A/N: I didn't really have a specific time frame for this so readers choice whether pre- or post-couple.
Castle had come into the precinct this morning looking not like his usual self - no boyish grin or bubbling enthusiasm for the new mystery to be solved. Most worrisome of all, there were no coffee cups in his hands. Honestly he looked like he hadn't slept in days, which is what Kate told him after he shrugged off his coat and slumped down in his chair.
"Are you okay Castle?" she asked, noticing the dark circles under his eyes.
"Fine", he mumbled. And that was all he said, no details, no dramatic story. Kate knew she had to do something to fix him, so she went to the break room to make them both coffee.
The only problem was, Kate never properly learned how to use the fancy new machine; that was always Castle's job. She figured out the first part easily enough and soon had two cups of coffee in front of her. It wasn't perfect though. She wanted to do something special to get Castle out of his slump, so she tried to picture in her mind how he made the beautiful patterns in the foam. Kate especially liked the flowery one so that's what she went for.
The first one turned out terrible, the top of his coffee looked like the scribblings of a toddler. Kate poured it down the sink and started over with the second cup…which didn't look any better. She was getting frustrated now; all Kate wanted was to do something nice for her partner and it was turning into a disaster.
She decided to try one more time, which ended just as bad as the previous attempts, which then ended with Kate punching the machine in a sudden burst of anger.
Now she had no coffee, bloody knuckles, and to top it off, she could feel the tears forming in the back of her eyes.
"Beckett?" She heard Castles worried voice behind her, and that's all it took to get the tears flowing. She was supposed to be doing something for him, supposed to making him feel better, and she failed. And now he was here to clean up her mess.
"Castle I'm sorry," she whispered through her tears.
"Kate." Her name came out as a sigh on his lips. He was at her side in three long strides, and he gingerly took her bloody hand off the counter to inspect it. "What happened? Why would you punch the coffee machine?"
She was still upset, but the small smile tugging at the corner of his lips was already making her feel better. "You were so tired when you came in this morning, and I just wanted to make some coffee for us and…" she trailed off, gesturing to the mess before them.
"Well that was very sweet of you, but I think you should leave the coffee to me from now on," he said seriously. "Now let's get this mess cleaned up."
Castle sat her down in one of the break room chairs and went to retrieve the first aid kit from one of the cabinets. He returned with bandaids and a damp cloth, and started to clean the wounds on her hand.
Kate flinched when he touched the antiseptic to her cuts. "I didn't know coffee machines could do this much damage," she sighed, between a laugh or a cry, Castle couldn't tell.
He kissed her knuckles before putting a bandaid across the worst cuts. "Remind me not to get on your bad side," he whispered as he wiped the left over tears from her cheeks.
They cleaned up the spilled coffee together, and Castle expertly made two coffees topped with the picture perfect flower design. Kate smiled and took her coffee gratefully.
"Don't worry Castle, as long as your here to make the coffee everyone should be safe."
