When Katherine Houghton Beckett wanted to drink, she went straight for the hard stuff. There was none of the frilly fruity drinks that people always assumed she'd enjoy, no. Her choice of poison was the hard stuff: Tequila, Gin, Rum, even Shōchū if she was feeling a bit adventurous.
And there was Vodka, the old favourite for when she truly didn't want to think or remember.
She had bought a bottle down at the oh so familiar convenience store. From there, it had been a quick half block walk to her old apartment building, the one where she had spent the last five years of her life. A quick turn of the key and she was inside, her fingers reaching up instinctively to flick on the lights.
As the lights flooded the room, Kate found herself pausing as she took in the strangely familiar yet unfamiliar space. The structure was of course the same, the kitchen in the same place as always and the doors to the bedroom and bathroom just on the other wall. But it was the lack of furniture, of pictures and decorations that made it seem entirely alien to her.
It was just another thing to forget, and Kate found herself kicking the door shut before instinctively crossing over to the kitchen cabinet. And yet, she found herself pausing halfway there, remembering how she had insisted on bringing over all of her mugs and glasses to Castle's.
Turning to settle herself on the couch instead, she was met with empty space where her entire living room set use to be. Letting out a groan peppered with a handful of exceedingly creative cuss words, she chose to settle herself against the base of the counters instead.
A rustle of paper and quick twist of the cap later, Kate was able to bring the bottle to her lips to take a sip. And the sips quickly turned to gulps, which was how Castle found her an hour later.
The soft click of the lock was the only warning of somebody about to join her. Even with nearly a quarter of the bottle gone, Kate had the pretense to shift one hand down to where her piece was normally strapped. And yet her fingers only grasped at air as she realized a little too late that she had left her gun in her locker at work, having forseen how she would be spending her evening.
"Kate?"
At the sound of the voice, she relaxed and brought her hand back to grasp the neck of the bottle once again. "Over-" she started, her words sticking to her throat as she tried to speak. "Over here, Castle."
The sound of shoes against the hardwood floor drew closer, stopping a few feet from where Kate has situated herself. Her eyes trailing up from the shoes to her husband's ruggedly handsome face, she extended one arm up towards him as a smile spread across her face.
"Castle, sit with me." she commanded as she wrapped her fingers around his tentative ones, pulling him down beside her before offering him a drink from the bottle.
"Kate-" He started, before he was hit with the scent of alcohol on her breath. "Are… are you drunk? What's wrong? Did something happen at work?"
The mere mention of work was enough of a reminder that Kate immediately took another swig from the bottle. "My day at work was fine." she finally got out, giggling at the effort that it took her. "How-" she started before being interrupted by a sharp hiccup. "How did you find me?"
"Right, so I think you've had enough Vodka for tonight." Castle began, a firm expression on his face as he reached for the bottle clutched between Kate's hands. Ignoring her sounds of protest, he capped the bottle before placing it up on the counter top.
Settling back down beside Kate, it wasn't long until he felt the weight of her head against his shoulder, her fingers playing with the buttons on his shirts' cuffs. "I called the boys when you didn't come home for dinner, they said you had left an hour ago." he finally answered, his free hand reaching up to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I checked the Old Haunt and a few other bars before I remembered how your apartment was still empty, how Sofia had changed her mind about moving here?"
"Lookit you, all detectivey and following clues. Kind of like a PI. You know you make a great PI, right?" she giggled, her fingers tracing patterns up and down his arm. The silence between them stretched on, the movement of her fingers the only indication that she hadn't fallen asleep on him. "The case today-"
"I know, the boys told me." He interrupted, interlocking his own fingers with her as the other arm wrapped itself around her shoulders.
"I didn't expect, I thought-" she started, her voice soft and almost expressionless as she spoke. "I thought that solving my mother's murder, arresting Bracken. That that'd be the end of it. But every time there's another murder, every time I meet another kid who's lost their parent-" Her voice breaks and she swallows hard, trying to keep her emotions in check. She's not the type to cry, and she's not about to now.
"Kate. Kate, look at me." Castle cajoled, untangling his fingers from hers before reaching up to angle her chin towards his face. "It's ok to be overwhelmed, I'd actually be surprised if you weren't." he soothed, tucking the stubborn strand of hair behind her ear once again. "It hits close to home, but that's what makes you such a fantastic detective. You don't just do it because it's your job, you do it to bring the families some sort of peace."
Blinking back tears as she looks away from Castle's eyes, she settles herself back against his shoulder before taking one of his hands between hers. "Can we just stay here for a bit?" she asks, still refusing to meet his eyes as she runs her thumb along the nails on his fingers.
"We can stay here for as long as you want."
۰ ۰ ۰
Tumblr Prompt: Saw this on a post here on tumblr "*takes gulp of vodka straight from the bottle* my day was fine" haha