Stupid Perfect

Any other day, his Castley-ness would have been cause for an eye-roll. In fact, sometimes Kate thought that annoying her was his sole goal in times of boredom. Any other day, it would have been. But today she was already feeling down.

It was a dank, dreary day. Stormy grey clouds canvassed the sky and a slow but persistent shower had made the usually upbeat people of New York soggy – much like their moods. Her mood, at least, was mirroring the weather.

It almost started out as any – now ordinary – morning. Almost, but not quite. Kate woke up alone in their bed. The cool sheets on his side meant that it had been a while since he'd awoken. It wasn't that unusual, especially if she'd been home late from work or he'd struck inspiration in the middle of the night. As she neared the door, she heard the frantic beats of his fingers on the keyboard that meant it was the latter. On her way to the kitchen for her morning dose of caffeine, she bowed her head over his to drop a kiss over his hair. She rolled her eyes at the singular noncommittal grunt she got in reply and made her way out of the office.

Much to her dismay, the coffee pot was empty. Either the others had finished the coffee, or most likely Castle had done so overnight. But he usually always remembered to keep her coffee ready, at least some in the pot so she could fix herself a cup. With a small frown of disappointment, she set about making a fresh pot, and some breakfast for them. His kiss to her cheek and words of appreciation made her put the 'forgotten coffee' incident on the back burner and life went on as usual.

It seemed like the foul mood was going all around. She'd gotten out of the car near their latest crime scene, and promptly stepped into a puddle of muddy water, which would have been okay considering that she was prepared for the weather, except that there was a crack in the concrete that was hidden by the puddle. The heel cracked, and there marked the death of one of her favorite pairs of shoes. To add to the indignation, she had to walk with Castle's support in squeaky shoes to the scene, and he was wired enough from the God-knows-how-many cups of coffee, to crack jokes every few minutes. Lanie's foul mood (which probably had something to do with the dark looks she was shooting Esposito) didn't help brighten hers.

With a quick stop at the loft to change her footwear, they'd made their way to the home of one of New York's rich and powerful. They didn't have much on the victim, except for his identity and a few non-personal details. The only connection they did have was that he'd worked for this man, Mr. Thompson. All of Wall Street knew him. Now, this wouldn't be any trouble for Kate, seeing as how she'd dealt with his types before. But later she wished that they'd spoken to him at his office. If only it weren't a matter of saving time.

His home was luxurious, as expected. And to her surprise, Mr. Thompson was kind, gracious, and very forthcoming. Also forthcoming was his daughter, young Ms. Cassandra Thompson. Like her father, Cassie had surprised Kate. She wasn't a rich, young, stupid Bimbo. She was in the business with her father.

Cassie was beautiful, as Castle had pointed out to Kate later. She had intelligent, calculating eyes, and sounded like a shrewd businesswoman, also as pointed out by Castle. And she was a philanthropist to boot. Stupid perfect Cassie.

Stupid perfect Cassie was the type of woman who'd be the centre of attention. She certainly was, at that, for Castle. Kate had noticed him staring, awestruck by her business jargon.

"You know, Cassie was right about investing in property. We should talk about that later, after the case," Castle had said.

Throughout the day, he'd been harping on about Cassie. I don't think she's involved. She seemed such a bright young woman. You think she'd be open to a consultation? Kate thought she'd be open to something, alright. Stupid perfect Cassie.

So their day had begun, and so their day went on. By the time they'd call it a night and reached the loft, Kate's nerves were frayed. Castle had fortunately been smart enough to talk less, and maintain at least five feet of distance between them when he sensed something wrong.

Kate had been staring at her reflection, her fingers tracing the faded, but ever-present scar nestled between her breasts. The knock startled her out of her reverie, but before she had time to react, Castle came to stand behind her.

"Hey," he said softly. "What's going on, Kate?"

She smiled sadly at him, shaking her head, not quite able to put into words what was going through her mind. Not quite able to understand it herself. It had to be the weather. It had to be the dreary day. Kate wasn't insecure. Was she?

She'd gone back to staring at her scar in the mirror, her fingers poised over the healed wound. She felt him take a step closer, his chest touching her back with every breath he took. He was the picture of serenity, and that helped ease some of the chaos in her mind. She wondered dully whether she did the same for him. He had once said she did. But did she still? She wondered on days like this.

"Is this about the coffee this morning?"

She shook her head with a frown.

"I didn't apologize for that, did I? I'm sorry," he said, their eyes meeting in the mirror, as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"It wasn't that, Castle."

"Okay, so what was it? Was it your shoe? Cause I can always get you more, you know. Even if it means giving up more space to you."

Her reflection glared at him.

"Not that I mind. I mean, what's mine is yours?" he backpedaled with a sheepish grin.

"Gee, thanks, Castle. How generous of you," she said half heartedly, ending with a sigh that broke his heart.

"Okay, so not that. What is it, Kate? You know you can tell me anything."

Again, she sighed, placing her hands over his on her waist, and gave him a smile. It wasn't her usual smile, it wasn't even a genuine smile, and she knew he could tell. It was a lost cause. "Nothing. I'm being stupid. It's nothing. I'm fine."

"Nuh-uh. Something is wrong. My Beckett-senses are tingling." He scrunched his brow together as if trying to deduce her rotten mood.

She couldn't help but chuckle at him, hoping also to deflect. But his eyes widened, seemingly having come to some sort of realization.

"Is this about Cassie?"

"No!" she shot back. Perhaps a little too vehemently.

"Aha!"

"No aha. It's not about stupid perfect Cassie. You were right, I'm devastated because those were my favorite boots."

"Stupid perfect Cassie?" he said, looking thoroughly amused, and irritatingly smug.

"Ugh," she muttered under her breath, turning her face away. She picked her hands off his and crossed them defiantly instead. "Go away."

"Hah, real mature, Beckett," he said playfully, snuggling up to her instead of going anywhere. "Jealous much?" he said, scrapping his stubble over her cheek.

"Hah. Jealous? Please," she said, rolling her eyes. Of course, biting her cheek didn't help the denial much. "Why would I be jealous? So what if she has perfect, flawless skin; a kind heart and an expensive education that shows. Big deal."

His eyebrows shot to his hairline.

"Wow. Considering leaving me, Beckett? How come I didn't notice you noticing her?"

"Because you were busy noticing enough for the two of us," she spat out.

He planted his chin on her shoulder while she continued not to meet his eyes in the mirror.

"Beckett, I'm a guy."

"Aren't I glad!" she said flatly.

"Uhuh. As part of my manly genetic makeup, I am bound to do some douchey things sometimes. Like looking at other somewhat pretty women, who aren't my wife. Only out of curiosity."

"Right," she scoffed.

"Neither are they the love of my life."

She softened at that, finally meeting his eyes.

"I don't know about how flawless Cassie is. She probably has lots of flaws. But I don't care."

"Digging a hole there, Rick. You were doing well, maybe you want to end on a high note?"

"I'm trying. I don't care about her flaws. I'm not in love with her flaws, I'm in love with yours."

Kate sucked in a breath, his damn voice bleeding with so much sincerity, leaving her breathless. He lifted his hand over her scar. "And this isn't a flaw, Kate. It's perfection. It's proof of how strong you are."

She placed her hand over his, and gifted him a genuine smile. "Thank you, Castle," she said, nuzzling his cheek.

He wasn't done though. "Don't know how smart she is either. To quote the smartest witch of her generation, "Books! And cleverness! There are more important things – friendship and bravery."

She couldn't help the bark of laughter that bubbled out of her then. "Really? You're quoting Hermione Granger?"

"See?" he said as if in validation. "It is so utterly hot that you know that."

"You're a weirdo," she said affectionately.

"I'm your weirdo."

"That you are."

"And to address the last issue –"

"It's not an issue, Castle. At least, not anymore. Thank you," she said, turning to plant a sweet, chaste kiss to his mouth.

"No, no. Hear me out. I'm being smooth. Who knows how long that'll last?"

"Fair point."

"So, the last issue. Her kind heart? Be that as it may, that definitely is a non-issue. I mean, good for her and society, and all that. God knows we need kinder people around these days. But I wouldn't fall for it."

"No?"

"No," he said assertively. "See my heart, is busy dancing to the beat of yours. Our song, Beckett. The only one that makes sense anymore."

At this she turned around and kissed him hard. She wasn't an insecure person in general, but she had her days. Today was one of them. It was going to go down in her top twenty worst days of her life list – because let's face it – Kate's extraordinary life had extraordinarily bad days. But now? It wasn't even close. And that was all thanks to her husband.

Her husband.

She still wasn't used to it. She wondered if she ever would be. But it was right. They were right together, and she'd stopped doubting that a long time ago. What little remnants of dark concern would creep through the crevices of surety were promptly assuaged by their perfect fit, and now through her deep seated belief in the sanctity of their marriage.

He was hers. It was good to get a reminder of that now and then, especially when it came from him.

"You're the only Stupid Perfect I need, Beckett," he said with a large grin.

Kate rolled her eyes, her smile giving away her amusement. "Right back at you, Castle."

Prompt: "They encounter a very attractive woman during one of their cases Castle notices but doesn't necessarily ogle, later at home Kate is feeling insecure and he reassures her that her body, her heart is the only one he wants" Filled as a gift to Kate ( MyRandomness03) for a generous contribution to YoungStoryTellers dot com slash ThankYouTerri. See all the prompts and fills at ThankYouTerri dot tumblr dot com.

Hope I didn't let you down. Here's a huge 'thank you' to everyone who has donated. You guys have made a difference. THANK YOU!

And Thank You to everyone who took the time to read this. :) P.S. This wasn't beta'd due to time constraints, sorry about that! Hope I haven't made any fatal errors ;)