She let herself into her house, it was still a bit early, so she knew he wouldn't be back yet. She twisted her keys in the lock and pushed open the door, stepping inside. She shut the door behind her, leaning against it with a smile on her face. She brought her fingers to her lips, blushing at the thought of the intense make out session they had when his sister knocked out. If she hadn't woken up, she was sure they would have crossed that line.
She knew it was still a bit early for that and she should probably get to know him more, but it felt like she did, like she knew him forever. She knew as much as someone who knew him forever would know and he knew her and she was ready to give that part of her to him and she had no doubt he was ready for it too, but he wasn't pushing and that made her fall for him even more.
"Where have you been?"
She jumped, startled and looked around catching her father descending the stairs, a look of disapproval on his face. She pushed off of the door and walked into the kitchen.
"Out." She replied.
"With him?" He asked, following her.
She opened the fridge, pulling out a bottle of water, hiding her face as she rolled her eyes at the tone of his voice.
"Maybe."
"Kate – "He started, his tone stern.
"What? What dad? What are you going to do ground me? Yes, I was with him and so what?" She asked, turning around to face him, her hand on her hip.
"Kate, he is not good for you." He said, keeping his voice stern.
It was as if he was disciplining a toddler, telling them 'don't touch the stove', 'don't talk to strangers', 'don't eat that cookie before dinner', 'don't date the guy you're in love with'.
She froze at that thought, 'in love with'? She knew she liked him a lot, but love? When did she come to that conclusion and why would she admit it to her father before she admitted it to herself or even to him? She bit the inside of her cheek, she had no idea what it was like to be in love, so she couldn't possibly know and yet she did. She did know and maybe it was too soon to admit it to herself or to him, but she did, she was falling hard for this guy.
She turned her attention back to her father who was still watching her, waiting for some response from her.
"Dad, I love him and there's nothing you can say or do to keep me from him. I'm not your baby anymore." She said, trying to steer the conversation away from an argument, but clearly he wasn't having it.
"Love? Kate, what do you know about love? This guy's probably influencing you! Pressuring you for God knows what!" He yelled.
She curled her fingers into fists, biting her tongue. She couldn't bear hearing her father say such bad things about him, when he couldn't even take the time to get to know him.
"You don't even know him dad! He doesn't do any of that! He's the perfect gentleman all the time and you wouldn't know that if you would stop listening to your colleagues telling you he's no good and just try and get to know him!" She yelled back.
"No. No Kate, this is it. You won't see him anymore, I won't allow it." He said, folding her arms.
"You can't stop me." She threw back and brushed past him, running up the stairs and slamming her door, much like the first night.
She pulled out her phone and hit speed-dial, furiously wiping at the tears that fell down her face while it rang.
"Hey you," His voice came, instantly calming her and making her feel better.
"Hey." She said softly.
"Kate are you –"He said, sounding concerned, "Are you crying?"
She sniffed, "How'd you know?"
"Because I know you." He replied, his voice warm and comforting.
She closed her eyes, wiping at her eyes again as fresh tears spilled over.
"Why are you crying?" He asked, a ruffling sound in the background as if he was getting out of bed.
She sniffed again, shaking her head, "My dad, he's just." She broke off, waving her hand, not really knowing how to describe it.
"You got into an argument again?" He asked softly.
She nodded, "Yea."
"Kate – "He started.
"It's okay, he just – I don't even know, but let's talk about something else please?" She requested, lying down in her bed.
There was a moment of silence before he sighed, "Yea okay."
This was one of the reasons she loved him, he understood her and knew when not to push. She really didn't want to talk about this anymore. She loved her father and she didn't want them to stop speaking because of this, but she loved Castle and she really wanted her father to just listen to her, meet him, she knows he'd love him, but he wasn't listening.
He pulled up outside her house two weeks, they had been out on casual dates during the week. But now, he had gotten a call from the person's he had that meeting with and he just had to share the news, but he also wanted to celebrate with her, just her with no one to disturb them.
Her dad wasn't home, he had called before, he walked up her drive way and rang her doorbell, leaning on the column while he waited for her to answer. The door swung open and there she was, he would never get over seeing her, she was always more beautiful than the last time he saw her, he didn't know how she did it, but he loved it.
"What brings you here?" She asked, a huge smile on her face.
He shrugged, "What? Does a guy need a reason to visit his beautiful girlfriend?"
She ducked her head, not before he saw the tint of red coming up on her cheeks. He reached out and lifted her head up, leaning in and placing a kiss on her lips, stepping closer, placing his hands on her hips as she wrapped her arms around her neck and tipped up on her toes, smiling against his lips.
"Just beautiful." He murmured against her lips.
She grinned, her arms still wrapped around his neck, his hands still on her hips, standing in her doorway.
"You wanna come inside?" She asked.
"I'm here to take you on a trip." He told her.
She looked at him, "What kind of trip?" She asked suspiciously.
"You'll be back by tonight." He told her, not really answering her question.
"Where are you taking me?"
"You will see when you get there." He grinned, "So will you come?"
She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment before shrugging, "Give me a minute." She told him, gesturing for him to come inside.
He sat on her couch while she ran upstairs to change for whatever mysterious day he had planned, it was kind of exciting she had to admit.
She pulled on a pair of skinny jeans, her boots and pulled his leather jacket over a dark blue V-neck and then re-joined him in the living room. He stood when she returned, his eyes raking over her with that dark look on his face.
"Perfect." He said, reaching out for her, pulling her in for a mind numbing kiss.
When he released her, if he wasn't holding on to her, she was sure she would have collapsed.
"It's the jacket." He answered her unspoken thoughts.
"Does it work for you?" She said, her voice low and seductive and she trailed a finger slowly down his chest.
He swallowed thickly and tightened his grip on her hips, "Oh, it does many things for me." He groaned, capturing her lips again, pulling her tightly against his body, moaning softly as she dug her nails into his hair.
"Come on, if we don't get going now, we probably won't ever." He said, hinting at just what she wanted.
"How is that a problem?" She asked, breathless.
He looked at her, his eyes dark and cloudy, "Let's go." He said, pulling her towards the door.
She followed with a laugh, turning to lock the door before walking hand in hand to his bike.
"Still only one helmet?" She scolded.
"I'll be fine." He told her as he climbed on.
"I just don't want you to get hurt." She said softly, climbing on behind him.
He started the bike, "I'll be fine, I promise."
She wrapped her arms around him, pressing her cheek to his warm back as he rode off.
She was beginning to enjoy the view of the unfamiliar surroundings and the wind in her hair when he turned off, pulling up to a huge house.
"Where are we?" She asked, climbing off, trying to get the life back in her legs.
"In solitude." He answered, taking her hand and walking up to the house.
"Whose house is this?" She asked, taking in the large, beautiful structured house.
"It was our family house, parents left it to me and Ari." He told her, pulling keys out of his pocket and unlocking the door, holding the door open for her.
She stepped inside, feeling the warm, comforting feel of a home well lived in. It was bigger than their house back in the city and it smelled like … horses?
She turned to him, "Do you have animals here?"
He grinned, "I was just waiting for you to realize." He pulled her through the house, "I'll show you."
He pulled her through the back door, revealing a large expanse of green grass, fenced off with about ten horses grazing peacefully.
She noticed a dog barrelling forward, jumping right into Castle's arms.
"Hey big guy," He laughed, tickling the dog's belly as the dog wiggled around, seeming very happy to see him.
"Mr. Castle!" She heard someone called out.
"Patrick!" He yelled, releasing the dog, which came over to sniff at Kate.
She stooped down to scratch the dog behind its ears as he thumped his tail wildly.
"Come for a visit finally?" Peter asked, coming up in front of them.
"Yea, it's been a while." He said.
Peter looked down at where Kate was playing with the dog and back up to Castle with knowing eyes, "And who is this?"
Kate stood up then and smiled at the man. He was tall, taller than Castle and he seemed to be older too, his hair was mostly grey, but he had that twinkle in his eye. He looked like the type of person to give the kids cookies after their mother told them no.
"This, is Kate Beckett." Castle said proudly, "My girlfriend."
Peter extending his hand, a friendly smile on his face, "Ah Ms. Beckett – "He bowed a bit, "Welcome to the family."
She blushed and shook his hand, "Please, call me Kate."
He straightened and nodded, "Kate then." He released her hand and turned back to Castle.
"Well you two, I'll make myself scarce. Mr. Castle you know where to find me." He nodded, smiling at them both before turning and walking away.
Kate turned to Castle, an eyebrow raised.
"What?" He asked.
She shook her head, "Nothing."
He nodded, "So, you like horses?" He asked.
"Love them, haven't ridden in a while though." She said, looking back out to the horses.
"Well, come on then, let's go." He pulled her hand, walking over to the barn.
He pulled out the necessary equipment and then made his way to the gate in the fence. One horse looked up and immediately trod over to him, following by the others.
"Someone was missed." She laughed as they surrounded them.
He laughed, giving attention to each one before turning back to Kate, who had her back to him. She was stroking the smallest horse out of the lot, with a long black mane to match his jet black body.
"So I take it you chose Jess." He spoke.
"Jess?" She asked, not turning around.
"Yea, Ari named her, she's the youngest here." He told her, stepping up to them.
Kate nodded, "She's sweet, I like her."
Castle carefully placed the saddle on her back, "Well hop on." He told her, extending his hand.
She smiled at him and got up onto the horse herself, smirking at him from her high perch.
"Can you get any hotter?" He asked staring up at her.
He quickly moved over to his own horse, saddling him and hopping up on him. He lead them through the gate, stopping to close it before the other horses got out and then continued towards the large expanse of trees.
Kate managed to keep up with him as they moved through the trees on their horses, racing once they reached a clearing and slowing down when they reached the river. They hopped off and sat under a tree, well Castle sat, she laid on her back in her head in his lap while he absently stroked her hair.
She looked up at him, "When did you last come here?" She asked.
He looked down at her, an almost sad smile on his face, "Right after our parents died, I took Ari out here, she didn't understand, but I didn't want all the attention, all the sympathy, so we came out here and no one bothered us."
She reached for his hand, lacing their fingers together, not continuing that conversation, he would tell her when he was ready.
They remained there until the sky started changing colour, talking about everything under the sun.
"We should head back, we gotta get out of here before it gets too dark." He said, easing her up so he could stand.
They mounted their horses and again and began the journey back. He was mostly quiet, every time she looked over at him, he seemed far away, kind of sad. She directed Jess closer to him and silently reached out and took hold of his hand. He looked down at their hands and back up to her, he smiled then leaned over to kiss her quickly.
They rode back to the house without saying anything. They took the horses back to the barn and Castle excused himself to speak to Peter. She went back into the house and smelled food cooking , she just remembered she hadn't eaten all day and her stomach grumbled loudly.
"Hungry?" A lady's voice came from behind.
She turned and saw a plump, rosy lady with a bright smile on her face.
Kate smiled shyly, "Yea a bit,"
"Mr. Castle should be back soon, he told me to prepare your favourite dish." She spoke, winking at Kate as she walked through to the direction of the kitchen Kate assumed.
She turned, "Take care of him." She said, a sad smile on her face, before she turned and walked away.
She stood staring after the lady when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her and she melted instantly, closing her eyes as his breath ghosted over her neck.
"I see you've met Clara." He spoke, his chest rumbling.
Kate turned her head slightly, "She seems nice."
"She is. She's been here since I was a little boy." He told her, coming around to stand in front of her.
"Now, I know you must be hungry, so let's wash up and eat." He suggested, taking her hand and pulling her into another part of the house.
They washed up and ate together. Kate was amazed at Clara's cooking, she had never tasted her favourite dish quiet like this before and she might have felt embarrassed about asking if she could take the rest with her, if it wasn't Castle.
Clara handed her a container full of food and winked at Kate, "Don't let him fool you and tell you he can't cook, the boy cooks better than me."
Kate nodded, "Will do." She grinned, feeling really welcomed by these people.
"Come on, I wanna tell you something." Castle whispered, leading her up the stairs.
He led her to what she assumed was his room and shut the door. She couldn't help the way her heart raced and her fingers twitched as he turned to her, sitting on the bed and motioning for her to sit as well.
"So, about that meeting I had that one time." He began.
She nodded, "That you're being so cryptic about?"
He nodded, a huge smile forming on his face, he reached behind him and pulled out a package, handing it to her.
She took it confused, looking up at him, "Castle what is – "
"Just open it." He urged her, placing her hand on it.
She looked up at him again and then back at the brown paper covering whatever it was he was giving her.
She carefully unwrapped the paper and pulled it off, revealing a book and –
Oh.
"You wrote a book?" She asked, looking up at him in shock.
He had a gigantic grin on his face as he nodded.
"That's what the meeting was about?" She asked, turning the book over in her hands to read the back.
"It was with a publisher, who finally agreed to publish my book. This is the first copy, I got it today and I wanted you to have it." He told her, brushing a lock of her hair back behind her ears.
"How long have you been writing this?" She asked, tears rising up in her eyes for some reason.
He shrugged, "Six months maybe."
"Why do you want me to have it?" She asked, looking into his eyes.
"Read the dedication." He said softly.
Her heart raced as she opened the cover of the book, turning to the dedication. She read the words, a good twenty times to make sure she was seeing right, she couldn't tell with the way her vision suddenly blurred.
She felt him wipe away a tear with his thumb and tilted her head to look at him.
"Do you like it?" He asked sounding unsure.
She opened her mouth to answer, looking between him and the words on the page that made her heart flutter and her insides melt, then she launched herself at him, laying the book aside and wrapping her arms around his neck.
"I'll take that as a yes?" He chuckled, holding on to her.
"I love it," She whispered, pushing him back so that he was lying down and she was on top of him, "I love it and I love you."
He froze and looked into her eyes and she wondered if she said something he didn't want to hear.
"What?" He whispered, holding her tightly against him, she could feel his heart racing in his chest and she was glad she wasn't the only one and maybe it wasn't a bad thing.
She lowered her face to him, stopping inches away from his lips, "I love you."
He closed the distance then, kissing her hard, making her head spin and his fingers dug into her skin. She opened her mouth to him, moaning as she felt his tongue find hers, as his warm mouth worked her into frenzy and she was pressing closer to him, needing to be closer in every way.
"I love you too." He whispered into her mouth.
His hands trailed down her back, inching up his jacket and her shirt, softly exploring her warm skin. He detached himself from her lips and flipped them, keeping most of his weight off of her, until she grabbed him and pulled him flush against her.
"No. I want to feel you against me." She said in a husky tone.
He could only nod as he attached his lips to the pale skin on her neck, biting and sucking, anything to keep her making those noises she was making, to keep her body arching up into him.
This was it, there was no stopping them now, she was going all the way and by the way he had his thigh pressed between her legs, the way he was slowly pulling her shirt up to reveal her skin, the way he was kissing his way up her stomach and reaching around to remove her bra after looking to her for permission, she could tell he was too.
She wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, feeling connected to him even more now and she was definitely sure of her feelings for him. She loved him and he loved her too. She blushed as she thought about what they had done, how he brought her to the highest level of bliss with those fingers of his and oh God that mouth, she was getting turned on just thinking about it and then there were the other impressive parts of him and she definitely needed to do that again.
"If you keep doing that, I'm going to crash." He said.
Oh. She just realized she had been running her hands up and down his chest. She smiled and pressed a kiss to his back, before settling against him again, the wind in her face and a smile on her face, with the guy she loved in her arms, this night couldn't get any better for her.
And then it hit her.
Literally.
It came out of nowhere and she was flying and so was he. All she heard was his voice yell out to her before she fell hard against the asphalt ground and everything became black.
Romeo, save me, they try to tell me how to feel.
This love is difficult but it's real.
Don't be afraid, we'll make it out of this mess.
It's a love story, baby, just say, 'Yes.'
End A/N: All mistakes are mine, there's bound to be plenty simple ones. Anyways, leave me a review yea?