Since 2009 the writers of Castle have brought us entertainment, joy and fun, but also an incredible love story that has cast a spell on so many of us. In many of its viewers, the show has brought out the writer and the reader, reminding each of us how transformative good storytelling can be.

I am grateful for this immense gift the show has been to me, thankful for the hard work and love Terri Edda Miller and the whole Castle team have put into telling this story, and to say thank you, I've become part of and support 'Thank You Terri', a fundraising initiative to honor these writers by passing on the gift of storytelling to the next generation of young writers.

Please help the #ThankYouTerri campaign by donating for Young Storytellers, a foundation dedicated to giving children a voice through writing and performance. This is Terri Miller's favorite charity, and it is our goal to show our appreciation and say Thank you for 'The Times of Our Lives' and Caskett At Last!

Visit thankyouterri on tumblr for more information or go to www . YoungStoryTellers . com (slash) thankyouterri (slash)

THANK YOU!

.

Alight

.

She twirled the stem of her wine glass between her fingertips, her eyes tracking the path of the deep-red liquid as it coated the smooth surface, then receded like the tide on a calm, lazy day. She crossed her toned, endlessly long legs, tugged down the edge of her tight skirt that had ridden up her thighs at the movement, checked her watch. Sadness, annoyance, resentment flashed across her face in quick succession, well hidden to anyone who wasn't watching closely, who was not as attuned, not used to observe quite as closely.

But he was.

"Are you okay?"

She startled; her eyes flew up to his, wide with surprise and a hint of instant annoyance and oh, wow. Did she know she had gorgeous eyes?

"Yeah… uhm," she nodded, fidgeted with the stem of her wine glass again. "I'm okay." She swiped a unruly, thick curl of hair behind her ear that immediately fell back against her cheek, caressing the pale column of her neck rather enticingly. "Thanks."

"Stood up?"

"Excuse me?" Her eyes sparkled, that glare of anger alive and bright at his presumptuousness and his heart stumbled at the fire, the vibrancy that seemed to run just beneath the surface.

"No, I mean… I'm sorry," Castle hastily clarified, gestured at the empty seat across from him at the small table that stood just perpendicular to hers. "I got stood up." It'd been close to an hour and it was safe to say that his date wasn't going to show. He had to admit that he found himself less bothered than he would've expected, but he hadn't been all that thrilled about being set up for the blind date in the first place when lately everyone he met had been the same - bland, lacking in spark and intrigue.

Nothing like the woman seated across from him.

"I'm sorry." Her anger seemed to deflate just as quickly as she watched him with sympathetic eyes. "Me too. I guess."

"Wow. Who'd stand up someone so beautiful?"

She laughed softly, her hand flying up to her face, long graceful fingers brushing against her smile as she flushed an adorable shade of pink. "Thank you." Her lashes lowered, then opened again to meet his gaze once more. "It was a blind date."

Somewhere out there was a really, really stupid man who had no idea what he was missing, Castle thought as he watched her, captivated by the innate grace of her movements, the shy, subtle beauty of her smile, the mysterious eyes and those sharp, high cheekbones. She truly was gorgeous, and fascinating, and he realized he had to stop staring if he didn't want to scare her away before he ever had a chance to really meet her.

"I'm Rick, by the way,"

She smiled, the shyness gradually receding as her smile spread her lips, transformed her entire face with its delight that made his stomach coil with sharp, unexpected need. He thought he could probably spend the rest of his life trying to keep her smiling like that.

"Kate." She looked at him, seemed to mull over a thought for a long moment before she gestured at the free seat at her table, her teeth skating across her bottom lip. "Care to join me?"

Kate finished the last sip of her wine, then swiped her finger across the corner of her mouth to collect a droplet of the delectable fluid and sipped it off the pad of her finger. Awareness sparked through her, bright and white-hot at the way he was watching her hands, her mouth, her every move. She felt like warm, viscous liquid, malleable and relaxed, her smiles coming easily, her laughter lively. She felt free.

She'd known who he was the moment her eyes had met his across the space of two tables, his smile familiar from the back of book jackets and store cardboard cutouts, and yet so much more lively and rugged in real life. Genuine. She'd even planned on going to one of his signings, some day when he'd be on his next book tour. Never would she have expected to run into him on what had been destined to become a fairly disastrous night, another date that'd leave her frustrated and lonely.

Instead she'd found herself in the midst of a pleasant 'non-date', enraptured by good conversation and breathless by the heated spark of his smile, with a man who didn't know her, yet looked at her as if she held the stars and constellations in her eyes.

He was nothing like his reputation. He was funny, interesting and intelligent, and he listened to her, attentive to her thoughts and ideas. Riveted. By her. She didn't think she'd ever met anybody who seemed to find her so mesmerizing, and it was a turn-on like nothing else.

She found herself staring at the width of his shoulders and the broadness of his chest, her mouth going dry as she envisioned loosening his tie, as she wondered what his skin felt like, and the strength of his embrace, before she censored her thoughts, her eyes sliding back up to his, taking in the ardent, midnight-blue of his irises, the slight laugh lines at the corners of his eyes, the encompassing warmth of his smile.

Their meal long finished, she became increasingly aware how their impromptu 'date' was coming to a rapid end, and the thought of the empty, silent apartment that awaited her was filling her with dread. Her life was comprised of work and quiet nights, and she was so tired of quiet.

She wanted loud.

"So, Rick…" She ran a fingertip along the rim of her empty wine glass, looking up at him from under her eyelashes. She was ready. For whatever else the evening, and this man, might bring. "Would you like to get out of here?"

He smiled, his eyes sparking with delight and a hint of salaciousness that made her stomach contract, her blood pound in her veins, her fingertips, her lips.

"I'd like that."

a/n: Written for the following prompt submitted to 'castlefanficprompts': AU – Castle and Beckett were both set up on blind dates at the same restaurant, but their dates don't show and they start talking and hit it off.