«Good morning, beautiful. »
She's still half asleep, eyes wide shut when he enters his bedroom. Her limbs are heavy. She can barely move, she don't want to move. She's warm and sleepy and she feels good under those sheets. As much as she loves to wake up by the smell of fresh coffee mixed with his cologne, she just wants to go back to sleep. She turns her head to her right, facing away from the sun light filtering through the window and she tries to ignore him as well, even though she can feel his persistent glare on her body. What was she dreaming about? Oh yeah. Coconut trees and shiny beach, the view of the ocean, a cocktail in her hand and of course, Castle at her side. Her smile grows wider just thinking about the image. She needs vacations. Soon, she thought. But he cuts off her thoughts once again. This time, she feels the mattress moves as he sat down beside her. Her slight grin fades off when his ticklish fingers strokes over her bare leg, up and down, up and down. She shivers. Damn this man.
"Castle.. Please stop it." She growls as she removes her leg from his soft touch. He leans toward her, far to be discouraged by her reluctance and then he kissed her cheek.
"C'm Kate, I made you coffee. You like coffee! No wait. That's an understatement. You love coffee." He babbled, cheerfully. "Plus, I've got a little surprise for ya... " He said, excitement rising in his voice.
That last point caught her attention. Kate opens an eye, slowly.. and shuts it as soon as she catches a glimpse at the object in his hands. She buries her head into her pillow and mumbles "Castle turn it off!"
"Cool right? Bought it yesterday. Full HD, 40x optical zoom, 6 hours battery and face detection. C'm Kate, says hello to my new friend!"
"I don't wanna say hello Castle, I wanna sleep!" She shouts back.
Castle opens his mouth, ready to argue, but finally thought that arguing at 8 am was not the better way to start this special day.
"All right grumpy." He says instead. "I'm turning it off. See. I'm putting it on the nightstand. No more cameras. Happy?" I just wanted to remember this morning when I'd be old and withered."
"You're already old and withered. And as a matter of fact, you snored all night and that's why I need to sleep in." She mutters.
A groan echoes across the room but she can picture the smirk on his face. Reflecting her own. She does poorly trying to hide it.
"Ouch you're hurting my feelings, Detective. I do not snore. I talk. A little maybe. But I do not snore." He pouts.
She lifts her head to look him in his eyes and her - now fully awake - body follows. She leans toward him and wraps her legs around his middle, facing him. She lifts her hands and cups his face, then kissed him good morning.
"Yes, you do snore. And to be honest I find it adorable." She confesses, biting her lips. She kissed him once more.
"As long as you're not drooling." She adds, playfully.
"Mmm, that is definitely not adorable." He agrees.
"Oh and I almost forgot, happy 1st anniversary." He said, never leaving her green eyes.
"Happy first anniversary" She genuinely answers .
It's already been a year. Exactly 365 days since he opened that door and she wrecked her walls. She can't believe it. A year of playfulness, of sharing bed, of kissing, of teasing – well the last one wasn't something new, but still, it had been a magical year. Magical.
Back to the present, she lets her hand drift to the waistband of his sweatpants and plays with it. He laughs. "Not sleepy anymore?"
A flush raised on her face, but she just smirks, lowering her eyelashes. "What's the matter Castle? Not up for it?"
Desire flashes in his eyes. "Always up for it." He grins "Just.. Wait a second."
He quickly moves to the nightstand and it hits her.
"Castle what are you do.. Oh my god, I can't believe you were still filming!"
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
An high-pinched noise fills the room followed by an awful silence. Kate stares at the black screen. A single tear of grief runs down her cheek and suddenly, the dam broke. She clutches her fists around the sheets and shuts her eyes. She misses him. Every days. Every hours. Every seconds since he left her. How did it happen? How was it fair? How was it fair that it happens one damn week after their first anniversary? She grabs the remote sitting next to her and hits play. She wants to hear his voice. To see him. To feel him. One last time she told herself.
"Good morning, Beautiful."