Good evening everyone!

I know that I only last updated this a few hours ago, but I was feeling a little too Steel Magnolias for my own good, and I thought that a little Caskett fluff was needed.
Thank you to everyone who has added this to their alerts, it is one of the best feelings I know.

Enjoy.

Five

Kate had every intention of staying there for the rest of her life, the feel of Castle's warm hands burning fire deliciously across her skin, and their magical ability to draw out the pain that had set up home in her battered body too good to even consider leaving. Pushing onto her tiptoes, she clung hungrily to his still bare chest, messy kisses staining both their lips. Sloppy messages of good morning, and sentiments of love passing between them.

It had taken all the strength that Castle possessed to untangle his lips from Kate's, her teeth expertly scraping over his bottom lip as he pulled away, begging him to just keep kissing her. But he couldn't, not yet. She let out a whimper of protest as his hands unexpectedly turned her around, adamantly directing her towards the stools surrounding the island counter.
Kate knew what he was doing, and it really was very lovely, but Rick Castle wasn't the kind of man you could simply kiss once. Her lips craved the heat of his. Buzzed with the taste of coffee and something altogether Castle. She needed him so much closer, addicted to his touch after only a few hours. She tried everything she could to turn around, to press herself languidly against his musky skin and capture his blushed lips with her own, but he already had her in line with the seat of the nearest stool before she had chance to wriggle free.
"Sit." He instructed, hands pushing her gently to the seat.
"But, Caaastle, all I want is one, teeny, tiny, little kiss." She whined, nose crinkling for added effect.
Castle leaned in, agonisingly slow, stopping briefly when his lips were so very nearly within tasting distance of Kate's that she could feel there heat, "Pancakes now. Kisses later."
Damn. He'd had her fooled, and he definitely knew it. Goofy smile and glittering eyes as he watched Kate bite down on her bottom lip to stop the moan of longing that had threatened to escape as he had pulled away before she had chance to stop him.

"Castle?"
"Mmm-hum?" he mumbled through a mouth filled with marshmallow pancakes.
"Why do all my pancakes have a smiley face?"
"Because, my dear Beckett, these aren't just any pancakes – these are world famous, limited time only, cheer you up pancakes."
Kate smiled up at him, witty reply dancing on the tip of her tongue. And then she looking at him so intently that Castle couldn't even begin to fathom what she was thinking, but he was pretty sure it wasn't just about pancakes. Not even world famous ones.
He reached out across the countertop, pulling gently at her free hand and entwining their fingers, watching as a hundred thoughts danced across her features.
"Thank you, Rick. For everything."
Kate's eyes shimmered with tears, that for the first time in her entire adult life, she wasn't afraid to let fall; wasn't embarrassed by them, didn't try to hide them. She wasn't stuck, cowering and terrified behind a desperate wall of false strength; and that in itself made her feel stronger than she had in half a lifetime. She hoped that Castle understood, she wasn't crying because she was sad, or hurt, or scared. She wasn't really crying for any reason at all, except perhaps because she could. Here she sat, with smiley faced pancakes and tear stained cheeks, and she couldn't remember a time that she had felt so free. So utterly unburdened by the constant fight to keep her head above the water; to stop herself from drowning in a life that had never really been her own.
She wasn't stupid; she knew that things couldn't just slip so effortlessly from one extreme to the other without so much as a conversation between them, but that could wait. Sometimes you just had to sit back, eat your pancakes, and enjoy the moment.

Castle didn't say anything to stop her tears; he knew he didn't have to. He understood what they meant. A final goodbye to the lives that they had been living; lives filled with hidden feelings and crippling insecurities. They weren't aimed at anyone or anything in particular, but rather the world as a whole. They belonged to Kate, and they belonged to him, and they belonged to everyone who had ever been brave enough to run headlong into love. They called out to the world and shouted from the rooftops: I am here. I am alive. I am loved.

Kate leant in to the safe, solid warmth of Castle. Breathed in the life that flowed from his softly swollen lips as he kissed away the tears that she would never again hide from him. Kept hold of his hand as he moved back to his seat, a quick kiss on her nose as he went.
He was smiling at her like the-cat-who-got-the-cream, and she was certain that it was an expression exactly mirrored by her own features. Because here they were, drinking coffee and eating world famous pancakes, and nothing could ever take this moment away from them.

To Be Continued..

Thank you, as ever, for reading.
Let me know what you thought if you get the chance.

Also, if anyone has anything that they would like to see later chapters, drop me a review or a message as I'm always in need of a little inspiration. I will of course lend all credit to you for any ideas that are used.

Toodle-pip,
Katie