Silent Footsteps

Chapter 1 - Blood and sugar.

His fingers ran through the bare skin of her backs as he observed her, a soft and tender grin playing across his lips as flashbacks from the previous night passed through his mind. It'd been what he usually described as the perfect evening — after convincing her to watch one of his favorite shows, they cuddled up in front of the screen, with bowls of ice cream on their hands and blankets above their bodies. Of course that as it ended, blankets were no longer needed as they headed to the bedroom and shared body heat instead, then spending the whole night discovering more of each other, like many other nights they'd get to spend together.

Between his endless thoughts and flashbacks, he noticed how she opened her eyes slowly, focusing simply on them as she moved her body smoothly, adjusting herself as she found him staring at her. She didn't wake up often in his bed, but it wasn't exactly something she could complain about. And although many would be embarrassed to wake up and find their partners staring at them, she couldn't find it more flattering. Of course that this always made her cheeks somehow turn red, but most times she'd hide her face on his chest and blame it on the light that passed through the wide windows of his room.

After shouting one small grin at him and taking her hand to her own face, the woman rubbed it as she yawned, remembering the wild things they'd done only a few hours before. She smiled even wider to these thoughts as she then rested her hand on his cheek softly, taking a moment to enjoy the fact that he had his eyes on her, and only on her.

"Good morning, sugar lips." he mumbled, then took his lower lip between his teeth, completely ignoring the nickname he'd just given her. They weren't that type of couple, and it was indeed the first time this word had come out of his mouth, at least, heading to her. But for some reason, it felt appropriate.

"Good morning," she replied back after trying to contain a chuckle, noticing how he called her sugar lips, instead of just Beckett or Kate, like he did every other morning they'd wake up next to each other.

"Did you sleep well?" he was still staring at her, and even though she'd move her head and nod to his words, his eyes would follow. It wasn't because he wanted to stare and observe her, although he did want to. It was simply because in that moment, and every other he'd get to touch her, he felt like the luckiest guy in the whole world.

"Yeah," at this point, her eyes were now wide open, focusing her gaze on his eyes as he did the same, but sometimes going down to his lips, feeling some kind of warm and cozy feeling in her stomach as she remembered the things he'd done with it the previous night. "How long have you been staring?"

"I just woke up, really." he chuckled, somehow silently. Although they were together for almost a year, he still wasn't sure about how she felt about all the times he'd stare. But, it wouldn't certainly be the last time he'd do it if they got to repeat that night again — or try new things.

"Liar," she smirked right after biting her bottom lip, knowing he'd been staring for a while, since he was way too awake to have just woken up.

"I am not!" he shouted, somehow in a high pitch tone, then noticed the detective's smirk. That smirk that made him feel some intense vibes across his whole body, and he knew he'd never get enough of it.

After spending a couple of moments simply staring at each other, observing each other, enjoying how close their bodies were under those sheets, they finally closed the distance between their faces and shared a few kisses, guided by her hand that had been resting on his face the whole time. The kisses were slow yet passionate, and at some point, she felt his tongue asking for permission into her mouth and pulled back, knowing she wouldn't be able to resist him if they gave the next step.

"What time is it?" she mumbled between a couple of breaths, opening her eyes and finding his blue and gorgeous eyes going up and down her face, admiring her lips, skin, eyes.

"I don't know." he didn't seem to care much about work or any other responsibilities, and quickly pressed his lips against hers once again, both closing their eyes to each other's touch. The truth was that she didn't want to get out of that bed either, and her desire for his lips was no less than the one he had for hers.

So after reuniting all her strength, the woman slid her hand from the writer's face to his chest and pushed him slightly back, just the enough for their kiss to break and for her to open her eyes and send a deadly stare right at him."Castle." she somehow managed to pull a deep and serious voice between her endless breaths, making him understand she was serious.

"Sorry," he sounded disappointed, but he wasn't in any way angry . He knew that they both had responsibilities, and she was just acting like an adult and abide them, something that he should do more often, especially if he wanted to gain Captain Gates' respect.

In a few moments, Castle was already letting go of Beckett's waist and turning around to face the clock on the bedside table, a frustrated look still standing on his face, but quickly changing into a concerned one as he looked back at the woman laying beside him, with his mouth wide open.

"What?" Beckett questioned him, confused by his look.

"We're late."

"You're late." they stood in front of the Captain, that had her arms crossed, pressed against her chest, as she ran her eyes up and down their bodies, somehow curious but extremely angry at the same time. After frowning her eyebrows, she fixed her gaze on the brunette standing in front of her.

"I know, sir. I'm truly sorry." Beckett quickly replied after taking in her boss's words, nodding her head, ashamed.

"You're both late." she repeated, this time, looking at Castle, that was looking down to his feet, trying to avoid the situation.

Crap. She couldn't just tell Gates they overslept thanks to their wild night. And although they only had to apologize and make up an excuse, it was hard to keep lying to someone they talked to, every single day. "Something... unexpected happened. I'm sorry, sir. It won't happen again." She finally managed to say, gulping as she slid her hands into her pockets.

"Apologies not accepted, detective. You were supposed to be here three hours ago. You could've called and warned the precinct you'd be late for... whatever reason you have." the captain stopped talking for a second, then her serious face turned into something somehow softer. "You have a new case. Detectives Ryan and Esposito will certainly tell you about it."

They then watched their boss as she turned around, mumbling things to herself, probably not over the fact that they were both late. Since they were together, they always tried not to fail to their responsibilities, even more than before. They didn't want to give anyone reasons to doubt of them or have bigger chances for Gates to find out about it. The last thing they wanted was not to work together. After all, having him following her around was the reason why they were together now, and they wanted to keep it that way.

"That was close," Castle let out a small chuckle after facing Beckett, their eyes meeting between all of the things happening around them, such as detective's walking around — or even running — and noises, that were completely ignored once they established eye contact.

"It's not funny, Castle." the brunette rolled her eyes and started walking up to her desk, being followed by the writer that watched her moves carefully, without taking his eyes from her. "We can't fail, not almost after one year of lying to basically everyone we know." she sat down on the chair near her desk and he sat down on a chair standing on the side of the table, like he always did.

"I guess the only way would be to tell everyone."

She knew he didn't mean to push her. His somehow soft and pitch tone would always let her know he was joking about it, but those words somehow touched her deep inside. She wanted to tell everyone, including Gates. But according to the precinct rules, co-workers or partners dating isn't in any way allowed. And even though Castle wasn't exactly working there, knowing that the captain wasn't exactly one of his groupies, she wouldn't let him stay. And just the thought of not working side by side with him everyday scared her, in a way she couldn't explain, not even to herself.

"I guess the only way would be not to oversleep." the detective corrected after a few seconds of reflection, lifting her eyebrow, deciding to play along, then shouting a small grin right at him, receiving one back.

"Ha, I told you they overslept." they could hear Esposito say, both quickly breaking the eye contact and looking to their sides, noticing how him and his partner were approaching them with huge smirks on their faces.

"Yeah, good morning for you too, Javi." Beckett rolled her eyes right after picking up some papers, then looked away from them and focused her eyes on the papers that were now above the desk again.

"We've got a new case," Ryan finally spoke, nodding his head and holding back a laugh.

"It's been three hours." Esposito pointed out, completely ignoring Ryan's previous words as he crossed his arms, curious about the reason why they overslept. "Let me guess, alarm didn't wake you up? Or..." he let a small chuckle, then continued. "Wild night?"

"We... went to sleep late." Castle said insecurely, focusing on Beckett's expression, that didn't seem to be happy about this subject.

"Really bro? Really?" Esposito insisted, now somehow disappointed.

"So, uhm... the new case?" the brunette looked up to the two men standing in front of her desk after clearing her throat, trying to completely ignore the fact that they were insisting on such a thing.

"Veronica Lake, thirty one years old." Ryan placed the woman's file above Beckett's table.

"Wait, the Veronica Lake?" Castle questioned, his eyes opening wide.

"That's right." Ryan nodded.

"But she's like the young Meryl Streep!" He shouted, not containing his emotions for a second, then adjusting himself and sighing once before speaking again. "Well, was."

"She wasn't that big of an actress," Beckett rolled her eyes, not understanding why she was even surprised for Castle having this kind of reaction, since he always managed to react like this.

"Whaaat? Kate, have you ever watched Darkest Blood?" He questioned, using his high pitched voice. She knew that he was going to start talking and explaining his point of view, so she quickly cut him off.

"I have, and it's not that good."

"It's amazing."

"It's not."

"It is!"

"Castle."

"I'll tell you what; Tonight, you and me, couch, popcorn and a Darkest Blood marathon."

"No."

"Please?"

"No.

"Kaaate."

"No."

"For me?"

"Fine. Two episodes. If I don't like it, we watch something else."

"Deal."

"I'm sorry to interrupt your little... moment, but uhm, the case?" Esposito tried to contain his laughter as he shouted a small look at Ryan before looking at the two partners in front of them.

"Right. Did you guys go to the crime scene already?" Beckett asked.

"Yeah, someone had to." Ryan managed to say between a couple of deep breathes as he tried to keep his posture.

Beckett closed her eyes for a second with her mouth slightly open, unable to speak. They oversleep one day and everyone's already making a big deal out of it. "And?" She opened her eyes again.

"Detectives Ryan and Esposito!" They looked at the direction where the voice was coming, finding Captain Gates walking in their direction. "My office, please." She stopped midway and quickly turned around, making her way to where she'd come from in the first place.

"It's everything on the file." Ryan pointed out before he gave a small slap on his partner's shoulder and they both made their way to the Captain's office.

"I can't believe she's dead," Castle finally let out as more of a whisper. "She was like... Jennifer Lawrence but 9 years older."

"Are we still discussing that?" Beckett rolled her eyes.

"Yes."

"Jennifer Lawrence is way better." She tried to hold a grin.