A/N: Wow! I am so overwhelmed and grateful for all the reviews, adds and views on my other two Castle fics! Seriously, wow, thank you guys! You are all brilliant. Just fyi, I'm not currently planning on making any of these one-shots any longer, but if I do get a sudden inspiration or someone has some very good ideas that I can't seem to get out of my head, I might just write more.
Speaking of writing more, here's my 3rd Castle one-shot of the week. I can't believe it myself! I do hope you enjoy it, and please R&R once again.
When he had asked her to move in with him, he hadn't thought that there would ever be a moment where he regretted it. Waking up and falling asleep everyday next to the beautiful, and fully armed and dangerous, which only made her that much more sexier, Kate Beckett was a dream come true. Spending every moment that they had together, be it work or at home, would be more than welcome from not only him, but Alexis and Martha, too, whenever she stuck around long enough. And doing the mediocre chores of the day together would only cement their relationship until Rick got the sign that they were ready for the next stage.
But that was until the day she had moved in. Everything had gone smoothly, bar the complaining from him about the stuff that she wanted to keep. It was all fun and games, teasing endlessly and making the moving seem quicker. They had only needed two trips to get all of Kate's essential stuff into his loft, debunking his theory that she was a hoarder. If anything, she only brought with her things of sentimental value or necessity.
Most of her things belonged in his, now their, bedroom, which was where the boxes were deposited. Rick had initially helped out with the unpacking, but when they had gotten to the suitcase with clothes, she had shooed him away, knowing that it would only take triple the time with his constant input. Sometimes, she worried about how much he knew about clothes. So he had gone to get some drinks and snacks before laying back on their bed and turning on the TV. Finding nothing on, he had gotten up to turn on the games console before settling back on the bed with the control.
That was exactly how Kate had found him 20 minutes later, after walking back into the bedroom from the closet when he failed to respond to her calling. Picking up the nearest pillow, she threw it in his direction with a perfect aim that startled him out of his world.
"Huh?" Rick not-so-elegantly answered. Although he turned his head towards her, his eyes were still glued onto the screen.
"You have to get rid of that, you know." She told him, placing a hand on her hip.
"Uh-huh." He replied distractedly. Kate saw him stiffen sudden as he processed the words and she rolled her eyes, going back to the closet. "Wait, what? No. What?"
"We had a deal." She said as she carried on with her task. "No video games in the bedroom."
"Yeah, but-" Rick cut himself off as he stuttered. "But, that was- That was before. Before you moved in."
"Rick." Kate sighed, re-entering the bedroom and raised an eyebrow in his direction. There was a small pout threatening to form on his mouth but she managed to glare it down.
It had been the one of the rules that she had made that she had never let him break. Reading, writing, working, talking, texting and even watching TV in bed was fine by her, but Kate drew the line at playing video games. Especially when he played against her partners. The mix of them and their bedroom was enough to freak her out, and so far, Rick had been good with the rule, never playing when she was around. Only now, she was going to be around all the time.
"Look, I won't play against the boys." Rick tried to negotiate but she simply shook her head. "But Kate! I've always had it in here! It's been here longer than you have!"
"Really? You're going to start that?" She asked him wryly and he quickly shook his head, knowing where she was going to go; if he loved the game console so much, then he can keep it instead of her.
"How about we compromise?" He asked and Kate raised an eyebrow that told him without words that it wouldn't happen. "Ok. A bet?"
"What kind of bet?"
"We'll have a game contest. Whoever wins, gets their way." Kate shook her head at his suggestion, turning back to the closet and he let out a deep dramatic sigh. "Alright, then. I get it; you're chicken."
"Excuse me?" She asked in disbelief, turning back to look at him as she took a few steps closer to the bed.
"You heard me." Rick said tauntingly. "You're. Chicken."
She stared at him as he repeated the gesture, knowing that whoever backed down first was going to get their way about the bet. A smirk pulled at his lips as he saw her resolve start to break, letting out a small scoff before climbing onto the bed next to him.
"Fine. Let's do it." Kate announced, holding out a hand for a control but reciveing a suggestive look instead. "I meant the bet, Rick. And trust me, the way I'm feeling right now, you won't be getting it for a while."
"We shall see, dear Detective. We shall see." Rick had gotten up to grab the other controller before joining her back onto the bed. "Right, best of 3 alright with you?"
"Perfect." She replied, curling her legs under her as she got into a comfortable position.
'Best out of 3' soon became 'best out of 5', to Rick's request. Kate had laughed and called him a sore loser before conceding at his pout. Then 'best out of 5' turned into 'best out of 7', 'out of 9', '11', '13' and eventually carrying on until they had lost count in a midst of shoving, pushing and the odd tickle or pillow. The sound effects from the TV was disguised by yelps, curses and chastises, usually before laughter.
Neither Kate nor Rick had been sure how long they had played the game before there was a knock on the bedroom door. She had instantly paused the game, not giving him the chance to cheat, as he called for whoever it was to enter. Kate quickly took a glance around the room, seeing pillows, throws and even socks thrown haphazardly across it. At least they were presentable, she reasoned, as Alexis came in. And they could blame the mess on her moving in.
"Wow. Um... Ok." Alexis said as her eyes followed the path that Kate's had previously taken. "I thought you guys would have been done by now."
"Yeah, it's taking a little bit longer than I thought it would." Kate told her, biting her bottom lip as she fought back a laugh. The teenager raised an eyebrow at them both, eyes raking over them before finally settling on the game controllers in their hands.
"What's going on?" She asked them, stepping more into the room so that she could see the TV as well.
"What's going on is that your father is about to take down the console." Kate said, handing over the control in her hand to the man in question who quickly rebuked.
"Nuh-uh!" He argued in a way that only he could. "We haven't settled the scores yet."
"Here." Alexis took the control that Kate had handed over and pressed a couple of buttons to show them the final score. "Whoa. How long have you been playing?"
"Not long enough." Rick grumble, narrowing his eyes at the flashing score. "I'm sure we didn't play 58 rounds."
"No, you played 9 of them, apparently. I won the other 49." Kate grinned innocently as Alexis laughed.
"Oh, Dad." She shook her head as he got up grumbling to carry forth his losing forfeit. "Why would you ever challenge a cop to Duck Hunt?"
"Hey, I can shoot, too, you know!" He argued, eyes jumping from his daughter to his girlfriend when the former didn't look convinced. "Tell her, Kate."
"It's true, Alexis." Kate said solemnly, looking over at her before smirking and turned back to him. "Too bad about the aiming, though."
"My aiming has saved your life, Detective." Rick growled half-heartedly as the other two laughed. "And how do you repay me? Making me get rid of my console."
"C'mon, Rick. The bet was your idea. You even chose the game." She tried to reason, the laughter still clear in her voice and he had to force back a laugh of his own. "How about another game?"
"Why? So you can humiliate me in front of my daughter this time?" He asked her dryly.
"You don't need Kate for that, Dad." Alexis supplied matter-of-factly. He glared at her good-naturedly as she shuffled to her left so that she as standing directly behind where Kate stood. "Sorry."
"Two against one. I see how it is." Rick huffed as he turned back to disconnect the console. "But that's fine. Don't come running to me in two weeks when you need money to go prom dress shopping."
"You know, Daddy," Alexis began, turning on the charm that she had clearly inherited from her father. "Kate's right. A rematch with another game might fare better for you."
"Hmm..." He murmured, tossing the idea around in his head.
"Just don't choose Guitar Hero." She warned him in a stage whisper, to which Rick sent them a deadpanned look and went back to the job at hand.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry, I wouldn't fall for that." He told the giggling pair. Looking back at them briefly, his eyes caught the new addition to the corner of their room almost tauntingly. "Again." He muttered under his breath, silently cursing her guitar in his head.
The girls carried on with their chatter as he finally got the console free from all the wiring and scooped it up into his arms. Taking a bow at Kate's sarcastic round of applause, he sighed when he saw the gap it left next to his TV. Voicing his thoughts, he was met with a small list of things that could fill it, all of which were girly products. Of course, if it they were Kate's girly products, he would stack them up himself.
He could hear them laughing even as he made his way down the stairs. Sure, she might have made him get rid of the console, but he could now have one in his office. Getting to listen to two of the girls he loved most in the world laugh together, even at his expense, was worth any sacrifice he had to make. He couldn't regret asking her move in, even if she did beat him at his favourite games.
...