Set after 4x13 and will be a two-shot. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or the characters.
"Good morning," Beckett said, smiling brightly as she greeted Castle and took her seat next to him.
"Morning," Castle smiled in return, handing over her cup of coffee, "what's got you in such a good mood?"
"Nothing," Beckett replied, trying to contain her smile but she couldn't, she was just so excited about this evening. She'd been planning this surprise for Castle for the past few weeks and with the help of Martha and Alexis, today was the day.
"Okay then," Castle said, grinning at her obvious effort to hide her smile, she really was in a good mood this morning and while he wanted to know why, he figured she tell him if she really wanted to. Besides, days where Beckett was happy like this were days she was even more flirty and playful than usual and he was looking forward to that.
She smiled at him again before she sat down and took a sip of her coffee. She closed her eyes and hummed in approval as the flavor hit her taste buds, Castle really did bring her the best coffee.
"Thanks," she said, gesturing to the cup in her hand, the smile still present on her face, one she was sure that would remain on her face for the rest of the day, especially with him here.
"It was my pleasure," answered Castle, immediately regretting his word choice due to the images that they brought to the front of his mind, the images only intensified by having watched Beckett drink her coffee with her eyes closed while she made that sound of approval.
Castle quickly shook those thoughts from his mind, not wanting her to see how much just being near her can affect him.
"Paperwork day?" he asked to distract himself, already knowing it was because they didn't have a case and he could see her getting files out to work on.
"Yeah, you going to stay and write?" she asked and he could've sworn she looked almost hopeful as she asked.
"Yeah," he replied immediately and even if he had had other plans for today, he would've cancelled them, something was different about Beckett and he wanted to stick around to find out what it was.
XXX
He'd spent the whole day trying to figure out what was up with Beckett but he hadn't been able to work it out. He'd asked her questions, he'd asked the boys questions, he'd even spent an hour just sitting there staring at her but she'd given him no clues. She seemed happy, but that was something that was more and more common recently so it wasn't that, it was more how she was acting, trying to hide her smiles and he could tell she was distracted by something.
And why was she suddenly hiding things from him now when she'd been much more open recently? In the past he would've guessed that it was her retreating into herself when they got too close but he knew that wasn't the case this time, it was more like she was hiding something specific from him and maybe that was what was distracting her? He would've been worried if she hadn't looked so happy so he figured she'd tell him when she was ready and now he would just have to wait until she was.
"Plans for the evening?" Beckett asked as she was finishing up the last of her paperwork for the day. While paperwork was boring, she was glad that her plans for the evening could go ahead without the interruption of a case. She'd just texted Alexis, saying she was about to leave the precinct, so they could put their plan into motion. This started with Alexis cancelling her plans with her father so they knew he'd be free for the evening.
"Not anymore," Castle answered, as he saw the text from Alexis, asking if they could reschedule, "I was meant to have dinner with Alexis but it seems she has other plans now".
"In that case, do you want to have dinner at my place?" Her whole plan hinged on whether or not he accepted and she hoped he couldn't tell how nervous she was.
"Really?" Castle asked, looking over at Beckett with surprise, not expecting a dinner invitation. While it was true that they'd been hanging out a lot more out of work recently, he didn't expect her to want to hang out tonight after she'd been slightly off all day.
"Yeah, we can get takeout and watch a movie or something?" she asked, smiling at him and hoping he couldn't tell how much she desperately wanted him to say yes.
"Sounds good," he smiled in return, trying not to over think her invitation now and just go along with it, "you nearly finished?"
"I'm ready now if you are?" Beckett replied as she began to put away her files and shut down her computer.
"Let's go then."
Beckett smiled as Castle stood, packing up his own stuff as she did hers. Castle saw that she was about to pick up her jacket to put it on so he moved behind her, picking it up himself and holding it out so she could slip her arms into it.
He tried not to linger behind her as he helped adjust her collar, stepping back quickly once he was done. She turned around and thanked him for his help while she smiled up at him with a smile so bright, it was hard to think about anything besides pressing his lips to hers.
She turned away to gather the last few things she needed from her desk and Castle was glad, glad that it hadn't been him that had to turn away because he honestly couldn't have when she was looking at him like that.
It was times like this he wasn't entirely sure what she wanted, when she smiled up at him like that and gave him a look that looked extremely close to love and he wanted nothing more to grab her and kiss her and he thought that maybe that wouldn't be an unwanted occurrence.
"Ready?" she asked when she'd turned back to him and found him staring at her. Beckett wished she knew what he was thinking about because he had this soft smile on his face and she really hoped it was her he was thinking about.
Her word's snapped him out of his daydream and then he offered her his arm which she accepted and then they left the precinct together, arm in arm with smiles on both of their faces.
XXX
They'd stopped on the way to Beckett's to get Chinese food and now they were on the way up to her apartment and she was incredibly nervous. Everything was going to plan, she'd received a text back from Alexis saying everything was in place for their plan so what she was actually nervous about now was what Castle's reaction was going to be.
"Are you okay?" Castle asked, noticing that while Beckett was still smiling at him, there was something beneath the smile that Castle couldn't quite place, it was almost like she was nervous about something.
"I'm fine," Beckett answered so Castle chose to ignore the fact that her hands were slightly shaking as she unlocked her door and let them into her apartment.
This was it, this was the moment that had had Beckett distracted all day and she was incredibly nervous about how Castle would take it. She knew he'd love it, it was more what he would think about what she'd done that was making her nervous.
Castle had just shut the door behind them and a noise brought his attention to the other side of Beckett's apartment. Then, out of nowhere, the source of the sound made itself known when Castle saw a golden coloured streak dashing across the floor, stopping at their feet.
A dog? What on earth was a dog doing in Beckett's apartment?
Castle's face was a mixture of confusion and delight as he immediately crouched down to pat the small dog that was bouncing at his heels.
"You got a dog?" Castle asked as he scooped up the puppy with one hand while the other held their dinner.
"No," Beckett answered, taking the food bag from his hand and heading towards the kitchen, leaving Castle with nothing to do but follow with the dog still in his arms.
"You're pet sitting then?" Castle asked, using his free hand to now pet the dog that was cradled in his other arm.
"No," Beckett answered again, the smile now completely gone from her face as she just looked nervous. What on earth did she have to be nervous about?
"Then why do you have a dog in your apartment?" Castle asked, now very confused, wondering if the puppy had anything to do with why she'd been in such a good mood all day. That actually made sense, he'd seen how happy Royal had made her and this dog was even the same breed as Royal had been.
That was one mystery at least, Beckett had been happy that she had a dog at home and that was why she'd also been distracted. Now the only question was whose dog it was and what was it doing in her home?
"Because she's yours."
"What?" Castle asked, his eyes snapping up to hers that had been on the dog in his arms, "she's mine?"
"Yup," Beckett said, still looking nervous, not sure how he was taking the news yet, he just looked shocked.
"You bought me a dog?" Why had she bought him a dog?
"I did."
Beckett stared at Castle as he stared back at her, waiting for the confusion to pass so she could see how he really felt about what she'd done. Because she'd just bought him a dog and that is basically her way of saying I love you, too.
What did you think?