Writer and his muse
"So, you think Alexis and Ashley are gonna break up if he goes to Stanford and she doesn't?", Kate asked, taking a mouthful of her milkshake.
Castle shrugged, swallowing the last bite of his burger. "I don't know. Right now, I hope not. She already cried enough because of that college rejection."
"Right," Kate smiled, "and Ashley is a decent guy, right?"
Wincing, the writer agreed. "Yeah, well, as decent as a boy has to be to be allowed to be near my baby girl."
Kate chuckled, taking another sip. "It's really good you never met me at Alexis' age."
"Definitely agreeing with that," he muttered. If there was one thing he was certain of than it was the fact that even as a rebellious girl Kate Beckett would have been the death of him.
"Let's peel another layer of the Beckett-onion," he suggested, "how many heart attacks did you cause your dad?"
"How many hearts did you break over your earlier years?"
They grinned at each other.
"Touché, my dear detective, touché."
Trying to hide her grin, Beckett stole one of his fries and dipped it into her milkshake. It was nice to be sitting here with him, chatting and fooling around without having to think about a certain cardiac surgeon boyfriend who would very much disapprove of her current activity.
And it was nice to know that there wasn't any woman or ex-wife waiting for him, naked or clothed, in his apartment.
"So, a crime of love, huh," Castle interrupted her thoughts, shoving a few fries into his mouth, "is there someone you would commit a crime of love for?" His voiced betrayed the seriousness of his features, but nevertheless Beckett knew that he was at least being half serious.
"Hypothetically, that is" he added, upon seeing her face.
"Hypothetically," she said, her eyes twinkling mischievously, "getting him out of prison is much more likely, don't you think?"
His face lit up and he grinned at her, taking her hand in his. "I'd kill for you too, Kate, in a heartbeat."
She swallowed, realizing this was getting far too intense for some teasing, but then again she remembered that she owed him a little after her three months of avoiding him, and so she forced herself to let her hand stay under his and just smiled at him in response, stealing another fry from his plate.
Allowing her to eat the rest of his fries, he threw twenty bills on the table and stood up, taking her coat and helping her in.
"Come on, detective, I take you home."
"Thanks, Castle," she said, smiling at him with that smile of hers that could easily light up whole New York City.
He sighed longingly, but let her go, like he always did. Sometimes he wished he was braver and would just take a leap. Then again…
"Let's go," she interrupted his depressive thoughts and led him out of the diner towards his car.
The drive to her apartment was filled with silence, both remembering the details of their day, smiling at the thought of love they had witnessed during this case and blushing slightly at the memory of that awkward moment when writer and muse had almost jumped each other in the elevator.
Castle's I love you was still haunting her at times like this, but she knew someday very soon she was going to need to do something about it. She couldn't leave him hanging like that forever. Otherwise he would eventually fall out of love with her and look for another woman and maybe he would finally find his happily ever after.
And that was something she feared even more than being in a relationship with Richard Castle. The thought of losing him was unbearable.
Castle himself was still torn between being relieved and disappointed. He knew he wouldn't find the courage to tell her again anytime soon, but then again, she was obviously still not ready for a relationship between them. On the other hand she had said, indirectly, that this thing between them was too important for her to risk, just because they both were being impatient.
And because he was the only one who could solve this case and he definitely wasn't going to give her the missing pieces of information, they weren't going to solve her mom's case anytime soon and that meant he wasn't going to finally be with her anytime in the near future…maybe never.
"So," Kate interrupted both their musings, when he finally stopped in front of her apartment, "do you really think we're like them?"
He instantly knew who she was talking about. Maybe it was time to admit at least a little bit of his feelings. "Yes," he said, "I really think that." Hesitantly, he smiled at her, really uncertainly, something he wasn't usually like around women.
Her brilliant smile was enough to make him happy for the rest of his life.
"Me too," she said, her eyes sparkling beautifully, "I think, eventually we're gonna turn out just like them."
And before he could say anything in return, because really, his head was spinning like crazy and he really didn't know if it was because of her eyes, her smile or her words, she kissed his cheek, dangerously close to his mouth, and left the car and him, was his heart beating erratically.
Eventually, we're gonna turn out just like them.
He really couldn't agree more.