A/N: For those of you who follow me on tumblr, you may have already read this little four-part, photo inspired series. But after receiving a couple of requests over the past few weeks to do so, I thought transferring the compilation here for easier access might be a good idea. So, if you're reading for the first time, please enjoy, and if not, I hope you don't mind seeing this story once more!
It is also important to note that these ficlets were written in the beginning of season 8, months prior to the conclusion of the series, and therefore, are considered AU from around midseason.
"Have I mentioned how happy I am that you came?"
Kate smirks against his shoulder, resting her forehead there and breathing in the scent of him beneath the day's worth of travel and frenzied rush to his book signing in the heart of Milan. They've been on the move for the last 24 hours, boarding planes and striding down foreign streets, but she's enjoyed every second of it.
It's his first signing abroad since… since she made a mess of things and spent months with him at her side, carefully putting all the pieces back together and earning the forgiveness she sought, the trust she shook.
"Happy to be here, babe," she sighs, allowing him to lead her by the hand when the hotel elevator comes to a stop on their floor and the doors are sliding open.
"I'm sorry we haven't had much downtime," he offers sincerely over his shoulder, already digging the keycard for their suite out of his pocket. "I expected us to at least have a chance to stop by the hotel, grab a few hours of sleep or even do some exploring before the signing."
"Not your fault the plane was delayed," she reasons, squeezing his hand in reassurance. He second guesses himself more now, his confidence tending to waver, and she hates that, hates that she caused it. "Just sorry I won't have the energy to try out the jacuzzi tub you and Evan have been raving about."
Castle chuckles, sliding the key into the metal slot and nudging the door open with his shoulder. His assistant, Evan, had already had their bags transferred to the room for them hours ago, even stocked the mini fridge and bar for them, but they had eaten at the restaurant not long ago. All she wanted now was to crawl in bed with her husband.
Rick releases her hand once they're inside, heads for the two duffel bags placed neatly atop the king sized bed in the middle of the beautiful Italian hotel room.
"Shower tonight or in the morning?" he asks, unzipping his bag and then hers, retrieving their toiletries.
Beckett smiles, watching him transfer their toothbrushes and travel sized shampoos to the adjoining en suite.
"Morning," she replies once he returns. "Too tired tonight."
She does bypass him for the gorgeous bathroom, though, squeezing his shoulder as she goes to retrieve her makeup remover from the zipped plastic bag he placed on the marble 'his and her' sink, and one of the wash cloths hanging on the gleaming towel rack.
Her nightly routine is simple, but she takes her time, washing her face clean with care, ensuring that every trace of foundation and streak of mascara is gone, and applying a liberal amount of the moisturizer that he adores, claiming that it smells like honeysuckles and vanilla.
"Stunning."
Kate lifts her eyes from the draining sink to find Castle's in the mirror, clad in his boxers and a t-shirt, watching her with a crooked grin. And maybe it's silly, but it makes her heart flutter with an untamable joy that he can still make her blush.
"You're pretty striking yourself," she tosses back, freeing her hair from the messy bun she had tied it into and shaking a hand through the limp mane. It's growing out too long again, cascading down to the middle of her back, and she longs for a cut, or at least a decent trim, but in the meantime, at least Castle is enjoying it. Toying with the locks, tangling the strands around his fingers before combing them out any time he wakes before her. "Mind if I borrow one of your shirts?"
A pleased laugh flutters past her lips when he holds the black t-shirt out to her with a knowing smile, because of course he had already known, typically aware of what she wants before she can even decide herself.
"Taught me well," he reminds her and she drifts away from the sink to meet him at the doorframe, accepting the shirt from his fingers and rising on her tiptoes to smear a kiss to his mouth.
And sometimes it's just this - the smile of his lips against hers, the assurance of his love for her in his eyes, a love she thought would be irrevocably tainted by her actions - that leaves her breathless, overwhelmed by him.
"I love you."
Castle steadies her with a palm at her jaw, soothing the sharp edges, sliding into her hair to cup her ear while he stares down at her. Concern flickers in his eyes for a moment before understanding settles there, keeping them that calm but piercing cerulean. It gets to him too.
"I love you too," he murmurs, so earnest and beautiful, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. "Meet you in the bed."
He nods towards the bathroom and Kate steps out of his way, allows him the chance to complete his own nightly routines while she strips of her fitted jeans and the thin sweater she had worn, regretted when the chill of a Milan morning had greeted them in their depart from the airport.
Kate slides his shirt on, allowing the collar to catch on her nose for a moment, inhales his aftershave mixed with their laundry detergent, and tosses her clothing towards her open suitcase near the nightstand. Her bra misses, landing haphazardly to hang on the arm of a chair, but she lacks the energy to right it, doesn't think Castle will mind anyway.
She crawls into the bed with a quiet sigh of relief, slipping beneath the warm weight of the comforter and dropping her head to sink into the memory foam pillow she knows he requested, humming as the knots in her neck finally begin to loosen.
Castle emerges from the bathroom only a few seconds later, flipping off the light switch and the tall lamp near the door, leaving only the dull illumination of the nightstand lamp to light his way to her.
"What're you doing?" she mumbles when he stops short, holding his phone up and angling it towards her.
"Taking a picture," he informs her with a quirk of his mouth and Kate rolls her eyes, doesn't even try to stop him as she hears the multiple clicks of his iPhone's camera photographing her.
"Castle," she huffs after the fifth snap, reaching weakly for the device he holds just out of her reach. "I don't even have any makeup on-"
"So?" he murmurs, showing mercy and placing his phone on the bedside bureau next to hers. "You're beautiful, Beckett. Gotta capture it. I want as many photos of you as possible."
And she knows he doesn't mean it like that, isn't trying to insinuate that she's going to disappear on him, not again, but that's where her mind goes, triggering an eruption of familiar sorrow through her chest.
"You won't need them," she promises, earning a puzzled crease of his brow.
"What do you-" Realization blooms through his eyes, arcs through his brow, and then he's shaking his head, taking a seat on the edge of the bed next to her hip and bowing to hover over her. "Not what I meant, sweetheart."
"I know," she whispers, taking advantage of his proximity and grazing her fingers along his forearm, through the soft field of golden hairs. "I know."
"Do you?" he asks quietly, his knuckles at her temple, thumb brushing along the vein that sometimes bulges beneath the skin of her forehead when her emotions overtake. "I've forgiven you, Kate. Forgave you a long time ago. You've got to do the same."
Kate meets his eyes, so soothing and inquisitive staring down at her, and she has to lift her hand to his face, map the lines and trace along the contours of bone.
"Working on it," she confesses on a sigh. She's been working hard on herself, on their relationship, on mending, and she's done a pretty good job. They're happy, the scars they've managed to inflict on one another healed, but she still worries sometimes, still wonders if she could be better.
"I know you are," he says, catching the hand at his cheek, turning his head to smudge a kiss to her palm that she curls her fingers around, caressing the tender flesh of his mouth with her fingertips. "Proud of you for it."
"Castle?"
He abandons the soft skin of her palm to redirect his attention to her half-lidded gaze. "Mm?"
"Will you get in this bed with me already?" she mumbles, tugging impatiently on the waistband of his boxers, not trying to hide her grin when he laughs at her before shifting to crawl over her.
She lifts the sheet and the comforter for him to slide beneath, rolling onto her side to drape her body half atop his once he's comfortable, relishing in the twine of his arm around her shoulders, the room he makes for her knee to fit between both of his, and the way he nuzzles her neck, chuckling at the startled laugh she releases when he blows a raspberry beneath her jaw.
"Better?" he rumbles, settling beneath her with a content exhale and Kate nods, snaking a hand beneath his t-shirt to splay her fingers along the warm skin stretched across the side of his ribs.
Her eyes are already giving up the fight, threatening to fall shut even as Rick stretches to cut the tiny lamp off, submerging them in the moonlit darkness. She knows she's drifting once he begins to rub her back, knuckles skimming up and down the curved length of her spine like a silent lullaby.
"Love you, Kate."
Definitely better.