An Accidental Kiss
A Castle FanFic
Vol. 1; Ch. 1
(Rating: K+)
By R.J. Harrington,
Kate tossed her paperback copy of "The Prostitute's Ball" onto the end table and pushed the blanket from her legs before marching to the door in protest. "Coming."
The weekend was supposed to be relaxing, a chance to enjoy her new apartment with no bodies, no cell phone and no calls from Castle. It had been two weeks since Esposito and Lanie helped her find the rent-controlled apartment near Stuyvesant Square. The two friends seemed awfully anxious to reduce her stays at Lanie's place on weeknights. Later, she would find out why.
With a 9mm tucked into her waistband, Kate peeped through the door. In one swift move, she turned the knob and swung it open.
"What are you doing here?"
"And, good morning to you too, Detective Beckett. Doughnut?" Castle strolled past her, ignoring the scowl.
"Castle."
"What?"
"You didn't show up just to bring me breakfast."
Castle stopped digging in the doughnut bag and stared without a word, until mumbling, "We need to talk."
"About what?"
"You know about what."
"I'm not talking about that, Castle, and if that's the only reason you're here, you might as well save us both the trouble and leave."
Kate returned to the couch, pulling her legs sideways underneath her. She didn't look up from her coffee mug when Castle slunk around the other end of the couch and sat as far away as he could.
"I just thought, maybe, we could discuss … a little, because I'm …" Kate shot him a seething glare through squinted eyes, stopping him mid-sentence. He waited and then tried again.
"I found this outside," he ventured, handing her the newspaper.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Kate laid the paper on the couch between them and returned to her book. She wasn't going to let Castle get to her. She knew what she'd done and damned if she was going to give in to his need to analyze at her expense. Castle watched, waiting for something, anything. He couldn't stand the awkward silence and tapped the paper.
"Are you going to read it?"
"Castle!"
"Right, sorry."
They sat in silence with Castle fidgeting uncomfortably, moving throw pillows and thumbing through sections of the newspaper. Kate smirked and bit her lip to keep from laughing before looking up from her book.
"Alright Castle. Since it looks like I'm not getting rid of you until we discuss this, what is it you want to hear?"
He flashed his boyish smile and scooted closer on the divan. He paused long enough to study her – her hair pulled into a loose twist with tendrils dangling a frame around her face, the big T-shirt he'd given her cut at the top and hanging off of one shoulder. If she was wearing anything underneath, he couldn't see it. Her skin glowed and even without makeup, she was gorgeous.
"Castle?"
"Huh? Oh, I was, um, … last night."
"What about last night?"
"I just thought we needed to talk about what happened. At the launch party?"
"Why?"
"Because I figured you were just as surprised as I was. I certainly didn't expect you to …"
"I know, I was there, remember?" Beckett stood and headed for the kitchen to refill her coffee.
"Kate, please."
"Castle, I think it's best if we just forget about what happened and move on. We'd both had a lot of wine and unless you've changed your mind about lurking around the station, we still have cases to solve." Castle's face dropped. He shoved his hands into his jean pockets and leaned against the counter.
Kate caught his pout.
"What?"
"You kissed me." Her face flushed with heat. Castle wasn't going to let this one slide. And, honestly, she didn't want it to.
"And?"
"Well, you ran off and I was worried you were embarrassed or thought I would be." Kate watched him without speaking. "So, I wanted to come over this morning before we got to the precinct and let you know that I wasn't … embarrassed."
"OK. Is that it?"
"You don't have anything to say?"
"Castle," Kate started as she moved beside him, gripping her coffee mug in sweaty palms. "I shouldn't have done what I did. I got carried away with the fancy clothes, the fancy hotel, the fancy food … I feel terrible and now I've complicated a situation that was already too complicated as it was."
"Complicated it how?"
The loud vibration of Kate's cell phone on the table startled them. It was Ryan.
"Beckett."
Castle waited intently, resisting the urge to eavesdrop with his ear to her cell phone. He already knew how that would go, having tried it more than once, so he stood nearby and strained to hear.
"OK, thanks. We'll be right there."
"Right where?"
"SoHo. Are you coming?"
"But, we haven't finished …"
"There's been a murder, Castle. Your discussion can wait."
To Be Continued
