Prompt found on Tumblr by anonymous:
Castle and Beckett have a fight and when Beckett goes to her mother's grave she finds Castle there.
Furious to no end, Kate Beckett walked down the street with each step more determined than the previous. She couldn't believe him. Her boyfriend, Richard Castle, had been together with her for no more than two months and he was already pissing her off like never before. Sure, he had been an immature jackass when he first started shadowing her four years ago, but this... this took the price. He'd allegedly put himself in danger and she had just barely managed to shoot the murderer's arm before he could fire the gun aiming for her partner. There was no way she'd lose her temper at work though so she'd arrested the damn murderer, given him over to the officers assigned to take him into holding and done her paperwork. That damn paperwork which had taken longer time to finish because of his stupidity. As soon as she'd been done with the work while he was, oh so, helplessly wearing a smug grin, she'd pulled him with her only to start yelling at him the second they had reached the privacy of his car. The only thing she was happy about in those minutes were the fact that he'd driven to the precinct that morning. She'd started lecturing him up the second the doors of the car had closed and he'd started the engine. She's the cop. He's not supposed to be anywhere close to the actual danger! It might've not been the best thing to do, yell at him the way she'd done, because he'd yelled right back. And she was pretty sure she hurt him just as much as he hurt her. He refused to change his mind about it being one of the things he needed to do, protect her. As if she needed protecting! If someone needed protecting it was him. She was a goddamn cop! He was just a writer! Only when she'd told him that he'd gotten even more angry, saying how he had done more protecting and saving than most other cops had. Of course he was right about that but that didn't mean he had the right to put himself in front of her in order to protect her, she was more than capable of taking care of herself. Then he'd started saying how he couldn't stand the thought of losing her, again. The guilt and the pain had immediately flared in her chest and she'd responded with how it was not his choice to choose her over himself. Then she'd demanded him to stop the car so she could get out, and when he'd first not made any indication to slow down she'd started opening the door. He'd gone to a full stop along with a shout asking her what the hell was wrong with her.
"You got a death wish?!"he'd yelled.
She had just climbed out of the car, crashed the door shut and started walking away without so much as a glance over her shoulder. She'd heard him get out of the car and calling after her, asking her to please come back and sit in the car so they could drive home. Home, she thought. They'd only been together for two months and she was already considering his loft home. She'd almost lost him too. Feeling the tears in her eyes only made her more angry. When he'd pushed her away to shield his body with his, before she'd gotten to it and taken the shot, she'd gotten so filled with fear because she thought he'd... Biting her lip she increased her speed, she needed to think, she needed to stop thinking too. She was refusing the tears from escaping her eyes, no way was she going to cry because of something that didn't happen. But it almost did. She shook her head, tried to think of how stupid he had been. The anger she could handle. The fear... not so much. She'd always pushed people away, it was easier than to deal with the emotional rollercoaster relationships led to. Especially when that said relationship also happened to be interfering with her work, putting himself in danger. She ran a hand through her hair as she thought about the last couple hours. She shouldn't have yelled at him the way she did, she realized that, but she didn't know how to handle the emotions stirring inside of her. Maybe it would've been better to try keep it in a calm tone and at home, his loft. She would need to remind herself not to tell the writer she was considering his loft her home, if she did he'd never let her forget it. Maybe that scene would've ended the same way, with her walking away from him. Fleeing. She cursed under her breath. Why did she always run?! Because she didn't know any other way. She'd kept her heart so damn protected that she was constantly looking for reasons not to engage a, real, relationship. But Castle had not given up. No, he'd waited and somehow found a way through the wall. Or perhaps he'd found a way to climb over it, or dug a hole. Anyway, he was inside that wall now. And, god, did she love him. She loved him so much it physically hurt when she for a split second thought he could be taken from her. Maybe that's the real reason she was angry. Not because he was trying to protect her but because he had scared her so deep with just the thought she could lose him. And here she was, walking around instead of wrapping her arms around him and never letting go.
"The hell's wrong with you, Kate," she muttered to herself as she crossed the grass in order to get to her mother's grave.
She always came here to think. Even though her mother had been gone for a long time she liked the thought of her looking down at her, listening to her problems. She'd gone there after the first case with the writer, told her mother how bizarre it had been to meet their favorite writer. How extremely annoying he was and how she couldn't understand what they saw in him. Obviously they liked him for his books, not his personality, she'd said. Later that same year she'd come here to tell her how he'd betrayed her by looking into the case. Oh, how mad she'd been at him. When he apologized she'd told her that too, said she'd forgiven him because how could she not? He'd promised not to look into it again, not without her permission. Then, she'd told her how she had felt so damn betrayed when he left that summer with Gina. She'd been so ready to let him know she was willing to come with and give them a chance, and he'd run off with his ex-wife slash publisher. Her mother had been the first, apart from her team, to know Castle was back again after that summer. Told her she'd let him win the bet because she had just missed him so much. She'd told her about how she'd shed away from his confession after she got shot, told her how they'd found their way back to one another. Told her, again, how they'd fallen apart, how she'd realized he was the only one she wanted and gone to him. Now, she would tell her how they again had fought, drifted apart. How she so badly wished everything had gone differently and how she wished to be in his arms, cuddling. She'd never been a cuddle-kind of person, but he'd been more comfortable than any other guy she'd ever been with.
Kate came to a stopping halt when she saw the coat-clad back standing in front of her mother's grave. It didn't take her many seconds to register it was the same coat he'd worn when he pushed her out of the aim of the gun. Shit. What the hell was he doing here?!
"...don't mind me coming here today. I didn't know where else to go," she heard him say and she halfway expected him to turn around to look at her. "I know Kate probably doesn't know I go here sometimes but I can't find it in me to tell her. I don't want her to think I'm overstepping, which I probably am." The last sentence was only a sigh and Kate stood frozen, watching with intent eyes and ears as clear as they could be. "As you might've figured, we've fought. I was throwing myself in front of a bullet, in my defense I did have the vest on, and tried to protect her. But... You know," she heard him chuckle, "you got quite the stubborn daughter, Johanna. She yelled at me for putting myself in harm's way. Of course I do understand why, I do, but... I... I just wish she'd understand I love her so much that only the thought of losing her again it..." He paused, and she could almost swear she heard his thick swallow. "It kills me inside." He squirmed and there was a big part of her that wanted nothing more than to walk up to him and wrap her arms around his body. But she was as frozen, still. "I can't help but wonder if she will come back to me tonight, or if I screwed up. She just walked off, Johanna. What if she..." he sighed and she couldn't take it anymore.
With her cheeks wet with the escaped tears she quickly found her legs to move. She closed the last space between them as she wrapped her arms around him and smashed her face into his back, drawing in a deep breath filled with his calming scent. She could've lost him today. And, she reminded herself, he could've lost her. His back had frozen at the sound of her but she knew, by the way he immediately relaxed, he could feel it was her. She found herself sniffing back the sobs and she refused to let go as he, with much difficulty because of her tight grip, turned around in her arms. As soon as her cheek was plastered to his chest instead of his back, she felt his arms wrap around her in a warming embrace. His lips found the top of her hair and she let go of a relieved sigh. Never had it felt so great to be surrounded by him. She hated herself a little for how easy she let herself break down because of him, because of their fights, but at the same time she loved how easy he could pick her up again, make her laugh and smile through even the hardest of times. Like when he'd brought her flowers the time Montgomery had kicked her off the case. Or when he'd insisted on following her to LA, being her partner in crime while looking for Royce's killer.
"How much did you hear?" he asked in a whisper, his voice almost disappearing in her hair.
"Enough," she said. She clenched her fingers in the back of his coat as if she was trying to hold on to him in order not to fall. "I'm sorry I yelled at you."
She felt his head shaking. "No, I should've been more careful. You were wearing your vest too, I should've known you would be able to take him down before he shot you. You did get him before he got me and I robbed you of a few seconds that could've cost me my life." His arms tightened around her, just like they had when he'd wanted to take her someplace safe, back when her life was at stake. "You're the cop, I'm just the writer."
Now it was her turn to shake her head. "No, Castle. You're not just a writer. You're my partner. And you're saved me countless of times."
"Well, actually I've saved you..." she chuckled and shook her head as she pulled back in order to look at him.
"No, you can't count because it's more times than you think." He tilted his head to the side, his eyes asking her what she meant and she drew in a calming breath, a breath filled with him. "We've met before, I mean... I stood in line for hours to get my book signed long before I came to ask you about the murders from your books. You-ah, helped me and saved me when I needed it after my mom was killed. Your books helped me way more than anyone else ever could," she confessed the secret she never thought she'd let him in on.
He looked at her with wide eyes but a big smile on his lips. "But you completely denied being a fan when I said so."
She giggled at that, "No, I just didn't answer. How else do you figure I made the connections to the books?" He oh'ed and she bit her lip. It felt so good to smile again, with him right there in her arms. "Anyway, I'm sorry, next time I'll try keep calm," she said and he shook his head.
"I'm sorry too, next time I won't stand in your way, or, at least, I'll try not to," he said with a wrinkled forehead, as if he remembered he couldn't make such promise and know he could keep it.
"I love you," she let go on a breath and his eyes widened, "so damn much."
His lips broke into a big smile as he bent down and claimed her lips with his. It was a far too quick kiss for Kate's liking but when he pulled away he did so with the same words escaping his lips. "I love you too, Kate."
The two kissed again, then they turned to her mother's grave and talked for a while with her mother watching, listening. Kate had never let anyone listen to her when she spoke with her mom, but since she didn't want to be apart from her partner she decided he was the one she wanted to share this with. With her head on his shoulder she chuckled and sobbed when he told her mother things she hadn't dreamt of telling her. He told her how extraordinary she was in his eyes and she couldn't wait to spend the rest of her life with him.
THE END
A/N: This was a short one in comparison to the last ones I've written lol. But anyhow I don't feel like it was a prompt I could drag out more on, and I feel like I got down what I could see in my mind so, I'm good. Hope you all enjoyed it! Until next time, xxxx
