Upstairs in Castle's guest bedroom, Esposito still held Meredeth close to him. He'd never been the comforting boyfriend who held his woman when she was distressed - most of the girls he'd dated would have clawed his eyes out at the notion they needed comfort from him when upset - and yet it came as easily as breathing with Meredeth.

'Feeling better?'

'Yeah.' Meredeth shifted so she lay on her stomach, able now to look at his face. 'I hope your friends weren't too weirded out.'

'We're murder cops, it takes a lot more than bad dreams to flip us out.' He wouldn't tell her, at least not yet, that seeing her panic, hearing her voice so young and afraid scared the piss out of him more than a whole warehouse of of armed crackheads. Brushing her hair off her face, he watched her eyes. They were clear now, the pupils back to their normal size, and her skin was no longer clammy with sweat.

'It's why traveling makes me anxious. The time zone changes screw up my body clock and the lack of sleep triggers something. I'm surprised it didn't happen when I went to your place right after the airport on Thursday.'

'Well, if it had, I was right there.' Again, he thought, that comforting thing. Where did it come from? Meredeth was a born-and-raised New Yorker, she knew how to handle her business. What was it about her that made him feel so protective? As much for his own reassurance as his, he kissed her once lightly; the tension he didn't realize was riding in his shoulders dissolved when she pressed her palm to his cheek and deepened the kiss. They shifted on the bed so she was underneath him, that generously curved body lush as a tropical garden he could happily feast upon for days. What a mouth she had, he marveled, that everything else seemed to float away except her when he kissed her. For moment he forgot they weren't at either of their own homes, and nearly asked her what else she could do with that mouth.

He was brought back to Earth when a knock sounded on the door, followed by Ryan's voice. 'We ordered Chinese and we're going to watch The Hangover, so unless you're otherwise occupied, you might want to come down before Castle steals all the spring-rolls and Lanie takes all the almond soo gai for herself.'

Meredeth let out a soft groan of annoyance. She'd felt the tingle start in her spine, work its way forward to her belly when Ryan had so inconveniently interrupted. 'Okay, we'll be right down.'

She patted Esposito on the chest in a get-off-me gesture, raked her fingers through her hair. 'Are they going to assume every time we're alone in a room together, we're going at it like rabbits during mating season?'

'Considering Castle opened the door on us kissing, I'd say yeah.' Esposito sat up beside her, a devilish glint in his eye. Along with that need to keep her safe from her nightmares, she'd awoken a sex-starved monster inside him. He wouldn't have considered himself hard-up for some action though it had been awhile since he'd been with a woman before her; now that they'd been together the only thing he could think of was getting his hands on her again. 'Or we could just stay up here, really give them reason to assume.'

White-hot heat lanced into Meredeth's chest, diffused through her body. The temptation was so strong to simply lock the door and throw him down on the bed like he had with her on her kitchen floor; she couldn't believe she was actively considering it. 'As much as I would like to, three things - one, they're waiting for us downstairs, two - Alexis' room is on the other side of that wall and three - we used all your condoms before we got here. All that aside, I am actually hungry.'

'Alright. Let's go.'

Meredeth started for the door, turned back just before she opened it and gave him a considering look. 'We could leave early, stop at a pharmacy.'

'I like the way you think, but-' Esposito leaned in to whisper in her ear '-I have more at my place.'

'Out of here at one-thirty, I'll spring for a cab.'

They sauntered downstairs, Esposito lightly massaging Meredeth's neck as the smell of stir-fried vegetables and deep-fried chicken hit his nose. The group was already crowding around the kitchen island as they divvied up the take out. Castle glanced up, a grin splitting his face. 'Look who's up and around.'

'I'm powerless against mushu. Are there any spring rolls?' Meredeth grabbed a plate, scanned the food and in doing so, missed the exchange of knowing looks between the rest of the group. Lanie cleared her throat as she passed the carton to her.

'Knock yourself out. By the way, Beckett, Honey-Milk and I are having a girls-night next Wednesday.'

'You are?'

'We are?' Honey-Milk and Beckett chorused in surprise; it was the first they'd heard of it.

'Yeah, you should come with. Moldavia Seventh and Forty-Fifth, eight-thirty good for you?'

Meredeth stood dumbfounded, her beloved spring-roll in hand like a little torch. 'I guess, sure?'

'Excellent. I'd put that roll on your plate before your man scoops it on you.'

'What?' Meredeth glanced over her shoulder, saw Esposito had been just about to take a bite out of it. 'You pig, that's mine. Get your own.'

'You gotta move fast and guard your food around cops. And besides, didn't you take the last slice of my whole-wheat crust on Friday morning for breakfast?'

'Fair point.'

Once their plates were loaded, they were treated to the excellence of Castle's home theatre - a forty-two inch plasma flat screen with Blu-Ray and five-point-one digital surround sound, perfect for the sensory overload that was The Hangover. As they watched the film, Esposito could help himself from checking his watch every ten minutes in anticipation of going home with Meredeth. At last, when the mystery of the bachelor party from hell was solved, he gave Meredeth's thigh a subtle squeeze, a move he knew she understood perfectly when she feigned a damn good yawn and said, 'Well, as much fun as this has been, I'm still pretty tired from traveling so I think we're going to head home.'

Esposito forced himself to be as casual as Meredeth, hoping they wouldn't grill him too hard on Monday morning about his not-so-subtle escape. The minute the door closed behind them, in the elevator, Esposito had Meredeth up against the wall, kissing her until he heard her squeak.

'Easy, tiger. I don't want you to have to arrest yourself.'

'Just thought I'd give you a little preview.'

Meredeth gulped; if it was anything like that evening, she'd been dead in a week. 'Screw the cab, I'll pay for a hotel two blocks away from here.'

'All good things to those who wait.' So saying, Esposito stepped back from her, pleased how she looked flushed and flustered. Thank God he was only on call the next day. Neither of them would be getting much sleep that night.

Back in Castle's condo, the rest of the group looked around at each other, unsure whether they should be embarrassed that everyone knew just why Esposito and Meredeth were leaving early, or sigh romantically that the new couple were such a perfect fit for each other. Finally Castle, ever the wordsmith, cleared his throat. 'I take it back. Fifty big ones says they elope to Vegas by next Christmas.'


R&R&Enjoy.