So, here I am with another one shot, while I haven't updated HIGH SCHOOL LOVE for more than a month. I give my sincerest apologies for that, because I do not want to keep you guys waiting for me to pull myself together and start writing. I'm really sorry that I haven't written as much as I would like this past month, but it's been hell. With the school's ending nearing and everything else it was just...too much for me all at once. So I apologize to everyone who has been sticking up with me all this time.

I really appreciate it and I love you guys.

I hope you like this one, it's set before 47 Seconds, because I still like writing those kind of fics. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: As I've said so many times before, Castle's not mine, probably never will be.

Kate sighs, pushes a strand of hair that has fallen out of her messy bun behind her ear. She's stuck with paperwork again and Castle's nowhere to be seen. She bites her lip in frustration, runs the pads of her fingers over her lips, looking over at his chair. They've been getting closer and closer lately and she feels like she is so close to being truly ready for them.

Just as she's about to open the file and concentrate on her actual work again, her phone vibrates against her desk and she slips her eyes to where it's laying.

Castle.

She answers immediately, a smile spreading across her face, even though she tries to hide it with her hand.

"You finally decided to help with paperwork, Castle?" She hears a snort on the other side of the line and she rolls her eyes.

"You know I don't like paperwork, Beckett."

"Of course I know. That's a well-known fact." She thinks she can almost hear him smile and she suppresses one of her own as she hears him chuckle softly.

"Hey, I have a preposition for you," he starts slowly, carefully. What is he up to?

"Hmm?' she returns, butterflies fluttering in her belly and it's just a stupid phone call, shouldn't have affected her like this, but her stomach clenches in anticipation.

"How about you go home after you're done with paperwork and change into something really, really comfortable and then call to let me know so I can pick you up?" She stills for a second, narrows her eyes at his chair, as though he's sitting there in front of her.

"What exactly are you planning here, Castle? Because if it's some sort of a practical joke, I swear I'll –"

"No, no, nothing like that, I promise, it's – you'll see. Just – just call me, okay?" Kate bites her lip and huffs out a loud breath.

"Okay, Castle. I'll call you," she tells him quietly, sighs at the end of the sentence.

"You – you will? You will. Okay, yeah. Great. I'll um . . . I'll go now, have a meeting with Paula for Frozen Heat. But I'll see you later, yeah?" She leans her forehead on her hand, tries to bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself from smiling too much, but she fails, fails, oh, it's this wide cheeky grin and she hates herself for letting Castle have this much effect on her.

"Yeah," she says back, closes her eyes and tries to inhale again.

Breathe, Kate.

"Bye, Kate."

"Bye."

She settles the phone back on the desk and intertwines her fingers, brings them to rest under her chin as she looks at her phone.

Then she suddenly realizes.

She's going somewhere with Castle and she doesn't know where and he's picking her up and oh God . . .

She's going on a date with Richard Castle.

He's giddy. He has had this fuzzy feeling in his chest all day, from the moment he decided to ask Kate out, until right now, as he's standing in the elevator that's heading up to her floor.

He lets out a breath, shuts his eyes as the doors slide open to let him out.

They have clarified that this is a date over the phone earlier when she called him to say she's finished with her paperwork. He can swear that he heard a hitch in her breath as he said, "Yes, Kate. This is a date."

He stumbles awkwardly back into reality and out of the elevator, as the door try to shut in front of him. He knocks his shoulder into the metal as he exits and rolls it a bit, rubs it with the heel of his hand.

Focus. He just has to focus. On Kate. Yeah.

He clears his throat, wipes his palms on his thighs, the soft fabric of the jeans absorbing the sweat.

And then he knocks.

She's really, really nervous. Her whole body is throbbing with the expectation, her skin tingling with the fact that she's going on a date with Castle.

"Oh God, what am I doing?" she chastises herself and presses a sweaty palm to her forehead. The dark-blue sweater she's wearing (he said something really comfortable) is her father's and it smells a lot like home and she thinks this is by far the most comfortable piece of clothing she has. She has pulled grey sweats on, the ones she usually uses for sleep.

A knock on her door startles her, makes her jump on the spot. She lets out a breath and opens the door.

And there he is; dressed in jeans and a black sweatshirt. It's enough to cover him from the spring chill that's taken over the city, but not too much, so he can't be too hot.

He looks cute.

His eyes lit up as soon as he sees her and he looks her up and down, smiles as he takes her in.

"Hey," he greets quietly, steps closer to her and suddenly he's too close, leaning in to brush his lips over her cheek.

Oh. Wow.

He pulls back with dazed eyes, staring at her and he's still so close.

"Hey," he says again, apparently not thinking and she can't help but laugh. He's just adorable.

"You've already said that, Castle."

"I know," he replies, straightens up and smiles.

"Okay then, if you are done being cute, maybe you can tell me where we're going?"

"Cute, huh?" Kate lets out a strangled laugh, realizing she walked right into that one. Still, she slaps his chest with her hand and bites her lip to hold back her smile. The hand that touches his chest is instantly covered with his, their fingers intertwining, palms brushing and he drops their joined hands suddenly, tugs her after him when she doesn't move. But, please, how could she when he's being so charming and sweet?

"Come on, Kate. The world is waiting for us."

This time, her body follows before her brain can figure out what he means.

He doesn't tell her where they're going. He has planned something that's not really over the top, but still so beautiful and he wants to show her how he feels when he's around her, because really, how many people have lost their chances because they have waited too long?

He doesn't want that to happen to them.

"We're walking," she says and brings him out from his thoughts. He glances at her with a corner of his eye and huffs out a laugh.

"You're very observant, I like it," he replies and feels her press her grin into his forearm. She's wearing flats, which is really not normal for her, but it suits her so well, because now he can see all the amazing length of her and she fits so perfectly next to him and he's proud of himself for not jumping up and down with joy because she's letting him hold her hand.

"That's what Detectives do, Castle." He pulls her just a tad closer and nods, feigning seriousness.

"Sure." A short laugh bubbles up from her throat and she bumps her shoulder into his arm.

"What I meant was that we're walking so either this place we're going to isn't far or you just want to hold my hand. Or both." He looks down at her, grins and leans in closer.

"Want to hear a secret?" Her eyes strand down to his mouth for a moment, but then suddenly she's looking back in his eyes and stepping closer, so confident and damn it, he likes it. She arches her eyebrow in expectation, tilts her head to the side. Her fingers squeeze his and he steps even closer, tries to remember what he meant to say.

And then he remembers it.

"We're here."

When he said he wanted it to be special, she had no idea he was thinking of something like this.

But this looks . . . beautiful.

Dozens of candles situated all over the roof and there in the middle a pile of blankets and pillows and not far from them carefully sorted bowls of ice cream and two spoons.

Almost as sweet as the man himself.

Kate feels the chill of the air hit her previously occupied hand, sees Castle moving towards the folded blankets. He unfolds one of them and lays it down on the floor, plops down on it and makes a warm cocoon with other blankets around him. He looks up at her with a glint in his eyes and extends his hand.

She smiles, bites her lip and takes the hand, lets him pull her down next to him. They're sitting across from each other now, their knees pressing together. He grabs both ends of a blue blanket that's lying at the side and leans forward, drapes it across her shoulders, leaning close.

"There," he says softly and one of his hands lifts off its own accord, his fingers brushing her cheek. Her breathing gets irregular and her eyes widen, just because of that small, simple gesture.

"Thank you," she whispers, feels the need to talk quietly, like the atmosphere of New York is preventing her from speaking any louder. Plus, it's really beautiful here on the roof, where you can see thousands of lights, the endless sea of the all-consuming fire.

His fingers leave her cheek as he clears his throat and suddenly she feels too warm, but still craves for his warmth.

He makes her so needy.

"Do you like it?" he asks, stretches his arm to pick up a bowl of ice cream. Kate can barely make out the sign on the lid, some firm that she doesn't recognize, but it sounds worth trying.

"Yes," she answers when she remembers that he has asked her a question and grips the edges of the blanket around her shoulders tightly. He's concentrated on the bowl now, skillful fingers opening the colorful lid slowly. She sees an assortment of flavors, from chocolate to coffee and it looks delicious.

"Okay, so here's the thing about this ice cream," he starts slowly, making sure she's looking at him before continuing in a serious tone.

"Each bowl contains carefully selected assortment of flavors; there are four flavors in each bowl. Here's the trick, though: if you want to enjoy the ice cream at its finest, then you must not combine the wrong two flavors. You also shouldn't mix flavors from different bowls because then it all gets mixed up and the magic of the ice cream is lost on you." She smirks a bit, looks down at the bowl he's holding and lifts curious eyes back at him.

"I'm wondering whether you've made that up or you have to be some kind of an ice cream scientist and you've kept it a secret from me all these years." His laughter is loud and echoing across the rooftop, his mouth a delicate shape of a capital D as he smiles, bright and shiny.

"I have to disappoint you that, sadly, I am no ice cream scientist, though that would have been so cool!" A warm feeling spreads throughout her chest, her love for this man.

"Don't make me sorry for bringing up that idea," she responds playfully, leans forward to dip her finger into the soft coffee-flavored cream in front of her, but is stopped before she can even delve past the barrier of the bowl. She scowls at him, tries to pull her finger out of his grip, but he has trapped it between his own fingers.

"Nuh-uh, Beckett. None of that," he says and tugs her closer to him with their twined fingers and she comes willingly, situates herself by his side, her forearm pressed into his as their joined hands lie on the blankets covering their lower halves. He picks up the spoons and pushes one into her hand, then grabs the bowl and balances it on his knee.

"So . . . We do this together, okay?" She nods and looks at him a little strange, because really, he's being partly ridiculous about this, but she likes it like this; his eyes a mystery, a blue ocean of feelings and joy and she loves the way he makes her feel.

"Which flavor first?"

"I thought we could mix?" she asks, curious as to why he had been so precise about it earlier, but now he wants to try only one flavor at a time. He waves his hand at her, the spoon swishing through the air and shakes his head.

"Not just yet. First, we have to try separate flavors, so we can know how they feel on our tongues." She tries to contain her laughter, because he really does sound a little like a crazy ice cream scientist and because it's really hard not to laugh at his obvious admiration for ice cream. Just then, he dives the spoon into the creamy iciness and then bumps her arm with his to let her know she should do the same. So she carefully skims the top of the coffee-flavored ice cream, the one that has gotten her attention right away. She brings the spoon to her lips in time with him.

The ice cream feels wonderful in her mouth and the soft coffee flavor makes her moan out loud as she shuts her eyes. She savors the taste, licks her lips clean when she swallows, feels the air hit the moist flesh. She opens her eyes and sees Castle staring at her with eyes a deep blue, lips parted, jaw opened. So she sets the spoon down on one of the still-closed bowls and leans closer to him, his breath ghosting over her jaw. His eyes flick down to her mouth and then travel back up and back down, a mesmerizing dance of adoration. She lifts her unoccupied thumb, brushes it over his lower lip, watches as his Adam's apple bobs and his eyes close. She drags the pad of her finger over the length of his lower lip, trying to get rid of the ice cream he didn't lick off with his tongue. His eyes snap open as soon as her thumb leaves his skin and she purposefully gives him a devilish smile, then puts her thumb in her mouth and licks it clean.

After a beat and a few of a hard swallows on both sides, he clears his throat and speaks up.

"That was so sexy," he tells her with a voice so low, it's barely audible. She blushes a little and picks her spoon back up, fills it with a different type of ice cream now. As soon as it hits her tongue, her eyes widen and she groans, loads a bit more of ice cream on her spoon, then brings it towards his mouth.

"You got to try this," she says, painfully aware of what she's doing, but she doesn't even care, because she knows that this night will change everything. He lifts an eyebrow at her and a corner of his mouth lifts up, then he leans forward and circles her wrist with his fingers, brings the spoon closer. He closes his mouth around it and really, it shouldn't be as seductive as it looks, but it sets her whole body on fire. He looks so manly in the light of the candles, the strong lines of his face softened up with the wrinkles of so many smiles.

"It's wonderful. I think it's a mix between cinnamon and chestnut," he says and disrupts her observation and she sighs quietly at herself. She's pathetic. So in love with him, but afraid to tell him. She shouldn't be. She really shouldn't be, not when he's laying it all out in the open, how much he's fascinated by her.

"Yep. Just like I thought," he tells her proudly and her face splits up with a glorious smile. He winks at her and looses his hold on her hand that has been between their legs this whole time, drags his fingers down her palm then back up and laces them with hers again. He looks up from their hands at her and she sinks her teeth into her bottom lip, ponders if he would mind if she kissed him right now, because he looks beautiful, but before she can do or say anything, he leans even closer and presses his lips to her cheek.

"I'm so glad we're doing this, Kate," he whispers against her cheek and she shudders, drops the spoon and it clatters to the floor. He chuckles into her skin and brushes another kiss on her jaw line, then looks down at the spoon on the floor.

"Whoops," she says breathily and he grins, holds out his spoon for her.

"I guess we'll just have to share," he states and she bites her lip, nods and guides his hand to plunder into the ice cream. She's careful to take two flavors this time, chocolate and coffee and as she brings it to her mouth, she already can't wait for the ice to hit her senses.

The combination is amazing and it tastes like heaven. Her eyes are open this time, because she has to be looking at Rick and then she arches her brows and licks her lips.

"It's amazing. You have to try this," she tells him, then tries to scoop up another spoonful of ice cream, before she feels his warm lips on hers and she stops in her tracks, drops the spoon onto the ice cream, careless. She moans and opens her mouth for his tongue and he delves in, groans with the sensation. She cups his cheeks with her hands, tilts her head to the side and scoots even closer, then feels him pull back from her. A whimper escapes her lips and he breathes onto her skin, licks his lips slowly as she opens her eyes.

"You're right. It is amazing." She doesn't know if he's talking about the ice cream or the kiss, but she has a feeling that it's both.

"Mmm, I know," she replies, then closes her eyes again, leans forward to capture his lips, but he pulls back.

"Castle," she breathes, lets the blanket around her shoulders fall down, curls her fingers in his sweatshirt. He smirks at her and buries his hand in her hair, brushes his nose against hers and gives a quiet chuckle. She opens her eyes, confused about why he's laughing.

"Castle?" she asks him curiously, surrounded by him and his laughing eyes.

"You're adorable," he responds to her question, kisses her slowly. The kiss is sensual and beautiful and neither wants to take it to the next level, deepen it, because this is all new and they have to get used to everything before rushing into that.

Their lips pull apart with a soft pop and they both grin at each other. Castle nuzzles his cheek against her own, pulls her into a hug. It surprises her a little, because he's really cuddly, but she likes it, likes that he can be such a man and such a child at the same time. It makes her feel safe.

"The ice cream is going to melt," he murmurs into her ear and she shivers at the feel of his breath on her skin. She shifts a little, scooting closer, always closer, and he spreads his legs, lets her lean her back into his chest. His arms wrap instantly around her middle, holding her close to him as he presses a soft kiss to her temple. She closes her eyes and breathes in the chilly air of the city.

"I don't care," she tells him and laces her fingers through his, lets out a soft, happy sigh.

He is amazed. Terrified. Taken aback. He is in love with her.

She's so beautiful and the way he can feel her breathing against his chest is so wonderful. It's something that he wanted to feel during those three months when she didn't call and he was so afraid that she stopped breathing all together. But that's all in the past and forgiven, because she's right here now, curled against him, her back pressing into him, her fingers drawing random patterns on his hands.

She strokes a finger down his wrist and his breath hitches in his throat. He's so grateful that she accepted this, that she's here with him. He thinks about their kiss (two, actually, but who's counting, right?) and his lips twitch, wanting to taste her again. He wants to spin her round in his arms and slowly devour her – like she did with that ice cream – stay with her like that forever, but instead he squeezes her hands and shuts his eyes closed, inhales the scent of her hair.

"Kate."

"What?"

"I really wouldn't mind staying like this, but the ice cream looks kind of lonely without us eating it." She bursts out in laughter and sways her head around to look at him. She looks happy, he notices. He doesn't think he's ever seen her so happy.

"I don't know how we're going to eat it, Castle. Both our spoons ended up on the floor." He looks down at the grey concrete of the roof and lets out an audible sigh.

"Oh well. Maybe we could go knock on a random door and hope that whoever lives there opens up and lends us a spoon or two or maybe just a sink and a soap to wash ours?" She laughs again, beautiful melody for his ears and he's feeling rather proud of himself for making her laugh like that.

"Oh God, Castle. You can't just go and knock and ask some stranger for a spoon. Imagine if someone would knock at your door and ask if they could borrow one of your spoons," she says, amused, and he arches an eyebrow as if thinking.

She kind of has a point here. But still, wouldn't it be an adventure? A great story to tell their kids about? How they had their first date on one of the rooftops in New York and dropped both their spoons after tasting only four mouthfuls of it because they were so engrossed in kissing each other? How they giggled and knocked on a stranger's door just to ask for a spoon? And what next? Oh, he could picture his future with her. What was left of his future, at least.

"Castle?" He snaps out of his reverie and gives her a sheepish smile.

"Sorry, got kind of lost in the moment there."

"Yeah, I've noticed," she snorts and bumps his chin with her temple.

"So, about those spoons. Have you thought it over?" He hums and nods, hugs her tighter against him.

"Yes," he answers, presses a barely-there kiss on her left cheek.

"And?"

"And what?"

"What have you come up with?"

"We're going to go downstairs and pick a number, then knock on the door with that particular number and maybe a nice old lady with 13 cats will answer and lend us one of her silver spoons and then we'll go back up here and we'll eat this ice cream until we're full and then we'll fall asleep and wake up to see the sunrise and then I'll kiss you and walk you home and kiss you again and then we'll part and see each other later and then we'll see where life takes us. Sounds good?"

She is blushing fiercely as he tells her his plan for the evening and the night and the morning and all the days after that, but still leaves it open, for her to decide.

"Sounds perfect," she says and leans up to press her lips to his. His head angles forward to get a better grip on her mouth and she moans, opens up for his tongue. He delves in, her mouth so soft and pliant under his, her tongue warm and insistent. His hands leave her fingers to grip her waist as he presses his luck and pushes his fingers under her sweater. She shivers against him and groans, lifts her hand to curl it around his neck. Her nails scratch against his skin and he shivers too, hears and feels her chuckle into his mouth.

"Not funny," he gasps and presses her even tighter into him, leans forward still, kisses the column of her throat as she arches her back.

"You're right," she pants back at him, pulls him up to kiss him again as he feels her fingers card through his hair and suddenly he realizes that they're going too fast, that they're going to do something stupid if they don't stop right now, because as much as he likes her writhing against him, tonight he swore to himself that he's not going to try anything more than just kissing, though she's making that kind of impossible.

But no.

He wanted this date to be sweet and light and beautiful, not charged up with sexual frustration and their physical attraction. Tonight, he wants only mental attraction, their thoughts connected, like always.

As though she's really a mind reader, she pulls back suddenly and leans her temple on his collarbone, breathes heavily.

"God," he chokes out, still feeling the tingling heat pooling in his body.

"Yeah," she responds immediately, kisses his throat and then slowly pulls away from him, standing up. He doesn't want to let her go and he thinks that maybe she's pulling away because she's sorry, but it doesn't look like it, but still, he starts to panic.

She must see the look on his face, because she laughs and pulls him up to his feet with her hand, laces their fingers together and brushes her lips against his cheek.

"Come on, Castle. Spoons are waiting for us."

"Stop it, Rick!" she whispers at him sharply, trying to hold in her laughter. He stops his attack on her stomach and pulls back his fingers, hides them in his pockets. She tries to pull one of his hands out so that she could hold it, but he keeps it firmly plastered inside of his jeans. She pouts and curls her fingers around his wrist, tugs a little. He looks away from her and whistles. She lets out a loud groan and suddenly he's aware of where they are, so he clamps his hand over her mouth and slips an arm around her waist. He laughs quietly and softly as he feels her lips tremble against his palm.

"We're in a hallway and it's 10 PM and some people are already sleeping, Kate. Be quiet," he tells her in false authoritative tone of voice and hears her chuckle. She nods, though, and he removes his hand from her mouth, leans in to replace it with his lips. She sighs in the kiss, wraps her arms around his neck as he presses his hands to the small of her back.

They hear a ding and quickly pull apart, grinning. An old woman comes out of the elevator, shaking her key chain to find the right key.

"Oh, where is it now . . ." she mumbles to herself, taking slow steps toward the couple. She looks up after about 5 feet and almost drops her keys as she gasps, pressing a hand to her heart. Kate and Castle stifle a laugh as their fingers found each other again and link.

"Oh my dear, you scared me."

"We apologize, ma'am," Castle replies and smiles at the old confused lady.

"All good, all good," she says and shuffles closer. She readjusts her big glasses and a smile creeps up her face.

"Well aren't you two just an adorable young couple." Kate chuckles and bites her lip as Castle shrugs with a grin plastered on his face. She thinks he wouldn't be able to get rid of it even if he wanted to.

"No, no. Adorable; definitely. But young? Not so young anymore, ma'am," he tells her and the woman waves her hand at them.

"Believe me, if compared to me, you two are like teenagers." Castle squeezes Kate's hand and bumps her shoulder with his own. Well, it definitely feels like they're just teenagers with a crush on each other.

The lady walks past them and stops in front of door 69. She's still fumbling with her keys and her old shaking hands make it that much harder for her to find the right key. Kate licks her lips and steps closer to the woman.

"Excuse me, ma'am. Do you need help with that?" The woman turns toward her and hands over the keys.

"Thank you, darling. It's a middle-sized silver key. I think it has a logo imprinted on the front, but I am not sure. I forgot. It seems to me that my age has finally caught up with me," she tells her and Castle makes a disbelieving sound.

"Definitely not, ma'am. I don't know how old you are and I won't ask you, because I am a gentleman, but I can assure you that you do not look more than fourty-five." The woman laughs and it warms Kate's chest, how charming and sweet Castle can be even with old ladies at 10 PM at night after he had to stop kissing her.

She finds the key, hopes it's the right one and unlocks the door in a swift motion. She opens it for the lady and hands over the keys.

"Oh, thank you so much, really. What a luck that you two were here, otherwise I would be fumbling around with these keys for an hour. That reminds me, I've never seen you here before. Are you new?" They shake their heads simultaneously.

"Oh no, we were just up on the roof," Castle answers casually and Kate glances over at him. The woman smiles as if knowing exactly what they had been doing (which included only a bit of snuggling and kissing and eating ice cream, thankyouverymuch).

"So you came here just like that?"

"Just like that," Kate answers and nods.

"Well it's chilly outside. Would you want to come inside maybe? Have some tea? Chat with me a little, you know, keep the old lady company?" She chuckles at them and they grin. Castle shakes his head, though.

"No, no, we wouldn't want to bother you and it's 10 PM already, late and I'm sure you're tired. Although we have one request."

"Of course, my dear. Anything," the woman says.

"We were up there eating some ice cream with our spoons, but we dropped both of them to the ground and now they're dirty and we were wondering if you could maybe lend us one of yours?" The woman laughs softly and grabs Castle's elbow, pulls them both inside of the apartment.

"Make yourself at home. I'll just go and find a spoon for you," the lady says and disappears into the kitchen. The way she said spoon indicated that this whole situation is obviously amusing to her. Well, it is for them, too.

"Here it is," the lady comes back in the living room and hands the spoon to Castle. Kate takes her time observing the room, the walls that are all covered with picture frames and paintings and an old wooden piano that's standing in the corner.

"Do you live here alone, ma'am?" she asks the woman and looks at her.

"Yes. My husband Timothy died 5 years ago. My three daughters have long since moved out and now have grandchildren." The woman steps closer to a big picture on the wall and shows them the grandchildren.

"They're beautiful," Kate says and notices out of the corner of her eye Castle smiling affectionately at her.

"Thank you, sweetie. Are you two married?" she asks suddenly and Kate's cheeks are covered pink in an instant. Castle squeezes her hand, kisses her cheek and laughs softly.

"Not yet, ma'am," he says and Kate's heart rate speeds up.

Holy . . . Is he thinking of marrying her already?

"Well, you should marry soon. I don't think you'll be able to hold long, with the way you two are looking at each other," the lady says knowingly and Kate blushes ten shades redder than before.

"No, no, don't be embarrassed, child," the woman says to Kate.

"You two love each other. It's perfectly natural," she continues and Kate stops breathing.

Love. Who said anything about love?

Oh God help her.

"Ma'am, I don't believe we've introduced ourselves already," Castle comes in to rescue her and extends a hand for the woman to shake.

"My name's Richard Castle and this is my partner Kate Beckett," he says proudly and Kate shakes the woman's hand, too, her grip tight.

"Lovely, lovely. I am Elizabeth Genevieve Hudson," she replies and lets go of Kate.

"So what do you two do for living?" Miss Hudson asks and puts her hands on her hips.

"Well, I am a mystery writer and Kate is a Detective at the 12th precinct, but I shadow her, so we're practically partners," he explains and Miss Hudson smiles widely at them.

"Oh, really? That's interesting. Wait, you said Richard Castle? I think I have a book of yours lying somewhere around here," Miss Hudson says and then shuffles over to the bookshelves on the other side of the room.

"Oh yes," she says, "Heat Wave. It is your book, right?" Castle grins and winks at her and nods.

"Yes. Actually, Kate is my inspiration for Nikki Heat novels."

"Oh, that is just wonderful." Kate snorts and holds back a laugh as Castle elbows her side softly.

"Are you guys sure you don't want to stay?" Miss Hudson asks again and they both decline politely.

"No thank you, Miss Hudson," Kate says and the old lady waves a hand in front of her face.

"No need to be so formal, Kate. Elizabeth, please." Kate smiles and shakes the woman's hand again.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Elizabeth. We will make sure to return the spoon to you tomorrow. Thank you," Castle says charmingly and Elizabeth laughs, shakes his hand, too.

"Now you two go. And have fun," she tells them, then, as soon as they're out of the apartment, shuts and locks the door.

"She was laughing at the spoon story," Kate blurts out and Castle laughs next to her, kisses her temple and leads her up the stairs to the roof again.

"Well, you have to admit, it is kind of funny," he tells her and as they step back onto the rooftop, she chuckles.

"It involves spoons, Castle. It's one of the dumbest stories ever," she winkw and he gasps in mock offense.

"Hey! It's our story."

"Well then, we better continue it. I think the ice cream has almost completely melted," she says as they sit down on the blankets again.

"It's the spoon's fault," Castle says seriously and Kate's laughter echoes across the rooftops.

"No Castle, don't!" she shouts and throws herself on top of him, but he's already put the spoon into his mouth and swallowed the delicious ice cream. Her eyes widen as she realizes what he did and she shoves hard at his shoulder as he laughs at her, her hair falling like a curtain around her face.

"What the hell, Castle. That was the last of strawberry!" she hisses and pinches his side and he yelps out in pain.

"Ow, Beckett! I just wanted to tease you a bit. Geez, no need to be so violent," he says, faking hurt as he rubs the spot where she pinched him. He laughs suddenly, pulls her closer with his arm and presses a kiss on her forehead. She sighs, the warmth of him seeping through to her and she forgets about their ice cream war.

"Well, well, who would've thought that Kate Beckett is a cuddler," Rick whispers in her hair and she rolls her eyes, lifts her head off his chest to look at him with narrowed eyes. She has never been a cuddler, not with other men, because they've always made her feel claustrophobic, but with Rick . . . it is a whole other story with him. He makes her feel safe and loved and everything she's always ached for in a man. And that's a part of why she fell in love with him.

"Don't flatter yourself, Castle."

"Oh, I'm not, you are." She chuckles and leans down to meet his lips in a sensual kiss.

"This is really nice," he whispers against her lips and she nods, presses her lips to his jaw, his neck, back up to his mouth.

"Yeah. Yeah it is."

She wakes with the flutter in her tummy as she feels his hand skim against her arm. She vaguely registers his voice searching for her. She's still half-asleep, but she manages to mumble something incoherent and grasp his shirt with her hand under the blanket.

"Kate," she hears him whisper and she hums, curls her body into his.

"Kate."

"What?" she murmurs into his shoulder and he chuckles, presses a soft kiss to her forehead.

"Watch sunrise with me," he says and it wakes her up completely, makes her open her eyes to look at the sky.

"Yes," she breathes against his lips and then they lie there, tangled together under the blankets, watching the light flick across the sky.

It's beautiful.

He doesn't really want to say goodbye. He wants to stay with her, curl up in a bed with her and just fall asleep. But that's going too fast, he knows that he would be tempted for more.

"I'll miss you," he whispers against her lips as they stand in front of her door. He hears her sigh into the kiss as she raises herself up on her toes.

"You too," she manages to say, then she's kissing him again, all sweet and soft and he thinks he might just actually burst with happiness and love.

"Sleep tight," he says, then steps away from her, ignoring her whimper of protest.

"I'll see you later?" she asks him and then she yawns, puts a hand over her mouth to cover it. He chuckles, loves to see her like this, all sleepy and beautiful.

"Yes."

"You promise?"

"I promise," he nods and then kisses the hand he's still holding, lets go of her completely and walks away with a smile spreading over his face.

He hasn't been this happy in years.

I don't know. I liked everything except the last 200 words. I just kinda rushed it all. I'm sorry, but here it is 2.23 AM and I am really tired and I just want to post this so I won't fuss over it tomorrow and get nothing done again. Maybe I'll do a sequel to this, so keep your eyes open, yeah? Anyway, thank you for reading. Rewiev? (: