Kate sat with her face pressed into the couch, moaning occasionally at the thought of Alexis Castle finding her panties. She sat up after a while and looked down at herself. She suddenly realised that she was still wearing last night's damp clothes, her hair was wild from the rain, her make-up from yesterday was probably still smeared down her face and she was aching like crazy from her fight on the roof. She stood up slowly and groaned, gripping the edge of the couch in pain. Yes, she needed painkillers, a bath and come to think of it, one of Castle's books should do the trick.
Heading towards the bathroom, there was a knock on the door. She turned around slowly wincing again, suddenly realising quite how much pain she was in. A knock sounded again impatiently and Kate sighed.
'Just coming,' she said as she reached the door and pulled it open to find Lanie and Esposito standing on the other side.
'Kate Beckett! Where in the hell have you been?' Lanie shouted. Kate could literally see the smoke coming off her in anger and took a small step backwards. Kate opened her mouth to reply but before she could, Lanie launched into another rant.
'We have been looking for you all night! Where were you? Do you have any idea how worried we were? You almost fall of a building, then you resign and then you disappear! You don't answer your phone! God knows what could have happened to you! Are you ok?' She demanded furiously. The last couple of days suddenly caught up with Kate and she sagged against the door frame and sighed.
'I'm sorry Lanie. I'm fine really,' she said quietly. Esposito put a hand on Lanie's shoulder, trying to calm her down.
'Beckett, where were you? Seriously, we were really worried, we almost called your dad,' Esposito added, concern written all over his face.
'You didn't call him did you,' she asked, panic stricken. 'I'm really fine; you guys don't need to worry about me. I was just out, thinking,' she said vaguely, gesturing with her hand.
'The hell we don't Kate!' Lanie replied angrily. Her voice softened a little before saying, 'No we didn't call him Kate because we knew you wouldn't want to worry him but if we wouldn't have found you now, we would have done. Look I'm sorry for shouting sweetie, but don't scare me like that again!' She said, moving forward to pull Kate into a fierce hug. Kate hugged back, trying not to cry out in pain, from the pressure Lanie was putting on her bruised body.
'Kate, why are you wet?' Lanie asked, pulling back to frown at her.
'I um, got caught in the rain,' she lied, not meeting either of their eyes. They both frowned at her and then at each other, not believing her one bit but they knew Kate Beckett and they knew that if she didn't want to tell them something, she wouldn't.
'Are you sure you're ok?' Esposito asked again.
'Yeah, I'm fine, really. Just tired and a bit bruised but I'll live, honestly,' she replied, knowing that is they didn't leave soon, she'd be on the floor. Her legs were aching like mad and about to give way any second. She gritted her teeth in pain and gripped the door frame, forcing out a smile. They returned it hesitantly.
'Ok sweetie, but if you need anything, call. Ok?' Lanie continued, still looking worried. 'We'll be right over.'
'We?' Beckett questioned with a smirk on her face. They both blushed slightly and coughed to hide it.
'Ok Kate, well then, um, I guess I'll see you soon,' Lanie said turning away, this time she was the one to not meet Kate's eyes. Esposito followed before saying,
'Yo, and Beckett, answer your phone next time!' Esposito added as they turned down the corridor. As soon as she closed the door, Kate sunk to the floor with a loud groan. She tried to stand immediately but failed but after five minutes she managed to walk slowly, leaning on the wall until she reached the bathroom. She grabbed the painkillers off the shelf and took two speedily as the bath filled up. She rested on the toilet seat as she striped off her clothes and then climbed into the steaming bath. She hissed in pain as the water reached some of her scrapes and saw black spots when she accidentally banged her ribs on the side of the bath. Once she was finally settled in the bath, she didn't even get a chance to pick up Castle's book, before she fell asleep, exhausted.
A couple of hours later she stood in front of her wardrobe sighing. She'd spent the majority of the afternoon attempting to go back to sleep again and failing and decided that getting some more food in her might perk her up a bit. But now, she had to get dressed for tonight, which was going to be a problem. What was she going to wear? She must have tried on twenty different outfits, not feeling the pain as much as before, partly because she was running on painkillers and adrenaline. She sunk onto her bed, feeling slightly panicked. For goodness sake Kate, she scolded herself. It was just Castle. With that she decided on a pair of black jeans and a white blouse. She left her hair lose and wavy, feeling butterflies in her stomach at seeing him again.
She decided to take a cab, mostly due to the fact that driving wasn't really an option with her pain. She has brought a bag with her holding clothes for tomorrow. She didn't know if she was being presumptuous in assuming she would stay the night, but she wanted to be prepared.
Taking a deep breath she knocked on his door. He opened it almost immediately a huge grin on his face. He looked gorgeous, she thought. He was wearing a blue button down shirt, one that matched his eyes. She returned his smile as he leaned in to place a deep kiss on her lips. She immediately melted under his touch and swayed into him, groaning when he swiped his tongue over her bottom lip. She opened her mouth to him as their tongues met, greedily. He eventually pulled back, looking at her with glazed eyes. He trailed down her body to the bag she held in her hand. She stepped inside and he closed the door behind her.
'You look beautiful again,' He told her and she blushed and looked down, biting her lip.
'Thank you,' she mumbled. 'I didn't know if, well um, if I was um, going to be, um staying tonight so I um, brought some clothes with me,' she rambled off, not looking up at him, fearing his rejection. He could see her wariness and reached down to take her bag from her, ready to lead her into his bedroom to dump it there. She beamed up at him and he wrapped an arm round her waist, pulling her towards his room. What he hadn't realised was that she was still pretty tender in some places and therefore when she yelped in pain and sprung away from him, he turned wide eyed to stare at her.
'Oh my god. Kate did I hurt you. I'm so sorry. God, I'm sorry,' he rushed on, running his hand back through his hair. Kate regained her breath after the shock of the pain had subsided.
'Rick, shush no you didn't hurt me. I promise. It's just from yesterday,' She told him, leaning to one side to avoid pressure being put on her most sensitive spot, trying to smile at him warmly to convey her feelings.
'From me?' he asked in a small voice, referring to their, at times, rough bouts of sex in the night.
'God no!' she gasped. 'Last night was...' she searched for the right word. 'Perfect.' There you go. 'They're from the roof,' she replied.
'They?' He cried. 'How hurt are you?' He asked concerned, moving towards her but stopping afraid of hurting her.
'Hey, I won't break. You can touch me you know. Just some,' she lied, not meeting his eyes, looking at the floor.
'Katherine Beckett, tell me the truth.' He asked her. He softened his voice before reaching up to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear and cupping her cheek. 'I just want to help you, I hate seeing you hurting. Please,' he asked, gently. She could feel the painkillers starting to wear off again and was so tired of putting on a brave front for everyone. She sagged towards his hand and reached up to grab onto his shirt, wincing in pain at the movement.
'They're fucking killing me,' she laughed out, moving her head to rest on his shoulder. She hated being this reliant on someone; she needed to be in control. She was just in too much pain. 'You got any painkillers Castle?' She asked into his neck.
'Of course and I'll do you one better,' he said, gently placing a hand on her back and leading her through his bedroom into his bathroom. He fished two pills out of the bottle and handed them to her with a glass of water. She gulped them down gratefully. He gently pushed her down onto the toilet seat to rest while he turned on the taps of his Jacuzzi style bath tub and let it slowly fill up.
'Castle, I don't need a bath. I've had one already today,' she frowned up at him.
'Kate, the more times you soak your muscles and relax the faster you're going to heal. So yes, you're having another bath,' he told her firmly. 'You're going to let me take care of you for once in your life,' he added, bending down to place a kiss on her furrowed brow. She moaned up at him. 'Don't whine Kate, you're not a child,' he smirked at her.
'Fine,' she huffed, crossing her arms. 'But I'll only have one if you come in too,' she added, with a sexy smile on her face. He couldn't help but grin back at her, shaking his head slightly at her mischievous side. She reached forward, grabbing his belt loop holes, pulling his until her head was level with his stomach. Both her hands reached to unbutton his trousers and unzip him. As she was doing this a jolt of pain shot through her back and she tried to disguise it. Seeing this, Castle gently pushed her hands away. A hurt look flashed across her face as she yanked her hands away from him, her face burning. Oh god, she thought he didn't want her.
'Kate,' he said gently. She turned her head away from him and he could see her eyes glazing over with unshed tears. She was exhausted, in pain and Castle didn't want her. He was probably sick of looking after her and found her disgusting. She made a move to stand up but he pushed her back gently. 'Kate,' he said again. She still wouldn't look at him. He sighed again and put his finger under her chin to turn her head to face him. 'You're in pain, you're so tired, but you're still so so beautiful and I don't ever want you to doubt that I want you. God I want you so much. But I refuse to hurt you,' he continued, not breaking eye contact. 'So, we're going to get undressed, get into the bath, you're going to let me take care of you because I love you.' He said firmly. She took in a shaky breath, her lips quivering. He watched as she tried to control herself but a tear still managed to escape down her cheek. He leant forward and kissed it away, tasting the salt on his tongue.
She nodded and looked at him shyly, before giving him a small smile. He pulled off his clothes first, dropping them on the floor, watching her watch him. Once he was finished he slowly unbuttoned her blouse, slipping it over her shoulders. She heard him take in a sharp intake of breath. Kate knew what she looked like. Black and blue all over; it wasn't a pretty sight. He unclasped her bra and dropped it to the floor then moved down to her jeans, pulling the skin-tight objects off as painlessly as possible, trying to ignore her gasps of pain.
When they were both finally naked, he helped her stand, staring at her body. She thought he was looking at her because of her bruises so she moved to cover herself up. Rick quickly stopped her.
'God you're gorgeous,' he stated, rubbing his hands softly up and down her arms. He helped her step into the warm water, helping her to lower her aching body down. He stepped in behind her, lowering himself down and gently wrapping his arms around her middle and easing her back until she fit in between his legs, tight against his back. She hummed in pleasure and rested her hands on top of his.
They talked and talked about anything and everything for what seemed like hours until the water was nearly cold. It was then that Castle brought up Alexis.
'I want to tell Alexis about us,' he blurted out, burying his face in her neck, inhaling her scent, slightly scared of her reaction. 'It's just that when I was with her earlier, I felt so guilty about keeping it from her. He felt Kate pull away from him. Oh great, he though, he's blown it. She rotated in his arms, laughing to herself when she saw Castle with his face screwed up.
'Castle, what are you doing?' she asked, smiling at him.
'I'm closing my eyes so I don't have to watch you leave because I screwed it up,' he replied, still not opening his eyes.
'Castle, you can open your eyes, I'm not going anywhere,' she said softly. He slowly opened his eyes, seeing her smiling calmly at him.
'You're not mad?' he questioned.
'Nope, I think we should too. I've been thinking about it and it isn't fair to her,' she replied.
'Ok,' he said as his face broke out into a grin. 'Good, we'll tell her tomorrow.' Kate smiled back at him before her face turned into a frown. 'What's wrong?' he asked.
'I um, I've been thinking about something too,' she said looking down. 'I think I should go and see Gates,' she said quietly. Oh no, she's going to break-up with me, Castle thought.
'Sorry, I wasn't expecting that!' he said with his eyes bulging out of his head. 'You want to talk to Gates, about what exactly?' She looked up at him nervously; bringing a hand to her mouth as she chewed on the skin at the edge of her thumb.
'Well, I sort of feel bad about going against her and everything and,' she trailed off, worrying that Castle was going to be angry at her.
'and,' he finished, lifting her chin up to face him.
'I miss my job Rick,' she finished quietly. 'I think that apologising is going to be the only way I can get it back, if I can get it back.' He opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off rambling, 'I know you probably think that it's a good thing that I resigned and don't want me going back but I'm gonna leave my mom's case alone, I promise.' Rick sighed and dropped his head, rubbing a wet hand over his jaw.
'Ok,' he replied.
'Ok?' she asked him, surprised at his reply. He put his hands out to wrap around her elbows, pulling her forwards until they were pressed tightly against each other.
'Ok. I know you love your job Kate and I know nothing can stop you from going back and I'm still going to worry all the time,' at that Kate's face broke out into a small smile 'but I just want you to be careful, because I don't know what I'd do without you. Ok?' he continued.
She leant the short distance between them and found his mouth. They shared a sweet kiss, acknowledging the what could have been painful discussion.
'Now come on superman, get me out of this bath, I'm already like a prune,' she grinned, pushing his chest gently and gradually standing, feeling much better after the long soak.
'Oh but Kate, I love prunes,' he said deadpan, joining her, standing. He held her hands to help her over the edge. He wrapped her in a fluffy towel.
She replied, 'I bet you do.'
I wanted to say a big thank you to anyone who has reviewed so far, I appreciate it so much!
Also I know this story was originally going to be hiding the relationship from family and friends but I've been thinking and as one kind reviewer pointed out, would Castle really keep it a secret from Alexis? But don't worry everyone else will still be kept in the dark, for the moment anyway.