When the Day Met the Night

AN: This was just an idea that I had this morning. I was reading some Valentine's Day fics and I realized that even though I hate Valentine's Day, I love reading fics about it. So, I decided to try my hand at writing one! This first chapter was written in about an hour and unbetaed, so any and all mistakes are mine. This chapter is kind of short and the ending is a bit of a cliffhanger, but I promise the next chapter will come soon. I plan to have one, possibly two more chapters after this once depending on how this is received by all you readers! I have tried my best to keep them in character, but as this is my first Castle fic I make no promises (It is my favorite show, however, so I'm pretty confident they aren't going to be acting like aliens or rabid dogs...). This fic will be mostly fluff I think. Not much crime and no smut. I'm still honing my writing skills in that area! Please, just read and enjoy!

Disclaimer: The characters of Castle are not mine, even though I follow Rick Castle, Nathan Fillion, Jon Huertas, Seamus Dever, and Christopher Brow (If you are a Castle fan on Twitter and you do not follow Chris- please do! Now! (at)castlegrip. He is the A-Camera Dolly grip and he tweets behind the scenes pictures that some people would kill to get their hands on..if Beckett wouldn't catch them, that is!). Also, this fic is based on the song "When the Day met the Night" by Panic! At the Disco...which I also do not own. I don't follow them on Twitter either...hmm, maybe I should look into that. Anyway, don't sue me. I'm poor.

Chapter One- Roses and Coffee

The golden sun glimmered through the streets of New York, through a window, across a pillow, and finally landed on Detective Kate Beckett's sleeping face. Despite the warm sun, Beckett shivered in the cold February air of an ordinary Tuesday. Opening one eye and glancing at the clock, she saw it was time for her to get up.

Beckett drifted through her morning routines- a warm shower, some green tea and a banana, and a bit of yoga on her bedroom floor. At six a.m. sharp she grabbed her keys, gun, and badge and headed for the door. That was as far as she got.

Lying on her doormat was a single red rose. At first she was confused and a bit wary. Then it dawned on her. Valentine's Day. The most pathetic, over-commercialized excuse of a holiday. Beckett had no room in her busy life for sappy cards and meaningless gifts. If someone loved her, she'd much rather have them show it all year round. And if she was single, like now…Well who wants that rubbed in their face, honestly! She picked up the rose. There was no note, just a royal blue ribbon tied around the stem. She sniffed the flower, the velvety petals tickling her nose. She couldn't help but smile. Closing the door, Beckett returned to her kitchen. She selected a tall, thin vase to place the rose in. She set it on the table and stood back to admire it. Who was it from? Josh, who she'd dumped a week ago? The cute guy down the hall who always smiled but never said a word? Phil, who she'd met at the bar on Saturday? Or…did she even dare to wonder- no, hope- it was from Castle?

Glancing at the clock, Beckett realized she was running late. Stealing one last glance at the rose, she rushed to her car and drove to the 12th precinct.

Beckett was greeted with a pleasant Valentine's surprise once again as she reached her desk.

"Kate! You're a bit later than usual. Something hold you up this morning?" Castle smiled knowingly up at her from his usual seat.

"Oh, no, Castle. Just wanted to keep you waiting," she replied. Inside, Beckett was cheering. The rose…

Castle's face fell slightly.

"Well, don't blame me if your coffee's cold!" He pushed a pink Starbucks cup at her. At her questioning glance towards the stray from tradition, he winked. "I was just feeling a bit…festive this morning!"

Beckett really didn't feel like allowing Castle to realize what that wink did to her, so she was grateful for the chance to compose herself when Esposito and Ryan showed up and distracted Castle.

"Yo! We got a body." The team followed Esposito to the crime scene and all thoughts of Valentine's Day went out the window.

At least until lunch.

Ryan and Esposito went shopping together to get gifts for Jenny and Lanie, and Castle took Martha out for a Valentine lunch. That left Beckett stuck all alone. She bought a sub from a café and ate at her desk. She decided to use her alone time to finish up that morning's case. They had a suspect in custody, and with a bit of sleuthing, she quickly found the connections necessary to arrest him. She read him his rights and called the boys to let them know she had closed the case. Just as she finished wiping the murder board, her phone pinged from her desk.

Mother decided that a road trip was in order- we're at a show in the Hamptons. Glad to hear you solved the case! I'll be back around 5. Don't miss me too much! ;)

Beckett's heart sank. She didn't like the fact that she was realizing that she was going to miss Castle, but it was true. She had sort of secretly been looking forward to spending the day with him on Valentine's Day. But now Castle and the boys wouldn't be back for the rest of the day and the case was shut tight. Looked like it was time for a Valentine's Day date with paperwork instead.

Even the files and forms diminished quickly, though, and soon Beckett was once again left with nothing to do. She decided to pass some time in the 12th's gym, so she opened her bottom drawer to pull out the bag of workout clothes she kept there. She stopped. Sitting on top of her Asics was a heart shaped box of chocolates with a small envelope tied to the top. She picked it up. The envelope was addressed to "The Extraordinary KB" and attached with a royal blue ribbon. A flush crept up Beckett's cheeks. She smiled and bit her bottom lip. Castle... She opened the envelope. Inside was a note. She took a deep breath and began to read…