Title: A Perfect Moment
Author: Shannon – shannyfish
Disclaimer: I do not own "Castle" or its characters. Other people do. This is for entertainment purposes only.
Rating: G
Summary: Castle & Beckett spend New Year's Eve together
Dedication: for Heather :D
. . .
12th Precinct
"C'mon, you can't say no!" Castle told her.
Kate looked at him for a long moment before opening her mouth to respond. "I-I have other plans," she lied. She didn't have other plans. Josh was working and was on call and she didn't expect to see him anytime soon.
"You didn't say you had plans," he pressed.
He was right. He'd been pestering everyone for the last week and asking them about all their holiday plans. You would have thought that he was writing a book on the subject. Castle had asked about Christmas plans and New Year's plans and had even delved into other holiday plans that people in the precinct had. She'd said she was doing nothing on many occasions. And now here it was New Year's Eve and Castle was asking her to go along.
"I didn't," Kate said quietly.
"But you do now?"
She stared at him for another moment. Castle was a smart man, but sometimes she had a feeling that it took a little longer for the gears to turn for him (okay to be fair, in all men). She honestly wasn't sure whether or not he was confused or just slow at the moment. Kate shook her head. "No, I just…"
"Just what?" he asked.
Kate hated when he looked at her like that. Sometimes Richard Castle's stares felt like they just lanced right through her, like he could see everything she was thinking and feeling. It was eerie. "I just think that our off-time is better spent apart. That way I don't get so irritated with you all the time." It was a half truth.
"C'mon! It's going to be fun! Alexis has everything planned out," he explained.
"Castle, I couldn't intrude on your family time," she said quickly.
"No, Alexis said for me to invite you along," he quickly corrected.
Kate thought about it for a moment. "How many people are going to be there?"
"Three. You, me, and Alexis."
"What about your mother?"
He smiled his charming smile. "Unlike the rest of us, she has plans. Some big party."
Kate smiled back at him. She thought that maybe it could be nice. She wasn't sure what Alexis had planned, but she was a good kid. Smart and kind. Kate nodded finally. "Okay, I'll go…" She thought for a moment and then looked down at her attire. She didn't know what Alexis had planned. For all she knew, they'd be playing laser tag or paintballing or something that was equally as random and quite possibly performed in their condo. "Maybe I should go home and change first."
"Why?"
He looked honestly confused. Kate shook her head. "Because perhaps Alexis is expecting me to be a little more dressed up for her party?"
"No, she expected us to be at home ten minutes ago," he said. "We were supposed to leave right after work."
"Why didn't you ask me earlier?"
Castle shrugged. "I didn't think you'd say yes with the guys around."
Kate just soaked that in for a moment.
Castle's cell phone sounded and he quickly dug it out of his pocket. She watched as he checked the caller ID and then he pointed the screen in his direction. Alexis was calling. She smiled.
"See? We're so going to be in trouble," he said as he put the phone to his ear. "Hey Alexis, we're just leaving now—no, I know we were supposed to be there already—I didn't think your itinerary was that tightly scheduled!"
Kate found herself being helped into her coat by Castle. She put on her scarf and her hat and grabbed her purse. Castle quickly guided her out of the building as she pulled her gloves from her bag. It was entertaining just watching Castle and his cut short responses to Alexis. She smiled and just allowed him to guide her.
. . .
Castle Residence
Alexis was at the door when they arrived. Castle didn't even have the chance to have his keys out of his pocket before she'd opened it for them. Before she could take more than a step inside, the girl was already turning them around and pushing them back out the door. "Where exactly are we going?" Kate asked curiously. She suddenly felt rushed.
"It's a surprise," Alexis explained.
"Ooo I love surprises!" Castle exclaimed like glee.
Sometimes it surprised Kate that Castle had a kid. This was mainly due to the fact that Castle acted like a kid most of the time. Alexis sometimes seemed like the adult in the family, which she found somewhat amusing. They had a really interesting relationship and Kate had to admit that she thought that they were both lucky because of it. They were a close knit pair.
. . .
Rockefeller Center Ice Skating Rink
They'd already been there for at least an hour and she was having more fun than she thought. It was busy because it was New Year's Eve, but she didn't mind. Alexis seemed to be enjoying herself as Castle was as well. She was a bit surprised that Alexis wasn't at some party with her friends, but she did know that the girl was very close to her father. Of course, Castle may have forbidden it, but she was fairly sure she would have heard him complaining about Alexis' request.
"It's beautiful," Castle said as he skated along side her.
"It really is," she admitted.
"Oh look, there's Ashley," Castle said and waved.
Kate looked in the direction and saw that Alexis and her boyfriend were skating towards them. Maybe the four of them were spending New Year's Eve together? She figured that a chaperoned night would be allowed by Castle. So, she was polite and greeted the boy kindly. Alexis seemed overjoyed, so she figured everything was good.
"So, do I get to know what else is planned?" Kate asked.
"Alexis has got a great list of things to do tonight," Ashley said.
"I don't know anything either," Castle said as he looked at her.
This wasn't exactly something she liked. She liked surprises, but then she didn't. Surprises meant that there was something going on that she didn't know. Kate liked to know what was going on and what was going to happen. When it came to her life outside of the unit, her life was not very serendipitous. She wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. It was safe. She knew that. Of course that made it all a tad bit pathetic.
"That really doesn't make me feel better," Kate told him.
He smiled at her.
She loved his smile. Kate was positive that Castle knew exactly how charming he was, but over the years she'd resisted his charm and his tricks. But somehow she'd ended up loving him anyways. Just…nothing had clicked for both of them yet. She wasn't sure if it ever would. After all, it seemed like Richard Castle was New York City's number one most eligible bachelor.
"Okay, who's hungry?" Alexis asked.
. . .
Yummy Sushi
"I hope this is okay," Alexis said. "If you don't like sushi, they have tempura and teriyaki chicken and other stuff too."
"This is great, Honey," Castle told his daughter.
They'd been sat at a table. She was sitting next to Castle while Alexis and Ashley sat across from them. It felt odd, but it was nice too. It was busy, but it wasn't packed. It was what you would expect around dinnertime even though it was a bit later.
"I thought about us going somewhere nicer, but I had a few snags in that plan," Alexis explained. "Gram was too busy to set up the reservations and the hostesses just thought I was scamming some prank or something…and then Ashley pointed out that we'd have to get dressed up for dinner and this was easy."
"Plus, it's probably less crowded here," Ashley added.
Kate smiled at them. "It's a great idea."
"I have an idea," Castle said as he peeked out from behind his menu. "Why don't we order one of everything?"
"Dad…there's no way we can eat that much," Alexis pointed out.
"That would be fun, but I don't think we have a big enough group to do it justice," she backed up Alexis. Kate had to admit that sounded extremely fun and adventurous, but it would be something more fun to do if they had at least double the group. Perhaps she'd have to suggest that they do this again but with the guys and their significant others. That would bring their number up.
"True…" he said slowly and Kate didn't miss the slight pout.
"Another time," Kate told him.
"Yeah Dad, we can do it another time," Alexis chimed in. "Kate you'll come to Yummy Sushi with us another time, right?"
"Sure," she said and added a smile. It was nice to know that Alexis would want her included on a future venture. Of course she and Alexis seemed to get on well, but she still wasn't sure about Castle's daughter. Kate wasn't sure if it was because Alexis was so much of an adult already and seemed so comfortable in the adult world or if it was because of something else… Maybe she was afraid that Alexis was judging her, but she only cared because she cared about Castle in turn.
"Good! Then it's settled!" Castle said with a bright smile.
They ate and Kate swore that Castle ended up ordering at least half of what was on the menu, but she was pretty close to full. As they got up to leave, Castle helped her into her coat and they headed out.
"What do we think? Anyway we're getting a taxi?" Castle asked as they all headed out to the curb.
"Already taken care of," Alexis said.
Kate could have sworn that there was a gleam in Alexis' eye. This child was a genius, she thought, just as two yellow taxis pulled up. Confusion overtook her as she watched as Castle started to bid his daughter goodbye. Two taxis. Alexis was leaving? Wait…
"Thank you so much for coming, Kate! I had such a good time!" Alexis gushed and hugged her. "You guys have fun! Everything else is planned out, but Ashley and I are going to spend the last couple hours of the year with friends."
"You're going to be home for breakfast, right?" Castle asked.
Alexis nodded. "Alicia's mom has it all figured out and I left all her numbers on the fridge at home. Love you! Have fun!"
Kate turned to Castle and hoped that he at least knew what was going on. "So…?"
"We get into the taxi now," Castle said as he opened the door for her. "And then we go from there."
"Where exactly is the taxi taking us?" Kate asked as she got in.
"No idea."
Kate turned to him as he got in and then closed the door. "And you're okay with that?"
He shrugged. "Alexis planned everything. She's a good kid. She just wanted us to have a good time. I have faith in her."
. . .
Castle Residence
The fully paid taxi had brought them back to Castle's building. Kate wasn't sure if this was a good or a bad thing, but they got out of the cab and stood there for a moment.
"Well, I guess back upstairs we go," he said.
He seemed so happy. Kate wondered if he was like this all of the time. Though, she knew that being with Alexis always seemed to brighten him, she honestly hadn't spent a lot of time outside of work with him. Sure, she'd thought about it but then whenever she'd thought about acting on it one of Castle's girlfriends or ex-wives would show up. And that scared her. So many…okay, so all of them…they were all so beautiful and successful and perfect…and she was just Kate Beckett. How could she possibly compete with super models? She was just a detective, that was it.
"Kate? You okay?"
She looked back at him and nodded.
"You sure?"
She nodded again. "I guess this was just more than I had bargained for."
He smiled and held out his arm for her. "Shall we?"
A comment came to mind, but she kept it back and simply put her arm through his and allowed him to escort her to the elevator. It wasn't long before they were upstairs and back in his condo. Once they had gotten far enough inside, they'd found the reasons why Alexis had turned them around so quickly. There were notes and various things scattered all over.
"Well, we've got a whole stack of movies we can watch," Castle said. "She went crazy with genres even."
Kate had picked up the post-it that said to check the fridge. So, she had. "It looks like we have a few different beverage choices as well," she said. There were different wines, champagne, hard liquor, wine coolers, and beer. Kate wasn't sure how long that would take to disappear from the fridge. It was a lot of alcohol. Before she knew it, Castle was right behind her.
"Nice choices, though!"
She smiled. "And it looks like we have snacks too," she said as she spied a shelf that had everything from mixed fruit to cheese (and she was pretty sure she saw a tube of fancy crackers on the counter) to cake to chocolates to chocolate covered strawberries. Alexis had gone all out.
"You know what her note said on the stack of DVDs?" he asked.
"No, what?"
He held it up and she read it. Kate couldn't hold back the laugh. "She apparently thinks we're elderly, huh?"
Castle turned the note so he could glare at it. "I know! You'd think we were from the Jurassic era or something!"
"Perhaps this is more like a challenge rather than a comment on our ages," Kate suggested.
"I like challenges…"
She laughed. "I think we can manage staying up until midnight."
"So? What's your poison?" he asked as he motioned towards the refrigerator.
"I don't know," she said honestly. Kate was completely overwhelmed by everything inside. She was overwhelmed by the evening so far as a whole. She hadn't expected to do anything but eat ice cream on her couch all night. This was far better. She was glad she'd agreed to it.
"Come on…"
"You pick," she gave in. She figured that that was a good response.
Castle nodded. "Okay, then only fair that you pick the entertainment."
"I think I can do that," Kate said as she turned and made her way towards the coffee table in the other room that contained the stack of DVDs. "Are there anythings in particular that you want to avoid?"
"I don't think so."
Kate nodded and then looked through the stack. After a moment, she wandered to look over his vast collection. Being a writer, it seemed like Castle would have books everywhere, but in fact he had a huge collection of movies. Perhaps his books were in some hidden library somewhere else, she mused, like a bat cave but filled with books.
She found a few movies and figured that they could both choose from that selection. She'd tried to get a variety going. Kate set her selections on the table and found Castle at her side; he set down two wine glasses and then headed back into the kitchen. Kate smiled and shook her head. Sitting down, she suddenly realized that her feet were aching. She was sure it was from the skating. It was different balancing on skates.
Castle returned and set down two plates of snacks. "Do you mind?" she asked motioning to her shoes.
"Good idea! We should get comfortable!" he declared. "If you want to change at all, I've got like t-shirts and pajama pants I could lend you."
"Tempting," she said as she removed her boots. "Maybe in a bit." Kate had to admit that that sounded very comfortable and relaxing.
"Well, I'm going to go change…"
Kate thought about it for another moment before finally nodding. "Okay, you've talked me into it."
"Great!" he said as he hurried off towards his room.
Kate couldn't help but laugh. He seemed like a little kid excited about his first sleep over. Though it wasn't like she was sleeping over…no, she was just getting comfortable in order to have a good night hanging out and relaxing with Castle. That was all.
That was all it was.
He returned and handed her a small stack of clothing. "You can change in the bathroom or Alexis' room."
She looked over the clothing as she headed for Alexis' bedroom. She didn't think she'd mind. After all, she didn't want to leave her clothes randomly lying about in the bathroom. Kate smirked at the selection. Castle had brought her a green plaid bottoms and a t-shirt that she swore was some kind of reference that she didn't know about. Kate put them on anyways and had to admit that she was more comfortable.
When she returned back to the couch, she found Castle there in grey plaid pants and a t-shirt that had the batman symbol on it. Maybe he should have given her that; she'd at least have recognized it. "What? No cape?" She waited for some comment, most likely that he had one and the mask in his room, by that she wouldn't be surprised, but instead he was silent. Kate realized that he was staring and it was starting to get a bit creepy. "What?"
"You're…"
"I'm what?"
"You're…"
"Castle! Spit it out!"
"You're the sexiest version of Green Lantern I've ever seen! You can keep the pajamas! They would be wasted on me wearing them ever again!" Castle blurted.
She felt herself blushing a bit but tried to move past Castle's words. They were extremely kind and flattering. "I hope these are okay," she said. She'd picked six movies and tried to cover a few genres.
"Serenity, good movie…" Castle said as he started to go through the small stack. "Singin' in the Rain is a classic… I don't know that I've seen this," he said. "Serendipity."
"It looked interesting but I wasn't sure if you wanted to watch a chic flick," she teased as she sat down with him.
"No, no…it's good. Wall-E…also a classic. Jurassic Park…and The Crazies… Um, I vote for not The Crazies…"
Kate smiled. "It's okay, I really didn't want to watch it either, but it was in the pile on the table."
Castle smiled back at her. "How about if we start with dinosaurs?"
"Sounds good to me!" she said and then took a sip of her wine. It was good and had just a little bit of bubbles. She'd been eyeing the snack plates Castle had brought out and was pretty sure that he'd gotten some of everything from the fridge. She was okay with that though, it just meant that there was a variety.
Hours passed and they were in the middle of watching Serenity when his phone's alarm went off. She watched as he pulled it from where he had set it on the armrest of the couch. It was midnight. They'd gotten comfortable over the last few hours. She was resting against him and now she was looking up at him as he looked down at her.
"Happy New Year, Castle," she whispered.
"Happy New Year, Kate."
They just smiled for a moment and forgot about the sci-fi western for a moment. Kate just stared at him thinking of so many things. She just didn't know what to say or what to do or if she should. She felt like she shouldn't. Kate was far too afraid that she'd get burned and then have to live with the consequences for who knew how long to come. There would be daily reminders and awkwardness. But in the middle of all her thinking, she found herself being kissed.
Kate blinked and then closed her eyes and returned the kiss.
It only lasted a second, but it was far more than she'd expected. After he pulled away, she stared up at him. He seemed to be waiting. She was sure that he was waiting for some kind of response…and she was trying to decide on one.
"What was that for?" she whispered.
"I decided that my New Year's Resolution would be to admit feelings," Castle told her. "I care about you, Kate… I care about you a lot…"
"I care about you, too," she whispered back and was waiting for the moment that she woke up. Kate was sure that she was going to wake up. No way was Richard Castle kissing her and admitting his feelings for her.
"Happy New Years, Kate," he repeated again and he was kissing her again.
. . .
Castle Residence
Kate found herself waking up to music. Music that was looping. She peeked and realized that she wasn't home. Then she realized something else, she was being held…and then it came back to her. She and Castle had admitted they cared for each other and there had been kissing…and then apparently there had been sleeping…sleeping on his couch.
It was 2011.
It was a new year, and it was time for life to move forward. It felt like her life had been stagnant for too long or like it had gone left and right, but never forward for so long. At midnight, when he kissed her…when they kissed…she'd felt things move forward. She stared up at him and smiled. He looked so peaceful.
"Castle," she whispered. Kate watched as she stirred and smiled. "Good morning," she added when his eyes started to open.
"It wasn't a dream…"
She laughed. "At least I wasn't the only one thinking that," she told him. It was true too. She still kept thinking that she was going to wake up alone in her apartment. But no, she was there with Castle.
"Well, if it wasn't a dream…" he said and his hand reached up to her face and caressed her cheek lightly before pulling her towards him for another kiss.
Kate had to admit that Castle was a good kisser and she wasn't going to get sick of kissing him. He could kiss her all he wanted. She wrapped her arms around him and felt his arms wrap around her as well as they continued to kiss.
The sound of the opening door apparently surprised them both as they both tried to scramble and they both ended up on the floor and pushing the coffee table forward. But instead of further scrambling or cries of pain, there was laughter. She and Castle were both laughing at the pure child-like actions they'd been taking. It was as if they were teenagers about to get caught by parents who thought they were just home studying instead of making out.
"Um…I said I'd be home for breakfast," Alexis said.
"What's going on here?" Martha asked.
"Nothing! Nothing's going on!" Castle managed to say, but there was laughter filled in that sentence.
Kate found that they were being stared down by both Alexis and Martha who were staring at them from the other side of the couch. "So, thank you Alexis… We had a very fun night," Kate said.
"At least tell me that you two finally kissed or something," Martha said.
"Well…yes," Castle admitted.
Kate couldn't stop smiling and noticed that he couldn't either. He helped her up and they stood there like little kids having been caught.
"How about I make breakfast?" Castle offered.
"As long as it's not some experimental breakfast," Martha said before walking off.
Alexis smiled at them. "You look good as Green Lantern," she said before heading up to her room.
Kate smiled and then looked at Castle. "I guess I'll help you make breakfast…"
"I'd like that," he said as he led the way.
"By the way," he said after a few minutes in the kitchen.
Kate turned to find the source of his voice. He was peeking out from the fridge.
"I don't know about you, but this has been my best New Years ever…"
Her smile brightened and she laughed for a moment. "Mine too."
. . .
The End.