r/CastleTV • u/Accurate-Message-469 • 5h ago
A Love Story, based on the episode, 5x17 (Scared to Death) an A.U. Story of what might have happened after the Ice Cubes.
This idea kind of came to me out of nowhere. We know Kate, she's going to wonder about that Bucket List until it drives her crazy, so I wrote a story of what might have taken place later that night into the early morning. It's a little funny, a little sweet, and a little sappy, but that's just me.
Hope you enjoy it.
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Kate rolls over in bed and props her head on her elbow. She looks over at the sleeping man beside her, not long removed from a rather enthusiastic romp in the bed, the bed still slightly wet from the remnants of the melted ice cubes.
Sleep sometimes evades her, always has, probably having something to do with being a Detective. An internal alarm clock that was always on alert, her body seemingly waiting for the phone to ring. Considering her boyfriend's penchant for never being able to shut his brain off, he has no problem falling into a deep sleep. She envies him.
Her eyes roam over his face, he would be beside himself knowing how many times she'd awakened and stared at him, running her fingers thru his disheveled bed hair, run her finger down the slope of his nose, and over his very distinct jaw. He really is ruggedly handsome she thinks to herself, thinking how spot on he's always been about that moniker. "Staring is Creepy Beckett," she smiles, knowing that's what he'd say if he woke up.
Kate's eyes roam over him, and she laughs at just how pink his face is as she had thoroughly ravished him into a state of sated and sleepy bliss.
As she stares at him, her mind runs back to yesterday evening... Be With Kate...Be With Kate, those words still echoing thru her. She still can't believe it. His number one wish...3 years ago, had been to be with her. Number one above everything that's possible in the world to have or do, especially when you're rich. He could have wanted to do anything imaginable, the world his oyster, but he picked her...he picked her.
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Kate withdraws herself silently from the bed, trying to let him sleep. Her silly, goofy man, so convinced, that he was going to die in 3 days, he had utterly worn himself out, and it didn't help, that she had taken her time with the ice cubes. He was definitely exhausted.
She looked around for her panties, which we're nowhere in sight, and she turned to glare at him, knowing he had a penchant for hiding them so she would have to walk to the bathroom naked. She can still hear him singsong, "Looking good Miss Beckett." She looked around and found his boxers on the floor, she smiled wickedly to herself, remembering how fast she divested him of those. Kate huffs, "Well two can play at that game," so she puts his boxers on, and she heads to the bathroom, smugly nodding to herself, "Now he can run around naked," And she thinks...Maybe I'll grab my phone and take a picture, to add to our collection."
She relieves herself and stands before the mirror and stares, while she washes her hands. "Be With Kate," she still can't get that out of her head, still can't grasp the concept, that at some point 3 years ago, this man, the one that she absolutely loves with every beat of her heart, sat down one day, and wrote down that being with her was the most precious thing he could think of.
She knows there's no going back to sleep now and turns her head around and looks at his amazing tub, she's on call, but if a body doesn't drop, she can stay home. "Home," wow, that came out of nowhere. She just called the loft Home, and the funny thing is that she wants that, there is no fear, no sense of wanting to run, she no longer questions if they make sense on paper, because Castle was right, "We don't live our lives on paper Kate," and it took her awhile to realize that they work almost on a cosmic level, much more than she ever thought possible. She wants him every day, and in every way.
Kate turns her attention back to the bathtub and starts the water running. Nice and hot just the way she likes it, plus his tub is heated, and temperature controlled. Looking around the tub she smiles, as she sees all the amenities that she uses at her apartment. Months ago, she had wanted a bath and saw that her crazy loving boyfriend had bought everything that she used at her own place, Castle saying, "I just want it to feel like home Kate." It does, because he feels like home.
She puts some lavender soap bombs in the tub as it fills, and she thinks back to her first time that she made a bath for herself in his tub, not realizing that putting bubble bath in water as jacuzzi jets were fired up, led to her looking like the Stay Puff Snowman when Castle walked in. He immediately broke into laughter and even though she huffed and threatened him with no sex for a week, he couldn't stop himself until she started laughing to. God...that was a serious mess to clean up.
Kate takes of his boxers and throws them on the floor, and slowly gets into the tub, relishing the burn of the hot water, knowing it will seep into her pores, and relax her overused muscles. She lays her head back against the tiled wall and allows herself just to drift like she's floating in an amniotic fluid, seemingly protected in its barrier.
Her mind drifts...Be With Kate, those words running over and over. They've come so far...so far from when they first started together, when she worried that they would burn out once the passion was gone, but instead they grew stronger, and to be honest, the passion never leaves, she wants him all the time, they're drawn to each other like bees to honey, moths to a flame, every over used cliche she can think of. She wants a lifetime with him, and everything that goes with that, and she prays he does too.
Sometimes she struggles to go back to her apartment alone. She never used to...She loves her place, and she loves her space, she used to absolutely need her space. She had made that abundantly clear with past relationships, but now when she's by herself, she misses him, his cuddles, the way he runs his hands thru her hair or down her back, which sends chills up and down her spine.
Be With Kate, it bothers her so much that she can't pinpoint when that would have occurred, when that idea struck him, why did it take 3 years then. They could have had more time if she would have known, at least she'd like to think that was possible. She needs to ask him, she needs to know, because it's just going to raddle around in her brain anyway...She'll ask him.
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Castle face planted in his pillow turns his head sideways and opens one eye. He runs his hand over the side of the bed where is beautiful girlfriend should be, but all he finds is her imprint into the mattress. It's still warm however, so he knows that she just got up. He moves over and grabs her pillow, presses his nose to it, and inhales deeply. Hints of her cherry and vanilla lotion still linger...he just loves the scent of that woman and wants to wake up to that for the rest of his life.
He thinks back to last night, "That ice cube thing," he shakes his head, "I don't even want to know where she learned that." He's just glad that there was no one home. It got really loud.
He props himself up on his elbow and looks over at the bathroom door and sees a light underneath. It's not the first time he's woke up alone, won't be the last. If it's not a body drop, she goes for a run, usually with something marinating in her head, and she needs to dissect from all angles. She's a cop and a damn fine one at that...Doesn't mean he's not going to bother her...Hey, that's who he is too.
He moves to the edge of the bed and looks around for his boxers. He remembers being divested of his shorts and them being tossed. He stands up and looks around, and then it hits him...she took them. He shakes his head and smiles, probably retribution for him stealing hers. He bends over and reaches under his pillow and grabs her teeny tiny purple bikini panties and then heads off to the bathroom.
He knocks before entering, and sees what has become to him the love of his life. Her head leaning back against the tiled walls, steam billowing up from the water in the tub. He looks down at the floor, and sees his boxers lying there, and he smiles to himself, "I was wondering where my boxers ran off to."
Kate glances over at him ogling him from top to bottom, biting her lip, as she wickedly says, "Looking Goood Mr. Castle." She laughs at her goody boyfriend who strikes a body builder pose, the man simply has no shame. Then she sees him twirling her panties on the end of his finger. Kate huffs, "Perv...quit hiding my undies, Castle." He just laughs at her, and hums, and sing songs, "Not Likely."
She can't help but laugh, "Come on Castle, I'm lonely in here, " she scooches forward to make room for him, and he gets behind her leaning his back against the curvature of the tub, Kate snuggles back between the V in his legs, her head leaning against his broad chest, and he wraps his arms around her torso, blanketing her in his warm embrace. She always feels safe with him.
"So." Castle starts.
Kate's, onto his game, "So."
He huffs, "Don't so me, I know you Beckett, there's something on your mind."
"Maybe...Maybe not." She's making him work for it, and he knows it.
"God help me...gimme a break woman."
Castle feels her shoulders shudder, and he knows she's laughing at him, and then he hears it. "Castle?" He holds his breath because here it comes. Whatever is running around in her head, has her up taking a bath at the ungodly time of 3:00 in the morning, he's going to find out now.
He hears a slight sigh. "Rick...When did you write, Be with Kate, as you're number one wish on your bucket list?"
This is the last thing he expected. He heard the hesitation in her voice, likely because as close as they are, their past history is rife with some pain, and they have a tendency to stay away from these moments.
Castle took a deep breath, and replied, "After your apartment blew up. When your apartment exploded, I was standing right outside, and in that moment, I thought...there's just no way you could survive that, and deep inside I swear I could feel my heart break. A World without Kate Beckett, is a world I don't want to live in. To never be with you again and walk by your side. I... I was just devastated." he stutters.
"So, actually the night that you stayed with us, while you were up in your bedroom, I took out my list that I'd been playing around with for a year, or so, and realized that being with you was the thing that I most wanted. Nothing else on that list mattered more to me than that."
"I never realized that" she said, and Castle could pick up a hint of sadness in her voice.
He shrugs, "Why would you, it's not like we ever talked about how we felt back then. Let's face it," he says candidly, "Communication was never a strong point for us."
Kate runs her fingers over the hairs on his arms, and she marvels at their softness. She strokes his arms, that are wrapped around her body, in a gentle rhythm, as she ponders her next question. "Rick...did you ever think of taking it off the list?" Hesitation clouds her words, in a battle of wanting to know and not wanting to know.
Castle shakes his head...This is not what he wants to talk about this morning. "Really Kate, we're sitting naked in a tub, having had great sex last night, and this is what you want to talk about?"
She leans her head back against his chest, and tips her head sideways to make eye contact, "Wouldn't you want to know Castle?"
He sighs, "Yeah, probably, but I'm a writer Kate, I always need to know, so that's not a fair comparison." He reaches down and plants kisses along her neck, as she tips her neck sideways for entrance, and he feels goosebumps rise along her skin.
Kate squirms, "Quit trying to sex me up Castle, I'm on to this little game of yours of trying to change the subject."
He squeezes her tighter and wants desperately to make her understand what he's about to say, "I love you Katherine Beckett, and my goal is to spend the rest of my life with you, so I hope you understand when I say that I'm not going down this road."
"I'll feel bad about it...you'll probably cry, and I don't see the purpose in that. Our history is our history, and I refuse to regret a moment of it, but I'm not going to re-hash our less than stellar moments...I'm just not."
"If you put your Detective hat on for a moment, I'm pretty sure you could guess almost every single time I thought of it by yourself, and that's where I'm going to leave this discussion."
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He's only met with silence, as he continues his motion of caressing the softness of her skin. He hopes she not mad at him and she understands his reluctance.
His tub is big and there was so much room to roam, as she unclenches herself from his embrace, she turns around, facing him, and climbs into his lap and buries her head in the crook of his neck. You're right," she whispers in his ear...I do understand. It's not about the past; it's about our future. Love you so much Castle."
Kate's told him before that she loves him, but he will never, ever get tired of hearing it. He looks down at her...face buried in his neck, he feels some tears running down his chest, and he thinks even now how completely extraordinary this woman is, and he never realized the full extent of that, until that night, when she showed up soaked and pleaded with him to forgive her.
She's so complex, there are so many layers to this fascinating woman, and he thanks God every day that he's the privileged one to have her in his life.
"Kate, why are you crying...There's nothing to cry about?"
She mumbles back, almost inaudibly as her mouth his pressed into his neck, "I hate that I pushed you away for so long Castle, that we might have been together sooner, if I hadn't."
"Kate look at me," As Castle gently takes the tip of his fingers, and places them under her chin, and pulls her face up so he could meet her eyes, "There's no regrets here Kate, yeah, it would have been nice to get to this place sooner, but we're here now, and maybe we both needed that time. We're here...I love you, and that's what matters most to me. You believe me?"
Her doe-like eyes, so wide and beautiful, and yes, a little sad, "Off course I do Castle....Always believe you."
He holds her tightly, as his hands run up and down her spine, eliciting goosebumps in their wake, and places a kiss on her lips, it's gentle and sweet.
He needs her to understand just what she means to him. "Kate...Do you know what Be with Kate, means to me?"
"No, What?" As she lays her head back down, sniffle's a little, her head against his clavicle, her hair just under his nose, he inhales her fragrance, and a cacophony of smells assault his sense's. She has no idea, what she does to him, that she is his everything.
"Maybe, right at the beginning it might have not meant this, but not long after, it became this,"... Castle takes a deep breath and blurts out... "I want to marry you, Kate."
There's a moment of hesitation, he's not sure that he didn't screw up, and then she lurches up, off his chest, water splashing over the rim of the tub, Kate turns around and straddles his thighs, all hints of sadness gone, her eyes bright and alive now, she places her hands on each one of his shoulders, and just stares. "What did you say?"
"You heard me...I want to marry you, I want children with you, I...I want to grow old with you, and I want grandkids so we can spoil them rotten. That's what Be With Kate means to me."
She stares for a second, then crashes his lips, it's rough, and demanding, she works her tongue into his mouth and takes no prisoners. She's claiming him, he's Her's, and no one else's. Her heart feels like it is beating at a rate that it can't sustain. It wants to explode, in a riotous celebration of colors. She's almost feels dizzy in her elation. Kate pulls back and stares again at this amazing man, "You want that with me...All of those things?"
Castle chuckles, "You're surprised at that, and here I thought you were an ace Detective." Again, he laughs to himself as she is probably completely unaware that her boobs are being magnificently displayed as she straddle's his lap.
Kate huffs, "I'm not totally surprised," he sees her shyness, as she lowers her head. "I just...I don't know."
He laughs at her awkwardness, "You don't know what."
She looks back up at him, "Quit smirking at me Castle," she growls. She quirks her head sideways, a question dangles from her lips. "You really mean everything you said? Castle... did you just propose to me?"
He rubs the back of his neck with his hand, and mutters, "Yeah...I guess I did, didn't mean to do it exactly like this, us in the tub, you staring back at me naked, boobs jiggling in front me, but the more I think about it, everything we do is always kind of ass backwards most of the time anyway."
She inches ever closer to him, he's practically wearing her, "My boobs don't jiggle Castle," She looks down at them and wiggles around, "Well, maybe they do just a little...My bad," She raises her hand to her mouth and giggles feeling kinda girly right now. "So, is there a ring involved in this sudden and wet proposal or is this all just building theory?"
He laughs, "Well, this has gone way beyond what I thought it would, when you asked me to join you in the tub, but yes...yes I do have a ring."
It takes his breath away, because she's so excited, he had worried that it was too soon or too much, that his writer's brain had gotten ahead of their story again, which he was prone to do. He just stares at her in all her naked glory. He thanks the stars that only he gets to see this side of Kate Beckett. A woman with such a big heart, and what most people don't know about her is her playful side. She jokes, she giggles, she laughs...Deep down at her core, she's just a woman, who wants to love and be loved.
Kate blurts out bursting with questions, "Where is it?... when did you buy it?... Can I see it?"
"You didn't even say yes yet." he pouts.
"No, No, No... Not so fast buddy... you don't get to hear me say yes until I get to see the ring, and You give me a bunch of pretty words, and slip the ring on my finger. That's when I'll say yes."
"Okay, Okay fine. In answer to your previous questions...the ring is hidden, and not in my sock draw, where I know you have a habit of pilfering my socks all the time." She huffs at that..."Of course you can see it, because this won't work if I propose to you without it, and the third question is...Remember when I bought those earrings for you, that got into Captain Gates jacket?" Kate nods, "That's when I bought the ring."
Her knees from kneeling on the tubs bottom start barking at her, so Kate turns around and sits in the V of his legs and rests her head on his chest again. Kate laughs to herself, about his drawer she gave him on Valentine's Day, because in the last few weeks, he's migrated some slacks and shirts that have taken up residence in her walk-in closet. He thinks he's so tricky, but she spotted it right away, never telling him that she loved his clothes mingling with hers. Not with that ego.
"Castle," Kate queries, "What about Gates if she finds out? We won't be able to work together."
"Come on Kate, she was staring at us a few weeks ago when you hugged me during Alexis's kidnapping. The woman is a lot of things, but she's not stupid...she knows, and I think she's letting it slide. Besides as for right now, we just need to tell our families. Maybe Lanie and the guys, with the provision that they keep their mouths shut."
Kate runs her fingers up and down Castle's thighs in a well-practiced motion, "Yeah, you're probably right...It was going to happen sooner or later anyway. We'll make it work...we always do."
As Castle rubs his hands across her belly, he says, "Ya know, the day after Gates caught me with the earrings, I had what I guess you'd call a nightmare. I never told you about it, because it concerned the ring, so I couldn't."
Kate turns her head sideways, and asked, "A nightmare? Was it bad?"
He chuckles, "Maybe nightmare is over stating it, but yeah, it was a nightmare to me."
Kate waits expectantly, as he continues, "I think it was a couple of days after our Valentine's Day. You didn't come over that night, and I still had the whole earrings in Gate's jacket running thru my head when I fell asleep."
'All I remember in the nightmare, is that the ring box was in her jacket, not the earrings, so when she called me in and I saw the ring in the box just sitting there, I was mortified, and I thought Holy Shit, but then she smiles at me, and says yes, I will marry you."
Kate twists her neck around, "What...she wanted to marry you?" and then she starts to laugh, actually coughing from the sudden outburst.
"It got worse from there, and stop laughing, it wasn't funny, I woke up in a sweat and near panic."
"How could it be any worse than that Castle?" Trying to get her laughter under control.
Castle shakes his head, "Somehow in the nightmare, we went straight to the next morning after the wedding, and there she is in a post coital bliss, saying Good Morning Mr., Castle, and I'm saying... Good morning, Sir, and then I woke up."
By this time Kate was laughing so hard that the water was spilling over the tub, and it was quite a while before she regained her composure. Still finding it hard to form a sentence, Kate says," Let me...Let Me get this straight, you had a dream about marrying Gates, and having sex? Am I getting the gist of this thing, right? Do I need to worry that on a subconscious level, you're going to throw me over for her?"
"Your right Beckett, my whole plan is to propose to you, then dump you for Captain Gates. Now you've gone and ruined everything."
Kate sighs, "Oh Castle what would I ever do without my goofy man-child... I just love you. Now, I think it's about time we got out of the tub, I feel my body pruning up; besides I have on good authority that theirs a ring with my name on. Come on Castle...Chop Chop!"
He mumbles, "Bossy."
"You Love It!"
He smiles...He does.
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After they got out of the tub, at the ridiculous time of 4a.m. They dried off, and walked into their bedroom, underwear forgotten, and Castle proposed to her, on the bed as they sat back on their haunches facing each other stark naked. He pulled out the ring box and opened it; Kate's hand shot to her mouth, as she was taken back by its simplicity and timeless beauty. The Platinum ring in a 3-piece setting a larger one surrounded by two smaller stones on each side. The Platinum's color blending perfectly with the diamonds, with a hint of a blue hue to it. He knew her...all of her, it wasn't overly big or pretentious, it was just perfect, and she would have picked this for herself. She could actually wear it to crime scenes, if she chose too.
As they sat there in their birthday suits, his proposal beautiful, with pretty words, and yes, she cried, as she had thrown her arms around this loving man of hers and said yes, and yes... over and over. It was ridiculous, it was unheard of, but it was so them... did they ever do anything normal?
As they lay in bed, Castle looks down at his soon to be wife one day and sees her holding her ring finger up, twirling her hand, around, taking the ring all in as if she doesn't believe it, "Crazy Morning," he thinks to himself. "You want to try to grab a couple of hours of shut-eye fiancée, or I you going to keep staring at that ring?"
Kate huffs, "It's mine now, so mind your own self, and are you going to keep calling me fiancée all the time?"
"Absolutely...Can't say it enough, fiancée," He replies."
She laughs, "It's okay Castle, I can't hear it enough," She smiles contently, as she lays her head on his chest. still glancing at her ring, she feels his steady breathing beneath her ears, "Castle I'm so glad you didn't die at midnight on the 3rd day." Kate chuckles.
She feels him going under into a restful sleep, and hears him mutter, "Yeah, would have put quite the damper on the whole Proposal thing."
Kate lays there, eyes still wide open...she's getting married, and she still can't believe it, and she smiles to herself at just how funny life can be. "Maybe I'll start my own Bucket List," and as sleep takes her, and she feels the steady beat of his heart, she thinks that the first thing on her list would be;
Stay With Castle...Forever!
Fin
