Castle remained sitting against the bath with Kate still leaning into his side, her sobs quieting and her breaths beginning to even out, signalling that Kate was drifting to sleep, curled into his side. After spending the morning pretending that she was well, the wall that she built around herself after her mothers murder and the hard face she carried as Detective Beckett was beginning to crumble, all because of Richard Castle who was able to see through the act.
Feeling Kate snuggle further into his side, her legs curling so that her knees brushed Castles and her arm resting across his chest. Castle rest his head on the top of hers, burying his face in her hair, inhaling her familiar cherry scent, while trying to decide whether it was safe to move Kate to her bedroom or not. Castle carefully lifted and removes Kate's arms off his chest and placing it beside her, rising to his feet, he held Kate in place to avoid her falling onto her side. While he thread his hands under her knees and back, and carried her back into the master bedroom and laying Kate back in her bed.
As Castle gently laid Kate in bed, Kate gripped onto the front of his shirt and sleepily she mummered against her pillow, making her words almost incoherent.
"Castle...Stay" Kate croaked while her grip tightened on the collar of Castles shirt,
Castle awkwardly sat himself on the edge of Kate's bed beside her, running his hands up her arms, his fingers soothing her and sending her into a deep slumber.
"Castle, what are you doing? Come here" Kate patted the space on the bed beside her, lifting the comforter slightly, her silent way of telling Castle to crawl in the bed beside her.
Castle remained seated on the edge of Kate's bed, unsure of whether or not his life would be in danger once Kate recovered, would she shoot him for lying in her bed beside her and would she claim that Castle took advantage of her while she was at her weakest.
But little did Castle know that this was what Kate wanted, after her shooting and hearing Castle confess his love for her as she lay on the grass bleeding out, she was sure that she wanted this to. She wanted a relationship where someone would be there for her and she could be there for them and they could jump into the relationship together. She was sure that Castle was the once, after all Castle had witnessed her at her weakest, whether it be her being sick or when she was shot or the rare occasions where she allowed herself to breakdown in front of him, where he would place a reassuring hand on her arm. She would never have let any of her ex-boyfriends see her in this situation, not Josh, not Will and certainly not Demming, but she allowed Castle who was her partner.
Castle lifted the comforter , sitting himself in the edge of the bed his feet still placed firmly on the ground as he slid his shoes of and climbed in under the covers alongside Kate making sure there was significant distance between them as Kate slept soundly, because being allowed this close to her was a step in the right direction, they'd come so far already and he didn't want to screw that up.
Castle rested his head on the pillow and drifted off to sleep, beside the woman that had stolen his heart, the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, the one he'd opened his heart to, she was his everything.
Castle was awoken about an hour later by a shivering Kate who laid next to him, his fingers curling in the covers, pulling them up to her chin, trying to stop the chill that had settled in her bones, due to suffering from a cold.
"Kate, scoot closer, come on your obviously cold"
On a normal day, Kate would not have considered snuggling up against Castle in her bed, but today all she wanted, needed, was to stop the chill that was causing her to remember the dirty bomb case, where her and Castle had found themselves locked in a freezer, and it took time for her to remove the chill from her bones.
So Kate shifted closer to Castle, allowing her head to rest in his pillow, her face just mean inches from his own, his warm breath on the back of his neck. While her back was pushed against his chest, absorbing the heat that was radiating through his maroon dress shirt. Castle turned so that he was resting on his back, Kate's head resting on his chest, while his hands threaded in her hair, his heartbeat softly soothing her back to sleep.
There was nowhere that Castle would rather be than with Kate, caring for her like she deserved, like no man had done for her before. His only experience with sick people was when Alexis was sick and he would often find himself sitting outside her room during the night making sure that she was sleeping soundly. But for Kate he would do anything.
