Title: Unwrapped
Pairing: Castle/Beckett
Spoilers/warnings: None
A/N: Happy Birthday Kate! Thanks to mrspollifax for her beta work on this
He is nervous.
It's not like Castle hasn't bought a woman a gift before. Not even that he hasn't gotten Beckett a gift before. He has, many times. But it's that, well, this is the first time he's buying her something as her… um, not-exactly-boyfriend? What do you call someone that you're sneaking around with because she doesn't want the entire precinct to know, and they don't need one more reason for Gates to toss Castle out of here, and… the other reasons she had for sneaking around that he wasn't listening to at the time?
She was naked. That's all the reason in the world to zone out.
"Castle?" Beckett asks without looking up from her computer. They're in the middle of the busy bullpen on a Tuesday afternoon.
"Yeah." He snaps himself out of it. He's not supposed to "even think about the two of us together while we're at work." She's got this freaky sixth sense about knowing when his thoughts wander off toward the beneath-the-sheets knowledge he has of her nowadays. "I wasn't doing anything. Wasn't thinking anything either."
"Sure." She glances at him for a moment, her fingers pausing over the keys, and by her look she's clearly unconvinced. "We're finished up here for the most part. Why don't you go home, and I'll see you later?"
It's vague on purpose due to the surrounding potential audience, but the "see you later" means later tonight for their plans. The plans that include him no doubt needing to show up with a gift for her. He hates Valentine's Day.
Scratch that. He likes Valentine's Day in general, it's just that this year it is complicated.
"OK." he stands and picks up his coat from the back of the chair. "I guess I'll see you later then."
Castle decides to walk a few blocks. Maybe he'll eventually catch a cab, but for the moment the brisk February air feels good. On the whole, he doesn't mind the ambiguity of the relationship status between him and Beckett, because he believes it's temporary. They're only a month into this thing, and Beckett is still skittish, but he has faith that with time it will all be fine. She'll settle in eventually, and using words like "boyfriend" won't be so daunting. The fact is, he is so over the moon that he could care less how she wants to define it, so long as she's happy and she's in his bed and not in anyone else's. The bed logistics matter, more than men are ever willing to admit to the women they are over the moon about.
But all that doesn't equate to something without its share of complications. Like the fact that it's Valentine's Day. Beckett is not really a Valentine's Day kind of girl to start with. Given the fact that they are sort of in a relationship but not one she's ready to fully acknowledge yet, it leaves him in a bit of a bind. He wants to get her something, and he thinks if he shows up empty handed it might send the wrong signal in an already tenuous 'we're still trying to figure this out' situation.
But what to get? The usual flowers and candy are possibilities, though he's reluctant to appear uncreative, to go with the norm. Jewelry or other more romantic or expensive options might further rattle an already apprehensive Beckett, the whole situation kind of leaves him at a loss.
He rounds a corner, and there's one of those mega chain bookstores, like the sudden appearance of the star rising in the East to guide the shepherds. Bookstores have always been his answer from above. Wrong holiday, but the idea works for him. He crosses the street just before the light changes and enters the brightly lit store.
Rick passes by the current New York Times best sellers displayed at the front of the store (including one of his own), passes mystery and sci-fi and also the magazine section. He considers biography for a moment, and then makes his way over to the classic literature, much more Beckett's style. But he stands there scanning the shelves, and nothing hits him. It's not overly romantic, but a book is too serious. Or something? He needs to keep it light, fun, and get her to smile. That's what he wants.
Rick turns and is about to head over to the humor section when he spots the kid's department. It's painted in brighter, bolder colors than the rest of the store. The furniture is lower to the ground, and there are as many stuffed animals as books.
He feels a tug of nostalgia, remembering how much time he and Alexis would spend in bookstore children's section just like this one, but of course that was years ago. He doesn't want to appear to be a creepy child stalker, so he makes his way over to one of the shelves. He's pretending to look for a gift as he's reminiscing, and that's when he sees it.
It has to be the most ridiculous book he's ever seen. It's all about cows, with cow stories, limericks, how to speak cow, what fashions cows most prefer. It's silly, and funny, and perfect.
Beckett once admitted, late at night while they were sitting in a car on a stakeout, that she had a secret fear of cows, being such a city girl.
"Cows?" he asked, sure that he'd heard her wrong. "That's the thing you are afraid of?"
"Castle, you're afraid of rats."
"They're rodents. They're responsible for plagues!"
"They weigh less than a pound; I think even you could take 'em. On the other hand, a cow could do some serious damage to a human. They're huge and have hooves."
"They're cows."
"Exactly," she said, as if that ended the discussion right there.
Rick was never going to understand it, but standing in that bookstore thinking back, he couldn't help himself and smiled. The woman had no idea of all the little ways that she made him fall in love with her over and over again.
"Hi," Kate says as she opens the door; the fact she changed after work was the first thing he noticed. "Come on in."
"It smells great in here," he replies, shedding his coat and closing the front door behind him. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before returning to her preparations in the kitchen. He had offered to make dinner reservations from them, but Beckett declined, saying she wasn't sure if the case they were working would wrap up in time, so they were just as likely to be working tonight. Also, she wanted to cook for him. He couldn't disagree with that.
After dinner they're sitting on the couch, mellowed by good wine and even better food. "I got something for you," he says.
"You did?" She's nervous, but attempting to sound normal.
"It's a little something, not a big deal."
Rick gets the package from his coat pocket and returns to the sofa to hand it over. Beckett pulls off the red paper, and as soon as she sees the cover with a flying cow, cape and everything, she cracks up. Mission accomplished.
"It's great, thank you." Kate meets his eyes, warm and pleased. "You know, I got you a little something too."
"You did?" He's surprised; he was so sure that she wouldn't. He takes another sip of wine.
"Well, sort of." She leans closer to him, giving him that bedroom look that never fails to stop his ability to breathe for a second. "I thought we'd try a new sex position tonight."
And that's when he starts coughing from the wine going down the wrong pipe. In his movements, he manages to spill some from the glass in his hand all over his pants, the cushion, and on the throw rug. Beckett jumps up and goes into the kitchen for towels, and they spend several minutes cleaning up the mess. All the while, he's mentally kicking himself and thinking, smooth, real smooth move.
God, he's an idiot sometimes.
Beckett's trying not to laugh at him, he can tell. "Come here," she says, once the floor and the sofa are cleaned up and the wine glasses are safely in the sink. She hooks her finger on his belt and tugs him closer to her.
"Hey there," he says, she's grinning up at him.
"Time to lose the pants." She undoes his belt and zipper, and his pants puddle around his ankles.
"Is this only because you're afraid of the stain setting? Or do you have ulterior motives?"
Her smile grows wider. "You should know me well enough by now to guess, Castle."
"I certainly do, but there are still so many little mysteries to solve when it comes to you." He kisses her, sliding his tongue into her mouth. Her hands work the buttons of his shirt while his migrate to her ass, pulling her as tight against him as possible while still giving her room to work on undressing them both.
In her bedroom, she takes a moment to light a candle and switch off the overhead light. The candle is new, and it's a nice touch. Sex with her has taken on many forms, but mostly been hurried like they can't sprint to the finish line fast enough. As they've settled into this new undefined thing they have going, the romantic side is slowly emerging, and he thinks that he likes it best.
"I thought we were going to give a new position a try," Rick whispers in her ear as he's on top, leisurely sliding in and out of her, building them slowly.
"Ever hear of The Erotic Accordion, Castle?" she asks. He loves that her voice is breathless and a little rough.
"No," he admits, and it doesn't sound good either. Like it's not comfortable, and that's just to start.
"I could show you."
He doesn't want to know how she knows about this type of bed logistics. Especially if it's knowledge gained from being with someone in her past. He hopes that she did a Google search, or it's something she read in Cosmo, or she's just teasing him. Besides, it's really not about needing to be inventive with her; it's just her. That's all he needs, and he's pretty happy to stay right where he is and keep doing what he's doing. And of course drag her right along with him.
He tilts his hips slightly and pushes in with a little more force than he's been using until now, and he knows he'll hit a certain angle that does very good things for her.
"Oh, Castle."
Yeah, that right there is his Valentine's Day gift. Plus birthday, and Christmas too.
Someday soon, he'll tell her that he loves her, for real this time. Someday down the road, he hopes she'll consider moving in with him. He knows that it won't be long until they'll have to fess up to their friends, if they honestly haven't figured it out already. He's confident that there will be Valentine's Days in the future for them, so there's time to give her chocolates and flowers and sparkly pieces of jewelry that she'll insist she doesn't need and he spent too much money on. But for now, he's happy to give her a book about cows and make love to her by candlelight.
When she goes over, shaking in release, he follows. He's been following her since the day they met, so for the most part, nothing has really changed.