Caught Up In You
Known on tumblr as 'The Proposal'.
For Alex, even though she read this on tumblr forever-ago.
This chapter is an exact replica of chapter eighty-nine of Prompt Me Anything, but the rest of this will be previously unposted on FFn. Also, this takes place in season 2, pre-Demming, and definitely goes AU.
When Kate asked him to come and be her fake date at her family reunion and her cousin's wedding, which would wrap up the reunion he had been shocked, to say the least.
When she had thanked him for accepting, despite his teasing remarks, with a strange side-hug that had his breath caught in his chest, he hadn't known what to expect out of the weekend.
But it was when she picked him up at his place and told him that they had to act like a serious couple, one who had been together for a while and saw a future together, he hadn't known what to do.
And now he stands inside their room in her grandmother's house and he can barely form a coherent thought, and yet she's effortlessly rambling about how she'll take the floor, since he already did her the favor of actually coming and he's so amazed by the fact that he actually gets to play house with Kate Beckett that he can barely think.
She wraps her hand around his before they leave the room, reminds him that they're supposed to be in love and happy and talking about spending the rest of their lives together, and then leads him out of the room like she's actually happy about this arrangement, but she can't be, can she?
Her explanation had been simple enough. Now that her cousin Sofia is getting married, she's the last of her cousins to not be married, and she knew before hand that if she had shown up alone, she would get bugged non-stop about when she would go out looking for Mister Right.
He had asked her why she was asking him and not Ryan or Esposito, someone she actually admitted to not hating. And her answer to that had been rather reasonable, too. With her out of the precinct, Montgomery needed both boys, but he wouldn't be at the precinct anyway, with her gone.
And, of course, he had accepted, because even though she pretends to hate him, most of the time, he can't deny her anything.
They walk into the room and the clapping that erupts around them immediately tells him that she was right, her family actually was all waiting for her to find Mister Right. And now they all think Mister Right is him and he can't help but wish that this was real, and then pushes that thought back.
They make the rounds quickly. Kate introduces him as her boyfriend and shadow. He shakes the hand of every man, gets a quick hug from every woman in Kate's family, and the entire time, she doesn't let go of his hand, even though she's given the perfect excuse multiple times.
It's her grandmother that throws Kate off her game. Grandma Ruth, as Kate affectionately calls her, is quick to ask Kate when the wedding is, and when that turns Kate into a stuttering fool, he pipes up and tells Grandma Ruth that that's for him to know and Kate to find out.
And then the hard question comes, once again from Grandma Ruth. "What's the story?" she asks. "I mean, how did you two get together? We heard from James that you were working together, but never that you guys were a couple. Oh, that's my Jimmy, always leaving out the important stuff."
Kate had elbowed him, whispered for him to come up with something, since he's the writer.
So he does.
"We had just finished up a really hard case," he tells her family, and, partially as an excuse to hold her close as he recounts a fantasy he's had multiple times, partially to see how she reacts, releases her hand and pulls her against his side. It almost doesn't feel like an act when she rests her head on his shoulder. "And I still wasn't used to it, the real thing, you know?"
Her family nods in unison.
"So Kate here, to comfort me, asked me out for a burger and a shake," he continues, and looks down to see Kate looking up at him with wide eyes. "After we finished eating," he says, more for her than for her family, "I didn't want to let her go, so I asked her out for drinks. She accepted. And then, while we were out, I asked her to dance. She accepted that, too. And when we kissed, I knew there was no going back. I think she did, too."
Her eyes are wide now, and her family is clapping around them but it sounds distant, because all he can focus on is her parted lips and all he can do is wonder what it would feel like to kiss her.
And wondering turns to knowing when he leans down and presses his lips to hers, soft and hesitant at first, hoping he didn't read her all wrong. But then her lips are moving against his and his hands are framing her face and her fingers are digging into his shoulders. His tongue traces the seam of her lips, her family forgotten, and the moan she lets out is so soft but has him tilting her head upwards towards him, accepts the touch of her tongue against his.
It's a wolf whistle that has them pulling apart. Her eyelids are fluttering, his mind is foggy, and he's only vaguely aware of the cheers of her male cousins in the distance. But, really, he's just looking at her, all wide green eyes, and teeth tugging at her lip and heaving breath.
"Sorry," he whispers to her, the word for only her to hear.
"Don't be," she whispers back, and her lips, slightly swollen from their kiss and from the bullying of her teeth, curl into a small smile, a smile he mirrors.
There's no going back.