Just a little something that's been stuck in my head for months. Reviews welcome!
I OWN NOTHING. I am eternally jealous of AWM for his geniusness.
Kate Beckett woke up hungry. The July sun shone through the heavy curtains, making her squint and groan sleepily. The windows were open and there was a slight breeze coming through. Judging by the angle of the sun, it was around seven-thirty. She tugged the covers over her head, trying to avoid the light, debating the ever-impossible question that haunts her every morning: "Do I get up for food, or go back to sleep?" Her stomach growled angrily, answering her question. She sighed, getting out of bed and grabbing one of Castle's button-up shirts to put on. It may be summer, but all the windows in the loft were open and there was a breeze. She didn't really feel like walking around butt naked.
She opened the bedroom door and walked through the office to the kitchen, not worrying about the Castle women because Alexis was in the Hamptons for the weekend with some friends, and Martha had gone to a benefit for some theater group and had said she's be back by morning, which of course meant she'd be back at 2 pm. Kate had a few hours to kill before she had to leave.
As she opened the cabinet to see what kind of food Castle had, she thought about how glad she was that they hadn't yet told anyone about the step they took in their relationship. It was still new and still exclusively theirs, and she liked it that way. For now. She had little doubt in her mind that as soon as she went back to work Lanie would see that there was something different about her, and she always had trouble hiding things from the M.E anyway. Once Lanie knew, she would of course tell Esposito, who in turn couldn't keep anything from Ryan even if he wanted to, Ryan would just blow the whole thing out of proportion, and Gates would somehow hear of it. Kate wasn't ready for not having Castle at work with her. She needed him in the bull pit with her because he kept things interesting, kept her thinking of different scenarios. Granted, most of the alternative scenarios involved the CIA and certain FBI departments that would never have anything to do with their cases, except that one time… and that other time… but he still kept things fun for her.
She was humming to herself while sitting on the counter and spreading peanut butter on a piece of bread when she heard the lock on the front door turn. She froze, unable to move, when she saw a high-heeled foot step through the door, and heard what was unmistakably Martha's voice shouting something to someone outside the door. Kate dropped off the counter and crouched underneath the bar, knowing for sure that Martha hadn't glimpsed her, but also knowing she had no chance of getting back to Castle's room without being seen.
It was then when she heard another door click, and saw Castle walking out of his office, dressed only in his boxers. He began "Hey are youuuuu – Mother! What are you doing home?" he tried to cover up the first part of his sentence by yelling the second part, and Kate just put her palm to her forehead and held her breath.
Castle walked to the kitchen while Martha was saying "I said I would be back in the morning, did I not?" Castle had obviously seen the jar of peanut butter left on the counter, and was now probably wondering where Kate had gone. Once he was standing right at her hiding spot, she pinched his leg.
"Ow! – well, the morning for you is around 2 in the afternoon, mother," he said, attempting again to hide the beginning of his sentence.
Martha began to walk upstairs toward her bedroom, and Kate was thinking they were home free. Martha hadn't seen her and everything was still a secret. As she was walking up the stairs, Martha was saying something about Castle leaving the peanut butter out overnight again, and how she still hadn't slept and was to be woken up for dinner. As she reached the top of the stairs, without even turning around, she called down "Oh and good morning Kate, darling. Alexis won't be home until tomorrow and I'm tired of pretending I don't know about the two of you so stop hiding. You'll ruin your back crouching like that."