, just bruised and slightly cut up."

"Any head wounds?"

"Nope. I'm no more brain damaged now than I was when you met me," Rick merrily smiled.

Kate replied, "I doubt that. You were crazy enough to give me a second chance."

"And every moment of that has been worth it." Kate rolled her eyes as Rick smiled down at her. He then pushed her hair behind her ear and cupped her cheek with his hand. In a daze, she looked up to him and he leaned in to place a gentle kiss on her lips. When he pulled back and their lips split apart, she pined for more, and took it without any resistance at all. Once again, after a few second, they pulled apart, foreheads stuck together, telling each other "I love you" without having to say a word.