Castle opened the door slowly and quietly walked out onto the roof. There was a chill to the air, his breath slightly visible as he breathed out. He looked around trying to find what or rather who he had been looking for. He spotted her in the far corner of the roof, her arms wrapped around her staring up at the barely visible crescent moon. Castle stood there for a moment; just taking in how Beckett looked standing alone in the moon light, a tower of strength and vulnerability all at the same time.
Castle walked quietly towards her. Normally, he would have spent New Year's Eve at home with his mom and Alexis drinking sparkling cider, and Rocking out to the New Year or having a marathon game of twister or poker or something. But, murder doesn't keep regular hours and he had stayed late helping Beckett & company solve their latest unsolvable case. They had wrapped it all up, caught the bad guy and avenged the innocent. Kevin had left with Jenny, while Javier had left with Lanie.
Castle waved them off for the night, and turned around to invite Beckett over to his apartment or at least ask her what her plans were for the night and couldn't find her anywhere. He finished closing the space between them. The sound of the revelers below was just a dull roar.
He watched as a slight tremor ran down her. Removing his coat, he placed it around her shoulders. She still hadn't turned to face him, when she spoke. "You know, I always liked New Year's Eve."
"Really?" He asked standing next to her.
She finally turned, looking at him, her eyes still held a hint of a far away expression. "My mom and I would stay up until midnight. It was the only time of the year I was allowed to stay up that late. We would make party hats, and confetti, and have the little noisemakers."
Castle watched as a smile graced her face at the happy memory. "We would pop popcorn, and sit up watching movies and the New Years specials."
"And your dad?" Castle asked enjoying the glimpse into Beckett's child hood.
Beckett gazed up at the moon again, her smile growing. "He would always fall asleep in the recliner before midnight. Mom and I would wake him up by getting right beside him and yelling Happy New Year and blowing our noise makers."
"Sounds magical."
"It was." Beckett turned to Castle with a more serious expression. "Why aren't you with your mother and Alexis?"
"Oh, they're fine." Castle shooed away the thought with his hand. "Probably in the middle of a girl movie marathon at this moment and glad to not have me there doing a running commentary on it."
He gave her one of his one sided charming smile. "You don't need to spend New Year's Eve standing alone on the roof of the precinct building staring at the moon."
"Castle" She said the name quietly, almost breathing it out.
Shouts of "10...9... 8..." filled the air.
"It's New Year's Beckett." Castle said leaning in towards her.
"7..6..5"
She stared at him for a moment before closing her eyes leaning in.
"4... 3... 2"
Castle cupped Beckett's cheek in his hand as he gently kissed her.
"1... Happy New Year!"
A/N: Inspired by Just A Kiss by Lady Antebellum. Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks to The Red Fedora for betaing.