#caskett fic

[incrimeandinlife]

Friendly reminder to compliment your favorite fic writers who have their own lives and yet, still manage to make time to write for us. They are not robots and they won’t always be here, so reach out and remind them why they still are. 💛

[lololova]

Less is more - One writer girl

This little shot was inspired by the rt of the “one writer girl” moment on twitter which both @/brucexnat and @/stanamazing was part of. Without knowing it they inspired me to write this, so, thank you guys!! And hope you all enjoy it!

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They look at each other, staring into each other’s eyes and Castle swears he feels his whole body tingling with something deeper than just the relief of her not letting other writers follow her anymore. The way he drowns in her hazel eyes just makes him realize even more how much of a goner he really is.

“Thank you,” he almost whispers and the smile entering her lips is contagious.

“Always,” she promises and he feels a deep desire to kiss her.

She wouldn’t say it like that if she didn’t feel… something, right? She wouldn’t be looking at him like this, right?

“Can I-” he starts but cuts himself off.

He doesn’t want to ruin this perfect moment, but he fears he just did. She’s looking at him with a raised eyebrow and curiosity in her eyes.

“Can you what?” she asks and he looks away from her hypnotic eyes. If he keeps looking into them he’s not sure what he’ll do. When he doesn’t answer quickly enough he feels her hand nudging his, probably to get his attention. “Can you what, Castle?” he looks up at her, the voice of hers so encouraging that he somewhat wonders if she can read his mind and is just waiting for him to voice his thoughts.

He takes a deep, shattering, breath before opening his mouth again, his eyes once again stuck in hers.

“Can I kiss you?”

For some reason Beckett doesn’t feel shock at all when she hears his words. And to her surprise she’s not moving away from him either. In fact, she’s leaning her body closer. She’s drowning in his blue eyes and she’s forgotten they’re in the middle of the bullpen. None of that matters because her favorite author, her shadow-turned partner and her close friend just asked to kiss her. And god she wants him to.

The nod is subtle, but the way his eyes shine brighter she knows he’s seen it. It doesn’t take long before he’s leaning his head to put his lips carefully on hers, it’s really just a small peck, and he creates a little space between their lips again. It’s almost as if he expects her to push him away. But she’s not ready to do that just yet. She nudges his lips with hers, it’s just a small bump, an encouragement, and it’s like it triggers something in him because now he’s kissing her with more confidence. She feels his hands going to her hips, stroking her sides towards her back where they land to pull her closer to him. And she’s more than willing to follow.

She can feel his lips part before she feels his tongue tentatively asking for permission and when she opens up and his tongue meets hers she can finally taste him. His taste is dizzying and, oh, so good. She’s never felt this tingling and exciting shiver from any other taste, and as it is kind of frightening it’s also so thrilling that she doesn’t want anything else.

Castle can’t believe he’s kissing his partner, can’t believe she gave him permission, can’t believe she practically called his claim of her “sweet”. And her taste! He could drink her smile for ages! He doesn’t want to stop, and he prays this isn’t a one time thing but that he can keep on kissing her from now on. His hands pull her slightly closer and he more feels than heads the moan coming from her lips when she’s flush against him. It’s at that moment a whistle goes through the air.

Beckett pulls away the second she hears the whistle, her mind immediately pulled back to where they are and what they are doing. Castle immediately lets go of her and a big part of her already misses his big hands burning on her back.

“Shit,” she breathes as she starts to look around to locate who whistled.

When she can’t see anyone she slightly wonders if her mind had been playing tricks on her.

“I-sorry.”

Beckett looks at her partner and sees his cheeks blossom as one of his hands buries itself in his hair. He looks flustered and scared and kinda adorable. She bites her lower lip, looks at her desk and makes a decision she would’ve never believed had someone told her about it the first day they met.

She shuts off her computer and grabs her belongings before turning back to her shadow, who’s looking down as if he thinks she’ll blow him off, and she tentatively goes to grab his hand, which earns her a look of surprise.

She bites her lip again while taking a deep breath before looking up at him, drowning in his blues. “Can I offer you a drink at my place?”

His eyes go wide before his lips break up in a big grin. “Lead the way.”

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Later that night, after a few amazing rounds of rolling around in bed and pleasing each other in a way none of them thought possible, Beckett receives a text. She’s just barely awake enough to look at it but once she does, she just manages to stop herself from bursting out in laughter. She doesn’t care to answer it right now, instead she snuggles closer to him, putting her head back on his chest. Feeling his arm around her, pulling her closer in his sleep. The deep breaths of his lulling her to sleep too.

“I expect every detail tomorrow with drinks.”

The end

[incrimeandinlife]

I just finished Handle With Care by bravevulnerability 🥺🥰🤩🫶🏻 does anyone have any great Caskett fics they can recommend? ☺️

[lololova]

Less is more - Her.

Kate can’t believe he did that. She’s still amazed by how easily he’d agreed to the bet from the boys and not twitched an inch when he lost. She’s grateful the boys didn’t get to choose what kind of tattoo he had to carve into his body. They’d only said it had to have something to do with her, and so he picked “her.”. It’s kind of cheesy, and it doesn’t say her name or anything like it, but she knows he’s thinking of her every time he looks down on it while writing, playing video games or anything else where he can see his arms.

She bites her lip as she lets her fingers follow the lines of the letters once again, the skin still a bit sore from the needle yesterday.

“You like it?” he asks and she smiles small as she lets her fingers intertwine with his again.

“Maybe it’s starting to grow on me,” she admits and he chuckles.

“So, you don’t hate it?” he teases and she rolls her eyes.

She’d been against him taking the bet. But just because she didn’t want her name in ink on his body. It had just felt like a bad omen to play with fate like that. Not that she had any doubt about their relationship but what if the tattooing of her name onto his skin would’ve been something that started the end of it. She didn’t want that. But instead, he’d chosen something as simple as “her.” and it was actually kind of amazing.

“No, I don’t hate it,” she says and his lips turn up in a big smile.

“Really?”

She mirrors his big smile. “Really.” She then bites her lower lip and thinks carefully of her next words. “Maybe I’ll even be interested in getting a matching one.”

His eyes widen and she giggles at his shock before she’s leaning down and kissing his lips, getting the immediate reaction of his lips kissing her back with the same fever she’s kissing him. It doesn’t take long before they’re fumbling around in bed again and she can’t help but look forward to the ink getting onto her skin. Him.

The end

[lololova]

Less is more - Shoes

Kate’s nervous. She looks into her purse to make sure she has what she needs for what she’s planning. His eyes are glancing between her and the road and so she’s raising her head to look at him.

“What are you thinking about?” he asks and she lifts her shoulders.

“Nothing much,” she answers as her belly fills with butterflies, secretly hoping he doesn’t know what she knows.

They’re only minutes away from the cabin where they’ll be spending their weekend and that means she’s only minutes away from revealing what she’s known with certainty for two days. It hadn’t really been a surprise considering how she’d felt… different the last couple weeks. She is a bit worried he’s been noticing, but at the same time she isn’t showing yet so how would he? Well, she had been craving a lot more ice cream than normal but… that wouldn’t make him know, right?

“Are you sure? Are you okay?” he asks and pulls her out of her thoughts.

“Yes, I’m good,” she says. More than good. “It’s nice to have a weekend off.”

He smiles and she does too. They haven’t had a weekend off in what felt like ages and it’s so perfect that it comes right now. Absolute perfect timing considering the surprise she has for him. His hand lands on her thigh and she twines her fingers with his, squeezing it in a hug. He picks her hand up and kisses it tenderly with his eyes focused on the road and she sucks in her lower lip into her mouth, gnawing on it. She so badly wants to say something now, but it’s only a few more minutes because they’re finally pulling into the parking area to the cabin. She’s anxious to get out of the car as soon as it parks and when he’s about to grab their bags from the trunk she stops him by standing in the way of the trunk.

“What are you…?” he asks but she just smirks and grabs his hand to pull him with her towards the backside of the cabin.

“Come on,” she says and he just follows.

When they’re in the middle of the backyard she’s biting her lip as she’s coming to a stop.

“Kate?” he asks and she looks at him, her fingers starting to shake with nerves.

She takes in a deep breath before she lets go of his hands to turn her back towards him as she reaches into her handbag and carefully picks up the items she brought.

“Rick,” she starts as she’s still hiding the tiny shoes from his eyes. “I’ve got something to tell you.” She turns around but still holds the shoes behind her, out of sight, and she sees him gulp.

“Did I do something?” he questions and she shakes her head, her eyes tearing up a bit.

“No, but we did,” she says and when he’s about to ask what she means she’s pulling out the tiny shoes for his eyes to see.

It takes him a few seconds. And she has to bite her tongue in order not to spell it out for him. It’s visible in his eyes the second he realizes what the shoes symbolize.

“You’re pregnant!” he yells out in a gasp and she nods, screaming out in a laughing yelp when his arms are suddenly around her waist and lifting her up to spin her around in the grass.

“Castle!” she gasps and he lets go slowly in order to let her glide down his body, her feet soon touching the ground.

“You’re pregnant,” he whispers again and she bites her lip, nodding.

“I am,” she whispers and the big smile on his face makes her bounce on and off her heels in excitement.

“You’re going to be a mom,” he says and she feels her body stiffen a bit at the statement. “You’re going to be a great mom.”

She feels her cheeks blossom with warmth. “You really think so?” she asks with uncertainty.

He grins. “I know so.”

The end

[lololova]

Less is more - Canvas

Kate feels ridiculous, but her husband had looked so adorable when he asked her to please just go with it, and so she had. He’d complimented her nails the second she’d held their daughter’s feet in her hands, had said the contrast was perfect. She’d just rolled her eyes.

“Castle, how much longer?” she asks and he smiles at her with his camera in his hands.

“Only a few more shots, do you think you can relax your hand without her feet slipping out?” he asks and she does. “Perfect.”

He snaps another shot and when he announces he’s done their daughter starts whimpering.

“Food time, huh?” Kate asks their daughter as she picks her up and goes to sit in the chair they try not to put all their clothes on since she was born and Kate needed some place to sit during the feeding.

Kate lays her daughter against one arm as she frees her breast in order to let the small girl feed on it. She flinches a bit when it hurts but does her best not to let her baby girl feel any change at all.

“Still hurt?” Castle asks and she nods, looking up at him.

“But considering the gunshot wounds I have gotten through the years, I can stand it,” she says, a bit more to herself than to him. “Plus,” she adds with a smirk, “you can always kiss it better later.”

He chuckles. “That I can definitely do,” he smirks and she bites her lip.

“Can you make some hot cocoa for me?” she asks and he nods, walks up to her and leans down to kiss her lips.

“Absolutely, love.”

She smiles and puts her free hand on his cheek to pull him down for one more kiss. “Thanks, babe.”

He leaves her alone to let their daughter feed with no distractions around. He also knows how much she enjoys their time alone. As he’s waiting for the cocoa to get hot enough he’s looking through the pictures he’s taken, and is stuck on that last one. It looks so perfect. He immediately knows it’s the one he’s going to choose for the canvas he’s planning on ordering for their nursery room.

“So, did you get any pictures you like?” Kate says as she walks into the kitchen with Lily in her arms.

“Definitely,” he says as he brings up the camera to snap another picture, making his wife blush in the process. Which, of course, results in him taking more pictures until she holds out her hand in front of herself.

“Stop,” she says and before she can get angry with him he’s putting away the camera and taking out her hot cocoa to put some marshmallows in it along with some whipped cream on top of it.

He hands it to her and when she accepts it he’s holding out his arms to take their girl into his arms.

“Thanks,” Kate says as she sips the hot cocoa, getting some whipped cream on her nose.

He chuckles at how adorable it looks and leans closer to kiss it off. It makes her giggle and she steps onto her toes in order to kiss his lips which make him taste her cocoa through her lips.

Lily starts whimpering and Castle returns to bounces as Kate enjoys her cocoa.

Kate snuggles her daughter on the couch, tracing the baby’s small features, as she can’t stop thinking about how her husband had insisted on her staying out of the nursery while he took care of something he wouldn’t tell her about. She tries not to think about it, but it’s impossible. At first he told her to stay in their room while he went and got a surprise that he didn’t want her to see when he got home, and then once he was home again he’d said she was able to go everywhere except for the nursery. And then he just disappeared. That was twenty minutes ago.

“Should we go and see what your dad is up to?” Kate whispers to her daughter, who just makes some incoherent noises the way babies do. “Huh?” She's just about to stand up when she hears feet coming down the stairs.

“Okay, you can come up now,” Castle says and she looks at him before she stands up quickly and walks up to him.

“So, what did you do?” she asks and he just smirks, reaches out his hand for her to take. She gently puts all of Lily’s weight onto one arm in order to grab his waiting hand.

He leads her up the stairs and without stopping for that dramatical flare he usually brings he just leads her into the nursery. She sees it the second she starts looking around. The big canvas he’s put up on one of the walls, it’s the…

“Is that one of the pictures you took last week?” she asks with wonder as she stares at the big photo of a relaxed hand holding a pair of baby feet.

“Yes, perfect, isn’t it?” he says with excitement and as she walks closer to look at it better she feels him take Lily from her. She’s grateful he does because the way she feels her whole body wanting to swoon over how perfect it all looked. He’s set the canvas right above the crib and as she’s looking closer at the quality of the canvas there’s a sudden click before a beautiful yellow light surrounds the picture and she realizes this must have been what took him so long.

“Wow.”

She feels one of his hands land on her back and she turns her head to look at him. He’s smiling big as he looks between her and the canvas.

“Was this your idea the whole time?” she asks as she walks into his side, leaning her head on his shoulder.

“Maybe,” he says and she bites her lip.

“It’s perfect,” she agrees. “And I agree the black nail polish did create quite the contrast.”

“Told you,” he says and she feels his lips in her hair. When Lily makes those small rumbling noises again the two parents chuckle. “She says she likes it too.”

His comment makes her laugh low. “Does she now?” She shakes her head as she hugs his side, stands on top of her toes to kiss his cheek. This nursery gets prettier for each day they spend time in here, the two of them finding more things to add to it every day, along with the stuff their friends and family bring every time they visit. Castle has even spoken about making a treehouse in there once Lily is bigger, something he’s seen on pinterest and Kate isn’t admitting it but she can’t wait to see what crazy ideas he’ll go through with once the time comes.

The end

[lololova]

Less is more - Straddling comfort

A/N: This shot is thanks to @/KateMB on twitter who reminded me of the scenes we didn't get but so badly want. Hope you all enjoy it! Until next time, xxxx

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Rick isn’t sure how they ended up like this, but he wouldn’t trade it for the world. One second they had enjoyed the movie they were watching, the next she’s climbing onto his lap with her head buried into the crook of his neck with her arms around him. He’s wrapping his own arms around her, just holding her close as he lets her draw comfort from his embrace. When she’s been straddling him like that for twenty minutes he’s starting to get worried, she’s never this clingy.

“Hey,” he whispers as he’s kissing the side of her head. “Not that I don’t enjoy having you in my lap but, is something wrong?” He keeps his voice gentle, hoping she doesn’t find the question harsh or thinking she needs to get off him.

“Just missed you,” she mumbles into his neck and he feels his brow furrow.

“I’m right here,” he says, his fingers splaying on her back to be able to squeeze her closer.

“I know,” she mumbles back and sighs before pulling away slightly, just enough to be able to look at him.

He hums when her fingers travel into his hair, massaging his scalp and fiddling with his hair. It feels nice, and he knows that she knows just how much he loves her fingers in his hair.

“Then what do you mean?” he asks and she kisses his nose.

“It’s been so much at work lately I feel like we haven’t had time for ourselves,” she explains and he nods.

“Ah, yeah, it’s been a lot.” He stretches his neck in order to peck a kiss to her lips. “Lily’s sleeping schedule hasn't been the best either.”

She continues to touch his hair and he sees a small sadness in her eyes. “No,” she whispers with sorrow in her voice and he lets go of her with one of his hands in order to put a lock of hair behind her ear.

“Hey, she’s okay,” he says low to her. “She’s sleeping right now.”

“Yeah,” Kate looks down and he puts a finger under her jaw to lift her eyes to his.

“It’s not your fault, Kate,” he says as he can read the guilt in her eyes.

“If I hadn’t worked so late…”

“No, shhh, Kate, it’s not your fault,” he immediately hushes her. “It’s your first week back at work and it’s a lot to get used to that you won’t be there for every little wave of her pinky finger.”

“I know,” she mumbles and he searches her eyes again.

“It’s nothing bad, Kate,” he tells her and she nods.

“I know,” she repeats herself again before taking a breath. “Doesn’t ease the pain of being away from her though.”

Rick feels his heart clench when he sees the hurt inside her. He kisses her forehead and pulls her into another hug only to kiss her on her hair as well.

“You know,” he says. “If you feel it’s too soon to go back to work, we are wealthy enough to make it for another year or two.” He doesn’t want to suggest it, is pretty sure she doesn’t want to wait either, but he also feels like he needs to give her the option, just in case she actually needs it.

She shakes her head against him. “No, it’s time,” she mumbles. “Besides, she has you.”

He smiles and nods. “Yeah, and she has you too whenever she really needs you.”

She huffs. “Yeah. It’s not just her I missed at the precinct, you know.”

He decides to try and brighten her mood a bit. “Awe, you missed me.”

She chuckles and he smiles to himself, feeling warmth as he feels her relaxing again. “Don’t gloat, it’s not attractive,” she teases and he chuckles too. She pulls away again to look at him and strokes his hair back. “I love you, Rick.”

He smiles big at her. “I love you too, Kate,” he says and she bites her lower lip.

Before anything can interrupt them, or Lily can cry out for her mother again, they steal a moment to claim each other’s lips. They don’t have long, and both of them know it, but this closeness is just what they need. No matter how much, or little, time they got they need this. They need to just feel each other’s love, to finally be comforted in each other’s arms. And it’s just the perfect type of comfort.

The end

[lololova]

Beyond the words - 47 reasons

Prompt: “Fic prompt I’m throwing out there: 47 Seconds arc - Beckett receives the DC job offer during the time Castle starts shutting her out.” Tweeted by @/bunysliper

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it! Until next time, xxxx

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Kate Beckett looks down at her phone, still not sure if she should call or not. How is she supposed to make a decision like this? She thinks back to the conversation with the agent from F.B.I. who’d said she’d be a great addition to the bureau if she decided to make an appointment for a job interview. She thinks back to how badly she’d wanted to tell her partner but he’d been nowhere to be seen. She thinks back to the case and how he’d all of a sudden literally been nowhere to be found every time she wanted to discuss a new lead with him. She can’t stop thinking about the glances of - what? Hate? Disgust? - that he’s kept throwing at her the past week. And she can’t think of a reason why.

“It’s like he’s pulling away,” she’d told dr. Burke no more than a couple hours ago.

“What are you most afraid of Kate? That he won’t wait for you, or that he will?” he’d asked back and she’d held back a groan.

The therapist was of no use when it came to the talking about her partner. He never gave her a straight answer when she asked something. And today has been no different.

“Argh,” she groans as she once again puts away her phone. She wants to smash something, anything. But she also knows it won’t actually help.

One part of her just wants to make the call, do the interview, get the job, move and never look back ever again. But another part of her can’t even fathom the thought of leaving her partner to never see him again. Not when they were so close! Which brings her back to the constant thought screaming in her mind for the past week. WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO THEM?! Why has he pulled away? Why doesn’t he text her anymore? Why doesn’t he answer when she calls? Why is it killing her? You know why it kills you. She shrugs the voice away, tries to ignore it and pretends she didn’t hear it. But you did.

Kate feels the tears prickle her eyes as she picks up her phone once again. But instead of calling the DC-number she touches the screen until she has the photo of him covering the entire screen. It’s a photo she took not that long ago. She’d actually taken it without his knowledge, even though he’s staring at her she’d managed to take it without him figuring it was a photo she’d taken with her phone, and he just looked so relaxed and so in love with her that it made her sick to the stomach. He hasn’t been looking at her like that since their bomb case. What did she do?

Before she can do anything about it her cheeks are wet from the tears and she can’t stop the crying no matter how much she tries. Can’t stop feeling the pain of her heart aching inside her chest. It’s worse than she thought at first because suddenly it’s also hard to breathe. She tries taking deep, calming breaths, but she has a feeling it won’t help fully. What she needs is confirmation from her partner, any type of confirmation. She needs to know if he still loves her or if she’s screwed it up completely. Without thinking she’s calling his number, phone to ear as she hopes he’ll answer for once.

“Hi, you’ve reached Richard Castle. Sorry I can’t come to the phone right now but please, leave a message after the beep.” Beep.

Kate doesn’t know what to say, and so she just hangs up. Instead she goes to messages, and starts to type one out. Before she knows it she’s clicked “sent” and can see the message turn delivered before freezing. She actually sent it.

-Please give me a reason to stay in NY.-

To her surprise he answers within seconds.

-What do you mean?-

She takes a deep breath before typing out a reply. -They want me to do a job interview in DC. And right now I can’t see a reason to stay.-

She waits patiently, hoping he will answer soon.

-What makes you think I have a reason? You’ll do whatever you want anyway.-

Ouch. She sighs, thinking about all the conversations she’s had with dr. Burke about her partner. -You’re the only reason I want to stay.- She writes it and sends it before she can regret anything.

When he still hasn’t answered after ten minutes she feels disappointment in the pit of her belly. She lets her phone fall out of her hands before she sets her steps towards her bathroom. Once in there she starts to strip her clothes off. If she showers it won’t be as obvious that she’s crying. He doesn’t want her anymore and he can’t even find the words to say it.

“What are you most afraid of Kate? That he won’t wait for you, or that he will?”

That he won’t, she decides. Everything had been going so great and she knows it’s her fault it’s all falling apart but she can’t for the life of her figure out what she did. It’s killing her not knowing, but she has a feeling that even if she’d get the courage to ask him she wouldn’t get an answer. She’d just get an “We’re fine”.

Kate’s so focused on her thoughts, on trying to calm down her crying and take deep breaths, that she doesn’t hear her phone ring. She doesn’t hear the knocking later on either. It’s not until she’s walking out of the bathroom in only a towel wrapped around her body that she’s realizing she’s not alone. When she sets her foot inside the living room she lets go of a yelp when she sees her partner stand by her front door.

“I-sorry! S-sparekey,” he says as he clenches his eyes shut. “You didn’t answer,” he adds and she holds the towel a little bit tighter around her.

“What are you doing here, Castle?” she questions with a hoarse voice. She hopes he doesn’t figure out it’s because of her crying.

She observes him as he puts his hands over his eyes as if he’s making sure he won’t accidentally look at her.

“You can’t leave New York,” he says and she feels her pulse quicken.

Is he going to say what she’s hoped for during the last week?

“Why not?”

“You’re needed here, your dad is here, Ryan and Espo are here. How are they going to keep their jobs if you’re not there to help them keep the closing rate up? You already have forty-seven reasons to stay so why did you send that text to me? I don’t mean anything to you so why send those texts to me?”

She takes a step back, what makes him think she doesn’t care for him? Again, what did she do?!

“What are you talking about?” she asks, her voice raspy and she can hear the desperation herself.

He sighs and she can tell he’s about as irritated with her as she is with him. Maybe even more. “Call your dad and ask him what to do, you listen more to him than me anyway.” He starts to turn around and she sees his hands go down to reach for her apartment door again.

Oh no. She’s not going to let him get away that easily. Not when he’s the one to come to her apartment. She takes quick steps to put herself in front of him, and therefore in front of the door, blocking his way out. And she’s suddenly well aware of their height difference.

“What are you doing?” he asks and she sees his widened eyes flinch down to her chest before they focus on her eyes.

“What did I do?” she asks, emotion raw in her voice without her intention.

She’s standing here, right in front of him, literally open and naked. Completely vulnerable. With only a towel separating his eyes from seeing her body, her scar.

“Nothing, let…”

“No.” She stops him by putting one hand on his chest. “Don’t lie to me. Castle, I’m… sick and tired of this behavior! Rick, just tell me what I did to make you hate me so much!” she can’t stop the anger and frustration and pain from starting to spill from her eyes as she starts sobbing again. And here she thought she didn’t have any more tears.

She hides her face behind her hands, grateful she’d fastened the towel before she went out to the living room. Her knees start to give out and so she simply lets them, slowly moving down to a seated position on the floor. She’s not sure what she’s supposed to do, if she’s supposed to do anything else.

“Beckett?” she hears his hoarse voice ask before he clears his throat. “Kate, what… what’s going on?”

She shakes her head, she can’t form words anymore. She’s just focusing on her breathing and her attempts to stop the breakdown she’s feeling. Why is this happening right in front of him?

“Hey,” she feels his hands land on her shoulders, his thumbs electrifying against her naked skin. “Deep breaths, Kate, deep breaths,” he says in a slow soothing voice which she finally recognizes as his. The real him.

And so she does what he says, she starts taking deeper breaths to calm herself down. He keeps mumbling the mantra as she feels her body start to relax and find strength again. When she’s breathing normally again she feels his hands let go of her as he’s slumping down on the floor in front of her. She carefully looks through her lashes to glance at him.

“You okay?” he asks when his blue eyes meet hers.

She bites her lower lip before she shakes her head slightly. “No,” she tells him honestly. “One part of me wants to take that job interview to get away from you.”

He gulps. “And the other part?” he asks carefully.

She takes in a shaky breath. “One part of me… just wants… you.” She just whispers the last word, too scared to say it too loud. She’s still scared he’ll leave her and never talk to her again.

“I don’t think I can do this partnership anymore, if you only want me as a partner in crime I… I don’t think I can do it,” he tells her and she feels her insides clench.

“What do you mean? I don’t only want you at the precinct,” she whispers as she looks up at him.

He’s avoiding her eyes, concentrating on the fiddling of a piece of the rug that’s been crippled for months now.

“I heard you,” he confesses and she wrinkles her forehead. “In interrogation you told a suspect you remember everything from your shooting. You heard me telling you that I…” he sighs, “that I love you. And I assumed the reason you haven’t told me is because you don’t feel the same way. I can’t…”

Kate shakes her head violently. “No, that’s not… I was not ready to… hear it or deal with my feelings for you just yet.”

He looks up at her and she looks down as her hand runs through her hair, only to stay at her forehead, leaning against it.

“Your feelings?” he asks and she nods.

“I like you Castle,” she confesses. “I really like you. And the thought of losing you…” she has to stop to try and get the lump down her throat as she sniffs. “Just tell me now if it’s too late for us, because I can’t… I can’t…”

She feels her eyes tearing up again and isn’t able to stop them from going down her cheeks. She knows she won’t be able to talk without breaking down again.

“I still love you, I’ve tried not to but I do,” Castle confesses and Kate feels her heart skip a beat before her insides start to melt with relief.

Without missing another beat she crawls over to him and throws her arms around his neck in a hug. She’s surprised to find herself falling as he’s losing his balance, ending with Kate laying on top of him with his arms around the middle of her body.

“Sorry,” she mutters but doesn’t move away. In fact, she snuggles even closer with her head into his neck.

She hears him gulp as his hands don’t seem to know where to stay on her back. That’s when she realizes she’s still in her towel. Only her towel. She starts to roll off of him, carefully placing her hands to keep the towel from falling off. As soon as she’s off she’s sitting up, eyes on him as he, too, sits up.

“Sorry, I should probably go… get dressed,” she says with a blush exploding on her cheeks. “Will you stay?”

He nods without a word and she has a feeling it’s because he’s surprised about everything. She moves to stand and goes to her bedroom, quickly putting on some clothes, including some black yoga pants and a gray N.Y.P.D. shirt. She picks up the speed as her mind starts to wonder if he’ll actually stay or if he might’ve changed his mind and gone again without saying anything. What if he decides it was a bad idea coming here? The second her shirt is on she’s leaving her towel on the ground to go and find out if her partner is still here. When she returns to the living area she does find him in her kitchen, brewing coffee for the two of them. He looks up at her almost immediately, as if he can feel her coming into the room, or he just heard her.

“You stayed,” she breathes out in relief and he nods.

“I made coffee,” he says as he pours the black beverage into two cups. “Figured we could use some if we’re going to talk.”

“Yeah,” she says in a breath as she nods. “Good thinking.”

As she comes closer he holds out one of the cups for her to take and she accepts it with a smile and a thanks. Once he has his own cup in his hand she’s gesturing towards the couch and they both go there to sit down.

“So,” he says as she takes a sip of her coffee, “you’ve gotten a job offer in D.C.?”

She feels a blush come on. “It’s only an interview, but yeah,” she says.

“And you’re planning on…?” he asks and she looks at him with fear in her eyes.

“No,” she quickly says. “I want… I want to be with you, I want you. I don’t want to leave, I don’t want our partnership to fall apart.”

“I don’t want it to, either,” he says and she smiles. “But,” he says and her smile falters a bit, “does this mean you’re willing to give us a chance?”

She bites her lip as she looks down in her coffee for a second before he looks up again to meet his eyes. “Yes.”

“Good,” he mumbles as he takes another sip from his coffee but keeps his eyes set on hers.

She licks her lower lip and sees his eyes spark in that way they usually do when she flirts with him, or he observes her and she does those little extra teasing acts she does sometimes. Now that she knows he still loves her, she can’t help but feel the want to tease him even more. She pulls up her knees on the couch, setting her arms around them with her cup on top in order to take sips a bit now and then.

“So, do you want to stay for the night?” she asks, stretching her foot towards him to nudge his thigh with her toes.

His eyes widen a bit before they narrow with his lips turning into a smirk. His free hand, the one that doesn’t still hold his cup to his lips, sneaks down and lets his fingers run up and down her foot, making her shiver.

“If you allow me to, I will,” he promises in that deep voice he’s used so many times without even knowing the effect it has on her. He will soon.

She nods, taking the last sip of her coffee before setting the cup on her coffee table. His soon joins hers and she locks eyes with him as soon as his fingers climb from her foot to her knee along with his body growing closer to her. She sits up and meets his lips halfway, the kiss a lot more passionate than either of them had intended. Probably because of all the tension between them that went unanswered for so long. Too long. His hand on her leg doesn’t stop at her knee but keeps stroking its way up to the hem of her shirt where it continues to slide under to end up at her hip, his hand slightly touching her naked skin at the hem of her yoga pants. She gasps at the feel of his thumb stroking her skin and his mouth immediately takes advantage of her parting lips by letting his tongue find hers. As his taste fills her senses she finds herself moaning and one of her hands lands on his cheek, her fingertips moving into his hair as she holds him close. She deepens the kiss which makes him groan with her and she smiles at that, their lips pulling apart.

“Thank you for coming tonight,” she whispers against his lips, her fingers caressing his scalp.

He pulls slightly back in order to look at her and he smiles. She giggles when he kisses her nose carefully. “Always,” he says their promise to her and she feels such relief to hear it once again.

She runs her teeth on her lower lip again as she lets go of his cheek to reach for his hand, intertwining their fingers. “I’m staying,” she says and sees his eyes fill with relief of its own. “I can’t say it just yet but I really want you. Just you.”

“I understand,” he assures her and she nods.

“Good,” she mumbles before she stands up and pulls him with her. “What do you say we go to bed?”

He smirks, but it’s so much more than just a smirk. “Lead the way.”

And so she does. And she doesn’t regret sending that text, desperately needing a reason to stay. She didn’t need the 47 other reasons he suggested she had, she only needed one. Him. And looks like she got it.

The end