Fever

A/N: Just a cute little thing I came up with on the fly. :P Hope you enjoy!

—-

Kate wasn't sure exactly how she knew, but she could tell that Castle had been up all night.

She stretched out under the covers of his bed, savoring the trapped warmth, while her hand reached out for him. He wasn't there, and his side of the bed was still made, the sheets cool to the touch.

Kate blinked, confused, before deciding to go find him.

The air in the loft was a bit chilly, so she wrapped her thin robe more tightly around her shoulders.

"Castle?" she called out, and heard shuffling coming from the living room.

"Ind here!"

Kate frowned. Since when was there a "d" on the end of "in"?

She found Castle on the couch under, at the very least, three blankets, watching something on television.

"Hey," she croaked, voice still froggy from sleep. She smiled at him, and he smiled back. But there was something off. His skin was pale, and he had dark smudges beneath his glassy eyes. "You okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Right as raind. How'd you sleep?"

Kate flopped down onto the couch beside him. She could feel his body heat radiating from under the many blankets. "Good, actually. I feel like I could sleep more."

"Id's your day off. You should."

Kate frowned. He was definitely congested. Reaching over to put a hand on his forehead, Kate asked nonchalantly, "How about you? Sleep well?"

Castle brushed off her hand before it could linger too long on his forehead, and shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I mean, I've had worst."

Kate tsked and tried to lean forward to lock eyes with her boyfriend. He steadfastly avoided her gaze, eyes glued to the TV. "You didn't sleep a wink, did you?"

"Pshh. Dow why would you think that?"

Kate grinned, seeing what this was. What this was going to be. "Because you said 'dow' instead of 'now.'" She giggled a little and put her hand on his overly-fluffy shoulder. "You're an illness-denier, aren't you? Maybe a little, I don't know, 'mind over matter'?"

Castle scoffed and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I don't dow what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't." Kate stood, sighed, and looked down at the pathetic bundle on the couch. "Where's the thermometer?"

He finally deigned to look her way. He looked almost drunk with his mouth hanging open slightly, like he was unable to breathe out of his nose. "I'm dot sick," he insisted, and Kate's mouth twisted into another grin.

"Okay, then. Prove it to me. Where. Is the. Thermometer?"

Castle rolled his eyes, and nudged his head in the direction of his bedroom. "Baffroom."

Kate nodded once and then set off on her mission.

She returned moments later with the digital thermometer in her hand. "Alright, Ricky. Bend over."

Castle looked up, horrified, which sent Kate into a peal of laughter. "Kidding! Goodness, I'm kidding."

She sat on the coffee table across from Castle and thrusted the thermometer toward him. "You gonna do it yourself, or make me do it?"

Glaring, Castle snaked a hand out from underneath the pile of blankets and took the device. He placed it under his tongue, grimacing all the while, and they waited for the timer to go off.

When it did, Kate snatched it up before Castle could try to take it. "Aha! 100.8. You are sick."

"Am dot!"

"Babe, please. Resistance is futile." Castle grinned briefly at the nerdy reference, before resuming his pout.

"I haven't been sick in years," he tried to explain, but it wasn't working on Kate, who was staring at him with her head cocked, face showing her dismay at his stubbornness. (It was hardly working on himself, either, Who was he to argue with a fever?)

"I'm sure that's true. You're a healthy, strapping guy. But come on…" She leaned forward and ran her cool fingers through his hair, nails just lightly scratching his scalp. "I'm off today. Let me take care of you."

"So that you can just catch whatever it dis?"

Kate snickered. She knew she'd won. (She always won.) "I've already been exposed. I've been here since dinner last night." She sighed. "I should have known something was off. It's not like you to not finish the chicken parmesan from Costello's."

Castle frowned. It had pained him to leave so much behind - their chicken parm was divine. "I don't wand you to spend your only day off daking care of me. I can do it myself."

She grinned. "I am sure that you can. But now that I'm here, that we're together…" She laid a hand on his knee. "You don't have to do it all alone anymore. Okay?"

Castle considered, then nodded. Kate turned the TV off and offered him her hand. "Besides," she added as she helped him stand, "I missed out on our morning cuddles. Surely you wouldn't deprive me of them just because of some stupid illness, hmm?"

Castle's chest warmed, and it had nothing to do with the fever.

"If you insist," he finally conceded, and the bundle of blankets toppled to the floor as he stood.

Ten minutes later, loaded up with water and a couple Tylenol, Castle was tucked into bed. After a brief detour to the bathroom, Kate returned, minus her robe. She snuggled in beside him, head slightly propped up on a pillow.

Then she patted her chest. "Come on," she urged, and Castle looked at her questioningly. "Trust me."

Trying not to shiver, Castle did as she asked and laid his head on her chest. She was soft and cool beneath his body, and he instantly felt at ease. He draped an arm across her hips and cuddled up closer.

"There. Comfortable?" she asked, and methodically began petting back his hair. (Castle was certain he was going to drool on her at some point during his sleep. If not sooner.)

"'Iss dice," he agreed, and finally shut his eyes, savoring her affection.

Not long after, whether it be due to illness, exhaustion, or Kate's relaxing ministrations, Castle fell asleep. His snores rumbled through Kate's body, and it took everything in her not to laugh.

She'd lied to him, though. She wasn't tired anymore. She'd slept way too damn good the night before. But she knew he wouldn't have agreed to go to bed without her. He rarely did these days, even when he was healthy.

A few hours later, Martha knocked on the bedroom door. Kate lowered the book that was propped up on a pillow beside her, and smiled bashfully up at Castle's mother.

The older woman looked surprised to find them like this, and cocked her head to the side as she pointed at a still sleeping Castle.

Kate pointed to her own forehead, mouthing the word 'fever.'

Martha's eyebrows raised, but she nodded all the same. She gave a questioning look, and gave a tentative thumbs up.

Kate smiled and nodded. She gave the universal sign for "OK" and Martha pursed her lips before nodding again.

But then Kate, using her free hand that wasn't currently tangled in Castle's hair, mimed using a spoon to eat soup. Martha nodded vigorously and pointed back toward the kitchen.

Sighing, knowing she would need to move soon and get Castle to eat, she took one last glance down at the man she loved. She kissed him tenderly on his now-cool forehead, and smiled against his skin.

There was nowhere else she'd rather be on her day off.