Chapter 1:
Castle takes a deep breath and turns around to face the door of the morgue. I can do this, he thinks, just walk in, and take it from there. He pushes the door and walks through. Lanie is in the middle of an autopsy.
"Hey, what are you doing here, writer boy?" she asks.
"Oh you're busy. I can come back," responds Castle. He is sweating, nervous about the conversation he is trying to avoid.
Lanie stops her autopsy to look over at Castle.
"Nuh uh, Castle. Only one person can make you this nervous," she says, motioning at his fidgeting hands.
"I kind of... Need you're advice." says Castle.
"Oh, I knew it! Are you gonna ask her out?" asks Lanie.
"Ummm... No." says Castle, avoiding eye contact.
"Castle, Imma smack you. Just get it over with. You two are making everyone else suffer, too, you know", taunts Lanie.
"Well, I kind of am... Going to, I mean. I-", he starts, stuttering," I love her." There he finally admitted it. Lanie and him stand there in silence, eyes locked on each other's, a staring contest. Who will win?
"Hola, chica!" Esposito walks in. "Are you ready- oh, sorry... Am I interup-"
"Javi, get out of here. Now!" snaps Lanie.
Esposito tries to argue, "But we've got... plans, chica." He winks.
Lanie turns to Esposito and gives him one of her death stares.
"Javier Esposito, if you do not leave right now..." Lanie walks over to him and puts her arms around his neck. "The next time we'll "make plans"" she starts, then leans in to whisper in his ear, "will be sometime next week!" Lanie smirks, and walks back to her autopsy table.
Esposito, with a look of horror on his face, then says "OK, so... I'm gonna go..." Esposito walks out of the morgue and heads to the elevator.
Lanie turns back to Castle. "I know", she says, "and everyone else has known for, like, ever."
"Well, should I? Ask her out?" Castle asks, embarrassed.
"Okay, now this is the hard part," Lanie explains, "as THE BIGGEST shipper of you to, I would say to go make out with her right now."
"Laaaaniiiiieeee..." warns Castle.
"Calm down, writer boy, I'm not done yet. As I was saying... I totally ship you guys, BUT! As Kate's best friend, I must say: I don't think she's ready. She just couldn't handle a relationship right now. Why don't you just tell her, see how she wants to deal with it?"
"I already told her", he whispers, "when she was shot. As she was bleeding out, I told her, but she didn't hear me. Or, at least she pretended not to."
"Oh hoh... Richard Castle, you've been holding out on me!" Lanie gives the man a mock disapproving look. "Just tell her. It'll be better that way", continues Lanie.
"I'm going to go now", says Castle. He turns to leave, and starts to walk away.
"Hey Castle!" Lanie calls out after him, "tell her somewhere where we can all see her reaction. Everyone's got a lot of money riding on you guys!"
"Shut up!" yells Castle, drawing out the second word, as he steps into the elevator.
Lanie turns to the body on her table. "Funny", she says, "Kate said the same to me a couple years back!"
XXXXX
Five minutes later, Kate Beckett walks into the morgue. Lanie is just about to stitch up the body on the table. She looks up at Beckett and they greet each other silently, with nods of their heads. Beckett sits on one of the unoccupied autopsy tables.
"Lanie", she starts, "do you know what day it is?"
"Kate, I just worked 3 back to back shifts and I'm running on coffee and half a muffin. I don't even know what time it is. Why do you ask?" Lanie looks up with a quizzical look on her face.
"Well, why aren't you out with Esposito?" Beckett asks, "It's Tuesday, February 14th, Valentines day!"
Lanie almost screams. That's why Castle needed that advice! Today of all days… She plays it cool, and tries to stay calm.
"Oh, we were going to go out for lunch, but", she paused, thinking of a lie, "I was just too busy."
"Okay", Beckett pauses. "Can I tell you something?" She doesn't even wait for Lanie to answer. "Castle told me he loves me!" she blurts out.
"When?" she asks, confused. He had only been in there with her not five minutes ago.
"When I got shot", Beckett explains. "I was about to pass out, and", she falters, tears building up in her eyes. "And he asked me to stay with him. I tried to answer, but no, no words came out and so I nodded." Beckett, who had been looking down at her hands, then looks up at Lanie, tears streaming down her face. "And then he said it, and Lanie, I wanted to answer so badly, but it hurt so bad, and I couldn't fight the pain. I had to! I had to close my eyes."
Lanie, who is in complete shock, walks over to give Beckett a hug. The two women stand there for a few minutes, Beckett crying and Lanie comforting her.
After a while, Lanie decides it's time for Beckett to stop crying. Or at least talk about it. So Lanie asks, "What did you want to say? You said you wanted to answer him."
Kate responds with the three words Lanie has been waiting to hear for nearly four years. "I love him."
Lanie fights to suppress the squeal that is building inside of her. She takes a deep breath, but says nothing.
XXXXX
Richard Castle, not so great with timing, decides this is the moment to walk in. When he walks through the morgue door, about to ask Lanie where Beckett was, he sees that she is right there.
"Oh hey, Beckett, I was just looking for you!" Beckett turns to him, eyes red and tears dripping down her cheeks. "Kate, what's wrong?" he asks, worried.
"Hi, Castle. I'm fine, really," she says, smiling. She wipes away her tears with her jacket sleeve. They look at each other, their eyes lingering just a moment to long. Lanie takes this as a clue to get lost.
"I have to go… run some tests. I'll be right back." And with that lame excuse, she rushes out the door, only to wait outside, out of the line of sight, but still able to hear every word. Eavesdropper.
"Castle, we need to talk," starts Beckett, dreading what's to come. But Castle cuts straight to the point.
"Kate, how much do you really remember about the day you got shot?" he asks.
Beckett freezes, but quickly decides that she needs to get this out. "Every damn word," she manages to say before the tears return.
"Wow! Okay, then we really need to t-'' Castle is interrupted by Kate, as she reaches forward. She grabs a hold of his head with one hand and the other hand reaches down his back. She pulls him into a close, passionate kiss.
He reciprocates, placing his hands on her hips and pulling her even closer.
Both dreading to do so, but their need for oxygen becoming more desperate with every passing second, they pull apart, their foreheads against one another's.
"I take it that you love me too," says Castle, half as a question, half jokingly.
"Yeah, I guess I do," teases Kate, immediately pulling him into another kiss.
Not more than a second later, they both hear a squee from the hallway. Castle stops, smiling against Kate's mouth.
"Lanie" they both laugh, simultaneously, before continuing with their long awaited kiss.
When they pull apart, albeit reluctantly, almost a full minute later, neither knows what to say. Kate puts her head on his shoulder, with her arms around his neck, and his around her waist. After a long but comfortable silence, Castle finally breaks the quiet.
"Happy Valentines day, Detective Beckett!"