As always, I do not own Castle and reviews are greatly appreciated.
Also: didn't mean to cut it off like this, but it was getting rather long.
"Detective Beckett, lovely to see you this evening. Should I call up and let Mr. Castle know you are coming?"
The doorman, Hank, smiles gently at her before getting a good look at her causing his eyes to squint with worry. She knows she looks like death walking but she doesn't want to deal with any more awkward questions. Shaking her head she gives him a small smile as she steps inside, talking over her shoulder.
"I'm looking for the element of surprise here, Hank, but thanks for asking."
He simply nods as he watches her head through the lobby of the building, concern still written on his face as the door closes and he's left to wait. For once Kate was glad that Castle had insisted on putting her on his visitor's list. She knew it would have taken a bit more convincing for Hank to let her in if he hadn't.
As she realizes just how close to Castle she is, she feels the anxiety building inside of her as her eyes jump around the room before she steps into the empty elevator. She's never been this afraid in her life and at the moment she wants nothing more than to find a nice rock and crawl underneath it. Licking her suddenly dry lips, she pushes the button for Castle's floor before she can run and leans back against the wall.
Her eyes flutter close and she takes this moment to absorb the reality of everything she is about to do - everything that she's about to turn upside down. Her heart does a little flip as she realizes that she just doesn't care. Not if it means keeping her partner. It's then that the elevator signals her arrival and her eyes fly open as she pushes herself away from the wall, heading out into the hallway.
She finds his apartment with ease, having been there more times than it should be acceptable for just being partners. Not caring that her hair is matted down on her head or that her clothes are clinging to her and rubbing her raw in some places, she raises her arm and knocks on the door.
It only takes a moment before the door is swinging open and Richard Castle's surprised eyes are on her. "Beckett? What are you doing here?"
She watches as it hits him that she's still drenching wet and starting to shiver, his eyes flashing with worry as he steps to the side to let her in - earlier events momentarily forgotten.
"Are you insane? Have you been in the rain this whole time?"
Concern laces his angry words as she numbly walks in, looking around to find the living room empty and most of the lights dimmed. She figures Alexis is asleep or out - home for Spring Break from her first year of college. Knowing that he had asked questions, she shakes her head.
"I went to see Lanie," she mumbles quietly. "And Josh."
She holds her now ring-free hand up for him to see, noticing his eyes flying open with hope before he shuts himself down again. As he quietly closes the door, he studies her for a moment before disappearing from sight.
"Castle," she sighs and moves to follow him when he appears again, holding out a towel for her. "Oh. Thanks."
She takes the towel from him and wraps it around her shoulders, knowing that he'll want to make her warmer and won't take no for an answer like Lanie had. His eyes are burning into her as she fidgets with the edge of the towel, her own eyes taking comfort in the rug that she was standing on.
"What are you doing here, Kate?"
His voice is soft and nearly breaks her heart as her eyes jumps to his, reading the hurt and hope fighting to come to surface. It just confirms that she did the right thing, that she hadn't risked it all for the wrong man.
"You can't leave," she tells him simply.
"Kate," he sighs as he shifts from one foot to the other. "It's not like I want to leave. Do you honestly think I want to give up shadowing the woman I love? Or that I want to give up seeing you everyday? Or the guys for that matter? I enjoy coming to the precinct, helping you solve the cases and making a difference."
After the four letter word jumps out and grabs her by the heart, she hears nothing else of his little speech. Her chest tightens as those damn tears that had betrayed her all night threaten once again to fall, her breath catching in her throat. It's those emotions that send the next eight words flying out of her mouth before she can stop them.
"You are my one and done, not Josh."
He looks like he's been socked in the gut as his mouth hangs open and he struggles for words to say, obviously not having been expecting that. He continues to stare at her like this, the need to run becoming stronger inside of her as she itches to open the door. As if he can sense this, a delighted grin comes to his lips as he finally steps forward and crosses his way into her personal space again.
The smile is on her lips before she can force it down, welcoming the intrusion of her space as he reaches out and takes her hands into his own. He's staring at her again and her insides are melting into a pile of mush as the love and warmth radiate from him. How she had pushed him away, pushed this away, for so long she wasn't sure but she was glad that she had realized that this - this moment, this man, this feeling - was what she wanted.
She goes to open her mouth but suddenly she finds herself being crushed against his chest, the towel falling from her shoulder and their lips finding each other as if they did this all the time. It takes but a moment for the shock to wear off and she wraps her arms around his neck, trying to pull herself even closer.
The room is tilting around her as his tongue runs along her bottom lip causing her to close her eyes, opening her mouth to give him entrance. She can feel his right hand on her lower back as the other keeps her close by the nape of her neck, his warm tongue assaulting her own.
It becomes a fight for dominance as she pushes herself up on her tiptoes, her fingers curling in his hair to keep him right there with her. Neither wanting, or caring, for oxygen they reluctantly pull back with their eyes closed and their breathing hurried.
"Oh my god! Finally! Yes! Oh my god! I've gotta call Grams."
The excited shrieks from the stairs have them both turning to look at the young redhead, a blush coming to Kate's cheeks as she realizes they had just been caught. She moves to push herself away from Castle but finds that he's holding her in place with his arm that is firmly wrapped around her. As the teen notices they are both looking at her now, her eyes widen and she jumps up from her viewing point.
"Oh! Oh, hi. Pretend like I'm not even here! I'm going back to my room. I think I'll study a little bit and listen to my iPod - very loudly."
She gives them both a huge grin as she turns quickly and heads back to her room, her excited squeals flowing down the hallway after her. It's not until they hear her door shut behind her that Castle turns to Kate, a huge grin on his lips.
"Well, there goes her vote."
Kate can't help the laugh that bubbles from her lips now as she turns to her partner, still trapped against him by his arm. She can't help the silly grin on her lips as she buries her face in his shoulder, realizing only a couple minutes too late that she's drenched his clothes. Biting her lip, she pulls back slightly to look up at him.
"I got you wet."
She watches as his eyes light up, his retort on the tip of his tongue before she covers his mouth and shakes her head slightly - she had walked right into the one.
"Don't even," she warns him with her detective voice.
"No fun," he mumbles from behind her hand before she drops it. "How about we get into some dry clothes?"
"Can I wear that red shirt again? It was comfortable."
He grins and removes his arm from around her, only to take her hand in his and lead her through the loft to his room. Once there he releases her hand to rummage through his dresser for a minute before pulling out the red shirt and a pair of sweats.
"You can take the bathroom," he nods his head towards the open door before turning back to his dresser, obviously looking for something to change into himself.
She quickly heads for the bathroom, closing the door behind her before placing the clothes on the rack standing behind the door. Realizing only now just how cold she is, she quickly steps out of her shoes and strips the wet clothes off of her before looking around. Finding what she's looking for, she grabs one of his huge towels and wraps it around her for a moment. Closing her eyes, she leans against the wall and lets everything rush over her.
After a few moments of forcing herself to breathe in and out slowly, she pushes herself back up straight and dries herself off. Carefully placing the towel next to the clothes, she pulls the shirt to her first as a smile comes to her lips. Not being able to resist, she brings the shirt up to her face and allows her eyes to close once more as she takes a deep breath.
It smells like him - that simple masculine scent that is so Richard Castle.
The goose bumps all over her body rule out her need to stand there like this any longer so she pulls the shirt over her head before quickly shimmying into the sweats that he gave her, rolling the waist twice. Grabbing the towel from the rack, she starts drying her hair as she opens the bathroom door and steps back into his bedroom.
Their eyes immediately find each other, speaking words that neither of them dared to voice at the moment. They both knew that they would need to talk about everything, this didn't fix everything that they - or more correctly, she - had been putting off for the past year or so. But for now, they were content to just be with each other. It takes her a minute to realize he's wearing the same thing that she is, except his shirt is a dark green.
"You're gorgeous," he tells her quietly as he crosses the room to her side.
"I look like a drowned rat," she laughs to herself as he wraps his arms around her waist.
"An adorable drowned rat, nonetheless."
She rolls her eyes at his comment as she gives up on drying her hair anymore, tossing the towel to the side as something hits her.
"Oh, crap. Can I borrow your phone? Mine's still at the precinct and I promised Lanie I would call her and let her know I was alright."
"Yeah, sure. It's downstairs. I was in the middle of setting up a movie when you showed up."
"What movie?" She asks as they start for the living room, his hand finding hers once again.
"Lilo and Stitch."
She could practically feel his grin as she rolls her eyes at him again, staring down at the floor as they make their way through his loft.
"And you wonder why I call you a nine-year-old all the time."
"Hey! Lilo and Stitch is a quality movie with very good lessons to be learned. Don't knock it."
"Uh huh. Just accept that you're secretly a nine-year-old."
"If I'm a nine-year-old, that makes you a pedophile."
She reaches up quickly to twist his ear, grinning with satisfaction as she hears him squealing while dancing around on the spot.
"Apples, apples, apples! You're not a pedophile!"
Satisfied, she lets go of his ear as she scans the living room and her eyes land on his cell phone laying on the coffee table. Slipping her hand out of his, she crosses the short distance and grabs the phone before plopping down on the couch. As she's dialing Lanie's number, he takes the phone from her and drops down beside her with a mischievous grin on his lips.
"Do you trust me?"
She eyes him suspiciously for a moment before nodding, "Of course."
Suddenly she's surrounded by Castle again as his lips crash against hers and she allows her eyes to close without a second thought, her arms easily finding their way around his neck. His hand that's not holding his phone rests on the small of her back as she feels his lips turn up into a grin. Pulling back from him, she looks up at his eyes to find the smile still there.
"What?"
He shakes his head quickly and she watches as he messes with his phone for a minute, moving slightly when she tries to see what he's doing. Debating on grabbing his ear again, she pulls her bottom lip between her teeth before deciding against it. A few quiet moments pass before he puts the phone down on the table in front of them and he turns to her, his face still full of mischievousness.
"There. Lanie knows you're perfectly fine."
Her eyebrow hitches up, her lips pulling together into a tight line. "Castle, what did you do?"
Before he can reply his phone starts to ring, the child-like grin growing even bigger on his face. He picks it up before holding it out to her.
"I believe that's for you."