Open Road

"The open road is a beckoning, a strangeness, a place where a man can lose himself."
– William Least

Where were they headed?

If they were being honest with themselves, neither of them had a clue. As the car drove down the long, nearly deserted high-way, the radio softly playing songs that they both hardly listened to, she looked out the window, staring off into the distance.

Outside the sun was slowly descending, casting a beautiful glow on their surroundings.

If the weather forecast were correct, it was the last bit of sunshine they would see for a while, rain and stormy weather already on its way. This – the peaceful, quiet – it was silence before the storm.

Despite the peaceful setting, she felt a little tense, a frown creasing her forehead as she tried to keep unwanted thoughts from her mind. Letting out a short breath, she looked over to her left, where the source of her worry was sitting. His hands clutched the steering wheel a little more tightly than was necessary and he had a faraway look in his eyes. Overall, though, his posture seemed slightly more relaxed than it had been in the past couple of days. That was something at least.

Out of the corner of his eye, Castle noticed her gaze upon him, her eyes focused, studying every aspect of his profile. For a moment he wondered if this was how Beckett felt when he was the one doing the observing.

"You're staring." His voice, laced with amusement, interrupted her quiet thoughts. The tone of his voice surprised her a little, it was a contradiction to the somberness she was used to lately.

As she looked up at his face she saw a hint of the smug smile she knew so well tug at the corner of his lips. Momentarily unable to think of anything to say in response, she looked away, out the window, her teeth softly digging into her lower lip in an attempt to hide her own smile.

Castle caught it anyway, and his almost-smile turned into a grin as she said, "No need to look away, detective. You can stare as much as you want."

Unsuspecting, she let out a soft chuckle before she could stop herself. He smiled, the kind that made the skin at the corner of his eyes crinkle in amusement. She'd missed this.

"How generous of you, Castle." She replied jokingly, a warmth filling her as they fell back into their familiar banter.

Miles passed and the further they got away from the city, the easier it seemed to let go of their problems, if only for a little while.

Kate Beckett rarely did anything impulsive. This trip, however, could definitely be labeled as one of those rarities. She glanced over at Castle and allowed to curl her lips up into a smile. And it was nearly as exhilarating as it was to drive her motorcycle out on the highway for the first time.

The sun had set entirely now, daylight now solely consisting of the last remaining rays of sunlight, the sky a beautiful reddish kind of pink.

At some point Castle took an exit and they ended up driving down a smaller road, further away from the other cars.

She was the one to break the comfortable silence. "Castle, where are we going?"

It seemed like a loaded question, but he knew that wasn't the way she'd meant it. One hand remaining on his steering wheel, he quickly got out his phone from his pocket and handed it to her. "Maybe you can look where we are now." he told her.

Unlocking his phone, she opened his GPS app and waited for it to load. A couple of seconds later an error message appeared on the screen. She frowned. "No service."

"What?" He glanced aside. "That's strange. Maybe if you start it up again?" he suggested.

She closed the app, then tried it again. Still nothing. The bars on the upper corner of his phone also confirmed it; no service. "Still nothing." She replied.

Castle's mind started racing. They really didn't have a clue where they were. Sure, he was aware of the general direction they'd been driving in, but if he was being honest with himself, he hadn't really been paying attention to any of the road signs, driving just for the sake of driving more than anything else.

"Don't you have a map?" Beckett asked. When he just glanced at the phone in her hands she clarified, "An actual paper map with roads on it?"

"Eh…" He hesitated. "I don't think so." He mentally berated himself for not being prepared for a situation like this.

"So we just look for some signs to find out where we are?" She asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, that's probably the best we can do."

They both paid close attention to the road, looking ahead to see if they saw any road signs or houses in the distance. When after a while they still didn't see anything, Beckett got out Castle's phone and tried the GPS app again.

Castle heard a loud sigh coming from his right and was just about to say something when, in the distance, he noticed what seemed a dimly lit gas station. "Look." He said, causing Beckett to look up, first at him and then, when he noticed his gaze being focused ahead, out the window.

"Is that…?" She allowed a hint of hope to shine through in her voice.

"A gas station?" He finished her sentence.

They allowed themselves to grow a little more hopeful as they got closer, the contours they'd seen before in the distance taking a more definite shape now.

Not much later, Castle pulled over to the side of the road to stop at the small gas station. There were two gas pumps and a little shop near the end. Light faintly shone on the small parking lot, coming from a single lantern standing at the side.

They got out of the car and walked over to the shop. Although it seemed deserted, the sign said 'open', so they tried the door. As they opened the door, a little bell announced their entrance and a teenage boy behind the counter startled awake. Apparently he didn't get a lot of customers.

The boy blinked sleepily a couple of times before sitting up a little straighter in his chair. "How can I help you?" He asked as Castle and Beckett approached him.

"Well, we were kind of hoping you could tell us where we are." Castle replied.

The boy looked a little taken aback but amused at the same time, looking at them studiously, trying to decide whether they're being serious or not. He gave them a little smile. "You're just outside Millerton, sir."

"Millerton?" Beckett wondered out loud, the name not ringing any bells.

The boy nodded in confirmation. "Known mainly for its picturesque Main Street." He told them, seemingly excited about it.

"Do you know if there is a place where we could stay nearby?" Castle asked.

The boy started giving them directions to a hotel just outside of the town, jotting down some notes on a small piece of paper as he did. After he was done he handed the note to Castle and gave them another smile.

"Enjoy your stay." He called after them just as they went through the door to leave, this time with a clearer destination in mind than before.

After a short drive, following the boy's instructions, they ended up at a modest parking lot in front a small hotel, the hand painted wooden sign at the side of parking lot illuminated by a small lamp, rather than the neon lights they were used to in NYC.

They decided to ask if there were any rooms available first, so they left their bags in the car and went into the building.

The lobby's carpeted floors and flowery curtains gave it a homey feeling, as did the small waiting area near the counter, where two small couches were placed near a little table with a stack of magazines. The walls had shelves with all kinds of little, seemingly random, knick knacks on the whole thing made Castle imagine this room could have easily been decorated by the nice old lady that they'd come across on a case once, who had given them tea while her cat had jumped on his lap.

When they didn't see anyone around, Castle rang the small metal bell that was on the counter. Soon a small woman who appeared to be in her late fifties came out the room situated behind the counter and she gave them a welcoming smile.

"Good evening." She said, and Castle noticed the name tag she was wearing. Julie. "How can I help you today?"

"We would like two rooms for the night." Castle replied.

"Two?" Julie raised her eyebrows, then lowered her voice suggestively. "Are you sure about that, dear?" She quickly glanced over at Beckett, and then looked back at him with a knowning smile.

The look on the woman's face almost made him laugh, but instead he just leaned in and whispered something to Julie that made her smile and nod.

"Of course." Beckett heard her say and she could only wonder what the shared conversation between the two of them was about.

He came walking back over to her with two room keys, a slight sparkle in his eyes. Ignoring her questioningly raised eyebrow, he just gave her a smile before heading back out to grab their bags. She followed, getting her own bag even though he offered – more like insisted – that he didn't mind carrying it for her.

Her room was next to his on the first floor. It wasn't overly luxurious, but it had a small bathroom, a queen sized bed with a small TV across from it and a nightstand next to the bed. Putting her bags next to the bed and sitting down, she let out a quiet sigh of contentment. This bed was quite comfortable.

Suddenly, she heard a someone knocking on the door and she got up to let Castle in. When she opened the door, though, there was no one. Then she heard another knock, coming from back into the room. Turning around, she looked to where the sound was coming from.

That's when she noticed the door in her wall. Well, technically it was their wall, as it was the wall that separated the two rooms from each other. She walked over to the door, unlocked it and opened it to a grinning Rick Castle.

"Isn't this great?" He asked as he stepped into her room.

She shook her head in amusement. Of course he'd get a room that had a door that led straight to hers. "Yeah, great." She said, a little sarcastically, but she was in too good of a mood to really hide the fact that she honestly didn't mind.

She turned around to see Castle walk over to the nightstand, which had a telephone and a few take-out menus on it. He picked them up and looked at her. "Are you hungry?"

Up until then, she hadn't really thought of food, but once he mentioned it, her body was suddenly aware of the fact that it was late and she had barely had anything to eat all day. "Yeah." She nodded and went to sit down next to him on her bed, looking at the menus.

Though she hadn't intended to sit so close to him, the bed dipped when she sat down, making their sides touch. She tried to reposition, but that only caused the outside of their legs to rub together instead of creating more distance between them. So she decided to just sit still, focusing on what to order instead of the way the outside of her thigh was pressed against his.

As she studied the takeout menus, Castle studied her, watching her eyes move slowly as she read, his eyes drawn to the one loose strand of hair that was begging for him to tuck it behind her ear. He wondered how it would feel, the texture of it between his fingers, his hand brushing the side of her face ever so lightly as he slid the strand of her behind her ear. He swallowed and lowered his gaze, trying to not to think of the mental imagines that came next as his imagination continued. Then his mind decided to remind him why they were here in the first place. Up until that moment, he had done a good job at distracting himself enough to not let this get to him, but the moment he made the mistake of lowering his defenses, the memories came flooding back at an alarming speed.

Beckett chose that moment to look up at him, immediately noticing his eyes clenched shut, one of his hands fisted at his side. "Castle?"

He lifted his head and opened his somber eyes to meet her concerned gaze. It was too much like it had been the past days, and it tugged at her heart to see him like this, so lost and defeated, so much like – she paused in her thoughts and swallowed. Too much like she had been, way back in that dark period of her life that she'd rather not be reminded of. She moved her hand to his, her touch making him unclench his fist, allowing her to gently lace her fingers through his, her thumb comfortingly rubbing circles on the back of hand.

He looked down at their joined hands as she spoke. "It's going to be okay, you know?" Her words were soft but they were spoken urgently, in attempt to get through to him. When he just let out a shaky breath, she continued, "You're a good man, Rick. Don't ever doubt that, no matter what happens." Her voice was a little stronger now.

Sighing, he softly shook his head to clear his thoughts, still feeling Beckett's intent gaze upon him. "We should order." He said finally after clearing his throat.

She still wanted to say so much more, let him hearso much more, but she knew her attempts would be futile now. They could talk about this another day and then – hopefully – in time he'd see that her words were true. For now, distraction was the best she could do to ease his mind, so she decided to let this go. "Do you know what you want yet?" She asked him.

He nodded and after telling her, he let her order for them as he turned on the TV, looking for something to watch.

Not much later the food arrived, and they settled back on the bed, leaning against the cushioned headboard while eating their dinner silently. A movie played on the small TV which they watched while they ate.

After dinner they both felt the emotional roller coaster they had been on for the past couple of days take its toll as they felt their eyelids slowly starting to feel heavier. Castle reached for the remote and turned off the TV as he lay down on the bed, too tired to get up and go back to his own room.

Beckett didn't comment on it, or the fact that they were both still in their usual clothes. She just allowed the exhaustion to take over, her eyes closing. "Good night." She said softly.

"Night." He mumbled and they both finally drifted off to sleep, everything that had happened in the past, forgotten for the time being.

A/N: The next chapter will reveal a little more about what exactly made them go on this trip in the first place. Also, the door in Beckett's wall? Totally a reference to her actual 'wall'. There's no need to break it down, she just needs to get adjoining rooms with Castle and let him in… (to share her bed with him.)
Anyway, this is my first story in a long while, and the first on this account – I had to create a new one – so I'm a little nervous about it. Excited too, though, because I definitely like to be writing again. Another thing I like is reading your thoughts about this chapter… Do with that subtle hint whatever you want.

Also, I want to thank Emily for the help and Andy for coming up with an amazing list of titles, where 'Open Road' was one of. :)

(Also, bonus points for the people who catch the small 'Once Upon a Time' reference in this chapter.)