A/N - Another story that has been rattling around in my computer for quite a while and I'm still trying to find time get back into writing. Life is still getting in the way, and I'm still very rusty at it. As with other stories, these were started around the time I watched various episodes, so they don't mesh with the things that happened later in the show.

This is a what could have happened somewhere just after Linchpin (4.16) and has spoilers for that episode.


Just a Glass or Two of Wine (Chapter 1)

Kate Beckett shifted in her sleep. She was warm and comfortable and so very tired, but a strand of hair had fallen across her face, and she reached to brush it back. No, she tried to reach but something kept her from moving her hand. Something that felt like…

Oh no! Her eyes flew open.

What? How?!

She closed her eyes tightly.

Opened them again, and nothing had changed.

She fought the fog of sleep to try to think how she'd gotten herself in this… this predicament. In the dim light, she could see the familiar shape of her living room window, one end of her coffee table with an empty wine glass near the edge, and that she was leaning up against Castle sleeping with her head on his shoulder! He was leaning back into the corner of her couch with his legs going diagonally across to her coffee table. And she was more-or-less curled up in the "V" formed by his body and the back of the couch. All her mind could do was keep offering up the fact that somehow she was there with her head on his shoulder.

She gasped, then involuntarily tried to cover her mouth out of fear of waking him. But her hand was still stuck. Still she struggled for complete wakefulness, some part of her sleepily trying to convince herself that she was still dreaming. Her eyes darted right and left trying to understand why she couldn't move her hand, and she realized that her hand was on Castle's stomach and his hand was across her wrist and hand. Her eyes widened with the now fully awake realization that this was no dream.

Oh, God! If he wakes up and finds me like this, I'll never hear the end of it! She just knew the sort of oblique remarks he would make at work, with the pretense of innocence, just daring her to react or blush so that Ryan or Esposito would ask questions. And when they were alone, he was bound to make comments about sleeping together. And he'd be wearing that oh-so-maddening smug look on his face that he got when he was trying to get a rise out of her, or trying to be overly suggestive about the two of them...

A surge of panicked adrenaline coursed through her and she tried to sit up and became aware of his left arm wrapped securely around her with his hand near her elbow. She wasn't just next to him; she was sleeping in the crook of his arm!

How did I let this happen? I have to move before he wakes up! She cautiously slid her left hand out from under his, freeing up her forearm, but as she did, she felt his other arm tighten around her a bit. Oh no! Is he awake?!

Kate stayed still for a minute, trying desperately to calm her breathing and hoping that he couldn't hear the pounding of her heart that seemed so loud to her. There had been no other indication that he might be awake, so she finally cautiously raised her head just a bit and took stock of the situation.

Recognizing that there really was no way she could get any distance between them without waking him, she finally dared to look up at his face to make sure he really was still asleep anyway. Thankfully, his eyes were still closed and his face was relaxed. Kate breathed a sigh of relief.

But what do I do now? Move and wake him up? What do I say?! What if he thinks this was more than an accident? The last thought nearly made her roll her eyes. How could she even think he'd believe that? She knew she'd been holding him at arm's length, especially since the day she was shot. But he'd still accuse her of doing it on purpose, partly because that was his way of flirting with her and letting her know that he was still waiting for her to be ready. And partly because he took perverse enjoyment in making her uncomfortable.

How did they end up this way, anyway? They'd both been exhausted from lack of sleep and had apparently fallen asleep while watching the DVD that Castle had selected off her shelf. It wouldn't have helped any that once the DVD finished her TV would have shut off with no input, leaving them in a dim room with only light from over her kitchen sink filtering through the apartment.

What do I do? I should just move and get it over with. But he didn't sleep at all the last two nights and not much the one before that. As much as she wanted to get this over with, she also hated to wake him. He did need the sleep badly.

She glanced up at his face once again, biting her lip unconsciously as she tried to decide what to do. She spent a moment trying to decide, and felt suddenly self-conscious, realizing that she was sitting there gazing at him as he slept. Her heart skipped a beat... She really did care about him so much and couldn't imagine her life anymore without him in it, and yet he'd almost died two days ago. Isn't this what she'd been working towards all this time in therapy? Getting past the fear of being hurt by getting close to someone again and being able to be open to a real relationship? And though she'd tried to deny it even to herself for a while, specifically a relationship with Castle? Just being able to be in his arms? Well, ok, this wasn't quite the same as all that… she wasn't quite there yet. And Castle wasn't even awake, so it hardly counted as a step forward.

But I am in his arms. And it feels nice. It's going to be awkward when he wakes up, anyway. She brushed away good sense with an attempt at logic. What would it hurt if she just let him sleep and enjoyed this feeling? He was still asleep and wouldn't know she'd been awake now, she reasoned. She pushed the nagging feeling that this was a bad idea and she shouldn't be making senseless decisions when she was half-awake to the back of her mind.

Kate smiled a small, secret smile and gently laid her head back down on his shoulder and slowly, carefully put her arm back down, this time reaching across him to wrap her arm across his waist in a gentle embrace.

Above her head, Castle's eyes remained closed, but the corners of his mouth curved ever-so-slightly upward.