Under an Umbrella
Set: after season 5, The Squab and The Quail.
The storm clouds began to roll in as she walked down the beach.
"Go hide from your problems, Kate. It's what you do best!"
His words - spat bitterly as she marched out of his Hampton house - pierced like an arrow through the heart; but it wasn't his anger or his sorrow that hurt the most. No, it was the fact that he was right: running, hiding, it's what she did.
She looked up at the sky, watched as the stunning purple-pink and orange hues from the setting sun were swallowed by the grey shroud.
She knew she should probably turn around, head back to the house before she got caught in the imminent downpour - but she wasn't ready to see him yet, wasn't ready to swallow her pride and apologise like she knew she should.
She stayed staring at the ocean as thunder cracked and the rain began to fall heavily, drenching her in an instant. With long, slow breath in and out she begged the pelting of ice-cold droplets against her face to wash away her sorrows and doubts.
Richard Castle loved her; of that, she was sure. But his jealousy - his inability to move past the kiss from Eric Vaughn - had made these past few days tense. That was why they had come here for the weekend: to get away, to relax. But mere hours had passed before the incident had been brought up again.
"He kissed me, Castle. Not the other way around," she had insisted, again and again.
"The part I don't understand is why he thought he could."
She didn't have the heart to tell him it was because of her insecurities that ran so deep she found it easier to share them with a near-stranger than with the love of her life.
She hung her head low as the first of her unshed tears slipped free. Eric Vaughn thought he could kiss her because - whether she had meant to or not - she had led him to believe he could. And the guilt she felt for that could eat her alive.
"Kate!" She heard her name called from the distance, his voice barely carrying over the loudness of the deluge as it plunged into the waves.
She turned, drawn to him like a compass to true North.
Even though she was in the wrong, even though he had every right to be furious at her, he was willing to walk into a storm for her.
"Kate," he called again once he had her in his sights.
He jogged toward her, eager to be by her side and once close enough he held out his umbrella to shield her from the rain.
It was simple, but unexpected. She sighed, let all the tension and stubbornness out in that puff of air and stepped into his embrace.
"Let's get you back inside before you fre-"
She cut him off with her lips on his; a slow and devoted kiss that whispered a thousand apologies.
"I love you," she promised as she pressed her forehead to his. "So much."
"I love you, too."
On a Plane
Post-series Caskett
"She'll be fine," he muttered sleepily, eyes still closed as his head rested against the back of the chair.
Her head snapped to the side, eyeing him suspiciously. She hadn't said a word, hadn't moved an inch: how did he know she was anxious about Lily?
He opened one eye to look at her and that smug little I know you smirk that drove her wild.
"You dig your nails into me any more and you're going to draw blood," he remarked, as if he had read her mind.
She looked down to her lap, where he had reached out for her hand as soon as they were seated and hadn't let go since. Now, her knuckles were white from the strength of her grip. She released him and, sure enough, his palm was riddled with four crescent-moon markings.
"I'm so sorry," she told him as she smoothed her thumb along the indents in his palm.
"She's going to be fine," he repeated before taking hold of her hand again.
Kate let out a long sigh. "We haven't left her for this long since she was born."
Giving up on hopes of a mid-flight nap, he shuffled in his seat and turned his body toward her.
"I know, that's why we are doing this," he reminded her.
Fourteen months of being a full-time mother, full-time captain, full-time wife - she had earned a little time to herself.
"But this isn't just a weekend in the Hamptons, Castle. We're going to be in a whole other country!"
"It's five days, Kate. Five days in Paris! You said you would be okay."
"I know." She scrubbed her hand across her face. "But that was before we had the whole Atlantic freakin' Ocean between us."
Castle chuckled at his wife's theatrics. Thankfully, his amusement seemed to ease her tensions and she leant into his side.
"I know what we can do to take your mind off of things," he whispered into her hair.
She tilted her head up to look into his eyes, taking in the excited grin that had lit up his face.
"I'm not joining the Mile High Club with you, Castle," she refuted with an emphasised eye roll.
"That's not actually what I had in mind," he said with a slight chuckle. "But I do love that that's where your mind went."
He wriggled his brows and she couldn't help but smile, ducking her head to hide the flush that crossed her cheeks.
He leant forward and pulled his tablet from the chair pocket in front of him.
"I think I still have a few episodes of Temptation Lane on here," he said as he held the device between them. "If I recall correctly, Cosette was just about to find out Andre is actually his evil twin brother, Afonso!"
Kate's brow furrowed.
"I don't remember that," she said as she tried to think back to the last time they had watched together.
Her eyes widened and jaw dropped as realisation hit.
"Have you been watching without me, Castle?" she asked teasingly.
He scoffed. "What? No way!"
Kate narrowed her eyes but remained silent; her most effective interrogation tactic when it came to Castle. Wait it out long enough and he would eventually give himself away.
"Okay, it was one episode!" he blurted. "You fell asleep during the wedding but I just knew there was something off about Andre!"
She smiled, revelling in the fact that - after years of merciless teasing - her husband was becoming a fan.
"It was writer's curiosity," he defended. "I do not like the show."
"You seem pretty eager to watch it right now," she stated.
"I just wanted to do something that you could enjoy," he countered.
"Mmhmm." She leant in slowly, brushed her lips against his. "I appreciate that."
"I mean, we still have like four hours left." He slipped the device back into the chair pocket then cupped her face. "We can do a little more of this first."
He pulled her in for a short but tender kiss.
She pulled away, a content hum spilling from her lips.
"As much as I would love to, Castle," she whispered, looking over her shoulder through the crack between their seats. "I don't think the family behind us wants to watch us make out."
Castle straightened his spine so that he could peek over the top of his seat. "They're asleep. I don't think they'll mind."
She rolled her eyes. "Just put on the show, Castle."
"Buzzkill," Castle grumbled as he passed her one of his air pods. "Let me know if you change your mind about the Mile High thing, though."
Kate just smiled and shook her head.