A/N: Hey Everybody this is my first journey into the lovely Castle Fandom. I have loved from afar for far too long, and this is the miraculous gateway to my inner Castle-related soul. Haha, no.

Hopefully this will be a series of One-shots that cover the relationship and things that our favorite writer and detective love about each other. ;)

Beta'd by my spectacular (and lazy, she hasn't written many fics lately) sister xMissSalazar. Hope you enjoy!

Rick Castle was intrigued by Detective Kate Beckett.

First, it was an accident. She wrote their meeting off as a coincidence easily, he on the other hand, believed that some higher power had to have played a part in the whole thing. How else would he have met the brilliant detective that his life seemed to center around lately? He wouldn't have.

When she first sat across from him in that interrogation room, he listened as she spoke. Her words flew from her mouth and she seemed to be both witty and intelligent, something that caught him off guard at first. He quickly got used to her easy confidence and clever words. It was her eyes that stopped him.

Her eyes were deep and dark yet kept a light sparkle. Something was down there, something dangerous and painful. And they held this intense indescribable power. It was as if this darkness had given her the ability to evaluate humans at their most basic level and when she turned her eyes at him and really looked, he froze. It was as if she could see right into his brain and was sifting through its files. In a single look, she examined him and determined his worth and finally, dismissed him. Something about her judgment and evaluation sent chills down his spine. She didn't fall for his tricks for a second, didn't believe the false bravado he wore like armor. Instead she saw the scared little boy who had been buried so many years ago, the little boy who was afraid of snow storms and hated to watch his parents leave. And still dismiss him as irrelevant. As something that could be a distraction, a risk. His baggage she seemed to pick up on immediately and yet she turned to leave. She had enough of her own. It frightened him how focused she was and yet, it sent hundreds of questions flying through his brain. Why was she so focused? Why did she bury that witty sense of humor he had seen for a few fleeting seconds? What horrible accident had scarred the woman before him? In that one look, he was hooked. He had to stay. He had to know.

And soon enough he did. After her mother's death, a young Beckett had shut down. She had fallen atop her ruins with all the energy she had left, unable to weather another storm. Her healing had taken time and healing was an understatement. Beckett wasn't close to fine. He had caught her, lost in thought when she thought no one was watching. Just sitting… and wishing. Beckett had a wishing face, a face so lonely yet guarded, it killed him. Her eyes got sadder then he could bear and she would stare out the window, lost. Some people would call it a blank stare. Those people were ignorant. If they couldn't see the pain, the brokenness, they were blind. He couldn't imagine what it must be like for her, carrying that burden her entire life. And even worse she blamed herself. Castle was sure that face had sent a million men running, but not him. Only searching. He had to write the story behind that look, behind the real Beckett.

He didn't fall in love like he had written about a million times, he crashed into it. There was no quiet discovery over a cup of coffee, no soft introspection. It was quite possible he had loved her from that very first moment, the problem was accepting it. Denial was a disease until finally he got the vaccination. It came in the form of her laughter.

One day on there way to a crime scene they were chatting, talking about life or in his case, Alexis. She pulled into a parking spot and unclipped her seatbelt, but didn't make a single move to leave, just turned to face him. This surprised Castle, but he didn't have time to react, he was nearing the best part of the story. "And then Mother and I revealed to Alexis her brand new princess room, complete with disco ball and a built in laser tag arena," He finished proudly. He glanced down to his door handle and his eyes flashed to her smirking lips. He was captivated. He couldn't see a trace of pain or sadness, only an overwhelming happiness that was contagious. The wishing eyes were gone, replaced with a sparkle that warmed him like hot chocolate. His epiphany must have shown on his face because her confidence faltered for a moment. Most people wouldn't have even noticed her almost imperceptible head tilt and lip movement. He not only noticed it, he knew what it meant. He put his grin back in place and they exited the car. She took it as reassurance everything between them was back as it should be. Those momentary slips into something more than partners startled her when she noticed them and this one was no different. She turned on her heels and ducked under the tape. He stood there, watching, once again caught in the spell that was Katherine Beckett. She didn't look back, merely called over her shoulder.

"You coming Castle?" her voice floated to him.

He took off after her with a new outlook on how things between them could be. He heard Esposito murmur something along the lines of "puppy dog" and he just smiled. He'd be anything, as long as he could be near his Beckett. He would stay forever, if only to chase the wishing eyes away. Richard Castle would do anything for her. With fresh eyes and a loopy grin, he took off after the woman he loved.