Castle awoke from a doze to the sound of his stomach, gurgling its protest at the lack of dinner. Thinking about it, he realized his appetite had been pretty nonexistent for the past few days. Understandable in the circumstances, but now it had returned with a vengeance, and he was ravenous. Reluctant to move, he glanced down at Beckett, curled along his side with her head nestled in to his ribcage. He pondered sliding out of bed, but didn't want to wake her. Undaunted, his stomach growled again, louder than before.
He heard a soft chuckle, as Beckett lifted her head, stretching overused muscles and flexing her back with a muffled pop. "You hungry Castle, or is there an animal in here somewhere?"
"As a matter of fact, I'm starving here, woman!" Castle growled with mock ferocity as he sat up against the headboard "Mother and Alexis left right after graduation, and then this insatiable woman showed up on my doorstep to ravish me before I could order in."
"C'mon then Castle, let's go see what you have in the kitchen; I have plans for you that don't involve letting you waste away from lack of nourishment." Kate rose gracefully from the bed, leaning over to fish through the piles of their discarded clothes. Coming back up with several garments in her hand, she tossed Castle his boxers and undershirt. He sat, pole axed, as she swiftly donned her own underwear and flung his dress shirt around her shoulders.
"Plans?" he asked, hearing his voice sounding unnaturally high in his ears. "You made plans? What plans, exactly?"
She stalked towards him, moving like a jungle cat, buttoning his shirt as she came. He was immediately distracted by the enormously sexy sight of Kate Beckett wearing his clothes. She reached his side, and bending to whisper in his ears, almost purred "Rick, you don't think you're the only one who spent the last four years thinking about this, do you?"
Castle almost whimpered at the combination of her words, the warm feel of her breath against his ear, and the sight of her beautiful body, dressed only in his shirt, bending over him. Moving so quickly that he startled them both, he gripped the back of her neck, pressed a brief but passionate kiss to her lips, then trailed his own mouth to her ear. "Believe me, I'm delighted to hear it, and I can hardly wait to start checking off our lists. But for now, I either need to find some food, or I'll start taking bites out of you."
Laughing, she straightened, pulling him up after her. Throwing on his boxers and t-shirt, he started for the kitchen, clasping her hand and tugging her along in his wake.
"There are basically three options here, Beckett. We can make something, order something or snack on whatever we can find that doesn't need cooking." He glanced at her, fascinated by the adorable way her brow crinkled as she considered the options.
"How about a combination, Castle?" she offered. "Order in Chinese, and snack on cold cereal while we wait for it to get here."
"Genius, Kate!" he said, beaming at her across the kitchen island. "Sugar for an immediate energy boost, and plenty of carbs for stamina later." Leering at her suggestively, he waggled his eyebrows at her, grinning from ear to ear.
Her obligatory eye roll lacked conviction, especially when combined with her answering grin. Sinking on to a stool, Kate airily waved a hand at him. "Chop, chop Castle, you're the host here. Order already."
Picking up the phone, he dialed a number from memory, then tucked the phone into his shoulder and began rummaging in the cabinets for plates, bowls and utensils.
"It's me Zhang, I need my usual, extra heat on the Kung Pao, no mushrooms in anything, and listen, I'm starving, so there's an extra $25 bucks to the guy if he has it here inside 30 minutes." Castle paused, listening, and then chuckled. "Yeah, she's here….Well then call it my Beckett usual then, the other one is my Alexis usual." Meeting her eyes, her puzzled expression made him smile. "OK, I'll see him in 30."
"What was that about Castle?" she asked as he hung up.
"When Zhang heard my order, he asked if my Detective was visiting me again" Castle told her, eyes twinkling. "He said I always make the same changes to my usual order when you're here. He wanted to name it, to save time, so now I can order the Beckett or the Alexis."
Kate frowned, "Castle, won't Alexis and I ever eat together?
Coming around the island with bowls and spoons, he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and chuckled. "Zhang has it covered; he said that when we're all together, I should just order the Castle Happy Family Special." Dropping a kiss to her forehead, he circled back around to rummage for cereal in the pantry, stealing glances at Beckett's face to read her reaction.
He saw the initial surprise in her face, but was gratified to see her mouth curve into a small shy smile, which lingered on her face as he returned to her side with several boxes of sugary cereal. He crossed to the fridge for milk, as Kate studied the boxes before her.
"Castle, you're a grown man," she grumbled. "How is it that you don't have a single box of cereal that doesn't come with a toy inside?"
"Well, sometimes the toys are collectible, the sugar makes it taste like something besides cardboard, and it's really hard to make marshmallow treats with oat bran." he cheerfully replied. "But I think Mother may have some Raisin Bran in there if you really can't stand these."
With a slight huff, she reached for the crunchberries box, tipping a generous amount into her bowl. "Never mind, I don't want to cause any trouble by eating your mother's cereal."
Castle studied her carefully, noting the too bland expression and the downcast eyes. Reaching for her chin, he lifted her eyes to him, spotting the glimmer of mischief lurking there. "HA!" he cried, "You like this sugary crap just as much as I do, don't you? You're just acting all haughty to keep me from guessing your dirty little secret."
"I'll never tell, Castle. Now eat your sugary crap." Kate reached for the milk, doused the cereal, and then dug out a spoonful. Crunching happily, she watched him as he carefully considered the boxes, before pouring himself an enormous serving of Cocoa Krispies and digging in.
Castle sat smiling at her over their cereal bowls as the kitchen was filled with the sounds of their crunching. Another wave of amazement washed over him as he watched her carefully chasing the last few colorful pieces with her spoon. If someone had told him 24 hours ago that he would be sitting in his kitchen watching Kate Beckett eat cereal wearing nothing but his shirt, he would have laughed himself hoarse. As it was, he was still so stunned by her presence that he had to keep touching her to prove that she was real. He reached out a foot and hooked it around her calf, sliding it gently up and down as she smiled into her cereal bowl.
After he finished his snack, he collected their bowls and spoons and left them in the sink. Crossing the kitchen to Kate's side, he gathered her into his arms, delighting in her instant response as she wrapped her arms around his waist. "So, what do you want to do until the real food gets here?" he inquired.
"Well," she mused "you could tell me about how the big graduation speech went."
"She was fantastic!" Castle enthused, as he led her to the couch. "Truly amazing; between my talent for writing, and Mother's acting ability, she really is a terrific speaker."
"Well Castle, I'm sure that some of it was also based on her own brains." Kate observed. "What did she end up speaking about?
"She spoke about change," he explained as a slight shadow of remembered pain came over his face, "how scary it can be, but also how necessary and even inevitable it is. She talked about how certain people come into our lives, and even if they don't stay forever, they can leave an indelible mark on us that make them a part of us forever." He stared into the distance as he spoke, lost in thought.
Kate understood immediately that those words must have haunted him, spoken so soon after their own breach. The bleak look on his eyes made her sad, especially knowing that she had helped to put it there. Reaching out, she gently brushed the hair off his forehead, catching his eyes with hers. It was gratifying to see the sadness clear as he met her gaze, but still she leaned in to meet his mouth with hers. Gently, she traced his lips with her tongue, pressing warm kisses to the corners of his mouth. He seemed to understand her wordless apology, remaining quiescent under her mouth as she tenderly caressed him. Not passion, but reverent, humble gratitude was in this kiss; gratitude for his long patience, his forgiveness, and his love. As she pulled back slightly and met his eyes, he whispered "Thank you, Kate."
A loving, happy smile broke across her face as she whispered back, "Always, Rick."