Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.
Prompt #31: Searing - He couldn't get her out of his mind. She couldn't keep him out of her thoughts.
Words: 494
"Hey, Kate?" Well, here goes.
"Yeah?"
"We gonna talk about it?" Smooth, Castle. Very smooth. Say something else remarkably stupid. Go on.
"About what?"
"You know what." This is killing me. You're killing me, Kate.
"Oh, you mean...that."
"Yeah, that." Please don't shoot me, please don't shoot me...
"What about it?"
Wait, what? ARE YOU SERIOUS? "Um, howabout the fact that you're sleeping over after we had the worst fight in our four years of knowing each other?"
"You complaining?"
"No." No, most definitely not, not after I've dreamed about this pretty much since I first met you...Focus Castle, focus. "But, you gotta admit, some people might think you're just rapidly decompressing after...everything that's happened."
"Hey, Kate?"
"Yeah?" Crap, he looks worried.
"We gonna talk about it?"
You got this, Kate. You got this, you got this... "About what?" Dammit!
"You know what."
"Oh, you mean...that." Of course he means how I practically jumped him at the door! What else could he mean?
"Yeah, that."
"What about it?" Please don't have second thoughts, please don't have second thoughts...
"Um, howabout the fact that you're sleeping over after we had the worst fight in our four years of knowing each other?"
"You complaining?" Because I'm sure as hell not. DAMN, can this man love a woman well...
"No. But, you gotta admit, some people might think you're just rapidly decompressing after...everything that's happened."
As soon as he said it, Castle and Beckett both realized that it was the wrong thing to say.
This was bad.
Very bad.
They could see it in each other's eyes. The second-guessing. The discomfort. The worry.
Second-guessing what had just happened between them. Discomfort at being found out. Worry that they'd broken a friendship that they valued as much as anything else in their respective lives.
But then Castle's mind was suddenly filled with Kate, every single one of her expressions, all of her quirks and traits, right down to how she looked under him as she was ready to come apart. His jaw set, his lips firming in a determined line.
Likewise, Kate's mind was overrun with Castle, his smiles and his jokes and his voice in general, all his theories and hunches, right up to where he held her last night and whispered how he loved her. She took a deep, steadying breath and met his eyes.
The worry and doubt vanished.
He decided to speak first. "Kate?"
"Castle?"
"...We're gonna work through this, right? Together?"
She smiled at him and scooted closer, resting her cheek against his chest. "Yeah," she whispered. "Of course we are."
He held her close, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "You're not gonna sneak out before breakfast, right?" he teased.
"You kidding?" She looked up with a grin. "I better be getting pancakes in bed, mister."
Post "Always". Anyone else excited for the new season? September 24th, and I've seen the promo!
Review please!