The warm glow of Castle's desk lamp was the only source of light in the otherwise darkened loft, it's light seeping through the open shelving of his office and casting objects into shadows. The atmosphere was almost cathartic for him, the faint tapping as his fingers danced across the keys lulling him into a complacent state as the words seemed to flow out from his finger tips.
It was times like this that he found himself the most productive, when 'the city that never sleeps' was as quiet as it could ever get. And writing, well, it was a way for him to unwind from the days events. Tying words and sentences to the events that had occurred that day and intertwining them into the story at hand.
It wasn't until somebody called that Castle was drawn out from his reverie, his stream of thought interrupted by the harsh sound of his phone buzzing against the wooden surface of his desk as the James Bond theme song cut through the silence of the loft. And just like when one was woken midway through a particularly good dream, it took a moment for Castle to respond.
His hand eventually darting across the table semi-instinctively, he paused once again as he took in the name flashing across the front of his screen. Kate never called him unless there was a body drop, and he knew for a fact that this was her weekend off. Intuition told him to answer the call nevertheless, that Kate wouldn't call unless it was important. Placing the call on speaker, he left the phone on his desk as he leaned back against his chair.
"Do you need anything, Kate?" The question coming out brusquer than he had originally intended, his hushed voice doing little to help convey the concern he truly meant.
"No. I-" she started, the interlude only serving to further highlight her hesitation. "I just wish I had someone to hold me and tell me everything is going to be okay."
Her answer certainly was not what Castle was expecting, and the rough exhale of air was proof of that. His writing long forgotten, he was nevertheless unable to formulate anything resembling a 'proper' response to what she had said. "I've got to go," he eventually offered, interrupted the uncomfortable silence that had stretched on for way too long while mentally berating himself for his callous reply. "Bye."
"Okay Castle." She offered, her voice sounding tiny even by the standards of a poor phone connection before the inevitable click letting him know that the call had ended.
Leaning back forward, he dropped his head into his hands as he slowly let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. All the while, his mind was whirring away, attempting to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Why had she called? She obviously didn't feel the same way, she had never acknowledged his whispered 'I Love You' from the day she had been shot. And yet, here she was calling him saying things that had his mind spinning as he tried to process them.
"Richard," Came an unexpected voice from the doorway of his office, resulting in him knocking over his pencil holder with an elbow as she started. "What are you still doing here?"
"Mother, why are you still up?" Was his first response, the words falling out far easier than they had during his phone call with Beckett. "Did my call wake you? Is Alexis still sleeping?"
"Oh tosh, Alexis is fine." Martha replied, waving off Castle's concerns with one hand while drawing her robe tighter around herself with the other. "But really, what are you still doing here?"
"I - I don't understand."
"Really darling, have I taught you nothing?" She asked, tsking as she shook her head. "Katherine, that was her offering a true." she started, a frown creasing her forehead as she took in the blank expression on her son's face. "Acknowledging how she feels? Dear me Richard, how do you still not see?"
"See what, mother?" His impatience getting the best of him as his mother tried to hint and tease around the issue.
"Richard, she's trying to say she loves you too."
The knowledge hit him like a bucket of cold water, spreading in cold little rivulets down his body until his toes and fingers were tingling. She loved him. Katherine Houghten Beckett loved him. "I have to go." was his abrupt reply as he stood up, closing the lid of his laptop as he tucked his phone and keys into his pocket.
"You go get her, tiger."
Choosing to forgo his car even with the late hour, he chose instead to hail down the first cab he saw. Speeding through the nearly empty streets of Manhattan, it still wasn't fast enough for Castle and it took a great deal of restraint and effort to stop himself from yelling at the cabbie. "Here, keep the change." he offered as they pulled up in front of Kate's building, tossing a hundred dollar bill at the cabbie before darting out of the vehicle and up the steps into Beckett's building.
Pressing buttons at random, Castle quickly found himself buzzed up by a random apartment, tugging open the door as he crossed the lobby to where the elevators were, jabbing at the buttons impatiently in an effort to summon the elevator faster.
The ride up was a tense one, seeming like it took hours when in reality it could only have been a minute at most. Perhaps this wasn't a good idea, maybe he shouldn't have come empty handed. What if his mother had been wrong, that it had just been a call of desperation and she had already called somebody else to come over?
Hesitating in front of her apartment, he listened for any signs of life behind the door. Silence. Gathering his courage, he brought his knuckles up to rap lightly against the door. Perhaps she had already gone to bed, wouldn't hear his knock. But the door was swinging open, revealing a rather disheveled looking Beckett with a wine glass in tow.
"Castle? What are you doing-"
Stepping forward, he immediately wrapped his arms around her. "I'm here, I'll always be here." was his response, feeling her first tense up against him before slowly relaxing against his arms. Staying that way for a few moments, he finally felt her shift and he let her go, backing away slightly to give her space.
"Thanks Castle," she murmured, refusing to meet his eyes as she glanced at anything but his face.
Feeling his heart sink, he was about to excuse himself, make any sort of excuse possible to escape from this when his plans were shattered by her next words.
"You- I don't suppose you'd like to come in?" she offered, still refusing to meet his gaze with hers as she opened the door further and gestured to the wine bottle sitting on the kitchen counter. "For a glass of wine, nothing more." she added, a flush creeping across her cheeks as she realized how her question had sounded. "I mean, unless you have somewhere you need to be in the morn-"
"I'd love to."
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Tumblr Prompt: "Do you need anything Kate" "No I just wish I had someone to hold me and tell me everything is going to be okay" "I got to go,bye" "Okay castle" Castle hangs up the phone and then goes over to Kate's place to hug her and tell her everything is okay.(Pre)