Back to Where We Have Never Been
A/N: This is it folks, just Chapter 30 and then the Epilogue. Thank you so much for all of your love and support for this story. I am still amazed at the response for this little tale. I truly hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I have loved writing it. Your kind words and support have been an inspiration.
This chapter is for AC. Happy early birthday! :)
Chapter 30
"Meredith cheated on me."
Kate lifted her head from it's spot resting on his shoulder, her arm bending up so she could prop her head in her palm as she looked down at him as he laid next to her in his bed. She stared at him through the grey of night: silent, patient, waiting for him to continue.
"I thought everything was fine, that we were still doing okay. She was never the perfect mom and we had our problems; we were young, too young, but I didn't think…I never thought she would stray. Looking back, there were signs but I couldn't see them at the time. I was blindsided. So, when Alexis told me about you I automatically assumed the worst. But I know you… I know you wouldn't…"
Kate pressed her hand against his chest, through his t-shirt, as his voice trailed off. She shifted slightly so that her pajama clad knee rested on top of his, holding him in place, not allowing him any space to run at her next words.
"No, you don't." Her eyes dipped down to watch her fingers as they played with the neckline of his t-shirt; her pinky scraping against his Adam's apple gently, unconsciously. "You don't know that but that's okay. I'm not going anywhere, I'll convince you eventually."
Castle shook his head as his fingers ran up her arm to play with the thin straps of her tank top; a trail of goose bumps on her skin in his wake. His fingers dipped down to trail the neckline of her camisole and she sucked in a sudden breath as his lips met her clavicle, his words murmured against her. "You shouldn't have to convince me."
Kate let out a shaky breath as he pulled back, letting his hand drop down to the mattress between them. "So, you have trust issues. I have control issues. If you tell me to do something, chances are I will do the exact opposite just to spite you but if you ask nicely…"
Her voice trailed off as her hand drifted from his chest, to reach up under his shirt, skimming the strip of sensitive skin just above his pant line with her nails.
"Kate…" Castle warned, his eyes dark and his voice like gravel as she bit her lip to suppress her smile. "You shouldn't be doing that. You know this whole going back to the beginning thing, starting over."
"Yes, well." Kate argued as she lowered her lips to his neck. "You should have thought of that when you were kissing me good night at my door, instead of convincing me to pack a bag and come home with you. 'We can just cuddle' you said. 'Just to talk, Kate, I promise'."
Her voice dropped low as she attempted to imitate him.
"That was bullshit and we both know it. You wanted this to happen."
"It's been working so far," Castle argued as he squirmed, attempting to move his hips away from her hand without letting go of her body.
"Oh, please," Kate rolled her eyes. "That's why your hand has been working its way up under my shirt for the past hour."
Castle lifted his head from the pillow to look down at his arm, which was wrapped under her and around her back, holding her securely against him. His hand had started out on her hip but had drifted up under her shirt so that the fabric was now bunched under her arm and his palm was pressed against her ribs with his fingertips glancing against the side of her breast.
"Whoops," he murmured, his fingers stilling as he started to pull them away. "I can stop."
Kate's hand abandoned her torture of his stomach to press his palm to her side. "Don't you dare."
His eyes quirked in question and she shrugged in response, one shoulder moving awkwardly in the air as the other pressed into the mattress.
"There's a lot to be said about the merits of make-up sex."
Castle chuckled as he shifted his leg under hers, maneuvering her onto her back and rolling on top of her, causing Kate to let out a moan.
"Really? Already? I've barely even touched you." Castle questioned as he lowered himself down to kiss her jaw, his hands running up her arms, his fingers intertwining with hers, holding them still on the pillow above her head.
"Not you, the mattress. This has got to be the most comfortable bed I have ever been in. How come I have never slept here before?"
Castle froze, his cheek pressed against her, right below her ear. His breath bathing her neck. "Really? I am inches away from kissing that sweet spot behind your ear and you are moaning over my mattress? I feel slightly betrayed."
"It's a really comfortable mattress," Kate argued as she smiled up at him, arching her body up to meet his, giggling at the feigned hurt expression on his face.
"You giggled."
"I did not."
"You did, too."
"Nope. You'll never get me to admit it." She shook her head defiantly as she clamped her jaw shut, her lips pressed firmly together.
He laughed against her skin as his lips brushed that spot behind her ear, and she melted into the bed, her body going limp, as she let out another, deeper, moan.
"At least I know that one was for me."
"Nope, still the mattress," Kate panted, biting her lip as her eyes slammed shut and his lips continued their assault down her neck.
"Liar," he growled against her skin."
"I love you," she whispered into his ear in response as he pressed another soft kiss against her skin.
"I love you, too. I'm sorry I doubted you."
Kate squirmed against him as he pressed a firm kiss to the hollow of her throat, her hands still held in place by his. "You said that already. Now prove it."
"When telling a story, one must think about many things. One must stay true to the characters and to the story but you must also think about the audience, what will keep them entertained."
Kate sat back in her chair, arms crossed over her chest, resisting the urge to roll her eyes as Castle paced in front of her class Friday morning. 100 pairs of eyes trained on him, following him with rapt attention as he made his way from one side of the room to another, lecturing about the intricacies of mystery writing. Her eyes drifted to look over the class. They were all enthralled and at least they were paying attention to something. Her eyes met Alexis' and she gave the girl a small smile when the red head rolled her eyes at her professor good-naturedly. This wasn't anything the girl hadn't heard ad nauseam.
"…As for Derrick Storm, I need to be true to my characters and if my heart isn't in it anymore, then I can't write them the way that would do them justice. That is why I ended the Storm series and turned my attention to Knight and Rook, they were the characters, the story that spoke to me then and I feel like they will be talking to me for years to come."
Castle paused and clasped his hands together in front of him, rubbing his palms together as he looked at the students expectantly. "Questions?"
A couple of girls in the front row sighed, with dreamy looks on their faces, and this time Kate did roll her eyes as she squinted at one of the girls' eyelids, which had "I (heart) you" written on them a la Indiana Jones.
A hand raised in the back of the classroom and Castle pointed to the young man, bouncing on the balls of his feet as his eyes flickered over to Kate, momentarily as the boy adjusted himself in his seat and readied himself to speak. She gave his wide-eyed look of child-like glee an indulgent smile and turned her attention to the student as he started to speak.
"Is it true that Jade Knight was based off a real person?" The co-ed in yellow and blue t-shirt boasting the Undy-500 asked as his arm fell to his side.
Castle smirked at the young man, his eyes flickering back to Kate before turning back to the crowd. "Yes, she is, one of the best people I know, actually."
"Are you going to tell us who?"
Castle chuckled. "No, but if you're smart, you'll figure it out."
A couple of girls twittered in the front roll and this time Alexis did rolled her eyes and Kate smiled at the girl.
"Did you really shadow homicide detectives for research?" One girl squealed. Castle nodded and the girl let out an awestruck sigh. "That is so brave."
Kate choked back a laugh, covering it with a cough and Castle turned to look at her with a questioning glance, which she waved off with an innocent look and a swig of water.
"Yes, I did actually and while none of the material made it into my books since I decided to go another direction with Jade Knight, I did learn some important grains of information, some seeds of truth, if you will."
He began to pace the room again, a single hand gesturing out in front of him and Kate turned in her chair focusing all of her attention on him, wondering where he was going with this.
"The detectives I was shadowing, Ryan and Esposito, good guys, are incredibly dedicated to their jobs. They work long hours, over night, sometimes not sleeping for days at a time to try to find out the truth. Sometimes it wasn't very clear. You see, even when it isn't about something as serious as murder, people have a tendency to lie to protect themselves. It could be something as large as an affair or as small as stealing a pack of gum but all of those lies, in an investigation, add up and get twisted into a ball that inevitably explodes. It wouldn't matter how long and hard they had to work, those two detectives would search until the truth was exposed and it would have been so much easier for all parties if everyone had just told the truth about those little things from the beginning. The true killer would have been caught faster and fewer people would have been hurt in the long run. Inevitably all of the parties, especially those who lied in the beginning ended up hurt."
The room fell silent and Kate continued to stare at Castle as he tilted his head towards her, his eyes lingering on hers for just a moment too long before turning back to the students who were now mumbling amongst themselves.
"Now, if there are no other questions who would like an autograph?"
Kate lifted her head from her desk the day before Thanksgiving break with a sigh when she heard a knock on the door.
"Come in," she called through the wooden door and let out a small smile when she saw Rebecca poke her head in.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything."
"No, not at all. What's up?"
Rebecca settled into her chair across from her, leaning back with her legs crossed as she studied the woman behind the desk. "So, I had two extremely interesting things happen in the past week. First, I received an email with a letter from your ex-fiancé imploring the administration to reconsideration the investigation into you because of your past record and exemplary record and then I hear that your current man spent a good portion of his time with your class talking about the dangers of lying in an incredibly thinly veiled attempt to appeal to the conscience of your students."
Rebecca shook her head as Kate continued to stare at her with a raised eyebrow. "Well, guess what, sweetie. It worked. The girls came forward and admitted to lying in order to keep themselves from failing and the dean was swayed to take their confession as the truth because of the letter from Mark. Congratulations, Kate, your job is safe and you're still up for tenure next year."
Kate's jaw dropped open. She knew about the letter, Mark had CCed her on it a few days before, after they had had lunch. While she had been floored by the gesture, she hadn't expected it to actually work.
"Just like that?"
"Just like that, sweetie. You know, you have this amazing power over men. Even when we were in school, they would follow you around like love struck puppies. Tell me how you do it someday, would you?"
Rebecca gave Kate a wink as she turned and left the office, the door clicking quietly shut behind her.
Kate continued to stare at the closed door for a second longer before finally blinking, a smile spreading across her face. "Well, I'll be damned."
A/N 2: Once again, thank you for all of the loveballs. If you want to hear me geek out about random stuff on a daily basis, feel free to follow me on twitter (aspen_musing). And please check out my newest story World on Fire- chapter 2 will be up soon. :)