I'm baaaack! Miss me? I know you did! Enjoy!

Also, to explain for last chapter's pill and shot talk: In this reality, men take birth control (because it makes more sense to me) and you can get shots to protect against all STD's. Medicine is pretty advanced here.

Chapter Twenty

Less than an hour later, they lay in bed, sharing take-out boxes of General Tsao's chicken, Lo Mein, fried rice, and mini egg rolls. Kate had slapped him for his earlier proclamation of hunger after their…intimate encounter. But then her own stomach had grumbled and she rolled her eyes, slipping on his t-shirt and walking out to the kitchen to retrieve a menu and call for dinner. Castle's eyes had been glued to her ass the entire time.

"Eyes off the prize, Castle," she'd called back without even looking at him. "At least until we have something to eat first." Castle had laughed at that, waiting until she'd gotten back to the bedroom before responding.

"Actually," he said, pulling her to his still naked bed, "I could do with a little appetizer…" his eyes darkened as he caught her unimpressed gaze.

"Do you think you're quite up to it?" Kate replied, glancing down pointedly. Castle gave her a predatory grin.

"Oh, I think that shouldn't be a problem for what I'm planning," he replied, capturing her mouth with his as his hand disappeared under the hem of his shirt.

He'd had Kate in a satisfied puddle on the bed by the time the food arrived and he'd served it to her as if she were a queen, earning a sexy grin in return as he leaned down to kiss her. When their lips parted, she'd sighed.

"A girl could get used to this," she said, chuckling as she dug into the chicken.

"Good," Castle said, "because I spoil all of my girls rotten." At Kate's raised eyebrow, he began to backtrack. "I mean Alexis and Meredith!" he insisted, "I swear!"

Kate chuckled. "Castle, relax," she said, patting his arm, "I know what you meant. Besides, I'm not the type to get jealous about whoever you shared your life with before. It doesn't matter now." She smiled reassuringly at him and he leaned in for another kiss before digging into the rice in his lap.

They lay there silently eating for a while before Kate finally spoke. "Castle, can I ask you a question?"

"Yes, I do work out," Castle replied cheekily.

Kate rolled her eyes. "About your books?"

Castle nodded. "Of course," he replied.

"Where…do you…how do you….write romance in your novels?" she asked, stuttering slightly.

Castle shrugged. "It's not that hard," he said. "Not when you're good at writing and you're a pretty avid reader. Any 20th century writer you look at has a pretty good knack for romance. Except Hemingway. I mean, A Farewell to Arms was pretty good but did she have to…you know? Wait, have you read that one yet? I don't want to spoil it."

Kate chuckled. "Yes, I've read it and I agree, but they had a pretty good love story before that. But I just meant that most of those writers actually experienced it before they wrote about it."

"What? Love?" Castle asked. Kate nodded.

"Yeah. That's what made it so convincing and…realistic. But now…nobody falls in love anymore; it doesn't exist. So how can you write about something that doesn't exist anymore?"

Castle turned to her. "Do you really believe that?" he asked.

"Don't you?" she shot back.

Castle shrugged. "Not really…I mean, that's what I've been told all my life; true love doesn't exist. But then I see all these married couples and some of them seem to really dislike each other or just barely tolerate one another, but then other ones…like my parents and yours; they really seem to like one another. Sometimes, when I look at my mother and father, I think they might actually…love one another. So, yes, I do believe that love is still out there. It can't have disappeared completely, right?"

Kate smiled softly, nodding, before her eyes shot open. "Wait," she said, "my parents? How do you figure?"

Castle shrugged. "It's just in the way they look at each other, I guess. Your dad's eyes always seem to…sparkle when he looks at your mom. And your mom…she does that little eye-rolling thing that you do when he makes a corny joke, but then she smiles—really smiles—and you can just see it…she really cares about him. That's what I call love. Don't you agree?"

Kate listened to what he said with a soft smile on her face, but as soon as he looked at her, the smile went away, only to be replaced by a look of uncertainty. "I don't know," she admitted. "I'd like to believe that it still exists, that you can feel something that strongly for another person, but how can I? How can I believe something like that when we live in a society that forces us to marry complete strangers just so we won't have population problem. How can I believe that there's somebody out there meant for me if I'm not even allowed to go out and look for them?"

"Maybe," Castle said, shyly, "you don't have to look very far to find exactly what you're looking for…" Kate's eyes widened at that and she looked up at him. Castle, however, refused to meet her eye. She reached out, cupping his chin, and moved his head to face her, smiling softly at him.

"Maybe," she said, softly. "But we'll just have to wait and see." Castle smiled down at her and leaned down to capture her lips in a passionate kiss, pulling her body towards his as he carefully placed the carton of rice on his bedside table. Kate did the same with the chicken, allowing him to pull her into his lap, gasping as she straddled him, rising above him and smiling as his lips followed hers.

Within minutes the boxers he'd been wearing and her shirt were shed as they settled in for round two. And three.

Then they fell asleep tangled in each other's embrace, Kate's head tucked comfortably under Castle's chin and their empty food cartons forgotten as they fell into a deep slumber…

"Richard! Darling, we're here!" Martha's voice floated through the loft, rousing her sleeping son and his fiancé. Castle's eyes widened as he sat straight up, looking at the clock, cursing to himself.

"Kate!" he hissed, shaking her sleeping form gently. Kate moaned, slapping his hand away.

"Tired," she mumbled, rolling onto her stomach.

"Kate," he tried again, "my parents are here and I'm sure yours aren't far behind!"

That caused her to jump up, nearly falling off the bed before Castle had a chance to catch her. He helped her up, gathering up all of her clothes for her and helping her into them. Kate dressed quickly as Castle did the same, taking out a pair of sweatpants and an old wife-beater to change into before turning to Kate.

"How do I look?" he asked.

"Like you just had a night of wild sex with your fiancé," she replied, sarcastically.

Castle grinned. "Well, I wouldn't call it wild…"

"Castle, just shut up and help me get out of here without being seen!"

"What? Why?"

"Because your parents are here and as far as they know, we have separate bedrooms?"

"So? We're engaged, Kate. Sooner or later, they're going to expect us to have sex. They know how Alexis got here only three months after my wedding after all."

"I don't care, Castle," Kate hissed. "I don't want them finding out like this! Just…help me get upstairs without them seeing!"

"How?"

"Distract them!"

That looks like a nice place to stop. Yes, I am evil and I do plan on ruling the world. Please REVIEW!