Disclaimer: I do not own Castle!
When Rick Castle woke up and glanced at the clock that read 2:36AM, he took note not to drink water before bed. He also noted that the spot in his bed next to him was empty from when he went to bed with it filled. He rubbed his eyes and stood, looked around his room, and walked into his bathroom. When he walked out, drying his hands on his boxers, he sighed. Kate was nowhere to be seen and it was 2:30 in the morning. Not a good combination. Castle walked out of his- their room and shut the door silently. He trotted downstairs and stopped on the last step, his mouth gaping. The sight of him was absolutely breathtaking. He knew Kate Beckett was a beautiful woman, but this was purely.. Mesmerizing. Castle gasped, taking in every curve, every bone indent, every movement she made. He slowly made his way to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, leaning his head on her shoulder and kissing her neck. Kate immediately let her weight rest onto him and she leaned her head back, closing her eyes. Only when Castle lifted his head did she open them.
"What're you doing up? It's late." Castle mumbled. He was tired, she knew that. He was tired for many reasons, of many people and things that wouldn't leave him alone. Kate stared in front of her at the open window. She'd started out in Castle's window, but when she realized his window wasn't big enough to capture the essence of what was really happening outside she moved downstairs.
"It's snowing," she whispered. Castle turned his head and looked at her. He watched as she rolled her eyes, longing washing over them. She bit her lip and smiled, her eyes lighting up as she did. It was a mixture of happiness and longing and- hope? Castle stared at her until she finally opened her mouth and started to speak, his mind letting the words she was speaking seep into him.
"When I was eight, I woke up to go to the bathroom and it was really late. I remember I told my mom and dad that I didn't want a night light because I wasn't afraid, but in all reality I was utterly terrified." She chuckled, her past lighting up the entire living room as she did. With her body still rested against Castle's she continued.
"I'd only gotten up to use the bathroom a few times ever, I never drank before I went to bed but earlier that night my mom offered me milk and cookies. And you know, as a kid who was already being allowed to stay up past her bedtime, being offered cookies and milk was like heaven on Earth. So anyway, I got up and there was not one light on in the house, not even the TV downstairs, which was always on. So I grabbed my stuffed animal bear, and I got as far as my doorway."
Kate let out a laugh, a rare one. Castle was lucky when he got these and he smirked. It was kind of ironic in his mind. Usually he spoke to her of childhood memories, he riddled words to her. But now holding her, letting her rest against him, he was being enthralled by every word she spoke. He loved it. Castle glanced to her, his eyebrow quirking as if to say 'yes, continue please.' Kate sighed and smiled again.
"When I turned to walk to the bathroom, I looked straight ahead into my parents' bedroom and I noticed the door was open. And this was rare because let me tell you if I ever went into their room without knocking I was in *so* much trouble! So I looked through and their shade was open and it was snowing. I remember completely forgetting about having to use the bathroom, and the need to knock before I entered, and just bolted into their room. I held my bear so close and I sort of just rested my forehead against the glass of the window and watched the snow fall. After a few minutes my mom got out of her bed and she walked over to me. She kissed my head and I looked up at her.
'I'm sorry for not knocking, but look Mom, it's snowing. Isn't it beautiful?' I said, and she just stared down at me. She didn't even make a move to look at the window or the falling snow. She kissed my forehead and she said 'Not as beautiful as my Katie-bear.' Every year since then we either woke each other up or we called each other on the first snow."
Kate looked to the ceiling and closed her eyes, the ghost of a smile on her face. "Even when she was working, or if I was at a friend's, we always just talked. We talked about how beautiful the flakes were and how many of them there were. Every one of them tells a different story, just like every human being tells a different story of their life."
Castle's eyes were fixated on the window in front of them, on the many, many white flakes that were falling from the sky. Finally, he smiled and he kissed Kate's cheek. Kate knew he loved it when she talked about her mom, no matter how hard it was for her. Whether a bad or a good story, whether she was young or old in them, he loved the stories she told. She knew he loved them because he wasn't peeling away layers of the Beckett onion, no; he was peeling layers of the Kate onion. Kate turned in his arms, a smile still on her face and she took his hand. He kissed her temple and let her walk them to their room. The night had ended with Kate in Castle's arms both of them on blankets on the floor, watching the snowfall from the window above.
A/N: When I wrote this, it was around 2AM, and I was staring out my window looking at the snow fall for the first time since October! This is probably one of my favorites that I've written, I hope you guys like it!