Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or the characters.
Author's Note: This is my first story so far. I have already finished chapter 2 but I may take a while to upload more because I'm a slow writer. I do apprectiate any positive critisism so please feel free to tell me what you think. This story is set in winter because I began writing it in the middle of June which, in the southern hemisphere where I live, it is winter which is what inspired me. If anyone's ever read Castle's book, Heat Wave, think of the weather like that but the opposite. So now, without further adieu, here is the first chapter.
The first icy winds blew through the curtains and sent a chill over her body. Kate turned over onto her side and hugged the blankets closer to her chest. She squeezed her eyes shut tighter trying to force the sleep to consume her, but alas, she was no closer to it then the weather was to turning into summer overnight. By the time she had made the decision to get up and close the window, she could no longer feel her toes when she walked across the polished floorboards. Kate slipped herself back under the covers but the closed window had made little difference. She thought for a moment; should she call Castle and persuade him to talk her to sleep? Would he even be awake at this late hour of the night? The only way to know was to ring him and find out for herself.
One ring… Two rings. He answered on the third.
"Castle" he answered rather groggily.
"Hey, it's me…" she started, regretful that she'd woken him.
His tone immediately changed. "Hey, what's the matter?" he sounded rather concerned.
"Nothing" she reassured him "I just couldn't sleep"
"It is pretty cold tonight" he agreed.
"Yeah it is, but how'd you know what I was calling about?"
"I could hear it in your voice, you're shivering. You couldn't sleep could you? Neither could I"
Kate smiled. She knew that he listened to her voice so closely, that he could tell when something was bothering her.
"I just wanted…"
"Don't worry, I'll be right over"
"No, Castle you don't…"
"Look it's alright. Maybe we'll get some rest if I come over and we talk ourselves to sleep"
Kate smiled. He was persistent. "Thanks, Castle"
"So I'll see you in 10 minutes?"
"I'll be seeing you soon" They hung up at the same time.
The knocking startled her for a moment, but then she realized it must be him. Kate opened the door to see a rather pale looking Castle standing at the door wearing his warmest pajamas, with his arms tightly folded.
"Castle, come in. You look like you're half frozen"
"I feel like I am" he chuckled.
They both moved swiftly across the floor and over to Beckett's couch where she had a large blanket and a small portable heater both on the floor.
"I'm sorry but it's a bit run-down" she said has he warmed his toes "that's why I have the blanket"
Castle smiled when she sat down beside him, and he wrapped the blanket over both of their shoulders and she thanked him.
"So, now that you're here, what do we do?" Kate brushed her hair from her face and looked at him.
Castle took a breath as if to say something then stopped. "I don't actually know. Movie? Hot chocolate?" he suggested. "What do you normally do when the temperature drops to freezing and you can't sleep?"
"I read" she said bluntly, but a smile creped onto her lips. Castle didn't have to ask to know which books she read. The look on her face said it all.
"Well, I'm flattered that my books have helped" he smiled back "But, strangely you're the only person I know who reads about murder when they're trying to sleep. Do you read children's books when you're hungry?" Classic Castle, always making jokes.
Beckett playfully slapped his arm. "Only when I feel like the big bad wolf"
"Hey that means I'd be Little Red Riding Hood!" Castle objected. "You know reds not really my colour"
"Your pajamas might say otherwise" she pointed out, holding back another smile.
"They're striped. I happen to like stripes. Only then is the colour irrelevant" he hoped he was putting up a good fight so he awkwardly stuck out his chin as a child would.
"Ok, ok. It seems I've been mislead. I'm sorry for making fun of your pajamas" she almost laughed aloud at how ridiculous that sounded.
"I should think so" he said trying to sound serious, but quickly changed to a mischievous grin. "So what are we doing to get us to sleep?"
Beckett stared at him blankly for a moment. "I didn't mean it like that" he deflected.
"Well… Umm, maybe a movie? It's the closest to reading a book" Beckett decided.
"Ok movie it is" Castle stood up and walked to her TV and opened the cupboard below it. He sat on the floor and started skimming over the movies.
He paused for a moment, then pulled out a DVD and without turning around, displayed the case above his shoulder so that Kate could see from behind him.
"Titanic? Seriously? I cry every time I watch it"
"But it's a classic" Castle turned around "It's both historical and romantic"
"I don't want to fall asleep crying, Castle. And it's too depressing for the moment"
"Ok" he said simply, then turned back to return the DVD and continued his search.
After a few moments more he grabbed another and turned to face her this time with an impish smile on his face.
He held up this one for her to see "E.T. Come on, another classic. Yes, I know it is a little sad but it's adventurous and suspenseful and it makes you smile. It's a Speilburg not to mention there's Drew Barrymore when she was a kid"
"I guess that's a good one" she agreed "You didn't need to go through a whole explanation. I have seen it you know"
Castle excitedly grabbed the disc and slid it into the player. He walked back to his 'spot' and arranged the blanket around the two of them to get comfortable.
"So what made you agree to it so quickly?" he asked.
"Nothing. It's a good movie, besides I haven't seen it for a while"
"It seems a bit more than that" he prodded.
"Really, it's nothing" she said without taking her eyes off the screen as it played on to the disc menu.
"Really, Kate? I've been your partner for three years and you don't think by now I can't tell when something bothers you? You can tell me" he sounded so sincere.
She turned to face him. He hardly ever called her Kate, unless he was reaching out to her, to grasp the faint strands of emotion she emitted and magnify them so even she couldn't deny them.
"It's a memory. A happy one" she almost whispered. "Whenever I was at home from school in the winter because of a cold, my mom would let me watch it. She would come home in the late evenings and watch it with me"
Castle listened to everything she said. His face set hard with sympathy and his eyes focused entirely on her.
"There was one time that she had caught a bacterial chest infection that had been going around, so she took as much time off work as she could get. We would eat chicken and mushroom soup on the floor with blankets over our legs and watch E.T." Beckett was smiling as she was talking which reassured Castle that she was ok.
"That sounds better than the first time I watched it" Castle told her.
She looked at him, waiting for him to continue.
"Well, I was 11 at the time and I'd never seen any sci-fi movies so I didn't understand about special effects. I was at a friend's house and he'd never seen it either so of course we both decided to watch it. His parents were out so we thought that this was a perfect opportunity. By the end of the movie we were so convinced that there were aliens in the forest just out of town, that we decided to ride 10 miles to it one night"
"Let me guess, you both camped there over night looking for any sign that there might be 'aliens'?" Beckett asked, emphasizing the word with her fingers.
"Not exactly" he started, "We saw a light hovering over the trees and we decided to follow it. It wasn't long before we realized that it was just a plane flying down to the airstrip. By then we were lost, but three hours later we were found by the police. My mother had found out where we were going and called the police when I wasn't home by 7"
Kate chuckled slightly "So what did you learn from that?"
"Sometimes your imagination can get you into trouble" he smiled day dreamily.
"You didn't try to change it did you?"
"Of course not. I wouldn't be me if I did. I wouldn't have written all those books. I wouldn't have met you…"
His met her eyes with his and she smiled back, her cheeks turning a slight pink. After what seemed a long moment she cleared her throat and finally spoke.
"So are we going to watch this movie?"
"Uh right, yeah. Where's the remote?" Castle looked away awkwardly and started quickly looking for the remote. He pulled it out from under a cushion on the couch and hit play.
As the opening credits started Beckett quickly glanced at him from the corner of her eye. Sometimes she forgot that under all his childishness, he was a sweet and deeply caring person. He had proven this on many occasions and a part of her cared deeply for him, though she'd never let herself admit it. What good would anything come of it? They were already partners, friends. Being something more would just be too much… things would change too much for her to handle and besides, they were perfectly happy the way things were.
Kate pushed aside her thoughts and turned her attention back to the movie.