Keep Showing Up
Chapter 17

Her wet hair stuck to her chest and she felt cold droplets of water chase along her skin to pool in the hollow between her breasts. With a playful laugh Castle tickled her sides and straddled her, bending to run the flat of his tongue across her pebbled skin.

A soft dry towel followed his tongue as he made a futile attempt to dry them both after their shower. Kate grabbed it from his hands and took one rough swipe across his chest with it, barely drying anything, before she spread it out over the pillows and flopped back on to the bed.

Castle spread himself beside her, a towel wrapped loosely around his waist despite the fact that she was still fully naked. She rolled onto her side to face him and let her hand go in search of his, wrapping their fingers together.

The lightness in her chest was altogether unfamiliar and for a moment she fought it, before she breathed out a long sigh and rolled her body to nuzzle against him. Her laughter bubbled up and then just as suddenly stopped and she was surprised to feel tears pooling and a pressure behind her eyes. She puffed out a breath and snuggled in tighter.

Castle caught the sudden stillness of her body and moved down lower so that their faces were in line.

Before he had a chance to ask the question, Kate answered him, "I'm fine." The words sounded vastly inadequate and she squeezed his hand, "I'm happy, Castle. You make me happy." A lone tear escaped and trailed across her nose to drop against the pillow.

He untangled their fingers and bought both arms up to cradle her head, kissing the glistening trail once, and then again, "Kate," it was a benediction and he managed, within the sound and shape of her name, to pledge his love.

She tried to focus on him through the shimmering of tears and couldn't. She closed her eyes, and another tear fell free. His thumb came to swipe across her eyelid, followed by the press of his lips. The perfect rightness of them together surrounded her and she burrowed passed his hands and back into his neck.

"Thank you," she whispered.

He answered her by cradling her close and trailing his hands across her back, his lips resting against the wet hair plastered to her ear.

She tugged at the towel around his waist, trying to remove it.

"My god, woman! Let me rest," he said dramatically.

"Shush!" She wacked his chest, "I don't want this between us," she said, finally successful in pulling the towel away, "But if twice in one afternoon is your limit then let me know now," she said archly.

He laughed at her and immediately tangled their legs together. Kate lay back against him and let the feel of his skin soothe her. Having run the gamut of her emotions throughout the day she was content to just be.

A long moment later she caught the faint sound of her cell phone ringing downstairs, and at the tilt of her head Castle paused in his slow aimless caresses.

"I suppose I should get that," she said reluctantly.

"Are you on call?"

"No," she started to roll away from him, "but I should check it anyway. I'll be straight back."

She disappeared through the bedroom door, skipping quickly down the stairs to find her phone in the pocket of her coat.

She had two missed calls and two text messages; all from Lanie. Kate remembered their loose plans for drinks and she called her straight back. She held her coat against her naked front to ward off the chill and waited for her friend to pick up.

"Hey, Lanie."

"Kate, finally! I've been calling you!"

"I know, sorry, I was in the shower and must have missed you."

"Why were you in the shower? Don't tell me you spent your day off jogging around the park like a crazy person again!"

Kate laughed at her aversion to jogging, "No, a whole other kind of exercise," she said, suggestively.

Her tone made her friend pause, "I'm sorry, what?"

Kate stifled a giggle and glanced up the stairs to her bedroom.

"No! Hang on, back up," Lanie reshuffled her thoughts, "What kind of exercise?" she asked, just as prepared for an answer of cross country skiing or basejumping as she was for any form of exercise that might elicit such a tenor in her friend's voice.

"Are you phoning about drinks tonight?" Kate asked.

"Don't you dare change the subject!"

"I'm not. I was just going to say that it looks like I'll be busy after all."

"Katherine Beckett! You didn't!"

"I did," Kate couldn't help her smile.

A deafening round of girlish squeals broken by a chant of "yes, yes, yes" had Kate holding the phone away from her ear. "I'll leave you to your celebrations. I have to go."

"Oh, no you don't! I want details."

"Not today. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Hang on! What's the date?"

"What?"

"The date! How long ago was Ryan's wedding?"

"Lanie, don't you dare tell me –"

"Fine. I won't tell you anything, but I think you just won me some money. After seeing the two of you on the dancefloor together I gave you a month."

"Thanks for the support," she said sarcastically.

"Girl, I've been cheering you on from the sidelines for years!"

"I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"I'll phone early."

Kate laughed at her teasing, "Don't bother," she said, ending the call.

She gathered up Castle's jacket from off the floor and carried them back upstairs. She found him under the blankets, laying on his side, waiting for her. His eyes took her in; travelling the full length of her body. He flipped back a corner of the blankets and opened his arms to her.

"We're going back to bed?" she asked, placing the coats on her corner chair.

"Technically, we haven't really been to bed yet," he said.

She climbed in next to him. Her body was cold against his and she poked her toes between his calves. The slide of their skin together bought a delicate flutter to her belly and Kate sighed against him, amazed once more at what his touch did to her.

"I'm just now fully realising that we spent the entire afternoon together – naked," he said.

"Making love," she murmured, without thinking.

He paused at that, moving away slightly and searching her face for clues.

Kate cursed herself for saying it so casually and tried to find something to say without taking it back. She spread her fingers and swept them across his chest to settle over his heart, "You know how I feel about you, just as I know how you feel about me. Can we just let today speak for itself?"

Castle nodded deliberately and, with his eyes open, he leaned in to kiss her lightly. His own hand moved from her hip to press against her upper chest; his hand spread wide, splaying down from her throat and between her breasts. His index finger stopped to circle the evidence of the last time her heart was so exposed, before it came to rest atop her left breast. He kept his hand flat, not caressing, but claiming, "This is mine," he said in a fervent whisper.

Kate nodded solemnly, and came to rest against him; she was his.

###

The light through the windows was dimming when Kate finally spoke, "We should order in food."

"Would either of us have to get up?" She smiled at the languid tone of his voice and then her smile turned into a face-splitting grin as he stretched against her and took both her hands and spread them wide across the bed. It could have been an extremely intimate position but he nuzzled her neck playfully and whined in her ear, "I don't want to get up."

"Find some pants, Castle, and I'll take you out for dinner."

"Really?" he lifted away from her as he considered that idea, "Going out somewhere with you sounds vaguely enticing, but the pants idea is sorta killing it for me."

"Either way I need food. What's your call, lover-boy."

"Do we have pet names for each other now?" His grip on her arms loosened.

"No, we don't," she twisted her hands to tighten around his wrists, linked their legs, and spun him over, "That wasn't a pet name; that was me razzing you. Now buck up and make a decision about dinner," she wacked his chest.

"I love it when you get bossy."

"I know," she half winked at him, "but, dinner!" She climbed off him and got out of bed, "I'm gonna call for Chinese, you're too slow."

Kate grabbed a pair of boyshorts from her dresser and slipped them on before reaching for her phone.

"Am I staying overnight?" he asked, hesitantly.

She looked up, startled, "I assumed you would, but if you have to leave that's okay," she said, although it really wasn't.

"No. I want to stay. I should just text Alexis and let her know," he explained.

"Of course." She found his jacket on the chair, his phone in the pocket, and passed it over.

"Kate," he called, and waited for her to look at him, "It wouldn't be okay; don't say it if you don't mean it."

She just nodded, and held his stare for a moment, acknowledging the lie. She waited until he looked away before she breathed again. Once he was busy typing on his phone she placed her call.

"The usual?" she asked while the phone was ringing, realising she'd forgotten to ask what he wanted.'

"Yeah, whatever you order is fine."

She wandered to her closet and took down a loose long sleeve shirt, then managed to pull it over her head while rattling off their selection of noodles and rice. She turned to find Castle leaning against the headboard, blankets to his waist and his phone in his lap, watching her with an expression of affectionate wonder. It made her feet stop, and she decided she liked the look of him tousled and lazy in her bed.

Turning back to her closet she slid hangers along until she found what she was looking for; a blue flannel shirt she'd kept hanging there for a while. "Here ya go," she said, throwing it towards him.

"Where did this come from?" he asked, recognising it.

"Hmm? I'm not sure."

"Kaaaate," he smirked.

"Seriously, Castle, I'm not sure. It was just in my washing one day... after L.A I think."

"And you never gave it back?"

"I figured you'd get it eventually."

"It smells like you," his voice was muffled by the fabric as he pulled it on.

"I washed it," she said, as if it were obvious and the only explanation.

"Hmm. I don't suppose you happen to have any of my underwear stashed in your closet?"

"Fresh out," she shot back, and he laughed at her.

Castle swung his legs over the edge of the bed and Kate stepped over to him before he had a chance to stand. She stood inside the V of his legs and scratched her fingernails through his hair above his ears and around to the back of his head. He tilted to look up at her and she dropped a kiss on his forehead. Hooking his hands around her knees he ran his fingers, tickling, up the back of her legs until he reached the line of her underwear. He kept his hands on the bare skin just below the curve of her bottom, and rested his head on her stomach.

Her hands cradled him there, his face pressed into her belly, her hands massaging his scalp and his neck. Then she stepped over his thighs and pressed her knees, one at a time, back onto the mattress; sitting in his lap.

His arms wrapped around her, helping her to balance on him, as he leaned back to look at her with a question in the sparkle of his eyes. She smiled as she leaned her weight forward, unbalancing him, and said against his ear, "We've got thirty minutes before the food gets here."

###

They sat on the floor between the coffee table and the lounge wearing shirts, underwear, and socks, a blanket draped over their bare legs, as they shared out the containers of food. Kate kept their legs tangled together; a physical reminder that tonight was different to the many other nights they'd sat together over takeout.

"Is Alexis okay with you staying here?" she asked between mouthfuls.

"Mmm hmm. She told me your bed was comfortable and I should ask for an upgrade from the couch," he laughed, but she could read the embarrassment in his voice.

"What did you tell her?"

"I haven't replied yet."

"She's a big girl, Castle."

"I know, and she won't have a problem with this," he indicated between them.

"She as much as told me that when she was here the other night."

"Really? Is this the conversation you swore I'd never get out of you?"

Kate tried to hide her smile at the triumph in his voice and she angled another mouthful of noodle onto her tongue.

"It seems your resolve can't stand against my methods of persuasion after all."

"You really don't want to test that theory," she dared him.

"I like a challenge," he raised his eyebrow at her, and stole a piece of chicken from her bowl.

###

It was late when they finally went to bed – together – after an evening of conversation and quiet moments, playfulness and fragments of serious consideration.

Kate allowed Castle to skirt around the looming presence of her mom's murder; an acknowledgement that that darkness still shadowed them, and in return Castle accepted her wordless promise that they'd deal with it when they had to.

They turned out lights, closed curtains, moved around the bathroom together, chose sides of the bed and then, under the blankets, they reached for each other. With relaxed kisses and whispered "goodnights" Castle turned her onto her side and pressed up along her back. His arm draped over her and she held it against her chest. Wrapped in each other's arms; they slept.

###

Kate woke to warm breath on her neck and a heavy weight over her hips. One arm was squashed underneath her and it tingled from lack of blood. Her neck felt stiff; no doubt from the hard length of Castle's arm where it ran under her concealed beneath her pillow. Her thighs ached; the twinge of muscles gone long-unused. Her hand was being gripped too tightly in one of his. She was remarkably uncomfortable; and it made her smile.

His fingers twitched and flexed against her hand; he was still dreaming. Kate gently untangled her hand and reached to her bedside table for her phone to check the time. Her alarm was due to go off in ten minutes; she turned it off and placed it back beside the bed.

Rolling over, into him rather than away, she rotated so that his weight came down onto her stomach instead of her back. Her movements jostled him, and his arm flexed under her. He tightened his grip and his leg pushed into her hip as his other arm skimmed over her belly and took a firm hold of her breast. His voice rumbled in her ear, a sigh of "Kate", and his breath caused goose bumps along her neck. His breathing remained even and slow; asleep.

She wasn't surprised to discover he was a snuggler, but this bed-hog version of intimacy – as endearingly 'Castle' as it was – was going to have to stop... mmmmm... maybe tomorrow. She placed her hand over his on her breast and played with his fingers.

When he hadn't woken minutes later Kate became bolder with her caresses. She ran one hand along his side and turned her mouth to his ear. With the softest of whispers she breathed his name into his ear, "Castle."

He didn't stir.

"Castle," she breathed again, adding a kiss.

Nothing.

"Castle." She tried once more; slightly louder, and with a flick of her tongue.

His leg twitched over her, once, his breath stayed steady.

"Mmmm, Castle," she dropped her voice, almost moaning into his ear, and took a longer swipe with her tongue.

Still nothing; the man slept like a log. She decided it called for more desperate measures.

"Ohhhhh, Castle!" she moaned loudly, added a pant and a short gasp.

His hand tightened on her and his head shifted. A confused mumble rolled from him, "Huh?"

"Castle, oh, god! Castle!" Meg Ryan's performance had nothing on Kate Beckett's, and she growled into his ear.

He came fully awake with a startle; impassioned cries, a writhing body under him, naked skin – all Kate's – had him both aroused and confused.

"Kate?"

"Good morning, Castle," she pecked him on the lips quickly and then pushed him off of her, and rolled out of bed; grinning.

"What –?" He rubbed his hand over his face and looked around, "Are you getting up already?"

"You slept through all the action this morning," she teased him; "I need to be at work in an hour."

"Noooo, come on!" He reached for her legs.

"You snooze, you lose."

"Come back to bed."

His puppy dog eyes had her tempted to give in. Instead she sashayed to the bathroom door and leaned against the frame giving him a good view of her naked rear, "If you hurry up you can join me in the shower."

He was up and by her side in an instant.

###

The cold fog of morning saw them walking the short block to the metro station together; hardly late at all. Traffic was heavy around them and the sidewalk filled with their fellow early morning commuters. They stood at the corner, hands loosely clasped, leaning into each other.

"I'll see you later this morning," she angled up for a kiss, her heels bringing her easily to within reach of his lips.

"You'll see me in an hour," he pecked a kiss on her mouth, "I'll have your coffee. I'll sit beside you and stare at you while you do paperwork. I'll make you smile," He tucked a strand of fly-away hair behind her ear, "I'll make you frown. I'll make you want to take me in the janitor's closet," he grinned and wiggled his eyebrows at that, "and I'll do my best not to make you want to strangle me too badly. But I'll be there."

Smiling, she stepped back from him and squeezed his hand before letting go, "Then I'll be waiting."

###

.

The End

(really, this time!)

Although i do hate to prove Nathan Fillion right about it all being over once they get naked...

Thanks immensely for all the reviews and story alerts and favourites etc! It's nice to write and know that someone is reading (and enjoying) it with you.