A/N: This was started over the summer and just started talking to me again. This is going to have three chapters, all of which are planned out, all of which will be pure Caskett fluff. You've been warned.

Disclaimer: Someday, perhaps. But not now.

New York City had just changed colors, green having shifted slowly to burnished reds, oranges, and browns. People were braving the chilly breeze to play with a Frisbee on the wilting grass in Central Park, a father and son tossing a baseball back and forth. A trio of joggers passed her on the sidewalk, the wires of the headphones bouncing with the motion of their feet.

Kate had finally pulled the trench coat from the back of the closet, the weather calling for the extra layer. She had snuck out of the apartment, wrapping the blue scarf around her neck as she took the elevator down. Castle was writing, trying to finish Heat Stroke before next week, so he hadn't noticed her leaving. And honestly, Kate wanted the time alone.

She had been living with a headache for the past few months. People concerned with color schemes, types of linen for the napkins, designs on the silverware, the flowers for arrangements. For the first time since she was a child, Kate wanted to elope. Getting married in jeans and a t-shirt without make-up on suddenly seemed like a much better option than dealing with all these decisions.

The wind had whipped a pale pink into her cheeks, her hair tangled after the two circles around Central Park. Kate hailed a cab from the sidewalk, gave her address, and sat back. The cabbie was humming along to the Celine Dion song on the radio, making the ride downtown a little more amusing.

When she dug in her pocket for her keys, the apartment door was already open. Her hand still in her pocket, Kate found herself squeezed against Castle's chest. "What's wrong?"

"Thank God I found you," he muttered into her hair.

Confused and a little worried, Kate let him embrace her. When he finally released her, she raised a brow at him. "What was that for?"

He closed the apartment door, taking the scarf Kate handed him a second later, followed by her jacket. "What was that for? You disappeared for almost two and a half hours, Kate!" Even though his voice sounded stressed, his hands were steady as he hung the clothing up in the closet. "No note, no text, no call to let me know where you were going. I was just about to call Ryan and Esposito to take out a missing persons report. What were you thinking?"

"Castle, I just went for a walk. I needed to clear my head." Kate threw herself onto the couch, her face buried in one of the throw pillows. "Can't we just run away and get married like all the normal people?"

He sat next to her hip, his hand a gentle weight on the small of her back. "You want to run away and get married? We'll go pack bags now."

She really had nothing to complain about. She didn't have a future in-law that she couldn't stand. She had bridesmaids that were her best friends and would wear whatever dresses she picked for them. She had convinced Castle to keep the affair small.

And she had the man she loved, which was really the only important thing.

"Don't want to run away." The sentence was lost in the throw pillow. "Besides, I'm pretty sure Lanie would kill me if she didn't get her chance to win some sort of bet in the precinct."

Castle tugged a lock of her hair playfully. "I'm pretty sure that bet is city-wide at this point."

With a heavy sigh, she rolled onto her side, the throw pillow hugged to her chest. The emotion in his eyes still staggered her when she looked into them. "We're getting married tomorrow."

"We're getting married tomorrow," he repeated back with a nod, leaning forward and kissing her gently.

"I love you, you know," she said, tugging him onto the couch with her, tangling her feet with his. "I'm sorry for worrying you."

"Just don't make a habit of disappearing, okay?" he asked, shifting her so she was lying with her head on his shoulder. "My heart can only take so much."

"Deal." She reached up, twisting strands of his hair around her fingers.

"So, what do you want to do for your last night as a single woman?"

Kate pressed a kiss to his neck. "I haven't been a single woman for a long time, Castle. Even when we weren't officially together, we were."

He rolled over so they were both on their side, the couch so narrow they were nearly nose-to-nose. "Details. But really."

"Let's go out to eat. You pick the place; you know all the good ones in town."

"I've got just the place." He pulled her on top of him again, running his hands through her hair before kissing her cheek. "You need to go get changed, then. I know how long it takes you to get ready to go out."

Kate gave him a light slap on his cheek, pushing off his chest to head toward the bedroom. "Careful, Writer Boy. Still a chance for me to back out."

"Wait, Kate! I didn't mean it!" he exclaimed, running after her. "Take as much time as you need because it doesn't matter how long you-"

He ran into her as he rounded the corner into the bedroom. She curled her hands into his shirt, tugging him down for a kiss. "Shush. It was a joke." With a smile, she turned to the closet to find a dress. As she pushed the garment bag holding her wedding dress along the rail, she felt Castle at her shoulder. "You're not getting a peek until tomorrow. It's bad luck."

"You sure you aren't an actress? You're awfully superstitious for a cop," he said.

She leaned against the closet door, crossing her arms and fixing him with a glare. "Want me to use my cuffs on you to prove it?"

"You, Detective Beckett," he whispered into her ear, his breath making her shiver, "are a tease of epic proportions."

"Go get dressed, Castle. Everyone knows you take longer than I do."

"Is that a challenge?"

Kate returned his gesture, using the closet door as support to push herself up to whisper into his ear. "Sure."

Five minutes later, Kate had managed to change from her jeans and long-sleeved v-neck into a black dress, untangle and pin her hair back from her face, and re-apply her make-up. She sat on the edge of the bed, watching Castle debate between two ties by draping both over either shoulder. He was only wearing a dress shirt, the top buttons undone, and a pair of deep green boxers – nowhere near being ready to go.

"Go without a tie, Castle. Obviously you are incapable of accessorizing in a timely fashion," Kate threw out, getting up to take both ties from his shoulders and hanging them up in the closet. "Just get some pants on and let's get out of here."

Once he had completed the ensemble with pants and a jacket and Kate had found a pair of heels, they left a note for Alexis, who was still on campus for classes, and headed down to the lobby.

Eduardo just smiled as they passed by. "Big day tomorrow, children. Don't stay out too late."

"Yes, sir!" Castle replied with a little salute.

The restaurant was cozy, lit by tea candles on the tables that sent romantic flickering onto the walls. They had been settled into a corner booth, their knees brushing whenever one of them moved.

It was like they were back to being a new couple. They giggled over the bread basket, feeding pieces of rolls to each other. Kate smeared her butter-coated piece over Castle's nose, kissing off the butter before feeding him the nibble.

By the time their dinners came, half the bottle of wine was gone. Kate had slipped her heels off under the table, playfully running her toes up and down Castle's shin and watching his face as he tried to eat the spaghetti and meatballs without gasping. She calmly cut her chicken parmesan into bite-sizes, smiling the entire time.

"You need to stop that," he finally said, waving the quarter of a meatball on his fork at her.

Kate leaned onto the table, biting the meatball off his fork, chewing thoughtfully. "Stop what?"

"Being all seductress-y in public."

"I don't know what you are speaking about, Castle," she replied, tapping her toes against his ankle before letting her feet rest on her shoes. "And, last I checked, 'seductress-y' isn't actually a word." Kate poured out more wine into their glasses, taking a sip of hers with a grin.

Castle ran his hand over his face, shaking his head. "Thank goodness you're vowing to obey me tomorrow."

"We'll see if I remember that little line during vows."

"You're a minx."

Popping another piece of chicken into her mouth, Kate shrugged. "But I'm your minx."

"Of course you are, Kate."

Dessert was passed on with Castle's comment of "I'm planning on having dessert at home in bed" while tossing a wink in Kate's direction. The maitre d' called a cab for them, just shaking her head as they cuddled on the couch in the waiting area, Kate snuggled onto Castle's lap as they waited for the taxi to roll up to the front door.

Somehow, they managed to get back to the loft. Kate vaguely remembered giving Eduardo a peck on his cheek as he called the elevator for them in the lobby. He wished them a good night as the doors closed. Kate danced away from Castle when he made a grab for her before the door to the loft was closed.

"I want to take a tub and go to bed. No funny business. Big day tomorrow!"

She filled up the tub with water close to scalding – he never understood her fascination with burning off a layer of skin and exactly how that was relaxing – but he did appreciate the fact that she was doing the whole thing in just her underwear, the dress tossed over the door. She added a handful of bubble-bath crystals, the iridescent spheres blossoming on the surface of the water.

"You're stunning, did you know that?" he muttered, watching her brush out her hair.

"I've heard it said, yes." She held his eyes as she unhooked her bra, dropping it onto the floor near the vanity, adding her panties to the pile. "You going to join me or are you going to write?"

"Is that even a question?" he asked, suddenly a flurry of activity as he stripped off the jacket and started on the buttons of his dress shirt.

Kate stepped into the tub, tossing a handful of bubbles at him. "I could understand you wanting to spend the night with Nikki."

Once he had slipped into the tub across from her, he slapped his hand on the surface of the water, sending a spray across her face. "Why spend time with fiction when I have reality right in front of me?"

She quickly picked up her leg, flicking water at him from her toes. "You certainly have a way with words, Castle."

"Must be what drew you to me," he said. "That and my charming personality."

A loofa hit his face in the next second. He ducked it under the water, trying to get the bubbles off it so he could get rid of the ones on his face.

"You are a cruel, cruel woman, Katherine Beckett," he mumbled, wiping the shining bubbles off his face so he could glare at her. She was barely holding in laughter. "Remind me again why I'm marrying you tomorrow?"

It took her a minute to regain the ability to look at him without giggling. "Because you love me and I love you, no matter how long it took for us to get on the same page about that."

He pushed off the side of the tub, moving so he was floating over her, his head above hers. "Oh, that's right. Which is why you won't mind when I do this, huh?" A moment after he kissed her, he used one hand to dunk her head under the water.

She came up sputtering, her hair hanging in her eyes. "Richard Castle! You are going to pay!"

The sounds of splashing water and laughter filled the apartment until they had tired themselves out. Wrapped in towels, they curled into each other's arms in the bed, her hair dampening the pillowcase and his arm that she was resting on. Their voices were gone, lost from the hours of screeches and childlike giggles, and he prayed one of them regained the ability to speak before tomorrow.

She was the first to open her mouth. "I don't know what I'd do without you in my life, Castle." It was quiet, still a little hoarse, but he could still hear the emotion in the statement.

He pulled her head to his lips, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Same goes for you, Kate."

"We're getting married in a few hours."

"You're repeating yourself."

Kate sighed, placing her head on his shoulder and hooking her leg of his thighs. "It bears repeating."

When he opened his mouth to respond, he found she was already asleep, her breathing steady. So he spoke into her still-wet hair. "It certainly does."

A/N: As I said, two more chapters to come. While I have them all mapped out, school starts again on Tuesday and who knows when I'll get a chance to really work on them (or any of my stories). But they'll be coming when they are completed, I promise.

Until then, review away! I'm spending tomorrow with the family, an ordeal I don't normally enjoy, so reading reviews would give me a reason to smile and fool them. Give me a hand, okay?