The dawn is breaking, a light shining through.
You're barely waking, and I'm tangled up in you.
- Collide, Howie Day
It was the beginning of the most intense, passionate and consuming love affair that Kate had ever experienced. The amazing part was that she never felt as if she were losing herself. On the contrary, she felt as if she was finally complete when she was with him. To say that they were blissfully happy would be an understatement.
They went on in secret. Their decision was partially motivated by a desire to keep the new part of their relationship secret, protected, almost sacred. There was true intimacy in being the only ones aware of their romance. However, another major motivator was Kate's insistence that their relationship not overshadow Alexis, especially during her last summer at home.
Kate was all too familiar with the changes that were coming for the teen, and wanted to do everything in her power to allow to keep some sense of normalcy for as long as possible. Rick and Alexis were participating in a summer extravaganza, organized by the father and daughter, and Kate wanted their time to be precious and unhindered.
As a result, they saw one another covertly, and when they could manage it. Granted, they still spent at least one night a week in each other's arms. Usually, he would come to her apartment later in the evening, after Martha and Alexis had retired, or on evenings when the women in his life had plans. Kate's insistence that his family come first was just another of the many reasons Castle loved her.
By June, they had a pretty solid routine. It was obvious to both Martha and Alexis that he was seeing someone. However, his refusal to divulge information left them in the dark. Their curiosity was peaked, but they were both genuinely happy to see how happy he was.
On rare occasion, Kate would be able to stay at the loft. This happened when he knew he had the place to himself. The most recent night was Independence Day, when Martha and Alexis were out celebrating.
Kate went as far as to tell him that she was seriously impressed at his ability to be discreet, until she realized that he'd been tweeting about the things he wanted to do with his 'friend.' Obviously, he'd let slip that he had a new lover, and they were creating 'fireworks.'
She rolled her eyes as she thought about the comment he'd made concerning their current weekend together, thanks to a decision by Martha and Alexis to spend a few days in the Hamptons. She'd teased him about it, "So, you're going to spend the weekend in the city and enjoy the Naked Heat, huh?"
He grinned at her, motioning an oops! His single defense was, "I didn't name names!" She rolled her eyes and swatted his backside. "Stop tweeting about us!" She eyed him threateningly, but her mood was less than resentful, as the very next words to escape her mouth were, "now take me to bed."
Castle woke first the following morning. He stretched leisurely in bed, enjoying the prospect of a Sunday with Kate all to himself. He turned his head to take in her sleeping form, a smile crossing his face as he took in how peaceful she looked while she slept.
She shifted then, rolling over to expose her chest. He could tell that she was waking, and decided to help her along by tenderly placing kisses against her scars. He then moved his head up to nuzzle her collar bone, kissing her neck as she lifted her hands to lace her fingers through his hair.
He smiled, "Good morning, Kate."
"Hi." She replied tenderly.
"How are you feeling?" He asked her.
"I'm not sure I'm going to be able to walk today." She admitted.
Castle shot his head up at her words, evaluating her with great concern, "Are you hurt?" He had been paranoid since their first night together, when he'd noted the bruises on her abdomen, neck and arms. He began to kiss each one tenderly, as if he could somehow take her pain away.
Those bruises had long since healed though, and he was genuinely concerned at the moment. Kate placed her fingers on his chin, pulling him to face her. "I'm fine. I'm talking about the pain here." She placed the palm of her hand very low on her belly. It was a pain that was distinctly associated with overzealous sexual activity.
His eyes followed her hand down to see where it rested, coming back to look at her face and note the wry grin on her face. He lightly swatted her hip, "So not funny!" She chuckled to herself, before rolling over to get out of bed.
"Did you at least see stars again?" He prodded her teasingly as he referenced the fact that he'd, on several occasions, given her orgasms that were mind-blowing enough to make her see stars.
She rolled her eyes and swatted him, smiling as she stated "Castle, I'm hungry. The least you can do after ravishing my body for hours last night is feed me." She smiled at him sweetly.
"How about we go out for breakfast?" He suggested happily to her.
She nodded in consent. "We'll need to stop at my place so I can grab a change of clothes."
Beckett simply threw on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt of his, making a mental note to find her bra and panties later. It wasn't abnormal for her undergarments to wind up in some pretty odd locations after their lovemaking, but at times like this, when she couldn't find her panties, it could be annoying.
He waited in the car for her as she ran up and changed clothes. It was taking longer than he though it should have, and Rick was contemplating going up stairs to see what the holdup was. Just as he was preparing to park the car, she returned in a pair of jeans and a purple sweater, she sat back in the passenger seat. Rick couldn't help but smile as he noted the overnight bag that she threw into the back seat. However, his face dropped when he noticed the unhappy and somewhat irritated expression on her face.
"Evidently," she started to speak as she sat in the passenger's seat and slid her seatbelt on, "my landlord has been trying to call me." Her voice was short and annoyed.
"What happened?" He asked with concern in his voice.
"A major pipe burst. My apartment is flooded, seriously flooded." She rubbed her temple with her hand and shook her head before continuing, "they've already knocked out part of my wall to get to the source of the flooding, and there's water everywhere-did I mention that?" She was exasperated.
"How long are you displaced?" Castle asked her, knowing that there was no way she could go back to her apartment now.
"Not sure. Once they fix the problem, they'll have to drain the water. The carpeting in my bedroom needs to be replaced, the damage to the floors and lower walls needs to be assessed…something about mold risk. I don't know how long Rick. I just don't know."
They made their way to a nearby café, sitting outside to eat breakfast and sip cappuccinos. They made comfortable conversation, Rick trying to talk about something else than her apartment, before falling into companionate silence for awhile. They were both enjoying the slow pace of this part of the city in the morning.
"So, you're going to spend the night again?" he asked somewhat timidly.
"If you want me to," she replied.
"Of course I want you to. I want you to stay with me as long as you need to, Kate." She nodded. She knew that this might change things, might change the secret status of their relationship. On the other hand, maybe they could pull it off as if she were just a friend staying with them, like she had after the explosion.
"Alexis will be home at about lunch time tomorrow," he began tentatively, "I thought that I would talk with her." He suggested; or maybe not, Kate thought to herself, dismissing the thought of sneaking around the loft with him.
She eyed him wearily, "Castle, are you really sure about this?" It wasn't a new conversation. She wanted to take things slow and adjust, while he wanted to sky write their relationship for anyone who would take notice. Mainly, Kate was worried about how the change might impact Alexis, who admittedly, wasn't her biggest fan these days.
"Kate," he began, "I'm sure. I am sure about you, and I'm sure about us. I want Alexis, and mother for that matter, to know about us. I want to bring the best parts of my life together. Please Kate, trust me here."
She couldn't help but smile, sometimes he was just so completely sweet. She let out a sigh and nodded, "Ok. If you're sure, than I'm in this with you, Castle. Perhaps my apartment flooding was a sign from the universe that we need to move things along. Let's tell Alexis." He smiled brightly at her, before getting an idea that really excited him,
"Ooh! I'll make us all my famous pasta carbonara! It is Alexis' favorite dish and I know you'll love it too!" He grinned widely at her as he revealed his plans. His excitement was contagious and even the nervousness over telling Alexis about the new development in their relationship didn't dampen her mood.
Castle rose, leaving a generous tip for the waiter and taking Kate by the hand. "Come on, there is a really great farmers' market just a few blocks down, and on the way we can stop at the butchers'." He looped his arm in hers and kissed her cheek.
She couldn't even respond, instead she just laughed happily. His mood was contagious and Kate couldn't remember a time before him that she'd felt this happy, this at home, despite the flood. In that moment it occurred to her, home is in his arms.
Castle continued to talk about his dinner plans, "We need to get fresh cheese and bacon, the fresher the ingredients the better!" He continued to lead her down the sidewalk, smiling to himself as he watched a pair of children, who looked no older than 6 or 7, playing with a ball.
"How much bacon do you need?" Kate asked, not familiar with the recipe for pasta carbonara, but very familiar with Castle's love of pork.
"The more, the better." He smiled at her, "ooh, and that reminds me…" He dug into his wallet to remove two quarters, walking to the yellow newspaper box on the corner of the street. "I always forget to pick up newspaper, it works like a charm at absorbing bacon grease."
She simply rolled her eyes at him, again struck by how excited he was about everything.
What happened next was a blur, one of the children playing lost his grip on the ball. The boy chased it into the street just as a cab turned the corner, driving way too fast for the area, as normal. The cab driver spotted the boy just in time and swerved his car.
The vehicle hopped the curb, and within a matter of seconds, Kate could see that Rick was on the ground, but he wasn't moving. The cab was now halted at the spot he had been standing in moment ago, the yellow newspaper boxes tipped over. His still form had been projected further down the sidewalk.
Beckett heard a scream and it took several moments for her to register that the voice she was hearing was her own. She ran to the front of the cab, falling to her knees at Castle's side. As the driver jumped out and dialed 911, he simply repeated, "I didn't see him. I didn't see him!"