Here's the next chapter! Two updates in two days, I'm quite proud of myself :) This one is much more fluffy, definitely more my style. Hope you all enjoy it! Reviews are much appreciated.
Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or any of it's cast.
Castle woke the next morning after a restless night. He had given Beckett the keys to the house and the directions before dropping her off at her apartment to let her pack. Knowing he had one day left with the detective, Castle had spent the rest of the night in preparation for today, wanting to surprise her with a day of fun before she left. Castle would never admit it, but he hoped the day would be enough to convince her to not stay away so long. A week away from her sounded painful to him, but a whole month? Castle was sure he'd be under to covers with his scotch bottle by that time.
Seeing that it was already 7 am and knowing Kate wasn't one to sleep in, he got up and made himself presentable. He quickly ate a bagel before grabbing his keys and heading out the door. Thirty minutes later he was at her door, coffee and a bear claw in hand.
"Castle?" she answered, after getting up to answer the impatient little knocks coming from her doorway.
Thrusting the coffee and pastry bag at her, Castle pushed his way into the apartment. "Good morning my dear detective. You're looking ravishing this morning."
Kate looked down in confusion. She was wearing leggings and an old superman tee, with her hair tied back in a loose knot. She had just gotten out of bed about a half hour ago, deciding it was no use lying there anymore. She had been plagued by numerous nightmares again last night, and after waking up at 4am from the last one, she had given up on sleep. "Uhh thanks? Can't say I agree but…wait what are you even doing here?"
Castle waited a moment as he watched her bite into her bear claw. The look of pleasure on her face as the pastry melted into her mouth widened his smile further. "You didn't think I would just let you leave without me saying goodbye did you? We still have one whole day left before you're gone, figured we'd make the most of it."
Kate was touched by Castle's gesture, knowing that this separation was going to be hard on them. Though she wouldn't say it out loud, she had been secretly hoping he'd show up today. She couldn't bear the thought of leaving him after their cold departure last night. "That's sweet of you Castle, but I said I wanted to leave Thursday at the latest. I was planning on leaving around noon today." Castle's face quickly fell. The complete look of disappointment pained her to look at him. "But… I suppose I can wait. It's not like getting their tonight or tomorrow morning will really make a difference."
"Really?" Castle's grin had been safely fastened back on. "You'd do that for me?" Kate looked at him in shock. It took a moment for Castle to register what he said before flushing a deep pink. "I... I meant….oh hell, that's exactly what I meant. Kate, I don't think I'm going to be able to handle you being gone this long."
She sighed, placing her half drunken coffee on the counter and drawing nearer to him. "Castle, I know it's going to be hard, believe me you're not the only one who's going to have a rough time with it, but I need some time alone."
"I get that. But why can't you have your alone time here, in the city? Where I can at least see you?"
"Castle, could we not discuss this right now? I thought you wanted this day to be fun."
Castle was silent for a minute, searching her face for something, what she wasn't sure. Finally he let out a small sigh and nodded his head. "Fine, we'll put it off for now. What did you want to do first?"
Kate smiled gratefully at him. She knew this thing between them needed to be addressed at some point. She just didn't have the strength to do it right now. Like Castle, she wanted their last day together before she left to be fun, full of witty banter and teasing innuendos. The heavy emotional stuff had no place in their lives today. "How about the Aquarium? I haven't been there in ages, and I have a soft spot for seals."
Rick grinned, shoving their conversation behind them. "Seals eh? Never would have pegged you for that detective. The Aquarium it is."
After Kate finished her breakfast and changed, the couple headed over to the Aquarium. Being a Wednesday, the place wasn't too busy, allowing them to make good time through the various exhibits. They marveled at the tanks full of colourful fish and squishy jelly fish. Rick had the sense to bring a camera, so they spent some time taking goofy pictures in those wooden cutouts made for photo-ops. Her favourite photo though was one of Rick standing beside the shark tank making a fish face, completely unaware that a big bull shark was swiftly approaching him. When he finally noticed the shadow of the shark looming closer he had yelped in surprise, despite the glass barrier between them. Kate had managed to snap another picture of his reaction, the shark passing by with a toothy grin, while Rick looked like he was ready to pee his pants.
Towards the end of their tour they reached the seal exhibit, where numerous species frolicked among the rocks and in the water. The spent almost an hour, watching them swirl around, sliding off chunks of ice and calling to one another. Kate's favourite was the speckled one who had made himself comfortable on a smooth rock, choosing to soak up the man made sun while the rest of his buddies played. Rick's favourite of course was the loudest, most obnoxious one, a strong black seal who had been doing tricks for treats from the on-lookers. Kate had giggled at how similar the two seemed, and had teased Castle about keeping treats in her desk to get him to co-operate.
"Oh detective, you don't need treats to distract me. A simple un-popped button, or lingering kiss will do." He said, his eyebrows wriggling at her.
She rolled her eyes at him. "In your dreams Castle."
"Actually, in my dreams you give a lot more…"she quickly cut him off with a punch to the arm.
"The only treats you'll be getting is gummy bears. That's only if your good." By now, both their faces had lit up with their smiles and they had unconsciously drawn closer to one another.
Inching closer, Castle's eye darkened. "What does being naughty get me?" he whispered. Kate did her best to calm her breathing and lessen the crimson on her cheeks, but Castle was too observant to not notice. His sly grin widened at her reaction.
Drawing impossibly close, she purred into his ear, "Naughty boys get spankings, and if you're lucky a kiss to make it better." Placing a kiss on his neck for emphasis, she felt Castle swallow, attempting to maintain his composure. It secretly delighted her when she got such a reaction. Teasing Castle to the point where he was speechless made her feel wanted and incredibly sexy.
While he closed his eyes and attempted to calm himself, she trailed her hand along his chest before catching his hand in hers. Giving a gentle tug she led him towards the gift shop, a new glow radiating from her skin. Shaking his head in disbelief at what this women could do to him Castle obediently followed, making sure to keep his grip on her hand. After a few minutes of browsing Kate had become distracted by the jewelry and wandered off, letting go of their hold. Despite Castle's dismay, he took the opportunity to search the shop for a gift for her. Finding what he wanted he nearly ran to the cash register to pay for it before she noticed him. Having just placed the bag out of sight, Kate approached him and the register holding a pretty coral bracelet.
"Do you think Alexis would like this?" she asked, holding it up for him to see better.
"She'd love it, but why do ask?"
Fiddling with the bracelet she replied. "I don't know, I just thought it was nice and wanted to buy it for her. She was really sweet to me while I was recovering back at your loft, and I wanted to get her a thank you gift."
Castle's eyes softened as he watched her, fiddling with the beads in obvious discomfort. His family cared about her a lot, and clearly the feeling was mutual, but like she always was, Kate was embarrassed to be showing it. "I think that's a great idea. She'll love the fact that you even thought to get her something."
Kate's gaze finally met his. "Really? I'm not overstepping or anything?"
"Overstepping? Please Kate, after all we've been through, you're like family. She'd loved to get a gift from you. Although don't feel obliged, I have plenty of money to get her whatever she needs."
"I'm well aware of your fortune Castle," she replied looking slightly perturbed. "I just wanted to make sure she would be comfortable with me getting her stuff. I mean it's not like we're dating or anything, so the whole trying to impress the boyfriend's daughter thing isn't there, but…"She quickly cut off seeing the looking Castle's eyes. Despite the slight upturn of his lips, his eyes held a mixture of hope and sadness that Kate knew could only be from what she had just said. "I'm sorry, Castle I didn't mean to make this awkward, I mean it's not like we wont end up in that position one day, I just.." Kate sighed realizing she had just admitted to wanting to be in a relationship with Castle. The look of complete joy on his face confirmed what she had said. "Oh, never mind, I'm just going to go buy this." She hurried away before he could see how flustered she was.
Coming to meet him at the entrance she noticed that he was holding a bag from the gift shop that she hadn't remembered seeing him holding only moments ago. "When did you buy that?" she questioned.
Holding the bag up, but ensuring to keep its contents hidden Castle questioned, "This? Oh I ran it through before you came over with the bracelet. It's a present for you, you want to see it?" Attempting to peer into the bag Kate nodded her head, already impatient at what he had bought her. "Well, too bad. This gift has a price I doubt you're willing to pay."
Her face scrunching in frustration she attempted to snatch the bag away, only to have Castle place it high into the air, well out of her reach. Growing impatient she attempted to reason with him. "Castle, it's a gift you bought for me. Why on earth would you buy me a gift then with hold it?"
Castle's face grew mischievous. "I already sad my dear detective, that you will get your gift, for a price."
"Castle, I'm not going to pay you to get my gift. How do I even know I'll like it?"
"Fine, I'll give you three guesses. If you guess your gift wrong after that then you have to pay up."
"What exactly is the payment?" she asked, eyeing him suspiciously now.
"A kiss." Kate tried to hide her shock behind a challenging stare, but failed miserably. She secretly had been wanting to kiss him silly every time he made her laugh with his antics.
"What do I get if I guess right?"
"Well your present of course. Also lunch, anywhere in the city you want."
"Ok, Castle, I'm game." Delighted, although a little surprised she had agreed, Castle lowered his arm and invited her to begin her guessing. Taking a moment to judge the size of the bag and the lump it showed, she began. "Some type of clothing? Like a t-shirt or hat?"
"Nope. Although you have to be more specific Beckett, or I'll count that as two guesses."
"Ok fine. One of those decorative statues they sell of like dolphins and seals and things?" Castle's grin got a little bigger, knowing he was that much closer to his prize.
"Sorry, detective, another no. You're getting warmer though."
She was getting warmer? How the hell is a statue of animals getting warmer? Oh wait, that's it! Animals! Stuffed animals! With all the confidence she had she took her final guess. "A stuffed animal."
Sorry to leave it at a bit of a cliffy, but I couldn't resist! That and my attention was being to waver :P I promise that the next chapter is already in the works, and it will no doubt be as equally fluffy. Although be prepared for some heavy stuff too. Reviews and alerts are always welcome!