Okay so I need to get to at least 75,000 words by the end of August, so here goes.

Prompt: What if Jacinda hadn't shown up with Castle at the crime scene in "The Limey"

Kate's hands felt clammy as she made her way to the crime scene, wondering if Castle would already be there or if he wouldn't even show up at all. With the way things were going between them, as of late, she wouldn't be surprised if he was a no-show.

But he was there; all six feet, three inches, and 200 pounds (give or take) of him. And he looked awful.

"Castle," she greeted, "what the hell happened to you?"

One eyebrow quirked and he gave her a sarcastic grin. "Nice to see you, too, Detective," he greeted back. She just continued to stare at him, bewildered and, eventually, he sighed. "I took a bit of a weekend trip to Las Vegas and…well, it didn't go very well."

"I can see that," Kate replied. His usually neatly pressed clothing was wrinkled and creased all up and down his body, there was a rip on the shoulder of his blazer, his hair was mussed (somewhat adorably, she must admit), and he was sporting what looked to be a two-day old beard—a look she hadn't seen on him since they'd first met.

"Are we going to stand here insulting me or is there a dead body waiting for us somewhere?" Castle asked, a tad shortly, and Kate internally winced, but allowed nothing to show on her face.

Instead, she reached for his arm, giving it a small squeeze and she could see his face change as a swirl of emotions seemed to flash in his features, all at once.

"Can we talk?" she said, softly, hopefully.

"Don't we need to go look at the body?" Castle replied, his voice a little strained.

"It can wait another two minutes," Kate said, brushing it off as she began to pull him away. He didn't even attempt to fight her, thankfully; just followed where she led, as always.

Kate caught Lanie's eyes from a couple feet away and the woman gave her a grin and two thumbs up, before returning to…whatever it was that she was doing with Javier. Kate made a mental note to ask about that later.

Now, she had Richard Castle, mystery writer, philanthropist, father, former playboy, and…the man she loved (it had taken her such a long time to admit that to herself) to contend with.

She found a rather secluded spot, where anybody could find them if they really needed to, but nobody would be able to 'accidentally' overhear any of what she was about to confess to this man, who'd been giving her the cold shoulder for the better part of a week.

"Okay," Castle said, slightly wrenching her hand off of his arm—a move that caused Kate pain that she couldn't even explain—and looking down at her, expectantly. "What did you need to talk about?"

She looked up into his eyes, which were lacking the warmth that they usually held when he'd regarded her before, and were now looking bored and a little apprehensive.

"I…" Kate took a deep breath. You can do this, Beckett. Toughen up. Tell this fucker that you love him and that you wanna have his babies and—whoa, what? Isn't it a little too soon to be thinking abo—

"Beckett?" Kate looked up, wide-eyed, and tried to suppress a blush at the direction in which her thoughts had been going. Castle was looking at her expectantly, still waiting for an answer—or anything, really—so they could get back to the task at hand (i.e. the murder).

Kate searched every corner of her mind for something to say—anything that would convey how important he was to her, how much she cared about him and never wanted to lose him for as long as she could help it. But words were failing her right now; he was the writer, not her. But, still, she had to force something out. Anything!

"I love you!" It was a like word vomit, spilling from her mouth. But instead of sour and disgusting, the words tasted almost…sweet. They made her heart suddenly feel lighter and a smile almost immediately quirked on her lips, followed by a tiny, happy giggle (geez, she hadn't giggled in years).

Castle's face, however, was the epitome of shock.

"You…you what?" he stuttered, his eyes full of wonderment at the pure joy she was radiating as the words finally, finally, slipped from her tongue.

"I love you," she repeated; more of a breathy statement and less of an exclamation. She stepped forward, lifting her hands to cup his cheeks. "I love you, Richard Castle."

Castle seemed to snap out of it in a matter of seconds, because suddenly his lips were slanting down on hers, tongue teasing at the seam of her mouth, begging for entrance, which Kate gladly gave, her arms winding around his shoulders, lifting herself up on her toes as he wrapped his own around her waist.

For half a second, Kate couldn't believe what she was allowing herself to do.

We're making out at a fucking crime scene! This is so unpro—oh!

Castle's lips and tongue and teeth drove all thoughts of anything that weren't about him and here and now right out of her head and she allowed herself to enjoy this breathtaking lip lock with the man that she loved.

When, finally, the need for air became too much, she pulled her lips from his, smiling at the slight smacking sound they made and the way he continued to chase her lips.

"Castle," she whispered, placing a single finger between their lips, "we're at a crime scene?"

"Huh?" he asked, his foggy blue eyes still looking dreamily down on hers. Kate giggled—again with the giggling?—and softly turned his head so that he could see the cop cars and yellow tape that still littered this motel parking lot. "Oh," he sighed, "right." Kate snickered and kissed his rough cheek.

"We can continue this later," she promised, huskily in his ear. He grinned down at her and pressed their foreheads together, momentarily.

"I love you," he whispered, the words lighting up her heart. God, when did I become so sappy? "We still need to talk about this," he added, after a moment.

Kate nodded. "I know," she said. 'Later." It was more of a promise than a statement. "But first," she turned towards the crime scene, squaring her shoulders, "let's go solve a murder."

Castle nodded, schooling his features as he followed her towards the scene, both of their hearts bubbling over with happiness.

Though neither of them let anybody else see it.

Okay, so that was the shortest one so far, but I can guarantee the next one will be long as hell. Please REVIEW!