The morning sun shines brightly through the bedroom windows, its rays managing to land directly on Beckett's bed.
"Ugh," she groans as the light hit her face, throwing an arm up to shield her eyes.
"What?" Castle groans in response.
Beckett shots upright in her bed, instantly regretting the move as a wave of nausea rolled over her.
"Oh," she says, catching sight of Castle on her bedroom floor, "right".
The whole night comes flooding back.
"What's right?" Castle groans again, quizzical despite the pounding in his head.
"Nothing," Beckett mutters, letting her body sink back into her mattress, closing her eyes and breathing deeply through her mouth.
The world didn't move as long as she was still.
"Well, if nothing's right, then what's wrong?"
Beckett doesn't need to look at Castle to know that he's smirking. He loves his play on words.
"Castle," she mutters in exasperation.
"My head hurts," he whines in response.
She sighs.
"Castle, get in bed".
"Really?" He perks up considerably at the suggestion, propping himself up on one arm and glancing at Beckett to see if she's serious.
Her eyes are still closed but a smile flits across her face.
"We had sex last night, I think I'll live if you climb into bed with me".
"We had sex?!" Castle exclaims.
That forces her to open her eyes and sit upright in shock. She doesn't even notice the nausea. She just stares at him for a moment, mouth slightly ajar.
He smirks then laughs as he stands up and sits down on her bed.
"I'm kidding Beckett, I remember last night".
"Good," she breathes a sigh of relief.
"Good?" He tilts his head and looks at her, raising one eyebrow. He wants to ask her so many things, but he knows it's better to tread lightly with Kate Beckett.
"Yeah," she confirms, "good".
He isn't sure what exactly is good, but as long as something is that's enough for now.
She sways slightly in the bed and he suddenly notices how pale she is.
"Someone's really hungover," he chuckles.
"Shut up," she growls back at him, refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing her lie down right after he'd made that statement.
"Kate," he says softly, rubbing a hand down her arm and then immediately pulling her towards him.
He sinks down onto the bed and lowers her down next to him, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and stroking it soothingly.
Castle nuzzles into her hair, pushing her curls aside with his nose and kissing her once behind her ear.
Beckett lets her eyes drift shut again.
She was wrong. Her world is moving even though she's lying down. Hell, her whole world just changed.
MMM
Castle isn't sure how much time has passed when the shrill ring of Beckett's cell phone jars him awake.
"Beckett". She starts in response to the ring, sitting up abruptly and running a hand through her tousled hair.
He blinks at her in amazement, although he quickly realizes that he shouldn't be surprised that she could be awake and professional so quickly. Of course she does this all the time.
"Okay, okay…" she nods slightly, "Thanks for letting me know".
She hangs up the phone and tosses it on the bed with an irritated sigh. Beckett groans and lets her hand fall into the palm of her hand, bracing her elbows on top of her knees.
Castle doesn't say anything, but he gets up and heads towards Beckett's bathroom, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
He roots around for a second in her bathroom cabinet, frustrated by the make-up and lotion that is in his way. Finally his hand settles on what he was looking for.
He walks back into the bedroom and sees Kate still in the position that he'd left her in a minute before.
He grabs the glass of water off her dresser, glancing in it to make sure that it isn't too disgusting. Who knew how long it had been sitting out for? Of course, this was Beckett he was talking about, and the rest of her apartment was spotless, so best guess was not very long.
He approaches her cautiously, almost as though she's a wild animal that would bolt if he moved too fast. He snorts at that, biting back a laugh as he realizes the comparison he just made.
"What?" Beckett looks up at him, her eyes slightly narrowed as though she suspects he was about to do or say something wildly inappropriate.
He simply sits down next to her on the bed and wordlessly hands her the glass of water. He pops open the pill bottle he was holding and taps two pills into the palm of his hand.
Beckett looks at him in surprise then smiles in thanks. She swallows the pills down quickly and then takes a deep breath.
"Thanks, Castle".
He shrugs, "No problem." He pauses and looks at her, a slightly awkward silence filling her bedroom.
"So," he continues, clearing his throat, "Do we have a case?"
"Well," she rolls her eyes at him, "we don't have anything. I, on the other hand, do have a case".
"Hey!" He punches her lightly on the arm, "I help!"
She can't help the bark of laughter that escapes nor the grimace that follows as she realizes that her head is still a little sensitive for that kind of thing.
"Are you okay?" Castle instantly looks concerned.
"I'll live," she says dryly, "I have been hungover before".
"You don't say?" He asks, raising an eyebrow at her roguishly, "Part of the Kate Beckett wild years?"
"Shut up Castle," she says in response, rolling her eyes and clambering out of the bed.
"Not a problem," he says softly.
She turns and looks at him with surprised. His eyes are slowly tracing her body, and she realizes with a start that she's naked.
"Oh!" She exclaims a little embarrassed.
"Sorry," he clears his throat and forces his gaze away from her, settling on staring out her window instead.
"Right, ummm," she shakes off the awkwardness, "I need to get ready, I have a feeling Gates isn't going to be too happy if she hears how long it took me to get to the crime scene".
"And I guess I should…" he trails off, risking a sideways glance her way.
She sighs. "Get dressed; no one knows what you were wearing yesterday anyway, since you didn't come into the precinct".
"And…" He says hesitantly not quite sure where she's going with that.
"And you can come with me to the crime scene".
"Yes!" He exclaims, emphasizing his point with a fist pump.
She turns and walks into the bathroom hiding her grin.
