She opens her eyes, blinking away the sleep. The overwhelming smell of coffee wafts around the room, making the underlying headache she has even worse. Why does she have a headache. That's right, she went drinking with lanie last night. She has a hangover...wait, is she's at Castle's apartment? How'd she get there? She lets her eyes close, which makes the headache better, and thinks back to the night before.
Immediately following the sound of a knock on his front door, Castle checks the clock, confirming his thoughts. It's late. Way to late for somebody to be standing at the other side of his door. But when he opens it and sees who it is, his confusion and slight annoyance fades away. "Kate." He answers, a bit surprise to see her at this time of night.
"Hi Castle..." Her eyes are spheres of black and passion is seeping out of every word she says. Castle lets out a sigh when he smells a hint of alcohol on her breath. She's drunk.
"Castle," She slurs the nickname she's given him. "Take me to your bedroom and have your way with me." She steps closer to him, but when doing so she trips on her foot, sending her tumbling to the hardwood floor.
"Kate!" He drops to her side, assessing her to make sure she's alright. After checking to see if she has any injuries, he pulls her into his arms, standing and picking up her small frame. She doesn't fight him, only lays her head against his shoulder & smiles as he walks her into his bedroom. Once in his room he walks toward the bed until his knees hit the side of the mattress. He then lays Kate on the bed and begins to undress her.
"We're just going to get right to it, huh." She giggles, happy with where this is going. She didn't expect what came next.
He walks away.
Leaves her on the bed, returning moments later with a superhero t-shirt, she can't remember what kind, everything from the night before is a bit fuzzy, and a pair of his sweatpants.
"Castle..." She looks up with begging eyes. He smiles at the sight of her, and leans down to press a kiss to her forehead before continuing to dress her in his clothing. When finished he takes ahold of the covers and pulls them over her body.
"Goodnight Kate." Before she can protest he's turning out the light and shutting the door. Letting out a sigh, she closes her eyes. The next thing she knows, she's waking up in Castle's bed.
Castle enters his bedroom, where Kate is still laying in the king sized bed, he's holding a bottle of Aspirin and a mug of coffee.
"Just what I need right now." She says when she spots them. She reaches for the bottle, then takes the mug of caffeine into her hands. "Thank you...and Castle, I'm sorry about last night."
"Don't worry about it." He replies and smiles her way. "I'm glad I'm the one you came to." They sit in silence for about a minute before Castle speaks up again. "Kate, can I ask you something?"
"What is it?" She sets the mug on the side table, giving Castle her full attention.
"Last night when you were at my door, you asked me to take you to bed. To "have my way with you." Was that drunken Kate talking or regular Kate?"
She bites at the skin on her lip, gathering her thoughts before answering his question. "A little of both." She reaches for his hands, taking them into her own. "I'm not going to lie to you Rick, I love you. I've wanted to tell you for awhile. I just never got up the courage to say anything...I guess the alcohol took care of that." She says with a small laugh. Kate's shy eyes meet Castle's smiling face. His thumb is rubbing a line on the back of her hand. "I know you do. I love you too, Kate. I just wanted you to say it when you were ready." He squeezes the hand he's holding & leans in for a successful kiss on the lips. They really just said it...they both love each other and now it's out in the open. Finally.