Chapter 1. More Than A Message.
Kate Beckett was a new detective at the NYPD. 23 and already a detective. For a few weeks now she was working with Javier Esposito and Kevin Ryan. They had just closed a case. Their second weird one, and they made the promise that, if they were all up to it, they would go to a bar. And the first time, after a difficult case, it was Esposito's choice, now it was Kate's.
She wanted to try a new bar. A new start. It had almost been 1 year since her mother was murdered, and 1 year since she changed from a normal girl that had fun to a serious detective.
Captain Montgomery had found her nosing through her mother's case. She had spend some time in the 12th and had found clues from a strange case that no one ever could have thought of. She was good, and she liked solving murders. Not that she liked the reason for the job, you know, people getting murdered, but she could relate to the people on the other side of the conversation telling them their loved one had been killed, so she felt good doing her job.
3 days ago, she took another way to work since there had been an accident on her normal route to the 12th. And she had passed a bar, The Old Haunt, which seemed fun. There was a big sign outside that said: Friday: Karaoke Night! And she liked Karaoke, it said a lot about a person. Which song they sang, even if they couldn't really sing, if you had the nerve to try, you were already a winner.
So she led Ryan and Esposito to the bar. When they pulled out in front, and Esposito saw the sign he laughed. "A Karaoke night? Karaoke?" he questioned laughing. "Yeah, Why not?! It's fun and hilarious!" Kate optimistically said.
"Sure. Count me in." Ryan smiled and then turned to Esposito. "Come on, this will be fun!"
"Fine… but I'm not singing!" Javi agreed and they walked through the entrance.
As they walked into The Old Haunt they saw that it wasn't over crowded, but most of the seats were taken. The trio sat down at a table and ordered their drinks. "Hey, if you guys don't mind, I'm going to ask Lanie if she joins us. Is that okay?" Esposito asked. "Sure. But then I think you should expect going up that stage and sing a song!" Kate smiled and Ryan agreed.
Kate and Ryan both knew that in the little time Esposito and Medical Examiner Lanie Parrish had spend together, they came to know each other well, and Everyone knew there would be more than just friends. But Esposito and Lanie joked around the subject.
Lanie was free, and arrived 5 minutes after Javi had called her. When Lanie had her drink, she immediately brought more fun into the group.
"Hey, is someone going to go up there or do I have to start?" Lanie questioned as the person who was singing a song on stage ended.
"Nu-uh, I'm not going up there!" Javi said. "I'll… I'll just wait a bit more…" Ryan shyly laughed.
"What about you Kate?" Lanie asked.
"If you go, I'll go later." she said and by the look Lanie gave her she quickly added a maybe. She didn't really want to go up the stage. But she liked watching people sing.
"Okay, then… see you guys on stage!" Lanie said as she walked towards the bar, picked a song, and went up the stage. When Lanie started singing, Javi couldn't keep her eyes of off her.
Lanie sang a slow song, that was beautiful for her voice. When she was done, she got a round of applause and walked back to the table her friends where sitting. Cheering for her as she made a bow.
"Thanks you," she smiled, "Now Kate, your turn!" Lanie said as she sat back down.
"I'm going to go to the bathroom first." Kate said as she walked away from the table.
Kate rushes into the bathroom. She wanted to have fun, go up on stage and just have fun. But she felt like she couldn't. Not after her mom was murdered. About a year ago she was having the time of her life, going ice skating with her mom. Having fun! And they even did a karaoke night just a few days before she was killed. So for the first time she questioned herself why she had come to this bar, on this night. She couldn't do this… she wasn't ready to have fun doing things she used to do with her mom.
She looked at herself in the mirror. Her long brown locks of hair hanging over her shoulders. She had makeup on so she decided not to splash water in her face. Then the makeup that covered the dark circles below her eyes would be gone. And everyone would see that she hadn't been sleeping. She had nightmares every single night. So how could she possibly sleep…
She straightened her posture, took a deep breath and thought about what excuse to use for dragging them to a karaoke night and then not singing herself. She walked out of the bathroom straightening her long shirt she was wearing. So she didn't see it when a guy came towards her. He was walking backwards saying something to some friends of his when he bumped into Kate.
"Sorry." They both said as he turned around and their eyes locked.
"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention." He said still looking in her eyes.
"Yeah me neither. Sorry about your drink…" she said.
He shrugged as she looked at him with a closer eye. "You…" she started, a little confused and startled now that she saw who the person in front of her was. "You are Richard Castle!" she said.
"Yeah. Nice to meet you. Uhm…" he smiled
"Beckett, I mean Kate."
"Well Kate, nice to meet you. So you read my books?" he spoke as she smiled. She was reading his books and found them the perfect distraction. She knew he was just an upcoming author, but he was already a bestselling author for his first few books.
"Yeah, I do. I love them. But shouldn't you be at a book signing, or a party instead of a karaoke night in an old club?" she asked. And as soon as she said it she wished she could take it back. She barely knew him.
"Well, why wouldn't I want to be at the karaoke night of my old club?" he laughed.
"God, sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I just didn't know you own a club."
"No worries. Most people don't know. I try to keep it under the radar so that I can come here and just have fun without a camera flashing pictures of me."
"Understandable." Kate smiled.
"So, are you going to sing tonight?" he asked her.
"Well, I was going to. But… I don't think I won't. My friend was just up there though…" she tried to change the subject and he got that. He saw her eyes get just a little sadder and the smile not reaching her eyes.
"Oh, so that was your friend? She was wonderful." He smiled, going along with her.
"Tell you what. If I go up there, and make a complete fool out of myself, singing a song, you go after me, and so you sound even better than you already are." He smiled. He wondered what she would sound like.
"Maybe another time." She smiled. Again, the smile not reaching her eyes. "But, since I get the chance here to talk to you, would you sign my book?" she shyly asked as she pulled her copy of his first novel out of her purse.
He was surprised. "Happy to do it. Do you always carry a book in your purse?" he asked as he took the book from her. He could see it was from the first copy ever made. So she was a fan from his book since the very beginning? He liked that. And he could see that it was a book that she read more than just a few times.
"Yeah, only the ones I like." She blushed. As he wrote in the book she gave him.
"I'm glad you like it then." He smiled as he returned the book.
"I should get back to my friend before they get worried." She smiled. "it was nice meeting you Mr. Castle."
"It's Rick. You can call me Rick. And likewise." He smiled as he watched her walk over to her friends.
Kate sat back down. Lanie immediately started asking questions as she noticed Kate talking to someone, holding the book, blushing… she needed details!
"I just met… Richard Castle" she laughed at Lanie. Laughing with a smile that reached her eyes for the first time since what felt like forever. "He signed my book, and we talked." She said, "That's all Lanie!" she added as she saw the look on Lanie's face.
"Okay… if you say so." Lanie spoke," so are you going to go up there and sing or what?" she asked as the trio looked at her.
"Sorry Lanie, I think Rick there is first." She said as she pointed toward the stage with her head. Making the trio look in the direction Kate was looking at. Richard Castle was on stage and he was going to sing.
And he wasn't just going to do karaoke, he was going to sing an acoustic song.
"Hi everyone." He spoke into the microphone. "I'm going to do a song for someone here in the audience, and I think the person knows I'm talking about her. It's the acoustic version. And I know Christmas just passed and everyone is looking forward to new year. But I'm going to do a Christmas song, called Christmas Love"
He sat down as he gave the start sign for the guitar player next to him to start. The guitar strums where beautiful as he began to sing.
"Hey angel in the snow,
I'm under the mistletoe.
You are the one,
You're my very own Christmas Love.
Tell Santa I'm cool this year,
My present is standing right here.
You are the one,
You're my very own Christmas Love."
That was the part she loved the most. She knew he didn't mean is at her being his Christmas love. She just met the guy! But it was sweet…
As he finished his song, stood up and got a round of applause. She smiled to herself. She watched him as he walked to his seat and talked to one of the waiters. The waiter took some drinks and headed over to their table.
"Mr. Castle would like to treat you all for a drink. And to a certain Kate, he told me to tell you: "Your turn." The waiter smiled and headed back towards Rick.
Before she could convince herself that she should go up that stage and have fun, she read the dedication he wrote to her.
"Dear Kate,
I've never signed a copy of my first book ever made,
Because it wasn't my first bestseller…
Thanks for being a fan from day one.
It was a pleasure to meet you and,
I hope we'll meet again someday.
Until then. –Rick"
and below that was his autograph. As she smiled to herself she knew she would see him again. Because from this moment on, this was her favorite bar. But now she had to make up her mind…
She gathered the courage to go to the bar and pick a song.
"Looks like I might see you up that stage after all, huh?" Rick stated more then asked.
Kate just returned a smile as she walked toward the stage. "Enjoy!" he yelled after her.
She wasn't sure if she was going to make it through the hole song, but she would try. Because the song she picked helped her a lot through her mother's death, along with Rick's books. It was normally a song about an old love. But most of the lines applied to her, and the first time she heard it, she just thought about her mother.
"I'm going to sing a song that means a lot to me, it's called Stay." The hole room went quite as the melody started to play and Kate's voice matched it perfectly.
"Well it's good to hear your voice, I hope you're doing fine
And if you ever wonder, I'm lonely here tonight.
I'm lost here in this moment and time keeps slipping by
And if I could have just one wish I had you by my side…"
And just like that, every single person in the bar was looking at her. She couldn't see them because she closed her eyes. But no one was moving. Everyone was listening to the beautiful voice with so much emotions.
Rick noticed that it was more to her then just a song. It was a more of a message. A message to a person she loved so much, but she had lost them. And he could just feel all the feelings of Kate in her voice. And by the emotions she knew it wasn't just about some old boyfriend.
"Well I try to live without you, the tears fall from my eyes
I'm alone and I feel empty, God I'm torn apart inside.
I look up at the stars, hoping you're doing the same
Somehow I feel closer, and I can hear you say
Oh, oh I miss you
Oh, oh I need you"
And as the last words came from her lip he could swear he saw a tear rolling from the corner of her eye. Yes, this was defiantly not about just a boyfriend. It had to be about a relative? Her dad? Mom? Maybe a brother or sister? Or maybe a really good friend? One thing he did know, he wanted to find out. She's a mystery and he's going to solve it.
As she song ended the crowd went crazy. No whistling or shouting like with other people, no… a huge round of applause. "Kate, you okay?" Lanie questioned as she saw Kate whipping that one tear away.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little emotional that's all." She smiled.
"Girl, why didn't you tell me you could sing like that?" Lanie asked, trying to get the mood up a bit.
"So it was good?" Kate asked
"Good? It was awesome!" Javi said before Lanie could open her mouth.
They all laughed some more before deciding to call it a night.
Rick spotted Kate at the exit and ran after her. He didn't want to interrupt with her friends, but now that she was alone, he would try and talk to her. He wanted to get to know her.
"Hey, Kate." he said as she turned to see him running after her.
"You sounded beautiful! And there wasn't anyone who went up that stage after you. Not for the entire night! Everyone thought it was awesome!"
"Thanks." Kate smiled shyly "and you weren't so bad yourself Rick. And singing a song to a woman you just met? Very sweet."
"Who said it was about you?" Rick smiled. They both knew the answer.
"Well, I have to get home." She said as she looked up into his beautiful blue eyes. And before he could ask she already answered him, "yes, you will see me again. From now on this is my favorite bar." She smiled "Goodbye Rick", she turned around and walked out of the club.
"Goodbye Kate." he smiled after her. So he would get a chance to figure out this mystery. He wanted to, because she was different.
She was different, in a way that he could only describe as extraordinary.
XOXO
So that was the first chapter. I hoped you liked it.
Reviews are like cookies, you can't get enough of them. So I'd love to see some
And If I get enough reviews, I'll continue.