This is for Natacha, whom requested that I write this after we fangirled over Stana's hair and were saddened by the fact that they're not going to make Beckett's shorter in the show. Girls can dream though ;-). Enjoy!

Beautiful Accident

Kate entered the loft, dripping with sweat and breathing heavily after her morning run. It was about nine in the morning on a Sunday—her day off. And, surprisingly, for the first time since she'd moved from DC over two months ago, Castle had not been there when she woke up. He'd left a note for her, though, explaining that Paula had called him at an ungodly hour and when he hadn't picked up, she'd banged at the door, threatening bodily harm if he didn't open up.

Castle had been surprised that Kate had slept through all that, which it stated in his note, but Kate had shrugged it off. What did he expect after the slew of cases they'd had for the last two weeks? She'd been working nonstop, eating practically every meal at the Precinct and overdosing on coffee just to keep herself from crashing. The second her head hit the pillow the night before, she'd been out like a light.

It was a surprise that she woke up that day at all, let alone at eight in the morning. But when she did, she decided that now was as good a time as any to take the runs she'd so missed in the last two weeks after a glance in the mirror confirmed what she'd suspected; she'd gained about ten pounds.

She dressed quickly in a pair of spandex and a sports bra, throwing a sweat jacket over it and tying her hair into a high ponytail, before slipping her Nikes on her feet and plugging her headphones in her ears as she made her way towards the front door. She estimated she had about two or three hours left before Paula would finally release Castle from the meeting he was having in Westchester and then another forty minutes for his train to get in, so she had plenty of "Kate" time to just relax and unwind alone.

Switching her iPod to her Queen playlist, Kate had made her way out of the apartment, grabbing her keys and phone just in case of an emergency, but otherwise feeling light and free.

But now she felt sweaty. Good sweaty, though; she felt alive and relaxed and just wonderful. She hadn't felt that way in what seemed like forever.

Moving towards the fridge, Kate grabbed a bottle of water and an apple, opening the former and taking a sip…which she promptly choked on the second the woman behind her spoke.

"Good morning, Katherine!" Martha exclaimed, grinning at her over her morning paper. "Did you have a nice run?"

Kate nodded, trying to take in as much air as possible to dispel the water that had flooded her lungs at the surprise. "Yeah," she said, in between coughs, "it's pretty nice out, ya know?"

Martha nodded in agreement. "A bit too warm for December for me, but yes, it's still very nice out." Kate nodded, taking a bit of her apple and taking a seat at the island, across from Martha.

"So how was your morning, Martha?" she asked, politely.

"Oh, just wonderful," Martha gushed. "I let myself sleep in this morning and then broke out my good tea, watched a little Temptation Lane, and just relaxed."

Kate nodded. "Rough week?" she asked. Martha nodded, rolling her eyes.

"Don't get me wrong," she said, "I absolutely adore my students but, really, is it that hard to memorize Puck's Soliloquy?"

"I guess that's why they have you," Kate offered, grinning. Martha nodded in agreement.

"Cheers to that," she said, clinking her cup of tea with Kate's bottle of water. "So what do you and Richard have planned for the day?"

Kate shrugged. "Nothing really; not until he gets back, at least."

"Back from where?"

"Paula came over early this morning to drag him out to Westchester for a few meetings with the head honchos from Black Pawn and an impromptu book signing in White Plains. He said he'd be back by two, though, and we'd have a nice, early dinner. And I figured, while he's out, I might run to the hair salon; I've been meaning to get a trim for a while."

"Oh, pish posh!" Martha exclaimed. "Why are you going to pay an arm and a leg just to take a little of the bottom? Let me do it and it won't cost you a dime."

Kate furrowed her brow. "Are you sure about that, Martha, because, really, it won't cost that much, and I don't really want to waste your time…"

"Oh, it's no waste at all, Katherine," Martha insisted, "My entire schedule is free for the day. Besides, I used to cut Richard's hair for him all the time. It should be no problem."

X_X

"Well, this may be a problem…" Martha sighed, wincing as Kate's spine stiffened.

The younger woman was sitting in the middle of the foyer, on a stool, as Martha 'trimmed' her hair. Kate had been worried at first but as soon as she'd seen the photos of young Castle with his hair neatly trimmed, she'd relented; how bad could it be, anyway?

"What's a problem?" she asked, worriedly.

"Well, I told you to stay still, dear, so you can't really blame this on—"

"Martha," Kate cut her off, trying to stay calm, "what happened?"

Martha sighed and came around to stand in front of her, holding what appeared to be about a foot-long strand of Kate's gorgeous, silky hair. Kate's eyes widened and she jumped off the stool, grabbing her phone and using the front camera to look at herself, turning her head and gasping when she saw what Martha had done.

"Oh my God!" she moaned, placing her hand on her forehead.

"Now, now," Martha soothed, stepping forward, "we can fix this; I just need to trim a little bit more than we planned, but everything should be just fine."

Kate shook her head. "No," she said, "I'm sorry, Martha, but I can't risk it; my wedding is in four months and I'd rather not show up with uneven locks. I'm calling my hairdresser." With that, she was gone, making her way towards her and Castle's bedroom. Martha watched her go, before her shoulders slumped and she looked down at the clump of hair in her hand.

"Aw, phooey," she sighed, pouting.

X_X

Two hours later, Kate crept back into the apartment, her head covered by a grey hoodie, and tiptoed towards her bedroom.

"Hey, Kate!" she jumped when she heard Castle's voice. She followed the sound of his voice and found him sitting on the couch, his laptop open in his lap. "Where've you been, Sweetheart? I haven't seen you all morning."

"Just…uh, went out," Kate lied, unable to meet his eyes. "When did you get home? I thought Paula was gonna keep you out until at least noon." She made her way over to him and placed a quick kiss on his forehead, before continuing on her way to the bedroom. To her dismay, Castle stood and followed her.

"I begged her to let me come home early," he said, "told her I just wanted to spend time with my beautiful fiancée." He attempted to put his arms around her but Kate moved away, going towards the bathroom.

"Oh, that's nice, Castle," Kate replied, "but I'm still feeling a little gross from my run earlier; I'm just gonna jump in the shower."

"Want some company?" he asked, with a waggle of his eyebrows.

Kate froze. She so desperately wanted to say yes; to relax with him under the warm spray, allow him to help her forget the horrible morning she'd had without him there, to make up for every last second she'd missed spending with him because of work, but she wasn't quite sure how well he would take…

"Kate, why is your hood still up?" Castle asked. Kate sighed; now was as good a time as any. Taking a deep breath, she lowered the hood, waiting, still frozen in her spot, for his reaction.

He was silent for a moment, then, "You cut your hair." Kate sighed.

"Yeah," she said, reaching up to twirl one curly strand around her finger. It was way too short.

"And it's short…"

"Yep."

"And curly."

"Mmhmm…"

"And so pretty…" the last word was almost a gasp and Kate turned, her eyes widening when she found him so close to her.

"R-really?" she asked, taking in his wide-eyed fascination as one of his hands snaked up to tangle in the short tresses. "You like it?"

Castle nodded, his eyes shining as he smiled at her. "I love it," he whispered, truthfully. "It reminds me of the old Beckett, only it's much better because now you don't want to shoot me."

"Most of the time," Kate teased, her heart feeling much lighter as she felt him run his hands through the lightened tresses. "You don't think it's too short?"

Castle shook his head. "Not at all; it's perfect and I bet it'll look great under a veil," he said, smiling at her before leaning in. "Or with nothing else on," he whispered, wagging his eyebrows suggestively. Kate grinned, leaning back to look him in the eye.

"Let's test that theory right now, shall we?" she said, smiling suggestively. Castle chuckled and allowed her to pull him into the bathroom, one hand staying rooted in her beautiful curls the entire time.

So, what do you think, Nat? And everybody else? You like?