Chapter 13

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The lock turned slowly until it made a soft click. Kate entered to the dim lights and silent stillness of the loft and slipped out of her heels. The neon numbers on the microwave read 12:30. Technically, that meant Halloween was over but the crazies were still raging on at the precinct.

Kate was about to make her way upstairs to get Zoey when Darth Vader sat up from the couch.

"Castle, what are you doing?" she asked.

He took off the mask and rubbed his eyes. "I think I fell asleep waiting to scare you."

Kate couldn't resist. "If you really wanted to scare me, you should have kept the mask off."

"Oh, ouch. And here I thought you liked me ruggedly handsome."

"Your words, not mine," she retorted. "Hey! Is that what you wore to go trick-or-treating with Zoey tonight? You didn't scare me but I'm sure you would've scared some tiny children, including mine."

"Don't be silly," he stood up and she saw that he was wearing a white t-shirt with the numbers 3.141592654 scrawled across the front in black marker. He continued, "Star Wars education starts in the fourth year of life."

She rolled her eyes. As he made his way to the kitchen to get a glass of water, she could see that the continuing sequence ran across his back as well. She grinned. Zoey wasn't quite old enough to really care about what she wanted to be for Halloween – a stage of life that Castle, apparently, hadn't taken advantage of when Alexis had been little – so Castle had been deciding between three different costumes for her.

"So," Kate said, making her way over to the sink where he was getting a glass of water, "Did Zoey make a cute pumpkin?"

Castle pointed to his shirt. "Right? A surprising number of people did not get it." He offered her the glass but she shook her head. "How was your night? Did you get bitten by any slutty vampires?"

Kate smirked. "No, but I probably would have made it here in time to see Zoey in her costume if somebody hadn't tried to kill me with their brain."

"Don't worry, I took pictures."

Kate crossed her arms. "And how much candy did you give her?"

"Her sugar rush just ran out an hour ago."

"Seriously?"

"No! What kind of a parent do you think I am?" Castle grinned. "I gave her a little piece of chocolate and then hid the rest for myself."

"How thoughtful," Kate said, wryly. Her eyes flicked to the clock again and she sighed, "I don't know how I'm going to manage to get her home without waking her up. I just hope she doesn't get cranky."

"You should just stay," he blurted out. At her wayward glance, he added, "I'm serious. It's late, you're tired, and there's no point in waking Zoey up."

She knew what Castle suggested made sense but if she stayed, she would be sleeping in his room and they both knew it (Zoey occupied the only guest bedroom, Alexis' room was off limits, and they would feel bad, and a little ridiculous, if one of them had to sleep on the couch). The problem wasn't that it would be uncomfortable – in fact, both of them had a feeling it would be anything but. The problem was that they had only had The Conversation a week ago. They were no longer in each other's "friend zone" but besides the extended make-out sessions, they hadn't progressed an inch.

Kate knew she was being illogical and irrational. The most important factor in their lives had always been their children but at this point, Alexis and Zoey were equally loved by both of them and they treated each other like sisters. Kate could no longer use them as valid reasons to not pursue a relationship. In fact, Alexis was practically acting as their matchmaker.

Everything happened so gradually that Kate hadn't even noticed when she had started associating words like 'reliable' and 'loyal' with Castle but time and again, he had proved how much he cared for her – the list of things he had done to help her or for her benefit was no longer quantifiable. And he never asked for anything in return. She knew how he felt about her and yet, he never acted on those emotions until she had been ready. Even now, he was willing to wait for her. And she trusted that he would. She trusted him.

Yet, it was like Kate was unable to get her old impression of the Richard Castle, playboy extraordinaire, out of her head. Like she was constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. She wanted to be with him, wanted to be able to say 'this is my boyfriend', but she just couldn't seem to bring herself to take that final leap of declaration.

.

She wore one of his t-shirts. It reached mid-thigh and he's seen her in shorter but somehow, when she came out of his bathroom, face scrubbed free of make-up and hair still wet from the shower, it became the sexiest thing he had ever laid eyes on.

What he said was, "My shirt looks good on you."

What he thought was, 'you are so fucking gorgeous, it hurts'.

She was too tired to come back at him with a witty response and gave him a lacklustre smile, instead. Her voice sounded drained when she asked, "Have you seen my phone? I have to set an alarm for tomorrow."

He tapped the clock on the nightstand beside him. "I set it for seven."

She flopped down onto the bed, letting out an exhausted sigh when her head hit the pillow. "Set it for six," she said. "I have to go home first."

"Why?"

"I can't go to work wearing the same thing I wore yesterday," she answered, with a sidelong glance in his direction.

"Don't you have an extra change of clothes at work?" He tugged at the covers to pull them over her body.

"That was it," she responded, pointing to the bag she had stuffed her clothes into after her shower. "The clothes I wore this morning got covered in fake blood."

"Ah, Halloween."

"Best night of the year," she said, sarcastically.

He glanced at the clock. 1:47. "Can't you go in later?"

She shook her head against the pillow, her eyes already closed.

He knew that she could. She just didn't want to. He considered leaving the alarm set at seven so she could have that extra hour but then remembered that he still wanted to see Alexis graduate college.

"Castle," she mumbled, just as he was about to turn off the lamp.

"Yeah?"

"No funny business."

He was sure she could hear the grin in his voice. "Duly noted, Detective."

.

He slammed the snooze button on the clock as soon as he heard the first beep. It was instinct: annoying beeping = automatic disablement. He was already drifting back to sleep when he felt the sensation of Kate's leg pressing up against his and remembered that not everybody liked to wait until the last possible second to wake up.

He yawned and let out a small groan, wondering why he hadn't been smart enough to put the alarm clock on her side. He was just about to nudge her awake when he recognized an opportunity that he just couldn't resist exploiting. He rolled over onto his stomach and propped himself up on his elbows, leaning his face slightly over Kate's. Her breathing was still steady and even.

Her closed eyes were where he placed his first two kisses, soft and light. They fluttered a little but she was still out of it. When he kissed the corner of her lips, she started to move a little bit more. And just as she came to, he pressed his lips gently against hers, smiling when she responded a split second later. As seconds passed, intensity rose. He complied when she flipped them so that he was lying back on his side of the bed with her on top. She dragged out one last, long kiss before pulling away from him.

He grinned. "Now, isn't that a nice way to wake up in the morning?"

She climbed over him to get out of bed and put on his slippers (which were fuzzier than the ones she had at home). "Sure beats an alarm clock," she replied, padding into the bathroom.

.

"Beckett!"

Kate looked up from the body and saw Castle carrying Zoey in his arms, standing just inside the police's sectioned off area. Kate glanced at Lanie, "I—"

"—Uh huh." Lanie gave her an amused look. "Just go."

Kate ripped off the sterile gloves she had been wearing and rushed over to the pair. "Castle! What were you thinking bringing my child to a crime scene!"

Castle's face wore the expression of innocence. "Look, I made sure Zoey couldn't see a thing."

Kate almost laughed at seeing Zoey's purple hat pulled over her eyes with the little girl giggling like it was the funniest game in the world. Kate looked behind her and realised that the body wasn't visible from where they were standing anyway. "Peekaboo!" Kate said to Zoey as she repositioned the hat, causing the little girl to burst out into another peal of laughter. "So," she asked, "What are you doing here?"

He pulled out her phone from his jacket pocket. "You left this at my house."

She took it from him gratefully. "I thought I lost this! Where did you find it?"

"On my bed. Underneath your pillow, strangely enough."

"Well, thanks," she said. "Where are you tw—"

Kate got interrupted when her phone rang. She saw that it was Lanie and answered, confused.

"Girl! Why was your phone on his bed?" came the shriek of her voice at the other end.

Kate whirled around. "How did you—"

"—I can read lips," Lanie answered, "And Kate, you've got some explaining to do."

Kate rolled her eyes in Lanie's direction and hung up.

"What was that about?" Castle asked.

"Nothing," replied Kate, "I've just gotta get back."

"Okay." Castle bounced Zoey a little in his arms. "We're on our way to the carousel."

Zoey reached out to Kate. "Mommy. Come?"

"Oh, sorry Zo. Mommy has to work." Kate took Zoey's little hand. "But, you have fun okay?" Kate leaned in to give Zoey a kiss, gripping Castle's forearm in the process. "I'll see you later, baby girl."

As she leaned back, Castle couldn't help but add, "Don't I get a kiss?"

"In your dreams, Castle," she smirked.

"Oh, you have no idea."

"I'll try to get home- back to your house on time tonight," Kate told him, hoping he hadn't noticed her little slip of the tongue.

He smiled but didn't make a comment about it. "We'll be there," he said, instead.

Kate watched them slip underneath the yellow tape before making her way back to Lanie.

"How domestic," Ryan commented with a smirk as she passed him.

"Do you want to join that dead body, Ryan? Yeah. Didn't think so."

.

She started to leave clothes at his house.

It wasn't even because she always got there late and didn't want to wake up Zoey. After a while, she just started to stay over on those nights when she was too exhausted to drive home. The thought of having to get back into her car, arrive at her chilly apartment, put Zoey to bed, make sure she had something to eat (because, of course, she hadn't had dinner), and shower before finally being able to drag her body into bed became an overwhelmingly complex chain of events when she thought about the alternative.

Zoey was always perfectly content to stay, especially since her unofficial second bedroom had significantly cooler toys. And, Castle always seemed to have leftovers from whatever new concoction he had managed to whip up that night but if he didn't, he always made her something – the concern for her health transparently evident even though he tried to conceal it by making jokes about her inability to cook.

They were sleeping together but not sleeping together.

(Though, by then, they had done pretty much everything but.)

Strangely, the fooling around never happened on the nights she chose to sleep over. Rationally, it probably had something to do with the fact that if she was sleeping over, it meant that she had no more energy left to exert. As these nights accumulated, though, Kate began to notice just how much Castle knew her. Not just knew how she liked her coffee or what kinds of movies she enjoyed but he had somehow figured out her moods, her quirks and the emotions that she usually preferred to keep to herself.

He never asked her how she felt, he just knew.

So, when she was just plain worn out, the only thing he would do was say 'sleep well' and turn off the light. On those nights, he sometimes stayed up to write but Kate never knew what time he actually climbed into bed.

When she felt restless (because of a frustrating case or from hitting a dead end), he would turn off the light and stay with her – sometimes tangling their bodies together to anchor her to the present or, if she was extremely anxious, kissing her gently to make her focus on sensation instead of the thoughts running through her mind.

If she was upset, on those rare occasions when she actually let something get to her, he would leave the lights dimmed and pull her close. Her back to his front, he would wrap his arms tightly around her body and murmur into her ear until she fell asleep.

(On those mornings, they would wake up warm – tucked into each other, their unique scents mingled, and he would wish stronger than ever that she believed in soul mates.)

A/N: Thank you guys for contributing to my poll! I think I have a better idea of what the audience wants now ;) It won't come up for another couple of chapters (at least... probably...) but when it does, I'm going to keep the main story rated T (I also didn't realise that I actually have a bunch of young readers) and have a separate M-rated 'extras' uploaded as a separate story (which, many of you suggested and I didn't even think of!)

-Addendums (for the curious or confused)-

12.1 In case you are not a nerd like I am (in which case, you probably won't be quite as amused but), Zoey was a pumpkin for Halloween and Castle was 3.14159… = the digits of Pi. So, they were PUMPKIN PIE. (I know right? Total nerd.)

12.2 "Also, I can kill you with my brain." – River Tam

12.3 The unofficial title of this chapter was: The One Where the Author Abuses the 'There Is Only One Bed' Trope.

So, are you troped out? Or are you still standing? Let me know.