The wedding had been fun. Jenny had looked amazing and both she and Ryan looked so happy together. The ceremony had been beautiful; the vows had brought tears to Kate's eyes and when she had slide a side long look at Castle she could see they had done the same to him.
The reception had been fun. Kate had seen Espo and Lanie dancing very close a few times, and from the smiles on both their faces, they may have been well on the way to getting back together. She and Castle had even danced, not a slow dance but not a fast dance either. They hadn't been as close as the newlyweds or Lanie and Esposito but they had been close enough for sparks to fly, or at least sparks that Kate could feel, looking at Castle she wasn't sure if he was even aware of what he was doing to her, holding her waist and holding him close, well sort of close anyway.

After the happy couple had left for their honeymoon, Kate had gone home alone and then the flood gates had opened. It was the anniversary of her mother's murder and while she had been happy on the outside, not wanting to spoil the biggest day of her friends life, inside she had been struggling to keep it together.

She was sat on her sofa, drying her eyes, when there was a knock at the door. She started and then stood and looked through the peephole. After seeing who it was outside, she wiped her eyes one last time and opened the door. "Castle, what are you doing here?"
He held up a bottle of wine and a DVD box, "I know what day it is Beckett and I wanted to make sure you were ok and if you weren't I was going to ask if you wanted to watch a film with me."
Beckett smiled, not only had he used her first name, which made her stomach flutter although she would never tell him that, but he had come to comfort her on one for the hardest days of her year.
"Thanks Castle," she said, letting him in. She looked at the clock and did a double take, "Rick," she said, her voice quiet, "It's half two. You should be at home, with your daughter."
Castle shook his head, "No, Beckett. Alexis is at home in bed and she knows I'm here and she doesn't mind me being here. She knows today is a hard day for you and if I'm honest it was her idea for me to be here, she didn't want you to be alone tonight."

Beckett was shocked. She knew Alexis was a smart and caring kid but before now she hadn't realised just how caring the teenager was. Beckett gave her head a slight shake and was glad when Castle didn't say anything, though he had definitely noticed it, he was watching her like a hawk.
Beckett shut the door and went back to sit on the sofa. Castle smiled and got wine glasses out of one of the cupboards in the kitchen. After he put them on the table Beckett asked, "So what film did you bring?"