"'Cause I know places we can hide

I know places"


Neither of them can sleep, ironically. The time change, the sporadic pieces of slumber they have managed to snag, the panic they both fight to keep at bay all playing a role in keeping the both of them wide awake in the king sized bed.

"I'm not going to be good at this," she whispers, turning towards him in the bed, giving up all pretenses of resting and Castle does too, offering her his full attention. "On the plane, I actually thought - I felt like I was going to explode the farther away we flew," she confesses, feeling her chest tighten with that same feeling of oppression that had come alive on the plane.

"You want to fight," he surmises, no disappointment nor disagreement in his assessment, no judgment, just acknowledgment.

"I want you more," she breathes, watching his tired blue eyes fall from the pale moonlight slicing through the curtains to study her face. "I know in Canada, you were afraid I'd leave you."

"Kate," he sighs, but she inches closer, transferring her head to his pillow, sliding her knee between his.

"I know why," she assures him, stroking the unshaven line of his jaw, fingering the prickling beginnings of a beard. "And that's why I'm saying this." Kate takes a deep breath, nudging in closer to rest her forehead against his while she whispers the words, her promise to him. "You're my partner, but you're more than that, you're - you're everything to me, Castle. I was saving these for the wedding, but-"

"Kate, don't," he groans softly, curling an arm around her back, squeezing.

"The moment that I met you," she recites anyway, cradling the base of his skull in her palm, threading her fingers through his hair. "My life became extraordinary. You taught me to be my best self, and you're still teaching me, still turning every day into an adventure no matter how uncertain things may seem for us. And you're so strong, Castle, especially when I'm vulnerable, you keep me strong."

He rolls her over then, presses her into the mattress with the solid weight of his body over hers and the decisive seal of his lips on her mouth.

"Save the rest for the wedding, Kate," he breathes and when she looks up, his eyes are wet, threatened by tears that she wipes away before they can fall. "I'm going to marry you," he murmurs, brushing the hair from her face, the moonlight glowing around him, making him look angelic above her. "Nothing can keep me from marrying you."

Her lips quirk, the noose circling her lungs falling slack as he lowers himself to rest atop her, just resting, relishing in the peace of their first night within the walls of their own sanctuary.

"Is that offer to go skinny dipping still open?" she murmurs, breaking the serenity of silence and feeling her body finally flood with something other than fear and guilt.

Castle pushes up on his elbows, glancing down at her with an arched eyebrow and a surprised gleam in his eyes.

"You want to go skinny dipping?" he chuckles and she swats at his arm once for laughing at her before sitting up in the bed with him.

"You're the one who suggested it," she reminds him, shoving the goose down comforter from her waist and scooting towards the edge of the mattress, pushing her feet into the slippers Castle bought her at the airport with a smile. "And now you're not going to follow through?"

His gaze sparks with challenge as he follows suit, escaping from his side of the bed and meeting her at the bedroom door.

It's a rush of excitement tiptoeing down the stairs of the empty house, rushing ahead of him to reach the glass doors first and slip outside without him catching her. A breath of laughter escapes her as she kicks off her shoes at the patio, feeling him right behind her while she races into the cool blades of glass, jogging down the hill and shedding her pajamas as she goes.

His arm comes around her before she can touch the water and she turns in his embrace with another laugh, loud and uninhibited, winding her arms around his neck and pressing her naked chest to his. The moon and the stars shine above them and the ethereal gleam the sky casts upon him has her breath catching.

"Kate?" he questions, his smile fading already, all too easily at the slightest sign of distress, and she shakes her head against the fall of his lips, cradling his jaw in one of her palms and willing the curve of his mouth upwards with the brush of her thumb.

"It's just really beautiful out here," she whispers, watching with relief as he instantly relaxes against her.

"Yeah," he agrees with a grin, not taking his eyes off of her. "And the best part, no neighbors."

"Just us?" she asks, tugging down the cotton of her underwear, the last of her clothing, at his nod, and urging him to do the same.

"For miles," he confirms with a small smirk, kicking the garments to the side. "Unless you count the sheep that sometimes roam around here. The previous owner told me they can be an annoying set of freeloaders, but otherwise, it's just you and me."

Beckett grins and finds his hands, guiding him into the cold water of the lake with her, relishing in the squelch of mud between her toes and the cool laps of water embracing her the deeper they wade. The chill of the lake seeps into her skin, eliciting goosebumps along her flesh, but it's the heat of his body against hers that has a shiver spiraling down her spine.

"Well then," she hums, using the dark screen of the water at their chests to surprise him with the slide of her hands over his bare skin. "We should make the most of our time here."

Castle brightens at that even as his eyes shift a shade darker.

"We can treat it like a private getaway," he muses, arms slithering around her waist and she drifts forward, bumping her hips against his. "We could still be happy here."

She pauses at his words, no longer playful, but serious, hopeful, and Kate uses the buoyancy the water allows her to coil her legs around him, sighing with content when he decides to assist and lifts her in his arms.

"Castle," she murmurs, stroking her wet fingers through his hair, brushing her thumb over his temple where she's sure a constant string of headaches have been festering. "No matter where we are or why, I'll always be happy with you."

"Beckett," he sighs, as if he doesn't believe her, and she tightens the muscles of her thighs at his hips.

"I'm serious," she insists, cupping his worried face in her hands. "Castle, you're - you're the only thing in my life I'm sure of. You've almost always been that one constant I could depend on."

"Almost?" he huffs and she flicks his ear.

"The point," she continues, the fingers at his ear going soft, stroking the delicate shell. "I trust you, I love you, and that's not going to change, okay?"

She can't tell if it's the reflection of the water or actual tears shimmering in his eyes and he surges forward to kiss her before she can decipher it, but she doesn't protest, welcoming the warm haven of his mouth, moaning low in her throat at the welcome intrusion of his tongue slipping past the parted barrier of her lips.

Her body arches at the splay of his hands over her back, skating along the edges of her spine, sending the water rippling around them.

"I love you," he mumbles around the press of her mouth, the yearning of her tongue, and she gasps at the touch of his palm covering her expanding ribs, skating higher up to the sensitive path of her skin to cup her breast, skimming his thumb over the raised flesh of her scar.

"I know you do," she whispers, bowing forward to kiss him again. "I know you do."

After nearly two hours in the moonlit lake, they head back inside, dripping all over the floors and leaving two pairs of wet footprints on their way back upstairs. Castle coaxes her into the cozy little shower of their en suite bathroom and the refreshing spray of the hot water, the slick skin of his arms wrapping around her, has her purring with satisfaction, their nighttime activities having cleansed her mind. She knows the fear, the panic, will be back, that it will never actually leave, not for a long time, but for tonight, they're safe and she can't stop smiling at him.