Hi everyone! This is going to be my first multi-chapter fic and I'm actually really excited for it! Yes, the plot does heavily draw from Snow White (still working out the medical stuff for that). Let's see where this idea goes...

Disclaimer: I do not own Castle... or Snow White, but they're on my wishlist

When you're Richard Castle's girlfriend, you get used to the fact that Richard Castle = fangirls + paparazzi. Kate Beckett was no exception to this rule (though she did have the most time to get used to it as she has stayed with him the longest). She understood that women asked him to sign their chests (which is why she tended to make appearances at his book parties) and that nasty glares came with the title of girlfriend (to which she just glared back and held Castle a little bit closer) and that crazy fans do crazy things.

In her three year romance and seven year partnership with Castle, she had seen some crazy things. Numerous women asked for their chests to be signed, he had gotten out of sticky situations by saying his name, a reporter threw herself at him wearing a bikini, and there was one time when a girl stood on Broome Street wearing nothing but a custom-made Heat Wave towel and cheered "Rick! Rick! Rick!" Kate was not sure what disturbed her more about the last incident: that the girl was technically wearing a naked picture of Kate or that when she and Castle went onto the balcony to see who was making the ruckus, the girl dropped her towel and cheered even more (Castle spent the next two hours reassuring Kate that her body was much more glorious than the fan's body and promising to never look at another woman again).

These crazy things taught Kate lessons about being Castle's girlfriend, and, after three years, she had come to the conclusion that she had definitely mastered the art of "not letting Castle's fame bother her." She hoped to spend the rest of her life with him and that meant accepting all of him and his life.

The one thing Kate was not prepared for is having crazy fan debacles involve her directly.

For Kate, sleep primarily involved cuddling up next to Castle, feeling the heat of his body radiate onto her while his cool hands traced soft patterns on her skin, and listening to his even breathing.

Unfortunately, this meant that when Castle was not in bed, Kate usually woke up or, if he was gone for the whole night, could never fall asleep.

For the past week, Kate had awoken to him missing from bed more often than usual. If it had been his normal "idea for writing" insomnia, she would have gotten out of bed and went over to the chair he was in, wrapped her arms around his neck and watched as he wrote. However, this missing pattern was not normal. Kate would wake up and establish that he was inside the closet next to his side of the bed. She would hear the snap of something like a box closing and then hear him let out a quiet sigh.

Friday morning, for the first time, Kate made it known that she was awake.

"Castle?" she called out quietly. His heart jumped at the sound of her voice but he calmed himself down instantly.

"Hey," he whispered, walking back over to their bed on her side instead of his. She looked up at him; her hazel eyes looked slightly worried. In response, he brushed a stray hair from her face and gave a soft smile.

"Are you all right?" Kate asked, "You've been getting up more than usual lately." She did not add that she knew he was always in their walk-in closet when he was up.

Castle nodded. "I'm fine, just haven't been able to stay asleep is all."

"Seem to have lost my ability to tire you out," she replied in an attempt to lighten the mood.

He chuckled softly and replied, "No, you definitely still tire me out, you spring chicken," as he walked back over to his side of the bed and got under the soft-to-a-fault covers.

Immediately, Kate cuddled up next to him and instinctively, Castle kissed her hair and ran a hand down her arm in comfort.

"I love you, Kate," he whispered, "Go to sleep."

Calming darkness took over her mind again.

The morning brought a rare treat. Kate was completely off work. Not on call, not at the station, just home and all Castle's. This meant that the couple woke up late and didn't bother to change into uncomfortable work clothes. At eleven, they were still blissfully relaxed and snuggled together on the couch quietly, simply enjoying each other's presence.

"Kate," Castle whispered into her hair. This was the perfect moment, he thought, to ask her the most important question of their lives.

"Hmm?" Kate asked, shifting slightly so she could look up at him.

Before Castle could reply, there was a knock at the door and Kate shot up with an "I'll get it."

She opened the door and upon seeing nobody, looked down to find a gorgeous fruit basket with a burgundy ribbon tied onto the handle. The detective picked up the fruit basket and carried it inside.

"Castle," she began, "did you order me a fruit basket?"

Castle got up and walked over to the kitchen counter where Kate had placed the fruit basket. It added a huge splash of color to the immaculate kitchen.

"For once, the answer is no," he said, staring at the basket with a twinge of jealousy that he had never thought of that. "Is it addressed to you?"

Kate nodded, "Yeah it just says 'To Kate, From A Fan' on the little card. I figured you were trying to be cute." She frowned at the artful basket of fruit. Whoever was gifting it to her deserved a thank you and it peeved her that they did not leave a name.

"Kind of suspicious," she commented, her detective skills kicking in.

Castle shifted the fruit around, ruining the decorative placement. "Come on, Kate, it's not like somebody hid a bomb in a fruit basket," he reassured her, adding, "And even if they did, I know how to defuse it. It's probably just one of the boys playing a joke or something because Blistering Heat is coming out."

His girlfriend smiled at him. "I guess you're right," she resolved.

In an effort to fully diffuse the tension, Castle picked the brightest red apple of the basket and held it out to her with both hands.

"For the apple of my eye," he told her with a cheesy-romantic air about him.

Kate smirked and took the apple from his hands, grazing her fingertips along his palm as she held the apple up.

"Very suave, Mr. Castle," she teased. Seductively, she bit into it and chewed.

Within the first chew, a sense of alarm went through both Kate and Castle. Kate paused for a split second and her eyes widened. Her eyes were glazed with some sort of horror and Castle watched as her body convulsed once and then again. In an instant, his arms shot forward to catch her as she fell back.

Time seemed to slow around them. Castle broke her fall and she lay limp like a pathetic rag doll in his arms. The apple slipped from her hand and rolled across the floor until it came to rest on a white wall and sat there. It looked like a bloodstain on a pale corpse.

"Kate?" Castle whispered tearfully, begging any sort of God or spirit he could think of that this was all a horrible, horrible nightmare.

"Kate!" he cried at the lifeless body of a beautiful woman in his arms.

There was no response.

Reviews are like potato chips, you need more than one (heh heh, Reality Star Struck reference). Seriously, reviews are much appreciated!