A/N: So due to the facts that being in grade 13, I am learning more every day that sleep does not build up, so I'm forever tired, I have a terrible relationship with food so I never eat, so I'm forever plagued with headaches, plus the fact that I have major exams in like … a month and I have yet to open a book and writer's block, I have not updated in a longer while than usual and also due to those facts this will probably be a short chapter, so sorry for the little wait, read on and I'll see you at the end…
"So, are you sure Alexis and Martha are alright with this?" She asked, biting the inside of her cheek and staring at him nervously.
"Yea, they actually suggested it the first night you broke your leg, but I knew you wouldn't just let me take you to the Hamptons like that and now since Gates has ordered you on a well needed vacation if I must say, here we are." He said, pulling her bags out of his car.
"How long will we actually be here?" She asked, staring up at the large Hamptons house he had often talked about, even invited her to once.
"As long as you want." He replied, placing their bags on the ground, following her gaze to stare at the house.
"Awesome huh?" He grinned.
"It's something." She continued to stare.
"Don't like it?" He asked, sounding a bit disappointed.
"No! No, I love it, just a bit overwhelmed is all." She said, not wanting him to feel like she didn't want to be here, she did and since Alexis and Martha were staying back in New York, they were given the opportunity to be alone and actually figure out where this relationship was headed.
She turned to him and smiled.
"It's beautiful Castle."
He beamed at her, "Shall we?" He gestured to the house.
She nodded, "We shall."
He bent down to pick up their bags while she balanced herself on her crutches and moved towards the house. He remained close behind her as she slowly made her way up the stairs. She knew he wanted to help her, but he knew how much she loved her independence and she would forever thank him for that.
When she finally reached to the top, he moved around her and unlocked the door, letting it swing open before her, gesturing for her to enter.
She hobbled through the entrance, looking around, taking in everything she saw. The place was huge, with large windows everywhere overlooking the sea in the backyard. She could really get to love it here, especially outside. She remembered her broken leg and the cast that was on her leg and reminded herself sadly that she couldn't even go out into the water, but she would settle for sitting on the sand, enjoying the peacefulness of the scene this time.
"Let me just put our bags down and I'll show you around." He said, heading towards the stairs, while she nodded and continued looking around the house.
Shortly after, he came back down the stairs with empty hands and a huge smile on her face all for her. She smiled shyly at him as she felt her heart race in her chest, she was amazed how this man could still bring out this reaction in her.
She followed his gaze as he came closer to her, invading her space. Gently he cupped her cheek and pressed his lips to hers, instantly she melted at the sweetness of it. It was intoxicating, although the kiss was hard or urgent, it was soft and just right, she just wanted to wrap herself around him and remain here forever, kissing him, loving him.
"What was that for?" She asked a bit out of breath when he pulled away, but remained inches away from her face.
He closed his eyes and smiled, "Because I can." He replied, softly kissing her again before stepping away, much to her disappointment.
He stood a little away from her, just simply smiling at her.
"What?"
"Nothing." He shook his head and looked around, "Come on, I'll show you around."
She was slowly hopping down the stairs, a bit out of breath from all the crutch walking she did around the house. It was huge and she wanted to see every bit of it, despite Castle telling her to rest, that she could see the rest of it later, but she just ignored him and continued up the stairs and naturally, he followed.
She plopped down in the large, soft couch in his TV room and closed her eyes.
"If I say I told you so, would you shoot me?" He asked.
She opened one eye, "I would," she smiled, "But I didn't bring my gun."
"You? Kate Beckett, are currently unarmed?" He asked, acting over surprised.
"I figured if anything goes wrong, I have a big strong man to take care of me." She closed her eyes again, waiting a while to let what she just said inflate his ego a bit, before deflating it again.
"And if the police don't get here in time, I'm sure you can distract them with your big words or something." She said nonchalantly.
He stared at her, mouth hanging open, "You're mean."
"You sound like a five year old." She retorted.
He crossed his arms over his chest, "I guess I won't feed you tonight, since I'm five and all and probably shouldn't be around a stove."
She opened her eyes to stare at him, he was looking adorable with his arms crossed and a pout on his face.
"Come here," She said, patting the space next to her.
"Are you going to wound me?" He asked cautiously.
"I'm not going to wound you Castle." She rolled her eyes.
He narrowed his eyes at her, slowly making his way over to her and sat beside her.
She carefully stretched her legs out on the couch and reclined herself into his lap, staring up at him.
"I'm tired." She yawned, as he stared down at her with an eyebrow raised.
"You should be, all that walking, your hands must be sore too." He said, reaching for her hand, gently rubbing his thumb over it.
Her hands were sore, from moving around on crutches, she didn't want to even look at those damn things anymore. She turned on her side and snuggled closer to Castle, as he continued to massage her palm. She closed her eyes and let herself get lost in the feel of him, a small smile making its way to her face.
"Not that I don't love to see you smile, but may I ask what this smile is for." He spoke, breaking to peaceful silence.
"You." She said, without opening her eyes.
"Me?" He sounded confused.
"You're just so… you Castle." She smiled again.
"And is that a bad thing?" He asked slowly.
"No, no, it's perfect." She sighed.
He didn't ask her anymore questions and let the room fall silent. The only sound was the peaceful sound of the waves crashing against the shore and each of their breathing. They remained in this position until darkness came over them and Kate's stomach rumbled.
"Hungry?" He asked.
"A bit." She answered.
He made to get up, "Stay here, I'll fix us something simple." He said, easing her off of his lap and standing.
She watched him as he made his way to the kitchen with a smile on her face. She felt happy and peaceful to be here, alone with this man. She let her eyes drift shut, excited for what the rest of their vacation would offer.
"Kate." She felt him gently squeezing her shoulder.
"Kate, come on wake up, dinner's ready." He said again.
She opened her eyes, bringing her hands up to rub the sleep away. She looked around the room, it wasn't much darker than before, her eyes spotted a digital clock on the kitchen counter, displaying the time, 9:37pm.
"How long was I asleep?" She asked, carefully moving up to a sitting position, swinging her legs over the edge of the couch.
"About an hour and a half." He told her.
She shook her head, trying to shake the sleepy feeling. She looked up at him, "What's for dinner?"
"Spaghetti and meatballs." He said, beaming proudly.
"Great." She smiled, moving to stand.
"Wait, what are you doing?" He asked, watching her confused.
"Coming to eat dinner?" She said, looking at him as if he asked a dumb question.
"No, stay, we'll have it right here." He said, pushing her back down into the couch.
"You sure?" She asked.
"Yea why not?"
"Okay."
He turned back to the kitchen and returned with two hot plates of spaghetti and meatballs and her stomach grumbled loudly as he handed her her plate.
He laughed, but didn't comment as she immediately dug into to her food, swirling the spaghetti around her fork and shovelling the food into her mouth.
"Take it easy Kate, the food's hot." He commented.
She took a sip of the drink he had placed in front of her before he brought food and slowed down.
"You're actually a good cook Castle." She said, swallowing a mouthful of food.
"Why thank you detective, I take pride in being able to feed the important women in my life." He grinned, taking a forkful of his own food.
"Well, you're doing a good job. Keep cooking like this and I'm going to be huge by the time I leave here."
"More of you for me to - care for." He said, obviously wanting to say a certain four letter word, but choosing not to, not wanting to scare her away, but she knew, he didn't have to say it, she knew.
They finished their meals and Kate relaxed against Castle again, pulling his arm around her waist and tracing her finger over his hand.
Castle smiled, he could get used to this. It felt so domestic, so normal, so right. But it was getting late and she was tired, they should get to bed.
"Come on, bedtime." Castle said, pushing her up.
"10:30? What am I 16?" She asked, turning to look at him.
"No, but it's been a long day, you're tired, I figured a bed would be perfect right now." He explained.
A bed did sound perfect right now and she was tired and she needed a bath.
"Are you gonna stay with me?" She asked.
"If you want me to."
"I want you to."
Honestly, she didn't feel comfortable enough in a new place sleeping by herself and it didn't hurt that he was the best pillow ever.
"Okay, I'll stay."
"Good, but I need to shower first." She said, reaching for her crutches as he helped her to stand.
"Okay, there are built in seats in the shower, so I don't have to come with you this time." He said, sounding just as disappointed as she felt.
She was glad for the seats, so she wouldn't have to feel so vulnerable, but she was disappointed, because she wanted Castle with her, but she just didn't feel brave enough to ask.
She took one step on her crutches and grimaced, the soreness in her palms weren't making it an easy tak to move around.
"Need help?" He asked from behind her.
"No, it's okay." She lied.
Before she knew it he was reaching out for her and lifting her up bridal style.
"Castle! Put me down!" She yelled and fought against him.
"Kate, you're hurt, your hands are sore, there's no way I'm gonna make you climb those stairs on those crutches, I'll carry you okay, just for tonight. You can shoot me when we get back home." He said, climbing the stairs with her in his arms.
"Fine."
She settled against his chest as she climbed the rest of the stairs and took her to the bathroom, handing her back her crutches.
"I'll be right outside if you need anything." He said, lingering at the door, "Here, your bag for your cast."
She nodded, wanting to ask him to stay, but the words were stuck in her throat and she watched him close the door behind him.
She took a seat and began removing her clothes and putting the plastic over her cast. She hopped into the shower and took a seat and turned on the shower.
She felt her muscles relax as the steaming water poured over her and now she wished more than ever that she'd asked Castle to stay with her. She thought about calling out for him, but she didn't.
She quickly finished up the rest of the shower, hurrying so that she could get back to Castle. She didn't like to be away from him lately, she felt less panicked with him around.
She dried herself and her hair, looking around for her clothes, realizing she didn't bring any.
"Castle?" She called, hoping he was still in the room.
"Yea Kate? Everything okay?" He responded.
"Umm, can you bring me some clothes?" She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth.
"Of course."
Soon, there was a knock on the door and she opened it. He had a hand extended with a t-shirt, shorts and underwear and the other hand covering his eyes.
"Thanks Castle" She laughed.
"Anytime." He turned away as she closed the door to get dressed.
She managed to pull on her clothes and she piled up her hair into a messy ponytail, grabbed her crutches and made her way out of the bathroom.
He was lying on the bed, with one hand behind his head watching her.
"Have I told you how much I love seeing you in my clothes?" He smiled.
She looked down, she was wearing his green lantern t-shirt, one she had grabbed from his draw one night and she had packed to carry with her.
"That's good, because I don't think you're getting it back." She sat at the edge of the bed, placing her crutches against the wall.
"I don't mind as long as I get to see it on you." He said, his voice low and husky, causing her to shiver.
She drew the covers over them and wrapped her arm around his chest, resting her cheek against his shoulder.
"No problem." She yawned, closing her eyes.
"Just, one thing." He said, tilting her head up with his finger.
"What's that?" She asked.
He smiled as leaned down to kiss her, smiling into it as he felt her fingers grip the front of his T-shirt and a soft moan escape her lips. He pulled away from her, as she protested, trying to get closer to him. He gave her one last kiss before pulling away again.
"Sleep Kate, I'll be here in the morning."
Reluctantly, she rested her hand back on his shoulder and allowed her eyes to drift shut, she felt his hands rubbing her back gently, a move he knew sent her to sleep quickly. She smiled to herself, thinking how lucky she was to have him and how stupid she was to wait this long to let herself have this.
There was no going back now, she was in this and she wanted to be. She wanted to let him love her, all of her and she wanted to love him and she would, before this vacation was over.
End A/N: I had planned for there to be another scene or two in this chapter, but sleep is punching me in the face, so I'm going to stop it here and I'll do my best to update soon. Leave me a review and I'll update sooner ;) Thanks! Night!
Also, sorry for any grammatical errors, you know I don't read over, plus I'm half asleep sooo.. yea, sorry.