This is my first Castle fic so be gentle with me. :-)

This is an account of New Years. Anything after 'Cuffed' in the series is not canon because I don't think I can merge the story to the rest of the series.

I do not own Castle, the characters or the settings. I only own my imagination.

Enjoy. :)

Kate Beckett tried to think of something she hated more than the sound of her phone ringing when she had a hangover. She groped around under the pillow for her phone and pulled it out to find it dark and blank. Her phone wasn't ringing but the noise was getting louder. Someone's phone was ringing.

She heard a grunt from behind her and froze.

Oh no. She thought to herself. She did not need to wake up with a stranger to start of the new year. She hadn't done that in years.

She slowly rolled over and cracked one eye open. And there he was, with his boyish hair tossed up and his mouth slightly open, emitting a faint snore and one hand across his bare chest.

Bare. Oh shit. She was completely naked except for her black bra, that she was determined never to take off in front of anyone. Alone with the bullet wound, there was a long scar alone her right breast from the incision during surgery. It never healed neatly and according to the doctor, it was because her ribs had to be separated so much with a retractor during the operation..

Beckett sprang up, clutching her bed sheet to her chest.

Her eyes scanned the room. She was in her own bed, to her relief. Though the person laying beside her was someone she swore she would never allow into her bed, no matter how much she wanted it. He clouded her judgement like whiskey, made her foolish like vodka and taste like rum.

Tasted like rum? She thought to herself getting carried away. She blushed at her thoughts, creeping out of the bed and jumping over to her dressing gown on the back of the door. She couldn't remember last night but managed to recall what he tasted like. Or maybe she had just made it up. Could a person taste like rum? Could Castle taste like rum.

She didn't hear the shift in the bed as Castle sat up.

She couldn't believe she had gotten herself into this. She was a responsible cop, not an idiot who went around sleeping with co-workers. Though, it was him... She couldn't help but feel a million and one different emotions when it came to him. He saved her life so many times, he protected her, he cuddled her when they thought they would die in a freezer, he kissed her. A decoy kiss, but it felt real. She knew his heart was in it.

"We gotta stop meeting like this, detective." came a gruff voice, tainted by an obscene amount of alcohol on his throat.

Beckett span around, holding her dressing gown to her chest, successfully pulling it on without flashing Castle with anything else.

"Castle, you definitely did it this time!" she snapped, admitting to her self that she was a bit too harsh on him.

"Kate, I..." he was lost for words and but looked hurt. He fell back against the pillow and threw his arm over his eyes. "I can't remember much... it's all blurry. But hey, at least we aren't handcuffed this time"

"Efficient. I can't recall much either." Beckett frowned.

"There were too many mixers..."

"And way too much champagne."

"I wonder what my tab has gone up to..." Castle looked at the ceiling. They drank all night long, himself, Beckett, Esposito, Ryan, Lanie and Ryan's Fiance, Jenny. He saw Beckett shift awkwardly, closing her dressing gown tighter.

"Castle, did we um... y'know..." Kate sat down on the edge of the bed awkwardly, taking her phone again and crossing her legs. Castle leaned over the bed and found her waste bin.

"That depends." Castle said, putting the bin back down.

"On what?"

"Your choice of contraception." Castle half smiled, seeing Kate's dressing gown loosened almost enough to reveal her bra-clad breasts.

Kate let out a groan and pulled a pillow to her and buried her face in it.

"We were in the Old Haunt... ringing up a nice tab."

"I'm trying to think" Beckett mumbled through the pillow. "We were counting down to midnight..."

"We kissed at midnight?" Castle asked hopefully. He was a romantic at soul, and quite a cheesy one.

"No..." Beckett looked at him.

"Oh," Castle's face dropped but his brow furrowed.

"You were getting drinks, a barmaid tried to kiss you when the ball dropped on the TV,"

"Did she?"

"I said tried, Castle!"

"We shared a cab... and you got out to say goodbye to you and..."

"YOU KISSED ME!" They both cried at each other.

"What? Me? No it was you!" they spoke again in unison.

"No way, Castle. I tried to turn away but held me against your check and you called me... and then you kissed me."

"I remember me telling you that you were beautiful and hugging you but you reached up to kiss me."

Kate looked away from him, not impressed. She memories were blurred. She recalled both versions and couldn't recall which was true.

Castle sat up on the bed properly. Kate moved when he did, only she moved towards the door, unable to look at him. Her head hurt from her hangover and from her confusion. She had almost made it out the door when Castle spoke.

"You're acting like this is a bad thing, Beckett. Like it's one of your cases, trying to solve it before someone else gets hurt!" He moved to the edge of the bed and pulled on his boxers and trousers in one go and found his short.

"Castle, this messed up things," Kate half-shouted before leaving and taking refuge behind the locked door of her bathroom. She turned on the shower and sat on the floor of her tub letting the hot water soak her. She held her knees to her chest and let out a low sob when she heard her front door of her apartment slam shut.

This was short but I didn't want to bore you all with ramblings.

I haven't written in a while, it will take a bit of practice but put feeling back into it.

If my chapters are short, there will be more of them. I get bored of writing one long chapter. It cost me so many stories on other accounts.

LilyPetal