The pizza tasted bland.
The taste (or lack thereof) had nothing to do with the pizza itself, nor did it have anything to do with the disgusting case they'd just closed. It had everything to do with the fact that she was eating it alone.
And Kate Beckett only had herself to blame.
"Hey, Castle," she'd answered her phone, smile creeping across her face, unbidden.
"Detective Beckett!" she could practically hear his smile across the line, "Have you eaten yet?" Always concerned about her wellbeing. Sweet, her traitorous mind supplied.
"Not yet," she trailed off.
"Then you should come to the loft for dinner – I'm on my way to pick up pizza for me and Alexis and there'll be plenty if you'd like to join?" It came out more like a question, more hopeful than she was sure he'd meant.
"Pizza? Really, Castle? After the last few days?" Although now that he'd said it, he stomach let out a small rumble and she couldn't deny that pizza would totally hit the spot right about now.
"Of course, Beckett! You can't tell me that you're not craving one of Gionelli's pies right now," he lead, and she could definitely hear the smirk in his voice that time, could see it in her mind. But instead of the damn him for knowing me so well she used to feel, now there was a sense of warmth. A rush of gratitude for him knowing exactly what she needed, what she wanted, before even she knew it.
She wondered when he would realize that what she really wanted was him.
"Another time, OK, Castle?"
"Any time, Kate. You just let me know when."
As she dialed Gionelli's for delivery, she wondered how long ago he'd figured it out.
finis
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