She took the last big gulp of her strawberry milkshake, letting every corner of her tongue tasted the sweetness of her one and only favorite drink other than coffee. Her eyes closed, her fingers still lingered on the glass until the taste was really gone, as if it contributed to the sensation.
It was one of so many nights they had in this place. It wasn't a new thing to them - having their evening together in Remy's at least twice a week – either just to eat, him asking advice about Alexis or him asking her to rest after two days of no proper sleep. But that moment, he needed to write, she needed entertainment, it was raining outside, and they obviously needed to eat.
One thing they both loved about Remy's was the interior. The fast-food restaurant wasn't too big, but enough space for them breathes, to relax. The lighting wasn't too bright or too dark, it was friendly enough for their eyes, and this was pretty important since they often did their tasks here.
The classic old building might've tricked anyone who walked pass it. Even Esposito thought the place was a café, which was so wrong because Remy's was definitely not a café. It had everything, in fact. All kind of foods, all kind of drinks, comfortable chairs, good music, and of course, Wi-Fi.
When she opened her eyes, she caught his pair of blue eyes was watching her, smirking.
"What?"
"You always take your last gulp of coffee that way." He looked at her as if she was the most adorable person in his world. She didn't respond, but he believed he just saw her face reddened. Didn't want to put her into another misery, he tried to change topic by stating a matter of fact.
"It's gonna be raining soon, Kate."
"So?" She raised her eyebrow in confusion.
"Have you ever danced in the rain?" He popped a sweet potato ball to his mouth, moved the plate towards her, offering her some.
She shook his head almost immediately. "Like in those romantic movies, Castle? Really?"
"Yeah, it's so overrated. Most of them were done poorly," He laughed in agreement. By the time he said it, one or two drops of rain flew down on the other side of the window, making their way toward the earth. "But why not, though? You do know that our car is parked across the street, right? Why not have fun?"
"Let's just wait until it stopped."
"We've finished our food."
"Yeah, but I'm sure as hell you haven't finished your chapter. And what about your laptop? " She argued.
"About that…I may or may not have bought a very heavy, water and fire-resistant, password-guarded laptop bag."
She rolled her eyes, and then shifted her look to the big, white-framed window right beside of her, watching as the rain got heavier and heavier in every second. "I used to watch the rain with my father when I was a kid, Castle." She told him, eyes not leaving the window.
"I still can't understand how something as beautiful as rain has to come with thunder, though. Rainbow is so beautiful, but it's rare." She looked back to…his jacket. Wait, where's Castle?
Just then she heard Castle, all wet and smiley, tapping the window from outside.
"Castle?!"
He didn't seem to have heard her, though. The window was too thick. But she could understand him pointing to his jacket in front of her.
It was all it took to get her outside, still hasn't decided whether to join Castle or not. But it was no longer an option when suddenly, without her permission, he gently pulled her to the empty street, and bowed his body, just like what men usually did when they asked their women to dance. She protested at the beginning, but slowly she gave in and held his hand back. She thought they were having a proper dance when he pulled her into his arms, holding her tight, and then released it slowly.
"Kate, you did your mascara well."
She rolled her eyes for God-knew-how-many-times that day, which made him laugh.
"Oh, Miss Beckett. Be ready." He didn't give her a chance to say anything and spin her body around.
"Castle!" She squealed at the movement, tilting her head back and laughing freely. It was so open, so heartily, and despite how cold the rain was making her, her cheeks flushed red at the thought of what she was really doing in that moment. So contagious, so contagious that he failed to suppress his laugh and ended up joining her. He placed a kiss on the crown of her head, letting it linger for a moment.
"No music?" She lifted her head to see his.
"No. Do you have any?"
She shook her head, still smiling. He smiled back at her, putting his arms on her waist as she circled her arms around his shoulder.
"Traditional?"
"Of course."
They slow danced to the sound of rain, their feet in sync automatically. She swore she would never forget how she felt in that very moment – because out of thousands feelings in the dictionary, she felt like nothing else mattered. Not the customers who probably watched them inside thinking they were crazy, not work, not about the future nor the past.
Their faces were just a few inches apart, facing each other directly. He never took his eyes off hers, feeling the warmth of her presence, but then he closed his eyes, tightening his hands on her waist. She watched as he took a deep breath and smiled.
"Close your eyes." He whispered.
"What?"
"So you can really savor it," he explained. "Just like taking the last gulp of your coffee."
"This is not our last dance, Castle."
"I never said it was. I just said that I just made you dance in the rain, and that's an accomplishment you and I need to remember forever." He opened his eyes again.
"I lied," she breathed. "I've always wanted to dance in the rain. So don't ever think that you, Richard Edgar Alexander Rodgers Castle, have successfully made me do something I don't want to."
The light in his eyes faded in front of her eyes. She knew it the second his smile dropped.
"You read it, didn't you?" She squeezed his hand tighter.
"I'm sorry." He lowered her gaze to the ground.
"When?"
"The Leopold case. When I showed you my bucket list and you showed yours. I may or may not have taken a picture of it. Are you…are you mad?" He couldn't meet her eyes. Her beautiful green eyes that always looked through him like no one ever did, her beautiful green eyes that turned darker in each day, and he couldn't stop it, he couldn't stop it -
"Oh, right…I remember that night. Ice cubes," she laughed. "I'm not mad, Castle. I knew the second you brought two cats to the loft, followed by a room full of flowers, forcing my dad to join our karaoke…I know. I wrote my bucket list the exact way."
"I still have three months, Castle…well, hopefully. But they said three months, so don't rush it." She gave him a wink to lighten up the conversation – which failed because the next thing she knew, he had track of tears on his cheeks, and she couldn't hold hers either.
But they were both in each other arms, smiling, dancing through the night. Maybe, maybe they would run to their car to go home, all soaked and happy, or maybe they would go change and walk back to the Remy's, eating some more until they were told to go home. Maybe they would go back home with argument, or maybe they'd say they loved each other the whole ride. Maybe he'd still wake her up with kisses for another three months; maybe he'd stop sooner, maybe he'd never stop.
As they continued to dance, one thing they knew for sure – they had everything. Each other – and the rest of their lives to happened. And it was enough.
Let's leave it like it is
And stop staring at these walls
Let's not go headlong to that distance
Where you can't come back at all
(Let's Go Dancing by Teitur)