Home Again

A pre-8x16 ficlet, previously posted on my tumblr. Sorry for the ridiculously late cross post!

I'll be there when your days are long,

Hold you up if you don't feel strong,
Light your way when the dark comes in,
And when you're lost, I'll lead you home again.
When you're lost, I'll lead you home again.

"Home Again" - Ron Pope

The ride back to the loft from her temporary apartment is quiet.

He had insisted on coming with her, lugging deconstructed cardboard boxes up the steep, narrow steps to the fourth floor shoe box she had been occupying since it had stopped being feasible to sleep on the couch in her office. She had protested, a futile attempt to keep his sweet, kind heart from seeing the lonely place she had occupied, but in the end his curiosity, his need to know, had won out.

Now the shoe box is empty and in their rear view mirror. Figuratively, of course, since only a sliver of the street can be seen beyond the stack of boxes they had packed together.

It doesn't matter. She isn't looking back; he sure as hell isn't looking back, either. All that matters is she is coming home.

"Why don't we leave unpacking for later," she suggests once he's eased the car into their designated space in the garage. "Just take everything in and do the rest after work tomorrow?"

Her husband agrees, killing the engine and releasing his seat belt before slipping his hand across the gearshift to cover her knee. "Hot bath and a glass of wine tonight instead?"

Tracing her index finger over his knuckles and along his wrist, Kate nods. "Sounds perfect."

Castle's lips slide across her cheek. "Done. I will go grab the dolly from the storage room. We'll see how much we can take up in one trip."

She catches his mouth with hers before he can pull away, her kiss sure, promising.

"Don't hurt your back, old man," she teases, feeling his lips lift against hers. Yesterday - his birthday - had been reserved for sentimentality, for showing him how much she loves him, how proud she is to be with him. Today all bets are off. "I have plans for you."

"Show you old man," he mumbles, coming back for another kiss, pressing her deeper into her seat as he shifts across the car.

Only to knock his knee against the gearshift and land half on her chest, his shoulder pressing into the curve of her throat.

"Ow!" he hisses, trying to find purchase as she gasps. Mostly in surprise, but he is a big man, and he is squishing her a little bit. "Sorry, sorry I'll move when I can just - ah. There, there."

Just like that, she can breathe again. He hasn't gone far either, managing to prop himself above her, his cheeks and his ears flushed rosy pink.

Then he grins, entirely too pleased with himself for whatever reason.

"What?" she breathes, lifting her hands to cradle his jaw.

"I grabbed your boob when I got up."

Rolling her eyes, Beckett shoves her husband back onto the driver's side. "Why don't we save living out your tenth grade fantasies for when there's a backseat to climb into again?"

Already he's kicking his door open. "On it."

Through maneuvering that would make any professional mover proud, they manage to get all of the large items on the dolly, leaving only the small things to be carried by hand. Kate sends him ahead, gathering as much as she can before nudging the door shut with her hip and using the keypad to lock the car. She'll drop these things off and head back down for the rest, giving Castle the chance to sit down if he wants it.

When she gets upstairs, she finds him already unloading the dolly, his ass wiggling along with the tune he hums to himself.

Affection courses through her veins, so heady, so intense that it steals her breath and leaves her unsteady on her feet. God, she has missed this.

Sneaking around had been fun at first. Playing house in secret had helped to ease the aches almost two months of real separation had inflicted on them both. But it hadn't been enough.

This, though, this is enough.

More than that, this is everything.