She woke to the sound of a siren outside of the window. She pointed her toes in attempt to stretch and started to turn over onto her back when she felt his chest moving slowly against her. She stopped dead in her tracks and listened to the slow and steady rhythm of his breathing. Her heartbeat quickened as the events of last night flooded her mind. She smiled at the thought of everything that happened. She had come to his apartment with no hope and no expectations, but what actually unfolded was better than anything she could have imagined. She turned slowly to face him, and she gently kissed his chest. He stirred slightly, but returned to his peaceful slumber. She softly brushed his hair from his face, and craned her neck to place another kiss on his cheek. She rolled back over and stepped out of the bed. She immediately regretted the loss of his warmth. She searched the floor looking for something to wear, and the first thing she spotted was his button down shirt in a pile on the floor. She clearly remembered clumsily fumbling with those buttons the night before. She smiled at the thought, and picked up the shirt sliding it onto her small frame. After partially clothing herself, she quietly made her way into the kitchen. She had stayed here before when her apartment blew up, and she vaguely remembered where all of his cooking utensils were. She didn't have to look very hard to find an abundance of breakfast options. She pulled a pack of bacon and some eggs from the refrigerator, and started a pot of coffee. It wasn't long after she put the bacon in the pan that she heard him bumping around in his room. He came running out of the room in his boxers and an old t-shirt with a panicked look on his face. She looked up at him laid her spatula on the counter.
"What's wrong?" she said with genuine concern. She turned to face him as he walked quickly up to her and wrapped his arms around her. Though a little startled, she reciprocated his actions and ran her fingers through his hair. "Are you ok? Castle, you're scaring me." she said pulling back to look into his eyes.
"I thought you'd left." he said sounding relieved. " I woke up and you weren't there, and I sort of panicked." he dropped his eyes to the floor and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Well, I am right here cooking us breakfast." she said pulling his face to hers and giving him a soft kiss on the lips. " The bacon is going to burn if I don't flip it." she said smiling at him.
He smiled back at her and released her to go flip the bacon. He leaned against the counter and took in the sight of her in his shirt cooking for him in his house. It was almost unbelievable. Just a few hours before, he thought he would never see her again and now here she is scantily dressed in his apartment. "I like the way my shirt looks on you." he said hoping that his compliments were welcome after the night they'd just had.
"Why thank you!" she said spinning slowly as if she were modeling it for him. They sat in silence until she finished preparing their breakfast, both of them knowing the conversation that they would be forced to have soon enough.
" This looks great." he said digging into his scrambled eggs. She smiled slightly and picked up a piece of bacon.
She started to take a bite but stopped short. "We have to talk about all of this don't we." she said shyly turning to face him. He swallowed his mouthful and nodded his head slowly.
"Why don't we wait until we finish our breakfast?" he said looking at her lovingly.
"I do need some proper nourishment after last night." she said winking at him saucily. He puffed his chest out confidently and winked back at her. They continued to eat in silence until they finished and he took their plates to the sink.
"I resigned." she said bluntly without any type of lead in. She stared at the back of his head hoping for some type of reaction or sign to tell her what to do next. She slowly stood up from her seat and walked toward him.
He cleared his throat and turned to her. " Is that what you want? You didn't do that for me did you? I could never forgive myself if I made you give up..." she placed a finger softly over his lips to silence him.
"Last night when I told you I just want you, I meant it. I don't want the job to stand in our way anymore. Not the job, our pride, my stubbornness. I'm not letting anything get in the way this time." she said looking into his crystal blue eyes.
He gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "So can you tell me what happened with Maddox?" he said hopping up to sit on the counter and patting the place next to him. She joined him and gave him the whole story. She told him how she and Espo found out his location, how they went in without backup, how Maddox got the drop on them, how she almost lost her life, and how Ryan told Gates about the whole thing. He was entranced, following her every word until she ended up at his apartment. When she finished, there was a minute of pure silence. He needed time to digest everything that had happened. "I should have been there. I shouldn't have abandoned you when you needed me most." he said placing his hand on her knee.
She placed her hand over his. "I don't blame you at all for anything. The fact that you weren't there made me realize how much I need you." she said squeezing his hand. "Looking down from that building and feeling almost certain I would die made me think about all of the times that I should have told you how I felt about you." she said feeling a know form in her throat.
He felt his chest tighten, and he pulled her into his arms. " All that matters is that we are here now. It wasn't the most conventional path, but it was ours." he said placing a kiss on the top of her head. She pulled back slightly and placed a kiss on his lips. He cupped her cheeks deepening the kiss. When they came up for air, he noticed the time. It was ten o'clock. "Alexis will be home in about two hours." he said looking for her reaction.
Her eyes widened and she jumped off of the counter." I better go. I don't think taking the walk of shame in front of your daughter after our first night together is a very good idea. She probably isn't too fond of me anyway." she said turning to clean up the dishes from breakfast.
He studied her face for a moment and walked behind her to wrap his arms around her waist. "Why would you think a crazy thing like that." he said placing a kiss on her neck.
"Well first of all I have almost gotten you killed on numerous occasions, I am sure she knows how terrible I have been to you, and I highly doubt she will be happy to find out about us that way." she said leaning into him.
He placed his chin in the curve of her neck and held her closer. "Actually it's quite the opposite. She has always been a big fan of you. She and my mother love you. She went through a period when she didn't like me following you because she was afraid I was in danger, but she has never had anything against you. She looks up to you really." he said placing a line of kisses from her neck to her shoulder.
She tilted her head to the side giving him more access. She moaned softly as he ran his hands over her stomach and she turned in his arms to face him. "I hope you are right." she said snaking her arms around his neck and kissing him passionately. He pressed her back into the counter and started an assault on her neck.
Almost as if on cue there was the sound of keys in the door, and the two of them jumped away from each other.
"Dad! I'm home. We finished early..." she stopped mid sentence at the sight of her father and the barley dressed detective Beckett in the kitchen. She raised her eyebrows slightly and crossed her arms in front of her.
"Hey pumpkin." he said nervously rushing to give her a kiss on the cheek. He looked quickly from Alexis to Kate hoping that one of them would break the silence.
Alexis chuckled softly and looked towards the stairs. " I think I am going to go take a shower and try to erase this image from my mind. You two carry on." she said with a smile making her way to her room.
Castle looked up to see a horrified look on Beckett's face. He heard the sound of the bathroom door shutting and the water running and took it as his cue to speak. "That wasn't so bad." he said letting out a small chuckle.
"That was probably the most embarrassing experience of my life." she said digging the heel of her hand into her forehead.
"Well, at least everything is out in the open." he said making his way toward her. They both looked at each other and broke into a fit of laughter. "I just hope we haven't scarred her for life." she said leaning back against the counter. He grabbed her hands and lead her to his bedroom.
"We better get out of the open before my mother makes an untimely entrance." He said running into his bedroom.
So... This was kind of impromptu. I just felt like writing, and this is what happened. That's kinda how it is with all of my fics. I think going out on the lake inspires me to write. This could be a one-shot or more really, it just depends on whether you all want to read more. I hope you like it. If you do please just click on the new and improved review button and let me know exactly what you think about it. Thanks for reading!