A/N: I heard Kellie Pickler's new single "Someone Somewhere Tonight" and fell in love with it. There is part of the song that I thought fit Caskett perfectly.
Kate Beckett has just arrived at the home she practically shares with her fiancé, Rick Castle. She goes to the bedroom, intending to change clothes, but lies down on the bed instead.
"Castle?" She hasn't seen him, but she knows he's in the apartment somewhere.
"Kate?"
"Can you come here for a minute? I'm in the bedroom."
Slightly concerned, Castle hurries to the bedroom to find Kate lying on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.
"What's wrong, Babe?"
"Lie down with me?"
Castle moves to lie beside Kate on the bed, just leaning at first.
"Is everything alright?"
"Yeah. I mean…I've been thinking."
"Oh. That explains it!" Castle teases.
"No, really. Hear me out."
He can see the seriousness in her face—she didn't even roll her eyes—and lies the rest of the way down.
"They don't expect Ryan's Grandfather to live much longer…his Alzheimer's has gotten really bad. Kevin said he's completely bedridden now and doesn't talk anymore—now he's got pneumonia. When I left the hospital, a priest was about to administer his Last Rites."
"Oh, Kate…"
"And, then, on my way home, Lanie called. Maya took her first steps earlier. And...anyway...all of that got me thinking…someone, somewhere tonight is…tasting their first kiss, you know. They want this night to last forever. But at the same time, somewhere else, someone is pouring another drink, you know, just hoping and praying that they'll make it to tomorrow….and..that used to be my Dad, you know. And…Babe, can we just…lie here for a little while?"
Castle glances at Kate, not sure where exactly she's headed with this conversation.
"Tell me you love me…Tell me you love me, and you always will."
Rick's breath catches in his throat. It's rare for Kate to sound this vulnerable.
"Always. I will always love you, Katherine Houghton Beckett. Always."
Kate takes the next day off work—there isn't an active case, so and she can afford to spend some time relaxing with her fiancé—and doing a little wedding planning.
Castle walks through his study, expecting to see Kate sitting at his desk—that's where she had been when he left the room to fix them each a sandwich.
"Kate?"
"In here!" Kate calls from the bedroom.
She's sitting cross-legged in the middle of the bed with a pad of paper in front of her, strumming her guitar.
"Sudden moment of inspiration?"
"You could say that…what do you think about this?"
As she strums the guitar, she begins to sing: "Someone somewhere tonight is stuck in a prison. They're breathing. They're just barely living behind walls of their own. Well, someone somewhere tonight just found their own wings—found some beauty, found some truth, found some meaning—in spite of it all."
When she's through, Kate is slow to look up at Castle, nervous—as usual—about his reaction to her music.
"Kate! That's…beautiful."
"You really think so?"
As an answer, Castle moves closer to the bed and presses a kiss to Kate's temple. "Yes, Babe. It's gorgeous."
"Lie with me?"
"Of course."
Kate slid her guitar softly to the floor beside the bed and scooted to one side. Castle waited for her to get situated before lying down beside her.
"I love you, Rick."
"I love you, too, Babe. Always."