Update! I didn't get to meet Nathan =(
Chapter Ten
After leaving Alexis to her nap, Kate and Castle made their way downstairs, neither quite sure what they were going to do to pass the time. All of the leftovers had been put away and the dishes were all clean and back in their cupboards. And Kate's belongings had all been put away in her new room.
And now, with all of their friends gone and his daughter asleep, Rick and Kate were pretty much alone together, in need of something to do to pass the time. Kate glanced over at Castle as they walked down the stairs; he looked just as clueless as she as to what to do next, though he tried not to show it.
When they reached the bottom floor of the loft, Kate turned to Castle, giving him a friendly smile. "So," she said, "um, do you have any good movies?" She hoped the heat she could feel on her face was not present on her cheeks.
Castle grinned and nodded. "Mostly kids' stuff, but I have a few good classics, yeah."
"What kind of classics?" Kate asked.
"Hitchcock and Bellizzi stuff. You know…thriller. Oh, and some Joss Whedon; all of Joss Whedon, actually." Kate nodded.
"Nothing this century, huh?" she asked, grinning. Castle shrugged.
"I told you," he said, "I'm old-fashioned. Besides everyone loves a good classic."
"I guess so. Do you have any Bellizzi work that doesn't include Leonardo DiCaprio?"
"Do those even exist?"
Kate chuckled. "Honestly, I doubt it. It's just horrible the poor guy never won an Oscar for any of those films."
"Yeah…but, hey, now we have the Leos to look forward to every year."
"I guess so."
"So…Hitchcock, then?"
"Definitely."
"Good choice."
An hour later, they were seated on the couch, their eyes practically glued to the screen as Norman Bates went about moving the body of Marion Crane. Kate shivered, thinking about how many times she'd seen this movie and how it still gave her nightmares every time she saw it…but she just couldn't look away. Castle looked over at her, noticing her shiver, and offered her a blanket from the back of the couch, but Kate shook her head.
"I'm fine," she said, smiling thankfully at him, "just a little creeped out."
"I know what you mean," Castle said, "I mean, I've been writing stuff like this for years and it still astounds me to know that it's not all just fiction; shit like this happens for real out there. It's crazy."
Kate nodded in agreement, before shivering again.
"Okay," Castle said, "come here." He held out his arm to her and Kate's eyes widened.
"What?" she asked, startled.
Castle chuckled. "Relax," he said, "I'm not trying to cuddle just yet. I just want you to come closer so we can share the blanket."
"Wh-why?" Kate asked. "I told you, I'm not cold."
"Yeah, then why do you keep shivering, then?" Castle asked, lifting one brow. Kate blushed as she realized she didn't have the answer to that question, so she relented, moving closer to him on the couch until she was seated on the cushion next to him, still not touching.
Castle casually draped the deep red blanket over both of them, making sure that it covered Kate's body before covering himself with the other half, smiling at her once they were both covered up to their shoulders. Kate smiled back in thanks, before turning back to the television screen, not quite focusing on the storyline anymore. Suddenly, she found herself turning to Castle and caught him staring, unabashedly, at her.
"What?" she asked, startling the writer, who blinked his blue eyes in confusion.
"What what?" he asked, clearly unaware that he was doing anything unusual.
"Why are you staring at me?" Kate inquired, not quite annoyed.
"Was I?" Castle asked, looking genuinely surprised. "I had no idea. Sorry."
Kate's mouth quirked up in a smile. "It's fine, Castle," she said, "I know you were just dazzled by my enchanting good looks," she teased, fluttering her eyelashes at him, trying to lighten the mood.
Castle chuckled. "Oh, you have no idea," he flirted, causing Kate to visibly blush. Castle realized what he said and had the common courtesy to blush as well, still smiling, albeit a bit shyly. "Well, it's true," he said, "you are very…beautiful."
Kate cleared her throat. "Thank you, Castle," she replied, ducking her head.
Castle grinned, then suddenly blurted, "Do you want to play 20 Questions?"
Kate's eyes widened. "What?" she asked; she was most definitely not expecting him to ask that.
Castle cleared his throat. "Well," he said, "I was just thinking…despite being engaged, despite having had lunch with you yesterday and today, I still don't know much about you, you know? And likewise. You know more about my two-year-old daughter's short life than you know about me and I guess I thought that playing 20Q would…"
"Help us learn more about each other?" Kate finished for him in a questioning tone. Castle nodded.
"Yeah," he said, smiling. "So, what do you think?"
Kate shrugged. "Couldn't hurt. You wanna go first?"
"No, no," Castle said, "ladies first, I insist." Kate rolled her eyes, grinning.
"Alright…what's your birthday?"
"April 1st, 2291; You?" Castle replied.
"Well, you already know the day, but the year is 2294. Your turn."
"Um…what's your favorite food?"
"Pizza," Kate answered, easily, "more specifically; sausage and pineapple pizza."
"Strange combination," Castle said, furrowing his eyebrows. Kate shrugged.
"Don't knock it til you try it. What about you? What's your favorite food?"
"Pasta carbonara," Castle said, practically drooling, "it's so good. Have you ever had it?"
Kate chuckled, nodding. "My mom makes it on occasion; it's pretty good."
"You haven't tasted mine yet," Castle said, winking, "you'll love it so much you'll ask me to make it every night. Just wait and see."
Kate nodded. "I'll hold you to that," she said. "Now, what's your favorite color?"
Castle had to think about that for a moment before responding. "Red, but not like normal red; like…blood red."
"Well that's a bit morbid and somewhat creepy," Kate said, laughing. Castle shrugged.
"You expected anything less from a murder novelist?"
"Good point."
"So, what about you; what's your favorite color?"
"Purple."
"That's it? Just purple?"
Kate shrugged. "I'm not biased; I love all purple equally."
"How very accepting of you," Castle teased, getting a raspberry from Kate. "And oh so mature," Castle teased further, making Kate pout. He chuckled and reached out, tucking her lower lip back into place before he realized what he was doing and recoiled, leaving Kate blushing, her eyes practically popping out of her head. "Sorry," Castle said, before coughing into his fist. "Um," he continued, "this may be kind of a personal question but…are you still…?" he tried to find the right word without coming right out there and saying it, but Kate understood.
"If the question you're asking is, am I still a virgin, then the answer is no, Castle; I'm not." She said it confidently and unashamed. Why should she be, anyway? It's not like she was the only person to ever lose their virginity before their pairing; it was a very common practice to…well, to practice these sorts of things with a lover. It wasn't the 21st century, where this sort of thing would seem scandalous; it was no big deal.
Except to her own parents, of course. All parents liked to think that their children never had sex, no matter what century, and, likewise, their children liked to believe that they were dropped off by a stork and that was that.
Castle breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God," he said, "now I don't feel so bad about losing my own."
Kate laughed. "Castle, I kind of already knew you weren't a virgin."
Castle's eyes widened. "What? Did my mother tell you?"
Kate laughed, leaning her head on his shoulder, barely even realizing as she began to relax into their game. "Okay," she said, "next question; who was your first?"
Castle didn't even have to think about it before he answered. "Kyra Blaine," he said, wistfully. "We were about fifteen when we met and we became fast friends. Her parents were a little snooty but she was alright and she was pretty, so we sort of just decided that we would...well, you know. It lasted a couple of months before she moved away to France or something. Haven't seen her since. You?"
"Will Sorenson," Kate replied. "I was about sixteen, I think, and he was cute and available. We lasted six months before he moved to Boston. Your turn."
"What is the most embarrassing thing you've ever done?" Castle asked, grinning.
Kate smiled, shaking her head. "I think it was probably running full force into this guy in the park when I was jogging…oh, wait! That was you!" she giggled and Castle snorted, remembering.
"That doesn't count," Castle said, "really now; what was your most embarrassing moment, other than that?"
"Uh…it might have been when I shoved a marble up my nose at age six and it got stuck there." A large grin spread over Castle's face as he tried not to laugh, and Kate slapped his chest as he couldn't hold back and let it all go, laughing like a lunatic at the thought of a little Kate Beckett with a marble sticking out of her nostril.
"It's not funny!" Kate said, unable to suppress her own chuckles. "I was teased for the rest of the school year and my parents were told to have me tested!" This bit of information just made Castle laugh harder, his body shaking with his mirth.
Kate glared at him. "Okay, so what's your most embarrassing moment then, Mr. Castle?" she practically growled. Castle sobered up slightly at the question, taking deep breaths before answering.
"Ahem, when I was about twelve years old, my mother made me join drama in my middle school and I was cast as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, which meant tights an frills in places no man should ever have frills. Anyway, one day I was getting out of dress rehearsal and I found that my clothes had been stolen, so I had to walk home in a full Shakespeare getup, through Manhattan, with classmates and strangers alike, calling out inaccurate Shakespeare lines at me; it was mortifying. Needless to say, after that play I never went back into drama."
Now it was Kate's turn to laugh, picturing Castle wearing the tights he'd described through the streets of New York City. "Aww," she said, "poor baby Castle!" She reached up and pinched his cheek, making him pout dramatically. Kate just laughed and shook her head.
"Whatever," he grumbled, "so what's your next question?"
They played the game for over the next hour, trading questions and stories that went along with their answers, allowing each other to really get to know one another. Castle learned that the first book she'd read was a classic, To Kill a Mockingbird, and that it had sparked a love for reading from a very early age; especially books about law and justice, which explained why she had such a fond interest in his books, which often included both. Kate learned about Castle's odd relationship with his father; how he always tried to get Castle into sports but was still very supportive of his son's plans to write and his nerdy side, which often had him visiting old-fashioned comic book stores rather than ballgames, and how his father, Rick Sr., spent most of his time away on 'business trips' so their quality time was more precious to Castle than he could ever even begin to describe to Kate.
Finally, they noticed that the movie had ended without either one's knowledge and the sun had already set over New York, leaving them in the dark with just the glow from the TV shedding light on their faces.
"Wow," Kate said, suddenly, "it's starting to get late."
Castle nodded. "Yeah," he agreed, "I better get up and start making dinner; can you go check on Alexis?"
Kate nodded, moving to get up before blushing as she realized that she had practically crawled into Castle's lap as they spoke. She made a move to back off but her foot seemed to have made its way underneath Castle's leg and so she very nearly fell off the couch.
Thankfully, Castle caught her, winding his arm around her waist and pulling her up against him, a bit too roughly, making Kate gasp as their hips accidentally bumped against each other. Both sets of eyes widened as they locked gazes, neither able to look away from the other.
They stayed there for what felt like hours, him holding her around her waist and her holding onto his strong arms, their eyes never wavering from one another, until, suddenly, they heard a wailing from upstairs and Castle nearly dropped Kate, catching her at the last second and laying her gently down on the couch next to him. Kate jumped right up after that, unable to meet his gaze.
"Um, I think she may have woken up," she stammered, "I'll just go up an…um, yeah," and with that, she retreated quickly from the living room, leaving Castle looking over the back of the couch at her retreating form, before he lay his forehead on it, groaning.
Kate took the steps two at a time, wondering what the hell she had to feel embarrassed about; he was her fiancé! And it's not like she'd never had a lover before. Besides, they had kissed just the night before, so it wasn't like they had anything to be shy about. But why then, she asked herself, did she feel so…strange? Why did this one guy, who she was now living with her, invoke such a strange sense of terror as well as a feeling of familiarity in her at the same time; it was mystifying! Especially when the feelings caused her to bolt from the room at the first signs of intimacy.
Kate tried to shake off the thoughts as best she could as she made her way into Alexis's room, seeing the little girl sitting up in her bed, cheeks red and eyes puffy with tears. Alexis looked at her as she entered the room and immediately put her arms out for comfort. Kate smiled at her and scooped her up in her arms, bouncing her for a few moments as she whispered soothing words in her ears, rubbing a hand up and down her back as Alexis wrapped her arms around Kate's neck and held on tight.
Soon, Alexis was relaxed, only letting out the occasional hiccup, her head resting on Kate's shoulder as she smiled down at the little girl in her arms. "You feeling better now?" Kate asked. Alexis nodded against her. "Did you have a bad dream?" Alexis shook her head.
"Dark," she whimpered, her chin quivering slightly. Kate held her tighter, shushing her and stroking her hair.
"It's okay, Sweetie," she soothed, "it's not dark anymore. Everything's going to be alright. Okay?" Alexis nodded and Kate smiled, tipping the girl's chin up to meet her eyes. She wiped the tears off the girl's dimpled cheeks, smiling as she hiccupped. "Now how about he go get you washed up for dinner; do you need to go potty?" Alexis nodded. "Well, then, let's go," Kate said, carrying her towards her own bedroom to use the bathroom.
Once they were out and Alexis's face was all washed clean of tears, Kate carried her downstairs, where she saw Castle at the stove in the kitchen, stirring something in a pot on the stove, all the lights having been turned on and the TV shut off.
"Hey," she greeted, "look who woke up."
Castle turned and beamed at his little girl, settled comfortably against his fiancé's hip. "Hey, Pumpkin," he said, leaning down to kiss the girl's chubby cheek. "Did you have a nice nap?" Alexis nodded, smiling. "That's nice. Do you want to go play now?" Alexis nodded again. "Use your words, Alexis," Castle said.
"Yes," Alexis said, before adding a quick, "please," and smiling brightly. Castle chuckled.
"Okay, Pumpkin," he said, before turning to Kate. "I have a play corner set in the living room for her, just put her in and close the gate; she should be fine." Kate nodded and made her way into the living room, easily locating the large section of the room, separated by a knee-height safety gate. Kate placed Alexis down in it and the little girl immediately ran towards a dollhouse, dropping to her bottom to start playing, immediately losing herself in the game of make-believe. Kate smiled at her, remembering those innocent days, before making her way back to the kitchen.
"Do you need any help?" she asked as she entered the kitchen area. Castle smiled over his shoulder at her.
"Yeah," he said, "could you make the salad? I'm just boiling up some pasta so I can sauté it with garlic and broccoli."
"And you say my food taste is strange," she teased as she went to the fridge to gather the needed materials for a garden salad.
"Oh," Castle said, "and one more thing I forgot," Castle said, as she'd already gathered everything in her arms.
Kate turned to look back at him. "What's tha—"
She was cut off as Castle's lips descended on hers, causing her to drop everything in her arms in shock.
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