So.
I'm not really sure where I stand with this. It's not my best work, but it's been sitting on my desktop for a while now - ever since Countdown, actually - and I felt the need to post something new.
Speaking of which, a few announcements about my other fics - What It Takes is currently on a break. I've hit a wall with it and I'm utterly bored - my writing style has changed and I'm finding it increasingly difficult to get the work done. Knockout is going to be left unfinished - I was so off-base on that that I can't even bring myself to continue it. And there are currently three new projects on my laptop right now - a post-Knockout fic, a crime-based story and a completely unique idea that I'm sure everyone is going to hate me for.
Anyways, enjoy. I'm not sure if I like this or not, so leave your thoughts! :)
"…You know, I was thinking…I was thinking, maybe…"
Castle stopped, his eyes suddenly dropping to the floor.
"I should probably go home, get some rest. It's been a long day." He paused, a hurt expression clouding his face. "Goodnight."
Kate let out the breath she hadn't known she was holding. That morning, in the freezer, when she'd thought it was over…she'd almost told him how much she loved him. But she never got the chance. So why, in the middle of the precinct, when they both had the rest of their lives to live, had he backed down? 'Goodnight' was hardly what he had meant to say. She could see that all over his face.
"Goodnight."
Her partner turned, a small smile on his lips, and walked out of the precinct. Kate almost sank down onto her desk and put her face in her hands when she felt a pair of hands snake around her waist, a mouth softly kissing her ear.
Thinking that maybe Castle had changed his mind, had come back at the last second, Kate's face completely lit up and she spun around, only to face someone that made her heart sink. "Oh, hey."
"Hi." A small, comforting smile played on Josh's lips, and he bent his head down to kiss her. Kate turned her head and pulled him into a hug.
"Oh, alright," he murmured, happy to oblige.
She kept her hold on him, making sure he couldn't see her face or the person she was looking at. Because the person she was looking at was slowly making his way to the elevators, a dejected look on his face.
She tried to will him to stop, to turn and head back, but he kept walking. Turn around, look at me, she thought desperately. Please, don't go.
He didn't.
Slowly, he turned his head in their direction, stealing one last glance at her as he pressed the elevator button. But something in her eyes made him stop. The green irises were pleading, begging him to just turn the corner instead of leaving. He couldn't be sure that that was what it was at all; maybe he was just being a wishful thinker. But all the same, he turned the corner and headed to the break room.
Kate sighed happily, a small laugh escaping her lips. She was smiling full-out now. Josh pulled away and looked at her.
"What?"
The detective took a deep breath, steadying herself for what she had to do next. "Josh…I have to talk to you."
The man in front of her looked like he had no idea what she was talking about. It hurt Kate in such an impossible way. When she and Josh had started out, there had been an impossible-to-miss spark between them. Kate had loved that he was so adventurous, so needed, and he'd loved her place of authority. It had worked for a while. But when Josh had started his Doctors Without Borders missions, Kate had been left alone in the cold. It was then that one certain novelist had stepped in and saved her.
"Listen. When we started out, things were amazing. I couldn't get enough of you, and you couldn't get enough of me. But honestly, it's just too much right now. The DWB missions, the late-night surgeries and that fact that you can never turn your phone off—it's too much for me, Josh." Her eyes were soft and calm, no tears threatening to spill over anytime soon.
Josh looked over at the elevators, expecting to see Castle standing there, but the space was vacant.
"It's him, isn't it?"
Kate furrowed her brow. "What?"
"It's him. It's always been him. You smile around him. You're happier when he's there. You're constantly talking about the latest case you and Castle just cracked, or the latest joke Castle just told you. It never ends!"
"Josh—"
"No, Kate. No, okay? I love you. There, I said it. I love you! But you can't say it back, can you?"
Kate was staring up at him now, silently pleading him to quiet down. People were staring at them now. "Josh, shh, okay? I—"
"That's what I thought. No, don't," he went on when she tried to interrupt. I don't want to hear it. But Kate, I don't want to leave—"
"Stop it. Right now. Josh, come on. You're not stupid, I know that. Don't make this harder than it has to be."
"Kate—"
"Goodbye, Josh."
The surgeon stared at her, shocked. He hadn't seen this coming, at all. He didn't want to leave. He wanted to work things out. But the look in her eyes silenced him.
"…Goodbye, Kate."
And with that, he was gone, leaving Kate Beckett in the middle of the precinct with the biggest sense of relief she'd ever felt in her life.
She stood just outside the break room door, staring at the man with his back turned to her. He was stirring two coffees, one for him and one for his partner. The look of hurt and sorrow on his face made the detective's heart shatter.
"Hi."
Castle jumped a foot in the air, spilling espresso on the counter. He turned, his eyes wide, startled. "Beckett. Hey."
Her eyes were soft, but they had a strangely vibrant edge in them. She was smiling softly, the corners of her mouth slightly meeting the green circles. "Can I ask you something, Castle?"
The novelist swallowed hard, nervous and confused. "S-sure, what's up?"
Kate walked over to him, placing her hands on his chest and looking into his blue eyes through her lashes.
"Don't you think it's been too long?"
And then she kissed him.
He had no time to react, to think about what happened next. One moment, they were standing awkwardly in a police station in the busiest city in the world, and the next, the world around them disappeared. All they could be sure of was each other. The passion, the intensity, that had been building between them for years was finally released in one fiery, sweet kiss.
Kate had never kissed anyone like this before. This meant more than anything she'd ever experienced—it was meaningful, it was real. She was really in love with the man she was kissing and that meant the world.
Soon enough, they both needed air, and they were forced to pull away from one another. Kate pressed her forehead to her partner's, her breath returning to normal.
"So I'm guessing you broke up with Josh."
Kate let out a soft chuckle, her lips meeting with his again briefly. "Yes, Castle. I'm all yours."
Thoughts? Reviews are always welcome!