If somebody had told Esposito that one day he would find himself in love with his partner and best friend Ryan, he would have probably laughed at said somebody, or frowned. Not because he abhorred the notion of a gay relationship (he had his fair share of experimenting at high school), but because until now he usually went for dark-haired, curvy, temperamental chicas, preferably with Spanish background. Not for fair-haired Irishmen with milky skin, twinkling blue eyes and a smile like the rising sun. As it were, this specific Irishman had a great sense of humor, enjoyed easy bantering probably even more than Esposito and had saved his sorry ass more than once. Plenty of reasons to fall in love.

Of course both Espo and Ryan were completely oblivious of their feelings for each other. They were partners at work and best friends. Full stop. It wasn't as if one day miraculously one of them had a revelation and declared his undying love to the other. Which would have been quite a sight, had it taken place in the office, before Castle and Beckett. Castle would have probably taken said revelation and made it into a cheesy dialogue for one of his next books. Beckett would maybe have sighed "finally", as she had suspected something for quite a while but was too sensible to push the issue.

But no. The boys had been working together for years and never noticed the slight shift in their relationship. To them, it was the usual easy-going friendship. They bickered a lot. They kept annoying Beckett with their childish behavior. They invaded each other's personal space constantly (shoulders bumping, hands touching, the occasional hug) without ever thinking twice about it. They went out for a drink on weekends or watched some match or other at either Ryan's or Espo's home. Whenever they broke up with their respective girlfriends (or getting dumped, rather, seeing that they constantly worked late hours and spent a lot of time in each other's company, which annoyed even the most reasonable girls), they reassured each other that their friendship was stronger than any relationship. In fact, they were at a stage of where reassurance was no longer necessary. They were there for each other. Simple as that, no need to waste any words about it.

But one day one of them was bound to notice that their friendship bordered on something deeper. After all, they were constantly in situations where it might have become obvious what they felt for each other. They had saved each other's lives on a fairly regular basis. But they saw it as part of their job and were not putting too much thought into it. Nor did they dwell on the fact that they trusted each other infinitely. They were partners, what more was there to say?

Until …

Friday afternoon, six o' clock. Beckett's team had just wrapped up a difficult case and was about to head out for some drinks to get the lingering tension out of their system.

"Hey Ryan, I really appreciate that you want to look your best for me, but don't you think you've checked your hair enough by now?" Esposito grinned at his friend and deliberately messed his hair up again.

"Who says I do it for you?"

"Who else would there be?"

"Girls!" Beckett cut in. "If you don't stop bickering right now, I staple you to your desks and you have to finish my paperwork." The boys looked at each other, rolling their eyes, but obediently got up. With Beckett you never knew, she might follow through with her threat. And by god, after today, they really needed drinks and some distraction.

They went to a nearby bar and ordered drinks, Espo slipping into a seat next to Ryan. The two of them sat there for a while in companionable silence, each sipping their beer and occasionally scanning the crowd for familiar faces. Castle and Beckett didn't seem to mind the silence from their colleagues, as they were quite immersed in their own flirtatious banter. Nothing out of the ordinary, Espo thought absentmindedly, until he saw them share a quick, shy kiss, something that never happened before. Well, at least not in his presence.

Espo nearly choked on his drink. Before he could comment on that sudden display of affection, Ryan said "Since when is this going on between you?"

"Oh, I don't know, a few weeks maybe ..."

"You are dating?" Espo asked, surprised, while at the same time Castle sniffed "I must say I am a bit disappointed, Kate. I for my part know exactly how long we have been dating: four weeks, three days and seven hours." Ryan snorted into his beer.

"For detectives, you can be surprisingly thick, you know that?" Beckett ignored Castle's mock-wounded expression. "If you hadn't been so busy with yourselves lately, you probably would have noticed."

"Now that's unfair. First, we had a lot of difficult cases over the last weeks. Second, why would we consider you as a "case" and look out for signs that you are seeing each other? Unless dating a writer constitutes a crime, which I doubt. Even though it's Castle we're talking about here."

Beckett chuckled at Ryan's last remark, before taking Castle's hand in her own. Ryan smiled indulgently at them, and Espo looked equally delighted while at the same time thinking what did she mean when she was saying we were so busy with ourselves? Before he could even ask, Castle drew Beckett in another tight embrace and gave her a not-so-shy kiss this time.

"I feel a bit left out" Ryan mockingly complained and shot Espo a look saying Hey, here's a chance to make fun of Castle if I ever saw one. Go for it! Of course, Espo would normally have jumped at such an opportunity. But apart from their bantering earlier in the office, he was uncharacteristically quiet. Maybe the events from earlier that day were slowly taken its toll.

They had chased a suspect in an empty warehouse and Ryan had barely avoided taking a bullet, as the young man had unexpectedly turned up from behind while Beckett had still been busy securing the back entrance. Espo had flung himself at the man and tackled him to the ground, and not a second too soon. The bullet would have hit Ryan square in the face. While he had still been a bit shaken from the incident when the team returned to the office with their handcuffed suspect, he seemed to have found his usual inner strength and balance with which he brushed off such events sooner or later.

Esposito, though, still shook inwardly from the mere thought that he almost lost his partner. But he pulled himself together at an attempt to contribute to his friends' conversation. "Guys, go get a room" he said good-naturedly.

"Ok, now that we have their official permission, let's go." Castle's enthusiastic grin was enough to make Beckett laugh. She winked at him and said "Well, if you think we can leave the two sweethearts alone..."

"Oh pleeaase" Espo moaned, while thinking about a witty retort. His mind went blank, though, as he felt Ryan's arm around his waist.

"You two lovebirds go home, I take care of Javi."

Espo wasn't oblivious to the earnest undertone of Ryan's flippant remark and the use of his first name. Ryan seemed to sense that he was not in the lightest of moods tonight. He found himself grateful for having such an observant friend. Beckett and Castle left the bar, and while Espo was wondering why his partner's arm was still wrapped loosely around his waist (quite a pleasant feeling but he didn't want to dwell on that), two rather attractive women were approaching them. Maybe this day would turn out better than it started. Some nice girls would hopefully be putting his mind off the fact that his best friend got nearly shot. And why having him in such close proximity suddenly made him feel all warm and fuzzy. It was probably high time that he got himself a nice chica...

He gave the girls his most dazzling smile, while Ryan removed his arm and nodded a friendly hello to them.

"Hello ladies. Care to join us for a drink?"

"Absolutely" one of them replied, a small brunette with dancing brown eyes. Her name was Louise. "You never guess why we came over to talk to you" the other girl, Nina, said.

"Oh let me guess" Ryan easily replied, a glint in this eyes. "Because my partner here has such a nice ass?"

"Well, how would I know" she answered, in the same playful tone, "he is still sitting on it. But I take your word for it."

Esposito couldn't believe what he just heard. This was going beyond their usual banter. But maybe it was Ryan's way of letting off tension or flirting with the girls. Maybe he just wanted to point out his friend's best side to the girls, which was very thoughtful of him but not really necessary, thank you very much. Louise cut into Espo's train of thought by saying "No, we were just agreeing that you make such an adorable couple so we had to come over to talk to you."

"What makes you think we are a couple?" "The way you look at each other, obviously. And you have such a relaxed way around each other. How long are you two together?"

"Quite a few years" Ryan answered and gave Espo a small smile which said Indulge me. And Espo decided to play along. He was beginning to enjoy himself. Maybe this was just the right thing to do to forget that Ryan was nearly shot today. He wondered why he made such a fuss about this, it wasn't as if this had happened for the first time.

Ryan seemed to enjoy their little charade. He shot Espo admiring looks with his startlingly blue eyes and even went as far as taking his hand or touching his arm now and then. Espo suspected that while Ryan was of course acting his part in front of the girls, it was also his way of assuring Espo of his presence. He found it oddly comforting. Also, it was quite unsettling how easy flirting with Ryan turned out to be. He decided to pick up their loose thread of conversation.

"We met each other at work. We're both detectives" he said. Usually, Espo said this to impress some girl or other and sure enough, these two made appreciative noises, just like he knew they would. But tonight, he couldn't bring himself to go through the hassle of small talk only to get into some girl's pants. It was just as well his best friend had decided that tonight they supposedly were a couple.

He was beginning to relax and forget about the hard day when Nina asked him innocently "What do you love about Kevin?"

He was a bit startled, as it was a rather intimate question, but there was no way to avoid answering her, especially since there were so many things popping to his mind, now that he thought about it. He stole a glance at Ryan who watched him with an unusual tender expression.

"Oh, lots of things. First, his great sense of humor. He can light up the dreariest day with one of his dry remarks. Then he is the most reliable person I know; I trust him with my life any day. He is certainly the brain in our relationship although his ass is not so bad either. And he is always so easy-going even though I can be a right bitch sometimes..."

Espo trailed of, slightly embarrassed at how easy this was.

"So you're the girl in your relationship?" Louise chimed in, smirking.

"What, no! That's obviously Kev."

"I don't think so, baby." Ryan gave him a slow once-over, like a guy who would check out a girl he fancied and Espo found himself blushing slightly; he was not used being under such close scrutiny from his friend. What was more, Ryan's eyes met his briefly, and under the traces of laughter that shone in his bright eyes, he thought he could detect something else, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Aren't they sweet!" Louise exclaimed. "I'd say what a shame they are lost to the ladies. It's just as well that we are not interested in men, are we? So there you have it." She slung her right arm casually around Nina and gave her a quick peck on her lips.

"Oh" was all Espo could say, but the girls didn't seem to expect an answer to their revelation. They continued their easy chit-chat for the next half hour or so, and Espo found himself getting more and more loosened up. The girls were fun to talk to and he wondered if, under different circumstances, he would have made a move on Louise. She was exactly his type, after all. But tonight, he apparently needed a friend, not some girl, no matter how smoking hot she was. Maybe he was getting old ….

Espo turned around in this chair at some witty remark from his friend and slowly began to notice what he had obviously ignored during their year-long partnership. Ryan's slightly muscled forearms. The way his jeans so nicely fit around his ass. His perfectly styled hair in disarray after Espo had messed it up earlier. The tiny crow's feet when he smiled. The way his eyes lit up whenever Espo said something that made him laugh. Espo slowly shook his head. What was he thinking?

He had somehow lost the thread of their conversation, because suddenly Louisa and Nina got up and started to make for the dance floor. Now that it was getting late, the music changed from relaxed lounge to dance floor classics. Ryan enthusiastically got up and declared he would join them while Espo excused himself and said he was not in the mood just now. Before Ryan chased after the girls, he slowly turned around and gave Espo a slightly worried look.

"Are you ok, bro? We can leave anytime, if that's what you want."

"No, it's fine. You go and charm the pants off these girls."

"You very well know that you are the charmer on the dance floor."

"All the more reason for you to try for yourself. You know my methods, apply them."

Espo winked at Ryan and saw his friend's face losing its worried expression. Ryan smiled his sunny smile – at which Espo felt a slight flutter in his stomach – and ambled after the girls. Where he did his best to follow Espo's advice of charming the pants off the girls. Espo watched from his barstool and his expression grew more and more amused. Ryan might have been an average dancer only, but he made up for his lack of grace with much enthusiasm and lots of hilarious moves, occasionally even singing along with some tunes. Nina had apparently taken a great liking to him because she was dancing very close to him. Louise didn't seem to mind, wasn't even looking. She had her eyes closed and wiggled her hips hypnotically to the sound of some equally hypnotic dance tune.

Ryan was, of course, aware that Nina was practically locking hips with him. Under other circumstances, he would have probably enjoyed himself immensely. Tonight, he was more concerned about his alleged boyfriend. His gaze returned to the bar from time to time to check if Espo was still there, and he was just about to suggest a break from dancing when suddenly he could no longer spot his friend on the barstool. He was briefly wondering why Nina suddenly disentangled her limbs from him with a slightly embarrassed look at someone behind him. He started to turn around to see who she was looking at but hands on his hips kept him firmly in place. What the hell?!

Another song started. Hypnotic rhythm, slightly melancholic tune, a female Spanish background voice. He felt that someone behind him picking up the rhythm with practical ease, dragging him along into the song. Looking at the empty barstool again, the penny dropped. Oh. Apparently, Espo wanted to act the part of his lover more convincingly. Ryan smiled to himself, thinking that if this was taking his friend's mind off of darker matters, he would not object.

They moved together in synchrony, enjoying their close proximity. The girls were dancing together a few feet apart and shot them appreciative glances now and then. Ryan could feel Espo's hands on his hips moving in tiny, slow circles, gently setting the rhythm. It was, frankly, intoxicating.

"You're such a tease, do you know that" his partner mumbled into his left ear, his warm breath sending a tingling sensation down Ryan's neck.

"Says the man who grabs my hips and breathes down my neck."

Ryan had to crane his neck so that Espo would hear his reply and found himself close enough to Espo's cheek to give him a peck. Which he didn't. But it was a close shave. It was just so unexpected that dancing with his partner felt this intense. That he liked feeling the warm and solid presence in his back. That he got to know the sensual side of badass Javier Esposito. They didn't speak after that but danced together until the song ended, much to soon for Ryan's liking if he was honest to himself.

He felt a bit awkward as they returned to the bar to finish their drinks. They talked for a while longer until going home seemed like a good option. Espo was going quiet again and at some point his head had even dropped on Ryan's shoulder. Time to call it a night. They said goodbye to the girls and hugged them in turn. Ryan saw Louise grabbing Espo's ass briefly but firmly and winced on his friend's behalf.

"You were right, Kev", Louise said, winking. "He does have a sexy butt."

"Told you." Ryan smirked.

Espo could only glare.

They went outside to grab a taxi. Espo gave the driver his address and then turned to face Ryan. "I must say, this was a rather interesting way to spend a night. Pretending before some hot girls that we are an item."

"I thought it would get your mind off things." Ryan said quietly. "You obviously got worked up about the shooting this afternoon." He looked like he wanted to add something, but instead he just gave Espo the most tender of smiles.

"Well, it worked, that's for sure."

Now that their little charade was over, Ryan felt some of his friend's dark thoughts returning. He said softly "I'm here, Javi. And I'll stay at your place if you want." Espo nodded, gratefully. No more words needed.

They arrived at Javier's apartment. Where they collapsed on the couch and decided to have "one last beer". One hour later, both of them nearly asleep and leaning heavily on each other, Javier mumbled, a slight slur in his voice: "You never said what you love about me, Kev."

"That's because the girls never asked."

"Well, I am asking you now."

After seconds of awkward silence – their little game was over, after all, and Javier felt this might be the wrong time to ask but there was no turning back now – Kevin slowly answered.

"I love the way you are so protective, although we both know I can very well look after myself. I love how you look hilarious when you try so hard not to laugh whenever we make fun of Castle. It's as if your eyes contain all the laughter you try to keep from your lips. I love that you can be so childish sometimes and are still the most sensible, earnest person I know. I love your badass face after you have some bad guy handcuffed. I love the tantrums you throw when you know I am right about something and won't admit it. I love the glint in your eyes when you see something you really want, like a nice chica, or chocolate cake. Want me to go on?"

Javier wasn't able to immediately respond to that. He was dumbfounded. Where did all this come from? He carefully lifted his head from where it had dropped on Kevin's shoulder and looked at his friend. "Kev …" But Kevin cut him off by putting his fingers on Javi's lips.

"I don't say this to make you feel better. Well, I do, but the fact that you were so upset after we arrested the suspect made me think. I never fully addressed the fact that you are the most important person in my life. Well I do now, Javi, because you never know when it might be too late."

There was a brief silence between them as Kevin's words took their time to sink in. Javi struggled for an answer.

"Since when did we become so worked up about potentially life-threatening situations?" It was a weak attempt at avoiding more serious questions, and they both knew it.

"You did, baby. I was my usual cool self." Ryan replied smoothly and grinned at his friend, relieved that they had found back to their easy-going banter. Although, to be sure, this was another dimension to their relationship. They both accepted it, although they didn't know when it had started to be more than friendship. Knowing the exact point in time, if there even was one, wasn't that important, after all.

"Oh, don't you call me baby. After all, you are the girl of the two of us." Javi grumbled, his husky voice so near that it sent a pleasant shiver down Kevin's spine.

"Really? Well, if I'm the girl here, I guess it's up to you to make the next move, Javi."

Kevin had so easily and sensitively steered their conversation from the earnest, heart-to-heart talk to the usual teasing, it was breathtaking. He had such a way of finding the right words, it left Javier speechless, once again. But talking was apparently not what was the course of action here, anyway. So he simply lowered his gaze onto Kevin's mouth and moved his hand to lightly touch his face.

"You have the look on your face." Kevin said, unfazed. Deep blue eyes met dark brown eyes, a shy smile was exchanged.

"What look?" This must have come across as quite exasperated, because Kevin chuckled softly but then took a pity on him.

"The look that you're about to get a slice of chocolate cake."

"You know very well that only a slice would not do here." That practically came out as a low growl and Kevin felt his pulse quicken.

And – finally – Javi closed the distance between their faces and kissed his best friend. Somehow they decided to take up each other's personal space even further. Nothing to make a fuss about. But still, it was really extraordinary. Kevin thought that he could definitely get used to Javi's lips, his scratchy stubble and the way only Javi could smell: like home. Javi thought, well this is not comparable to chocolate cake. It is better. Coherent thoughts were finally dissolving into nothing, while they enjoyed the sheer pleasantry of warm skin, entangled limbs, soft lips and hands carding through hair, brushing along cheekbones. Kevin felt his no-longer-alleged boyfriend's tight muscles finally relaxing under his embrace. He smiled into their kiss.

When the boys came up for air, they looked somewhat shyly at each other.

"You're not a bad kisser" Kevin said, blushing a little.

"You're not so bad yourself, sweetheart."

"Do you think we can keep this a secret from Castle and Beckett? As a revenge for not letting us know they've been dating for weeks."

"I'd say the next time Castle makes one of his cheesy remarks, we start snogging in front of him. That should teach him a lesson."

Delighted with that idea, they shared a sweet kiss and went to bed. Where they enjoyed the rest of the chocolate cake.

Four weeks later

Castle was in a terrific mood as he stepped into the precinct on a crisp Monday morning and headed for Beckett's desk. His mood might have had to do with the fact that they had shared a very pleasant night together. Although being as sleep-deprived as he was, Beckett had left their bed at an ungodly hour this morning to finish some paperwork leftovers from last week before the everyday hustle and bustle would begin. She had left without even so much as a bite to eat and he assumed she would be delighted to see he bought her coffee and donuts.

Castle really enjoyed the little routines he and Beckett had developed over the last weeks. The coffee and donuts routine of course had been an arrangement much from the beginning, long before they started dating. But now they enjoyed regular Scrabble evenings with Alexis and Martha, Beckett making breakfast on lazy Sunday mornings or the occasional but still somewhat routinely weekend trips to fancy countryside hotels. After all, Castle loved spoiling the people around him.

"Hey, early bird, I brought you something to adjust your sugar levels." He gave Beckett a peck on the cheek and placed the coffee on her desk, then settled in next to her, sipping at his own styrofoam cup.

"Thank you. Though that's the least you could do, after you've kept me awake the better part of the night."

"Now that's not fair. You didn't complain last night, right?"

Before Beckett could think of a reply, she heard Espo's familiar voice from his desk.

"Now would you please keep your nightly activities to yourselves?"

They had been so immersed in their banter that they never noticed when he arrived. And, sure enough, Ryan was also there, smirking and looking over Espo's shoulder.

"Oh come on. Only because you are jealous you don't have a love life that's worth talking about …."

"Castle." Beckett shot him a warning glance. He was such an insensitive dork sometimes. But before she could continue to scold him, Ryan said "What makes you think we don't have a love life worth mentioning? We just don't go around boasting about it."

"Now that's interesting. I wonder why you didn't mention it sooner." Castle made a curious face. "Who are they?"

"Castle, there might be a reason why they don't want to talk about it, so leave it." Beckett thumped him slightly in his ribs.

"Whoever it is", Castle continued, quite unabashed, "they must be very reasonable and tolerant towards Ryan and Espo. With them constantly hanging out together and making puppy faces at each other. … Ow!" he howled, when Beckett thumped him again, harder.

He never managed another remark, because Ryan and Espo were getting up and coming closer to Beckett's desk. They both looked very determined, almost grim. Castle thought he might have overstepped a border and never noticed how hard the boys were trying to suppress a grin.

Ever since their first night together, they had wondered when they should breach the news to Castle and Beckett about their relationship. It was not the most difficult thing to hide their affection in the precinct, as they had always been rather close, but sooner or later they wanted Beckett and Castle to know and to show their love a bit more openly. Not openly as in making out in the toilet, but as in sharing a kiss now and then or making insinuating remarks like Castle and Beckett. So far, the only thing at the precinct they could do was writing quick messages to each other about what they would do when they were back home (they had practically moved in together). Kevin was especially good at writing smutty little things that left Javi hot and blushing behind his desk more than once. Once, Javi turned the tables on Kevin by sneaking up to him when he was making coffee. He had made sure that there was no risk of someone peeking in, then made his move and gave Kevin a thorough kiss on the neck and nibbled at is ear, something he knew from experience would destroy Kevin. He simply loved to ruffle Kevin's usually impeccable appearance, his tidy hair, crisp suit and boyish smile.

Apart from those secretive little moments – which were rapidly losing their appeal – they always had to wait until they got home for more obvious displays of affection. Now was as good a time as any to make the next step, since Castle had given them the perfect cue. They looked from Castle to Beckett, then turned to face each other.

And without further ado, Kevin grabbed Javi by his collar and gave him a good long kiss.

Kissing in front of their friends felt exhilarating and they savored the moment, only breaking apart when Javi's face was flushed and Kevin was breathing a bit more rapidly than usual. They both grinned and turned to look expectantly at their friends.

It was a rare occasion that Castle did not know what to say. Helplessly, he looked over to Beckett who had a slightly bemused look on her face but quickly recovered. "Good for you boys. I am delighted you finally sorted that out. I was beginning to worry about you two."

"Is that all you have to say?" Castle finally found his voice again. He looked from Beckett to Kevin.

"Since when is this going on between you?"

"Oh, a few weeks maybe", Kevin said casually, nudging Javi who quickly assumed an offended look.

"I for my part know exactly for how long we have been dating" Javi said, and Beckett noticed a twinkle in his eyes, before realising where she had heard that line before. "Four weeks, three days and five hours."

"Oh very funny." Castle said.

Then he smiled. Of course it would have been great if they had let him and Beckett in on their relationship right from the start. But they must have had their reasons, and, frankly, what did it matter. They were happy, and he had found another source of endlessly teasing them, as a revenge for their constant remarks.

Beckett knew exactly what Castle was thinking. She had to make sure that he went easy on the boys.

"Castle."

"Yes, baby?"

"I swear to God, if you don't leave them alone, that means no sex for a long, long while. And none of those chocolate cakes you're so fond of."

She was astonished to find that Kevin and Javi burst out laughing and weren't able to calm down for a good while.