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Story: Best Ever
Rating: T
Word count: 1571
Okay. So. This is
weird.
His front door barely
opens. He really has to push, throw his whole weight against it for it to
budge, and when it finally gives, it squeaks and creaks ominously in its
hinges. What is wrong with this thing?
Castle shoulders
inside, immediately squeaks in an unmanly fashion when something stringy and
sticky itches across his face. Ugh, gross, gross! He flails his arms like
an impaired ninja, tries to wipe the thin, gluey strands off his forehead and
hair. What is… are those spider webs?
In his home? Gross. He shudders.
“Kate?” He calls into
the darkness, her name almost echoing through the space but there is no answer;
everything stays eerily silent.
He blinks, only now
becoming aware that all the lights are off in his loft, even the entry light he
usually leaves on. Instead his whole apartment lies dark; he can barely see
anything except for a greenish, eerie glow that seems to float through the
space.
Blinking a few more
times, his eyes slowly seem to adapt to the gloom around him and he can make
out a few silhouettes and shadows. He squints. Is that… a tree? Where his entry
is usually a wide-open space, all sorts of shapes are now blocking his way. He
steps closer, carefully reaches out a hand because who knows if something will
come forth snapping at his fingers but all remains quiet, not a sound ripples
through the ghostly quiet in the loft.
He touches his
fingertips to what appears like the trunk of a tree. Plastic or papier-mâché,
it looks like but yes, that’s definitely supposed to be a tree. He looks up,
finds branches and fake leaves hanging over his head, knotting together with
more branches from what looks like another tree just a couple of steps next to
him. Forming a type of arch… or a path?
Castle drops his eyes
to the ground and then he sees them, small pebbles that are glowing in bright
orange, illuminating what appears to be a pathway that vanishes into the depths
of the darkened space of his home. A skeleton forearm with its hand is stuck to
the edge of the path, the bony index finger pointing into the darkness.
He grins, falling to
his knees. Guess he’s supposed to follow the path.
He starts crawling
forward. Squeaking, scratching sounds of critters suddenly sound from all
around him and his heart stumbles for a moment. Then he laughs at himself; he’s
being silly, right? It’s just his loft.
He keeps moving
forward, following the narrow path that winds toward what he thinks is through
his kitchen. He hates to admit it but he’s already lost a bit of his
orientation. In his own home!
Something wet and ugh,
slimy brushes across his face and he squeals again, and hopes nobody heard
that. A gravestone sits by the side of the path, a bloody hand sticking up from
the ground as if grasping for him to help.
The narrow pathway is
blocking his sight of everything around him; he has no clue where even his
furniture is within this whole setup. He pokes out a finger, feels something
soft against his fingertips. A blanket maybe?
It’s a blanket fort! A
big, elaborate Halloween blanket fort.
His own magical,
creepy ghost Halloween forest.
Wow.
He stops, sits for a
moment, his heart hammering in his chest as he takes it all in. Nobody has
ever, ever gone out of their way to
create something this spectacular just for him.
Kate. He knows she did this, without a doubt. That woman truly is
extraordinary. He always knew it but since he got to know her so intimately, it
only ever gets reinforced. By everything she does, the ways she challenges him,
laughs with him, loves him, smiles at him.
And now she’s built
him his own Halloween maze. Because he loves Halloween.
He swallows the lump in his throat that threatens to water
his eyes. He really is getting soft. But wow yeah, for her… He smiles, imagines
her hiding somewhere, waiting gleefully for his reaction. Her smile wide and
teasing, but so filled with happiness and uncensored love. And he can do this
to her, make her this happy. It’s like a gift that he treasures beyond
anything.
He starts crawling forward again, at once eager to see what
all awaits him, and to find her at the end of it.
Ghoulish sounds emanate from corners when he circles around,
squeaks and howls and zombie growls. His hands step in wet, slimy things.
Things brush past him, coming out of nowhere, like thin ghosts. There is blood
dripping, mangled body parts strewn along the way. Spider webs stick to him
like glue. Fake critters seem to crawl over him, there are light and sound
effects, gravestones and witches and zombies and ghosts.
This is the most awesome thing ever!
The path winds through his place; he didn’t even know he had
this much space in his home but it goes on and on, and he has to feel and find
his way forward with the orange glow lights only occasionally pointing him in
the right direction. He crawls along, dodges things coming at him, jumps in
surprise. His heart hammers and sometimes he does squeak in a rather unmanly
fashion but this is just awesome and fun and creepy and the best surprise ever.
The path now seems to come to an end; he stops, can’t quite
figure out where he’s supposed to go next or what to do.
A weight lands on top of him and he groans, drops to the
ground.
“Surprise,” Kate whispers against the shell of his ear, her
breath teasing his skin and he shudders in anticipation, turns around
underneath her.
She sits astride him, only illuminated by the green and
orange glow lights that surround them but he can still make out the wide, happy
smile that shines on her face. Her hair tumbles down in large waves and he is a
bit surprised, almost expected her to be dressed up in a fitting costume as
well but now he’s glad she isn’t because she is so breathtakingly gorgeous.
Her fingers run teasing circles over his pecs and his
insides flutter, his skin immediately alive and heated under her touch.
“Did you like it?” She smiles, that tender touch of shyness
in her eyes that he’s now so intimately familiar with but how could she ever
doubt how amazing this is, how amazing she
is.
He grins, runs his fingers down the side of her neck to tug
her closer. “Best surprise ever.”
She resists his hand though, wiggles out of his grasp to sit
up straight atop his hips. “Hmm, really?” Her fingers dance up his chest,
circle over his shoulders and up his neck to come play with the strands of his
hair. “I think I can do you one better.”
He grins; there’s no way, he can’t imagine anything that
would top this but then Kate plays her fingers over his forehead and he can’t
think; all thoughts vacating his brain like they always do when she touches
him, smiles at him like this.
She paints the rim of his cheekbones, his nose, his jaw with
wide brushstrokes of her thumb, slides the pads over his bottom lip as if she
learns him by touch alone. Her eyes are wide, luminous. Earnest.
“Will you marry me?”
His heart stops beating for a moment, and then it starts
hammering in his chest, leaping excitedly in his throat. She’s worrying her
bottom lip with her teeth, seems to have stopped breathing as she waits for his
answer, as if she’s worried what his answer might be.
As if there was ever any question.
He grins, the smile spreading wide across his cheeks, elated
and pleased and stunned and so excited, he can barely contain it. Wrapping his
arms around her back he sits up, tucks her tightly into his embrace, his face
nudged into the welcoming cradle of her neck. Needs to soak in her slender
body, the wonderful softness of her skin, her enticing scent, this astonishing
reality, the magic of this moment.
He’s been wanting to ask her, wants to never have to spend
time without her ever again, but he didn’t want to overwhelm her, or push her,
and so he’s waited, looking to find the elusive signs whether she might be
ready and now she’s asked him.
She built him a Halloween creepy ghost forest to ask him to
marry her.
Kate wants to marry him. Wants to spend the rest of her life
with him and it’s the most amazing,
extraordinary thing and he can barely breathe, it is so very overwhelming.
“Castle,” she urges, pleads. He lifts his face to hers,
finds her beautiful eyes, wide and shining, with love and need and nervousness.
He needs to see her, watch her when he answers. His heart hammers but there’s
no doubt, only certainty that rushes through his blood.
“Yes.” He nudges her nose with his, runs his palms around
her neck to hold her close and her eyelids flutter, her body pliable, falling
into him as she exhales a relieved breath.
“Yes of course.” Kisses her soft, sweet lips, once, twice.
“Yes. Yes. Always yes.”
Best surprise ever.
End
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