Chapter 10: Don't give up on anything

Disclaimer: Unless Andrew Marlowe also has a run away muse, I am still not him.

Kate woke up, expecting castles arms around her, or in the least him sprawled next to her on the king bed, but her surprise she woke up alone, and his side of the bed had grown cold. She slowly climbed from the bed, stretching as she did and grabbed one of the robes from the top of the dresser, pulling it on before going in search of him throughout the hotel room.

She found him sitting on the couch, his hair still a mess and his feet propped up on the table. His laptop was perched in from of him as his typed away furiously on it.

"You're up?" he asked, looking up from his laptop to her leaning against the doorframe.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"A little after 11," He answered. "I wanted to let you sleep and inspiration hit, so I figured typing out here wouldn't wake you."

"Typing in bed wouldn't have woke me," she replied. "I missed you when I woke up this morning." She said as she walked over to the couch to sit next to him and give him a small kiss. There was a quiet knock at the door just as Castle began typing away again.

"And that will be breakfast," He announced placing the laptop aside to get up and answer the door.

"Now this is why I keep you around," Kate joked as Castle rolled in a small table of numerous plates of food that smelled delicious.

"Well, it's good to know that I'm useful for something."

Kate walked over to the table of food to uncover plates of pancakes, French toast, bacon, eggs and any other breakfast food one could possibly want.

"You do realize there's only two of us, right Castle?" she asked as she discovered the large amount of food.

"I didn't know what you wanted," he answered sitting back down at his laptop, his fingers rapidly moving against the keys as if he had never left them.

"You really should grab some breakfast while it's warm," she told him, placing a piece of bacon in her mouth. "It's delicious."

"Just want to finish this chapter." He answered, not even looking up from his screen. Kate realized inspiration must have really struck him to be this involved in a chapter. He had yet to even notice that under her robe she had traded her tank and boy short pajamas for one of his dress shirts.

He continued to type for the next half an hour, as Kate picked away at her breakfast, eating slowly and watching him type. It was interesting, watching the way his facial expression changed with the words he typed. She could tell when the story was working with him, when he was pondering where to go next, and when he would get frustrated, which usually followed him hitting the delete key furiously. She understood now why he liked to stare at her when she filled out her paper work. You saw another side to a person when they were completely involved in something, their actions not thought about, but simply on cue with their emotions.

When he finally set the laptop aside, he took her almost empty breakfast plate with it before placing his palm on her cheek and kissing her.

"Good morning." He said pulling away. "Sorry about that. But my next chapter came to me, and I had to get it out."

"No need to apologize Rick," she replied. "It was actually interesting watching you."

"Oh, staring at me while I write are you, and you say it's creepy when I do it?" He said before placing a small peck on her lips before getting up to get some breakfast for himself.

"It's still creepy. I wasn't staring at you, just casually glancing while I ate."

"Whatever you say, detective. I may have been absorbed in my writing but that doesn't mean I couldn't feel your eyes on me the entire time."

Kate blushed at his statement. She may have been staring some; although that was something she would never admit.

"You can't hide that blush either Kate," He said trailing off, coming to sit back down next to her.

"You know me too well Castle." She admitted.

"Or just enough." He replied with a smile.

"What time do we need to check out by?" She asked him a few minutes later.

"I got us late check out, so by 4 at the latest. But I promised I'd be home to have dinner with my mother, so I wanted to hit the road around 3."

"That's fine by me. I've got to be up early and into the precinct tomorrow anyway. Got to get caught up on everything I missed this weekend."

"You are more than welcome to join us for dinner tonight, you know that."

"I think I'm going to have to skip this one, Rick. You should catch up with your mom, and I will probably end up in a bubble bath when I get back and then head to bed."

"You in a bubble bath, are you sure I need to catch up with my mother?" He said with a smirk and a raise of his eyebrows.

"Down, writer boy. I will be the only one in my bubble bath tonight. And yes you must catch up with your mother." She replied, in a stern yet playful tone.

"Way to crush my dreams, Kate. Thanks for that one."

"I am sure your ego will survive. It's big enough, I've got to bring you down a notch or two every chance I get." She said standing up, her robe falling open as she did. "Now I am going to jump in the shower." She finished noticing his change in expression. "Alone, Castle."

"Your ruin all my fun." He replied standing up to meet her eye to eye. Placing his hand on her hip and pulling her into him. "Have you been wearing this the entire time and I am just noticing now?" He said, his eyes raking over her body, taking in her just rolled out of bed appearance.

"I stole it before I came out to find you this morning yes, I hope you don't mind."

"Mind? Are you kidding me? If I had known this I would have thrown my laptop on the floor the moment you came out here."

"Very funny, Castle. Now I really am going to shower, alone. If I hear you turn that door knob you will be in big trouble mister." She finished, pulling him in for a kiss, immediately opening her mouth to his own, their tongues battling for dominance. Her hands had moved into his hair, her nails scraping gently along his scalp, while his own had moved to the small of her back, pulling her body flush against his own. When she pulled away, a smile graced her lips, which in turn became a smirk, after seeing the state she had put him in. She turned and walked away, putting slightly more of a sway in her hips than normal.

"Katherine Beckett," He called after her. "You are going to be the death of me."

"I'm sure you will live Castle. Besides if you don't there's no more where that came from for you." She turned to smirk at him, leaning against the doorframe that lead to the bathroom.

"You better lock that bathroom door, or I refuse to be responsible for my actions." He replied as she walked through the door and disappeared into the bedroom.

"Biggest tease," he grumbled sitting back down and pulling his laptop back onto his lap to continue writing.

"This is the last of it?" Castle asked, throwing Kate's overnight bag over his shoulder and grabbing his own suitcase.

"I can carry that Castle, I'm quite capable." She said, picking up her garment bag from across the bed.

"And I am quite capable of carrying it down for you too," He said giving her a quick kiss before opening the door for her. She simply rolled her eyes at his actions. Always the gentleman, he was, and that was the last thing Kate Beckett was used to.

They headed down to the hotel lobby and Castle checked them out before heading out to load the SUV with their bags.

The trip home was short, filled with light conversation between the two of them.

Arriving at Kate's apartment, Castle had insisted on parking and walking her to her door, even through her complaints that she would be fine to get up there herself. She knew that giving in to him was the only option, if she hadn't he would have followed her to the door anyways; there was no winning with him.

"Are you coming into the precinct tomorrow?" She asked as they rode the elevator up to her floor.

"Of course," He replied. "Why wouldn't I be?" He asked

"Well I know you've got to get some work done on the new book, so I figured we might be seeing less of you."

"No chance Kate, you can't get rid of me that easily," he said with a laugh. "Black Pawn will get my manuscript when I get it to them. They can wait, I'd much rather be running around with you than writing these days." He said.

"You know I would never take you for the cop type Castle, but having you around, it really is great. And thank you for this weekend. It was exactly what I needed" Kate said as the neared her door.

"You coming in?" She asked, unlocking her door and walking into the apartment. Setting her bags down with a plop near the door, not caring about them. He nodded and followed behind her, hanging her dress in the closet, and following her into the kitchen.

"I'm glad you had a good weekend. I was scared I wouldn't be a good host." He said sheepishly.

"You are always a good host Castle, don't give me that." She said garbing herself a glass of water.

"Well as much as I don't want to leave, you know mother doesn't like to kept waiting, and it's nearly 5. But I'm glad you had a good weekend Kate. I'll have to bring you back in the summer, it's even better." He said, walking towards her and pulling her into his arms.

"Still working to see me in that swim suit Castle? I'd thought you had given up by now." She said, teasing him.

"Always," He said simply. "And you should know by know that I don't give up on anything." He gave her a gentle kiss, placing his lips atop of hers, just barely, before pulling back. It was unlike the majority of the kisses shared between the two of them this weekend. It was gentle, not lust filled, no expectations to be met, or words to be shared through it, just a kiss before he said his final goodbye and left her apartment. But not before he promised to see her in the morning at the precinct and she swore him against any funny business while there.

Rick arrived at the loft to find his mother lounging on the couch, a full glass of red wine in her hand and numerous scripts laid out on the table in front of her.

"Richard, you're back." she exclaimed.

"I just dropped Kate off at her place and drove over here. I wouldn't forget out dinner plans."

"And how was the weekend away?" She asked.

"It was good. I think it was what we both needed. I'm glad I asked her to come along. And the wedding was wonderful."

"Really Rick, that's all you're going to tell your poor mother? Don't think I don't see the smile you are trying to hide on your face."

"I've got no clue what you are talking about mother." He replied. "Did you already order in for dinner?" he asked.

"I ordered Italian about half an hour ago, so it should be here any time. But I'm surprised Kate's not joining us tonight."

"I offered, but she said she wanted to relax and get to bed early tonight." He explained. "She has to be at the precinct pretty early tomorrow from the sounds of it."

"Well, you whisked the girl away from the city for four days, no wonder she has to be in early tomorrow, Richard. And she wanted to relax tonight? What on earth did the two of you do all weekend?" Martha asked, giving her son an acquiring look.

"That is between me and Kate. Trust me, she got plenty of relaxation in this weekend, but with the busyness of the wedding yesterday she was just tired. I know what your thinking Mother, and I'm not giving you any more information." Martha simply sighed at her son, she knew that something had happened between him and Kate Beckett this weekend, even if he refused to admit it. And she was sure that soon enough everything would come to light.

So like always, thanks to those who reviewed, it keeps me writing know that people are enjoying the story I'm weaving, and also to those who favourited or alerted. I apologize for the small wait between this and Chapter 9, my muse decided to take some vacation time. I hope to have the last chapter of this one up before the end of the month. I am participating in NaNoWirMo this year, which means all of my free time in the month of November will be dedicated to that. If you are a writer or an aspiring writer and don't know of NaNoWriMo I recommend checking it out! So that said, I have some other stories up my sleeve, and I'm not disappearing, simply taking a hiatus from fanfiction for a month. But I will be back in December with something new! In the mean time feel free to follow my twitter or tumblr, both of which can be found on my profile, especially if you are interested in my NaNo stuff, because that's where I will be posting some of it!

Lastly, please leave me some feedback, it is always appreciated!