Kate stood in front of the full length mirror checking her make-up for the third time before standing up straight to inspect the rest of herself.
Thank God Jenny had good taste. The bridesmaid dress was a strapless, cream, knee-lengthened number paired with a pair of black heels (a little shorter than she liked but Jenny must've figured she was already a head taller than the rest of the bridal party).
Kate straightened the cinched waist on the dress while she contemplated her seventh time to be a bridesmaid.
- She was just finishing up her paperwork and the silence in the precinct was only broken by the odd uniform that walked through. Castle had gone back to the loft an hour or so ago to make sure that Alexis made it home from her date safely. Ever since Alexis and Ashley's relationship had fizzled out and the teenager had begun dating again, Castle's endearing father side had peeked out frequently. Esposito left right after they closed their case claiming he had some, "business to attend to." She didn't question him about it. And Ryan had got up from his desk, phone pressed to his ear, whispering fervently into the device as he called the elevator. A half an hour had passed and still no sign of him.
Kate crossed the last two t's in her signature with a flourish before she closed the file and pushed away from her desk. She had one arm in the sleeve of her coat and was working on the second one when Detective Ryan came hurrying around the corner.
He came rushing up to her, his hair looking like he had spent a good part of the last half hour pulling at tufts of it with his fists. Once he reached her, Ryan stood, slightly shaking, with his face crushed into distraught lines that hadn't been there a week ago.
"Ryan, what is it?" She asked, clearly worried.
"I need… your help." He forced out."
"Why? What's wrong?" Now he was just scaring her.
"You have to be Jenny's bridesmaid."
"Uh…What?" She sputtered, obviously flustered by this turn of events.
"She is driving me crazy! Everything we ever talk about is about the flowers, or the china patterns, or the color of the table cloths. Who cares if the damn table cloths are white or off-white? I sure as hell don't! And now she is going insane because she was going to ask Lanie to be her second bridesmaid but now I don't even think Lane would want to be in the same room as her, much less the same wedding party! And her sister is the maid of honor but she is insisting that she have another bridesmaid so it will be equal because I'm gonna have Esposito AND Castle and she wants the wedding to be perfect and it is going to be all my fault if she doesn't have exactly what she wants and she wants another bridesmaid and apparently she doesn't have any friends that live in New York that she knows well enough to ask and, well, I know that she doesn't really know you but, I mean, we're friends, and colleaugues and we have each other's back, so she just thought that you should be in the wedding party and I might have said that I'd ask. And I'm really sorry."
The last part came out really quiet compared to the rest of his speech. Kate had never seen him blow up like that; he had always been Kevin Ryan, kid brother, and now he was Kevin Ryan, a man with a fiance and a wedding.
At first Kate didn't know how to react. She didn't really want to be a bridesmaid and, as Ryan had said, she didn't know Jenny all that well. But, then again, Ryan was a big part of her team and she didn't really want to tell him no. Especially when he looked like a puppy on one of those damn depressing ASPCA commercials.
"Well…" she started, none too sure where she was going to go with the statement.
"I know, I know," Ryan hung his head low avoiding eye contact. "It's okay, I understand. You'll still be there though, right?"
Wow, now she really couldn't say no. Just hearing the lilt of hope in his voice when he asked if she was still going to come was enough to make her say yes.
"Ryan, don't look like I just hit you with a rolled up magazine. I'll, uh, I'll be a bridesmaid." The words sounded a little odd coming out of her mouth but she didn't know what else to say.
"You will?" Gosh, he looked like a kid on Christmas morning.
"Yeah," she replied, suddenly feeling a little self-concious.
"Beckett, you're gonna get one hell of a birthday present this year!" Ryan exclaimed as he pulled her in for an awkward hug.
"I better," she muttered.
- About a week after she agreed to be bridesmaid, Lanie and Esposito made up and Jenny asked her to be a bridesmaid as a peace offering (or maybe Lanie agreed as an apology).
Either way, Lanie and Kate were now standing with a bouquet of pink flowers in their hands, clad in matching dresses.
They heard the music begin inside the church, and suddenly some woman Kate hadn't met yet, was ushering them into a single file line. Lanie gave Kate this look that clearly said, "Let's get this over with." But Kate, Kate had always enjoyed weddings and she knew that Ryan's wouldn't be any different.
Lanie went first, walking smoothly down the aisle and smiling gracefully. She must have winked at Esposito because, from where Kate was standing just outside the doors to the sanctuary, she could see Esposito's smile turn into a barely disguised leer.
Next it was Kate's turn. She started into the church moving at the tempo of the music Jenny had meticulously chosen. The church looked perfect, like something out of a fairy tale. There were soft pink flowers everywhere and white material was draped between the pews and over the altar. Ryan smiled at her gratefully and Kate couldn't help but notice how overwhelmingly happy he looked. She wished she was that happy on her wedding day.
She scanned to Esposito who stood by Ryan proudly and was dressed in a nice tux; black coat with a silver vest and tie. He gave her a smile before looking back over at Lanie. Kate was glad the two had finally gotten back together. They had been miserable without each other and, not that she didn't love Lanie, but one more 'Girl's Night' of clubbing and she'd have to come up with a good excuse not to go.
Next to Esposito was Castle, and while all the other guests had turned to look at the maid of honor (who was rather stunning), Castle was staring at her with that look that she couldn't place. Or was scared to place.
This was going to be a long night.