A/N: First-time poster, so please forgive any fanfic etiquette I've missed. Vague references to how the Always cliffhangers resolve are from my unposted, post-Always work-in-progress (don't we all have one?), but this story popped out faster. So here it is. Following chapters are written and I will post soon. EDIT: (6/27/12) I changed the movie in question from Naked Heat to Heat Wave since I realized my timeline was totally off. Duh. Please let me know if I missed any references.

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"No." Lanie Parish shook her head decisively. "Not that one."

Kate Beckett looked again at the the dress she was holding up. "What's wrong with this one? You helped me buy it!"

Lanie was not moved by the appeal. "Not for this occasion, I didn't. Too tight and too sparkly. For declaring that Bachelor #9 has a new Flavor of the Week? Yes. For declaring that Bachelor #9 is officially off the market? No. C'mon, girl, don't you speak Page Six?"

"Apparently not." Kate added the dress to the mounting pile on her bed and sighed in exasperation, remembering a very similar scene. Many things had changed in the four years since Castle took her to a black tie charity ball in order to track down a suspect, but judging by the results of Lanie's ongoing wardrobe consultation, Kate still didn't know how to dress for high society.

The movie adaptation of Heat Wave was opening next week, and the stars were in New York to do the talk show circuit. Also on the agenda was tonight's cocktail-party-slash-meet-and-greet-slash-media-photo-op with the cast, crew, author and Nikki Heat's real-life inspiration. What the press, movie people, and Castle's publisher didn't know yet was that the behind-the-scenes story had recently become as interesting as the on-screen action. Never mind last week's scandal in Washington that brought down a highly-placed U.S. senator, since the world at large still didn't know about their involvement. The press were about to get a money shot of the artist and the muse in love and in public, after years of speculation, and just in time to promote the movie.

Of course, that wasn't the point of choosing to be seen together (together) in public. It was just an unfortunate side effect. The choice was actually Kate's. The topic had bubbled to the surface Monday morning, a few days after the clear and present danger of Maddox and his puppet master had given way to the beginnings of normalcy.

Kate was lying in bed at the loft, curled up on her side, Castle's arm draped over her waist in his sleep, their body heat mingling across the inches where they weren't touching. Or they had been asleep; now they were both newly awake, and each knew the other was awake, but neither was willing to disturb their moment of peace quite yet.

Castle was the first to blink in the I'm-not-awake-staring-contest. He drew her back into a spoon hug, tucked his chin into her neck, and hummed low in her ear what could pass as a morning greeting. She breathed in deep and let it out slowly.

"I wonder if I should go in and talk to Gates. I wonder if she ever processed my resignation."

"Your employment status did seem a little vague when we last left the precinct," he agreed, and then perked up with a sudden idea. "This may be the perfect Schroedinger's Job moment."

She turned to face him, giving her brain a moment to catch up with his Castle-logic. "Are you saying that I both have and do not have a job right now-"

"-as long as you don't look directly at it!" he finished triumphantly. "The proper way to respond is to not go to work; going in would be like opening the box. By not doing anything work-related, you will remain both gainfully employed and free of actual responsibility."

"So more like you?"

"Don't be jealous of my quantum existence."

"Don't you have three chapters due tomorrow?"

"Cat killer." He propped up on one elbow and traced his fingers through her hair. "Seriously, though. Let's get out of the city today. Drive to the beach, hunt truffles in the woods, fly to Minneapolis, whatever. Your conversation with Gates and my chapters can both wait one more day."

"How did you ever manage to write 27-"

"29!"

"-books using the Scarlett O'Hara method?"

"Must be another mystery of physics. Probably involving time travel, wormholes and a planet made entirely of caffeine." He pressed on. "But think about it. All of our people know we're together now; all the ones that matter, anyway. It wouldn't come as a shock to anyone if we both disappeared for a day. Not after the week we've had."

"That reminds me of something I've been meaning to talk to you about." She propped up on an elbow as well. "Castle, you're famous."

"Thanks for remembering."

"Your love life ends up on Page Six on a regular basis. The only reason we haven't become celebrity gossip fodder yet is that we've been too busy staying alive the last week to go anywhere in public together. Besides crime scenes."

Castle cut in. "Personally, I don't know why the gossip rags don't see the romantic potential of early morning coffee dates over a dead body in an alley."

"Yeah, shocker. But my point is, it's only a matter of time before someone catches on and we get blind-sided at a newsstand by some grainy shot of us having dinner."

Castle frowned. "I'm sorry to drag you into that part of my life, but there's not much we can do about it. Unless you're suggesting I quit writing, or we only go out in public ninja-style."

"No, Castle, I'm not looking for an apology, or ninjas." He looked a little disappointed about the ninjas. "I knew exactly what I was signing up for, being with you. If I could handle all the fallout from Nikki Heat, I'll manage this. What I'm saying is, if the senator couldn't control us, I'm certainly not going to let some low-life paparazzi dictate what we do and where we go."

"So if the ninjas are out, what are you suggesting?"

She smiled. "I'm saying we take control of the situation. We don't wait for rumors to catch up with us. We tear off the Band-Aid ourselves, and then move on with our lives."

"Ah, a preemptive gossip strike," he said, catching her drift at last. "I think I know just the place to do it."

Cynics would probably remark that the timing was a little too profitable to be a coincidence. Even though it was her idea to "go public," Beckett was dreading the coming attention; they couldn't have picked a worse time for their big reveal, if they valued their privacy at all. Which she did.

Of course, Castle's publicist had not been present the stormy night Kate appeared at the loft, or the morning they hatched the plan, and had therefore been unavailable for consultation. As far as Kate was concerned, this was between her and Castle. Let the press have their fun, and she would do her best to ignore it. Or at least endure it. After all, what were their other options? Avoid cameras for the rest of their lives? (Mentally she questioned and then promptly ignored what she meant by that timeline.) Pretend in public that nothing had changed? After all they'd been through in the last two weeks (four years), she was done hiding from this.

Despite the uncomfortable level of exposure, she could almost appreciate the efficiency with which she was starting her new life with no (okay, fewer) walls. By Sunday morning, eight million New Yorkers and beyond would all be informed at once of something she'd been afraid to admit to herself for years. If she had any doubts, she would be freaking out right about now.

She wasn't freaking out. Much.

Still in front of her beleaguered closet, Kate reminded her best friend, "I have gone to Castle's book events before, you know. It's not like we've called a press conference to announce our relationship status."

Lanie gave her a pointed look. "Have you seen the two of you together? Trust me, any public appearance you make at this point will be an announcement."

"We're not like that," Kate protested. "Are we?"

"Oh, you try to hold it in for the sake of us less-fortunates. But all that soulmate mojo leaks out anyway."

"Come on, I have never called us 'soulmates.' "

Lanie shrugged. "Fine. But just because you're not telling Castle he completes you doesn't make it any less disgusting for the rest of us to witness."

"Is it really that bad?"

"Yes," Lanie said baldly.

"Great. I've become one of those people."

Lanie cut her a break by explaining, "It's not that you've turned all marshmallows and rainbows. Mostly, you two act the same way you always have. Gazing into each other's eyes, finishing each other's sentences..." Beckett rolled her eyes. "Deny it all you want, but you and Castle have always had chemistry. Now it's pretty obvious that there's something more." Was Kate Beckett blushing? Lanie smirked. "That's not what I meant. Though since you mention it, are you trying to fit four years worth of sex into two weeks? Because I don't recommend it, medically or socially. Even if he does complete you.

"But that's not my point. You're a little disgusting to watch because what you two have is rare, and it's a gift, and you finally tore the bow off and opened it. Who wants to see that when they haven't got it?" Kate started to say something, but Lanie put her hands up to finish. "But I'll gladly endure the single woman's burden of bitterness to see you happy. After all you've been through, you deserve it."

"Thanks, Lanie." Kate smiled at her friend before her next thought suddenly wiped the smile off her face. "You haven't told Castle any of this, have you?"

Lanie shuddered. "Absolutely not. I'm glad to see him get the twinkle back in his eye, but he's already inclined to think he's God's gift without hearing it from me."

Kate breathed a sigh of relief and shook her head. "Amen to that," she said, and took the next dress out of her closet. "How about this one?" But even she didn't think it was a likely suspect.

Lanie did not dignify the unfortunate ruffles with a response. "I'm surprised Castle didn't step in and play fairy godmother again."

"He wanted to, but I threatened him with bodily harm if he tried, and not the fun kind. I am a grown woman; I can dress myself."

"Under normal circumstances, yes. But this is Hollywood, baby, and you're about to get your biggest 15 minutes yet. In case you hadn't noticed, you are dating a millionaire with very good taste, and he adores you. Let the man buy you a dress once in a while."

Dating. Was she dating Castle? In the two weeks they'd been together, that word had not once occurred to Kate. In the strictest sense, tonight's outing would be their first date. In the course of one dark and stormy night they had basically skipped from complicated friends and work partners to a serious, established couple. Not that they didn't have all sorts of things to work through, because they did. But still, they weren't dating. They were Together with a capital T. And the world at large was about to find out.

And she had nothing to wear.

TBC